Well, this is my first and only ever HP story. Yey? It's James/Lily, which is my favourite canon pairing, and I'm just trying to do my best bringing the MWPP era to life a little, in what I hope won't be a cringe-worthy way. I hope it's satisfactory at least!
Disclaimer: Obviously, HP isn't mine, it all belongs to JKR. In fact, pretty much all of the characters in this story are mentioned by her at some point, no significant OCs come to mind, just a few name-drops here and there where needed.
Lily Evans, an extraordinarily pretty girl of seventeen, ran a hand through her long, red hair frustratedly, "Marly," she addressed her best friend, Marlene McKinnon, who was standing beside her, "Have you seen Idiot anywhere?"
"Idiot?" Marly questioned, smiling slightly as she scanned Platform Nine and Three Quarters with her bright, blue eyes—she knew exactly whom Lily was referring to when she'd said 'Idiot'. "You mean James Potter?"
Lily frowned, "Of course I mean Potter. Have you seen him?" She was getting impatient; she only had ten minutes left before the train left, and she needed something confirmed.
"Why do you ask?" Marly was finding this all thoroughly amusing.
"Because," Lily sighed, "I'm very afraid that he may be Head Boy to my Head Girl."
"Why in Merlin's name would you think that?" Marly asked, genuinely surprised.
"He said he was, in the owl he sent me," Lily said, attempting to appear glib and flippant, and failing miserably.
Marly was incredibly perceptive when it came to her best friend, and Lily's attempt to appear flippant did not go unnoticed, "If you like James enough not to rip his owls up the moment you get them…"
"I don't!" Lily protested. She almost felt like she might cry, and she couldn't bear the humiliation of crying over Potter, even if it was only Marly that knew. "Well… Alright," she swallowed. "I don't find him hideously unattractive physically. But Marly, his personality!" She exclaimed passionately, "I've seen him sometimes, when he doesn't know anyone's watching, just being really… nice, I suppose is the word. But whenever he's around me, or Sirius, or pretty much anyone and anything that could be classed as an audience, he turns into this… this monster!"
"I think that's a little strong, Lily," Marly giggled.
"Don't laugh," Lily scolded as she tossed her head defiantly, "It's true! You've seen what he's done to Sniv—Severus," she corrected herself, having the good grace to blush slightly at the slip-up she'd so nearly made. "But you understand, don't you? Ja—Potter," she blushed more obviously, "is attractive, I'd be blind not to see that, but I could never be seen to be nice to him, because I just can't endorse that type of behaviour, and I don't want to let him think that I like that stupid act he puts on," her green eyes flashed slightly with a strange mixture of dismay and anger.
"Alright," Marly nodded, ceasing her laughter. This was serious, she realised. She'd never heard Lily admit anything except deep loathing for James, a loathing which Marly had always been deeply suspicious of—if Lily cared enough to hate James so much, she'd always thought, there must be something there. Obviously James had been thinking along the same lines for the last few years, because he'd never given up where Lily was concerned. But now Lily herself was admitting that she found James attractive… It was a step in the right direction, Marly supposed. "Let's talk about it back at school, then, where there's more privacy."
"Or better yet," Lily mumbled grumpily, "let's just forget that I ever said anything, because I still hate Potter as much as ever."
Marly had just been about to reply with something suitably witty, when she spotted something, or rather, someone, that Lily hadn't noticed. The 'someone' crept up quietly behind Lily, holding a finger to his lips as a warning to Marly not to say anything, and listened intently to Lily's mutterings about 'Potter'.
The tall, dark-haired boy grinned a wolfish grin, and suddenly placed a very firm hand on Lily's right shoulder. The girl jumped about a foot in the air in shock, letting out a yell of surprise that converted itself into a yell of annoyance when she spun around to face her attacker. "Sirius Black!" She scowled as Marly and Sirius laughed, "Do you have nothing better to do than spy on me for your prat of a friend?"
"Uh…" Sirius seemed to be considering this for a very long time. Eventually he smirked, "Actually, no, I don't."
"Well, that's absolutely earned you a Detention," Lily glared daggers at him.
"Aww, no fair!" Sirius pouted with another of his trademark smirks, "You can't give me Detention yet, we're not even back at school!"
"Lily, can Platform Nine and Three Quarters really be called 'school'? Maybe he's right," Marly interjected.
"Exactly! See, listen to the pretty girl, Evans," Sirius implored, and Marly blushed, "Besides," he continued, "I'll just get the new Head Boy to discard the Detention, anyway."
