A/N: See? It didn't take months to update this time! Aren't you proud of me? I am!
As always, thank you all for your lovely reviews. As I said on the blog, they truly do make my day. If I could send you all some of those chocolate-covered, cheesecake-stuffed strawberries I made the other day, I would. Sadly, my gratitude will have to do for now. Thank you also to everyone who added this to their alerts or favorited!
Hope everyone is well!
James
It was perhaps the one of his worst training sessions and that had nothing to do with the rain that lightly fell on the field. His head reeled as he struggled to focus on the ball.
Everything moved far too fast, faster than he usually enjoyed. The way they almost collided, the way they met, the way he could not drive her out of his mind, the way she flared up and the way he stormed off- all of it was a blur to him.
"Oi, Prongs!" boomed the voice of Sirius Black seconds before the football smacked him unceremoniously in the chest. His best mate's curse was lost in the shrill screech of Coach Hooch's whistle. Before James could recover, the coach connected her hands together, signaling a break.
"What's with you today?" Sirius asked when he finally jogged up to James. "That pass was laughable. Even Aubrey wouldn't have missed that."
James ignored his friend, busying himself with wiping the water from his specs on the fabric his jersey. Sirius, far from letting the subject drop, shook his head when understanding finally crossed his face. "It's that bird you met, isn't it?" The prolonged silence from the other boy is all the affirmation he needed. "Jesus, Prongs, the situation is serious when you are rubbish at football."
"Sod off, Padfoot," he snapped, marching through the slippery glass. The last thing he wanted to do was think about was Lily Evans. Unluckily for him, however, that was all he could do ever since he left her there two days before.
"Get a grip, mate," Sirius said encouragingly. "You only just met her. There's plenty of other birds in this school. And, luckily for you, I happen to know a very fit and very willing one by the name of Daisy Hookum sitting right over there." He turned James to the direction of the bleachers, beckoning toward the flock of girls huddling under umbrellas. "It's the redhead in the black skirt to the left," Sirius was saying, but James was paying neither him nor the redhead any attention. His eyes instead fell on another figure with red hair, much darker and longer than Daisy Hookum's, standing alone several feet away from the girls, hair sopping wet and arms crossed tightly across her chest.
His stomach swooped at the very sight of her, forgetting completely that he was supposed to be cross with her. Sirius clapped his back encouragingly, misinterpreting his movement toward the bleachers as an intention to take his advice.
He stopped before her, saying nothing. The rain fell between them, reminiscent of two days ago when they argued. He hated that he longed to break the silence and spare her the embarrassment. He restrained himself, however, and waited.
"Hi," she started nervously at last.
He fought back the impulse to run his hand through his drenched hair. Instead of returning the greeting, James asked, "What are you doing here?"
She averted her gaze to her feet. "I guessed you were in some sort of football team from what you told me the other day," she explained, still not looking at him.
"Evans, there's loads of football teams in this school," he said, watching her grow rosier still. "And we all practice on different days. How did you know which one I was in?"
"You had your sports bag that day," she offered through chattering teeth. He couldn't help but notice the end of that sentence sounded like a question.
"No I didn't," he returned.
Discovered in the lie, Lily mumbled her reply and that was enough to break his resolve and inspire an amused smirk in him. "What?"
The redhead repeated her reply, no less intelligibly than before.
"You looked me up?"
She finally looked up from the muddy grass, and even if she was glaring at him, her green eyes still managed to leave him momentarily dazed.
"There's nothing wrong with-" she started with dignity but she stopped when James laughed.
Lily watched him, relief relaxing her features.
"I asked around in the sports department," she continued when he sobered up. "It wasn't that difficult to find you because apparently, you're quite famous there."
"Yeah," he allowed. "I am."
"Conceited," she mumbled though not unkindly.
James smiled but otherwise said nothing, waiting for her to continue,
After that, Lily said nothing, her eyes falling to his body to take in his uniform. Pulse quickening, he held his breath until her eyes returned to his. She made no comment though.
"You're really good," she said at last, nodding toward the field where the rest of the players were beginning to clear out.
