More than Meets the Eye by lilybobily7
Chapter Notes: Disclaimer: None of this wonderful world that JKR created belongs to me, unfortunately.
Well, this chapter is fluffy and was a lot of fun to write. Enjoy and make sure to leave a review. ;)
By Monday morning, the whole school seemed to know that Lily Evans and James Potter were dating. It was a little embarrassing for Lily, as just last year every was well aware at how much she hated James. There had been many occasions where he had publicly asked her out and she did not hesitate to turn him down quite vehemently.
Now, as they walked hand in hand in between classes, people would stop and stare in the corridors or whisper quickly to their friends. There was even a fourth year that walked up to James to congratulate him.
However, despite the school’s reaction , Lily was happier than she had been in a long time. She enjoyed meeting James in the common room every morning before breakfast and seeing his face light up when she slipped her hand into his. They sat together in every class now, with both sets of their friends. Fortunately, this was not a problem as Meredith and Sirius were dating and Kelly and Andy, who had recently made up, got along well with Remus and Peter.
Since Valentine’s Day fell on a Tuesday that year, James bribed the two Hufflepuff prefects to swap patrolling shifts so he and Lily could spend it alone together.
“It’s not that big of a deal,” Lily reasoned, when James had told her the change of plans. “I don’t mind spending Valentine’s Day with our friends.”
“No, I’d really rather spend it alone. It’s our first one together,” he insisted. “Besides, I’m sure our friends would rather be alone, too.”
“That’s true,” Lily agreed.
That Tuesday evening, Lily found herself stuck between two outfits with less than ten minutes left to spare before she had told James she would meet him.
“The red dress or the green blouse?” Lily asked her friends, impatiently.
“Lils, I don’t know and I really don’t think James will mind. But speaking of clothes…which color do you think looks better on me?” Meredith asked, combing her wet hair. Without looking at Lily, she walked out of the bathroom over to her chest of drawers, humming softly to herself.
Lily rolled her eyes. Of course Meredith would be no help. Sirius was taking her on a date tonight to Hogsmeade. Lily turned to Kelly.
“Lily, James wrote you a poem, gave you flowers and you’re still worried about how you look?”
Lily started to argue but Kelly held up her hand. “Okay, okay. If you want my opinion, the green looks better with your eyes…but the red is more ‘valentiney’.”
Lily held up the red dress and gave it a critical look. “You don’t think the dress would give him the wrong idea, do you? It’s kind of low cut…”
“James knows you,” Kelly answered, turning to her own clothes laid out on the bed. “And it took him seven years to finally get you. I don’t think he’d try anything that you didn’t want him to do.”
“You’re right,” Lily agreed, nodding. “But I wear green too much…I’ll wear the red dress tonight.”
When she arrived in the common room, dressed and hair styled into loose waves, James greeted her with a grin. Even though they hadn’t called it a date, he had also dressed up a little.
“Wow, you look handsome, Potter,” Lily smirked, running her eyes over his thin, but muscular form. He had swapped his usual school robes for a button down shirt and khaki pants.
“You don’t look bad, yourself, Evans,” James replied, making fun of the way she had used his surname.
“Thanks,” Lily smiled, as he gently took her into his arms. When he released her, he took her hand and they climbed out of the portrait hole.
“So,” James began when they had walked a little ways. “I was wondering if you’d like to visit our ‘tree-house’ again.”
Lily was confused for a moment until she remembered that that was the nickname she had dubbed the Room of Requirement.
“Oh,” she mumbled, looking down at her feet. Even though it was the place where James had first told her he loved her, she could not help but feel a bit embarrassed, remembering how harshly she had rejected him.
“It’s alright,” James assured her, seeming to read her mind. “I won’t make you kiss me this time if you don’t want to.”
When Lily looked up at him, he smiled teasingly and squeezed her hand. She managed a smile back and then shyly looked away.
After a few more minutes of walking, they arrived at the Room of Requirement and James released her hand to pace in front of the door. When the doors appeared, he opened one for her and then followed her inside.
