SORRY AGAIN! I know I am a dreadful person for not updating regularly but I hope you enjoy this one! I have a some exams coming up so I won't promise that I will upload quickly but I will try! R&R please xxxxx
"Good luck today, Potter."
"Come on, Potter!"
"Go Gryffindor!"
"I hope you fall off your broom, prick."
"Go Ravenclaw. Screw you, Potter."
"Go Potter! Win it for us, mate!"
James had grown used to the comments before a Quidditch match. Three times a year since he first made the team in Second Year, he got the same mixture of threats and 'good luck' wishes. As he became the infamous Marauder, the most popular guy in school, Gryffindor captain and now Head Boy, the shouts just got louder and more frequent. Now they fueled him with adrenaline, he enjoyed the glares from the opponents because he knew that they were scared of his team.
He grinned at his best friend and fellow teammate as they sauntered into the Great Hall. Sirius enjoyed the yells just as much as he did. The catcalls, cocky walk and the confident grins where all part of their pre-match ritual, that and their identical breakfasts. Before every match, they sat exactly seven steps from the end of the table on the right hand side (facing the Slytherins, incase of a sneaky hex), and then they both had 4 large spoons of scrambled eggs, three slices of toast, a bowl cereal, two rashes of bacon, five small sausages and a large glass of pumpkin juice. It was a scared ritual, that made them look slightly insane, but they believed it bought them luck.
They ate their breakfast simultaneously, while discussing tactics quietly with each other and the rest of their team. All Gryffindors, who past them, wished them good luck and beamed with House pride. James could feel the excitement building as he drank his pumpkin juice.
"Right, Team! Changing Rooms, now!"
(J&L)
Lily was staring at James. She had long lost interest in her dull, unattractive cereal and was now focusing on the amazingly handsome James Potter. It was a wonderful pastime.
"Lily? Lily Evans? Earth to Miss Evans?"
"Humph?" She continued to stare at James.
"What is wrong with you this morning?" Marlene asked trying to follow Lily's line of vision.
"Um…. yeah…imagine I said something coherent there…"
Mary and Marlene shared a look of concern for their best friend. Mary racked her brain to discover the cause of Lily's new brain dead state; she had been spending a lot of time with the Marauders, but they were fun and she no longer hated them. She spent a lot of time with James also, though she was Head Girl and they had to work together and show a 'united front' etc. However she did blush even more than usual, stare at something constantly and she spent Valentine's Day with him…
"OH MY GOD!" Mary screamed. Some people stared, others jumped, the rest were used to the girl's outbursts.
Lily was awoken from her staring, "What the bloody hell was that for?"
"You! Merlin, how did we not notice this? This is amazing!"
"Mary, would you please enlighten us on your amazing epiphany? Or must we guess?" Lily asked sarcastically, irritated she was missing valuable 'James-looking-fine-in-Quidditch-gear' time.
Mary leaned forward and whispered excitedly, "You fancy James Potter!"
Lily turned pale and buried her face in her hands, while Mary and Marlene screamed in glee.
"We told you that you'd fall for him!"
"Omigod! You will be the cutest couple ever!"
"Wait! Does he know?"
Lily groaned, "Of course not."
"You have to tell him! This is the best news ever!"
"Are you insane? Why the hell would I tell the guy I fancy a ridiculous amount that I may in fact be desperately in love with him?"
(J&L)
"Hey! Lils!"
Lily turned and saw the Gryffindor team behind her and her friends, lead by James and Sirius looking exceedingly confident. She couldn't help but grin at their bordering on arrogant walk.
Sirius casual looped his arm around her shoulders, "So, how is my favourite redhead this morning?"
"Wonderfully spectacular. How are you? Nervous?"
"Nah! I don't think we've been nervous about anything since about Fourth Year!"
"Nope, just stupidly high on adrenaline." James was so close his breath sent fireworks off under her skin.
I don't think I can deal with this. Is this guy actually trying to kill me?
Marlene spotted her increasing blush, "I think Lily's more nervous than both of you put together!"
"Aw, Lily darling! Are you worried my gorgeous face will be harmed? Or you more concerned about the sate of my d-"
"Padfoot, please stop talking, before one of us kills you."
"I didn't know you cared so much, Moony!"
