5Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter series or its characters.
The halls of Hogwarts castle were silent. The sun had set and the crescent shaped moon brought a soothing glow through the large glass windows casting beautiful shadows against a blank wall. The quiet was peaceful and haunting in a lovely way. Remus sighed to himself; he could get used to this peace. No distractions, no chaos, no—
"Merlin's creaky old knee," Sirius sang loudly, his tenor filling up the dark hallways.
"Merlin's cataract filled baby blue eyes," Lily countered, her voice down-to-earth and full of wit.
"Merlin's slightly bouncy and surprisingly round left butt cheek."
"Merlin's suspiciously phallic looking birthmark on his right collar bone."
"Merlin's—"
"MERLIN, WILL YOU TWO SHUT UP!" Remus shouted, effectively ending the game.
"Ha, I win!" Lily smirked, rubbing her hands together gleefully. "My Merlin was the last straw."
Sirius shook his head as he disagreed vehemently, "I'm pretty sure Merlin's butt cheek was Moony's last straw."
"Nuh-uh." Lily crossed her arms and stuck her tongue out at the boy.
"Yuh-huh," Sirius shot back before turning to his friend. "Moony, which Merlin caused your loud outburst?"
"Both your Merlins are making me lose my mind," Remus grumbled, as he used two fingers to massage his temple.
"Aww, Remus," Lily cooed. "I know you're trying to be nice and all, but you have to pick a winner."
"Yeah, Moony. Tell her that I won."
"Why'd you invite Padfoot to our prefect rounds again?" Remus asked while the three of them turned to enter the next corridor.
Sirius sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck as he walked on the other side of him.
"Wait." Lily scrunched her eyebrows in confusion, turning her gaze up to the exasperated wolf. "I didn't invite him. I thought you did."
"Why would I—"
"Both of you didn't invite me," Sirius interrupted. "James did."
"He's not even here and how could James invite you to a thing he's not even a part of?" Lily asked with a slight twinge of annoyance. If James had invited Sirius, the least he could have done was show up with him.
"He wanted me to ask you out—"
"Oh, Sirius!" Lily gasped dramatically, clasping her hands together and jumping like an excited schoolgirl. "I'd love to go out with you!"
"—on his behalf."
Lily pouted. "Shame." A part of her did wish James was there with them just so she could continue teasing Sirius in front of him and see how he would react. That and… no other reason.
Sirius made a face at Lily and she reciprocated the look. Remus, who was stuck between the two of them, rolled his eyes at their childish antics.
However annoyed Remus looked, he truly did enjoy their company, even though he would never admit it. Even when the three of them walked in silence, which was rare, it was a comfortable silence and he felt he could relax in their presence. Silence was—
"You know," Lily thought out-loud, rubbing her cheek, "We never did get a second date."
Ah, and there went the gold.
Sirius's eyes widened and he tried to discreetly shake his head, so as to not concern Remus, who was right beside the two of them.
"Second date?" Remus asked Lily. "What are you talking about?"
Laughing nervously before Lily could answer, Sirius said, "She's just joking. Right, Lily? Cause we never dated. That… that would be insane." He gave her a pointed look and there was murder in his eyes.
"Oh," Lily realized that she may have misspoken. "Yeah, no, I was just joking because this is like our first date, ha ha."
"Right, ha, ha, Evans. You. Are. So. Funny." Sirius sounded like he was reading off a script, his smile so strained it could have been pasta that was done boiling.
He sighed for what felt like the hundredth time in the past hour. Pinching the bridge of his nose, Remus said, "It's too late at night for this. I'm going to bed. Enjoy your second date or whatever."
"No, no!" Sirius quickly corrected, waving his arms like a madman. "No dates! Because Evans and I have never ever dated."
Lily made a non-committal sound and looked out into the distance as they approached the end of their rounds and the entrance to the Gryffindor Common Room. Remus was quick to walk up the stairs to the boy's dormitory leaving Sirius and Lily alone at the bottom.
Once the young werewolf was out of earshot, Sirius whirled around to face the red-haired girl. "What the fuck, Evans?" he hissed dramatically.
"How was I supposed to know you didn't tell him?" Lily hissed back. "I was just joking!"
"Like you told anyone about us," the boy spit out, his pointer finger sticking out at her accusingly.
