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Steal My Kisses
Mei Queen
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Authoress' Note- I would just like to thank everyone out there that reviewed! Even if your review was just a "update soon, please!" or a "great chapter!" it still made my day to get it, and please know that I'm smiling on my end of the computer, even if I hadn't the time to reply. I usually only reply to those reviews asking specific questions that I feel need answers, just because with five (6 on Portkey) stories, it's very difficult to keep up with all the different reviews for the different stories! But just know that I do appreciate the wonderful things that you all say. They are absolutely fabulous to read, and I really do enjoy them! Extra thanks go to those that reviewed while I was in Mexico, my inbox was full when I got back and I can't even begin to tell you how much easier it made unpacking (which is my least favourite chore in the universe, so that's really saying something!)!!! So to sum up- THANK YOU! You all rock my socks!
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PREVIOUS
"So this is it, then?" Grant asked, his eyes looking dangerously glassy, meanwhile getting up from his bed.
"I…I think so. I'm really sorry about the way I had to do this, but I feel terrible for stringing along two boys that I care about."
Grant Ashcroft nodded, mussing his blonde hair with his hand slightly. "It's all right, Lily. I'm happy to know that you'll be happier this way. You've been distant for weeks; it was only a matter of time. Okay, well…this has been sufficiently awkward; I'm going back to the dorms."
Reaching out to give me one last hug, Grant kissed me lightly on top of my head before turning and quickly striding out of the Hospital Wing- and out of my life.
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Chapter 5- Single Scarlet Woman
Yes, Grant Ashcroft was out of my life. Or so I thought.
The next morning at breakfast, the whole school was in an uproar. Word had spread fast about my break-up with Grant, and everyone was still buzzing about the incident at Quidditch yesterday. From what Bella told me, a group of Hufflepuffs had started a pool totalling near 200 Galleons about when James and I would get together now that Grant was out of the picture. I was shocked. I didn't realize this many people knew or cared about my personal life. Anyway, James and I probably wouldn't be getting together anytime soon seeing as James had ended up staying overnight in the Hospital Wing, at Madam Pomfrey's insistence. He hadn't woken up for the time I had been there, so I eventually left, figuring the Marauders would come take over James' bedside. However, James Potter being currently healing seemed to have put no damper on the gossip about my "love triangle" at all.
It only got worse when, in the middle of my eggs and kippers, the mail came. Not expecting anything but my usual Daily Prophet, I paid the swooping owls no attention. But when one landed right in the middle of my plate, I definitely noticed.
Lily was all that the envelope said. Must be a ruddy smart owl, I mentally quipped before grudgingly releasing the letter from its talons. Without taking any refreshment, the tawny owl took that moment to make a hasty exit.
There was something very familiar about the writing on the envelope, but I couldn't quite place it. Shrugging it off, I opened it to find this letter-
Lily-
Please know that this is not an attempt to win you back or to change your opinion of me. I know that when your mind is made up, it is usually made up for good, and I will not question your decision. But I really want you to know what you have meant to me. In the past year, you've become my confidante, my best friend, and so much more. I was not lying when I said that I loved you (and still do). It was really hard for me to let you go in the wing earlier. I would have held on to you for as long as it took, because you are very special. I don't want to lose you. But if this is really what you want, then I will have no choice but to tell you to be happy and that I will always be here for you. Please meet me later so we can talk about this.
My eyes watered as I put down the sentimental note. Feeling eyes on me, I glanced over at the Ravenclaw table. Grant had been watching me read, taking in my expressions and reactions. I simply nodded, indicating that I'd meet with him. Hopefully I could get this mess figured out once and for all.
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"So she was here all day yesterday?" James said breathlessly, pushing his glasses further up his nose. His hazel eyes were sparkling with elation as he sat up in the uncomfortable hospital bed.
"Yup, apparently jumping her boyfriend in midair grabs one's attention," Remus deadpanned, chuckling softly at his friend's easily excitable nature where I was concerned.
The door to the Hospital Wing opened right then, and Sirius Black came striding in. "Oh, Prongsie…how much do you love me?"
