Saturday morning found me in the Great Hall eating breakfast with Alice and Frank, as usual. I was not in a very good mood, as McGonagall had just talked with Potter and me about our looming detention… which would consist of manually (as in without magic) peeling off old labels on potion bottles and replacing them with new ones that Potter and I would make. This would all be served in the dungeons with Slughorn. Slughorn. I mean, seriously? Not that he was that bad, I was his favorite student, after all, but having a teacher adoring you gets tiring after the first week or so. I'm not even joking.

All I knew is that this whole pasting-labels-on-bottles-without-magic thing would very much annoy me. But I suppose it could be worse. Wait, it was. Because I had to serve detention with the King of Detentions himself. Perfect. It was going to be awkward… that's for sure, because the bloody git had tried to kiss me and I almost allowed it! I think I deserve some punishment. Potter and I are just friends. The butterflies that decided to exit their chrysalises last night were long on their way to migrating to Mexico… I hope. Silly butterflies. I'll tear their wings off next time they decide to show their little caterpillar faces ever again when Potter is less than 4 inches away from my face… NO. I wouldn't even let that happen ever again. That settles it. From now on, avoid Potter. Not hard… we only work together and live together…

"Lily? Why are you glaring at your scrambled eggs? What did those poor little almost-chickens ever do to you?" Frank asked me, breaking me away from my thoughts.

"Eh? Oh… nothing. They… they didn't do anything, Frank. In fact, I'm quite enjoying them. Fluffy. Yellow. Hint of Parmesan cheese. The house elves outdid themselves this morning with these eggs." I laughed nervously.

"You haven't even eaten anything yet, Lily. Not even your bacon, and you love bacon." Alice informed me. "Is there something upsetting you? You were really glaring… it was kind of scary…"

"Nothing big, Alice… just upset that Potter got me into a detention."

"Yeah. You've never had a detention before. This should be interesting."

"Thanks for that grim reminder, Frank. My perfect record. Ruined in a span of a few hours because I had to bloody follow bloody Potter into…" I stopped there. I hadn't revealed Potter's and my escapade to Alice and Frank.

"Followed him? Where?" Stupid, prying, noticing-my-slip ups Alice.

"…Nothing. I followed him into his room… and er, we had an argument that woke a few people up. That's why we have detention. Never going to yell at each other again. That's for sure." I smiled, in such a way that I hoped they believed me. Then I began to eat my eggs.

They must've believed me because no more questions were asked on the matter. I was relieved. I was never going to reveal anything to anyone about last night. Hopefully, Potter would give me the same thoughtfulness. Stupid prat was probably bragging to his friends about last night's dip and probably pretending he did manage to snog me. Boys always over-exaggerate those kinds of details. It's ingrained in them to do so. A girl could so much as look at one, and the boy would be all, "Oi, she has the HOTS for me, mate, did you see that?" And nudge the closest bloke to them unfortunate enough to be by them. Yeah. That was about it.

I glanced over at James, sitting with the Marauders. He was laughing at something Sirius had said… no… done. Now that I looked at Sirius, he had a spoon lodged in his nose, two sticking out of his ears, and an apple stuffed into his mouth. Bloody hell he was an idiot. The girls around them seemed to be amused. I found the entire performance revolting. James looked away from Sirius and then at me. I quickly averted my glance. Never let Potter catch you looking in his direction. It will only fatten his ego like a flobberworm in a lettuce patch.

I continued to munch on my eggs and bacon. I grabbed a slice of toast from the middle of the table.

"Alice, can you pass the marmalade?"

"Sure, Lily. Here."

"Thanks."

I began spreading the marmalade on my toast when I chanced a look at Potter again. What I saw made me drop my knife, and the marmalade jar in my other hand.

"Lily? Lily?! What's wrong?" Alice asked me frantically.

I felt my mouth drop. It was like my chin hit the table. I barely registered the marmalade jar roll of the table and shatter on the ground by my seat. I didn't notice anything. Nothing except the revolting scene I saw before me.

Vanessa Lindstrom, a blue-eyed, white-blonde haired girl who wore way too much make-up, notorious for being somewhat of a slut had decided to straddle James' lap and was busy nibbling his ear. She moved his hands so they were cupping her behind. James leaned his face away and looked up at Vanessa who tried to lean down and full-on snog him. I had lost my appetite. This was disgusting. Bloody prick of a man-whore.