She batted the finger away. "Of course I didn't tell anyone about us. That's embarrassing. But I—"
"Oh, so you can be embarrassed of me, but I can't be embarrassed of you?" Sirius said sarcastically, eyebrows raised.
"Yes, exactly!" At Sirius's annoyed huff, she continued, "I mean, maybe not back then, but now you have this reputation of being… you know…"
"Being what, Evans?"
"Being… um… promiscuous!" Lily exclaimed.
"Promiscuous?" Sirius repeated back slowly.
"What? Is that too big of a word for you?"
"At least I'm not a prude like you," he shot back.
"Promiscuous."
"Prude."
"Promiscuous!"
"Prude!"
"Ugh," Lily rolled her eyes. "I can't believe I ever dated you."
"Shh!" Sirius panicked, "Not so loud!"
"There's no one here!"
No one had been there to witness their first date either.
It had been three years since Lily Evans and Sirius Black went on that first (and only) date. Two third year students, who had no clue about love and dating, agreed to hang out at Hogsmeade together when all of their other friends were too busy and they both ended up actually having a good time.
They visited Zonko's Joke Shop and Lily had even helped Sirius pick out and plan a few of the next pranks that the Marauders would get into. Then, they told each other stories about what they believed was in the Shrieking Shack and while Lily's had more serious theories, Sirius seemed to be content with coming up with wild fantasies that could never be true. At the final stop, they got some ice cream, which Sirius, ever the gentleman, had paid for.
Honestly, Lily would have never considered it a date until the last minute when the two of them had sat out in the sun enjoying their ice cream cones. Some of the remaining licks of mint chocolate chip ice cream found its way on Lily's cheek and Sirius had reached out to wipe it away with his thumb.
Letting his hand rest on her cheek, Sirius had gulped nervously and Lily didn't realize she had moved in closer and closer until she watched his eyes close. Her own eyes fluttered shut and then their noses squashed into each other and their teeth knocked together.
Yep.
Teeth on teeth action.
It was her first kiss, and she suspected it was Sirius's as well. The two of them had absolutely no idea what they were doing and the kiss lasted maybe three seconds.
Lily was the first to pull away, pupils dilated in shock, and Sirius had a similar dumbfounded expression on his face.
They didn't talk about that moment during their entire walk back to the castle. In fact, they didn't talk at all. Every time one person looked at the other, they turned a bright red hue and looked forward again, too embarrassed to confront the issue of their terrible first kiss.
Like the naïve child she was, she thought that once they reached the castle, they could go their separate ways and never have to be near each other again, despite them living in close quarters and having all the same classes.
She expected to go to the Dining Hall, grab a light dinner, and then get some homework done before turning in for the night. What she had not expected was confetti exploding above her, doves being released, flowers falling from the ceiling, and James Potter in all his pompous glory.
In the middle of the Dining Hall, thirteen year old James stood proudly on a table holding a single red rose.
Behind him was a banner with the giant words: LILY EVANS, WILL YOU BE MY GIRLFRIEND?
The word 'shocked' felt trivial in light of the situation. James Potter was cocky and annoying and Lily never got the feeling that he liked her very much. He always teased her and—
She realized James was still looking at her expectantly, as were the students in the hall who were trying to know what her answer was so that they could get back to their meals in peace.
"So, Evans?" James asked with a bright and hopeful smile.
Her first thought was that this was an elaborate prank. She imagined the Marauders brainstorming and planning out the trick with James, Remus, and Peter staying back at the castle to help set up the 'romantic' gesture, while Sirius whisked her away to Hogsmeade to distract her.
But if Sirius was only there to keep her occupied, why did he kiss her? A little inkling of doubt found its way into her mind and she wondered if James was actually being genuine. His eyes shined brightly and he had a pure smile and— Still, the memory of the terrible first kiss between the other Marauder was still fresh on her mind and—
"I'm sorry, Potter," was her final answer.
There was a spattering of gasps throughout the hall and Lily saw Sirius stiffen from the corner of her eye. She didn't remember much after that. James didn't make a scene when he got down from the table and she couldn't recall if James had said anything to her after the rejection, but she could still clearly remember the guilty look on Sirius's face.
Tonight was the first time Lily and Sirius had ever mentioned that Hogsmeade date after three years of absolute silence on the topic. She had not spoken a word about it to anyone and clearly, Sirius had not as well.
