A/N: For the August jilychallenge! My prompt was: "i got lost on this campground at night and i am so sorry i thought this was my tent and now i'm waking up next to you and um hi this is just a little awkward" camping AU. Enjoy!

Something Good

Thursday

She woke slowly, hardly unusual for her: throughout her childhood and adolescence, getting her up and out of bed in any decent amount of time had always been, in her mother's words, "a daily battle with no winners, only losers". Why should it have changed now, at the tender age of nineteen?

At home, she slept with the thickest blackout curtains available, on a mattress that was like dozing on a cloud. When Alice, Mary and Marlene had first suggested going on a camping holiday, she'd balked at the idea. She couldn't think of many things worse than sleeping on the ground, with only a thin layer of canvas separating you from the outside world. And in the British weather? She could stay at home and be disappointed by the rain for free, in comfort, thanks very much.

But this…this wasn't so bad. Although not her normal level of pitch-dark – in fact, she knew that if she opened her eyes, she would be met with the pale blue walls of their tent, lit up like a Christmas tree – it was still warm, and cosy, and safe. No one outside was making too much noise yet, just a bit of distant chatter, a low buzz of sound that was more reassuring than annoying. And apparently, Marlene was feeling a bit friendly, because her friend's arm was draped comfortably around her waist.

She might have laid there a while longer, just soaking up the relative peace before the madness of the day to come, if it hadn't been for the sound of the zip at the tent entrance, and then a very loud, and very unfamiliar voice.

"Oi oi, Prongs, my apologies – didn't realise you had company!"

She opened her eyes and was greeted with a distinctly green tent wall – and quickly sat up, clutching a stranger's sleeping bag close to her chest in a bid to preserve her dignity. "Oh my god!"

The person whose arm had been draped over her – who was decidedly not Marlene, oh shit – sat up just as quickly, a bleary-eyed face beneath a mess of dark hair, squinting myopically between her and the bloke, maniacal and far too self-satisfied, grinning at them from the zip door. "Uh? What's–"

"Oh my god, I got into the wrong tent," she blurted, looking frantically between the two men. "Fucking hell, I didn't realise–"

Her sleeping companion rammed a pair of glasses onto his face, and, now able to fully take her in, gaped just slightly. "Christ, I'm sorry – I – I must've been out cold…"

"You did drink a lot of snakebite and black last night, Prongs," the other boy noted with some glee. "Although, so out of it you didn't notice yourself wrapped round some beautiful redhead?" He leaned out of the tent, face briefly disappeared, and shouted, "Lads, you are not going to believe this!"

A tired, weary voice filtered back through. "Sirius," it said, "might you want to, I dunno, shut the fuck up while we try to sleep?"

"Someone's testy," the boy, apparently called Sirius, reappeared, shaking his head with a smirk. "Can't hold his cider."

"Pads," the boy next to her said, his voice low and urgent-sounding. "Is now the time for this? I think, um–" He looked over at her, and cringed. "Sorry, what's your name?"

"Lily," she replied, and, for some reason, held out her hand to shake.

Sirius snorted with laughter, but her sleepmate smiled and took her hand in his. He had a firm grip. And lovely eyes. Not that she was paying attention to that. "James," he told her. "And, um, that's Sirius." He dropped her hand and looked back at his friend. "Anyway, I think Lily probably would like some help finding her own tent, rather than hanging around in here with two semi-clothed strange men."

"Speak for yourself, I'm not at all strange," Sirius replied, but nodded. "However, you make a good point. Don't want to be accused of anything untoward." He offered her a grin. "What do you say, Lily No-Last-Name? Clamber on out of my sleeping bag – thanks for keeping it warm, by the way – and we'll help you home."

"Don't worry," James added, "he only bought the thing a day ago, and evidently he didn't sleep in it last night, so it is as clean as they come." He paused, shooting Sirius a thoughtful look. "That's a point, actually – why was there an empty space in the tent anyway? Where were you?"

Sirius grinned. "Moony and I–"

"Sirius," the same weary voice they'd heard before called out, "any more details and it won't be happening again."

Sirius adopted a look of total innocence, and looked back at Lily. "Pete's tent has two compartments, like bedrooms," he told her, as if she had any idea who Pete even was. "Although I'm not sure the walls did as much as he would hope–"

"They did not," a different, pained voice shouted.

Sirius just laughed. "Fun times."

Lily felt just a touch overwhelmed. "Right. Ha. Um, yes, home. Thanks." Of course, last night when she had thought she got back to her tent, she hadn't been able to find her nightclothes (and was it any wonder, now, in the cold light of day?) and so had just shucked off her t-shirt and jeans, and clambered into her – Sirius' – sleeping bag in her underwear. A solid plan when she thought she was sleeping next to her best friend of eight years and counting. Less solid now that she was about to give two – admittedly handsome – blokes a free show.

