In the Heat of the Moment

Tucked away in a relatively private corner of a red and gold common room in a magical boarding school in Scotland in October 1977, arguably two of the loudest voices in the castle were having it out. If you asked their friends, they would say it was high time the two came to blows, as the raw, unmediated sexual tension between them over the last few months had been enough to drive all of them mad.

James Potter, Head Boy, and Lily Evans, Head Girl, both of Gryffindor tower, had been yelling at one another ceaselessly for approximately twenty-five minutes by this point, and they seemed to be going around and around in circles, neither one really making any progress by way of winning the argument.

Their friends were at first riveted by the intense altercation, being somewhat starved for entertainment being locked in a castle in the middle of nowhere for nearly ten months of the year, but soon became disinterested as it became obvious it was going nowhere. In order to pass the time, they had begun to entertain themselves and place bets on how long James and Lily could go on like this for. Sirius and Marlene both had faith that the two most impossibly stubborn and determined people who ever walked this earth could go on for at least another thirty five minutes. Remus believed them both to be too exhausted to continue on for longer than forty five in total, although he had also been the only one to notice the tender looks they had been sharing over the past year, which he was nearly certain had already transformed into something more. Peter chose to abstain from the bet, clearly apprehensive as to what the fierce pair would do to him if they ever found out. Emmeline's timestamp had already passed, having thought either one would storm off in a huff before now.

It was an argument they had heard, in part, before.

"You can't keep provoking them like that!" James would yell at Lily.

"For the last time, I was defending myself!" she would yell back at him, sometimes adding a few pummels of her fists against his chest for good measure.

"But you can't pick fights every time something happens! What would you have done if there were more of them?"

"Says you! You're the one always strutting about the place like you own it, 'La di da I'm James Potter and I'm invincible and no one can touch me!' And there weren't more of them, and Marlene was just around the corner!" Lily shouted back, clearly on a roll now.

"Hey, don't drag me into this!" Came Marlene's retort from the red plush couch, but neither of the pair seemed to hear her.

"But what if she wasn't just around the corner? I don't want you to be alone with them anymore! Not after last year! I want to help you!" James furiously demanded.

"James, I don't need your help! How is it going to look if I always going running off to my pureblood friends every time something happens?" Lily screamed back at him. "Every accusation they level at me, because of my blood status or not, is proven right every time you come rushing in to save me! I want to prove to them that I can take care of myself!"

"But you shouldn't have to! Lily, you and I both know you can take care of yourself perfectly well, but I just want to be there if you need me!"

"You're not listening to me James! That's exactly what I'm saying! I need to be able to show them I hold my own and that I'm not some pathetic little mudblood waiting for my pureblood hero to come save me!"

"Don't say that word! And they are never going to see you in the way you truly are! They are so blinded by hatred and prejudice that you could save the whole bloody world and they would still find a way to demean you because of your blood status."

"You might be right-

"Ha!"

"BUT, that doesn't mean I'm just going to stand by and take it! Aren't I allowed to defend myself from them?" Lily cried in exasperation. They were back where they started, once again.

By this time, Marlene and Sirius were sprawled out on either end of the couch, their legs twisting in a tangled mess of limbs in the middle, amusing themselves by throwing a crumpled up piece of parchment between them. Remus was situated at the foot of the couch, the battle ring directly in front of him, finishing off some Charms homework, his textbooks and parchment spread out on the floor around him and having to pick up his books every time James and Lily's argument brought them at risk of stepping on his work. Emmeline had taken to curling up with her back against the wall, finishing off a novel her mother had given her last Christmas, glancing up every now and again to watch the progress of the argument. Peter, utilising the only item in his pocket, was clumsily shuffling a muggle deck of cards and choosing at random from it, hoping to pluck a Joker, but failing each time.

"Lily, I can't DO this anymore!" James yelled as he raked a hand through his hair. His tone and volume were so intense that the little group, and indeed a few more students around the common room turned their gaze to see how Lily would respond. Where some would cower from the terrifying temper of the Head Boy, Lily remained unfased, her efforts, green eyes blazing and temper obviously still flaring in return.

