Challenges 64, 74, and 25
Title: Snowfall
Rating/Warnings: PG 13 for language
Characters/Pairing: Terry Boot, OCs
Summary: Snow? In London? Something must be done.
Word Count: 978
Author's Notes: this is probably fail, I didn’t reread it!
Registered purchases?: Both!
Terry Boot loved winter. There was nothing quite like going home over the holidays. He had the brief amount of time to meet up with his Muggle friends and every year the day after Christmas they took the train to Joey’s Aunt’s House in Scotland. It was a tradition they had all started at the tender age of eight and still continued. It never really snowed in London, so the Scotland trip was always a big event. Any excuse to go play in the snow is something the boys would take.
Christmas came early this year though. It was 20 December and the snow started. Terry stood on the back balcony of the flat where he grew up and watched the snow start to fall. He wrinkled his brow, he couldn’t remember the last time it snowed in London, and on top of it to snow this much. The phone rang. “Hello?” a pause. “Yeah, Joey, I’m outside in it right now.” Terry sighed, sometimes his friends were idiots. “YES Joey. Listen, mate, I’m going to make some snowballs and shove them down your trousers if you don’t get to the point.” Thankfully that did spur Joey on. “Well I’ll be damned. Ok then, let’s go!”
It seemed that the snow was coming for days on end. There was supposed to be enough to essentially cripple London for days. So, being sixteen year old boys, they were going to do the only thing logical. They met at the corner, two blocks down. They were off to buy some groceries, just in case, and then make a tent in Terry’s living room and camp out until the snow stopped. Or, if the weather was wrong, they were going to be boys and stay up til all hours playing video games and drinking caffeinated pop.
Terry was in his nice peacoat, the one he wore to and from the Hogwarts Express to blend in with the greater community. His hands were shoved in his pockets as he didn’t quite believe in gloves and he waited. Leave it to Joey to be closer to this block and - that’s when it hit him. Turning slowly, Terry saw Joey about 100 yards back with two more snowballs in his hand. “You have to the count of three to put those down and get your arse over here before I try to kill you. One.” Joey just smiled. “Two.” Still nothing. “Th-“ and then he was hit again. Alexander was standing on the other side of the corner, throwing snowballs at Terry as fast as he could. “YOU ARE BOTH DEAD!” he bellowed and ran towards Joey, tackling him to the ground. He rubbed the fair haired boy’s hair into the snow right down to the concrete. “I would destroy you, except I plan to get to the market before they sell out of Cheetos.” Jumping up, Terry charged Alexander and essentially chased him the entire way to the market.
The two boys stood laughing and jostling with each other. “Oy.” Alexander put his hands on his hips. “Where did Joey get off to?” The sighed in unison.
“What a wanker,” Terry laughed. “How many years and he still can’t quite be anywhere on time.” Without waiting for their friend, he turned to go inside to collect whatever food he thought was necessary. Lucky for him, his mum was also kind enough to send him with a list so he would actually get some useful food items as well.
***
Three days later and the boys were still in Terry’s flat. Of course they could’ve walked home when the sun was out, but somehow that negated all the fun. Terry’s mum didn’t much mind that the boys were over, since she was alone the rest of the time. It was Alexander’s turn to play World of Warcraft on his laptop while the other two boys played some Play Station game. It was three o’clock in the afternoon and the boys had just woken up. The boys had drank thorough all their Mountain Dew, and had succumbed to drinking coffee. Something had to be done, and fast. When they got to the coffee stage, getting out of the house was the only option.
“I’m bored. “ Joey announced.
“Yeah, I feel that,” Alexander chimed in from the couch. “Football pitch?”
“Don’ t be daft,” Joey looked cross. “There is far too much snow to play footy right now.”
Terry grinned. “Forget footie. What is the one thing we do every winter, normally in Scotland.” All three boys smiled. As fast as it was possible, they were all dressed in normal clothes and running to get their coats. A quarter hour later they were out at the football pitch, or rather, where it should have been and the games had begun before they got there. Children of all ages were out scraping the snow to the ends, rolling them up into large balls.
