A/N: Chapters One and Two serve more as a prologue for the rest of the story. The main plot will take place in their seventh year. I meant for the introduction to be a few paragraphs and it turned into two whole chapters. Oops!

Lily and James attend a Christmas party.

Chapter Two: The Revelation

Lily and James's friendship continued without a hitch through the end of the first term. They rarely argued, and when they did, it usually ended with laughter. He also hadn't asked her out once.

If this were last year, Lily would have been ecstatic. As it was, she found it concerning. And she found the fact that she found it concerning infuriating. Why should she care? Isn't this what she wanted?

Maybe he fancies someone else, she thought. But he hasn't asked anyone else out. At least not that I'm aware of.

This internal struggle continued for weeks until she finally shared her reservations with Marlene.

It was Christmas break, and she was spending the holiday with Marlene and her family. They were getting dressed for the McKinnon annual Christmas party. It was a massive blowout that pretty much anyone who was anyone in the wizarding world attended.

Lily was placing far too much concern on her appearance for the party. She had changed her dress five times, only to end up in her bathrobe with half of Marlene's closet on the floor, and she couldn't decide whether her hair looked better down or up.

"Lily, why do you care so much? Is it because James is going to be there?" Marlene wagged her eyebrows at Lily. She loved to point out that Lily and James had advanced to using each other's first names instead of last names.

"Don't be silly, Mar," Lily said. "I just want to make a good impression."

"Yeah, on James," Marlene insisted.

Lily rolled her eyes at her. "Not that it's any of your business, but I don't even think James fancies me anymore."

"Please, he practically drools anytime you even glance in his direction. The boy is completely smitten with you."

"He hasn't asked me once this year, Mar. What if he's moved on?" Lily asked quietly while looking at the floor and refusing to meet Marlene's eyes.

Marlene must have heard the pain in Lily's voice. She got off the bed and walked over to where Lily was sitting. She grabbed Lily's chin and forced her to look at her. "That boy is head over heels for you, Lily. I know it, you know it, the whole bloody school knows it. You're amazing; why wouldn't he fancy you?"

"Maybe he got tired of waiting," Lily suggested.

"You're worth waiting for," Marlene said. Lily hugged her best friend. "Does this mean you're finally admitting to being sweet on James Potter?"

Lily was quiet for a moment. "I don't know. My feelings are all confused."

"That's okay," Marlene assured her. "You're still getting to know him, the real James Potter that is. But I don't think you have to worry about him losing interest anytime soon."

"Thanks, Mar." Lily gave her friend another hug.

After her pep talk, Lily and Marlene finished getting ready and made their way downstairs. Apparently, Lily's indecisiveness took longer than they thought because the party was in full swing by the time they arrived.

Most of the guests were Marlene's parents' friends, and therefore dreadfully dull.

So, Marlene and Lily sneaked several glasses of champagne from passing waiters while wandering outside the dance floor. Marlene was scoping for fit young men to dance with while Lily laughed at her commentary.

"I just want an older man. Boys are young and immature and just can't handle me, and there are only boys at Hogwarts. No men," Marlene explained at a volume level that was slightly higher than usual. The champagne was clearly getting to her.

"Why Marlene, if you're looking for a man, look no further," Sirius Black said from behind them.

Sure enough, sauntering over to the girls was none other than Sirius Black and James Potter.

"I said man, Black, not annoying little twits," Marlene snapped.

"Ouch, your words hurt me, Mis McKinnon," Sirius placed his hand on his heart and winced. "Can I just say how ravishing you two both look tonight. James doesn't Lily look lovely."

James had been staring at her since he walked over. Lily could feel his gaze on her but avoided his eyes.

James cleared his throat. "You look lovely, Lily."

Lily finally brought her eyes up to his face. He was looking at her with so much admiration in his eyes that she was tempted to look away. "Thank you. You're not too bad yourself."

It was true. James Potter looked damn fine in dress robes. He honestly looked good in everything. I wonder what he would look like with nothing on, Lily thought. Woah, girl! Where the fuck did that come from?

Lily was saved from her slightly perverted thoughts by Mrs. McKinnon. "Children get on the dance floor and stop skirting around. Also, you two are underage, so I will be confiscating these." She took the champagne glasses from Marlene and Lily.

