A/N: Sorry its been a while since I last updated but stupid me I tried to update then I realised that I hadn't actually typed it up. I could've sworn I had but I actually hadn't. Hope you like it anyway.
STUPID BOYS
CHAPTER 10: Pudding Thoughts
It was on one ordinary, completely routine Thursday that it all kicked off. James was oblivious to what was about to happen, to what was about to change his life and strolled down the corridor to dinner with Sirius, happy in his ignorance. It was a surprisingly nice day for England- the birds were chirping, it hadn't rained in three whole days and Snape's indignant yells could still be heard from the impenetrable box in the empty classroom they'd just imprisoned him in. Oh yes, life was good.
Until he heard the shriek. A normal person would've run for cover and tried to protect themselves from what was surely a banshee and was heading their way, hurtling down the corridor, but nothing could spoil his mood today. And he could have recognised that infuriated screech in the pits of Hell. He'd know her voice anywhere, whether she was screaming or whispering. So he simply smiled at the glowing vision of furious loveliness fuming in front of him and took in her presence before he had to go back to leaving her alone.
"What do you think you're playing at?"
He frowned. She had actually approached him. Never mind that she was severely pissed off with him, it was perhaps the first time she'd ever talked to him without him having to kick start the conversation. It was just another positive for the Official Best Day Ever™. "I'm walking to dinner," he answered stupidly since he was, after all, stupid.
She glared at him and threw a small piece of material at him with disgust. "What do you think this is?"
He blushed and, realising what the item was, tried to edge away slowly, as the unpleasant feeling that his day was about to get a Hell of a lot worse took root. "Erm…a hankie?"
"Nooo," she said slowly as if talking to a very dim child. "This is a thong. And you knew it was. Because you put it on my bloody bed!"
James was speechless. What?! But- How- But- He couldn't form a coherent thought so he said the first rather unfortunate thing that sprang to mind. "Its pretty."
"Pretty? PRETTY!!"
Maybe he'd said the wrong thing.
"It is not pretty! Flowers are pretty. Sunsets are pretty. Bloody LOCKHART is pretty, but this- this- piece of filth- is not!!"
Ooh, she was really getting steamed up now. He was quite enjoying it, actually. It took him back to the good old days when she hadn't insisted on ignoring him and had quite regularly given him a good walloping. Good times. But as much as he was enjoying her spectacular rampage he couldn't help wondering who had really given her the skimpy piece of material with 'I LOVE JAMES' printed all over it.
"Listen to me, Potter." Her voice was now quiet and deadly, catching the attention of most of the crowd as Lily Evans usually screamed threats, she never ever threatened quietly. James' head shot up in shock and numerous heads swung in their direction. She had the attention of the crowd now and what she said was heard loud and clear, ringing throughout the corridor. "I hate you. Truly, I do. You know, when you're old and pathetic and alone you'll realise that all you ever did was annoy and torture innocent people and you'll think of me and understand. You'll think of me and realise that's why I hate you. And I always will. Because you'll never change from that stupid, irresponsible, arrogant bastard. I once considered you a friend but believe me when I say I'd rather kiss Snape than even look at you right now."
There was a deathly silence.
Lily stood stock still as what she just said so eloquently hit her. She hadn't meant one word of it- it was simply the release of all the frustration and anger that had been building in her- but she could tell by the look of hurt and horror in his eyes that James believed she meant every word of it. She'd ranted at him before but she'd never been so damn…cruel. She stared at him in utter dismay, unable to move, to say something, anything to take it all back. She was in shock and wave after wave of confusion struck her as she watched him try to deal with the humiliation of it all. He gave a half-hearted smile that she instantly recognised as being forced and ducked his head from the growing noise of the crowd.
They were laughing, of course they were laughing. James gritted his teethe and forced himself to hold in the tears that had sprung to his eyes, telling himself that he was a man and men didn't cry over girls. His pride would not allow him to cry. Not crying, however, didn't prevent him from feeling possible the worst he had ever felt in his whole life. With her words and her icy glare she had plunged her hand into his chest, ripped out his still beating heart and stamped on it with four inch heels for good measure.
He would never have imagined that his heart could be so utterly smashed and completely glued back together in less than ten minutes.
Lily watched him, horrified at her own actions and saw the raw emotions that shimmered behind his expressive eyes. They shone with confusion, hurt and pain, making her feel like she was dying inside from the thought that it was her who had caused all that anguish.
She forgot everything except the two of them, her only care to comfort him, to take away some of his pain somehow. She didn't care that they were in the middle of the corridor, that they had a crowd, that she'd just told him that she hated him. He was the only thing that mattered.
As she stepped up to him her eyes confused him with their suddenly soft expression and before he could turn away from what was surely going to be a slap in the face for added humiliation, she stopped him by putting a hand to his chest. He stared down at it, dumbfounded, then raised his eyes to hers, hoping to reduce some of his confusion, yet just finding more mysteries in the emerald pools.
She grabbed hold of his tie, yanking him down to her eye level and whispered, "I didn't mean it." Before he could respond to the surprise statement she catapulted his confusion further into the stratosphere by giving his tie another tug and fusing her lips to his.
Whilst the first kiss that he had stolen had been harsh and brief, this kiss was neither. James froze in astonishment as she grabbed him and his mind swam with confusion and sensation, before he gave in and pushed away every thought and kissed her back enthusiastically. She pulled him closer and let the years of secret longing and loving him pour into her kiss. All there was for her was Him. His lips against hers. His hair being clutched at by her hands, His skin beneath her fingers.
