fic: "mistletoe", no challenge
Title: Mistletoe
Summary: James Potter has always been a man with a mission. His mission this December? To get a snog from Lily Evans.
Characters/Pairings: James Potter/Lily Evans (with appearances from Sirius, Remus, and Peter)
Genre: Some romance, some fluff, maybe a bit of crack?
Beta: The lovely xfortytwo. Thank you Ing! ♥
Rating/Warnings: PG
Word Count: 2,255
Notes: Written for frickkonastick for the HiH Holiday Exchange! You said you were getting into James/Lily fic, and since I've never written them before, I wanted to give it a shot. :) Idek what this is. It all happened at, like, one in the morning. But I hope you enjoy it nevertheless!
"Evans! Evans!"
James knows the look she shoots him over her shoulder all too well; it's the look she's reserved just for him, the look she's likely patented after six years of hearing her name shouted in the hallways at Hogwarts. Two parts annoyance and one part irritation, every so often there's a pinch of amusement mixed in - and it's that amusement that keeps him going. It's that amusement that tells him that she doesn't hate him all that much, after all.
Lily keeps moving, arms wrapped tightly around the books she carries to her chest as she chats with one of her friends. James has to practically clamber over a pair of first-years - which is difficult to do with one hand hidden behind his back - but with Sirius cheering him on, he eventually pushes his way to Lily's side.
"Evans, you aren't ignoring me, are you?"
Lily's gaze remains firmly ahead of her. "Yes. So why is it that you haven't gone away?"
James grins. "Persistence - part of my charm."
She rolls her eyes. The two girls pick up their pace, moving ahead of him, and they've almost turned down the corridor to Transfiguration when he calls after them.
"Oi! Evans!"
Finally, she turns around. She looks harried and irritated, but James knows that lessons don't start for another three minutes. She'll make it on time.
He finally pulls his hand from behind his back and cheekily dangles a sprig of berries above his head. "How about a snog before class, yeah? ‘Tis the season!"
For a moment, the entire hallway falls silent. Everyone turns to stare at Lily expectantly, and James can see two small pink spots rising on her cheeks. He'd feel bad if he thought about it, quite likely, but he's grateful to be able to elicit any emotion from Lily Evans at this point in their non-relationship. Embarrassment isn't ideal, to be sure, but it's better than indifference. He thinks he'd feel rather hopeless if all he got from her was indifference.
But before he knows it, the blush is gone and replaced with a steely glare. Lily raises her eyebrows, eyes on the berries above his head.
"That's holly," she says, and with a swish of hair, she's gone.
James' hand falls to his side. Students all around him chuckle as they make their way to class, deciding that the show is effectively over. Loudest of all, though, is Sirius, who finally makes it over to James and manages to elbow him in the ribs.
"You're mad, you know," Sirius says when his loud laughter finally subsides. "Lily Evans wouldn't snog you in a million years."
James watches her retreating back until she ducks into a classroom, and then tosses his friend a smile. "That's all right," he tells Sirius, "because I'm planning on being immortal. By a million and one, she won't be able to resist."
***
Stalking, James thinks, is a very negative word.
Yes, he realizes this is all a little unorthodox - but he's in the Gryffindor common room. It's a free country, after all, and there are plenty of other Gryffindors around. Even his mates are over by the fireplace. This really is the best place to wait for Lily - he barely even has to go out of his way to do so.
Granted, he is practically blocking the base of the girl's staircase, but that's just semantics.
"Are you stalking me?"
James jumps just about a foot in the air and spins around to face Lily. Her arms are crossed and the expression on her face is not what one might call impressed.
"Stalking you?" James widens his eyes. "Why, Evans, I'm offended. I'm simply spending time in our mutual common room with my mates, same as you."
Lily turns to stare at the other Marauders, all of whom are avidly watching the scene and all of whom flush when she raises her eyebrows at them. Remus waves weakly.