"So the rumours are true, then?" Lily groaned.
"Yeah," Sirius looked positively beside himself with happiness, at the contents of the news itself, but also at beautiful, beautiful fate, which was allowing him to be the bearer of such tidings to Lily Evans herself. His grin became slightly malicious, "Prongs is Head Boy! Isn't it great?" He asked Lily, knowing full well that Lily would not think it was great at all.
"Do you even need to ask?" Lily scowled.
Marly personally thought that the fact that James had been named Head Boy was wonderful news, although perhaps she would've preferred it to go to Remus, or maybe even Frank Longbottom. James wasn't really responsible or dedicated enough to do what could be classed as a 'good' job, but she was sure that Dumbledore wouldn't've made the decision unless he was sure that James was up to the task. Dumbledore never made bad decisions, after all.
"I'm sure James'll do alright," she cut in, and Lily shot her a glare to let Marly know that she felt betrayed. The other girl merely shrugged—why did Lily have to hate James so much, anyway? It was frustrating, and slightly heartbreaking to the sensitive Marly, to see Lily knock James back time and time again. Couldn't she see by now that James' infatuation wasn't just a schoolboy crush? At first Marly had agreed with Lily that his crush on her was just a passing phase, but a six-year phase? It seemed unlikely, to say the least, and it angered Marly that Lily was too caught up in finding new and inventive ways to reject James to see that he was actually serious about her.
On the other hand, she reasoned with herself, James really did act like a first-class idiot most of the time, especially around Lily.
By the time that Marly had returned to reality from her thoughts of Lily and James, Sirius had managed to goad Lily into yet another argument concerning the two's favourite subject for debate—James Potter.
As far as Sirius and Lily knew, James himself had not yet arrived—late, as usual—but Marly, not being occupied with arguing, watched as a tall, slim boy with messy, dark hair and glasses that covered his hazel eyes made his way very slowly towards the group, arms folded and shoulders hunched, scuffing his shoes as he walked. She was amazed, and she was not the only one—most of the students had stopped mid-conversation to stare at James Potter in this very unusual state. Normally he would be swaggering down the platform, waving to his adoring public, before pulling some stupid but amusing stunt that'd earn him a Detention and make Lily hate him even more.Marly couldn't help but stare with the others at the very unusual sight of James… well, not really looking all that much like himself.
Jameseventually reached the three teenagers, two of which were still finding things to argue about and who seemed to be completely oblivious to his presence in their zeal to out-do one another. The third, Marly, however, was more concerned than perhaps she let on, "You alright, James?"
"Right as rain, thanks, Marly," James nodded, not sounding right as rain at all, and in fact sounding rather the opposite.
As soon as James actually spoke, Sirius snapped out of whatever oblivious state he'd been in previously, "Hey, Prongs!" He grinned, "Why so down? You haven't got Detention already, have you?"
"Not yet," James shrugged pessimistically, "Why, have you?"
"But of course," Sirius nodded, attempting to look ashamed and failing, "Thanks to Evans here," he pointed to Lily, and James found it very hard to look at the girl. When he eventually did, and saw that she was as sickeningly beautiful as she always had been, he turned away slightly, unable to say anymore. Sirius, who had expected James to cut in at that point, looked slightly puzzled, but recovered himself quickly, "But everything's alright, Mr. New Head Boy, because now you're, well, Mr. New Head Boy, you can just discard it, and everything will be right with the world!"
Sirius sounded so very sure of himself and of James that James could not help but feel slightly annoyed. Under normal circumstances and in a good mood he wouldn't've been bothered by Sirius' comment in the least—Sirius knew him better than anyone, they even lived together ever since James' parents had all but officially adopted Sirius. If anyone had any right to judge James' reaction to something, it would be his best friend. Although James rather prided himself on his unpredictability, he was, to those that knew him best, very predictable, in that he would always do the exact opposite of whatever it was that authority demanded of him.
This thought irritated James—was he really that obvious, that incapable of being spontaneous? He glared at Sirius, daring him to feel in any way surprised at James' rather abnormal response, which was a quick, muttered, "Whatever you did, I'm sure you deserved Detention", before he turned on his heel, making his way towards the carriage on the Hogwarts Express that was traditionally reserved for the Head Boy and Girl. He seriously doubted, however, that Lily would want to share it with him. He liked to pretend that that didn't bother him much, but it did. In fact, it bothered him a lot, hence his bad mood—he was finding it very hard to adjust to the idea of another year of being knocked back by Lily. He stored his trunk and Owl cage, collapsing on to a seat in the empty compartment. This was going to be a very long journey… He'd have to apologise to Sirius for acting so oddly back there on the platform, he supposed, but Sirius would want an explanation, and, James thought sadly, he honestly didn't know where to start.
