(no subject)
Title: Valentine's Day 1977 (possibly)
Rating: PG
Ship: L/J
“No.”
“Fine. How about the one by the window in the pink jumper?”
“No.”
“Merlin - look at the legs on that one! Looks as though they’re all going to be wearing their robes short this spring - excellent!” Sirius rubbed his hands together gleefully and leaned over to get a better look at the slender-legged Ravenclaw who had just entered The Three Broomsticks, momentarily distracted from his conversation with his best friend.
A third voice piped up sardonically from behind the pages of a thick textbook on the other side of the table, “Ha. Sirius Black - fashion correspondent for Witch Weekly now, is it?”
“You’re just jealous because not everyone can achieve my effortless style and charming good looks!” Sirius retorted, craning his neck now to watch as the girl sashayed towards the far end of the bar, she had clearly sensed his appreciative gaze and tossed her sleek black hair back over her shoulder, whispering and giggling to her friends.
“True” Remus sighed sadly, glancing down at the frayed cuffs of his own robes with their worn elbows and the scuffed state of his shoes. Too late, Sirius, who was never the most sensitive of the bunch at any time, realised just how close to the bone his words may have hit and sought to bring the conversation back to a more jolly subject, “Come on Prongs! There must be at least one in here who you can ask!” he announced in an exasperated tone, leaning back against the booth in which the four friends were currently ensconced while the snow whirled in great drifts in the street outside.
They had been discussing the same thing, round and round, for the last hour. You had to congratulate Padfoot on his persistence, if nothing else, James reflected - usually you couldn’t keep Sirius’ mind on one topic for more than ten minutes. James recommenced picking morosely at the edges of the label on his Butterbeer bottle and groaned softly. James Potter wasn’t the sort of young man given to ‘fits of the sullens’ as his mother called them, but today he could be forgiven for his bout of self-indulgent misery, sitting with the Marauders on a Hogsmeade weekend, his robes still damp and steaming from an impromptu snowball fight they had had on the journey down here, and every particle of his being longed to be back up at school, preferably buried beneath his duvet.
He coughed loudly and pulled up his scarlet Gryffindor scarf higher over his mouth, wishing (not for the first time - and definitely not for the last) that he had never listened to Sirius. It was no good trying to deny it, James Potter had Man Flu; that lethal disease that could knock even star Quidditch Captains off their feet. And, to be fair, it was probably Quidditch that had got him into this mess in the first place, practising last week in the howling wind and rain to prepare for the match against Hufflepuff, followed by a moonlit night out with the Marauders had left James with a horrible scratch in his throat, a sore red nose and a head that felt as though it was stuffed to bursting with cotton wool.
And, to make matters worse - as if things weren’t bad enough already, it was Valentine’s Day and, instead of being secreted in some hidden corner of Hogwarts snogging the girl of his dreams, or even (and this would have been a very big concession on his part), staring dreamily into her eyes over a cup of hot chocolate at Madame Pudddifoot’s, James was sat with his three best friends ogling every female who entered the pub.
Well, Sirius was doing enough ogling for all of them. James however, wasn’t the slightest bit interested as a blonde fourth year waved coyly at him from across the crowded room.
James sniffed loudly and tried to stifle a sneeze. He hadn’t even been able to go to Madame Pomfrey for a draught of Pepper-up Potion, as she had banned all four of them from the Hospital Wing, saying that the next time she had to treat any of them for so much as a cough she was going to have them scrubbing bed pans for a month.
“Oi, Prongs! Are you listening to me?” Sirius pushed him roughly and James didn’t even attempt to retaliate, with any luck this might be their last drink and then they could brave the blizzard and walk back up to school, where he could sit dozing in his favourite arm chair in front of the common room fire all evening. James sighed, that made him sound like a wizened old warlock, but today he didn’t feel sixteen - more like sixty; his joints ached and there was a pounding in his temples that foretold the beginnings of a raging headache.
