A BIG thank you goes out to everyone who reviewed chapter 2 and to everyone who put me on their story alerts! I am so glad everyone is responding so well to the story and I hope you enjoyed the preview of chapter 3. If you didn't receive a preview from me this is because you do have to leave a signed review through fanfiction in order for me to send it. I'm sorry about that. But I will be sending out previews of chapter 4 to everyone who reviews this chapter as well. So without further ado, enjoy chapter 3!

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

...

Friday came a little too quickly for Lily's liking. Time seemed to have slipped by when she wasn't looking and before she knew it, she was kissing Alex good bye as he struggled with his slightly overstuffed suitcase at the front door.

"Are you sure you don't want me to come with you Alex? At the very least I could be moral support." Lily gave him her biggest smile, hoping she could win him over in the last minute.

Alex laughed quietly. "Wow, you'll do anything to get out of finishing that project won't you Lils? No, it's ok, I'll be fine. I'm going to go straight to the hospital from here and after that I'm just going to be helping my mom out. I'll be home before you know it."

Lily sighed in disappointment. "If you're sure..."

Alex leaned over and gave her a quick kiss. "I am. I'll have my phone on me if you need to reach me. I made sure to charge it this time." He checked his watched and tried picking up his bag again. "I've got to go now Lils. I told my mom I'd meet her at three. I love you" He gave her one more kiss and quickly closed the door behind him.

Lily stared at the closed door for a minute, resisting the urge to run after Alex. She closed her eyes and rested her forehead against the door.

"Alone at last I see."

Lily felt a chill run down her body as her ears absorbed the familiar voice and she felt her stomach turn over. She steadied herself before turning around.

James was behind her, he had actually watched the little good bye scene between the two of them, all the while suppressing the urge to laugh at Lily. She truly did not want to be left alone with him.

But Lily had already thought ahead. Brushing past him, she picked up her English book and keys. "Not quite" she smirked at him, grateful she had the foresight to block his plans.

And with that, she slammed the door in his scowling face.

...

"That sounds like a lot of trouble to go through all for one girl man."

James, who was never one to like being alone, had left the apartment right after Lily. But instead of searching for her, he had went over to his best friend's place.

Sirius Black always seemed to have the best advice when it came to girls and their maddening personalities. Both of them sat in front of tv, staring mindlessly at the basketball game being showcased.

"It's not just any girl, Sirius, she's different."

"Every girl is different James, that's the beauty of DNA. No two girls are ever alike, unless of course they're twins. Then that's a different and better scenario." Sirius laughed his mind wandering back to a night in his freshman year.

"Besides mate, this isn't just any random girl you're hooking up with. She's your roommate. What happens when her boyfriend finds out? Then not only will you not have a place to live, but you still won't have the girl. Oh and if you get kicked out, you're not moving in here. I need my space."

James frowned at his friend's train of thought. "So you think I should just leave her alone and pretend like nothing happened?"

Sirius shrugged. "I don't know James. You're going to do what you're going to do. All I'm saying is be careful. I mean if all you're interested in is sex I know plenty of girls who would be more than happy to be at your service."

James groaned at Sirius's suggestion. "No thanks. I've never seen the appeal of the fuck them and forget them girls."

But Sirius, whose mind had wandered during the conversation, was already flipping through his phone contacts, looking for that night's conquest. "What did you say James?"

James rolled his eyes, and wondered if Lily was even going to come home that night.

...

It was no use. Even though she was sitting in the library, reading the most boring textbook she could get her hands on, her thoughts kept sliding back to her apartment and the man inside of it. She wondered what James was doing but immediately chided herself for being curious.

After she finished her English project, Lily knew she couldn't put off going home for much longer. She thought briefly about renting a hotel room just to make sure she behaved but she knew she was acting ridiculous. She hoped maybe she could dart inside her room and lock the door without having any contact with James but since he seemed intent on being as close to her as possible, this seemed unlikely.

She watched as the sky outside grew darker and students around her called it a night. Lily glanced at her watched and decided it was now or never.

Ten minutes later she was facing the front door of her apartment, her heart thudding in her chest. She quietly turned the lock and put on a brave face, not knowing if she would crumble again.

James was sitting on the sofa, reading a book when Lily entered. He heard her footsteps and glanced up briefly to acknowledge her presence. He knew she was nervous and was partially surprised she had even shown up.

Lily took James's lack of interest as a good sign. She cautiously made her way into the living room, careful to stay a good distance from him so she wouldn't be able to look too closely into his eyes or smell his delicious cologne.

James looked up again, noting the great deal of space Lily had left between them.

"I don't bite you know. Well unless you want me to that is." James winked at her but saw a small frown playing on her lips as she rocked back and forth slightly on her heels. She looked like she was contemplating making a run for her bedroom. James sighed.

"Relax Evans, it was a joke. You do know what those are right?"

