For Rosie ~ chespin44

【In which James Evans saves Lily Potter from an ex-boyfriend and Marlene freaks out...】

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Her father would definitely not have approved of the dress she was wearing but she struggled to care. Marlene had picked it anyway and when Marlene decided something there really was no arguing with her.

Lily Potter wasn't quite sure if it could be described as late at night when she tried to leave the nightclub or if it was better put it as early morning but she supposed it didn't really matter.

She wasn't drunk by any means, she'd had one or two but she wasn't stumbling around quite like she had been the last time she was here, at this nightclub.
And that (that being the lack of alcohol in her system) was what made her hyperaware enough to notice someone was following her as she set off (without Marlene who had gone home with her girlfriend an hour previous).

Lily Potter turned around suddenly, hoping to catch whomever was following her off guard. She pulled down her dress and flicked her red hair out her face to catch a glimpse of her ex-boyfriend, Severus.

"Lily!"

She cursed, moving away from him with frightful eyes.
"Lily I need to talk to you!"

Lily didn't know where to run, everywhere seemed like a bad option. Why did Marlene need to leave early?!

She glanced around frantically for something to distract him or someone to call for help. They weren't far outside the club, her best bet was probably to wait for someone to come out and see if they were anymore trustworthy than her ex.

"What do you want, Severus?" Lily asked him shakily, her knees were starting to tremble as he got closer and she began reevaluating her chances of running for it.

"I want to talk to you, to say I'm sorry for what I did."

"I don't want to hear it, Severus, I—"

"BABE!" A man's voice from behind them called out. Lily turned to see an athletic looking man with a friendly face and a pair of spectacles jogging towards them.

It took her a moment to realise he was talking to her. He stopped beside Lily and kissed her temple, she almost shrank away and screamed but before she could he whispered, "trust me, I promise."

For some mad and irrational reason she trusted him and smiled, "hello!"

"I've been looking for you everywhere! Are you ready to go home?" The man asked her in an expert mimic of a concerned boyfriend.

Lily nodded and smiled, turning back to see a shocked Severus standing there lamely.
"Problem?" She asked him, growing confidence in her craziness as she took the strangers hand.

Severus shook his head, "I... um... okay." He backed away, looking a little bit intimidated before disappearing round an alleyway bend.

The stranger dropped her hand and smiled awkwardly, "are you alright? Was that an ex of yours?"

Lily nodded, "thank you. I've no idea what I would have done to get out of that!"

The stranger was looking down the side street  Severus had disappeared beyond, "creep," she heard him mutter.
"Sorry if that was a bit sudden I just saw you there with that sketchy looking bloke and thought I'd never forgive myself if something terrible happened."

Lily smiled, "and I can't thank you enough." She noticed how familiar the man looked. She was sure she'd seen him before, in the Starbucks she frequented maybe? Or perhaps they lived in the same building?

"Don't mention it. Are you alright to get home on your own? I could call you a cab?"

"Could you? I really can't tell you how grateful I am. I don't even know your name?"

He shrugged, "I don't know yours."

She smiled, holding out her hand, "Lily Potter."

"No way? James Evans at your service." They shook hands and laughed at the sheer oddity of it all.

When the cab arrived Lily studied her pretty hero for a moment before wrapping her arms around him.
"Thank you, James Evans."

He patted her back looking only slightly out of place, "not at all."

She blushed as she pulled away, offering him a arbitrary smile, "sorry. It's the vodka: makes me clingy."

James chuckled, opening the cab door and helping her inside, "goodnight Miss Potter."

When Lily arrived home Marlene was asleep on the couch, her girlfriend, Dorcas, was busy making coffee but apart from that everything seemed in order and as it was.

"Hey, Lily," Dorcas nodded, handing her a coffee.

"Hmm, timesit?"

"Just gone two o clock."

Even with the coffee Lily didn't find it hard to fall asleep that night...

Marlene looked rather worse for wear when she awoke. Dorcas had slipped out back to her own flat and left two bottles of water and a container of pills by the coffee table next to the couch the two girls had fallen asleep on.

