Event: Costume Party

Costume: Fairy

Word Count: 831

Fairy!James - The Way To Her Heart

James stared at the new Fairy Queen. His heart pounding so hard that he thought it would come out of his chest. She looking utterly breathtaking as she stood next to the unworthy suitor who was aiming to become her betrothed.

According to what he had heard, Severus had been her father's first choice for a match before his untimely passing, and most unfortunately for the fairy, the match had not been legally documented in accordance with fairy law. Whilst unlucky for him, it was beneficial to James who still had a shot with the beautiful fairy who had captured his heart from the very first moment he had set eyes on her.

His wings fluttered with delight as Lily dismissed the Severus from her sight, and judging from the expression on her face and the way the tips of her wings burned red, she was not impressed with the duplicitous fairy.

James suspected, given Lily's apparent indifference towards her suitor, that he would have every chance of winning her heart, especially now that she was free from her father who had sabotaged his few previous attempts to get her attention because he had been something of a troublemaker in his school days.

The question was: How would he win her heart?

That question plagued his mind over the next week as he watched her from afar to learn more about her likes, dislikes and what she truly was passionate about.

In that time, the thing that really struck James was how much time and energy she spent flying back and forth to the edge of the forest to watch the children play. One particular time that stuck in his memory was when one the children fell and appeared to have broken her ankle, and Lily waved her hand, allowing her magic to float over to the little girl and heal her. James noticed the twinkle in Lily's eyes as she watched the girl get up and continue to play. In that moment, James knew that he had found his way to Lily's heart—the children.

And so from that day on, whenever Lily fluttered away from their colony, James followed her and whilst she was watching, unseen by her, he used his magic to bring good fortune to the children she adored so much. After all, he didn't want to make it seem obvious that he was trying to be noticed by her and doing it so that she would see what a great match that he would be for her.

The look on her face every time she saw the children being blessed was enough to tide him over for the time being, especially since she was showing no interest at all in any of the fairies that were throwing themselves at her. Plus, and he would deny it if anyone asked, he found that he quite enjoyed using his magic to help others.

And then one day as he was about to flutter over an aid a child who was about to fall off her bike, Lily appeared in front of him.

"Stop," Lily instructed him as the little girl toppled off her bike.

"Why?" James asked, reigning in his magic. "I'm only trying to help. There's no harm in that."

"I knew one of our kind was helping the children," she said softly. "But I never expected it to be you. The boy who always loved to play pranks and found it funny when others got hurt."

"Fairies change," James said, shrugging his shoulders as he watched the little girl's mother rush over to her and clean up her grazed knee. He turned his attention back to Lily. "I still don't understand why I couldn't help her."

"Because, you won't always be there to stop her falling," Lily sighed. "And the remarkable thing about these children is they are incredibly resilient—when they fall over, they get straight back up and have another go. See?"

James refocused on the child. Sure enough she was climbing back to her feet and getting back on her bike.

"Wow!" James exclaimed. "They sure are remarkable creatures these human children."

"Indeed they are," Lily agreed, smiling at James and taking his hand in hers. "It's why I love to come here and watch them play. Come, we should return to the kingdom now."

"Why?" James asked, wondering what could be so important that she would abandon her favourite pastime.

"We have an announcement to make," Lily stated simply, releasing her hand from his. "It is time to inform the people that they will soon have a new King."

"Who?" James questioned, curious as to who had wormed their way into her heart whilst he was playing the long game.

"You of course," she told him, fluttering her wings and moving away from the clearing. "Well, are you coming?"

"Yes!" James exclaimed with glee, taking one last look at the child before joining the beautiful fairy who would soon be his wife."