A/N- First off- thanks for the reviews!
Second, I'd like to answer some questions that came up:
1. This story was posted on many sites - ff.net, ur.org, hp.com and fictionpress as an original story. It actually started as an original but I kept writing Lily and James instead of the real names (a habit I guess) so I decided to change it to fanfiction.
2. There is no plagiarism here. I am liat86 from all those sites- I should think that Liat isn't a very common name in the fandom :) actually, I'm flattered that you remember me so well. Anyway, I left ff.net along with all the other fans when most of my stories got deleted.
3. I'm from Israel and English isn't my native language. I don't mind if people correct me, I'm always looking for mistakes - so if you've spotted one, put it in a review.
4. About updates - I'm also in the army and get to go home every other weekend so I'll update as much as I can when I'm home.
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Full summary- They were best friends from the moment they realized both their middle names started with 'S'. Now they're both living together and going to the same college. Lily Evans and James Potter are the ultimate guy - girl best friends for ever. They are also perfect for each other and not only for the casual sex they have when they are both single - too bad James doesn't realize that. But when Lily shows interest in another guy for the first time in… well, ever - things change.
James is about to learn his lesson.
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A Lesson In Love For Non-Believers
Chapter 1 - Things Change
By: Liat86
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He was feeling so peaceful, so calm, so relaxed, so content - why did that bloody sun have to be in the way?!?
James Potter stretched leisurely on the bed without opening his warm hazel eyes.
He turned on to his side and tried to fall back asleep but that damned sun was in his eyes. He turned to his other side, trying to escape the rays when he felt the weight of the bed shift, and not by him. He wasn't perturbed in the slightest since it was a common occurrence for him. Then a warm feminine hand found it's way on to his smooth muscular chest.
James opened his eyes, his sleep already lost to the new day. He grinned when his gaze fell on the beauty still asleep by his side, whose hand was the one on his chest and whose legs were the ones tangled with his.
Lily Evans, his best friend from childhood and his lover, though he didn't like calling her that. He genuinely cared about her; she wasn't just for the sex. She was one of the only females who got his respect and sincere affection.
They had met one day at the playground; he was 7 and she - 4. She had come to him, full of child innocence, and asked if he wanted to play with her. That day they learned that both their middle names started with 'S' and that they had the same birthday. And so, Lily had decided that they were meant to be friends and hadn't left him ever since. From there their friendship only grew. It was another surprise, when in his forth year in Hogwarts, he saw her enter the Great Hall for the sorting of the first years. As it turned out, he had kept his magic from her (the one and only secret he had kept from her) all their years of acquaintance, and she in turn had kept her sudden acceptance to Hogwarts a secret. She was delighted to finally find out why he never told her about his school and friends and he was delighted to have his "Little sister" around, all year long and not just for the summer. And so, he took on the role of her big brother, her protector (especially from guys) but not more.
They had become "more" a couple of years back, after she had broken up with a guy who turned out to be a real creep - James hadn't approved of him from the start (actually, he hadn't approved of any of the guys that were interested in her. He reasoned that with telling himself that it wasn't his fault they were all jerks), but didn't "I told you so" her when she had come home in tears.
Instead he had comforted her the only way he knew how - sex.
Neither of them had shown any regrets and so it became somewhat of a norm to them. After that day they had officially become 'friends with benefits'.
James had always wandered what was so good about the concept 'friends with benefits' his friends talked about. To him, sex was pretty much all the same. What did it matter if your partner was a friend, a date or a complete stranger?
But that had been before he had slept with Lily for the first time.
With Lily *everything* was different. And what surprised him the most was that each time was different from the last, and usually better as well.
After he had had a taste of 'sex with your friend' he couldn't help anticipating with immense eagerness the 'sex with your true love' - which was rumored to be even better. But until then he was satisfied having only sex with his best friend - Lily.
Oh, it sounded a lot worse than it actually was. They weren't heartless, at least not Lily. They only did *it* when they were both single and willing - which they usually were. Willing that is, not single.
You see, James wasn't willing to give up on sex with other women. Not by a long shot. How else would he find his 'sex with your true love'? But he did admit that sex with Lily was just better than most.
Most, if not all of the time, James was the one who was not available, and he didn't even try to flirt with Lily at those times. He knew her too well to do that. She would never allow him to cheat on someone, least of all *with* her.
When he thought about it he couldn't remember a single time when he was single and she wasn't, so it turned out that he always got his 'benefit' whenever he wanted.
'But that's going to change,' he thought to himself, reflecting on what had happened just the night before, as a soft sigh from the source of his musing pulled him out of his reverie.
James looked down at her and smiled softly. He truly did love spending time with Lily, 'Especially in bed,' he thought with a sly smile. He pulled her to him and held her tightly; Lily sighed again.
Now that she was settled again he allowed his mind to wander to the night before.
Yesterday he had gotten home from a date, to find Lily at her usual spot - the computer. She was wearing her cute little reading glasses, her long hair was held up by a clip and it was so messily done that many dark red strands escaped. She was wearing a pair of shorts that showed off her long slender legs and one of his big sweatshirts that reached the middle of her thighs and covered the shorts.
The look was completely unappealing and yet he wanted her.
Badly.
The sight of *his* clothes on her body was surprisingly enticing and the loose strands of hair that lightly brushed the nape of her neck were calling for him to pull them aside and kiss the soft skin of her neck.
