Anything that rings a bell belongs to JK Rowling

Chapter Forty: Lily and James

"It'll take a while for the antidote to kick in. The love potion was one of his own inventions, and I think he invested more time in getting that right, rather than optimising the draught that would undo the damage. Which is very typical of him." Lily couldn't help the bitterness in her voice, the anger at her friend still fresh.

"Well, they both have to stay away from Carmichael while that's happening. Her scent activates the potion, as she probably is well aware of, barely gave James breathing space these past few weeks." Remus glared at the girl, who was sulking at the small round table. "And perhaps each other as well, it would seem James and Sirius are displaying some of love's more aggressive side effects, jealousy isn't going to help this situation."

"That's not love's doing, it's the chemistry the potion is manipulating that's causing that. Love is more than just a hormonal imbalance." Lily shot a look at Carmichael, and glanced at Mary, who was sniffling quietly on the now made bed. "But you're right, we should split the three of them up, inform the boys when the antidote takes effect what happened, and meet tomorrow morning to decide how to go forward."

"I'll keep an eye on Carmichael." Aiza's voice was a loaded gun, and Lily glanced at Remus for support, she didn't want to volunteer to spend time with Carmichael, but she also couldn't leave her to her suddenly trigger happy friend.

"Perhaps it's better you take care of Mary." He muttered to his ex-girlfriend softly.

Her almond eyes found him, conflicted at helping her friend or hurting her enermy.

"Why don't you all stick together. And Lily and I take care of Sirius and James." Jude suggested, glancing between the still frozen boys, as conflicted as Aiza was about who she preferred to be with…

This confused Lily, surely she wanted to be with Sirius, she barely knew Potter? But was she too shy to admit that?

"I'll keep an eye on Potter." Lily smiled down at her friend, "I know this isn't exactly an ideal first date for you two, but at least you'll spend the night together?"

Jude didn't look convinced, glancing back at Potter with such affection, it fanned Lily's confusion, but she didn't want to ask her about it in front of everybody. Jude then nodded, turning her wand on Sirius and floating him out of the room carefully.

"If you need anything, I'm taking these lot to our dormitory."

"Oh." Lily turned to Remus, "We didn't see your canine friend anywhere on our way down to the dungeons. Might be worth finding him before someone else does?'

"Oh." Remus scratched the back of his neck, "That was my practicing animal transfiguration, turning a stool into a dog. I took my eye off it for just a second."

Lily shook her head, "Why do you boys insist on practicing ahead of the syllabus? McGonagall's only going to teach us that next year."

He smiled at her, "Too swotty for my own good, I guess." And then turned and walked out, pulling the portrait shut behind him.

Lily settled in the chair that Carmichael vacated, figuring it was better she sit there since it probably stunk of her, and Potter didn't need that temptation. She flicked the window open and blasted the room with wind from her wand, airing the space, and vanished the bed sheets, which probably was the most potent source of her stench. She flicked her wand and the window shut, and she indulged in a few calming breaths before she un-charmed James Potter.

Weirdly, she kept thinking about her sister… who had repetitively warned her against Severus. She always thought Tuney prejudiced, that she didn't like him because of how he dressed and that he lived in the wrong part of town… but was she right all along? And James Potter, who had been telling her that Sev was bad before they even got to Hogwarts, on the train, their very first day… he was going to rub this in her face, how wrong she was. And he'd be right, and she'd deserve it.

She looked at the table in front of her, it looked like they barely made it half-way through dinner… she picked up the champagne flute, the one without the cheap lipstick stain, and poured in the antidote, and then removed the spell.

Potter's fist fell through the air, and then spun around almost comically, confused that his opponent disappeared. "Where is he?" His eyes narrowed as he looked around the room, "Where's Azura?"

"She's up in Gryffindor Tower with Cassie, there was an emergency." Concern in his hazel orbs at her quick lie and she felt guilty for it, "Nothing serious, some boy problems." She watched as he swallowed, flexing his neck, and shaking his arms, experiencing the after effects of the partial body bind, "Here, have something to drink."

Potter looked perplexed, not able to make sense of the disjointed pieces of the puzzle she was offering him, and Lily stood, walking the champagne over to him, "Marlene has Cassie in our dorm, they're have a bit of a girl's night to cheer her up. Jude and I wanted to give them some privacy. Remus told us about this room, and we thought we were just going to hang out here for the night, when we walked in on you and Sirius fighting. We had to immobilise you both. We mentioned to Carmichael about Cassie, and she told me to keep an eye on you while she checks on her best friend. She said she will be back soon."