It was normal for a first kiss to be pretty terrible, but Lily could still remember how her teeth knocked into his so painfully and how their noses probably made out more than they did.
With more practice under her belt, Lily had definitely improved her skills at the art of making out, so she could make her thirteen year old self proud. But while Lily Evans just had some practice at making out, Sirius Black was the grand master of mouth to mouth action. She wasn't joking when she said Sirius was more than a little promiscuous… but that didn't make her a prude!
Lily went to bed that night with the memories of third year replaying in her mind.
While Lily had a restful and uneventful night ahead of her, Sirius, on the other hand, had a much more exciting situation to look forward to when he reached his dorm.
He yawned, prepared to brush his teeth and curl under the covers, but as soon as he opened the door, bright hazel eyes stared at him from the bed.
Any other person would have jumped at the sight of James Potter so eager and alert at such a late hour, but at this point in their lives, Sirius was used to James's random, untimely bouts of energy.
"What are you doing still awake, Prongs?" Sirius asked, yawning again.
"I have a plan," James said with the excitement of a five year old.
"Nooo," Remus mumbled from under his covers. "Go to sleep."
"Relax, Moony," James said, "I know you have class in the morning. It's just gonna be me and Sirius tomorrow."
"Oh, goody." Remus rolled around again and snuggled deeper into his blanket.
Sirius belly-flopped onto James's bed and hugged one of the red and gold pillows. "Just you and me, huh?" He peeked one eye open and caught James in one of his faraway lovesick dreamlands.
The dog Animagus could always tell when his friend was thinking of Lily Evans because of that ridiculous face he made when he thought of her. It was surprising that Sirius was the one who turned into a dog every full moon because James had completely mastered the lovesick puppy look.
"What are we doing to Evans this time?" Sirius asked wearily.
"I figured out how to get into the girls' dormitory," James said matter-of-factly.
Now this woke Sirius right up. "Woah, hold up," he said immediately. "We are not breaking into the girls' dorm."
"For once, I agree with Sirius," Remus's sleepy voice mumbled.
"Go back to sleep, Moony," James instructed. "I can't deal with your logic right now."
"Then allow me to take over," Sirius said, "There's a reason the girls' rooms are charmed, James. It's so creepy people like you don't break in!"
"Oh, come on, Pads! The girls come into our dorms all the time!" James gave him a pointed look, Sirius's promiscuity coming into play once again. Sirius pursed his lips, still uncomfortable with the situation, so James continued with his explanation of the plan. "Look, we wait until all the girls in Lily's room leave and then we go in using the Invisibility Cloak and I leave a single blue iris on her pillow. It's not like we're gonna see anything."
Waiting for the rest of his plan, Sirius got into a sitting position and leaned back against James's bedframe beside the lovesick boy. When James made no sound, Sirius raised a single eyebrow. "That's… it?"
"Yeah, good plan, right?" James said excitedly, with absolutely no sarcasm in his tone.
Luckily, Remus took over in the sarcasm department. "Absolutely brilliant. Nothing could ever go wrong with that plan."
Taking the pillow from Sirius's grasp, James chucked it at Remus, hearing it thud softly on the back of his head. "Don't you have class tomorrow? Go to sleep!"
"I'm trying," Remus growled, tossing the pillow back in the direction it came from with his eyes still closed, "But my idiot roommate is concocting a terrible plan to woo the girl that has shown no romantic interest in him for the past five years by breaking into her room and leaving an anonymous, random flower, which she is either gonna think is from you because you're actually obsessed with her or from a crazy, random stalker, and honestly, by the looks of it, those two options are kinda looking like the same damn person."
James blinked two times before responding, "It's not a random flower. Blue irises are her favorite kind of flower and I think Lily would appreciate that I took the time to learn that about her. We've really been bonding and talking a lot more outside of class, you know. She even laughed at one of my jokes and she chose to sit next to me during Potions and one time, she complimented me on my hair and then—"
"Iris you would shut up!" Another voice grumbled across the room to the delusional boy.
"Oo, nice one, Wormsy!" Sirius exclaimed loudly warranting another groan from Remus.
"Now look at that, you've woken up, Peter! You know how he gets in the morning when he hasn't gotten his full ten hours."
"Do you think I should leave a note beside the flower?" James asked. "Then it wouldn't be anonymous and—"
"Fine, fine! We'll do it, we'll do it! Just let me go to sleep!" Sirius begged.