"I know," he returned though privately, his chest swelled pleasantly. Belatedly, he cringed at the memory of his ungraceful last few minutes of practice. "But I take it that you didn't go through the trouble of stalking me and standing in the rain for ages just to tell me that?"
Lily closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. "No," she admitted.
James waited for she did not go on.
"I wanted to find you that same day but—" Lily said at last, shuddering at the memory. "Your next practice was today and you hadn't gone back to the cafeteria," she continued and James said nothing. It had taken a tremendous amount of restraint to stop himself from going there. Looking down at her nervous fingers, Lily went on. "About that day—" she stopped, inhaling once again. "I might have… overreacted a bit."
"A bit?" he repeated incredulously before he could stop himself.
He could have sworn he saw her lips twitch despite the situation. "All right, more than a bit." He raised his eyebrows and Lily shook her head. "Fine— I overreacted an awful lot." That appeased him so she continued, "I shouldn't have snapped at you about that scholarship thing. It was unfair and I'm sorry."
She met his eyes briefly, biting her lip as if fighting to get the next few words out. "And," she added with a steadying intake of breath. "I'm sorry for what I said about the crest on your card."
He could not resist. Out of all the mad things he had done in his short life, being that compelled by someone who was virtually a stranger was the maddest.
"It's alright, Evans," he responded at last, unsure of what else to add. He had always been rubbish at apologies, both at offering them and receiving them.
Lily looked at him, shoulders still tense. To reassure her, he offered a genuine smile which she returned. Meanwhile, the fall of rain became a lot more insistent, making them both squint against the drops of water slashing their faces.
"Are you cold?" he asked after a small silence, unsure of what else to say.
She waved her hand dismissively. "I'm fine," she replied, but her teeth were shattering briefly as she said the words.
He did not believe her for a second. With nothing but a small smirk, James took her wrist and jogged to the benches on the side of the field where the benched players sat during matches.
"Where are we-?" Lily began to ask through the sound of the wind but she stopped when they came to halt under the shelter enclosing the bench. Before she could utter her thanks, he dug through one of the duffle bags, pulled out a navy blue jacket, and draped it over her.
Lily looked down at it then at James, eyebrows raised.
"It's part of my team uniform," he explained.
Lily said nothing, but she did not remove it or protest.
"I've washed it, I promised," he assured her.
Lily laughed, a full hearted sound that rang through the enclosure shielding them , and all James could do was watch her, entranced by it. He forced himself to snap out it lest Sirius saw him. He was positive gawking moronically at her was grounds for at least two weeks of teasing.
Clearing his throat and losing all traces of amusement, he said, "Listen, Evans— I didn't mean—The other day— I'd never mock anyone for not having any money—"
But Lily was shaking her head, kind smile adorning her face. "It's fine, Potter," she assured him. "I didn't really think you were mocking me."
Not fully appeased, he went on. "I only meant my dad would see it that way, and if you want to hate him for it, I'm with you every step of the way."
Lily eyed him curiously at the second half of the sentence. She must have decided not to ask because she shook her head, the smile never leaving her lips. "James, honestly. It's fine." When she failed to see him fully reassured she laughed and added, "Fine, we can do something to make you feel better."
James stared at her with curiosity.
"We can try starting all over," she offered simply. "We can pretend we're meeting right this instant, violent near-death experiences aside."
James considered the idea. Finally, he shook his head. "No thanks," he informed her, enjoying the befuddled look on her face.
"Why not?"
"Because I liked the way we actually met," James allowed.
"Why?"
"Can't say, Evans," he replied cheerfully.
"Just humor me, you git," she insisted, stretching her hand out for him to shake.
"Why?"
"Because I want to be perfectly pleasant this time around," she admitted in a rush as though uttering the words quickly would stop them from reaching his ears. "I was lying before and I wanted to make myself feel better."
James laughed, shaking his head. Anything else he might have added was interrupted by the blast of Hooch's whistle. He made no move to return to the field, however, standing there grinning at Lily instead.
He took her insistent hand and shook it. "James Potter— pleasure to meet you."
"Prongs!" Sirius shouted through cupped hands from the field. He turned to see the whole team waiting for him to resume practice, but James merely held up one finger from his free hand to signal that he needed a minute. Sirius let his arms drop to his sides impatiently.
