(no subject)
Prompts: Valentine's Day, conflict, chocolate. Here's my attempt to jump through all three hoops.
For the Fluff Thread.
***
“Will you sit next to me in class?” James asked, his hazel eyes softening for Lily as the Fat Lady swung shut behind them. They trotted down the stairs hand in hand; he gave hers a doting squeeze.
“I told you, I don’t feel like getting into trouble-” Lily checked, “- especially not in McGonagall’s class!” Her hair bounced pertly as they descended the last stair.
“What?” James yelped. “But it’s Valentine’s Day!”
An errant owl swooped high in the columnar tower, past earth-toned oil paintings, a pink scroll tied to its leg.
“Yes, and the last time I sat next to you, she glared at us the minute you snaked your hand onto my knee under the table.”
“That won’t happen again,” James promised, hoping his wire-rimmed glasses might suddenly lend him a much-needed studious air as he glanced sidelong at his girlfriend.
“James Potter, do you really think I believe that? You can’t keep your hands off me for… two seconds.”
James considered. Undeniable.
“You seemed to have a hard time keeping yours off me last night,” he reminded, his voice sliding low in reference to rounds about the castle, during which they’d checked for mischief-makers in many a dark corner.
He saw her stifle the smirk he’d teased up. “Well, McGonagall is onto you-” Lily persisted, as she ducked her head under the blue tapestry leading into the shortcut.
James held the tapestry high and followed after her.
“And you still have a habit of thinking that ‘narrowly avoiding detention’ is one big game,” she accused as they descended the narrow, wooden staircase.
Hmmm. She seems to have me alarmingly well-figured out.
“Don’t worry,” he said blithely. “She’s not going to give me-us-detention. She likes me,” he added, as they reached the bottom of the stairs.
Lily threw a look at his audacity. “She both adores and despises you,” she corrected, and in a nearly indecipherable mutter, she added, “I should know.” She ducked under the red tapestry. The weighty woven fabric swept over James’s hair and trailed down his shoulders as he exited into the hall again.
“That’s better than Slughorn then,” he said. “He simply adores you and despises me.”
Lily smiled, which unfailingly gave James the feeling that he’d thrown the Quaffle though the middle ring again. Overall, James found he was enjoying the morning immensely. Ever since waking, he’d been feeling particularly-high-spirited? No, that wasn’t the right word…
The door to the Transfiguration classroom came into view and they slowed to a halt outside it, squaring off to regard each other, their bags slung over their shoulders. Her green eyes danced at him as she tilted her head. A sputtering comet swarmed in James’s chest as it always did when she bestowed that look upon him. She was, without a doubt, the prettiest witch at Hogwarts…and much more.
“Please?” he tried one last time.
“No,” Lily replied stubbornly and turned on her heel to enter the classroom.
James was determined to follow. Unfortunately, Lily quickly wound her way toward an isolated vacancy in the second row. He halted in checkmate by the door. Ah, strategic, Evans. He loved a good game. He scanned the room for options: all the open seats were located two rows back from Lily. That wouldn’t do.
A familiar, black-haired boy opening a ball of gum in the third row caught his eye… Sirius... Excellent. All three of his friends were seated in the row behind Lily. Certainly one of them would be willing to give up a seat, considering the circumstances… Unfortunately, Sirius sat diagonal to her at best; he needed 'adjacent'. Sirius looked up and caught James’ eye, then gave a small wave and a mickey-taking lift of his brows.
James went back to scanning. Perhaps she’d truly outsmarted him. Not possible. In the seat behind Lily-the one next to Sirius-Delia Midgeon alternated between frowning at a piece of parchment and then scribbling frantically upon it. Clearly, she hadn’t finished her assignment. James smiled with relish as he popped his head out into the hall, checking both ways for signs of an oncoming McGonagall, then, moving quickly, he brushed past classmates’ knees as he made his way down the third row. He stopped at Delia Midgeon. She glanced curiously up at him while he looked down at her parchment, noting blank spaces under the last three questions; Lily spun in her seat and eyed James with a mixture of surprise and irritation.
James leaned down to mumble in Delia’s ear. “Conjured food doesn’t provide satiety; the word ‘transfiguration’ doesn’t apply to objects within the same genus; the armchair will disappear in approximately 2 hours,” he rattled off. “Can I have your seat?” Delia’s eyes flitted to Lily, then to Sirius, and-as if considering it a reasonable bargain-she nodded and gathered up her things. James settled into his seat. Lily huffed prettily-or so it seemed to James-and spun forward again.
