Chapter Seven

Through The Tunnel

"Hi Evans."

I stared at Potter who was lounging against the wall as if he did this everyday, which, come to think of it, he probably did. "You alright?" He asked, seemingly concerned. I scoffed.

"Yeah I'm fine." I was very reluctant to thank him but I was raised by my parents to be polite so through not so gritted teeth I said, "Thanks Potter. For helping me out. I know you didn't have to."

He grinned and ruffled his hair, looking away and I was secretly pleased to see him turn pink. "I will always help you out Lily."

The way he said it made my heart beat a little faster and I took a deep breath to try and stop myself from blushing. "Thank you." James. I daren't say his first name aloud. I didn't want to take that next step because I didn't want to admit to myself that my feelings were changing.

Because they weren't and no matter what the blush on my face says, they weren't.

Potter walked forwards and smiled at me before tentatively taking my hand, waiting to see if I would brush him off, I didn't. His smile widened. "Let's go." He started walking, pulling me gently behind him.

I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion. "Where are we going?" I asked, keeping my wand lit to see through the dark tunnel. It was quite creepy, I had to admit.

He gave me a secret smile. "Wait and see." I cursed him in my head, I hated surprises. We walked in silence down the tunnel for quite a while, I didn't know what to say to break the silence so I remained quiet, enjoying the strange sense of calm that I felt. "Here we are." He stopped walking, prompting me to walk into his back.

"Sorry." I mumbled, blinking away the feeling of his strong back. There was no time for these thoughts as Potter climbed a ladder that I hadn't noticed. I caught myself watching him as he climbed up and quickly turned away, hearing him push something aside. My curiousity got the better of me and I watched as he pushed something that seemed to be an opening as light poured in through the dark tunnel.

"Potter, what are you-?" He motioned for me to be quiet and poked his head into the light, after a few seconds he climbed out and waved me up.

"Up you come." He waited patiently for me to climb the ladder, keeping an eye over one shoulder, in case anyone came in.

As soon as I was out of the hole, I realised where we were. Potter put the tile back as I looked around, seeing boxes and boxes of sweets everywhere. "We're in Honeydukes aren't we?" Potter nodded, staring intently at me, seemingly searching for something. "What are we doing here?" I asked, feeling uncomfortable with the way he was looking at me.

He stopped and starting grinning his familiar mischevious grin. "Thought you might need some cheering up. I know anytime I see a Slytherin I start feeling sad, so I don't even know how you're feeling after talking to some of the slimiest." I rolled my eyes but smiled back, he was actually doing something nice for me instead of constantly embarrassing me. It was nice. "Let's go have some fun." I took his hand willingly and together we snuck out of the sweetshop and into the village. It was still sunny outside so there were a fair amount of people milling about, I started to feel a little nervous.

"We're gonna get in trouble." I hissed, attempting to pull my hand away and walk back. He didn't let go of my hand however and pulled me into the nearest shop, which happened to be The Three Broomsticks.

He chuckled at the look on my face, which I'm sure showed slight annoyance and worry. "Evans, you don't know how many times I've been here when I wasn't supposed to be and no one says a thing. Hello Rosmerta!" He exclaimed, greeting the pretty waitress with enthusiasm as she walked over. I felt a tinge of annoyance at this, quickly batting it down when he pulled me a little closer.

"James, what are you doing here again?" She held a hand up before he could say anything. "No, you know what I don't even want to know. What can I get for you and your beautiful friend." She flashed a smile at me, I could feel my face start to heat up, as it always did when someone complimented me.

"We'll have two butterbeers and do you want anything to eat?" Potter turned to look at me, smiling gently again. I felt a few butterflies erupt in my stomach and blamed it on breaking the rules.

"Um, I'll have a cheeseburger." He nodded.

"I'll have the same and some chips for the table please." Rosmerta put the butterbeers in front of us and Potter handed her the money. I had begun reaching for my money before realising I didn't have any and as much as it hurt me to let him pay for it, I didn't really have a choice.

"I'll pay you back." I promised as I sipped my drink.

He waved it off, taking a sip of his own. "Don't be silly." I bit my lip and looked down, feeling nervous all of a sudden. "Lily?" I looked up at him. "Are you okay, did the Slytherins do anything to you?" He looked so concerned for me that I felt my heart melt. What was he doing to me?

"I'm okay." I reassured him. "I can handle a few Slytherins."

He nodded and grabbed my hand. We were sat next to each other in the booth and were very close to one another. It made what he said next feel more intimate. "I just worry about you." He admitted.

"Why?" I laughed. "I'm nothing but horrible to you. Sometimes I feel like you should hate me."

"I could never hate you." He exclaimed, brushing some stray hairs behind my ear.

"But why? I'm so mean to you." I took my hand away and took another sip of butterbeer.

He stayed quiet for a few seconds, prompting me to look at him. "I could never hate you Lily. I like you too much."

I blinked, not expecting such a confession. "Really?" I asked. "I always thought it was a joke. Asking me out all the time, I thought you were doing it to annoy me because I'd never had a boyfriend before." I admitted.

He looked hurt. "Is that why you rejected me all the time? Because you thought it was a joke?"

I felt guilty all of a sudden. "Well yeah, Sirius would always nudge you and stuff, Remus would laugh, what was I supposed to think?"

"You think I would put myself through that for four years for a joke? Evans I've never put that much effort into a prank before and I don't think I ever will." He put a hand to his head, pushing back his hair. "I can't believe you thought it was a joke." He put his hand back down. "I'll clear it up for you right now. Lily, I like you. A lot." He gulped, taking my hand again. "I really do."

And I believed him, he was looking at me with such an earnest expression that I knew he wasn't faking it. I started laughing. "I can't believe it." He looked hurt. "No! Not in a bad way. I believe you like me now, I do. It's just all these years, I was so mean to you. I must have hurt you so much."

He smiled sadly. "Yeah, but I wasn't going to give up on you. I knew one day you'd come around."

"Here you two are." Rosmerta placed our burgers in front of us and the levitated chips were placed on the table as well. I immediately dug in, in an attempt to not have this conversation anymore. Potter took my lead and smeared ketchup all over his plate. I closed my eyes, forgetting how good the food here was, we really should make Hogsmeade visits more often.

I chewed my burger, thinking about what I was going to say next. I was only just this day beginning to see him in a different light. I felt like things were moving too quickly. "I'd like to be friends." I said, taking a fry and stealing some of his ketchup.

His head snapped up from where he'd been eating his burger, getting cheese all over his chin. He wiped it off but couldn't get rid of the huge grin he had on his face. "Really?"

I nodded and smiled, feeling happy about my decision. "Yeah, you're actually not that bad."

He snorted. "Thanks." The grin came back full force. "I can't believe Lily Evans wants to be my friend. I can't tell you how many times I've imagined this." I laughed at his, grinning back at him. But I felt guilty still.

If he liked me as much as he said he did, did this count as leading him on. I wasn't prepared for a relationship with him when I was just learning to be around him. But today wasn't that bad, I was actually having fun.

I could do this. I took a deep breath. As long as he didn't go back to his past self, where he pranked me all the time. That would kill this friendship faster than you could say Severus.

Potter, I mean, James, grinned at me everytime he looked at me. "Lily, I promise I won't give you reason to hate me again."

"I never hated you." I admitted, swallowing the last bit of my burger. "Just strongly disliked at times."

"Okay, strongly dislike then." We chuckled together, fighting over the last of the chips but it was a nice atmosphere. And who knew something good could come from a confrontation with a bunch of Slytherins.