It was completely unnerving that a simple look at her could make him that hard.
James couldn't help wandering whether it was normal to want your best friend quite *that* much.
'Well, every warm blooded man would be crazy not to want her,' he thought; and with her long red hair and deep green eyes, her slender curvy figure, and her smooth pale skin, he wasn't completely off track, though her shy demeanor sometimes repelled blokes.
But for heaven's sake, she was his best friend! He understood that his male genes wouldn't allow him *not* to want her, but did he have to want her *quite* so much?
James sighed, resigned to the fact that, yes, apparently he did have to want her that much.
He leaned against the doorframe, content with simply watching her work. He was actually always content with simply watching her. Whether it was when she smiled or laughed, when she was distracted or just thinking, or when she was asleep…especially when they were making love, or more accurately - when she climaxed.
It was such a lovely and arousing sight that he just couldn't help following her over that precious edge. With other women, he was content to give them what he wanted and extend the pleasure by taking as long as he wanted to come. With Lily, everything in bed was for her, and he didn't know how it ended up that way.
He sighed again and she must have heard him that time because she turned in her seat and smiled at him.
"You know that I hate it when you watch me, it makes me uncomfortable," she said sweetly, her melodic voice only succeeding in making him harder.
"That's why I love doing it. That and the sight of your lovely self, of course," he said mischievously.
"Of course," she said seriously, but the wide grin on her face ruined the effect. "So, how was your date?" she asked and bit her lush bottom lip.
'I want to do that too,' he thought as he began advancing toward her, 'And I will.' He smirked at the thought.
Lily looked confused at his lack of answer and then her eyes widened when she took in the full sight of him. She raised a delicate brow in question to his obvious arousal, but he didn't say anything, only lifted her to her feet and began kissing her neck since he knew that it was a highly sensitive part of her.
She sighed and swayed toward him, offering more of the rich expense of her throat, which he gladly took.
"What are you doing?" Lily asked, her voice already breathless.
"Seducing you," James answered simply while pulling her toward his bedroom. She tensed.
"But… but what about Sara? Come on James, you know how I feel about that," she said and began to pull back; he wouldn't let her.
"It wasn't working, we broke up, I swear." And they really did.
James was beginning to worry about his love life. It seemed that with every passing lover the time it took him to realize the woman in question was all wrong for him was growing shorter.
This time it had taken him only two weeks. He hadn't been planning on it but when they had gotten to the restaurant and began talking, it struck him that Sara was indeed wrong for him.
After that it hadn't taken him long to get home and get with Lily. He sighed in to her hair and inhaled its intoxicating scent of strawberries. He felt her relax against him and give in once again.
Now, *this* was right and it felt so damn good. He *really* needed to get her out of her clothes and into his bed.
Since she wasn't trying to get away any more he began directing her to his room once again.
"Don't you think we should wait some time? It's only been… what? Two hours?" Lily said, but didn't try to stop him.
He only shook his head and closed the door before returning to her side.
"Wait, James, there's…emm…there's something I have to tell you," she said, her voice dazed and her eyes glazed over with desire.
"It can wait," he said as he took off her shirt. 'Because I sure as hell can't,' he thought. He was delighted in the fact that she wasn't wearing a bra and began to bestow lavish attention on one of her small, yet just as desirable, breasts.
Said action had quite an effect on her and it was several minutes before she spoke again.
"No, it can't… Jake asked me out and I said yes."
"That's fine," James said and lowered her to the bed. In the back of his mind he knew what she was talking about - Jake, a classmate she knew, had asked her out. Starting that first date she will be a forbidden fruit.
He forced his mind to forget that fact because at that time, on that bed she was still his.
And that was how they had gotten to that moment in the next morning with Lily fast asleep and James pondering their most recent, and apparently last, encounter with a growing apprehension.
Lily didn't know that Jake guy all too well. She had told him about Jake a few times but all he knew was that Jake was Lily's age - 21, and was taking most of her courses - they were both studying English literature in Charms while James - 24 years old, was studying to be a Mediwizard.
Other than that, he knew nothing and that worried him.
'I guess I'll have to do some research on the guy,' he thought as he stroked Lily's back absentmindedly.
While James and Lily weren't majoring in the same fields, they were going to the same college - 'The Institute of Advanced Witchcraft and Wizardry', had many of the same friends and rented an apartment together near the school.
James didn't need a roommate for the money - his folks were incredibly rich and he was their only child. They loved him dearly and gave him everything he asked for.
But still, he wanted Lily to live in a decent place and be safe, and since she was too proud to let him pay for her, he had to split the bill.
James was quite famous around campus and popular as well - what with his good looks, excellent grades and expensive muggle cars.
He was sure he wasn't going to have any trouble finding out more about that Jake bloke.
Just then Lily began to stir and opened one sleepy eye.
"Morning," she said with a smile.
'God, she's gorgeous even when she wakes up,' he thought
"Mornin'," he replied, kissing her forehead and getting up to get dressed. The feel of her naked body against his was far too tempting and he had to get ready for class.
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A/N- Once again, I hope you all liked it. I'll have the next chapter up soon.
Disclaimer: The saying in the beginning isn't mine- I don't know who wrote it, sorry. And I got the name of the story from a tag line I read about some random movie. The characters, naturally, belong to JKR. Beside that everything is mine! Take it- and die!
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real, Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.