So Evil Author Day inspired me to post, but I was going to post this one soon anyway. I’m in a total writing slump, sooo no update schedule and I don’t even have a pretty made for this, lol

***New Story Alert***

Title:Rugby Star
Summary:Hermione needs a date to Ron’s wedding. Ginny dared her to ask one of Charlie’s friends. Flirty, sexy, chaos ensues.
Pairing:Hermione Granger/Thorfinn Rowle
Rating:M/E
Warnings:Smut
Links:https://archiveofourown.org/works/29472138/chapters/72395598
https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13820276/1/Rugby-Star

Reconnaissance

New Story! FFNandAO3

Sirius Black has been sent to find information on a new blip on MI6 radar.
Marlene McKinnon is there for the next step in the downfall of one of the worst men on the planet.
But they’ll need each other to make it all work in the end.

For the amazing @tumbledfreckles I love you so much, darling and I hope you love this little story! I hope this whole week is amazing!!!

Reconnaissance

Chapter 1

Sirius stepped out of the car and onto the pavement, looking for all the world like an average Englishman arriving at his hotel. The heat hit him like the ocean’s waves were hitting the beach to his right. Night seemed to do nothing for how Sirius was instantly sweating. He’d tipped the driver an unremarkable amount, an amount listed in his instructions actually, but Minnie was nothing if not thorough. He had the same amount ready to pull out of his pocket for the bellman that met him by the car. The chap took his suitcase but Sirius politely shook his head when the man went for the briefcase in Sirius’ hand.

The aircon of the hotel hit him with the same force as the heat when he’d stepped out of the car. The hotel owners on this tropical isle seemed to understand their guests weren’t accustomed to these kinds of temperatures.

The lobby was nearly deserted at this late hour, but Sirius took note of the blonde woman sitting in one of the cushioned chairs, curls haphazardly pulled back behind her head, loose fitting sundress, a book held up in her hands, but her eyes unmoving.

She was watching the very man Sirius had been sent to investigate.

Thomas Riddle was waiting at the lifts.

Excellent.

Sirius stepped up to the desk and waited for the bellman to collect the receptionist, discreetly watching as Riddle stepped onto the lift and disappeared behind the closing doors.

The blonde woman, still not reading her book, waited a few moments before putting her book in her bag and following Riddle up the lifts.

Interesting.

Perhaps Riddle had found himself a beautiful accomplice.

Sirius shifted gears as the receptionist arrived with the bellman. She nodded to him and clicked on her computer.

“Welcome, sir,” she smiled, “Do you have a reservation with us?”

Sirius smiled and handed over his identification for this assignment. “I do, it’s under Will Fleamont.”

The woman clicked a few times and looked at his ID. “Wilberforce Fleamont?”

“That’s me.” Sirius gave her his winning smile and watched the color tinge her cheeks.

“Well, Mr. Fleamont, I hope you enjoy your stay.” She handed him his room key and fluttered her eyelashes. “And be sure to let me know if you need anything.”

“Thank you.” Sirius glanced at the envelope his key card was in. Second floor.

He could work with that.

He’d need to hack the computer system and see where Riddle was, and there was the beautiful blonde to figure out as well. Once he knew where his target was he’d have a real plan.

He handed the bellman his tip. “I’ll take it from here, mate.” Sirius grabbed the handle of his suitcase and moved to the elevator.

The lift was a decent size, not as big as Sirius would have preferred, but big enough that he had options if any unpleasant business would be required in its confines.

The corridor leading to his room was not nearly as wide as Sirius thought it ought to be. Any maneuvering would require precision, which Sirius had, but he would honestly prefer to not have to focus on it.

Sirius shook his head and pulled one of the key cards for his room out of its envelope. Then the door just down from his opened and out walked Miss Gold Hair.

Convenient.

She was still wearing the sundress, a light linen in a pale blue color. Her ice blue eyes took him in quickly as her blood red lips remained in a small, polite smile.

“Good evening.” Sirius returned her smile with his own.

She shifted the ice bucket in her hand. “Good evening.”

Sirius nodded to her as she continued past him towards the ice machine, cataloging her accent to be the same as his.

This might have just got easier.

A quick check of his room to be sure no one had tampered with it gave Sirius a sense of security before opening his briefcase. He really would rather no one discover the lead lined compartment inside, hiding some of his favorite things.

He unlocked the compartment with this fingerprint and smiled as his assortment of weapons and ammunition for this assignment looked back at him. British Intelligence only wanted information, which theoretically meant Sirius wouldn’t need much of any of this. But Riddle was a wild card, too many unknowns to be certain what could happen. So Sirius had come prepared.

He popped open his hot spot on his phone before opening his laptop. Seated on his bed, his .45 now within easy grabbing distance, Sirius began to sweep the hotel’s system, looking for the weak point that would let him in.

Sirius tsked when it only took him five minutes. “Where’s the chase in that?” He rolled his eyes.

But he could find Riddle’s room now, and the name of Miss Gold Hair next door, and could hopefully wrap this up and be home within the week. He should probably be grateful for the ease.

Five minutes and Sirius knew that Riddle was on the third floor directly above the room across from Sirius. He also knew that Miss Gold Hair was using the name Elspeth McKay. But based on the information he was finding, Elspeth McKay was a cover. In Sirius’ experience, someone who had no record whatsoever wasn’t a real person, and Elspeth McKay was as clean as a prepped operating room.

He was interrupted in his search for Miss Gold Hair’s true identity when his phone rang.

“How are things, Will?” James asked after Sirius answered.

“Landed alright and got to my room. The tropical climate is a big change from the Spring weather back home.”

“Lucky dog, I wish Minnie hadn’t needed me over here in the snow.”

Sirius scoffed, “Yes but she sent you out with the new girl and I know you’re loving it. Can’t blame you, her red hair is stunning. I’m almost jealous.”

“We’re co-workers, Will.”

“Of course, Henry, let me know how long that lasts.”

“She doesn’t see me like that.” James sighed. “But how about you? Anything interesting on your end?”

Sirius looked at the wall he shared with Miss Gold Hair. “There’s an interesting outlier. She happened to be around an unsavory sort though.”

“Don’t lose sight of why you’re there.” James’ voice shifted from easy going to concerned.

“I won’t. I might be able to come up with some options if she’s interested.”

“Be careful, Si-Will,” James’ voice betrayed his concern and frustration at not being able to speak plainly. “Get in, get out.” He cursed Sirius out for cackling. “You’re sick. Get the information and get home. I don’t like who he’s around back in London. This isn’t a game. And let me know if you need anything. I’m not so far that I can’t make it to you.”

Sirius managed not to laugh and just rolled his eyes. James was, in fact, too far to reach him, and he also knew Sirius very much looked at spying as a game, but Sirius let it go. “I’ll be careful and see you when this trip is over. I’m not here for anything all that interesting, after all. Shouldn’t take more than a week.”

“Let me know when you’re back. I’m not sure how long this one will take.”

“Keep in touch then.” Sirius disconnected the call and looked back at his computer.

He was getting nowhere on Miss Gold Hair, and he couldn’t do anything about Riddle until the man left his room. He pulled his second key out and reprogrammed it to get him into Riddle’s room.

He’d get more information and a better plan tomorrow.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sirius left his room very early. He needed an idea of what time Riddle and Miss Gold Hair arrived in the lobby each day, and so telling the curious receptionist that he wanted to watch the sunrise while he had his morning tea, his stake-out began.

Miss Gold Hair was in the lobby by seven sharp, today in a white linen skirt and a bright blue top. She moved to the coffee and tea bar and fixed her cup before moving to sit in the same spot that she had last night and pulling out a book. Sirius feigned a stretch and looked at the title. James Bond: Goldfinger. He barely held in his scoff. Ian Fleming told good stories, but in Sirius’ experience, there was far more fiction in them than there was reality.

Maybe he’d overestimated Miss Gold Hair. She might actually be Elspeth McKay after all.

His train of thought was cut off when Riddle came out of the elevator exactly thirty minutes after Miss Gold Hair had. He moved directly through the lobby and out the door with all the arrogance of a dictator. Sirius watched him get into the back of a black BMW 5 Series and drive away.

Sirius’ impulse was to chase him down, but he’d been a spy long enough to know when to rein in his bad instincts.

Unlike James Bond.

Besides, Miss Gold Hair was moving.

Sirius watched her move to the hotel’s restaurant. He casually followed, stopping to look at a painting while keeping her in his sight as she sat down at a booth and picked up a menu.

There were several ways that Sirius could handle this. He could ignore her. Decide that his initial thought that she was somehow involved with Riddle was wrong and move to Riddle’s room now. Or he could watch her today, trail her and figure out why she was here. Then again, he could fall back on his favorite method to use where a beautiful woman was involved.

He could be bold.

Sirius moved to the booth she sat in and leant against the opposite bench. “Could I interest you in some company for breakfast? I don’t much care for eating alone.”

Her blue eyes were calculating but her red lips stayed in the same polite smile from the night before. “I’m afraid I’m not much in the way of company.”

Sirius shrugged. “I wasn’t going to ask you to hold a conversation with me, just to let me share the booth with you.”

She raised her eyebrows at him, “You’re looking to not sit alone?”

“I’m sure you understand,” he gave her one of his winning smiles, “When people as good looking as the two of us sit on our own, lesser souls take it as an invitation to join us.”

Miss Gold Hair laughed, a clear, silver sound that went straight through Sirius’ chest. “Maybe I’d enjoy watching you fall victim to lesser souls, as you call them.”

“Ah, but you’d leave yourself open to attack doing that.”

“You say that like I can’t handle myself.” She narrowed her gaze, her polite smile falling into a scowl that really shouldn’t have been so attractive.

“I never said you’d fall, just that you’d be an open target.” Sirius smirked as her scowl lessened in intensity.

Miss Gold Hair studied him for a moment before the scowl was replaced with a genuine smile as she chuckled. “Alright, you may share my booth with me.” She gestured grandly at the empty bench across from her.

Sirius didn’t bother to hide how smug his smile was as he slid in and held out his hand. “Thank you, I’m Will.”

“I’m Else.” She shook his hand and Sirius was surprised at the firmness in her hand shake. He was fairly certain that she could have thrown him over the table if she’d needed to.

There was definitely more to Elspeth McKay.

“Nice to meet you Else, anything you’d suggest for breakfast?”

“Their omelet yesterday wasn’t terrible. My favorite is their fruit platter and chocolate croissants.”

“I’ll try the not terrible omelet then,” Sirius didn’t even pick up his menu. “And are you going to try something new today?”

“I thought you didn’t want conversation, just protection from lesser souls.” She slid her menu back in the basket on the wall.

“Are you telling me to stop?” Sirius gave her another charming smile; he needed to figure her out and talking with her was going to be a lot easier than watching her. He needed her off her guard.

Else chuckled and shook her head, “I suppose I’m not. I’m having their eggs and toast this time around.”

“Plan on trying everything on the menu before you go back home?”

“I won’t be here that long.” She turned her attention to the waiter as he approached, placing her order and asking hers to be billed to her room - separate from Sirius’ which he took note of. He’d expected her to try to get a free meal out of this. Make him pay in exchange for sharing the booth. Her first reaction, the annoyance that bordered on anger he’d managed to pull from her, was suddenly in check.

Why?

Now he really wanted to get to the heart of Miss Gold Hair.

Sirius placed his order and gave his room number before turning back to Else.

“So how long are you here for?”

“How long are you here for?” She countered.

Sirius smirked and leant forward, “Not into answering questions then?”

“You’re a complete stranger, Will, and I’m a single woman traveling alone.” She gave him a vapid smile. “Can I trust you?”

Sirius laughed, “You can trust me as far as this breakfast goes, Else.”

“But not past it?” She leant forward as well, closing the space between them.

“You’re a complete stranger, Else, and I’m a single man traveling alone.” He smirked as he threw her words back at her. “Can you honestly say I can trust you?”

Else’s smile shifted into a smirk. “As far as this breakfast goes, Will, you can trust me.”

Sirius found himself pulled into her smirk, how she threw his words back at him, the way her body leant over the table between them, her blue top shifting to reveal more of her neckline. He didn’t know who Elspeth McKay really was, but Sirius was quickly realizing that he wished they were meeting under different circumstances.