James seemed to intuit her discomfort and quickly clambered out of his sleeping bag, grabbing a nearby pair of jeans and a t-shirt as he went. "We'll, um, just wait outside for you."

"Feel free to leave a token behind," Sirius added as he disappeared out of the tent; she heard a solid thump sound, followed by an "ouch, fuck, I was obviously joking, Prongs…"

She found her clothes easily enough, cast aside on top of a crate of Magners and a portable Bluetooth speaker, and quickly got dressed. She paused, feeling a little foolish as she quickly combed her fingers through her hair, wiped under her eyes to remove any wayward mascara – she even nicked a bit of deodorant spray from a nearby can of Lynx. Stay classy, Evans, she told herself with an internal sigh.

Outside, the air was cool, the sky a clear blue, and she blinked in the bright light of the sun as she tried to take in her surroundings. From here, the boys' tent did look more blue-green than green, and was next to a larger red tent like the one Mary and Alice were sleeping in. No wonder she'd been confused at midnight, stumbling back from the toilet block with a few too many glasses of rosé in her system.

James and Sirius were holding a quiet conference a few feet away, but both looked up as she emerged. Okay, so maybe they were a bit more than handsome. They looked about her age, with tall, lean bodies which probably looked relaxed anywhere. She let her gaze linger a bit too long on James' muscled torso – he quickly pulled on the t-shirt which had remained bunched in his hands, and she looked away, blushing, like an idiot.

"Your tent, um, looks like mine," she said, for want of something better to say.

"Happens to the best of us," James replied with an easy smile. He cast his gaze around the site: slightly downhill, towards the toilet block, reception area, and the beach beyond; and slightly uphill, where tents and caravans were spaced evenly along with neatly-trimmed hedges and well-placed trees. It really did look all pretty much the same to her. "Which direction do you think your pitch is in?"

She followed his gaze, looking for familiar landmarks – they really couldn't be far. Sure enough, she spotted someone's distinctive windbreak a little way up the hill, one she remembered being able to see from her tent. "I think over in that direction," she decided. "But you guys don't have to walk with me, I'll be fine."

"Don't be daft," James frowned, as Sirius said, "like we're going to let a young lady just wander around unattended…"

She raised an eyebrow. "I'm not an imbecile," she told them, "I'm pretty sure I can manage my way around what the brochure called 'the jewel in Cornwall's camping crown'."

"Says the girl who wandered into the wrong tent," Sirius pointed out. "James hasn't cosied up that close to someone in years."

James shot him a glare. "We know you're not an imbecile," he said, obviously choosing to ignore his friend's comments. "Just…let us walk with you? For our peace of mind?"

She heaved a sigh. "Fine, fine." She gestured up the hill. "Let's go."

It turned out that Lily's tent – and Lily's extremely anxious friends, relieved to see her in one piece – were only a few minutes further up the hill. A dark-haired girl threw herself at James as if he'd personally pulled her friend from a burning building, rather than just wake up next to a beautiful woman and figure he should probably walk her home. "Christ, Lil, I thought you'd been murdered," the girl said, turning to her friend with the kind of ferocious intensity that definitely piqued Sirius' interest. James could tell just by looking at his mate that he was already keen to befriend her: he liked those with a penchant for the dramatic. "That's it, we're not separating ever again!"

"Ever again?" Lily smiled fondly, prising the girl's fingers from her cheeks. "That's a touch extreme, Marls."

"I disagree. I think it might not be extreme enough!"

A blonde girl turned to James and Sirius with a smile. "Thanks so much for keeping an eye on her," she said. "Not all blokes would've done that."

"Oh, it's no problem," Sirius replied. "Least we could do after she woke up next to this ugly sod."

"Thanks, mate."

"I'm Sirius," his friend added, holding his hand out to the blonde girl. She beamed at him, shaking his hand as if it were all perfectly normal. "And you are…?"

"Mary," she replied sweetly. Sirius tended to have that sort of effect on women, even though he couldn't be less interested – it was something of a miracle that Lily hadn't reacted that way, too. James couldn't help but feel a bit relieved about that…and a bit embarrassed to feel relieved. "Pleasure to meet you."

"Right, sorry," Lily piped up. "Um, so that's Mary – and this is Marls – Marlene," she pointed to the dark-haired girl who was still trying to clutch on to Lily, as if she might wander off again, "and Alice," a striking girl with cropped, bleach-blonde hair. "This is Sirius, and James, whose tent I crashed last night."

"Lily Evans," Alice tsked teasingly. "There are much more polite ways to end up in bed with a handsome bloke, you know."

James watched as Lily blushed a glorious pink, and couldn't help but smile. There was something so watchable about her – a quality that, despite hardly knowing the woman, made him want to linger in her presence for as long as possible.

"Well, I won't make that mistake again," Lily promised.