Lily had been awake an hour before Marlene dragged herself out the mountain of blankets her girlfriend had placed over her body.
"Jesus Marlene, mornin'!"

Marlene snarled, "shhhh!"

Lily rolled her eyes, pulling a box of cereal out the cupboard, "I'm too rough to cook, want some of these?"

Marlene nodded and took a seat by the stool on the kitchen island. While Lily busied herself with the cereal she decided to tell Marlene the story of last night.

"I saw Severus last night," she began while chopping a banana and dividing it equally into two bowls.

"You did? Oh my god!"

Lily nodded, her back still to Marlene, "he followed me out the club, I had no idea he was even there last night! Anyway I was about to make a run for it when this guy came and stepped in."

"Really?" (Marlene had always been good at listening to stories, she showed the right amount of interest, nodded at the correct intervals and handed out comments of disbelief or hilarity when they were called for).

"Yep. He came and pretended to be my boyfriend. He was really cute too, that's probably why I trusted him so well."

Lily could feel Marlene smirking behind her as she poured the milk into the bowls, "oh was he now? Pray tell?"

Lily chuckled at her best friends peaked interest and handed her the cereal which Marlene began pouring honey onto while Lily continued with her story; still rummaging around the kitchen in search of a suitable glass for orange juice.
"Well he was tall tall– like well over six feet but he didn't look lanky or anything. He had this really soft looking head of curly hair, messier than anything I've seen but he pulled it off, he looked like he'd just finished going for a jog or something, and he wore specs but it didn't make him look dweeb-y or anything. It was more intelligent in a nice sort of way. And the funny thing is," Lily went on, "is that I swear I'd seen him before but I couldn't place him for the life of me!"

"Did this Adonis have a name?"

"James Evans."

Lily heard a splutter and whipped her head around to see a pile of half chewed cereal all over the table along with about a pint of milk, "WHAT?!"

"James Evans," Lily repeated, slightly concerned if not wholly confused by Marlene's rather full on reaction.

"James Evans: the football player? As in the best striker Tottenham has had in like decades?!"

Lily's mouth dropped open. She had seen him before. Marlene was a die hard football fan (she and her girlfriend had been to Tottenham games multiple times; they each had season tickets,) "no way?!" She pulled out her phone and searched for James Evans on Instagram. It didn't take her long to find a verified account under the name @officialprongs with a profile picture that was unmistakably the James Evans she met the night before.

He didn't wear glasses in a lot of his action shots (Lily presumed he played with contacts) but it was definitely, one-hundred-percent him. There was a lot of pictures of him in a blue and white football strip, a few of him out in various places and a lot of story highlights with another account called @siriuslypadfoot whom –after a reasonable amount of stalking– she deduced was Tottenham's centre back and also clearly James' best mate.

"You have to follow him!" Marlene cried, attempting to swipe Lily's iPhone off her and hit the follow button.

"No way! I'll look like a fan girl, or like I recognised him when we met which I didn't! I don't want to look like a stalker!"

Marlene shot her an insinuating eyebrow quirk, "says the girl who's looking through story highlights of Sirius Black's boyfriend already?"

"Shut up!"

The conversation went dry after that and Marlene spoke no more about it although it was clear to see she didn't agree with her decision not to follow @officialprongs page.

It was almost two days later that the topic came up again. This time in the form of a notification on her phone reading: @officialprongs has followed you followed by message from James Evans ⚽️

"MARLENE MCKINNON! WHAT DID YOU DO?" She screeched heinously, unlocking her phone and opening Instagram while charging into Marlene's bedroom.

"What are you talking about, Lily dearest?" She smiled innocently.

"I'm talking about this message and follow I just received from James Evans!"

"HE MESSAGED YOU!? Open it then!" She cried, instantly flouncing off the bed which she had previously been slouching on in a getup of jogging bottoms and a tank top.