He leaned forward to whisper in her ear, the strands of her long hair pleasantly tickling his face. “You should have known I’d win in the end, Evans.”
“James Potter,” broke the no-nonsense voice of Professor McGonagall, “If you would like to retain that seat for the entire lesson, I shall remind you before we begin that this is a classroom, not Madame Puddifoot’s.” She finished clicking her heels toward the front of the class. To his right, his friends stifled snorts and grins behind their hands; in front of him, Lily’s head turned to hide flaring apple-red cheeks.
Moments later, Sirius, who commanded a better view of Lily’s profile, leaned toward James. “She looks like she wants to kill you,” he said, grinning widely.
James grinned back.
Lily pointedly ignored James during class. Even when he surreptitiously tried to tease the back of her long hair with his quill to get her attention while McGonagall’s back was turned, she snatched all of her locks away, twisted them, and tucked them, business-like, over her shoulder.
James conceded to leave her alone for the rest of class. But when the time came to pack their things, he clapped a foot onto the strap of Lily’s bag, which she’d stashed under her chair, and dragged it back within his reach. Rising, he hoisted it, along with his own, over his shoulder.
“Good luck with that, mate,” offered a departing Sirius.
Lily snatched at the empty space under her chair, then she turned and pinned James with an impatient glare.
“James,” she whined resentfully and reached for it back.
“No, I’ll carry it for you-” he insisted, leaning away, but he began to realize by the uneven set of her shoulders that he’d fallen out of favor for the duty. What had he done wrong? He simply wanted to sit next to her on Valentine’s Day. Had a single warning from McGonagall turned the whole day into rubbish? He scanned his girlfriend’s face for a clue. There was nothing playful about her expression now, as there had been earlier this morning. He tentatively lifted her bag off his shoulder and handed it back to her, still watching her expression.
She reclaimed it somewhat briskly and began loading her books into the top flap.
“Look, I’m really sorry if I got us into trouble,” he plied softly, lurching backwards to let Davey Gudgeon and Bertram Aubrey shuffle past. I didn’t even see McGonagall come in! he wanted to say, but Lily cinched the top string and strode off.
James’s eyelids fluttered closed in anguish. He’d been in this predicament a million times before with Lily. Not now. Please. Not on their first Valentine’s Day together.
He thought he saw Aubrey smirk as he dashed into the hallway in pursuit of her. It was easy to pick Lily out of the crowd: her red hair bounced coolly across her feminine shoulders. He pulled up alongside her and gently touched her arm. Her eyes flashed. Strangely enough, an unbefriended hyppogriff popped to mind. She was a bit angrier than he’d expected. But was he such an idiot that he couldn’t figure a solution?
“You simply can not behave yourself in class,” Lily accused hotly.
“What are you talking about?” challenged James, his voice rising. “I’ve only had detention once this whole year!” His eyes narrowed in confusion. Surely, she was aware of this. They pulled to the side of the hall while rubbernecking classmates skirted around them. Lily stood with her back to the stone.
“You must miss it then,” she replied coolly.
The words stung. The comet swarming in James’ chest just an hour earlier took a decided nosedive. “No…” he replied softly, “I haven’t missed it. I’ve had better things to occupy my time,” he replied, poignantly fixing his sad eyes on hers.
Lily’s expression softened as she let out a deflating sigh, her bag still slung over her shoulder. She turned her head to survey the rowdy crush of oncoming second years.
“I was really embarrassed,” she said quietly.
James nodded.
“I know…” Only he’d taken it for a temporary blush.
He swallowed and braved onward. “I’m sorry.”
Would it be enough?
“I didn’t even see McGonagall walk in,” he persisted, “or I would have-” Behaved? It sounded so childish. Maybe he was childish. He’d certainly always felt that way around her. But recently, he’d simply gotten caught up in all the fun they were having. This whole year had been so serious. A lot of weight had been placed on their shoulders-they were meant to set an example in everything-even Lily had admitted it-but last evening, doing rounds… laughing without restraint… kissing in dark corners of the castle… it had all been… The comet swarmed in his chest again, doing a better job of communicating his feelings than he was.
He hadn’t intended to ruin it all.
