Lily Loathes Leprechauns
Disclaimer: I don't own nothing.
A/N: Top o' the Morning to ya. I'm posting a new oneshot! Then I'm going with me brother and dad to a concert in Toronto, Canada, eh? The shins! So today's a good day, me fellow Irish friends. Yeah... that was my pathetic attempt at a written Irish accent. As you can tell I'm not Irish... at all. And I don't mean to offend any of you Irish people out there. Believe me, it's not so pathetic sounding if you could hear me, but since it's FF... that's not possible...
Ahem... so ANYWAY! I hope you guys all like this little festive oneshot of mine. Please REVIEW at the end!
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"Top o' the Morning, Lily love," James Potter says, bounding over to the Gryffindor table and sitting down next to me.
"Go away," I respond darkly, picking at my green breakfast. In honor of St. Patrick's day, the house elves thought it would be cute to make all of the food green. I don't know about you, but to me green eggs were just meant to stay in a children's book.
"But Lily, aren't you excited for today?" James asked, as if shocked that I don't share is bizarre enthusiasm.
"Frankly, it's hard for me to feel any emotion other than annoyance before 10 o'clock in the morning," I mutter, stabbing my grass-colored sausage vigorously.
"But, it's Saint Patrick's day today! I thought you of all people would have some spirit considering you're Irish. I'm only 50 percent, and just look at me!" James exclaims. I tear my eyes away from my fascinating food specimens and my eyes widen in shock when I look up at him.
I hadn't looked at him since he came into the great hall, so I hadn't had a chance to notice that except for his black uniform robes, he was completely decked out in green. Green shirt underneath. Green socks. Green shoes. Green streaks in his hair. Green book bag. He even temporarily charmed his wand green.
"Isn't it great?! I worked on it all last night" He tells me excitedly.
"Why in the world did you do all of that?" I ask in shock.
"Because. Today is Saint Patrick's Day! It's my favorite holiday after Christmas," He says, stuffing a green pancake into his mouth. I wrinkle my nose in disgust as he talks with his mouth open and sprays green bits of food all over the table.
"Why?" I ask yet again, having trouble comprehending his excitement.
"I don't know! It just is!" he says. Does he always have to be so enthusiastic about everything? Although I will admit it is kind of funny.
I shake my head and turn my attention back to my breakfast, James babbling away happily in my ear. I supposed you could say that he and I have been getting along better lately. Actually, you could definitely say that, considering if he were this close to me last year I probably would have cursed his ears off.
Don't get me wrong, we certainly aren't going out. But seeing as we are both heads students, we have come to a kind of truce. It is kind of nice not getting into an argument every other day, especially since we share heads quarters.
When James and I both finish our breakfasts, we get up out of our seats and head off towards the Transfiguration classroom. I am certainly ready for another exciting day full of learning! Please note the written sarcasm.
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After all of my dreadfully long classes are over, I decide to head up to my dorm and rest for a little while until it's time for dinner. Then again, I may skip dinner anyway. If I have to shove another piece of green food in my mouth, I think I may just hurl. I can always go to the kitchens later if I get hungry.
When I walk into the head's dorm, I see James sitting on the couch in front of the fire, reading a book. He looks like he was waiting for me. Great.
"Lily!" He exclaims, closing his book with a sharp snap and standing up.
"What?" I groan unenthusiastically.
"Lily, what is wrong?" he asks. Boy, doesn't he get right to the point?
"I don't know what you are talking about," I respond, crossing my arms moodily and sitting down on the couch he had just gotten up from.
"Oh, come on Lily. You have been snapping at people all day. You've been moody, you've been quiet, you've been brooding... all day long! Why?" He asks. Why does he care, anyway?
"What are you, my mother?" I snap. Okay, so a response like that probably isn't helping my cause. But what can I say? St. Patrick's day just puts me in a horrible mood.
"See, that is what I mean!" Yes, I definitely shouldn't have said that, "what is wrong Lily?"
"I just don't like St. Patrick's day. I'll be over it by tomorrow, I just need a good night's rest," I say. He sighs and sits down next to me on the couch.