"Too right," Mary agreed. "We're going to have you on a bungee rope every time you go anywhere alone, that way you can just ping back to the right pitch each night."

"Might cramp my style a bit, Mare," Lily offered.

James cleared his throat. "Well, we'll leave you to…recover," he offered with a grin. "It was nice to meet you all."

"And you know where we are, Lillian," Sirius added cheerfully. "We're here till Tuesday, come and join us and the others for a drink or something, if you like."

"We'd love to," Marlene replied on Lily's behalf.

James and Sirius turned, starting the short walk back to their own pitch. After a few moments, James sighed. "Stop it."

Sirius smiled. "Stop what?"

"Stop looking at me like that."

His friend laughed fondly. "And how am I looking at you, my dear Prongs?"

He shot him a half-hearted glare. "You know what you're doing."

Sirius clutched his hands to his chest. "I'm just enjoying it all," he replied. "Isn't that what holidays are for? Enjoyment?"

"Fuck off," James sighed. "I don't – "

"Oh, but you do," Sirius patted him on the shoulder. "You're so transparent when it comes to birds. You fancy her rotten already and you only just met her!"

James wished, as he had done many times before, that he could hide his feelings the way that others could. But damnit, Sirius was right: when it came to women, he was as obvious as anything. He might as well walk around wearing a t-shirt that said 'I fancy the pants off of you'. "Well," he said, with a slight frown, "she is very pretty."

"Extremely," Sirius agreed. "Hard to ignore that. And she didn't punch you in the nose for trying to feel her up during the night."

They'd made it back to their pitch, where Remus and Pete had evidently given up on their lie-in; both boys sat in camping chairs, blinking wearily in the morning sunshine. Remus was clutching an excessively large mug of coffee. "Who've you been feeling up, Prongs?" he asked, fighting off a yawn.

"No one," James fell into a spare chair, kicking his feet up onto a nearby table. "Not on purpose, anyway."

"A beautiful redhead got into the wrong tent last night," Sirius shared gleefully. "Got the fright of her life waking up next to this specky twat."

"What?!" Pete sat forward, eyes widening. "We only got here last night and you've already landed a girl!" He cast Remus a resentful look. "I'm being abandoned left, right and centre."

"We're not abandoning you," Remus told him patiently.

"Exactly," Sirius agreed. "You were only a few metres and a canvas wall away from the best blow job of my life last night. How much more involved do you want to be?"

James and Pete groaned almost in unison, while Remus threw whatever was nearest – a plastic bottle filled with water – at his paramour. "What have we said about oversharing, Pads?"

Sirius just cackled. "You know, I don't remember."

Remus decided, as he often did, to ignore Sirius entirely. "So, are you going to see her again?"

James glanced over his shoulder, as if he might be able to see Lily from there (he definitely couldn't). "Maybe." He felt a bit ridiculous, feeling so melancholic at the thought of not seeing her again – he barely knew the woman. And yet… "I hope so…"

Friday

"This is ridiculous."

"No, it isn't."

"Yes," Lily insisted, lengthening her strides to keep pace with Marlene. That girl was too tall for her own good. It made Lily feel like a small child. "It is. There's no way they meant what they said, they probably just want to hang out with their own friends – "

Marlene shot her a withering look. "Right. Because blokes hate being around four gorgeous women."

"I'm pretty sure Sirius is gay," Lily offered. "He said he spent the night with one of the other blokes, that's why he wasn't in his bed."

"So that means there's better odds for the two straight blokes, then, doesn't it?" Marlene replied with worrying ease.

"Even though Alice is engaged, and you're a massive bloody lesbian?"

She smiled proudly. "I am, aren't I."

Before Lily could argue her point further, they reached the boys' pitch. It was past noon, but the place seemed deserted: empty chairs were scattered around a folding table which was covered in crumpled cans, a toppled-over pack of cards, and an empty Cadbury's wrapper. "Maybe they've gone out," she guessed, feeling secretly a bit relieved.

When Marlene had suggested, that morning, that they go and hunt down "your tent tryst and his fit friends", Lily had experienced a wide and wild range of emotions. Yes, true, she had found her mind drifting to James far more often than was strictly necessary, given that she hardly knew the boy and spent maybe a total of twenty minutes in his presence. Yes, he was almost criminally attractive, with the kind of smile that made her weak at the knees. Yes, she was a goner for good arms and hair she could rake her fingers through. But – and this seemed important – she knew next to nothing about him. What good was a cracking set of forearms if he was also an axe murderer, or an animal abuser, or – or a Tory voter? It didn't bear thinking about.

And besides all that, they were only here for a long weekend. What was the point in getting herself all mixed up with, yes, a bloke who turned her insides to mush, if they had to part ways in a few days anyway? Knowing her luck, he would be from some far-flung place like Newcastle – admittedly, he didn't have the accent, but you never could tell.

