Disclaimer: In this DISCLAIMer, I am DISCLAIMing Harry Potter. But I so own Lily's shoe.
Dedication: My beta reader- Moony8193, everyone out there in the Christmas Spirit, and the gum stuck under my desk.
Summary: Lily doesn't seem to be having a very good Christmas. Maybe a little encounter with James Potter will get her in the Christmas mood.
Notes: Merry Christmas, all! This is my Christmas oneshot for you. This is Lily/James, too, just to tell you.
Getting in the Christmas Spirit
Lately, it wouldn't be a lie if you called Lily Evans a pessimist.
Now, if anyone were in her place, they would be extremely satisfied and probably thankful, as Lily not only had brains, a wonderful reputation, and great looks, but also the hearts of many males of all shapes and sizes.
But not Lily.
She was woken up by a freezing December breeze. Lily grumbled and climbed out of bed. Of course, it just had to be Lily who had gotten stuck with the door by the window, right? She stumbled over to the window, wondering why in the world she had chosen to wear a tank top at the end of December and why the window wasn't closing.
Two thoughts rocketed through her mind. Coincidentally, they weren't the answers to her two questions. The first was that the fields outside were blanketed with fresh, crisp white snow. Excellent. She absolutely adored having water pour through her brand new gorgeous shoes her mum had bought her. The second thought was that it wasn't just any winter day. It was Christmas.
"Bugger! Bugger! Bugger!" she wailed, as she finally was able to slam the window shut, "How could Christmas have come so fast? I didn't even get time to get them presents…"
She gritted her teeth, but not for long, as her stomach growled ferociously. Lily sighed dejectedly and pulled a fuzzy pink sweater over her tank top. There were no classes today; it wasn't like it mattered.
She stomped downstairs, not caring that her hair resembled a bird nest of a very cranky bird, or that she was still wearing her pajama bottoms.
Lily stormed into the Great Hall, only to be faced with a lot of house elves filing out with empty trays. Again, Lily's stomach gave an impatient growl.
"Where's the food?" she asked desperately.
"Erm… Ma'am… Breakfast is done," the house elf closest to her said with a raised eyebrow.
This was not fair.
"UGH! I HATE MY LIFE!" Lily screamed, definitely scaring all the house elves out of their minds. She pulled off her left shoe and tossed it towards a window in fury.
But of course, it was a glass window and her new shoe broke the glass open and flew outside into the snow.
Lily screamed again in rage and felt hot tears stream down her cheeks. She furiously made her way out of the Great Hall and towards the doors leading to the cold outside world. Lily threw them open and began searching intently for her shoe.
And unfortunately for her, her brand new, expensive shoe was in the hands of James Potter.
James Potter was the kind of guy Father Christmas would always put at the top of the 'Bad' list in ink. Lily didn't just hate him, she absolutely loathed him. This Christmas officially sucked.
"Potter!" She called, not caring that she looked like a maniac. She ran towards James, who was sitting by a tree, making footprints using her shoe on the fresh snow on the ground. "What do you think you're doing?"
James simply shrugged, "Happy Christmas to you, too, Lily."
Lily felt steam pour out of her ears as she clenched her teeth together impatiently, "I repeat, what are you doing?"
"I just found this shoe on the ground, so I was making footprints with it. You know, so some idiotic first year with no life tries following them and falls into the lake," James said, looking at her weirdly. "It's a nice shoe."
Lily growled and kicked the shoe out of James's hand. "Don't you dare mess with my shoe again."
James blinked at her and looked down at her feet, "Oh, your shoe is missing. Your sock looks soaked."
Lily let out an angry breath and closed her eyes, "My sock is soaked, I'm wearing my pajamas, my hair is worse than yours, and I'm talking to you. Could this day get any worse?"
"I always imagined you to be the Christmas-loving type of girl. With your red hair and green eyes and all. Maybe you ought to let loose. You know, Lily? Calm down," James said slowly. Before Lily could respond, his lips had twisted into a creepy smile and he had stood up.
"Oh, shut up, Potter. You nev - What are you doing? No! NO! STOP!" Lily screamed as James lifted her in the air with no effort whatsoever and tossed Lily into the water.
Lily screamed yet again – of course this time it came out as large oxygen bubbles in the freezing lake water – and began paddling upwards towards the surface. And paddling, and paddling.
Nothing happened.
Lily fearfully bit her lip and slowly looked down. Her leg was entwined in a mass of thick seaweed. She was stuck and she was going to drown. Was it her destiny to end like this?
Lily didn't get to answer the question in her head though, because her thoughts were interrupted by a loud "Oh, come on! How was I supposed to know she can't bloody swim!"
Strangely, instead of trying to bend down and untangle her foot, she clenched her jaw. Of course she could swim. Potter was such an idiot.
Well, at least he was a caring idiot.
Lily watched wide-eyed as James threw off his shirt revealing a verynicely toned chest – even though it was a cold Christmas morning - and kicked off his shoes next to the one she had thrown out the window earlier. He dramatically dove into the water and swam downwards. She inwardly sighed in relief as he untangled her foot and she began to float upwards.
Lily inhaled deeply as she emerged from the surface of the icy water, and waited for Potter so she could scream at him. And waited, and waited.
Finally, red faced, glasses-less James Potter splashed up next to her, waving his arms around like crazy.
Lily stared at him for a few seconds, "We can get out of the water now, you know."
Momentarily, James's head was dunked back in the water and it appeared again. "I can't swim," he spluttered.
Lily's eyes widened, "You moron! You just jumped in the water and you can't swim! What's wrong with you?" James replied by spitting out some water and Lily sighed. It was hero time.
She grabbed James by the arm and began tugging him towards the snowy ground with all the strength she possessed. Finally, she was able to pull him on shore, teeth chattering.
The two lay there for a few minutes, regaining their breath.
"Well, thanks for saving my life," James said awkwardly, looking anywhere but at Lily.
"No problem," Lily quickly said, brushing snow off her soaked sweater.
The two sat in some more silence and James eventually decided to get up and grab his belongings. He gave Lily one last look and said, "Happy Christmas, Lily." He paused, gave her a curious look, and then did the last thing she had expected him to do.
He kissed her.
Well, actually it was a peck on the cheek, but that didn't really matter, did it? Before Lily could react, though, he abruptly turned around and raced into the warmth of Hogwarts.
Lily quietly stared after him in shock, wondering why she wasn't furious since her enemy had just given her a very wet kiss while she was freezing out in the snow. Strangely enough, however, when she was positive he was out of earshot, she found herself smile ever so slightly and whisper, "Happy Christmas, James."
She pulled herself up and went to get her shoe, longing for warmth. Maybe this Christmas wasn't so bad.
Lily limped towards her show-covered shoe and scooped it up, deep in thought. Just as she was about to leave, though, she felt herself freeze and her gaze fix on an inscription to the right of the footprints.
There, carefully written in James Potter's handwriting in the snow, were the words 'JP+LE Forever'. A huge smile emerged on her face.
Looks like Lily isn't a pessimist after all.
Out of nowhere, a huge chunk of snow slipped off a branch above her and landed atop her dark red hair. Lily clenched her fist and let out another scream.
…Or maybe she is.
A/N: Review, please! Also, if you are an L/J supporter, check out my other oneshot and The Mind of an Extremely Hormonal Teenage Marauder.