"Your mates," she says, her hair whipping past his nose as she turns round again, "are all the way over there. And you're blocking the way to my dormitory."
"I thought you might be upstairs," James says, a little abashed. Lily certainly isn't one to go easy on a bloke.
She sighs. "What is it now, Potter?"
Instantly, his trademark grin is back. He reaches into the pocket of his robes and pulls out a sprig of mistletoe, holding it out to her proudly. "It's the proper plant now, I've checked!"
Lily, James thinks as she pushes past him and starts up the stairs, really does have her eye-roll maneuver down pat.
"Still no snog, eh?" James calls up after her, and he can hear her huff loudly as she disappears from view.
He turns back around to face his friends, all of whom are shaking their heads, and shrugs. "Worth a shot."
***
Grand gestures, really, are James' specialty.
Or so he believes. They're the best way to get a statement across, that much he knows for sure. They lay everything on the line - no beating around the bush and no hidden meanings.
Now, James reckons, is the time to lay everything on the line with Lily.
He chooses the Great Hall because it's public. He chooses lunch time because it's a welcome break in the day and people are always in a good mood. He figures he's explained enough times why he chooses Lily.
He also chooses Sonorus.
"YOUR HAIR IS SO RED!" James booms. It's ten minutes before the end of lunch and he's up on one of the long benches flanking the Gryffindor table. Everyone in the room stops their chattering to turn up their eyes at him, and James feels invigorated. It's now or never.
"CAN'T GET YOU OUT OF MY HEAD!"
He's just a few places away from Lily, and he knows that perhaps the loud voice is overkill, given the way she's covering her ears and shrinking in her seat. But he presses on anyway. If this doesn't get her attention, nothing will.
"YOUR EYES AS GREEN AS A BOG, YOU'VE STOLEN THE HEART OF THIS FROG!"
James begins clambering over the students beside him, awkwardly trying not to step on their fingers as he makes his way closer to Lily. He raises the ever-present mistletoe into the air as he draws nearer.
"WON'T YOU PLEASE GIVE OL' JAMESIE A SN-"
And then he topples off the bench.
The Great Hall rings with laughter and James' elbow smarts something fierce, but almost at once, a pair of brown trainers stop beside him. A pair of very familiar brown trainers.
Lily yanks on his arm, pulling him to his feet.
"Oi, careful -"
"Are you all right?" she asks, but her tone isn't exactly breathless and lovestruck like he'd hoped.
James picks himself up and dusts himself off. No broken bones - no harm, no foul. He straightens out his robes. "Aside from my bruised ego, I reckon I'll be all right, yeah." He offered her a smile. "So, what did you think? I wrote the poem myself."
"You don't say."
"Sirius thinks I have a real talent."
Lily sighs. "Aren't you tired of all these games yet, Potter?" she asks, exasperated.
"Not at all, Evans," he tells her with a wink. "Aren't you tired of saying no?"
And there it is - a smile. Just a small one, just the barest flash of upturned lips before Lily crosses her arms and meets his gaze. It's practically nothing, practically less than nothing, but it isn't the annoyance she always wears in front of him. It's amusement, pure and simple - hidden and secret, but amusement nonetheless. And if James could amuse her… well, then there's no telling what could happen next.
She picks up her rucksack and swings it over her shoulder, a smug look on her face. "Not at all, Potter," she says, "not at all."
***
James persists for the better part of another week, right up until Hogwarts breaks for Christmas. His idea is really just to be perpetually irritating - he'll have to wear her down at one point, he thinks. Surely one snog is a small price to pay to get him to stop asking. And yet Lily turns him down every time, and in the final hour before catching the train back to London, James wanders the third floor corridors, dejected.
He's failed. Oh, sure, he'll have plenty of other opportunities to convince Lily to go out with him in the future. They have a whole year and a half left at school together, after all. But James had really been certain that this would be their shot. He'd really thought that, finally, she'd say yes.