Breathless, she pulled away and stared at him dazedly. Ok, she had dreamed of kissing him for what felt like forever but she had never thought it would ever come true and he was certainly not supposed to find out that secretly she didn't hate him. It struck her suddenly that now there was nothing she could do to lessen the whole horror and embarrassment of laying her heart out for everyone to see. She couldn't take it back, she couldn't even delay it because so many people had witnessed it…
Oh God, all those people. She forced herself to ignore all the ogling voyeurs trying to reattach their jaws after seeing her snog the one boy she was meant to hate above all others. She kept her cool and lifted her chin in a dignified sort of way that completely belied the plethora of confused emotions that battled for supremacy inside her head and her heart. The crowd parted like the Red Sea as she strode through the throng, determined to get away from those gossiping people and all those loathsome felling as soon as possible.
Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
James was breathless. Stupefied. Mystified. Utterly amazed. He stared dazedly at the people surrounding him who looked rather amazed as well. He brought his fingertips to his lips, still in disbelief. Had he just been kissed by…? It must be a hallucination. It was just not possible that wonderful, beautiful, woman-of-his-dreams Lily Evans had exceeded all his expectations, dreams, hopes and fantasies with one simple action. She had kissed him. Him. On the lips. And meant it.
He could dance, he could sing, he could FLY!! Well, he could fly anyway but he could now fly without his broomstick, dammit!
An enormous grin spread across his face as he faced the reality- she liked him, she liked him, she liked him!
But, at that moment it didn't seem as though that was the case. James watched as she stalked away down the corridor and the smile gradually melted away. She was going to deny it. He just knew that she would. She'd say it was 'temporary lack of judgement' or 'an experiment on lower life forms' or just neglect to explain herself at all.
Well, not this time.
James gritted his teeth and followed her as the crowd started to chatter excitedly once more. This time what she had done was just too important for her to pass it off as a mental hiccup.
Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Lily stormed into the Common room making as much noise as possible without creating a scene. She had acted in a calm and dignified manner before but now she couldn't suppress it. She stalked back and forth across the room, berating herself furiously, She knew she was acting deranged, muttering to herself, and was scaring some of the first years but she couldn't possible compose herself at a time such as this. She had just kissed- that boy.
It had been horrifying.
But very very nice.
She felt sick…
"Ok, Evans, you're stupid. You are officially an idiot. Damage control- a) kill all witnesses; b) kill all who know it happened; c) kill self to repent for horrific actions. Good plan! Mass homicide- always a great problem solver…" she trailed off as she realised the petrified looks she was getting from around the room. "Or not. Bad plan. Very bad plan. Anyway, why shouldn't I go around kissing random James Potter?" she challenged a scared second year who just edged away slowly from the clearly hysterical Head Girl. "Its not as though its something mad people do like talking to yourself which I am also doing…"
"I don't think you're mad."
She froze mid-stamp and damned her idiot self for allowing him to catch up and not retreating to the Girls Dorm immediately. She couldn't handle him at the moment, she could barely manage herself in her currently worrying mental state. She was emotional and pissed off and she just didn't want to have to ingeniously come up with some crap excuse that they both knew was a complete fabrication. She was too worked up to even snap at him civilly. "What do you want, cretin?" She snarled at him, practically breathing fire.
"Ooh, not too friendly I see." He smiled sweetly, infuriatingly.
She closed her eyes for a moment, suppressing the urge to slap him for his niceness and swung to face her tormentor. "Why can't you leave me in peace for once in your pathetic life, moron?" she ground out.
"Because-" Alarmingly, his smile seemed to grow brighter and brighter as if he knew something she didn't and Lily narrowed her eyes suspiciously at him. "Because you don't want me to."
"What?" She snapped, refusing to allow herself to blush the way her body desperately wanted to.
"You don't want me to stop. You like me pestering you. You like me watching you. You like me shouting at me. You like me. And-" As her jaw dropped and her eyes widened he shot her a triumphant smirk. "-You liked kissing me."
"What the-!!" Lily exploded and gradually got more muddled. "That's not- Its impossible! Of all the- the big headed, arrogant- can't stand- why would I- how dare you- tried not to- couldn't help- PUDDING!"
He raised an amused and slightly scared eyebrow. "Pudding?"
"YES!" She began to pace furiously up and down the room again, desperately trying to work out what was happening in her head- small explosions and realisations that went 'KERPOW!' and 'BANG!' "I have pudding thoughts! All- all- mushed up and squidgy and completely confusing. See- I thought one thing- then I thought another- and now I just- don't know." She stopped pacing and looked at him, defeat in her eyes. "James, am I going insane?"
He chose, wisely, to avoid any glib remarks that would just get him walloped again. "Of course not. You're just confused. Now the best thing you can do is get off to bed and rest yourself. You'll feel better in the morning," he promised, feeling oddly like his mother. "Have a good sleep and we'll talk in the morning."
"But its only 5 'o clock," she protested as he ushered her towards the girls staircase. "I refuse to be pushed off to bed like a naughty kid!"
"Do you seriously think you can hold a civilised conversation now after yelling at me and scaring off a dozen first years? Trust me, you're much better off going to bed and letting things blow over until morning. Go to bed, Lily," he said softly.
She frowned and, even though she was a little, eensy weensy bit tired, refused to do anything he told her to. He wasn't in control of her! "NO! I refuse to listen to anything you say. Leave me alone and STOP MOTHERING ME!"
He stepped back, hands held up in defeat.
"And, by the way-" She leaned forward menacingly. "-Tell anyone about our- ahem- encounter- and you will be dismembered." She span away from his innocent expression and marched through the portrait hole, even though she had a horrible feeling that for the first time the boys weren't the only ones being stupid.
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A/N: I love this chapter. Unfortunately I have no idea what will happen next. Any ideas?