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She looked on at her home, in awe of the fact that she was so close yet so far, and silently wondered how it was that this boy knew exactly where to bring her. But then again, it wasn't very surprising that he knew what she wanted after all... Considering that he had known exactly how to push her buttons all these years, it wasn't a surprise at all.
"Wish you could go inside", James said. He said it with such genuine sadness that Lily felt overwhelmed. She only managed to stutter, "W-wildly irresponsible, apparating out in the open like that." She saw him give a small smile.
She slowly turned her head and pressed her lips to his shoulder; to her surprise, she felt him gently brush his lips across her hair. He was kissing the top of her head. She looked up at him, and saw him looking not at her home, but down at her, a familiar expression in his eyes. It was the same expression, she realised, that he wore on the days when she had enjoyed his company the most; the expression he always wore whenever he was alone with her, vulnerable, honest, when he was just James, the boy who had never been able to stop loving Lily.
She looked at his smile and reached up, softly kissing the corners of his upturned lips. As he inhaled sharply, she knew she had caught him by surprise. But she was unable to resist any longer; the entire year's repressed attraction towards him, her grief at the happenings of the previous few weeks, her need for some sort of familial comfort, all bore down on her at once. All her emotions somehow got mired into the single strongest and surest feeling she was experiencing at that moment: happiness that she could spend that moment, at that point in time, at that place, with James. So she decided to let everything go and simply enjoy that particular moment with him.
She turned towards him and placed her hand on the side of his face, drawing him closer for a deeper kiss, her other hand taking support from his shoulder. He seemed to have overcome his initial shock as he responded by pulling her closer to him by her waist, slowly kissing her back, savouring her taste desperately, like he was scared she would vanish in his arms. They stayed like that for what seemed like several minutes, or hours, or several sunlit days, exploring each other with a suppressed urgency, afraid that the moment might not last, that one of them would realise that this is not what they wanted. But somehow, neither of them stopped it. It was when they both ran out of breath that they broke the kiss, gasping for air.
He couldn't believe it. He had never once thought, after that drunken night at her porch, that Lily Evans could ever desire him the way he had always yearned for her. Yet there she was that night, in front of the same house, clinging onto him and fervently kissing him, urging him to let her in deeper. When they broke the kiss, he didn't want to open his eyes, afraid that his scotch from earlier that night had addled his brains into hallucinating the entire evening, afraid that she wasn't in fact in front of him, kissing him, holding him.
"James...", he heard her whisper. She was so close; he could smell her green apple shampoo. He inhaled sharply, eyes still closed, and whispered desperately, "Please let this not be a dream..."
"James," she whispered again, "look at me."
James opened his eyes, and stared into Lily's emerald green ones, which were sparkling with an expression of brilliant happiness that he had never seen in them before. She was looking straight at him, smiling one of the most beautiful smiles he had ever seen on her face, looking deep into his eyes. His breath caught in his chest, as he held her in his arms, absorbing every change in feature that he could.
"I love you, James"
He couldn't believe his ears, but he had seen her lips forming the words, and knew it had to be true.
"Merlin!", he swore softly.
Without a second thought, he scooped her in his arms, and pressed his lips against hers, kissing her deeply and fully. He let his hands wander the expanse of her back and waist under her jacket, pulling her as close to him as he could, and when he couldn't bring her any closer, he lifted her by her waist, all the while never breaking the kiss. He held her like that for a while, kissing her more deeply from this new angle, while she placed both her hands on either side of his face, responding in kind.
After several seconds, he slid her down slowly, breaking the kiss in the process. She was smiling against his lips, and wrapped her arms around his neck, laughing silently. He looked into her eyes once again, happiness welling up in his chest at the love he found within them. "I love you so much, Lily Evans," he breathed out to her. She kissed the corner of his lips and ran her thumb across his cheek. "I love you too, git', she said smiling.