It seemed to be that all of London had the same idea at the same time. It was understood that when there was snow, you tried to see who could make the strangest sculpture out of the snow. They year before Terry had won with a moose. This year the boys all knew what had to be done. Working together they created a life sized F1 racing car. They left enough room inside that you could actually sit in it and look like you were racing. This was the only sport the guys ever knew, the only thing worth doing in winter. It was a matter of pride to win the most creative snow sculpture, and for the first time in eight years they were going to win together. Not only was it an amazing sculpture, Alexander took a picture and it was shown on Sky Sports News the following day. Now that was something they could all be proud of.
978/50 + 10 = 30
Title: Silence is Golden
Rating/Warnings: PG for some adult themes (kinda sorta not really)
Characters/Pairing: Daphne Greengrass, Astoria Greegrass, mentions of Draco Malfoy
Summary: Daphne needs to get the hell out of the house when her sister is being a brat.
Word Count: 1177
Author's Notes: This wasn’t nearly as hard as I thought it might be!
Registered purchases?: Both!
It was a sweltering summer. The humidity saturated the air, making it feel heavy and dense. Stepping outside for more than a few minutes caused one to sweat heavily, which according to Daphne, was entirely unacceptable. Astoria was being a brat today, which was really no different from any other day, so Daphne did the only thing that she really could. Gathering her towel and sliding into her sandals, she stepped outside. A House Elf came running up to her, but she dismissed it with only a wave of a hand. Naturally the Elves would know where she was going, but there was no need to draw them from the house. If that was the case, her sister was sure to notice her absence all the sooner and that was not something she was interested in.
Daphne sighed as the wave of heat met her just outside the door. She slowly walked down the hill and through the bank of trees. Her parents had put in a rather large pond some years ago, when she was only a few years old. It wasn’t for Daphne, though. She’d asked for one a thousand times, but no, not for her. When her mother was pregnant with Astoria, that’s when it went in. Her mother couldn’t stand the heat either and she wanted to swim, so because mother wanted a pond they made a pond.
Taking the last few steps, Daphne laid her towel out carefully. She set it over the perfectly manicured grass and smoothed it so it didn’t have a single wrinkle in it. Slipping off her sandals she lay them next to the towel and simply stood for a moment. The view was always glorious. The sun shone on the beautiful blue water, making it seem to wink up at her as the touching down of a dragonfly broke the still surface. Daphne smiled. Stepping forward, she dipped a toe into the pond. The water was felt cold by comparison of the overwhelming heat of the day but had clearly been plenty warmed by the sun. Taking great care, she made sure that the strings of her jade green bikini were tied tight. Satisfied that they were, she looked at her reflection in the water. With a single swift movement she drew her hair up in a high pony tail and waded into the pond. The water lapped at her pale skin cooling it instantly. Sinking down, Daphne pushed herself forward and glided out into the water, ducking her head to cover herself fully. She sighed again, this time much more happily. Turning over in the water Daphne looked up into the sky. She closed her eyes to keep from being blinded by the sun and just enjoyed the relative silence. There was a slight rustling, but it was probably just one of the Abraxan one field over. The winged horse whickered as if to answer her thoughts. When the sun had warmed her skin again, Daphne ducked under the water and took a lazy lap of the length of the pond.
She was lucky that the summer days were so quiet here. The entire family had visited the Malfoy Manor a week or so before, and it seemed that things there were in constant motion. Draco of course bragged, showing her all his things. Amazingly enough, the other boy was kind enough to not say anything mean to younger Astoria. This would probably explain his bragging behavior however. Draco had never really said much to Daphne and she was just fine with this since she never really spoke to him either. Of course pleasantries were exchanged and she knew more than enough about him, his family, and their reputation. She was a proud Slytherin girl after all, it was expected of her. She knew a fair amount about all the children in Slytherin in her year and limited about those younger and older. Her mother had tried to impress upon her the importance of knowing everything but Daphne had exams to study for. Perhaps someday in the future when all she had to do was to decide what to wear, decorate the house, and do as her husband asked things would be different. She knew she was doing the right thing at this point in her life.
