A/N: Hello again. It's been a while, hasn't it? First thing, everyone found the beginning of the past chapter a bit confusing. That was because that was my lame attempt to allude to a future Lily and James will eventually have together. You did not miss anything. I repeat, you did no miss them sleeping together. Second, I am a liar, but you already knew that. I told you guys in the last A/N and on my blog that this chapter would answer questions and include all sorts of things. Well, it did in the original plan but it was taking so ridiculously long to write that I decided to break it up (and I'm rubbish at sticking with plans). That means that while this one may not have what I promised, the next one is already almost written and will not take as long to be up. YAY.
Before this note gets to be longer than the chapter itself, I just want to thank everyone for their support. It means so much!
Dedicated to all reviewers.
"Lily, you're holding your wand all wrong!" Marlene huffed, letting her arms drop to her sides.
Feeling a bit frustrated herself, Lily shot her a glare through the mirror. "How can I be doing it wrong, Marls? It's mascara! There's only one way to put it on, isn't there?" They had been sitting in front of her vanity for hours, Marlene obsessively picking at her hair, wrapping curls she was dissatisfied with around the curling iron until they looked meticulous. Mascara was where Lily drew the line, taking the tube from her friend and doing it herself. The thought of Marlene's swift hand anywhere near her eye mortified her.
The brunette released a steadying breath, closing her eyes as if preparing to explain algebra to an infant. From the corner of the room, Benjy burst out laughing, having muted the small television set in Lily's room in favor of watching the exchange. Feet propped up on Lily's writing desk, he flung a crisp into his mouth before commenting, "She looks bloody fine, McKinnon. I don't know what the fuss is about."
"Shut up, Fenwick," snapped Marlene. The redhead, however, met his eyes through the mirror and laughed along with him, mostly at the ridiculousness of it all. Marlene turned her glare to her. "And you, too, Evans. You both forget I'm armed."
Lily rolled her eyes. "Ben's right, Marls," she said, dipping the small mascara wand inside the tube. "It's honestly not a big deal how I look for this."
"Liar," her friend accused without missing a beat. "I saw the way your eyes lit up when he asked you."
Lily could think of nothing to say because her friend was probably right. She had felt a thrill when he called her to ask and she wasn't entirely sure if her face had betrayed that. Suddenly, she wished she hadn't just taken his call in the living room with all of them there. Marlene took advantage of her silence to screw up her face, tucking her chin in to make her voice deeper. "'Go out with me, Evans.'"
"He did not say that!" Lily protested. "You lot couldn't even hear him-"
But Marlene continued, pausing briefly to press her lips together, her voice growing ridiculously deeper. "'Go on, go out with me.'"
This time, Benjy laughed in unison with Marlene.
"You make him sound fifteen," Lily mumbled. "And I knew I should've just locked myself up in here when he called."
It was the brunette's turn to roll her eyes. "As if a wooden door would've stopped us from listening." Benjy hummed in concurrence and flicked the television's sound back on, his entire attention fixed entirely on news broadcast.
"Still, it's only dinner," Lily reasoned, unaware that her fingers nervously twirled around a curl of red hair. Marlene arched an eyebrow at it and Lily stopped, feeling herself blush.
Luckily, Lily was spared from any of Marlene's teasing by the sound of the front door being unlocked. "It's me," called Dorcas from the entryway, a habit that she had gotten into ever since the Snape incident. She sounded slightly short of breath and Lily caught a glimpse of her balancing a large grocery bag on her hip as she locked the door.
"Need any help?" Lily offered, beginning to rise from her seat, but Marlene pushed her back down by the shoulders.
"Fenwick, go help her," she ordered.
Benjy opened his mouth to argue, but Marlene cut him off. "If you're going to eat all of their food then you can at least help them put it away. Besides, since when do you watch the news?"
"Come off it, McKinnon," Benjy protested, raising the remote control out of reach as Marlene moved to snatch it away.
"You won't miss anything. Those rich, executive sods will still be missing by the time you come back and that protest is still going to be pointless."
