Lily was sat at breakfast, as usual, sipping from her mug of tea and spooning the sugary delight that was her cinnamon porridge into her mouth. She became aware of a warm, solid mass sliding onto the bench directly to her right, as she breathed in his heavenly scent. She had always been physically aware of James Potter, but her recent revelation that his amorous feelings towards her were indeed reciprocated, made her feel like he was the sun around which everything else revolved. She refused to look at him, to give him the satisfaction, and only grunted when he offered his usual greeting of "Evans.".
They had been keeping their… developing friendship… on the down-low from their friends, knowing all too well that Marlene would ask too many suggestive questions and Sirius would make too many suggestive comments and Remus would smile smugly like he had known it all along and everybody else would pass out from the shock of it all. So, they had decided to keep the fact that they had now snogged approximately thirty-two-and-a-half times an utter secret.
To any outside observer, James and Lily had a perfectly normal breakfast; she asked him to pass the milk, he asked her to scoot over a bit when a third year nearly sat on his lap trying to squeeze in next to her friends, and they both made polite conversation with their surrounding companions; Sirius, Remus, Peter, Marlene and Alice.
Lily, however, was struggling to keep the façade up. As much as she liked to pretend she was immune to the charms of James Potter, the events of recent weeks had forced her to admit otherwise. His gorgeous, woody smell alone gave her a headrush, and every time his leg or arm brushed against hers, she had to suck in her breath in order to keep herself from sighing in bliss.
James wasn't doing much better. Their mutual agreement to keep their pseudo-relationship from their friends seemed like a good idea at the time, but how was he supposed to focus when she was right there, being so beautiful and perfect and sexy. Merlin, it was a miracle he hadn't jumped her bones already right there in the middle of the Great Hall. He had no clue how his self-control had lasted so long, especially when the memory of last night; her soft lips on his, so sweet and gentle, and her hands running through his hair, as he pulled her closer in the broom cupboard on the fifth floor Charms Corridor when they were supposed to be doing rounds.
Thankfully, breakfast, aside from being the most important meal of the day, was also the shortest, as everybody had places to be, or exams to study for. Trailing Lily's path from the Gryffindor Common Room (to retrieve her books), to the library (to attempt to study), James flung his invisibility cloak over the two of them the moment the hallway became abandoned. Practiced as the move was, Lily gave a little gasp of surprise and delight as she was whirled around and met by the mouth of the wonderfully, perfectly infuriating man who she had been unable to resist all morning.
James was all too happy to meet her stroke for stroke, and before they knew it, Lily was pressed up against the wall of the hallway with her hands circling James' neck and pulling him closer, closer, closer.
"Shhh" she half-whispered, half-whimpered. "Someone might hear us". Lily tilted her head back to allow James better access to her neck, where he was now pressing those soft fluttery kisses that made her go all weak at the knees.
Swallowing her gasps as a group of rowdy second years rounded the corner, Lily attempted to slow her breathing and pretend her face wasn't flushed and her hair wasn't a mess and her blouse wasn't all rumpled. James' shoulders shook with silent laughter as his arms remained on either side of Lily's head, and she couldn't help but grin up at him.
Once the danger of discovery had passed, James removed the cloak from around their shoulders and groaned out "We. Have. Got. to find a better way to do this.".
Lily giggled a little at his obvious discomfort, but played the picture of composure as she replied, "I haven't a clue what you're talking about."
"Come off it Lils, I noticed your cute little sighs at breakfast. You're as attracted to me as I am to you. Admit it."
"Never." She said, a smug smile on her face as she retrieved her books from the floor where they had scattered and promptly marched away from the dismayed boy behind her.
"Oh so this is how it is, is it?" James started, his broad strides catching up to her quickly and matching her speed. "I bet you couldn't go one week without me."
Lily snorted, finally turning to look at him, "Oh please, I could outlast you any day. Try me, Potter"
"You're on, Evans."
"First one to cave has to tell Sirius that we're… well, whatever we are."
"Nope. First one to cave has to tell Sirius that we're together, dating, in a relationship, boyfriend-and-girlfriend, I don't mind. You can take your pick when the time comes."
"You better start coming up with your lines Potter, because you're going down."
"Back at you, Evans."
And with that, they both turned on their heel, nose in the air, both as prepared to be as stubborn as the other.
By dinner, Lily was already starting to have withdrawal symptoms. Originally, her strategy was to stay as far from James as possible, not trusting her hyperactive hormones not to dissolve her self-control and launch herself at him. But, as the never-ending day dragged on, she noticed things that would have made James laugh, and read information in her textbooks proving her right about something they had previously squabbled over, and found herself wishing he was simply by her side, like usual.
Sitting in the library after dinner, pretending to be immersed in the fascinating subject of the history of the chimera, she again noticed when he walked in with Sirius, Peter and Remus and sat at a table in her direct eyeline, as if on purpose. Of course, he made no visible acknowledgement of her, but she could barely keep her eyes trained on the textbook for more than a few seconds before they inevitably trailed back to where they belonged; with James, just like her heart did. Was it possible he had gotten better looking since this morning?
