Author's Note: This is one of no doubt several one-shot Lily/James fluff. Yes, it's out of character, as I have stated several times in the story, and it's a bit cliched, I know. Hard to steer clear of cliched fics. I hope you enjoy! Also, check out my fanfiction titled 'Reflecting the Past' found in my profile.

Disclaimer: If I owned Lily and James, I wouldn't be sharing my ideas with the world.

The Fortune Cookie

Seated at an adequate sized desk in the Muggle Studies classroom, Lily Evans idly wrapped a wavy stand of crimson hair about her index finger. Her head was rested in the palm of her hand, and her elbow was rested on the desk. Her eyelids were drooping dangerously, and she willed herself to stay awake. It was completely out of character for her to nearly fall asleep in a class, but the night before she had had Head Girl duty and then returned to the tower to find an empty common room and a bag full of course work involving intricate essays and Divination charts. She was exhausted, and she was lucky to be in a class where she knew everything rather than History of Magic, where the drone of the professor could put even the most studious down for a nap.

Suddenly, she was jerked from her dazed state as a Fortune cookie was placed in front of her. James Potter was passing around Muggle cookies as a part of a presentation of his on Chinese Muggles. Figuring that a bit of sugar from the cookie would help awaken her, she carefully ripped the wrapper. Out came the cookie and she broke it carefully, taking small bites to savor the sweet taste. She kept the thin strip that spoke her fortune on it concealed until her cookie was completely gone. Only then did she unfold the paper to read what she figured to be the most inaccurate fortune ever.

"You will discover yourself to be completely out of character due to a love bug."

She rolled her emerald eyes and tossed it into her cloak pocket as she slipped it on and exited the class. It was a James Potter treat, no doubt it was hexed or something.

A week later, it was December twenty-third. Lily was found standing on the stoop of Hogwarts, dressed in jeans, a well-knit sweater, and the thickest of cloaks. Her winter boots engulfed her feet and a smart navy blue scarf was wrapped about her neck. A gloved hand waved back and forth as she gave a small smile to her departing friend, Alice Cummings. Lily was to stay at school that Christmas as she was Head Girl and had duties that were to be taken care of. The only other Gryffindors staying were a few third year girls, Sirius Black, and James Potter. There were several other students from other houses staying at Hogwarts during the holidays, however.

With snow covering her, Lily shivered as she turned and walked through the open Entrance Hall door. Leaving snow-filled footprints, she trudged to the Gryffindor tower to read in front of the fire, alone.

Once up in the common room, though, she found it to be quite noisy. For lack of people staying, it didn't sound like it. She walked in just in time to watch as James and Sirius, who had built what was probably the biggest Exploding Snap card castle in Hogwarts history, ran for cover. The card castle blew its top tower and Lily soon found herself on the ground between a body and the nearest wall. Three guesses who…

"POTTER! Get off of me!" she shouted, pushing him off and standing up, sending smoke away from her face with her waving arms. She glared at him from her standing position and his kneeling one. With that, she stormed to her dormitory, thinking that her holiday was to be completely and utterly horrible.

Christmas Eve came without a bang, and the smoke had finally cleared (where they had gotten all of their cards Lily didn't even begin to wonder). Lily was sitting on the floor of the common room, surrounded by boxes and wrapping paper, using Spell-o-tape to wrap gifts for her friends. She was ready to head for the Owlry when a barn owl flew through the window that had been opened to allow some wintry air. It landed by her pile and she noticed her name carefully written across a folded bit of parchment. After leaving her presents and carefully opening it, she read one of the shortest notes ever.

"Meet me under the mistletoe midnight Christmas eve."

Lily knew for a fact that the only mistletoe in Hogwarts was located in the Entrance Hall of the castle. She also knew that Amos Diggory, a Hufflepuff seventh year, had been winking at her quite a bit lately. She was quite smitten with him, or so she thought. Only Alice knew of her attraction to the Hufflepuff Seeker. Her mind didn't travel to James or Sirius, as they were too busy acting childish outside. Also, other than his 'heroic attempt' the day before when she walked in at the precisely wrong moment, James had steered clear of the redhead. Lily had believed that his schoolboy crush had finally diminished.

