As Lily and James got nearer and nearer to Hogwarts, the events of the day seemed to become almost funny. At one point, Lily simply burst out laughing.
"What's funny?" Asked James.
"It seems a bit funny now, doesn't it?" Asked Lily. "The whole thing?"
"Yeah, I guess it does." Said James, and he too joined in laughing. As they were about to go into the castle, Lily stopped and pulled James aside.
"The common room's going to be really crowded." She said.
"Yeah, celebrating the Quidditch win." Agreed James.
"And if we're still going to keep this secret for a while, which I really think we should, then we can't be sitting next to each other and spend the whole time talking to one another." Said Lily.
"Yeah, I guess you're right." Said James.
"So this is sort of the end of our date." Said Lily.
"Or not." Said James. "I've got a plan."
"What's your genius plan?" Asked Lily, just a hint of skepticism in her voice.
"I get my Cloak, right? Then we both go up to the boys' dormitories." Said James. "It's only, what, five O'Clock. Nobody will be up there." Lily thought that over for a while.
"But what if someone IS up there?" She asked.
"Then we'll try plan B." Replied James.
"Which is?" Asked Lily, a hint of worry in her voice.
"Honestly, Lils, you need to start trusting me a little more." Said James. "And plan B is this; we go find an unused classroom."
"Why?" Asked Lily.
"To be alone." Said James. "And if you don't like that plan, there's always plan C; we tell everyone we're together and then we won't have to worry about being in private."
"I like the sound of plan B a LOT better than C, but A would be ideal." Said Lily.
"OK, to my dorm it is then." Said James. "Here." He said, pulling out his cloak, and wrapping it around his shoulders, and holding out the other corner for Lily to put around her own shoulders.
"Why do I need to be under the cloak?" Asked Lily.
"Won't it look suspicious if you go up the boys' dorm and don't come down for like an hour?" Replied James.
"I guess so." Said Lily, and took the fabric of the Cloak and ducked under it. It was quite clear now that the Cloak was only made for one person, because when Lily looked down their legs were nearly visible up to their knees.
"Ah." Said James.
"Hmm." Agreed Lily. "Got a soloution to this one, Mr Genius?" Asked Lily. James didn't speak for a few seconds, then an idea seemed to form in his mind.
"Yes, actually, I do!" He exclaimed triumphantly. "Jump on my back, then it would cover us!" Lily stared at him for a moment, not sure if he was serious or not. Then, it occured to her, he was deadly serious.
"OK, but if I fall off, you're dead, understand?" She said.
"Understood, Miss Evans." Replied James, pulling the cloak off and setting it on a low wall next to them. He turned his back to Lily. "Jump on." Lily grabbed James' shoulders, and jumped up and twisted her legs around his waist. James stepped forwards, and almost fell over. Lily took in a sharp intake of breath, and wrapped her arms around James' neck to stop herself from falling.
"James Potter, remember what we said about falling over?" Asked Lily.
"Sorry, Lils." He replied. He regained his balance, and grabbed the cloak. He threw it over himself, and, thankfully, it just about touched the ground. "Told you; stroke of genius."
"Don't go getting too cocky, Potter." Warned Lily jokingly.
"I thought you'd stopped calling me Potter all the time. That's your nickname for me when you're angry with me." Said James.
"Well, the nickname for when I'm angry might just have turned into a nickname for when I'm not, like you calling me Lils." Said Lily.
"Still, I have a name." Said James.
"Yes, I know, JAMES. Happy?" Asked Lily sarcastically. "Now are we going inside or not?"
"Right you are." Replied James, heading inside. They had to walk in silence up the Gryffindor tower, as a few students were milling through the corridors, plenty of people either James or Lily knew well. It was incredibly for James to climb the moving staircases with another fully grown human on his back, but he managed it. When they got to the Portrait Hole, James stepped aside.
"Why aren't we going inside?" Asked Lily.
"Gotta wait until someone else who isn't invisible cones along, and we'll slip inside with them." Replied James. Lily sighed, and thought not for the first time about how ridiculous her current situation was; she was in what was probably a considerably ungraceful position, hanging on like grim death to James' shoulders, and they were invisible. Lily looked around, and, like salvation walking towards her, Frank and Alice were coming up the nearby staircase.