“I’m just not sure how you do it sometimes,” she said, turning back to James. “You make everything look so easy.”
“I do?”
Lily nodded, and then glanced away down the hall. “Like it really is all a game for you,” she sighed.
James didn’t know whether to risk answering truthfully. After all, Hogwarts was a bit of a game to him, but Lily was as good of a student as he was. Or better… Slughorn had good reason for adulating over her and not him. As the vibrant voices drew nearer, he too, cast a delaying look down the hall.
Floating along above the throng of second years, a winged, chubby cherub repeatedly strung his bow and fired tiny golden arrows at Love’s victim-a froggy-looking boy with freckles, glasses, and reddish-brown hair-who chuntered loudly while his friends laughed. The arrows appeared to be made of rubber, for each bounced off him before vanishing into thin air.
“That looks familiar,” James mumbled.
After a delay, Lily’s lips twitched upwards.
Suddenly, James realized they were standing in the same hallway in which they’d been laughing giddily last night while they were supposed to be acting as responsible Heads.
“It just doesn’t seem any easier when I take it all seriously,” he shrugged, attempting to respond soberly to what she’d said.
Lily surveyed him. Perhaps she liked his answer-or maybe she just liked what she saw-because she finally allowed herself to crack a smile at him. “Sometimes, I don’t know what I’m going to do with you,” she professed, her eyes taking on a new twinkle.
“I have some ideas,” he postulated as he stepped closer to let the throng pass behind him. He raised a brow suggestively; Lily's smile cracked wider. He took the opportunity to reach out and gently lift the bag off her shoulder. Then, taking her by the hand, he led her back into step with him. They walked together in silence for a while.
“I still haven’t given you your Valentine’s gift,” said James.
Lily’s expression perked. “You mean that gift you sent up the stairs with my cat last night wasn’t my Valentine?”
“The leather bookmark? No, I just like the challenge of getting things past the enchanted stairwell.” He’d quickly embossed the winged boars of the school gates onto a spare bit of leather and added a tassel. And sticking charms were dead useful-even on cats.
“So what else did you get me?” she asked, her voice bright with curiosity.
“Let’s stop behind some suits of armor, shall we?” He nodded toward the armor gallery up ahead. Fortunately the halls had quieted down as the next class had begun. For their part, their schedules were free.
James set their bags down on the travertine tiles next to the plinth of a suit of armor and rummaged. Out of one bag, he produced a small, white, parchment-wrapped bundle held together with a strand of silky red ribbon and offered it to Lily.
“This is for you.”
Lily eyes sank toward it. She smiled as she took the bundle and, with a pleasantly mesmerized look on her face, began to unwrap it. A pull of the bow and a peel back of the parchment revealed a dark brown heart in a small tin.
“Is this chocolate?” Lily asked, delighted, bringing it up to her nose to sniff it.
James nodded. “It’s truffle cake. The house elves baked it.”
“You convinced the house-elves to bake me a cake? How did you do that?” she demanded, looking like she might laugh.
“Well,” James began casually, “when you patronize the kitchens as often as we do, you can usually get what you want.”
Lily smiled brightly at him…in the way he’d always hoped she would, back when he was just a hooligan, and she, the girl he couldn’t have. And in the narrow nook between the wall and the suit of armor, a simple smile drew him in. James began to understand how-in those books he so loved to read on the floor of their library as a child-the siren of the sea would convince so many a sailor to crash his ship upon the rocks. It was something he’d never understood back then, but now, with the mere gloss on her lips beckoning him on...
“If you must know, I traded a pack of Droobles for it,” he admitted, grinning and edging forward.
Threading her arms over his shoulders, still holding the gift in one hand, Lily coaxed him back between the plinth, the sword, and the wall.
“Did any of your friends have these made for girls as well?” she asked, her voice an innocent tinkle.
“No,” James nodded. “Besides, you saw Sirius blowing bubbles during class today.”
“I was trying not to look,” Lily admitted as James’s hands found their way tightly around her waist. She tenderly kissed his nose.
“Did you get me anything for Valentine’s Day?” he asked, bringing his forehead down to hers.
Lily laughed. “I did….”
You did?
“But I know how much you enjoy a challenge…”
Right.
“So I’ve hidden it.”
“You’ve hidden it?” James considered... “In the common room?”
Lily shook her head, an impish cast in her eye. “In the castle.”
The comet whirled in his chest. He loved a good game…