Chapter Ten
Lily was sitting in the common room, at a large bay window, watching the rain outside slowly begin to fall, a developing storm on the way. James enjoyed watching her in this simple elegance - green eyes in a dreamy daze, her mouth was not ranting about potions or rebuking him about pranks, but unmoving, her knees pulled up to her chest, her long red hair in an unfinished braid... in a tank top and pajama pants, her casual beauty was overwhelming.
"Hi there, Lily flower." he said walking up behind her. She jumped, obviously startled by his presence.
"Oh! Hey." she said with a small smile.
"Now, what is a beautiful girl like you doing inside on a day like this?" he said sarcastically. Then he looked out the window and chuckled.
She laughed. "And I'm done teaching you, since you're going to ace this next exam. I figured I'd just take some time to myself. You know, just sit back and watch Mother Nature and Father Time work their wonder." she said, turning again to look wistfully out the window.
Damn, James thought. She is so amazing.
"Lily, can I say something?"
"Sure."
"Well... I just wanted to say, uh... thanks for helping me along with potions and stuff."
She then stood and ruffled his hair. "Aw, no problem, James!" Then she turned to leave but he caught her hand gently. She turned back and their eyes locked.
They both knew that this was the first time she had used his first name without a swear word following it.
"James, huh?" he said with a raised eyebrow.
"Yeah, it's your name, isn't it?" she said innocently.
"Well, I kinda thought I was doomed to be 'Potter' forever." he stood and refused to let go of her hand.
"Look, I figured since we were going to be studying for a while together, maybe we could talk civilly, and I guess I needed to start... Why are you making such a big deal out of this?" she said with a smile.
"I dunno," he said, entwining his fingers with hers. "It jut sounds so much better coming from your lips." he said, looking intently down at her as she smiled up at him. He tipped her chin with his thumb and pulled her closer.
"Hey, don't get all mushy on me, Mr. Perfect Quidditch Player." she said quietly but smiling, putting a warning hand on his chest. Whoa, she thought. Didn't know he was so rock solid.
"Never." he said, then winked and dropped her hand.
"Anyways, I don't know about you, but I'm kinda tired." She started walking towards the girls dorms when she turned around suddenly. "Good luck on the exam tomorrow." Then she humbly turned away again.
"Sweet dreams, Lily flower." he called after her.
She looked over her shoulder and smiled. "Sweet dreams, James."
"Only of you." he said, and she blushed before she disappeared behind the door. James then turned and walked... no, floated back to the boys dorm, his heart pounding madly the entire way.
"She called me James..." he whispered to himself, failing to wipe the goofy grin from his face.
---
"So, are you going to come down to Surrey over the summer for that Eagles concert?" Lily asked. She and Nancy were in the common room, laying on their backs with their heads hanging off the edge off the couches across from each other. They had both made it through exams today and they were both relieved.
"Hell yeah!" said Nancy. "Wouldn't miss it for the world. The Eagles rock! For Muggle music, anyway."
"Yes, if I hadn't introduced you to the wonderful world of good 'ol muggle rock'n'roll, you'd still be listening to 'Hex me, Vex me' by the Deadly Doxies!" Lily said.
"Hey! They're good!" said Nancy, sitting up in protest.
"Yeah, for a ten year old!" Lily said with a giggle, throwing a pillow across the room at her. "And you know that the Eagles are better than that."
"Now this is undeniable. No one is better than the Eagles." Then she paused be fore she grinned at Lily. "You know my favorite song, right?" Lily smiled before they both began singing in harmony.
Suddenly, the common room doors burst open, causing Lily to lose her seating and fall on the floor. She looked up with hair in her face to see James in the doorway with a paper in his hands.
"What's going on, James?" she asked as she pulled her hair away and tried to stand. He marched across the room and up to her. There was an urgency in his face that Lily didn't understand and the fear inside her rose.
"Is something the matter?" she asked as he took a few deep breaths to gain his composure from running.
"I... cannot... believe it..." he said breathlessly.
"What's wrong James?" she asked in concern, putting a hand on his arm.
Her distress, however was suddenly tossed to the wind when he picked her up by her waist and spun her around, laughing loudly.
"What the-" said Nancy, watching the both of them skeptically.
"James, what on earth is going on?" she said with a giggle in her voice, the blush in her cheeks disappearing as he released her.
"Oh, my Lily flower. I just passed my potions exam."
"Really? Oh my gosh!" she wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly, pulling back just enough to see the excited sparkle in his eyes and the joyful smile on his face. It amazed her - how someone could change when they really wanted to. And that smile...
"Wow!" Nancy said, obviously impressed.
"It's a big change, isn't it?" The voice of Peter came up behind them along with Remus and Sirius. Lily suddenly pulled away, embarrassed of her public show of affection to the one she hated the most. Or did she?
"Our little boy is all growing up and... passing classes!" Sirius said, pretending to wipe a tear.
"Oh, go fly off a cliff, Black!" Nancy said venomously. Sirius looked intently at Nancy with a charming smile and with deep voice said, "Looking good, Nancy." Nancy, in turn, raised an eye brow and a middle finger. And with that, Remus, Peter and Sirius turned to leave.
"Come on, mate. We're going to pin Malfoy and Snape to a tree." Sirius said.
"You go ahead, fellas." James said, waving a hand at them. "Have fun without me."
Remus turned and raised an eyebrow. "Huh?" James' favorite thing to do was to pick on the two slimy Slytherins. That, or spend time with Lily.
"For being such a wonderful, effective and beautiful teacher, I must insist on buying you a drink at Hogsmeade." He said to Lily. With his outstretched hand, friendly smile and probing eyes, Lily was shocked. She wasn't surprised by the offer, but it was so... flattering. She looked behind James to see Nancy with raised eyebrows, mouth gaping.
"If you insist." she said reluctantly, though she took his hand with a smile. He began dragging her out of the common room and she waved to Nancy, leaving her and the three Marauders in silenced shock.
"Yes, I insist." he said. Then they were gone.
And there was a long moment of silence.
Nancy was the first to speak. "Did... did Lily just agree to go out for a drink with... James Potter?"
"I believe she did, Nancy." said Remus solemnly. "I believe she did." All three boys shook their heads as they headed for the quidditch pitch. Nancy suddenly ran past them. "I have to find Jenny."
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A/N: There you go, kids! That's all for today. I love hearing from you guys, your reviews mean the world to me. So be sure to let me know what you think and hopefully, we'll get back to the 'Grand Finale.' -wink-
huggles-
EDIT 5/11/2005: Withdrew Eagle's lyrics to "Witchy Woman" due to new rules.