"Sometimes I wonder if you're only a policewoman purely for the gun."
"Shut up, you two. I'm fine," Dorcas said, appearing in the doorway. She took one look at Lily and beamed, nodding approvingly. "Very nice, Lily!" she said, crossing her arms and reclining her shoulder against the door frame. "Mr. Pretty Car Crash might just have a heart attack when he sees you."
"And that's only with this modest dress Lily insisted on wearing," Marlene commented, gesturing toward the pile of lavish dresses the redhead had refused to wear, mostly because of their lack of sleeves or back. "Oh, stop fussing with that. You can't see it, Lily, honest," she chastised as Lily tugged nervously at the sleeve of her simple green dress. "And is he really pretty, then?"
"Blokes don't like it when you call them pretty," Benjy commented, his eyes still fixed on the screen. "Just so you know."
"I think you're pretty, Fenwick."
"Nope," he replied completely unfazed, not even bothering to look up from the weather report as he sipped from his beer. "Not changing my mind, McKinnon."
"What about when that blonde bird you went on a date with the other night does it?" shot back the brunette almost at once. Benjy looked up at that. "What did she call you?" She slanted her mouth, feigning deep thought. "Pretty Eyes, was it?"
"That's not…" Benjy started, but instantly closed his mouth, face bright with color.
"And what sort of voodoo magic rubbish did you use on the poor girl? She is far too fit to have agreed to go out with you on her own accord."
"Shut up."
"Leave him alone, Marlene," Lily said in a tired voice. "He's handsome, intelligent, and talented enough to get any girl he wants."
"Thanks, Mum," Benjy mumbled, sinking further into his chair.
Dorcas laughed, ruffling Benjy's hair and answering Marlene's previous question. "He really is pretty, though. That Potter bloke," she clarified. Rumpling Benjy's hair again, she added, "Though you're adorable, too, Fenwick." Her eyes fell on Lily, playful smile already pulling at her lips. "This Potter, though..." she finished that statement with an approving and enthusiastic nod of her head.
"James Potter, right?" Marlene asked, scrunching her forehead thoughtfully. "Sounds familiar."
"Maybe because he's one of the best football players on campus," Dorcas pointed out.
"A football player!" Marlene repeated excitedly, head rounding on Lily . The wider and wickeder her smirk grew, the hotter Lily felt her cheeks become. "So he's really fit, then?"
"Marlene," Lily started warningly, but that only egged her friend on.
"How fit is he on a scale of Andrew Boot to Nathan Corner?"
"I can't believe you still objectify those poor blokes like that," Lily retorted, shaking her head in disbelief. Dorcas, on the other hand, laughed at the reference. It was a "scale" of boys all three of them knew, devised while they were drunk on their living room floor a little more than a year ago.
"Where would I fall on that scale?" asked Benjy thoughtfully from his corner, face slowly returning from scarlet to its normal color.
Marlene ignored him, looking at Lily instead. "All right, fine," she said, tousling Lily's curled hair and setting it with hairspray. "I'll just decide when I meet him." Lily found herself incapable of replying, succumbing to a coughing fit as she accidentally swallowed some of the hairspray. "That's going to be soon, yeah?"
Lily recovered. Before she could say a word, her phone droned loudly against the wood of the vanity.
Ready when you are, Evans.
Her heart jolted to her throat. Feeling a gush of adrenaline shoot through her body, she replied, Come on up. Just buzz for flat number seven.
Lily looked up at Marlene through the mirror. "You'll meet him sooner than you think."
"Doe's right. That poor bloke's going to have a heart attack with those legs, Evans," Marlene replied, appraising Lily as she stood to her feet. She scrunched up her nose at the redhead. "It's not fair, really."
Lily, however, looked at her imploringly. "Please, please, please don't embarrass me in front of him."
There was a loud buzz that reverberated throughout the whole flat.
Marlene waved a dismissive hand. "Don't be ridiculous, Lily," she said as she moved to the living room. Dorcas caught Lily's eye and gave her a reassuring smile. It was she, after all, who always kept Marlene in check when she got too out of hand in public.
