Chapter Sixteen: Where You Think You're Going

"Remember," Mary said, nudging Lily over a few inches so they could share the bathroom mirror, "text me 911 if you need me to call and fake appendicitis."

Lily paused with her mascara wand by her eye. "You told me you had your appendix out in middle school."

"Petunia doesn't know that!" Mary answered, fluffing the back of her hair. "I'll fake my emergency, and then you and James can come back here."

"And tell you all about it?"

"Obviously."

"You won't get too distracted with Benjy?" Lily lifted her eyebrow in the mirror.

"I set a special notification sound for you, and he knows about it. I'm not a rookie, Evans."

Lily grinned. She tried to apply her mascara again and was reminded that this was why she didn't wear the stuff. She couldn't stop blinking.

"Here," Mary said, taking the tube from her. "Sit down." She gestured to the closed toilet lid. "Open your mouth. It slows your blink reflex."

She did as Mary said, let her apply a thick coat, and popped back up to find her green eyes framed by dark lashes. "Thanks, Mare. How do I look?"

Mary crossed her arms and stood back, her eyes going from Lily's head to feet while she spun once. "It's good. Understated enough for Petunia, but…" She nodded to the neckline, which was, admittedly, lower than most of her clothes, though it was softened by the cardigan over her dress. "Not too frumpy for James. You look great, Lils."

"I hope so," she said, peering into the mirror again. "Why am I going on a date where I'm most worried about my sister?"

"Because you know James would happily take you on a date in an old t-shirt and joggers."

"He would not -"

"Say no to an Insomnia Cookie run at midnight followed by snuggling under the stars?"

"You know, that's actually an amazing date idea."

Mary bowed her head, her smirk saying it all.

A knock came from the front door, barely audible from the open door of the bathroom.

"Coming!"

"Remember," Mary repeated, gathering their make up into a plastic bin. "Text 911 if you need to get out."

"It's going to be fine," Lily said, trying to speak it into reality. "It's going to be fine," she repeated as she opened the door.

Her heart beat quickly for an entirely new and more pleasant reason when she saw James on the other side.

James was definitely fine.

Visually, anyway. She would have to check how he was feeling about the whole situation.

"Hi," Lily said, reaching out to pull him inside by the hand. "I'm almost ready to go. Are you sure you don't have something else we should be doing? Somewhere else we should go?"

"I mean," James said, his eyes sliding over her. He smirked. "I can think of a few things…"

"Don't joke, Potter, or I'll take you up on that."

"I'm only half joking. You look lovely. I don't think I've had the pleasure of seeing this dress before."

"I'd love to stay here with you instead." She moved onto her toes to kiss him briefly. "But I told Mary she could have the apartment for the next few hours. We can come back to my room afterward. If we survive this."

"You're thinking it's going to be that bad, huh?" He ruffled his hair. She wondered if he was half as nervous as she was. "I'm excited to meet your sister. To see what she's actually like. I've only heard -"

"Lily's glowing reviews of her?" Mary said, walking out of the bathroom.

"She sounded almost normal in her texts," Lily said, worriedly pressing her hands together. "Sort of. Maybe she'll be okay?"

"And if not," Mary said, bending over as if in pain, "I'm starting to feel a little pain right here…"

"It's the other side," Lily said, causing Mary to quickly clutch her stomach.

She laughed, despite her nerves.

"Girls have a whole system worked out in the event of a bad date, don't they?" James remarked, looking amused. "You didn't have to use that on our first date, thankfully."

"Date 911 can be invoked at any time," Mary remarked, standing up like nothing had happened and managing to wink without looking silly. "You should both go. Tuney will have a field day if you're late."

"Right." Lily grabbed her purse and took James' hand. "Before I change my mind."

"You kids have fun!" Mary called to them as James opened the door for Lily. "As much fun as you can have with Petunia, anyway."

"Do you really think it's going to be that bad?" James asked once they were outside.

"I can hope it won't be," Lily answered. "My sister is… Well, she's Petunia. But this is the first time she's asked to meet anyone specifically. Maybe that's a good sign."

"Petunia is older than you, right? Were you guys always like this?"