"Alright!" James celebrated, throwing an arm around his friend. "I knew I could count on you, Pads!"
"Yeah, yeah." Immediately turning off the lights, Sirius got up from James's bed and curled into his own. Yawning for the last time before sleep overtook him, Sirius prepared for lovely dreams of motorcycles and women and…
"Roses are red, violets are blue.
Date me, Evans, I'm crazy for you."
The Marauders' responses were less than stellar:
"Boo!"
"Terrible."
"Take out the 'for you' part."
James huffed, scratching out his impromptu poem and starting from scratch. "Everyone's a critic."
Sirius groaned, rubbing his eyes tiredly. "Why do you even need me to come with you?"
"Moral support?"
At this time in the morning, Remus and Peter would be off to their classes, James would usually be on his morning jog around the castle, and Sirius would still be fast asleep in bed.
Yet here he was, awake at the crack of dawn, always ready to assist his best friend in whatever crazy shenanigans he came up with.
At the moment, he and James sat in the common room waiting for the girls to go to breakfast and their morning classes. To pass the time, they tossed the snitch back and forth, watching it flutter between them. Finally, there were the sounds of footsteps trailing down the steps and the chattering of Lily, Alice and Marlene.
The three of them walked past James and Sirius, but Lily turned back and gave James a quick onceover. Sniffing once, she smirked.
"Great cologne, Potter," Lily teased. "What'd you do? Dump a whole bottle on yourself?"
"Ah, you know you love it, Evans."
"Keep dreaming, love."
Alice and Marlene exchanged knowing looks before dragging their friend to Arithmancy before she and James could get even deeper into their usual banter.
When the two boys were finally alone, James grabbed Sirius by both shoulders and shook him excitedly. "Did you hear that? She called me 'love' as in she loves me!"
Sirius winced. "I wouldn't go that far."
"I really think it's different this time!" James insisted, running a hand through his hair and tugging on the ends. "She's the one who reached out and talked to me. She didn't seem annoyed by me and I'm pretty sure she was flirting. Did you see that wink?"
"That was an eye twitch."
"Hottest eye twitch I've ever seen."
"Alright then." Sirius mimed gagging. "Merlin, we really need to get you laid."
He wanted his friend to be happy. He wanted to believe that Lily actually liked James back, but it was a hopeless case for the past three years and it was hard to believe anything had really changed. Sirius didn't really understand James's obsession with the red-haired girl. Lily Evans was just another girl. She was kind and funny, but there were certainly other girls out there like that.
But no, to James, the only girl that mattered was Evans. And if she was important to James, she was important to Sirius. Not important like that, of course. Sirius mentally shuddered at the thought of being with Lily Evans.
Their first date (and kiss) was a memory he didn't like reliving. After James had told him that he couldn't come to Hogsmeade, Sirius decided to hang out with Evans as a last resort. They had such a great time, until Sirius, the idiot he was, leaned in and planted a terrible kiss on her.
Lily hated it so much, she couldn't even look at him all the way back to Hogwarts. And then, to make matters worse, his best friend decided to confess his love to the girl he had just smooched in front of the entire school. A confession which said girl had completely rejected!
He didn't even know James had liked Lily Evans like that until that awkward moment. Sirius always thought that Lily Evans annoyed him, but apparently it was the opposite.
For the next month after the date, the feeling of guilt haunted him, even though he really did have no idea. Then, Marlene McKinnon had kissed him under the bleachers during a Quidditch game and all thoughts of Lily Evans flew right out the window. Eventually, the guilt had faded too, and from then on, Sirius had made it his mission to help his friend find a way to be with the love of his life… and also to kiss as many girls as possible to make up for that terrible first time.
While Sirius was distracted, James had carried on with his plan and with the help of sticky spells, a handy-dandy Invisibility Cloak, and a bunch of other magical tools that Sirius did not pay attention to, he and James found themselves inside the girls' empty room.
"It smells so much better in here," Sirius commented off-handedly.
Letting out a small hum in agreement, James walked over to Lily's bed, which he knew was hers based on the pictures of her friends and family by her bedside. He took the blue flower and the attached note from his cloak and was ready to place it gently on her pillow, when Sirius made a small sound of shock.
"Check this out, Prongs." Sirius pointed to her nightstand.
