Pseudo-Balls and Snogging

Pseudo-Balls and Snogging

By: Zetta (See profile for e-mail)
Disclaimer: Luckily for all you, they aren't mine. I'm sure you can figure out whose they are, and if you can't… well, I'm sorry, sir or madam, but you have ISSUES! (Or your not an HP fan.)
Summary: James and Sirius have a random moment, and it's followed closely by the beginning of Lily and James's romance. Or rather, their future snogging. L/J. (hehehe… caffeine… be grateful I don't post everything I write…)
Rating: PG- a little bit of kissing. :o)
Author's Notes: Sometimes, I really scare myself… A really short (hopefully sweet) ficlet by me, inspired by the word 'pseudo'. (Don't ask why, just accept it.) I’m having fun playing, and thus, short fics. Hope you enjoy!

James and Sirius were playing a game of break the lamp.

It was a rather simple game.

The goal was to break a lamp in the Common room.

The difficulty was, of course, that, aside from the fact that it disturbed most of the rest of the students, it was rather impossible to break any of the Common room lamps - because there weren’t any. There were a few chandeliers, a handful of sconces, and a candle or two, but no lamps.

The other problem was, even if there were any lamps, they were using a wadded up and spello-taped napkin as the ball, and therefore, it was very unlikely to do much breaking. Unless they threw very hard.

They were currently pretending that the bottle of Butterbeer in the center of the table was a lamp, as Sirius had insisted that they have something to throw at. James privately agreed. It would have been a boring game to just toss a waded up paper ball at empty space, where there was nothing that could potentially break.

Because this bottle would have been an incredibly easy target for the Gryffindor Quidditch team members that they were, they’d decided to hang upside down off the couch to do it. The loser would buy drinks next time they were in Hogsmeade.

Peter and Remus were watching and making fun of them, but James was sure they were just jealous they hadn't thought of it before him.

Sirius shot and over threw, the napkin rolling awkwardly to a stop just before the fireplace. “Accio napkin!” he called, and it flew back into his hands.

James rolled his eyes. “It’s not a napkin,” he said sternly, even though it had flown right to Sirius. “It’s a Pseudo-ball.”

Sirius rolled his eyes as well and handed James the Pseudo-Ball. “Napkin.”

"Do you even know what pseudo means?" Remus wondered, rolling his eyes.

James ignored him, threw it at the bottle and missed, sending the napkin flying over to the floor at the end of the one of the staircases. “Accio Pseudo-Ball!”

It didn’t move.

Sirius snickered, and Remus and Peter laughed.

James sighed. But he wasn’t about to let Sirius officially win and summon it by calling it a napkin.

He struggled to sit up for a moment, and when he did, the blood that had gathered in his head got twisted about so it could flow in the proper way again. That was all fine and dandy, but sent a rather painful rush to his head. He paused for a moment and decided it was probably a bad idea to stay upside down for long periods of time like that. He shook his head a bit to clear it up. “Headache,” he informed Sirius, as if it were stunning news.

Sirius, whose face was turning rather red as well, sat up too, and then twisted around so he could see James. “Just call for the NAPKIN! Prongsy, and it’ll come to you.”

James bent over to pick up the napkin/Pseudo Ball. “It’s not just a napkin though,” he complained. “It’s the Pseudo-Ball. If you call it a napkin, its feelings will get hurt. The Pseudo-Ball has feelings, you know. Just like your socks do.”

Sirius pretended to be stunned. “It does?” He jumped up and rushed over to James, taking the napkin from him. He cradled it to his chest as if it were precious, then ran over to Remus and Peter. “It’s a PSEUDO-BALL!” he said loudly, and rather indignantly. “NOT a NAPKIN. You’ll hurt its feelings!”

James had to grin.

He turned a little as a door slammed upstairs, and footsteps started coming down. Or rather, stomping down.

Sirius heard them too, and ran over, still holding the Pseudo-Ball. "We're being joined!" he said, as though it were a very exciting occasion.

James felt a little lightheaded when he realized who was coming down.

Lily Evans.

The most beautiful girl in Gryffindor, if not the entire school, and the girl he’d had a bit of a crush on since the start of the year. Well, maybe crush wasn't the right word. But he'd sure wanted to go out with her.