No, it was much easier to just spend the weekend with her friends, forget all about James and his lovely eyes, and then head home to London on Monday.

Unfortunately, Marlene didn't see it that way. "Live a little, Lily Evans!" she'd insisted over breakfast. "Would it kill you to loosen up a bit and follow your heart?"

"And if not follow your heart, then follow your pants?" Mary had added with a smirk.

This was how most decisions were made in her life. Bullied into things by these monsters she called friends.

"They don't seem the type to be up and about with the dawn," Marlene replied, peering at a piece of paper discarded on the table. At first glance it just looked like it had the scoring for whatever complicated card game they'd been playing. "Look! He's been writing L's all down the side."

Lily moved forward then, looking down at the piece of paper – and just as she did that, a zipping sound broke through the quiet, and the man himself, clad only in a pair of boxers, stumbled out into the daylight.

"Bloody hell," he croaked. "It's you!"

Lily smiled awkwardly. "Um, yes," she agreed. "Sorry, did we wake you?"

"S'okay," he fought a yawn and stretched his arms languidly above his head – oh, those arms, those shoulders. "Didn't mean to sleep this late. We had a few sherries last night."

Marlene, at her side, grinned broadly. "We just came to ask if you lot want to join us for a barbecue on the beach later," she said, probably knowing that Lily wouldn't say it herself. Not least because of how distracted she was at that moment. "Fancy it?"

"Yeah, that sounds fun," he agreed, and gave the poles on each of the tents a rattle, making each structure wobble threateningly. "Lads! We've been invited out!"

From the green tent: "But I haven't a thing to wear!"

From the red tent: "Why are we awake?"

James shot them both a smile. "We're in."

"Great," Lily tried not to look too pleased, or too scared. Both emotions were waging war inside her currently. "We'll meet you by the reception block at seven."

He held her gaze all too easily. "Looking forward to it."

As they headed back up the hill, Marlene gave Lily a playful nudge. "See? That wasn't so hard now, was it?"

She tried to fight off a smile. "Shut up."

The beach was a two-minute walk from the campsite – just a quick scramble up and over some dunes – but was far enough away from some of the busier seaside towns that it was relatively quiet. Sirius and Marlene, who had apparently decided to become best friends immediately upon meeting, led the group to a spot where they could settle down with their blankets. James roped Remus into helping him get the barbecue started, while Pete, Mary and Alice happily started building a campfire.

James was focused intently on fitting as many sausages on the grill as he could when Remus finally broached the subject. "So," his friend said, pausing to take a swig from his can of cider, "Lily's great."

He shot Remus a suspicious glance. "Yeah, seems so…"

"And she clearly wanted to see you again," Remus added, looking over to where Lily stood, barefoot in the shallows, chatting with Sirius and Marlene.

"Clearly?" James asked.

"Well, she invited us all to hang out, didn't she," he pointed out calmly.

"Technically, Marlene did."

Remus rolled his eyes. "When are you going to actually…talk to her?" he asked. "You know – get to know her better?"

"Remus Lupin," James sighed, clicking the barbecue tongs dangerously in his direction, "are you suggesting I abandon the food? We'd all starve."

"I can cook," Remus argued. "It's not like it's rocket science."

"You couldn't even heat up the baked beans we had for dinner last night," he pointed out.

"Yes, well, Pads was distracting me," Remus replied, glancing back towards the water. "Normally I'm very skilled."

"If you say so," James raised his eyebrows. "Anyway. She's not just here to talk to me, is she? You lot are interesting conversationalists, too."

"Well, I am," Remus allowed. "But we're not the ones she can't stop smiling at."

James couldn't help but look towards the water, too, as if he might find Lily there smiling at him even from that distance. She wasn't, of course – too busy helping Marlene splash the living daylights out of Sirius. "You're seeing things, mate."

"I'm not," his friend promised him. "So go and talk to her."

James paused, certainly tempted – but something held him back. Shyness? No, that can't have been it – no one had ever accused him of being shy before. There was just something about her, something that told him she was different, that he couldn't just treat her like any other fit girl he came across. "The night is still young, anyway," he insisted, turning back to the grill. "There's no rush."

He stuck by that statement, staying at the barbecue until all the food was cooked to perfection: it was an hour later by the time they all crowded round the campfire, paper plates laden with hot dogs and burgers. He was the last to sit down – had to make sure they didn't set the beach on fire, after all – and Sirius obnoxiously patted the empty space between himself and Lily. "Prongs, there's room for you here!"

James tried to express his displeasure at this meddling solely through his stare – harder to do than it seemed, apparently, because Sirius just beamed back at him.

"Thanks for cooking," Lily spoke up once he'd settled into the sand beside her. "I promise we didn't just invite you lot to get you to do all the hard work."