"Please, God, let them be going into the Common Room." Whispered Lily, more to herself than to James, though he responded with a quiet chuckle. Frank pulled Alice aside when they got to the Portrait Hole, and whispered something to her. Alice giggled, and the two then began kissing. Lily rolled her eyes. She was sure Frank would kill her is he knew she was watching his intimate moment with Alice, which, as far as he knew, was totally private. At least Frank and Alice's relationship was out in the open, it didn't really matter if someone saw them.
"Oi, Longbottom, if you're gonna mess Alice around, get a room will you?" Came a familiar voice coming from the staircase. Sirius appeared, and Frank went red, as did Alice. Sirius, in true Marauder style, was grinning ear to ear.
"Come on, Frank, lets go to the library, get that Charms homework done, yeah?" Said Alice, obviously just wanting to get away from the current, awkward, situation.
"Good idea, Alice." Said Frank, his voice showing just how relieved he was as well. They headed off down the stairs together, and Sirius laughed openly to himself.
"Lily, I know we agreed to keep this a secret, but I told Sirius, please don't be mad." Whispered James. Lily sighed. Hestia knew, so she supposed they were even.
"OK, James, that's fine." Whispered Lily.
"Ok, then." Whispered James. "Hey, Padfoot!" Said James, no longer whispering. Sirius looked around in confusion.
"Prongs? Where are you mate?" Asked Sirius.
"Under my Cloak." Said James.
"Lily with you?" He asked.
"Hi, Sirius." Said Lily somewhat sheepishly.
"You two been in Hogsmeade?" Asked Sirius, a cheeky grin all over his face.
"Yeah, you couldn't do us a favour, could you, mate? Open the Portrait Hole for us, eh?" Asked James.
"No prob, Prongs." Replied Sirius. He stepped forwards.
"Devil's Snare." He said. The Fat Lady had considerately `fallen asleep` when Alice and Frank had arived. She didn't mind giving the Gryffindors privacy if they need it. She `woke up` when she heard the password, and swung open. Sirius stepped inside, and James followed, stooping low to make sure I didn't hit my head on the doorframe.
"Thank you." I whispered to the Fat Lady as James walked past.
"No problem, dear." She whispered back, smiling at the general area she supposed I must be in. Inside, there was a party going on in the Common Room, Gryffindor banners hung everywhere, all the students wearing something that was either red or gold.
"Thanks, mate." Whispered James to Sirius, who nodded, and headed off into the crowd of Gryffindors. James made his way carefully through the crowd, careful not to nudge anyone by accident, and walked up the steps to the dormitories. He turned left, and entered the boys' dorm. It was empty. He stopped in the middle of the floor, and took of the Cloak. He let go of Lily's legs, which he had been holding onto to make sure she didn't fall. "You alright, Lils?" Asked James.
"Yeah. I suppose." Replied Lily, jumping down off James' back and wobbling precariously when she landed. James grabbed her arms to steady her. "Thanks." She said.
"No problem." Replied James. Lily looked around. She felt more than a little awkward. James took her hand, and led her over to the bed next to the window, and sat down on it. Lily sat down next to him, and James put his arm around her shoulders.
"Thanks." Said Lily.
"For what?" Asked James.
"For everything; for taking me to Hogsmeade, for not being mad when I threw up over your shirt, for putting up with the Cloak all day. Just, thanks." Said Lily.
"You're welcome, Lils." Said James, taking Lily's hand. He stood up then, and pulled Lily up too. He took both her hands in both of his, and looked deep into her eyes. "And you shouldn't be the one saying thank you." He said, before leaning in and kissing Lily. He decided not to try to take it too far. Just a simple kiss on the lips, no more than a few seconds long. When he pulled away, Lily just stared at him with a slightly surprised expression on her face. After a moment, Lily blinked and something seemed to click in her brain. She looked anxiously, quickly, around the room, then ran off. Out of the boys' dorm, up into the safety of the girls'. Hestia was there.