"Oh." Potter frowned, but she could tell that the puzzle, while still unfinished, was somewhat taking shape. He swallowed again, and then relieved Lily of the glass she held out, downing its contents, and she hid her relief, she didn't want to magically make him drink that, he had already been forced to do so much against his will tonight, "Where is Sirius?"

She was glad that there was concern in his voice, "With Jude." His eyebrows snapped together, "She's brewing him a sober up tonic. He's a bit wasted. Got a bit carried away at the Hogs Head earlier today."

She'll apologise for all the lying once he was in his senses again, she just knew that there would be no use explaining the situation to him when he was still under the influence of the potion.

"That makes sense… I don't know what he was going on about earlier." Potter ran a hand through his hair at that, and Lily just realised that he was in fact… still shirtless. His biceps flexed as he ran his fingers through his dark strands, the gesture exposing his underarm which had course black hair, which should be unattractive to her… but wasn't…

James Potter looked good. Even if he was an annoying prat… she always found him attractive, and that further annoyed her. Most of the girls in their year preferred Sirius, who clearly took care of his body. Lily would often find herself staring in exasperation from their common room as she spotted Sirius doing push ups on the quidditch pitch as his best friend flew above him… but James' body was different. Less showy, more substance… the muscles were not bulging, they were lithe, but full, and only really visible when exposed like this. Her eyes roved down his chest, transfixed on the the little trail of hair that disappeared beneath his dark jeans.

She sat back down, sipping Carmichael's champagne glass, suddenly very thirsty. She frowned at the taste, and he laughed.

"Is it not to your liking?"

"No." She placed the glass down, and stole a French Fry to lose the taste, "I'm not really a Moët and Chandon type of girl."

He sat down across from her, "Let me guess, Dom Pérignon is more your style?"

She shook her head, surprised he was familiar with the muggle brands, "Actually, I'm more Peroni, than Pérignon."

"Peroni?" Ah, so it was just muggle champagne he was familiar with, of course.

"Italian beer." He nodded his head, appraising her, "Though, I haven't really had that much in terms of alcohol seeing as the legal drinking age for muggles is eighteen, so my dad would only really let me drink when we were on vacation."

"And you've been on vacation to Italy?" He nibbled on some cheese, his other hand finding the bread.

"Two summers ago. Dad's always wanted to go, he follows their football league. And he's a bit of a nerd for Ancient Rome. It's his favourite period in muggle history, and the fact that he has a favourite period in history, says all you need to know about dad." She smiled, reflecting on how well that trip went. How happy they all were. Life was painfully fleeting.

"He's a history teacher, right?"

Lily was surprised he knew that.

"I overheard you saying that to someone a few years ago." He busied himself with buttering some bread, feigning nonchalance at the comment. "That must have been tough, him being gone so much whilst you were growing up."

"Pardon?"

He looked away from his task and at her, "Well, just seeing him during his vacation must have been difficult. I mean, I missed my dad when he went away for work and he never left for longer than a week. Though I suppose it got you more prepared for life at Hogwarts?"

She frowned in confusion, and then laughed as she caught on to what he was saying, of course he thought all schools were like Hogwarts, "Oh my dad doesn't teach at a boarding school." She laughed harder, just imagining the look on her father's face if anybody accused him of that, "He teaches at a state school. In Bradford. And he is very proud of that."

She wondered whether he understood what a state school was, but didn't want to patronise him by explaining every term, "Bradford's in Yorkshire, right?" He began shredding bits of chicken and layering it on the bread. "How come you don't have the accent?"

Lily's smile died down, her mood shifting, but Potter was too busy adding some of the salad to his sandwich to notice, "My mum grew up in the south, my sister and I sound more like her."

"Ah, I wish I sounded like my mum." He grinned, applying a heating charm to the bread so it toasted, "She's all proper, she grew up in London. Posh like Sirius."

Lily scoffed, "Posh like Sirius? You do know, you're posh?"

"Hey, I buy my shampoo from England, I don't get it imported from France."

Lily's eyes widened, steering the topic away from the dangerous waters that was his shampoo, looking to distract him once more, "That's not exactly the stick to measure such things by!"

"Then how would you measure such things? Arguably, you're classier than I am, Evans."

"And how am I classier than Mr Manor Owning, Trust Fund Having, Champagne Drinking Potter?"