"She's two years older," Lily said. "When we were little kids, things were better. Then I got accepted to this STEM magnet school. Everything got tense after that. We fought because we were still kids and sisters and that's what you do. But since then…" Lily shrugged and took a seat in his car.

"I get that. I mean, I sort of do. I only have Sirius to go by, and I'm not so sure he counts, as far as siblings go."

"You two are the good kind of siblings. The kind that chose to be siblings because you like each other." Her eyes drifted out the window. "I think Petunia and I have assumed the worst about each other for so long that we sometimes live up to it."

James was silent for a moment as he drove down the road. Lily's eyes followed the streetlights instead of looking over at him, lost in thoughts of her and Petunia.

"I don't see how anyone could find fault in you," he said after a moment. He reached over, taking her hand and placing a kiss on her knuckles. "Maybe I'm biased."

"That's the honeymoon phase talking," Lily said, though she started to smile when she looked at him. "I have faults. So do you. The difference is that I want to know you enough to know what they are. To figure out how they fit with mine."

"Have you figured out any of my faults yet? Would one of them be that I'm devastatingly handsome?"

She laughed, already feeling better than when she had to sit all day with nervous dread about Petunia. "Mostly how modest you are."

"Definitely that too," he said, pulling into the parking lot of the restaurant. "Are you ready for this?"

"As I'll ever be. Just promise me something." She schooled her features into a serious expression. "Don't break up with me to run away with my sister." A smile cracked through when she squeezed his hand.

"Evans, I would never," he said, giving her hand a squeeze back. "Her fiancé, however…"

"I promise that I'll never even think about running away with Vernon Dursley."

They walked hand in hand toward the door, a small crowd already forming outside.

"Do you think they're already here?" James asked. "I wonder if there's a wait time."

"I didn't make the reservation. She said she'd take care of it because Vernon knows the manager." She eyed the crowd. "Hopefully it's for good reasons."

When they got inside, Lily clung to James' hand as he weaved them to the hostess, the crowd on the inside being crammed together. Several families sat tightly on small waiting booths, a little girl dropping her toy doll in her impatience.

"Here you go," James said, picking it up and handing it to her.

Lily's lips quirked at the girl's blush.

She peered over a few heads and caught sight of Petunia standing by the hostess stand with her arms crossed. "She's here," Lily said, tugging on his hand.

"Excellent," James said right into her ear. "She looks thrilled to see us."

"Best part of her week," she answered, still looking at Petunia. "Do we have a codeword if we need to get out?"

"Bingley?" he offered.

"Yes, perfect."

Lily stopped in front of her sister, offering a smile. "Hi, Tuney. Is our table ready?"

"Of course, it is. I told you it would be," Petunia quipped. She turned toward James, looking him up and down. Lily didn't miss the way her cheeks colored. "You must be James."

"That's me," he said kindly. He extended his hand. Lily was surprised to see Petunia only eye it for a second before shaking it. "It's nice to meet you, Petunia. Lily's told me loads about you."

Petunia blinked. "Has she now?"

"We're both excited to see you," Lily said quietly. "Where's Vernon?"

"Oh yes," Petunia said, gesturing for them to follow her. "Vernon got the best table. Like I said, he knows Michael, the manager. We were so lucky he could fit us at the last minute."

"Sounds like it," James said. Lily wasn't sure if Petunia could hear the amusement in his voice, but she caught it. She squeezed his hand to let him know.

"Thanks for doing that," Lily said, trying to make an effort to start things on a good note. "It's nice to have something other than the dining hall or take out sometimes."

"Ugh, I'm sure. You have to be careful, Lily, or you'll gain more than the fifteen pounds that goes along with starting college."

"I've been okay the last couple of years," Lily replied, pulling her cardigan around her middle self consciously.

"You look great," James said, brushing his thumb over her knuckles. Lily could tell by his tone that he didn't find Petunia's dig amusing.

"Is that Vernon?" Lily asked, directing attention away from her.

Rather than answering, Petunia bent down to give Vernon a kiss. Lily felt her nose start to curl and tried desperately to tame the reaction.

"Vernon, this is James," Petunia said. "Lily's boyfriend."