"T'sup, Lily?" She asked.
"Oh, just the normal." Replied Lily, flopping down onto her bed. She buried her face in the pillow.
"You been with Potter?" asked Hestia.
"Yeah." Replied Lily. It came out slightly muffled, due to the pillow.
"Where were you?" Asked Hestia.
"Boys' dorm." Replied Lily. Hestia raised her eyebrows.
"What happened up there?" She asked, not pushy, but wanting to know.
"Oh, you know. We chatted, talked about the date." Said Lily. "And he kissed me."
"HE DID WHAT?" Exclaimed Hestia.
"Shush!" Exclaimed Lily, sitting bolt upright.
"Sorry!" Said Hestia. "But, seriously, like, oh my God!"
"Hest, please" Said Lily in a pleading tone.
"Lily, this is big!" Said Hestia excitedly.
"You're to tell NOBODY." said Lily.
"Yeah, OK, whatever!" Agreed Hestia. The girl was deep in hyper mode.
"Hestia, I know you're all hypered-up now, but can you please take it down a notch? I want to sleep." Said Lily wearily.
"It's only six. That's early, even by your standards." Said Hestia.
"I know, but I'm tired." Said Lily.
"Suit youself, Evans, I'm going downstairs. If they've still got butterbeer, I'm claiming my share of it." Said Hestia, not noticing Lily's shudder at the mention of the dreaded drink.
"Have fun." Said Lily into her pillow as she heard Hedtia leave the room. Lily turned over after a while, and stared at the ceiling. A million thoughts were racing through her head. One half of her wished she had stayed with James after he had kissed her, the other half was glad she had left. Soon enough, she found herself wishing that she was with James again. "Oh, to hell with this." She said to herself, throwing her legs off the bed and stading up. She looked in the mirror, and made sure her hair was OK before she walked to the door and looked out onto the common room. Nobody was looking her direction. She glanced back at her own dorm before running down the steps, and up the opposite ones, into the boys' dormitory. She took a deep breath, before she looked around the corner. James was sitting on his bed with his head in his hands, elbows propped up on his knees. She knocked the open door, and James looked up.
"Lily!" He exclaimed disbelievingly.
"Hey James." Replied Lily awkwardly, stepping into the room. She was standing a metre or so away from James now.
"You've come to tell me you don't want me to be your boyfriend anymore, haven't you?" Asked James.
"What? No!" Said Lily.
"So, you DO want me to be your boyfriend?" Asked James. Lily stepped forward, so she was right in front of him.
"Yes." She said Simply.
"I thought I'd blown it." Said James, smiling almost shyly.
"I thought I'D blown it." Said Lily. "I'm sorry I ran off."
"It's Ok." Replied James.
"It's just, well, I wasn't expecting it, and, OK, I'm going to confess something to you that very few people know." Said Lily. "That was my first kiss."
"What? You've never snogged anyone before, and you're in seventh year?" Asked James, a cheeky smile spreading across his face.
"Oh, shut up." Said Lily, though she was smiling at how broadly he was grinning.
"I thought you made out with Longbottom when you were going out with him?" Asked James.
"Well, not really. He kissed me on the cheek once." Said Lily, blushing.
"Yeah, that doesn't count, does it?" Replied James.
"No, it doesn't." Agreed Lily. "That wasn't your first, was it?" She asked, already knowing the answer; no.
"I'm afraid not, Lily. I kissed a girl in third year." Said James.
"Geesch." Commented Lily. "Who was it?" James paused for a moment before he answered.
"Alice." He said, going slightly red at the mention of it.
"Frank's girlfriend?" Asked Lily. "I wouldn't have thought she was your type, James."
"She's not. Well, not now anyway. She had a thing for me back then, so, I kind of thought, you know, what the hell?" Said James.
"Yeah." Said Lily. There was an awkward silence then.
"I won't do it again, promise." Said James after a while, breaking the silence.
"What, try to kiss me?" Asked Lily.
"Yeah." Said James, slightly awkwardly. "I won't do it again."
"The only reason I ran off was because I...well, I was scared, to tell the truth." Said Lily.