He laughed. "No, I see how it is," he replied. "This has all been a long con, hasn't it?"

She smirked. "Yes. I sleep in unsuspecting men's tents, then lure them to the beach and make them cook me dinner."

He shook his head in mock disappointment. "Such heartlessness."

She just grinned. "100% success rate so far, though."

As the food slowly disappeared, the group got to know each other better. James learned that Lily and Marlene had been at secondary school together, while Alice and Mary had met them at university, and they'd become fast friends. Lily had blushed – god, he could happily stare at her forever, flushed so prettily in the dancing light of the fire – as Marlene had told everyone a story that involved too much vodka, an argument with a bouncer, and setting off the fire alarm in a club in Wimbledon.

"In my defence," Lily had laughed, "I didn't realise his coat had caught fire."

"Oh, well then," Remus had teased, "that makes it okay after all."

In return, the boys shared their story – friends since eleven, thrown together at boarding school and as thick as thieves ever since. Sirius wasted no time at all in telling as many embarrassing stories as he could about James.

"So many pranks," Lily smiled, an eyebrow raised. "So much wanton misbehaviour. And you seem like such a good lad."

"Looks can be deceiving," he winked, and felt a warmth pool in his belly at the twinkle in her eyes.

As the sky grew dark, he found himself sitting closer to her, finding excuses to touch her in any small way – draping a blanket round her shoulders after she shivered, grazing her fingers with his as he adjusted her pointing hand to find a particular star in the twinkling sky. Time slipped by, voices grew softer; Sirius and Remus got thoroughly distracted with each other's mouths across the fire, while the others seemed to be having a quiet but thorough discussion on the fate of Mary in the last season of Sherlock (something James knew that Pete had very strong opinions on).

James and Lily, though, sat together, content in the quiet crackling of the fire. He chanced a glance at her, marvelling at the way her hair seemed alight, too, catching each spark of light from the flames. Looking at her, here, under the expanse of stars, he felt like there couldn't be anyone more beautiful, not anywhere. Surely, she was it.

And that was mad, wasn't it? To feel that way about a girl he hardly knew?

She caught his gaze, and smiled, her green eyes as warm as the fire in front of them. "It's a beautiful night, isn't it," she murmured.

As if he could do anything but agree.

Saturday

Lily had suggested, as they'd strolled back to the campsite last night – or rather, in the early hours of that morning – that they go and explore the nearest town. English seaside villages tended to be exceptionally cute, and, though she didn't say this to James, she was keen to spend more time with him. Not everyone had wanted to come (Sirius had said, with a lascivious look in Remus' direction, that he had other plans for his day), but James did, and that was all that mattered to her.

That was how they found themselves crammed into the back of Alice's tiny car, speeding down winding country lanes in the early afternoon sun. Lily wondered if maybe she shouldn't have worn such tiny jean shorts – sure, they made her arse look fantastic, and showed off her legs, but now she was being essentially tortured, her bare thigh pressed against James' leg, his arm – which he was desperately and futilely trying to keep out of her personal space – brushing against her tit every time they rounded a corner, her whole body jolting into him more and more with every bump and pothole they careened over.

She had a feeling he was struggling with it too, at least. He hadn't been able to look her in the eye for the whole journey.

Mary, on her other side, was trying not to smirk openly. Some friend she was. And Pete, upfront with Alice, was too busy talking about the weather to notice what was going on in the backseat.

At least Sirius wasn't there. She didn't know the man well, but she knew him well enough already to know that he would have happily made lewd jokes for the whole journey.

Luckily, it wasn't too long later that they parked up, miraculously finding a spot near the seafront. James walked quickly to the seawall, standing in front of it to stare out at the ocean.

"Well now," Alice smiled, linking arms with Lily and guiding her to stand alongside James. "Isn't that a lovely view!"

Lily swallowed hard, glancing briefly at James before looking back out across the water. "It's gorgeous," she agreed. "What do we want to do? Shopping? Arcades? Sandcastles?"

"I spotted an art shop along the front, we drove past it," Pete said. "I'm going in there."

"Ooh, sounds interesting," Mary smiled. "I'll join you." Her friend shot Alice a meaningful look. "Ally?"

Alice – evidently a little slow on the uptake this afternoon, given that Lily already had strong suspicions about what was happening here – blinked before finally nodding. "Oh, yes, art shop – fab!" She stepped away from Lily. "You two have fun, shall we just meet back here in two hours?"

"Good plan!" Mary decided before Lily or James could say a word. "See you in two, chaps!"

Lily watched as Mary guided Alice and Pete determinedly away, pausing only to shoot a grin over her shoulder at her friend. She sighed, and glanced back at James, who was still staring fixedly at the sea. "Sorry," she offered, "looks like you're stuck with me."