Anxious to be breaking school rules by leaving the tower after hours, Lily knew right off that she would be meeting her admirer. In fact, at ten o'clock, she left the common room to fix her hair and choose a special Christmas sweater. Prior to her leaving, Lily had been seated at a couch with the third year girls with James and Sirius across from them. They had just been talking, and Lily had been curled up with a book, not wishing to be alone.

As eleven fifty approached, Lily left her empty dormitory and walked swiftly through the dark common room. A shiver went down her spine as she realized that she was quite the rule breaker. She was reminding herself of the Marauders, which was nothing to be proud of. She was headed to the Entrance Hall to stand under the mistletoe.

At precisely eleven fifty seven, Lily found herself wishing she owned a silky, silver Invisibility Cloak in case the caretaker was out and about, lurking in the shadows. She shivered once more, realizing that if she were caught that she would be given detention. After a half a minute of worrying, she remembered that she was Head Girl and had every right to be patrolling. She could say she saw something out of her window enter the castle, thinking it was a student or something. Then she would be lying. She might as well send in a Marauder application.

Eleven fifty nine, and it was a minute from Christmas, one of her favorite holidays. Hoping, praying that whoever sent the note would hurry up. Crossing her fingers in hope for a Prince Charming such as Amos Diggory, she heard the chimes for midnight. At the twelfth chime, she felt hands slip gently over her eyes.

She gasped, frightened, but relaxed at the gentle touch of the coarse hands. A shock of electricity melted her body and she felt as she was turned around. The hands left and she reopened her emerald eyes to find herself facing a man's chest. Lifting her gaze, she gasped again, only this time in pure shock and disgust and stepped back. Unfortunately, the 'criminal' had put his arms around her petite figure.

"Potter, is this some sort of sick prank? Wish to turn my hair green and my skin orange like that of an oopma loompa? I didn't think even you would sink so low as to present someone with a Christmas gift of those terms."

A glare was shot from her eyes to his and she watched as he carefully lifted the corners of his lips into a smile.

"You've got me, Lily," he said gently, shocking her by using her first name. She raised a single eyebrow in question.

"I don't plan to turn you orange and green, though I must admit that you would look as gorgeous as you do now. You'd look perfect in anything. But I'm not lying, I am here to give you your present," James said cautiously, yet genuinely. She had yet to hear him utter something so seriously.

"And what might that be? A Severus Snape voodoo doll? Or a James Potter voodoo doll?" Her tone was downright cold, and by the look in his hazel eyes, he had to fix it.

"Just close your eyes," he said in a husky voice. Before she knew it, he had leaned forward, still holding her. His eyes were closing, and Lily was shocked to find hers closing as well. When their lips touched, sensation sparkled about them. It was short and sweet, and being a gentleman, James didn't try anything. By the time he pulled away, Lily seemed to have regained her sense of dignity. Though her cheeks were tinged cherry, she was still standing absolutely normal, as if nothing had happened.

"Might I ask what you did that for?" Lily asked, breaking the silence. They both noticed that she was still nestled in his arms, though did nothing to change her position.

"I wanted to be the first to give you your Christmas present," James said simply, smiling authentically.

"I'm used to opening presents wrapped in paper," Lily countered in a teasing tone.

"I'm not any ordinary guy," James said. Any other time, Lily would have thought of the comment as arrogant, but this time the thought didn't even cross her mind.

"And has anyone ever told you that?" she asked, a smile tugging at her lips.

"Not recently," James joked, reaching up and twirling a loose strand of her hair around his finger, as he had seen her doing earlier.

"Well, James Potter, you are no ordinary guy. If you were, I wouldn't have yelled at you for having fun the past seven years. I wouldn't have glared at you or competed with you for the top grade in transfiguration. I certainly wouldn't have turned you down so many times," Lily said boldly.

"Has anyone ever told you that you're magnificent?"

Lily thought for a moment. "Yes. There's this one guy…"

"Do continue," James said grinning, still tenderly twirling her hair.

"And he gave me the most unexpected Christmas present ever," she persisted, returning the smile.

"Unexpected, eh? Hey Lily, has the thought ever crossed your mind that when someone gives another a gift that they tend to return the favor by giving?" James asked, semi-arrogantly, but in a cute way.

"You read my mind." With that, Lily leaned forward and brushed her lips across his. She felt him smiling against her own grin, and when she pulled back she whispered to him. "Merry Christmas James."

And a thought from the back of her mind tugged at her memory.

"You will discover yourself to be completely out of character due to a love bug."

Her fortune cookie.