Under the Setting Sun

In the Light of the Setting Sun

"Lily! Hey! Lily!"

There he was, at it again.

"Lily Evans! I know you can hear me, come on, can´t you just listen to what I´ve got to say for once?"

"I already know what you´ve go to say, James." Confound it, she had decided he wouldn´t reply. And what had she called him? Lily stiffened and stepped out into the bright sunlight of the castle grounds.

James let her go, and shrugged. "At least you´re not calling me `Potter,´" he called after her.

Lily ignored him and kept walking, but she had noticed an uncomfortable flush creeping into her cheeks. Damnit, she though furiously, he noticed.

-----

Lily decided to visit the kitchens before dinner; she had skipped lunch to giver herself a "Get-Real Girl" talk. James had momentarily dizzied her, so it became evident that a reality check was needed. Desperately. But after classes had finished for the day, Lily was famished and tired, and there was no better cure for the two than cider and a ham sandwich.

Someone had already beaten her to the kitchens though; Sirius Black, Potter´s best mate. Lily scowled; there was no way out of this one.

"Ooh, yes, and another eclair please, if you can spare -" He caught sight of Lily. "Why hello, fancy meeting you here."

"Good afternoon, Black. Classes all right, then?" she muttered.

"A breeze, Lily. Though I must object; why do you call James by his given name, but not me?" He grinned.

She flushed defensively. "It was a slip of the tongue."

His grin broadened. "Not to hear James tell it."

Lily ignored this and spoke instead to the nearest house-elf. "May I have a glass of apple cider please, and a ham sandwich?"

The elf nodded and whisked away with two of his companions, passing four other elves supporting a large tray of pastries. "We has your food, sir!" they squeaked. Sirius beamed at them.

"Excellent, thank you..." and he lazily took out his wand and muttered a spell. The tray leapt out of the elves´ arms and floated towards the door.

"Sirius..." Lily started, then stopped. Should she?

"On first-name terms then, are we?" he said merrily.

Best to get it over with quickly, she thought, ignoring him. "What did James say about me?" she asked in a rush. Whew.

Sirius´ eyes twinkled at her. "Ask him yourself, why don´t you? See you at dinner." And he was gone.

Lily scowled after him. What was it with them? James and Sirius were like twins; both were adorably handsome, (though James slightly more so,) both were totally arrogant, (though James slightly less so,) and both could be downright sweet. Especially James. She sighed in spite of herself, then immediately snapped to attention, making sure no one had seen her.

"You´re dears, thank you," she told them, and stepped out the door back into the hallway, contemplating where to eat her snack. Gryffindor Quidditch team had practice that afternoon, not the she cared about sports, and it was such a nice day... and James was a Chaser... yes, she´d go watch. Under the stands, though, so no one will see me watching him, she though happily.

-----

The team was superb. And James was obviously the best Chaser; no one on Hufflepuff would stand a chance. Lily watched him avidly through the stands, munching on her sandwich. If only she had brought her Omnioculars, then she could see his face transform from intense concentration to a triumphant grin every time he scored a goal, not just when he flew too close to the stands.

With a dull thud, she realized her "Get-Real Girl" talk had not worked, an she huffily gathered her things. Withought thinking, she stood up - and hit her head smartly on the boards above her. Letting out a yell of pain, she crumpled back to the gorund, furious with herself. Not only had she completely forgotten that he did not like James, she had yelled and - had they heard? She stopped and listened. The Team Captain´s barked orders had ceased, and the farmiliar swisshing of brooms cutting through the air was conspicuously absent. All she heard was murmerings - what were they saying? She strained her ears to listen.

"Did you hear that?"

"Someone yelled... sounded like a girl..." Lily´s heart sank.

"Sounded like they´re hurt! Where´d it come from?"

"The stands, y´think?"

"Hang on, I´ll go check." That was James´s voice. Lily struggled desperately to untangle her robes, but before she could dash for it, she heard someone land and a pair of feet running straight towards her hiding place. Then -

"Lily!" James Potter´s surprised face stared down at her, and she blushed. Amusement crept into his voice. "What´re you doing down there?" Then a note of anxiety; "Are you okay? We heard you yell, did someone attack you?"

