Chapter 6: First Kiss
The next morning, Petunia was awake first and had cleaned everything up before the rest of the girls opened their well-shadowed eyes.
When they did, they were all trying their best to avoid Petunia, or at least not speak to her. Petunia thought they seemed a bit nervous because of her outburst the night before, but, still mad, she did not care.
Around noon, everything was packed and ready to go, the girls were mounting their brooms, shrinking the baggage, and performing Disillusionment Charms on one another.
They flew to Kings Cross, where Lily and her friends quickly separated from Petunia. Petunia did not really care either way, but she knew the others would not want to be seen with her.
Petunia entered the train, and was immediately ambushed by Sirius, Remus and Peter.
"Petunia, come on, we have a compartment in the back."
Petunia looked uncertain. Did she want to see James? Had he perhaps, (and at this thought her heart gave a leap) forgotten their fight already? But no, the other Marauders probably hadn’t even told him they were getting her.
"Come on!" urged Sirius, "You have to come, we saved you a seat."<
Deciding that nothing would stop her from being with her other friends, not even her fight with James, Petunia followed the three boys towards their compartment.
As soon as they reached the compartment, Petunia saw James. He was absently looking out the window.
Petunia sat down without even saying “Hello”.
Out of the corner of her eye, Petunia saw Sirius and Remus exchange glances. Then Remus stood up.
"I should go... ah... patrol the train," he said.
"Yeah... you know, I... um...saw some Slytherins... they were... they looked... suspicious. You know Slytherins, slimy bastards, the lot," Sirius added, "Remember, Wormtail?”
"No," he stated, looking honestly confused.
"Yes, and why don't we just go show them to Moony, eh?" he asked forcefully.
Peter didn't catch on, but by this time both James and Petunia were grinning. They caught each others eye, but both quickly looked away when they noticed the other looking.
"Come on!" Sirius said through clenched teeth.
They (or rather, Sirius) looked so menacing that Peter complied, and got up muttering to himself.
As the three boys left the compartment, Petunia and James heard Sirius scolding Peter for not catching on to the fact that they wanted to leave James and Petunia alone.
James looked at Petunia, she looked at him, and they both couldn’t help laughing fit to burst. Why, they weren't even sure. Perhaps the pathetic attempt of the other Marauders to get them alone together. The hysterical laughter did a lot to break the ice, in any case.
"Look, Petunia, I'm really sorry, I wasn't using you. You know, I thought about it, and I don't think that I even love your sister. It was more of a schoolboy crush, you know? She's definitely not the girl for me. I'm really sorry, I wish I could prove it to you," James said earnestly, once he had regained his composure.
For what seemed like an eternity, Petunia looked at James. Finally, she decided that he was not lying. He looked so honest, so sorry, and so, she admitted it, if only to herself, cute.
"Yeah, you know what, James, I think I could forgive you."
"Really? You know, Petunia, I haven't known you for that long a time. Well, I'd have recognized you, but, well I only just got to know you end of last year," James started, "And, I've learned in that time, not only that what I felt for Lily, or rather, what I thought I felt for Lily, was not true love. But I've learned something else, too. Something that is at least just as important. And that is, that a person can become friends in mere weeks. Petunia, I've known you for a few weeks, and in that short time, I've become very attached to you. You have no idea how much you mean to me."
After his very long speech, James looked up, obviously expecting some sort of response from Petunia.
"I think I do," was all she offered.
"You do what?" James seemed slightly confused.
"I do have some idea of how much I mean to you. At least if I mean as much to you, as you mean to me," she stated calmly, then added, "By the way, that speech was really beautiful... I think."
They both giggled.
Then Petunia became earnest again. She looked closely at James.
"James, how did you realize that Lily wasn't the one for you? How did you know? What made you realize it?" she asked.
"Well, you know, after what you said on the train, I felt really miserable. Mostly because I like you... a lot. You're a really good friend to me. But I also felt so bad, because I thought you might be right in some way."
Petunia opened her mouth, hurt. She had expected something completely different. James, however, indicated that she should be quiet and continued.
"Well, so there I was, feeling awful, when I realized something. I wasn't trying to use you. Otherwise I wouldn't have felt that bad. I know, this might be screwed up logic, but I was certain, and I still am. I was not using you to get closer to Lily, not even subconsciously. Then I thought about it some more. I realized I didn't love her. How could I? How could I love someone who hated me? Lily is not the girl for me!"
It was the second long statement he had made on the train ride. Petunia was frankly impressed, if not with his wording, with the sheer amount he had spoken.
"You know, I feel like I’m in a really cheesy soap opera."
The two laughed almost hysterically once again, this time just happy to have ended the fighting. Not even a grain of doubt was to be found in Petunia’s usually so incredulous heart. Perhaps mostly because what James had said matched what she had wanted him to say. But this thought never so much as crossed her mind.
James opened his mouth. He closed it again. Then opened it. Then closed it.
"You look like a fish, just spit it out, would you?" asked Petunia sounding jokingly exasperated, and feeling a group of excited butterflies dancing the tango in her stomach.
"Well, Petunia, I didn't only think about Lily, I also thought about some other things, and well..."
Petunia would never know what possessed her to do what she did next, and yet she wondered, years later, what might have happened if she hadn’t done it. But she did.
Petunia leaned across, putting her face very close to James'. She put her finger on his mouth and murmured, in what she hoped (but later on rather doubted) was a breathy and sexy voice:
"Don't say anything."
Then, she pressed her lips to his. It was a very short, innocent kiss, but Petunia felt tingles all over her body, as her blood raced, and her pulse quickened. Her first kiss. It was with the boy she loved. Petunia was in paradise right then. And it got better: James returned her kiss.
"Oh!" Sirius gasped, surprised and embarrassed, though, Petunia noted he did not look disapproving. "We didn't realize... we wanted to tell you that... we're at the station."
James and Petunia looked at each other, both beet red. Then they started laughing for the umpteenth time that train ride. The other boys looked from James to Petunia, then to each other, and just wondered.