Disclaimer: As you've hopefully already realised, I own nothing you recognise.
Will they ever kiss? How will Lily react when her and James come face to face?
Enjoy xx

I'm at dinner, working my way through a plate of Yorkshire puddings, when someone sits down in the empty seat next to me. They take a deep breath, and I can tell by the sound that it's James.

"Hey Lily." he starts, sounding nervous, but I keep my eyes fixed on my plate in front of me.
"Good evening."
His voice shakes slightly; he's apparently unnerved by my cold tone, and it takes all of my willpower not to just forget acting cold and indifferent and kiss him, right there and then.
"Look, I'll organise all the Hogsmeade trip notices tomorrow, ok?"
"I've already done it."
"Okay, I'll write them out."
"I've done it."
"Okay? I'll give them out to all the notice boards."
"I've done it."
"Have you-"
"I've done it."
"How do you know?"
"I've organised every Prefect meeting, rounds and Hogsmeade trip until Christmas, so don't worry, you can keep on doing your stuff." I spit, my voice dripping with sarcasm.

He sighs.
"Look, Lily, about earlier...I'm sorry, I didn't mean to...I was mad at Sirius, and I had stuff to do-"
"Well so did I! But I thought, no, you had told me that you couldn't do rounds tonight, because you had urgent business to attend to. So I stopped doing my homework, stopped talking to my friends, and came down to ask for your help with something that McGonagall had asked us to do. I didn't want to let your precious Quidditch team hear that you were skiving off rounds, so I told you that I had something to do, hoping that it would jog your memory. Still, no, no it didn't. You just yelled at me. So, Potter, I had stuff to do as well, but I did all of the work."

"Well you are Head Girl, you should start pulling your weight."
So much for apologising.

My arms stiffen and I place my knife and fork gently down on the table. My hands are shaking and my fingers are freezing cold, sure signs that I'm furious.
As I turn to face him, he looks horrified, like he just realised what he said, and he shrinks back, so he must be able to tell that I'm furious.
Good.

I try to keep my voice steady, calm. "And you're Head Boy, but I think you've forgotten that."
I stand up, but he grabs my wrist. "Lily-!"
A hot current flows through my arm, and he yelps, pulling his hand back and wrapping it in his robe.

I turn and leave the Hall.

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I wake up early the next day, still buzzing with anger. How dare he?!
I didn't bother patrolling last night; the Slytherins can snog on the Astronomy Tower if they want.
It's cold up there.

Dressing quickly, I brush my hair up into a ponytail and pin back all of the loose bits, the hairstyle I wear when I'm angry. When Cattermole broke up with me last year, I wore it like this for a straight week.
When I go down to the common room, James is sitting in the armchair, tapping his arm and hissing in pain. I walk up to him and hold my hand out, gripping my wand tightly. He looks up and pales. "What?"
"Give me your arm."
"Why?!"
"I'll fix it."
"Why would you do that?"
"The Head Girl should pull her weight, apparently."
He winces at the jibe, and then groans as I tap his arm with my wand, muttering "Episkey."
There's a sickening click as his bones move back into place, and he grumbles something under his breath.
I laugh, but there's no amusement in it. "What was that?"
"Shut up Lily."
"No! No! Why should I? I've just fixed your broken arm, and not reported you for obviously doing something dangerous. But, no, fine, I'll shut up."

So I settle down and finish off my Transfiguration essay, not saying a word. Occasionally, James will inhale as if he's about to say something, and then falter and slouch back down on the couch. At 7, I pack my things neatly away into my bag, and get up, walking towards the door to go down to breakfast, when he blocks my way and looks down at me.

"Lily...I can't take this!" His eyes are flashing, his cheeks are flushed and his knuckles are white from when he was clenching his fists. He looks desperate, angry and upset.
It hurts.
"I can take the rages, the threats, the arguments, but I can't take the silence!"
I try to walk past him, but he catches my wrist, holding it tightly.
"James...you're hurting." I whisper, my voice cracking, and he releases my wrist immediately, looking ashamed.
"I don't want to fight with you, James." I speak quietly, looking at the buckles on my shoes, but I can feel his eyes on me.
"I don't want to fight with you either, Lily, but at least when we're fighting you're talking to me."
He sounds pleading, so I look up at his beautiful eyes.

"When we're arguing, I know where I stand. I know that you're mad at me, and I know that yelling helps you get your anger out. But silent Lily, I don't what she's thinking or feeling. I don't know how to help that Lily. Please, Lils. Talk to me."

I take a deep breath and stare into his hazel eyes, flecked with gold and filled with anguish.
"I don't what you want me to say."
"Why are you mad at me?"
"There are several contributing factors."
"So what are they?"
"You said I wasn't pulling my weight, you left me to do work and the rounds on my own, which I didn't do, as I was scared to patrol on my own, by the way. You yelled at me when I was trying to help you, and I... yeah."
"You what?"
"It's nothing."
"Well it must be something, because otherwise you wouldn't be ignoring me! What did I do?"
"It's nothing you've done, well it is kind of, you're not helping, but it's something I'm...thinking."
"So what is it?"

I comes out before I can stop it.
"I like you."

Dun, dun, duuuuun! Good luck waiting for the next one!
Benigne,
She-who-loves-fanfiction xx