"But why don't you like St. Patrick's day, Lily? I just want to know," he said, wrapping a comforting arm around me and fixing me with his gentle gaze.
I return his stare, thinking about whether I should tell him or not. I've never told anyone this before. Well, except for one of my old muggle friends, Blaine, that I've known my whole life. But I didn't really need to tell him, since he already kind of knew anyway just by being at my house a lot when we were growing up.
However, one look at those deep, caring hazel eyes, and I decide to just go for it. What can it hurt, right? Besides, if things don't go well, I can just cast a memory charm on him and tell him it's my time of the month. See? No risk.
"Well... I've just had some bad St. Patrick's days in my past. Just some childhood memories that I would rather forget that generally resurface around this time of year," I say nervously. I expect him to pull his arm away, or tell me that I'm weird, or that he really doesn't care. But he doesn't. He just keeps looking at me expectantly, holding me in his muscular arms.
"Like what?" he says when I don't continue.
"Oh, it's nothing much... just...hmmphhh," I say, trailing off and muttering near the end.
"Care to elaborate on that?" he asks with a slight smile.
"My dad just used to... drink a lot when I was little... and he usually went out to bars with his friends on St. Patrick's day. Something about Irish Pride. I don't really know..." I say. A troubled look comes on his face, when he hears me say this, and I am suddenly very happy that I have him for a friend. He really is a great guy once you get to know him, with a heart of gold.
"Did he ever... hit you or you sister or anything like that?" James asks, and I can tell that he is almost afraid of the answer.
"No, no no no," I say, shaking my head. I can feel his body relax slightly in relief.
"He just came home drunk a lot, especially on St. Patrick's day. And... that's just a hard thing to experience, especially at such a young age," I respond, feeling tears well up in my eyes. Oh great, not only am I dumping all of my problems on him, I'm also going to get tear stains on his robes.
"It's okay Lily," He murmurs into my hear, comfortingly rubbing my shoulder, "Does he still... you know... do things like that?"
"He's gotten better as I've gotten older. But I think it's safe to say that even if it was the only day of the year, he would drink on St. Patrick's Day. Then again, I'm sure that's not exactly the case either, but you know what I mean," I tell him. I snuggle a little bit closer to him, and I feel his arms tighten around me. It certainly feels very nice.
"I'm really sorry Lily. I had no idea," He tells me after a short pause, "And here I was, going on about how great St. Patrick's day is..." He says, trailing off. I look up at him, smiling slightly.
"It's okay James, you didn't know. And at times it actually made me feel a little bit better. Like when you tried to transfigure that desk into a leprechaun during Transfiguration, and it started attacking Sirius," I say, breaking off into giggles at the memory.
"There's the smile I've grown to love," he says, laughing along with me. We look at each other again for a few moments before I hesitantly start moving my face towards him, our lips destined to meet at any moment. He closes his eyes, and I do the same, and before long I find our lips crashing into each other.
The kiss was sweet, special, and unlike any I've ever had before. There was just something about James that made this kiss phenomenal. We both pull back a little while later, each breathing heavily and staring at the other still.
"Wow," James says, breaking the silence with a smile. I return his smile gladly. I settle back with my head against his chest, and his arm automatically goes around me once more.
"Thank you James. For, you know, comforting me and everything," I say, putting my hand on top of his that is resting on my stomach.
"You're welcome, Lily," James says. Smile and lean back into him a little bit closer, but he isn't done talking.
"And thank you," He says. I frown and turn slightly in his arms to look at him.
"What for?" I ask confusedly.
"For giving me a second chance this year. You really don't know how happy I am," James responds. I smile and kiss him again. A short, sweet kiss, but a wonderful kiss all the same.
"You're welcome, James," I say, mimicking his previous words.
We continue to sit there for quite some time, James just holding me. I think it's safe to say that after this year, I'm going to associate a different event with St. Patrick's day that I had previously. From now on, it's going to be the day that I finally got together with James Potter, the most wonderful guy in the world.
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Aww, so sweet, right? Please don't forget to REVIEW! And have a great green-filled day!