After that last word, an awkward silence thickened the air. They stared at anything but one another, not exactly sure what to do next. Finally the silence was broken by a soft cough that broke from James' mouth.
"So…"
"Yeah…"
"Shall we start this lesson?"
"I guess if we have to."
James gave her a small smile before speaking the words, "Unfortunately, we do."
He turned and she glared at the back of his head. He let out a sharp whistle and, like a dog, came another broom for Lily to ride upon.
"Now, first I am going to show you how to mount the broom."
"James Potter, I know how to do that! I am not a first year after all!"
"Well if you know how to do it then do it."
James gave her a challenging look and it was returned by the familiar glare that he had received a thousand times before. She continued to look at him as she swung her leg over the broom and wrapped each hand firmly on the handle, one in front of the other. James smiled, seeing the fear in her eyes when she thought of falling off. The grip she had on the broom ensured that would never happen. James could imagine her simply hanging upside down as the broom flew across the field with frightening speed. It took all of his might not to laugh.
"Well, there is your problem right there. You need to hold on to the broom but still allow it to move freely under your hands. It should be a mutual relationship of control, not your desperate attempt to stay on it. Trust in the broom and it will trust in you."
Lily looked strangely at him for a moment before speaking. "Wow, you need a girlfriend."
James scowled at her when the image of him and her together popped into his head completely unexpected. It took him by shock and he quickly shook the notion out of his head. He stomped over to her and looked down at her hands. He suddenly had his own wrapped around hers, guiding her towards the correct position.
"More like this."
"Like this?"
"Yeah."
She had the correct position but he continued to lay his hands over hers, gently stroking the soft skin of her palms. He looked up to see her staring at him and he quickly remembered what he had done and tore his hands away, as if he had touched a leper.
"Alright let's move on. Let's next talk about your posture. Sit up straight and allow your knees to gently press against the handle. Be controlled but relaxed."
She readjusted herself according to his instructions and he watched her gently straighten her back and flip her red waves behind her shoulder. He watched as she clenched her knees together, causing her school skirt to slip lightly and expose an inappropriate amount of thigh. James continued to wander her body with his eyes. Her skin seemed to glow from the sun and the wetness in the air that remained after the light shower they had had earlier in the afternoon. It was the perfect tone, fair but not overly white and dark enough for the blush that came to her cheeks to seem to add a hint of exoticness to her features.
Her long limbs were curved perfectly around the broom and her heavy breasts were further put in the spotlight when she straightened her back following James' orders. James however was more concentrated on the revealed thigh. He had always been more interested in legs than the upper body and he had to say that she had beautiful legs. The way they hung casually from the broom made him groan. He recalled the time he had seen her absently rubbing her leg in Potions and how much he had wanted to do that for her.
He looked to her face, which was contorted into a frown at trying to position herself correctly. She looked gorgeous even with a furrowed brow. He had often heard girls speaking of losing their breath at the sight of a certain boy and he had dismissed it as complete rubbish. However cheesy this might seem, he realized that it wasn't rubbish at all when he had seen Lily smile at him once. He could only remember that happening once when he had picked something up for her and she had not realized who had done it until he looked up towards her from the ground. The smile had quickly changed to a glare.
None of these emotions seemed unusual to James. He had honestly felt this way towards Lily for as long as he had known her and dismissed them as normal. Now that he thought about what his friends had said many times, perhaps those feelings meant something. He knew though that even if they did, those feelings would never be returned. The actions he had taken against Lily over the years could never be taken back. She would never forgive him. He remembered the first time he had met Lily as an immature first year. She was beautiful even then and he had simply called her some completely false thing, like ugly or stupid, before laughing in her face. He could never figure out why he had said that. It seemed like a reflex so she wouldn't know the truth. All the mean words and actions had been reflexes to the feelings he felt inside. She would never understand that. Never.
"Potter! Would you stop gawking at me and get back to the lesson."
He was drawn from the dream of her thigh back to her nasty comments. He decided right then that he would be nice to her. No, he would be more than nice. He would be dashing, charming, down right suave.
Now was the time for change. Now was the time for her to see the real him, not the one he always showed her as a defense mechanism. He walked over to her and stood close to her back so that he could almost touch her shoulder. He then repositioned her lightly to the appropriate position before moving on to his next instruction. His words were no longer strong and orderly, but hushed and softer.
"Now, I want you to lightly kick off and hover in the air for a brief moment. Then settle back down and we shall try again."
She seemed to notice the change in his voice. She turned her head to ask him a question and was staring him right in the eyes. She gasped at how close he was and wondering why he was almost touching her shoulder. She could feel his breath on her neck and smelled a hint of cologne. It was an aroma like the smell of grass and Quidditch mixed with musk. Different but very appealing. She then wondered why she had even spent so much time thinking about it because she was still staring into his eyes, with him returning the gaze.