“Give it a rest, Padfoot” said a fourth voice, and Peter raised his head from where he had been banging it methodically against the tabletop, berating himself for an earlier uncharacteristic bout of confidence in which he had offered a girl he liked a bunch of Honking Daffodils, only to discover Sirius had bewitched them to squirt the unsuspecting female with water, drenching her and causing her to slap Peter sharply in the face.
Sirius narrowed his eyes at the others, “You might help me, you know! Or am I the only one here who’s concerned that Prongs still doesn’t have a date to Sluggy’s latest little soiree tonight?”
“You’re wasting your time, Pads,” replied Remus resignedly from behind his book, so he didn’t see the glare Sirius fixed him with.
“Yeah” said Peter slowly, “Lily said no - ergo Prongs will be going solo.”
“I’m glad you all think this is so funny,” said James angrily, it would have been so much more forceful if he had succeeded in speaking without a blocked up nose and a scratchy throat.
Sirius clapped a hand on his friend’s shoulder, “Course we think it’s funny! Can you blame us? Those fireworks you set off this morning scared the poor girl witless - I still can’t believe McGonagall didn’t give you detention - teacher’s pet!” he scoffed.
James coughed pathetically and wondered if he had time to pop back to Honeyduke’s for some chocolate to ease the pain, the heartache he suffered every time Lily turned him down was much more detrimental to his health than a stupid little cold.
“Although” continued Sirius, eyeing James sceptically, “I can see why you might be having trouble with the ladies today - Prongs, mate - you look an absolute mess!” There was more glee than concern in his words, but James didn’t doubt he was right.
“Aww, poor ickle Potter caught a nasty cold!” he teased, “Did you do this on purpose because Evans said the other day that she wants to train to be a Healer? I can think of easier ways to get her to take an interest!”
James sighed and leaned back in his chair, pressing the back of his hot head against the cool glass in the window, why did she hate him so much? To nearly every other girl in the school, James Potter was considered to be a great catch, second only to the charming Sirius Black, but Lily seemed completely immune to the attractions of the handsome Quidditch Captain and star student, which was very unfortunate for James - because he was certainly not immune to her considerable charms, in fact, he had been head over heels, besotted with her since they had begun their third year. And yet, all of the presents and flowers in the world wouldn’t make her look at him twice.
She would rather go out with the Giant Squid, she had said. Of course James had taken her at her word and made her pay for that little outburst by transfiguring his head to resemble that of an Octopus and crept up on her while she was studying in the library. However, instead of laughing with him at the ingenious joke, Lily had merely screamed in surprise and then tied his tentacles together in her fury - it had taken the combined efforts of all four Marauders to get them undone again before he could transform back.
And now, because Lily had turned him down for what must be the two-hundredth time, he would have to show up to Slughorn’s party alone - how pathetic, even Wormtail had a date. Sirius’ banter aside, it wouldn’t have been difficult to find a replacement for Lily, but due to the mood James found himself wallowing in lately - no one could reach up to the pedestal he had placed Miss Evans on; she was funny, intelligent, vibrant, sexy and yet she still eluded him. It made it no easier that he had seen Lily earlier in the day, entering Madame Puddifoot’s - arm in arm with a duck-footed seventh year Ravenclaw Chaser. He would make sure they trounced Ravenclaw in the next match.
Occasionally James had to wonder whether Lily had slipped him a love potion - but he dismissed this idea on two grounds: one - that Lily was too nice to do something the Marauders themselves would be proud of, and two - James had enough experience of his friends playing pranks on each other to ever leave one of his drinks unattended.
“Come on then, oh infected one” Sirius grabbed James roughly by the collar and pushed him in front of him so they could make the trip back up to school, “Don’t stand too close - I don’t want to catch it - I’m meeting Belinda later!” There was an irritating skip in Sirius’ step and James couldn’t resist flicking his wand upwards to the bank of snow piled high on the roof of a neighbouring shop and let it fall straight onto his friend’s head. The pair of them fought all of the way back up to school, Remus and Peter lagging behind at a safe distance, reluctant to get caught up in the battle.
