A/N: Well it's been awhile, saweeeeee! But I am back! Hope you enjoy this chapter my dears. Please review! Oh and if you are so inclined, check out the first five chapters, I edited them this past week before uploading the sixth chapter.

Disclaimer: JK Rowling's property all the way.

Teacher's Pet

Chapter Six

Mixed Feelings

"Of all the nights to get shit-faced why had it had to have been last night with Potter there?" Lily groaned as she tossed her head from her fluffy white pillow and sat up rubbing her crusted over morning eyes as memories from last night began to assault her consciousness.

"Re-thinking last night's rendezvous are we?" Francesca asked sarcastically, mirroring Lily's tone, also looking pretty haggard.

Lily poked her tongue out lazily at Francesca, too tired to respond cattily, and let herself fall back onto her bed with a soft thump.

Solah sighed dramatically from across the room. "Well at least one good thing can be said of last evening! From now on, brownie points for us who witnessed Lily and Professor Potter. I can see this as potential blackmail material if we receive low grades," Solah said evilly and continued, "Seeing as we know one thing for certain, Professor Potter is in looooove with our Lily."

Lily snorted. "Love and lust are not the same thing, my friend. Unfortunately a lot here seem to confuse the two."

"Whatever it was, it was hot." Her friend replied.

Lily rolled her eyes as she propped herself up from her bed. "What can I say, I'm-"

A pillow smoked her in the face and she growled. "I'm going to take a shower!"

She grabbed her towel as she made her way to the bathroom already lost in her thoughts. I don't think I've ever felt so apprehensive before in my life. What the hell is this? Aftermath of fire whiskey? Too many Cosmopolitans? I feel so unsure of myself. Probably just me worrying about Potter ratting me out to Dumbledore. But no he couldn't, he was in an equally compromising position.

Class with Potter was first thing that morning and she was not looking forward to it at all. After shampooing and conditioning with her new favorite scent, a citrus and lime blend, she stepped out of the shower feeling a bit more relaxed. There were things she could control that would help her feel more at ease and perhaps divert all the mess that she was feeling internally. For now, she'd fake it till she made it. Or laugh/cry about it later that night and if absolutely necessary, over some dark liquor that would promise a momentary escape.

C

The girls made their way down to breakfast and found Alice already sitting there working on a plate of eggs and bacon.

Alice turned to them with a smile spreading across her kind face. "How was last night? Anything to torment me with proving that I should have gone with you guys?"

Solah giggled hysterically and Francesca surprisingly, let out a choked laugh. Lily's eyes widened as she felt her face uncharacteristically heat up.

"What's happening to me? I NEVER blush." She moaned as she sank into the seat next to Alice and settled her head on the table with a small whimper.

Francesca was now laughing freely. "Well, yes, you could say something unexpected occurred last night and it was very amusing to say the least."

"Professor Potter was there with his mates. Him and Lily made love on the dance floor. Nuff' said." Solah sang her brown eyes sparkling mischievously.

"Uh huh. Great. Glad you two are enjoying this." Lily muttered darkly from underneath her heavy pools of red hair.

Alice patted Lily consolingly on the shoulder. "I'm sure it wasn't that bad. I know Solah sometimes embellishes stories."

Lily shook her head from the table. "Nope. She didn't this time. I mean to be honest it certainly couldn't be described as terrible. I mean, he is roguishly handsome and wow what a bod. But he's our bloody professor! And now we have class with the damned bugger."

Alice didn't say anything, probably unsure of what to say. Suddenly, Lily slid her head off the table with a slightly crazed expression in her emerald eyes.

"You know what, this is bullshit. I'm not going to let myself get intimidated and weirded out by the situation. He was also part of the equation," Francesca snorted at the last comment and Solah couldn't keep a smile from her face as Lily continued indignantly, "Whatever. It's not a big deal." She muttered, fingering her red locks her expression furrowing darkly at the end as if hoping to convince herself.

Solah giggled behind her hands. "This is going to be an interesting morning."

