Friendly Competition

"It's all fun and games, until someone looses an eye...then it's fun and games you can't see anymore." - James Hetfield

I took a deep breath and then smashed my face into my pillow. My arms reached above my head and rested onto my pillow as I stretched out my shoulders. Then, I eased over to my side and propped my head underneath my hand as I slowly adjusted to the idea of waking up. I vaguely recalled a dream that I had just experienced about Sirius Black. I concentrated on his image and remembered that I had been trying to convince Sirius not to buy a flying motorcycle. He had then convinced me to ride with him using his stormy gray troubled eyes and puppy dog pouting lips. Then he had driven me across the sky as I had clung to his black leather jacket. I recalled the feeling of the wind in my hair, the warmth from his body, and the sheer exhilaration of flying through London.

I stretched out across my bed and propped myself up by my elbows. Maybe it was a good thing that someone or something always woke me up. Left to my own devices, my brain apparently could not function properly. Sirius was not even the Marauder that I wanted to dream about, no matter how good looking he was. Remus was obviously my guy. He had it all: the blue eyes, the sandy hair, and the sensitive nature. Chuckling at myself, I threw my legs over the side of my bed and traipsed over to the bathroom.

I emptied my punctual bladder and then took a few minutes to fix my hair and brush my teeth before I walked down to the kitchen.

"Morning, Mum," I greeted her as I saw her cursing at the dishwasher.

"Bloody dispenser!" she growled before kicking the dishwasher closed. "Dispense that," she quipped.

I shook my head and looked up at the ceiling for guidance or some sort of sanity as I noticed my mum glancing up at me and appraising my outfit with her eyes. Fortunately, she seemed too distracted to comment on James's shirt. Still, I self-consciously pulled down on the hem. It still barely came down to mid-thigh level. "Oh, hi, Lily," she replied.

I laughed at her face, which was striped with blue dish detergent. "Mum, what are you doing?"

She sighed as she rose to her feet and wiped her forehead off with the back of her hand. "This piece of crap machine broke last night, so it never cleaned any of the dishes. I keep telling your father that we need a new one, but he won't ruddy listen to me. Just as well, right? It's not like he ever bothers to do the dishes. Now I'll have to wash them all by hand until we can get the repair man to come to the house, which always takes ages and costs a fortune. Bloody dispenser!"

I laughed as I walked over to her. "Relax, Mum. It's going to be fine."

She scowled at me. "Why are you so chipper this morning? Normally you act like a wet cat in the morning."

I grinned cheerfully at her. "No one woke me up this morning. I love it when that happens."

She nodded her head vaguely as she turned back to the dishwasher and stared smacking it with her knee.

"Though, apparently, you decided to be grouchy enough for the both of us. Cut it out, Mum. You're going to make a huge dent in the dishwasher!"

With a sigh she stopped her leg's movement and crossed her arms over her chest with a childish huff. "Ugh, you're right! When did you get so levelheaded?"

I sniggered. "About the same time my mum got so pigheaded."

She laughed and shoved my arm. "I guess I'll go search for the phonebook. Do you know where it is? Is your father still using it to keep the bookshelf level?"

I moved my mum out of the way and then reached under James's shirt to grab my wand. I turned to the dishwasher and then muttered a charm. Immediately, the dishwasher started to turn on.

My mum's face broke out into a huge grin. "It's dispensing!" she cheered. She reached over and pulled me into a hug. "Oh, Lily, have I mentioned yet today how much I love you?"

I chuckled. "Not yet, but thanks!"

She sighed. "Ahh, this is fantastic. I knew sending you to Hogwarts would be a good idea."

I rolled my eyes. "Yes, my ability to fix a dishwasher makes me very magical. I should start a business, or something."

"Oh, be quiet."

I grinned. "Still, it's better than Tuney could have done."

"Yes, my competitive little monster. Though your sister is very talented in other areas," Mum reminded me.

"Aww, come on, Mum! Tuney?" I asked while I scrunched up my nose. "She hates helping others!"

My mum laughed even though she was trying very hard to keep her face straight. "That's not very nice. Your sister is a great person."

I shot my mother a disbelieving look.

"Don't make that face!" she chided me. "Your sister and I make fun of you when you're not around all the time."

"Mum!" I exclaimed shrilly.

She laughed wickedly. "And you're gone all school year."

"Mum," I said as I placed one hand over my wounded heart. "I can't believe you would do that to your loving daughter who just fixed your dishwasher for you."