But to my surprise, James frowned and pushed her off his lap rather quickly. She didn't fall on her ass, sadly, but stumbled a bit with a look of utmost shock on her face. Then she glared at James, and I saw her saying something to him, intending to insult and offend him, but he just laughed, looking like he could give less than a poo on a porcelain plate. Then he put on a serious expression and said something calmly to her, then he condescendingly shoed her away from himself. She stamped her foot, turned on her heel, and walked out of the Hall. I smiled. Then, I watched as Sirius gawked at James, saw James wink and jerk his head towards where she had exited, and then Sirius stood up fast and followed out the door. Sirius Black. Man-slut of Hogwarts. Way to be. Way. To. Be.

James then ruffled his hair nervously and glanced in my direction with a look of shame in his eyes. I gave him a small smile and saw him exhale and grin back at me. Was I mad at him? Quite the contrary. I was proud of him. The James I used to know would have taken full snog advantage of the fact that a girl was straddling him. The fact that he had been disgusted and had full out rejected her made me happy. Why did it make me happy? Why had it made me so angry to begin with? I had no feelings for Potter. He could snog any girl he wanted to and I could give a blast ended skrewt's blasted end. That thought stirred up something in my stomach. It felt as if a stone had been dropped down my throat and landed in it. No. The thought of Potter snogging someone upset me. But why in Merlin's dirty underpants did it upset me? It couldn't be that I…

"Lils? You're glaring at your bacon now."

I looked at Frank, and then at Alice. I pushed away my plate.

"Why are you so mad at animal byproducts, this morning?" Frank asked.

"I'm done eating, guys. What do you say to a game of Exploding Snap? We can play in the Head's common room…"

"OOO. YES! I'M IN!" Good old Frank. He loved the Head's common room. Something about the sofa being much more comfortable. Silly wanker.

"Sure. Just let me finish my muffin. They're blueberry this morning. You know I can't resist blueberry." Alice gave me a smug grin, finished her muffin, then grabbed two more for on-the-go. How I loved my friends.

We walked past Potter's table. I looked at him out of the corner of my eye and watched as his head turned in regards to where I was. It followed me until I could no longer see him. Even then I'm sure it was still following me. A butterfly that forgot to migrate flew around my stomach. Go to Mexico.

"Why would I go to Mexico, Lily?"

I squealed. Had the bloody butterfly just answered me?!

"Lils." Oh. It was Alice. I hadn't realized I said that last part out loud.

"Yeah?"

"What about Mexico?"

"Nothing. They speak Spanish there. Hola." I grinned at her.

"Erm… Hola."

We got to the Head's dorms and we all went in. I went to my room to grab my Exploding Snap and brought it back out to a nice polished oak table by a window. It was sunny out today, and luckily the temperature had dropped so that it was a nice, comfortable 72 degrees. I opened the window to let a breeze in. Very refreshing.

Alice, Frank and I spent the whole day together, playing Exploding Snap, talking, and going outside to sit around the lake like other students.

Before I knew it, it was fifteen minutes to nine. Nine o'clock was the time that Potter and I had to report to the dungeons. I groaned.

"Urg. I have to go now, guys. I have to be in the dungeons by nine."

Frank stood up and stretched, his back popping a bit. Alice stood up next to him and he massaged her shoulders a bit.

"Oooo… Frank. That feels really good." She faced him and smiled and he smiled back. Then they both looked at me.

"Well…make the best of it, Lils. We'll see you tomorrow?" Alice told me, putting a hand on my shoulder.

"Yeah. I'll meet you guys at breakfast again. We should do our Astronomy homework together."

"Definitely." Frank added. "We'll see you tomorrow, Lily."

They grabbed each other's hands and began to walk towards the portrait hole just as Potter climbed in.

"Hello, Potter!" Alice chirped.

"Prewitt. How are you this fine evening?" James flashed her a grin.

"Spectacular. Just spectacular." Alice gave him a crooked smile.

"Longbottom! It's been awhile since we've last chatted. We need to catch up. We have no classes together."

"I agree, Potter. We'll find some time to catch up." They gave each other a man-hug. Oh, bugger.

