The Rise And Fall Of The Stag And The Doe

A Little Taste

"Lily," James muttered as they left McGonagall's office, his face tilting down towards hers. "You alright?"

"I'm fine," She shifted stiffly.

Lily was still angry that all McGonagall could do was give those boys detention, but it was more than that. She was just generally upset. If there was one thing that Lily was it wouldn't all right. She'd nearly gotten the crap hexed out of her and she might have if it hadn't been for stupid Potter. How the hell did that happen? She didn't want to owe him anything. She didn't want to think of him at all.

"Fine, lie to my face," He scoffed. "Keep lying to yourself."

They were halfway to charms, but the corridor was empty as everyone was already in their respective classes. They stood in the coldest hallway with windows exposing the courtyard grounds. Lily was in her skirt, oxford blouse, Gryffindor tie, with a minor cut on her cheek. James was in his uniformed black trouser's, white dress shirt and Gryffindor tie with a raw red burn on across his right knuckles from where he hit Lestrange.

Lily wanted to go to class. She wanted to not bother with James and not care about him at all. His words shouldn't have affected her. They should have no weight at all. And yet her legs didn't move. They were a good six yards away from one another, but in that space his eyes locked her in place. Despite what she told herself she wanted to see what he was going to say. She wanted to know why he had bothered to help her at all.

"What do you want from me?! I said thank you! I don't know why you came to help in the first place! I could have handled it."

"You could have handled it?" James openly laughed at her. "You could have handled five guys on your own? Because I wouldn't have been able to do that on my own. So you must be some kind of magician."

Lily glared at him. "Yes, I could have."

"Maybe you could have…See you can yell at me," James nodded, crossing his arms, "Or do whatever you need to do to make sure you hate me, but I'm never going to just sit back and let someone hurt you. I'm never going to be able to be near you and act like you don't matter." James said flatly.

Lily gulped uncomfortably, "And why not? Are you glutton for punishment or something?"

"You can keep pushing me away," He shrugged taking a few slow steps closer. "You can keep holding onto all of my glorious flaws and all the faults you find in me."

She backed up, her shoulder blades hitting the cold brick as the color rushed to her face. "Oh I can? Thank you so much for giving me permission."

"Yes, you can, because I know one day you will go out with me." He said stopping a couple of inches right in front of her.

"You know," She began sharply crossing her arms over her chest. "You're pretty sure of yourself there Potter, considering I've turned you down at every turn."

"Because Evans," He smirked, infuriating her, "I want to know your hopes, your dreams, I want to make you smile and laugh. And Evans," James said licking his bottom lip subconsciously, "I usually get what I want."

Lily immediately thought of a snappy retort, it was ready to go, but as soon as she her gaze was diverted to his lips she completely forgot what it was. All she could think was how strong his lips were and how he was probably a good kisser.

Quickly Lily gathered her senses and said in a higher pitch than her voice. "I still, have yet to see why I'd say yes."

He laughed; a short light warm laugh brushed across her face.

Her chest tightened, he was close enough to kiss her. A raw mixture of anxiety and curiosity bubbled up in her throat as her eyes traveled along his face, lingering on a very interesting looking scar on the side of his cheek. If she wasn't standing so close she would never noticed it under all of his stubble. And in that moment, she honestly didn't know if she would slap him or kiss him back if he kissed her. Both possibilities crossed her mind, but as she stood there, feeling his body heat pass through his shirt to hers, it was beginning to get hard for her to focus on the situation at hand.