Something about his statement cajoled Lily into speaking. "Since when do you call me Evans?"

James shrugged. "I don't know, since now I guess. You always seemed to get all hot and bothered when I call you Lils. I wasn't aware that only your boyfriend was allowed to call you that."

Lily took a defensive step toward him. "He's not. It's just something only people I'm close with call me."

James studied her. He shifted from his place on the couch to take a better look at her. "And we're not close."

Lily could feel heat starting to burn in her cheeks as her memory replayed a particular scene in her mind when she and James had been especially close. She shook her head. "Right."

James made a nonchalant movement with his hands as though waving a flag in surrender. "Well that's that then." He gave Lily a noncommittal jerk with his head and went back to his book. After his talk with Sirius he started thinking that maybe it was a good idea just to leave Lily alone. After all she had made her position on the issue perfectly clear and James was tired of fighting a losing battle.

Lily stood frozen on the floor. She was intrigued by James's lack of interest and wondered if this was another game he was playing with her. Even though she knew she shouldn't take the bait, she took another step closer to him.

"What are you reading?"

James didn't know what Lily was doing. One moment she claimed didn't want to be near him, and the minute he tried giving her what she wanted, she was inching closer to him. He could never understand women. James looked up at her, trying to read the situation and gave in.

"Just an old pysch book. I'm thinking about taking another course and just wanted to look through the material. Right now I'm at the part where they discuss how men and women react to different situations. I thought it might provide me with some insight." James gave her a half smile, not knowing if she open to teasing yet.

Lily gave him a small smile as she set her books down on the coffee table in front of James. She perched herself on the corner of the recliner, still reluctant to make any closer contact.

"And did you learn anything?"

James laughed. "Nah, I hate reading out of textbooks. I prefer hands on experience." James gave her another half smile along with his pun, but this time Lily could distinctly see a spark of desire in his hazel eyes. She looked away from him, attempting to slow her heartbeat. She bit her lip and tried folding her hands in her lap, trying to control them.

James knew he was coming on a little too strong so he attempted to change the subject. "So you never told me if you had any siblings, do you?"

Lily nodded. "Yeah, I have a sister. An older one. She just finished college last semester. Her name is Petunia. She's actually getting married next summer." Lily wrinkled her nose at her last statement.

James laughed at Lily's expression. "I take it you don't like him?"

"Not really. I mean, he's not awful or anything. His name is Vernon. He's just very self righteous and always concerned about money and social status. But I don't think it will matter much. I won't being seeing a lot of them in the future."

"Why is that?"

"My sister and I don't get along. Well, that's putting it mildly. Anyways, I just figure once we're past the point of being forced to stay in one room together, we will go our separate ways. I used to think we didn't get along because she was jealous of me, but to tell you the truth I'm not really sure what the reason is anymore." Lily frowned, a wave of sadness crashing over her as she thought about the sister who never wanted to be around her.

James could feel the grief radiating off of Lily. He wanted to go to her, and comfort her but he knew that was strictly off limits. He scrambled to think of something to else say.

"So how long have you and Alex been dating?" James didn't know what made him ask that but he figured she might want to talk about her boyfriend. She always liked to bring him up any other time they were having a conversation.

Lily looked back at James, shocked he would bring up Alex. "Since eleventh grade in high school, we both had chemistry together." Lily smiled briefly at the memory of meeting Alex for the first time back in high school. Those had been good times. Had being the operative word of course.

James raised his eyebrows at her. "You guys have been together since high school? And you've never been with anyone else?"

Lily frowned at his disbelieving tone. "No, Alex has been my only boyfriend. We thought we were going to have to do the long distance thing but when we both got accepted at the same college it just seemed like it made sense to go together."

James shook his head. "But college is about exploring your options. It's about meeting new people and making new friends."

Lily shook her head slyly. "I think I've done enough exploring." Her eyes flickered to his face then to his chest, which was actually, and somewhat disappointingly, Lily thought, covered with a shirt.

James followed her gaze but was cautious with his next words. He didn't want to scare Lily off.

"But aren't you curious about what else is out there. I mean, for eighteen years you lived with your parents, and the second you get some freedom you move in with your high school sweetheart. Don't you want to know what it feel like to have some time for yourself?"

Lily shrugged. "I don't know. I've thought about it. I guess I just like having someone to come home to at night. But I've heard this all before. My friends have teased me all the time about only having one boyfriend and going to college with my high school sweetheart. I never really gave it a second though until..." Lily cut herself off, afraid she had spoken too much.

"Until what...?" James pressed her, knowing this was a rare moment for the both of them. Lily had never spoken so freely with James. Most of their conversations had been limited to whatever television show the both of them had been watching at the time. It was nice talking about real issues for a change.

"Well you know until what." Lily rolled her eyes, seeking a way to move on from the topic.