The room was just how she remembered it: smaller than the Gryffindor common room, but just as warm and cozy. Just as there had been before, there was a fire burning in the fireplace and on the far side of the room was the same candle lit dinner table. Before she could say anything, James led her to the table and pulled out her chair for her.
“So what are we having? You know I already ate dinner,” Lily told him as he sat in the chair across from her.
“Yes, I know. But I asked the house elves in the kitchens if they could bring by some extra desserts,” James explained. “No chocolate, though. I remembered,” he added with a chuckle.
Lily was surprised that he remembered that conversation from back at Slughorn’s Halloween party. “I don’t hate all chocolate…” she started.
James held up a hand to stop her. “Nonetheless, I asked for some of the treacle tart they had at dinner.”
“That sounds gr””
Before she could finish her sentence the door opened and a thin elf with large ears came skipping into the room. “For you and your date, Mr. Potter,” the elf squeaked, placing a tray bearing two slices of pie and a large bottle of butterbeer on the table.
“Thank you, Missy,” James said, flashing the elf a wide grin as he opened the bottle and poured out two glasses.
“You’re very welcome, Mr. Potter, sir,” the elf replied. She bowed and then left the room as James turned back to Lily.
“I take it you know the Hogwarts elves very well,” Lily said, raising an eyebrow.
“Yup,” James answered, smiling her favorite crooked smile as he gave her one plate of pie. “The guys and I like to sneak down to the kitchens for food. We did it practically every night last year.”
Lily shook her head as she turned her attention to the pie. “Of course you’d know all the secrets of Hogwarts and take advantage of the poor elves.” She looked up at James with a smile to let him know she was teasing him.
“Hey, if we hadn’t done that, you wouldn’t have dessert now,” James argued with mock indignation.
“I know. I’m sorry.” She put her fork in her mouth as James reached for her plate. “Mmm!” Lily exclaimed, her mouth full of pie. James raised his eyes at her, a smile forming on his face.
Unfortunately, she had taken too large of a bite and had difficulty swallowing. When she finally managed to, Lily went into a coughing fit until her throat finally cleared.
“You okay?” James asked with his head slightly tilted.
Lily nodded. “Can I have my pie back?”
“As long as you don’t choke on it,” he laughed, pushing the plate back at her.
Lily knew what was going to happen before she could do anything. As the plate of pie moved across the table, it knocked into her full glass of butterbeer. Almost in slow motion, she watched it fall over and the contents spill all over her dress.
“James!” Lily shouted, pushing back from the table to look at her now soaked dress.
“Oh, no! I’m so sorry, Lily!” James cried, getting up from his seat. He picked up the knocked glass, which was still dripping butterbeer, and then turned to Lily.
“What am I going to do!? I’m a mess!” Lily exclaimed. She grabbed a napkin from the table and started sponging her dress.
Despite her panic, James looked slightly amused. “Lils,” he chuckled, taking the napkin from her. “You’re a witch. You can use magic to dry yourself off. Here, let me do it.” He pointed his wand at her and Lily felt the pleasant warmth of being clean and dry wash over her.
“Right. I should have thought of that…” she said in embarrassment, her eyes barely meeting James’. She had been about to walk out on their date to get a change of clothes.
“Don’t worry about it,” he replied, now cleaning the tablecloth. After he finished, he went to sit down at the table again and flashed a grin at her. “Now where were we?” James asked.
“You mean before I made an idiot of myself,” Lily grimaced, sitting back down on her chair.
“Lily,” James admonished, reaching across the table for her hand. “I was the one who spilled it all over you. If anyone’s the prat, it’s me.”
She tilted her head to the side, considering this for a moment, and then nodded. “Yeah, you’re a prat.”
They both laughed at that. James squeezed her hand and then let go to return to his pie. “This pie is delicious,” he commented, after a couple of bites.
“Yes, it is,” Lily agreed. Then she frowned. “Didn’t you already have about two slices at dinner?”
James shrugged as he swallowed his last bite of pie. “Like I said, it’s good.”
