She Knew

"You and Potter?"

"Shh!" Lily shushed her best friend by clamping her hand over Marlene's mouth. "Shh!" She repeated for good measure, Marlene's wide brown eyes staring at her in shock.

"You slept with James Potter?" Marlene lowered her voice considerably.

"No!" Lily flushed red at the memory. "Well yes, no Marlene." She snapped as the brunette opened her mouth to shout again. "We fell asleep on the couch, nothing happened."

"Why the bloody hell not?" Marlene grinned wickedly at Lily as she sashayed through the empty corridor, her friend following her, red staining her pale cheeks. They'd just left the Great Hall after dinner, Lily finally admitting once they were alone why she and James had been making eye contact and blushing every other minute of the meal.

"Because I don't love him." Lily protested, feeling less and less sure that was true.

"Since when is love a requirement to shag?"

"There are so many things wrong with that statement." Lily groaned and shook her head, following Marlene's progress toward Lily's dorm. She stopped outside the statue and waited for the Head Girl to open it as she was one of two people who could enter, password or not. She poked her head inside and breathed a sigh of relief that James wasn't around and let Marlene in after her, the two girls going for Lily's room and falling on the bed.

"Come on Lils, don't be such a prude." Marlene rolled her eyes and threw her robe on the chair before she twisted and fell on her back on the bed. Lily glared down at her friend as she loosened her tie and kicked off her shoes.

"Just because other girls are willing to give it up to the first bloke that looks at them twice, doesn't mean I will." Lily fell into the plush chair in the corner, hanging her head over the arm.

"You're an odd girl, it's not like Potter hasn't done it." Marlene rolled her eyes.

"That was his choice." Lily frowned and stared at the wall, focusing on counting the number of threads coming out from the end of the tapestry hanging on the wall instead of thinking of the number of sexual partners James had had before.

"You don't believe that." Marlene grinned wickedly at Lily who scowled and pulled her transfiguration book from her bag and cracked it open to the chapter they were supposed to be reading and started. Marlene rolled her eyes and went for her Charms essay, knowing that once Lily was studying, there was nothing that would distract her. Maybe. "Oi! Potter!"

The second the words left Marlene's mouth, Lily started and looked up at her door with wide eyes were James was approaching it, looking curiously amused. "Yes, Mason?" He was grinning in the doorway and looking just at Marlene, avoiding the armchair in the corner.

"Lily and I were just discussing if you're hotter before or after Quidditch, right Lils?" Marlene threw a grin over at her best friend.

Lily blushed to the roots of her hair as James looked to her with a grin on his face. "No, I was reading, she might be thinking that."

"I'm hurt, Evans." James teased her good naturedly, leaning against the doorframe. "You don't think I'm fetching in my Quidditch rags?"

Lily felt her face radiate heat and buried it in her book without another word, not caring if Marlene and James both laughed at her.

"Oh, come on Potter, give her a kiss." Marlene grinned evilly at him. He chuckled, but shook his head.

"Can't, there's a ward on the room." James demonstrated by hitting the invisible wall with his fist. "Apparently they don't trust the Heads to keep out of each other's rooms."

"Or Dumbledore knows more than we think." Marlene grinned and pulled her Charms essay closer.

"Marlene, get out." Lily snapped her book shut, surprising both of her companions. When the brunette on the bed didn't move, Lily stood up and threw the girl's things in her bag and threw them at her. "Go."

"Fine." Marlene grinned as she sauntered past James. "Have fun shagging." She called before leaving the Head's dorm completely.

"Oh Merlin." Lily felt her face flush again, her face hitting her palms.

"Lily." James murmured from the door. "It's ok; I told you I'd wait."

"I know." She moaned and rammed into him, her head hitting his chest. She felt his chest rumble with laughter under her head where it was pressed against him as his arms held her close to him. "Marly's a perv." Lily mumbled and James laughed harder, pulled her to the couch and settled her down, the two of them sitting knee to knee.

"And why's that?"

"Well, she's my best mate," Lily started, hoping that he wouldn't be annoyed by what she'd said, "So I was telling her about last night, and well, she started talking about shagging. And you, and the other girls, and I wanted her to shut up and now I can't stop thinking about it." She mumbled and closed her eyes, not wanting to look at James.