Kicking gently, Daphne propelled herself to the shore. She sat in the water with her knees tucked up towards her chin and arms wrapped protectively around them. The water continued to slide around her, as if urging her to come back fully into its embrace. It was still quiet. Daphne tilted her head as she watched the winged horses move around their field. What she wouldn’t give to be one of them right now. She would love to have no cares in the world. Or perhaps to only be concerned about the next meal and who to stand next to so they could help shoo away the flies. Tipping her head forward, she buried it into her arms and cried. She knew the real reason they were at the Malfoy Manor and the children were sent away. Her father was trying to arrange for her to be married to Draco. She would, of course, if her parents wanted it. It never mattered what she wanted. There were expectations she had to uphold. She would marry a pureblooded wizard and have his children. If she was lucky he would work at the Ministry like Draco’s father and be away much of the time. She could leave her bratty sister, though, and that was a benefit. Finally she would be alone and have some say about what was going on her life even if it was minimal. She would be able to pick the clothes she wanted to wear and tell the house elves what to make for dinner. No more would she have to stare at the ugly paintings her mother insisted on keeping in her room. Perhaps, just perhaps, this would end up being a blessing in disguise.
Knowing it was inappropriate for a lady to cry, and even more so while turning into a prune at the side of the pond, so she slipped back into the water one last time. She really didn’t want to swim at this point, but at least if she was covered from head to toe with water her tear streaked cheeks would seem less out of place. After a few more minutes she was sure that all appearances would show she simply wanted to swim and nothing more. Wading out of the water, Daphne laid on the towel. She decided it would be best to let the sun dry her. The reasoning was less out of logic, but more out of avoidance of the Manor. The longer she was outside, the less she had to see her family. Her thoughts were interrupted by a familiar set of footfalls and a sudden blocking of the sun. Opening her eyes, she saw Astoria looking down at her, a cruel smile playing over her lips.
1177/50 + 10 = 34
Title: Surprise
Rating/Warnings: PG for some adult themes
Characters/Pairing: James/Lily
Summary: Lily is late, now what?
Word Count: 936
Author's Notes: So I said if I’ve gone this far, I might as well max out for the week.
Registered purchases?: Both!
It was just like James to be taking his time when Lily needed him. He’d gone on for one thing and thirty minutes later he still wasn’t back. She took a deep breath and began to pace the room. “Come on James!” she muttered, turning on a dime.
As if on cue, the door opened. There stood James with the requested milk. Somehow along the way he’d also collected a comic book, three candy bars, a bag of crisps, some cheese, and a cat.
Lily stared at him, flabbergasted. “James, what have you been doing?”
“Well I went to the store!” He grinned and stepped into the house and headed straight for the kitchen leaving the door open.
Lily picked up the calico cat and carefully put it back outside. “Go home,” he told it and carefully shut the door behind it. “James, we need to talk.”
“Oh come on Lily,” He offered her a cheeky grin. “It’s not that much. You said I never read, so I got this!” He waved the comic book around before putting it on the counter. “They had samples of the cheese and it was brilliant, I thought you might like it for tea tomorrow. The crisps are for me, and I knew you wanted chocolate earlier so I got a variety because I never know what you’re really going to want.” James seemed very pleased with himself for having reasons for all of his purchases. “And you know Nestor follows anybody that walks by, so he doesn’t count,” this, of course, referring to the cat. “So it’s not like I spent a lot of money. I wasn’t out for a long time. I used my brain in my purchasing,” he winked at the red head. “Which I’m sure you like. So, what’s the big deal.”
“James.” She said it more sternly this time. “Sit down, we really need to talk.”
He looked very concerned. Taking a brief moment, he put away the milk and cheese so they wouldn’t go bad and then went to the couch where Lily sat, wringing her hands. “What’s the matter?”
“James… I’m late.”
He chuckled. “You were not! I was the one out shopping forever! Besides, even if you were I wouldn’t know it.”
Lily stared at him, then narrowed her eyes into a glare. “No, dear. I don’t think you get it,” Lily made a grand dramatic gesture of pointing to her stomach. “I’m LATE.”
“You… are?” It took another few moments for the information to really sink in. “Oh, you … oh. OH.” Thus he promptly broke into a grin. “Really? Honestly?”
Lily laughed. “Yes, James, really. I’m not going to make something like that up.”
Reaching out, James rested a hand on her stomach. “I’m going to call him James!”
“No.” She shoved him gently. “You most certainly are not.” He gave her puppy dog eyes. “It’s a girl, so it won’t matter.”
He looked offended. “How do you know?”
She looked just as offended to mock him. “How do you know?”