Though it wasn't framed, beside all the pictures of her loved ones, was a single picture of her and James.
Sirius remembered the day it was taken.
The Gryffindor team had just won their first game of their sixth year and Captain James Potter had celebrated by doing a victory loop around the field. When James had flew by Lily, he gave her his classic smirk and leaned in as close as he could while still on his broom. Shouting over the triumphal applause and elated screams of Gryffindor house, James asked, "How 'bout a victory kiss for the Captain, eh, Evans?" He added in a wink for good measure.
Sirius was ready to pick James off the ground after Lily would inevitably push him off his broom, but what she did next had shocked him.
Instead of turning away in disgust, Lily leaned in closer, biting her lower lip with a tantalizing smile. "It's gonna take more than one game to impress me, Captain." She reciprocated his wink. "I'll see you next game."
James adjusted his broom, flying a little higher causing Lily to turn her head up to be almost nose to nose with him. So close that James could see every light freckle dotting her face. He said, "I look forward to it, love."
Sirius saw Alice discreetly take a picture of the two of them as she and Marlene giggled amongst themselves.
That must have been how Lily had gotten the picture. But then she had kept the picture.
The image was slightly wrinkled, a sign that it had been held and admired for a long time.
He could almost imagine Lily lying in her bed, holding up the picture of her and James above her head, just gazing at the moving image of James's windswept hair and her fingers gripping the railing as she leaned her body forwards to be closer with his. Their cheeky smiles and blushing red cheeks. The photograph of James speaking to her, his breath mere inches from her lips. The sensual image of what looked like two figures almost kissing.
And Lily Evans kept it; she kept it close to her.
Perhaps James was onto something, Sirius thought to himself. Maybe Lily was starting to reciprocate those feelings that James did little to hide from her.
Not having said a word the entire time, James continued to stare at the photograph.
"You alright, mate?" Sirius asked.
Rather than respond, James used a single finger to trail down the side of the picture, his face slowly breaking out from the shock into pure delight. But before James could open his mouth to say anything, they could hear voices talking and the jiggling of the doorknob as someone was trying to get in. Thinking quickly for the both of them, Sirius tossed the Invisibility Cloak over himself and James and pushed him to the corner of the room, making themselves as small as they could.
As soon as they were properly hidden, the door burst open and the three girls walked in.
"I'm just saying," Marlene said casually, walking to her bed. She plopped on the mattress and pulled out her makeup and a round mirror from her bedside drawer. "Saying you prefer tall guys when you're the size of a house elf is just selfish."
"Oh, piss off, McKinnon. I am not that short!" Alice exclaimed.
Lily chuckled. "Compared to Frank you are."
"I know," Alice said dreamily, as thoughts of Frank filled her mind. "He's so sweet and tall and—"
"Enough," Marlene sassed. "I can't take any more gushy talk of romance!"
"Oh, hush. Nothing even happened this morning! And I can't believe we have to miss breakfast because you forgot your notebook," Lily groaned.
"Hey, I got the book." Alice waved her school supply taking a seat on the same bed as Marlene. She laid down on a fluffy pink pillow and closed her eyes. "Now it's just Marley who's distracting us."
"I can't come back to our room and not refresh my makeup. Speaking of," Marlene waved around her brush, silently offering up her makeup expertise to the red-haired girl. "We can doll you up for—"
"He doesn't even take morning classes," Lily interrupted, walking to her closet to organize it so she could keep herself busy. "And neither are we if you don't hurry up."
Sirius and James shirked away as she was nearing their hiding spot. James accidently squashed Sirius's foot as he backed up and the boy had to bite his tongue to keep from yelping.
"Alright, alright," Marlene returned her gaze to the mirror so she could properly apply her blush. "You're so high-strung. We really need to get you laid."
Pausing in her cleaning, Lily sniffed once. Then again. She turned her head towards the corner of her room, exactly where the two Marauders were. She tilted her head to the side and squinted as she surveyed the empty spot beside her closet.
James and Sirius stilled completely, not daring to move an inch. There was no way Lily could see them. No way at all.
"Hmm," Lily thought to herself before her eyes lit up and she broke out into a wide grin. "You're so right, Marley. I do need to get laid."
Alice's head popped up from her resting spot. "Wait, what?"
"Yep," Lily nodded affirmatively. "And I know the perfect guy—"
"Oh, we know, sweetheart," Alice said.