But James wanted her to speak it aloud and acknowledge what had happened. He was tired of pretending like he was covering up a dirty secret. What had transpired between them was not shameful and he wanted Lily to know that. It was true she had cheated on her boyfriend and that wasn't the greatest situation, but it wasn't the end of the world.

Lily knew he was trying to provoke her so she told him what he wanted to hear. "Until we slept together. Okay, are you happy now? I didn't know what I was missing until we had sex and realized how great it is to be with another guy."

Lily didn't know why she didn't stop talking. All she knew was that it was a relief to finally speak aloud all the feelings she had kept bottled up for so long. "And I know how that must sound but I can't help it and now I can't stop thinking about it. Every time I look at you just want to recreate that night. Every time I'm alone, even if it's for the smallest amount of time I think about that night and how amazing it was. And now I can't even sleep with Alex because I'm afraid I'll be so distracted that I'll accidently call him the wrong name or something, and how am I supposed to explain that? And I know he's starting to notice something is off I just wish none of this would have happened."

James listened to her rant, he absorbed every word and was momentarily distracted by her beauty from her subsequent anger. "Is that what you really want Lily? To go out in the world and pretend like nothing happened? Obviously what you and Alex share isn't exactly the most passionate..."

Lily snapped and stood from her place on the recliner. "Don't pretend like you know anything about our relationship."

James stood up too, his pysch book clattering to the floor. He took a definitive step toward her. "It doesn't take a genius to figure out anything about your relationship with Alex. If you guys had been so rock solid like you pretend to be, you never would have slept with me in the first place. So what does that say about you?"

Lily felt rage well up into her stomach at his insinuation. She raised her hand to slap him, wanting to hear the satisfactory sound she knew it would make, when he caught her hand in midair.

James glared at her, his eyes glittering dangerously. "No, it's my turn to talk. You had your say."

Lily eyes went wide as she tried to ignore the desire flooding her stomach as he held onto her hand tightly.

"You think I enjoy watching you and Alex pretend to be all love dovey and kiss each other all over this apartment? It would be one thing if you two were actually in love. But I've seen the way you look at him Lily! I look at my best friend with more affection than you do with Alex. And it's not like you aren't capable of passion. I've seen it." Lily bit her lip as closed his eyes in anger. But James wasn't done yet.

"I just think you're denying yourself of something amazing because you're so afraid something bad is going to happen. But with Alex everything is safe and you can pretend to go on loving him even though we both know it's a lie."

Lily yanked her hand out of James's grasp. "I do love Alex."

James shook his head. "But you're not in love with him. And that's what counts."

Lily's head was swimming as she tried to make sense of everything. Deep, deep down, a part of her knew James was right. Hell, she had even suspected as much when she with Alex back in high school. But he had been so kind and generous with her that she forgot that physical attraction played such a huge role.

She didn't say anything but instead looked up into James's eyes. She saw a question there, one she wasn't sure how to answer. She wanted to rebuff his advances for the sake of her sanity but she wanted to feel alive again, just like she had felt during that night she spent with him.

She wasn't in love with James, but he always managed to bring out the feisty side of her. The side that went missing whenever Alex appeared. James knew how to press her buttons and she loved it and she even had an inkling that if they ever did together as a couple they would be amazing together.

But she wasn't ready to leave Alex. It wouldn't be fair to him, especially after all he had done for her. And when it came down to it, Lily wasn't ready to give up her sure thing with Alex for a risky bet with James.

"I don't know what you want me to say James."

"I don't want you to say anything." He ignored the warning in her eyes and pulled her body closer to him. He bent his head, desperate to taste her again and wanting to her cry of satisfaction. To his amazement, Lily didn't struggle this time, but instead allowed James to softly touch his lips against hers. Instantly, Lily felt warmth flood her body as she clutched closer to James.

James broke away from her lips and peppered her neck with soft kisses. She could him whisper in her ear. "This says it all." James kissed her ear, his lips curling into a smile. He had always known that actions spoke louder than words.

Lily moaned softly, her hands threading into James's soft hair. She thought her knees would soon give out and James's sensed her weakness. They slid onto the floor, still embracing. But Lily was desperate to feel more, to touch more. The fire inside of her had been lit again and she didn't want to blow it out.

Her mind flashed briefly to Alex's face and Lily felt a pang of regret. But all other thoughts flew out of her head as James reached up to touch her face, staring at her with an intensity she had never thought possible. His hand slid to the bottom of her blouse and Lily helped him slide it over her head. She reached up her own hands to pull up his shirt as well. His hands worked their magic as he caressed her body, his hand sliding lower to release some of the pressure she felt between her thighs.

Together the two of them undressed each other, each one marveling at the others beauty. Neither one of them could put a name on what they were feeling. Lily knew she would have to deal with the repercussions in the morning and that her and James would have to decide what to do next. But for now all she felt was pleasure as her and James became one.

...

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