Hello! This Oneshot is for the Round Three of Season Five of the Quidditch League Competition (QLFC) and round one of The Houses Competition.
Title: Of Pillow Fights and Love Confessions
Summary: Lily and James are comfortable in their relationship, but will another relationship start brewing? Or will a certain confession make things awkward?
Word Count: 2,265
Beta(s): CUtopia; Kage Kitsune; RawMateriel.
Quidditch League:
Team: Wigtown Wanderers.
Position: Chaser 3.
Theme: Write about a Truth that is a love confession OR write about someone being Dared to confess their love.
Prompts: 6. [colour] Midnight Black. 8. [flavour] Cinnamon. 13. [object] lamp.
Houses Competition:
House: Hufflepuff
Category: Short Story
Prompt: Jily (James and Lily)
I hope you enjoy it!
The Shrieking Shack was always so still in the mornings. Dumbledore had been kind enough to extend Remus's access to the building after they'd graduated, which James was grateful for. James and Sirius sat on a shredded suite of furniture in what might've once been a lounge, light filtered in through cracks in the boarded window.
Peter was curled up inside a partially chewed cushion as Wormtail. Remus was also asleep, his head in Sirius's lap.
Sirius fidgeted with the edge of the worn blanket they'd thrown over the Werewolf.
"I just feel stuck," Sirius whispered. "I don't know how I could make it any clearer to him without risking our friendship."
"It's gonna be a risk mate, you've just gotta make the leap," James told him, only a little sick of having this conversation.
"Oh sure, I'll make an undying declaration of my love for Moony just as soon as you ask Evans to get a place with you."
"Is that a challenge?"
"You wouldn't dare."
James grinned. "I accept your terms."
When James Potter eventually started dating Lily Evans, he became accustomed to her expecting him to be ready on time; she was a very punctual person. The only thing she'd ever left to the last minute was agreeing to give him a chance on their very last day at Hogwarts.
"Potter, don't make me come in there and drag you out by your precious quiff. We don't have time to spend on this much preening," his sweet love warned from just outside their ensuite bathroom.
James was rarely on time.
His hair never really required more styling than the sweep of his hand, however, it usually took him a while to work out what to wear. When he was at Hogwarts he only had limited clothing and most of the time he was required to wear his uniform or Quidditch robes. Often he shared clothes with Sirius, Peter, and Remus; he couldn't help it if their clothes looked better on him. It wasn't his fault, just like it wasn't his fault that they looked ridiculous in the carefully selected outfits he bought for himself; and looked amazing in. He smoothed the red fabric over his chest and decided against it, digging around on the shelf for another dress shirt.
"You can't put a time restraint on beauty," James replied, as he'd done every morning of that week, their first week living together. Unfortunately, his attempts to emphasize the perks of looser time management hadn't persuaded his sweetheart - it's possible his efforts set him back even farther from the goal.
"Tell me about it," Lily grumbled. Judging from the banging of drawers and rustling coming from the bedroom; she was on her fourth ensemble. He sighed affectionately; she reminded him of himself.
It was a huge surprise when they moved in with each other and he saw how many outfit changes she went through. She was still quicker than him at getting ready in the morning; a process which included the task of actively styling her hair to perfection. Such an undertaking would probably take him several days to imitate with his stubborn mop.
She wrapped on the door. "Just shit, scourgify, and shave, love. Let's go!"
James shook his head happily, still not over the novelty of round the clock access to the stubborn miracle trying on outfit number five while shouting at him to get a move on. But there was one thing James hated to miss the opportunity to do when she was in a mood like this: all tense, and in her knickers a good fifty percent of the time she spent getting ready. His favourite part about living with Lily was distracting her. He returned to their bedroom, Lily stood by her bedside locker double-checking she had what she needed for the evening.
"James!" Lily squealed, a sound reserved for him, as he picked her up from behind. "We can't be late!"
James grinned to himself spinning her around before dropping her onto the bed. He loved that she already knew just what he intended. "We have hours until we have to be there."