"That bad at it, am I?" Asked James jokngly.
"No, you're not bad at it." Said Lily. She blushed when she sounded how it sounded coming out.
"Well then." Said James.
"I-I didn't mean - It wasn't meant to sound- Oh no..." Said Lily. James smiled, and picked up her hand.
"You're adorable when you do that. You know, get all lost for words." Said James.
"Oh, um, thanks." Said Lily shyly. She felt an inexplicable urge to cry, but she fought it back. Soon, however, she realised that it was becoming inevitable that a few y=tears were going to come, so she stepped forwards and wrapped her arms around James' waist, and hid her face in his neck so he wouldn't see. James held her close.
"Your hair smells nice." Said James softly. Lily tried to give him a gentle laugh then, but a sob came out instead. "Are you crying, Lils?" Asked James.
"No." Said Lily, but her voice betrayed her. James pulled away from her, but stood only a centimetre or so away, and took her face in his hands then.
"Why are you crying?" He asked softly.
"I, I just, you, I...Oh..." Said Lily, as fresh tears spilled down her cheeks. James pulled her close to him again, and put his arms around Lily as she cried into his shoulder. After a few seconds, Lily lifted her head, and sniffed loudly.
"Lils, you know what I said earlier? Stuff it." Said James. He put his hand on Lily's cheek, and gently pulled her face up to his and kissed her. This time, Lily didn't just stand there, immobilised, she put her hands on James' shoulders and kissed him back. James moved his hand from Lily's cheek to her long red hair, and rested the other one on her waist. Lily didn't pull away, so they stayed caught up in their kiss for a rasonably long time. Finally, Lily pulled away.
"That was nice." She said quietly.
"understatement." Said James. A strand of red hair had fallen over Lily's face, and it had gotten stuck there because her face was wet from tears. James carefully tucked the strand of hair behind Lily's ear.
"James, can you promise me something?" Asked Lily.
"Anything." Replied James.
"Don't go telling everyone we kissed like that, OK?" She said. "I suppose you can tell Sirius, he's like your brother, but nobody else."
"OK, Babe." Replied James.
"And I'm fine with Lils, but not Babe." Said Lily.
"OK, Lils." Replied James. Lily sighed happily then, and gave James a quick hug. When she let go of him, James sat down on his bed, and motioned for Lily to sit down next to him. She sat down, and James held her hand.
"What time is it?" Asked Lily. James looked at his watch.
"Half past seven." He said.
"I'm hungry." Said Lily.
"Want to go downstairs and get something to eat? I won't go down with you, if you don't want." Said James.
"Come, just don't be holding my hand or hugging me or anything, I still want us to keep this to ourselfves for a while." Said Lily. "Well, technically it's ourselves and Sirius and Hestia."
"She knows?" Asked James.
"She was in the common room when we were talking before the game." Said Lily.
"Ah." Replied James.
"Yeah. Let's go, I'm starving." Said Lily. Lily headed out first, unseen by the dwindling crowd of Gryffindors, followed by James. Lily got herslef some pumpkin pie, and even managed to get the sofa next to the fire. She watched James walking about, drinking Butterbeer, chatting to Remus, being his usual, manic self with Sirius. At one point, Sirius clapped James on the back in a congratulatory manner; Lily supposed James had told him about their kiss. At eight O'Clock, Lily got up and headed over to where Sirius and James were standing. Sirius knew, so it didn't matter, really. "James?"
"Yeah, Lils?" He responded.
"I'm going to bed, I'm exhausted." Said Lily. "I'll see you tomorrow."
"OK, sleep tight, Lil." Said James. Lily turned to Sirius.
"Night, Sirius." She said.
"Farewell, Miss Evans." Replied Sirius. Lily smiled at him. Sirius was her friend, he had always been. Actually, Lily had always been friends with all the Marauders, bar Peter; she didn't like him much. Remus was a good friend, not as crazy as the others. Sirius was good if you wanted a laugh. James. Well, James was something else. Lily turned, and headed upstairs, she glanced back before she went into her dorm, and saw James watching her go, smiling at her. She gave him a smile back, before she went into ehr dormitory.
