Thanks:
cilverblood, Maria, aliasfreek
The quote is `Stop…turn…explain' and it is from 10 Things I Hate About You. Nobody got that.
I hope you like this!
R/R
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Chapter 7, Friends With Benefits
It had been a week since Lily had kissed James, and she hadn't left the girls' dorm room (where she'd decided to rest) since then. Bethany and Tawny had spent the entire week bringing her homework and food.
Lily couldn't help wondering if it had been a mistake. She hadn't kissed him because she fancied him or she was giving in to him, and she was sure that he knew so. But she'd still been too scared to leave the room in case he thought more of it. Her two best girl friends were left confused and in the dark, but they still stuck by her.
She was so lonely, but she wasn't going to risk going outside, in case James was waiting for her.
---
Sirius sighed, sitting next to Beth on the couch of the Gryffindor Common Room. "Bethie, do you know why Prongs has barricaded himself in the Heads' Rooms yet? It's not about his parents and sister anymore."
Okay, so they hadn't been entirely truthful with Lily. James had locked himself up, too.
Beth shook her head. "Lily's been driving me crazy. I can't get a word out of her. James would be able to get her out of that room, but he's just as useless. She could get him out of there in a heartbeat, but she won't get out…maybe we should tell her about James?"
Sirius shrugged. "It's worth a try. You go up; I'll wait here."
Beth gave him a quick kiss before running up to tell Lily. "Lils?" she asked as she went in.
The redhead turned on her bed, and the blonde could see the tearstains on her friend's face.
"What's wrong, Lily?" Lily shrugged. "I have to ask you to do us a favour. It involves going out of the room, but only for a short while."
Lily sighed. "I suppose I have to get out at some point," she said, her voice shaky with tears.
"It's James," Beth went on. "He barricaded himself in the Heads' rooms. I mean, barricaded. He put a spell so that you can't get within two metres of the painting, and Jenny seems to be choking a lot. We thought you might be able to sort him out. You're the best at Charms, after all, and you're the one who taught him to do that spell in your tutoring sessions. And you're his best friend at the moment, so we thought maybe…"
At the last sentence, Lily shot up in bed. "I'm not his best friend!"
Beth smiled gently. "I hate to break it to you, doll, but actually you are."
Lily's face took on an expression of shock. "And you know this…"
"Sirius told me that James had told him that he'd confided in you. Which he never does with Siri. And James trusts you. He has very few people that he trusts now."
Lily sighed and she grabbed a pair of jeans off the floor. She slid into them and muttered, "Well, fine then…"
---
Lily walked up to the painting. She realised what Beth had meant.
The portrait had some strong spell on it that pushed people away forcefully. Luckily, she knew the counter-spell and she muttered it quickly.
She pushed open the painting (after muttering the password) and allowed it to drop back and hit the wall loudly. She walked over and slammed open James's bedroom door.
The boy was sitting there, on his bed, in his boxers. He was shivering and staring at the wall, unaware of the tears running down his cheeks.
Lily sighed and went over to sit next to him. "James? Jamie?"
He snapped out of his daze for a few minutes to turn to her and whisper, "She used to call me that. Evie." He started crying again. Lily sighed and did what had worked last time; she kissed him again gently.
She pulled away quickly and sighed. "Calm down, James. It's okay; we're your friends and we're here for you. But please come out of here now! You've been in here for ages and it's upsetting Sirius, Peter and Remus. And full moon's only a few short days away."
This snapped him out of his daze. "Merlin! Moony!" He got up and grabbed another pair of boxers out of his drawer. Lily turned away as he got dressed, not trusting him that he wouldn't go back into his trance if she left the room. A few moments later he'd grabbed her hand, kissed her quickly, and pulled her through the doors and down the corridors to the portrait of the Fat Lady.
As they entered the GCR, Tawny got up from where she was sitting (Remus's lap) and hurried over to hug James, who looked rather surprised at her show of affection.
"I wasn't gone for a year…" he told her.
"But we were so worried about you! It's been a week! Young man, do you know how scared you can make people in a week?"
"Sorry Mum, won't do it again," said James, trying to keep the humour out of his voice.
Tawny put her hands on her hips and said sternly, "I should think so, too…"
Remus grinned apologetically at James. "Come on, Tawn…" He picked the girl up and sat down, pulling her onto his lap again.
The septet sat there for a while, chatting. In the end, they brought up the topic of the ball.
"So, how're the preparations going?" asked Sirius, of all people.
Lily's eyes widened. "Oh no! It's in two weeks and we haven't finished!" She grabbed James's hand and said, "We'd better do some planning now!" They rushed off.
Beth grinned. "How long do you think it'll be til they go out, do you reckon?"
Sirius chuckled. "3 galleons says next week."
Remus rolled his eyes. "3 galleons for the night of the ball."
Tawny pitched in her bet. "3 galleons for the night before." Remus raised his eyebrow at her.
"Hmm, going against me…"
Peter said, "3 galleons-two weeks away."
Beth grinned. "3 galleons, and I reckon it'll be the night of the ball, too, but I think they'll get together during the last dance that we're going to make them have without them even knowing about it."
Sirius laughed. "Now that's a winner. How on earth are we going to make this one happen?"
"Just tell Dumbledore," Beth said cheerfully. "He'll agree."
The five of them looked at each other and just cracked up laughing. This was going to be fun.
---
Lily and James arrived in the HCR without a thought of what their best friends might be doing at the moment.
"So, shall we get started?"
"Just let's sit down, first."
When they sat down, James close to Lily, she lay her head on his shoulder, her hand still clutched in his, and he, in turn, laid his head on hers. After a few seconds, Lily realised James's lips were on hers.
After a while of kissing, Lily pulled away. She had a question to ask.
"What are we?" Lily asked James softly.
"Well, I'm a wizard and you're a witch," James replied with some slight amusement.
Lily slapped his arm. "No, I mean what are we? Are we…friends who kiss or what?"
"I believe the term for that is `friends with benefits'," James replied. "And seeing as that you're one of my best friends and we're not going out…I guess so."
"Friends with benefits," repeated Lily quietly. James smiled.
"You got a problem with that?"
Lily shook her head hurriedly. "No. I think it's perfect."
---
Well, I hope you're suitably indulged…
The `wizard and witch' comment at the end belongs to a friend of mine called Vanessa. I nicked it from her fic; the very second HP fic I ever read.
J xx
aka
Cazzy Loe Vesjames
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