"Erm, no, actually, I -" she began haltingly.

"Why don´t you come out of there, and then we can talk properly?" James suggested. "In fact... hang on..." His face disappeared, and Lily heard him run to the edge of the stands. She saw him kneel down and begin to crawl towards her, grinning.

"No, James, that´s okay, you don´t need to come in here, I´ll be right there," Lily said softly, fumbling around for her plate and empty goblet. Gatherin all of her belongings, she began to crawl towards him, blushing furiously. Still grinning, James got to his feet, then crouched down, waiting for her. When she reached him, he extended a hand, and as she took it, a light shiver ran through her body, and their gazes locked. They stood up slowly, together, and neither said a word, staring at the other. Another shiver ran through Lily´s body, and she smiled at him. Merlin, he was cute. She squeezed his hand softly, then let go. James´s hand fel limply to his side, and he seemed momentarily Stunned.

"Lily -" he started, then seemed to think better of it. Her pulse quickened. "You´re all right then? Should I take you to the hospital wing?" His eyes filled with concern. Concern for her.

"No, James, I just hit my head, I´m fine," Lily said as naturally as she could manage. She gave a shaky laugh.

"Right then." James gave an equally nervous laugh, but it suddenly turned more vibrant. "Hey, what were you doing down -"

"Oy, Potter! She okay or not?" bellowed a Beater impatiently, sparing Lily the indignity of answering.

"Yeah, fine!" he hollered back, then turned to smile at her again. "It doesn´t matter. Though next time don´t hesitate to sit in the stands; I always play better when I know you´re there."

"When´s the next one?" she asked before she could stop herslef, and she blushed again.

His smile broadened. "Saturday at eleven. Will you come?" He caught up her hand again and caressed it with his thumb, rouhg like a cat´s tongue.

"Maybe," she whispered. What was happening to her?

He dropped her hand but continued to smile at her. "You´re sure you´re fine, then?"

"Yeah." Her voice had regained its normal volume, she noticed with relief.

"Then I should go practice. I´ll... I´ll see you at dinner!" He began to walk away, grinning and running his hand through his hair.

Then, surprising even herself, Lily called after him, "James?"

He stopped and looked back at her. She felt her stomach do a somersault, and she took a deep breath to steady herself.

"I´ll come on Saturday," she blurted. And then she ran for it.

-----

Lily sat on her bed, stunned. She had been sitting there for half an hour, ever since she ran back from the Quidditch pitch. The turn of events astonished her. Not in a bad way; she was positively delighted about some of them. Like when James held her hand. Another shudder raced down her spine at the memory of his touch. Everything he had been telling her for the last four years was true. He really does care about me. She leaned against the wall next to her bed and allowed herself a fleeting smile. He had actually been concerned when he found it was her who had yelled. And not just some act, she though happily. Genuine concern. He DOES care! Lily gave a contented sigh and collapsed onto herside, hugging her pillow to her cheek as she replayed his impish grin over and over in her mind, the setting sun glinting off of his glasses. So much for Get-Real Girl, she thought merrily. She rolled off the bed and decided to go see if there was some dinner left.

As she stepped into the common room, she was surprised to see Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew (who was dancing around, looking thrilled,) and Sirius Black at the empty fireplace, staring at who else but - Lily´s heart leapt to her throat - James Potter, still wearing his Quidditch robes. He seemed to be recounting something for them, so Lily strained her ears to listen.

"- and then she says, `No James, that´s okay, I´ll be right there,´ and started towards me, so I offered her my hand, to help her up, you know -" Sirius snorted and James threw him a dirty look - "and she took it, would you believe. and then something raced down my back, I think she felt it too because then she just stared at me, and -" Sirius cleared his throat and jerked his head towards where Lily stood. She instantly began walking as all of their eyes landed on her. Smiling cheerfully, she managed a semi-natural "Hello," and brushed past them, very aware of their stares boring into her back. Then James broke away.

"Lily! Hey!" He rushed towards her. "Will you go for a walk with after dinner?" he asked in an undertone. Why did she have to blush just then?

"Yes, all right," she whispered, looking up into his soft brown eyes. Like a stag´s... she thought, almost dreamily.