Sirius stopped the motion of the creased parchment in one hand as he and Marlene turned back to the argument before them, along with three more pairs of eyes belonging to Remus, Peter and Emmaline.

"Well I don't see why not?! I'm not going to give in James, you have to-"

"Because I love you, that's why!" James cried.

Lily's mouth formed a small 'o' in surprise, her eyes widened, and if you were listening closely you would have been able to hear a small intake of breath. She felt like her heart had stopped. The words she had so longed to express, the very words she had written down in her journal three and a half weeks ago were being repeated back to her by this beautiful, infuriating, lovely boy in front of her. Shock quickly tuned to joy as she began to beam at him, closing the gap between them with two swift strides before whispering-

"I love you too."

No sooner were the words out of her mouth than James' lips were on hers, moving in perfect harmony as they had been doing for so many months. Arms encircled around one another, grasping at the other's body, willing the other to come closer, as any space between them was too much, they were one heart and mind.

Sirius, Marlene, Peter and Emmaline were evidently shocked and bewildered by this turn of events, but Remus simply had a smug smile on his face, choosing to add "I knew it" to the conversation, or lack thereof. This turned eight eyes, curious and enraged in equal measure, towards their friend (belonging those who were not indisposed with amorous displays), demanding he explain himself with a collective "WHAT?!".

"I'm just saying I knew it! You lot have been awfully blind not to have realised by now. They were painfully obvious about it! I mean honestly, you thought that one kiss on James' birthday was the last?" Remus explained, rolling his eyes at his bewildered friends.

By this point, Lily and James had seemed to have realised the setting they were in, and turned sheepishly to the gaggle of friends, all staring at them with an array of amusement, confusion, shock and betrayal gracing their expressions. Before they could even begin to explain themselves, Sirius and Marlene, like a practiced detective duo, jumped in with multiple lines of questioning:

"WHEN?!"

"WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL US?!"

"HOW LONG!?"

"WHO ELSE KNOWS?!"

"HOW DID YOU KEEP IT A SECRET?!"

"WAS THAT WHERE YOU WERE WHEN YOU BOTH RUSHED OFF LAST POTIONS LESSON?"

"HOW COULD YOU NOT TELL US?!"

Lily and James could not get a word in edgeways, and soon resorted to clutching each other with laughter, both holding the other up, as their eyes brimmed with mirth, love and pure joy. Remus couldn't help but notice the way they simply melted into the touch of each other, so instinctually comfortable that everything was easy with the other by their side.

Once Sirius and Marlene had finally calmed down, Lily and James were allowed to tell the story, starting with the kiss on James' birthday all the way back in March, then explaining how their first official date had been on the Hogsmeade weekend when they had both feigned sick, and Lily had had used the invisibility cloak to sneak into his dorm at night, and then out again in the morning. They attempted to placate Marlene and Sirius by telling them that they didn't mean to keep it a secret, it just happened, and at least they knew about it now, but Sirius and Marlene could rarely be subdued for very long before exploding in exasperated outbursts, falsely claiming outrage when they were really bubbling with for their two best friends.

All while they had been telling the story, Remus did not miss the gentle gazes and touches that passed between Lily and James. If they had not professed their love for each other minutes earlier, Remus liked to think he could have told you himself. It was obvious to anyone looking from the outside, that the depth and fierceness of their devotion to each other could scarcely be rivalled, and he knew he had never seen either one of them as inexplicably happy as they had suspiciously been since the 27th of March that year.

Just as always, the fire and passion that burned between Lily and James, which had begun their story together all the way back on the train in first year, had brought another beautiful chapter to their journey on a Sunday afternoon in October of their seventh year. The heat of the moment proved to be just the catalyst they needed for that next step, and until their dying day they never stopped repeating that confession, to each other, or to the son that they came to share. When Remus thought about it long enough, you really could say he always knew, from the very beginning until the very end, that they were always meant to be.