Consequently, James and Sirius arrived back in the common room drenched in cold snow and shivering uncontrollably. James heaved his tired body through the portrait-hole, only to be confronted by Lily, who stood there with her hands on her hips, pure molten anger flashing in her eyes,
“Do you really think that’s an acceptable way for sixth years to behave? Look at you, you’re completely soaked - have you no sense?”
James tried to suppress the tickle in his nose and ruffled up the back of his hair, but it clung limp and wet to his face, “Shove off, Evans - just because your date didn’t go to plan, there’s no need to take it out on me!”
Lily stamped her foot and groaned with frustration - Merlin, she was beautiful when she was angry. “You’re insufferable, Potter! My date was perfectly lovely, thank you - it’s nice to know that some boys in this school can display an ounce of maturity!”
Ordinarily, James would have been in there with a witty riposte, but he chose that moment to sneeze loudly into the sleeve of his robes, the motion shook his aching head and his eyes watered. Lily looked on in disgust, “Yuck” she said derisively, but her voice had softened imperceptibly when she spoke again, “You ought to be in bed.” Sirius sniggered behind them and James knew how that remark would be treated.
Lily seemed to sense the retort that never came and turned quickly on her heel as though she was about to Disapparate, flouncing away back to her friends, muttering “Boys!” in an exasperated tone, under her breath.
“You must be feeling ill,” said Remus, shaking his head, “I’ve never seen you pass up an opportunity for an entendre like that before!”
James treated his friend’s remark with the contempt it deserved and sank down into his favourite armchair, drawing his knees up to his chest and watching the gentle flicker of the flames in the grate while the others indulged in a rather enthusiastic game of Exploding Snap. He glanced at his watch and groaned; he really didn’t want to go to Sluggy’s party and listen to the old windbag waffle on about his considerable connections at the Ministry. The warmth of the common room made his head heavy and his eyelids drooped as he watched the dancing orange flames; they looked like Lily’s hair when she was particularly animated about something.
…
He woke up with a start and shivered, the fire had gone out and the common room was quiet, yet the flames were still dancing in front of his face. James’ dull brain slowly comprehended that it wasn’t the fire he could see, but someone’s hair, someone who was standing over him. James groped for his glasses, realising that they had been removed at some point, and the figure standing over him handed them into his outstretched hand. There stood Lily, frowning at him with her arms folded across her chest.
“I’m not in the mood for a lecture, Evans” he croaked weakly and frowned- his throat was no better.
“You fell asleep” she said simply, “Everyone went off to the party but they didn’t want to wake you, so I-I stayed… Well, you’d probably end up with a pair of horns or a tail if you were still lying here when Sirius gets back - and I’m sick of taking points off him.” She said the last bit airily and quickly, as though she felt the need to defend her decision to willingly remain in the same room as her worst enemy.
James tried to move his head but his neck ached from the uncomfortable sleeping position and he rubbed it with his hand, a faint blush creeping to his cheeks that had nothing to do with the Man Flu. Lily continued to stand there, eyeing him critically, her emerald eyes roving over him, as though she was searching for a chink in his armour.
“How are you feeling?” she asked gently, her own eyes widening in surprise that she had managed to speak to him without the usual note of irritation in her voice.
“Grand” he rasped sarcastically, wishing he had removed his wet robes before falling to sleep, they were still damp and had made goosebumps rise on his arms.
“Here, have this,” said Lily brusquely, handing him a smoking goblet which didn’t look in the slightest bit appetising. He hesitated as he drew the goblet up to his parched lips.
“I’m not going to poison you,” she said, interpreting his expression correctly, “Although the thought has crossed my mind before now. It’s Pepper-Up potion, I made it myself, I think mine works faster than the one they have in the Hospital Wing - but it’s rather strong.” The last warning was redundant as James had tipped the entire contents of the goblet down his throat and now spluttered as the liquid burned his throat and steam jetted from his ears.
“Bloody…What in Merlin’s name did you put in it?” he spat at her, wiping his mouth and swallowing rapidly to get rid of the awful taste that clung to the back of his throat.
Lily huffed in annoyance, “I just added extra Fireweed and…and ginger - that’s what my Mum always uses for colds. Professor Slughorn said it was good, there’s no need to be so rude - I was only trying to help.”