"I'm opening it! Give me a second!" Lily tapped James Evans' name to find a picture enclosed followed by a message. The picture was a screenshot of a dm sent by the user @missmckinnon to him with the time grab about twenty minutes after the two of them had that conversation over the breakfast table.

It read: hey, bit of a weird one but u met a cute girl yesterday night by the name of Lily Potter. She's my roommate and so naturally I flipped my lid when I heard she didn't recognise u. Anyway here's her handle, ur welcome x. The message followed with another consisting just of Lily's Instagram username @littlelilyflower and a winky face ( ;) ).

There was a reply underneath sent from James three hours later: Thank you kindly Marlene, ur a real one :) x

Following the screenshot was a message sent from James reading: heyyy, ur roommate is a sweetheart 😅 id be lying if I said I wasn't glad she messaged me 👀;)

"Oh my god you have to reply!" Marlene shrieked audaciously, snatching Lily's phone to re-read the message.
"This is insane!"

"I know! Give me my bloody phone Marls!"

Marlene pouted. "Sorry."

Hey :) she can be a bit much sometimes yes 😂

"Hey!"

"Shut up, you messaged him!"

James Evans replied quickly: I got the impression 😬 anyway, are you doing anything today?

No?...

Wanna hang out? I'd love to get to know you 🙃

Lily smiled at her phone, this boy she thought.
Sure! Where were you thinking?

Three dots appeared almost immediately.
How about the cafe across from my work? I can come after training is done? I'll send you the address? 🤞

No need I know the one. See you there at 4?

I'll be there x

James was still half in his football kit when he arrived in the cafe. He had changed most of his clothes aside from the sweater which he kept on over a pair of jeans with high-top converse.

"Hey, littlelilyflower how are you this fine old Sunday?"

"I'm great, officialprongs!" She chuckled, "how was training?"

"Torture. It's the worst part of being a footballer, training on bitter cold days. So, what do you do? I said I wanted to know you better and that's what I intend on doing."

And so they spent the next two hours sharing cake and coffee, asking each other ridiculous questions and exchanging anecdotes until eventually the cafe was due to close. They left together and were so dumbfounded by each other's intrigue that they hardly noticed the small group of press snapping their photos as they giggled and guffawed their way down the street...

The news articles rolled in the next morning while Lily lay in her bed scrolling through her phone and exchanging memes with James.

Have u seen this?

Came his message with a link attached to the newest headline in The Daily Mail titled Tottenham Star James Evans Gets Cozy With Mystery Redhead
Lily felt her stomach drop as she read the article. She was not used to this (Marlene would have a fit). The article was mainly a load of tripe about James and his past relationships but it didn't fail to terrify her at how easy it was to end up slap bang in the public eye.

Lily quickly replied to James:
Are u worried? The DM is mainly just a comic book anyway right?

Yeah, the one on The Sun is quite a funny read. I've not seen The Daily Mirror but I'm sure it'll be just as colourful 😂

James found this funny?! Lily spent nearly an hour going through all the news articles before finally asking James to meet her at the apartment- where no one could follow him (she hoped).

Trying to lure me littlelilyflower? 👀😏

No 👀

She was.

He arrived within the hour, by which time Lily had washed, dressed and cleaned the apartment like a surgical sweep.

"Are you alright?" James asked her when she let him in. You look like you did when I saw you the other night?"

"It's the bloody press! I'm not used to this and the rumours will only continue to grow won't they? I've had messages from about ten random people that have found my account and I don't know what to do?!"

James took a step closer to her, holding her at arms length by the shoulders, "maybe start with calming down, alright?"

She didn't answer.

"Alright?"

"Fine."

Lily found herself having much more fun with James than she expected. He had thrown a canary when she told him she'd never seen Life of Pi and she did the same upon discovery he hadn't seen Mamma Mia! and so they spent the day watching them together on her couch under at least six blankets.

And so it became routine. James would come over to her house, he'd bring a different snack each time (one he would insist his manager would kill him if he found out he was eating them) and they would watch a movie or TV series almost everyday after Lily had finished her shift at the talent agency she worked and James had finished training.

