As October came to the castle, it seemed that Lily and Jeremy were growing closer again. James constantly saw the two of them walking in the grounds together or studying in the library on Saturday afternoons. Although it made him a little jealous, he wasn't going to whine about it to her; he wanted her to see that he wasn't going to constantly bug her about making a choice. Luckily he didn't have to see it all the time, the first match of the season was coming up where Gryffindor would play against Ravenclaw and he wanted to make sure that his team were in top shape.
It was the night before the match when James sat in shock as Sirius told him what he had heard between Georgia and Jeremy, and he honestly couldn't believe it. He was sat on the edge of his bed as Marlene and Sirius stared at him in confusion, they couldn't understand why he hadn't reacted to it yet. After a few minutes of processing it, he turned to Marlene.
"And you haven't told Lily yet?" he asked.
Marlene shook her head, "This would destroy her. We all thought he was a nice guy and he showed her so much respect when she told him that she wasn't ready for anything physical. If she finds out, she'll lose all trust in boys." she replied.
"But she needs to know, if she found out we all knew when the truth eventually comes out she'll never speak to us again." said James.
"We don't even know if Georgia's keeping the baby."
"She's only a kid herself, she's already two months in and it won't be long before she shows." Sirius stated.
"I'm telling Lily tomorrow." James vowed.
"Listen Potter you need to think about who you're doing it for. Are you doing it for Lily's sake or are you doing it for yours?" asked Marlene.
James frowned, "Why would I do it for my sake?" he asked.
"It's hardly a secret that you have feelings for Lily and now you know she returns those feelings. Are you telling Lily because she deserves the truth or are you doing it because you're hoping she'll swear off Jeremy and decide to give it a go with you?"
"She's got a point Prongs." said Sirius.
"I'm telling her because she needs to know what Jeremy is really like, if she loses all trust in boys then that's the price I'll have to pay. I don't want to have any secrets from her." said James.
Marlene nodded thoughtfully and left the dormitory, leaving Sirius staring at him.
"What Padfoot?"
Sirius smiled, "You're in love with her aren't you?"
James stood up too quickly and began to pace the room but this only caused Sirius to smirk.
"Love is a strong word."
"You haven't exactly denied it."
James exhaled heavily before facing Sirius again.
"I've never felt this way before, she's the most amazing girl I've ever met. She's not just stunningly beautiful and the best kiss of my life, she's clever, she's caring. She's like forbidden fruit, too good for me. But now that I know what I've been missing, I can't look at another; no-one compares to Lily Evans."
"So why don't you tell her?" asked Sirius.
"Because Jeremy told her that a few weeks ago and she freaked out." James replied.
"And you're scared that she'll freak out again?"
James nodded and grabbed the cloak out of his trunk, deciding to head for the kitchens for a late night snack.
The next morning Lily woke up feeling rather happy, the day before she had been studying with Jeremy and they had gotten to reminiscing about old time but she still had to make it clear to Jeremy that they were only friends. Although it felt nice to reconnect with Jeremy, she had come to a place where she realised that her feelings for him were fading. She still cared about her ex-boyfriend but only in the way of a friend.
As she lay in bed for a few minutes longer, she thought of James. In a few hours he would be playing in his first Quidditch match of the school year against Ravenclaw, and it had only been recently that she had begun to notice how good he looked in his Quidditch robes. Then she thought that because it was Saturday, she could ask him out for a coffee after the match; just the two of them.
She rolled out of bed and headed down to breakfast with Alice and Mary who had been sitting in the common room, as suspected there was an excitement in the air; a pre-match buzz. They sat at the Gryffindor table and wished the team players good luck in the match, Lily caught James's eye and smiled widely. This moment had also been noticed by Marlene, who had come down to breakfast with Sirius.
"There's something different about you Lily."
"What do you mean Marls?"
"I mean you've spent months moping after two boys and this morning you seem to have made your choice." said Marlene.
Lily smiled, "I'm going to ask James out for a coffee after the match."
Marlene returned her smile and eventually the team left to go and change before the match, Lily finished her breakfast and hurried out of the hall not long after James and the team had left. She waited outside the changing rooms and watched as James was the last player to exit. He looked at her in surprise but led her back into the changing rooms so they could talk privately.
"What's up Lily?"
She bit her lip nervously, this only caused him to give her a small smile.
"I was wondering if you wanted to go to Hogsmeade after the match?"
James nodded, "I'd like that, there is something I need to talk to you about."
