Eventually, Lily looked at her watch and gasped. She got up carefully, so as to not fall into the lake, and looked pointedly at James. He sighed, but got up as well. They said their goodbyes and began to walk to McGonagall�s office. When they reached it, they were surprised to see it in complete disarray. McGonagall was sitting behind a cluttered desk and she beckoned them in and explained.
�Peeves somehow got in and decided to have fun. I was going to have you clean the Transfiguration classroom, but I think this is a bit more important now. I trust you two enough to be in here without me. Please, put it in as much order as you can. If you can�t find where something goes, just put it aside and I�ll figure it out later. I�ll be in the teacher�s lounge if you need me. Goodbye!� McGonagall got up and walked out her door. �Oh, no wands, of course.� She nodded and left.
Lily and James groaned at the state of the room. Peeves had definitely enjoyed himself. Filing cabinets were torn apart, papers were everywhere, and the desk was completely overturned. Other things lay higgledy-piggledy every which way, and ink had been poured across the floor.
Nevertheless, they got to work.
They started by picking everything off the floor and putting it in semi-organized piles. The vast amount of things in McGonagall�s office made the job a long one. When the floor was cleared of debris, they righted the desk and the cabinets. James went to find a bucket of soup and water.
�I�m sorry if you felt uncomfortable by the lake,� he said, when he returned. He began to wipe down the board of the offensive scribbling of Peeves�s. Lily sighed.
�It�it wasn�t...r-really that bad,� she stuttered, continuing to organize the Professor�s desk. James smiled to himself. She was so cute when she stuttered.
When the board was wiped clean, he started working on one of the many bookshelves. As he set books aside, he decided to find a topic of conversation that didn�t have the potential to get her angry.
�So, how is your family?�
Lily�s eyes narrowed. James noticed this and mentally slapped himself. He scolded his thought process and set it the task of never bringing it up again
.
�Well, apart from the fact that my only sister has called me by nothing other than �freak� for the past seven years, and her fat boyfriend is very nearly completely self-absorbed and ridiculous, and I can�t even talk about being here, at Hogwarts, when I�m home during the summer, it really isn�t that bad!� She grabbed a stack of books from behind the desk, and moved to place the books next to the bookshelf James was cleaning.
�Lily, I�m sorry,� said James. The anger and frustration in her voice pulled at his heart. It made him grateful for his own mum and dad. He didn�t know what it would have been like to be Muggleborn, especially a Muggleborn with a sibling that didn�t understand.
�She�s just jealous that I got in to Hogwarts and she didn�t. We used to be close, very close�best friends even�but after I got my letter-� She slammed the books fiercely down on the small table beside the shelves and James got the picture.
�Ah,� he said, and turned to place the books in his arms onto the table.
However, a very heavy tome fell from his arms and dropped onto the edge of the bucket of soapy water. Consequentially, said bucket of soapy water tipped over and James slipped on the soap suds. Lily, who had turned and attempted to catch the book, also slipped. She fell into James, and they fell to the ground together. James landed with a hard thump on his back and absorbed another as Lily fell on top of him.
He groaned even as Lily made the same sound. He was too shocked by his fall to notice that she was pretty shocked also. He felt her elbow dig into his stomach as she attempted to hastily get off of him. He curled his body in pain and Lily lost her balance. She landed with another thump on his chest, her head beside his.
She tried again to remove herself from him, but her hand must�ve slipped on a spot of water. She stopped herself centimeters before her nose smashed into James�s face.
He was terribly tempted to shift a bit and kiss her. He did not, though; rather, he said, �To avoid another attack on my kidney, why don�t you push yourself up using the floor?�
She was blushing as she placed her hands on the floor beside him and pushed herself up.
He slowly sat up also, the pain in his back equal to that which was coming from the bump on his head and his bruised entrails.
Nevertheless, he began to apologize. �Sorry, Evans, the stupid bucket tipped the book over-� James stopped, and shook his head. �I mean, the book tipped the bucket over. I guess I really hit my head� �
He saw her raise an eyebrow at him, and to his utter amazement, she began to chuckle. His expression must have been pretty humorous, because she started laughing. James still looked at her in amazement but slowly began to grin and then started laughing along. After a few moments of laughter, James carefully stood up and brought Lily with him. She turned away, probably to get back to organizing, and stepped forward into the puddle of water. Of course, she began to slip. James caught her and turned her around.
�Whoa! Don�t you fall now!� warned James, still chuckling. He paused to enjoy the feeling of Lily in his arms, and wished that he could do it whenever he wished. Lily chuckled again in response to his warning but stopped when she looked up into James�s hazel eyes. James felt a funny look come over his face as he looked into her bright green eyes, and he figured a similar one was currently on her own face.
Then, without much thought, he leaned forward, and put his lips on Lily�s.
A mere moment later, he pulled away, and he looked over her face. His brain was vaguely numb, but he thought he felt his conscious slapping its forehead. James removed his arms from around Lily�s waist and stepped back.
