Lily's POV
"So last night? With James?" Marlene bumped her shoulder with mine, a teasing tone to her voice.
"Nothing happened!" I sputtered, blushing. She laughed her thick laugh, making me smile.
"You are so defensive Lils." She linked her arm through mine and pulled me through the corridor towards potions.
"Maybe if I had better friends I wouldn't need to be defensive!" I said. It felt good to be falling into our usual playful routine. It was familiar and... safe.
"Oh snap! Someone is getting feisty." Marlene loudly proclaimed. I shrank a little bit, my presence was almost always swallowed by hers. She was so confident of herself, that while she may not have been beautiful, she believed she was, and so everyone else went along with it. You couldn't go against Marlene.
"Shut up." I muttered. We neared the room and my blush flared up again.
"Calm down, frisky." She whispered in my ear as we walked in.
The professor wasn't there yet, but someone... Or two someones- were at the professors desk. Ridiculous.
"Welcome to potions, 7th year!" Shouted Sirius, in a loud, booming voice, clearly intended to imitate Slughorn.
"I'm so thrilled," James began in a high pitched voice, winking at me. "To be here, and ready to learn. The ministry employees all take level seven potions!"
At first I thought the bloke was making fun of me, then I realized that he was impersonating Dolores Umbridge. She had graduated a few years ago, and she was so obsessed with the ministry it was sickening. She had this weird thing, where any time someone mentioned the minister she would like... Squeak. But I think she also had an inappropriate crush on the old man, because she had pictures of him all over her school books. It was terrifying.
"He's spot on!" Marlene giggled. I thought she was talking about James, so I agreed, the tips of my ears pink.
"I really hated Dolores. Those were all empty threats. You know she still works in the mail room? That's what the nasty Slytherins will end up doing." I told her. I didn't say all Slytherins... Before 5th year, Snape was a good one. I could trust him. I'm sure there are others like him.
"Lily!" James called, jumping off of the desk, and rushing over to me.
"Potter." Marlene grinned. He smiled right back at her, the ever happy, always smiling energy bunny potter.
"I thought we were past all this." He asked, smiling just as big, laughing at her. I found it irritating. I couldn't figure out why, but I was just trying to pretend it was nothing. It had never bothered me before.
"Never. You know I like teasing you." She winked at him, her hands on her hips, her voluptuous chest showing itself off. I was never jealous of Marlene before. She is beautiful, and great, and she deserves the attention. She may not be the most appropriate person, but you know. I wondered why I felt it right now.
"So anyways," James turned away from her, and I let out the smallest of exhales. Not enough to draw attention, but I needed to relax. "Lils, how was your sleep? You were gone when I woke up this morning."
"Sorry. I wanted to get up early and go for a run." And avoid you, I thought in my head. Runs always helped me to clear my head. And I do mean clear it. It helps me forget all my problems. Which mainly consist of James. And snivillous.
"Maybe next time, I'll go with you." He suggested nonchalantly.
"Like you can run." I quipped. I looked down my nose at him, although he was almost an entire foot taller than me.
"He can't. He's a weak child." Sirius called, strolling over to the three of us. I couldn't help the small smile that started when I noticed that him and Marlene stood closer together than usual.
"I already knew that." I said, taking a half step away from Sirius. He was a cool guy, but very unpredictable, and sometimes that worries me.
"Hey! I happen to be an excellent runner!"James protested, grinning sloppily. I had a sudden urge to touch his stubble, but I used control and avoided it. Weird.
"Sure." Together Marlene and Sirius rolled their eyes.
"Alright class! Write your name on a strip of paper and put it into my cauldron, you know the drill. If you and another person want to switch do it today, because seats are permanent after this!" Slughorn emerged from his cabinet. I scrawled my name on a piece of paper and tore it off. I collected Marlene's too, to save her the trouble of walking up to the front and dropped them into his cauldron.
"Did you have a good holiday?" I asked him, lingering.
"I did! I went to visit Myra Mugsdafe, the editor of The Prophet, you know." He bragged.