Lily shook her head, smiling and taking his hand regardless. "Lily Evans."
"Pretty," he said, nodding approvingly. "How about after I'm done here, we go for tea?"
She frowned, remembering what Dorcas had said two days ago about inviting Marlene and Benjy over. "I've got to go home, actually," she said apologetically. "But here—" she reached into her bag, looking for something.
"POTTER!" Hooch screeched, her face visibly furious even in the distance.
Lily, meanwhile, took his hand when she found the pen she was looking for in her bag. Very neatly, she scribbled a few digits onto the palm of his hand. "Very forward of you," he observed as he watched her. "Giving me your number after we only just met. Actually, not very different from you asking me out during our first meeting."
"Stay put," she admonished as she wrote the last digit.
"It's going to smear in the rain," James pointed out when she was done.
The simpering smile she offered him in return made his own disappear, forcing his eyes to fall to her lips.
"Something tells me you won't let that happen." And closing his fingers with her own, she let his hand drop and walked away, not without turning over her shoulder to smile at him one last time.
He was glad, minutes later, that she was nowhere around to see the way the ball smacked him squarely on the side of the head, this time intentionally sent his way by Sirius. But not even the blow or his friend's muttered, "Pathetic" as he passed him was enough to vanish the grin from his face.
Lily
Traffic was not enough to erase Lily's smile on the way home. It broadened when her eyes fell on the blue lump that was James's jacket on her passenger seat.
She had been playing the radio louder than usual, occasionally singing along when a good song came on. It was so loud, in fact, that she almost missed the ringing of her phone.
"Lily Celeste Evans," said Marlene from the other end of the line. "Where are you? I'm starving!"
Though Lily couldn't see her, she could bet anything her friend was sprawled on the couch, filing her nails out of boredom. "I'm outside. And you could have started without me," she responded, pressing her phone in place with her shoulder as she climbed out of her car. The drizzle slashed against her jacket, seeping into the fabric of her shoes and into her already damp hair. Desperate to enter the refuge of her apartment, Lily hurriedly locked her car and dashed across the street to her gate.
"D'you think I didn't try?" Marlene shot back. The sound of the rain made it harder for Lily to hear on her end. "But Dork-ass here slapped my hand away—Ouch!"
Lily laughed at the sound, certain Marlene had paid dearly for using the nickname. "You know she hates to be called that, Marlene," she admonished. She doubted Marlene heard a single word, too busy with bickering with Dorcas as she was. Regardless, Lily said, "I'll be right up" before hanging up and stuffing the phone into her purse.
Pushing her sopping wet hair behind her ear, Lily tried her key, but as it was becoming customary, it would not budge. "Come on," Lily muttered, wiggling the key into the lock and pushing on the door in hopes it would creak open. But the pouring water lashing against it all day long made it far more stubborn than it was in the morning when she left. Irritated, she pressed her shoulder against the wood with force, achieving nothing but a throbbing pain on her arm.
"That's not going to work," said a voice she would have recognized anywhere. Despite it being lazy, low, and nasal, she heard it through the hiss of the rain. Pulse beating wildly at her throat, it occurred to her that half of her was expecting to hear it since the moment she received his first message. Frozen on her spot, Lily didn't turn around. Instead, she shook the key in the lock again, as if the door could sense her desperation to run inside and decide to work.
"Stop that. You'll break your arm before you get that opened."
"Get away," she said turning to face him at last. Her throat felt dry, but in spite of that, her voice sounded surprisingly collected. It didn't betray the icy cold panic coursing through her body. He looked thinner than she remembered him, his sallow skin somehow paler, contrasting harshly with the curtains of greasy, black hair framing his face.
"Don't be childish, Lily," he began, taking one more step closer. He stopped immediately, however, when Lily's body tensed, raising her keys menacingly before her. Her eyes wildly looked around, desperately hoping to see a neighbor or a passerby on the street. There was no one but the two of them.
"How did you know where I lived?" she demanded.
There was no immediate reply. "Lily—"
"It was him, wasn't it? That... awful man you work for now?" When he failed to respond again, Lily chuckled darkly. "Of course it was him. Shouldn't have been that hard for him to find you my information. That's what he does, after all, isn't it? He hunts people down."