“What do you say to a long breakfast then?”

“I think you’ve convinced me.” Else’s smirk grew as she leant back against her bench and the waiter delivered their food.

“Alright, how about your book?” Sirius decided to see her reaction to his opinion of James Bond.

“My book?” Else smothered her first slice of toast in jam.

“Yes, the one you were reading this morning.”

“You noticed the book I was reading?”

“Else, I’m a simple man. You’re reading a book with a front cover featuring a woman who is obviously in a position to convince you that she’s naked. Of course I noticed.” Sirius smirked as she laughed through her bite of toast.

“It’s a James Bond book.” She sipped her drink. “Goldfinger, to be specific.”

Sirius tsked but couldn’t wipe the smirk off his face. “I’ve always disliked Fleming. His writing feels over the top.”

Else rolled her blue, blue eyes at him. “Well there’s no accounting for taste is there?”

“Says the woman who’s reading Ian Fleming.”

“Says the man who begged her to let him share her table.”

“Says the woman who let him.”

“Says the man who must have the last word.”

“How did you know my stage name?”

Else laughed, that clear joyous sound that pierced Sirius to the quick. “Well played, Will.”

Sirius gave a small bow, mostly just flourishing with his hand, and stuck Else with his most charming smile. “Thank you, always nice to be appreciated by a beautiful woman.”

The light pink that tinted to her cheeks felt like a one hundred pound note in his hand.

Else finished her drink before leaning over the table. “A beautiful woman enjoys the company of a charming man now and again. Thank you, Will.”

She stood and Sirius jumped up to stand in her way. He didn’t have the answers he needed and she was going to leave him with a potential open end in this assignment. “Think you might want to have breakfast together again?”

Else bit her lip, the red color making the action that much more alluring, and Sirius hoped it was an indication that he had half a chance - with getting the information of course; he definitely wasn’t thinking about how soft those blood red lips looked and if he’d have a chance to find out.

“When I’m here at the restaurant, you’re welcome to share the table with me.” She smiled an almost mischievous smile and then pushed passed him deliberately bringing her shoulder to bump against his arm. She used the action to spin her around and gave him a little wave of her fingers. “Goodbye, Will.”

“See you soon, Else.” Sirius winked at her and watched her laugh as she walked out of the restaurant and into the hotel lobby.

“Are you finished, sir?” The waiter approached him.

“Oh.” Sirius turned his attention back to his food. “The lady is, but I’ll finish mine up.” He sat back down at the booth.

“Very good, sir.” The waiter cleared Else’s dishes and left Sirius to the rest of his breakfast.

The omelet turned out to be far better than “not terrible” and Sirius enjoyed the last of it as he thought about what to do next. He couldn’t very well follow Else around now. He’d been so sure he could charm her out of what he needed to know that he’d played all in and gave up the ability to use stealth. It would be nothing but full interaction with Else from this point forward. And he couldn’t find out where Riddle was going until tomorrow - his plan now to slip a tracker on the car when it brought Riddle back and then make his way to wherever it dropped the man the next day.

All that meant he had one option left.

But Sirius wasn’t ready to break into Riddle’s room and do some digging. He wanted more information before he played all in there. Playing all in with Else hadn’t panned out how he’d hoped and he couldn’t afford to come out second with Riddle too.

Sirius finished his meal and then moved to the lifts, still mulling over his next move. A man came to stand by him who was a slight bit stouter than Sirius with ruddy, mud-colored hair. The man ignored Sirius, so Sirius took his cue, and pretended he wasn’t there either.

But Sirius went on alert when they stepped onto the lift and the man stayed far too close to Sirius for someone who had been deliberately ignoring him.

“What floor?” Sirius hit his floor and turned to face the man, watching the lift doors start to close in his peripheral vision.

The man didn’t answer, just lunged at Sirius in the small space.

Sirius’ first impression of the lift was accurate, there was just enough room to move within the space. As he sidestepped the man and spun around he ended up with his shoulder bashed against the doors. The man moved against him again and Sirius used the door for leverage as he shoved the man back against the far side of the lift.

His attacker was determined as he bounced off the wall and went for Srius’ middle. Sirius was very grateful for the grueling exercise routines that he was forced through when not on assignment as he jumped up high in the air and landed on top of the goon trying to do him in. Sirius immediately shifted and pulled the man into a choke hold.

Then he felt the elevator stop moving.

Great.

Sirius jammed his elbow into the button that held the doors closed and kept denying his attacker the opportunity to breathe. The patience required for this always frustrated him. Sirius would much rather subdue attackers by quicker means, but in the confines of the lift, he didn’t have a lot of options.

Finally, the man sagged and Sirius held the position for a moment longer before removing his elbow from the lift button and starting to drop the man down. The doors opened and Sirius turned.

Blue eyes he could already recognize stared down at him.

Well, crap.

“Else, thank heaven you’re here. He passed out on the way up. Would you help me get him out?”

Else raised her eyebrows, but helped Sirius pull the man out. “So me seeing you holding him in a choke hold before the doors closed again has nothing to do with why this bloke fainted?”

Sirius forced a chuckle. “I was catching him.”

“For roughly ninety seconds?” She shook her head and began going through the man’s pockets, probably looking for some sort of identification.

Sirius’ mind was working very fast as he tried to figure a way out of this one without involving Else in what was really going on. He still didn’t know if she was actually a part of this whole mess or not, let alone if she was on his side or Riddle’s. For all he knew she’d attack him next.

His thoughts were interrupted by Else’s startled oath.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” She opened her purse and started rummaging about, the scowl she’d given him earlier looked like a sunny smile in comparison to the furious look she wore now. “Look, Will, I’ll stay with him and you go get help.” Her tone was clipped as she ordered him about.

“What did you find that made you so upset?” Sirius reached around the man trying to find what she’d found.

“Nothing. He needs help. Go get the receptionist.” She wasn’t looking at him, still focused on whatever she was trying to find in her purse.

“Else, what’s wrong?” He reached for her arm but she ripped away.

“Will, just g-”

She stopped when the man groaned and opened his eyes. Sirius moved to push Else out of the way, worried the man would attack her - or worse, she’d help the man attack him.

But the man’s eyes focused on Else and he gasped. “You!”

Else’s hand moved so fast Sirius almost missed what was happening. One minute the man was coming around, and the next he was out cold again. Sirius barely caught sight of a syringe sliding back into Else’s purse.

Well, that escalated quickly.

“Ohhh-kay then.” Sirius looked around. “I think we’re on the same side when it comes to this bloke here. Want to compare notes?”

“Hurry.” Else stood up and moved to the custodian closest on the far side of the lifts. He heard several clicking noises and then the door opening.

Sirius hulled the man across the floor and grinned at Else. “Picking locks, an excellent skill.” His reward was another scowl.

“Just hurry.” She looked around the corner again as Sirius shoved the man next to one of the trash cans.

“Just so I know, is he going to be dead after what you put in him?”

“Don’t be ridiculous.” She pulled a few things off the shelves, creating the illusion that something had fallen on the man’s head and knocked him out. She’d obviously done this before. “It will keep him out for a couple of hours and he won’t remember the last hour or two before passing out.”

Sirius surveyed the scene, then caught sight of Else’s hand dipping back in her purse.

“Hands where I can see them, Else.” He spun on her and before she could react he pinned her against the wall, hands behind her back, her face away from him.

Her scent filled his nostrils, something spicy, alluring, and very, very distracting.

“Get off!” She struggled against him.

“Not till I know that you won’t be trying to inject me as well. You were rummaging in your purse before and now that man won’t remember the last two hours. I’m in dreadful need of my memories, Else. Let’s not make things ugly.”

“Will.” She struggled again but he held her tighter. “Argh, alright, not so tight.”

“How about we share some information other than the weather and your love for Ian Fleming compared to my disdain for him? That’s what I was hoping for at breakfast anyway.”

“Depends on the information.” She bucked backwards and tried to step on his foot but Sirius had been anticipating that and locked his leg behind her knees, forcing her closer to the wall. “Alright, alright.” She tried to take a deeper breath and Sirius ignored his instinct to let her have more space. “The man attacked you, right, Will?”

Sirius grunted, “What makes you think he attacked me? Maybe I attacked him.”

“You’re so full of it.” She tried again to free herself but Sirius pressed his whole weight against her and heard her gasp. His brain quickly went south and Sirius pulled it back up with a grunt.

Man, she could be distracting!

“Fine, either way, we both obviously wanted that man out of the picture of what we’re doing.” She slowly relaxed against his hold and Sirius’ had to pull his brain back up by the scruff of its neck as the curve of her body pressed against him.

“We’re at least not on opposing sides right now, and I promise I will not drug you if you’ll let me go.”

“I’m a single man traveling alone, Else,” Sirius tried for humor to give himself some time to think, to put his brain back in work mode and out of focusing on her soft skin beneath his hands. “Can I trust you?”

Else laughed, relaxing further into him. “I promise you, Will, you can trust me not to drug you.”

“Or shoot me?”

“Who said I had a gun?”

Sirius smirked and gave into temptation, leaning into her, speaking against her ear. “Tell me I’m wrong, Else.”

Her breath caught, Sirius felt it as much as he heard it, and the strength it took to pull away instead of bringing his lips to the soft skin of her neck was monumental. Then she chuckled, and the sound moved between her and him, pulling Sirius closer.

“Alright, Will, I promise not to shoot you either.”

“On your word, Else.” Sirius slowly stepped back, keeping a firm grip on her wrists until the last second.

That turned out to be a wise decision as Else immediately spun around and punched him across the jaw, but the distance he had already put between them made her reach further than she realized and her punch didn’t knock him out like he was sure it would have. Instead it knocked him back a couple of feet and he watched Else bolt for the corridor.

Sirius shoved the door shut behind him and ran after her. He came to the fork where the rooms went left and right and saw a flash of gold hair as the door to the stairs at the far left side slammed shut.

Miss Gold Hair was a quick one.

He sprinted down the corridor, coming to the door and listening till he heard the door to the beach open. Hoping not to lose her, Sirius took the stairs three at a time and came barreling out of the hotel and looked around. Her footprints led to the front of the hotel where the car park was and Sirius was sure as he ran around to the few lines of cars that were parked that he’d lost her.

Sure enough, Else McKay was nowhere to be seen.

He looked around and noticed the security cameras and smiled.

Miss Gold Hair had just made this assignment much more exciting.

Pseudonym

New Story! FFNandAO3

Part of the @harryandginuary Big Bang Event!

Huge thank you to @tumbledfreckles for the mood board! It’s amazing love!

For@magic-girl-in-a-muggle-world who picked the prompt for this story.

And thank you to @tumbledfreckles@magic-girl-in-a-muggle-world@midnightelite deadwoodpecker, lilyevansJan30, and HazzaP for beta-ing and really making this story shine! It wouldn’t be half as good as it is without you! Love y'all!

James has been writing mystery novels for seven years, under a pseudonym, and for a bit more than a year, he’s known he’s been living across the hall from his biggest fan, Lily Evans. But Lily has an idea that’s going to pull the rug out from under him.

A Jily Muggle AU.

Pseudonym

James looked at the final cut on his screen, reading the ending of his sixth book one more time before the printer would start cutting copies.

A bullet hit Ravi’s vest, leaving him gasping for breath. He tried to push past the jolt being shot gave him and get his head back in the game.

Then he realized the shots had stopped coming at them.

“Clear!” Nick called from over where the gunshots had been coming, frowning at the two lifeless forms on the ground.

Ravi stood and slid another magazine into his .45, not wanting to be caught unarmed having already avoided a close miss.

“Everyone alright?” Nick asked as he found the lights.

“Arora, did you take a hit?” One of the officers approached Ravi.

“I’m alright, hit my vest.”

Nick nodded. “Let’s get medical out here and have one look at you. These two aren’t with us anymore.”

Ravi looked around the warehouse. It was going to take ages to sort all of this evidence; he’d never seen so much cocaine. He should probably take the break while it was available, even if he didn’t think he needed it.

“On it.”

After a quick look over by an EMT, Ravi got confirmation of what he already knew; he was going to have a massive bruise and some sore days ahead, but at least he wasn’t dead. He moved to go help with the evidence when his favorite voice called out his name.

