Disclaimer: All belongs to JK Rowling. I own nothing. Literally.

Lily rubbed her eyes and sat in the seat Remus had just left. The first felt nice in the chill of early morning, but she was both tired and awake, her thoughts speeding through her mind so fast she wasn't sure if she would ever be able to figure out what to do. Unfortunately, she did not have time to sort her thoughts.

She looked up sharply when someone cleared their throat from the doorway to the boy's dormitories. She was not surprised to see James. He was wearing a red robe, pyjamas and slippers, which made him look surprisingly young, especially with his messy hair and impish grin.

"Hey, I need to talk to you," he said as he walked toward her, taking the seat beside her own.

She sighed heavily. "Please, I'm not really in the mood, Potter."

He ignored her words. "You and I should go to Hogsmeade next Saturday."

She let her eyes dart over to him before sliding back to the fire. "I don't think so."

"Why do you fight this, Lily? It must be so tiring." He smirked as she met his gaze. "You know I'm not about to stop."

Lily had to look away. He was holding her gaze too steadily, too surely. His intense certainty was intriguing, but it also made her feel strange...naked, exposed. She wasn't really sure that was a good thing. She knew one thing for certain: she did not want to give James Potter the upper hand.

"Come on, you got what you wanted. Time to move on, Potter!" her voice rose, but she quickly quieted herself when he motioned toward the dormitories. "Besides, Remus told me why you did...that." She couldn't say it. If she said "kiss" she thought she might look at his lips and then think about kissing him and then...she might do it. And she wasn't really sure that was what she wanted.

After all, what kind of person kisses a girl just to keep her from someone else? She could understand if she was friends with Potter, but really, they were far from friends. If anything, they were merely acquaintances due to the fact that they shared the same house. Lily could think of nothing she had done to catch his attention and for a moment, she was far away trying to think of when Potter had started bothering her. She felt his hand on her arm and she met his eyes without thinking.

"Yes, I like you, Lily," he said, his gaze confident, even though his hand was trembling against her bare arm.

She tried to breathe slowly as her face reddened and became warm. She looked at the fire, letting her hair drop into her face a bit. Wouldn't do to let him see how much he unnerved her.

He sighed and she heard him moving.

He pushed her hair behind her ear, a look on his face she had never seen before. She couldn't look away from him, but she felt like she should. He was smiling - genuinely, sweetly - and his eyes were crinkled and soft.

Lily realised he looked happy. And he wasn't with his friends or playing Quidditch.

She looked away immediately. He put his hand on her knee and she flicked it off, jumping up abruptly. She did not turn around until she reached the doorway to the girls' dormitory. Potter was standing by the chair, a look of shock on his face. "Sweet dreams, Potter." She smiled widely, turned and ran up the stairs.

----

Lily expected to see Severus in class the next day, but he didn't show. He wasn't in the Great Hall at breakfast or lunch either. He arrived late to dinner and when Lily saw him leaving a few minutes later, she got up and luckily, everyone was still eating, so no one said anything when she casually walked toward the exit.

She hadn't expected to find Severus. Lily assumed he would be long gone by now, but walking around was her only idea. She wasn't ready to brave the dungeons just yet, but she wanted to find him.

He stepped from behind a suit of armor as Lily walked down a corridor on the third floor. He looked almost pleased to see her. They must have truly been alone in the corridor then.

"Hello." He stepped forward and sort of smiled. His arm came up and hesitated before grabbing her hand. He pulled her to him and she slid her arms around him to hug him as hard as she could. He didn't make a sound, but he hesitated again before finally putting his arms around her gently.

Lily figured he must have heard about Potter. Severus seemed so reluctant.

"I'm sorry about Potter. He's such a git."

He gave her an odd look. "What? How did you know?"

"What?"

"Did he tell you?" He stepped back. "Did he tell you it was four on one? They used my own spell against me."

Lily knew they weren't talking about the same thing then. "No, no, I was talking about something else, but when did he attack you?"

Severus relaxed a bit, but answered in a tense voice, "Yesterday...shortly after you left the tree." Enough said.

"Oh." She stepped forward toward him, hugging him again. His hands went around her immediately, but it still seemed like he was uncomfortable.

"What was it you were talking about?"

She knew he wasn't going to like hearing it, but maybe the truth was the best way. "Potter kissed me."

He moved away again, a sneer on his face again. "What does that mean? You know how he is, what he does...him and those idiot friends of his."

She couldn't help but frown. "I don't think it means anything."

The sneer left his face, but nothing replaced it. He looked bored. "Do you feel that way about what happened yesterday?"

"No." Uh oh, she'd said that too quickly. She chanced to meet his eyes and was held by his gaze. "I don't know how I feel."

He closed his eyes and nodded slightly. "That's fair."

"Is it?" She couldn't help herself.

"I will assume that to be a rhetorical question." His eyes opened and he moved toward her. She threw her arms around his neck to hug him and his lips bumped her ear instead of her lips. He tried to play it off and Lily held in her giggles. He was so awkward - it made her feel less so and that seemed comforting somehow.

So after holding to him tightly for a bit, Lily gathered her courage as any Gryffidor would, pulled her face back and found she was at a loss for words. She knew she should say something, but what? "You know this is temporary Severus" sounds cold or "What if I don't like it? Can we go back to being friends?" would only elicit...well...Lily didn't want to know how Severus might react. He had a temper. He hadn't taken it out on her in many years thankfully, but who knows...

So she just kissed him, letting her mind drift. She wasn't sure it was the right choice, but at this moment, at this place, it felt right. Severus didn't relax for quite some time, but Lily felt a rush when he did. There was something satisfying about his arms relaxing around her waist, his fingers splaying widely under her shirt, going over and over the skin on her lower back, just above her uniform.

Severus walked Lily back to her common room when she realised she would have to patrol in twenty minutes. They walked in pleasant silence, but when they were within sight of the portrait hole, she clammed a bit.

"Erm, thanks Sev," she said and kissed him quickly before turning and running for the portrait. She was inside before Severus could catch up to her. He didn't really want to be seen running after her though.