Disclaimer: I do not own any of characters, as the all belong to the wonderful JK Rowling.

One-shot: This comes from an AU prompt involving Lily and James attending a charity ball and I've added my own twist in which the war never happened and James and Lily are living a normal life in which James is a professional Quidditch player. Enjoy!

James was going to end up setting his wife on fire.

There was on doubt about it. His stare would burn through her entire being until he could no longer help himself and he'd set the poor girl ablaze to match her hair. And how was he expected not to when she wore that bloody slinky black dress that hugged her in all the right places and didn't have a bloody back! He watched her walk towards the other end of the bar to acquire their drinks, groaning at the sight of her. There was no way that she could possibly wearing anything underneath it, or at least anything that could pass as quality underwear. He ran a hand through his hair and simultaneously pulled indiscreetly at the collar of his dress shirt. The temperature of the ballroom seemed to have risen ten degrees.

He knew exactly why she was doing it too. It was payback he was sure, payback for her forced attendance to the stupid Quidditch Charity Ball the ministry hosted every year. It just so happened that this year, the manager of the Appleby Arrows was being awarded for not only his and his captain's coordination of plays in the team's victory in the Quidditch World Cup, but also for his commitment to the team's charity, a mere 30,000 galleons (20,000 of which had come from the ancient Potter family account), and yet the greatest amount throughout all the teams in the league. James and his wife had mostly avoided all things ministry related since he had been drafted at the beginning of their marriage, but they had particularly steered away from this event. The amount of money raised was pitiful for the amount of money each player made. Why bother celebrating something that could barely be able to be labelled an accomplishment?

But alas, this year's recipient of the award was Rusty Callahan, the manager of the Appleby Arrows, coincidentally also James's manager, and therefore his attendance was required. And how would the public perceive his and Lily's relationship if he had shown up alone?

Apparently the public was just going to have to deal with a solo James from now on because this was the sweetest and cruelest torture James had ever been exposed to.

"Your drink?" Lily offered, appearing over his shoulder and handing him a glass full of a sparkling substance.

Without looking at the drink, or his wife and her sinful attire, he threw back the liquid without hesitation. He made a face as he felt the bubbling sensation of carbonation slide down his throat and threw questioning eyes at Lily.

"I know. They only have champagne as they're making the big announcement soon." Lily scoffed, her least favorite part of the evening depriving her of her opportunity of civil disobedience and her choice of alcohol to cope with said evening.

James however, despite his wife's obvious disgust with the upcoming event, could not seem to tear his eyes away from the low cut, sheer fabric of his wife's attire.

Luckily he was saved from having to engage in conversation by the clinking of forks against wine glasses, signalling the announcement of the award. He could not help but wonder in the back of his mind how someone could pretentiously clink a fork against a wine glass, but the rich wizarding community managed it rather well.

He looked up to find his wife smirking at him.

She leaned in close and breathed into his ear, "Eyes up, darling," teeth grazing it ever so slightly as she pulled away.

Bloody hell did she have to torture him so? Couldn't she see how much he too hated these people and their silly events? That he wouldn't be here if his attendance wasn't mandatory?

But she knew just how to break his resolve.

He placed his hand on her bare back (sweet Merlin) and leaned close to her ear. He had no intentions of teasing, simply only of those to get away from these ostentatious, snobby wealthy folk of the wizarding world and get her out of here and home so he could get her into bed for the last few remaining hours Sirius had agreed to watch Harry.

"We'll leave right after this. No point in staying for something we're not needed for." he all but growled.

She smirked, eyes twinkling mischievously and kissed his cheek tenderly. Merlin, he hoped they presented this award fast.

"Attention! Attention please!" called Clive Merryweather, the elderly Quidditch announcer. Despite his age of 78, the man still had one of the biggest voices that boomed around the stadium even without the assistance of a sonorous charm and a talent to make even the boringest of matches seem as though Father Christmas was coming the next morning.

"Thank you, thank you," Clive spoke to the now attentive ballroom, "And now, I would like to present the most anticipated award of the entire evening, the Devoted Donator award to Mr. Rusty Callahan, manager of the Appleby Arrows, whose team managed to raise 30,000 galleons for the Lumos Organization!"

Sickeningly polite golf claps emerged from every table as James and Lily half-heartedly offered their congratulations from the back of the room, leaning against the bar, with the indifferent, impassive motion of bringing their hands together.

