Chapter One: How Not To Start The Day
It was our last Valentine's Day at Hogwarts and my last chance to do something besides get myself knocked out by one of Sirius's love potions again. I was bound and determined to make this day one to remember, and not for embarrassing myself in front of the entire school.
Last year, I made a complete arse of myself after Sirius laced a box of Chocolate Frogs with a love potion and Confunded me into taking them. It wasn't just any love potion: oh no, Padfoot was too clever for his own good, and each piece had been charmed to make me fall in love with a different girl. Even worse, he had set up Lily Evans so that she was not only one of them, but also the one who got stuck watching over me thanks to her overly dedicated sense of duty. She spent the entire night dragging me away from various Gryffindors, Slytherins, and Ravenclaws—and even Professor McGonagall—before their boyfriends could get in a good shot. She finally brewed me an antidote, although not before the last chocolate kicked in, and I had found myself chasing her around the Potions classroom like a lovesick mooncalf.
I actually kissed her just before I took the antidote. I clearly remember the mortification as the spell lifted and the realization set in. I might have had a thing for her, but when the girl you fancy spends the night keeping you from getting hexed, it's embarrassing even for the best of us. She had seen me at my worst, and I was humiliated.
And yet, as we cleaned up in awkward silence and left the classroom that night, I took her hand to thank her, and she didn't drop it. She didn't insult me. She didn't even frown. When I leaned down to kiss her again, she didn't turn away: she kissed me back. And I thought that maybe, just maybe, there was something there. Or could be, if I tried again.
The memory of that night seemed to get in the way. We developed a fragile friendship at best after our experience on Valentine's Day. It was as if that kiss—the real one, not the other one—haunted us every time we were together. Really, I don't know why we didn't just address it straight out; apparently our Gryffindor bravery did not extend to relationships. For some reason, I was reluctant to talk about it, and she seemed happy to leave it that way. I guess that I'd been rejected so many times that I didn't want to get my hopes up based on one kiss only to lose them again. Never mind that we might get somewhere if we actually talked about it; apparently she was just as scared.
Working together as Head Boy and Head Girl the following year didn't help the situation, either. We had two states of existing together as our seventh year started: we either antagonized one another more than ever, or tip-toed around each other in uncomfortable embarrassment. There were flashes of something, of whatever happened between us that night, in a look or a smile or even a touch, but we both seemed unable to follow through—another failure of our Gryffindor heritage.
At least, until now. I summoned up every last drop of courage and confidence I had after burying it for so long and set out to see just what our future might hold. It might have been a year ago, but I could swear there had been something in her eyes, something in that kiss. I even felt it in the jinx she cast as I left her outside the Potions classroom that night. Lately her insults had been far less biting, as if she were holding back, and I was sure she smiled at me more. She liked me, or was at least intrigued by the possibility of liking me. I should have moved on it sooner, but sometimes the walls we put up in defense are too strong to pull down.
So to start, I spent a month planning something special, though not with Sirius. I didn't even trust Remus on this one, since he had helped set me up last year. People don't give him credit, but Peter can be a good listener, as well as surprisingly clever when it comes down to it. So we sat and talked, and he helped me work out all the details of the day, starting with flowers, a few other surprises, and finally dinner. He pointed out what might go wrong, as well as what might actually go right, and he even added a few nice touches of his own; sometimes I wondered why he couldn't get a decent date.
Sirius and Remus thought we were planning a prank on them. I'd already had my revenge on Sirius though, and had quite enjoyed the day he spent tap-dancing around the castle after Easter holidays during sixth year; that it had come only days after Evans' own prank—a ridiculous moustache that he couldn't shave for a week—only added to the perfect payback for what he'd done to us on Valentine's Day. McGonagall had sat us all down after Transfiguration, however, and wheedled our word that we were done with getting back at one another. We had kept that promise remarkably well for the rest of the year.
Seeing that I was now Head Boy—an assignment I was continuously amazed at—I had to maintain my newfound sense of responsibility. Oh, we had planned a prank or two at the beginning of the year, but it was nothing like it had been. And once in a while I still got into it with Snape and the other Slytherins, but even that had fallen victim to the badge on my chest and the duty that came with wearing it.