He finally looked away, down at her, with a smile. Apparently he'd finally made it past the embarrassment and, maybe, the arousal of their journey. "Sounds like my lucky day," he assured her. "What shall we do?"

She couldn't help but smile too, basking in the glow of the warmth of his smile, his personality. "How about a stroll along the front, maybe find somewhere to have a drink?"

"Sounds good to me," he agreed, and paused, before tentatively holding out his hand.

Her hand in his felt like the most wonderful thing, like clouds had parted and they were suddenly bathed in sunlight.

God. She was done for.

Watching Lily eat chocolate cake, surely, was against the Geneva Convention. It had to be. With every bite, her eyelashes fluttered in bliss, her full lips closing around the delicate silver cake fork, her tongue darting out to lick away an errant crumb or flash of thick chocolate icing. It was all James could do to just sit there and not launch himself across the table and taste that sweetness on her lips for himself.

He had never realised how much self-control he had until now.

"Christ, it's incredible," she sighed, digging her fork into the slice for another mouthful. "Are you sure you don't want to try some?"

His heart practically stuttered in his chest. "Oh, no, it's okay – wouldn't want to deprive you of any."

She smiled. "You're so polite," she told him fondly, and leaned forward, giving him a delightful view down her top. Fuck, she was wearing the reddest, laciest bra he'd ever seen. He quickly flicked his gaze back up to her face. "Here, try some."

"Alright," he allowed, because he had to say something, couldn't just sit there ogling her like a Class A pervert all afternoon. At the raise of her eyebrows, he opened his mouth, and held her gaze as his lips closed around the fork. Suddenly, it was all he could think about that this had been in her mouth, too.

Fucking fuck. Wasn't it bad enough getting a hard-on in the car? Now he had to become aroused over chocolate cake too?

He swallowed quickly, and she sat back with an expectant smile. "Good, isn't it?"

"Amazing," he agreed, and reached for his glass of Coke; he needed to busy his hands. "You choose well, Lily Evans."

"I'm known for my good taste," she agreed loftily, digging into another bite for herself. "Although you can't really go wrong with chocolate cake, can you?"

"I dunno," James considered, "you haven't tried my baking."

She laughed. "Is it really that bad?"

He leaned back in his chair, feeling a little more relaxed now. Just think clean thoughts, Potter, he told himself firmly. "My mum, who loves me more than life itself, declared the last cake I made 'inedible'."

Lily bit her lip, trying to hold back another laugh; it was exhilarating, the look on her face, the delight in her eyes. "Harsh words."

"Harsh," he agreed with a nod, "but fair."

"Well, I won't be asking you to make me a cake, then," she decided. "Luckily, I can bake pretty much anything."

"Ah, well, at least one of us has that talent, then," he smiled. He looked around, catching sight of the clock on the café wall. "Oh, shit – we should've been back at the car five minutes ago!"

"Bugger," she muttered, looking down at the remaining cake – and, with a shrug, scooping it up into her hand. She stood up, fixing him with a carefree smile. "We'd better get moving, then."

Now, as they walked back along the waterfront – they could see Alice leaning against the bonnet of her car a way off, so at least they hadn't been left behind – he had to contend with Lily, having finished the cake in seconds, licking the icing and crumbs off her fingers. Everything about her seemed to have some kind of direct link to his heart (or, yes, his cock): he felt like he would happily watch her read the phone book, if it meant being able to look at her freely.

"This was a fun afternoon," she told him as they got closer to the car. Her smile was different, now – almost shy. "I'm glad we got to hang out together."

"Me too," he agreed quickly, too eager and not at all embarrassed about it at this point. "You're…something else, Lily."

She shot him the most incredible smile. "Something else good?"

"Definitely," he confirmed, and stopped walking; she stopped too, turning to face him.

"You're something good, too," she told him, her voice soft against the sound of the waves behind her.

He smiled. She smiled.

"Oi, you two!" Pete's dulcet tones cut through all too easily. "Are you coming, or what?"

Sunday

Sunday – "the Lord's day," Marlene had intoned solemnly as they ate their breakfast that morning – was their last full day, and Lily wasn't expecting to feel quite so miserable about it. At the start of the trip, she'd been already ready to go home, to get back to the comfort of her bed, of a toilet and shower that weren't a ten-minute walk away. And she adored her friends, of course, and would probably have had fun anyway. But…she hadn't expected James Potter to turn up in her life and turn everything upside down.

Okay, yes, she had turned up in his life – or his tent, at least – but the point still stood.

Tomorrow morning, they'd be packing up the tents and heading back to London. True, James had said that he lived just outside the capital himself, but that wasn't a guarantee of anything. Despite the connection she felt with him, despite feeling like she could melt every time he even glanced her way, neither of them had made a move. A few arm brushes and a bit of flirting only went so far.

Maybe she'd read too much into it all. Maybe it was very, very one-sided, and he was keen to see the back of her.

