Chapter Text
Chapter 1 - Something’s Begun
‘Thanks again, Sarah.’
‘Not at all, Lily. Its always lovely having you to stay.’ Lily smiled at Marlene’s mum and slipped out the kitchen door to the back patio where the rest of her friends sat around the McKinnon’s garden table.
It was the last week of summer holiday and Lily had managed to convince her parents to let her spend it at Marlene’s house in Sussex.
‘Evans! You’re finally here! We thought you’d forgotten about us,’ called Sirius across the table with a wink. Everyone turned to look towards Lily calling out familiar greetings. Mary and Marlene both jumped up to hug her. Remus handed her a butterbeer while Sirius shuffled over to make space between himself and James.
‘Its been less than three weeks since I saw you all at the Abbot’s!’ Laughed Lily as she sat down.
‘Good summer Evans?’ James reached an arm around to give her a one armed hug, his easy loping smile giving Lily that uncomfortable flutter in her stomach that suddenly seemed to be a constant when he spoke directly to her.
‘Yeah, lovely. So good to spend time with Mummy and Daddy - can’t say the same about my sister. Where have you been hiding all summer, Potter?’
‘Miss me?’ Lily rolled her eyes, ‘You wish, Potter.’
‘No matter, you’re going to have plenty of time with me this year. Head Boy, Head Girl.’ Lily choked on her Butterbeer and began coughing. Sirius smacked her playfully on the back and her eyes were watering as she looked around the table.
‘What - no one told you, Evans?’ They hadn’t. Lily saw Marlene and Mary smiling from behind their glasses. James wasn’t even a prefect. When Remus told her it wasn’t him, Lily had just assumed it would be Severus. Honestly James Potter was a relief, for for more reasons than Lily was willing to admit. But it made sense, academically James had to be the top boy in their year, he and Lily were the only 6th year students last year taking 7 N.E.W.T. level courses. He’d been her Potions partner last year and she’d seen first hand how adept he was at Potions. They were also the only two Gryffindors who had chosen Arithmancy and he was frustratingly good at that too.
‘They must have forgotten to mention it. Congratulations, Potter.’
They tucked into supper and sometime after mains, Butterbeer turned into Firewhisky. Remus put on some music with Mary and Lily helped Marlene bring some plates into the kitchen.
‘Honestly just leave them there. Mopsy gets tiche if we mess with her kitchen’ said Marlene with a smile. Mopsy was the McKinnen’s house elf. ‘Plus everyone should be arriving soon. Let's get out there before James and Sirius set a fire that’s too big’ Lily smiled and put an arm around Marlene. She’d missed her best friend.
‘Thanks for having me, Marley. I literally could not stand another minute of Tuney.’
‘That and you wanted an excuse to oogle James’ Lily blushed.
‘Marle, stop it. Just because Potter and I can have a civil conversation these days, it does not mean I want to jump him. Do you have a fag? I’ve been absolutely gagging for one and Mummy would go spare if she saw me smoking.’ Said Lily as they strolled back into the garden which was now full of around 30 of their friends, those who had just graduated as well as their year and the year below.
‘Sure, change the subject,’ said Marlene as she handed Lily a cigarette. She paused to light her own, ‘but I know you, Lil. Since you and Fabian broke it off in May, I’ve seen the way you look at him. Plus, do I need to remind you of what you said just a few weeks ago ‘And where is Potter when you need him? He’d be perfect for a summer shag-’
‘I was coming down from whatever mushrooms Sirius had brought and I cannot be held accountable for that. I remember you were trying to make Mary’s muggle photographs wave back just a few minutes before that.’ Lily took a big puff of her fag.
‘Whatever Lils,’ Marlene inhaled and held it for dramatic effect ‘we’ll see about you and James. But I say you’ll shag him before Halloween.’ They wandered over to the drinks table, Lily shaking her head.
—————
The party was in full swing now. Lily was just finishing a rather enthusiastic dance with Sirius and wandering over for a fresh drink.
‘Smoke Evans?’ Lily’s head flicked up. James Potter was standing very close to her holding out a cigarette.
‘Yes please’ He leaned into light it for her and Lily couldn’t help but notice the flecks of gold in his hazel eyes. James swept his hair out of his face. A gesture that used to infuriate Lily but recently seemed to be driving her mad in an entirely new way. She took a puff.
‘So you and Prewett looked friendly. Going to try and make that work now he’s graduated then?’ Lily was shaken out of her thoughts.
‘What? Oh gosh no. Fab’s great but we ended things back in May. It just wasn’t right. Better as friends’’
‘Oh, I just saw you talking tonight and assumed’
‘I see you with Marlene all the time.’ James laughed.
‘Marlene’s like family. Actually she is family. Her and Mummy are cousins. You know that.’ James smiled and took another puff of his cigarette.
‘Yeah I do.’ Lily smiled, holding back a small laugh. She could feel herself biting her lip and looking up at James. Was she flirting with James Potter? She knew she was. Get a grip, Evans. She took a long drag.
‘Anyway, no Fabian and I are definitely over.’ And then without thinking about it, possibly without meaning to she turned her head up to look directly in his eyes, ‘So if you know of anyone…’. Lily bit her lip slightly. Damn, Firewhisky. James swallowed. He was looking into her eyes, almost questioning her. And when did they get so damn close?
His hand was suddenly on her hip. Lily’s mouth was suddenly extremely dry and James was closer than he’d been a second ago. James Potter, always with a joke on his lips was looking at Lily with that intense gaze she’d seen only once, last year. For once there was absolutely no witty banter between the two of them. She was tilting her head back and James seemed to be leaning down closer and closer. Her eyes started to flutter shut and then suddenly James jumped back.