She smiled as she pushed her own empty plate away from the edge of the table and leaned back in her chair. James did likewise and stared into her eyes across the table for a few moments.
“I got you something for Valentine’s Day,” he said, softly.
“Something else?” Lily replied, amazed.
James nodded and rose from his seat. Lily got up as well and he led her over to the loveseat tucked away in a corner of the room. As they sat down, Lily suddenly remembered that this was the place where James had first kissed her and she felt her heartbeat quicken.
But instead of leaning towards her for a kiss, James took a small box out of his pocket and handed it to Lily. Taking off the lid, she revealed two golden earrings in the shape of lily flowers.
“Oh, James” Lily gasped, reaching up to finger her lily necklace. Before long she would have a complete set of lily jewelry. “Where did you get these?”
James smiled. “Somewhere special. Try them on,” he urged her.
She took out the small pearl earrings she was wearing and put the lily ones in her ears.
“Would you like to see yourself?” James asked, picking up a hand mirror from the small table next to them. For a moment, Lily marveled at how the room seemed to have everything they needed. Then she saw the earrings in her reflection.
“These are exquisite, James. Thank you so much.”
“They look great on you,” James remarked, reaching up to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear.
“Thanks…I feel bad about not getting you more,” Lily continued, remembering the box of candy she had given him this morning.
“Don’t worry about it. Besides, my birthday is coming up soon,” he chuckled.
“Yeah…when is it? March twenty….”
“Seventh,” he finished for her. “March twenty-seventh. But you should know that“I am your boyfriend after all.”
“Only recently. Don’t forget, I use to try to associate myself as little as possible with you. I didn’t bother to remember your birthday or your class schedule or learn everything about the people you dated, as I remember you doing…” She faltered. James was staring at her with his head tilted to the side, looking amused.
“I really annoyed you, didn’t I?”
Lily paused as six years of memories came back to her. “Yes, you really did.”
“But you didn’t hate me.” He stated this as a fact, rather than asking her.
Lily exhaled slowly. “No, I never hated you.”
“Because deep down you loved me.” James was grinning now, his arrogant side coming through.
She frowned. “Now that, I think, is going a little too far.”
“Do you?” he asked, moving closer to her so their knees were touching and taking her hand.
Lily was still frowning when James leaned in to kiss her forehead.
“Fine, maybe not love,” he conceded. “But you can at least admit that you liked me.”
“I don’t think so…” she said, a little more uncertain.
“Not even a little? All those times when you shouted at me and told me you hated me...” He kissed her on the cheek. “When you told me to leave you alone…” He kissed her other cheek. “Are you sure you never actually wanted me to do this?” He leaned in to kiss her lips and Lily felt her stomach do a back-flip.
James leaned back to see her reaction.
“Maybe I liked you a little…” She saw James’ face light up. “But you have to understand that I didn’t know it. All I saw then was a trouble-making Quidditch star with an over inflated head. It’s taken me, as well as you,” she added, “all these years to get past that. Once you deflated your head a bit, I was able to see that you’re much more than meets the eye and…you’re actually a really great guy.”
James kissed her full on the lips again and pulled back only enough to whisper, “Thanks, Lils.”
“Happy Valentine’s Day, James,” she said quietly, a smile playing on her lips.
“You too, Lil”” Lily cut him off with a kiss.
As James’ warm lips moved against hers, his thumb softly caressed the back of Lily’s hand. She broke the kiss, giggling.
“What?” James asked, looking confused.
“Don’t do that. It tickles,” Lily explained. She took her hand from his and moved closer to him so he could wrap his arm around her waist. She smiled, coyly, and leaned in to kiss him again.
They kissed with more intensity now. James pulled her closer to his chest and her hands found their way into his messy dark hair.
When they parted for a breath, James was smiling. “I thought you always hated my hair?”
Lily shrugged. “I’ve decided it looks good tousled.”
James kissed her smiling lips and pulled her onto his lap. “Yours does, too.”
Lily grimaced. “No, I bet it’s a mess now.”
“It’s not,” James replied, shaking his head. He reached up to run a hand through it. “It looks…sexy like that.”
