Lily bit her lip and smiled shyly at him. She looked down to hide the red creeping into her cheeks.
“I love it when you do that,” James said softly.
“Do what?”
He smiled. “You get all shy, and you blush, and you bite your lip and try not to smile, even though you obviously want to.”
“I do that? How often do I do it?”
“This would be … the third time ever,” James said. “Good thing, too, because you’re completely irresistible when you do it.” James kissed her left cheek. “I just can’t seem,” he paused and kissed her right cheek, “to help myself,” he paused again and gently brushed his lips over hers, “when you look like that.”
Lily smiled. “Do you remember the first time?”
“Absolutely. It was in fifth year.”
James Potter swaggered down the hallway with Sirius Black by his side. The corridor was deserted, save for them, probably because class had already started. They were headed to History of Magic. They never bothered being on time for Professor Binns. As they rounded a corner, they saw someone coming out of a classroom.
“Late for class, aren’t we, boys?” the figure sneered.
“Late for a bath, aren’t you, Snape?” James answered.
“Where are we off to, Snivelly?” Sirius asked.
“Why would I tell you, Black? So you could take one of your shortcuts, come out in front of me and hex me, I suppose? That sounds like jolly fun chaps, but I’ll have to take a rain-check,” Snape told them sarcastically.
“Oh, Snivelly, you really think we would waste our time on you. How sad. We’re due in Binns’ class, so we must bid you adieu,” Sirius told him.
“That’s right. Better hurry along, Potter. You’re wasting time you could be spending wishing you were going out with that little Mudblood.”
James narrowed his eyes. “You watch your mouth, Snape.”
“Admit it, Potter, she’s out of your league.”
“Oh, and I suppose you think she’s within your reach, do you?” Sirius said, but Snape ignored him and stared start at James, smirking.
“She loves me. She just doesn’t know it yet. But you, on the other hand. You need a bath, and everyone knows it,” James said.
Sirius pulled his wand out of his pocket. “We could help you out there.”
Before Snape could reach his wand, Sirius yelled, “Petrificus totalus!” and Snape fell to the floor stiffly.
“Wingardium leviosa!” James said roughly. “There’s sure to be a mop in there,” he added, floating Snape into a nearby broom closet.
“Don’t come out until you’re squeaky clean!” Sirius laughed.
James chuckled. “Don’t forget to get behind your ears!” he said, closing the door.
James and Sirius congratulated each other with a handshake and entered the History of Magic classroom almost fifteen minutes late. They hovered around the doorway and waited until Binns turned his back to the class to write something on the board before they scurried into the back and found two empty seats waiting for them. Peter had skipped a seat between himself and Lily Evans, and James slid into it gladly.
“Where have you guys been?” Remus whispered.
James smirked and Sirius answered, “Pest control. We had a snake in the building.”
“Snape?” Peter asked.
James nodded and Sirius grinned. “We locked him in a broom closet to wash up,” Sirius said. The other three laughed loudly, but Binns ignored them.
James glanced at Lily to see if she heard them. She was rapidly scribbling on a piece of parchment, probably taking notes. As she heard them laughing, her quill paused, and her eyes flickered over to James. Upon seeing him watching her, she looked back to her notes quickly.
James smiled to himself, but he couldn’t take his eyes off her. A few moments later, Lily glanced back again and he was still watching her, so she looked quickly away again. James smirked and decided to give her a break, so he turned away and began doodling on a corner of parchment.
When he looked over at Lily, she was staring at him intently. Instead of looking away this time, her eyes lingered for a moment. James flashed her a grin and ruffled his hair. He watched as she bit her lip to ineffectively hide a smile, blushed, and looked down at her desk. James grinned even wider.
He set out a piece of parchment and began to compose a note.
My Dearest Lilykins,
It has come to my attention that you cannot seem to keep your beautiful eyes off me. Noting such behavior, I have decided to allow you the opportunity to look at me as much as you wish without acquiring a plethora of false rumors (because the rumors will be true, of course). This opportunity will come about if you would join me in the common room after dinner today for a Butterbeer or other such activity.
Your future husband,
James Potter
James folded the note in half and slid it onto Lily’s desk. She snatched it quickly before Binns could see it, as if he would de anything anyway. James watched her read it, and her face flushed in anger. She waved it in front her friend Kylie’s face, and Kylie snatched it and read it quickly. They had a heated, whispered argument, which Kylie seemed to win. James pretended not to notice as Lily hastily wrote back to him, but instead of folding it and sliding it onto his desk she crumpled it into a ball and threw it at him. It bounced off of his head and landed on his desk.