“Well that’s easy. It’s my child, so it’s going to be a boy. He’ll like Quidditch and be a brilliant player, just like me. He’ll enjoy pranks, the movie theatre - but not for the movies, he’ll like it for the snacks, and comic books!” In the span of about three minutes James had planned out the whole child’s life. “Oh, and he will be a ladies man just like myself and find the most beautiful girl ever to marry.”
Lily just looked at him. “What a wonderful, magical world you live in James Potter. Someday I would certainly like to visit it.”
“Oh hush!” He leaned forward and kissed her passionately. Using a great amount of care, James pulled Lily close to him and hugged her tightly around the shoulders.
She giggled. “I’m not going to break, you know.” Reaching up she wrapped her arms around his neck and stared into his eyes.
“Yes, I know,” He smiled, seeing the joy in her bright green eyes. She seemed to smile from head to toe, as if attempting to announce to the world what joy she was trying to contain. “I really am sorry it took so long at the store.”
Lily swept back a bit of black hair that had fallen into James’ eyes. “It’s ok. You came back with milk, and everything else you bought you did in thinking of me, so I figure I can let it go.” She stood and walked to the kitchen. A few moments later she came back with one of the candy bars he had purchased and was enjoying it thoroughly.
As she moved, James simply watched her. It was going to be an interesting year, watching her go from her slim figure to carrying his son. He couldn't help but wonder why she wouldn't let him call the baby James though. It was a brilliant name and he knew it.
Disposing of the wrapper, Lily was on the move again. She tidied a few rogue newspapers and daily prophets that were on the table. Catching James watching her, she smiled. Leaning over she pressed a kiss to his forehead. "Tell you what. If it is a boy, how about his middle name can be James, would that suit you?"
He pretended to think it over, looking a little upset. "Sure, I guess that'll do."
Lily laughed as she walked behind the couch. "Good, cause that's all you're getting!"
"Hey now!" James leaned up to look over the couch. He was too late, however, as Lily had already made it into the bedroom. He was in time, however, to see the shirt she was wearing go sailing across the doorway, and that was all the invitation he needed.
936/50 + 10 = 29
(34 from previous)
30 + 34 + 29 =93 91 points
We have no Terry Boot tag? SHAME OR DAPHNE, BUT WE HAVE ASTORIA!?
Rating/Warnings: PG 13 for language
Characters/Pairing: Terry Boot, OCs
Summary: Snow? In London? Something must be done.
Word Count: 978
Author's Notes: this is probably fail, I didn’t reread it!
Registered purchases?: Both!
Terry Boot loved winter. There was nothing quite like going home over the holidays. He had the brief amount of time to meet up with his Muggle friends and every year the day after Christmas they took the train to Joey’s Aunt’s House in Scotland. It was a tradition they had all started at the tender age of eight and still continued. It never really snowed in London, so the Scotland trip was always a big event. Any excuse to go play in the snow is something the boys would take.
Christmas came early this year though. It was 20 December and the snow started. Terry stood on the back balcony of the flat where he grew up and watched the snow start to fall. He wrinkled his brow, he couldn’t remember the last time it snowed in London, and on top of it to snow this much. The phone rang. “Hello?” a pause. “Yeah, Joey, I’m outside in it right now.” Terry sighed, sometimes his friends were idiots. “YES Joey. Listen, mate, I’m going to make some snowballs and shove them down your trousers if you don’t get to the point.” Thankfully that did spur Joey on. “Well I’ll be damned. Ok then, let’s go!”
It seemed that the snow was coming for days on end. There was supposed to be enough to essentially cripple London for days. So, being sixteen year old boys, they were going to do the only thing logical. They met at the corner, two blocks down. They were off to buy some groceries, just in case, and then make a tent in Terry’s living room and camp out until the snow stopped. Or, if the weather was wrong, they were going to be boys and stay up til all hours playing video games and drinking caffeinated pop.
Terry was in his nice peacoat, the one he wore to and from the Hogwarts Express to blend in with the greater community. His hands were shoved in his pockets as he didn’t quite believe in gloves and he waited. Leave it to Joey to be closer to this block and - that’s when it hit him. Turning slowly, Terry saw Joey about 100 yards back with two more snowballs in his hand. “You have to the count of three to put those down and get your arse over here before I try to kill you. One.” Joey just smiled. “Two.” Still nothing. “Th-“ and then he was hit again. Alexander was standing on the other side of the corner, throwing snowballs at Terry as fast as he could. “YOU ARE BOTH DEAD!” he bellowed and ran towards Joey, tackling him to the ground. He rubbed the fair haired boy’s hair into the snow right down to the concrete. “I would destroy you, except I plan to get to the market before they sell out of Cheetos.” Jumping up, Terry charged Alexander and essentially chased him the entire way to the market.