Vernon stood, the table shifting with him, and reached out to grasp James' hand. "Ah yes," he said. "The one Lily's been keeping a secret."

"Not a secret," Lily said, sitting in one of the empty chairs. "We just got around to updating it on Facebook."

"Is that how it is, James?" Vernon asked, smirk turning into what was likely his attempt at masculine camaraderie.

"Lily's not very good at keeping secrets," James said, winking at her and taking a seat.

Vernon made a sound Lily couldn't quite decipher.

She picked up her menu and made a show of studying it, although she could barely concentrate enough to understand anything she read.

"So, James," Petunia said. Her boyfriend's name sounded odd coming from Petunia. "How did you and Lily meet? I literally know nothing about you."

Which time? Lily thought to herself, looking from her sister to her boyfriend.

If Petunia knew the full story, she'd probably have a heart attack.

"We have Bio together," James answered. "Awful subject. Thankfully, she's brilliant at it."

"He's not as bad as he says," Lily added. "He was just a little distracted in class. He asked for notes, and… Here we are."

Lily remembered how flustered Prongs was by Val's suggestion that he talk to the girl in his class. While she now knew that girl had to be her, she hadn't fully thought about all the ways Prongs talked about her.

He thought about her like that.

They were dating and spent as much time together as they could, so it shouldn't have been surprising to know he thought of her like that. Still, she felt a strong wave of affection for the boy sitting next to her.

Lily intentionally focused on Petunia again.

She had met Vernon at a charity gala and hadn't shut up about it since then. The story would probably be told at their wedding, boring everyone in attendance for the thousandth time.

"I was never too into school myself," Petunia said. "I've always been more interested in other things."

The waiter stopped by their table, effectively preventing Lily from saying something she might regret later. She ordered water, but when Vernon made a face of superiority (did he think James couldn't buy her anything else?), she added a glass of white wine.

She'd pay him back later.

"I'll have a glass of red wine," James said easily. "And the prime rib."

Lily blinked. Maybe he hadn't been kidding about ordering the most expensive thing on the menu. She wasn't sure if it was his love of steak or if he had caught the look Vernon gave. She didn't even like steak and was tempted to order the same plate, just to see Dursley's eyes pop.

Instead, she ordered a pasta dish and passed her menu to the waiter.

"So," Lily started, daring herself to have the same level of nerve as Petunia. "What else did you want to know?"

"Oh, Lily," Petunia chided. "You don't have to take that tone with me. Is it so bad that I want to get to know your boyfriend? I mean, your track record with men hasn't been all that great." She turned to James. "Nothing against you, of course. It's more of this one boy, if I'm being honest. Snape. We grew up with him."

James frowned. "Lily never dated Sniv - Snape, though. Right? So, it's a bit different."

"I never dated Severus," Lily answered, gaze hardening at Petunia. "And we aren't friends anymore. We don't even really talk. He has nothing to do with James."

"Oh, well, good. The way he always hung around you... It wasn't natural." Turning to Vernon, she added, "The boy was obsessed with her. Like she was a possession. His favorite toy or something, and she couldn't see it."

"Sounds like you had the right sort of judgement about him, darling," Vernon said. "Thank goodness for that."

"Yes," Lily agreed, a little reluctantly. "You wanted to know about James, though?"

She knew objectively that she was being defensive, but Petunia always made her feel like she had to be. Like she had to be prepared for anything.

"Of course. I wanted to make sure your judgement was a bit more sound with this one," Petunia said, offering a quick smile to James.

"With all due respect, I really don't see why Lily's judgment on a person's character needs to be brought into consideration," James said. "I mean, she made the choice to end her friendship with Snape when it became harmful. I think that speaks volumes."

"Oh," Petunia said, swatting away James' comment like a fly. "It's more of a sister thing."

"We probably wouldn't understand," Vernon added. "Women, you know?"

James blinked. "I don't?"

"It's fine," Lily said, fidgeting with the edge of her cloth napkin. "I don't want to talk about him. I want to talk about us or James or whatever you want to know."

She could tell James wanted to say more by the way he was shifting in his chair. She reached under the table to grab his hand to steady him. She had learned long ago that she would have to pick her battles with Petunia. This was not a fight she wanted to have right now.

