Disclaimer: As always, I do not own anything. It's all Ms. Rowling's.
"Ok, here's the deal Evans," Sirius said leaning around her, "You tell Prongs how you feel by the end of the week, or I will," he said casually as he selected an apple from the bowl on the table. They were in the Great Hall for lunch and Lily was staring murderously at her mashed potatoes.
"No way, why do you get to set the parameters? You can't give me an ultimatum," she retorted defiantly.
"Um, yes I can," he said, his eyes shining. "I don't have anything to lose. You do. I can do anything I want."
Lily scowled at him petulantly. "Yeah? What do I care? Go ahead and tell him, I'll just deny it," she said crossing her arms resolvedly.
"Pfft, as if I'd lie about something like that," Sirius scoffed. "Prongs knows I never would. And as if you could straight up deny it if I brought it up. You have no poker face. You're a ginger, you can't lie, you always go red as a tomato."
Lily flushed in anger and embarrassment.
"See? There you go," Sirius laughed and took a bite of his apple.
"I hate you." Lily shook her head and turned back to her plate.
"Ah, you do now, but you'll thank me later," Sirius said. "I'm just giving you a little push, you and Prongs would have ended up together anyway," he shrugged.
"You don't know that," Lily said stubbornly.
"Yeah I do and so do you," Sirius waved her off. "Everyone knows you two belong together," he rolled his eyes.
Lily blinked in surprise.
"What? You don't actually believe that. . ."
"Yeah, I do," he said earnestly. "Hogsmeade is this weekend," he said pointedly as he backed slowly away from her. "Take a swig of Firewhisky to make you brave and just tell him."
"As if it were that easy," she muttered darkly as he turned around and swaggered out of the Great Hall. "If only it were that easy."
Lily sat in her four poster bed, the hangings pulled around her and her pillows propped up behind her. She was pouring over her thick Ancient Runes text- or at least she appeared to be since her head was bowed low over the tome in her lap. However; if you looked closely, her eyes were glazed and unmoving. She should have been memorizing symbols for the test the following day but she had, once again, zoned out in thought.
She knew that Sirius was a man of action. If he said he was going to do something then he would bloody hell do it. He wasn't one to waste time on false bravado or bluffs and Lily would much rather tell James about her fledgling feelings for him herself rather than have them to divulged to him by Sirius. She imagined herself feeding him a corny line like those she had heard in Muggle movies or reaching out to lovingly stroke his face. She wondered what it would be like to run her fingers through his jet-black hair, press her mouth against his. . .
"Let's pretend I didn't think that," she said to herself out loud.
"Think what?"
She had forgotten that Mary was in the room.
"Daydreaming about Potter again?"
Mary had an annoying habit of reading Lily's mind.
"No, you swine," Lily retorted irritably.
"Swine?" Mary asked in disbelief. "Well, that's a new one," she said, blue eyes crinkled in amusement from underneath her dark fringe.
"Shut it," Lily snapped as she fell out of bed to the floor.
"What's this about snogging Potter?" Dorcas asked innocently as she walked into the dorm room.
"There was nothing about snogging Potter and you know it." Lily said indignantly.
"Yeah Dorcas, get it right, they didn't snog, they shagged," Mary smirked.
"Why do I talk to you two?" Lily asked herself as she slumped down to lie on the floor.
Dorcas and Mary high fived, each wearing matching grins.
"No worries Lil, we know you're a unicorn," Dorcas said before settling down on the floor to sort through her mountainous sock pile.
"A unicorn?" Lily asked in confusion as she started to braid her long, red hair absently.
"Ya, that's what we've decided to call ourselves."
"The Unicorns?" Lily asked, screwing up her face.
"No thickhead, we're not a girl band." Mary snickered. "Unicorn, as in pure or virginal," she explained.
"Ah," Lily said with dawning comprehension. "I guess that's fitting," she shrugged.
"Stop being such a grump, you never want to play around anymore you just sit and brood," Dorcas complained.
"Not when she's with Potter," Mary cut in. "Maybe if we start wearing glasses and cut our hair short she'll start laughing at our jokes again."
"Or maybe if you start telling new jokes," Lily fired back, "Your punch lines are always the same," she said as she stood up and headed toward the door.
"C'mon Lil, you know we're just kidding, where you going?" Dorcas asked.
"To the boys' dorm," Lily said airily as she shoved past the door.
"Oooooooooooh," Mary and Dorcas cat called. They waited until Lily was safely out of earshot before turning toward one another.
"You don't think she's actually mad, do you?" Dorcas asked as she anxiously brushed back her dirty blond hair.
"Nah," Mary said knowledgeably. "Or not with us anyway. All of this has got her right confused if you ask me. I'd reckon she's more frustrated with herself."
Meanwhile, Lily was marching up the spiral staircase to the boys dormitory.
"I'm coming in so you better not be naked," Lily warned as she barged through the door, eyes squeezed shut and arms extended, her legs kicking out wildly as she walked blindly into the room.
"I'm indecent! Get out!" James shrieked in a stage voice as his eyes crinkled in amusement. He was laying belly-down on his bed while pouring over a textbook and of course, he was fully clothed.
"Oh my gobstones, I'm so sorry," Lily said in a rush, going bright red and whipping around wither her eyes still shut before smacking her forehead against the doorframe.
"Evans," James said calmly, "I was kidding."
"What?" she asked, sneaking a peek at him through half slit eyes. "Oh," she uttered before taking a running leap toward his bed. "Have I ever told you that I hate you?" she asked conversationally as she flopped down beside him.