"—The sexiest Marauder—"
Marlene rolled her eyes. "Here we go again."
"—Sirius. Orion. Black." Lily leaned towards her two gaping roommates, her eyes twinkling mischievously. "You won't believe what that boy can do with his hands."
Behind the cloak, it was like time had stopped. Sirius could feel James stiffen and his own heart shutter. If they had been still before, they were now turned to stone.
What the bloody hell was Lily Evans saying?
Now it was Marlene's turn to be in shock. "Wait, what?"
"Oh, yeah, Sirius Black is a great snogger. I wouldn't mind Seven Minutes in Heaven with him, if you know what I mean."
"I really don't think there's any other way to interpret what you mean, but I'm really trying," Marlene said, her makeup all but forgotten.
"How do you even know if he's a good snogger?" Alice asked, scooting forward so she and Marlene were shoulder to shoulder. Both girls' attention was solely focused on what Lily had to say next.
"Let's go," Sirius muttered against the shell of James's ear.
He grabbed James's elbow, but the boy batted him away, curious to hear more about his best friend's apparent exploits with the love of his life.
"Cause we've kissed," Lily said, casually inspecting her nails while she leaned back against her closet door.
Sirius prayed. He really prayed to whoever was out there that the sounds of Alice and Marlene's own dramatic gasps would mask the choked sound coming out of his best friend. I can explain. He shut his eyes tightly and repeated the mantra in his head as if James could suddenly read his mind. I can explain, I can explain.
"When the— When did this happen?" Marlene almost shouted.
"Oh, you know," Lily answered by not answering the question. "And he's so funny and hot." She gave an uncharacteristic giggle. "He's definitely the hottest Marauder."
"I mean…" Marlene scratched the back of her head as she slowly started to calm down. "No arguments here, but I thought—"
"You know," Alice said casually. "I was always Team Moony."
Lily tilted her head to the side in thought and nodded. "Another good option. But Sirius is probably the best. Speaking from experience," she added, as if anyone could forget the revelation that she and Sirius had apparently had an amazing make out session.
Feeling the growl building up inside of James, Sirius used his hand to cover James's mouth, silently warning him to keep his mouth shut. James acknowledged the warning by biting the hand that covered it. "Ow!" Sirius exclaimed as silently as he could and James responded with a huff.
Lily smirked evilly and Sirius could have sworn he saw the face of the devil in that woman's green eyes.
"I think Sirius Black is so great. I mean… those piercing dark eyes of his and that umm… sexy body and those abs… mmhh…"
Okay, so he should be mortified, but there was a part of him that felt smug hearing all the compliments from a pretty girl. After all, he was only human, and a teenage boy who had just hit puberty kind of human too.
"Girl, are you okay?" Alice asked, raising a sing brow. Sure, she played along for the first bit, but now it was just getting into weird, imposter territory.
"Hmm?" Lily asked.
"Yeah," Marlene agreed. "And what happened to your thing with Potter?"
Lily's eyes widened like a deer caught in headlights. "Uh, no! There's nothing between me and Potter. Just me and good ol' handsome Sirius Black. Sirius Black," she said loudly to an invisible audience, "who I think is the sexiest Marauder!"
"Uh huh," Alice smirked. "We are not falling for that. Especially after how much you gushed over James this past year."
"Oh, don't you think Potter looks so handsome in his quidditch uniform?" Marlene said in an extra high voice to mimic Lily's.
"I don't sound like that!"
Alice clasped both her hands together and batted her eyelashes dreamily. "Potter and I talked today and he told me he adopted a stray dog back home. Isn't he so wonderful?"
Sirius snorted, knowing exactly which stray he let live with him. James responded to the sound with an elbow jab to the gut of said stray. Wincing, Sirius rubbed the spot James had struck and continued to listen.
"I- I said no such thing!" Lily denied vehemently as the tables began to turn on her.
"Oh, come on, Lils," Marlene teased. "Even this morning, 'oh, Potter's new cologne smells amazing! It was so woody and fresh.'"
"It was like being one with nature," Alice continued. "Like cedar and sandalwood and—"
"Alright—"
"It was so crisp and—"
"Alright, alright!" Lily said, turning a shade of red to match her fiery hair. "That's enough!"
"I swear every day we have to hear a new thing you've discovered about Potter!"