Lily's old plan went straight out the window. Her new game plan was to simply tell him about her day, and then swiftly make her exit. Surely that couldn't hurt, she could hold on for that long. Of course she could. And yes, it would be brilliant, because she would be giving him a little taste and then immediately withdraw. Based on his enthusiasm that morning, he wouldn't be able to resist for long. She'd have him right where she wanted him.
Lily left her books sprawled on the desk and strode over to where James and his friends were sat, making idle comments as they each attended to whatever schoolwork needed to be completed.
"Boys." Lily said by way of greeting, situating herself by standing at the head of their table, her hands resting on the chair before her.
James was sat directly to her right, now smirking at her with such a mischievous look in his eyes that Lily's toes began to curl. No. She reprimanded herself. She was here to dangle the fruit in front of him, for goodness sake.
Remus, genuinely invested in whatever Potions essay he was writing, briefly looked up from his parchment to say "Hi, Lily" before returning to his work. Peter mumbled something to the same effect, but it was Sirius who invited her to sit, and before she knew it she found herself sitting directly next to the person she was trying to physically avoid where possible.
"So, Evans, what brings you to part of town? And by town I mean this proud and sacred corner of the library." Sirius said, making mock-pompous gestures as he referred to the floor-to-ceiling bookshelves that surrounded them.
Dreading having to sit and make idle chit chat with Sirius for God knows how long whilst James was sitting less than two feet away from her, looking and smelling like some bloody Greek God, Lily unsteadily replied "Oh you know, this and that."
Clearly delighted by her flustered demeanour, James' grin widened, and he leaned in towards her, his gorgeous wood and peppermint scent invading her nostrils and overwhelming her senses. She drew a sharp breath, willing herself to stop giving herself away so obviously.
A perfectly wicked idea suddenly popped into Lily's mind.
Toeing off her shoe underneath the desk, Lily asked innocently "You know what I discovered today Potter?".
James, still internally gloating about his earlier victory over Lily's composure, was about to reply "No, what Evans?" when Lily's toe began tracing circles over his ankle under the table.
James had to grit his teeth to prevent from giving himself away, and choked out in a low, tortured voice "No.", refusing to look at her.
"You remember that argument we were having a couple of weeks ago about the origins of Venomous Tentacula?" Lily relentlessly continued the conversation, a triumphant gleam in her eyes as she dragged her foot up and up James' leg, raising the hem of his trouser leg until it was around his knee.
"Oh we all remember that Evans." Sirius jumped in, oblivious to the psycho-sexual tug-of-war happening right in front of him, "You nearly set old Jamesy's hair on fire"
Turning her gaze back to the clearly distressed boy to her right, her foot continued it's tantalising circles up his leg, she proceeded "Well, I was looking through one of Professor Sprout's old editions of One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi, when I discovered I was, in fact, correct. Venomous Tentacula originated from Greece, as I said, and not Libya as you suggested."
Satisfied with the torture she had wreaked James for the time being, she left him with a smug "I've won this round." and strode back to her own desk. Pleased with her victory for the day, she completed all her work within the following hour and got to bed a reasonable hour.
James however, was haunted for most of the night by the memory of the phantom lips of the Head Girl on his and red hair shining in the dim light of the library. Safe to say, he did not sleep well that night.
As the week wore on, occurrences of a similar nature became commonplace between Lily and James. If others hadn't suspected something had changed between the two of them before (and believe me, they had), they certainly did now.
Whenever in the other's presence, either Lily or James always seemed in a constant state of discomfort or gentle pain, with the other wearing a mask of perfect serenity and grace, a subtle twinkle in their eye.
There was an incident in potions when James nearly caved; with Lily's face all flushed from standing over her cauldron and her hair thrown up in that messy way of hers, perfect fiery strands framing her face. But he caught himself just before he grabbed her hand to drag her into the supply cupboard, and Lily remained completely oblivious to the utterly devastating effect she had on him.
Of course, Lily was faring equally badly. Once or twice she caught a glimpse of him flying around the Quidditch pitch from the library window, all sweaty and puffing. Oh the things she wanted to do to those sweat-slick abs of his. But, she managed to keep a lid on her self control, even when sitting beside him at dinner; his wonderful, warming laughter filling her heart up from the inside and his hand resting beside hers, sending sparks between their fingertips at sporadic intervals throughout the meal.
The week was coming to a close when Dumbledore announced that there would be a Hogsmeade weekend the next day. Seizing an opportunity to forget about exams, and Head Student duties, and all other responsibilities, Lily, James and their gaggle of friends decided to spend the evening at the Three Broomsticks.
Lily, Marlene and Peter, skipping along, arms linked, led the pack down the path to the village, with Sirius and Alice trailing along behind, scoffing at the sheer ridiculousness of their friends. James and Remus ambled along at the back of the pack in comfortable silence, Remus silently noting the way James' eyes were glued to the back of Lily's head as her laughter carried back to them, and the way that he swore he could see his friend's heart fill with joy every time James and Lily's eyes met over the heads of their other friends.