“Ravi!”

All his exhaustion and pain seemed to fade as he saw her.

“Sarah.” He smiled at the beautiful woman on the other side of the yellow tape and moved closer to her. “Getting your inside scoop for tomorrow’s paper?”

“Just happened to be nearby.” She winked at him. “And someone showed me how to use a police scanner.”

“What a great guy.” Ravi looked around before leaning in closer. “A great guy would also like you to know that if you finish that article before sunrise, he’d be happy to point you to a place with the best apple pie.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Sarah laughed. “And let you get back to work.” She waved her fingers at him before moving towards the EMTs and Ravi moved back to the crime scene, grinning.

If he’d realized anything after getting shot, it was that soon, he needed to tell Sarah how he felt about her.

But tonight, he’d focus on wrapping up this case and keeping Grandville safe for its citizens.

“Well,” James paused, “I think it’s ready.”

James sent the go-ahead to Sirius for his next Grandville Mystery installment to hit the presses and then shut down his writing laptop, tucking it safely away so no one would find it. That way no part of James’ life could get mixed up with that of F. J. Pearson’s.

James had been writing as F. J. Pearson for seven years and churned out five fast-paced mystery novels in that time. His speed with finishing the novels had been steadily increasing, having managed a book per year for the last three. He was at the point where he was seriously considering quitting his day job of writing physics textbooks and writing mystery novels full time.

But even if he made that jump, James was determined to keep a good amount of distance between himself and F. J. Pearson. It wasn’t exactly a state secret but only Sirius knew that James was a published mystery writer and only because he was James’ agent and editor. Sirius’ silence on the matter was guaranteed when James threatened to never write a novel again if Sirius let it slip who F. J. Pearson really was.

James chuckled as he remembered the two in the morning phone call that came after he’d sent Sirius his first manuscript asking to know if it was any good.

“Where do you come off?”

“Sirius?” He had groggily tried to register his best friend’s phone call.

“Don’t BS me, James, did you pay someone to write this?”

“What are you on about?”

“The book, James! Ravi! Grandville! Did you write it or did you pay someone? This is important, James!”

“I wrote it, Sirius,” James groaned and sat up in bed. “Every word is mine.”

“What in the world are you doing working with Remus on textbooks?! I read books for a living and I could not put this thing down!”

“So, it’s ok?” James had felt the embers of hope start to glow in his chest.

“No it’s not ok,” James could hear Sirius roll his eyes, “It’s brilliant! Call in sick to work in the morning and meet me at my office at 9. You’re a mystery author, James, not a science textbook bore!”

Sirius had hung up the phone before James could answer. By the next morning, James had received a bunch of instructions from Sirius on how to edit his manuscript as well as a pending agreement with Sirius’ main publisher.

Which had started a whole new argument with his brother.

“A pen name?” Sirius laughed and handed James another set of papers to sign. “Why on earth would you want a pen name?”

“I’m not using my given one.”

“What? So you’ll go by Wilberforce?”

“Sirius-”

“Bathsheba?”

“I was thinking Elvendork, seeing as it’s unisex,” James smirked at the laughter he pulled from Sirius.

“James, look-”

“No Sirius, I’m not going to let this affect Dad’s business. The last thing I want is for Sleekeazy to suffer because this book gets terrible reviews.” James stuck a hand in his hair, hoping not to reveal why he was really concerned. In an attempt to keep Sirius from realizing the true reason, James quickly added. “And I absolutely do not want this book to get a lot of attention because I’m the son of Fleamont Potter.”

“Get your hand out of your hair.” Sirius huffed.

“Mum’s not here to get upset at me for it. I don’t know why you feel the need to fill in for her.” James lowered his hand.

“You’re ridiculous you know that?” Sirius had clicked something on his computer, his eyes unseeing, his tone exasperated. James wasn’t sure if Sirius had guessed James’ reason for wanting a penname or was just unhappy not getting his way. “But fine, if it brings your genius into the world, what’s the pen name you’re working under? Because as much as I admire the genius that is Elvendork, this publisher will just assign you something different.”

“F. J. Pearson.”

Sirius turned to stare at him. “For all the imagination it took for you to write this book, you certainly know how to be boring in your name choice. Fleamont James Pearson?”

“Do you want to put the book out there or not?” James threw his hands up in the air.

“Fine. But I’m putting your real city in the author bio.”

James had rolled his eyes. “Fine.”

The pen name gave James anonymity, so he would never cause any sort of negative consequences for Sleekeazy. But James had also reasoned it gave him a way out if his book didn’t sell; no one but him and Sirius would know he’d published a flop, and it could fade into the background of his life.

But oh, how the book sold.

James had been flabbergasted.

Sirius had been insufferably smug.

James’ first book was on the top twenty best sellers list for four weeks straight. James couldn’t believe it. He’d written a book and people were buying it - and liking it. James thought he’d done well, scratched the itch to write something more engaging than a textbook, and maybe someday in twenty years he’d fess up to being F. J Pearson and writing the one successful book he’d published.

But then Sirius had told him to write another.

“There’s a series here, mate.” Sirius had leant back in his office chair and tossed his feet up on his desk.

“It was really just the one book,” James had hedged. “I never intended to write more than one.”

“James, your publisher wants another. They’re getting questions from readers about when your next book is coming out. Your fans want another Grandville Mystery. And when you finish that one, there’ll be questions about another.”

James shook his head. “I don’t even know what will happen next.”

“There’s always one crime or another in a city.” Sirius shrugged. “Pick something other than a jewelry thief and write about that. Oh, and I think you should play up something between Ravi and Sarah. That’ll pull in more readers from the romance genre.”

“Anything else?” He pulled on his hair.

“The sooner the better.” Sirius’ phone had rung then and the conversation ended with James feeling rather put upon.

He’d written one book, why should anyone expect him to write another? He’d never intended to write another.

But the more James had thought about writing a series of stories in Grandville with Ravi, the more he was drawn to the idea…

The second book came easier than the first, and the third easier than that. It had taken time, but James slowly got the hang of it and had learned when to recognize he’d taken the story the wrong way and how to course-correct. He’d grown not just as a writer, but he’d grown into a fully-fledged mystery author.

And now the series wasn’t so little.

As he had written this, his sixth Granville novel, James felt he was just now hitting his stride; once the idea hit, the story didn’t fight so hard to roll from his brain to the keyboard. Now a book a year felt doable. Now he felt ready to quit his day job and write novels full time.

But there was a little complication he hadn’t figured out his way around yet though, and that complication was one of his readers.

Lily Evans was potentially F. J. Pearson’s biggest fan. She wrote to him to thank him for each and every book. She shared all the promotional social media posts he put up for his books. She’d read his five books at least fifty times each. She knew his characters almost as well as he knew them.

Any author would consider Lily the perfect fan. Their best supporter. The kind of reader they could count on to read and love and support their stories.

There was just one problem.

Lily Evans was also James’ next-door neighbor.

She’d moved in a few months after the release of his fourth book, and James had been happy to have a new person across from his flat to share a wall with.  He’d grown tired of the last bloke playing folk music turned up to eleven at one in the morning, long before he’d moved out

When James had first seen Lily, he thought he might have died on his way home from the market without realizing it and was now in heaven.

“Hello.” She smiled from her doorway, a folding chair in hand, clearly meant to be brought into her flat. “I’m your new neighbor. Sorry for the noise. I’m just getting a head start on my things before my friends come help with the rest.”

James realized a second too late his hand was in his hair. Thankfully his mum was nowhere in sight. “No, it’s James, I mean, I’m fine, I mean, the noise, it’s fine, I’m James.”

She’d laughed and he’d decided it was his new favorite sound.

“I’m Lily.”

“Do you want help with your things?” James stuck his hand in his pocket and held his breath.

“Are you up for carrying heavy things?” She smirked at him and James felt his heart do a cartwheel.

“What else are neighbors for?”

She bit her lip and smiled and James was sure his heart was going to burst. Ok, so he probably wasn’t dead if that was any indication.

“I’m sure there are other things but today I’ll settle for a lift with the big stuff. These stairs are murder.”

By the time they’d pivoted some overly large pieces of furniture up the twisting stairs, a tentative friendship had been born. James barely managed to somehow not make a fool of himself at every turn - or beg her to go out with him. He spent more time outside now, too, because Lily loved to sit on her balcony, and James’ balcony just so happened to be right next to hers. If they’d both leant towards the other across the railings he’d be close enough to kiss her - not that he was thinking about kissing her.

Not overtly anyway.

He learned to recognize the sound of Lily’s balcony door opening, and there were very few things he wouldn’t stop in the middle of to go sit on the balcony with her. The moments shared across their joined fence made him feel close to her, close with her.

Then one day about a month before his fifth book was to be released, James walked out to his balcony and found Lily relaxing in the patio chair he’d hauled up for her, reading a well-worn paperback book.

“Good evening, Lily.” He’d sat down in the folding chair he kept outside now. “What book is lucky enough to be read by you?”

“One of my favorites, F. J. Pearson’s first Grandville Mystery.” Lily held up her copy of his book with a happy sigh and soft smile. “Have you read them? The fifth book comes out next month and I’m going to re-read the first four before I get my copy of the newest one.”

James’ hand immediately was shoved in his hair and he turned to look away from Lily with his book in her hands. How had he never realized that Lily Evans, his next-door neighbor, was Lily Evans, F. J. Pearson’s biggest fan?

But how would he have guessed? There were a few hundred thousand Evans in the UK, and Lily was reasonably common as well. James had just assumed they were different women. Probably because he never let himself be F. J. Pearson outside of writing the books and doing the small amount of advertising he did. So around Lily, he was always just James Fleamont Potter.

“James?”

Right, she’d asked him a question.

“I’ve, I’ve actually read them, all of them, several times.” He swallowed the bitter taste that accompanied the deliberate half-truth.

“Really?” He could hear the excitement in her voice. “I don’t know anyone I can talk to, outside of the internet anyway, who’s read these. Would you ever want to talk about them?”

James still couldn’t bring himself to look at her as he answered. “Yeah, that would be pretty grand.”

“I see what you did there,” Lily laughed, “Grand in Grandville. Do you care if I go on and on about how perfect Ravi and Sarah are for each other? Because I swear if I don’t get a story where Ravi finally stops goofing around and tells Sarah how he feels I’m going to hunt down F. J. Pearson and ask why they insist on torturing me.”

James pulled hard on his hair. He’d been deliberately dragging that out, mostly because it helped move the mystery plots forward in easy ways. “I think Ravi and Sarah will figure themselves out.”

“I’m sure.” Lily waved the book around, “I just want it to happen already. We’re already four books in! How long do I have to wait for them to get together?”

“I bet it’s just a couple of books away, he probably has it planned out.” He most certainly did not! “Setting things up and all that.”

James swallowed hard. What was he doing?!

“Oh! You think F. J. Pearson is a man?”

James couldn’t help but turn to look at her, his bottom jaw by his shoes. “You think he’s a woman?”

“Well, no, not really,” Lily chuckled, “A woman would have pushed Ravi and Sarah together by now. But the initials don’t tell us what their gender is. They could be a woman.”

James laughed in spite of himself. “I’d bet my next paycheck F. J. Pearson is a man.”

Lily smirked at him from her chair. “If I didn’t agree with you I’d take you up on that bet.”

James smiled over as she laughed, but internally, his mind was screaming at him.

He was an idiot. He should have told her he’d never heard of F. J. Pearson. He should have told her mystery novels weren’t his thing. He should have changed the subject and not come back to it.

But anything that connected him further to Lily was just too tempting. And if they could connect over his books, why not? After all, his own mother didn’t know he wrote novels. He could do this, just be another ordinary reader of his own books, he could do that if it meant he got more time with Lily.

Swallowing his guilt, James hardened his resolve. “So, what sort of crime would you want to see Ravi solve?”

That question had started not only six months’ worth of discussions about his books but had also brought him closer to Lily. They had shifted from friendly neighbors to close friends, hanging out away from their balconies, meeting each other’s mates. It made him hopeful that maybe someday they could be more.

