4.

"Hi."

James Potter looked up from the homework he had been doing, his posture altering significantly as he recognised his visitor. "Hey."

"Can I sit?"

"Sure," he nodded, pulling the books and parchment he had scattered across his common room desk toward him as Lily took a seat in the opposite chair. Carefully she placed the biscuit tin onto the wooden surface, one hand resting on its lid.

"Thanks for doing this James," she began, her eyes on the tin. "I know you probably think I'm pathetic, but…" she trailed off, not quite knowing what she was trying to say.

"A little."

His tone was serious but when she glanced up there was a playful glint in his eye.

"So, what's in the tin?" he added, leaning one elbow on the desk and resting his chin against his palm.

"My insurance policy," she replied, pushing it toward him and finally removing her hand.

He stared at the tin for a moment before looking back up at her. "I thought you told Sirius he wouldn't get the money until after?"

"Well," she said honestly, crossing her legs under the table. "I trust you."

He raised an eyebrow.

"More than Sirius," she added with a smirk.

"Of course."

"And I know the Quidditch season is starting soon so I figured you'd probably want it sooner than later."

He raised another eyebrow at her.

"Dorcas told me."

"Ah."

They both glanced at the tin once more and he finally reached out for it, picking it up while his other hand fished for his bag under the table and he stored it away before folding his arms on the desk.

"You're not going to count it?"

"You trust me – I trust you."

She nodded her understanding and they fell silent for a moment. With Sirius it had been easy; he had all the ideas, and she was willing to let him take the lead if need be, she felt she knew what to expect from him. But James was different. They had been friends when they were younger but so much time had passed since then; she didn't know who he was anymore. Especially after finding out he didn't fancy her anymore; she felt as though she didn't know what to expect from this guy at all.

"We need to practice," she said decisively, taking some sort of command. "I'd like it to look good."

"Okay," he said casually.

She was surprised he hadn't taken offence at the suggestion that he – James Potter, coolest guy in school – should need practice when it came to kissing. But it was much easier than having to argue her case, or worse, repeat that crude speech that Sirius had given her.

"When?" he added.

"Oh." She hadn't really thought that far ahead. "Well, whenever we can fit it in I suppose. We have rounds every evening and you have Quidditch practice Tuesday, Thursday and Friday-"

"Saturday," he corrected her.

"Saturday," she nodded. "And we have to have time for study too. So that leaves…"

"Wednesday."

"Tomorrow," she realised out loud. Wow. She hadn't expected this to happen quite so fast. Panic threatened to take over her but James appeared as calm as ever.

"My dorm should be okay," he said, moving suddenly as he began to pack up his books. "Sorry, I've got practice in fifteen minutes. Seven o'clock tomorrow then?"

"Yes, er, no."

"No?" he repeated, rising from his chair, swinging his bag over his shoulder.

"No," she said more firmly, rising also and falling into step with him as he began towards the boys' staircase. They came to a halt at the bottom. "I can't be seen going up there," she hissed, glancing over her shoulder for eavesdroppers before nudging her head toward the staircase. "Imagine how that would look!"

James smirked at her panicked expression and began rummaging in his bag for a moment. Seconds later he pulled out a bundle of fabric and handed it to her. "Don't unroll it here," he said quietly. "Just wear it tomorrow, okay?"

Wear it? How would that help her situation? But as she opened her mouth to ask she realised James was no longer standing in front of her, and distant footsteps could be heard jogging up the stairs.

At seven o'clock precisely the following day, Lily slipped the cloak over her casual jeans and jumper, still not believing James Potter had somehow gotten his hands on an invisibility cloak. The last of her red hair disappeared as she tucked it into the hood, creeping out of her dormitory and down the stairs, trying not to make a noise.

The common room was fairly busy with many students doing homework or socialising around the fire, and she was forced to press herself against the wall as two boys passed her on their way up the boy's staircase. It would not do to get caught creeping up there; especially in an invisibility cloak – it made it seem like she was sneaking up there to…

Wait, technically she was.

