This was writen as a Jily Valentines Exchange (on tumblr) for the-chaser-and-the-snitch. Enjoy! :)

Lily ran out from the stables towards the meadow where her favourite horse was kept. She liked to come here when she could, even if she wasn't riding them, and she had done so since she was little.

Juliet, as her horse was named, was happily munching grass when Lily got there. She had a fine coat of sleek brown hair and her mane was a midnight black, to match her tail. Her muzzle was white and soft, and a sock on her back right leg was white also. Her ears perked up a little when she saw the human that often gave her yummy treats.

Lily leant over the gate and Juliet trotted up to her, nuzzling her soft mouth into Lily's outstretched hand. Lily sighed happily.

"I'm afraid I don't have anything to give you today." Lily told the horse quietly as she stroked its mane softly. Juliet neighed contentedly, happy to just have some attention.

Lily loved moments like this. Moments of unadulterated joy, happiness. She just sometimes wished that she had someone to share them with.

As if on cue with her thoughts, a hand appeared out to her. Sitting in the centre of it was a white sugar cube. Juliet looked at it with interest. Surprised, Lily looked up the arm to its owner.

A farmer's hat was covering most of the person's face, but she could still tell that it was a boy around her age with black hair and an easy smile. He held out the sugar cube to her, smiling gently.

She took it gratefully and fed it to her eager horse, but when she turned to thank him he was gone. The smile faded from her face as she ran back up the beaten track to the stables, but he seemed to have disappeared off of the face of this earth.

She didn't even know his name.

She was in a hurry. A rush, to be honest. She was late for a meeting. It was a very important one – her book club had just reached the climax of the book they had been reading and she didn't want to miss the good parts.

Her arms were full of other books that she needed to return to the library, and on her shoulder was another bag containing more books.

She shouldered the door heavily before realising that it was, in fact, a pull door. A sticker clearly stating this was stuck on the handle.

"Great." She muttered to herself. She began to unload her arms of books, cursing herself for finishing off that last book before she came. She would surely be late now!

The door suddenly swung open as she was still halfway through fumbling with her books. Consequently, it smacked her in the face and she toppled right over, her books splaying all around her.

Cursing once again for her bad luck, she scrambled for the book, hoping the library wouldn't mind that they were a little more tattered then they were when she took them out.

She looked up to see the cause of her misfortune and saw a long body, with taut arms and a wiry frame, with a hat pulled low over the boy's eyes as if to hide his identity. She scowled at them for a moment before focusing her attention back onto her books.

A hand met hers as she reached for the last book and she straightened up to stare at it. The boy handed her the book, which she quickly stowed in her back, and held the door open for her. She collected up her remaining books and walked into the old building, smiling to herself at the chivalry of the boy. Never mind that it was he who had knocked her over in the first place.

Lily walked in and turned to thank the boy, but the door had already shut behind her and all she could see of him was the back of his messy black hair.

Tweet tweet. The bird sung from its raised position on the tree top. Lily glanced up at it and grinned. Despite the dismal weather, so typical of England, she was in a good mood. She had finished all of her homework, done all of her chores, and she could finally get down and relax.

Of course, her ideal idea of relaxation would be a good book, or something along those lines, but her friends had confiscated all but one of them at the end of the last school year, telling her that she needed to 'embrace' the summer. And reading one book over and over was terribly boring, even if it was her favourite one.

In short, she needed to be entertained. What better way of doing that was anything if not going to the cinema? She hadn't been there in months, and she'd missed it at her non-muggle school. Apparently they were showing a historical film, one all about a revolution. She didn't especially care for the genre, as she just enjoyed watching anything in the rare time she could find to do so.

She ambled her way down to the local theatre – only a short 15 minute walk away – and swiftly brought herself a ticket. Fortunately, only the credits were rolling from the last film, so she had plenty of time to spare. It wasn't exactly a busy venue; the place only had a thin splattering of people.

While she waited, she brought a crossword and sat down in the corner to finish it. Yes, it was the sort of thing an old lady would do, but the only other option was word-searches or muggle gossip magazines – and she abhorred both of them, let alone understand the names in the muggle ones.

A particularly hard clue was stumping her.

"A widely cultivated bulbous plant with large trumpet-shaped, typically fragrant, flowers on a tall, slender stem." She muttered to herself. Lily had never been particularly good with plant names, and even worse with flower names. They all looked the same to her; girly and, well, flowery.

She had just about given up on the puzzle and was about to get up and join the other people entering the movie theatre, when she felt a slight breeze on her neck; almost as if someone was breathing on her.

"Lily." It has sounded like. She whipped her head around and saw no one before peering back at her puzzle in confusion. Four letters. Of course – that was the answer!

Sighing at her own stupidity, Lily gathered up her things and walked though the double doors into the darkened room. A couple of metres ahead of her was a tall person – she could tell that it was a man by their figure. They glanced back, and she saw a flash of hazel before it was gone again.

Lily shook her head. She was getting delirious.

It was a beautiful day for the middle of summer, and Lily was just pondering over which book to read. She had a whole stack of them and she couldn't wait to get to her favourite tree in the field to start reading.

However, it wasn't meant to be. Halfway up the path, in the distance, Lily could just make out two figures heading towards her. By squinting, and shadowing her eyes with her hand, she could just about see that it was two boys, one of them much older than the other, holding hands.

She smiled at the sweet image. The taller boy seemed to be carrying a bag on his back, and the little boy was chattering excitedly, looking up to the older boy with adoration on his small features. The boy looked only about 7, the other more around Lily's age – 16. They could have been brothers – they both had the same unruly black hair and easy grin.

Their eyes met as Lily brushed past them on the narrow path, and Lily felt a shock coarse through her whole body. So this was who she had been seeing everywhere this past summer.

James.

It wasn't like she wasn't surprised. His family had just moved down to Cornwell, and it was rumoured that they didn't live to far away from her. Her best friends had squealed at the possibility of seeing James Potter out and about on the streets. Nevertheless they wondered why they hadn't been invited over this summer.

And yet here he was, standing in front of her, as solid as a bludger. That smile was back; that easy, lopsided grin that she had grown to love – not that she would tell anyone. Those hazel eyes of his sparkled with mirth as he looked down on her, and his hair stuck up in random tufts.

"Evans." He greeted casually, as if it was everyday they saw each other on the street. She supposed they did.

Potter." She returned equally calmly. She directed her gaze to the boy next to him, the one who was looking at her in confusion. James gave a little start as he realised where her attention was drawn to. He hit his head with the palm of his hand exasperatedly.

"Sorry! Sorry. Lily, meet Toby, meet Lily. Toby is my little brother." He introduced them. Toby peered up at Lily questioningly, and she crouched down to meet him.

"Hi there, Toby." She said to him. He shied away from her, hiding everything but his body as he peeked out from behind James. He was nothing like his elder brother, she realised with a start.

"Toby goes to summer school here." James told her, gesturing with his head to the building at the other end of the path. Lily nodded her head in acknowledgement. Toby took a brave step forward towards Lily. His head barely met hers, even when she was crouched down.

"Hello, Lily." He said timidly. "James has told me all about you." Lily looked up at James in surprise, though it was to be expected, really. She quirked an amused eyebrow as he fidgeted and a blush coloured his cheeks.

"Has he now?" she smirked. James looked away. "Well then Toby, I hope to get to know you better." She looked up at James, this time the blush covering her cheeks instead. "I'm sure we'll have many chances to do so."

Thanks for reading my story (although I'm afraid it's terrible!). Please do review! They make my day :D

~flutegirl98