A/N: Prompts, as always, are displayed at the bottom.
Red Wine
AlwaysPadfoot
Petunia Evans literally falls into James' arms.
In the Christmas of seventh year, he and Sirius are out in Muggle London, exploring, taking in sights they never have before. They're just about to go home when a girl — arms laden with shopping bags — trips over a crack in the pavement and falls directly into James. She knocks them both to the pavement and James finds himself gazing into beautiful brown eyes.
'Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry," she says, her cheeks colouring as she clambers to her feet.
'It's fine, really,' James responds quickly with a smile, scooping up her fallen bags and handing them over. 'If I were to be knocked over by anyone, then I'm glad it was you.'
Thankfully, she doesn't see Sirius roll his eyes at the obvious line. She blushes even more and looks away with a soft smile. 'I bet you say that to all the girls who trip into your lap.'
'I wouldn't know; it's never happened before.' James says it with what Sirius would call the Potter Twinkle in his eyes. 'I'm James.'
'Petunia,' she responds, brushing out the creases in her skirt.
There's a momentary lapse of silence where James admires how perfectly put together Petunia is before Sirius coughs loudly and James glares. He pats James hard on the back with a grin. 'Well I have to be going — I'm Sirius by the way. James, you should take this lovely lady for a drink.'
It is James's turn to blush then as Sirius strides away and abandons him with Petunia. For a moment he isn't sure what to say but he quickly pulls himself together. 'Would you like to go for a drink? If, of course, you have the time.'
Petunia appears to think about it and then checks the slim gold watch on her wrist. 'I have time for a drink. Though, it's a tad too late for coffee, I know a bistro that does absolutely fantastic bottles of wine.'
James smiles widely and offers her his arm. 'Lead the way, m'lady.'
She takes his arm and does just that, walking back in the direction from which she came. She prompts conversation easily like she did it for a living. When they reach their destination, James is grateful to be out of the cold weather. It is a small bistro; the tables are lit by flickering candlelight and it feels cosy and warm. They are led to a table in the corner, away from the door.
James and Petunia sit with a bottle of red wine between them. He makes her laugh — her laugh is beautiful. The conversation — and wine — flows; it feels easy to talk to her. She's a little older — which she didn't want to admit — but James doesn't care. He showers her with compliments whilst they learn about one another. He knows, as the evening draws to a natural conclusion, he wants to see her again.
And soon.
HPFC Prompt: You have to write a 100-500 word drabble, using the character: Petunia Dursley nee Evans
Hogwarts: Divination: Iv. tea leaves: Write about someone falling down (be creative here). / Object: bottle of wine.
Pairing Selected: PetuniaJames
Word Count: 500 (excluding ANs and Titles)