James had even picked Lily’s brain about what she hoped to see in his next book. This had resulted in the book he’d just sent back to Sirius, his sixth installment, being heavily influenced by Lily and her ideas. James was nervous for Lily to read it and see all of her ideas in the book. But he hoped the book would make her smile, and he could enjoy being the reason she smiled, even if it was through a pen name.

James heard the sound of Lily’s balcony door as he tucked away his laptop and grinned. Time to go see a beautiful woman.

“Morning!” Lily smiled at him as she watered her potted flowers.

“Good morning, Lily.” He moved to the railing between their balconies. “How’s your Saturday?”

“Lovely,” she beamed. “I’ve had an absolute stroke of genius!”

“This is not surprising news.”

She rolled her eyes at him. “Aren’t you going to ask me what my brilliant idea is?”

“Sure, but I already know it’s going to be the best idea I’ve ever heard.”

Lily laughed as she watered her plants. “I’m going to email F. J. Pearson and ask him to do a public signing and maybe a reading when he releases his next book.”

James blinked, not realizing that his lower jaw was down on the pavement two stories below him.

“See!” Lily laughed, “You’re shocked you didn’t think of it first.”

“He- he- he’s never done any public events before.” James stammered as his brain tried to wrap around Lily’s geniusidea.

There was a very good reason for F. J. Pearson to refrain from public events.

“Just because he hasn’t done any events before now doesn’t mean he won’t. Maybe it’s because he doesn’t think he has the fan base to support it, which now he does. And besides, it never hurts anything to ask.”

“I- I- I- I guess…”

Lily giggled, “I’ll let you know what he says. I’ve got a draft on my phone and I’ll probably send it today.”

“Great.” James realized his hand was in his hair and he pulled on it to try and gain some grip on all the emotions that threatened to bubble over.

“I’ll see you later.” Lily smiled at him, a smile that made him wonder what he’d done to get her to look at him that way. “I’ve got to run.”

“Yeah, have a good Saturday.”

“You too, James.” She slipped into her flat with a little wave of her delicate fingers.

James moved back inside as well and shut his door.

Then he swore.

And swore again.

What was he doing???

He should have never led her to believe he was just another reader. The second he realized that Lily Evans, his next-door neighbor, was the same Lily Evans who shared every social media post that F. J. Pearson posted and sent thank you emails for each and every book he put out, he should have faked a phone call and ran away. He should have stopped after one book and told Sirius and his publisher he wouldn’t turn this into a series. He should have never shown Sirius the first bloody book at all. He should have burned it instead.

He should go open his laptop back up.

James moved back to his bedroom, pulling his writing laptop from under the blankets in the bottom drawer of his desk.

Maybe he’d get lucky and Lily would send the email before she left for her Saturday to-do list and he could see exactly what she was hoping for. Then he’d have the entire day to think of a plan to get himself out of this mess he’d made.

He opened F. J. Pearson’s email and shoved his hand in his hair.

Nothing.

He refreshed the page.

Nothing.

He refreshed the page again.

Nothing.

He swore.

Then his phone rang.

“You can not have read my edits that quickly,” James said as he answered Sirius’ call.

“Tetchy, what’s up?”

James shoved his hand back to untidy locks. “Nothing.”

“So, your hand is not in your hair?” Sirius’ voice was accusing.

“No.” James pulled the offending body part down and sat on it.

“You don’t fool Mum or me you know that right?” Sirius paused. “Really, James, is everything alright?”

James leant back in his desk chair and looked at his computer screen. It would only be a matter of time before he’d have to tell Sirius what he’d done. Might as well get it out of the way now.

“I may have made a mistake.”

“That’s in character.” Sirius snickered.

“Hey!”

“What did you do, James?”

“Lily-”

“Universe, give me strength.”

“She reads my books.”

“Really?” Sirius sounded amused when James wanted him to sound alarmed. “That’s brilliant! So are you going to tell her you’re F. J. Pearson and we can do away with this ridiculous charade along with the two of you dancing around each other?”

James felt his hand creep back up into his hair of its own accord “I’ve actually known she reads my books for almost a year now.”

The line was silent.

“Sirius?”

“I can not believe you right now.”

“I panicked!”

“Is that why this book feels different than the first five?”

“What do you mean?”

“Have you been asking Lily what she wants in your books?”

Crap.

“James?”

“Yes.” He dropped his head to his desk.

Sirius swore. “This is why I told Mum about Lily. This right here. You’re gone for her, mate.”

“Is that why Mum suddenly started bringing me food?! I’m not the son that messes with her recipes! I don’t need her bringing me enough food to solve world hunger every week!“

“Don’t get off topic, she just wants to meet Lily.” Sirius paused. “And tie your hands to your side.”

“I hate you so much, do you know that?”

“No you don’t, but moving back on topic, you lied to Lily, and now we need to find a way for you to tell her you’ve been an idiot, right?”

James went silent, trying to determine how to broach the next problem.

“Why do I think there’s more?”

James could hear Sirius roll his eyes, and he sighed in defeat.

“She’s going to email F. J. Pearson and ask that my next book has an author signing and reading.”

“Well, mate, sounds like you’ve just dug your grave. You’ve fancied this woman for a year and a half and then killed any chance you might have had.”

James swore.

“What were you thinking?”

“I don’t know?!” James lifted his head from his desk. “I thought it would be a way for us to spend more time together. We still weren’t really close when I found out and she was so excited to have someone to talk about my books with, and it worked, we’re, we’re friends now.” James felt his stomach turn at his words. "I should have just pretended not to have known what she was talking about.”

“Why didn’t you just tell her you were the author?” Sirius huffed. “Then she could have freaked out that she lived next door to her favorite author.”

“I don’t know if I’m her favorite author.”

“If she gave you ideas for this book then I’m going to wager you are at least top five.”

“Crap.”

“I repeat. What were you thinking?”

James swallowed. He knew exactly why he hadn’t told her the truth. He couldn’t; not without risking another fiasco. James heard his computer ding and looked up to see an email in his inbox.

From Lily.

“I need to go.”

“She emailed you didn’t she?”

“Yep.”

“Read it to me. I’m your agent and editor and unfortunately, that professional relationship means I need to help get you out of this hole you’ve dug yourself into.”

James shook his head even as his hand moved the mouse to open the email.

“No, I’m not reading a private message to you.”

“Private?” Sirius scoffed. “James, wouldn’t you like help to get out of this one?“ Sirius’ voice softened. "You’ve certainly had your fair share of pulling me out of my stupid situations.”

James swallowed as the mouse hovered over Lily’s email.

“Besides,” Sirius pushed on. “If you’re agreeing to public events, I need to let your publisher know.”

“I’m not agreeing to anything.”

“You’re so hung up on Lily that you lied to her about being F. J. Pearson. I think that’s a fair indication you might inadvertently agree to a public event.”

James groaned.

Why had he told Sirius?

“James,” the teasing had gone completely out of his brother’s voice. “I get it, alright, I get where you were coming from. But you’ve got to fix it if you want any chance with Lily.”

“I know; I just don’t know how. I’ve lied to her for months.”

“Right, that’s a bugger, but if you come clean, tell her it’s you, then maybe she won’t stay mad at you for too long and you can win her back.”

“Relationship advice? From you?”

“Desperate times, mate. Now let’s hear what the dashing Lily Evans has to say.”

James resigned himself and opened the email.

“Dear F. J. Pearson,

I hope you recognize the name, I’m Lily Evans and I’ve written you before. I’m so excited for your sixth book to release! My friend and I have been talking about it a lot and I’ve an idea for it that I hope you’ll consider.

I think a signing for this upcoming book and maybe a reading too would be amazing for your fans! I know you’ve never done a public event before, but I think you’ve got the fan base to support you. At the least, my friend and I would be sitting in the front row.

Kind regards,

Lily Evans”

James dropped his head back down and groaned.

“I mean, she makes some good points,” Sirius chuckled.

James glanced at the screen, hoping a miracle had occurred and the email was gone, and swore when it hadn’t.

“Write her back and tell her you’ll talk to your publisher. She makes some good points and I think we should discuss you coming clean with the world, especially Mum and Dad.” Sirius was back to business. “Then pick a time and tell Lily who F. J. Pearson is.”

“Right.” James swallowed. “I’ll email her back.”

“Don’t worry, James,” Sirius’ voice was worryingly reassuring. “I’ll be there if it starts to tear at the seams, just like you’ve been for me.”

“Thanks, Sirius.” James gave in and let himself mess with his hair, figuring he deserved some slack. “Enjoy your Saturday.’

"You’ve got this, James.” Then the call disconnected.

But he didn’t.

James didn’t have this.

He stared at the screen, his mouse hovering over the word reply.

Maybe he could wait a day.

No. That was more of the kind of thinking that got him into this mess.

Steeling himself, James set his fingers to his laptop keyboard and took a deep breath.

Dear Lily,

First, thank you for all your support of my books. I do get the thank you emails you send and see that you promote my books as well.

I talked to my editor and he thinks it’s worth talking to my publisher. His exact words were, “She makes some good points.” So we’ll see what happens. I’m flattered that you think I have the fan base to support public events.

I hope you have a wonderful Saturday and thank you again.

F.J. Pearson

James read the email twice more before he closed his eyes and hit send. He shut down his laptop immediately, not ready to see if she would email him back or not.

Then his phone chimed with a text.

Lily: He emailed me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Crap.

He’d officially trapped himself between himself and Lily.

James stuck his hand in his hair and looked down at the message despairingly.

What was he supposed to do now?

His phone chimed again as a screenshot appeared with the email he’d just sent staring back at him.

Lily: See!!!!!

James smiled in spite of the panic that was bubbling just under the surface. Lily had that effect on him.

James: I never doubted your skills.

He fell onto his bed and watched Lily’s typing bubble.

Lily: Want to come scout out location possibilities with me tonight? I don’t want to respond until I can give some good ideas for where he could do a signing.

James’ heart pounded in his ears.

Every bone in his body screamed yes, he absolutely wanted to go with her. But the guilt he felt kept begging him to say no, to not subject himself to the turmoil that being with Lily while he was actively trying to figure out how to tell her the truth was sure to cause.

But it wasn’t begging quite loud enough.

James: I’d love to

Lily: Great! See you at mine at 6?

James: Can’t wait ;)

He tossed his phone on the bed next to him and shoved his glasses up his face to rub his eyes.

It wasn’t so bad, James tried to reason with himself. He could get Lily’s opinion and see the options for himself and have some solid feedback for his publisher when they planned his signing.

If he did a signing…

Crap.

James hated it when Sirius was right.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

James was anxious for the rest of the day, going so far as to consider telling Lily that evening he was F. J. Pearson, though he felt like he needed a better plan than confessing it on her doorstep.

That plan didn’t materialize in his brain before six rolled around.

“James!” Lily opened her door. “Can you believe he emailed me back?!”

James laughed and leant against the wall. “Of course, I can. You’re brilliant, anyone who can’t see that after two seconds of interaction with you is an idiot.”

“Why thank you, Potter,” Lily chuckled as she closed and locked her door. “I didn’t get a chance to eat after I got home. Feel like grabbing something before we go scout out where our favorite author should reserve for his book signing?”

So he was her favorite author.

That thought had James floating for a brief moment.

“James?”

Right, she’d asked him a question.

“Sure, I’m always up for dinner with a beautiful woman.”

“Flatterer,” Lily rolled her eyes and moved down the stairs, James quickly following after her.

Lily drove them to a Greek restaurant that left James wondering if Greek food would be as easy for him to cook as Indian food and if he could possibly have Lily with him for every meal. She was the source of a lot of his anxiety but in a strange paradox, her presence was soothing his nerves.

It was moments like these, sitting across from her at a restaurant as she chatted about work, about her parents’ latest pensioner adventure, and as she teased him for being a rich kid as he paid for their dinner; these moments that made him want this every day, her there with him.

But he knew it wouldn’t, couldn’t happen. Not until she knew who he was. Not until he stopped hiding something so massive from her.

“Where’s our first location then?” James asked as Lily drove them away from the restaurant.

“First I thought we’d look at Flourish and Blotts since they’re a big name. Then I want to see if Tomes and Scrolls looks viable. They’re smaller but cozier too.”

“I like Tomes and Scrolls.” James nodded. “Their staff are nicer too, more helpful.”