Meanwhile, back on the platform, Marly, Sirius and Lily stood together in shocked silence. Finally, Lily spoke, knowing that someone needed to and it may as well be her, "That was… unexpected".
She didn't know what else to say. Had that really happened? Had James actually disagreed with Sirius, had he really trusted her judgement with a matter of discipline? If she was honest with herself, she severely doubted it, and not unfairly, so she thought. James had just been in a bad mood, and Sirius had been a glaringly easy target with his devil-may-care attitude towards everything, breaking the rules included. But still… When was the last time she'd seen James so serious like that? Probably never, she thought with a small sense of wonder, and a larger sense of something more that she couldn't quite figure out.
Lily was brought back into the real world by the whistle of the train—it was nearly ready to leave. Sirius and Marly were discussing James' strange behaviour, and Lily listened to their conversation with interest. She was not usually one to eavesdrop, but the glimpse of James back there had fascinated her, although she wouldn't admit it, so just this once she made an exception.
"Yeah, he's been a bit off all summer," Sirius was saying, "Ever since he got Dumbledore's Owl telling him that he was Head Boy."
"I thought he'd be really happy about that—it's a bit of a gamble for Dumbledore to take. After all, James isn't exactly the most responsible, compassionate person on the planet, is he?" Marly answered.
"S'pose not," Sirius shrugged reluctantly, not wanting to admit that his friend lacked any of the necessary positive qualities for a Head Boy, but knowing that it was true—James really had been a strange choice, "And I think he is happy about it. Actually, he hasn't really said anything to me at all… I guess it didn't cross my mind to ask him. He's been a bit quiet all summer, like I said—even his parents have noticed the difference. They asked me to keep an eye on him, but that's going to be difficult if the idiot keeps storming off on me all the time, isn't it?" He sighed slightly despairingly, serious for once.
Marly nodded, "I'll help, if you like—no offence, but guys generally prefer to talk to girls about the stuff that really matters to them, because girls're more sensitive. I've never seen James like that before… Well, only after Lily rejected him for the eighty-third time last year, that one was particularly harsh. But even then, I still think he would've discarded your Detention if he could, just to spite her. This is… different. And I think it's probably more than just having to face up to responsibility for a change."
"Thanks," Sirius smiled, charming as always, and kissed her on the cheek. Marly blushed again, hating herself for doing so, but he was so lovely when he smiled… Pity he was so awful the rest of the time, the sensible part of her brain cut in. But she still couldn't help being taken in a bit—he was Sirius Black, after all.
Lily had been watching the exchange with interest, and before she could stop herself, she found herself blurting out the words, "I'll help!"
She couldn't decide whether it was to remind Sirius and Marly that actually, she still existed, so could they please take their slushiness elsewhere, or whether it was to end an awkward silence, or whether it was… Well, maybe it was just because Lily was very compassionate. And the thought of anyone seriously, genuinely unhappy, unhappy enough to get the attention of someone as self-absorbed as Sirius, even if it did have to be Potter, awakened in her that insatiable desire to do whatever she could to help them.
Marly was about to reply to Lily with something that sounded grateful when Sirius cut in angrily—he'd actually forgotten that Lily was still around, and he hadn't wanted her to witness that conversation at all, "Evans," he sighed, "the best thing a stuck-up bitch like you could do for Prongs is to stay away. Just don't put him through anymore, alright?"
"Sirius!" Marly yelled, shocked, hitting him over the head, "Lily, I'm sure he didn't mean it like that…"
Lily shrugged bitterly—she should've known, Sirius never changed, but… "He's right though, isn't he?" She said very quietly, almost to herself, "Ja—Potter and I just aggravate each other. If he's unhappy, it's probably down to me. Not that he doesn't deserve to be unhappy, the way he treats Sniv—Severus, but as long as he stays out of my way, I'll stay out of his. Someone's got to be mature about this, after all, and I suppose it may as well be me."
She, in a move that mirrored James' a few minutes before, turned on her heel, heading for the Head Boy and Girl's compartment that James was currently occupying alone. She wasn't going to sacrifice her spot there that she'd worked so hard for just because Potter was in there already, especially when, if Sirius was to be believed, he wasn't being quite as annoying as usual.