"An hour," she corrected, but her words didn't stop her from pulling him closer, or the cheeky smile on his face.
"We don't have to be on time."
Lily didn't seem convinced, but didn't push him away. "I don't think Remus will share that sentiment."
"Sure he will," he replied, dipping his head down to kiss her softly. When she kissed him back he couldn't help but smile into it. He felt her reach out for something and gasped when a pillow came and hit him on the side. "You traitor!" He exclaimed playfully, receiving another hit to the side. He reached for a pillow to defend himself with.
For somebody so small, she sure hit hard. After strike number three James rolled off of her to get a better vantage point. He grabbed the pillow in her hands and attempted to yank it from her grip but she held fast.
"Get your own, you hog the duvet enough. This is mine," she insisted, her hands fixed on the cotton pillowcase like a Bowtruckle coveting wand-wood. She jerked it back toward her.
"This isn't fair, you have an unfair advantage in Muggle technologies of war!" He attempted to take the pillow once more, but with a final tug, a laughing Lily freed it from his grip. A less triumphant moment followed when she overbalanced and crashed into the headboard of their bed. With a smash, one of the bedside lamps hit a wall. He froze, turning his attention to the broken lamp, trying to contain his laughter. It had been Lily's fault which so rarely happened.
Lily's mouth was open in shock and as many possible jokes flew into his mind at that moment, he was vaguely aware that it wasn't the time for his carry-on.
James had two options: tease her about this until she hexed him, or not mention it. The former would be the most amusing, and it was very, very tempting. But, he didn't. He drew his wand and fixed it with the expert repairing charm of someone who had broken many more precious things.
Lily's accompanying sigh as the lamp clicked back together was full of relief. Her green eyes were warm with affection at his brief show of maturity.
"By the way, Sirius and Peter are meeting us there."
Her face fell. "What?!" She exclaimed, springing back into action. "I thought they weren't coming!"
He shrugged innocently, letting a chuckle leave his lips at her reaction. He held his arm up. "C'mon, Lils, it'll be fun." James moved towards her, wrapping one arm around her as she pulled several shawls from the chest at the end of their bed. "Besides, Sirius has a dare he needs to fulfil."
Lily rolled her eyes at that. "A dare? Do I want to know?"
James shook his head; she'd probably tell him off for the dare - something about: 'He'd do it in his own time.'. Rather than get into it; he placed a loving kiss on her cheek. "I love you more than anything," he confessed. "It's the truth."
"I love you, too…" Lily replied, the suspicion still on her face.
"We best get ready, I'd hate for us to be late," he stated cheekily, picking up two suit jackets he had laid out earlier. It was fitting to wear something nice, it was his first time going out with Lily since they'd gotten a place together - even if it was just their close friends. "Which one? The black one, or… the black one?"
Lily moved to the wardrobe to consider the sixth outfit before looking at him. "The midnight black jacket," she answered, before reaching into the wardrobe and pulling out two dresses, one blue, the other red. "Which one?" She asked him in return.
James was preoccupied, trying to work out which one was 'midnight black', they looked the exact same colour to him. He looked at her in confusion. "They're the same colour."
She rolled her eyes and looked at her highly contrasting dresses. "You need to pay more attention, James."
James and Lily had arrived at Remus' on time, much to the surprise of Remus who was standing there slightly stunned. "You beat Peter," he stated.
"It's her fault," James replied as he stepped forward and gave his friend a half hug. He paused before stepping back. "What is that smell? Cinnamon?"
Lily stepped forward, hugging Remus, before stepping back for his reply.
Remus cleared his throat and dusted off his shirt. "I was trying to bake cinnamon buns… they didn't turn out well."
"There's cinnamon buns?" James asked, focusing on that part of what Remus had said. Unfortunately, whether or not the host was successful in making them wasn't confirmed as the fireplace flared up and Peter stepped through. He instantly had a look of confusion on his face.
"Am I late?"
