Lily's Birthday
"James – James, where are you taking me? It's freezing out here!" Lily exclaimed, laughing as James dragged her by the hand down the Hogwarts grounds, grinning.
"I told you we were going outside!" he pointed out, laughing as he glanced back at her.
"I didn't know it was this cold." She muttered, but still smiled.
"Come on, hurry, or we'll miss it!" he exclaimed, and he stopped at the oak tree him and Lily usually lounged under, but under it was an intricately designed Persian carpet.
She stopped before it as he hopped onto it, and raised an eyebrow suspiciously. "James – what is that? And is it against school rules?"
He shrugged. "Probably," he replied, the held out a hand with an excited smile. "Come on."
She rolled her eyes and took his hand, sitting down cross-legged next to him. "What are you so excited about? It's just a carpet –"
And then she yelped in shock – the carpet flew five feet into the air and she clung to James, peering over the side in astonishment.
He chuckled. "Just a carpet," he repeated scornfully, "Please, you underestimate me."
She turned to him, gaping. He frowned, raising his eyebrows. "Something wrong?" he asked.
"James, you made this thing fly by yourself?" she asked. He nodded, shrugging. "I mean – that's impressive! . . . Don't let it get you head or anything, though."
He shrugged again. "It was nothing."
She studied him skeptically for a moment and realized he was telling the truth – James Potter was being modest!
"You do realize this might be the most . . . unlike-James thing ever, right?" she asked, chuckling.
He half-smiled, pulling her closer to him. "What do you mean?"
"Well, it's so . . . romantic." She pointed out.
He cocked his head to the side, smirking. "I can be romantic." He murmured, then the carpet lurches forward and they were flying higher into the sky, gradually moving forward. The wind made Lily's hair fly back and the cold air bit her cheeks, but she didn't care. It was far more thrilling, being on a flying carpet rather than a broomstick, Lily thought.
They finally stopped somewhere above the East Wing of Hogwarts, and Lily grinned, clinging to James' shirt as the lights of the school glistened below them, and the light of the moon shone above them.
"You know I'm still mad at you waking me up in the middle of the night, right?" she asked, grinning, even though they both knew she wasn't.
He flashed a grin. "Of course. You're always mad at me."
"Very good." She chuckled. She glanced up at the sky and frowned as she recalled James' earlier words. "James, what exactly did you mean by, 'we're going to miss it'?"
"Can't tell you that!" he exclaimed, "That's the whole point of the birthday surprise, isn't it?"
"My birthday isn't until tomorrow!"
"Yes, but tomorrow is in precisely . . . four minutes. And I want to be the first to wish you a happy birthday."
She beamed and was about to lean forward to kiss him, but a startling splash came from somewhere in the distance and she glanced curiously back at the lake below them, struck with a thought. "You know what I think is odd?"
"What?" he murmured, half-smiling.
"The giant squid's never harmed anyone, and yet everyone is afraid of it." She pointed out.
He laughed. "You didn't hear about our failed fourth year prank then?" he asked and she frowned, shaking her head. "We tried to lure the thing to the surface so we could levitate it out of the water –"
"That's completely stupid!"
"Yes, I'm aware. Anyway, we did succeed in getting it to the surface by splashing around in the water and all that – don't know how we got away with swimming around so long – but we could never get it into the air with us up to our necks in water and all that, so it was a failed prank. But the squid never did anything to us – it just sort of sat there. It was peculiar. We named it Squidward."
Lily gazed at him in shock. "Like that character on the Muggle TV show?"
He frowned. "What? I've never watched TV in my life!"
She laughed and shook her head, looking out to the sky. "Never mind."
"Now what were you going to do before the giant squid so rudely interrupted?" he asked, grinning.
She smiled and leaned forward to kiss him, but a sudden explosion shot through the sky before she could do anything. She snapped her head up to where the sound came from, and, to her bafflement, fireworks exploded in the air. Old fashion, Muggle fireworks. And she knew exactly who was behind it, and that it was for her.
She gasped and let her mouth drop open as more and more fireworks exploded, colors and lights reflecting off her admiring eyes.
"Happy birthday." James whispered, taking her hand.
She turned her head to him, and felt a happy, bubbling feeling in her chest, a feeling she wanted to hold onto and keep forever. And she knew with James, she'd always have it.
She put a hand on his cheek and put her forehead to his. "Thank you." She whispered back.
He leaned forward to kiss her, but Lily stopped him, her heart rising to her throat. "James . . . I love you."
He leaned back a little and studied her face, a grin slowly spreading across his face. He let out a laugh and leaned forward, whispering against her lips. "I love you so much, Lily."
She smiled, finally kissing him, and she wasn't planning on stopping until she truly showed him how happy and thankful she really was.