I really wasn't interested in pulling anything on Sirius, to be honest. My priorities had shifted, and I wanted to accomplish something else this Valentine's Day. I woke up with a smile, determined to put the past behind me and see if there wasn't something there with Lily Evans after all. I was going to lay it all on the line, win or lose. I grinned to myself as I imagined her opening her eyes to find a bushel of flowers at the foot of her bed to start the day. I wondered if she would guess who it was from, or if the anticipation would build to my surprise dinner date at the end of the day.
"You're awfully cheerful today," muttered Sirius as we dressed. I nodded as I straightened my robes and tried to comb down my hair. As usual, it wouldn't do a thing, so I ran my hand through it and left it standing up. Evans gave me a hard time about it, but what could a bloke do?
"It's Valentine's Day, Padfoot. Of course I'm happy."
"Why?" he asked suspiciously. "What have you got brewing?"
I clapped him on the back and laughed. "Nothing for you, I'm afraid. I'm responsible now, remember?"
"That's what worries me," Sirius replied, lifting his eyebrow at me. "You've got an awful lot of scheming pent up and just waiting to blow. It's going to be messy when it does, and I don't feel like spending another day tap-dancing to Gershwin."
"Ah, but you certainly had rhythm," I said, laughing at the memory. Sometimes I missed being able to get away with stuff like that.
Pulling on his robes, Peter stifled a laugh as well. Sirius shot him a black look. "Don't think I don't know you're in on it," he muttered, pointing a finger at Peter. "You're playing both sides, aren't you?"
Peter gave him a blandly innocent shrug, but winked at me as Sirius snorted and headed down toward the common room.
"Where's Remus?" I asked as we followed him downstairs. "He's gone early."
"No idea," said Sirius with a shrug. "Probably some broom closet with that Hufflepuff."
"Bit early for that, isn't it?" asked Peter.
"Oh, it's never too early to—" started Sirius. He stopped as we stepped into the common room and let out a tremendous sneeze.
"Bless you," said Peter, before he, too, sneezed. I felt it in my own nose: that subtle tickle that irritates you before you actually let it out. Soon we were all sneezing, as was every other student who had come down from their dormitories.
"Potter!" I heard a shriek from behind me and recognized the voice immediately. I turned, sneezed, and found myself with a face full of the yellow daises I had left for Lily Evans. Her cheeks were red and her nose was running; really, she looked a bit of a fright when you added in the furious look in her flashing green eyes.
"What?" I asked, putting my hands up as she beat me with more daises. "What's wrong?"
"What did you do?" she asked. "Is there some reason you put a bouquet of sneezewort at the foot of my bed this morning? Or are you trying to get yourself hexed into next week?" She punctuated her tirade with an astonishing run of sneezes.
"Sneezewort?" I asked, dumbfounded. They certainly looked like daisies to me. "And why do you just assume it was me?"
"Because who else would…" She was livid, but couldn't finish. That was because I was Head Boy and, after blowing off my last bit of energy at the start of the year, I had actually settled down into the academic bliss of a responsible seventh-year trying to set an example for the rest of the castle.
Merlin, it was boring sometimes.
Yet she had no basis for the accusation anymore, and she knew it. It was more likely to be Sirius, or even Peter, than me now. Pulling pranks like that would get the Head Boy badge yanked off my robes in a hurry, and I enjoyed wearing mine as much as she enjoyed wearing hers.
"Yes?" I asked, crossing my arms in front of my chest and waiting for her answer. She seemed suddenly uncomfortable, and in spite of the fact that I was trying to win her over once and for all, I enjoyed that. She still looked down her nose at me far too often.
"It just seemed like something you might do…well, might have done at one time," she corrected herself. She blew her nose, and to my surprise, she grinned at me. "Sorry, I sometimes forget you're Head Boy now."
"That's right you do," I murmured. She raised her eyebrows at me, and I grinned back to show I had no hard feelings; a reputation is a hard thing to shake, after all.
"However," I added, "you're right, they are from me." She opened her mouth, ready to protest, and I held up my hand to stop her. "Only I certainly didn't send you sneezewort, and certainly not enough to get the entire tower going. I'm sure it was daises. I wanted to surprise you."
"Daises?" she asked. I had expected a skeptical reaction, but she seemed more confused than anything. "Why daises?"
"I remember you said something about them on the train after the prefects' meeting," I replied, feeling the color in my cheeks and wishing half the tower wasn't standing around wiping their noses and watching.
"You remembered something like that?" she asked. There was the skeptical look; apparently I wasn't capable of something even remotely thoughtful.
