That night, Lily met James in the common room at eleven after everyone else had already turned in for the night. He greeted her with a smile and stood next to her. The next minute, Lily gasped in surprise as James threw a cloak around the two of them. She glanced in a mirror and saw that the two of them were completely invisible.
She wanted to question him as to where he had gotten an invisibility cloak and where he was taking her but he put a finger to his lips and indicated that she should be quiet. Lily obeyed his request and silently, the two of them left the common room. The only source of light were the occasional lamps that were lit along the corridors, the two of them walked slowly and quietly to avoid being caught by roaming prefects and teachers.
Lily finally knew where they were going when they reached the steps to the Astronomy tower and James led the two of them up the winding staircase. She began to think what James could have planned for the two of them as they continued the long climb to the top of the tower.
When they reached the top, she was taken by surprise. Waiting for them were blankets, a basket full of treats from Honeydukes, a bottle of non-alcoholic wine and two glasses and a jar burning with flames on the inside. Lily felt her heart soar in affection for the little surprise that James had arranged for them. It was a clear night, the stars twinkling in the jet black sky. James threw the invisibility cloak to one side before waving his wand to the door and it instantly locked; ensuring that the two of them would not be disturbed.
"So what do you think?" asked James as he sat on one of the blankets.
Lily walked over and sat on the concrete next to him, smiling gratefully as he wrapped a blanket around her body to protect her from the winter chill. Nobody had ever done anything this nice for her before and she felt so happy that James was that thoughtful.
"I think it's lovely." she admitted.
James smiled and poured them both a glass of wine, he handed her one and she took a sip; not minding one bit that James wrapped his arm over her shoulder to be closer to her. Both of them remained silent for a short while as they looked up at the night sky, Lily laughing as James tried to point out constellations.
"I think that one's Orion's belt." said James as he pointed in the opposite direction to where the true Orion's belt was.
Lily laughed loudly as she drained the rest of her glass and helped herself to a fizzing whizzbee.
"No that's Orion's belt." Lily laughed as she pointed to the correct constellation.
James smiled as he took Lily's pointed hand in his and kissed the back of it, shivering at how cold her skin was.
"You're freezing." he pointed out.
Lily shrugged, "Only my hands." she replied.
James moved the flame lit jar in front of Lily, placing her hands in front of it in order to warm her hands up a little. She smiled in gratitude as she turned her hands back and forth in front of the jar, instantly feeling the warmth coming back to her hands. As James watched her, he found himself unable to speak. Her green eyes lit up brightly in the orange light, keeping him glued to the spot where he sat. It was like they were the gravity that kept him from floating away from the earth. Her skin ivory with a a light shade of pink as she began to get warmer, her red hair even darker in the flame light, floating down her back. She was truly beautiful in his eyes.
Lily looked at him, questioning as to why he was staring at her.
"Do I have something on my face?" she asked quietly.
James cleared his throat before answering her.
"You're extremely beautiful Lily Evans." James replied.
Lily blushed and turned away from him, but his finger slid under her chin and he gently moved her face back to meet his gaze; wondering why she looked away from him when he had merely told her the truth.
"Did I insult you?" asked James.
Lily shook her head, "No-one's ever said that to me before." she replied.
James smiled, "They were probably intimidated by you." he said.
Lily sighed heavily causing James to frown in concern.
"What is it?" he questioned.
"Aside from my friends, everyone else thinks I'm just a goody goody and a spoil sport. I work hard to achieve what I want. Severus saw me as a friend until he called me mudblood, Avery and Mulciber just want in between my legs to 'show me what pureblood tastes like' and my sister constantly reminds me every holiday that I go home how much of a freak I am so with you saying that people are intimidated by me, it's hard to believe so." Lily explained.
James cupped her face, refusing to let her look away from him.
"Listen to me, you aren't a freak and never will be. You're extraordinary by the way you care about Remus and are friends with him despite his affliction. You're caring when Marlene has a shit day and needs to cry, you're clever how you get the best grades and even if you don't get the very top grades, your determination makes you admirable that you don't want to give up. You're witty by the way we can have a bit of banter and that makes me smile. You're captivating by the way you kiss me and that just makes me want to make you happy in every way I possibly can. Lily, you're the most amazing person I've ever met and I'm trying to be a person who's worthy of your affection, that's how much you make me want to change my ways and mature up a bit. Evans, that's how I see you through my eyes and I wish you could see yourself as I see you, because the girl I see is remarkable." he whispered softly to her.
Lily felt like crying tears of happiness, never before had anyone told her anything that amazingly sweet before. James was melting away her barriers and she found herself unable to stop him anymore. She wanted him too in fact, she wanted to find someone she could become one with. Her feelings for James were beginning to get stronger and that scared her, she had never felt this way about someone before.
Before she could reply to James's sweet declaration of how he saw her, he softly pressed his lips to hers and kissed her deeply all the while continuing to cup her face. She felt herself falling so she gripped onto the front of James's robes to steady herself. James moved one of his hands to bottom of her back and gently moved her backwards so that she lay on top of the blanket with him hovering over her as he continued to deeply kiss her. Her arms circled around his neck, his tongue massaging against her own so slowly.
After several minutes, they both ended the kiss but continued to lay how they were with their noses touching each other's. Both wondering if they should pursue a relationship, both wishing that they could read the other's mind.
"So what happens now?" asked Lily quietly.
"How about we take this slowly as it's both new to us?" suggested James.
Lily nodded slowly, "Third date to Hogsmeade?" she asked.
"Yes Lily, in a few weeks. But until then what are we calling this?" he asked.
She blinked in confusion, not understanding what he meant.
"I mean are you my girlfriend? Are you a girl that I'm seeing exclusively without putting a label on it? Are we going to see each other and other people?" asked James quietly.
"Oh erm I don't want to see other people, I don't think that's fair to either of us and if we did that then we'd both get hurt as there are feelings there." she replied.
James nodded in understanding.
"I suppose we could just see how it goes for now." said Lily.
"Okay I can do that but if our third date goes well then I'm officially asking you to be my girlfriend." James whispered with a grin.
Lily couldn't help but return his grin and helped herself to another fizzing whizzbee from the basket as the two of them sat up. James wrapped his arm once more around Lily's shoulder as they continued to gaze up at the night's sky.
A/N: Thank you to those who wished me a happy birthday, I went to the Harry Potter Studio Tour in Watford with my sister and had an amazing time even if it was busy due to school holidays and the fire alarm went off when we were halfway through the queue.
Hope you liked this chapter and as always please leave a review :)