The smile on James' face disappeared. "What did you do? I swear if you topped me in detentions…I've been working hard for that record, damn it, Padfoot!"
Sirius snorted, slapping his best friend on the back. "No, I topped you ages ago there. Just didn't tell you because I wanted to preserve your fragile ego. Oh well. No…this is much better news than that, my old friend."
James rolled his eyes. Usually Sirius' news was far from useful, and he feared that today's news would be no different.
"Lily is a single scarlet woman!"
"Do you even know what a scarlet woman is?" Remus asked incredulously, chortling with laughter by this point.
The door opened again, revealing the last Marauder, who had apparently heard the tail end of the conversation. "That she has red hair?"
"No, that's what Padfoot thought it meant, too."
Meanwhile, James had been completely ignoring his friends. Lily is single? Oh, Merlin. This is exactly the chance I've been waiting for!
Snapping back to reality, James managed to choke out, "Do you know who broke up with whom, Padfoot?"
"Um…I heard it was Lily's doing, at least that's the story the Hufflepuffs are circulating, and their gossip is usually pretty reliable," Sirius muttered, looking thoughtful while he said it. "So what are you going to do about it, Prongs?"
"Nothing until Pomfrey lets me out of here. I swear there's nothing bloody wrong with me. I think she just likes to hole me up in here as long as she can, because it means she has to tend to fewer students that we've pranked or something," James finished irritably, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Let me handle this," Sirius said with a wink. "Oh, Poppy…"
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Approximately three minutes later, all four of the Marauders were thrown out of the Hospital Wing.
"Your techniques are impressive, Padfoot," James praised with a low whistle. "I've been begging for her to let me go all day! I should have thought to ask you to come much earlier…"
"See? I can be helpful. Oh, and Moony- why is 'scarlet woman' funny?"
"Now you ask? It's been about fifteen minutes, and now you ask? You are extraordinarily slow on the uptake."
"It's a gift," Sirius replied with a grin.
"Gift is a good way to look at it," Peter quipped brightly, leading the way down to breakfast.
Just as they were approaching the doors to the Great Hall, I burst through, a crunched letter in my fist, marching determinedly out to the lake.
James had just left his friends to follow when he noticed that somebody already was following me- Grant Ashcroft, the boyfriend I thought I had finished things with for good.
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Summoning his Invisibility Cloak from his dorm, James Potter secretly followed me and my ex-boyfriend of a day out to the lake.
I got up on to the rock by the lake, settling myself contentedly upon it and thoughtfully listening to the footsteps that had trailed me out here.
"Thanks for talking to me, Lily."
"You're welcome," I replied with a sigh, bringing my knees closer to my chest. "It's no trouble. So what did you want to say?"
Grant waved the question off, seeming to want to make this as indirect of a conversation as possible. "What did you think of my letter?"
Underneath his cloak, James' eyes were bulging. She got a letter from him? When? What if they get back together before I've even had a shot? What will I do then?
"It was sincere and sweet, but I don't know what you're hoping to get out of this."
Grant's eyes clouded over slightly. "I don't know what I want. I just…care about you. And I want to be sure that this is what you want."
"Being single?" I questioned.
"No, being with Potter."
Both James' and my eyes were bulging by this point. "What do you mean, being with Potter? We're not together!"
"But you will be. Everybody knows it. The Hufflepuffs even had a bloody pool going! When did you give in, Lily? You've always called him an egotistical jinx-happy prat. You've never really even gotten along with him as friends. When did your opinion change? I don't want to see you get hurt, Lily, and I think that Potter is the type to do exactly that."
My eyebrow quirked slightly at his bluntness. Most of what he had said was completely true, but I still couldn't really see James Potter hurting me. He wasn't the type. I used to think so, but his relentless pursuit of me had shown me otherwise. "He's waited too long to be with me, Grant. He won't hurt me."
James was nodding stubbornly underneath his cloak. Too right, Lily.
"If you're sure, I suppose. I just want to make sure this is what you want, that's all. I am always here for you if you need to talk."
