A/N: I was having a conversation with my Dad about university and iv came to me; the rest just sort of followed. And yes, I realise wizards have fireworks too but temporary amnesia washed over me when I wrote the last one so I'm gonna call it artistic licence and be done with it.
Disclaimer: You know the drill. I'm not Jo Rowling and the title's from She Moves In Her Own Way by The Kooks.
i can't find the words to make it sound unique
but honestly you make me strong and i'm in love with you
- kate nash, i hate seagulls
one | james and lily
.
i.
It's ridiculous, really, how happy it makes him. He's in their shared bathroom waiting for the shower to run hot, for Merlin's sake, and he's standing there, starkers, smiling like an idiot at the sight of her toothbrush next to his in the cup by the sink.
Pathetic.
He berates himself and steps into the bath, wishing the water would run the thoughts out of his head, but as he turns to pick up the shampoo he sees her razor next to his on the edge of the basin out the corner of his eye and knows he's a goner.
ii.
He pretends to be annoyed, even irate at times (to be fair, even James can't put up with having to stumble around at three-thirty in the morning to find a flipping shirt just so he can go to the loo in case he bumps into one of their housemates) when he finds that she's nicked yet another of his old Quidditch tops to sleep in, or his boxers because she was tired and needed her morning cuppa, or his socks - strangely, that's the most common occurrence - because she 'liked the design', but he just can't pull it off.
iii.
They're on the sofa watching repeats of a programme that Lily likes -The Good Life, with Felicity Kendal, the one James likes. She pokes him and reminds the boy that he has a redheaded girlfriend and that his weakness for blondes will be his downfall, but he just grins back cheekily and tugs her closer, sliding a hand up her jumper and rubbing circles on the small of her back.
Lily falls asleep quickly and cuddles in nearer to him, her breath on his neck sending tingles down his spine.
He decides that he really needs to get a grip.
iv.
He overhears them as he's packing his stuff away after Petunia's summer wedding. Lily'd only gone to wish her sister well, but things had obviously escalated as he could hear their raised voices from her room.
"I hope you have a nice life with that layabout boyfriend of yours," she sniffs.
"James isn't a layabout!"
"Well, he doesn't have a promising future, does he? Vernon went to university."
"Vernon got a 2:2 in engineering from Thames Poly," says Lily flatly. "That does not count as 'going to university'."
James decides there and then that he loves her a little more.
v.
He dumps his bag on the floor and walks over to her, curious. He slides his arms around her waist and rests his chin on the top of her head as he peeks past her shoulder and skims the parchment on the desk in front of his girlfriend. He realises it isn't just any old letter, it's a birthday card, and it's for Mrs Evans.
When she's finished, she signs it with love from Lily and James and his stomach explodes like a thousand of those Muggle fire-whatsits. She puts her quill down.
He can't do anything but kiss her.
Reviews are Andrew Garfield's smile in The Amazing Spider-Man. And any other time, too, actually.