"Alright then, take care you two." He clapped Frank on the back and gave Alice a light punch on her shoulder.

"We'll talk to you later, Potter." And with that, they left.

James turned back around to face me.

"Lily… er, are you ready to head down to ultimate fun?" He smirked.

"I can hardly call it that, James. But whatever. Yeah."

I walked over to him and we both crawled out of the portrait hole. Here goes.

We began walking down the hall, side-by-side. My hand grazed James'.

"Oh… sorry, James." I stuttered, moving to my other side a bit.

"It's alright, Evans, if you wanted to hold my hand, you could've just told me." He said, waggling his eyebrows a bit.

"Last thing on my mind, Potter."

"Oh, really? Well, I think last night begs to differ."

"What about last night, Potter?" I asked, challenging him to bring it up.

"…Well…you… you know… in the lake…?"

"Yeah? The lake?" I pursed my lips and stared at him. He stared back at me, mouth opening and closing like a fish multiple times.

"…I…come on, Evans." He blushed a bit.

"Potter, I wouldn't like to remember last night. As that is the night you got me into my first detention ever resulting in the permanent scarring of my perfect record here at school."

"Geez, Evans, it's like this is the end of the world for you."

"Potter! My record is completely trashed!"

"Because of one detention?"

"Yes!"

"Seriously… you're… wait a minute. It's my fault that you got a detention?" He glared at me. "You are the one who decided to follow me out, Evans. That was entirely your decision. Did I force you to follow me? No, I didn't. So how dare you take it upon your prissy little self to blame me for that!"

"I do blame you, Potter, because you were keeping secrets from me and behaving in ways that the Head Boy, of all people, James, the Head Boy of Hogwarts, should NOT be!"

"Oh, so you expect me to just come to you and reveal everything about myself to you, Evans?! Well pardon me if I'm not completely open to or trust you!"

"Well…!" I stopped. He didn't trust me?

We were both panting really hard as we reached the staircases leading us to the dungeons.

We descended the stairs, the air thick with our discomfort and anger towards each other. We stopped outside Slughorn's classroom. James turned to me, exasperated.

"Look," he said, licking his lips, "I don't give a bloody rat's ass if you blame me. All I need to tell you is that no, you don't know everything about me. So stop pretending you do, or thinking you are ever going to know everything about me. 'Cause you aren't. So you are going to have to deal with it."

"Excuse me for caring, Potter. You just reinforced everything I ever knew about you anyway, you arrogant prick." James glared at me.

"Oh, we're back to name-calling, are we? Real mature, Evans, real mature. You're not acting so Head-Girly yourself right now, filthy hypocrite."

"Who's the hypocrite now?! You just called me a filthy hypocrite, bloody toe rag!"

"Well, you started it, you bitchy carrot top!!"

"Say that again, Potter." I hated, absolutely loathed when I was teased because of my hair color. And he knew that, too.

"I called you a bitchy carrot top." James looked smugly at me.

"You, Potter," I seethed, "Will see no end to pain tonight."

"Oo. I'm trembling in my trousers, Evans. Whatcha gonna do? Whip me with your carrot roots?" He brought his fingers mockingly to his teeth and trembled.

"POTTER! YOU ARE SO DEAD!" And with that, I charged at him, completely forgetting that I was a witch and could have hexed him. Instead, I dove at him, catching him around the waist and knocking us both to the ground. I sat on top of him smacking his chest, my thighs straddling his torso. He grunted on impact and moaned in pain as I hit him. Then, he deemed that I had done enough hitting him, rolled us over so he was now on top of me, pinned my arms to my sides and glared at me, breathing hard.

"EVANS. YOU CAN STOP THAT NOW!" and he pushed off of me and stood up, straightening his robes. I wasn't done yet. I clumsily got to my feet and went towards him again. He was ready though, because he turned around, grabbed my shoulders and pushed me up against the wall. His face was less than 4 inches away. Damnit I failed at my own vows.

We were both breathing hard. Once again, he had my arms pinned to my sides and he was leaning over me. I could hear him breathing, and his Adam's apple was bobbing up and down every time he swallowed. Where his hands were touching me scorched my skin. His eyes pierced into mine, and mine returned the favor. It felt like a jousting match with eyes. Hazel versus Emerald. Neither of us backed down.