The two boys stood laughing and jostling with each other. “Oy.” Alexander put his hands on his hips. “Where did Joey get off to?” The sighed in unison.
“What a wanker,” Terry laughed. “How many years and he still can’t quite be anywhere on time.” Without waiting for their friend, he turned to go inside to collect whatever food he thought was necessary. Lucky for him, his mum was also kind enough to send him with a list so he would actually get some useful food items as well.
***
Three days later and the boys were still in Terry’s flat. Of course they could’ve walked home when the sun was out, but somehow that negated all the fun. Terry’s mum didn’t much mind that the boys were over, since she was alone the rest of the time. It was Alexander’s turn to play World of Warcraft on his laptop while the other two boys played some Play Station game. It was three o’clock in the afternoon and the boys had just woken up. The boys had drank thorough all their Mountain Dew, and had succumbed to drinking coffee. Something had to be done, and fast. When they got to the coffee stage, getting out of the house was the only option.
“I’m bored. “ Joey announced.
“Yeah, I feel that,” Alexander chimed in from the couch. “Football pitch?”
“Don’ t be daft,” Joey looked cross. “There is far too much snow to play footy right now.”
Terry grinned. “Forget footie. What is the one thing we do every winter, normally in Scotland.” All three boys smiled. As fast as it was possible, they were all dressed in normal clothes and running to get their coats. A quarter hour later they were out at the football pitch, or rather, where it should have been and the games had begun before they got there. Children of all ages were out scraping the snow to the ends, rolling them up into large balls.
It seemed to be that all of London had the same idea at the same time. It was understood that when there was snow, you tried to see who could make the strangest sculpture out of the snow. They year before Terry had won with a moose. This year the boys all knew what had to be done. Working together they created a life sized F1 racing car. They left enough room inside that you could actually sit in it and look like you were racing. This was the only sport the guys ever knew, the only thing worth doing in winter. It was a matter of pride to win the most creative snow sculpture, and for the first time in eight years they were going to win together. Not only was it an amazing sculpture, Alexander took a picture and it was shown on Sky Sports News the following day. Now that was something they could all be proud of.
978/50 + 10 = 30
Title: Silence is Golden
Rating/Warnings: PG for some adult themes (kinda sorta not really)
Characters/Pairing: Daphne Greengrass, Astoria Greegrass, mentions of Draco Malfoy
Summary: Daphne needs to get the hell out of the house when her sister is being a brat.
Word Count: 1177
Author's Notes: This wasn’t nearly as hard as I thought it might be!
Registered purchases?: Both!
It was a sweltering summer. The humidity saturated the air, making it feel heavy and dense. Stepping outside for more than a few minutes caused one to sweat heavily, which according to Daphne, was entirely unacceptable. Astoria was being a brat today, which was really no different from any other day, so Daphne did the only thing that she really could. Gathering her towel and sliding into her sandals, she stepped outside. A House Elf came running up to her, but she dismissed it with only a wave of a hand. Naturally the Elves would know where she was going, but there was no need to draw them from the house. If that was the case, her sister was sure to notice her absence all the sooner and that was not something she was interested in.
Daphne sighed as the wave of heat met her just outside the door. She slowly walked down the hill and through the bank of trees. Her parents had put in a rather large pond some years ago, when she was only a few years old. It wasn’t for Daphne, though. She’d asked for one a thousand times, but no, not for her. When her mother was pregnant with Astoria, that’s when it went in. Her mother couldn’t stand the heat either and she wanted to swim, so because mother wanted a pond they made a pond.