The door marked 'seventh years' came into sight and Lily glanced over her shoulder once before freeing a single hand to knock on the door. It took a moment for James to open it and she rushed inside immediately, pulling the cloak off as she closed the door behind her.

"Where did you get his?"

"You like it, huh?" he smiled, taking it from her and rolling it up before stuffing it in the trunk at the end of what she presumed to be his bed.

"Hell yes!"

He smiled, digging his hands into the pockets of his jeans and taking a step toward her in the middle of the room. "Family heirloom."

"Ah," she uttered, taking a moment to look around the room. It was designed and furnished almost exactly like the girls' dorm, bar the excess of Quidditch posters, unmade beds, the clothing that littered the corners of the room and the general smell of…boys. "Don't the elves come in here?"

He nodded. "Everyday."

Lily grimaced at the amount of mess they had managed to create in just a few hours. She turned back to him as she felt his eyes upon her. That odd feeling of panic threatened to take over again. He took another step toward her.

"So, how do you want to do this?"

She had hoped for a little socialising first, perhaps a few minutes chat and get comfortable in her new surroundings. But one thing she did remember about James Potter was that he was always straight to the point.

She took a deep breath, closing the gap a little more until they stood roughly one meter apart in the center of the room. "Well," she began. "I suppose we just have to get comfortable with each other first, you know, so we're not bumping noses," she quoted Sirius. "It should look natural." He made no sign of agreement as though waiting for her to continue. "We can work on…touching and stuff after," she persisted, feeling awkward as he looked down upon her with little expression. "Right now just focus on making the kissing itself look smooth; like we really want to be doing it."

Finally he nodded, taking a casual step forward again until he could comfortably fix his hands on her waist. She tried not to appear too intimidated by the contact. "Do I kiss you, or will you kiss me?"

"It doesn't matter," Lily shrugged.

But he made no move and Lily realised he was leaving it up to her to initiate the kiss. It made sense; this was her plan after all, but she was as nervous as all hell. "O-okay then, I guess I'll just-" She silenced herself, his blank stare making her self-conscious and causing her to babble, and she gently placed her hands on his upper arms, pressing herself onto her tiptoes to reach his lips. He did not respond, though his eyes had fallen shut and she tilted her head for better access, leaning her body into his a little. She made contact. His lips were so hot.

"Right-o, when are starting this practice, then?"

They sprung apart as Sirius barged into the dorm, slamming the door shut behind him. He froze upon seeing their startled expressions and Lily's reddening face.

"Ahhh, I see I'm a little late."

James shook his head and Lily folded her arms across her chest defensively. "What exactly are you doing here, Sirius?"

He grinned, flopping down onto his own bed. "Directing, of course."

"Directing?"

"Come on," he scoffed. "You don't really think you can pull this off by yourself, do you Evans? Besides, Prongs and I have a deal; we're splitting the money fifty-fifty seeing as I'm the one who informed him of this little scheme."

Lily ran a hand over her brow. "What you do with the money is your business, but that doesn't mean you sit here and watch us," she said, appalled by the idea. "We can do this by ourselves."

"Can you?" he asked, sitting up suddenly. "Show me what you've got."

She scowled. "Pervert."

"I'm serious," he added, shuffling to the end of the bed. "You can't see yourselves; you don't know what you look like. You might look like a bunch of idiots, mauling and groping each other like inexperienced second years for all you know."

She glanced at James who did not appear at all perturbed by the idea of Sirius Black watching them kiss. "Tell me you're not considering this."

"It's not a bad idea," he shrugged. "I mean, I'm sure I can pull this off without direction," he added with a look at Sirius. "But if you plan to do this in front of dozens of people you had better get used to having an audience. Heck, call in Moony and Wormtail!"

"James," Lily groaned. "No. I'm not doing it in front of them. Not yet anyway," she added to their matching I told you so expressions.

"The way I see it," Sirius spoke up again, making himself comfortable on the bed once more with his hands behind his head. "I'm staying here, so you can either snog in front of the entire common room out there or you can just get to it and stop being such a prude."