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I walked back to Gryffindor in a complete daze. My ex-boyfriend had basically just proclaimed that his feelings for me weren't going to change anytime soon, and then there was the matter of Potter…what should I do? Should I wait for him to come to me? Moreover, do I want to start a real relationship with him? The kisses were fabulous, yes, but a lot of what Grant had said earlier was very true. He was usually pretty unreliable, jinx-happy and egotistical…but I had noticed a bit of a change in him lately. He seemed to be trying to be someone that I might want to seriously date, a change that had not gone unappreciated.
When I got up to my dorm, I noticed a letter for me lying on the duvet.
"Potter asked me to bring it up," Emmeline said softly in response to the unasked question forming in my head.
I nodded, picking it up and breaking the seal while I settled on my comfortable bed.
Lily-
Please meet me tonight at 8:30 in the Heads' Room.
I sighed, stuffing the note back into the envelope. Obviously I dumped the eloquent one.
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As the sun dipped lower in the sky, I looked over at the magically powered clock at my bedside. 7:45, it read.
Gathering some clothes, I went to the loo to change and tame my scarlet locks. After beating my hair into submission, I managed to read a few pages of a novel I'd borrowed from the library before realizing that I should get going, or I'd be late.
Approaching the familiar portrait, I flashed my best grin at Barnubus the Belby, the guardian to the Heads' Room. "Hi, Barny!"
"How are you, Miss Lily?" he asked with a grin.
"Pretty good, thanks. And you?"
"Hanging around," he deadpanned with a chuckle. "Password?"
I sighed. "Lily Evans is the most beautiful girl in existence."
"Correct," he replied with a laugh.
Honestly, it was the most embarrassing and ridiculous password in the world, but James had insisted near the beginning of the year. Since we hardly ever used the room, I didn't really care, but it was still rather uncomfortable to say. I felt like I was being completely conceited just trying to perform my Heads' duties in here.
When the portrait swung open, I noticed that James was already there. Sitting on the cushy couch twiddling his thumbs, I didn't think I'd ever seen the normally collected boy so anxious in my life.
I cleared my throat when I entered, to make him aware of my presence. "Hello, James."
"Hi, Lily! Er…how are you?"
Scooting to the edge of the couch, he patted the space next to him, indicating that I should sit.
"I'm okay…and you?"
His cheeks reddened. "I'm kind of nervous, actually."
I giggled. "I can tell."
"Well, I'll just be out with it…will you be my girlfriend?"
My eyebrow quirked, and I replied, "You're just going to ask me that? We're not going to go on a date first or anything? And you're asking me the day after I broke up with my ex? Isn't that sort of moving quickly?"
James looked considerably chastened. "I had a feeling you wouldn't go for that, I'm never listening to Sirius again…"
I grinned as I watched him muttering to himself. Then something clicked. I don't know what it was, specifically, but he looked absolutely adorable sitting there berating himself. Maybe it was the fact that he cared so much about me that he wanted everything to be perfect. Maybe it was that he cared enough to jump my ex in midair. Maybe it was the way his hazel eyes glittered in the firelight. But suddenly, none of the technicalities mattered. It was just me and James. A boy and a girl sitting on a couch alone, really liking one another for reasons that we didn't necessarily question and definitely did not understand, but it was what it was.
I felt my stomach begin to flutter as I closed the distance between myself and a bewildered James, capturing his lips in a passionate kiss. His confusion melted away as his hands came to rest at my waist, pulling me closer, deeper…
This is amazing, I thought. And for once, it's not wrong. I can kiss him all I want to!
I could feel James' lips smiling slightly underneath my own.
"Not that I'm complaining, but what was that for?" James asked breathlessly.
"Because I can, for once," I replied with a smile. It was so unlike me to be impulsive, that it felt like such a welcome change. "I do have a question for you, though, James."
"Yes?"
"What in the world possessed you to jump onto Grant's broom in midair in the middle of a Quidditch match? That was so stupid! What in the name of Merlin were you thinking?!" I found my voice raising a few pitches. It wasn't that I was mad at James, necessarily, but what if Grant had gotten seriously hurt? What if he had gotten seriously hurt? I would never have been able to forgive myself for being the cause of such idiocy.
