Tie Game

Chapter 8- Swimming

It was a hot afternoon at the end of June, after the exams were over and James and Lily decided to have the last part of their contest: swimming. James and Lily traipsed across the grounds to the lake, towels in hand, closely followed by Sirius and Mirena who were to judge the race.

They stopped under the great beech tree by the waters' edge. Lily put down her towel and slipped off her shoes, shorts and her t-shirt. James was halfway through peeling off his own shirt when he paused and stared in awe. Lily filled out her bathing suit very nicely in his opinion. She pretended not to notice his indecent ogling, put her hair in a ponytail, left her clothes in a neat pile by the tree and waded into the water until she was waist deep.

The splashing shook James out of his reverie. He too stripped down to his trunks, placed his glasses on top of the pile and strode into the water. "So Lily," he called out, "Remind me what the score is again."

"You're up 3-2, but not for long. I'm really good at swimming. I used to compete all the time, I've got loads of medals and trophies at home." she told him.

"We'll see." He said as he drew level with her.

"Ok," said Lily, "We'll race from here to that bank over there, touch the side of it, then swim back, first to touch the beech tree wins."

"Sounds good to me. You got that Sirius." James called.

Sirius looked up, he had his arm around Mirena and she had her head rested on his shoulder. "Uh, yeah, sure- here, there, back, beach tree." He said lazily.

"You say go." Said Lily to Sirius.

"Alright, ready, set, go!"

They were off. Lily hadn't been lying, she was a good swimmer. They had started out at about the same speed, but soon Lily had overtaken James; by the time he had reached the bank, she was already halfway back to the beech tree.

When James got to the other side, Lily had gotten back in the water and was floating around leisurely on her back. "'Bout time," she said teasingly smirking, "I suppose that makes it tie game once again."

"Three all," he said, "I suppose it does."

"It's so nice out, I think I'm going to stay here a while longer. Are you going to head in?" Lily asked.

"Well, I was supposed to do something with Sirius, but if we stay out a bit longer, I don't think he'll mind." He said, his eyes flicking over his shoulder to where Sirius and Mirena were entwined beneath the tree, snogging fiercely.

Lily giggles, "Yes, he looks a little preoccupied at the moment." She reached up and pulled her hair out of its ponytail and shook her head so her hair would fall about her shoulders, but James was hit by the spray.

"Hey!" he said splashing her back playfully.

Lily's mouth dropped open in mock surprise, "How dare you?" she said grinning from ear to ear. They went back and forth for a long time and even devised a plan to annoy Sirius and Mirena. They snuck up behind them and embraced them tightly, soaking them both. This plan worked fairly well as Sirius and Mirena retreated to the castle so they could snog in peace.

Lily ran back into the water and stood with her hand on her jutting out hip teasingly. James ran after her and lunged himself at her legs. He succeeded in making her lose her balance and they both collapsed in a fit of uncontrollable laughter, sitting in the shallow water, nearly on top of each other.

When they both finally stopped laughing, they leaned into each other exhausted but content. "So what are we going to do about this tie?" James asked nudging Lily playfully.

"Well, let's see," She said logically, "I'm better at potions, chess and swimming, we're equally good at acting and we decided to call of the duel, and you've got me beat when it comes to eating, cooking and Quidditch. What else can we do?"

They sat in silence for a few moments until James' face lit up the way it did when he had devised a clever prank. "I think I know how we can decide this once and for all." He said coyly.

Lily was enticed by the tone of his voice, but slightly suspicious. She gave him a curios look.

He just smiled and wrapped his arm around her waist; Lily felt a shiver up her spine. James pulled her closer; her hands were on his chest. He leaned in to kiss her, slowly and gently at first, then Lily leaned in even further, and deepened the kiss. Her hands moved up until they were wrapped around his neck and James' hands had found their way into her hair. James began to pull away, Lily was reluctant, but let him. He was still barely an inch from her face. "Well that settles it," he said, he gave her a small peck on the lips, "you are definitely," he kissed her again, "the better," and again, "kisser."

Lily laughed, "Hmm, I dunno," she said, "I'd say it's still tie game. But you know what? I think we might need a re-match."

The End

A/N: Yay! It's finished! I hope you enjoyed it.