"Lily, you have to let me explain—"
"I don't have to do anything!"
He moved a few paces closer and Lily's panic made her heart beat at her throat.
"You have to know, Lily," he went on, his usually composed tone revealing hints of desperation. "What I did that day—"
"I'm not interested," she snapped back. "You can save your breath, Severus. You've clearly chosen your path and I want nothing to do with it." She tried the doorknob behind her again, but if anything, it felt much more useless than before. "I told you never bother me again!"
"If you just listen—"
"No, you listen," she shot back so venomously that he flinched. "I don't care what you came here to say, all right? It won't change what you've become and it won't make me any less repulsed by you. Now, leave me alone!"
"Lily," he pressed on, moving closer.
"Stay away!"
The door clicked open and swung back on its hinges. Lily, startled by the sudden bang, only had enough time to register she was being grabbed by the arm and dragged inside. "Stay behind me, Lily," commanded Marlene, her voice businesslike and indistinguishable from the whiny, playful tone she had used on the phone minutes ago.
A frightened Dorcas steadied Lily at once, mouthing, "Are you okay?"
Lily nodded quickly, sorting her brain from the clutter it was and willing it to take in the scene before her. Marlene stood in front of them, hateful glare fixed on Snape. Her posture was rigid, legs spread slightly apart to protect as much of Lily and Dorcas as she could, and in her hands, pointed straight at Snape's chest, was a firearm.
Snape's face, meanwhile, remained as cool as ever, outwardly unconcerned about the gun pointed at him. It was almost as if a gun was a daily occurrence to him and it was a minute before Lily realized that it probably was.
"Do not advance! You are trespassing private property and violating a restraining order," she boomed.
Snape rolled his eyes. Sounding bored, he said, "Lily, send your friends and their toys back inside—"
"Backup is on the way," Marlene continued in a practiced monotone. "If you do not leave the property immediately, you will be arrested." Letting all professionalism slip from her voice, she muttered, "If you're lucky." Lily could see the lean muscles of her arms flexing ever so slightly.
"Marlene," Lily started, eyes fixed anxiously on the gun, her muscles tensing in fear of hearing the deafening bang any moment.
The brunette ignored her. Eyes still fixed on Snape, she commanded, "Cas, take Lily upstairs. I can handle it from here."
But Dorcas, so pale that she was almost translucent, hesitated. "Marlene, maybe we should all just go upstairs and leave this to your squad."
Growing edgier, Snape sighed, looking imploringly at Lily. "Lily, please. You can't run away forever. Let me just explain what happened the day that—"
"Stay back!" Marlene barked when Snape advanced further.
"Put that down, McKinnon," he snarled. "Before you blast your hand clean off."
Marlene answered with a click of her gun. "The only thing I'll be blasting clean off is you from that sidewalk," she snapped, her tone murderous.
"Marlene!" Dorcas cried.
It worked. Snape despite his unaffected demeanor, stopped dead on his tracks at the gesture. He sighed impatiently, the vein throbbing at his temple betraying more anger than his expression did. "You're wasting my time. All I want to do is speak to Lily."
"The thing is," Marlene began conversationally, "Lily here made it pretty clear she didn't want to see you, let alone speak to you. So this is what's going to happen: you're going to save me a bullet, fuck off, and leave my friend alone for the rest of your disgusting life."
Snape, skin looking impossibly paler in his anger, opened his mouth to retort, but his words were drowned in the sound of distant wailing. It was a moment before Lily realized they were police sirens. Snape, reaching the same conclusion, froze in place, eyes widening. As it drew nearer, his eyes fell on Lily's.
"Lily, you have to forgive me," he said. Though his voice was quiet, Lily heard the words through the slashing of the falling rain and the sirens.
Instead of replying, she tore her eyes away from his, stubbornly fixing her gaze on the dusty floor. She didn't look up until Marlene closed the door, tucking the gun in her belt behind her.
"It's okay, Lily," she said, her voice uncharacteristically gentle. "He's gone."