"We've had to hear you gush about his perfect butt for—"
"Ahhh!" Lily screamed loudly so the rest of the sentence was lost. She immediately jumped on the bed with the two girls and tackled them to the mattress. Picking up a pillow, she slammed it down on their faces, effectively shutting them up for the time being. The two girls under the pillow howled with laughter and rolled away from their friend. Each of them then picked up their own pillows and swatted it back at Lily.
One hit turned into two. And two turned into a full-blown pillow fight.
Using the playful fighting as a distraction, James and Sirius cautiously creeped to the door, opening it as little as they could and squeezed out. They reached the steps that turned into a slide as soon as their feet touched it and slid down it, landing in a heap at the bottom.
Immediately, James picked himself off the ground and glared down. Sirius jumped to his feet and gripped James by the shoulder. "Prongs, I can explain!"
"I didn't even know you liked her!"
"I don't, James!" Sirius cried out. "I don't like her like that at all, I swear! And the kiss was nothing! It was so terrible and it was three years ago! It was absolutely terrible! It lasted for maybe half a second! It was literally the worst kiss ever and did I mention how terrible it was?"
"I don't care if you made out with Lily!" James exclaimed, the two of them still standing in front of the girls' staircase. "I'm mad that you didn't tell me!"
"That's the thing, mate! We never made out, I swear! It was just a peck! And I was thirteen!"
"How am I supposed to believe you?" James growled.
"Cause it's true," Lily interrupted the bickering friends. She stood three steps above the boys, hands on her hips, a smug smile resting on her lips.
The two boys whipped their heads to the sound and gasped, their mouths agape and eyes wide open, like two fish out of water.
"You boys are so dumb. I didn't even need to see you to know you idiots were there." She focused her gaze on James and he shrunk under her look. "As if I couldn't smell your cologne from a mile away."
"So you knew we were there?" Sirius repeated slowly.
"Obviously," she drawled out.
By this time, Marlene and Alice had also begun to stumble down the steps to enter the scene. They took in Sirius and James at the foot of the steps and how Lily stood over them with her cheeky smile and the pieces slowly started falling into place.
Marlene rubbed the back of her neck. "So all those things you were saying about Sirius being the sexiest Marauder…"
"Ha!" Lily laughed. "As if!"
Squinting his eyes in annoyance, Sirius grumbled, "You don't have to say it like that."
"So you really don't like Sirius?" Alice needled.
Lily rolled her eyes. "Not like that, of course. We were in third year and it was only a kiss. And Sirius wasn't lying when he said it was terrible. I mean, I think I had a bruise on my nose for a week."
"Ah," Sirius cringed. "Sorry about that."
With a wave of her hand, Lily dismissed it. "Eh, it's all in the past. Plus, I'm pretty sure I tried to eat your teeth."
"Yeah, that was pretty weird," Sirius agreed and the two of them chuckled at the memory.
During the entire exchange, one person had remained silent: James Potter.
Realizing this fact, Lily turned to face him, stepping down the last couple of stairs until she reached him.
"Alright, Potter?" she asked him, an inquisitive look on her face.
There was silence for a little longer and the other four students held their breath in anticipation to see what his reaction would be.
James let out a huff of breath and then a little laugh. A laugh that got louder and louder, more and more wild with each passing second, until James was hunched over with his hands on his knees.
"I don't think he's okay," Sirius commented.
"I am more than okay!" James said, wiping a stray tear from his eye. "I'm relieved! I thought I would have to be best man at my best friend's and the love of my life's wedding."
Alice snorted and whispered to Marlene, "You know, I always knew James was overdramatic, but it's always interesting to see it so close and personal."
Marlene whispered back, "I'm just annoyed these three bozos didn't realize we told them that Lily actually likes James back."
"Wait, what?"
"Oops." Okay, so maybe Marlene needed to work on her whispering skills.
Lily smiled sheepishly, shuffling her feet awkwardly. "Uh…"
"That's right!" Sirius's eyes widened in realization. "You said you thought James was handsome and wonderful and you liked his butt!"
"Shut up, Black!"
Rather than turn into the cocky shmuck everyone thought he would become when Lily reciprocated his feelings, James had become noticeably shy and bashful.
"Look at that," Alice cooed pointing out the couple. "They're both turning red."
"Do you guys mind?" Lily shot at them.