"That was really unnecessary, you know," Marly chided Sirius, "calling Lily a stuck-up bitch. You might dislike her for rejecting James, but she's actually a really nice person, and she happens to be my best friend."
"No, it wasn't unnecessary," Sirius corrected her, "it's about time she heard it. Hard as it may be to believe, I don't just dislike Evans because she won't fall hopelessly in love with Prongs like all the other girls. In fact, I'm just fed up of her Miss Sensitivity act. She's definitely not sensitive towards Prongs, and she treats me like dirt."
"If you gave her a chance…"
"Ah, but she won't give Prongs a chance, will she?" Sirius shot back with equal force, "I wish she would. He's getting so boring, the way he always goes on about her. Anything to shut him up… I think she's influencing him, you know. He seems to have almost developed a vague semblance of a conscience over the summer. He didn't think it was funny at all when I gave an old Muggle's dog fangs and made it attack her," he laughed at the memory.
Marly couldn't help but smile slightly, "Maybe he didn't laugh because it just wasn't funny?"
"That honestly didn't occur to me," Sirius was still sniggering at the picture in his mind of the dog standing up on his hind legs, and the fangs growing as if from nowhere…
"Hey," something had occurred to Marly, "Do you think that's what he's depressed about?"
"Who's depressed?" Sirius asked, completely confused. His brain tended to jump from topic to topic without prior warning, and as far as he was concerned, the conversation about Lily and James was very much over.
"James, your best friend, is depressed," Marly sighed with a slightly tired smile, "And he's probably depressed because of Lily!"
"Hasn't he always been depressed because of Lily? She's been rejecting him for about six years now," Sirius shrugged.
"Right," Marly nodded earnestly, "But before this year, they've always been working against each other, haven't they? They've hated each other's very different idea of morals and responsibility, and then when Lily got made a Prefect, it was sort of a war, wasn't it? The Prefect against the Marauder. They had even more of an excuse to get on each other's nerves. But now they're Head Boy and Girl, they're going to have to be mature and co-operate. And James is going to have to work closely with the one girl who's consistently rejected and denounced him since first year, who also happens to be the girl that he's hopelessly in love with! I mean, that's really got to hurt, hasn't it?"
"Merlin, you make it all sound so dramatic, like the tragic love story that never was," Sirius wrinkled up his nose, concentrating hard, "But I suppose you might have something there. It's like both of their worst nightmares, working with each other, they're bound to be a bit out-of-sorts about it. I should've guessed something was up, Evans normally at least waits until we're back at school to give me Detention."
"Exactly," Marly nodded, "But, good as that theory is, we should probably be getting on the train right about now, seeing as it's leaving…"
No more needed to be said. Very pleased that they'd both stored their trunks on the train a while ago, the two hurried over to the nearest carriage door, which Remus, Peter and Frank Longbottom, the fifth Gryffindor boy in Seventh year, were holding open for them. They jumped on the train just in time, and entered the compartment that Frank indicated was the one occupied by their friends. As well as Remus, Peter, Frank, Sirius and Marly, also in the compartment already sitting down was Greta Catchlove, a seventh-year Ravenclaw, and Alexandra Jackson, another of the seventh-year Gryffindors.
They collapsed into their seats, slightly out-of-breath—neither of them played Quidditch, after all, and while Sirius went running occasionally, Marly did nothing of the sort, and neither were exactly the height of physical fitness in the same way that James, Captain of the Quidditch team, was.
"Have either of you two seen James or Lily?" Remus asked Marly and Sirius as they recovered their breath after their mad dash. "None of us have seen anything of them since we arrived."
"Long story," Sirius shrugged with a wave of his hand. "More importantly, who's for a game of Exploding Snap?"
Remus and Marly both frowned slightly at Sirius' dismissal of the subject—Marly because she thought that it probably should be mentioned to the others how out-of-sorts James and Lily both had seemed, and Remus because he had guessed that there was more to Sirius' flippant wave than he'd let on. He resolved to challenge him on it later. In the meantime, he began to shuffle the deck of cards in preparation for a good game of Exploding Snap.
Meanwhile, Lily was standing on the threshold of the Head Boy and Girl's compartment, wondering what, if anything, she could say to James in this state—she was used to dealing with an immature, happy-go-lucky, smug, arrogant prat, not a seriously unhappy, moody prat.
"Potter?" She said hesitantly as she entered—she hadn't meant it to sound like a question.
James mumbled something, which may or may not have been "Evans", in response. He didn't even turn around to look at her, because looking at her hurt, and he was fed up of hurting over something so stupid.