"Well, you are quite an easy target. With all of your silly tendencies. Petunia does a very good impression of you."

"Mum!"

My mum threw an arm around my shoulder. "I'm sorry, Lily. Thank you for fixing the dishwasher. You're the best daughter ever," she apologized with a bit of sincerity mixed in with her overly dramatic voice. "Along with Tuney," she added fairly.

I waited as I pretended to debate on whether or not I would forgive her. I sighed melodramatically. "Oh, all right," I conceded finally.

She laughed and moved over to the sink to wash her hands.

I fiddled with the hem of my t-shirt. "Mum? Have you seen James this morning?" I asked.

She shook her hands into the sink and then grabbed a towel as she eyed the clock hanging up on the wall near the kitchen cabinets. My eyes followed her gaze. It was already 11:47 A.M.

"He never sleeps this late," she told me. "He gets up usually around seven or eight. He's always pleasant too," she teased me with a smile.

I rolled my eyes.

"Maybe I should go check on him," she continued worriedly.

"I've got it," I offered with a smile.

She shook her head knowingly. "Be nice," she warned me.

I smiled wider. "I'm always nice," I told her as I pranced out of the kitchen.

"But not too nice!" she added loudly.

"What, Mum? I can't hear you!" I yelled down in a teasing voice.

I heard her snort all the way from up the stairs.

I raced to the guest room and then slowly opened the door with a creak. There was no noise or sound or protest, so I pushed the door open as quietly as I could and tiptoed inside. I glanced around the room. I had purposely avoided the guest room lately. My intent was to give James privacy. I wanted it to feel like an impersonal hotel room to him to keep things more professional. Likewise, he, too, had done his best to avoid my room since that first day together, which I had greatly appreciated.

Now, however, my colossal curiosity got the better of me and, while inhaling the strong James scent that surrounded me, I scanned the room eagerly. The dresser, the closet, and the shelves were all in the same place. A few of his shirts were thrown over the desk chair. I spotted a pair of pants lying on the floor near the closet, but for the most part, he had kept the room fairly orderly. This information neither shocked nor reaffirmed me. I hadn't known whether or not he would be a complete slob or a complete neatfreak. It made sense to me that he would be organized with just a touch of dishevelment, the hair of his personality, if you would oblige me.

Making sure not to step on his beloved broomstick, which was lying underneath the windowsill, I quietly moved over to the other side of the room. A lot of James's more personal objects were resting on the nightstand. He had a gold watch with tons of hands, a small mirror that he most likely used to fix his hair with at any moment, a small money bag, a framed picture of himself and the other Marauders, and his glasses. My hand reached out to trace my fingers over the objects as I examined them more closely. My eyes flickered to a piece of parchment hiding underneath the mirror that I hadn't noticed before, and I reached over to pull it out. Suddenly, I heard a noise and jumped. Startled, I took a deep, calming breath and looked over at the bed. James was hugging a pillow tightly as he slept with his mouth slightly ajar in an almost adorable way. I moved closer to him until I could hear his light breathing.

His face looked so serene and innocent as he slept. There was no trace of derision or mischief in his features. Without his glasses, I noticed for the first time how long his dark eyelashes were. It was so unfair that a boy would have fuller and darker eyelashes than me. He rolled over a bit, and his blanket uncovered his left half. I noticed, with a dead stop of my heart, that he only slept in his boxers. Needing to be closer to him, I inched toward the bed and reached out to touch his messy hair. As my fingers threaded through his silky tresses, I felt his face unconsciously lean into my hand. I quickly glanced down and saw that he was still sleeping. Reassured, I allowed my hand to drop down to trace his forehead.

He sighed as my fingers ran down the planes of his face and to the back of his neck. He unexpectedly grabbed my wrist, and I stumbled forward. I landed halfway across his chest. My face burned, but, astonishingly, he was still sound asleep. Apart from a brief grunt, his even breathing never stopped. Unsure of what to do, I froze on top of him. Finally, my brain kicked in and I gradually, as to not wake him, tried to wiggle off of him. He must have noticed my minute movements, however, because his arms wrapped around my middle and he pulled me into his side.

Sighing, he pulled my closer to him and let one of his hands tangle itself into my hair.

"Mmm, Lily," he sighed.