“Exactly.” Lily nodded as she turned into the parking lot for Flourish and Blotts. “I’m sure that F. J. Pearson has been to both of these seeing as he lives somewhere in this city, but I thought he’d like a reader’s perspective.”

James swallowed as his guilt started bubbling near the surface for the millionth time that evening.

“I’m sure he’ll appreciate that.”

Flourish and Blotts had all the space in the world, but James was put off by the lack of personality the store had. Every Flourish and Blotts location looked just like this one. Every Flourish and Blotts had stuffy salespeople that were offended if you dared to ask them a question. Every Flourish and Blotts smelled like stale coffee and cardboard boxes. Every Flourish and Blotts felt like a charade.

This was not where he wanted his readers. He’d probably end up in the news as the author that chewed out the staff for being rude to a guest.

“I don’t like,” he said absently as they walked through the store and Lily took notes on her phone.

“What?” Lily looked up at him but James was frowning at the aisles of toys, still caught up in his dislike of the store.

“This isn’t what the readers want. I bet they’d actually kick us out if we went over our allotted time. Could you imagine the news stories? And tonight we cover an author who shouted at bookstore associates .” James spun around to head back to the car. “This won’t work. Let’s go.”

“Hold on.” Lily snagged his arm and pulled him back. “You think F. J. Pearson would have a shouting match with the associates?”

Her words brought James back to reality and he shoved his hand in his hair.

“I, er, I meant that he’d probably find all of this pretentious.” James gestured with the hand that hadn’t snuck to his hair. “And, I, er, well, he writes Ravi as the kind of bloke that isn’t afraid to put pretentious people in their place… So maybe…?”

Lily burst out laughing.

“I never thought of it, but now the image of F. J. Person channeling Ravi and chewing out these associates might be one of my favorite mental images.”

James breathed out in a rush of relief.

“So Tomes and Scrolls?” He made a conscious effort to shove both hands in his pockets.

“Yeah.” Lily pulled her keys from her purse. “I figured that would be the best place anyway. I guess we could look at the library as well but I honestly think it better to do this where people can buy his book and not fight over the ten copies the library will get.”

James laughed. “Our library has that many copies?”

“Only.” Lily shook her head as she unlocked her car. “There are twenty-five copies each of The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings books and only ten of F. J. Pearson’s books. It’s criminal.”

“Tolkien was a genius, Evans.” James jumped to defend one of his favorite authors.

“And F. J. Pearson is just as good, in my opinion.” Lily slipped into her seat and left James gawking over the top of the car.

“Did I break you, Potter?” Lily rolled down the passenger window and smirked at him.

James shook himself, trying to get some level of control over his brain. Lily thought he was just as good as Tolkien. Had he died? He pinched himself. Nope, not dead.

Holy crap.

“Yep.” He figured honesty was just as good as any response. She had rattled him and he was trying not to faint dead away. “I’m coming to terms with this newfound information about you and your biased opinions.” He slipped into the car.

“How on earth is it biased for me to like Pearson more than Tolkien?” Lily’s head tipped back and she laughed.

James felt his throat constrict in panic. He didn’t have an answer that he could actually give her without telling her who F. J. Pearson was.

“Er…” He looked around as Lily drove them towards Tomes and Scrolls and spotted an ice cream parlor. “Oh, hey, want to get Fortescue’s after we finish up at Tomes and Scrolls?”

Lily bit her lip and glanced over at him.

“I’d like that.”

For a moment, James forgot why he’d been panicking.

“Me too.”

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP

Lily pulled her laptop out of her bag and pushed the power button as she hummed happily to herself.

It hadn’t really been a date, but it had been a wonderful…not-date.

Whatever. Time with James was always something that Lily looked forward to. Maybe someday she’d be brave enough to risk their friendship and ask him on a date. The time they spent together was nearly dating anyway, but it lacked some of the perks that dating usually entailed.

Kissing for instance…

Lily shook the thought of kissing James away and sat down at her computer with her drink.  She needed to get a grip. She had an email to write.

F. J. Pearson probably wasn’t awaiting her email with bated breath, he didn’t even know she was sending it, but Lily wanted to get it out while the experience, and James’ comments, were fresh in her mind. And so she opened her email and set to it.

Dear F. J. Pearson,

I went with my friend I mentioned before, James, to look at a few locations that might work for the event and while Flourish and Blotts had plenty of space, James worried that their high and mighty attitudes might push you to channel Ravi and get into a shouting match with the employees. In the end, we both agree that Tomes and Scrolls would be the ideal place. It could end up with a queue outside the store, but James and I agree that it’s more in line with your fanbase.

I’m attaching some of the pictures I took that show where you could set up and maybe do a reading. I really hope your publisher agrees and public events can become a part of every book release you do. I know James and I wouldn’t be the only fans to block out our calendars for it.

Kind regards,

Lily Evans

There, that sounded normal enough. Lily didn’t want to come off as a stalker to F. J. Pearson, but she also didn’t understand why this author was so insistent on being hidden. His books were bestsellers, he had a solid fandom, there was even fanfiction for Ravi and Sarah for heaven’s sake. He was big. So why hide?

She hit send and then looked at her phone. It was only ten, she could text James and tell him she already emailed Pearson; maybe she could tease him about how she’d included one of the pictures that had James in it. That might buy her an hour or so of conversation with him…

Lily shoved her phone in her pocket.

What was she? Thirteen?

She needed to go to bed, and hope that she didn’t dream about Mister tall, dark, and sexy on the other side of her wall.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It took her two days to manage to reconnect with James. He must have been busy because he didn’t come out on the balcony any of the times she went out to water her plants. She finally saw him when they happened to be coming home at the same time. Well, roughly the same time. She didn’t reallyrun to catch up to James, but she privately admitted to stepping lively to reach him before he walked into their building.

“Potter.” She tapped him on the shoulder. “Fancy meeting you here.”

James gave her a brilliant smile as his hand found his hair. He always seemed annoyed when he caught himself doing it, but Lily found it endearing. She had to grip her purse strap to keep the urge to also tangle her hands amongst the soft-looking strands under control.

“Alright, Evans?” He held the door open invitingly.

“Fine, and yourself?”

James’ hand brushed the small of her back as he followed her in before dropping back to his side. Her back buzzed with electricity and she resisted the urge to step back into him.

“Good, what are you up to this evening?”

“Just dinner.” James followed her up the stairs, the hand that had brushed her back now firmly back gripping his hair.

Was it a nervous habit? Did she make him nervous? Heaven knew he gave her butterflies, maybe she gave them to him too?

Focus, Lily.

“We have that in common, then.”

Lily cringed. Could she manage to be any lamer?

James laughed, “We’re a right pair, Evans, nothing but dinner to occupy us on a weeknight.”

Lily laughed too, trying to figure out if there was any way for their conversation to continue as they approached their respective doors.

“Hey, Lils.” James stopped them at the landing. “I was hoping I could talk to you about something.”

Lily felt her heart beating in her ears. “Sure.”

James tugged a tangled curl of hair and looked down at his shoes as he let out a long breath.

“Well, you see, er, we both like F. J. Pearson’s books-”

“Oh!” Lily suddenly saw her chance to keep them talking. “I sent that email! Pearson hasn’t emailed me back yet though.”

James looked at her like a deer caught in the headlights of a car. Then he laughed, a shaky sound compared to the deep laugh he usually had for her.

“What a tosser.”

Lily rolled her eyes. “I’m sure he’s just waiting to hear back from his publisher. I sent him the pictures I took.”

"Brilliant.” James’ eyes fixated back on his shoes. “I’m sure he’ll get back to you. Only an idiot wouldn’t.”

Lily bit her lip as her stomach fluttered at his words.

“He’s probably busy.”

James responded with a non-committal grunt.

Silence fell between them again and Lily felt the happy flutters in her stomach start to shift into an awkward clinch.

“Well,” Lily looked toward her door, “I guess-”

“Would you like to come to mine for dinner?” James blurted out.

Lily felt her heart stop dead in her chest. She glanced back at James, who was playing with his hair again.

“It’s, well it won’t be anything fancy, but, if, if you weren’t looking forward to making yourself something-”

“Yes,” Lily cut him off before he could change his mind. “I’d love to join you. Can I bring anything? I’ve a freezer stocked full of ice cream.” She frowned. “No chocolate though; your heathen taste in ice cream isn’t accounted for in my selections.”

“I’m wounded.” James threw both hands over his heart. “You mean to tell me you don’t keep an emergency supply of chocolate-chocolate chunk ice cream on hand for me?”

Lily rolled her eyes but bit her lip to try and mediate the smile that she felt blossom across her face. “You’ll have to make do with cherry vanilla, pistachio, or chocolate chip cookie dough.”

“I suppose I’ll live with the chocolate chips in your chocolate chip cookie dough then.” His hands fell. “But I warn you, I have no self-control when it comes to ice cream, hence there is never any in my flat.”

“I’ll only bring what I’m prepared to part with then.” Lily let her smile shine through. “I’ll just drop my things off and then be right over.”

“Brilliant. Great.” James dropped his keys and quickly stooped to pick them up, jingling them around in his hand as he stood. “I’ll just, er, I’ll just get things started. Don’t worry about knocking. I don’t want to keep you waiting if I’m at the stove.”

“Alright.” Lily pulled her keys from her bag, hoping she didn’t look overly eager. “I’ll only be a moment.”

“Right.” James turned his body to his own door while he still looked at her. Lily heard his key knock around a few times before she heard it slide into the lock. “Right, I’ll see you in a moment then.”

Lily nodded, not sure how to exit this conversation gracefully. She chose simply not to attempt it at all and stepped into her flat and shut the door.

Then she let the low-level panic and high-level excitement course through her veins as she bit her lip and bounced up and down.

She was having dinner with James.

Dinner with James, in his flat.

James asked her to have dinner with him in his flat.

“Breathe,” she reprimanded herself. “Don’t dawdle. Move.”

Within five minutes, Lily had brushed her hair, changed her shirt, collected the ice cream, and was slowly opening James’ door.

“James?”

“In here” He stuck his head out from the kitchen. “Make yourself at home, Evans.”

Lily adjusted her grip on the ice cream cartons in her hands as she moved towards James and the spicy smells coming from his kitchen.

“Am I good to just put these in the freezer?” She gestured toward the refrigerator.

James set down the wooden spoon in his hand and reached for the cartons.

“Here, let me.” His fingers were strong as they wrapped around her hands and held them for just a second longer than necessary before slipping the ice cream from her hands.

Lily forgot to lower her arms as he set them in the freezer.

“Have you ever had rogan josh?” James asked her as he closed the freezer door. “My mum dropped off enough to feed an army on Sunday and I’m trying to get through it all.”

“Nope.” Lily came to stand next to James as he stirred the red stew in the pot. “But it smells amazing.”

James beamed at her. “It is. Mum does it better than anyone I know. It’s basically a spicy lamb stew. I’ve got some plain yogurt if you need to cool it down. I don’t expect you to eat it as hot as my mum makes it.”

“I think I’ll be alright.” Lily smiled. “My dad loves Thai and always asks for it as hot as they’ll make it for him.”

“Well, don’t kill yourself, alright?” James bumped her shoulder with his and gave her a soft smile. “You’ve got nothing to prove to me.”

Lily felt her heart try to flutter out of her chest.

Maybe he was starting to see her the way she saw him. Maybe tonight would be the night she tried to move things out of friends and into something more…

When that sat down for dinner, Lily had to admit that James was right, she did need the extra yogurt, but she still loved his mum’s dish.

“I might have to meet your mum,” Lily sighed after her second bowl. “My ice cream in your freezer is the only reason I’m not having thirds.”

James picked up her bowl with a laugh. “She’ll be thrilled to hear it.”

James turned to face her, leaning against the sink counter behind him, and cleared his throat. “Would you like to sit on the sofa while we have ice cream? It’s a fair bit more comfortable than my dining chairs.”

“Sure.” Lily couldn’t help the beaming smile she gave him.

She followed James to his sofa, trying to ignore the sudden wave of shyness she felt as she opened the cherry vanilla ice cream pint in her hand.

“So.” James smiled at her, sitting far enough away on the sofa that he could face her.