He chuckled, "That's going to be quite some signature." He leaned forward, the candlelight flickering his eyes into honey pots, "And just by breathing Evans. You've been out-classing me from day one. Everytime you turn the cheek when I blow my lid. Everytime you stop and offer help to some lost first year because Sirius and I have swapped all the decor from the first floor with the decor on the second floor. Everytime you show Mary how to perform a charm, even if it takes an hour, without a single eyeroll or note of impatience."

Lily blinked, feeling like a fly trapped in honey, momentarily speechless.

"I'm practically as classy as the Queen then. I suppose going forward, you should bow when you see me."

He barked a laugh, cutting the now toasted sandwich and holding out one half for her, which she took, surprised, she didn't think he was making it to share. She bit into it, only just realising that she skipped dinner and was quite famished. Her eyebrows lifted in shock, "This is pretty good."

"I make the best sandwhiches."

She rolled her eyes, here was that famous Potter arragonce.

"I do! Ask anybody, I don't even know how I do it. Sirius thinks it's something about ratio of butter to bread, and Peter thinks it's my toasting charm." He waved his hand, dismissing their theories. "I just think it's like one of those weird skills you naturally have, that can't be explained, not a useful one, like flying, but just some random nonsense that you just happen to excel at. Mine's making sandwiches. What's yours?"

She contemplated his words, liking the excitement in his voice, "I guess I'm a really good skipper."

"What?" Like a captain of a ship?"

"No." She laughed, "Though that would be fun. Like skipping as in jump rope. I'm really good. I was the best for miles growing up! And you're right, it's a useless skill-"

"Oh no Evans! Skipping is super useful! I bet, the reason why you're so graceful is because you skipped a lot as a kid. You have never tripped. Not once, I've never seen it happen."

She laughed at the ridiculous statement, and then stopped, "Oh my god. I am super graceful. I didn't realise that." She stared at him, slightly awed "How do you notice these things! You're so observant."

He wiped his mouth on a napkin, shrugging, "I'm not really that observant. I just notice…" He didn't finish his sentence, but he didn't have to.

He noticed her.

James saw her in a way she never fully realised before. She always saw his constant attention as some game he was playing, that he pursued her because she always shut him down, and it was arrogance that made him persistent. But in just one conversation he revealed that he knew her in ways that she didn't even know herself.

The sparkle left his eye, and his face fell into a frown, suddenly glancing around the room, looking down at his shirtless chest in confusion, and then Lily across from him.

"James?" She was soft, trying not to startle him.

"Merlin's beard!" He scratched his neck, his face going red, shooting up from his chair as his eyes darted around the room, "Oh Godric." He swallowed, clutching his forehead.

Lily ran to him, "Are you alright?"

"I…I…I almost had sex with her!" His eyes were saucers, and Lily realised that he was reliving his last few weeks with clarity, registering what he had done, and what was done to him, whilst under the influence. His shoulders fell, and he shook his head, clutching his heart, "Where is she?"

James Potter was finally back to his senses. The antidote worked.

"With Remus and Aiza. We said that we'd wait till you and Sirius come to before we decide what to do about things."

"Where's Sirius?"

"Jude's watching him." His eyes narrowed at that, and Lily grew curious at the reaction, what was going on between Jude and James?

He shook his head, pacing the room, "How did it take this long for my friends to realise?"

Lily fidgetted with a lock of her hair, knowing she had to tell him but not wanting to think about all this, enjoying their earlier conversation and missing it already, "Severus…" She licked her lips, and James' face darkened at the mention of his name, "Snape." She'd have to get used to thinking of him as that, create mental distance from him. "He brewed a new kind of love potion. A subtle one. Harder to tell when someone is on it." His eyes hardened, "Carmichael purchased some from him, and put it in the shampoo she gifted you. She also bought a fertility potion from him. I imagine she's used it, pretending that it was contraception draught. She was clearly trying to get pregnant today." His lips hung open, baffled. "And that gender changing potion that Jude had an allergic reaction to earlier in the year, Carmichael purchased that from him as well. She attacked Jude. And that poisoned chocolates Peter consumed, was his doing too. Well." She glanced up, struggling not to cry as she listed all her friend's wrong deeds, which somehow felt so much worse when mentioned altogether, "It was actually Mary, she got-"

"It's okay." James had rested his hands on her shoulders, "We don't have to talk about this right now."

Lily let go of the lock of hair she had been chewing on, it was a horrible nervous habit she had, "Don't you want to know? He's done awful things." Her voice was a whisper.

He nodded, "I do. But it can wait," He gently wiped her right cheek, a lone tear escaping, trailing the curve of her face, "I'm sorry, Lily."