“Eurgh! So it was a Muggle remedy then? No wonder it was so foul!”
“I don’t know why I bother!” Lily threw up her hands I resignation and turned her back on him, wandered back over to the table where she had discarded her homework earlier and sat down in a chair far away from James with a large Arithmancy textbook in her hands, ignoring him completely.
James rubbed a hand across his eyes to stop them from watering from the potent potion, although he had to admit it seemed to have done the trick, he did feel considerably brighter. He stood up and walked over to Lily’s chair, offering her back the now empty goblet,
“Sorry” he mumbled, “Thanks - I think it’s worked.”
Lily didn’t look up, “Nice to know you have so much faith in my potion-making abilities” she replied dryly and with considerable venom.
“I do! I mean - I have. You’re the best potion-maker in our year, much better than Snivellus - slimy-haired git.”
Prudently, Lily chose to ignore the last comment, although she didn’t look up to see James’ face fall as he realised he had said the one thing guaranteed to ruffle Lily’s feathers.
James sat down opposite and watched her read, he coughed once or twice and sniffed pathetically, but still Lily didn’t speak, struggling valiantly to appear completely absorbed in her book. It was only when a choking fit of coughing shook his ribs and he doubled over, clutching at his chest for emphasis, that Lily chanced a glance upwards, “You alright?” she said disinterestedly.
“What do you care, Evans?” he snapped when the coughing was under control - stupid potion, it would probably make him sicker.
“I…care” Lily whispered, blushing scarlet, berating herself inwardly for a mouth that seemed to have a mind of its own - why on earth would she say that?
James flashed her the tiniest hint of his usual cocky grin, but before he could say anything else, Lily had risen from her chair and paced the room, looking more than a little flustered, “I mean…of course I care -the number of girls you kiss- there could be an epidemic in a matter of days!”
James stared down miserably at the carpet, so that was what she really thought of him? That he was some kind of Lothario, like Sirius? Fatigue gripped him and he considered sloping off to bed without another word. But then Lily did something he never thought was possible. She cautiously approached his chair, raised a hand to his forehead and pressed her cool palm against his hot head, sweeping back his messy hair - but her fingers were shaking as she did so. James leaned his head into her touch, hardly daring to believe Lily Evans was so close - she usually kept a wide berth from him in case he decided to grab her and kiss her - which he had done on several occasions, he had to admit.
He swallowed with difficulty and Lily moved a hand up to his wild hair, smoothing it tenderly.
“Besides,” she began, her voice took on a quality James had never heard her use when speaking to him before, it was soft and unsure - as though she was baffled by her own words. “Besides, I was rather disappointed when you had no witty remarks to make earlier, I sort of - missed them.”
James opened his mouth and closed it again, gaping like a goldfish. She had rendered him utterly speechless, and he looked up at her now, sweet, wonderful Lily - who was chewing self-consciously on her lower lip and nervously tucking her hair behind her ears. Why did he suddenly feel as though all of the air in the room had disappeared, as though someone had let off a load of Garrotting Gas? James found it very hard to breathe and his heart was beating like a hammer.
“Err…right” he blinked and tried to come to his senses and not say something ridiculous, which was a tall order, given his previous experience with Lily. “Err, thanks - I think.”
The sounds of students returning from the party greeted his ears and James turned instinctively towards the portrait-hole through which his friends would appear at any moment, Sirius would have a field day if he caught them both like this.
James quickly regained his composure, “Don’t worry, Evans! I’ll make up for it tomorrow - I’m glad you appreciate my sparkling wit - I was beginning to have my doubts!” And with that he leapt up off the chair and dashed up the stairs to the boys dormitories, with any luck he could feign sleep by the time the others reached their room. He paused for a second on the stairs and poked his head back around the stone pillar, Lily was still standing there, muttering to herself and her hands over her face in shame - she looked beautiful.
“Oh, and Evans?” he called, Lily whipped round to face him. He cleared his throat loudly and said with more sincerity and feeling than he had ever managed before, “Happy Valentine’s Day.”
