Eventual Embrace

She’s smiling now, so I grin back to her automatically. It gives me a wonderful feeling to think that I have the power to make the dimples appear on her cheeks.

We’re sitting in a corner of the Gryffindor common room, a few parchments, a quill and an ink bottle in front of us, doing our Head duties. Right now, trying to decide when to schedule the next Prefects Meeting.

Yes, I am Head Boy. I had wondered, when I had received the letter and badge during the vacations, why Dumbledore had trusted me with this position, but now I was glad that he had. It has helped our relationship grow better. Our relationship; Lily’s and mine.

I had started acting my age in the beginning of my seventh year and Lily had, in return, started being civil to me. It was better than the love-hate relationship. At least I wasn’t insulted and hurt.

Months had passed and I had continued to act like a mature person, proving to Lily that I had changed. She had started growing warmer towards me and we actually began to have nice conversations together.

The meetings after every few weeks and the patrols certainly helped us grow closer. I began to see that there was more to her than what I had noticed before. Before, she has just been an intelligent, pretty and lively girl who fired up in others’ defence and hated violence of any kind. She rejected me and called me names, and yet, I thought I loved her. Why I professed love for a person who said she hated me, I do not know.

Now, chatting with her about important, as well as indifferent subjects made me realised how I wrong I was. That hadn’t been love. It had just been an extremely long case of infatuation bordering on love.

Listening to her talk about her hatred for Voldemort and love for friends and family made me acquainted with her views and feelings. Seeing her helping others for homework or anything else made me realise how selfless she was. Looking at her dedication and sincerity towards everything and everyone made my heart swell with pride. If I was still arrogant, something Lily had often accused me of being; now it was because of her. Because I was acquainted with as special a person as she. Because I was lucky enough to be counted as one of her friends, as she had recently informed me. And also because she was the reason behind my transformation.

I had really changed over the year. The grown-up act in the beginning had been yet another act to impress her, make her like me. But then it had stuck; I didn’t have to ‘act’ any more. Now I was responsible and mature. For the first time, I spent time with her as the real me. And it made me delighted that she liked me.

She had even started liking my friends. She joked and laughed with us and we, the Marauders had a lot of fun with her around. Even Sirius had said that he was starting to think that she deserved me. I had laughed when he had told me that. Trust Sirius to think her above me. Always so loyal.

‘Well, James, I think that Friday after class would be fine. I cannot see any clashes. Can you?’ Lily asked handing me some parchments.

Since we are friends, we’re on first name basis. No more Potter and Evans, just James and Lily. Looking back at the surname calling, usage of first names almost seems intimate to me now. And very pleasing, of course.

I scanned through the papers quickly. ‘Everything seems fine to me. Unless, of course, one of our prefects decide that they want to stay behind with their respective teacher to...’

But she didn’t let me finish and quickly placed her hand on my mouth. I was shocked for a moment. Why had she done that? But then the feeling of her palm on my lips took over and I hurriedly stopped myself from giving in to the impulse of kissing it.

Seeing that I was quiet, she removed her hand, gurgling with mirth. ‘Do not,’ she gasped and then said something whilst laughing uncontrollably.

I couldn’t understand what she said, and why she was laughing at me, but I wasn’t complaining. She looked so enchanting, her eyes shining.

As she showed signs of recovering, I asked her, ‘I’m sorry but could you repeat what you said? I wasn’t able to decipher it.’ I grinned ruefully.

She still seemed considerably amused but she replied with tolerable composure. ‘Oh, no. Just forget it.’

‘No, no. Tell me,’ I pressed her.

Her mouth broke into a grin. ‘Well, if you insist. I just laughed because of your last dialogue... Merlin knows how many people you have paired up at sight and what you said brought a very undesirable image of Charlotte snogging the life out of Flitwick, included with other details. I should try to forget them if I want to remain sane.’

‘Oh, so that’s why you were laughing, I thought... never mind.’

She started shaking with irrepressible amusement again and I turned over what she had said in my mind. Flitwick and Charlotte (a sixth-year Ravenclaw prefect) together.

Charlotte’s really very sweet, but she’s tall; almost as tall as me. And Flitwick, of course, is very short. Her words conjured up Flitwick in Charlotte’s arms, doing unspeakable things.

And then, I cracked up. Merlin! But that thought was too much! I’d never be able to see the two ever again without thinking of these flashes.

‘I assume that you... thought up some things too,’ Lily said, chuckling.

‘Yes. You sullied my innocent mind. Now I’ll never be able to keep a straight face whenever I see them,’ I accused her.

‘It’s your fault. You shouldn’t have said that.’ She was quick to put the blame back on me.

‘It’s your thinking which needs checking,’ I retorted at once. ‘I was merely about to say that any prefect would remain behind to ask some question from the Professor or to help them.’

‘Right.’

She did not believe me, I could see that. But it didn’t matter. We were joking and both of us knew that. Bantering with Lily had become second nature to me. We were friends after all. And I was satisfied with that.

For now.