"You're sorry?" She asked, confused, "You're the last person to be sorry. What happened to you was wrong, it was awful, I'm so sorry."

"You're sorry?" His voice was soft, not angry like she expected, "You've done nothing wrong."

"I never listened." She half choked the words out, "When you and Sirius said he was dark. And Marlene said his choices were all wrong. And Tuney said he was a bad influence."

"Hey." James had moved right up against her, his hands on both her cheeks now, craning his neck down to make eye contact, "He was your friend, and you had his back. Don't apologise for that."

She scoffed, but in her current state it had no gumption, "I didn't think you'd ever take his side."

He cocked a brow, "Who said I'm taking his side? Lily, I may have gone about things the wrong way, but the only person's side I was ever taking with regards to him, was yours."

She could feel his honesty, in the delicate way he held her face, the sharpness in his brows, the mist on his glasses that he didn't care to unfog because it mattered that much to him to hold eye contact so that she understood this.

She nodded, slowly, and then more vigorously. He smiled, clearly happy at making her comprehend and she felt his fingers leave her face and suddenly, she didn't want that.

Lily didn't know how she went from nodding her head, to kissing James Potter… but that's what happened.

She kissed him firmly, jumping in like she did most things, no hesitancy, her hands quickly finding his biceps which she had been itching to touch all this time. James' hands on her face moved into her hair, deepening the kiss, his tongue slipping into her mouth, alternating between gentle caresses to firm dominance.

"Oh Lily." He breathed as he stopped for air, but swiftly seeking her lips again, desperately kissing her as she wrapped her arms around his neck, enjoying the leverage that seemed to offer as her thigh found the heat of his groin and he let out a sharp breath, "Oh sweet circe."

She released his lips, enjoying his needy moans and trailing kisses down his neck, feeling his throat move as he chanted her name almost ritualistically. He had backed her on to the table, she heard the shattering of glass as he must have pushed the remnants of dinner on the floor.

She pulled away from him and she grinned as he moaned at the loss of her but she quickly flung off her shirt, she wasn't even sure what she was wearing, only looking at him looking at her.

He was like a deer in headlights, frozen as if by magic again, every fibre of his being pulsed with a need for her that she could sense because she was emitting the same frequency. She twisted her hands behind her back and suddenly he stopped her.

"Are you sure?" The question seemed painful for him to ask. Somehow, they both knew, that once she did this, everything will change between them.

She answered with an unclasping of her bra, letting the pink material slide down her body, and thump softly on the floor. "There. Now we're matching."

She smirked, both now clad in just blue jeans. James didn't laugh at her joke though, he was staring at her breasts deep in concentration, and Lily really liked that. She leaned her hands on the table behind her, letting him look at her. Enjoying his visual reverence.

He stepped towards her again, kissing her, but this time slower, his hands on her naked back, gently tracing his trembling fingers on her skin, and she did the same, enjoying the way his muscles flexed at every caress, "God, you're hot." She had moaned that right onto his tongue.

He smirked, now trailing kisses down to her bare shoulders, "Glad you finally noticed."

"Oh I've always noticed." She breathed out shakily as his lips dipped down her collar bone and she grabbed his hair, fingers firm in the jet black tresses, squirming in anticipation.

"Is that so, Miss Evans. Because I thought I was an," James' face was at her chest, and she arched her back forward, "arrogant", his lips found her right nipple and she made a sound she's never made before, it seemed to escape from somewhere deep inside her, "Toerag", and then her left, which he thankfully settled on for a while and she suddenly was very annoyed at how very thick the denim that separated them was.

He released her nipple after minutes, enjoying himself almost as much as she was, glancing up at her with a smirk, his glasses almost off his face, so she removed them, dragging him by the chin onto her, leaning flat against the table, the cold wood somehow sensual against her back, as if their energy was contagious.

Lily swung her legs around James' waist, grinding her core at his, enjoying the sounds this made him emit, "Those notions are not mutally exclusive, surely." She wafted her finger down the middle of his chest, finding the trail of soft hair at his abdomen and then wafting it back up again, "Are you really going to hold that against me, when you could be holding much better things against me…", reinforcing her statement with artful movements of her hips.

He grinned, closing his eyes briefly at the pleasure the sensation was giving him, "Lily Evans, you will be the very death of me."

And then James kissed Lily once more.

A/N: Well….got a bit carried away with writing that, hopefully it's not too spicy and everyone's enjoyed this chapter! Let me know what you think!