They pushed their way into the Three Broomsticks, which was already crowded with students and teachers alike, all keen to take advantage of the warming atmosphere of the pub, and of course, the alcohol provided by Madame Rosmerta.
They managed to snag themselves a booth in a back corner, where the noise didn't quite reach. Inexplicably, James and Lily, due to the magnetic force that kept driving them towards each other, or the sheer craftiness of one Remus Lupin to arrange the others so they could be seated side by side, found themselves beside each other.
Nonsensical chatter and laughter were the theme of the night, with the butterbeer warming their stomachs and the familiar comfort of each other's presence warmed their hearts. Despite the early tension that punctuated the week, Lily and James were perfectly content to simply enjoy the close proximity and company of each other, amongst the company of their friends.
As the night went on, and everyone became less and less cognisant, and more and more inebriated, Sirius pulled out his Slughorn impression, pretending to fawn all over Lily by making suggestive comments and waggling his eyebrows at her, to which Lily responded by laughing and wrinkling her nose in mock disgust. Marlene told the story of how her brother had once accidentally let a mandrake loose in their house, and her poor muggle father thought he had lost his hearing from all the ghastly screeching, which of course had everyone rocking back and forth with laughter, tears in their eyes. Then, Peter and Alice performed their own rendition of "The Grand Old Duke of York", which they had learned in Muggle Studies all the way back in third year, and, safe to say, it contained many embellishments, innuendos and poorly-remembered lyrics.
Eventually, the night was drawing to a close, and their little group decided it would be best to head back to Hogwarts, especially considering it was creeping into the early hours of the morning.
Sirius, Lily and James were the last to emerge from the pub, the others having already continued back up to the castle a few minutes earlier. James, not realising that Lily and Sirius had stopped directly in front of the door of the pub, bumped into Lily with such force he had to grab her waist to stop her from falling over. He could have sworn he heard her finish whispering in Sirius' ear "I have someone I want to introduce you to when we get back" as she turned around to face him.
James braced himself for the inevitable mock-wrath that always accompanied him manhandling her, or, as had been the case in recent events, torture of a different kind, like when she moved her lips tantalisingly close to his but then pulled away at the last second.
It looked like Lily was going for the second option, but, just as James thought she was about to snatch her lips from his grasp, she whispered "You win, Potter" and crashed her mouth to his, hot and wet and demanding.
James swallowed his exclamation of surprise, but it was replaced by his relief at finally having Lily's lips on his, where they belonged.
He groaned out "I've missed you, Evans" as his arms wrapped around her waist and pulled her in closer. Lily's arms wrapped around his neck in response until their bodies were fused from head to toe, as it they were one mind, body and heart. A cliché, if I've ever heard one.
Lost in a display of physical enthusiasm, they didn't even notice that Sirius had followed the others back to Hogwarts without so much as a glance behind him- too drunk to notice anything other than his own need to lie down somewhere comfortable and go to asleep.
Meanwhile, Lily's whimpers of delight were lost in James' deep, guttural groans, each expressing their primal need for each other, the need that they had been denying all week, and torturing themselves, and each other, whilst doing so.
Their tongues danced across each other's lips, hands wandering up and down the other's back, and through their hair, and around their waists.
James' lips worked their way down to Lily's neck, his hand palming her breast through her jumper, coaxing breathy exhales from Lily as she squirmed beneath his touch.
When she couldn't take it anymore, she hauled his lips back up to hers, jumping up to wrap her legs around his waist.
As if they had rehearsed it a million times, James caught her effortlessly, backing up into the wall of the pub so he could better support her weight in his arms. Of course, in this position, Lily was pressed up against him, both of them suddenly hyper-aware of James' growing groin.
They both stopped in the same instant, panting, breathless, staring into each other's eyes, acknowledging that they could not have sex for the first time in an alley behind the Three Broomsticks at one o'clock in the morning.
James gently let her down to the ground, pulling her into his arms and pressing his lips to her hair.
As they pulled apart, she smiled up at him in that way that she kept just for him; as if the stars were shining out of her eyes. He slung an arm over her shoulder as they began to wander home, and leaned down to whisper in her ear "I'm so glad our bet is over, Evans".
Lily responded by snuggling into his side and wrapping both her arms around his waist as they walked together, both feeling as if something monumental, if inevitable, had just occurred between them.
They arrived back in the common room to find their friends not in bed as they expected, but sprawled out on and amongst the couches in the Gryffindor Common Room. They all sat up, a look of surprise absent in their eyes when James and Lily walked in, hand in hand.
Remus nudged a sleeping Sirius with his elbow with much greater force than necessary, earning him a groan of protest as Sirius reluctantly sat up and said groggily, "Evans, so you said you wanted to introduce us to someone?", smirking even in his dozing state.
"Here he is…" she gestured to the messy-haired boy whose fingers were wrapped around her own "My boyfriend. I think you all know him as James Potter."