"Thank you, thank you," Rusty repeated after he had made his way up to the stage and successfully accepted the award. "This award truly is an honor…"

James had completely toned out and began rubbing small, sensual circles on his wife's back. He was counting the seconds until they could make their planned escape. Rusty droned on behind him.

"...But I would like to hand this award off to our right hand man, who donated ⅔ of the teams funds this year and ⅕ of the entire funding raised throughout this entire year... James Potter!"

His head swiveled towards the front of the room so fast he was certain he had developed whiplash. "It wasn't me!" he immediately wanted to shout, his expression one of deer caught in headlights, but the audience's polite applause had turned chaotic from his teammates at the sound of his name. Lily slapped his lightly on the arm, the first of the both of them to recover from their surprise.

"Go!" she mouthed, shooing him towards the stage with small, frantic hand motions.

Slowly, he made his way up to the podium on stage, and accepted the award from Rusty, shaking his hand politely and smiling for the camera.

"Speech!" shouted Doug Hanley of the Appleby Arrows, a 19-year-old new recruit only 3 years younger than James that the Arrows had picked up straight out of Hogwarts. James wanted to strangle him.

He scratched the back of his neck and ran a hand through his hair nervously.

"Erm, thank you, thank you," he started lamely. "Err, as you can see I really wasn't expecting this." Some of the crowd chuckled and he struggled for what to say next.

"I, um, well, donating to charities and to the less fortunate has always been a big component of my life…" he trailed off, realizing he sounded like another pompous git, and met Lily's cool expression across the room. "...And to be honest, I've always thought this organization has done a shit job of it."

Her eyes widened considerably, and he smirked, glad he had her attention.

He continued, "We don't do nearly enough for our organizations. The truth of the matter is that most people don't even know we sponsor these organizations until this charity ball. We we don't campaign year round for these people who need our help, when in reality there are people filing for these charities year round who are waiting for some relief."

He met her eyes again, and though he was still speaking to the room, it was clear that no one could tear James's attention away from her for even the biggest of emergencies.

"You see I've got this wife. And she's awesome. She's got the biggest heart I've ever seen and has an uncanny ability to see the good in people even when they don't deserve it. She cares about that homeless guy on the street just as much as she cares about me and my well-being, maybe even more because she wants to make sure everyone's going to eat tonight. And her philosophy has always been 'Do all the good you can by all the means you can'. She's a major part of the reason I even donated as much as I did to our organization, because she makes me a better person every hour of everyday."

Lily's smile was watery, but her joy at his sincerity shone out of her soul, out of her every pore, and in that moment he worshipped her with his eyes like a blind man seeing the sun for the first time.

He paused for a moment. "And I know that most, if not all of us, with the salaries of professional Quidditch athletes can afford to donate at least, if not more than a galleon or two to those people who may need it a little more than we do."

"So I've got a challenge for you all. This year, the Appleby Arrows raised 30,000 galleons for their charity. By next year, I want double the amount for the winning team on the table. And if no one's gonna step up, the Appleby Arrows will be ready to put you all to shame again. Thank you."

The room was silent for a moment as he stepped away from the microphone and off the stage. Suddenly, Doug Hanley, the loudest of them all, began the next round of applause. Others joined him, their voices barely overheard by the thundering hands.

"Lets go Cap!"

"You tell 'em Potter!"

Of course, the little old ladies sat in their chairs and continued their polite golf-claps and the whispered scandalously of his use of language, but James found he didn't really care as he walked directly towards the back of the room to the beautiful redhead in her slinky black dress and kissed her passionately, drunk with success and high on her happiness.

He pulled away, resting his forehead on hers and whispered, "Let's get out of here." She nodded enthusiastically, her smile blinding.

With one arm around her waist, he made to apparate them, but alas he was still holding that pesky award, so Lily took charge and keeping one arm wrapped around his waist apparated them back to their modest flat, as James gave one last obnoxious wave with the award still in his hand.

Later, when they laid cuddled together in bed, and he had finally gotten that blasted dress off of her, she began to whisper stubbornly with her head buried in his chest, breaking the comfortable silence that was accompanied by the vast darkness of their bedroom.

"I'm sorry I made such a fuss about going to your stupid event."

He laughed, a laugh deep from his belly that sliced through the steadiness of the atmosphere of the night, that after everything that had happened tonight, his stubborn little wife was still concerned for his feelings above all else.

"Does that mean you'll be willing to go again next year?"

She snorted at his ridiculousness.

"Absolutely not."

Author's Note: Thanks so much for reading! This is my first fan fiction so PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW! Let me know if I'm any good and if I should keep up with this or change anything! Thanks so much!