"I really don't, I just know Prongs will be pissed if Lily kills one of his beaters. But he is too 'gentlemanly' to take it out on her, so I instead will be forced to deal with the defeat-induced fury. In conclusion, shut the fuck up."
"Charming."
"I do try."
James grinned at Lily as she began to giggle at his best friends' ridiculous argument and offered her his arm, with a wink. She smirked at him and linked her arm through his, leaving Remus and Sirius bickering.
Why is she so hot? Surely it isn't normal to be that good looking?
James ran his hand through his hair in exasperation.
"You must be nervous." Lily noted offhandedly.
"Huh?"
"You only run your hands through your hair when you are nervous, stressed, confused or angry. I guess it would be nervous or stressed as you're about to play and you tense your shoulders when you are angry, and get a little line between your eyebrows when you're confused." Lily blushed massively after she finished.
James just stared at her and couldn't believe what she had just said, why did Lily Evans notice little habits of his that he himself didn't know about? James laughed off his confusion, "Merlin, I didn't know I was so obvious!"
Lily looked relieved that he'd laughed it off; Merlin, she was confusing. The two of them walked the rest of the way chatting happily. When they finally reached the changing rooms, Lily stopped and turned to him. She looked oddly serious.
"You will be careful, wont you?"
James was even more confused than before, but he still laughed it off, "Don't worry about me. James Potter, lucky and indestructible"
Instead of looking reassured, she just looked more worried than before; she grabbed the front of his robe, pulling their faces within inches of each other, "Promise me that you wont do something stupid or heroic and get yourself injured."
James felt dizzy; he was so close to her that he could smell her intoxicating scent, it was ironically roe mixed with almonds. All he wanted to do was grab her perfect face and kiss her, but her, much to his own surprise, stroked Lily's face softly, "I promise."
Finally, Lily looked more relaxed, however she still had worried etched onto her face. She unfastened her necklace and pressed into his hand, "A good luck charm…to keep you safe…bye…you'll do great." Then she smiled beautifully and went to take her seat in the stands.
James was left staring at the necklace in his hands. The delicate silver chain bought him back to the cold night in December where the beautiful redhead felt so close to him. He hadn't seen the concern and the…he didn't know what it was but he hadn't seen it since that night when it felt like she saved him. James thought about it and he realized he had seen that unknown look in her eyes many times over the past few months.
"Alright, mate?" Sirius clapped him on the shoulder, "What in the name of the beautiful game of Quidditch was that about?"
"I honestly have no idea. I guess I'll find out after the match, but now we have a game to win."
(J&L)
Lily couldn't stop fidgeting, she was far too nervous. She had never felt so anxious about Quidditch, something told her it was about her massive crush on the Gryffindor captain, but Lily ignored that little voice and tried to stop her hands shaking.
"Are you alright, Lily?" Remus asked quietly so only she could hear, "You look really pale."
Lily nodded, but before she could speak, the players came out of the changing rooms onto the pitch and the entire stadium erupted into deafening noise, people cheered, screamed, clapped and stamped their feet. The two captains shook hands, neither flinching at the painful handshake their shared, and then they returned to their position to begin the match.
The whistle blew. The crowd went insane again with the excitement, immediately Gryffindor seized the quaffle from the toss and the chasers moved with amazing speed and grace. The team worked as if it was performing a choreographed routine. Lily couldn't help but marvel at James' genius with tactics and how his grueling drills obviously paid off. The opposition were at first stunned by the team's strength and began to panic quickly, their beaters began obsessed with aiming at Gryffindor's conductor, James, and their chasers soon resorted to guarding the posts and trying to block.
James and his chasers quickly had scored 100 points, causing Ravenclaw's captain to almost scream at his team from his position as a keeper.
"Wow. They are amazing." Lily said in an amazed, breathy voice.
Remus grinned, "They should be, Prongs has drilled them enough."
Lily's eyes were trained on James as he weaved skillfully through the Ravenclaw team, the quaffle held tightly under one arm. She found herself swooning like one of the silly Quidditch fangirls she used to despise. Then…
"Merlin! Potter, the star chaser of the Gryffindor team, has just nearly been knocked of his broom by an extremely violent attack from Shell and Jordan, the Ravenclaw Beaters. Gryffindor have been awarded a penalty, but the worry is whether Potter can in fact continue."
Lily was on her feet along with the rest of her house. "Oh my god! Is he ok?"