"Yeah there's something that I need to talk to you about." Lily said.
After a moment of awkward silence, James asked her: "Is that everything?"
Lily shook her head and moved closer to him, closing her eyes she quickly kissed him on the lips. James dropped his broomsticks and pulled her into his arms before backing her up against one of the pillars and kissing her heatedly. Her tongue darted into his mouth and battled his for dominance as James wrapped his arms around her waist and lifted her off her feet so that she was at his height level. Lily's hands ran through his messy black hair and gripped him lightly as she held him to her; hoping that he wasn't going to break the kiss before she was ready for it to end.
There was a loud cough that caused them to break apart and James glared as he saw his best friend standing in the doorway with a huge grin on his face. Lily flushed scarlet as James put her back down on her feet, Sirius continued to grin as Lily whispered that she'd meet him in the changing room after the match and left the room.
"Good luck."
"Don't worry Lilypad, I think you've given James enough good luck to win the match!" Sirius called after her.
James picked up his broom and punched Sirius hard on the shoulder and the two exited the changing rooms and headed onto the pitch. As Lily made her way towards the stands, she was stopped by Jeremy.
"I see you've made your choice." Jeremy mumbled.
"I'm sorry, but I've realised that my feelings for you are nothing more than friendship." Lily apologised.
Jeremy nodded and gave her a brief hug.
"I understand and I'm happy for you but as your friend I need to tell you something."
"What's that?" Lily asked.
Jeremy sighed heavily, "I'm telling you this because I don't want you to get hurt if you find out later, James Potter is about to be a father."
Lily frowned, "I don't understand-
"He slept with Georgia Huntley in the summer holidays and got her pregnant and she's keeping the baby."
And it was in that second that Lily felt her heart break into a million pieces, it had only been a few minutes ago that she had shared a passionate kiss with James and had decided to give it a go with him. But now all that had changed.
"I don't believe it."
Jeremy gently grasped her shoulders and looked down at her with a sympathetic look in his eyes.
"Would I lie to you?"
She looked him in the eye for a few seconds before shaking her head, Jeremy wrapped an apologetic arm around her shoulder and led her off to the stadium to watch the match together.
Gryffindor were beating Ravenclaw by fifty points and the match was only twenty minutes in. James continued to pass the quaffle back and forth to Sirius and the other Gryffindor chaser Keira Hunt, swerving to avoid the Ravenclaw chasers as they tried to steal the quaffle. Once Sirius had thrown the quaffle through the Ravenclaw posts, the crowd cheered wildly. They were now winning by sixty points and James couldn't even hear the commentary being made in the teachers stand all those feet below.
He saw Alice speed up on her broom, she must have seen the snitch and was now head to head with Georgia Huntley, a few inches above the grass. It all happened so quickly, James wasn't sure what happened. Georgia Huntley fell to ground and Alice stretched out her arm and caught the snitch. The Gryffindor crowd went wild as they all landed on the grass and Georgia was rushed to the hospital wing.
"Nice one Alice." James congratulated.
Alice smiled as the team all hugged each other and James saw Lily walking over to them. He bade the other's goodbye and walked over to her, but the smile was wiped off his face as Lily's hand connected with his cheek and left a stinging mark.
"Ouch! Lily what the hell?!" James yelled.
"That is for making me think that you could change." Lily cried.
"Lily-
"How could you not tell me that you got Georgia pregnant?"
"What? I'm not the father!"
"Typical response Potter, you actually give into your little fans and sleep with one of them and then refuse to face up to the responsibility." Lily hissed.
She stormed off the pitch and James stared after her, shouting her name to which only made her walk faster towards the castle. Giving up he saw Jeremy stood in front of him wearing a smug look that even Severus Snape couldn't pull off. James grabbed hold of Jeremy by the shirt as his anger overcame him.
"What the hell did you tell her?" James demanded.
Jeremy chuckled darkly and shoved James away.
"You think I'm going to give up on Lily that easily? The thing is Potter is that she believes me because I'm the nice guy that she dated for seven months whereas she'll always see you as the toe-rag she despised until you messed her head up. Now she hates you again, I'm going to be there to comfort her and win her back."
James clenched his fists, "If you think I'm giving up then you're mistaken." James growled.
Jeremy grinned sickly, "May the best man win Potter." and then headed off to the castle.
A/N: So I hope you all like this chapter, don't worry Jeremy will get caught out soon enough ;)