Benjy, meanwhile, set his bowl of crisps on Lily's desk and stood. He grinned at her and before following everyone out into the living room, pausing in front of Lily.
"Be careful, all right? If he tries to hurt you—" he started saying before Lily rolled her eyes at him.
"I'll be fine, Ben," she assured him, though she felt moved by his concern nonetheless. "Besides, I can take care of myself."
"Oh, I know," he said confidentially, nodding his head. "I was only offering in case you needed help hiding the body."
Lily's laughter followed them into the living room and it only died when there was a second buzz. Marlene hurried to press the button that would unlock the entrance door downstairs. They all waited the forty five seconds it would take someone to ascend the stairs and find their door. For some reason, Lily didn't know what to do with her hands as she stood there, waiting for the doorbell that would startle her anyway, no matter how anticipated it was.
When there was nothing, Marlene frowned and turned to Benjy. "You did fix the lock downstairs, didn't you, Fenwick?"
"Jesus, yes, Mum," he returned just as quickly, raising his hands in front of him in surrender.
Marlene, predictably, opened her mouth to retort but that's when there were three consecutive knocks at the door. The brunette perked up and grinned at Lily before she moved to open the door.
James continued to stare at the gold number seven against the nondescript wooden door of her flat. His knuckles hovered over the wood, but the incessant leaping of his stomach stopped them from making contact. From inside, he could hear the muffled sound of voices and he became very aware that her friends would be there, friends who probably knew all about him.
That made his mouth feel drier than it already was.
James shook his head, cringing at the thought of what Sirius would say if he saw him like that. Nothing had ever made his palms so sweaty or his heart beat so fast that it threatened to burst through his chest, not even those last desperate minutes of a match when all they needed was one more goal to be champions…
He wondered why it surprised anymore. She unnerved him— made him feel completely at a loss. He might as well accept that.
Man up, Prongs, he told himself, rolling his shoulders a couple of times and releasing a sharp breath.
Upon knocking, the room inside became very quiet. His hand flew to his hair reflexively in the few seconds it took a tall, lean brunette to open the door. Her grin, which was already present before she even opened the door and which somehow unsettled him even more, grew wider at the sight of him. She said nothing, her murky, brown eyes sizing him up instead.
"Er…," he started when the silence went for too long. "Evening," he greeted her with a nod, shifting his weight slightly on his feet when her only response was the slight narrowing of her eyes. "I'm here for—"
"Have we met before?" she asked him, brow knit with her effort to place him.
"Don't think we have," James replied when he recovered from his surprise at the unexpected question.
She tilted her head to her side, clearly unconvinced. "What club do you play for at uni?"
An exasperated sigh preceded the appearance of Lily at her side.
There it was again, that sodding jolt in his chest. His eyes took in how lovely she looked in her green dress, forcing them away when he realized they lingered on the length of her exposed legs.
Lily, however, did not seem to notice, all her efforts invested instead in scowling at her friend. "Sorry, don't mind her," she told him, her expression softening when she met his eye.
"All right, Evans?"
"You're late," she pointed out in a tone that was laced with guarded playfulness. She crossed her arms, switching her weight to one hip.
It elated him.
"Anxious to see me?" he replied and he couldn't help the hand that got lost in his hair again.
"Don't flatter yourself."
"Bit hard to do that when you're already doing it yourself." He added a wink for good measure. Predictably, Lily blushed.
"All right kids, keep it behind closed doors," Marlene interrupted, closing the door when James stepped inside. If her grin was disconcerting before, it was nothing to how it looked now. "Completely off the Boot-Corner scale," she told Lily, her whisper so loud that James wondered why she bothered. "This one gets his own."
"Sorry?"
"Nothing," Lily replied quickly, looking as if she wanted nothing more than for the floor to open and swallow her whole. Of course, James didn't believe her and a grin started dawning on his lips at the prospect of teasing her about something. But she was quick, turning to the other two people in the room. "Everyone, this is James Potter. James, this is my roommate, Dorcas. You met her before," she said, beckoning toward the blonde who was, at the moment, waving at him in greeting.
