Summary: One-shot. It started out as a normal Saturday morning until raging hormones finally got the better of our dear James Potter. Come and watch as Lily gets a wakeup call unlike any other.
Disclaimer: Characters—JKR. Song—"If Only" by Hanson
If Only
It was a quiet morning on Trelie Street—a forgettable little neighborhood situated on the northern outskirts of London. The sun had just risen above the tiny housetops revealing the neatly kept lawns and shiny cars kept in every driveway.
In every notable aspect, Trelie Street was a Muggle neighborhood. It would, therefore, be quite surprising to discover that four young wizards had situated themselves quite firmly on the sidewalk outside Number fourteen.
Stranger still was the fact that all four of them were in possession of common Muggle musical instruments. The second tallest boy—one with unruly black hair, round glasses, and a rather excited look on his face—fingered his guitar as he turned to face his companions.
"You all ready yet?" he asked rather impatiently.
The sandy-haired boy lying on the ground pushed himself onto his elbows, "We better be soon. Tomorrow's the full moon, you know." Then, cocking an eyebrow, "And how do we even know that she's awake?"
"Oh, lighten up, Moony," a rather handsome young man sitting behind a drum set grinned as he leaned against the tree behind him, "If we had to get up a six in the morning to get down here, Lils can deal with getting up a little early."
"It's not even eight yet." Remus crossed his arms.
"Yes, and Lily is always the first person up back at school," said a rather plump boy standing behind a turntable.
James nodded, "Right you are, Peter. I'd bet my last galleon she's up already. As for the rest of the neighborhood, who gives a leaping fart? I've been planning this for months, and I'm tired of waiting."
"And I don't know about you, but I'm tired of hearing Prongs moaning and groaning about how Lily won't go out with him." Sirius smirked.
James cast him a look as Remus and Peter chuckled. Nodding, Remus pulled his harmonica out of his pocket, "Alright, then. Let's get on with it."
Grinning, James faced the house, "Right. One, two—"
Simultaneously, all four started playing their instruments—Peter playing his records on the turntable. The sheer volume of it alone was enough to insure its gaining the attention of the house's occupants, and the stereos on either side of the group pushed their music to the board line of being earsplitting.
Leaning closer to the microphone in front of him, James grew a devilish smile,
"Yeah!
Cause I need you
Yeah!
Cause I need you"
In the corner window on the second floor of the house, James was able to make out a head of red hair staring at him in disbelief. He had to stifle a laugh as he imagined what must have been going through her head:
"Every single time I see you I start to feel this way
It makes me wonder if I'm ever gonna feel this way again
There's a picture that's hanging in the back of my head
Remus, Sirius, and Peter all joined in as other occupants of Trelie Street slowly began to trickle out to watch the show:
"I see it over and over"
As James continued to serenade the object of his affections, his mind drifted back to the first time he had really noticed the girl…
He had just broken up with his girlfriend of three months and wouldn't be looking for any other relationships for another couple of weeks. Being only fifteen, he wasn't exactly in a rush to find a bride or anything and was rather enjoying the single life. Consequentially, it had come as quite a shock when finally took notice of the pretty Gryffindor girl in his same year.
It hadn't been anything all too special. In fact, it had happened in his least favorite subject—History of Magic. The ghostly professor, if it was even possible, had been even more boring than usual—droning on and on about the Goblin Wars. Therefore, it was completely expected that neither he nor Sirius were paying much attention.
Sirius had constructed a spit wad roughly the size of a Bludger and was currently aiming it at a certain greasy-haired Slytherin on the opposite side of the room. James, sitting next to Remus, had been pretending to take notes in order to keep the Prefect unaware of their mischievous activities…not that Remus would have done anything to stop them.
The next couple of events happened so quickly that James would never be entirely sure how it had all panned out. From what he could tell, though, just as Sirius had been preparing to throw the wad, Peter, unaware to the duo's actions, took to shaking out a hand cramp. This shoved Sirius in the opposite direction which, as luck would have it, resulted in James getting a face full of the spit wad.
As Sirius snorted back a laugh, James gruffly shoved the spit wad away from him. The wad next found a home in the formally neatly kept hair of the Gryffindor fifth year's girl prefect.
James froze as the redhead spun around to see his arm extended, bits of the spit wad still clinging to his fingers. His face fell almost as quickly as Lily had stared shouting at him. What probably appeared to be dismay at being caught to her, actually was a pure case of shock. Since when had this complete babe been in Gryffindor!?
Shaking himself out of his reverie, James grinned even wider. He had gotten a week's worth of detention for it, but it had been worth it. Ever since that day, he had become set on having Lily as his next girlfriend.
