Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, and if I did, all the books would all be out by now and I would be reading them. This is a small romance fanfiction about Lilly and James.

Catch it like a Snitch

Chapter 4: Spit Shine

The next day came and went with little event. James was angry with Lily, much to the surprise of the other Gryffindor students, and Lily was mad at James (This was normal, so it was given much less attention then the latter). At 5pm sharp, with dirty glares and huffy silence, James and Lily met with Professor McGonagall in the trophy room to see what they would be doing.

"Well," Said Professor McGonagall, pointing to a pair of rags and water filled buckets on the floor, "You will clean all the trophies in this room until they are clean enough to eat off of."

Lily sighed; James frowned.

"You will remain her until I allow you to leave." She continued, walking past them and stopping by the door, "You are not permitted to use magic. You may begin."

With that, Professor McGonagall exited the room and walked back to her office. Silently, but angrily, James and Lilly began to work. Two hours later, after half the trophies in the room had been cleaned, James tossed his rag into his bucket and glanced over at Lily. He opened his mouth to say something, reconsidered, and opened his mouth again. He found it hard to be mad at her anymore, having channeled all his anger into cleaning with great enthusiasm, but he still found it difficult to speak with her again; she was just too pretty to be spoken to normally.

"Fancy a rest?" He asked, trying hard to keep his voice even.

"Huh? Oh, sure…" Lily replied, yawning loudly and tossing her rag aside.

Sitting in silence, the pair took a brief, and well-merited, break. After a few minutes of nothing eventful, James chanced a glance over at Lily to see what she was doing. Lily noticed this immediately, said nothing in reply, and turned her head away to try and ignore him.

It was then, when Lilly turned away, that James decided to speak to her again.

"Uh, Lily…" He said, abandoning his mock voice of maturity, "Can I ask you something important? Something odd…"

Lily, too tired to care about anything, looked at James and nodded.

"Well," James began, wondering why it was so hard to talk to her, "I just wanted to know…uh… Do you really hate me all that much? I mean… as much as you say you do to other people?"

Lily was slapped back to reality.

"Why?" She asked, pondering if he was actually being serious.

James looked at his feet, scratched the back of his neck nervously, and glanced determinately at the opposite side of the room. Lily sighed, stood up, and went to retrieve her rag again.

"It's just…" James mumbled, finally thinking of a good reply, "I want to know why because… uh… well…"

Lilly frowned.

"What?" She asked, trying to figure out what he wanted.

"Well… It's just…I like you a lot, Lily…" he sighed, his face turning slightly red. "I know I'm horrible to you sometimes, and I know I do stupid things that make you mad…"

Lily stared transfixed. Was this the same James Potter that had put a chocolate frog into her cauldron? Was this the same man that got amusement out of terrorizing people he saw every day?

"I… I just don't want you to hate me, that's all." He continued, finally looking up and giving her a weak smile. "I would never really hurt you, you know. I would never do anything that would… I dunno'… Cause you permanent damage."

Lily laughed at this. James looked relieved.

"Well, James." She smiled, sitting on the floor next to him, "You do seem to pick on me more then you pick on anybody else. I know you're just playing half the time, but that doesn't mean I won't get angry at you, you know."

James nodded sheepishly at this. Lilly noticed that he looked slightly nervous.

"I'm sorry." He said suddenly, turning his face towards hers. "I guess… I guess that's just how I show my affection."

Lily felt herself blush. James scooted closer to her and put his arm around her shoulders.

"You know," He whispered, leaning over to speak in her ear, "If you don't mind me asking again, I would love it if you came with me to Hogsmead next weekend."

Lilly giggled in reply. James pulled her closer and stared into her eyes.

"Can I take that as a 'Yes'?" he smirked, resting his forehead against hers.

For a moment, Lily said nothing. They stared at each other huskily; their faces so close together it seemed illegal. Finally, James leaned in and kissed her on the cheek. Lily, smiling shyly, nodded her head and blushed even harder.

"Excellent." James grinned, still gazing into her eyes, "You're either really tired or I caught you off guard; I caught you like a snitch, I did."

Lilly sighed. James was an idiot, but a cute idiot at that.

"You always catch the snitch." She whispered, not knowing what else to say.

With that, James leaned in and kissed her on the lips. Lily felt all the hatred she ever had for James melt away like a hot knife threw butter. She kissed him back, wrapping her arms around his neck, and leaned into his chest as he broke away with a chuckle.

"What's so funny?" She asked, closing her eyes and resting her head on his shoulder.

"Well," James smiled, kissing her quickly on her forehead, "Professor McGonagall is waiting for us to finish."

Lilly gasped, turned around, and felt her face glow crimson with embarrassment.

"Well, now that's what I call a spit shine." Professor McGonagall frowned.

That's it, folks! I hope you liked it!