She was stuffing her arms in her robes, and looked completely furious. Behind her, several of the other girls followed, and one or two gave the boys absent waves. "Honestly," Julie Bober said, looking rather bored. She gave Sirius a quick smile, then turned her attention back to Lily. "I don't see what the big deal is. It's not like you loved him or anything."

James glanced at Sirius, then back at Lily.

She had paused on the steps and was glaring at Julie. "It's not a question of me loving him or not. The fact is, he went out and he kissed her. Therefore, he cheated on me. I'm going to kill him."

"Look at it this way," Sirius said, joining their conversation with a cheerful smile. "At least now you're free to pursue other men. You know you want me, Lily."

She glared at him.

But then, slowly, the glare faded into the oddest expression. "You know," she said slowly. "I must be ill, but he does have a good point."

The other girls stared at her. "He does?"

Sirius's mouth fell open. "I do?"

James tilted his head, suddenly rather concerned about the redhead's mental health. "If you're agreeing with him, you must be sick. You want him?"

"Not him," she said, making a face and shrugging.

Erin, one of the other girls, frowned at Lily. "There's nothing wrong with wanting Sirius. He's sexy."

Sirius nodded, giving Lily a triumphant look. "Yeah, there's nothing wrong with wanting me." He gave Erin a grin. "I'm sexy."

Lily ignored them and continued. "But I'm agreeing with the part about being free. And being sick." She kept her eyes on James. "And you know what?" she added, her tone becoming more thoughtful. "I may be sick after all. But at least it will explain this. "

She came the rest of the way down the stairs, slipped her arms around his neck, and kissed him.

James, too stunned to do anything else, kissed her back.

Behind them, Sirius gaped and the girls giggled.

Lily's mouth was soft and sweet, and he couldn't help but to enjoy the way she felt all pressed up against him.

Her tongue darted into his mouth and teased his, and he suddenly felt even more lightheaded than when he'd gotten off the couch.

Her tongue back in her own mouth, she finished up rather chastely, and pulled back.

She looked very calm, as though the kiss had no affect on her. But her eyes were sparkling with amusement and pleasure. "Thank you," she said with smile for him. "Maybe breaking up wasn't such a horrible thing, after all."

She and her friends started to walk away.

Sirius stared, open mouthed, at him, and then at her.

James recovered a bit and hurried to grab Lily again, gently tugging her arm so she turned around. "Not so fast," he said, and was fighting a grin. "You can't just do that to a guy and then walk away."

Her eyes narrowed. "Excuse me?"

He grinned. "I'm evening up the score. I wanna be sick in the head too."

Sirius protested, his expression comical. "What about me?"

James ignored him…

And he kissed her.

It lasted a little longer this time, and got a little bit heavier, and when he pulled back, she was the one to look a little dazed.

But she didn't let go of his arm. "I want to be in the lead," she informed him after catching her breath. "I'm not a fan of tied games."

She talked in sports metaphors, he thought happily, and let her kiss him again.

He didn't let her pull all the way away at the end this time, but deepened the kiss even more, enjoying every moment of it.

It was only when Sirius, Remus, and Peter started making jokes about being in a public place that they slowly parted mouths. Neither went very far, Lily keeping her arms looped around his neck. She looked utterly magnificent, and it was all he could do not to kiss her again. "Thank you very much, Mr. Potter," she said, her eyes not leaving his.

"No," he said, also amused. "Thank you."

She leaned in and kissed him lightly on the cheek before she stepped back. "See you soon," she said, giving the boys a small wave. But her eyes stayed on him, and he found himself hoping that was a promise.

She led the (giggling) girls out of the common room.

Peter sighed and looked to Remus. "How come they always go for him?"

Remus shrugged, and James slowly took a seat on one of the chairs and looked after her until the portrait closed behind them.

Smirking, Remus, Sirius, and Peter sat down with him, but James barely noticed. "You know," he said slowly, a bit of a grin on his face. "I really think I like that girl."

Hope you enjoyed (or at least weren't completely bored by) my (really!) short fic. :o) Feedback makes me happy!