Chapter Four: 'Funny' Observations

(Lily's POV)

"It was his idea?" Alice raised an eyebrow.

"Interesting," Estella commented. "Hadn't a clue that boys could be so sensible."

Selene said quietly, "It makes sense though. We all know James hates being on Lily's bad side."

Lily was about to say some sarcastic remark on that, but decided better of it.

"So what happened?" Alice wanted to know.

"Not much to tell," Lily shrugged. They were at the Gryffindor portrait. "I'd love to tell you, but I've got patrol duties tonight so I'm going to finish my homework before I go. See you lot later," and she quickly hurried away, but not before Selene noticed the flush of pink on her neck and cheeks.

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(A few days before)

(POV of both)

She had been minding her own business, sitting in front of the fire in front of the common room they both shared, doing her History of Magic homework. All of the sudden the portrait swung open, bringing in James Potter and that refreshing outdoors scent. Lily supposed he had been playing quidditch with Sirius again.

"'Lo Tiger Lily," he greeted with a cheerful smile.

Lily raised an eyebrow at the familiar greeting. She had become a bit cooler to him since the 'bedroom incident'. There she was, trying to make an effort to become somewhat nicer to him and then he had to go and ruin it. Typical male.

"Potter," she nodded, and then went back to her work.

If she had looked at him a second more, she would've seen the smile being wiped right off his tanned face. He sighed and trudged up to his room. Damn had he been an idiot. She had been trying to be nice to him and he had to go and act like a prick. James regretted it since he had that talk with Remus and decided that after he took a shower he would go and set things right.

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She heard tentative footsteps coming down the stairs. Glancing up briefly, she saw it was James. He was putting a shirt on as he came down and she could see hints of muscle here and there.

He's in damn good shape, she mused. Must be all the quidditch. She thought he looked rather good, but turned pink as she thought better of it. Quickly, she turned back to her work. It was as if she could feel him coming closer and closer, finally settling on the couch. And then, he started to look at her.

Lily said nothing and did nothing but kept on working. She knew it was rude—ignoring him. But his open staring was making her uncomfortable and she didn't know how to deal with it.

He cleared his throat finally. "Lily?" He asked—meekly, Lily was stunned to note.

"Yes Potter?" She said, not taking her eyes off her work.

He cleared his throat again, a sign that he wanted her to look at him. Realizing this, Lily sighed and put down her parchment and quill on the table. She sat in a half-Indian-style position, her right leg on the couch, her left leg off. She turned to face him, bracing herself.

"I just… I wanted to apologize. For my… 'implications' the other day," he sighed and ran his hand through his already unruly hair. This was not easy for him.

Lily was a bit amused, much to her surprise. He seemed genuinely sincere. And that thing he did—the messing with his hair thing—she once thought of as show-offy. Now, she pondered, it was nothing more than a nervous habit. Funny how she never noticed.

Lily didn't look at him again. She focused on the pattern of the couch, tracing the swirls with her finger. "It's nothing. I overreacted. I should've just known that you make jokes like that all the time." (He winced a bit at this.) She shrugged. "It's all right, I suppose."

"No, it's not all right," James said, firmly, surprising her again as she glanced up at him. Funny. Even with just the glow of the firelight, he looked handsome. That stern, determined look only complemented him, and his hazel eyes seemed even brighter. "I was implying that you were something you weren't I apologize. It was rude and degrading."

"James," Lily was startled out of her mind now. "Really. I knew that you were joking. It's all right. Really." Her mind seemed to fly out the window because the next thing she knew she took her right and placed it in his. She squeezed it gently. "But," she said smiling, "that is the nicest apology I've ever gotten."

He smiled and Lily noted that with the firelight, his eyes were a beautiful gold color.

Lily never noticed how close they were to each other. James didn't seem to either, but after a few moments they both realized they were getting even closer.

They stared into each other's eyes as they got closer. She was trying to see if his feelings were genuine… if perhaps she wasn't some tool or trophy…

He was trying to decipher whether or not this was all a game to her—a game to fool the seemingly invincible James Potter. Damn he hoped not. Perhaps he was paranoid. He hoped that was it.

They were so close their noses were touching—man was it them, or was it suddenly much warmer? And just as their eyes fluttered closed…

TAP TAP TAP!