"Well, let's start with the basics," Petunia said, offering her some sort of grace by switching subjects. "What's your family like, James?"

"My dad's a professor. My mom's a doctor. They're both really great. Had me a bit late in life, so I'm an only child."

"I don't know if that makes you lucky or not," Petunia said, laughing. "Not having a sibling to compete with constantly. What do you think, Lily?"

It was telling that Petunia's first comment about having a sibling was competition. She didn't see being a sister as anything other than a game that she could win. Lily knew this about her, but it was different to hear her say it so clearly.

James and Sirius didn't see it that way. They thought being brothers meant being closer than anyone else.

Lily couldn't imagine saying that about Petunia.

"James is very close to his friends," she said. "He doesn't have siblings, but he has them. I think it's good to have people you can trust like that."

"It is," James agreed. "I'm really lucky. I'll never know exactly what it's like to have a sibling, but I've got the next best thing."

"Maybe it's a sister thing," said Petunia. "They're either your best friend or your worst enemy. No in between."

"And I suppose it's easier to get along with your mates too," added Vernon with a wink at James. "I have a sister myself. We had plenty of rows growing up."

"Must be a sister thing," Petunia sang again, laughing. It made Lily's teeth grind. "Lily and I still fight, don't we, Lils? But it's always fair."

"I don't -"

"I don't know if I'd call throwing your sister's phone in a glass of water and forcing her to buy a new one fair," James countered. He took a drink of his own water before winking at Vernon and adding, "Or maybe that's just me."

That was unmistakably Prongs.

Lily already knew, but this was the closest he came to admitting it out loud. He was openly saying something only Prongs would know, openly bringing up the thing that brought them together in the first place.

In a way, she had to thank Petunia for all of this.

Would they have found each other another way? Would James have had the courage to ask Lily to his party if Val hadn't told Prongs to do it?

As James or Prongs, his priority was showing her how much she mattered to him. When there was an uncomfortable comment, he turned it back on Vernon. He stood up to her sister on her behalf and didn't let Vernon excuse it away.

Lily wanted to kiss him.

"We still fight," Lily answered, having a hard time keeping her eyes off James. "But I don't know that it's always fair. Being a sister isn't just catty fights. There has to be love too."

Petunia's eyes slid from James to Lily. They landed in narrow slits, her chin resting on her folded hands. "People show love in different ways, Lily. Sometimes fighting is love."

"And sometimes people receive love in different ways," James cut in before Vernon could add one of his own remarks to back up Petunia. "Fighting doesn't necessarily scream 'I love you' to some people. I mean, when Lily stuck your keys in jello, was love your first thought?"

Petunia's mouth fell open. "You - you told him that?"

"He gave me the idea," Lily replied quickly, no longer caring that it gave up her side of the game.

He all but admitted it, didn't he?

But it didn't matter. Not really.

What mattered was James and Lily. What mattered was Prongs and Val. No matter who they were, they were together. They stood up for each other and knew all of their different sides. A squeeze of his hand or reassuring text made her feel like she could take on the world.

"He gave -" Petunia tossed her napkin down on the table with a huff. "Well, this is just brilliant, isn't it? You two have been plotting against me for months now, apparently. Did you just sit there, giggling together over the sight of my keys in jello?"

"We haven't been plotting," Lily snapped back. "I did one little thing to get back at you. All because you thought it was okay to destroy something of mine and not even bother saying you were sorry."

"Besides," James added, "your keys being in jello hardly contends with a ruined phone. Your keys still worked. Lily lost everything on her phone."

Vernon sputtered into his own drink, looking too shocked to form a proper sentence.

For so long, it had been Petunia versus Lily. When her sister met Vernon, it became the two of them teaming up against her and talking down to her like she was a child. Petunia was always going in for the dig, and Vernon was always offering a snide remark meant to flatten things over. He was always adding to Petunia's shovel, deepening the bits of Lily that Petunia unearthed.

For the first time Lily could remember, James evened the battlefield for her.