James is torn from his thoughts at the sound of a shaky, quiet sob. Blinking around, he spots a small first-year tucked in beside a suit of armour.
Curious, James approaches the tyke. "Hello," he says, kneeling down in front of the boy. "What's your name?"
The boy's cheeks are grubby and streaked with tears, and he hiccups a little as he speaks. "H-Harold."
James offers him a smile. "Hi, Harold, I'm James. What's the matter?"
For a moment, the boy seems to consider keeping quiet. But when James settles down crossed-legged on the floor with him, Harold sighs. "The fifth years were making fun of my glasses again."
James raises his eyebrows. "Your glasses?"
Harold nods, his eyes trained on his knees. "They've already cracked two pairs this year, and my Mum says she can't afford to buy me new ones until January. And today they chased me and said they were going to grind my glasses into dust so that I wouldn't be able to go home and see my Mummy." He hiccups again. "I hid back here until they left."
James feels something twinge within his stomach. He thinks, guiltily, of all the times he's taunted Snape, and Dolohov, and so many of the other weedy-looking Slytherin boys in his year. Had they all felt like this afterwards? Had they all hidden, afraid of what he'd do to them just for a laugh? He presses his lips together, thinking. Maybe it isn't worth hurting someone like this just for a bit of fun.
"I think your glasses look quite distinguished, Harold."
Maybe James can't go back and make up for all the times he's hurt people in the past. But he can help this poor boy in front of him to stop hurting.
Harold blinks up at him, confused. "Dis - distinguished?"
"Absolutely," James says with a confident nod. "You look quite grown-up. And handsome! As a matter of fact, the best girls - the smart and pretty ones, the ones you really want to like you - love men in glasses."
"Really?" There's a hint of hope in Harold's voice.
"Really," James confirms. "And your glasses help you see. You, Harold, would not be you without your very distinguished glasses."
A grin slowly creeps across Harold's face, and James feels a matching one on his own.
"And," he adds, "you tell those bullies that whenever they try to pick on you again, James Potter will get them. James Potter and his big, strong friends." He gently knocks Harold's shoulder. "Believe me, you do not want to mess with my friends."
James thinks the look on Harold's face could melt giant blocks of ice. He stands and watches Harold run off, pleased. He'd forgotten what it feels like to be good.
"Looks like you've got a heart after all."
James isn't expecting Lily's voice, and when he spins around to face her, he definitely isn't expecting the smile on her face. "Oh," he stammers, "er…"
"That was quite nice, what you said to that boy," Lily says, taking a step towards him.
"Well," James says, unsure of what else to add. He isn't used to be caught off guard, and he definitely isn't used to Lily being the one to initiate a conversation.
"Where's this James Potter all the time, hm? Does he really only appear around teary-eyed first years?" she asks. "Because I reckon this James Potter's all right."
"Yeah?" It suddenly registers with him just how close she's gotten.
"Yeah."
And then, before James can think or plan or say or do, Lily's hands are on his chest and she's leaning in to kiss him. It's soft and gentle and sweet, and she smells like apples and cinnamon and something else he can't quite place. The curve of her waist is soft where he rests his hand as he kisses her back gently, allowing her all the control. The kiss is kind and it's nothing like he'd expected.
It's better.
When they finally pull apart, James offers her a smile. "So the mistletoe finally wore you down, eh?"
Lily breathes out a laugh, two pink circles dotting her cheeks. "This has nothing to do with the mistletoe."
James raises his eyebrows. "Why, Evans, don't tell me you fancy me."
Lily rolls her eyes with a smile and backs away from him slowly. But she's still watching him, still smiling, as if she doesn't really want to be leaving. "Don't be mad, of course I don't fancy you."
James crosses his arms and he can't help it - he feels a little smug. "You absolutely do fancy me."
Lily shakes her head with a grin. "And if you tell anyone, I'll have to kill you."
end.