Rating: PG
Ship: L/J
“No.”
“Fine. How about the one by the window in the pink jumper?”
“No.”
“Merlin - look at the legs on that one! Looks as though they’re all going to be wearing their robes short this spring - excellent!” Sirius rubbed his hands together gleefully and leaned over to get a better look at the slender-legged Ravenclaw who had just entered The Three Broomsticks, momentarily distracted from his conversation with his best friend.
A third voice piped up sardonically from behind the pages of a thick textbook on the other side of the table, “Ha. Sirius Black - fashion correspondent for Witch Weekly now, is it?”
“You’re just jealous because not everyone can achieve my effortless style and charming good looks!” Sirius retorted, craning his neck now to watch as the girl sashayed towards the far end of the bar, she had clearly sensed his appreciative gaze and tossed her sleek black hair back over her shoulder, whispering and giggling to her friends.
“True” Remus sighed sadly, glancing down at the frayed cuffs of his own robes with their worn elbows and the scuffed state of his shoes. Too late, Sirius, who was never the most sensitive of the bunch at any time, realised just how close to the bone his words may have hit and sought to bring the conversation back to a more jolly subject, “Come on Prongs! There must be at least one in here who you can ask!” he announced in an exasperated tone, leaning back against the booth in which the four friends were currently ensconced while the snow whirled in great drifts in the street outside.
They had been discussing the same thing, round and round, for the last hour. You had to congratulate Padfoot on his persistence, if nothing else, James reflected - usually you couldn’t keep Sirius’ mind on one topic for more than ten minutes. James recommenced picking morosely at the edges of the label on his Butterbeer bottle and groaned softly. James Potter wasn’t the sort of young man given to ‘fits of the sullens’ as his mother called them, but today he could be forgiven for his bout of self-indulgent misery, sitting with the Marauders on a Hogsmeade weekend, his robes still damp and steaming from an impromptu snowball fight they had had on the journey down here, and every particle of his being longed to be back up at school, preferably buried beneath his duvet.
He coughed loudly and pulled up his scarlet Gryffindor scarf higher over his mouth, wishing (not for the first time - and definitely not for the last) that he had never listened to Sirius. It was no good trying to deny it, James Potter had Man Flu; that lethal disease that could knock even star Quidditch Captains off their feet. And, to be fair, it was probably Quidditch that had got him into this mess in the first place, practising last week in the howling wind and rain to prepare for the match against Hufflepuff, followed by a moonlit night out with the Marauders had left James with a horrible scratch in his throat, a sore red nose and a head that felt as though it was stuffed to bursting with cotton wool.
And, to make matters worse - as if things weren’t bad enough already, it was Valentine’s Day and, instead of being secreted in some hidden corner of Hogwarts snogging the girl of his dreams, or even (and this would have been a very big concession on his part), staring dreamily into her eyes over a cup of hot chocolate at Madame Pudddifoot’s, James was sat with his three best friends ogling every female who entered the pub.
Well, Sirius was doing enough ogling for all of them. James however, wasn’t the slightest bit interested as a blonde fourth year waved coyly at him from across the crowded room.
James sniffed loudly and tried to stifle a sneeze. He hadn’t even been able to go to Madame Pomfrey for a draught of Pepper-up Potion, as she had banned all four of them from the Hospital Wing, saying that the next time she had to treat any of them for so much as a cough she was going to have them scrubbing bed pans for a month.
“Oi, Prongs! Are you listening to me?” Sirius pushed him roughly and James didn’t even attempt to retaliate, with any luck this might be their last drink and then they could brave the blizzard and walk back up to school, where he could sit dozing in his favourite arm chair in front of the common room fire all evening. James sighed, that made him sound like a wizened old warlock, but today he didn’t feel sixteen - more like sixty; his joints ached and there was a pounding in his temples that foretold the beginnings of a raging headache.