James looked down at his hands dolefully, his lips still pink from our kiss. "I don't know, really. I don't think I was thinking. I just saw him flying and all I could think about was that maybe if he wasn't around, you would be free to be with me…"
"You wanted to kill him?" I screeched.
"No, I actually hadn't thought that far, really. It was just an urge that I didn't listen to my conscience on. I figured that even if the stunt didn't work out, at least maybe I would have gotten your attention. Maybe you would understand what I would do to have you in my life."
My eyes watered slightly. I felt his arms close in around me, capturing me in a comforting embrace.
"I love you, you know," he whispered in my ear.
"I know," I replied with a small smile. To mine and his drastic surprise, I found myself saying, "I love you, too."
His grip on me grew tighter, and I felt him plant a sweet kiss in my hair. It was then that I knew I had made the right decision. It had been a downright rocky road. I had never expected my love story to end this way. If someone had asked me in fifth, sixth, hell, even the beginning of seventh year who I thought I would end up with in the end; my last answer would have been James Potter. But somewhere in the hugs, in the illicit kisses, I actually grew to love the prat. That mischievous nature that used to be the bane of my existence as a fifth year prefect felt like the most comfortable and predictable thing in the world to me. Being on the couch with James that night…it felt like coming home.
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"Lily, you better get up, we have classes in about an hour," James whispered into my ear. We had spent the entire night in each others' arms on that cushy couch, exchanging kisses. Now, much to my dismay, it was time to face the world and to detail with all those technicalities that seemed virtually irrelevant last night.
"Already? I don't want to go. Do you think they'd notice if the Head Girl skived morning classes?"
His hazel eyes lit up and he chuckled slightly in response. "I think they definitely would, especially if the Head Boy wasn't there, either."
I snorted quite ungracefully. "I'm not stopping you. You can go and learn Transfiguration for both of us."
"Not a chance. Now come on, we've got to get going or we'll miss breakfast."
Still grumbling, I did a quick charm to generally clean myself up a bit and change my clothes, doing the same for James. "Thanks," he muttered.
Quickly exiting the portrait, James summoned our supplies and books.
I was trying to get a big wrinkle out of my robes when I heard my name being called from down the corridor.
Looking up, I saw the one person I really did not want to see me hanging around with James Potter. It was Grant Ashcroft, in the flesh.
"Grant…hi!"
"Hey, Lily! Potter."
James gave him a curt nod before catching, with impressive dexterity, our book bags which had just come hurtling through the air. I, meanwhile, looked up to Grant. His expression was doleful, and when he spoke, his tone was accusatory.
"You look like you had a good time last night."
You've got to be bloody kidding me! We broke up! James and I just kissed, for the love of Merlin. This is ridiculous… I thought to myself irritably, trying to find a nice thing to say to Grant. My chance to speak was cut off, however, when James decided to jump in on our conversation.
"Maybe she did. What's it to you? You two are broken up, you know? She's a free agent; she can do what she likes."
My brain was cheering with James' response. He had said exactly what I had wanted to, and spared me being the bad guy. This could be the beginning of a beautiful relationship, I thought with a grin.
"I'm not saying that she can't. I just don't think she wasted any time in enjoying the perks of being a free agent," he finished a steely stare.
"I don't have bloody time for this. I want to eat, and breakfast is almost over," I muttered, taking my bag from James, shouldering it and stalking off to the Great Hall with the loudest footsteps I could manage.
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"Lily! Hold on!" James called, pausing to give Grant one more disgusted expression.
"Yeah, Lily! Hold on!" Grant called, chasing after James who was chasing after me. This would be downright comical if it wasn't so ridiculous, I thought to myself grimly.
Grudgingly stopping and spinning around, I saw both boys tailing me. "What do you want?" I demanded.
James looked at me with a hurt expression. "I just wanted to eat breakfast with you…" he began nervously.
"Not you! Grant!"
"Oh."
"I wanted to know what you're doing with this loon, if you gave any thought to what I put in that note, if you even care about how I feel right now."
I was shocked. He was accusing me of not caring at all…of course I cared about how he felt. He had been my friend and boyfriend for a year. But that year was over. We were broken up, and I couldn't help noticing that Grant wasn't terribly good at the concept of "breaking up" and all that it entailed.