Janna/Hufflepuff/75 points!
Summary: James Potter has always been a man with a mission. His mission this December? To get a snog from Lily Evans.
Characters/Pairings: James Potter/Lily Evans (with appearances from Sirius, Remus, and Peter)
Genre: Some romance, some fluff, maybe a bit of crack?
Beta: The lovely xfortytwo. Thank you Ing! ♥
Rating/Warnings: PG
Word Count: 2,255
Notes: Written for frickkonastick for the HiH Holiday Exchange! You said you were getting into James/Lily fic, and since I've never written them before, I wanted to give it a shot. :) Idek what this is. It all happened at, like, one in the morning. But I hope you enjoy it nevertheless!
"Evans! Evans!"
James knows the look she shoots him over her shoulder all too well; it's the look she's reserved just for him, the look she's likely patented after six years of hearing her name shouted in the hallways at Hogwarts. Two parts annoyance and one part irritation, every so often there's a pinch of amusement mixed in - and it's that amusement that keeps him going. It's that amusement that tells him that she doesn't hate him all that much, after all.
Lily keeps moving, arms wrapped tightly around the books she carries to her chest as she chats with one of her friends. James has to practically clamber over a pair of first-years - which is difficult to do with one hand hidden behind his back - but with Sirius cheering him on, he eventually pushes his way to Lily's side.
"Evans, you aren't ignoring me, are you?"
Lily's gaze remains firmly ahead of her. "Yes. So why is it that you haven't gone away?"
James grins. "Persistence - part of my charm."
She rolls her eyes. The two girls pick up their pace, moving ahead of him, and they've almost turned down the corridor to Transfiguration when he calls after them.
"Oi! Evans!"
Finally, she turns around. She looks harried and irritated, but James knows that lessons don't start for another three minutes. She'll make it on time.
He finally pulls his hand from behind his back and cheekily dangles a sprig of berries above his head. "How about a snog before class, yeah? ‘Tis the season!"
For a moment, the entire hallway falls silent. Everyone turns to stare at Lily expectantly, and James can see two small pink spots rising on her cheeks. He'd feel bad if he thought about it, quite likely, but he's grateful to be able to elicit any emotion from Lily Evans at this point in their non-relationship. Embarrassment isn't ideal, to be sure, but it's better than indifference. He thinks he'd feel rather hopeless if all he got from her was indifference.
But before he knows it, the blush is gone and replaced with a steely glare. Lily raises her eyebrows, eyes on the berries above his head.
"That's holly," she says, and with a swish of hair, she's gone.
James' hand falls to his side. Students all around him chuckle as they make their way to class, deciding that the show is effectively over. Loudest of all, though, is Sirius, who finally makes it over to James and manages to elbow him in the ribs.
"You're mad, you know," Sirius says when his loud laughter finally subsides. "Lily Evans wouldn't snog you in a million years."
James watches her retreating back until she ducks into a classroom, and then tosses his friend a smile. "That's all right," he tells Sirius, "because I'm planning on being immortal. By a million and one, she won't be able to resist."
***
Stalking, James thinks, is a very negative word.
Yes, he realizes this is all a little unorthodox - but he's in the Gryffindor common room. It's a free country, after all, and there are plenty of other Gryffindors around. Even his mates are over by the fireplace. This really is the best place to wait for Lily - he barely even has to go out of his way to do so.
Granted, he is practically blocking the base of the girl's staircase, but that's just semantics.
"Are you stalking me?"
James jumps just about a foot in the air and spins around to face Lily. Her arms are crossed and the expression on her face is not what one might call impressed.
"Stalking you?" James widens his eyes. "Why, Evans, I'm offended. I'm simply spending time in our mutual common room with my mates, same as you."
Lily turns to stare at the other Marauders, all of whom are avidly watching the scene and all of whom flush when she raises her eyebrows at them. Remus waves weakly.