"I did, and I was only trying to wish you a Happy Valentine's Day," I said, feeling slightly annoyed. Next to me, Sirius was sniggering, and my suspicions were roused. It was entirely possible and even probable that he had been the one to sabotage my pathetic attempt at starting the day. The part of my mind that was not immersed in the Head Boy role immediately began plotting against him, until I once more remembered my duties, and shook my head to stop myself. Evans was talking.
"Thank you, James," she said. Several students twittered to hear her use my first name, since she usually only did that when she was getting ready to blow up at someone. I had always liked it, though—even when she was mad at me.
"You're welcome, Lily," I replied, ignoring the rest of the common room and looking her straight in the eye. I was happy to see her blush and hoped that maybe things wouldn't turn out so bad after all. "And I'm sorry about the sneezewort. I swear I didn't send it."
"I know," she murmured. She was watching Sirius stifle a laugh, and I could tell by the thoughtful look on her face that she had her own suspicions as well. "I can only imagine who it might have been."
"Don't look at me, Evans!" Sirius exclaimed. "I got over the moustache last year. Besides, McGonagall made us promise to stop, remember?"
"Mm-hm." She sneezed and rubbed her eyes. "However, as Head Girl, Black, I hereby order you to remove these—" she dumped the flowers in his arms, causing an eruption of sneezing from him—"from the tower and to get rid of every possible trace you can."
She turned and left without another word, although she did wink at me. I covered my laughter, pretending to cough, as Sirius sputtered indignantly. "She can't do that—she has no power to—"
"As Head Boy," I said, not bothering to hide my grin now, "I concur with her decision. Get to work, Padfoot. I'll save you some bacon at breakfast."
I hurried out with Peter, laughing as we left Sirius standing with an armload of sneezewort and a most undignified expression on his face.
So my great idea for starting the day had not worked, but I still had several more things in mind. The problem was, Sirius had found out about the flowers, so he probably knew about the rest of my day as well. I asked Peter if he had let slip my plans to Sirius, and he vehemently denied it, but I added him to the list of people to get back at as soon as I turned in my Head badge and left Hogwarts.
I decided to abandon my original plan of remaining anonymous all day, since Lily already knew I had sent her the flowers. I also needed to change things up a bit so no one could disrupt the rest of the day. Making excuses to Peter, I hurried ahead, hoping to catch up to Lily. I found her blowing her nose just outside the Great Hall and gallantly conjured her a new handkerchief. She narrowed her eyes at me.
"Thanks," she said, her voice laced with sarcasm.
"You're welcome," I replied as sincerely as I could. "And even though I had nothing to do with it, I am sorry. It's not how I wanted to start the day."
"Me neither," she said. "Daisies would have been much nicer."
I grinned, feeling like I had an opening. "Then tell you what? I'll make it up to you with real daisies if you have lunch with me today."
She stared at me as if she didn't understand what I was saying. "You mean, here in the Great Hall? I always eat lunch with you in the Great Hall."
I waved my hand dismissively. "No, not that. Have a picnic with me." I felt my heart start to pound. I couldn't believe how easily the words were coming from my mouth, and yet how frightening they sounded. What if she said no? What if she said yes?
"Like, a date?" she asked.
"If you want to call it that," I replied evasively, not wanting to scare her off and equally unsure about labeling it. "Or consider it a working lunch. The Head Girl and Head Boy going over a few things in private."
"In private," she repeated, raising her eyebrows. "And where might that be?"
"Meet me in the kitchens," I said, hoping it was still public enough for her to accept. "At noon. I'll bring daisies—and I'll get it right this time."
She studied me for so long I thought for sure she was going to say no. Finally she relaxed and smiled. "Okay. Just stay away from any Chocolate Frogs until then," she said. She winked as she turned and went into the Great Hall.
I wish I had a quick comeback, but I didn't. I couldn't believe she'd said yes, let alone remembered the previous year with any sense of humor whatsoever. I felt a burst of hope that the day could only get better.
How wrong I was.
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End Notes:
This story is a sequel of sorts to another Valentine story, Well Worth The Trouble. While I would be thrilled if you read that one, I think I've given enough background that you will enjoy this story just fine if you haven't.
Thank you so much to my wonderful beta, Elene/coolcatelly! And to Carole and Lea for their great ideas as well.