He opened it up in his lap and quickly scanned the page.
My Ultimately Abhorred Arrogant Bubblehead:
To start off “ do NOT call my “Lilykins” ever again. You will never be in such a position as that I will allow you to call my Lilykins, so don’t get attached. I cannot keep my eyes off you bestial face because it is just that. Bestial. My behavior is hardly noteworthy, and I hope you realize that I am deeply angered to hear that you will “allow me the opportunity to look at you … “ I do not want an opportunity to look at you, and even if I did I would NOT wait for your permission. In conclusion, I will not join in the common room for a Butterbeer or any activity, and I never will.
Please refrain from any further note passing or similar communication of any kind.
L.E.
James smiled and flipped the parchment over and quickly scrawled a reply.
My Passion Flower,
How ironic that you choose the word “never” to describe my position in life in regards to you. I have looked into a crystal ball and seen the future time where you will allow me to ball you Lilykins and Lils and other such pet names as I wish.
I do believe that you have other motivations for gazing at me with your gorgeous eyes. I believe that deep down under all your hostility, that you have feelings for me. I hope you will soon come to realize these feelings and learn to properly express them. Until that day I must be content to bask in the attention you direct towards me in your hatred.
The Ultimately Abhorred Arrogant Bubblehead,
James Potter
James tossed the note back onto Lily’s desk. She stiffly held her head high, looking straight forward and pretended not to notice the note. She was successful, for about a minute, until Kylie reached over to grab the note. Lily gently slapped Kylie’s hand away and read the note herself. She took a few minutes to scribble a note down and tossed it back to James. Quills and parchment flew back and forth between the two of them for most of the class.
Potter, you dolt. The only thing you could ever see in a crystal ball is the cloud that seems to be in your brain obstructing your thought process. The only feelings I have for you are deep down in the pit of my stomach “ nausea.
Stop talking to me.
L.E.
I know you don’t mean that, my love. There is nothing obstructing my thought processes except perhaps your beautiful face.
Forever Yours,
James
I do mean it. I mean everything I say. Usually. But when I say that you are a smelly hippogriff chip, I mean it. I do not want you to be mine, now or ever.
This is the last time I’m going to ask. Stop talking to me.
Lily
My Darling Evans,
It would appear as though your subconscious is trying to send me a message beneath your harsh words. My reasons to believe so are as follows: 1. You signed that last note “Lily.” 2. You implied that you may not have meant everything you said to me, meaning that you DO have feelings for me. 3. If you really wanted me to stop talking to you, you would not have answered me (And by the way, we are not actually talking. We are passing notes.)
So you see, slowly, you are coming to realize your true feelings for me. I don’t suppose you might want to hurry them along a bit?
The Smelly Hippogriff Chip,
James
Potter “
I am not sending you a subconscious message. I implied nothing of the sort. I DO want you to stop talking or passing bloody notes to me. I do not want to hurry along any feelings, because they are not there. Do not pass me another note or I will be forced to hex you into next week.
Sincerely,
Lily Evans
James read Lily’s last note and sighed. She was still being stubborn.
“I suppose I was being just a bit stubborn,” Lily told him.
James nodded. “I hoped that was all it was.”
Lily smiled apologetically. “Really though, I might have broken down then and there if it hadn’t been for Kylie. Of course, she was only doing what I had asked her to do.”
“How is it Kylie’s fault?”
“She kept me from giving in,” Lily said.
Lily and her friends marched into History of Magic laughing loudly.
“Did you see the way he looked at you?” Jess asked Lily.
“I can’t believe you turned down Frank Longbottom!” Kylie screeched.
“He’s so gorgeous! And smart too! Plus, he’s a seventh year!” Emma said.
Lily shrugged. “He’s really not that interesting.”
The other girls gave her an exasperated look as they took their seats in the back of the room.
Lily scanned the room and saw Remus and Peter. She waved at them, but her heart sank a little when she saw James Potter wasn’t there.
Lily shook her head in frustration. She began copying down notes furiously to distract herself. She had to stop thinking about him.
Nearly fifteen minutes later, Lily’s mind had turned from Potter, to History of Magic, to OFF. She stared, slack-jawed at the front of the room, bored out of her mind. At that moment, Potter and Black walked in. Lily’s heart jumped and she sat up straight in her chair. She quickly picked up her quill and began copying notes again, to look busy and pretend she hadn’t noticed them. Of course that was rather difficult, especially when Potter placed himself in the seat next to her, and her heart skipped a beat.
