"Evans, hey, Evans!"
"Yes Potter?"
"Go out with me."
"I actually have a better idea." Lily said with a sly smile.
"And that is?"
"We get married."
"Really?" James asked questionably
"Yes, don't you want to? I mean, I can't hide my feelings for you anymore James, and let's face it, we know each other pretty well, I say we get married ASAP."
James looked flabbergasted for a moment and then broke out into a huge smile.
"Okay, let's go." He said, grabbing Lily's hand and dragging her towards the portrait hole.
"Wait, what?" Lily asked, amazed.
"Come on, let's go." Replied James.
"Go where…" Lily asked hesitantly.
"To the 24 hour wedding chapel in Hogsmede." Replied James.
"You actually want to get married?" Asked a stunned Lily
"Well, to you I do."
"But we're seventeen…" Lily started.
"You're the one who suggested it." James said defensively.
"POTTER! I was trying to freak you out so that you'd leave me alone forever! Most guys run away in fear the moment they hear the word 'marriage' or 'commitment'!"
"CoughSiriuscough" James muttered under his breath. Lily heard and let out a small giggle.
"But Evans, come on, it's not a bad idea, I mean, yeah we're seventeen and you don't like me, but besides that marriage is a great idea. Give me one reason it isn't." James demanded.
"Because! Because, umm, because I'm attracted to girls, yeah, that's it, I like girls." Lily finished with a big smile.
James face dropped, but he perked up again almost immediately.
"You're doing it again!"
"Err, what?" Lily asked.
"The thing where you try to freak me out so that I'll leave you alone, well I've got news for you Evans, it's not going to work because I'm not stupid!"
"Why don't you ever call me Lily?" She asked him, changing the subject abruptly.
"Why don't you ever call me James?" He challenged.
"It's not polite to answer a question with a question." Lily told him.
"Well, then, I guess it's because you call me Potter."
"And I do it because you call me Evans."
"Ahh, what a vicious cycle we've created. Alas, it must be fixed my fair Lily." James joked.
Lily laughed.
"So, Lily, do you want to go out with me?"
"Damn!"
"What?" Asked James.
"I've run out of reasons why it'd be a bad idea to go out with you." Lily replied sheepishly.
"Well then, just do it." He replied.
"Fine! I'll go on one date with you, happy?"
"Ecstatic. Alright, let's go!" James said, grabbing her hand and tugging her out of the common room.
"Right now? But it's after hours!"
"You were willing to go to a 24 hour wedding chapel in Hogsmede, but you won't walk around the castle at night, tsk tsk.
"Will you stop with
that! I didn't actually want to get married dimwit."
"Ahh,
but you still said you did, so in my mind, I'm going to pretend you
want to so that when I do propose I'll have confidence that you'll
say yes." James replied.
Lily rolled her eyes and said, "So, where are we going?" She hadn't pulled her hand out of James', which James took to be a good sign.
"Well, I was thinking a nice broom closet would do for some good snogging…"
"Potter, you've got one chance…" Lily warned.
"I was kidding Lily, let's go to the kitchens."
"Are we allowed there?" Lily asked.
"Well, it's after hours so technically we're not allowed out, but that doesn't seem to be stopping us." James replied dryly.
"Ugh! This is why you annoy me so much, we go around in circles for everything, nothing's ever easy between us" Lily burst out.
"No one ever said love was easy." James replied.
"But we're not in love! We're not even friends." Lily answered in exasperation.
"Whose fault is that?" James asked lightly.
Lily stopped in her tracks, "what do you mean by that?" she asked in anger.
"You know what I mean." James replied, giving her a piercing look.
"Don't try to make me feel guilty about not giving you a chance because it's not going to work." Lily huffed.
"I think it already has." James answered.
"I think, no, wait, I know you're wrong." Lily replied meanly.
"Well then, why are you here with me now?" James asked.
"Because I figured I'd give you you're freaking date and then you'd get out of my life forever! I know you love the thrill of the chase, and now you've got me, okay? So let's go on this one date, you can get me out of your system, and then we can lead our own, separate lives." Lily finished, taking a deep breath.
"You don't get it at all, do you? Slughorn seems to think you're brilliant, but you're not, you have no fucking idea about anything!" James yelled, grabbing his hair in frustration.
"And what's that supposed to mean?" Lily spat back, her eyes flashing dangerously.
"I actually like you Lily! Don't you get it! How can I get you to see that I'm being genuine, that I seriously care about you? God! You're so hard to understand it's like you've been saying no to me because you're afraid of something. What the hell are you afraid of? Falling in love, being happy? I just don't understa--" James' speech was ended when Lily pressed her lips against his.
The two stood in the middle of the corridor, their arms wrapped around one another and kissing deeply. James pulled away first.
"Please tell me you're not trying to mess with my head." James pleaded, his eyes searching Lily's.
"I'm not." Lily replied softly, never breaking eye contact with James.
"Oh, okay…" He replied. "Why?" James asked.
"Because, you wouldn't shut up, and I figured I could give you a real chance." Lily replied.
"Why now? I mean I was really mean to you before." James asked.
"Because you were mean to me." Lily answered.
"Well, if I'd known you'd like me if I was mean to you, I'd of done it years ago!" James said with a chuckle.
Lily giggled. "That's not what I meant, you just, I don't know, put some things into perspective for me, and I guess I realized that I've been stupid, and well, there's no time like the present to take a chance, right?" Lily asked.
James grinned widely and replied, "Right!"
Lily smiled back.
"Would it be okay if I kissed you again?" James asked.
"Yeah, it would." Lily said.
James dipped his head and captured her lips with his own. Seconds later, Peeves appeared above them.
"Students out of bed! Students Kissing! Students Kissing! Evans and Potter sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G"
"Run!" Yelled James, grabbing Lily's hand and running with her towards Gryffindor common room. They made it back without running into Filch or any other teachers. Both felt lucky that Peeve's yells hadn't woken the whole castle.
"Well, that was an eventful first date." Lily said conversationally.
"Yeah, it really was, but by far my favorite." James replied.
"Mine too." Lily replied.
"So where were we?" James asked as he moved towards Lily.
"I think, about here." Lily said as she pressed her lips to James'. The two fell asleep together on the Gryffindor common room couch, and were woken by Professor McGonagal, who instead of chiding them for not sleeping in their respective beds, said, "so, Peeves was right, you two are together. Well then, ten points each from Gryffindor for being out of bed after curfew. Congratulations, I knew you two would end up together." And with that, she left.
"We just lost twenty points for Gryffindor!" James exclaimed in annoyance.
"It was worth it." Lily replied.
James smiled. He really was lucky to have finally gotten the girl of his dreams.
The End!
A/N: So, What did you think? I guess you could consider this a "I mailed my first college application and I'm so happy" story. I promise that I'll update Lightning Bolt Prophecy soon, I've just got to find some time. This story came to me during AP English, so I was jotting it down when I should've been taking notes, oops?
Read and Review!
Kristin