Surely, he must have been awake now. I stared at his face, determined to see his eyes, but they were still shut, and, impossibly, he was still sleeping. Awkwardly, I tried to remove his hand from around my stomach, but as soon as I pried his fingers off, his other hand came down to grip me tighter. I rolled my eyes. This was so like James not to take "no" for an answer even in his sleep. Realizing that I would never get anywhere like this, I pushed my hands against his chest.

"James," I said softly.

He murmured something intelligible as his forehead started to wrinkle with comprehension.

"James, wake up," I told him. "James, c'mon," I urged.

He rolled over onto me, and I felt the weight of his body crush my lungs. Gasping, I punched him in the shoulder. "James! Get off!"

"Lily?" he grunted as his eyes struggled to open and squinted at me.

"Can't breathe!" I choked out.

"Oh, crap!" he exclaimed as he rolled off of me.

Gratefully, I heaved huge breaths until I could breathe normally.

"Err," he began as his hand reached for his hair. "Sorry," he apologized with a weak smile.

I took a deep breath. "Yeah."

"Umm, just so I know. What were you doing in my bed?"

"I was trying to wake you up," I told him.

"Then why were you cuddling with me?" he asked.

"I didn't mean to! You grabbed me in your sleep!" I protested.

"Oh," he replied. He grinned at me again sheepishly. "I thought it was part of my dream."

I massaged my chest with my hand gingerly. "Well, next time dream about giving people personal space. I think you killed my sternum."

"Sorry again."

I sighed. "Yeah, yeah."

He stretched his arms above his head, and my eyes bugged out as I watched his stomach muscles ripple in response. He pulled his arms down, and I discreetly diverted my eyes. He reached out for his glasses, and I took the opportunity to scoot away from him.

James moved over to the edge of the bed where I was sitting. He wrapped his arm around my waist and rested his head against my shoulder. "Mmm, morning," he sighed.

"More like afternoon," I corrected him.

"What? What time is it?" he asked.

"Nearly twelve by now," I answered as I edged away from him. Seriously, this boy was far too touchy feeling in the mornings for my estrogen levels to stay in check.

"Merlin! I slept that long?"

"Yeah, that's why I came in here to wake you up."

"Wow, thanks. I can't believe I slept that long, especially longer than you!"

I let the latter comment slide with a click of my tongue. "Yeah, well, you were really tired yesterday."

"Right, yesterday," he echoed. His eyes scanned me curiously.

"What?" I snapped.

"Nothing," he recovered quickly. "It's just that you are still wearing my shirt."

I blushed and pulled it farther down my legs. "Did you want me to give it back to you?"

"Are you wearing something underneath it?" he asked me impishly.

I smacked his chest.

"Ow! Kidding!" he complained.

"You deserved that," I told him.

"Ahh, nevermind. You keep it. It's not worth getting beat up over."

I smiled. "Good, because I wasn't going to give it back to you anyway."

I jumped off of his bed and walked over to the doorway. "Breakfast?" I asked.

He scampered up, tossed on a white t-shirt, much to my immense relief and chagrin, and joined me. "Lunch," he corrected.

We walked down the stairs together and then made it to the kitchen. Right before we went inside, we grabbed each other's hands. Yep, we were getting good at faking it.

"Ahh, there you two are. I was wondering if you were just as hard to wake up in the morning as Lily," my mum greeted us.

James laughed. "Nope, Mrs. Evans. Lily just isn't very good at waking others up."

"Well, she's never had to," my mum laughed. "And, James, how many times do I have to tell you to call me April?"

James grinned. "At least a few times more," he replied charmingly.

She giggled, and I rolled my eyes. I leaned over to hiss in James's ear. "Stop schmoozing my mum."

He raised his eyebrow at me. "Isn't that what a good boyfriend does?"

I frowned. "Just stop it."

"Would you rather I concentrated on schmoozing you instead?" he asked in an innocent voice.

I wrestled my hand out of his and strode over to the refrigerator. I grabbed the orange juice carton and pulled out some eggs and cheddar cheese, as well. I placed it all on the counter before I picked up some bread and flung it at James's face. Of course, he caught it before it could hit my destination: his oversized head.

"I'll make the eggs, you make the toast," I ordered.

"Okay," he agreed.

"I'll leave you two kids be," my mum called as she swung her keys around in her hand. "I have to go down to the school this afternoon and start setting up for next year's classes. I'll only be a few hours. Lily, you know the schedule. Petunia should be home before me. She went out with her friend Cassie. She's such a nice girl."

"Then what's she doing with Tuney?" I deadpanned.

"Lily!"

