Jealously Wears A Green Mask | Jily

10: They Were Dancing

^^ I googled slow dancing and this was the first thing to come up and I thought it's so perfect :')

James pounded his fists relentlessly against the door, making a hollow, banging noise which was starting to get on Lily's nerves.

"Just stop!", she blurted out furiously, giving James the side eye, leading him to stop and plop down opposite her, his back against the cold, stone wall.

"Alright no need to be like that," he said, unintentionally sounding irritated, "I was just trying to help."

Lily sighed and looked up to face James, "yeah well they clearly left a while back, so lot of good beating up the doors going to do."

"It's an old door you don't know!" James said actually irritated now, "and any students passing could just open the door."

"How? They don't have the key," she harrumphed, glaring at him.

However her anger had clouded her judgement, leading to James exclaiming amusedly, "in case you hadn't noticed Evans, we're in a school for magic."

"Whatever," she scoffed, cursing her hot temper for making her look foolish.

James didn't respond, his head was racing, emotions going 1000 miles an hour: jealousy, anger, grief, betrayal, hurt, confusion, but above all he felt stupid. Stupid that he didn't see his friend was in love with the same girl as he was. He had been so obsessed over her he'd never seen his best friend had been looking at the same girl. Locked in a small room with the love of your life should be exciting - instead it was torturous. And to make matters worse that not a minute in, they'd already had an argument.

James glanced up at Lily. She was staring at the floor, in what appeared to him as anger, but to her was an attempt to hold back tears. This was not what they had planned. Betrayed by her fellow conspirators, her full proof plan now seemed like a childish retaliation. She should have just come out and said what she had felt. It was easier to hide behind a prank, but that's not how love works, she thought glumly.

James was the one to break the, almost eerie, silence, "you look beautiful in that dress", he said sheepishly, flicking his eyes up but making sure not to make eye contact, "I meant to say earlier but I got a bit flustered - it really suits you though."

Lily cleared her throat awkwardly and snuck a glance at his increasingly red face, "thanks", and after a pause added, "I see you put a lot of thought into your costume too."

James laughed quietly and Lily smiled to herself, she loved making him laugh, after all the times he made her snort water though her nose, it felt like an achievement. It did also help that he had the most infectious laugh and an adorable laughing face too.

"Oh yeah", he replied, with a little more confidence, "this has been weeks in the making."

Lily grinned and scrunched her mouth up. He was so damn cute, she thought silently to herself. Giving herself no time to think about what she was going to say, she was going to start talking. Telling James her feelings once and for all. Amping herself up she quietly but pointedly cleared her throat once again.

"James I-", but she was cut off immediately by a dejected voice.

"I-", he cleared his through preparing himself for what he was about to do, "I want you to know that- that..."

This was much harder than he though, before when he had said that he was happy for her and Sirius it was a shocked reaction and in a loud room, it was insincere. But the circumstance had changed and now he had to say it with feeling. And he was going to say it. He gulped again.