Moved slightly for some reason unknown even to her—maybe it was the desolate tone of his voice, or the way he didn't even turn around to acknowledge her, or maybe both—she stored her trunk quietly and then sat down softly in the seat opposite him, crossing her legs and folding her hands neatly on top of them.
James couldn't believe that she was actually sitting within a five-mile radius of him, let alone in the opposite seat, and he didn't really know how to handle it—he'd never been in this situation before.
"James…"
She'd even called him by his first name… Not 'Idiot', not even 'Potter', but his first name. This was definitely different.
"James, if you had a problem, and—"
"The only problem in my life right now is you, okay?" He cut in, scowling. After all she'd done, she really expected him to just tell her what the matter was, just like that? Especially when it involved her so heavily.
"So Sirius was right, then," she sighed sadly, "I'll just go, you know—"
"What did Sirius say?" James cut in once more, his curiosity getting the better of his annoyance.
"Oh, basically that the last thing you needed right now was me complicating things," she shrugged, looking down at the floor. This was much more awkward than she could've ever imagined.
"Is he mad? You're the only thing I need," James muttered to himself, not loudly enough for Lily to hear.
"What?" Lily frowned at him, not able to hear his mumbled words.
"I said," James couldn't help but blush slightly, and he hated himself for it—Lily, however, thought it was quite significant. He had never used to blush when he asked her out all those ninety-six times before, he had always been confidence and arrogance embodied. "That you're the only thing I need."
"Are you really asking me out again?" Lily sighed, "Because I haven't had time to come up with any new and inventive ways to reject you yet this year."
"Don't worry, I don't mind the occasional unimaginative rejection," James shrugged, "After all, it's the ninety-seventh time I've asked you, you're bound to be running out of ideas."
For some reason, that comment really hit home for Lily, "You've…" Her tone of voice was different—gentle, quiet, "You've counted? Every single rejection?"
So James really was serious about her after all—obviously he was, if he'd counted every single rejection, every single blow to his self-confidence that she'd inflicted… Not that he didn't have enough to spare. But all these years she'd thought that he was an arrogant idiot who just wanted her as a trophy, who just wanted to win over the one girl he didn't have a chance with… And maybe it had started off that way, in fact, she was sure it had, but it wasn't that way anymore. She realised suddenly what had made her want to help James back there, what had prompted her to say, "I'll help", to Sirius. It was seeing James vulnerable, seeing him as a real person with real feelings, not just hexing Severus senseless at every opportunity. And she'd had no idea that he'd had feelings at all, not realising how much she was hurting them when she knocked him back…
Still, she knew it wasn't really her fault—James had been putting on an act around her for the last six years, one that he'd never dropped, not once. In fact, they'd never even had a serious conversation before now. And maybe that was what made the real difference today—actually seeing him affected by her, seeing the hold she had over him. She couldn't believe that out of all the girls in the school, it was her that had occupied James Potter's thoughts for the last six years, and she still couldn't understand why, but suddenly the idea didn't seem quite so strange anymore.
"Every single one," James nodded, aware that this was a significant moment. "I don't just want you 'cause you're pretty, you know," he added, "You're just… different, and I like that. A lot. So much so that I've put up with ninety-seven rejections, counting that one a fewseconds ago."
"Ninety-six," Lily muttered. She gulped, and said, more decisively, "Ninety-six."
"What?" James stared at her, "No, ninety-seven. I should know, I've counted."
"No…" Lily's hands twisted in her lap in a nervous gesture, "The last one doesn't count."
"Why?"
"Because it wasn't a rejection," she smiled, and leaned over the table that separated the two, kissing James lightly on the cheek.
"Wait, what?" James shook his head in complete astonishment—this was absolutely the last thing that he'd ever expected to happen. After all these years, he'd all but given up on Lily, and yet he couldn't quite bring himself to give up completely. She always had been, and always would be, the girl for him.
If Sirius had noticed a slight change in James over the summer, then that was because there had in fact been one. Not, as Sirius suspected, because of Lily's influence (well, only a bit), but rather because James had realised, after receiving the letter telling him that he was Head Boy, that being a Head Boy was a huge responsibility. His initial reaction had been that either Dumbledore was actually mad, or that Dumbledore genuinely wanted to see Hogwarts descend into chaos, and James had been looking forward to getting his friends out of trouble and hopefully being immune to punishment as he led the whole school into disrepute and disorder—it all sounded like excellent fun.