"I mean, they must get along so well then," I said with a fake cough.

My mum shot me a disapproving look and then retrieved her pocketbook from the kitchen table. "Behave," she told me pointedly.

"Okay, will do. Bye, Mum!"

"Bye, Mrs. Evans!"

"James!"

"April!" he corrected himself quickly.

"That's better," she said as she reached over to kiss his cheek and then flittered out the door.

I frowned. She hadn't kissed me goodbye. "Stop it with my mother, okay? She's going to have a coronary when I tell her we've broken up. And while, you're at it, stay away from my dad, too."

James laughed. "Is there anyone around here I can be nice to without getting yelled at?"

"Vernon."

He sniggered, and then we continued to fight as I cracked some eggs into a pan, added some cheddar cheese, and then started scrambling.

A few minutes later, I smelled something burning. I looked down worriedly at my eggs, but they were still a pale yellow. I turned to James, who was guiltily staring at our smoking toaster.

"Lily, I don't think it's supposed to do that," he said.

"No," I argued. "Smoke just means that it's going to start a fire. All food is cooked with the excitement of fiery death."

"Your sarcasm is not appreciated right now," he told me in an unfamiliar high-pitched voice. "I am freaking out."

I rolled my eyes. "Move out of the way, you big baby," I ordered.

I unplugged the toaster and then examined its contents. Inside, there were two slices of extremely burnt pieces of bread. I grabbed a fork and retrieved one of the slices. I laughed at the completely black, carbon coated, former piece of edible food.

"You didn't need to kill the bread, you know."

James grinned crookedly at me. "It looked shifty to me. I wanted to keep our secret safe."

I rolled my eyes. "I highly doubt a bunch of carbs could tell that you're not really my boyfriend."

"Who said that that was the secret I was referring to?" James asked.

"Oh!" I exclaimed knowingly. "So the toast knew all about your not-so-platonic relationship with Sirius! Of course, I see your reasoning now!"

"Lily!"

"Oh! I'm sorry," I apologized with a grin. "Was that Remus? Or maybe Peter?"

James scrunched up his nose. "Peter? Really, love?"

I shrugged playfully. "I never know with you."

"Take that back before you meet the same fate as the toast," he threatened.

I sighed. "You are completely manly and in no way are having gay sexual relations with your best friends." I grinned and added silently to myself, "Yeah, okay, sure."

"Good, now how in Merlin's name do you work a toaster?"

After a few more minutes, I got frustrated with James, so I sent him off to go shower as I finished brunch. I got bored waiting for him, so I decided to cut up some fruit, as well. I was midway through eating a strawberry when James, fully dressed in a green shirt and tan shorts, strode into the kitchen.

"Now, that's an image," he remarked as he ran a hand through his wet hair.

"What?" I asked as I put down my strawberry.

"Lily Evans, in my shirt, making food for me to eat in her kitchen as her lips make love to a strawberry. I never thought this day would come."

I shoved his plate at him. "Just eat, Potter," I snarled.

"Happy to oblige, Evans," he replied amicably.

While I ate I watched as he shoveled food into his mouth eagerly but without such a high level of testosterone that I wanted to gag. That, of course, was saved for when he would be back with his friends and the house elves' cuisine.

"This is really good," he complimented after a swig of orange juice.

"Thanks," I mumbled.

"I want to learn how to cook. I wish one of my parents had been muggleborn. Then maybe I wouldn't be so hopeless."

I laughed as I put down my fork and shoved my plate at him. "For your first act as a non-magic fellow, you can do the dishes while I go shower."

"Joy," he muttered.

"Have fun!"

I laughed as I walked up the stairs and into the bathroom. Figuring he would be occupied for a while, I took my time stripping off his shirt, adjusting the water to the right temperature, and then taking a calming shower. My strawberry scented shampoo soothed my stressed soul, and I reveled in the pressure of the scalding hot water on my back. After I had lather, rinsed, and repeated, shaved, and covered myself with shower gel, I figured I had to stop stalling and get out of the shower. Satisfied, I turned off the water.

Clad in my underwear and a towel for my wet hair, I stood in front of my closet and debated what to wear. I eventually decided to go for comfort, so I scooted into a pair of black cotton shorts and a gray tank top. I was tying my hair back into a loose bun when I sauntered back into the kitchen. To my immense surprise, James was putting away the last dish.

"I'm almost impressed," I told him as I made a display of applauding his efforts.