Well…two years had passed, and perhaps, with just a little luck, he'd finally get what he was looking for:
"I want to hold you and love you in my arms and then
I won't leave you cause I need to be with you 'til the end
Then I hear myself reply you've got to hold it in
This time tonight"
A sudden cheer to his right drew James back to reality. A virtual crowd had formed around the four of them by this point. He frowned slightly. Lily had never liked being a spectacle. Maybe Remus had been right… Losing himself in his thoughts, he allowed his companions to carry on:
"If only
I had the guts to feel this way
And if only
You'd look at me and want to stay
And if only
I'd take you in my arms and say"
James rolled his eyes. Whether she would like it or not he would find out soon enough. At the moment, it really was too late to go back. He had started this whole thing, and he would finish it. Who knew? Maybe she would finally believe him when he said he fancied her. Grinning, he joined his friends:
"I won't go, cause I need you
Cause I need you"
Lily's parents and sister had all come out by this point. All three of them stared at the quartet unbelievingly. None were quite sure just who they were, though all three had enough sense to gather that they were acquaintances of Lily's.
Yet, however nice they looked—or at least how nice the parents looked—the one person James really wanted to see had yet to make it outside. Where she was, he didn't know. She had moved away from her window not too long after seeing what was happening.
So, as his mind continued to run through all the possibilities, he stared at her window, hoping that she would come back, if only for an instant:
"I sit here waiting, wondering, hoping that I'll make this right
Cause all I think about is your hands
Your face, and all these lonely nights
There's a feeling that's screaming in the back of my head
Saying over and over"
James unconsciously took several steps towards Lily's window. There was still no sign of the redhead, but an odd sort of feeling in the pit of his stomach started to churn, giving him an emotion he couldn't quite describe:
"I want to hold you and love you in my arms and then
I won't leave you cause I need to be with you 'til the end
Then I hear myself reply she'd never let you in
This time tonight"
As quickly as he had moved forward, James hastened it back to his friends—his admission suddenly leaving him feeling very naked. No one appeared to notice, though, and James jumped right back into another chorus with his backup:
"If only
I had the guts to feel this way
If only
You'd look at me and want to stay
If only
I'd take you in my arms and say
I won't go, cause I need you
Please don't go, cause I need you now"
The music quieted down momentarily as the James, amply backed by his companions, played his guitar even more fiercely as he fell deeper into the words of the song:
"I want to hear you say
It'll always be this way
We'll be hand in hand for
Every night and every day"
His eyes were tightly squeezed shut, and a myriad of images and memories from his interactions with Lily flashed through his mind. With each recollection, he found himself growing more and more desperate for the companionship of the only woman who could keep him after her for years:
"I want to scream and shout
Cause I'm losing any doubt
And all I care about is
You and me and us and now"
The volume of the music must have doubled as all four took a break from singing to concentrate solely on their instruments. Remus was going all out on his harmonica, playing it like James had never heard before…never again would he mock the Prefect about his choice of instrument.
Sirius and Peter soon started to sing again, backing the music James and Remus were creating. Applause could be heard under the loudness of their music just barely, though it soon started to quiet down again as all four Gryffindors started singing again:
"If only
I had the guts to feel this way
And if only
You'd look at me and want to stay
And if only
I'd take you in my arms and say
I won't go, cause I need you"
His eyes full of passion, James felt himself go strangely weak in the knees as the three on the Evan's porch parted ways revealing none other than Lily standing in the doorway. The girl looked slightly confused by the whole ordeal—and more than embarrassed.
She was dressed in a black silk robe that barely passed her knees. James felt his face grow hot as he involuntarily began to wonder what she might be wearing under it. Fighting back the sudden urge to run and hide, James took a step forward:
"Please don't go, cause I need you now
Cause I need you!"
Nerves like he had never felt before were threatening to pull James apart in every direction. Only the steady continuance of his friends kept him from stopping singing all together and just running up to Lily and asking her what she was feeling:
"If only…
Cause I need you now!
If only…
I need you, I need you!"
The music slowly started to wind down. Sirius, Remus, and Peter all watched anxiously along with all the other street spectators as James unplugged his guitar and cautiously made his way towards Lily:
"Cause I need you now
Yeah…"
When the music had come to a complete stop, James and Lily were standing right in front of each other—half way between the sidewalk and the porch. Nobody said so much as a word as the two simply stared at each other.
Sirius was on the verge of starting the chant "kiss her, kiss her" when Lily took it upon herself. Grabbing James by the back of the head, she pulled his lips down to hers. An eruption of cheers broke out as the whole world seemed to come to a stand still.
The kiss lasted no more than a couple of seconds, however, and when she pulled away, she was grinning evilly. James, feeling something on the back of his head, reached back to find a large spit wad squished into his hair.
It took him a moment to realize what it was and how it had got there, and when he did, he turned to Lily only to see her darting back to her house.
"Are we together or what!?" James called after her.
Lily paused at the doorway, and, giving him a devilish grin, she allowed the shoulder of her robe to slip down to reveal a red spaghetti strap, "Come and find out."
Then, with a wink, she disappeared into the house. James, whose jaw had fallen wide open at that, grew a wicked smile and dashed past Lily's shocked parents, and ignoring the eruption of laughter coming from his friends.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Finally. I've had this idea in my head FOREVER, but I could never get it down on paper. …Even now I think it was better in my head, but there you go. Hope y'all liked it!