Chapter 6: In Which Lily is in Love

To say that the student body was shocked when Lily and James walked down to breakfast together, talking and laughing like friends, was a bit of an understatement. In reality, they were flabbergasted. Even the teachers watched in shocked silence as the two Head students sat next to each other and laughed gaily together. They had become accustomed to seeing them together, but the two—or at least Lily—always acted as if the two shared nothing but a mutual hatred. However, today they appeared to have put all that behind them and were simply enjoying each others company. Only Dumbledore did not seem shocked. But then, Dumbledore had the added benefit that the portraits inside the Heads' common room reported directly to him. So instead of being shocked, he was simply pleased that Lily seemed to be attempting to truly befriend James.

James and Lily soon became nearly inseparable. They discovered that when they weren't fighting or ignoring each other they really did get on quite splendidly. Lily even became friends with the other Marauders. And the Marauders discovered much to their surprise that Lily was actually quite brilliant at coming up with pranks, though she did insist that no one ever got hurt.

The two would spend hours talking, and for the first time in seven years they truly began to understand each other. Lily told James about Petunia and how she had always been trying to prove to the Wizarding world that she really did belong there; James confided in Lily the Marauder's history and his fears for Remus' future and for Sirius' ability to live a normal life despite his dark family. For over a month the two friends spent every waking minute together.

But life was not all easy. There were days when James would go uncharacteristically sullen and Lily would catch him staring at her hungrily and desperately. And on Valentine's Day James locked himself away in his room. He could not bear to see all the other happy couples while pretending that he wasn't desperately jealous. Lily, finding herself sad at James' absence, spent the day miserably quiet. But at dinner a single rose was delivered to her with a small note bearing the message "I still love you" without a signature. But Lily knew who it was from. Clutching her rose to her, she fled from the Great Hall in tears and barricaded herself in her bedroom. It was that night that she realized that she really did love James, and from then on she began to silently work up the courage to do what needed to be done. She knew she would have to prove herself to him, and she knew that she would have to do it publicly.

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The morning of the first day of March dawned bright and sunny, the first clear day in weeks. That morning Lily woke up with the determination that she was going to get James back no matter what it took. And so she hastily threw her hair up in a messy ponytail and rushed out of her room, anxious to find him.

James was sitting in the Great Hall eating breakfast when Lily plopped down in the seat next to him.

"Morning, James," she said happily, giving him a quick hug. James froze, that was the first time she had hugged him in over a month, ever since that night… But he shook himself and turned to her with a smile.

"You're in a good mood this morning."

"Yep."

"Care to enlighten me as to why?"

"Nope."

"Okay." He said, turning back to his breakfast.

But James noticed that Lily was acting oddly all throughout the day. She was finding every opportunity to touch him, and she was constantly smiling at him. He was slightly confused, for he knew what he wanted this to mean, but he wouldn't allow himself to think that. And besides, he had long ago made a promise to himself that Lily would have to prove to him that she wanted more when she was ready. He had gotten to really know her this last month, and he had, if possible, fallen even more in love with her, but he remained firm. He wanted all of her, and he wanted her to willingly give it to him. So in the meantime he would wait.

He didn't have long to wait.

It was Friday, and their last class of the day was Charms. Once more, he and Lily were sitting in the very back of the room, though this time it was because she had dragged him there. This was odd, but James had long ago learned to stop trying to analyze the way that Lily's mind worked. He was sitting quietly, idling drawing on his notebook while Flitwick droned on about useful household charms when he felt a thrill run through his whole body. Lily had taken his hand in hers. With a shock James looked up to see her smiling shyly at him. With a pained look he withdrew his hand from hers and placed it firmly on top of the desk, in plain view of anyone who happened to look their direction. But Lily didn't even seem fazed. She smiled at him and turned her attention back to Flitwick.

But several minutes later James was shocked to find that her small foot was gently caressing his leg. Taking a deep and calming breath, he quietly pushed his chair to the side, out of her reach. Lily only smiled at him; the irony of the situation was not lost on her.

By the time class ended James was thoroughly disconcerted. Lily was driving him mad, and he desperately wanted to take her in his arms and kiss her senseless, but he kept reminding himself that he had made a decision and he needed to stick to it. But this didn't stop him from bolting the second class was over, leaving Lily quietly smiling to herself. He was going to make her go through with the whole plan, but that was okay—she no longer cared what others saw or thought.