"Oh, very nice! Sounds lovely Sir." I congratulated him.
"It's good to see you Lily!" He called, as I walked back to my seat. I smiled and sat at a random desk, waiting for him to draw out names.
When he finally did, I was relieved to see that he was going quickly.
"Remus-- Alice" They smiled at each other before taking their seats. Remus must have arrived late, because I didn't see him come in.
"Sirius-- Lily" I heard a grunt from James. I ignored it. Instead, I let out a groan of my own. This was going to be an awful year. I gathered my things and sat down by Sirius,
Scooting as far away as possible.
"I'm wounded." He whispered, scooting up right next to me.
"Get over yourself." I rolled my eyes.
"James-- Marlene" Marlene huffed, and James glanced over at me and Sirius with longing. He probably wished he was sitting by Sirius. I swear those two boys were so needy, they couldn't do anything without each other.
"Peter-- Frank" ouch. The class, minus the boys, all winced for Frank. The year would be hardest on him.
When everyone was seated, he opened it up for changes.
"Yes, Marlene?" I didn't know what she was doing. We weren't allowed to sit by each other. Slughorn said his best student couldn't sit by people unless they needed help. (His best student being me.)
"I'd like to trade places with Lily." She said, giving me a challenging look. My eyes widened and I tried to signal for her to stop, but her best friend telepathy must have been faulty because she didn't do anything about it.
"Alright, switch." I grudgingly picked up my bag and walked over to my new seat, where James pulled the chair out for me.
"Thanks." I said, kind of weirded out. I could get used to that, I thought.
"No problem. You know I can help whenever you need it." He said. I know, not just I think, I know that had double meaning.
"I run at 7:00." I blurted out. He awarded me with a heart stopping smile.
I felt the tip of my nose and ears flush a tiny bit, and I hope he couldn't see.
-----
"Hey, losers!" Marlene shouted at the Boys from across the common room.
"What?!" Sirius shouted back, standing up from his game of chess between him and Remus.
James and I were sitting on the love seat by the fire, going over passwords, regulations and problem students. He was sitting on one side, his feet propped up on an ottoman. I was curled up, holding my knees to my chest, with 3 inches in between the two of us. I was very stiff, but I didn't want to lean on him and become self conscious of my weight.
James chuckled, glancing up at the two of them, shouting back and forth. As his gaze shifted back to the papers, I was caught in it. His brown eyes skimmed over my figure quickly, but it felt like eons.
"You're stiff." He commented.
"I just don't want to squish you." I told him, shrugging.
"You can lean on me" James said.
"No, you don't want me to lay on you. I'm heavy." I urged him to forget it. But he wouldn't let this go.
"Here, I can fix this." James smiled, wrapping and arm around my shoulders to pull me into him. I stayed stiff, trying to put all my weight onto the parts of me that weren't on him.
"Relax! You aren't heavy at all. Besides, if you were too light, you wouldn't be real." He commanded. He sounded so sincere it sent a shiver down my spine. I relaxed only slightly. His hand that was resting on my shoulder began drifting towards my hair. My head was resting on his shoulder, so he pulled all my hair to the other side. He began toying with my hair, twisting it, finger combing it, you name it.
There is something so comforting about people playing with your hair, you can't help but be putty in their hands. I felt myself curving into him, fitting together like two pieces to the same puzzle.
"That's better." He whispered, putting his check against my head.
"Lily, I just want to be your friend. I'm tired of you hating me." He spoke quietly, as if he was scared to break the spell that seemed to be over both of us.
"I don't ha-" I started.
"No." He insisted. "I hurt you. And I'm sorry. But I want to be able to have you relax around me. I hate that I make you nervous. I want to fix us. Can we at least be friends?" He pleaded in his hushed voice.
I nodded, trying to grasp words to say.
"James, I don't think, looking back, you were ever disrespectful or rude to me. Just... Snape." I whispered the name, because it still hurt to think about him.
"But it still hurt your feelings." He argued.