When Mary had suggested a day at the beach, to celebrate the last day of their holiday, Lily had agreed wholeheartedly. Sunbathing, a bit of swimming – plenty to keep her mind occupied. To keep away the sinking feeling of melancholy.

She had not been able to resist looking, as they made their way down the hill and past the boys' pitch, but they weren't there. At first she thought that maybe they were still in bed – not out of character, after all – but it seemed like the tents were locked up, tiny padlocks on the zips glinting in the bright sunshine and none of their usual detritus littering the table and chairs outside the tents.

She pushed down the feeling of disappointment that threatened to overwhelm her. James didn't owe her anything – he was on his own holiday. He didn't need to spend every day with a girl he barely knew.

They found a spot on the beach, laid out their towels and spent a while baking in the sun. It was heaven on earth, Lily decided. Golden sand stretched as far as the eye could see in both directions, and under the warm rays of the July sun, the water looked deliciously tempting.

"I think I'll go for a dip," she decided after an hour or so, sitting up from her prone position.

"Are you mad?" Marlene asked lazily, arm strewn across her eyes to protect herself from the sun. "It'll be colder than a snowman's arse in there."

Alice snorted. "How cold is a snowman's arse, Marl?" she asked, rolling on to her stomach and untying her bikini top. Alice was very committed to not getting tan lines. "I would've thought its arse would be the warmest part of him."

Marlene rolled her eyes. "Well, maybe, but it's still going to be very cold, isn't it! Compared to, y'know…someone else's arse."

Lily stood up, brushing sand from her legs. "This has been enlightening, thank you," she informed her friends. "But I really doubt it's that cold."

Of course, she marched into the sea in her white bikini and immediately shrieked at how bloody freezing it was.

"Jesus fucking – "

"Bit cold?" a familiar voice asked, and she turned quickly to find James, the ruddy Adonis, the boy she'd been thinking about pretty much non-stop since Thursday morning, standing up to his waist in the water, a few feet away. He grinned at her from behind his glasses, trailing his hands back and forth among the waves as if he were enjoying a pleasant bath rather than the tundra-like conditions of the English coastline.

"Just a bit," she replied with a sheepish smile. She must've looked like such a wimp, only up to her knees and already desperate to get back out. "I thought it would be a refreshing dip…"

"It is, once you get used to it," he assured her. She must've looked skeptical, because he laughed. "I promise."

"How long have you been in the water?" she asked. "Have you just lost all sensation in your extremities?"

"About twenty minutes," he replied, "so it is possible."

She laughed, and glanced back towards the beach. From this vantage point, she could see Pete reading on the sand, steadfastly ignoring Sirius and Remus who were busy getting reacquainted with each other's mouths next to him. They were a bit further along and a bit further back than the girls'; no wonder she hadn't spotted them before now. Although, she realised with the beginnings of a blush, there was no way the boys hadn't seen them from their spot. "I didn't realise you lot were able to get out of bed before lunchtime."

James just smiled. "Pete gave us an impassioned speech last night about not wasting our days here," he told her. "So, we all set about fifteen alarms and dragged ourselves down here bright and early."

"You're an inspiration," she replied with a laugh, and a shiver.

He held out his hand. "Come in a bit deeper, you quickly get used to it, I swear."

She raised a dubious eyebrow, but still, for some reason, did as he suggested. It only took a few steps for her fingers to lace through his, and he gently tugged her closer. Of course, water up to his waist was a little bit higher on her; she gasped as the icy water skimmed the bottom of her bikini top. "I can't wait to get used to it," she laughed awkwardly, finally looking up to meet his gaze.

"Trust me," he smiled. "You will."

She held his gaze for longer than was probably considered cool. "So," she said at last, "do you just hang around in the sea, waiting for women to pass by so you can lure them in deeper?"

"Yes," he replied. "I've got a 100% success rate so far."

She laughed, flicking some water on to his chest – Christ, his chest. She had to fight a strong and sudden urge to lick along his collarbone. "Any more strange women climb into bed with you lately?"

"Sadly not," he sighed, raking his fingers through his hair. He paused, then tugged her a little deeper with him; soon, they were both bobbing, water up to their shoulders and, thankfully, similarly stupid smiles on their faces. "There's only one strange woman I'd have liked to see back, anyway."

In the sunlight, his eyes were an intriguing mix of golden brown and green. It was hard to look away. "Are you calling me strange?" she asked with a grin.

"Not strange," he allowed, reaching out to brush a damp tendril from her face. Even just the slightest brush of his fingers to her skin brought on a shiver that they both knew wasn't from the temperature of the water. "Just…not geographically-minded."

"It was late," she pointed out, "and I was half cut."

"Oh, Lily," he smiled fondly, and this time, touched her with purpose, his finger grazing her jaw. "Alcohol isn't the answer."