"What's funny?" Asked James.
"It seems a bit funny now, doesn't it?" Asked Lily. "The whole thing?"
"Yeah, I guess it does." Said James, and he too joined in laughing. As they were about to go into the castle, Lily stopped and pulled James aside.
"The common room's going to be really crowded." She said.
"Yeah, celebrating the Quidditch win." Agreed James.
"And if we're still going to keep this secret for a while, which I really think we should, then we can't be sitting next to each other and spend the whole time talking to one another." Said Lily.
"Yeah, I guess you're right." Said James.
"So this is sort of the end of our date." Said Lily.
"Or not." Said James. "I've got a plan."
"What's your genius plan?" Asked Lily, just a hint of skepticism in her voice.
"I get my Cloak, right? Then we both go up to the boys' dormitories." Said James. "It's only, what, five O'Clock. Nobody will be up there." Lily thought that over for a while.
"But what if someone IS up there?" She asked.
"Then we'll try plan B." Replied James.
"Which is?" Asked Lily, a hint of worry in her voice.
"Honestly, Lils, you need to start trusting me a little more." Said James. "And plan B is this; we go find an unused classroom."
"Why?" Asked Lily.
"To be alone." Said James. "And if you don't like that plan, there's always plan C; we tell everyone we're together and then we won't have to worry about being in private."
"I like the sound of plan B a LOT better than C, but A would be ideal." Said Lily.
"OK, to my dorm it is then." Said James. "Here." He said, pulling out his cloak, and wrapping it around his shoulders, and holding out the other corner for Lily to put around her own shoulders.
"Why do I need to be under the cloak?" Asked Lily.
"Won't it look suspicious if you go up the boys' dorm and don't come down for like an hour?" Replied James.
"I guess so." Said Lily, and took the fabric of the Cloak and ducked under it. It was quite clear now that the Cloak was only made for one person, because when Lily looked down their legs were nearly visible up to their knees.
"Ah." Said James.
"Hmm." Agreed Lily. "Got a soloution to this one, Mr Genius?" Asked Lily. James didn't speak for a few seconds, then an idea seemed to form in his mind.
"Yes, actually, I do!" He exclaimed triumphantly. "Jump on my back, then it would cover us!" Lily stared at him for a moment, not sure if he was serious or not. Then, it occured to her, he was deadly serious.
"OK, but if I fall off, you're dead, understand?" She said.
"Understood, Miss Evans." Replied James, pulling the cloak off and setting it on a low wall next to them. He turned his back to Lily. "Jump on." Lily grabbed James' shoulders, and jumped up and twisted her legs around his waist. James stepped forwards, and almost fell over. Lily took in a sharp intake of breath, and wrapped her arms around James' neck to stop herself from falling.
"James Potter, remember what we said about falling over?" Asked Lily.
"Sorry, Lils." He replied. He regained his balance, and grabbed the cloak. He threw it over himself, and, thankfully, it just about touched the ground. "Told you; stroke of genius."
"Don't go getting too cocky, Potter." Warned Lily jokingly.
"I thought you'd stopped calling me Potter all the time. That's your nickname for me when you're angry with me." Said James.
"Well, the nickname for when I'm angry might just have turned into a nickname for when I'm not, like you calling me Lils." Said Lily.
"Still, I have a name." Said James.
"Yes, I know, JAMES. Happy?" Asked Lily sarcastically. "Now are we going inside or not?"
"Right you are." Replied James, heading inside. They had to walk in silence up the Gryffindor tower, as a few students were milling through the corridors, plenty of people either James or Lily knew well. It was incredibly for James to climb the moving staircases with another fully grown human on his back, but he managed it. When they got to the Portrait Hole, James stepped aside.
"Why aren't we going inside?" Asked Lily.
"Gotta wait until someone else who isn't invisible cones along, and we'll slip inside with them." Replied James. Lily sighed, and thought not for the first time about how ridiculous her current situation was; she was in what was probably a considerably ungraceful position, hanging on like grim death to James' shoulders, and they were invisible. Lily looked around, and, like salvation walking towards her, Frank and Alice were coming up the nearby staircase.