"Miserable old hag," Marlene muttered as her mother waltzed away sipping from the glasses she had just stolen. She rolled her eyes. "Alright, Black, let's see if you're light on your feet."

Marlene grabbed Sirius's hand and dragged him on the dance floor. He turned around and gave an enthusiastic thumbs up to James and Lily.

Lily and James stood there awkwardly for a few moments, neither of them knowing what to do.

James cleared his throat. "Would you like to dance?" He held out his hand.

Lily smiled. "I thought you'd never ask."

She accepted his hand, and he led her out to the dance floor. She placed one hand on his should, he positioned one hand on her lower back, and he lightly held her other hand in his. Lily was suddenly very grateful for choosing a backless dress. His hand was on her bare skin, and she felt like a million bolts of electricity were radiating from his touch.

"So, are you having a good holiday?" James asked, attempting to make conversation after several moments of silence.

"I've been staying here actually at the McKinnon's. We've had a great time!" Lily exclaimed. "It's been so nice to be out of the castle. I needed a break."

"Is it just me, or is N.E.W.T. level kicking our ass?" James joked.

Lily laughed. "No, it's not just you. I can't tell you how many sleepless nights I have had this term. How about you? How's your holiday going?"

"It's been great! My mum might not agree, though. Now that Sirius lives with us, we can keep each other entertained. I don't think she always appreciates that."

Lily laughed. "Oh, I can only imagine. I feel sorry for your mum, that's for sure."

While they were laughing, Marlene and Sirius were dancing nearby and were closely observing the couple.

"Well, they certainly look cozy," Sirius commented. "Be real with me, Mar, does he have a shot, or is he wasting his time?"

"He's not wasting his time," Marlene answered. "She's confused right now. She just needs more time to sort out her feelings."

"He's my best mate," Sirius said ardently. "I don't want to see him get hurt."

Marlene was quiet for a second as she thought. "They could be the real deal. Just tell him to be patient, she'll get there."

One song played after another, and after a while, Lily lost count. She continued to dance with James, with conversation flowing easily between them. She found herself buzzing, and she didn't think it was because of the champagne.

James looked down at her intensely. "You really do look beautiful, Lily."

She looked up at James, and she couldn't breathe. It felt like her heart was in her throat. With her heels on, she was much closer to eye level with James and found her face was just inches from his. She suddenly couldn't stop staring at his lips, which were getting closer to her. She looked into his eyes, those sparkling hazel eyes, and saw he was leaning closer to her. Without thinking, she started to rise up to meet him. They were so close; she closed her eyes in anticipation and could feel his warm breath on her mouth.

"Black!" Marlene yelled. James and Lily jumped apart at the distraction. "You keep stepping on my toes."

"That's because you're supposed to let me lead, McKinnon!" Sirius shouted back.

"It's not my fault you suck at this!" Marlene argued.

James and Lily laughed at the bickering couple. The moment between them clearly passed.

"Hungry?" James asked.

"Starved," Lily answered. With that, they exited the dance floor in search of food and more champagne.

Lily continued to think about their almost kiss for the rest of the night and much longer after that.

This is bad, Lily thought later that night while lying in bed. This is very bad. Is it possible that I fancy James Potter?

The rest of the school year passed by without any incidents. While no other intimate moments were shared between Lily and James, she could not get their almost kiss out of her head, and it was driving her crazy! She found herself thinking about his lips often and having to restrain herself from staring at them while she conversed with him.

She didn't share her thoughts with Marlene, mostly because she couldn't stand the smug look she knew Marlene would give her. So instead, she kept all these thoughts and feelings bottled up inside her.

She ended up avoiding James a lot more once they returned for the new term. She spent a lot of time in the library and volunteered for a lot of extra prefect duties. She felt guilty for avoiding James because he didn't do anything wrong.

Being around him just confused Lily to no end. How could someone she spent years despising work his way into her heart so quickly? People change, Lily told herself. Just look at Severus.

It was true. Her relationship with Severus was practically a 180 from her relationship with James. Severus had been one of her closest friends for years, and slowly their friendship started to deteriorate, ending in a blaze of glory because of the incident by the lake.

