His Final Year

Chapter Thirteen: Be With Me?

James and Lily entered a full common room at 11:00, two hours after they had left to patrol. They were both red in the face and grinning. Everyone turned to look at them, and they both knew it. Lily looked at James one last time and headed upstairs to her old dorm room, motioning for Alex and Mel to follow.

James just stood there and watched her leave, still grinning. The Marauders walked over and took James upstairs as well. Once the door to their dormitory was shut, James bounced up and down hugged them all. "We kissed! I kissed her!" Sirius and Remus nearly fell down while Peter tried to understand whom 'she' was. James stopped bouncing around and collapsed onto his bed, breathing heavily and still grinning. "That's right…I, James Potter, kissed none other than Miss Lily Evans!"

Sirius shouted a big 'Woo-hoo' and jumped on James's bed. Remus laughed and jumped on his bed too. Peter just stood there, still confused. "So wait a minute…you kissed Lily?"

The other guys just stared at him. Remus turned to James, a smile still on his face. "So what happened?"

James sighed happily. "I kissed her…and she kissed me back."

Sirius went bug-eyed. "She kissed you back?"

James nodded. "She kissed me back. It was so amazing! Oh man that girl can kiss!"

Sirius and Remus looked at each other and grinned. They started making kissy noises and falling all over James. James just laughed. "Go ahead, make jokes. Nothing in this world could possibly ruin this moment for me."

Remus and Sirius stopped and smiled at him. Sirius put a hand on his best friend's shoulder. "We're really happy for you Prongs. So Miss Lils can kiss huh?"

"Oh god like no one else! Seriously," he sat up, "I've never experienced a kiss like that. It wasn't just a normal kiss with a hot girl I was attracted to. It was…it was so…it was so…"

"Magical." They all spun around and saw Lily standing in the doorway, grinning. She and James locked eyes and smiled at each other. Remus and Sirius winked at each other. Lily cleared her throat. "Um…James, could I talk you?" She turned and looked at Remus and Sirius. "Do you mind if I borrow him for a little while?" They both grinned and nodded.

James stood up and walked over to Lily. She turned around, and they walked downstairs, through the common room, still filled with people staring at them as they went. They walked silently through the halls, finally ending up standing in the Head dorm. James was just about to say something when Lily's lips suddenly attacked him. She grabbed him around the neck and kissed him…hard. He gave in and kissed her back, wrapping his arm around her waist, another on her lower back. She finally drew away and stepped back, laughing.

"Sorry, I literally couldn't stop myself. Ok, I really did want to talk, I didn't mean to attack you or anything I just…"

James laughed and walked over to her, putting his hands on either side of her face. "It's ok. How about we just," he moved to the couch, leaving her standing, "talk?"

She smiled and walked over to the couch, sitting close to him but not too close. She took a deep breath, causing James to silently chuckle to himself. "Harder than you thought it'd be?"

She laughed slightly. "Yeah. I've never really…had this happen…well, at least this way. There's usually an actually…asking out thing before diving straight in you know?"

James laughed. "I know what you mean. I've never quite done it this way either." He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Look, easily put…I love you Lily. It may be hard to believe, but it's true. Everything I told you is true. I want to be with you…plain and simple." He chuckled and ran his hand through his hair again. "Ok, you know where I stand…what about you?"

She sighed. "I really don't know. It's so weird…I honestly never thought I'd be here with you like this. I mean, I hated you for six years James. That's a long time."

James nodded. "Fair enough." He made to get up when he felt Lily grab his arm. He turned and met her eyes, slowly getting comfortable again.

"I just…you were this arrogant, annoying, pompous jerk for six years of my life. But then all of a sudden…you changed. You're so great…you're smart, funny, sweet, and I know that you care about me James. I know that. And I guess what scares me so much is that I really care about you too. It's like I said last night…" she inched closer to James and looked down at her lap, "I've never loved anyone before you. I may not even be in love with you. But all I know is that I'm crazy about you …everything's so scary but nothing's scary at the same time…I'm scared to be with you, scared to be without you …I'm scared to kiss you, scared to not be able to kiss you…"

James caught her off guard by kissing her sweetly on the lips. He gently caressed her cheek as she finally gave him and gently kissed him back. He pulled away and rested his head on hers, kissing the top of hers. He held her as he spoke in nothing but a whisper. "Lily…could you ever be with me?"

Lily sighed and breathed in his scent, debating his questions. She spoke so softly he almost missed what she had said. "Yes."

He smiled and cupped her face. "Then let's take it slow. Lily, you know I would never hurt you ever. So just…be with me. We'll take it as slow as you want. Just please Lily…be with me?"

Lily smiled and kissed him harder than they previously had. They tasted every inch of each other; they couldn't get enough of each other. When they finally parted, Lily smiled and nodded her head. "Ok." James grinned and pulled her into an embrace. They just held each other for a moment, until James sighed.

"So…was I really pompous?" Lily just laughed and kissed him again, their very first kiss as an official couple.