"Please, God, let them be going into the Common Room." Whispered Lily, more to herself than to James, though he responded with a quiet chuckle. Frank pulled Alice aside when they got to the Portrait Hole, and whispered something to her. Alice giggled, and the two then began kissing. Lily rolled her eyes. She was sure Frank would kill her is he knew she was watching his intimate moment with Alice, which, as far as he knew, was totally private. At least Frank and Alice's relationship was out in the open, it didn't really matter if someone saw them.
"Oi, Longbottom, if you're gonna mess Alice around, get a room will you?" Came a familiar voice coming from the staircase. Sirius appeared, and Frank went red, as did Alice. Sirius, in true Marauder style, was grinning ear to ear.
"Come on, Frank, lets go to the library, get that Charms homework done, yeah?" Said Alice, obviously just wanting to get away from the current, awkward, situation.
"Good idea, Alice." Said Frank, his voice showing just how relieved he was as well. They headed off down the stairs together, and Sirius laughed openly to himself.
"Lily, I know we agreed to keep this a secret, but I told Sirius, please don't be mad." Whispered James. Lily sighed. Hestia knew, so she supposed they were even.
"OK, James, that's fine." Whispered Lily.
"Ok, then." Whispered James. "Hey, Padfoot!" Said James, no longer whispering. Sirius looked around in confusion.
"Prongs? Where are you mate?" Asked Sirius.
"Under my Cloak." Said James.
"Lily with you?" He asked.
"Hi, Sirius." Said Lily somewhat sheepishly.
"You two been in Hogsmeade?" Asked Sirius, a cheeky grin all over his face.
"Yeah, you couldn't do us a favour, could you, mate? Open the Portrait Hole for us, eh?" Asked James.
"No prob, Prongs." Replied Sirius. He stepped forwards.
"Devil's Snare." He said. The Fat Lady had considerately `fallen asleep` when Alice and Frank had arived. She didn't mind giving the Gryffindors privacy if they need it. She `woke up` when she heard the password, and swung open. Sirius stepped inside, and James followed, stooping low to make sure I didn't hit my head on the doorframe.
"Thank you." I whispered to the Fat Lady as James walked past.
"No problem, dear." She whispered back, smiling at the general area she supposed I must be in. Inside, there was a party going on in the Common Room, Gryffindor banners hung everywhere, all the students wearing something that was either red or gold.
"Thanks, mate." Whispered James to Sirius, who nodded, and headed off into the crowd of Gryffindors. James made his way carefully through the crowd, careful not to nudge anyone by accident, and walked up the steps to the dormitories. He turned left, and entered the boys' dorm. It was empty. He stopped in the middle of the floor, and took of the Cloak. He let go of Lily's legs, which he had been holding onto to make sure she didn't fall. "You alright, Lils?" Asked James.
"Yeah. I suppose." Replied Lily, jumping down off James' back and wobbling precariously when she landed. James grabbed her arms to steady her. "Thanks." She said.
"No problem." Replied James. Lily looked around. She felt more than a little awkward. James took her hand, and led her over to the bed next to the window, and sat down on it. Lily sat down next to him, and James put his arm around her shoulders.
"Thanks." Said Lily.
"For what?" Asked James.
"For everything; for taking me to Hogsmeade, for not being mad when I threw up over your shirt, for putting up with the Cloak all day. Just, thanks." Said Lily.
"You're welcome, Lils." Said James, taking Lily's hand. He stood up then, and pulled Lily up too. He took both her hands in both of his, and looked deep into her eyes. "And you shouldn't be the one saying thank you." He said, before leaning in and kissing Lily. He decided not to try to take it too far. Just a simple kiss on the lips, no more than a few seconds long. When he pulled away, Lily just stared at him with a slightly surprised expression on her face. After a moment, Lily blinked and something seemed to click in her brain. She looked anxiously, quickly, around the room, then ran off. Out of the boys' dorm, up into the safety of the girls'. Hestia was there.
"T'sup, Lily?" She asked.
