Author's notes: Conmostro is Latin for reveal. Hence, here are Lily and James' declarations of love. Thank you so much again to 'Lugian before Swine' for beta'ing yet again :) This is just a quick oneshot to keep my brain away from Proteus at the moment. (Thanks for the feedback on that btw! I will get round to chapter 2 in a while!) I'm not so keen on the lack of humor in this fic; it just doesn't suit Lily or James, I think, though I thought I'd upload it anyway. I guess it takes place in their 6th year, unless you ignore the while head dorms thing for this. Sorry how bad I am at writing kissing scenes :/ I have yet to beat 13 follows/faves (Richard Griffiths tribute) so please spread the word! If I get to 15 I will do something to celebrate! Hope you enjoy and please let me know what you think!
Conmostro
"Lily, I won't ask you again, I promise, just please hear me out!"
James Potter ran down the Transfiguration corridor and grabbed the arm of the girl he'd uselessly loved for four years.
"What, Potter?! What can you possibly have to say to me that you haven't all ready?!"
Lily Evans was tired of his constant badgering. He'd asked her a million times and she'd always said no. She genuinely wondered what he could've come up with that he stupidly thought might change her stubborn mind.
"Lily, give me two minutes. Two minutes and I'll let you go and I'll never bother you again, I promise."
It was a tempting offer. Two minutes and she'd never have to be embarrassed by her strange admirer again. Two minutes and she could get on with her life, a life free of James Potter asking her out constantly.
"Fine. Two minutes. Two minutes, Potter."
"Thank you! Thank you Lily!"
She smiled patiently, though she gestured with her hand that he should move on.
"Yeah, right… Ok then... Shit, how do I start? Um, well, like..."
"Potter that's 30 seconds gone! Stop wasting my time you fool, and hurry up!" Lily yelled, checking her watch. She did not have time for this!
"Lily, I think I'm in love with you. I mean; I know you know I've liked you since second year, but this is different. I love everything about you, your stunning hair, your perfect face, your intelligence, your kindness, your understanding, your patience with me; I think you're amazing, Lily Evans. You are the perfect woman for me and I ask you, one last time, please, please go out with me?"
Lily looked at him in awe. Was that a mature declaration of love from James Potter? From any other guy that would have been enough to get her to go out with him, but she and James had history. They just could not get on with each other. How ever much she tried to, she just could not see herself walking down the aisle on her father's arm to the scruffy hair and bespectacled face of James Potter. She'd always imagined someone different, a little more suited to her. Someone she wouldn't constantly argue with.
"Potter..." Lily began.
He looked at her expectantly, awaiting her answer.
"Potter, no," she said sadly.
James looked up to her face, shock and disappointment evident across his ice blue eyes.
"Yeah, yeah. Um, OK, I guess."
James felt awful. Just to be Lily Evans' mate would be a dream come true. He couldn't even get that. 'Potter, no,' she had said. That, as promised, was his final time asking her out; he would not do it again. He would give her her space.
He turned away from Lily and slowly began walking down the corridor, his shoulders hunched.
Lily felt her heart drop. He had been so sincere, so honest, and she had rejected him yet again. She felt the tears fill her green eyes and she pulled her red hair over her shoulder.
"Potter…" she whispered.
Incredibly, James had heard her, and he instantly turned, eagerly waiting to see what she said.
"Potter, I'm so sorry," she murmured.
His shoulder dropped and he nodded. "S'okay, Lily."
She bit her lip and turned to go in the opposite direction.
"Lily?!" she heard a voice call from behind her. She spun around instantly, just as he had when she had called his name.
"Yes, Potter?"
"Please call me James."
"Ok."
"Ok what?" he teased, his trademark grin back in place.
"Ok, James." She grinned back, wiping away the tears.
"Don't cry, Lily."
She sniffed and laughed weakly as she waved to him before carrying on down the corridor, smiling to herself.
James. James. James. That's all Lily Evans could think about as she lay on her oversized bed. She was alone in the dorm and she was thinking about the boy who had plagued her mind for the past month. Ever since her encounter with him in the Transfiguration corridor she couldn't stop thinking about his explicitly genuine declaration of love. He had really, truly meant it and Lily was finding herself drawn into him, his troublemaking ways, his floppy hair, his straight-toothed grin. Everything about him had her in a mess. She had to tell him.
With that thought, Lily sat up, jumped down off her bed and made her way down to the common room, clasping her hands together to try and calm the shaking. She skipped down the steps and paused when she reached the cozy, warm, familiar room.
She glanced around and saw James in a rather secluded corner, peering over an enormous textbook. He had one hand tangled in his hair, a quill in the other, and he reached up to push his glasses back onto his nose. Lily let out an involuntary sigh of lust. She was staring all dopey-eyed at him as he looked up over to her. He nervously drew his hand out of his hair and lifted it in a shy little wave. Lily snapped herself out of her sudden ogling and confidently began striding over to his table. As she neared him, he got up from his chair to greet her.
"Hey, Lily. You OK?"
They had become relatively good friends in the past month, and Lily could tell just how happy James was about that. Secretly, Lily was too.
"Good, no, I'm good thanks, James! You?" she asked politely, grinning hugely.
"Yeah, yeah I'm alright." He too, was grinning like a loon.
"Um, James, I have something I really need to tell you…" Lily began nervously.
James' hand unconsciously reached for his hair, messing it up as usual. "Oh yeah? What's that then, Lil'?"
He was smiling crookedly, overjoyed as usual to be talking to the girl of his dreams. Lily's smile, however, had uncharacteristically disappeared: a sign of nerves.
"James, I've known for a long time now, that you, you like me. And, and I think I've also known, somewhere, that I like you too. Only now have I realized that actually, you could be the guy for me. I– I don't know if you still, you know, want to, but I would be so happy right now if you would just bloody ask me out again!"
He stared at Lily in complete and utter shock, not saying a word. Lily felt bad; hadn't that gone rather well? Panicked, she continued:
"It's your intelligence, James, your kindness. Your understanding and your patience with me! You're the amazing person, James, not me."
He still said nothing.
"Um, yeah. Uh, I'm going to go now," Lily muttered as she turned to leave, face bright red with embarrassment. That couldn't have gone worse of she'd tried.
Before she could begin to comprehend what had happened, there were strong hands tightly clasped on her arms and her face was against James'. They were kissing. Kissing James Potter was like nothing Lily had experienced before, ever. It was amazing.
Gradually, they broke apart, gasping, grinning crazily at each other.
"What took you so long, Evans?!"