Taking the last few steps, Daphne laid her towel out carefully. She set it over the perfectly manicured grass and smoothed it so it didn’t have a single wrinkle in it. Slipping off her sandals she lay them next to the towel and simply stood for a moment. The view was always glorious. The sun shone on the beautiful blue water, making it seem to wink up at her as the touching down of a dragonfly broke the still surface. Daphne smiled. Stepping forward, she dipped a toe into the pond. The water was felt cold by comparison of the overwhelming heat of the day but had clearly been plenty warmed by the sun. Taking great care, she made sure that the strings of her jade green bikini were tied tight. Satisfied that they were, she looked at her reflection in the water. With a single swift movement she drew her hair up in a high pony tail and waded into the pond. The water lapped at her pale skin cooling it instantly. Sinking down, Daphne pushed herself forward and glided out into the water, ducking her head to cover herself fully. She sighed again, this time much more happily. Turning over in the water Daphne looked up into the sky. She closed her eyes to keep from being blinded by the sun and just enjoyed the relative silence. There was a slight rustling, but it was probably just one of the Abraxan one field over. The winged horse whickered as if to answer her thoughts. When the sun had warmed her skin again, Daphne ducked under the water and took a lazy lap of the length of the pond.
She was lucky that the summer days were so quiet here. The entire family had visited the Malfoy Manor a week or so before, and it seemed that things there were in constant motion. Draco of course bragged, showing her all his things. Amazingly enough, the other boy was kind enough to not say anything mean to younger Astoria. This would probably explain his bragging behavior however. Draco had never really said much to Daphne and she was just fine with this since she never really spoke to him either. Of course pleasantries were exchanged and she knew more than enough about him, his family, and their reputation. She was a proud Slytherin girl after all, it was expected of her. She knew a fair amount about all the children in Slytherin in her year and limited about those younger and older. Her mother had tried to impress upon her the importance of knowing everything but Daphne had exams to study for. Perhaps someday in the future when all she had to do was to decide what to wear, decorate the house, and do as her husband asked things would be different. She knew she was doing the right thing at this point in her life.
Kicking gently, Daphne propelled herself to the shore. She sat in the water with her knees tucked up towards her chin and arms wrapped protectively around them. The water continued to slide around her, as if urging her to come back fully into its embrace. It was still quiet. Daphne tilted her head as she watched the winged horses move around their field. What she wouldn’t give to be one of them right now. She would love to have no cares in the world. Or perhaps to only be concerned about the next meal and who to stand next to so they could help shoo away the flies. Tipping her head forward, she buried it into her arms and cried. She knew the real reason they were at the Malfoy Manor and the children were sent away. Her father was trying to arrange for her to be married to Draco. She would, of course, if her parents wanted it. It never mattered what she wanted. There were expectations she had to uphold. She would marry a pureblooded wizard and have his children. If she was lucky he would work at the Ministry like Draco’s father and be away much of the time. She could leave her bratty sister, though, and that was a benefit. Finally she would be alone and have some say about what was going on her life even if it was minimal. She would be able to pick the clothes she wanted to wear and tell the house elves what to make for dinner. No more would she have to stare at the ugly paintings her mother insisted on keeping in her room. Perhaps, just perhaps, this would end up being a blessing in disguise.
Knowing it was inappropriate for a lady to cry, and even more so while turning into a prune at the side of the pond, so she slipped back into the water one last time. She really didn’t want to swim at this point, but at least if she was covered from head to toe with water her tear streaked cheeks would seem less out of place. After a few more minutes she was sure that all appearances would show she simply wanted to swim and nothing more. Wading out of the water, Daphne laid on the towel. She decided it would be best to let the sun dry her. The reasoning was less out of logic, but more out of avoidance of the Manor. The longer she was outside, the less she had to see her family. Her thoughts were interrupted by a familiar set of footfalls and a sudden blocking of the sun. Opening her eyes, she saw Astoria looking down at her, a cruel smile playing over her lips.
1177/50 + 10 = 34
Title: Surprise
Rating/Warnings: PG for some adult themes
Characters/Pairing: James/Lily
Summary: Lily is late, now what?
Word Count: 936
Author's Notes: So I said if I’ve gone this far, I might as well max out for the week.
Registered purchases?: Both!
It was just like James to be taking his time when Lily needed him. He’d gone on for one thing and thirty minutes later he still wasn’t back. She took a deep breath and began to pace the room. “Come on James!” she muttered, turning on a dime.
As if on cue, the door opened. There stood James with the requested milk. Somehow along the way he’d also collected a comic book, three candy bars, a bag of crisps, some cheese, and a cat.
Lily stared at him, flabbergasted. “James, what have you been doing?”
