Seize the Day
Your footsteps echo alongside his in the empty corridor. The torch flames tremble as you pass.
Your patrol is coming to an end and he still hasn't spoken. It's odd, the quiet. You realize that you've come to look forward to the time you spend together on patrol. You steal a glance at him—for the hundredth time tonight. His hair is in as much of a disarray as ever. While it used to make your fingers itch to yank it until it laid flat, it's now endearing and you have to clench your hands to keep your fingers from reaching out to run through his locks. His hair is still damp from the shower he hurtled through so you wouldn't have to start patrol alone.
Not for the first time in the past few weeks, you notice how he's filled out and grown out of those knobby knees. He's tall and slender, no longer short and skinny. The thoughtful set of his mouth and silence are a testament to his maturity…
He turns toward you so fast that you don't have time to pretend that you weren't looking at him. You blink and to your horror, your cheeks flood with heat. This brings a small smile to his face and his shoulders sink a little. He must have been tense.
"Will you go out with me?"
Your breath hitches. There is no audience this time, no swagger, no cocky grin. Only silence as he patiently waits for your answer. He thinks you can't see it, but you can see the lift of hope in his eyebrows, the pleading in his shadowed eyes.
Is this against the rules? You are supposed to have detested him for years. This is the boy who burned your hair, dumped you in the lake, made your quills shoot ink into your face. Friendship is a new concept between you; you're still weighing it in your hands to get the feel of it. Do friends go out so soon? Can Heads date one another?
You like rules—they make the complications of life far easier. True, there aren't always rules, and then you have to go with what you think is right. Usually you don't land too far from the mark, if not right on it.
Is this right? Are there rules being ignored? Your brain's hesitating, but your heart is pounding in exasperation with yourself.
You rise up and seize the day. You're leaning against him heavily for support; he nearly falls. Your lips don't quite meet his unsuspecting ones. His eyes are still open, and so are yours. His heart is thudding against your chest, and you realize just how close you are to him. Your cheeks sear with heat and your head buzzes with the sensation of every place that you're pressed close to him.
Then his arms slide around you and readjust your weight comfortably against him. His lips align with yours and first hazel and then green eyes fall close. His arms tighten.
The rules lay scattered at your feet. That's what James Potter does to you, what he's always done to you. He makes you seize the day.
That's why it's right, Lily Evans.