Disclaimer: I have no money. J.K. Rowling has a lot of money. Therefore, I am not J.K. Rowling. In conclusion, I own nothing.

Summary: Lily has something that James really wants to have. So she hides it in the Hogwarts Castle and asks James to find it. However, the reward turns out to be greater than she expected. LJ 7th Year ONE SHOT

Vanilla Lip Balm

Beep! Beep! Beep! The alarm rang at exactly 6:30. I hit the snooze button and tiredly rubbed my eyes. I looked up at the ceiling and stared at the 3,295 panels above me for about 30 seconds before realizing exactly what day it was.

Saturday.

There are no classes today. Because it is Saturday. I didn't have to wake up early today. Because it is Saturday. I could have slept peacefully for about 3 more hours. Because it is Satur-bloody-day.

Bloody bloody bloody hell.

I smacked my forehead in annoyance with the palm of my hand and tried to go back to sleep…

…and when I couldn't, I got out of bed and repeatedly hit my head against the bedpost until I completely woke up.

After finishing my attempted murder sequence and took a nice hot shower, I went over to the dresser and looked at the To-Do list for today.

Put on lip balm

Finish Charms essay

Play some Exploding Snap with Candace

Collect money after winning said game

Start Divination diary?

Put on lip balm

Putting a tick next to number one with my quill, I opened the drawer and took out one of the many vanilla flavored lip balms inside.

My best friend, Candace DeFonté, thought I was completely insane to carry around so many lip balms but she doesn't know the reason. No one does. Suffice it to say that if it weren't for my mother, I don't think I would have such an abnormal fixation with it.

My mother died two years ago. She and I were very close, practically like sisters. In fact, we were probably closer than me and my actual sister Petunia. Then again, me and Bellatrix Black are probably closer to each other. Anyways, my mother absolutely loved the flavor vanilla. Everything we got had to have some form of vanilla in it: cakes, ice cream, soap, deodorant, etc. etc. etc.

Before I left for Hogwarts for my 5th year, she gave me a small tube of vanilla flavored lip balm and told me to always keep it with me. I found this action a little odd, but said yes anyways, with every intention of giving it to Candace. But hours and days flew by and I slowly forgot about that little souvenir in my coat pocket.

My mother died few weeks later. When I found that tube of lip balm, I guess that I found some sort of comfort and salvation in it. It gave me a reassuring feeling that my mother was still around me, and to ensure it never ran out, I kept duplicating the tube.

I twisted open the cap and frowned at the sight before my eyes. It was almost over. I guess I would have to throw it out. I shrugged my shoulders. After all, I did have a mass supply. I placed some amount on my lips until I had that satisfactory taste of vanilla and headed out.

It was around eight in the morning by the time I finished breakfast. Since it was a Saturday (I grumbled at the little episode this morning), no one would be awake yet. I grabbed my Charms textbook out of my bag and started working on it when I heard some thumping from the boys dormitories. I turned around and saw none other than James Potter himself coming down from the 7th year boys' dormitories.

James Potter. The bane of my existence. James first took notice of me, or more specifically, my hair during the Sorting. As I was walking towards the Hat, he stuck his leg out and tripped me. Good. He thought he was all that after that, until I set him straight by shaving his head for a day. These little World War IIIs continued until the middle of 4th year where James finally took notice of my…um…womanly features. Instead of pestering me with pranks, he pestered me by asking me out every day. In the beginning of 6th year, he laid off of this daily ritual and instead settled for a mere hello in the passing. At the end of 6th year, he somehow became one of my very good friends and at the beginning of 7th year, I realized I had fallen for James Potter. Yes, the James Potter with the charming smile, outrageously outrageous hair, suave demeanor, and unbelievable amazing body.

That little git.

And he doesn't even have the slightest clue.

"Hiya, Lily!"

"Hi James." I said, not looking up from the essay. I was worried I might fall over and die if I looked straight into those gorgeous eyes.

"What are you doing up so early, and on a Saturday nonetheless?"

I looked up at him in annoyance and said, "Don't ask."

"Ok."

For about five minutes, he was contented with just sitting next to me in silence. I could feel his stare penetrating into my skull. And then, the moment came. I knew it was too good to be true.

"Lily?" he asked.

"Yeah?"

"Can I ask you something?"

"I guess."

"Can I borrow your lip balm?"

I looked up from my essay for the first time in almost ten minutes and stared at him. I tried to look into his eyes for any signs of amusement but all I saw were whirlpools of serious hazel staring back at me.

"You want to borrow my lip balm. Why?"

"I don't know. I always see you carrying it around so I wanted to know what the big deal was about it."

I tilted my head. He would never understand the reason. But he seemed so sincere about it. As if he really wanted to know why I carried it around. My immediate thought about this was no but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that this could be kind of, sort of …fun.

"Sure. But under one condition."

"Oh yeah? What's that?"

"You have to find it."

"Huh?"

That confused look on his face was so adorable. It almost made me reconsider. Almost.