"Somehow, I knew I'd be seeing you again," she told him with a smile.
James grinned at her but could not say anything because Lily moved on to the dark-haired boy leaning against the sofa, arms crossed as he silently watched them. "This is my good friend Benjy Fenwick," Lily said.
"Hey," Benjy said as he sent him a brief nod, which James returned.
"And this is Marlene McKinnon," Lily continued, nodding toward the brunette. Unlike the other two, she leaped forward and took James's hand in hers, shaking it enthusiastically.
"So very nice to meet you," she told him.
"And you," he replied, laughing.
He saw Lily flash her a dangerous look but Marlene did not seem to notice.
"Would you like a cup of tea, James?" Dorcas interjected just as Marlene opened her mouth to speak, a particular glint in her eye.
"I'd really love to," James started, glancing down at his wristwatch. "But we should probably get going, Evans, if we want to make it in time for our reservation."
Lily looked relieved as she nodded and started toward the door.
"Good meeting you all," James said with a tiny salute before he followed Lily out the door.
"Should we bother waiting up for you, Lily?" Marlene asked in a would-be innocent voice right before the door closed behind them. Lily, however, pretended to not have heard.
James chuckled, stifling his teasing remarks. Instead, they walked out to his car in silence. Before he unlocked it, however, he flashed her a smug smirk and asked, "So what is this scale I'm getting for myself?"
He enjoyed the way her cheeks bloomed with color more than he should. "It's nothing," she said almost convincingly. "Marlene's insane. Don't mind anything she says from now on, yeah?" Again, he would have been entirely convinced had it not been for the brief moment in which her gaze faltered to the floor.
"I only look thick, Evans," he told her.
At that, she laughed. "Take me to dinner, Potter, before I challenge that."
The night breeze rustled her hair and he found it very distracting. No more distracting, however, than the length of her skirt. "Yeah? Not very credible when you're going to invent a whole new scale for me," he stated, crossing his arms and leaning against his car.
Lily mirrored him and crossed her own arms over the front of her dress. "There you go being presumptuous again. It could be a scale of intelligence, or lack there of."
"Ouch, I'd believe that, Evans, 'cept you're blushing almost the same color as your hair." And here, he really had to fight back a grin. "And you can't keep your eyes off me."
"You mean the same way you can't keep your eyes off my legs?" she answered, shifting her weight from one hip to the other in a way that came across as challenging.
He was really grinning now. "Don't flatter yourself," he said, trying his best to mimic her tone from earlier.
"Bit difficult since you're already doing that for me," she returned. Before he could open his mouth to shoot something right back, she took a few step forward so that they were mere inches apart. Taken aback, James said nothing and only blinked in surprise as she patted her hand on his cheek sweetly and the fingers of her other hand skimmed along his for a brief moment before they pressed the keychain button that unlocked his car with a loud chirp.
He stood there, dumbfounded, moments after she slipped inside his car. Recovering, he cringed inwardly at how idiotic he must have looked, not remembering for the life of him if his mouth fell open or not.
"Nice of you to join me, Potter," she teased when he finally climbed into the driver's side.
His hand flew to his hair before he could stop it, the only visible betrayal of how nervous she made him. He wanted to believe that she wouldn't notice, but with how observant she was proving to be, he very much doubted it. He found comfort in the fact that she had no way of knowing about the jolts in his stomach as he turned on the engine on. "I think all this hanging out has got my smugness rubbing off on you," he informed her in a casual tone.
"We've only really done that a few times."
"Then we're going to have to fix that, won't we?"
"If you're lucky."
"I generally tend to be," he said as they accelerated into the main road.
"Keep your eyes on the road," she protested, though the attempt was half-hearted and a feeble excuse to hide how affected she had been by his gesture.
It was like fuel to him seeing her blush like that. His fingers hummed on the steering wheel with an energy that had nothing to do with the purr of the engine. "But I'd rather just stare at you."