“Give it a rest, Padfoot” said a fourth voice, and Peter raised his head from where he had been banging it methodically against the tabletop, berating himself for an earlier uncharacteristic bout of confidence in which he had offered a girl he liked a bunch of Honking Daffodils, only to discover Sirius had bewitched them to squirt the unsuspecting female with water, drenching her and causing her to slap Peter sharply in the face.
Sirius narrowed his eyes at the others, “You might help me, you know! Or am I the only one here who’s concerned that Prongs still doesn’t have a date to Sluggy’s latest little soiree tonight?”
“You’re wasting your time, Pads,” replied Remus resignedly from behind his book, so he didn’t see the glare Sirius fixed him with.
“Yeah” said Peter slowly, “Lily said no - ergo Prongs will be going solo.”
“I’m glad you all think this is so funny,” said James angrily, it would have been so much more forceful if he had succeeded in speaking without a blocked up nose and a scratchy throat.
Sirius clapped a hand on his friend’s shoulder, “Course we think it’s funny! Can you blame us? Those fireworks you set off this morning scared the poor girl witless - I still can’t believe McGonagall didn’t give you detention - teacher’s pet!” he scoffed.
James coughed pathetically and wondered if he had time to pop back to Honeyduke’s for some chocolate to ease the pain, the heartache he suffered every time Lily turned him down was much more detrimental to his health than a stupid little cold.
“Although” continued Sirius, eyeing James sceptically, “I can see why you might be having trouble with the ladies today - Prongs, mate - you look an absolute mess!” There was more glee than concern in his words, but James didn’t doubt he was right.
“Aww, poor ickle Potter caught a nasty cold!” he teased, “Did you do this on purpose because Evans said the other day that she wants to train to be a Healer? I can think of easier ways to get her to take an interest!”
James sighed and leaned back in his chair, pressing the back of his hot head against the cool glass in the window, why did she hate him so much? To nearly every other girl in the school, James Potter was considered to be a great catch, second only to the charming Sirius Black, but Lily seemed completely immune to the attractions of the handsome Quidditch Captain and star student, which was very unfortunate for James - because he was certainly not immune to her considerable charms, in fact, he had been head over heels, besotted with her since they had begun their third year. And yet, all of the presents and flowers in the world wouldn’t make her look at him twice.
She would rather go out with the Giant Squid, she had said. Of course James had taken her at her word and made her pay for that little outburst by transfiguring his head to resemble that of an Octopus and crept up on her while she was studying in the library. However, instead of laughing with him at the ingenious joke, Lily had merely screamed in surprise and then tied his tentacles together in her fury - it had taken the combined efforts of all four Marauders to get them undone again before he could transform back.
And now, because Lily had turned him down for what must be the two-hundredth time, he would have to show up to Slughorn’s party alone - how pathetic, even Wormtail had a date. Sirius’ banter aside, it wouldn’t have been difficult to find a replacement for Lily, but due to the mood James found himself wallowing in lately - no one could reach up to the pedestal he had placed Miss Evans on; she was funny, intelligent, vibrant, sexy and yet she still eluded him. It made it no easier that he had seen Lily earlier in the day, entering Madame Puddifoot’s - arm in arm with a duck-footed seventh year Ravenclaw Chaser. He would make sure they trounced Ravenclaw in the next match.
Occasionally James had to wonder whether Lily had slipped him a love potion - but he dismissed this idea on two grounds: one - that Lily was too nice to do something the Marauders themselves would be proud of, and two - James had enough experience of his friends playing pranks on each other to ever leave one of his drinks unattended.
“Come on then, oh infected one” Sirius grabbed James roughly by the collar and pushed him in front of him so they could make the trip back up to school, “Don’t stand too close - I don’t want to catch it - I’m meeting Belinda later!” There was an irritating skip in Sirius’ step and James couldn’t resist flicking his wand upwards to the bank of snow piled high on the roof of a neighbouring shop and let it fall straight onto his friend’s head. The pair of them fought all of the way back up to school, Remus and Peter lagging behind at a safe distance, reluctant to get caught up in the battle.