"You always tell me that I'm being dramatic because you don't want me to react at all," Lily said. Having James beside her, having someone on her side, gave her the ability to put Petunia's actions into words in a way she never had before this. "A fight isn't fair if you get to do whatever you want and I have to deal with it quietly."

"Life isn't fair, Lily!" Petunia hissed, leaning across the table at her. "I'm your sister. It's my job to show you tough love. To toughen you up and build your character. Being sisters means that we don't have to say we're sorry all the time."

"It's your job to be my sister, not a bully," Lily answered, spine straightening. "Tough love has to still be love. We don't have to say sorry all the time, but you have to say it sometime."

"Fine," Petunia spat. "I'm sorry about your phone. Is that what you want to hear?"

"Petunia, love -" Vernon started, but her sister held her hand up to silence him.

"I'm so incredibly sorry that you made me mad enough to drop your phone into a glass of water," she continued. "I'm sorry that you think I've been a bully to you all of these years."

James snorted. "That was a piss poor excuse for an apology. All you did was say you were sorry for the way Lily perceived things, not for the things you actually did."

"I didn't make you do anything," Lily said. "Even if I annoyed you, I didn't make you do that. You're the one who doesn't want to admit that you could have been wrong. I know I've been wrong before, but I'm not always the wrong one."

"This is so typical of you. Always the righteous one," Petunia said, standing. "Come on, Vernon. We're leaving."

Vernon blinked up at her, gesturing towards his empty place setting. "But… our food -"

"Go talk to Michael and get it to go. I'm not going to sit here and be treated like this!"

"Just say you're sorry," Lily said, forcing herself to stay in her seat, "and mean it. I don't want to be mad at you. I don't want us to be like this. But I… I have to know if you even want to try."

"I've already said I'm sorry," Petunia told her, putting her coat on. "If you can't accept it, that's on you."

"You're only sorry that I reacted. You're only willing to say that I was wrong. That's not a real apology, and I don't have to accept it."

"You're right. You don't. Just like I don't have to stay here and be forced to come up with whatever apology that you see as worthy."

Petunia stormed off before Lily could get another word in, nearly knocking over a waiter carrying drinks in the process, with Vernon trailing after her.

"That's Petunia," Lily said, her gaze staying on the empty seat that was her sister's. "Still convinced you want to meet another Evans?"

James ignored this. Turning towards Lily, he asked, "Are you okay?"

"Are you okay?" she echoed, looking at him. "I don't know what's wrong with me. Why I know all these people who do this and make you ask if I'm okay. Your friends are welcoming and wonderful, and I make you deal with this."

"Lily, listen to me. What happened here isn't your fault, like how what happened with Snape wasn't your fault. You were backed into a corner both times. You were brave enough to fight your way out."

"I shouldn't have said anything." Lily put her hand on her forehead. "You wanted to meet her. She asked about you. But then she brought up Severus and… Was I too defensive? Did I really say anything that horrible?"

"No," James said quickly. "You didn't say anything horrible at all. Petunia dressed her words up nicely, but they were still made to cut you." He paused for a moment, rubbing her back. "Do you want to get out of here? Maybe take a walk and get some air?"

"Yes," she said, grateful for any kind of action that took her mind off Petunia. "We can get our food to go. I have some cash in my wallet to tip the waiter. We didn't even make it to…"

"Don't worry about it. I've got it covered," James said, already pulling out his wallet.

Lily turned, realizing that it was likely that Petunia and Vernon stormed out without even paying for their food. If James covered the whole bill, it would be expensive.

"Don't give me that look, Evans. Let me take care of it. This is half my fault, anyway. I couldn't sit there quietly with them talking to you like that."

"Then I should get half of it," Lily answered, conceding that much. She grabbed her purse. "I can't take your McDonald's money for the week because my sister is…" She didn't try to find a word. "Finish your wine, at least, if we're paying for everything."

He winked at her before downing the rest of his wine quickly. "Done," he said, putting the empty glass down on the table. "Let's get out of here. A night like this calls for ice cream, don't you think? And there's an ice cream parlor next door, I do believe."

James wasn't sure how he should feel about dinner.