He threw a dishtowel over his shoulder and preened over the counter to smirk at me. "Almost?"

I shrugged. "I've been doing that since I was six years old. Now, if you could have done it with both your hands tied behind your back, that would be impressive."

"How can you wash dishes without your hands?" asked James, his eyebrows furrowing with confusion.

"Exactly!" I exclaimed. "It'd be impressive."

James shook his head while he muttered incoherently to himself before directing his attention back to me. "So what do you want to do today?"

"Honestly?" I asked.

"We could try that, sure," he replied with a laugh.

"Nothing," I answered bleakly.

"Ooh, fun," he countered with a low whistle.

I laughed. "I'm serious!" I continued. "I'm so exhausted still. I just feel like sitting around all day."

"Ahh," contemplated James. "That sounds really nice, actually. Being all nice all the time is starting to take its toll."

"I'm just so sick of physical exertion. I want to be a vegetable today."

"Okay, Red, you can be a tomato, and I'll be a cucumber because I'm so cool."

"In your own mind, maybe," I snorted.

"Heard that," he told me testily.

"Meant for you to," I sing-songed back at him.

"Can vegetables still play games?" asked James, curiously peering over his glasses at me.

"What did you have in mind?"

"Exploding Snap," he offered with roguish eyes.

I grinned. "You're on."

While James went to go get a deck of Exploding Snap from his room, I meandered into the kitchen and found some lemonade in the fridge. I poured two large glasses, filled with ice, and then met James by the stairs as he slid down the banister.

I rolled my eyes. "You're lucky my mum wasn't here to see that," I warned him.

He shrugged. "She probably wouldn't have gotten mad at me."

I chose not to reply because I knew he was right. Damn, Potter charm.

"Ready?" asked James, holding up the cards.

"Do you want to play on the porch?" I asked him. "It's really nice outside."

"Why not?"

We walked through the front door and settled down onto opposite sides of the wicker table my mum had convinced Dad we positively needed three years ago at a flea market. James took out the deck and started shuffling through the cards.

"Ready to get burned, Evans?"

I scoffed. "You wish, Potter."

"I don't know, love, I'd hate to see your hair become any redder than it needs to be."

"And I'd hate to see your big head get so large it blows a fuse," I countered back with a sugary sweet smile.

"That's big talk, little girl," retorted James, his fingers tracing along the edges of the cards.

"Scared, Potter?" I teased.

He smirked. "You wish," he quoted me from before.

"Just deal."

Then, with a grin, he did.

I concentrated on the cards before me as the deck started to shuffle itself. I tapped a pair with my wand and then searched for another one. I peered over at James and saw that he already had three pairs. Blimey, he was fast. I sensed heat, and I moved my fingers out of the way right before a card exploded.

"Close call, Evans," remarked James as he kept his eyes glued on the game.

I looked up at him quickly and noticed how cute he looked with his tongue poking out slightly as he concentrated on the game. I looked back down quickly. You spent too long staring at a boy, and you got burned, in all senses of the word. "Just worry about yourself."

A few minutes passed, and I had quite a collection of cards at my side. James, however, seemed to be just ahead of me. I frantically moved my hands and my wand across the table as even more cards were magically dealt out to us. I was so immersed in the game that I jumped back in fright when I heard a loud snap of explosion. I looked down to make sure that I wasn't on fire first before I checked James.

His face was covered in soot, and his eyebrows had been seared off. I brought my fist up to my mouth to try to muffle my guffaws, but it did not work. I laughed so hard that it brought tears to my eyes.

"Lily!" he exclaimed as he unsuccessfully tried to rub the soot off of his face.

I tried to bite back my laughter. "I'm sorry, James, it's just so funny."

"It's not funny!"

His expression was so angry that the area of what would have been two eyebrows rose towards his hairline. The entire sight was so funny that it broke down whatever resolve I had been regaining, and there were tears streaming down my face as I laughed irrepressibly.

"Lily!" James squeaked. "What's so bloody funny?"

"Your eyebrows!" I screeched through my laughter.

His hands flew to his forehead as his fingers stroked for hair that was nowhere to be found. His eyes panicked. "Oh, bloody Merlin's Great Auntie Sally!"

I laughed even harder.

"Lily! Fix it! Put them back!"

I wiped my red face and tried to compose myself, but he just looked too ridiculous.

"LILY!"

It took me five whole minutes before I could finally raise my wand without dropping it and fix his face.