"Your mates," she says, her hair whipping past his nose as she turns round again, "are all the way over there. And you're blocking the way to my dormitory."
"I thought you might be upstairs," James says, a little abashed. Lily certainly isn't one to go easy on a bloke.
She sighs. "What is it now, Potter?"
Instantly, his trademark grin is back. He reaches into the pocket of his robes and pulls out a sprig of mistletoe, holding it out to her proudly. "It's the proper plant now, I've checked!"
Lily, James thinks as she pushes past him and starts up the stairs, really does have her eye-roll maneuver down pat.
"Still no snog, eh?" James calls up after her, and he can hear her huff loudly as she disappears from view.
He turns back around to face his friends, all of whom are shaking their heads, and shrugs. "Worth a shot."
***
Grand gestures, really, are James' specialty.
Or so he believes. They're the best way to get a statement across, that much he knows for sure. They lay everything on the line - no beating around the bush and no hidden meanings.
Now, James reckons, is the time to lay everything on the line with Lily.
He chooses the Great Hall because it's public. He chooses lunch time because it's a welcome break in the day and people are always in a good mood. He figures he's explained enough times why he chooses Lily.
He also chooses Sonorus.
"YOUR HAIR IS SO RED!" James booms. It's ten minutes before the end of lunch and he's up on one of the long benches flanking the Gryffindor table. Everyone in the room stops their chattering to turn up their eyes at him, and James feels invigorated. It's now or never.
"CAN'T GET YOU OUT OF MY HEAD!"
He's just a few places away from Lily, and he knows that perhaps the loud voice is overkill, given the way she's covering her ears and shrinking in her seat. But he presses on anyway. If this doesn't get her attention, nothing will.
"YOUR EYES AS GREEN AS A BOG, YOU'VE STOLEN THE HEART OF THIS FROG!"
James begins clambering over the students beside him, awkwardly trying not to step on their fingers as he makes his way closer to Lily. He raises the ever-present mistletoe into the air as he draws nearer.
"WON'T YOU PLEASE GIVE OL' JAMESIE A SN-"
And then he topples off the bench.
The Great Hall rings with laughter and James' elbow smarts something fierce, but almost at once, a pair of brown trainers stop beside him. A pair of very familiar brown trainers.
Lily yanks on his arm, pulling him to his feet.
"Oi, careful -"
"Are you all right?" she asks, but her tone isn't exactly breathless and lovestruck like he'd hoped.
James picks himself up and dusts himself off. No broken bones - no harm, no foul. He straightens out his robes. "Aside from my bruised ego, I reckon I'll be all right, yeah." He offered her a smile. "So, what did you think? I wrote the poem myself."
"You don't say."
"Sirius thinks I have a real talent."
Lily sighs. "Aren't you tired of all these games yet, Potter?" she asks, exasperated.
"Not at all, Evans," he tells her with a wink. "Aren't you tired of saying no?"
And there it is - a smile. Just a small one, just the barest flash of upturned lips before Lily crosses her arms and meets his gaze. It's practically nothing, practically less than nothing, but it isn't the annoyance she always wears in front of him. It's amusement, pure and simple - hidden and secret, but amusement nonetheless. And if James could amuse her… well, then there's no telling what could happen next.
She picks up her rucksack and swings it over her shoulder, a smug look on her face. "Not at all, Potter," she says, "not at all."
***
James persists for the better part of another week, right up until Hogwarts breaks for Christmas. His idea is really just to be perpetually irritating - he'll have to wear her down at one point, he thinks. Surely one snog is a small price to pay to get him to stop asking. And yet Lily turns him down every time, and in the final hour before catching the train back to London, James wanders the third floor corridors, dejected.
He's failed. Oh, sure, he'll have plenty of other opportunities to convince Lily to go out with him in the future. They have a whole year and a half left at school together, after all. But James had really been certain that this would be their shot. He'd really thought that, finally, she'd say yes.