C

Lily ran to the bathroom before class. She was also curious to see how he would handle the current situation. Her rant had lifted her up considerably and now she was feeling more like herself, ready for whatever came her way. And anyways, she would know quickly after the class if she should worry about him saying anything to Dumbledore. This obviously was the main drive behind the nervous feelings in her stomach and didn't have anything to do with the anticipation of seeing their captivating professor. Of course not...

Lily rubbed vanilla scented lip gloss onto her pert lips. Her emerald eyes were shining mysteriously and were outlined with brown kohl. Instead of wearing her hair down she'd pinned it up in a loose bun fixed with one the only heirlooms from her mother. It was a beautiful hair clip with dark aquamarine and forest green crystals embedded in the gold. She'd left it specifically for Lily in her will which had upset Petunia greatly who already despised her younger sister.

For a moment she felt her resolve weaken as she looked at the clip that seemed to bring forth sensitive memories from her past. She swallowed and inhaled a tight breath before whirling away from the mirror, a hard look on her face. Now was not the time to be getting sentimental. Now was the time to get an upper hand on Potter so he didn't spill. And an upper hand on the foreign feelings floating around in her stomach. She didn't like what she was beginning to identify there. There was a sense of excitement at seeing him again after last night.

"Must be PMS-ing. What a bother." Lily muttered without conviction to herself as she slid into the classroom.

Her eyes sought out her Professor and she felt the sensations in her stomach fan out excitedly. He raised his eyebrows questioningly at her as she made her way to the front and sat down with considerable force, her bag clattering down next to the empty seat.

"Ms. Evans, glad you have finally decided to grace us with your presence. Rough night?" He quipped, his face clear of any trace of humor but Lily could see his hazel eyes sparkling, as if baiting her on.

Lily's own eyebrows lifted as well. "As a matter of fact Professor it was a rough night. Funny you should ask. You as well? Out drinking with your mates? Hm. Actually, this is hardly a conversation we should be having in class." And she stopped there letting the implications sink in to the rest of the class, her tone soft and seductive.

There was a titter from across the room and Lily felt a blush grace her cheeks. Damn Solah! And she'd been doing so well up till that point! She kept her head down so he wouldn't see the blush on her cheeks as she slid off her cloak. When she looked up again she saw his eyes sweep apprasingly over the snug chestnut brown cashmere sweater she'd chose to wear that day.

Professor Potter snorted. "Why Ms. Evans, you are a tricky one, be careful what you are suggesting. Rumors could spread that way and we wouldn't want that, now would we?"

Francesca tutted loudly her eyes flashing with amusement.

Some of the students in the class let out approving chuckles. Not everyone was amused with their professor. One of Ravenclaw's prissier girls, Amelia Davenport let out a disproving breath of air as she shook her head. Amelia was from a very rich pureblood family and made that well known in every apparent manner that she could. She was always adorned in the latest fashions and carried herself with an air of arrogance. Lily had only been in a few classes with her so didn't know the girl well but could tell that their professor was not the least bit amusing.

Professor Potter started the class on some theoretical notes of new hexes and disarmament spells they would begin trying out the following week. Lily felt a huge rush of gratitude towards the Professor at the pace of the class for that day but then felt a little smile play on her lips. Obviously he also hadn't been feeling quite his normal peppy self otherwise maybe they would have jumped right into the difficult spell work.

As if thinking along the same lines, Professor Potter glanced over at her from where he was standing next to the board. Lily held his glance for a moment, thoughtfully looking him up and down before returning to her parchment and finishing the sentence that she'd been on.

Suddenly she sensed his presence and she looked up to see him standing tall in front of her. He placed his hands on her desk and leaned towards her slightly. Lily felt an uncomfortable prickle down her back at the invasion of her private sphere but didn't move away from him.

Unfortunately, her inhibitions were up and she didn't have the alcohol humming in her body, obliterating the need for private space.

"Dumbledore wanted me to go over something with you. Could you stay for a few moments after class?" He finally said, his hazel eyes locking with hers. Lily felt her face go blank. It felt as if he were gently extinguishing the shadowy walls she had built up around her, because suddenly she was nodding her head before processing what he'd actually said.