"I'm not a-"

"Prove it."

Lily huffed, turning to James once more. He gave her a slight shrug. "It's up to you, Lily. We don't have to practice at all if you don't want to." She wished she could say yes, but there was no way she could kiss James Potter - someone she didn't know - for the first time and make it look natural at the party.

"Fine," she surrendered sulkily, dropping her arms to her sides. "I'll do it, whatever."

"Okay," James said simply stepping toward her again and repositioning his hands on her waist. "You ready?"

She nodded, casting a side-glance at Sirius who she could see watching them from the corner of her eye. James turned his head for just a second to face his friend. "Just shut up until we're done, okay?"

"Fine by me."

Turning back James gave Lily a small reassuring smile and she braced her hands against his arms again for support as she lifted herself up onto her toes. "Could you bend a bit please?"

Sirius released a small snort but James ignored him, bending his face towards hers. She closed her eyes before impact, blocking out the sight of their voyeur more than anything and pressed her lips against his. He responded immediately this time, boosting her confidence as she tried to increase the pace, but James wasn't having it. Slightly frustrated, her eyes flickered open and closed again as she kissed him harder, opening her mouth further to run her tongue along his bottom lip in persuasion. His kisses remained slow and chaste. She pulled away, frowning.

"You're doing it wrong."

His eyes widened for a spilt second in shock, only to turn into a firm frown of his own. "No I'm not," he replied harshly, fuelled by embarrassment of her statement.

"I'm sorry," she said, shaking her head. "But your technique is all wrong."

"Well you'd certainly be the first to complain."

The scowled at each other for a good ten seconds before Lily dropped her face in frustration. "Thank God we practiced," she said, pushing her hair out of her face.

"No kidding," Sirius finally spoke up. "That was bloody painful to witness." She turned to him briefly, seeing him staring back at them with a slightly disturbed expression on his face. "Can't you find a rhythm? That was fucking messed up."

"Well I was doing what you said," Lily replied defensively, turning back to James. "He was going too slow."

James scoffed. "You told me to kiss you like I meant it; that's what I was doing." His cheeks were tinged slightly pink now and Lily knew this situation was turning out far worse than either of them could have ever imagined.

"Err, Prongs," Sirius interrupted hesitantly. "No offence mate, but maybe you should just let Lily lead for now, okay? You're nice; but we're looking for nasty here."

If anything James's cheeks grew pinker and Lily scowled harder, wondering if Sirius was implying anything about her by that statement. "Fine," James said eventually, moving back into position and fixing her with that blank stare again that made her uncomfortable. "Go."

Not used to being ordered to kiss someone she cleared her throat and licked her lips before hesitantly approaching him.

"Stop," Sirius interrupted her. "You look like you're about to shit your pants; at least try and look like you want to snog him senseless."

She gave him a discreet scowl before trying again. With a deep breath and courage she didn't know she possessed, she pushed herself against his chest and onto her toes in one swift movement, her hands moving effortlessly to his hair, and planting him with one of the most desperate kisses she had ever attempted. James stiffened beneath her with slight shock at her aggressiveness and then relaxed, moving his hands back around her waist and up her back. His touch made her tingle unexpectedly and he finally began to respond, his lips moving powerfully beneath hers. Suddenly that heat she had felt before intensified a hundred times as his tongue brushed her lips and she pulled back, startled by the intensity of it. Her breathing was slightly laboured. So was his.

"Better," Sirius commented, sending them both back to reality. "Much better. Didn't know you had it in you, Evans. That was almost sexy."

She did not respond, trying to figure out if that was some sort of compliment.

"Go again?" James asked.

"Yes," Sirius answered for her. "This time don't freak out when he sticks his tongue in your mouth."

Lily shook her head as she allowed herself to be pulled into James' embrace. "You try kissing a stranger."

Then James attacked her mouth with a ferocity she had never known.

He really was a very fast learner.