Consequently, James and Sirius arrived back in the common room drenched in cold snow and shivering uncontrollably. James heaved his tired body through the portrait-hole, only to be confronted by Lily, who stood there with her hands on her hips, pure molten anger flashing in her eyes,
“Do you really think that’s an acceptable way for sixth years to behave? Look at you, you’re completely soaked - have you no sense?”
James tried to suppress the tickle in his nose and ruffled up the back of his hair, but it clung limp and wet to his face, “Shove off, Evans - just because your date didn’t go to plan, there’s no need to take it out on me!”
Lily stamped her foot and groaned with frustration - Merlin, she was beautiful when she was angry. “You’re insufferable, Potter! My date was perfectly lovely, thank you - it’s nice to know that some boys in this school can display an ounce of maturity!”
Ordinarily, James would have been in there with a witty riposte, but he chose that moment to sneeze loudly into the sleeve of his robes, the motion shook his aching head and his eyes watered. Lily looked on in disgust, “Yuck” she said derisively, but her voice had softened imperceptibly when she spoke again, “You ought to be in bed.” Sirius sniggered behind them and James knew how that remark would be treated.
Lily seemed to sense the retort that never came and turned quickly on her heel as though she was about to Disapparate, flouncing away back to her friends, muttering “Boys!” in an exasperated tone, under her breath.
“You must be feeling ill,” said Remus, shaking his head, “I’ve never seen you pass up an opportunity for an entendre like that before!”
James treated his friend’s remark with the contempt it deserved and sank down into his favourite armchair, drawing his knees up to his chest and watching the gentle flicker of the flames in the grate while the others indulged in a rather enthusiastic game of Exploding Snap. He glanced at his watch and groaned; he really didn’t want to go to Sluggy’s party and listen to the old windbag waffle on about his considerable connections at the Ministry. The warmth of the common room made his head heavy and his eyelids drooped as he watched the dancing orange flames; they looked like Lily’s hair when she was particularly animated about something.
…
He woke up with a start and shivered, the fire had gone out and the common room was quiet, yet the flames were still dancing in front of his face. James’ dull brain slowly comprehended that it wasn’t the fire he could see, but someone’s hair, someone who was standing over him. James groped for his glasses, realising that they had been removed at some point, and the figure standing over him handed them into his outstretched hand. There stood Lily, frowning at him with her arms folded across her chest.
“I’m not in the mood for a lecture, Evans” he croaked weakly and frowned- his throat was no better.
“You fell asleep” she said simply, “Everyone went off to the party but they didn’t want to wake you, so I-I stayed… Well, you’d probably end up with a pair of horns or a tail if you were still lying here when Sirius gets back - and I’m sick of taking points off him.” She said the last bit airily and quickly, as though she felt the need to defend her decision to willingly remain in the same room as her worst enemy.
James tried to move his head but his neck ached from the uncomfortable sleeping position and he rubbed it with his hand, a faint blush creeping to his cheeks that had nothing to do with the Man Flu. Lily continued to stand there, eyeing him critically, her emerald eyes roving over him, as though she was searching for a chink in his armour.
“How are you feeling?” she asked gently, her own eyes widening in surprise that she had managed to speak to him without the usual note of irritation in her voice.
“Grand” he rasped sarcastically, wishing he had removed his wet robes before falling to sleep, they were still damp and had made goosebumps rise on his arms.
“Here, have this,” said Lily brusquely, handing him a smoking goblet which didn’t look in the slightest bit appetising. He hesitated as he drew the goblet up to his parched lips.
“I’m not going to poison you,” she said, interpreting his expression correctly, “Although the thought has crossed my mind before now. It’s Pepper-Up potion, I made it myself, I think mine works faster than the one they have in the Hospital Wing - but it’s rather strong.” The last warning was redundant as James had tipped the entire contents of the goblet down his throat and now spluttered as the liquid burned his throat and steam jetted from his ears.
“Bloody…What in Merlin’s name did you put in it?” he spat at her, wiping his mouth and swallowing rapidly to get rid of the awful taste that clung to the back of his throat.
Lily huffed in annoyance, “I just added extra Fireweed and…and ginger - that’s what my Mum always uses for colds. Professor Slughorn said it was good, there’s no need to be so rude - I was only trying to help.”