"There aren't any." His voice was soft, his hand on her knee. Lily looked up at him with a frown, curiously looking him over. "Lily." He slid closer to her. "I fancied you from the moment I saw you at platform 9 ¾ when we were eleven. I fell in love with you sometime during fifth year, the exact point escapes me. I haven't had time to shag other girls." He admitted softly.

"Why?" There was no real reason she would want to know that, but the curiosity was killing her.

"I guess I was always holding out for you." He looked embarrassed, shy, and vulnerable. "I mean I've snogged a girl or two trying to get over you, but it didn't ever work." He shrugged.

"When did you try to get over me?" Lily asked curiously, a part of her secretly enjoying how he was squirming.

"Er, fourth year." James slid his hand on her knee and took one of her hands in his other. "Didn't work, Padfoot –er, Sirius- pointed out that both of them were redheads and I gave up."

"Jeannie Parker?" Lily blinked for a moment before laughing. "You snogged Jeannie Parker?" James scowled at her, sending Lily into a fit of giggles. "Oh Lord, James." She slid close to him and kissed his inflamed cheek. He turned his head and smiled at her softly, and Lily giggled again before she pressed her mouth gently to his. James held her mouth as long as she'd let him, finally happy she was letting him within touching distance of her, let alone voluntarily snogging.

"I love you, Lily." James murmured when she pulled away. "I mean it when I said I'd wait forever."

"Thank you, James." Lily smiled weakly. "I feel better." She kissed him again before she stood and went for her door, but he caught her hand.

"Where are you going?" He pleaded, tugging at her hand.

"I'm going to get my Transfiguration book, and you're going to help me." Lily grinned and pulled her hand from his, disappearing into her room for a few minutes, coming out with her books and falling back onto the couch next to him, her back pressed against his chest.

Studying had never felt so good. James kept one hand on Lily's waist, the other pointing out Transfiguration terms in the book while he explained them in soft tones, his mouth hovering over her ear, tickling the wisps of hair that fell there. Lily snuggled into him, and it took James at least fifteen minutes of talking about transfiguring inanimate objects into animals before he realized she'd fallen asleep. Actually it was when she turned, nuzzled her face into his neck and sighed that he realized she was asleep. In fact it was that slight sigh that made electric shocks fire down his spine.

"James." She murmured his name and he froze. She was still asleep. A giddy smile nearly became permanently stuck on his face as the realization that Lily had murmured his name in her sleep. She loved him. She may not know it yet, but she loved him, and he'd wait for her to realize it forever.

"Lily."

She cracked her eyes open and looked over at the guy sleeping next to her, his head leaning on hers. He'd murmured her name in his sleep, or maybe he was pretending. Lily smiled anyway; he was adorable in his sleep. He was a man she could love. He made her stomach flip, her mind spin, and…

Oh God. Lily sat up straight all of a sudden, making James jump behind her, his mind clouded from sleep. "What? Lily, are you ok?"

"I'm fine." She stared at the wall in surprise before she whirled to face him, her hair brushing his face, making him blink away in shock. "James, I love you." She breathed out, the words sliding out easily, and solidly. The surprise on James' face was replaced by a giddy grin.

"I love you too, Lily." He replied and kissed her softly. She turned and slid into his lap, straddling his knees as she deepened the kiss. James felt his hands go to her hips and hold her while she assaulted his mouth with hers, breaking from it to kiss his jawline down his neck. "Oh bloody hell." He groaned as her hands roamed his body, one on his chest, the other running through his hair.

"Is it too much?" Lily asked breathlessly, looking at him with a glint in her eyes.

"Oh hell no." James kissed her solidly, sliding his hands down to her thighs and rubbed them gently. "Lily." He murmured softly.

"James." She pulled away and smiled at him weakly. "I just…"

"Shh, I know." He kissed her softly. "No pressure, I love you."

"I love you too." She giggled as she said it. "James Potter, I love you. I don't think I'll ever get tired of saying that."

"Lily Evans, I hope you don't." He grinned and pushed her into the couch, capturing her lips with his.