“Well I went to the store!” He grinned and stepped into the house and headed straight for the kitchen leaving the door open.
Lily picked up the calico cat and carefully put it back outside. “Go home,” he told it and carefully shut the door behind it. “James, we need to talk.”
“Oh come on Lily,” He offered her a cheeky grin. “It’s not that much. You said I never read, so I got this!” He waved the comic book around before putting it on the counter. “They had samples of the cheese and it was brilliant, I thought you might like it for tea tomorrow. The crisps are for me, and I knew you wanted chocolate earlier so I got a variety because I never know what you’re really going to want.” James seemed very pleased with himself for having reasons for all of his purchases. “And you know Nestor follows anybody that walks by, so he doesn’t count,” this, of course, referring to the cat. “So it’s not like I spent a lot of money. I wasn’t out for a long time. I used my brain in my purchasing,” he winked at the red head. “Which I’m sure you like. So, what’s the big deal.”
“James.” She said it more sternly this time. “Sit down, we really need to talk.”
He looked very concerned. Taking a brief moment, he put away the milk and cheese so they wouldn’t go bad and then went to the couch where Lily sat, wringing her hands. “What’s the matter?”
“James… I’m late.”
He chuckled. “You were not! I was the one out shopping forever! Besides, even if you were I wouldn’t know it.”
Lily stared at him, then narrowed her eyes into a glare. “No, dear. I don’t think you get it,” Lily made a grand dramatic gesture of pointing to her stomach. “I’m LATE.”
“You… are?” It took another few moments for the information to really sink in. “Oh, you … oh. OH.” Thus he promptly broke into a grin. “Really? Honestly?”
Lily laughed. “Yes, James, really. I’m not going to make something like that up.”
Reaching out, James rested a hand on her stomach. “I’m going to call him James!”
“No.” She shoved him gently. “You most certainly are not.” He gave her puppy dog eyes. “It’s a girl, so it won’t matter.”
He looked offended. “How do you know?”
She looked just as offended to mock him. “How do you know?”
“Well that’s easy. It’s my child, so it’s going to be a boy. He’ll like Quidditch and be a brilliant player, just like me. He’ll enjoy pranks, the movie theatre - but not for the movies, he’ll like it for the snacks, and comic books!” In the span of about three minutes James had planned out the whole child’s life. “Oh, and he will be a ladies man just like myself and find the most beautiful girl ever to marry.”
Lily just looked at him. “What a wonderful, magical world you live in James Potter. Someday I would certainly like to visit it.”
“Oh hush!” He leaned forward and kissed her passionately. Using a great amount of care, James pulled Lily close to him and hugged her tightly around the shoulders.
She giggled. “I’m not going to break, you know.” Reaching up she wrapped her arms around his neck and stared into his eyes.
“Yes, I know,” He smiled, seeing the joy in her bright green eyes. She seemed to smile from head to toe, as if attempting to announce to the world what joy she was trying to contain. “I really am sorry it took so long at the store.”
Lily swept back a bit of black hair that had fallen into James’ eyes. “It’s ok. You came back with milk, and everything else you bought you did in thinking of me, so I figure I can let it go.” She stood and walked to the kitchen. A few moments later she came back with one of the candy bars he had purchased and was enjoying it thoroughly.
As she moved, James simply watched her. It was going to be an interesting year, watching her go from her slim figure to carrying his son. He couldn't help but wonder why she wouldn't let him call the baby James though. It was a brilliant name and he knew it.
Disposing of the wrapper, Lily was on the move again. She tidied a few rogue newspapers and daily prophets that were on the table. Catching James watching her, she smiled. Leaning over she pressed a kiss to his forehead. "Tell you what. If it is a boy, how about his middle name can be James, would that suit you?"
He pretended to think it over, looking a little upset. "Sure, I guess that'll do."
Lily laughed as she walked behind the couch. "Good, cause that's all you're getting!"
"Hey now!" James leaned up to look over the couch. He was too late, however, as Lily had already made it into the bedroom. He was in time, however, to see the shirt she was wearing go sailing across the doorway, and that was all the invitation he needed.
936/50 + 10 = 29
(34 from previous)
30 + 34 + 29 =93 91 points
We have no Terry Boot tag? SHAME OR DAPHNE, BUT WE HAVE ASTORIA!?