Binns said something to James and Sirius, but Lily ignored it, concentrating hard on looking uninterested. Instead of writing notes down though, she was writing her name over and over again, so she at least looked like she was taking notes.
As Lily was carefully dotting the “i” in her name with a heart, she paused, hearing a ripple of laughter from the Marauders next to her. Lily flicked her eyes over to the seat next to her where James Potter sat. Their connected for a moment before Lily quickly looked back to her “notes.”
Lily took a deep breath to slow her rapidly beating heart while her mind raced. “If our eyes met when I looked at him, that means he had to be looking at me. Why was he looking at me? How long was he looking at me? Why was I the one to look away? Argh! How dare that stupid HInkypunk make me feel this way! Why does he do this to me?!”
Lily went back to writing her name out over and over and she counted out the slow, painful seconds as she kept her eyes off Potter. But of course, as these things happen, Lily was curious as to what James was dong, and if he was looking at her again. So slowly and cautiously her eyes glanced towards James. Their eyes met again, and she jerked her head down, breaking eye contact.
“What is he doing? Why is he staring at me?” Lily asked herself. And not having answered only heightened her curiosity, and so it was that she found herself, mere seconds later, staring at his tanned face. His messy black hair sat ruffled upon his head and the quill in his hand moved back and forth rapidly as he doodled on a piece of parchment. He was gorgeous.
And suddenly, his hazel eyes were looking back into her green ones, capturing her attention. She couldn’t look away, and didn’t want to, but was locked in James’ deep, emotion-filled eyes.
When James realized she wasn’t looking away, he ruffled his hair to give a windswept look and grinned his perfect white smile at her.
Lily nearly smiled back, but bit her lip, and although she tried, she couldn’t successfully hide the smile or the blush that was creeping into her cheeks. She looked down, hoping Potter wouldn’t notice a bit of it. She concentrated deeply on the initials “C.B.” that someone had carved into the desk. She traced them over and over, trying her hardest to keep her eyes still and away from James.
Lily was tracing the curve of the “C” when Potter’s hand crept into her vision at the edge of her desk and slid a folded piece of parchment in front of her. Lily grabbed it eagerly the moment it left his hand and unfolded it. Her face flushed as she read it.
My Dearest Lilykins,
It has come to my attention that you cannot seem to keep your beautiful eyes off me. Noting such behaviour, I have decided to allow you the opportunity to look at me as much as you wish without acquiring a plethora of false rumors (because the rumors will be true, of course). This opportunity will come about if you would join me in the common room after dinner today for a butterbeer or other such activity.
Your future husband,
James Potter
Lily’s heart was pounding and her face was flushed completely red by the time she had finished reading it. There were a great many problems with this note.
Problem 1: Potter was absolutely adorable.
Problem 2: He had called her my dearest.
Problem 3: He said she had beautiful eyes.
Problem 4: She would dearly love to have a date with him in the common room.
Problem 5: She would kill to have him as her future husband.
Problem 6: He couldn’t know any of these things.
Lily waved the note desperately in front in front of Kylie’s face, looking for guidance. It was as if he knew she really secretly loved him and was having fun torturing her. She would give anything to give up her charade and just admit to him how she felt.
Kylie snatched the note and began to read it under her own desk. Lily’s leg bounced up and down furiously as she waited impatiently for Kylie to finish. She clenched and unclenched her fists and tried to keep her breathing even and regular as she tried to calm herself down.
Kylie slid the note back into Lily’s eager hands. “Ohmigod! Ohmigod! Lily! Oh my God!”
“I know! I know! What do I do?” LiIy whispered back, wringing her hands.
“Well,” Kylie swallowed and took a breath to calm herself, “what do you want to do?”
Lily thought about it for a moment. “Well, right now, this very minute, I would like to throw myself upon him and tell him how much I do indeed love him and hug him and kiss his hands, his arms, his cheeks, his lips, his “-‘’
“Stop! Stop! Stop! That’s completely out of the question so stop even thinking about it,” Kylie berated her.
“I can’t do it, Kylie! I really don’t think I can do this anymore. Forget all my bloody schoolwork. He’s all I need! I’m going to write back to him write now and tell him how I really feel. Do you have a bit of parchment?”
“Absolutely not!” Kylie said. “I can’t let you do this to yourself, Lily Evans. Right now you may say ‘forget my schoolwork,’ but when exams come around and you don’t get passing marks, you’ll blame me. It will be my fault. And I will not let you do that, miss!” Kylie whisper-yelled at her.
“It’s my decision!” Lily growled, narrowing her eyes.