James reached up for his eyebrows, felt them, and then sighed with relief. "Oh, thank Merlin."

"And his Great Aunt Sally," I reminded him with a smile.

He grinned crookedly at me. "Of course."

"How do you know he even has one?" I asked him dubiously

James shrugged. "I don't."

I gave him a pointed look, but he just grinned at me again. "But I do."

I shook my head. "You are insufferable," I told him.

His grin widened. "That's what you tell me," he replied.

I rolled my eyes and grabbed James's wrist so that I could figure out what time it was. "Ugh, we still have about three hours till my mum comes back."

"What do you want to do?"

"I guess we could keep playing cards," I replied.

"No way. My pretty face cannot handle more Exploding Snap," he interrupted.

I smirked. "Well, if you would just shut your pretty lips, I was going to suggest that we play muggle cards to avoid any more devastation to your mesmerizing mug."

"Pretty lips, huh?" he teased.

"I can magic your eyebrows right back off," I warned.

"What were you suggesting?" he asked sweetly.

"Ahh, I thought so."

"Sounds good to me," he grunted.

"So, I'll just be right back."

I felt his eyes on me as I scampered into the house and up to my room. I quickly searched my room for a deck of cards, which I found underneath a pile of magic and muggle books, and hurried back to James.

"No explosions?" he asked me as he eyed the cards in my hands wearily. "Do you solemnly swear that you are up to good?" pressed James.

"Cross my heart and hope not to die anytime in the near future," I promised him.

James snorted quietly to himself. "So, I don't actually know how to play any muggle card games," he told me.

I nodded my head, expecting as much. "Well, I figured we could start with a simple game that really isn't that different from Exploding Snap, only obviously less dangerous."

I went on to explain the rules of the game to him, and he stared back at me with rapt interest. However, as he nodded his head dumbly, I noticed that his eyes were watching my lips and not the cards I was pointing to.

"James? Are you even paying attention to me?" I asked in frustration.

"To you, yes," said James honestly. "To what you're saying, not really. I got distracted," he admitted.

I sighed. Merlin, he needed to stop saying things like that. I dealt the cards out, and then peeked down at my hand. "You can just figure everything out as we go."

James chuckled loudly. "I'm good at that."

"Got any twos?"

Five minutes later, James slammed down his last pair of cards proudly. "Goldfish," he announced triumphantly.

I laughed. "Go Fish," I corrected him.

"Huh?"

"Go Fish, not Goldfish."

"Why would you name a game Go Fish?" he asked. "That's so stupid. You're playing cards, and suddenly they want you to go fishing?"

I rolled my eyes. "You take everything so literally."

"Yeah, well, you analyze everything so much that stupid, pointless things become the most bloody significant things in the world," he teased trivially.

I frowned. "I do not."

James laughed as he picked up all of the cards and started to shuffle them again. "Yes, you do, Lily. You've always scrutinized everything to death. Nothing is safe from your mind."

"No, I don't," I argued vehemently. "I let things drop."

James chuckled again, louder this time. "Merlin, Lily, you still obsess over things that happened in First Year. You never let anything go. Hell, you've never even noticed how much I've changed since then."

"Yeah, well, at least I care enough about things to think about them first. You always just plunge right into things. You've never once stopped to think about consequences of your actions."

"That's not fair," James accused. "You jump into things too."

"Not before I contemplate the consequences."

"So you were analyzing everything that would happen when you told Petunia I was your boyfriend?"

I bit my lip and crossed my arms over my chest angrily. "You can't use that against me. I would never have said that if you hadn't randomly showed up at my house. Merlin, James, you always need to pull a stunt. You never just do anything sincerely. Everything is for damn show."

James scoffed. "Says the girl who rolls her eyes so much that it's a wonder they haven't fallen out of her head."

"Well, not all of us have protective glasses," I rebutted. "Which you need to keep up pretenses because you make everything about sex."

"Well, maybe if there was another way to get you to give me a chance. But, no! The only time you'll ever let your bloody guard down is when we're snogging."

"Like you're not just taking advantage of the situation. Like you don't secretly plot out ways to get me in front of my family so I have no choice."

"Stop acting like you don't enjoy it. You want to come off cold and aloof, but that's just because you don't want to admit to yourself that I affect you!"

"Well, it's not like I can fight you off in front of my sister," I reminded him angrily, my voice becoming progressively louder as our conversation continued. "You take it too far. Showing up at my hotel room with your shirt!"

"And what about you, Lily? Why were you still wearing it this morning?"