James is torn from his thoughts at the sound of a shaky, quiet sob. Blinking around, he spots a small first-year tucked in beside a suit of armour.
Curious, James approaches the tyke. "Hello," he says, kneeling down in front of the boy. "What's your name?"
The boy's cheeks are grubby and streaked with tears, and he hiccups a little as he speaks. "H-Harold."
James offers him a smile. "Hi, Harold, I'm James. What's the matter?"
For a moment, the boy seems to consider keeping quiet. But when James settles down crossed-legged on the floor with him, Harold sighs. "The fifth years were making fun of my glasses again."
James raises his eyebrows. "Your glasses?"
Harold nods, his eyes trained on his knees. "They've already cracked two pairs this year, and my Mum says she can't afford to buy me new ones until January. And today they chased me and said they were going to grind my glasses into dust so that I wouldn't be able to go home and see my Mummy." He hiccups again. "I hid back here until they left."
James feels something twinge within his stomach. He thinks, guiltily, of all the times he's taunted Snape, and Dolohov, and so many of the other weedy-looking Slytherin boys in his year. Had they all felt like this afterwards? Had they all hidden, afraid of what he'd do to them just for a laugh? He presses his lips together, thinking. Maybe it isn't worth hurting someone like this just for a bit of fun.
"I think your glasses look quite distinguished, Harold."
Maybe James can't go back and make up for all the times he's hurt people in the past. But he can help this poor boy in front of him to stop hurting.
Harold blinks up at him, confused. "Dis - distinguished?"
"Absolutely," James says with a confident nod. "You look quite grown-up. And handsome! As a matter of fact, the best girls - the smart and pretty ones, the ones you really want to like you - love men in glasses."
"Really?" There's a hint of hope in Harold's voice.
"Really," James confirms. "And your glasses help you see. You, Harold, would not be you without your very distinguished glasses."
A grin slowly creeps across Harold's face, and James feels a matching one on his own.
"And," he adds, "you tell those bullies that whenever they try to pick on you again, James Potter will get them. James Potter and his big, strong friends." He gently knocks Harold's shoulder. "Believe me, you do not want to mess with my friends."
James thinks the look on Harold's face could melt giant blocks of ice. He stands and watches Harold run off, pleased. He'd forgotten what it feels like to be good.
"Looks like you've got a heart after all."
James isn't expecting Lily's voice, and when he spins around to face her, he definitely isn't expecting the smile on her face. "Oh," he stammers, "er…"
"That was quite nice, what you said to that boy," Lily says, taking a step towards him.
"Well," James says, unsure of what else to add. He isn't used to be caught off guard, and he definitely isn't used to Lily being the one to initiate a conversation.
"Where's this James Potter all the time, hm? Does he really only appear around teary-eyed first years?" she asks. "Because I reckon this James Potter's all right."
"Yeah?" It suddenly registers with him just how close she's gotten.
"Yeah."
And then, before James can think or plan or say or do, Lily's hands are on his chest and she's leaning in to kiss him. It's soft and gentle and sweet, and she smells like apples and cinnamon and something else he can't quite place. The curve of her waist is soft where he rests his hand as he kisses her back gently, allowing her all the control. The kiss is kind and it's nothing like he'd expected.
It's better.
When they finally pull apart, James offers her a smile. "So the mistletoe finally wore you down, eh?"
Lily breathes out a laugh, two pink circles dotting her cheeks. "This has nothing to do with the mistletoe."
James raises his eyebrows. "Why, Evans, don't tell me you fancy me."
Lily rolls her eyes with a smile and backs away from him slowly. But she's still watching him, still smiling, as if she doesn't really want to be leaving. "Don't be mad, of course I don't fancy you."
James crosses his arms and he can't help it - he feels a little smug. "You absolutely do fancy me."
Lily shakes her head with a grin. "And if you tell anyone, I'll have to kill you."
end.
Janna/Hufflepuff/75 points!