Inescapable, I'm not even gonna try. And if I get burned, at least we were electrified

–Taylor Swift, the icon

It's twelve past seven in the morning when she wakes up in an unknown bed accompanied with the worst headache she's had since the Giant Squid Incident of '76. She takes note of the sheets adorned in badgers and the stuffed badger she was holding close to her chest, and she recalls the horrors of the night before. Teasing his posh accent, the mischievous look in his hazel eyes as they flirted, her embarrassment after their kiss, and—most importantly—the vast amount of badgers. And yet, despite the badger fascination, James Potter still didn't even make the top 5 on the list of weirdest guys she had ever gone home with. Although, he did hold the top slot for the most frustrating . . . for more reasons than she cared to admit.

She should be more embarrassed about the previous night, but well . . . it's hard not to find it endearing when a cute guy takes you home and tries to sober you up, especially someone as incredibly wholesome as James Hufflepuff Potter. She turns over and sees his tousled head that—even in her hungover state—she would kill to run her hands through. Her fingers touch the edges of his hair, which is quickly disrupted by the sound of a chuckle coming from the corner of the room. Her heart rate accelerated . . . maybe she would have to kill.

She quickly sits up—dropping Bludger in the process—not focusing on who the intruder was but rather on protecting them. (This was war.) Despite her wandless state, she begins uttering the first curse that comes to mind, 'Furnun—'

'Really, boils?' The unfamiliar voice interrupts. The sound sending a sharp pain to her head. Bloody. Fucking. Whisky. After taking a moment for the throbbing to slow down, she notices the curly hair and the leather jacket from the night before. Her heart rate slows down, and she feels the body next to her move. So, she was finally meeting the notorious Sirius Black.

She heard stories about him during her time at Hogwarts. Stories about the grey-eyed boy who looked like he wanted to destroy the world, stories about the boy who seemed to hold a hatred for most people. She would hear girls whisper in the loos, comparing his beauty to that of the Greek gods: beautiful with pain and anger. Most people wondered how such an angsty person managed to claw their way into Hufflepuff in the first place (as ludicrous as it sounded, it was even rumored that he bribed the sorting hat itself). However, she hadn't given him much thought during their overlapping years at Hogwarts, well . . . besides the fact that he hung out with the cute Hufflepuff chaser.

Yet, she could hardly regard him as someone capable of such angst as he made his way over to the bed she shared with said chaser, a grin on his face as his eyes shifted to the stuffed badger.

The corner of his mouth twitched. 'Really, Prongs? You do that with Bludger present?'

She heard a groan, followed by the sound of the stuffed animal in question being thrown as James shifted onto his side. For a Quidditch player, you'd think he'd have better aim. But, she supposed this wasn't the first time Sirius Black had uninvitingly disrupted his friend's peace when the latter had company over—albeit this was likely the least eventful session he's disrupted. Nonetheless, Lily laughed as she turned onto her side, now facing James. And without a shred of hesitation, she breathlessly—perhaps with a bit of dramatisation—said: 'How dare you treat Sir Badger that way?' With a pout, she reached for the wand that lied forgotten between them and summoned Bludger from the space he landed next to Sirius's leg. 'He deserves better,' she said, clutching Bludger to her chest once more.

James eyed her, an eyebrow raised with his lips twitching now, 'What are you going to do about that, Evans?'

Her eyes turned to him, gazing briefly at his lips. 'I—' The sound of a cough disrupted her. She threw an annoyed glanced at the boy who simply shrugged and smirked.

'Seriously,' James uttered, sitting up and glaring at the unabashed party. 'Don't,' James warned as a twinkle in Sirius's eyes grew.

'You're no fun.' Sirius pouted.

'As much as I enjoy your company first thing in the morning, Padfoot, is there a particular reason you decided to grace us with your presence?'

Lily noticed the quick glance he shot her way before saying, 'We've been called in to work.' She took his raised eyebrow as an indication that it was time for her to get going.

She saw the pair of them exchange glances and quickly got to her feet.

'Fine,' Sirius said before turning around.

She shot James a puzzled look. 'He doesn't happen to be a legilimens, does he?'