Lily giggled around the bite of ice cream in her mouth. “So.”

“Thank you for having dinner with me, if you want to take some of the rogan josh home, I’m happy to share. I might actually manage to get it all eaten before it’s too old with your help.” James dug into his chocolate chip cookie dough.

“I will not argue with taking some of it off your hands,” Lily smirked. “Maybe your mum would be willing to bring me my own batch.”

James’ laugh was loud and his face contorted as he tried to keep the bite of ice cream in his mouth. “Trust me, what she brings just to me is plenty for the two of us.”

“Does she bring food to Sirius too?”

“Oh yes, usually more than she brings me. She knows I can make a lot of it myself, she’s been teaching me since I was about seven.”

“Does Sirius not cook?” Lily took another bite and sighed happily.

James cleared his throat and had another mouthful of his ice cream.

“Sirius cooks well, but he likes to experiment and change things, and Mum thinks it’s hedonistic or something. So obviously, if she brings him heaps of food, he won’t cook her recipes and ruin them.”

“Why does she bring you food then?” Lily smirked. “Do you ruin her recipes too?”

James rolled his eyes. “No, she uses it as an excuse to come see me.”

“Why does she need an excuse?”

James coughed and his cheeks reddened. “She’s just being my mum.”

Lily grinned, sure there was more James wasn’t telling her.

“If I ever meet your mum, I’ll be sure to ask what her motives are in bringing you food.”

James gave her a soft smile, his spoon halfway to his mouth. “Alright.”

Lily felt her whole body react to that soft smile, full of far more than friendly affection. He smiled at her like the thought of her meeting his mum had put him in the clouds.

She cleared her throat and took another spoonful.

“How’s your ice cream?”

Lily looked up at James and couldn’t help but smile.

“It’s lovely. How’s yours?”

“Not chocolate,” James smirked at her.

“You’re welcome to buy your own.”

“We’ve talked about this.” James reached over and poked her arm. “I have zero self-control when it comes to ice cream. If I bought chocolate it wouldn’t make it fifteen minutes in my freezer.”

“That would be a shame.” Lily gave him a playful shove and leant into the sparks that flew up her arm from having a bit more physical contact with James. “Although a slight rounder version of yourself wouldn’t be such a bad thing.”

James made a sound that came somewhere from his chest and pushed forward; holding his pint off to the side as his free hand connected with her waist and tickled.

“Hey!” Lily laughed and leant into James’ touch, sliding her ice cream onto the coffee table as she threw both hands into tickling him back.

James’ other hand connected with her wrist and held it away from his underarms. His hazel eyes were alive with laughter and sheer happiness and Lily’s heart filled to bursting.

His fingers stilled suddenly and Lily watched his eyes drop to her lips. She held her breath. Wondering. Hoping.

She moved forward, just a fraction, hoping beyond hope that he’d meet her halfway.

James moved closer, mingling their breaths.

“Lily.” He said her name with a gruff breathless sound and his eyes dropped to her lips again with a heat that made her heart beat in her throat.

“Ja-”

Lily jumped as James’ phone began ringing loudly on the coffee table.

He swore, looking back and forth between her and his phone.

“Go ahead, it must be important.” Lily tried to put a good front on and keep the disappointment from her voice.

James looked at her with what Lily could only call longing in his eyes before pulling away from her entirely.

He frowned at the screen and sighed. “I’ll take this in my bedroom. I’ll be right back.”

Lily watched him disappear down the corridor and blinked.

James had every right to take the call in his room, but she had to admit a part of her hoped he would just silence his phone and ravish her.

Maybe she hadn’t seen the heat in his gaze. Maybe she’d imagined it all. Maybe she’d wanted it so much that she’d nearly made a fool of herself and kissed him.

She was an idiot, and she should count herself lucky that some higher power had just stopped her from doing something that could have ruined her friendship with James for good.

Lily picked up her ice cream and put the lid back on the pint with a sigh. She wasn’t hungry anymore.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lily looked at her email and felt a tingle of giddiness.

1. J. Pearson had responded.

He was doing a reading and a signing! At Tomes and Scrolls!

Lily had woke up still feeling put out by how nothing had happened between her and James the night before, but this email helped her to push that frustration aside for a few minutes.

She was so excited!

She had to tell James!

And then she stopped short.

They’d ended things the night before in what Lily could only call an intensely awkward moment.

James’ hand had been planted firmly in his hair and his other hand had gripped his phone when he’d remerged. He’d commented on how late it was, how they both had work in the morning, and that he had a few things his employer needed him to do before he could turn in.

Lily had gawked at him and then managed to mumble her agreement and apologies for staying so late before grabbing her ice cream and fleeing to her flat.

Not the sort of parting that left Lily feeling like he had wanted to kiss her, or instilled confidence in her current desire to text him.

She reread the email and gritted her teeth. Lily needed to show James they were friends, that she was on the same page as he obviously was in regards to their almost kiss; what better way than to push all the awkwardness and hurt that she felt away by texting him with something they could both geek out about?

Before she could change her mind, Lily took a screenshot of the email and texted it to James with a GIF of a teddy bear running in circles with a big smile and confetti falling around it.

He responded within thirty seconds with a happy dance GIF.

Good, he was at least communicating with her.

Lily:Thanks again for dinner last night.

She held her breath as James’ typing bubble popped up on her screen.

James: Anytime. I appreciated the company

Lily bit her lip, wondering if she should give in to the desire to ask him if he’d ever like to come to hers for dinner, but then her “get up now or you’ll be late for work” alarm sounded and Lily settled for texting James that she too appreciated the company and let it go at that. Hoping that now they’d be able to go back to the friendship they had before.

But things were still weird.

Five days later, Lily was at her wit’s end. She was positive that James was doing more than just ignoring her, he was actively avoiding her. And Saturday morning she decided she couldn’t take it.

After a quick email to F. J. Pearson telling him how excited she was that he was doing a reading and signing - she’d been so focused on James ignoring her she’d forgotten to respond to Pearson - Lily went to her balcony to water her flowers and give James one more chance before she threw everything on the line.

If James was going to avoid her and stop their friendship, even when she was doing everything to show him she could keep things as friends, then Lily reasoned she might as well give him a valid reason to do so.

She emptied the watering can and looked at James’ empty balcony.

This was ridiculous.

The least he could have done was tell her that the almost kiss had been too much and he was through being her friend.

Why was he being so difficult?

A considerate person would tell her.

The James she thought she knew would tell her!

Where was the man she’d grown to trust? The man she was realizing she counted on as more than just her neighbor?!

In a rush of frustration, Lily tossed her watering can at James’ balcony door.

One second too late she realized what she was doing, but thankfully, the plastic container missed the door and skidded across the decking instead.

Alright, obviously it was time to have a conversation with James.

Just as soon as she retrieved her watering can.

She left her flat and after taking a few deep breaths she knocked on James’ door.

James opened a moment later, his phone held to his chest, and smiled at her.

“Hey, Lils.”

Lily felt some of her frustration fading under the warm hazel of his stare. “Hi, sorry, but I’ve, well I’ve dropped my watering can on your balcony.”

James chuckled, glancing at the phone pressed firmly against his chest. “You’re welcome to grab it. I need to finish up here.”

“Thanks, I’ll just be a moment.” Lily bared her teeth in a poor imitation of a smile as he let her into his flat.

“Lils,” James called after her as she walked toward his bedroom. Lily turned to see him looking at her with that same heated look he’d had the night they’d almost kissed. “Can you stick around for a bit? I’d like to chat once I’ve wrapped things up.”

Lily bit her lip but nodded. “Sure thing.”

His returning smile had her dipping her chin as she bit her lip. Maybe things weren’t as bad off as she thought they were between them. Maybe she was imagining him being distant. Maybe he just needed some space to see her the way she saw him.

She stepped into his room and smiled as she looked around. James’ bedroom was clean, but not quite tidy. His desk, right next to the sliding door to his balcony, had his laptop open, his inbox still on the screen, and dozens of papers around the machine. She bet that all the problems he was putting into the next physics textbook were worked out on those pages. Smiling, she moved to look at the pages, thinking she’d tease him about them when he finished his call.

But she stopped in her tracks when she got close enough to the laptop screen to see her name.

Lily stared at the laptop, the email she wrote to F. J. Pearson not fifteen minutes ago looking back at her.

“Did you find it alright, Evans?”

James appeared at his bedroom door and froze.

He swore.

“How?” Lily turned to look at him as she pointed at the screen, her watering can long forgotten.

James’ hand was shoved in his hair and his eyes were wide with panic.

“Lily, I can explain.”

“That you’re hacking F. J. Pearson’s emails?”

“Lily,” James’ other hand moved to his hair. “I- I’m sorry. I should- I should have told you ages ago, but I- I’m F. J. Pearson. I’m the author of the Grandville Mysteries. F. J. Pearson is- it’s my pen name. I’m sorry!“

Lily gawked at him, opening her mouth and closing it again and again, no sound emerging for several moments. Her mind spun. She couldn’t pull a full breath if her life depended on it.

"You’re, you’re F. J. Pearson?” The words tasted metallic on her tongue.

She watched James’ Adam’s apple bobbed up and down.

“Surprise?”

Lily blinked as anger and embarrassment pumped through her veins.

“Has this been some sort of joke for you?”

“What? No! Lily-”

“A great laugh this must have been,” Lily crossed her arms, feeling the heat of her embarrassment in her cheeks as it squeezed her chest. “I thought we were friends, James.”

“We are!”

Lily ignored the desperation she heard in James’ voice. “Really?” Lily gave him a humorless laugh in an attempt to push down the tears that were pushing on the back of her eyes. “Because this really doesn’t feel like something a friend would do. Lying to me? For almost a year? I bet you don’t even write textbooks!”

“Lily, you don’t understand-”

Redamancy

New Story! FFNandAO3

“I’ve done something dumb.” Lily groaned as she looked up at Marlene from the sofa.
“If it’s like every other dumb thing you’ve done, I’m going to my room.”
“No, this time I’ve done something well and truly stupid.”
Marlene eyed her from her lounge chair, skeptic to the last. “Out with it then.”
Lily took a deep breath. “I told Petunia I had a boyfriend.”

A gift for lovely @petalstofish as part of the Potterverse Gift Exchange! Merry Christmas, love!

Redamancy

“I’ve done something dumb.” Lily groaned as she looked up at Marlene from the sofa.

“If it’s like every other dumbthing you’ve done, I’m going to my room.”

“No, this time I’ve done something well and truly stupid.”

Marlene eyed her from her lounge chair, skeptic to the last. “Out with it then.”

Lily took a deep breath. “I told Petunia I had a boyfriend.”

Marlene blinked. “Honestly, Lil, I thought you’d actually done something worth batting an eye at.”

Lily groaned and tossed the card in her hand at Marlene. “Read that and tell me I haven’t been an idiot.”

Marlene shrugged and handed it back. “So Petunia gave you a plus one to her wedding for your non-existent boyfriend. Tell her that he can’t make it because he can’t get work off, or because he’ll be with his family. Honestly, only your sister would get married on Boxing Day.”

“Then she’ll know I was lying!” Lily tossed the invitation on the sofa next to her. “The only reason she’s even giving me the plus one is to call my bluff and then rub it in my face that I have no one and she has Vermin.”

“I’d rather have no one than be saddled with that blob.” Marlene came to sit next to her on the sofa. “Is it really that big of a deal? What if you brought me instead? My family doesn’t have anything planned after Christmas.”

“Yes and no.” Lily leant against Marlene’s shoulder. “I can’t bring you because Petunia would kill me.”

“Always happy to leave lasting impressions,” Marlene chuckled. “Good to know that she hasn’t forgotten it’s not appropriate to infer a woman is a prostitute just because she enjoys leather pants.”

Lily smiled at the memory, “Exactly. But I can’t just show up alone because I’ll never hear the end of how she sacrificed a seat at her wedding for my non-existent boyfriend and how awful and ungrateful a sister I am.”

It was quiet between them for a moment and Lily tried to push away the dread building in her stomach by pulling her jumper tighter around her.

“Well, I guess you need a stand-in boyfriend.”

Lily lifted her head from Marlene’s shoulder. “A what?”