"I'm over it." I shrugged, looking up at him. He was still holding me to him, so I had to crane my neck to look at him. He was frowning at the list of passwords.
"Hey." I tried, getting his attention. I twisted around, sitting up, "come with me." I told him, climbing off his lap and holding my hand out to him.
He gave me a funny look, but still stood up, gingerly taking hold of my hand. I sent the papers up to our dorm ahead of us.
I led him out of the room, pulling him slightly. Once we were in the corridor, I pulled him over to my favorite tapestry. It had a witch, and a wizard, holding hands, and fighting off all sorts of evils. But that doesn't matter right now.
I pushed him against the wall.
"Don't you ever beat yourself up about that again. You realized how much of a jerk he was long before me. I was too blind to see it. You are one of the kindest, nicest, most loving guys I know. I'm sorry I am touchy with you. But none of this," I gestured between us, "is your fault. Don't blame yourself."
His eyes darkened with something, making them a delicious shade of dark brown. I let my eyes twinkle at him, a small smile on my face.
"I know you don't feel the same," he started, "but I really like you."
My heart stopped, and suddenly I could make sense of all my feelings. I blushed as his hand cupped my cheek. He tilted my head to face his. After a moment of looking in in eyes, he suddenly looked very downcast.
I stepped up on my tippy toes and planted my lips on his. I kissed him for a moment, before my eyes fluttered closed. He seemed shocked, but he got over that. Suddenly he was kissing me back. There is a word to describe every kiss, and this one was devastating. It was fierce and intense and full of something. I began to tremble from it, and James slid his arm around my back, closing the space between us. His other hand rested on the back of my neck, moving my head this way and that so he could kiss me however he wanted. I realized my hands had just kind of existed, so I made use of them. I slid them up his chest and rested the left one there. My right hand began toying with the hair at the back of his neck.
When we finally pulled away from each other for a breath, I blushed to realize he was still holding onto me very tightly.
"James!" I giggled, poking his chest. He buried his face in my hair and breathed in.
"I'm not letting go of you. I have waited for 6 years for this. There's no way I'm letting you go now." Was his muffled response. I shuddered. My arms wrapped around him of their own accord.
"People are going to see us out here" I whispered, still smiling.
"I don't care!" He said fiercely, catching my face fore another kiss. I kissed him back hungrily.
This time, he slowed. He kissed me tenderly, as if I were about to disappear. Languidly was the word for this kiss. As you say the word, and annunciate it, you can really feel how the kiss was. I won't be able to use that word for anything else now. He had both arms wrapped around my waist this time, so I was encased. I couldn't have gotten away if I wanted to. Good thing I didn't want to. My hands ended up on either side of his face.
He pulled his head to the side, and kissed my neck, right where my jawbone ended. My back arched, pushing my middle into him. He trailed butterfly kisses from my jaw to the corner of my mouth, before he recaptured my lips. He flipped us around, his arms on either side of me, holding me against the wall. He pushed himself into me, and began kissing me intensely.
Suddenly, a bang shot us apart. I slammed into the wall painfully, and James skidded five feet away. He jumped up, eyes flying around. He saw me wincing in pain and cried out.
"Lily!" He exclaimed, rushing over.
"Don't touch her!" A voice screamed.
We both turned and saw Snape, standing 20 feet away, his wand pointed at us. I groaned, irritated, and accepted the hand James offered me. He pulled me to my feet and I wrapped my arm around his waist.
" 'Don't touch her' ?! DONT TOUCH HER?! Are you kidding me? No. You don't touch me." I growled.
"He made fun of you for years! You can't just forgive him!" Snape cried out.
"No. He made fun of you for years. He apologized, which you declined, he tried to reconcile with you, and you tried to beat him up. When he calls me the most offensive, loathsome name in the world, and means it, and doesn't try apologizing for a full day, I'll call you and tell you you are even. But I don't see that happening." I spat out. I took James by the hand, guiding him up to our dorms. By the time we got up there, I was too tired to even change, so I slept in my clothes that night.