"No?" She should've been embarrassed to feel so breathless. "What is?"

"I don't know," he admitted softly, "but if I find out, I'll let you know."

Nothing seemed quite so natural as slipping her arms around his neck, feeling the warmth of his sun-kissed skin, her body floating up against his; maybe, nothing quite as natural as his arms slipping around her waist under the water, his thumb painting a gentle pattern at the small of her back. It felt like they'd known each other forever. "I'm glad it was your tent," she murmured, lips inches from his.

"Me too." He smiled like someone who couldn't believe his luck. "Very glad…"

And as they kissed, at last, they could hear the distant whoops and cheers of their friends from the shore.

Monday

It was as if the weather knew that today was the day Lily was leaving. James woke to his alarm at nine, stumbling out of the tent to find the previously clear blue sky now a pale wash of grey. After a quick shower, he made his way up the hill to the girls' pitch, finding it already in a state of disarray, tents half taken down, clothes scattered near open suitcases, and Marlene looking uncharacteristically frazzled.

He could've helped, and he did, to begin with, but soon found himself standing with Lily between Alice's car and the nearby hedge, arms wrapped around her whilst they enjoyed a languorous snog. At one point, Mary called over, her voice heavy with sarcasm, "No, don't worry, Lil, we've got this covered – you just relax." Both James and Lily chose to ignore this.

Eventually, more to breathe than for any other reason, he pulled back, smiling down at her.

She smiled back. "What are you thinking?" she asked.

His smile only strengthened. "Just wondering how long I can leave it before I can bombard you with calls and texts and invitations to dinner," he replied. "You know, and still maintain my cool persona."

Her eyes twinkled and she tilted her head, considering his question. "I think, as long as we're off the campsite," she replied brightly, "then you're probably okay."

"Ah," he said, leaning his forehead against hers. "So not when your car goes past our pitch, then?"

She smiled. "No, I think that's taking it too far, don't you?"

He leaned in for another soft kiss. "I guess this is what you inspire in me," he murmured a moment later. She was utterly intoxicating: he found it near impossible not to be brushing his lips against hers, not to be constantly touching her, tasting her, holding her close. "I can't seem to keep my cool."

Maybe she was having the same problem. She reached up, tilting his chin down with her thumb, and pulled him in for another kiss. This went on for several minutes, and soon, he had her pressed up against the side of the car, her fingers raking through his hair, his hands slipping under her top, and things could have got quite messy, quite quickly, if it weren't for –

"Prongs, in some cultures it's considered rude to dry hump your girl against someone else's car," Sirius called out cheerfully – far too cheerfully, in James' opinion.

They reluctantly parted and James shot his so-called friend a glare. "Thanks for the advice on propriety," he replied. "Just what I was after."

"No problem," Sirius grinned, looking around the pitch which was now well cleared. "Ladies, looks like you're ready to go. Will you miss me?"

Marlene wandered over to give him a quick hug. "More than I thought I would," she admitted with a laugh, patting him on the shoulder. She went to hug Remus and Pete, too, and soon everyone was saying farewell, exchanging hugs and grins, promises to text or find on Facebook.

James found his way back to Lily, drawing her into his arms for one last kiss. "What a weekend it's been," he said, trying to sound light-hearted. "This probably sounds mad, but…I don't really want you to go."

She smiled against his lips. "I don't really want to go either," she assured him. "But don't worry – you're going to be texting me in about three minutes, aren't you?"

He laughed. "Two, if you're lucky."

He reluctantly stepped back, and they shared a soft, private smile before she climbed into the back seat, the other girls already ready and waiting. She quickly wound the window down. "Be good, boys."

"We will," James promised.

"We might," Sirius added, slinging his arm round James' shoulders.

The four boys stood there, watching as the car wound its way down the hill; it was too soon before it disappeared from sight, and Remus shot James a sympathetic look. "You alright, mate?"

He couldn't help his smile. "Yeah," he replied. "I'm alright."

Five minutes down the road, the sea glistening to their left and verdant rolling hills to their right, Lily's phone vibrated in her pocket.

James Potter: How's the traffic? Bored yet?

She laughed – Mary shot her a judgemental look from the other back seat – and was about to type her reply when her phone vibrated again.

James Potter: We get home tomorrow. Dinner on Wednesday?

"She's gone," Mary told their friends, a fond smile on her face. "She's gone and there's nothing we can do to get her back."

Lily Evans: Why, is dinner on Tuesday too uncool?

"To Lily," Marlene added solemnly, holding up her travel mug – which she had filled with orange juice and lemonade, for some reason – in a toast. "She will be missed."

Lily could see the reflection of her grin in the car window, and knew without a doubt that she couldn't have stopped smiling if she'd tried. "Shut up."

James Potter: Tuesday it is. You truly are something else, Evans.