#oh Padfoot I'm sorry that these two stole your thunder

[jfleamont]

Here's a very very silly Jily ficlet set on Sirius' 18th birthday in the common room :)

Read here or on AO3

The Cake

There were two reasons why Lily couldn't stop staring at his lips.

The first one was obvious, and it was a little embarrassing because right when he had moved on, she had gone and fallen for him like an idiot.

The second, though, well... James had chocolate frosting on his bottom lip. He was sitting on the couch facing her, moving his arms animatedly and talking about Quidditch, most likely - the alcohol in his system had only heightened his enthusiasm - which, admittedly, was of little interest to her, but she was so endeared that she couldn't find it in herself to stop him.

And then there was the frosting on his lip - so distracting - for which Sirius' birthday cake was responsible. So really, Lily couldn't very well be expected to keep her cool around him.

“... And I swear that was the moment I fell in love with flying! Dad grounded me for two whole months, which in hindsight was more than fair seeing as his seven year old son had stolen his old broomstick and almost died. Oh, did you know Sirius was afraid of flying in first year? You wouldn't think he—”

Lily put a placating hand on his arm, as he had almost sent his plate on the ground in excitement. He froze momentarily, but quickly recovered and chuckled bashfully as he rubbed his neck.

“Sorry. I become a bit of a fanatic when I'm plastered.”

Lily sipped her own drink - a cocktail that Peter had invented apparently - and raised an eyebrow at him. “Then you must be drunk all the time.”

“Ha, ha, you're hilarious.”

She was about to respond, but her gaze returned once again to his mouth. She must not have been as subtle as she thought, because James cleared his throat, and when she looked up at him she saw something like curiosity in his eyes.

“There's cake on your lips, James,” she blurted, grateful that her quick reflexes hadn't been completely affected by all the booze. And it was true, so what was she worried about?

He smiled smugly, which Lily found stupidly hot, but she was preoccupied with more urgent matters. “Cake, you say? Because it sounds a lot like an excuse to snog me.”

It was a predictable answer, and so very James. It still didn't stop her from picturing it in her mind and making her heart race. “I don't need lines to flirt. But perhaps this is your strategy?”

“I—”

She interrupted him, her mouth working faster than her brain. “And the cake is still here.”

She leaned forward, resting one hand on his thigh for support as the other reached for his mouth. “You've looked like an idiot the whole time,” her thumb dragged across his plump bottom lip.

“There, all good,” she said, her voice surprisingly even. She felt like her whole body was on fire and a part of her was screaming to stop, but Lily pointedly ignored it. She leaned back and removed her hand from his thigh, but not before licking the frosting that had transferred to her thumb.

She got up from the sofa, turned in his general direction - looking him in the eyes was out of the question - and added, “I need a refill. I'll see around, James.”

She walked away without looking back: if she had, she would have noticed that James was frozen, looking like a deer caught in the headlights, his fingers lightly touching his lips the only sign that he hadn't been hit by a Petrificus Totalus.

James hadn't registered much after her touch: if he had, he would have seen that her glass was still half full, and noticed how a blush had spread from her collarbones to her cheeks.