"I told you to cut it out, Evans. I'm bored of this. Leave me alone. You said I was being immature? Look at you. A bloody five year old, Evans." As he let go of me, his hands put a little more pressure on my arms and he pushed himself back, still glaring at me. He turned away from me once more. I stayed against the wall, basking in my own anger, too livid to move. I stood there, breathing deeply. I could feel that my face was flushed, with my complexion, I probably resembled a tomato. An incredibly angry tomato.

I looked up from the floor, and at James, who was on the other side of the hall, leaning sideways on the wall, with his head against it. He looked extremely angry. His eyes were glassy, and he kept running his hand through his hair, lifting his face off the wall, and then hitting it back on the wall. I heard him exhale loudly. I bit my lip. I had been immature. James was right. I had acted like a complete bitch. I didn't have a right to know everything about him. It was up to him whether or not he wanted to talk to me about certain things. Guilt crawled over my skin. I wanted to apologize, but my stubborn self wouldn't allow me to. Instead, I glanced back at the floor. There was a crack running past my toes. The floor mirrored my heart. I felt like a crack had formed in it. Only reconciling with James would provide any cement to fix it. Lily, stop being so stubborn. It's your fault. Go apologize. James is your friend. He didn't deserve any of that. I sighed. Then walked over to James.

I reached out and gently placed my hand on his shoulder. He jumped, and whipped around so he was facing me, and his back pressed against the wall. I stepped closer to him, our bodies were almost touching. I could feel the heat emanating from his body. I looked up at his face, and saw that his eyes had lost their glassiness and were being replaced with wariness.

"…James… I…" I looked down at his feet.

"No…Lils… it was…"

"Mr. Potter! Ms. Evans! I apologize for being late for your detentions, heh heh, I got caught up at dinner in a fascinating conversation with Professor Dumbledore!"

Slughorn had come into the hall, with a box filled with parchment, quills and an ink well. I stepped away from James and shuffled a few feet away. I refused to look at James, but I felt his eyes boring into me.

"Come, come! Follow me! We have lots to do yet, tonight! Can't stop 'til the job is finished!" Slughorn was so jolly. He reminded me of a walrus. A content walrus floating on his back in the ocean munching on kelp or something. I followed close behind him, and walked into the classroom. James walked in a few seconds later, very slowly.

". You'll sit here, and Mr. Potter, you sit right next to her. I only have one inkwell, so you two have to share it. Here are your quills… here's some parchment…" he whipped out his wand.

"Accio potion bottles!" I heard a bunch of clinking and clanking, and a swarm of empty bottles with ratty labels came flying into the room and lined themselves up on a table that Slughorn had set up in front of James' and my desks. The flock had to be over 300 bottles. Holy buggering shit. I almost cried.

"Alright. Your jobs, according to Professor McGonagall, are to peel these labels off, write new labels, and put them on the bottles so they are aligned correctly. No magic. Write neatly, and spell everything correctly. I've put a charm on the room that disables your wands. I'll be back in a few hours to check your progress."

Slughorn gave us both a walrusy, mustache filled grin, and waddled out of the classroom, magicking the door closed. I heard a lock.

James and I sat still for a few minutes, not looking at each other. I observed the army of bottles standing before us. All of them had yellowing, peeling labels that had faded words on them. I could barely make out the titles of some of them. I sighed, pushed up my sleeves, and reached for a bottle.

I took a small piece of parchment, wrote down the name of the potion and then began to peel off the label, which proved more difficult than I would have thought. A sticky residue remained on the bottle, and the paper came off in little sections. I was easily frustrated and my nail had already begun to bend backwards a bit. I glanced over at James. He didn't even have long fingernails, so his label peeling was going even worse than mine.

"Shit. I forgot what this potion was."

"Let me see." James handed the bottle to me, looking at me with a doubtful expression. I waved the bottle under my nose and took a whiff. I almost threw up in my mouth, but I recognized the odor as tadpole intestines.

"Tadpole intestines." I handed the bottle back to James, closing my eyes tightly and sticking my tongue out every few seconds. I heard James chuckle. I opened my eyes and looked at his face, which was staring incredulously back at me.

"Wow, Lily. You really are the potions prodigy. No wonder Slughorn thinks so highly of you."