"Well, yes, I care. But we're broken up, Grant. I don't want…us…anymore. It doesn't work. It hasn't for a long time. You're a great person, and I cared about you a lot. But us together…doesn't click. It's missing passion, fire, anger...conflict. Arguments are what keep relationships alive, and we didn't ever have any. It wasn't working, you and I. If we tried it again, it still wouldn't work. I deluded myself for a long time because you're a wonderful guy and I didn't want to lose you, but I've made my choice, and I thought long and hard about it. As to why I'm with James…for reasons I don't altogether understand, I love him. Maybe it's the fact that we do nothing but argue, but I really care about him, and that's my final decision. Please respect it."
I felt a tear slip down my cheek as I turned to enter the Great Hall. That was the hardest thing I'd ever had to do. To see Grant's crushed expression…to see James' expression, which varied between elation and nervousness…it was so difficult. I needed someone to vent to. I needed my best friend.
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"Bella!" I shouted after opening the double doors, openly crying by this point.
Annabelle Burton looked around, bewildered, before noticing me striding towards her. Jumping up from her spot on the bench, she ran to close the gap between us and give me a comforting hug.
"What happened?" she asked softly, not really caring that the attention of the entire student body of Hogwarts was currently fixated on us.
"I…love…him" was all I could choke out.
Running her hand in consoling circles on my back, she smiled. "Of course you do. I told you that from the beginning, remember?"
I couldn't help but grin slightly through my tears. "I know. He knows now, too. Now Grant knows, too."
Her expression soured slightly. "That didn't go over well, did it?"
"I guess it went over as well as telling your ex that you love somebody else about a day after you've broken up with them could possibly go."
"So…it went terribly, then?" Bella asked with a smile.
I dabbed at my tears with sleeve of my jumper. "Yeah, pretty much."
"But that's over, isn't it?" she asked with a hopeful expression. "The worst part is now over. He was the one person you were scared to tell…and now he's gone and found out on his own. He took a lot of the pressure off, didn't he?"
I considered her point. "You know, you're right. He was the one person I didn't want to hurt with this, but now that he already knows…none of this secrecy matters, I suppose."
Annabelle grinned. She leaned in and whispered conspiratorially, "You're right. Just…wait until tomorrow to officially get together, would you? I'll buy you two a round of butterbeer, because Black and I will have won the big Hufflepuff pool if you wait 'til then."
I laughed and agreed. Turning, I saw James standing nervously near the door of the Great Hall, not wanting to intrude on my moment with my best friend. Quickly saying goodbye to Annabelle, I took James' arm, saying, "How about we make a trip down to the kitchens? I don't mind being late for class if you don't."
"Late? Please. We were merely working on an extremely important project for Dumbledore, weren't we?"
"Oh, right. Absolutely. Now what was it called again?" I asked, playing along.
"I call it 'Single-But-Not-For-Long Scarlet Woman'," he replied with a grin.
I gasped at his audacity. Punching him softly in the arm, his hazel eyes met my emerald in surprise.
"What was that for? Nobody will ever understand that joke…I'm just talking about your hair! Bugger! Lily! Come back here! Don't run away when we're arguing…oh, come on, Lily! I didn't mean it! I'm sorry! Really! Please stop walking so bloody fast..."
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The End
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Authoress' Note- And thus ends SMK. I'm debating an Epilogue. Review and let me know what you thought…let me know what you think about an Epilogue…just say hi…whatever, I don't really care what you say as long as you review! Also, a lot of you have questioned the Mature rating. I have decided that I will lower the rating to PG-13…originally, it was going to have a sex scene in it, but I felt uncomfortable inserting one due to the previous nature of the story. It was too teenybopper-ish for me to feel comfortable putting in a random sex scene. So that won't be happening, and the PG-13 rating will be applied. Thank you to EVERYONE for your support with this. This story was very surprising. It was based on a real experience of mine, and I never expected it to gain the following that it has. I can't thank you all enough for helping me along…I probably would have never been able to say I'd finished a story if it weren't for all of you. Thank you so much, your support has meant the world to me.