Lily rolled her eyes and kissed him once more. She could have stayed there for the whole night, but James finally broke the kiss by getting up. “We should probably start heading back now. We’ve got class tomorrow.”
“Oh, yeah…right,” Lily agreed, still a little breathless.
“You don’t have to look so disappointed,” James said, slinging an arm around her shoulder as they walked out the door. “It’s not as if we can never do this again.” He threw her a crooked smile.
“You’re so full of yourself,” Lily teased, lightly elbowing him in the side. “How are you so sure I want to do this again?” She shrugged out from under his arm before he could respond. Lily had not gone two steps before James wrapped his arms around her waist from behind.
“Because you love me,” he whispered in her ear. “And also, now that you know what it’s like to kiss me, you’re not going to want to stop.” He leaned down to plant a soft kiss on her jaw line.
Smiling to herself, Lily turned around in his arms and kissed him lightly on the cheek. “Come on. Didn’t you just say that we had to go back?”
He gave her a mischievous smile. “I said we should start heading back. That doesn’t mean we can’t take our time.” As he leaned down to kiss her again, Lily wriggled out of his arms.
“Still. I would hate for one of our professors to find us like this…”
“Doing what? Kissing?” He caught up to her and took her hand. “There’s nothing wrong with that. They were all young once, I’m sure they’ve all””
“Whoa,” Lily stopped him, holding up a hand. “I don’t want to think about that.”
He released her hand and pulled her into his side. “I’m just saying they would probably understand if they happened to see us…”
She sighed. “Speaking of teachers, did you practice for Charms like Flitwick told you to?”
James made a face. They had been reviewing advanced charms for their approaching N.E.W.T. exams and James had not yet managed to make anything happen to his quill, which he was supposed to turn into a Portkey.
“Do we have to talk about school right now? We are on a date after all,” James protested.
Lily raised her eyebrows. “Do you want to fail your N.E.W.T.S?” she teased.
“Lily, Lily, Lily.” James looked up at the ceiling and sighed. “I know how to do the charm,” he explained. “But you perfectly well know I was distracted.”
Lily smiled to herself, remembering Charms class yesterday.
“Professor Flitwick,” Lily had called, raising her hand high in the air. “Look!” She waved her wand and her quill turned blue and trembled. Lily looked up, satisfied with her work.
“Very nice, Miss Evans!” chirped the Charms teacher. He glanced from her to James, who was writing on a piece of parchment and his smile faded. “Get to work, Mr. Potter,” Flitwick advised and then left to oversee another group of students.
Lily turned back towards James. “Did you see that?” she asked. “And that’s only the third time I’ve done it.”
“You were great, Lils,” James said, reaching for her hand and giving it a squeeze.
Lily cocked her head as she finally saw a glimpse of what James had been working on.
“What’s that?”
James blushed slightly and covered the parchment with his hands.
“It’s nothing.”
Lily frowned. “James, show me what you were writing.” When he did not move, she put her hands on his wrists and pulled.
“Lily, it’s not done yet,” James protested. “Maybe, when it’s finished…” He was really turning red now. What could he possibly be hiding from her?
“James,” Lily said, gently, meeting his eyes. “Could I please see the parchment?”
He hesitated for a moment, still gazing into her eyes. However, just as he started to say no again, Lily yanked the paper out from under his hands.
“Haha!” she cried, triumphantly.
“Lily!” James objected, reaching for her wrists. But Lily had already begun to read what he had written. It was a poem. About her.
After waiting year after year
I can hardly think or even hear
The girl with fiery hair
Surely cannot be there
It now seems so unreal
Beyond a doubt: I’m head over heels
Her laugh, her smile, her kiss
Something must have gone amiss
This beauty could not have been meant for me
The arrogant boy who can’t even see
When her bright green eyes meet mine
I’m on cloud nine
She’s my angel, my love, my Lily
“Lily,” James said, tentatively. “It’s not done yet so…”
Lily put her finger to his lips. “James,” was all she could manage to say.