"Thanks, James. But just because I have a talent at recognizing the odor of baby frog innards doesn't mean I'm a fantastic student."

"Lily… you don't give yourself enough credit." He shook his head, giving up, and scratched down the name of the ingredient and went back to trying to peel off the label. I went back to my own bottle, which I had successfully taken the label off of, and put my new label on the bottle. I set the bottle in front of me and admired my work. Only 298 more to go.

Before I reached for another bottle, I looked over at James who still hadn't gotten the label off of his bottle and was slowly growing red in the face.

"James… er, how about I peel the labels off of the bottles, tell you the name of the ingredient, and you can write it down and paste the new label on?"

James looked up at me gratefully, and handed me the bottle. I grinned back and took the bottle from him, our fingers passing over one another's.

"Thanks, Lils… I'm physically incapable of peeling labels off, due to the fact that I lack nails."

"It's really okay, James. I just couldn't stand watching you struggle like that." I giggled.

"Struggling? Naw… I…"

I gave him a look, and then proceeded to imitate him working at the label.

"Okay! Okay Lils! I was struggling!"

"What was that, James? You admit to a failure?" I cupped my ear with my hand and leaned towards him.

"YES! I, JAMES POTTER, FAIL AT PEELING LABELS OFF OF BOTTLES, AND LILY EVANS SUCCEEDS WITH FLYING SNITCHES."

"Thank you, James." He nudged me with his elbow.

We began to work with our newly found and highly proficient system of labor. During the entire time, I spotted James stealing a glance towards me. The only reason I knew this, of course, was because I was stealing glances at him as well. He looked so adorable with his tongue sticking out a bit, slightly curled over the side of his upper lip as he wrote down the names I told him.

We looked at each other at the same time. We stayed with our eyes locked for a few seconds, before James gave me a smirk and went back to his work. I continued to look at him for a few seconds longer before I continued peeling off the labels.

Slughorn came in after about 4 hours, in which we had completed about three quarters of the bottles. Thanks to a steady working rate of about 2 bottles a minute, we would be done in about another hour.

"Good work, Evans, Potter! You two certainly got to work! Ingenious method, ingenious. You two are so clever."

"Er, thanks Professor." James mumbled.

I yawned.

"Excuse me, Professor, but what time is it?"

Slughorn took out his pocket watch.

"Why! Great Merlin! It's a little after one o'clock in the morning! Tell you what, since you two have been working so hard, I'll let you get going. You need the sleep anyway. Story has it you two were out late last night anyway… am I right?"

James and I glanced at each other, blushing.

"It's not like it sounds, Professor…" James began.

"Oh, m'boy, you don't have to tell me anything. I understand completely." He gave James a wink and a nudge. James' eyes opened wide.

"Well done, Evans. Great pick."

"Professor! I…" but Slughorn interrupted me.

"Go on, now, Ms. Evans. Mr. Potter. I'll handle the rest of these." He waved his wand, and within milliseconds the remaining bottles had new, fresh labels on them, and flew to the cupboard. I heard James hmph and watched as he crossed his arms with a pouty look on his face. I could completely relate. Four hours of work reduced to 4 milliseconds. I loved magic.

"Have a good night, you two. Get a good night's rest. I expect you have both finished the foot long essay on the Sleeping Draft?"

James and I quickly looked at each other, eyes wide as tea saucers and mouthed "Essay?" to each other.

"…Er… of course, Professor, I mean, that was the first thing I did after classes." James prompted.

"Good show, Mr. Potter! I always liked you. Ms. Evans? Have you completed the essay?"

"…uh…"

"You know her, Professor. Lives and breathes Potions essays…"

"Oh, Mr. Potter. I know. Ms. Evans, I'm joking with you. I know you'll have the most intriguing and enlightening essay for me. In fact, I've already put an 'O' in that grade slot."

"…Professor?"

"Now, get a move on you two. Don't let ol' Sluggy hold you back. Oozing. Not a good habit. Good night now."

"Goodnight, Professor," James and I said together. Then we both quickly walked out.

As we exited the door, I noticed James stop. I stopped and turned around.

"James?"

"Lily… I'm sorry."

"…"

James started walking again.