"I will hide this lip balm somewhere in Hogwarts and you have until eight o'clock tonight to find it." I grabbed my textbook, stuffed it in my bag, and walked away. As I reached the door, I heard…

"But…but, Hogwarts is humongous!"

A foot away from the portrait, I looked over my shoulder with a slight smile on my face and said, "You're a marauder. Figure it out."

It was nearing 7:30 and James still hadn't found it. He had, originally, tried to summon it but since I put some charms on it, it hadn't come. Since then, he has been frantically running around and looking in every possible hiding spot. He even convinced Sirius, Remus, and Peter to help him look. They agreed, reluctantly of course.

I must admit this has turned out to be much better than I thought it would be.

Sirius has tried numerous times to get me to change my mind and I am proud to say, his little peer pressure plan didn't work on me. I am as hard as a rock…except when it comes to two things: Candace's damn puppy-dog eyes and James Potter. He gave up after a while but not before saying that I had converted his best friend into some sort of Labrador.

That kept me amused for at least five minutes.

7:45. James was nearing the deadline pretty damn fast. I chuckled to myself and with my newly opened container of lip balm and book bag, I headed out to the lake.

I had barely sat down when James came running towards me with a gigantic smile on his face. I tilted my head and looked at him, trying to figure out what was so important that he was willing to waste time with it.

"Lily, I found it."

I looked at him and I could feel my jaw dropping.

"Y-y-you found the lip balm?" I asked him disbelievingly.

He sat down next to me on the ground, turned his body towards me, and nodded. Suddenly, I felt the very, very, very close amount of space between James and me. I could feel my cheeks turning very red (because of the cold, of course) and a huge lump was forming in my throat. I tried to swallow very discreetly.

After regaining my composure, I said, "Well, hand it over. Come on, where is the lip balm?"

And without any warning, James leaned over, grabbed my neck, and kissed me.

Straight on the lips.

Oh.

My.

God.

No way.

No abso-bloody-lutely way.

Initially I was shocked (well, you would be too if this happened to you), but the minute I became aware it was James Potter that was kissing me, I lost all feeling.

That kiss. Oh, it was fantastic. He kissed me so softly, but so meaningfully, as if there was no one else he would rather be kissing. He held my head in such a delicate and…and safe way. It made me feel complete. When I put my hands in his hair, I nearly died. It was so soft that it made me want to just tear his hair out.

When he finally pulled away (just my luck), he took his index finger and rubbed it over his lips. He put the finger in front of his face and I slowly turned my head to look at it.

It was shiny.

"Found it."

I looked at his finger and saw remnants of the lip balm from my mouth.

Sigh.

No boy has every said such a sweet thing to me. Of course, I don't think any boy would actually say something like that but the way he said it…

"James, that was not the lip balm that I hid." I said, with a hint of a smile playing on my lips.

"I know. But, it was worth a try."

"Worth a try?" I asked. I was completely confused.

He sighed, took one of my hands in his own, and looked straight into my eyes.

"Lily, you know that I have liked you for a really, really, really long time now. And it was only recently that you even began acknowledging my presence, let alone enjoying it. And when I realized that you loved to be in my company, I thought that I had the best life ever. You can ask Sirius. I was bouncing off the walls. But now I realize that, the only way to have the best life ever, would be if I held you, kissed you, and helped you whenever you needed it."

"James, what are you saying?" If he was saying what I think he was saying, I might just jump for joy.

"Lily, will you be my girlfriend?"

On the outside, I must have looked completely calm. On the inside, however, I was, to put in mild terms, ecstatic. Fireworks were going off and I think I could hear some angels singing in the background.

"Yes, James. I would love to be your girlfriend."

I don't think I have ever smiled so much in my life.

James smiled (it must be contagious) and pulled me closer to him. He leaned his forehead on mine. For a while, we just sat there in silence. I could feel his warm breath on the nape of my neck and it felt so good. Like we were meant to be like this. Together. James licked his lips thoughtfully.

"You were right. It does taste like vanilla. I can see why you love it."

I just nodded my head, not wanting to let go of him.

"In fact, I must say that it is quite the turn-on."

At this note, I dropped my arms from around his neck and lifted an eyebrow gracefully.

"What?" I asked. Clearly, I was having hearing problems. Did James Potter just say that something about me turned him on!

"You know, that vanilla flavoring on your lips makes me just want to attack you and kiss you again, and again, and again, and again…"

I just laughed, tugged on his tie, and pulled James down on top of me.

And, as an off-the-record note, James was right. This lip balm does taste good. Especially when it is on the lips of the one and only James Potter.

So, you see, James never did find the lip balm.

But he did manage to make sure that I had a never-ending stock of them…

…after all, we did go through the tubes quite quickly.

And I admit, I much rather prefer it this way.

Fin

A/N: Like it? Hope you did, this was my first fanfic. I would like some constructive criticism but no flames, please! Thanks for reading.

The Big Dance