"Dumbledore? Sure." Lily said, her eyes dropping from his, her insides feeling queasy and nervous again. She needed to get a grip on herself.

"Alright, class dismissed. We'll start up on the practical bits next week." Professor Potter said dismissing them with a wave of his hand. The sounds of chairs scraping the floor and excited chattering broke out across the classroom.

Solah tapped Lily on the shoulder. "Hey. I overheard that last bit. See you afterwards then? Don't get too feisty with him." Professor Potter was far enough so Lily tipped her head towards Solah.

"He said it has something to do with Dumbledore but I wonder."

"He wants you alone to himself, obviously. So he can finish having his way with you. We did happen to interrupt you two at what appeared to be a most inconvenient time." Solah said winking and then headed towards the exit when she saw their Professor approaching. She wasn't about to get in the middle of THOSE two's unfinished business.

Lily slowly placed her books in her rucksack letting them slide in. She took a sip from her canister filled with coffee and sighed gratefully. Thank heavens for caffeine.

"Ah, yes I'll be needing some of that for my afternoon classes." Professor Potter finally said, breaking the silence and nodding to her mug.

Lily smiled and when the silence seemed to stretch on for too long she said, "So you wanted to ask me something?"

Potter nodded briskly. "Dumbledore and I have been talking about creating an extracurricular group at Hogwarts. The purpose would be to advance one's skills at dueling, defending oneself and educating students about the Dark Arts. There is only so much time I have to teach in these classes. Seeing as you are Head Girl I thought it wise to ask you what you thought."

Lily felt the surprise on her face. She'd been prepared for a confrontation about last night or perhaps details of a dreadful detention. But no, he was talking about forming a club at Hogwarts.

She nodded her head. "That sounds like a good idea. I'm sure there would be a lot of students interested in joining this group. Perhaps if we practice more regularly dueling and defense will become more natural and not so nerve-wracking. I'll think about it tonight and give you an outline of how it could be structured."

Professor Potter smiled nodding his head encouragingly. "That's exactly what we had in mind. Especially due to current circumstances."

Lily looked at him sharply. "What do you mean?"

He let out a sigh and walked around to his desk. "Things have increasingly gotten worse during this past year. There has been an increase in the accounts of kidnappings and murder cases in the wizarding community. Dumbledore thinks it has to do with a growing interest and popularity in a dark wizard who has been prowling around secretively. We have no leads on him as of yet."

Lily couldn't help it. She felt her face breaking into a smile and before long she was laughing, her red hair shaking around her shoulders. Professor Potter looked at her sharply, his eyes furrowed in confusion.

She shrugged her shoulders but felt another giggle escape. The whole scenario seemed so superficial no matter if they were talking about a mass murderer, how could they ignore last night?

"Sorry Professor. I'm just laughing at the conversation we are having. Last night in London we were breaking possibly every student-teacher regulation in the rulebook and today we are casually talking about a potential threat to the wizarding community. All I'm saying is we are making bounds and leaps in our relationship Professor."

Phew. Play it off and laugh, smart move Evans she thought to herself. Hopefully that would ease the crackling tension between the two. Her eyes still roved across his tall lean figure and finally resting at his broad shoulders where she could imagine herself holding onto-

He let out a gruff laugh his eyes unreadable. "Yes, so it seems. But I did want to have a word about last night."

"Umhmm?" Lily asked, the smile still playing at her lips but her eyes serious.

James shrugged a hand through his hair and then finally spoke. "If we are to work together for this DADA project we will inevitably be spending more time together. I just wanted to apologize for my behavior last night. Blasted alcohol tends to kill one's inhibitions and last night apparently I was in need of them. I don't want things to be awkward or uncomfortable between us."

Her insides warmed up slightly and she felt herself almost visibly relax. "Not at all Professor," she said demurely, "and yes alcohol does tend to have that effect." Or my dancing skills she thought to herself with a grin.

"Alright then, off you go Evans. Don't want to be late for your next class although I know it won't be as engrossing as this class. A shame that your best class is already done for the day." He said with an arrogant grin and Lily rolled her eyes.