What did he apologize for? Earlier tonight? Getting us into detention? Trying to kiss me last night? The last one he really had no need at all to apologize for… I mean… I… LILY MAE EVANS WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?! WE WILL NOT THINK THOSE THOUGHTS ANYMORE.

Things were jumbled in my head. Feelings… thoughts… more feelings… I had to get a grip on myself.

James had achieved quite a distance in front of me, and I jogged a bit to catch up.

"Damn, I'm tired. Two nights in a row up until past midnight… not good for a bloke."

"Yeah. I could collapse on the floor right now and just completely pass out."

"Please don't. Then I'd be obliged to carry you the rest of the way to the dorms."

"Whatever. As if that isn't your dream to carry me bridal style, Potter."

Potter didn't retaliate.

The rest of the way we walked in silence, reaching the portrait hole.

"Newt Buckets," James stated.

"Gross." Replied the portrait as is swung open.

Both James and I crawled through, and stood still as we exited the portrait hole into the common room. We looked at each other, towards the bathroom, then back at each other. Something changed in the air. There was an aura of competition between us now.

"…"

"…"

Both James and I bolted towards the bathroom, shoving at each other. I reached the door, but James grasped me around the waist and swung me around, placing me behind him and he reached towards the door knob. I grabbed the back of his shirt by the collar and pulled him back. He made mock choking noises as he laughed. I pulled extra hard, swinging him behind me as I power-walked towards the door again.

"Ah, no you don't Lily!" I squealed and laughed as James hoisted me up and over his shoulder as he walked all the way back to the portrait hole and put me down, having me land on my butt. I quickly grabbed his leg and wrapped myself around it as he tried to walk towards the bathroom again.

"LILY! I'm going to trip!" James laughed.

"I'm not letting go!"

"Yes… you… are…" James stated every word as he tried to drag the leg with me on it forward.

"Nope." I wrapped my legs around his foot as well.

"AH, LILY!" James fell over.

"BAHA!" I got up quickly and started running towards the bathroom door. James, Quidditch fit that he is and mad reflexes that he has, got up extremely fast and caught up with me in no time, wrapping one arm around my waist and pulling me to his side. I shrieked, and wriggled away and began running away from him. He eagerly took up the chase and pursued me.

I ran to the other side of the couch, and James was ready to receive me on either side. I dodged to the right, and James shuffled to his left. Then I shuffled left and James pivoted to his right. I faked a left and began running towards my right, but James saw it coming and leapt over the couch and grabbed me around my waist, pulling us down onto the couch.

I plopped right into his lap, and he brought his arms down to move my legs onto the couch, so I was sitting on his lap with my legs outstretched to the side. His arms were around my waist, and we were both laughing hysterically, and gulping in as much oxygen as we could. My arms, without me thinking, wrapped around his neck. He put his forehead on my shoulder and we continued laughing.

He looked up into my face, and instantly the laughter died down and ceased. James gulped, and I licked my lips. His head reached for my head, his nose grazing mine. I watched as he closed his eyes and leaned in.

I recognized the position we were in, smiled, and pushed him down so he landed on his back on the couch. Giggling, I ran towards the bathroom, got in, and shut and locked the door. I faintly heard James shout playfully, "You cheating tease, Evans!"

I leaned on the counter, staring at myself in the mirror.

I had panicked. That's what I had done. There was no other excuse as to why I ran away. What is wrong with me? Bloody hell, I almost let him kiss me again! I keep leading James on… don't I? I'm leading him on.

"You're leading him on, Lily." I whispered to myself. That didn't convince me. There was something else. I knew it. But I didn't want to acknowledge it.

I undressed myself, grabbed a towel from the cupboard, and stepped into the shower. The water trickled down my body and instantly relaxed me. I reveled in the calming artificial rain and cleaned myself up. After I had washed my hair and body, I just stood under the hot shower, gradually decreasing the temperature until I was standing in semi-cold streams. I turned so my face was towards the jets, and let the water wash over my face.

Turning the faucet off, I stepped out of the shower, wrapped my towel around myself, and deciding to let James shower before I finished my bedtime routine, left the bathroom.

As I opened the door, I watched James' head shoot up. He was still sitting on the couch. As his eyes met mine as I exited the bathroom, I watched him gulp several times in succession as his eyes travelled down my body, then back up to my eyes. I blushed. James' mouth was slightly ajar.