But after a few days, entirely off of his own accord he'd begun to wonder how exactly that would work, what would happen to the school and everyone in it if he did all that he planned. He began to discover that there was perhaps more to himself than he'd previously thought, and he began to find that dreaded sense of responsibility that had so evaded him for the past seventeen years of his life. And as he wondered and discovered, so he realised that it just didn't make sense. As long as he was Head Boy, he couldn't stay the same person as he had been before—that James was a carefree, obligation-free James, and as he was now, he had both cares and obligations. He had to help Dumbledore run the school as smoothly as possible, otherwise people's futures could be affected—if James desecrated the Common Room every night, how would his friends, the other Seventh years, study for their NEWTs effectively? NEWTs affected your future, James knew, and he hated to think that his friends might not get the jobs they wanted justbecause of his lack of responsibility.
For another thing, James secretlyadmired Dumbledore, and he hoped that Dumbledore had also seen something more in James, and that maybe him making James Head Boy had been his way of bringing those characteristics out into the open and forcingJames himselfto use them, unless he wanted to lose his position. And once he found out that Lily Evans was Head Girl, James had decided that he definitely didn't want to lose his position.
Not that he hated Snivellus any less, or that he wouldn't still use his brain for the occasional prank. A leopard never completely changes its spots, after all. He had just resolved to try and live up to Dumbledore's expectations as Head Boy, and hopefully win over Lily in the bargain.
And he couldn't quite believe that one of the items on his wish list might actually really be happening.
"I know you think I hate you, right?" Lily said, and James nodded, dazed, "And I do. Well, I did. I mean, I don't hate… Oh, this is complicated," she was confusing herself, "I hate you when you hex Sniv—Severus, I hate you when you're arrogant, and over-confident, and when you treat everyone who isn't Sirius, Remus or Peter like dirt. You've never been able to drop that act around me before, and I've seen you sometimes, when you didn't know I was watching, when you were actually nice, and… Well… I liked you then. I just didn't want to think that you could get away with treating everyone like that. And just then, I suppose… Well, it sounds stupid, but you actually sort of stuck up for me back there, in some strange way. When I gave Sirius Detention. You trusted my judgement, and even though that was probably just because you were in a bad mood, it still sort of meant something, because... Well,I think that we'd be able to have an equal relationship now. I mean, I'll compromise a bit, as long as you do, too. And please say something, because I feel stupid," she rambled.
"I… don't know what to say…" James smiled slightly, "You just… Well, what would I have to do?"
"Stay like this."
"What, depressed?"
"No, don't be silly," Lily allowed herself to smile and, once they were both smiling, they were both able to relax slightly, "I just want you to be yourself, okay? I know it's a ridiculously cliché thing to say, but your Mr. Universe act that you're so accustomed to putting on that it almost seems like it's who you are is just as cliché and tired as that saying, if not more so. And Mr. Universe isn't who you are, James, because no one is that arrogant and generally terrible," James was about to say something, but Lily pre-empted him, "And no, Sniv—Severus isn't that terrible, either. Which brings me on to my second condition—no hexing anyone just for the hell of it, including Sniv—Severus. You're Head Boy now, and with that comes responsibilities. And that fits neatly with my third condition, which is that you have to do your fair share of the work as Head Boy, because I'm not doing it all. And the fourth and final condition is that you tell me I'm special, because every girl wants to hear that," she smiled shyly.
James didn't even need to think about it—he'd give up anything for Lily. Maybe that made him weak, maybe insane, or maybe stupid, maybe even all three, but he was happy to be any and all of those things if it meant that Lily would consent to going out with him, "You've been the only girl I've really ever wanted for the whole six years I've known you. You're special, okay? You're bloody special. Now will you kiss me?"
"Of course," she grinned and, true to her word, she leaned over the table that was separating them once more, and kissed him once, softly and sweetly, on the lips. She drew away, "And I'll go out with you, too. But for an experiment, let's see how long we can keep it secret, okay? I don't think you're messing about, not anymore, but just to check, I want you not to tell anyone about us. Let them guess, let them speculate, but don't confirm anything. And then I'll be able to see that I'm not just a trophy girlfriend for you."
"Done," James nodded, "It'd be best to keep this from Sirius for as long as possible, anyway. He'd probably commit suicide or something, and then the female population of Hogwarts will be left broken-hearted, and as Head Boy and Girl it'll be us that has to clear up the mess."
She laughed, and James laughed, too. Neither of them at that moment could believe exactly how lucky they were to have seen a different side of the other.
And both of them were trying very hard not to think about the logistics of keeping their new relationship under-wraps…