On one hand, he knew he felt guilty that he possibly started the argument in the first place. He knew there was a rift already growing between Lily and her sister, and he wasn't sure how much he added to it.

On the other hand, he couldn't sit around while Petunia and Vermin spoke down to his girlfriend. He could tell that Lily was used to being double teamed by them. He couldn't keep his mouth in check while watching her take hit after hit.

While it was it true that he didn't have a sibling, he still knew that Petunia was a poor excuse for one. She deserved far worse than her keys in jello, in his opinion.

But as much of a pitiful sister as Petunia was, James could tell Lily was upset that the night hadn't gone better. He was partly to blame, he knew.

The night was still young, and they settled for taking a walk. The atmosphere would have been lovely, if there wasn't such a heavy weight on them from dinner. He hoped the large ice cream cone he bought her would be able to make up for the night in some way.

"How was it?" James asked her.

"It was ice cream, so it was excellent," Lily answered, turning to him enough to offer a small smile. She crumbled her napkin in one hand and tossed it in a trash can as they passed. "The peanut butter was really -" Her eyes moved down to his hand and the remainder of his cone. "Careful. You're melting."

"Oh," he said, wrapping the rest in a napkin and tossing it before he could make a mess. Truth be told, he was too caught up in his thoughts to pay attention to his ice cream.

Not just about the fight, though that did leave him feeling awful.

There was the other elephant in the room concerning Prongs and Val. He outed himself at dinner, unable to help it and unconcerned with the bet or the consequences to follow. Now that they were out in the open, the weight of what he had done was heavy.

Was she mad at him for how he had revealed himself? Even though he knew that she was aware that it was him, was she mad that he had kept his identity a secret for all of their relationship?

All for a silly game.

"How are you feeling about everything?" Lily asked. "I know it hasn't been our best date night."

"I'm fine, honestly. I'm more worried about you."

"I'm…" She paused, really thinking about her answer before deciding. "I'm fine. I've dealt with Petunia before. This is your first time. That was… a lot."

"You shouldn't have to deal with that. Honestly, it's no wonder you were so mad that night you first texted me."

James froze, realizing his slip up too late. It was easy to cover his mistake with a cheeky wink and a drink of wine in the restaurant. Out here in the open, there was nowhere to hide.

Lily stopped beside him.

Her hand found his sleeve and tugged, pulling them both out of the center of the sidewalk. She managed to find a space for them by the side of one of the little storefronts. They stood near the wall with his back to it, probably looking like a passionate couple to everyone passing by them.

"I know you've been helping me since then," she said, voice quiet. "I know this turned into something else, but I…" She looked up at him with wide eyes, her hand still holding the fabric of his sleeve. "Thank you."

He blinked at her, feeling completely at a loss for words. "For what?" he managed to choke out. What she could possibly have to thank him for after tonight, he didn't know.

"For being on my side," Lily answered. "For talking me into getting her back and answering my texts in the middle of the night. For taking my advice and asking me to that party. For everything, James." Her expression was serious as her face moved closer to his. "Thank you for being Prongs."

He laughed, unable to do anything else at that moment.

"You found me," he said, reaching to cup her face.

"That's what you got from that?" she asked, voice near a whisper but heavy with amusement.

"I'm - I was starting to think it would never happen," he said, shaking his head. "That we would never get to this point. That we would never get each other to crack. Who knew we needed Petunia to get everything out in the open?"

"She's good at making people say things they didn't want to say," Lily said, rising onto her toes to get closer to him. "You can count this as me losing. I said your name first."

"I think we already established that I won," he said cheekily, booping her on the nose. "I mean, you texting me on our first date, freaking out about me? Sort of a dead giveaway there, Val."

"Oh my God," Lily said, ducking her head so her hair covered her cheeks. James was sure, knowing her, they were turning bright pink. "That's so embarrassing. How did you keep a straight face when I came back to the table? We went out after that, and you didn't say anything."

"I don't know. How'd you manage to keep a straight face after not only finding out I was Prongs, but also managing to get my friends in on it too?"

"You knew about that?" Lily asked, raising her chin.

"To be honest, I only found out because I picked up your phone by accident the morning after you slept over at my place. Pettyville, Evans?"