‘Shit Evans. Are you serious?’ Lily looked at him raising her eyebrows in surprise. James took an exasperated puff of his cigarette and ran a hand though his hair.
‘Its just,’ he had a sort of pained look on his face, ‘fuck Evans. I’ve been waiting to kiss you since I wanted to kiss a girl. And now you, you look at me like that, and fuck. I just got a blowie from Penny Bagman thirty minutes ago and I mean. That wasn’t my proudest moment, but I’m not going to make it worse by doing that right before I finally kiss you. I mean, I don’t think you’d thank me for that. Because if I kiss you Evans, I’m going to need you to speak to me the next day so I can do it again.’’ She was not expecting that. She looked at James and he looked genuinely upset. Maybe it was the firewhiskey or the feelings of summer haze falling away but looking at him there. His face, like a child who just discovered Father Christmas wasn’t real. She couldn’t help herself. Lily burst into laughter.
‘Potter, you’re a real gentleman’ she joked as she brushed her hair out of her face and smiled at him. She laughed again. ‘No, I wouldn’t have thanked you for that so I think it’s best we forget about that and write it down to whatever’s in Peter’s mystery punch.’’
‘Forget?’ James eyes opened even wider, ‘Not a chance, Evans.’
‘Alright Potter, thanks for the smoke.’ Lily laughed and walked away. She felt like she’d been punched in the gut. What an absolute idiot. Typical James Potter. Did she really want to get messed up with that? He’d slept with half the girls at school and apparently the other half had been down on their knees for him. Potter was only trouble. She took a final puff of her cigarette and stomped it out as she walked over to Mary and Alice Selwyn.
————-
‘Evans wake up. We want to go down to the pond for swimming’
‘Sirius Black why am I hearing your voice at’ Lily checked the clock ‘ 9 am?’
‘Just be grateful you passed out before you had to hear him and Marley last night’ said Mary
‘Ugh you guys. Why do you do this to us?’ Lily pulled a pillow over face
‘I can’t help it that McKinnon is helpless to my incredible charms.’
‘More like I was wasted and you’re like a bad habit Sirius Black - plus I don’t have to let you down easy in the morning since I know you have less interest in making this anything more than it is than I do. You’re really my dream man.’ Marlene laughed.
‘That and we all know he wants to shag Remus’ added Mary.
‘Enough of that, Mac’ said Sirius with a faint blush ‘Can we go for a quick dip before I’m back to the Potters’.
‘Did, um Potter stay over too? Because I really can’t handle him at this hour’ Lily mumbled from under a pillow.
‘No, after you two almost made out and you laughed in his face’ Mary and Marlene exchanged significant looks, ‘he got in a real tizzy about something and headed home.’
‘I have no idea what you mean Black’ Lily glared at him as she got out of bed.
Lily jumped in the shower. The cool water felt amazing and as the water washed over her she felt like the biggest idiot out there. After her conversation with James she had spent most of the night with Mary and Alice drinking way too much, which really wasn’t like her and was now paying the price.
The group made their way through the McKinnons manicured gardens off to the path that led into the forest and their swimming pond. The McKinnon’s house wasn’t an estate like Stinchcombe Abbey where the Potter’s lived but it was still a large country manor house with all the trappings.
‘I can’t believe Alice and Frank are going to get married.’ Gushed Mary as they lay by the pond.
‘Fuck off’
‘They are, Sirius! She told us last night. Their Auror training is already picking up and Frank asked her last week. They’re going to get married next summer’
‘Maybe they can have a double wedding with Evans and Prongs’
‘Shove off Sirius - whatever you think you saw with Potter and me last night is clearly a product of one too many bludgers to that pretty little head of yours.’
‘Sorry Lils, we all actually saw it. What happened?’ Mary shot her sympathetic grimace.
‘I’m not discussing this with Black - no offense.’
‘None taken, I should get back to your lover boy anyway. Ladies, thanks for a great evening, Marley - pleasure as always’ he winked and sauntered off towards the house.
‘Why do you always shag Black on nights like this Marley? You know he’s into Remus right?’
‘Lily, do you really want to be the judgemental one today? I do it because its fun and Sirius and I are happy with this arrangement. Plus, Marshall Fawley wasn’t around and I really think that’s well and truly over. I don’t want to talk about it. I want to hear whatever happened with you and James that obviously got you in such a tizzy you drank an absurd amount and spent way too much time leading poor George MacMillian who is lovely but we know you’re not about to date.’
Lily sighed and rolled onto her stomach.
‘Its honestly so humiliating. I don’t think I can bear to repeat it’.
‘Try us Lils. Come on.’ Lily recounted what happened with James and how she panicked and just laughed at him in an attempt to look casual.
‘Oh come on Lily! You’re mad about him and he’s crazy about you. This isn’t bad’ Marlene smiled at her
‘Isn’t bad? Guys, I felt like I’d been smacked across the face, here I am, basically begging him to kiss me and he’s all ‘sorry love, just got a blozzer from Penny fucking Bagman, can we rain check?’
‘Lily, the kid’s been crazy about you since we were 14, he genuinely has been waiting for this moment for years, you cannot expect him to have known this was going to be the night you drunkenly threw yourself-’
‘Can we not use the phrase ‘drunkenly threw myself’-‘
‘Would you prefer ‘turned all your cunning feminine wiles on?’ Lily pushed Marlene off the ledge back into the pond with a laugh. Mary tossed her head back in laughter, glad she was slightly further away from Lily.
‘Oh shove off Evans. You are totally gone over Potter’ smiled Marlene as she popped up again.