"Psh. This class? The best? No I'd have to say Herbology and History of Magic are in close competition for that position." Lily said cheekily.

She slipped her bag onto her shoulder and then when she got to the doorway she looked back at him. He was watching her, his eyes mysterious and dark.

"See you later then, Professor." And with that she exited the room her red hair swinging behind her.

C

"Eh? He brought up last night? Well that's rather forward of him!" Solah said as she took a large bite of her mince meat pie.

Lily nodded. "But that's over and done with. Least of my worries. But I did hear an interesting piece of gossip. Is there a party being held tomorrow evening? In Ravenclaw's quarters?"

Francesca nodded. "Would you believe it, Amelia is hosting it. First party of the year so it should be pretty good."

Lily grimaced. "And the first year that I'm Head Girl and will have to play the role of the responsible one."

Solah patted her arm. "Well if you really want to go without any worries we could always snag a hair from a random person in Hogsmeade and make a polyjuice potion. Oh I'm so clever!"

"Yes, surprisingly good idea Solah. Until it wears off. " Francesca said drily and Solah stuck her tongue out at her.

Lily shook her head. "No, it's alright. Any news about Darren, Solah?"

Solah blushed and looked away. "What do you mean by that?"

"Oh, are you two together?" Lily asked her suspicions confirmed when Solah let out a giggle.

"That was fast!" Francesca snorted but Solah shook her head, a mischievous smile on her lips.

"Not as fast as Lily and Professor Potter last night!" She said laughing loudly as Lily looked up sharply and looked around to see if anyone had heard.

"Keep your voice down!" Lily hissed.

Speaking of the devil, they saw their handsome teacher enter the Grand Hall and head up towards the head table where the rest of the teaching staff was seated.

His eyes glanced haphazardly around the room and when his eyes caught Lily's he winked. Lily felt herself choke mid-sentence as she let go of her fork with a clatter.

"And he was talking about not making things uncomfortable my ass. Well two can certainly play that game." She muttered out loud instantly imagining all the ways she could potentially embarrass him.

Solah shook with laughter and then whistled to Darren. "Hey wanna get outta here?"

Francesca laughed now. "How forward of you Solah."

Lily smiled despite herself. Seventh year had started off on a strong note regardless of the previous evening and she felt extremely happy. Her eyes made their way back up to the head table and she stared at their handsome Professor for a few minutes. There was something intriguing about him that tugged at her interest, more so than she had originally expected when first meeting him.

C

Later that night after Lily had finished re-copying notes from their DADA class and practiced some of the new charms Flitwick had taught them earlier that day she decided it was time to patrol the hallways to make sure all the prefects were keeping to schedule.

As she rounded the corner lackadaisically, lost in her own thoughts, she bumped into somebody and nearly fell backwards but a strong hand grasped her own.

"Ms. Evans."

Lily looked to the owner of the hand that had grabbed her and felt her stomach clench excitedly when she saw it was Professor Potter.

"Oh, thanks." She looked at her watch. "Where are you off to at this late hour?"

He let out a gruff laugh. "Now, now, I know you're Head Girl Evans but I'm your Professor so there's no need to worry about where I'm prowling off to." He said teasingly but she saw something glinting in his hazel eyes.

Lily regarded him with suspicious eyes. "Prowling hmm? Interesting word choice. I'm a very thorough Head Girl, Professor Potter."

Suddenly he was grinning wolfishly at her audacity. "Yes, from the likes of last night, I can see that very clearly."

Her cheeks burned but she held his gaze. She stepped a bit closer to him, so much so that there wasn't a breath of air between them. "And the same could be said of you Professor. What an enlightening learning experience last night was. That is, on the subject of seducing one's professor."

And with that she slid around him, the citrus lime scent filling his senses. He watched dumbfounded as she sauntered away, her dark red hair shining in the light that was pouring down from the fixtures on the ceiling.

James straightened his cloak. "Blimey, this is going to be one hell of a year."

A/N: Teeheehee! Love those two! Am trying to develop the relationship between the two of them right now and as you can probably tell, they have a long ways to go. PLEASE review and let me know what you think, suggestions, criticisms, comments! Peace!