He still looked at her, sheepishly, waiting for her to continue.
Lily could not stop smiling. “This is the absolute best thing anyone has ever given me.” She glanced around the room to check that everyone was still preoccupied. Leaning in, she gave James a quick kiss on the lips.
“You like it?” James asked, looking a little dazed.
“I love it. And I love you.” She reached for his hand and gave it a squeeze.
Coming back to the present, Lily turned to James, beaming. “Yeah, I guess you have an excuse. But still, you should practice.” She looked at her watch. “Merlin, we need to get back. It’s really late!”
James frowned and took her wrist to examine the watch. “No, it’s five till nine, Lily. Not 11:40.”
“What? That can’t be right,” Lily snapped, withdrawing her hand from his and examining the watch more closely. Then she realized he was right. “Oh…”
James smirked at her. “Do you have problems telling time?” “No,” she replied, indignantly.
James wrapped his arms around her. “That’s okay. We can make a day of it. You can help me with charms and I’ll teach you how to tell time.”
“Get off of me,” Lily said, pushing him away. James laughed at her as she stalked down the corridor and she turned around to stick her tongue out at him, playfully.
“Come on, Lily,” James said, matching her pace. “I was kidding. I mean, it took me a while, too. I was probably five, maybe six by the time I got it right.”
Lily hid a smile and sped up her pace as James snickered at his own joke. When he caught up to her again, Lily was ready.
“At least I never cried over a broomstick,” she said, smiling triumphantly when James was caught off guard and his jaw dropped.
“That was first year! And I didn’t think you noticed me before this year.”
Lily ignored his last statement and continued. “Psh. You wish. If I remember correctly, you weren’t on the Quidditch team in first year so you were at least twelve or thirteen when this happened. Maybe older. But you came into the common room one night sobbing to no end because your precious broomstick flew into the Whomping Willow.” She giggled and shook her head at the absurdity of it.
James smirked at her for remembering something about him in such detail. “For your information that broom was a gift from my parents for getting accepted into Hogwarts. It was special…and expensive.”
“Sure, sure. If it had been me, though, I wouldn’t have cried.” She smirked at him and started down the hall again.
“Because crying is so embarrassing? Weren’t you the one who broke down crying before the start of the Transfiguration O.W.L.?” James pointed out.
Now it was Lily’s turn to drop her jaw. “It was stressful!” she rejoined, heatedly. “And…Transfiguration is not my best subject.” She recalled waiting for the start of the test, reviewing quick facts in her head. When she could not remember the theory behind human transfiguration, her eyes wandered over to James sitting a few seats over. He had been lounging in his seat, looking completely relaxed. Of course, he was at the top of the class in Transfiguration. As these memories came back to her, Lily pursed her lips and turned away from James.
A moment later, she felt James turn her by her shoulders and fold her into his chest. His hand gently stroked her hair.
“I’m sorry, Lily,” he said softly. “Maybe I went a little too far. I didn’t mean to make you angry or upset.”
She sighed and lifted her head to look into his eyes. “And I’m sorry about the broomstick comment…I guess.”
James laughed once. “Apology accepted.” He leaned down and lightly kissed her. As their lips met, though, Lily began to giggle.
James broke away, looking puzzled.
“You have to admit it was a little ridiculous. Crying over a broom. At least crying over O.W.L.S is understandable,” Lily added.
James shook his head. “For you, maybe,” he said with a smile.
Lily sighed again and let the subject drop. “Come on. Let’s go.” She slung an arm around his middle and James wrapped his arm around her shoulders and together they started down the corridor towards the common room.
Chapter Endnotes: Just so you all know, on June 10th, I'm leaving for Germany for 3 weeks. But, I'm going to try to write more so I'll be able to update by the time I get back.
Thanks so much for being fabulous readers. I seriously got an inbox full of emails for reviews last time and it made me very happy. Maybe that could happen again... please?
haha, anyways, the next chapter or so will be a little fluffy too (as they should be b/c we've been waiting forever for Lily and James to finally come to their senses) but, I have bigger plans for the climax. ~Julia~