A/N: Written for xxmoosemikaxx on tumblr. Also based off a drawing by viria entitled "c'mon,Evans,just one kiss.." Characters belong to JK Rowling.


And I wonder if I ever cross your mind
For me it happens all the time
It's a quarter after one, I'm all alone and I need you now
And I don't know how I can do without
I just need you now

-Need You Now (Lady Antebellum)


She had broken up with him. Way back in March, it was because of some stupid fight they had, one of many. She didn't want his protection. She could take care of herself.

Looking back now, it might have been because she was scared. That his affection for her would get him hurt, that there would be too much hate from people, that she was falling too hard far too fast.

So smiles and sweet kisses were swapped for awkward encounters and stammering. And stares, always stares. Every time she saw him, her heart tried to flutter like it used to but was stopped by her ribcage and the coldness in him. It was like his bones turned to ice whenever he was around her. He straightened up, looked forward, moved smoothly like he was worried about cracking.

She guessed she wasn't any better.

It was a warming day until night arrived. It was time for patrols, the ones that she couldn't weasel out of. A strike at eight and the Heads were off, standing two feet and an ocean of silence apart. He trailed behind her slightly, not glancing her way, and kept his mouth shut.

They knew what to do. They went to the top floor and made their way down, cracking open every door and pausing to listen. They foiled a few romantic escapades and helped to dislodge a confused House-Elf from a potent janitor's closet, all without a single word spoken directly to each other.

"I'm sorry." He said finally, breaking the silence. She whipped her head around to look at him. He was examining the floor instead.

"What?" She managed to spit out before regaining her composure. "I mean, what for?"

"I don't know why you're mad at me, but I'm sorry." He replied. She stood there for a moment with her eyebrow raised. The corners of his mouth twitched and she felt relief flood her body. Her James was coming back to her, not the one made of ice.

"I'm not mad at you." And she meant it. She wasn't, hadn't been since the night of the argument when she stormed off in a rage. But that had changed as soon as she was alone with her thoughts.

"They why have you been avoiding me, Evans?"

"You've been avoiding me."

He tapped a finger to his chin. "Probably, yeah. But you didn't answer my question."

She sighed, knowing the truth would spill from her mouth at some point or another. She was just so tired of the lies and pretenses and awkwardness. "A little anger, at first. Mostly pride, then sadness and then, well, pain." She said, dragging a hand across her face.

"All because of me? I must be talented." He interrupted, teasing and she was glad. He was thawing.

"Not really. And especially not at Quidditch. I've seen Flobberworms fly better than you." She told him. He shoved her, making her giggle and he caught her hand to keep her from drifting too far away.

"Prat."

"Git."

"And you like me because of it."

"I don't think I do, actually."

"I can prove it." He said, grinning cheekily down at her. She was happy, right then. Happy for the first time since the breakup. Everything was almost back to normal, almost back to usual after one conversation. That was his superpower, she mused, if normal people had superpowers. Hers would be messing up relationships and James' would be fixing them with a single conversation, sentence, word, look.

"How?"

"Kiss me and I'll show you." He answered and she froze. Out went all her fuzzy feelings and in came anxiety again.

"What did you just say?"

"Kiss me and I'll prove to you that you like me because I'm a so-called git." He cocked his head, grinning hugely and obviously enjoying himself. "C'mon, Evans. What could it hurt?"

My heart. "My reputation. My standing as Head Girl. We can't be snogging in the corridors when we're supposed to be patrolling."

His grin grew wider. "Who said anything about snogging?" He asked. Bloody hell. "I just said kissing."

She sighed and decided that flippancy was the best way to get out of this. "I know you, Potter, and you'll turn any kind of kissing into snogging. You're not very patient."

"I'm not." He said, taking a step towards her. She took a step back. "I'm also not very happy that this bloody breakup has lasted a month." Two more steps, two more steps. Her back was now up against the wall and he was dangerously close. "Kiss me."

"I can't."

"Why not?"

Words were tumbling from her mouth now, and she could no sooner stop a waterfall. "Because, like you said, you're no longer my boyfriend—sorry. Because it's dangerous for you to be around me—don't deny it, you know it's true. Because I've driven a wedge between you and Sirius—don't deny that either, I've seen it with my own eyes. Because I care about you way too much and I can't get hurt again." She was blushing again. Of course.

"I don't care about that. I promise. These past few months have been absolute hell without you, Lily. Nothing else can compare. I can't—What was the last thing you said?"

"You're fighting with Sirius?"

"After that."

She ducked her head. "Nothing."

"Lily."

"I can't get hurt. Not again. I've fallen way too fast for you, James, and it's not going to work out well. I can just feel it."

He studied her for a moment, gently. "Is this working any better for you?"

"No." She admitted.

"Well, then." A curious gleam crept into his eye and he leaned forward until they were just a whisper apart. And with the blush still on her cheeks, he pressed his lips to hers and she was lost.

One of his hands was wrapped around her waist and the other was pressed up against the wall behind her. She slipped her hands up his stomach, curling them into his shirt and determining to not let him go again. Her mouth was hot, and his was too, and they were just wrapped up in each other. Completely oblivious and completely in heaven.

With one last, sweet kiss, he straightened and ran a hand through his hair. She let out a shaky breath reached up to fix her own hair.

"So, Evans. " He said, smiling cheekily. "How about going to Hogsmeade with me next weekend?"

"Sounds like a date."

"Sounds like a date."