"You're ridiculous."
"You're blushing."
"Potter!"
James chuckled out loud, fixing his eyes up front again. "All right, all right. I'll drive safely."
A few minutes of silence transpired. He couldn't risk a glance at her as they entered a rather busy intersection, but he could feel her stare on him, burning him like the proximity of a flame to the skin. He could see that she opened her mouth at least twice, each time losing her nerve and closing it again.
Finally, "Where are you taking me anyway?"
He was certain that was not what she had wanted to say. Regardless, he only committed to say, "You'll see."
Though his eyes were still fixed ahead as he drove, he imagined the glare she sent his way at that. "At least tell me if I'm overdressed?" He turned briefly just in time to see her nervously catch her lower lip in her teeth. "I wasn't sure what to wear…I don't know… Too much?"
"Too much clothing, definitely."
"Potter, you prat," she said, though she was laughing, her shoulders visibly relaxing against the leather of the seat.
"All right, sorry. You're fine." He stole another look at her. "More than fine— You look good… beautiful." His grip on the wheel tightened, inwardly cringing at his pause.
Lily said nothing and he wished she would. When he turned to quickly gauge her expression, she was beaming, only rubbing her lips together to stop the smile from breaking across her whole face. She was looking at him in such a way that if it hadn't been for the fact that he was driving, he would have undoubtedly leaned in to kiss her. "What?"
"Nothing," she replied, the ghost of her smile still dancing on her lips. She shifted on her seat and stared right ahead into the night. He glimpsed at her again and could see the golden lights of the city flickering in her eyes. He fancied them better looking at them like that.
He tore his eyes away from her and refocused them on the street unwinding before them. Before long, he could feel her watching him again, his skin humming once more at the thought of her eyes on him. Much like before, he could see her opening her mouth as if to speak, her fingers twirling themselves around her hair. Lily closed her mouth again, sighing silently over the sound of the city outside. James was about to ask her if she was all right, when it hit him.
He just knew she wanted to ask about the last time they saw each other and he had to leave so abruptly. They had never discussed it, after all, even if he'd told her they would.
Lily opened her mouth again and that's when he announced rather loudly, "We're almost there."
She studied his face for the brief few seconds before he faced up ahead again. After that, neither of them said anything until they arrived at the restaurant a couple of minutes later.
"Potter for two," he told the host at the entrance. There were groups of couples waiting around the spacious entry hall, some looking resigned and others irritated. He could see Lily watching them, her bottom lip caught in her teeth again.
Meanwhile the host scanned the long list of reservations. His gloved finger slid down the list a second time before he looked up at them both with an apologetic look. "I am terribly sorry, sir, but there is no reservation for Potter."
"Yeah there is. I called to confirm yesterday," James told him, peering down at the list himself.
The man, far from looking pleased by James's attempt to find his name on the list himself, scanned the list a third time. "Nothing for Potter tonight, sir," he informed them, flipping the pages of the leather-bound book. He paused a few pages from where he started. "Although, I do see there was a reservation for 'Potter' that was modified earlier today. It was changed from tonight to Tuesday."
James frowned at him and opened his mouth but the attendant went on.
"Ah, yes. It was modified by one regular guests, Mr. Richard Potter," he went on. James felt his fists clench almost reflexively at his sides. There was a mad buzzing at his ears, so loud that he was surprised he could still hear the muffled sound of conversation coming from the tables.
"No," he started through gritted teeth. "The reservation was for James Potter."
"James," Lily started quietly.
"I'm sorry, sir, but the reservation can't be changed back for tonight."
"James," Lily said again, this time louder. "It's okay. We can find somewhere else. Thank you," she added to the attendant before taking James's hand and leading him outside into the chilly night air. He was nowhere near appeased, but he still let himself be dragged outside by her small hand. She finally stopped a few feet away from the restaurant's entrance, away from the crowd waiting to be seated.
It struck him that his grip on her hand was tighter than he intended it to be. He quickly loosened it and dropped his hand to his side altogether, wishing at once that he hadn't.