It was James' light tan owl was on the balcony window, demanding entrance.

James swore under his breath. Damn that owl sometimes.

He sighed and reluctantly left Lily who seemed pretty startled, but said nothing.

She turned to see James walk off and exhaled, relieved. They almost kissed! And yet… she was disappointed they didn't. She had to wonder: what was it like to kiss James Potter?

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"Sorry about Perse," James apologized as he sat back down on the couch—a good half foot away from Lily.

"Perse?" Lily questioned. "That's the owl's name?"

"Yeah," James nodded. "Short for Perseus."

"Oh," Lily said, and then smiled. "After the Greek hero?"

James nodded. "When I was younger, Dad would always read me the stories before bed. Perseus was my favorite. Typical hero: defeated the evil witch, battled the mighty monster, and got the girl. Not to mention he was good to his mum."

Lily laughed. "That's kind of interesting," she said.

"Why?" James frowned. By interesting she meant bad, right?

"It's nothing terrible," she assured him. "It's just kind of cool because of my owl's name."

"What's your owl's name?" He laughed. "Medusa?"

Lily stuck her tongue out at him playfully. "No. I call her Medi, but her real name is Andromeda."

"Really?" James raised an eyebrow.

"Yes," Lily said. "Although I was never one for damsel-in-distress stories, the thought of the love at first sight kind of concept always appealed to me."

"You believe in love at first sight?" He asked, almost amused.

"Yep," Lily answered. "I think that's how all the great ones start."

"I dunno," James said, frowning. "I think there's such thing as lust at first sight. Perhaps infatuation. But love takes time. You can't love someone you don't know. Love takes time and effort and patience. It's not easy, that's for sure."

Lily was amazed at him. Here he was, professing to her about love… how much had he grown up over the summer?!

And yet she wanted to ask him, "Why do you seem to love me when you don't even really know me?" But she didn't.

"I never thought of it that way," she finally answered thoughtfully. She tilted her head when she was in deep thought, James thought to himself. Funny how he'd never noticed. And yet, because he wasn't openly pursuing her any longer, it gave him more time to observe her.

He had never noticed at how, when she was nervous, she would bite on her lower lip, turning it a darker color than her upper lip. She wouldn't meet your gaze and would chew on the string from her sweatshirt that tightened your hood. When she was angry, she pulled her shirt or robe sleeves over her knuckles so you couldn't see how white they were in comparison to her flushed face. When she was excited, her eyes seemed to sparkle and she seemed to dance instead of walk. Funny how he had never noticed those things. So he supposed he was a hypocrite. For two years he had been so infatuated with a girl he barely knew. But was that true now? Sure, he knew her quirks, but what about the girl inside?

James decided to make it his mission to find out if she was what he really wanted. And there was only one way to do that.

"Lily," he said suddenly, after a long moment of comfortable silence, "I was wondering… I mean…"

"Yes?" Lily asked gently, patiently. She smiled at him, telling him to go on. In reality she found it amusing he was getting so worked up over her—her!

He flushed but continued. "We're going to be working together a lot this year… and I thought it'd be easier if we were friends. Or at least pulled a truce or something." He stuck out his hand, waiting.

"All right." Lily's smile grew bigger. "Friends it is."

And both were a little stunned to note, when they shook hands, electricity ran up both their arms.

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Author's Note: Hey, thanks for the reviews! Did you think it was little confusing that there was insight from both? Please tell me what you think, I really want to know. (That and if anyone's really reading the story.)

When James was apologizing, he was basically telling Lily in so many words he was implying her as 'easy'. Which we know was all in a playful manner, but we all also know that when those two are involved, drama is obviously heightened….

With the matter of James' owl, "Perse" is pronounced "Percy", like that git Percy Weasley.

Also, Perseus and Andromeda were lovers in Greek mythology. It's a cool story, you should check it out for yourselves.

And for all my reviewers…

SnakeEyesHannah: That's one of the nicest compliments I've ever gotten, thank you! I'm glad you like all the characters and things so far—I hate it when characters like Lily especially are all out of character. Although a few chapters will be dedicated to the romances of Sirius and Remus (I know, it's a bit clichéd, but I'm hoping that that will be worth reading as well.)

And to HiddenPortrait and soccerchic1989, thanks for reviewing! You guys rock!