"Merlin, Potter, you are unbearable!" I yelled.

"Yeah, well, you're not much better, Evans!" he screamed back.

I heard a screech of tires and looked out into the driveway. Petunia was stepping out of her car. "Tuney," I whispered in a panic.

James nodded and then forcefully grabbed my face and pulled my lips roughly up to meet his. His lips were fierce and uncompromising. His fingers tangled into my hair and forced a closeness between us. My own hands reached out for the neckline of his t-shirt and stretched out the fabric. His tongue pressed its way into my mouth, and he devoured me violently as his hands moved lower to grip at my sides. My own traveled up to his hair and clutched on to the strands tightly. He bit my lower lip greedily as his tongue squashed down any resistance mine might have shown as it hungrily searched my mouth.

His hands rose to my waist underneath my shirt, and my tongue wrestled with his angrily. I stiffened my hold on his head and inched closer to him so that I was pressing my thudding heart against his chest. He was pouring everything out into the kiss. I could feel his frustration and his anger and his need to express it to me as his lips nipped at mine. All the things he couldn't say out loud rushed into me.

Somehow, amidst everything, I heard Petunia scoff at us and then enter the house in disgust. A few seconds later, James shoved me away, and I fell back into my own chair with a thud. I wiped my mouth off with the back of my hand.

"Why did you just do that?" I demanded as though the fight had never been postponed. I did my best to overcome the banging of my heart, the blush on my face, the heat soaring through my body, the heaving of my lungs, and the soreness of my swollen lips.

"Because that's what you asked me to do. 'We can't let them find out you're not really my boyfriend,'" he quoted me.

"Well, why do you always resort to that?"

"You weren't exactly pushing me away," he replied.

I groaned. "I really can't stand you," I told him.

"I don't understand you at all," he admitted.

I sighed and ran my fingers through my messed up hair.

"I don't want to fight anymore," he told me quietly.

"This is all so messed up," I told him.

"Messed up," he echoed. "Yeah," he agreed softly.

I stayed quiet for a moment as I tried to regain my thoughts. Soon the silence turned awkward, and I felt the need to break the tension rising between us.

"Only we can go from fighting to snogging and then back to snogging all in a ten minute time period," I remarked with a laugh.

James grinned crookedly at me. "That's what makes us special."

I sighed again. "Wizards' Chess?" I offered lamely.

He sighed, too. "Sure."

I got up and went back into the house. Petunia, judging from the horrible music crooning from upstairs, was already in her room listening to the radio. I went upstairs and grabbed my chess set. Then, I walked into the bathroom and splashed some water onto my face. My cheeks were red, my hair was more tangled than I thought it would be, and my eyes were bright with craziness. I took a deep, calming breath and then walked backed to the porch.

We played quietly as we both thought about the game. My mind was busy focusing on other things, and he beat me easily. In a much needed semblance of normalcy, he teased me about his superlative chess skills. I laughed uneasily, though it became increasingly more difficult to feel uncomfortable around James as time went on. He knew exactly how to make me feel more at ease.

My mum arrived home soon after our second game, which James also won. We followed her inside, he dutifully grabbed my hand, and I grabbed our lemonades. James's was more filled, and mine was more on the empty side. When I had first brought them out, there had been about six or seven ice cubes in both of them. Now, the ice had melted, and the cups, themselves, were perspiring. A little time in the sun could make such a big difference. After my mum was out of sight, he dropped my hand.

Dinner was not a very elaborate affair. We had roasted chicken and mashed potatoes: comfort food. James and I played our parts, and no one noticed anything different between us. But I felt something. It wasn't dislike or bitterness, either. It was something else.

After cleaning up, I retreated to my room. I spent the night playing with Calypso. She stretched her wings as she flew in circles around my room, and I watched her perform special tricks just for me. She nipped my finger before I let her out my window to go hunting for the night. She was so lucky to be an owl. Owls never had to worry about teenage boys living down the hall from them.

I lay on my bed for about thirty minutes as I thought about what to do. James was right. I did dissect every little thing. Frustrated with that thought, I put on a sweater and snuck outside.

James, of course, was already waiting for me by the swings. I pulled my sweater tighter across my chest.

"Hey," he greeted me softly.

"Hi," I said back. My voice sounded too shy for my liking. I mentally berated myself for letting things become so awkward in just one afternoon. We couldn't even play cards without everything going to hell.

"It's a little chilly tonight," James commented as he eyed my sweater.