"Are you all right?" Dorcas asked at once, her unceasing grip on Lily's shoulder growing tighter.
Silently, she nodded.
Dorcas and Marlene exchanged unconvinced looks, but Lily didn't care. All she wanted to do was to move as far away from that spot as she possibly could. It felt as if he was still standing at the other side of the closed door, ready to burst in any moment. Without saying much, her friends led her upstairs and into their apartment.
Once inside, Dorcas guided her to the sofa while Marlene picked up the phone, quickly punching in the numbers. "Longbottom, you can turn around now," she said as soon as the person on the other line picked up. "He's not here anymore." Marlene rolled her eyes at whatever the response was. "And you expected me to do that with no warrant? Moody knows even he couldn't have managed to get away with that… No, he won't… Well, he'll just have to deal with it… Just go back to the station and tell him I've handled it." Lily wasn't sure if the matter was resolved or if Marlene just hung up the line before the other person could protest.
"Want some tea before dinner?" Dorcas asked Lily kindly, the color slowly returning to her face.
Lily shook her head. "Not hungry," she murmured and she could see Dorcas look up at Marlene.
"Lils, if you're scared he might come back, you've got nothing to worry about," Marlene assured her.
"I'm not scared of him," she told them a little louder than was necessary. She wasn't sure why, but it felt important they knew that.
The doorknob rattled before anyone could say anything else, making all three very alert. Already reaching behind her belt to retrieve her gun, Marlene called, "Who is it?"
"Colin Firth," came the muffled but pleasantly familiar voice from behind the door. Lily's shoulders relaxed as Dorcas stood up to get the door. On the other side of the threshold stood a curly-haired boy a few years older than Lily. In his arm he cradled a dark bottle of wine and at the sight of them, he grinned.
"Sorry I'm late," he began when Dorcas stepped aside to let him in. "I had a date with Rebecca—"
"Fenwick, you stupid prick!"
"Good evening to you, too, McKinnon," Benjy replied automatically, much too used to similar greetings from the brunette.
"You were supposed to change that bloody lock ages ago!" Marlene went on, ignoring his reply.
"Two days is not ages, McKinnon," he started but one closer glance at their pale faces weakened his smile. "Something wrong?"
Marlene, flaring up even more, opened her mouth to snap back, but Lily cut in. "Relax, Marlene. We told Benjy he could fix it tonight and not the other day. It's not his fault."
Looking more baffled than before, Benjy looked between the three.
"There was an incident, Ben," Dorcas explained before he could ask. "It was Snape. He waited outside for Lily to get home."
All traces of humor and color fled his handsome face. "He knows you live here?" he asked at once. "But how-" he stopped, realizing that was not important. "Are you alright, Lily? Did he hurt you?"
"I'm fine," she promised, right hand absently rubbing her left shoulder.
But he knew better than that. After all, it was he who had helped her that day so long ago. Instead of insistingly pressuring Lily to say any more, he turned to Marlene, "Did you call it in?"
"Of course I did, Fenwick, I'm not thick," she retorted at once. "Longbottom said they were investigating for any leads."
Benjy nodded once, much to used to her temper to take any offense in the answer. After a moment of consideration, he said to Lily, "Are you going anywhere tomorrow?"
Lily, who had been staring at the patterns on the rug at her feet, looked up. "What, are you going to suggest I stay locked up in here?" she asked, unable to withhold the bitterness in her voice.
Benjy merely sighed. "Of course not," he said. "But you should probably have someone with you every time you leave."
Lily felt the annoyance course through her. The last thing she wanted was to inconvenience anyone.
"He's right, Lily," Dorcas said kindly, aware of the way Lily's ears had turned red. "I don't have much to do tomorrow. If you need to go anywhere, I can go with you."
Lily said nothing despite her exasperation.
"I'm really tired," she announced getting to her feet. "I think I'm going to go to bed, all right?" To her relief, no one protested. "You guys should just have dinner. Don't let all of this spoil all the hard work Cas put into it."
Her friend smiled weakly at her before Lily disappeared into her room.