“Lily Evans! Get a hold of yourself! Now, really!”
Lily sighed and picked up her quill to write back to James. “I suppose he’ll just never know then.”
“You hate him. You hate him. You hate him,” Lily chanted to herself as she wrote back to him.
My Ultimately Abhorred Arrogant Bubblehead:
To start off “ do NOT call my “Lilykins” ever again. You will never be in such a position as that I will allow you to call my Lilykins, so don’t get attached. I cannot keep my eyes off you bestial face because it is just that. Bestial. My behavior is hardly noteworthy, and I hope you realize that I am deeply angered to hear that you will “allow me the opportunity to look at you … “ I do not want an opportunity to look at you, and even if I did I would NOT wait for your permission. In conclusion, I will not join in the common room for a butterbeer or any activity, and I never will.
Please refrain from any further note passing or similar communication of any kind.
L.E.
Continuing her mantra, Lily crumpled her note into a ball and threw it savagely at his head. It bounced harmlessly off and landed on his desk. As she waited for him to read it and write back, she gnawed on her thumbnail. What if she had made the wrong decision? Maybe she should have just told him the truth.
She tried to not watch out of the corner of her eye as he unfolded the note. He read it and smiled, before writing back. Lily’s heart sped up when she saw him smile at her note.
It seemed to take him ages to write back, and the time passed even slower because she was fighting with herself not to look over the whole time. Finally, James tossed his note back onto Lily’s desk and it skidded to a halt in front of her. She tensed her neck, clenched her hands together and kept her eyes locked firmly on the front of the room. She couldn’t let him know how eager she was to read it.
After about a minute, Kylie rolled her eyes and let out a frustrated little grunt and reached across the aisle to grab the note.
Lily slapped Kylie’s hand down. “I don’t think so, Kylie,” she whispered and picked up the note. She unfolded it with trembling hands.
My Passion Flower,
How ironic that you choose the word “never” to describe my position in life in regard to you. I have looked into a crystal ball and seen the future time where you will allow me to ball you Lilykins and Lils and other such pet names as I wish.
I do believe that you have other motivations for gazing at me with your gorgeous eyes. I believe that deep down under all your hostility, that you have feelings for me. I hope you will soon come to realize these feelings and learn to properly express them. Until that day I must be content to bask in the attention you direct towards me in your hatred.
The Ultimately Abhorred Arrogant Bubblehead,
James Potter
“How dare he!” Lily whispered to Kylie. “How dare he be so arrogant as to tell me what I think of him! And besides that, he is absolutely shite at Divination!” Kylie nodded supportively.
Lily quickly scrawled an angry reply and from there the notes flew back and forth between them for most of the rest of the class, Lily successfully keeping her disdainful exterior, and James continuing his optimism.
Potter, you dolt. The only thing you could ever see in a crystal ball is the cloud that seems to be in your brain obstructing your thought process. The only feelings I have for you are deep down in the pit of my stomach “ nausea.
Stop talking to me.
L.E.
I know you don’t mean that, my love. There is nothing obstructing my thought processes except perhaps your beautiful face.
Forever Yours,
James
I do mean it. I mean everything I say. Usually. But when I say that you are a smelly hippogriff chip, I mean it. I do not want you to be mine, now or ever.
This is the last time I’m going to ask. Stop talking to me.
Lily
My Darling Evans,
It would appear as though your subconscious is trying to send me a message beneath your harsh words. My reasons to believe so are as follows: 1. You signed that last note “Lily.” 2. You implied that you may not have meant everything you said to me, meaning that you DO have feelings for me. 3. If you really wanted me to stop talking to you, you would not have answered me (And by the way, we are not actually talking. We are passing notes.)
So you see, slowly, you are coming to realize your true feelings for me. I don’t suppose you might want to hurry them along a bit?
The Smelly Hippogriff Chip,
James
Potter “
I am not sending you a subconscious message. I implied nothing of the sort. I DO want you to stop talking or passing bloody notes to me. I do not want to hurry along any feelings, because they are not there. Do not pass me another note or I will be forced to hex you into next week.
Sincerely,
Lily Evans
Lily spent the rest of class waiting and hoping for James to pass her another note. She watched him out of the corner of her eye, but he didn't look at her again. She sighed. He probably wasn't even thinking about her, and here she was sitting like a silly heartsick little girl, waiting for something to happen. Lily shook her head fruustratedly. She was so pathetic.
When class was over, Lily got up and hurried out of the room, leaving Potter, and hopefully all thoughts of him, behind.