You Can't See That I'm The One

The next evening, Lily was sitting on one of the overstuffed armchairs in the Gryffindor common room; her back was against one of the chair's arms, her legs drooped over the other. She had a thick Transfiguration textbook open, a piece of parchment on the page she wasn't reading, and she was writing quickly, completely oblivious to her surroundings.

Sirius had just entered the mostly empty common room and spotted Lily, secluded in a corner. He smiled at the sight of her and walked to her. He lightly sat on her knees and Lily looked up and smiled. "Sirius."

He grinned. "Just the person I wanted to talk to. Can I sit with you, gorgeous? Or are you too busy studying?" He made a face.

Lily smiled back, rather flirtatiously. "I suppose I can interrupt studying in favor of compliments!"

Sirius chuckled. "You're easy to please. How were classes?"

She made a face. "Not very good."

He pretended to be shocked. "You? You had a bad day of classes?"

She snorted. "Just because I'm a 'model student' doesn't mean that I like class."

He hovered over her, shaking a little at the strain to remain poised over her. "Oh, yeah? And what does it mean?"

Sirius was so close to Lily that she lowered her voice to barely a whisper and he could still hear her clearly. "It means that I'm really not so different from you, except instead of goofing off, I apply myself."

Sirius studied her carefully. "So, you're like me, eh?"

Lily nodded. "I am."

His eyes were still searching her face. "You don't still like James, do you?"

Her eyes met his. She finally got what he was getting at. She shook her head, her voice barely audible. "I don't."

He moved even closer, causing her to slide further down on the chair and his blue eyes never left her green ones. He put his hand to her face and rubbed her cheek before moving his fingers to stroke her hair. "Good."

Lily smiled. Sirius was grinning as he moved closer still and his lips finally met hers. She dropped her quill and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer to her. He tasted like cherries.

He pulled back a few moments later, flushed and breathless. "I really, really like you, Lily."

She nodded. "It's kinda obvious. I really, really like you, too, Sirius."

His eyes lit up. "Look, I know I have a reputation, but Lily, I've never felt this way about anyone. I haven't been able to stop thinking about you for years, Lil, since we were twelve." He took her hands in his. "You are why I took Ancient Runes. You were the girl I was trying to get closer to. I want you to make me the lucky guy. I love everything about you, Lily Evans." He kissed her forehead before looking into her eyes again. "Everything. Make me the lucky one, Lily."

She giggled, finding his closing kind of cheesy and rehearsed, but incredibly sweet nonetheless. She lifted her head and pressed her lips against his, kissing him sweetly. He pulled back and studied her. "So...is that a yes?"

Lily laughed and he grinned and leaned in to kiss her again.

A while later, James walked in and saw Lily and Sirius - Who was lying on top of her?! - crammed into an armchair, whispering, giggling, their arms wrapped around each other and they were kissing every few moments.

James rolled his eyes as he walked by to climb the spiral staircase to the boys' dormitories. Lily and Sirius were in the midst of kissing and James said, loudly, "Please spare us innocent bystanders and get a private room!"

Sirius looked up and Lily rolled her eyes. "I have seen you snogging enough girls in various parts of this castle to last me a lifetime, so you have no room to talk. As such, just because you're currently all alone, which is really your own fault, since any girl would gladly date you, doesn't mean you have to take it out on those of us who aren't alone."

James shook his head. "Whatever..." He began walking up the spiral staircase, but stopped about halfway up and turned to face them. "You know, Lily, I thought you were different."

Sirius and Lily exchanged looks as James marched up the rest of the stairs and slammed the door to his dormitory shut.

"What did he mean by that?" Lily asked, her brow furrowed.

Sirius shrugged. "You know how James is. If one thing makes him mad, he lashes out at everyone in his way for the rest of the day."

Lily nodded, but as Sirius resumed giving her neck soft butterfly kisses, she couldn't help but wonder if it was who he saw together that made James so angry.

~*~

James flopped onto his bed and sighed, deeply, focusing on the ceiling. Sirius drove him absolutely insane sometimes. James had been crazy about Lily Evans since the moment he saw her, when she was being sorted five years ago. Unfortunately for James, Sirius had fallen for her as well and came clean about it first. So, James couldn't do or say anything or he'd look like the bad guy.

It had broken his heart to turn Lily down almost two years ago and James certainly didn't mean to embarrass her in front of more than half of the Great Hall. They didn't have the right to be butting into his personal life, and the news had spread quickly! Not that surprising, upon retrospect, seeing as Rita Skeeter had been hovering around.

James pulled out the golden snitch that he had taken the previous year and began playing with it, distracted. On the one hand, if Lily wasn't going to be with him at least she was with Sirius. On the other hand, it hurt him so much to see the two of them together.

He heard someone walk in, derailing his train of thought, and he saw Remus walking toward him. James smiled. "Hullo, Moony."

Remus sat down on the foot of James's bed. "What did you say to Padfoot, Prongs?"

James continued to play with the snitch. "I dunno what you're talking about..."

"Don't be ridiculous! Of course you know what--" his sentence faltered and Remus's eyes glittered accusingly. "Prongs!"

James looked up at Remus, innocently. "What?"

"You're still wild about Lily, aren't you?"

James shook his head. "No way, Moony."

"How long has it been now, James?" Remus asked, quietly.

James wasn't used to Remus calling him by his first name. He sat up, studying the ground and replied, just as soft. "Five years or so."

Remus nodded. "Since our first year...that's right."

"How did you know?"

"James Potter, my friend, you can hide a multitude of things from me, the way you feel about the opposite sex, however, is not one of them. I'm far too observant."

James looked at Remus, who was shaking with laughter, and James lightly punched him in the arm. "So, oh wise one, what do I do?"

Remus sighed, knowing that James wouldn't like his answer. "Well, I hate to break it to you, Prongs, but you have to be patient and wait."

"What?!" James exclaimed, just as an impatient and egotistical person would.

"You heard me! I know it's terrible, but you can't exactly steal Lily from Sirius because then you'll look like scum and lose your best friend. Plus, the abuse Lily would get from the girls that love you and Sirius. I know you hate it, but if it's supposed to happen, in time it will happen."

James fell back on his bed, defeated, and scoffed. "That's reassuring."

Remus chuckled. "Trust me, mate, and don't let this get back to Sirius, but you and Lily are meant to be together."