"Oh, just the normal." Replied Lily, flopping down onto her bed. She buried her face in the pillow.
"You been with Potter?" asked Hestia.
"Yeah." Replied Lily. It came out slightly muffled, due to the pillow.
"Where were you?" Asked Hestia.
"Boys' dorm." Replied Lily. Hestia raised her eyebrows.
"What happened up there?" She asked, not pushy, but wanting to know.
"Oh, you know. We chatted, talked about the date." Said Lily. "And he kissed me."
"HE DID WHAT?" Exclaimed Hestia.
"Shush!" Exclaimed Lily, sitting bolt upright.
"Sorry!" Said Hestia. "But, seriously, like, oh my God!"
"Hest, please" Said Lily in a pleading tone.
"Lily, this is big!" Said Hestia excitedly.
"You're to tell NOBODY." said Lily.
"Yeah, OK, whatever!" Agreed Hestia. The girl was deep in hyper mode.
"Hestia, I know you're all hypered-up now, but can you please take it down a notch? I want to sleep." Said Lily wearily.
"It's only six. That's early, even by your standards." Said Hestia.
"I know, but I'm tired." Said Lily.
"Suit youself, Evans, I'm going downstairs. If they've still got butterbeer, I'm claiming my share of it." Said Hestia, not noticing Lily's shudder at the mention of the dreaded drink.
"Have fun." Said Lily into her pillow as she heard Hedtia leave the room. Lily turned over after a while, and stared at the ceiling. A million thoughts were racing through her head. One half of her wished she had stayed with James after he had kissed her, the other half was glad she had left. Soon enough, she found herself wishing that she was with James again. "Oh, to hell with this." She said to herself, throwing her legs off the bed and stading up. She looked in the mirror, and made sure her hair was OK before she walked to the door and looked out onto the common room. Nobody was looking her direction. She glanced back at her own dorm before running down the steps, and up the opposite ones, into the boys' dormitory. She took a deep breath, before she looked around the corner. James was sitting on his bed with his head in his hands, elbows propped up on his knees. She knocked the open door, and James looked up.
"Lily!" He exclaimed disbelievingly.
"Hey James." Replied Lily awkwardly, stepping into the room. She was standing a metre or so away from James now.
"You've come to tell me you don't want me to be your boyfriend anymore, haven't you?" Asked James.
"What? No!" Said Lily.
"So, you DO want me to be your boyfriend?" Asked James. Lily stepped forward, so she was right in front of him.
"Yes." She said Simply.
"I thought I'd blown it." Said James, smiling almost shyly.
"I thought I'D blown it." Said Lily. "I'm sorry I ran off."
"It's Ok." Replied James.
"It's just, well, I wasn't expecting it, and, OK, I'm going to confess something to you that very few people know." Said Lily. "That was my first kiss."
"What? You've never snogged anyone before, and you're in seventh year?" Asked James, a cheeky smile spreading across his face.
"Oh, shut up." Said Lily, though she was smiling at how broadly he was grinning.
"I thought you made out with Longbottom when you were going out with him?" Asked James.
"Well, not really. He kissed me on the cheek once." Said Lily, blushing.
"Yeah, that doesn't count, does it?" Replied James.
"No, it doesn't." Agreed Lily. "That wasn't your first, was it?" She asked, already knowing the answer; no.
"I'm afraid not, Lily. I kissed a girl in third year." Said James.
"Geesch." Commented Lily. "Who was it?" James paused for a moment before he answered.
"Alice." He said, going slightly red at the mention of it.
"Frank's girlfriend?" Asked Lily. "I wouldn't have thought she was your type, James."
"She's not. Well, not now anyway. She had a thing for me back then, so, I kind of thought, you know, what the hell?" Said James.
"Yeah." Said Lily. There was an awkward silence then.
"I won't do it again, promise." Said James after a while, breaking the silence.
"What, try to kiss me?" Asked Lily.
"Yeah." Said James, slightly awkwardly. "I won't do it again."
"The only reason I ran off was because I...well, I was scared, to tell the truth." Said Lily.
"That bad at it, am I?" Asked James jokngly.