"I'm sure he'll be fine…Lily can you let go of my arm, please?" She hadn't notice she was fiercely gripping Remus' arm; she was too busy staring at James, who was obviously winded and trying to get his breath back before the penalty.
She could barely breath. She wanted to go and make sure he was ok, while wanting to beat the hell of out the Beaters for harming him.
"Are you sure he's ok?" She tore her eyes away from James to look at Remus.
He smiled gently and rubbed her arm, "Yeah, Prongs is pretty indestructible; even if he's in pain, he'll just carry on. Look, he's going to take the penalty shot! See he's fine!"
(J&L)
Bloody bastard Beaters.
James scored the penalty and quickly flew back into position with new determination. He signaled Sirius to begin the next phase; beat the shit out of them the minute they get the quaffle. His best friend nodded firmly and passed the message to his fellow Beater. The whole team was now looking for revenge after such a pathetic attempt to injure their captain.
After mere minutes of this increased aggression, Ravenclaw were practically crushed; Gryffindor were winning 270-20 and they hadn't even caught the snitch. James began the next round of passing with a hard throw to Harriet Glynn, who passed to Greg Quince as they had practiced so many times.
Then he saw his Seeker dive suddenly. The Golden Snitch. Fran was closely followed by her opponent, but she deployed the advanced move her captain had taught her especially for this moment, the Job's Drift. She executed the move perfectly; she maintained her high speed but drifted slightly to the left, then just as the Ravenclaw Seeker tried to overtake she swerved quickly to the right and seized the Golden Snitch.
"Gryffindor have won once again with a superb move from their Seeker. The match finished with Gryffindor winning 420-20…"
(J&L)
Lily cheered even more loudly than she thought was possible. Her heart swelled with pride as James punched the air in triumph and pulled Sirius into a one-armed, mid-air embrace. She hugged Remus, Peter, Mary, Marlene and a bunch of people she barely knew.
The whole house, plus the Hufflepuffs, who decided to support them, flooded the pitch and the team were mobbed with people hugging them/congratulating them loudly. Lily quickly found Sirius, who swung her around in delight and was pulled into a manly celebratory hug by Remus, who ruffled his hair and slapped him on the back repeatedly. She tried to look for James, but there were so many people celebrating that everyone was cheering blur. She settled for hugging random people and congratulating the team.
Then she saw him. He was in the centre of the mob of Gryffindors, as he should be as the top scorer and captain. James broke into an even wider grin. Lily grinned back, equally as ecstatic. She raced towards him and he wrapped his arms around her waist and swung her around also.
"We won! We won! We won!" He kept saying into her ear repeatedly, when he wanted to shout with giddy delight that she was willingly being enveloped into a tight embrace.
When he finally set her down, Lily's head was spinning with dizziness, mainly from being so close to James and being overwhelmed by his scent/hot, strong, manly arms around her waist. She stared at him and it felt as if time stood still. She gazed at his eyes, alight with adrenaline and delight; his hair, which was more messy than usual (if that was possible!); his long nose; his cheekbones; his strong jaw and then his lips. His lips were currently parted in a trademark excited Marauder smile. Suddenly, whether it was the dizziness or the excitement of the match, Lily was overwhelmed with a desire to kiss him.
So she did. She kissed him. Lily Evans kissed James Potter.
I AM KISSING JAMES POTTER
I AM KISSING LILY EVANS
After a few agonising moments of unresponsive shock, James began to kiss her as passionately as she was kissing him. He pulled her even closer, so there was no space between them, and allowed his hands to wander up and down her back, while her hands remained threaded through his hair. He felt her lips part softly and quickly deepened their kiss, causing Lily to moan softly. She didn't know a person could be kissed like this; it felt as though this had been what their lips had been created to do. A desire to have him even closer burned inside of her as she began to run her fingers along the back of his neck. He groaned deep in his throat and began to kiss her with even more urgency.
For those few minutes, they felt as if they were the only two people in the world, everyone else had faded away.
James slowly drew away and stared at Lily with such love that she blushed slightly. He looked into her emerald eyes and saw the emotion mirrored in them.
He whispered, not daring to say it too loud incase he ruined the best moment of his life, "Lily Evans, will you go out with me?"
She smiled with such beauty his heart stopped, "Yes."