Sometimes Marlene and Dorcas would join them and other times the two of them were perfectly content just to waste away the hours doing nothing but laze around together.

It was almost two months before James invited her to a game...
"We're playing Man City on Friday– it's the premier league final and... if you wanted I could get you tickets?"

Lily felt a grin spread across her face at the blushing James on the couch next to her, "I'd love to!" She threw her arms around him and squeezed his neck.

"Really?"

"Of course!"

Marlene (as Lily suspected) went full on psycho mode when she heard the news and insisted on helping her get ready for the match that Friday.
She painted blue and silver eye shadow on her eyelids and wore a scarf of the same colours around her neck.

James, upon seeing her arrive in the private team area, chuckled, "you don't look very patriotic, Lily! Don't you want me to win?"

"Course I do! I just don't own a Tottenham jumper!"

He grinned wickedly, "well that's easily fixed," he replied, pulling off his own pullover and bunching it up to yank over her head.
"Perfect fit!" He chuckled caustically when he saw it almost reach her knees as she pulled it down.

"I love it. Thank you," she jumped up and kissed his cheek, "good luck!"
And she was gone round to the spectators stands.

James had managed to procure Lily, Marlene and Dorcas all seats in the front of the stands, within touching distance of the pitch. This seemed to enrapture an already hyperactive Marlene more than before, making Lily fear for the poor girl's health.

There was press in the same box as them but Lily seldom paid them any heed. She let them snap away at the jumper reading Evans on the back because if James had taught her one thing over the course of their friendship it was not to be scared of a couple of people that knew nothing about you.

So she cheered when Tottenham jogged on to the pitch, she cried out when there was a foul against them and she protested when a free kick or yellow card was given the other way.

At half time the score was 0-2 to Man City and Sirius Black was booked for swearing (rather colourfully) at the referee.

By the time the teams began play again Lily was ready to admit defeat and plaster on her best consoling smile. That was until James stole the ball off Man City's left winger and began charging down the pitch.

The crowd roared with excitement as he sped towards the goal and scored surprisingly easily.
"OH MY GOD HE DID IT?!" Lily screamed to Dorcas who was laughing hysterically as Marlene jumped on her back.
"HE ACTUALLY DID IT?!"

And he did it again less that fifteen minutes later, this time with an assist from Kingsley Shacklebolt, they had broken even.

The crowd yelled the anthem 'Glory Glory' as loud as they possibly could out of encouragement and hollered, booed and hissed at just the right moments (Lily realised this was where Marlene got all the good listening practise).

Lily felt her heart bop into her throat as the final ten minutes were announced. Marlene seemed absolutely gripped, she'd been adamant that betting companies had odds on James scoring a hat-trick but had convinced Lily not to say anything to him in fears of 'jinxing it'.

But within minutes it seemed that she was about to be proved correct...
Lily screamed until she went hoarse and Marlene began jumping up and down again, her blonde hair whipping round her face in the wind. There must have been ten men in and around the penalty box, it was almost impossible.

Or so she thought...

"EVANS SCORES THE HAT-TRICK AND TAKES THE SPURS INTO THE LEAD WITH FIVE MINUTES TO GO!"

Lily felt as though she might faint from the throbbing in her ears as the crowd exploded into rounds of cheering even louder than before in such a manner that Lily didn't think was possible.

James sprinted to the sidelines to celebrate with them all, laughing and grinning when the fans around them patted him on the back and hollered their jovial congrats.
But he reached straight up to Lily, pushing through all the bodies to see her beaming face.

"YOU DID IT!" She cried, although she wasn't sure if he had heard her over the chants and singing.

Things moved in slow motion after that. She reached down to him and held his shoulders, leaning on him (and almost falling completely out the stands) and kissed him fully on the mouth. People gasped, people cheered and press snapped about a thousand photos but she didn't care. She'd much rather be clumsily kissing James for the whole world to see than be doing absolutely anything else.

The sound of a piercing whistle and the sight of a yellow card didn't have much effect on either of them. They still won the game. He still won man of the match. And he still won her heart.

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