"Er…"

"Um, you can get in now, James. I'll… I'll finish… I'll brush my teeth when you're done and stuff…" James only nodded, mouth still open to catch flies. I shook my head, and quickly went into my bedroom, closing the door quickly. I fell back against the door, exhaling. It was about a half minute before I heard James get up and close the bathroom door. I dried off as I heard the shower start. Putting on my camisole and flannel shorts, I wrapped the towel around my head to dry my hair and went back into the common room to wait for James to finish showering. James showering. Droplets of steamy water running the length of his body, starting at his shoulder, running down those abdominal muscles and past his bellybutton…

"LILY!!!!!!!!!!!!"

I jumped as I heard James yell. The shower had been turned off. I swallowed.

"LILY! YOU TOOK THE LAST TOWEL!"

Uh oh.

"Uh… There are more towels in my closet… I'll… I'll go get one for you!" I shouted back.

I got up quickly and ran into my room, my towel falling off my head. I opened my closet door, found the stack of spare towels, and ran to the bathroom… where I froze, clutching the towel to my chest.

James was in there. James was in there naked. The glass of the shower was frosted… but…

I swallowed again, raising my fist to knock. I hesitantly hit the door twice.

"Yeah. Come in, Evans."

I walked in, holding the towel outstretched in front of me.

"H... Here, J-James."

The door opened slightly, and a tan and muscular arm appeared from behind it, hand grasping at air and searching for the towel. I held it to his hand so he could clutch it. Once he grabbed it, he pulled it back into the shower.

"Thanks, Lily."

I could see his outline in the frosted glass, and a lump formed in my throat. Oh… my…

The door slid all the way open, and I was gifted with a full sight of a very wet James with his towel hung low around his waist… low enough that I could see the V angling down from his hips. He stepped out of the shower, and I backed up a bit. His hands searched the counter for his rectangular glasses. When he found them, he slipped them on his face and rubbed his eyes from behind them.

James faced the mirror and grabbed his toothbrush. He looked at me from the mirror, and seeing my mouth open and eyes bulging out of their sockets, had the gall to ask me,

"Like what you see, Evans?"

I came to my senses, and frowning, slapped James' arm.

"Ow!"

"You're bloody insufferable, James." I grabbed my toothbrush and got it ready.

Sharing a bathroom with the opposite sex should be saved at all costs for people who have chosen to marry and thus undergo tolerating each other in such confined and steamy spaces. They should at least put it in the vows so people know what they're getting themselves into. And do you, so-and-so, take this man, we-don't-care-about-names-right-now, to be your lawfully wedded husband, to share your life with… in sickness and in health… to share a bathroom with… Wait. I object. No bathroom sharing here. No Merlin. No Merlin's giant sea turtle's socks.

"Cuh ou fass meh a taw?"

I spit out my toothpaste.

"Sorry, James, I didn't take Dentist Conversation 101."

James spit. "I said, 'Could you pass me a towel?' And what's a dentist?"

I sighed. "A dentist is someone in the Muggle world who is paid to professionally clean your teeth."

"Psh. I clean my own teeth just fine!"

"Well, they use scrapers, drills, and hooked instruments to clean between your teeth, your gums, because people can't clean their teeth that well every time…"

James looked horrified.

"That's like medieval torture. Worse."

"It's really not all that bad, James."

"Whatever you say, Lils."

We then continued to brush our teeth. After a few more minutes, I finished first. I spit out my toothpaste, brushed my tongue, and rinsed my toothbrush under the running water. Drying my mouth off with my hand towel, I glanced at James, who was still brushing.

"Good night, James."

"Guh igh 'ily. Ahlu ou."

"What was that last part, James?"

James spit once more. "I said, 'Good night Lily, er… Thank you… for getting me a towel, that is." James blushed and looked away from me rather quickly.

"Uh… you're welcome, James. See you tomorrow… in the morning…"

James lifted his hand and saluted. I smiled a bit and left the bathroom.

What a long night.

Hey everyone!

I found some free time in my busy schedule, and decided to write up the fourth chappie! I hope you all enjoy it! I was so happy to be writing again! Three more weeks of school… and then summer! And summer means more time for my story! And more time for my story means more frequent postings which all add up to happy readers! R&R if you like!

Love,

Heracyn