“Someone to play the part just for the day of the wedding.”

“A fake boyfriend? Where on earth am I supposed to come up with a fake boyfriend in six weeks?”

“You could take Sirius,” Marlene tapped her chin as she thought.

Lily shook her head. “No offense, but there’s absolutely no way I’m pretending your friend with benefits is my boyfriend.”

Marlene smirked but said nothing and Lily tried not to guess where her friend’s mind was.

“Remus then?”

“He’s with his family all that week. I’m not asking him to leave his mum just to be my date for one day. You know she’s not doing well.”

Marlene opened her mouth to say more but Lily cut her off.

“And before you say Peter, Petunia already knows he and Bridget got married last year.”

“I wasn’t going to say Peter,” Marlene’s smirk widened. “I happen to know that James is very much available the day after Christmas. According to Sirius, the Potters take Boxing Day as an excuse to not get out of their pajamas.”

Lily felt her mouth go dry. “I can’t ask James.”

“Why not?”

“You know why not!” Lily fell back against the couch with a huff. “You do not ask the man you secretly fancy to be your fake boyfriend to your sister’s wedding, and especially not when he’d rather be spending it with his family.”

“Maybe this is a way for you to stop fancying him in secret.”

“Or to ruin a perfectly good friendship.”

“Can you think of anyone else?”

Lily groaned. “No. I guess this means Petunia wins this round.”

Marlene stood, “Well, if you’re willing to give up that easily, I’ll leave you to it, but I still think you should ask James.”

Lily felt Marlene’s words like a bee sting.

She wasn’t giving up, Lily reasoned as Marlene shut her door. She was admitting defeat.

But the longer she sat there listening to Marlene’s speakers playing Fairytale of New York through her door, the more Lily didn’t want this hanging over her head for the next seventy-five years. She didn’t want this brought up at every family gathering. She didn’t want Petunia to win.

And then, as if Fate was trying to give her a push, her phone buzzed with a text message from the man who might just be able to save her.

James:you busy?

Lily couldn’t help the smile that streaked across her face as she read his text.

Lily: No. Just sitting on my couch.

James:i know its cold and very wet out, but would you maybe want to go for a hike with me? after last summer i promised mum i wouldn’t go by myself anymore

Lily thought Mia was right to extract the promise from her son. He’d decided to try and save a young deer from some fishing line it had become tangled in, but the deer was obviously spooked and once free had kicked James in the chest, breaking four ribs in the process. He’d had to make his way almost a mile out to the trailhead while his ribs tried to puncture his lungs.

And while she would much prefer an early summer hike to a late autumn hike, Lily did have all the items to keep her dry and warm.

She could go, for Mia of course.

Lily: Sure, want me to meet you at the trailhead?

James: nah, ill be there to pick you up in 20

Lily responded with a thumbs-up emoji and then moved to get ready, wondering if Fate was trying to tell her that asking James to be her fake boyfriend for Petunia’s wedding day was the right move.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“This is beautiful,” Lily sighed and looked out over the lake. A light frost still clung to a few of the shrubs surrounding them.

James bumped her shoulder, “See you should come out with me more often.”

Lily paused. Maybe James had just given her the perfect way for both of them to get what they wanted.

“I have an idea.”

“I bet it’s a good one.”

“You need someone to hike with, especially now that it’s cold, so you can go as often as you used to.”

James raised his eyebrows at her. “Yeah.”

Lily bit her lip. “I need a plus one for Petunia’s wedding, on Boxing Day.”

“Why did she give you a plus one? That doesn’t sound in character for your sister at all.” James furrowed his brow.

“It is when you consider why she gave it to me.” Lily fiddled with her water bottle.

“And what’s the reason?”

“I got into a fight with her, again.”

“That sounds like a reason she’d uninvite you.”

“Well,” Lily suddenly didn’t feel like the idea was so amazing. “She dug into her having someone and me being single and I was so angry that I blurted out that I had a boyfriend.”

James let out a low whistle.

“And this is her calling your bluff, huh?”

“Right.” Lily kept her eyes on the dirt below her hiking shoes.

“Lily,” James’ gloved hand wrapped around hers and Lily forced an even breath. “Are you asking me to play your fake boyfriend for Petunia’s wedding?”

“I’m sorry,” Lily shook her head. “I shouldn’t have-”

“Lily.” James cut her off as he squeezed her hand. “Of course, I’ll help you. And don’t feel like you need to hike with me to get it. I’m your friend, I don’t need a reason to help you.”

“I’ll still hike with you,” Lily looked up, excitement and panic pounding through her so fast she wanted to rip off her coat. “I know how much you love hiking, I’ll make sure I can come out with you at least once a week.”

James laughed, “You’ll have legs of steel and be ready to live with Father Christmas and his reindeer if we’re out here once a week.”

“I could use a good bout of exercise, combat the holiday weight and all.” Lily bumped his shoulder. “But you’re sure?”

James wrapped his arm around her shoulders and Lily couldn’t help but lean into him. “I’m sure, Lils. Let’s make Petunia look the fool.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Ready for your date?” Marlene teased as she checked her red lips in Lily’s mirror.

“This isn’t a date.”

“Sure it isn’t.”

“If this is a date then you and Sirius are more than just friends with benefits.” Lily retorted.

Something flashed in Marlene’s eyes but it was gone in an instant and she laughed. “Well played. So are you ready for your fake date with your fake boyfriend?”

Lily rolled her eyes. “James just thought we should practice before Saturday.”

“And hiking with him every Saturday for a month and a half hasn’t been enough practice?” Marlene sat on Lily’s bed. “Or the increase in text messages and phone calls?”

“We’re friends.” Lily tried to brush off Marlene’s digging. “All of those interactions we’ve just been friends. But James pointed out that we haven’t practiced being closer and it’s bound to look fake if the first time we hold hands or slow dance is at the wedding.”

“So this is your dress rehearsal?” Marlene handed Lily her clutch.

“Exactly.”

“Break a leg, I suppose. And may I add that you should practice kissing, just in case.”

“Just in case what?” Lily felt heat rush to her cheeks. “What, why, why on earth would I need to kiss James at Petunia’s wedding?”

Marlene hopped off Lily’s bed with a smirk. “You never know.”

Lily did know though, and there was absolutely no reason to give her stupid crush any more fuel than she already had. Seeing James so frequently and spending hours with him talking and laughing and just being together was giving her heart all sorts of fodder.

It really wasn’t a good thing, but Lily wasn’t about to stop it.

James was bailing her out of her lie, the least she could do was hike with him. And if hiking with him included hours of time spent close to him, and trips to the cafe afterward to warm up, well she’d just have to hope her heart didn’t break when this all ended.

James knocked on the door as Lily checked her reflection once more, adjusting her dark green velvet top.

No, she was not dressing up for him…she was, she was trying to look festive, thank you very much. Christmas was just a week away. It was normal to dress up for Christmas.

“Wow,” James blinked at her from the front step, his black coat undone to reveal his blue jumper.

“Oh,” Lily felt panic starting to form in her chest, “Am I dressed up too much? I didn’t even think to ask you what we were doing. I-”

“Lily,” James chuckled, “It’s just dinner and a little Christmas concert at a pub my parents suggested.”

“Right, good, that’ll be good, to practice I mean.” She fiddled with the neckline of her blouse.

James looked down at his shoes a moment before smiling back at her.

“Shall we practice then?” He held out his hand.

Lily swallowed but forced a smile as she slipped on her coat and took his hand. Electricity tingled through her fingers and palm all the way up her arm and across her neck, leaving Lily gasping for breath.

“Yeah.” Embarrassed by the lack of substance behind her voice, Lily cleared her throat and tried again. “This was a good idea.”

James’ hazel eyes had gone dark, his smile shifting as he looked down at her.

“I think so too.”

James apparently meant what he said about practicing being a real couple. He didn’t stop touching Lily at all through the entire night, and it was a problem because that hold she was trying to keep on her heart stood no chance against James’ constant touch.

His hand was on her back, then his fingers were intertwined with hers.

While they sat at dinner his foot found hers and slid from her ankle up her calf and back again.

His arm wrapped around her shoulders at the concert and when he spoke to her he leant in close enough that his warm breath teased her neck with its gentle kiss.

And Lily leant into all of it.

She couldn’t help herself.

Every time she bothered to realize where her hands were she’d find they were wrapped around James, his hands, his arms, his waist, even gripping his jumper at one point. She was honestly surprised that she hadn’t unknowingly put them in his hair.

This pretending was too easy. Lily was too attached to James to keep this fake, and she knew it.

But what could she do?

“Let’s go to the back and dance,” James’ voice was low as his lips brushed against her ear. The band was playing their rendition of Silver Bells , perfect for a slow dance.

Lily looked to the back of the pub, ready to say that they shouldn’t, only to find at least ten other couples already swaying slowly as they held each other close.

“Come on.” James’ took her hand. “It’ll be good practice.”

Right, practice.

Lily tried not to let her disappointment at the reason James was being this close to her show on her face.

“Good idea,” She smiled up at him and let James lead her to where the other couples were dancing.

She assumed he’d take her hand and lead her through some dance that his posh upbringing would have taught him and she would attempt to stumble her way through it. She had even watched and practiced with a few YouTube tutorials, trying to not make both of them look like fools.

James, however, had other ideas.

He spun her around once, then caught her elbows and guided her arms up around his neck. His hands traced along her arms, lighting her up like a Christmas tree, then down her sides to rest on her hips, pulling her closer.

Every single touch left Lily buzzing. Gasping. Silently hoping for just a bit more.

“Has tonight been alright?” James’ thumbs rubbed against her hips and Lily struggled to think straight.

“It’s been a wonderful fake date,” Lily braved a smile.

“Not too weird to pretend to be madly in love with a tosser like me?”

Lily shook her head, hoping he couldn’t see in her eyes how much her silly crush was shifting to a whole new level.

A dangerous level.

“Not at all.”

“And this is alright?” James leant his forehead into hers, pulling her just a little closer.

Lily couldn’t breathe.

She barely managed an affirmative hum.

“Good,” James’ voice slid through her like a silk cord, wrapping around her heart and slipping it from the desperate grip she was trying to keep on it.

She should say something. Somewhere in the back of her mind, Lily knew she should say something and break the spell James had woven around her.

She should say something.

Then James pulled her closer, wrapping his arms completely around her waist, bringing their bodies flush against each other, and Lily lost the battle.

There were no two ways about it. In her attempt to thwart Petunia in calling her bluff, Lily had gone and given her heart to James. She’d spent a solid two years being ever so careful, keeping just enough distance between herself and him so that she wouldn’t lose his friendship over a silly crush that surely would fade away given enough time. It was out the window now. Nothing she could do would ever put them back to where they’d been before. James could never be just a friend after this.

And to keep herself from the tears, she rested her head against James’ shoulder and pretended that the way he held her like he’d given his heart too was real.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Excited?” Marlene came walking into Lily’s bedroom, handing over the red heels she was lending to Lily.

Lily put on a smile and nodded as she slipped into the shoes, completing the very Christmas-y ensemble when paired with her green and white dress and her hair swept up with a white poinsettia clip. Not being a bridesmaid stung, but had the fringe benefit of wearing exactly what she wanted.

“It’ll be good to see Petunia’s face when she realizes that I’ve actually brought a date.”

“Not just a date,” Marlene slid onto Lily’s bed, “A boyfriend.”

Lily tried not to let the sting she felt at Marlene’s comment show on her face.

From Marlene’s expression, she failed.

“What’s wrong?”

Lily shook her head. “Nothing.”

“No, not nothing, what’s going on?”

“Really Mar, it’s nothing.”

“Did James hurt you? Because if he did I’m going to-”

“James didn’t do anything,” Lily quickly cut off her friend.

“Then what’s going on?”

“I’ve done something dumb.”

“Will you stop that?” Marlene demanded. “You don’t do dumb things!”

Lily’s returning laugh was humorless. “Falling for your fake boyfriend is pretty dumb, Marlene.”

“Finally!” Marlene squealed, jumping up from the bed and wrapping Lily in a hug.

“This isn’t a good thing!” Lily protested, pushing Marlene off of her. “James and I are friends!”

“The best relationships are based on friendship, Lils.”