She put a hand over her face. "Well, I don't think I kept a straight face at all, for the record. You just weren't there to see it when I figured things out. Remus can tell you that I definitely reacted when I found your copy of Pride and Prejudice. Actually, I think I might have scared him a little."

"That's how you figured it out?" James nearly shouted. "It's been bugging me for weeks now! I didn't even think - Of course, it was the book! I can't believe I was so careless. Anyway, I sort of gave myself away at dinner. Maybe we both win? Or lose? Depending on how you look at it."

She laughed, but it ended quickly. "I know you liked Class Girl," Lily said quietly, lowering her hand enough to peer at him from between her fingers. "Do you think you liked Val too? You read a whole book for her, but..."

"Hey," he said soothingly, tilting her chin up with two fingers. "Of course, I liked Val. I liked Val so much that I was willing to ditch Peter to watch a movie with her. I liked Val so much that I got jealous that she was on a date... with me! Which I didn't know at the time, but still. It made me miserable before I figured it out. The point is, Lily, Val, Class Girl… I like all sides of you."

"I love you," Lily said, hand falling to her side. "All sides of you."

It took James several moments to process what Lily said. To be certain that, yes, he heard her correctly. Yes, she loved him. Yes, all of him. Prongs, James, the idiot who was rubbish at Bio.

She loved him.

"You love me?"

Just to be sure, because his mother has said that he has selective hearing. He didn't want now to be one of those times.

"Yes." Her gaze was locked on his, but he saw her swallow nervously. "James, Prongs, any side of you. I want to know them all because I love you."

"But I love you," he said.

He knew that was, perhaps, the stupidest way to confess his love for her. To tell her that it couldn't possibly be true that she loved him, because he loved her. He knew that it was possible for them to both love each other, of course.

He had been so caught up in his feelings for her and how quickly he had gotten to the conclusion that he loved her. He didn't dare think that she had arrived there as swiftly. He was rash, impulsive, and possibly a bit stupid. It was natural for him to fall in love with her so quickly.

He didn't dare hope that she would love him back just as quickly.

But hadn't their whole relationship started quickly? A voice inside his head reminded him of that. Through texting, they formed a strong bond. Through the faceless platform it provided, they hadn't put any boundaries on each other.

They allowed their friendship to grow naturally. Deeply.

Wouldn't their love for each other have grown the same way?

He was Prongs and she was Val. Even when they became James and Lily to each other, that hadn't changed. It simply gave them a strong foundation. A place to plant what they had already built together as Prongs and Val and allow something new to bloom from it.

So it was possible then, wasn't it, that Lily could have fallen in love with him just as quickly as he had with her.

"You do?"

The hope in her voice coupled with her emerging smile was as bright as the sun. Her question made him think fondly that maybe Lily, like him, could sometimes be rash and impulsive and possibly a bit stupid.

"Of course, I love you," he practically breathed because it was easy to say. "I love you so much I don't know what to do with it."

Then she was kissing him.

And oh...

That's what he was supposed to do with it.

Her smaller frame pressed him against the wall, her hand in his hair and mouth insistent on his. She rose as much as she could to try to match his height. One hand slipped under his jacket and gave him a jolt when her cold fingers touched his skin.

He was kissing Class Girl.

He was kissing Val.

He was kissing Lily.

It was like something clicked for him in that moment. His mind fully registered how it was the first time that they were kissing all sides of each other.

Prongs was chasing Lily's mouth, trading opened mouth kisses with her. Val's fingers were curling against James' skin from their place underneath his jacket. Prongs' hands were wound up in Val's hair. The whimper Lily let escape her lips breathed onto James' own.

It was intoxicating and almost too much to bear, but he still found himself letting out a noise of protest when she pulled away.

"I love you," she said again, her mouth still close to his but not close enough to touch. "But should we go somewhere else? Somewhere that isn't an alley by Petunia's favorite pretentious restaurant?"

"Yes, but first I have something to tell you. It's very important, so I need you to listen."

"What is it?"

"Lily."

"James?"

"Val."

Her lips twitched. "Prongs?"

"I love you too," he said finally, bending down to place a kiss on her nose.