"Hmm, multiple times," he smiled before turning back to his book.
"What are you working on?" Lily asked as she stared intently at the strand of red hair she was threading through her fingers.
"The transfiguration essay. . ." James trailed off, flicking through pages and sighing at length. "Have you started it?" he asked, turning towards her and leaning his head against his palm.
"Yeah, I finished it last night because I thought it was due today," she rolled her eyes, "but now I'm putting off studying for my Ancient Runes test tomorrow. Therefore it is my horrible habit of procrastination that brings me here," she said and brought her forefinger down against his pillow.
"That's one reason," came a gruff voice.
James and Lily both jumped and turned toward Sirius who, until this point, had been sitting in silence on his bed.
"What?" James asked screwing up his face in confusion.
Sirius opened his mouth to make a snide remark but caught sight of Lily who was glaring at him furiously.
"Er," he stuttered, "I'm just- I'm going to go," he said before jumping to his feet and rushing out of the room.
Lily watched him go with a weary eye before turning back to James.
"Mind if I study here with you?" she asked despite already knowing the answer.
"No," James said in surprise, "go ahead."
She summoned her Ancient Runes text and settled down next to him, cracking open the book to resume her review. His quill scritch-scratched across the parchment and his breathing had a tendency to rise and fall in a soothing rhythm. She could feel herself beginning to relax and for a moment she wondered if this was the time to tell him how she felt. She opened her mouth to speak but thought better of it. There would be plenty of other times to tell him, but right now, lying next to him in silence was exactly what she needed.
"What about you Lily, do you have any prospects?"
"What?" Lily asked, looking up from her book in confusion. Alice had spent the last fifteen minutes of study hall gushing about her soon-to-be boyfriend Frank while Lily spent the last fifteen minutes of study hall tuning her out to doodle in the margins of her textbook.
"Do you have any male suitors," Alice giggled.
"What? No," Lily shook her head vehemently as she noticed Dorcas, Mary, Remus, Sirius and Peter all looking up at her expectantly.
"Oh c'mon, you're gorgeous, the boys are lining up for a chance with you, there must be one who you're interested in," Alice went on, oblivious to the tension she was creating.
James was staring intently at his bit of parchment but by the way he was scratching his quill over and over the same spot, Lily could tell he was not focused on the parchment at all.
"What is it? Is he in another house? Another year?" Alice asked interestedly. "There's so many eligible blokes at this school, you must like somebody."
"No!" she cried as she noticed James' brow furrow deeper and deeper. "There's nobody else!"
His quill fell still and he directed his gaze towards her.
"Nobody else ?" Alice demanded, looking quickly from James to Lily. "What do you mean nobody else?"
"Nothing!" Lily huffed, "There's nobody!" she said causing James' shoulders to slump. "Never mind," Lily muttered as she stood to her feet. "I've got to go to class, see you later," she said miserably.
Everyone at the table watched her go before flicking their eyes towards James and exchanging looks with one another. James threw his quill down in frustration and slammed his book shut before bolting up and rushing out of the room after her.
"Evans, wait," he called as he chased her out the door into the hallway.
She turned around and dropped her book bag resignedly.
"What?" she asked morosely.
"Well, nothing," he stammered, "but we've got half an hour left of study hall before you're next class," he said, scratching the back of his head uncomfortably and standing before her. He made a small, shrugging gesture and shot her an uncertain look.
She sighed and took two steps toward him, leaning her forehead against his chest, with her back straight, and her arms plastered straight against her sides.
"I'm tired," she said into his chest and he knew she didn't mean that she was tired in a sleepy way.
"Me too," he admitted.
"And I'm sorry," she said in the same exhausted voice.
"Hm?" he asked, putting his hands gently on the crooks of her elbows.
"I'm sorry I said you were nothing."
"Oh!" he said in surprise. "That's okay."
"But I'm done with all that. I'm done with Sirius being mad at me and the girls making fun of me and with moping around wondering. I should know better by now."
"Know what?" he asked.
"That you're my somebody," she conceded grumpily.
"Oh!" he said again.
"Oh, shut up," she grumbled. "As if you didn't know."
"I had an idea, I didn't know for sure," he said, talking against the top of her head.
"Yeah, well now you know," she mumbled.
"Well, you don't have to sound so happy about it," he remarked dryly. "You know you're my somebody too, right?" he asked.
"Yeah," she said evenly. "It's not exactly as if you've made a big secret of it," she cracked a smile. "If there's one thing you need to work on; it's the art of subtlety," she giggled while reaching up to wrap her arms around his neck.
"No way," he grinned down at her, "If I had been as dark and mysterious as you were, we would still be teasing each other in class and getting nowhere," he laughed.
"To be honest, I am glad we're finally getting somewhere," said quietly. She felt his arms circle her waist and pull her close.
"Me too, Lily," he murmured as he pressed his cheek against hers. "Me too."
END.
A/N: I want to first say thank you to everyone who reviewed and favourited this story, you made me feel wonderful. I also wanted to say that the story turned out a lot differently than I had originally envisioned it and I think this was as result of me outgrowing it as I wrote it. The end leaves a little to be desired but I hopefully it is satisfying. The fic was inspired by the Gabe Bondoc song entitled "Dorm Room" (ironically, the song is about a break up). Check it out if you haven't yet. .com/watch?v=jQF74GrYIos
Much love and thanks. Rabiscar.