"Sorry, sorry," Marlene apologized, but the giant grin on her face said otherwise. "We'll be quiet."
But the three attentive friends did not make an effort to leave, choosing to stay and watch the new potential relationship blossom.
Realizing what he still had clutched in his hand, James held out his hand and presented Lily with the gift he meant to place on her pillow.
Lily took the single blue iris and brought it to her chest, close to her heart. "It's beautiful. Thank you, James."
James nodded once, tucking his lower lip to keep his smile from breaking his face. "You're welcome."
"So, uh…" Lily started and James added a, "Well, I…"
"Merlin's arthritic two left feet!" Sirius exclaimed in frustration. "Just ask each other out and kiss already!"
"Hmm," Lily said, her blush slowly fading, while being replaced with a playful gaze. "I've always wondered what it would feel like to kiss the sexiest Marauder."
"Uh, that's me, right?" James asked for clarification.
Sirius scoffed at that earning an elbow to the gut by Marlene, while Alice snorted, "Good thing she isn't into the smartest Marauder."
Humming in agreement, Lily stood on her tiptoes to reach for him and her arms curled around the back of his neck as fingers twisted together with the blue flower between them. Once she had him in her sights, she brought him down for a searing kiss. After hesitating for only a moment, James moved his hands to her waist, letting it rest daintily before gripping harder and pulling her closer to him.
Their mouths fit perfectly together and their bodies moved in sync, like it was molded for each other. They could have stayed like that forever, but the sounds of whooping and cheering had them coming back up for air.
James felt like he was floating on the clouds and Lily felt like she could run a marathon.
She didn't know kissing could feel that good and she wished she could do it a million more times.
"You know, Prongs," Sirius said off-handedly. "You're lucky that Lily and I got that terrible first kiss over with and out of the way cause now you get the final product."
James, now broken out of his daze, sent a withering look his way. "Don't push it, mate," he said gruffly, before one of his hands left his place on Lily's waist and found its way into her silky red hair. He ran a hand through it, admiring the soft feel of what had once been the unreachable object of his affections and dreams, still unable to fully comprehend what was happening. Then, with a spark of courage, he used that hand to tilt her head up and bring his lips down for another glorious kiss.
One that lasted longer and was even more intrusive as they began to explore parts of each other's mouths.
It had gotten to the point where Alice and Marlene had to turn away, citing classes as the excuse to leave the disgustingly cute public display of affection. Sirius folded up the Invisibility Cloak, which had fallen to the floor in James's excitement to kiss the girl of his dreams, and prepared to go back to bed to get a few more hours of rest after the early morning excitement.
But before he left, he knew he had to get in one more jab at his future sister-in-law, so in a classic Sirius manner, he coughed and crinkled his nose. "That is disgusting. Don't be so promiscuous, Lily."
Lily parted from James for just a second, letting out a half-hearted, "Don't be such a prude, Sirius," before going right back in for another kiss from James.
While he loved seeing his friends so happy, there was only so much smooches Sirius could bear to see before he had to bleach his eyes. He made his way up the stairs to the boy's dormitory, tossing the Cloak to the nearby bed, and crashed into his own bed to finally get a good nap in.
Now that the secret behind his and Lily's first (and only) date was out in the open, there was absolutely no secrets between him and James.
That morning, he and James had gone into the girl's dormitory with a singular mission to leave a blue flower for Lily. That mission had then turned into skeletons from third year being exposed and completely exaggerated for someone's twisted pleasure. Sirius smirked against his pillow, realizing how well Lily had managed to prank the pranksters by convincing them that she was actually in love with Sirius. He could finally (kind of) understand why James was so enamored by the fiery red-head.
After all the secrets that were exposed, it may have killed the poor stag, Sirius thought to himself, but satisfaction certainly brought him back.
Author's Note: So I was writing a chapter for my Jily fic, "Deer Diary", and I absolutely fell in love with Sirius and Lily's friendship (and also Alice, Marlene, and Lily's friendship), so this was the product of that.
It's also my 10th fic which is pretty wild! 5 of the 10 fics I wrote are in the Harry Potter fandom and 4 of the 5 have James/Lily as the main pairing (and in the 5th fic, I still managed to fit in a Jily scene even though it had nothing to do with them haha)
I just love their relationship and I never grew out of that LOL
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this one shot. Reviews are always appreciated!