An hour later she walked through the doors of the Great Hall and smiled when she saw James sitting with his friends. Despite the events of that afternoon, or maybe because of them, he still had a seat saved for her next to him. She quietly sat down next to him.

"Hi James!"

"Hey, Lil."

"How has your day been?"

"Um…" he was watching her confusedly, she had flustered him, "alright…"

She beamed at him. She loved how she was driving him mad, and it wasn't over yet. She quietly filled her plate and began to eat, occasionally sneaking glances at him. He was clearly uncomfortable and barely eating. Still eating, she slid her hand under the table and gently began rubbing it up and down his thigh. She smiled when she heard his sharp intake of breath.

"Are you alright James?" She asked him innocently, her hand still resting on his leg.

"Y-yes," he sputtered, while watching her with wide eyes as his face turned beet red. She merely smiled at him, somewhat mischievously. Then she turned back to her food.

A few minutes later Lily felt a small tap on her shoulder. Smiling to herself, she turned to see a tall boy with wavy blonde hair standing behind her. This was the twin brother of a friend of hers, but as he was in Ravenclaw James did not know of their mutual connection. Lily had enlisted his help earlier that morning.

"Yes?" she asked him politely.

"Lily, I was wondering if maybe you would want to go to Hogsmeade with me tomorrow?"

"I would love to, Tom," she felt James' whole body stiffen beside her, "only I can't."

"Oh," Tom was doing a very good job of looking sad, but next to her James could barely contain his grin. "Why not?"

"Because, I'm in love with someone else." James began to silently shake, the grin sliding off his face rather quickly.

"Oh, alright. Well thanks anyways, Lily."

"Bye, Tom."

Lily quietly turned back to the table to see the eyes of all four Marauders trained on her intently.

"Who are you in love with, Lily?" James asked quietly, his voice barely audible.

"You, you dolt."

James starred at her, his eyes as wide as saucers.

"What did you say?" He was shaking visibly now, and Lily smiled sweetly at him, then deftly brought his face down to her level and kissed him.

"I said I love you," she whispered in his ear, then quickly stood up. "See you later, boys. James, maybe we'll catch up later, okay?"

And she walked away, leaving James sitting in a shocked stupor. He slowly shook his head as if attempting to return to sanity, and then he looked up hesitantly at his friends.

"Did she just kiss me? In front of everyone?"

"Looks that way, mate." Sirius responded.

"Right." James still sat, unmoving.

"Prongs? What are you still doing here?" This from Remus.

"What do you mean?"

"Well," the werewolf answered carefully. "It seems that Lily just told you she loves you, kissed you, and then pointedly told you she would see you later. Now, to me that means that you should probably follow her…"

James nodded, still in a daze, and nearly tripped in his haste to run out of the Great Hall after Lily. He arrived in front of their room completely out of breath and leaned against the wall, trying to calm himself down and regain control of his breathing and rapidly beating heart. Then he slowly pushed the portrait hole open.

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Lily was pacing nervously in front of the fire of her common room. She had done her part. She had openly admitted how she felt about James and kissed him in full view of the entire school, she only hoped she wasn't too late. She thought it had been pretty obvious that she had invited James to follow her, but she had been here for several minutes and he still wasn't here. She had thought he would bolt after her, but apparently she had been wrong. Maybe he had decided that he didn't love her anymore. Maybe he had decided that he didn't want to date her anymore. She was so absorbed in these thoughts that she didn't hear when the portrait swung open and James quietly stepped in. She didn't notice him until he had walked up behind her and slowly slid his arms around her waist, pulling her back up against his chest. Her breath hitched when he lowered his head to slowly whisper in her ear.

"Lils, want to go to Hogsmeade with me tomorrow?"

She smiled happily and slowly turned around in his arms until she was looking up into his face.

"I would love to, James."

"Good, because I wasn't going to take no for an answer this time."

She smiled up at him sweetly and closed her eyes happily as his face descended towards hers, his lips enveloping hers in a sweet kiss. Oh man, I missed this…

A/N: Hope you enjoyed! This is the second to last chapter… (sighs mournfully).