James laughed as he got up as well, stretching his arm in a way that would have had anyone drooling. Really, men with attractive arms had an unfair advantage. She could image lic—. His reply interrupted her train of thought. 'No, he's just been around me for over a decade, so he basically knows my reactions to most things.'

'Your fellow Hufflepuff.' She picked up her shoes and dress from the floor before meeting his eyes again. 'Does he have extensive Hufflepuff decor in his room, too?'

'Oh, it's much worse.' He enunciated as he came closer to her. 'Puts the entirety of Hufflepuff house to shame . . . I'll ask him if I can give you a tour sometime, if you'd like.' He ruffled his already distraught hair.

Bloody fucking hell, even his sheepishness was cute. That was not fair, no one should look so cute that her ovaries were at risk of exploding. Fuck.

'Anytime.'

'So, Lily—'

'Said the funniest thing,' Sirius interrupted three weeks later.

James pouted from his place on Edgar Bones's sofa, 'That's not what I was going to say.'

The former arched his eyebrow, 'Oh, really?'

'Well . . . she did owl me a funny story the other day. You know how—'

Sirius sighed heavily, 'Just ask the bird out already, Prongs.'

'It's not that easy. It's not like I can just say "I think you're brilliant and would love to take you out, but I'm actually a member of a super secret Anti-Voldemort organization and might be called in for secret missions at any moment. Also, the hours are terrible."' Sirius laughed. 'Plus,' James continued. 'Have you seen her eyes, Sirius? They're so green. Like I have no bloody idea how I held it together that night.'

'Post-mission adrenaline?'

'Unless you slipped me some liquid luck.'

Sirius scoffed. 'You think I would waste liquid luck on your love life?' He shook his head. 'No amount of luck could help you there.'

'Oi, don't make me jinx you,' James teased.

'What'd Padfoot do now?' Remus asked, taking a seat next to James. Peter followed suit, taking a seat next to Sirius on the floor.

'The usual,' James said at the same time that Sirius uttered, 'Why do you always think I'm up to something?'

'Because we literally made a map that says we're up to something,' Peter reminded him.

'And, we've met you,' Remus said with a knowing look.

Sirius pouted. 'Prongs is in love with the bird he met at the pub a few weeks ago, and—like a good friend—I'm encouraging him to ask the bird out.'

'I'm not in love,' James objected as more Order member began infiltrating the livingroom.

All three of them shot him skeptical look; all three of them had experience with how fast and headfirst James fell in love.

'I'm not,' he repeated as Dumbledore began the meeting.

James's mother had always had a saying about being careful what you say because things so easily become a reality. Had he known that, he would have said her named a long time ago, would have prayed it even.

The room quieted as she made her entrance. Her green robes appearing to swoosh around her, her red curls seeming to bounce energetically, and James couldn't imagine anyone not instantly falling in love with her.

'Lily Evans,' he whispered.

'Oh, this should be good,' Sirius chuckled.

'Ah, I'm glad you could join us tonight,' Dumbledore said as Lily took a seat next to a tall, slender lady with striking, platinum blond hair. 'I'd like all of you to give your warmest welcome our newest member, Miss Lily Evans.' She gave a small wave and looked around to observe the other members. She thought she'd recognized a few members from Hogwarts—Professor McGonagall, of course . . . a boy with mousy brown hair . . . and a boy with sandy brown hair who she thinks had been the prefect a few years her senior. She was a moment away from looking away before she noted the boy next to the former prefect.

'Oh god,' she whispered as she heard Dumbledore introducing her as a former Head Girl and current potioneer at the Ministry. Her hands began shaking as their eyes locked, their secret moment in the crowded room going unnoticed as Dumbledore continued with whatever logistics he had been discussing before her arrival.

'All right, Evans?' he mouthed. Everything stop around her for a moment.

Finally, she responded. 'All right, Potter,' she mouthed back.

She turned back to focus on Dumbledore, but a ball of anticipation bounced around in her stomach as she waited for the meeting to be over.

'. . . and, lastly, James and Sirius, Lily will be joining you two on your next undercover mission.'

A torturous, earth gravitating, lovely, fucking bloody hell.

'Yes, sir,' she heard Sirius say, a hint of amusement in his voice.