"James," she said softly, compassion present not only in her voice but also in her gaze. "I'm sure it was an accident. He must have thought the reservation was for him all along."
He didn't reply, too focused on abating the raw rage swelling in his stomach. Finally, "What do you want to eat?"
Lily's shoulder rose and dropped with a sigh. "I think we both need a drink, yeah?"
"Yeah, there's a good bar—"
But she shook her head, eyes roaming the bustling street until they stopped on a building at the corner. Giving him a coy smile, she took him by the wrist without a thought and lead him across the street to the tiny shop with a neon sign announcing it was open twenty four hours.
"An off-license, Evans?"
But she wasn't listening as she continued inside, still gripping his arm. The bright, white lighting of the inside made him squint as they moved around the selves stocked with copious amounts of bottles, all in different sizes and colors. Finally, Lily stopped in front of a selection of amber bottles, dropping his hand to pick out a pair.
"Where do you plan to drink all of this?" he asked in spite of himself.
She looked up from the label of one of the bottles she was holding. "I was thinking we could go to your place?"
He raised his eyebrows at her.
"Not like that," she amended with a laugh.
"My flat mate's going to be there, though."
Lily shrugged, returning to the bottles. "He can join us." She glanced up to shoot him a warning look. "Again, not what I meant."
Her attention returned to the shelves, eyes studiously considering each bottle. James, already feeling his anger ebbing away, chuckled quietly at the way she bit the inside of her cheek, the way someone would when deciding between two answers on an exam. Seemingly having decided which bottle to pick next, she lifted herself on the tips of her toes to reach for it.
James laughed loudly when the attempt proved hopeless. And just like that, she had managed it again. She had managed to replace the bitter resentment in his chest with a mad thundering.
"You could help me, you git," she told him reprovingly.
"But you're almost there, Evans," he protested, crossing his arms instead.
Lily still managed to glare at him through her effort before focusing on her target over the stray locks of red hair falling on her forehead. James, unfazed as ever, took her distraction as an opportunity to appreciate her slender arms as she reached for the bottle. How was it possible that even the harsh lighting of the cramped shop failed to prove unflattering for her? His eyes descended down to her shoulder, to her graceful neck, and finally to her collarbones. The silky fabric of her dress, in her struggle, slid a few inches, revealing not only more of her skin but also a thin, pink scar, vivid against the fairness of her skin and disappearing well under her dress.
Lily huffed before turning to him again. "Are you really not going to—" She stopped and followed his line of sight to her front, color flaring up her neck and face when she realized what he was looking at. Hastily, so hastily that she almost dropped the bottles she was cradling, she hitched the front of her dress up with her free hand, effectively hiding the mark from sight.
Lily fixed her eyes on the floor, her face becoming redder with each second that ticked by, until she finally met his eye. She opened her mouth to say something, but no words came out. James, unable to think of something to say, reached for the bottle with no problem. "I reckon these should be enough, yeah?"
She nodded but remained silent.
"Off to my place, then?"
Again, she only nodded. James was at a loss, unable to understand why a scar was so upsetting. He had them all over his body, too, from football and many more from a childhood full of pranks that he never thought all the way through.
He stopped abruptly a few feet from the register, turning to face her. "Just…" he started, trailing off and earning him a puzzled look from the redhead. "The flat's a bit…untidy."
"I don't think it can be worse than my mate Benjy's flat," she offered quietly.
But James shook his head solemnly. "Oh, but it is, Evans. Your mate Benjy's not flat mates with Sirius Black."
Lily rolled her eyes. "I'm sure it's not that—"
"Evans, we buy new clothes just to avoid laundry."
She laughed and he felt a swell of pride at having managed that. "You're utterly ridiculous," she told him.
"So I've been told."
A/N: And off to James's flat we go! Okay, I am so excited for the next chapter because we get to the good stuff.
Don't forget to visit this blog for shenanigans/stuff about this fic: saywhenfic dot tumblr dot com
As always, thank you.