"No, you're not bad at it." Said Lily. She blushed when she sounded how it sounded coming out.
"Well then." Said James.
"I-I didn't mean - It wasn't meant to sound- Oh no..." Said Lily. James smiled, and picked up her hand.
"You're adorable when you do that. You know, get all lost for words." Said James.
"Oh, um, thanks." Said Lily shyly. She felt an inexplicable urge to cry, but she fought it back. Soon, however, she realised that it was becoming inevitable that a few y=tears were going to come, so she stepped forwards and wrapped her arms around James' waist, and hid her face in his neck so he wouldn't see. James held her close.
"Your hair smells nice." Said James softly. Lily tried to give him a gentle laugh then, but a sob came out instead. "Are you crying, Lils?" Asked James.
"No." Said Lily, but her voice betrayed her. James pulled away from her, but stood only a centimetre or so away, and took her face in his hands then.
"Why are you crying?" He asked softly.
"I, I just, you, I...Oh..." Said Lily, as fresh tears spilled down her cheeks. James pulled her close to him again, and put his arms around Lily as she cried into his shoulder. After a few seconds, Lily lifted her head, and sniffed loudly.
"Lils, you know what I said earlier? Stuff it." Said James. He put his hand on Lily's cheek, and gently pulled her face up to his and kissed her. This time, Lily didn't just stand there, immobilised, she put her hands on James' shoulders and kissed him back. James moved his hand from Lily's cheek to her long red hair, and rested the other one on her waist. Lily didn't pull away, so they stayed caught up in their kiss for a rasonably long time. Finally, Lily pulled away.
"That was nice." She said quietly.
"understatement." Said James. A strand of red hair had fallen over Lily's face, and it had gotten stuck there because her face was wet from tears. James carefully tucked the strand of hair behind Lily's ear.
"James, can you promise me something?" Asked Lily.
"Anything." Replied James.
"Don't go telling everyone we kissed like that, OK?" She said. "I suppose you can tell Sirius, he's like your brother, but nobody else."
"OK, Babe." Replied James.
"And I'm fine with Lils, but not Babe." Said Lily.
"OK, Lils." Replied James. Lily sighed happily then, and gave James a quick hug. When she let go of him, James sat down on his bed, and motioned for Lily to sit down next to him. She sat down, and James held her hand.
"What time is it?" Asked Lily. James looked at his watch.
"Half past seven." He said.
"I'm hungry." Said Lily.
"Want to go downstairs and get something to eat? I won't go down with you, if you don't want." Said James.
"Come, just don't be holding my hand or hugging me or anything, I still want us to keep this to ourselfves for a while." Said Lily. "Well, technically it's ourselves and Sirius and Hestia."
"She knows?" Asked James.
"She was in the common room when we were talking before the game." Said Lily.
"Ah." Replied James.
"Yeah. Let's go, I'm starving." Said Lily. Lily headed out first, unseen by the dwindling crowd of Gryffindors, followed by James. Lily got herslef some pumpkin pie, and even managed to get the sofa next to the fire. She watched James walking about, drinking Butterbeer, chatting to Remus, being his usual, manic self with Sirius. At one point, Sirius clapped James on the back in a congratulatory manner; Lily supposed James had told him about their kiss. At eight O'Clock, Lily got up and headed over to where Sirius and James were standing. Sirius knew, so it didn't matter, really. "James?"
"Yeah, Lils?" He responded.
"I'm going to bed, I'm exhausted." Said Lily. "I'll see you tomorrow."
"OK, sleep tight, Lil." Said James. Lily turned to Sirius.
"Night, Sirius." She said.
"Farewell, Miss Evans." Replied Sirius. Lily smiled at him. Sirius was her friend, he had always been. Actually, Lily had always been friends with all the Marauders, bar Peter; she didn't like him much. Remus was a good friend, not as crazy as the others. Sirius was good if you wanted a laugh. James. Well, James was something else. Lily turned, and headed upstairs, she glanced back before she went into her dorm, and saw James watching her go, smiling at her. She gave him a smile back, before she went into ehr dormitory.