A look of surprise was all that could be read on Lily�s face and then another emotion took over; one that was quite the opposite of what James would have wanted.
Three seconds later, he could feel the exact outline of the handprint that was growing on the left side of his face, and he shook his head slightly to clear his scattered brain. He looked back at Lily and her face was a mixture of emotions: anger, embarrassment, and confusion. He shook his head again, as if to shake the handprint from his cheek, and opened his mouth to say something. His conscious finally decided to make its appearance, and James shut his mouth. He backed away from the rather stunned girl, and turned back to the bookshelf. From the corner of his eye, he saw that she remained still for a few moments, and then got back to organizing McGonagall�s desk.
James knelt down on the floor and pressed his fist to his forehead. If only he had a Time-Turner�
He looked down at all the water, and swore softly. Figuring the best thing to do with all this water was wash the floor clean of the spilled ink, he pulled his robe from his body, threw it across the room (his Head Boy badge clinked as it hit something) and reached into the bucket. He grabbed the soggy rag and started to clean the floor, wondering if he could possibly get any stupider. To say the feel of her lips on his was not wonderful would be like saying the hardwood floor wasn�t hard. He had finally kissed her. Only, it wasn�t quite the kiss he wanted their first to be.
He determined to slap some common sense into his conscious. Maybe he could have Lily do it for him� Oh, wait�
Lily was surprised to say the least when they had slipped and fallen. However, that was no match to her surprise when he kissed her. It was a short kiss; it lasted maybe two seconds. But it was a kiss that Lily never thought could have come from someone like James. It was gentle and sweet. She had thought that if he ever managed to kiss her he would�ve been forceful and rough about it. Nothing like what had actually happened. It was so incredibly confusing. She could almost still feel it on her own lips.
She certainly was feeling that slap in her hand; her palm was stinging.
A part of her mind and heart began to think that maybe he really did like her. That he wasn�t just wanting her because she was hard to get.
She looked out McGonagall�s office window, completely befuddled.
She realized that she had judged him without really knowing him.
She passed a hand across her forehead, pushing aside strands of long red hair. Walking over to the window, she rested her head the cool pane. She stayed there for a few moments, and then realized that she still had a lot of work to do.
She put another few books in a pile on the edge of McGonagall�s desk, feeling it better to stay on this side of the desk. Potter was cleaning the floor, and she did not feel like slipping again. Her knee was throbbing from where it had hit the ground.
She took a deep breath and told herself that the hours would pass by faster if she let the work numb her brain.
Two hours after they had fallen, McGonagall came back to her office.
She stopped just inside the threshold in amazement. The floor was cleaner than it had been in a long time and the chalkboard wiped clear and free of dust. The books and shelves had been dusted and straightened, and the quills on her desk were standing in their tartan holder. Even her small tartan-patterned tin of biscuits (minus one that Potter took) was neatly sitting on the edge of her desk.
�Well, I�m surprised,� she said, quite honestly. �It looks even better than before Peeves ruined it. Well done.� James and Lily smiled shakily. �You may go up to your dormitory; I�ll finish the rest, though there doesn�t appear to be much to do. Thank you.�
As James and Lily walked out of the office, McGonagall called back to them. �Maybe you can clean the Transfiguration classroom on� let�s say Wednesday?� she suggested. The two seventh years smiled and nodded, knowing that it was not a suggestion to be ignored. Before they left the room, McGonagall called out to James.
�Potter? What happened to your face?� The corners of McGonagall�s mouth turned up and James merely smiled and shrugged with mock bewilderment and walked away. Lily looked sheepish and wished McGonagall a �good night.� James and Lily both�though they would swear they had been hearing things�thought they had heard their Head of House laugh.
They walked silently to the entrance to their dormitory. The old wizard in the portrait was snoring loudly. James threw him a contemptuous look, but took the opportunity to turn to Lily.
�Ev- Lily?� he asked, tentatively. She slowly looked up at him. �I�m sorry for what I did back there. I� I don�t really know what to say. Got carried away, I guess,� he attempted explained with a slight smile. Lily nodded but her face was unemotional.
She faced the portrait, and said the password. He didn�t move. Lily said it louder. James knocked on the painting. The Old Man woke up, and looked around.
�Please do not manhandle me in such a way! Whatever do you want?� he asked groggily.
�We want to get into our dormitories, so fiddlesticks and open up!� said James heatedly.
The Old Man swung open, grumbling as he did so, and James and Lily stepped into the common room. The pair walked down the hallway and said tense �goodnights� at Lily�s door. James had just opened his door when Lily called back to him.
�Ja- Potter? I�m sorry for slapping you. So hard, at least.� She walked into her room and gently closed the door.
James smiled and flopped down on his bed, remembering the feel of Lily�s lips on his.
He wondered if the fact that she slapped him with more vigor than ever before symbolized anything...