"Tell you what, meet me at the Quidditch pitch. Seven thirty?" he whispered back. She nodded, unable to say anything else. He grinned at her - her pulse fluttered - and then turned back to his friends. As she reached the portrait hole, she heard, to her amusement, James exhale as if he had been holding his breath, and simultaneously, she heard Sirius say blandly, "All right, Prongs, I believe you now."

It took a great deal of effort to suppress her giggles until she was safely out of earshot of the common room.

* * * * *

Lily checked her watch for the third time in ten minutes. She sighed; it was seven twenty-eight. She had been sitting on the Quidditch stands - on, mind you since seven sixteen. It was lucky she had thought to bring a book to study; knowing James, he could show up anytime between seven and eight. Rolling her eyes, she truned back to her book, Lotions and Potions.

    ...is highly effective, and two or three drops should suffice to extract the truth from the drinker. One should note that the side effects of the Veritaserum may include...

"Here so early, Lily?" James Potter´s voice asked from over her right shoulder. Lily started.

"I... had extra time on my hands, and I didn´t want to keep you waiting," she murmered, marking her place in the book and turning to face him. Her stomach did a flip-flop when she saw the warm grin he was giving her, but she managed to keep her composure and asked in what she hoped was a nonchalant voice, "What did you ask me here for?"

"Told you, to go for a walk. Shall we?" he said, stepping down to her and offering his hand again, a sort of eagerness in his eyes. Lily was slightly annoyed by that look. My terms, James, she thought to herself, and stood up and walked off the stasnds without taking his hand. When she turned to look back at him, she saw he was staring after her with a mix of admiration and frustration on his face, but as he started down after her, she watched his expression change into a mysterious smile as he shook his head to himself. I´d give ten Galleons to know what he´s thnking right now, she thought desperately. Oh, how she longed to kiss his cheek and whisper "Sorry for being a prick" in his ear! But she couldn´t yet; not verbally anyway. So instead, when he reached her and smiled that smae bemused smile down at her, she slipped her hand into his and gave it an awkward swing. He grinned, and they began to stroll around the grounds.

"How´s your sister? Petunia, is it?" James made a stab at conversation. Lily was too busy thinking about his hand firmly around hrs to think about her awful Muggle sister, but she wrenched her mind from the warm tingle spreading down her back just the same.

"Oh. Erm, fine, I suppose." She shrugged. As if I care, she thought. "We don´t keep in touch too often. Muggle, you know. Hates magic, and doesn´t want me to ruin her new relationship. How d´you know her?" she said.

"Saw her at the train. New relationship, hm? How did that come about? I mean, everyone knows how much prettier you are."

Lily blushed, and looked up into his smiling eyes. As if in a dream, she felt her feet stop, and still gazing into him, never looseing her hold on his hand once, she saw him turn to face her drawing nearer, neare, till he gently lifted her chin with his thumb and fore-finger, bringing her closer, closer, till she felt him let go her hand and slip one arm about her waist... she closed her eyes...

Their lips met halfway, each searching for the other in the light of dusk. Lily throught her heart would burst as she slid her hands up his chest - she could feel his muscles quivering - and lifted one hand to smooth his unruly black hair. The tingles she had felt holding his hand turned to rolling waves of joyous fire and he kissed her lips, and she kissed his. James, James, it was all she could think as he brought the hand holding her chin to her cheek. James, James, oh James, James, James...

He began to pull away, slowly, darting back for a few last quick kisses every now and then as if afraid he would never be able to kiss her again. This amused Lily, and she allowed a playful smile to tug at her lips as she opened her eyes. Did he think she would forget what had just happened? She closed her eyes again and let her lips brush his for just a moment more before taking her hand out of his hair and smiling softly. One of his hands still held her waist, and the other remained resting on her cheek.

"You have such beautiful eyes..." he whispered, bring his hand back to his side from her waist. "Lily..."

His voice grew more confident, and it was all Lily could do to keep from kissing him again. "Lily, I know I don´t usually ask more than once a day -" She snorted, and he grinned. "-but in light of recent events..."

"Will you go out with me?"

And Lily knew, smiling up into his face and watching as a new glow radiated from it, the likes of which she had never seen before, she knew he could already tell what her answer was going to be.