If someone she was so close with could become the bane of her existence, why couldn't the bane of her existence become her friend? Or something much more.

Before she knew it, exams were over and Lily found herself on the Hogwarts Express heading home. Lily and Marlene managed to score a compartment to themselves and spent the whole ride snacking on candy and reading back issues of Witch Weekly. Lily did all the crosswords, while Marlene snagged the gossip columns.

"God, I hope I meet a cute French boy this summer," Marlene was spending the summer in France with her parents. "I just like I've outgrown these Hogwarts boys."

"Hmm that sounds familiar," Lily said. Marlene complained often about the slim pickings at Hogwarts.

"Shut it, Lily. Just because you've bagged one of the only good ones—"

"Last time I checked I was still painfully single," Lily pointed out.

"You know you could have James Potter with a simple bat of your eyelashes," Lily rolled her eyes at Marlene.

"We made it through an entire school year where James didn't ask me out once. I'm telling you, he's not interested," this thought had unfortunately occupied much of Lily's time lately.

"I'm calling it right now, you two will be engaged by this time next year," Marlene argued.

"Whatever you say, Mar," Lily rolled her eyes again.

Lily was spared from Marlene's response when the door to their compartment opened. They both looked up and saw James Potter standing at the entrance.

"Hi, I hope I'm not interrupting," James said apolitically. Another thing on the list, Lily thought. Her list was getting so long, so might have to start writing it down.

"Not at all, James!" Marlene exclaimed. "Come, join us."

James sat down next to Lily. They all sat there in silence for a few awkward moments. Marlene suddenly jumped and declared, "I am in desperate need of a pumpkin pastie. Excuse me."

Then she left. Lily glared at her as Marlene shut the glass door. Marlene just silent laughed, gave Lily an exaggerated wink, and sauntered away. I'm going to fucking kill her, Lily thought to herself.

Lily and James continued to sit in awkward silence.

"So do you have –" Lily started to speak at the same time James said, "Can I ask you –."

The both stopped talking and blushed. "Sorry," James said. "You go first."

"No, that's okay. What were you going to say?" Lily prompted.

"I was trying to say, can I ask you something?" James continued.

Oh God, Lily thought. This is it. He waited the entire school year to ask her out, and now it was finally happening. I'm not ready for this. I still don't know what my feelings are for him.

"Sure," Lily said, while filling with internally dread.

"Did I do something to offend you?" James asked. Lily must have looked confused because James continued, "I feel like you have been avoiding me all term. I thought we were in a good place, but now I'm worried I did something to make you hate me again."

Fuck, he noticed, Lily thought. "No, of course I don't hate you, James," Lily said. She tentatively reached out and grabbed one of his hands. "I guess it's just been a rough year for me. I'm so sorry if I gave you that impression."

James breathed a visible sigh of relief. "Thank God, I was so worried I did something. I've been wracking my brain for weeks."

Lily laughed. "You didn't do anything, I promise. I've actually really enjoyed being friends."

"Yeah?" James asked surprised.

"Yeah," Lily smiled at him. "It's nice not always arguing. Don't you think?"

"I couldn't agree more," James said.

Lily realized she was still holding his hand, and that during their conversation they had moved much closer to each other. She found herself looking at his lips again. They just looked so smooth and kissable. She forced herself draw her eyes away from his lips and look into his eyes and caught him looking at her lips. Like magnets, they found each other inching closer and closer together. She could practically taste his mouth he was so close.

At that moment, the train horn sounded loudly, and Marlene yanked the door open. Lily and James jumped apart.

Marlene had a knowing smile on her face as she took in the scene in front of her. "Sorry to interrupt, but we're here."

James helped Lily and Marlene grab their bags before they all headed out into the corridor.

"Well, have a good summer, Lily," James said.

"Yeah, you too, James," they smiled at each for a moment longer before he turned away to get his bags and head off the train.

Lily watched him walk away far longer than was appropriate, all while thinking about the crushing disappointment of missing another chance to kiss James Potter. Fuck me, she thought to herself.

"Marlene," Lily started. "I think I fancy James Potter."