"Mmm," I replied noncommittally.

"I'd offer you my jacket in true boyfriend fashion," he offered with a forced smile. "But I'm not wearing one."

I chuckled lightly. "That's fine. I already probably have one item too many of your clothing."

James nodded and ruffled his hair. His face was deep in thought, and I didn't want to bother him. Instead, I focused on sitting down on the unoccupied swing. I closed my eyes and rocked back and forth.

"Lily," he said finally.

"James," I replied. I immediately stopped swinging and turned to face him.

"Lily," he repeated again and then his eyes met mine. His face turned the slightest shade of a pink. "I was hoping that we could forget—"

"The huge, stupid fight that happened this afternoon?" I finished for him with a smile.

He grinned at me thankfully. "Yeah."

"Good," I said with a sigh. "Because that's exactly what I wanted, too."

James ran a finger through his hair. "I don't even know how that started."

I shrugged. "I don't think I've ever had qualms about yelling at you before. Old habits die hard."

"Yes, but I never should have said some of those things to you. I'm really sorry, Lily."

"Me too. About everything," I admitted quietly.

I started to swing again, and James stayed quiet for a few minutes. Rocking back and forth I contemplated the magnitude of this decision, knowing, as I was sure he did, as well, that we couldn't forget about this. We kept putting this off because we both knew it was so important, so important, that neither of us wanted to deal with it. We just weren't ready yet.

"So where do we go from here?" asked James, voicing my thoughts.

"Honestly?" I asked.

James laughed. "Sure."

"I have no idea."

He laughed again, and I joined him this time.

"I think," I began after a while. "I think it would be easier on me if there was less pressure, less intimacy." I tried to ignore the way my face heated up as I said the last word. I found my Gryffindor courage and then continued. "I think we should just be friends so that we can get through this whole thing without any major repercussions when you leave. I think I need that boundary so I don't get confused with our situation. I know you have already done so much for me with pretending to be my boyfriend and everything, and I hate having to ask more from you. But when it's just us, I need us to stay just friends."

I bit my lip nervously. In a roundabout way, I had just admitted that I had let myself believe this was turning to more. That maybe I wanted it to turn to more. The thought scared me more than anything else. However, if he noticed my panic, he did not say anything about it.

"Friends," James repeated. I tried to ignore the defeated tone in his voice.

"Yeah."

James stared at me, and for a fleeting second I was worried that he was going to say "no," or worse, demand something more. Something I could not give him. "Lily Evans, I would love to be your friend."

I grinned. "Thank you."

James sighed. "Lily, can I tell you something as a friend?" he asked seriously.

"Sure," I replied uneasily.

"You are awful at Wizards' Chess."

I laughed and shoved him in the arm. "Shut up."

"No, I can't! It would be doing you a disservice! You're bloody awful. How could you have made it so far in life without learning how to properly protect a King? See if I ever let you into my castle now! I'll have to hire a whole platoon of soldiers for just one night's visit!"

I laughed.

We chatted for a bit longer and James did his very best to keep me laughing and happy. To his credit, he was quite good at it. I was in tears from laughing so hard at his "Vernon and Petunia on a date" impression. However, the weather grew colder, and I shivered too many times. Eventually, we had no choice but to go inside. Still, I felt lighter than before. All of my thoughts and fears from before had been, ahem, magically siphoned away. I smiled to myself. I was going to enjoy being James's friend.

James halted at my bedroom door and shifted his weight uncomfortably. He ruffled his hair as he searched for the right thing to do.

Finally, he stuck out his hand.

"A handshake?" I asked him with a whispered laugh.

"I'm trying to be respectful of your wishes here," he told me sternly.

I rolled my eyes. "And I greatly appreciate that," I told him. "But, seriously, a handshake?"

James shrugged. "I'm not really used to being just friends with girls. What would you prefer?"

I choose to shrug coolly as well. "A hug?" I offered nonchalantly.

A ghost of a smile perked at his lips, and he closed the gap between us. I wanted to stick my nose into the crook of his neck and inhale his musky, now familiar, smell. I wanted him to rub soothing circles on my back or tangle his fingers into my hair. I wanted to close my eyes and enjoy the warmth emanating from his body. But before, I could even think about everything I wanted, he pulled away from me.

A friend hug didn't last long enough for any of those things.

Pulling on his shirt and going into bed alone, I wondered if I had made the right decision after all.

Story credits to Molly Raesly