"No, you're right on time," Remus replied with a good-natured smiled.
Peter looked at Remus, then eyed James in utter confusion. Finally, he turned his gaze back to Remus. "You sure?"
James let out a wholehearted laugh as he threw an arm around Peter's shoulders. "I'm not always late, Wormtail, I'm allowed to beat you here occasionally."
There were a few laughs before James released him and returned to Lily's side.
"How have you been?" Lily asked Peter as they all walked into the kitchen, instantly getting a whiff of the food prepared by Remus.
"Good," Peter replied, quickly. "It smells great, Moony."
"Let's dig in," James replied, receiving a not-so-gentle elbow from Lily. "What?" he asked innocently, rubbing his ribs dramatically.
"Shouldn't we wait for Padfoot?" Peter spoke.
James looked around and judging by the expressions of Lily and Remus: he would be waiting. "Of course," he replied, it wasn't like he had a choice. He leant into Lily. "This is why I'm never early."
He received a sideway glance from her before she went to speak to Remus - probably about clocks or timetabling.
"How is it? Living with her?" Peter asked him, taking a seat.
James followed suit. "It's amazing! I was afraid that I was building it up a bit too much, but… she's perfect," he admitted. It was the truth, he loved her. He didn't realise how much his love would continue to grow. It was a happy surprise. "What about you? How are you finding living on your own?"
Peter shrugged lightly. "I miss you guys," he expressed.
He shared the sentiment with his friend. He'd grown up with the Marauders, day in, day out for seven years. Seven years. And though he loved living with Lily, he would give almost anything to live with his three best friends again. "I miss it, too! We should do something, just us guys!"
The fireplace went off before Peter could agree. Sirius walked into the kitchen, a cocky smile on his face and a bottle of Firewhisky in his hand. "I brought something for us to drink!" He announced. It was clear he wasn't drunk, but he wasn't entirely sober either. It was going to be an interesting night.
Remus approached Sirius with a smile, accepting the Firewhisky.
Lily eyed the bottle sceptically, raising an eyebrow at James.
"Thanks, that will go great with the… cinnamon buns."
James shrugged to Lily, even though he knew why Sirius had taken at least a few swigs of alcohol before coming. "Padfoot! Can't believe you started drinking without me!" He exclaimed, throwing an arm around his friend. "Nervous?" he added in a whisper.
"Why would he be nervous?" Peter asked, having also gotten up to greet him.
"He's gotta tell Moony how he really feels," James exclaimed before adding, "I dared him and this time, he can't back out."
Peter smiled sympathetically, knowing all the drama that went with this. "Good luck."
Sirius nodded. "I'm going to need all the luck and alcohol I can get to handle this rejection."
James opened his mouth to say something encouraging - at least, in his mind it was encouraging - but closed it at Sirius's deadpanned glare.
"Good luck, Pads," Peter said softly.
"I… I'm not doing it now!" Sirius almost spluttered out, shaking his head. "I'm at least going to eat first."
"Wussy," James coughed. He smirked at Sirius' glare, it was fun to tease him. It seemed like Peter and he had finally found a dare that Sirius wouldn't do: admit his true feelings.
"I am not a wussy," Sirius said between gritted teeth. "If you want, I'll do it right now."
Before James had the chance to say anything, Peter spoke: "Do it right now!"
Sirius glared at both of them, sending a glance towards Remus as he entered the room. Sirius cleared his throat. "Fine!" He stood up to his full height. "Remus," he started, turning to their clever friend who was carrying glasses to the table. "I love you, and not only in a friend way, but also in a: 'I want to lean you over the table and fuck you in the arse' kind of way. There, see?"
The whole room went silent. Even though James knew Sirius liked Remus, and that Remus liked Sirius back, he never expected the confession to be so… crude. Romantic was obviously not in Sirius's vocabulary. He sent a stunned Lily an apologetic smile.
Remus placed the glasses down calmly, going a light shade of pink. "That wouldn't be appropriate with company present, Sirius."
Thank you for reading!