"Hey, Love!" James yelled "I mean, Lily. Lily, come here"
Lily was red again because she had turned when James had said Love. It was incredible how he could provoke all these awful things in her when before she had all the control. But Lily had been acting like a fool lately.
James was in the Common Room, surrounded by second and third years. James had always been good at making friends. He had friends in every year. But Lily had discovered his ability to win kids over when he became Head Boy. He was good with them. And Lily's heart started beating fast when James acted like a father with them. It became a game as the year rolled over, how younger students treated them like their mum and dad, which made Lily's crush even more difficult to bear.
"Yeah? What is it?"
"Come here, sit down" James said patting the seat next to her. "The lads were telling me a nice joke..." James continued as Lily took a seat next to him. She hadn't realized how much she liked his cologne. It was really good.
"Hello, Mrs. Potter" someone teased making the others laugh.
"Hi" Lily answered without thinking but when she saw James smiling, she went bright red "I mean... My name is not Potter, Nigel. Evans. Lily Evans! Remember?"
The kids were laughing. James was trying to avoid smiling. Nigel was one of the worst. He reminded Lily of a younger version of James and Sirius. Little trouble makers. Little devils, they were. Lily remembered how she used to hate them. The difference was that Nigel had a scholarship. He came from a very poor family with many children. James and Lily had a special care for him.
"Nigel, I told you not to bother the lady" James tutted, putting an arm around her.
"What?" Nigel shrugged. "It's what Dumbledore called her"
Lily was trying to ignore how much she like having James's arm around her.
"Are you two dating or something?" A third year girl asked.
James and Lily went immediately red.
"I wish..." James murmured.
"What?"
"I mean no! No!"
"We are just friends" Lily clarified.
"Friends!" James nodded "There's nothing..."
"Being coworkers doesn't mean we are..."
"We are not married..."
"What?" Lily hit his arm "Of course not!"
"Head Boy and Head Girl, that's all"
Lily nodded "Forget about what Dumbledore said"
"Hey friend" James showed her his palm.
"Friend" Lily hit it.
"There you go..." James cleared his throat.
Lily wished she hadn't been obvious. It was the first time she had a crush and she didn't know how to hide it. She didn't know what to do with it.
"Come on!" Nigel's friend, Mark, said "It is obvious that you two want to eat each other's mouths"
Lily felt her cheeks burning, her eyes widened. Then James said nervously: "Thank you, good night! It's almost curfew, you all need to get to your dorms... Bye.. Bye.."
The group of students groaned and protested.
"Come on! We were telling jokes"
"We are not sleepy right now"
"Please we are not babies"
"No, it is getting late, darlings" Lily added, smiling at them. The kids got up reluctantly.
"Bye Mrs. Potter" Nigel teased as he got up.
"Nigel" Lily tutted.
"Come on! Chop chop, you little lad" James snapped his fingers.
"Come on, James" Lily heard Nigel whispering "Tell her how you feel, she is just there. Bloody kiss her! Do something!"
"Shut up, shut up,..." James whispered back "I told you it is complicated..."
"Fucking hell, you are such a pussy" Nigel tutted "You are so slow. How do think I got with my five girlfriends?"
Lily wanted to laugh. She didn't know if it was because of what Nigel was saying, or how adorable James was or the fact that perhaps James felt the same.
"What five girlfriends?" James asked "You're just twelve. You're a kid"
"Yet I have more nerve than you"
"Go to sleep! Go and brush your teeth!" James shooed him away. Nigel giggled as he walked away "And think about who is going to lend you their console now!" he yelled as Nigel climbed the stairs. "Because it ain't gonna be me!"
Then James turned back to Lily with a grin. Lily smiled back. She was so embarrassed.
"Kids..." James snorted
"Yep"
"Am I right?" James tutted "They have such a weird imagination. They were like: 'Call Lily, call Lily we have a joke for her', bloody cheesy wankers"
"It's okay, they are kids. Just messing around" Lily giggled nervously.
"Yeah it is not that we..."
"No!"
Lily was kind of disappointed.
"I mean we are friends getting to know each other"
"Exactly"
"People see romance everywhere now a days"
"I know, why can't boys and girls be just friends?" Lily shrugged.
"Right? Right?" James nodded. "I don't... I don't know why Nigel..." James rubbed his neck "I mean it is Nigel."
"It's Nigel" Lily nodded.
"He is such a little devil" James shook his head "When I was his age, I was very innocent"
Lily laughed.
"What?" James asked amused. "What?"
"You were worse than him, James. You were awful"
"Well thank you"
"I mean you and Black used to go around causing trouble and thinking you were better than everyone else" Lily giggled.
James smiled, looking at her "I like your laughter. I like that you call me James"
Lily was blushing again. Jesus! Could she embarrass herself more?
"Thank God you matured from that" Lily cleared her throat changing the subject.
"I was a little dick, wasn't I?"
Lily nodded "But you are amazing now. I mean, you behave like a decent person now." she finished playing with her hair.
James twisted his mouth and rubbed his hair making it messy. Lily loved his hair.
"I am glad we are friends, Evans"
"Me too, Potter" she smiled, making him smile as well.
They stared into each other's eyes. Lily could see how big and gentle they looked behind those glasses. They were a dark brown, so intense they left Lily speechless.
She wanted for James to ask her out again. She might say yes. She wanted for James to kiss her. She might kiss him back.
Whatever asshole he had been in the past was long gone. James was a good person, a good friend. So funny, so easy going, so warm. It was easy to be around him. James was like sunshine.
How couldn't Lily see that before?
Though, she wasn't sure James felt the same. Maybe it was all a game to him. That's why he was messing around with Nigel and his friends. Lily didn't want her heart to get broken.
"We should..." Lily looked away first "I mean it is really almost carefew... So..."
"Yeah..." James was still looking at her carefully.
Lily raised from her seat.
"No!" James exclaimed. Lily looked at him "No no No! Stay... Stay... We can... Ahm....Stay"
Lily smiled with hope. She even giggled a little.
"Well, it is almost carefew we shouldn't..."
"We are Head Boy and Girl, we are able to bend the rules, a little"
Lily bit her lip. Her reasonable part was telling her she should not break the rules. But her heart was so happy, jumping inside her chest with the prospect of spending more time with James.
"Are you sleepy already?"
Lily shook her head with a smile.
"Me neither" James smirked "Let's do something. The two of us"
Lily stared playing with her hair again. "Like what?"
"Uuff I have a lot of ideas" James smirked to himself. Lily raised an eyebrow
"Don't be a pervert, Potter" she hit him.
"No! No! That's not... I mean..." he cleared his throat "Do you like chocolate milk?"
"Yeah" Lily smiled "I love chocolate milk"
"Great!" James exclaimed "Why don't we go down to the kitchens and drink some chocolate milk and eat some cookies... Chat for a bit... What do you say?"
"Is this like a date?" Lily asked, blushing this time in the dark.
"Do you want it to be a date?" James asked "I mean it can be a date. A date between friends. A friend date"
This is what Lily wanted, right? Spend some time with James. Get to know him better. Maybe that would make Lily's feelings more clear.
"I like that idea"
"Yeah?" James smiled, making Lily do it as well.
"Yeah"
"Okay, let's go, Mrs. Head Girl" James extended his hand. Lily took it getting a bit flustered.
"Let's go Mr. Head Boy"
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