A/N: Second chapter of the night. I hope you're happy.
Disclaimer: J. K. Rowling owns the characters. (Though lately it's been seeming a bit like perhaps they own themselves . . . )
Noise. Noise and people and darkness and sweat and heat and closeness and flesh and confusion.
And James.
He was the one reason that Lily had not retreated to the farthest-off corner of Potter manor by now in search of some solitude. It wasn't interesting to see people she knew drunk; she didn't want to be dancing, except—James. James was so close to her—sometimes he even had his body pressed against hers—and as a unit they were moving to the music, with him pulling her around and back and forth and up and down. Somewhere inside the awkward crawling feeling Lily had from being crammed into the ballroom with everyone else was a raging excitement that was threatening to burst out of her, violently, and the only thing for it was to dance.
"See, love?" James said, running a hand through Lily's hair. "Dancing isn't so bad after all."
"I refuse . . . to concede . . . the point," Lily growled through clenched teeth.
"Ah, but you haven't left yet, have you?" James countered.
"Hey!" yelled Sirius, meandering over to the couple. "How's it goin'?" He was carrying a cup that had liquid sloshing out of it.
"I just might be leaving soon," Lily muttered in James's ear.
"Fine, Padfoot," James replied in Sirius's general direction. This seemed to do the trick, and Sirius ambled away, leaving the two in peace.
"See?" said James. "Not so bad, is it?"
"I still don't see how you people enjoy these things," Lily retorted. "It's just loud and sweaty and . . ." She caught sight of Mary and Sirius dancing suggestively. "Gross," she concluded.
James shrugged as best he could without throwing off his ever-present rhythm of movement. "Eh, stuff happens when people drink. These parties can get a little weird. But—hey!" James spotted a former Quidditch captain and left Lily for a minute to catch up. He came back flushed and grinning.
"Had your ego stoked?" Lily asked.
"Bell told me I look fit—and he asked if you were that girl I was always complaining about being rejected by. And I said yes, and he said that you were even prettier than he'd expected from all of my talk."
Lily looked down at her skirt, which fell shorter on her than usual because she had pulled it up to the bottom of her ribcage under the top that she'd charmed for the night to sparkle. "Oh."
James cocked his head toward the magically amplified radio and grinned when he heard the first few notes of the next song.
"What is it?"
"The best dance of the night—a slow dance. You'll like this one." James put his hands on Lily's waist and slid them back until his fingers interlaced at Lily's lower back, drawing her in. Lily knew what slow dancing was and laced her fingers behind James's neck, leaning her head on his chest. The two swayed back and forth together, and James was right about Lily liking it.
For you are all I've ever wanted
And with you I'm finally free
You are everything I need and now
You say that you love me
So here's telling you I love you
Please know that I care
You know me best of anyone
To you my soul's laid bare
The song was trite, but maybe everyone always said those things because they were true. Maybe someone could be all you'd ever wanted and set you free from your demons. Maybe you could love the person who knew you best, and maybe it could work out. In James's arms, Lily was willing to believe.
A/N: I have no idea where to go with the story next, so I'm counting on you for reviews.