“Eurgh! So it was a Muggle remedy then? No wonder it was so foul!”
“I don’t know why I bother!” Lily threw up her hands I resignation and turned her back on him, wandered back over to the table where she had discarded her homework earlier and sat down in a chair far away from James with a large Arithmancy textbook in her hands, ignoring him completely.
James rubbed a hand across his eyes to stop them from watering from the potent potion, although he had to admit it seemed to have done the trick, he did feel considerably brighter. He stood up and walked over to Lily’s chair, offering her back the now empty goblet,
“Sorry” he mumbled, “Thanks - I think it’s worked.”
Lily didn’t look up, “Nice to know you have so much faith in my potion-making abilities” she replied dryly and with considerable venom.
“I do! I mean - I have. You’re the best potion-maker in our year, much better than Snivellus - slimy-haired git.”
Prudently, Lily chose to ignore the last comment, although she didn’t look up to see James’ face fall as he realised he had said the one thing guaranteed to ruffle Lily’s feathers.
James sat down opposite and watched her read, he coughed once or twice and sniffed pathetically, but still Lily didn’t speak, struggling valiantly to appear completely absorbed in her book. It was only when a choking fit of coughing shook his ribs and he doubled over, clutching at his chest for emphasis, that Lily chanced a glance upwards, “You alright?” she said disinterestedly.
“What do you care, Evans?” he snapped when the coughing was under control - stupid potion, it would probably make him sicker.
“I…care” Lily whispered, blushing scarlet, berating herself inwardly for a mouth that seemed to have a mind of its own - why on earth would she say that?
James flashed her the tiniest hint of his usual cocky grin, but before he could say anything else, Lily had risen from her chair and paced the room, looking more than a little flustered, “I mean…of course I care -the number of girls you kiss- there could be an epidemic in a matter of days!”
James stared down miserably at the carpet, so that was what she really thought of him? That he was some kind of Lothario, like Sirius? Fatigue gripped him and he considered sloping off to bed without another word. But then Lily did something he never thought was possible. She cautiously approached his chair, raised a hand to his forehead and pressed her cool palm against his hot head, sweeping back his messy hair - but her fingers were shaking as she did so. James leaned his head into her touch, hardly daring to believe Lily Evans was so close - she usually kept a wide berth from him in case he decided to grab her and kiss her - which he had done on several occasions, he had to admit.
He swallowed with difficulty and Lily moved a hand up to his wild hair, smoothing it tenderly.
“Besides,” she began, her voice took on a quality James had never heard her use when speaking to him before, it was soft and unsure - as though she was baffled by her own words. “Besides, I was rather disappointed when you had no witty remarks to make earlier, I sort of - missed them.”
James opened his mouth and closed it again, gaping like a goldfish. She had rendered him utterly speechless, and he looked up at her now, sweet, wonderful Lily - who was chewing self-consciously on her lower lip and nervously tucking her hair behind her ears. Why did he suddenly feel as though all of the air in the room had disappeared, as though someone had let off a load of Garrotting Gas? James found it very hard to breathe and his heart was beating like a hammer.
“Err…right” he blinked and tried to come to his senses and not say something ridiculous, which was a tall order, given his previous experience with Lily. “Err, thanks - I think.”
The sounds of students returning from the party greeted his ears and James turned instinctively towards the portrait-hole through which his friends would appear at any moment, Sirius would have a field day if he caught them both like this.
James quickly regained his composure, “Don’t worry, Evans! I’ll make up for it tomorrow - I’m glad you appreciate my sparkling wit - I was beginning to have my doubts!” And with that he leapt up off the chair and dashed up the stairs to the boys dormitories, with any luck he could feign sleep by the time the others reached their room. He paused for a second on the stairs and poked his head back around the stone pillar, Lily was still standing there, muttering to herself and her hands over her face in shame - she looked beautiful.
“Oh, and Evans?” he called, Lily whipped round to face him. He cleared his throat loudly and said with more sincerity and feeling than he had ever managed before, “Happy Valentine’s Day.”