As soon as the door closed behind her, she heard the silent murmurs from the three on the other side of the wall. Not caring to listen in, she collapsed on her bed without undressing, feeling her head pound the minute it hit the pillow. Her eyelids began to feel as heavy as lead and when they were finally closed, she felt her phone buzz from her pocket. Jolting awake, she pulled it out, determined to stuff it in one of her drawers. It vibrated again, the screen illuminating her dark room with blinding white light. Her eyes caught sight of the unknown number and it was with relief that she realized it was not Snape's.
All right, Evans?, said the first message. Followed by a second that read:
Told you it would smear.
He sent a third one after that: I even skipped my shower right after practice to keep it from washing off.
Disgusting, was her reply. She added a symbol of a winking face to denote that she was kidding. Immediately after sending, she felt her face reddening, never having used it before.
No, disgusting is the fact that I accidentally texted some fifty year-old woman because I thought the 8 was a 5. Didn't bother to tell me it was a wrong number until half an hour later.
Lily snorted so loudly that she wondered if her friends heard. Poor thing, she keyed in. The lady, not you. I can only imagine what sorts of things you told her.
His reply took less than a minute. Don't remind me. She asked me if I was fit and that's when I knew it wasn't you.
Almost immediately, he sent:
Because you already knew that.
And finally:
;)
Lily couldn't help but laugh. You're just as conceited in writing as you are in real life, Potter.
Before she could set her phone down, she had his reply: Can't deny that. And speaking of being unable to deny things, don't think I didn't notice you didn't exactly deny you think I'm fit.
Rolling her eyes, she responded, How do you know she was fifty?
Her name was Doris.
That doesn't mean she's fifty.
No one born less than fifty years ago would have that name.
Again, Lily laughed. Her friends' voices from the other room continued as normal so she was certain they did not hear her. It could have been a fit, twenty year old blonde.
Perhaps, but even if it was, it's not who I wanted to text.
She could not contain the smile that dawned on her face. How can be so sure you're texting who you think you're texting this time?, she replied.
Proper spelling and punctuation, for one. None of that u or y rubbish. And also, you sympathized with the horny old woman and not me.
Good point, Lily replied.
He did not reply anything after that so Lily set her phone down. She emitted a long sigh, traces of her smile still pulling at her lips. She felt her lids become heavier with every minute that went by. Lily fought the urge to reread his messages, deciding that behavior was far more shamefully ridiculous than the winking face she sent earlier. Finally, after twenty minutes of deliberation, her phone buzzed again.
Unless you want to send me a picture to verify your identity. Can't be too careful, you know.
Do all blokes eventually ask for those?
What? he replied.
Then, mere seconds later, she received: NO. Not like that, Evans.
I know, I know. Only kidding, Potter. Wish I would have seen your face, though.
Your wish is my command.
Seconds later, an image loaded on her screen. Lily bit her lower lip to contain the ridiculous grin on her face. There, handsome as ever and purposely twisting his face into a ridiculous expression was James, the spectacles he usually wore missing from his face.
Attractive, she sent, hoping the sarcasm would convey properly.
Yeah, we established that.
Go shower, Potter, she sent back.
Already did. Afraid I can't send you any pictures of that process.
Again, Lily laughed, this time careful to keep her voice down for fear that her friends deemed her crazier than they initially thought. Prat, she replied.
Once more, he did not immediately reply. It was only minutes later before she received:
So, do you want to get coffee/tea tomorrow?
Sure. Cafeteria?
No. Site of our near-crash.
Fitting.
Deeming the conversation over, she placed her phone on her bedside table and rolled over. She lay there for minutes, listening to the distant sound of forks clattering against plates and the faint rumble of the passing cars out in the street. She shifted on her bed again, snuggling into her pillow and realizing that James's messages had effectively driven the night's events out of her mind. Another smile pulled at her lips. Before she could stop herself, she picked up her phone and sent:
Good night, Potter.
Night, Evans.
A/N: I am in the middle of writing something else in present tense, so switching over to past tense throws me off a bit.
Anyway , reviews are much appreciated!
And the blog where I post random shenanigans about this fic is saywhenfic dot tumblr dot com
Sorry for the weird format; this site won't let me post links.
Until next time!
-Bree xx
EDIT: This is Bree from the future :) [Dec. 31, 2014]