“But he doesn’t feel that way about me!”

“BS,” Marlene started typing on her phone.

“Don’t you dare text him!” Lily lunged for Marlene’s phone but she jumped out of the way.

“Chill! I’m texting Sirius! And you usually don’t like when I share these texts but if you really want reassurance you’re welcome to read the whole thread.”

“Ew,” Lily grimaced. “Fine, but please don’t intervene. James doesn’t feel the same way about me and I’m trying to figure out how to stop these feelings before he realizes that I’m overly attached and ends our friendship.”

“And Sirius calls me dramatic.” Marlene threw her curls over her shoulder. “Look, just talk to him about it, alright? Do it tonight.”

Lily’s phone rang and she swallowed at James’ smiling face on her screen.

“James is probably here, I’ll see you tonight.”

Marlene winked at her. “Or tomorrow morning works too.”

Lily glared at Marlene’s back but tried to keep the annoyance out of her voice as she answered her phone.

“Hi, James.”

“Hey, Lils, I’m just about to yours, but I wanted to know if you prefer almond poppy seed, blueberry, banana nut, or chocolate chunk muffins?”

“They’re all good to me, James.” She adjusted the neckline of her dress.

“Now, now, don’t be like that. Which sounds amazing right now?”

Lily licked her lips. “Honestly, the chocolate chunk, but you really don’t-”

“Perfect, I’ll be there in ten minutes.”

And he ended the call.

Lily stared at her phone, wondering if James really planned to bring muffins to her sister’s wedding, before deciding that she’d wait by the window so she could meet him at his car when he arrived. The last thing she wanted was Marlene “accidentally” blurting out things she had no business telling people - mainly James.

True to his word, ten minutes later James rolled up. He jumped out of his car but stumbled when he saw Lily walking towards him.

“I know I keep saying this, but, wow.”

Lily smiled, “You look good all bundled up in your coat too.”

“Well thank you. Wait till you see this suit without the coat.” James closed the distance between them and offered Lily his arm.

“I hope this dress can keep up with it.” Lily laughed and took his arm.

“Shall we go and shock your sister?”

“Yes, let’s go give Petunia a stomach ulcer.”

James’ laugh was a booming sound that filled Lily with a warmth that had her wanting to curl up in front of a cozy lit fireplace with him.

But she forced herself to pull away.

She had to stop leaning into him or she’d never salvage any piece of their friendship.

“Now.” James slid into the driver’s seat. “This box here has two chocolate chunk muffins in it.” He handed her the small box. “And this is your tea. I figured we should have some sort of pick-me-up before going into this. And I’ve noticed many wedding planners forget that people need to eat at these things. So we’re covered on all fronts.”

Lily swallowed the sudden rush of emotion that hit her.

“Thank you,”

“This is where you tell me what an excellent fake-boyfriend I am,” James smirked as he pulled out of the parking space.

Lily laughed, grateful for the humor that broke through her anxiety. Maybe, if he kept her laughing, she could make it through today.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Lily! Who is this?!” Petunia’s lips were pressed into the thinnest line Lily had ever seen and her words were sharp as daggers.

“Hi Tuney, this is James, my boyfriend.” Lily stepped closer to James, not difficult to do in the small bride’s dressing room of the venue Petunia had chosen.

“Your boyfriend?!” Her skin was as pale as the white satin of her wedding dress. “You don’t have a boyfriend! You were lying to me! Mum told me you hadn’t said anything about seeing someone!”

“Then why, might I ask.” James wrapped a protective arm around Lily’s waist, pulling her close against him. “Did you include an invite for me if you didn’t believe I existed?”

Petunia’s glare shifted to James. “I do not know who you are and I do not have to answer you.”

Lily felt her temper flare. “I don’t care that this is your wedding Petunia, you do actually have to be nice to James.”

Heaven knew how much of Vernon Lily had endured.

Petunia opened her mouth to respond but was cut off.

“Lily!” Their mum came into the already crowded room. “I’m so glad you’re here, and who is this?”

“James Potter, Mrs. Evans,” James took her mum’s hand and kissed it as he bent slightly at the hip. “I’m Lily’s boyfriend.”

Lily’s mum smiled broadly, “Well, I’m very happy to meet you!” She turned to Petunia. “That was thoughtful of you to let Lily have her boyfriend here, dear.”

“I, I, I-” Petunia stuttered.

“Lily, why don’t you take James and get your seats up by mine and your father’s.” Her mum hugged her with a twinkle in her eye. “We’ll be along in about twenty minutes and then we’ll have pictures after the ceremony. It’ll be another thirty or so minutes after that for dinner.”

Lily put on a smile, “Sounds brilliant.” She kissed her mum’s cheek before taking James’ proffered arm and leaving her sister gaping after them.

“That went well,” James joked.

“I think Mum knows something is up.” Lily swallowed as the unease settled in her stomach.

They walked into the main hall, devoid of any and all Christmas decor. As if getting married on Boxing Day somehow meant Petunia wasn’t having her wedding at Christmas time.

“If she does, she took our side back there.” James stepped to the side as Lily took her seat. “Besides, I’m so charming she probably forgot to suspect anything.”

Lily shoved him but laughed. “Could your head get any bigger?”

“Not so long as I’ve got you and my mum around.” He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her into him. “Relax, Lils, we’ve got this.”

“I hope so.”

But as people started coming up to say hello, Lily realized she absolutely did not have this.

Family friends, people she’d known since she was a kid, were coming up and genuinely happy, excited even, to meet her boyfriend. Treating James like one of the family. Making it that much harder for Lily to put distance between her heart and James, between her and James.

Thankfully, and ironically, Petunia saved her from any more well-meaning family or friends by getting the show underway.

But that opened more opportunities for her heart to cling to the facade of a relationship she and James were portraying. The ceremony was beautifully given, and the officiant made Lily long for the kind of companionship they counseled the couple to cultivate and build together. James’ arm around her shoulders through the whole thing only served to remind her she’d never have it with him.

And it broke her heart.

The crushing feeling in her chest.

The tightness in her throat that she couldn’t swallow away.

The blur of moisture in her vision.

She needed space.

Now.

Before she did something stupid.

Like give in to every desire of her heart and kiss him.

After a quick congratulations to Petunia and Vernon, Lily told James she was stepping to the loo.

And bolted.

Staring herself down in the mirror over the sink, Lily fought for control.

She would not cry.

She absolutely would not cry.

She would be strong.

She would control her heart.

She would get over this.

Over James.

That thought made her stomach cramp.

Lovely.

Now she might cry andvomit.

“Lily?”

Lily turned from gripping the sink to face her mum.

“Hi Mum,” Lily forced a smile.

Her mum wrapped her in a long hug. “Darling, what’s going on? And please tell me that lovely James is not a paid escort.”

Lily couldn’t help the laughter that nearly exploded out of her.

“He’s a friend, Mum.”

“But not your boyfriend?”

Lily looked down at her heels.

“Lily, I could tell two things when I walked into that room and the first one was that you and your sister were trying to outmaneuver each other again.”

“She was just so infuriating!” Lily felt the anger seeping back in. “She kept going on and on how when I finally found a man who would look past all my freakishness I’d see her side of it. That I was somehow this poor deprived soul because I wasn’t getting married right now!”

“You’re not a freak, my Lily.” Her mum pulled her back into a hug. “You’re the opposite and if I’d known your sister was still calling you that I would have threatened her wedding favors for it.”

Lily chuckled and tried to swallow down the threatening tears. “You shouldn’t have to keep pushing her to be a decent human being. I’m getting better at handling her.”

“Like telling her you had a boyfriend?”

“Yeah,” Lily sighed in defeat and rested back against the sink. “But then she called my bluff.”

“So you asked James to be your stand-in?”

“He’s a good friend, and has put up with more than he deserves already.”

“And he’s quite taken with you.”

Lily paused as her heart latched on to her mum’s words. “James is a friend.”

“I told you, I could tell two things when I walked in that dressing room, and the second was that the man standing next to you was head over heels for you.”

Lily shook her head, but her mother continued.

“I’ve got a sense about these things, but even if I didn’t, it’s not hard to catch. Haven’t any of your friends pointed it out to you?”

Marlene’s insistence over the last two years echoed in her mind, along with the not so subtle hints Sirius had been giving and Lily had written off as teasing.

“You’re not the first to mention it.”

Her mum squeezed her arm. “So be the woman I raised you to be and make that boy out there yours.”

Lily shook her head as a tear escaped down her cheek. “What if he doesn’t feel that way about me? What if I lose our entire friendship?”

Her mum pulled her into a hug. “Then I’ll be there to help you move forward. But my mother’s sense tells me that isn’t what’s going to happen.”

Lily buried her head in her mum’s shoulder, breathing in the comforting warmth. “Promise?”

“Promise. I’ll even smuggle you out of here if you need it.” She nudged Lily to look up at her. “Now, let’s get these pictures out of the way and you and James can go find a quiet spot to talk before dinner.”

Lily took a deep breath and linked her arm with her mum’s trying to give herself courage. “Right, I can do this.”

“There’s my girl.”

Lily didn’t know if it was her mum squeezing her arm or the smile James turned on her when she walked up to him, but for the first time since she got the plus one on her invite, Lily felt like maybe she did have this.

Pictures went quickly and James kept his smile on her from his spot near the door until she was assured that she was free till the dinner.

“Hey Lils.” James pulled her under his arm. “Everything alright?”

“I think so,” Lily smiled up at him. “Want to go find someplace where we can sit for a bit?”

“Definitely.” And for the first time, Lily noticed that when James looked at her, his eyes dropped for the briefest moment to her lips.

Maybe her mum - and Marlene - were right.

They meandered through the venue till they found an out of the way bench looking out at the Christmas lights adorning the trees and light posts in the car park. They claimed it for themselves and spent the first few moments enjoying the beauty before them.

“James,” Lily broke the silence as she rested her hands in her lap, her fingers running over the red and gold polish of her Christmas manicure. “I really appreciate all of this.”

James’ hand came to close over hers. “Anything for you, Lils.”

Lily stared at their hands, focused on how right it felt to look down and see his fingers intertwined with hers, finding courage in it.

“Have, have you noticed that we’re, well, we’re kind of good at this?”

“At what, exactly?”

“Well, at being together, being more than what we started as.”

His free hand came up to gently cup her chin, guiding her eyes to meet his, the hazel so dark it might have been black.

“What are you saying, Lily?”

Her breath was much harder to pull with his fingers caressing her face, but Lily gave it her best effort.

“I don’t want to pretend anymore that I don’t fancy you.”

James’ smile split his face nearly in half and he squeezed her hand. “I would really like to stop pretending I don’t fancy you as well.”

Lily didn’t think she could pull a full breath if her life depended on it, and her voice squeaked as she asked, “Really?”

James nodded as he moved forward at a snail’s pace, slowly closing the distance between them.

Then Lily heard her mother’s advice echo in her mind; make that boy yours .

She lunged forward.

There was no other word for it.

Lily pushed forward, leveraging off of her knees, and closed what little distance between them James had yet to cover.

Her lips pressed to his in what could only be called bliss.

Finally, finally, every daydream, every hope her heart had secretly harbored, nothing compared to finally having her lips pressed to his.

Lily slowly let their lips part, only to have James move with lightning speed. His hands moved instantly from her chin and fingers to wrap around her waist, nearly pulling her into his lap. His lips were back to hers, this time his tongue tasting, savoring, teasing. And somewhere in that lightning second, Lily realized that her arms were wrapped around his neck, pulling James flush against her, her fingers tangling in his hair.

It was a member of the staff, ushering guests to where the dinner would be served, that managed to make the young couple surface for air.

“Really.” James rested his forehead against hers, his hands sliding up and down her waist.

“So are we a real couple now?”

“If not, tell me what will make us a real couple and I’ll make it happen.”

Lily laughed, leaning in to kiss him again. “I think we need to make plans for a real first date.”

“What are you doing on New Year’s Eve?”

“Just the McKinnon’s party.”

“Will you go as my date?”

Lily felt her smile reach cartoon level in size and she couldn’t help but laugh as she nodded.

“I’d love to.”

James kissed her again. “Happy Christmas, Lily.”

“Happy Christmas, James.”