Fireworks Behind The Broom Shed
MWPP era; OneShot; Lily/James.
Disclaimer: I do not own these people. I do not own the setting. The only thing I own is the plot.
A/N: This is my first fanfic attempt, so it might not be fantastic. Please bear this in mind if you review. Please review! I want to know if I'm any good or not, and the only way I can do that is if you review! I will reward you with smileys if you do!
It was New Year's Eve in James' final year at Hogwarts, and Gryffindor was getting ready for a magnificent party. James, Sirius and Peter had already taken many trips to the kitchens to supply everyone with enough Butterbeer and Firewhisky, and lots of food. When they got back after the final trip, James looked around and saw Lily Evans talking to Remus Lupin. They were both smiling. Remus said something and Lily laughed. James stood still, watching Lily as she talked, transfixed. A few minutes later, Remus and Lily broke away and Remus walked over to James, Sirius and Peter.
"What did Evans want?" asked James, trying to make it sound off-hand, but failing miserably. Sirius and Peter looked at each other, trying not to laugh.
"Nothing, really. We were just talking about Slughorn's essay," Remus replied.
"Oh." James looked slightly put-out. "She, er, didn't mention me at all?"
"No." Remus started to smile. Sirius burst out laughing and James elbowed him in the ribs.
"Ow! Just because she hasn't fallen for your cocky chat-up lines," teased Sirius, grinning. James poked his tongue out at his best friend and grabbed a Butterbeer.
After two hours, the party was well under way, but, surprisingly, James hadn't gotten too drunk yet; he'd only had one Firewhisky, and all the other drinks he'd had had been Butterbeer. He was stood in the middle of the room with his friends, and a group of girls were stood around him and Sirius, flirting madly. Sirius was having a great time, flirting back, but James only had eyes for one girl that night. He craned his neck, looking around the common room, and eventually he saw her. Lily Evans was stood alone at one of the tables bearing drinks, sipping a Butterbeer as she leaned against the table, watching the crowd of Gryffindors as they partied.
James pushed past a sixth-year fluttering her eyelashes at him and escaped the thick of the party. He made his way over to Lily, who struggled not to roll her eyes as James came to stand next to her, grinning at her and rumpling up his hair a little.
"Alright, Evans?" James asked, looking out at the rest of the common room as he leaned back on the table too. "Good party, huh?"
"I guess," Lily replied.
"You guess? Oh, come on, Lily. Let go a little, party like the rest of us," James grinned, nudging her shoulder gently. The corners of Lily's mouth twitched upwards.
"You look really nice tonight," James told Lily after a slight pause in the conversation.
"Thanks. You don't look too bad yourself," Lily said. James grinned.
"I'll take that as a compliment, shall I?" he asked, leaning closer. "Firewhisky?" he asked, seeing that she'd just finished a Butterbeer. James pressed a glass of Firewhisky into Lily's hand before she could say no. Lily consented to drinking it, to James' delight.
"So, what are your New Year's Resolutions?" James asked Lily, who shrugged.
"I haven't thought about it," she replied. She brushed her long red hair off her shoulder. "What about you?"
"Oh, I don't know. 'Stop getting so many detentions' might be a good start," James mused. Lily looked surprised. "Of course, the teachers are always asking for it. I have better things to do with my time than pointless essays about irrelevant goblin wars and stuff. And as for the blasted caretaker, well ... I'm bound to get muddy if I play Quidditch, aren't I? It's not my fault if I drip mud throughout the castle after a rainy practise, is it? He should tell the sky to stop raining all the time, shouldn't he?" James ranted indignantly. Lily smiled as she finished off her Firewhisky. James immediately gave her another one.
"James Potter," she asked lightly, grinning. "Are you trying to get me drunk?"
"Of course not," James cried in mock outrage. "I would never do something so devious!" he lied.
Lily snorted in disbelief as she drank. Once she'd finished that Firewhisky too, James risked the question he'd been asking for years.
"Go out with me," he whispered. His breath tickled Lily's ear, and it smelled of Butterbeer. Lily glared at him and leaned away.
"Excuse me?" she asked haughtily. James heard the warning tone in her voice, but he didn't care. He ran a quick hand through his hair, messing it up a bit more before continuing.
"Come on, Evans," he grinned. "Go out with me. You know you want to." His voice had suddenly gotten a lot louder, attracting a few people's attention. James tried to put an arm around Lily's shoulders, but Lily pushed his arm away.
"Get lost!" she snapped.
"Oh, Evans!" sighed James. Some of the people who were watching sniggered. "Don't pretend – I know you want me." He winked at her.
"In your dreams," sneered Lily. James leaned towards her to kiss her, but Lily pushed him away, hard. James staggered backwards. They had the attention of almost everyone in the common room now. Sirius, Remus and Peter pushed their way to the front of the silent onlookers, grinning.
James stepped cautiously back towards her and tried to laugh it off.
"Evans, chill out a little. It's New Year's Eve," he said, smiling. "Let's just kiss and make-up, yeah?"
Angry, Lily drew out her wand. The watching Gryffindors all drew in their breath.
"For heaven's sake, stop drawing attention to yourself and your big, fat head," Lily snarled under her breath. She grabbed James' arm in a vice-like grip and began dragging him towards the portrait hole. "We'll continue this discussion in private," she snapped.
James, after recovering from the momentary shock, started to grin again. Sirius wolf-whistled, making most of the people laugh again. James turned around and winked to the crowd, before puckering his lips to Lily's back as the portrait hole swung open.
"Alright then, Evans. Let's find some dark, secluded corner," James said in a loud, carrying voice. "But, you know, if you wanted to be alone, my dorm is empty." Lily pushed him roughly through the portrait hole as laughter rang out through the common room. She clambered through after James and the portrait hole slammed shut behind her. Laughter died immediately.
"More Firewhisky, anyone?" asked Sirius loudly, and then everybody went back to whatever they'd been doing before.
Meanwhile, Lily was marching James silently through the castle, her wand prodding into his back. When they reached the grounds, Lily continued her walk, her wand still digging into James' back, until they were behind the broom sheds by the Quidditch pitch.
"I don't think anyone will find us now, Lily," James grinned, messing up his hair with one hand again. "But you'd better kiss me quickly, just in case."
"Shut up," Lily said in a deadly hiss. But James wouldn't.
"It's true then, that redheads do have bad tempers. You need to calm down, Evans," he taunted.
"You need to shut up right now before I hex you," Lily snarled. James finally fell silent as sparks flew from the end of Lily's wand. "You – you are so bigheaded! I can't stand you! You know, I thought you were getting better, I thought you've not been so ignorant recently; I thought you were halfway decent!" she shouted. "But you're just as bad as you've always been, thinking that no girl can resist you and your cheesy chat-up lines. You're so annoying and immature!"
Lily paused to catch her breath, but before she could continue her rant, James put his hands on her shoulders and pulled her towards him. James leaned forward and covered Lily's lips with his own.
Lily was so taken-aback that she didn't do anything for a couple of seconds. Then, she realised how soft James' lips were, and how warm they were, and how she was actually enjoying their kiss. Lily started to kiss back, but then James opened his mouth, and Lily finally came to her senses and pulled back. Fury took over her again.
"What the heck was that about?" she demanded, wiping her mouth.
"I had to get you to shut up somehow," he grinned. "You were enjoying that, weren't you?" he said slyly.
"No!" Lily shot back, furious. James' grin widened. "Get lost, James Potter!"
"You liked it, you liar. You did, you did!" teased James.
Lily let out a cry of frustration as she rushed forward and her lips met James'. James staggered backwards in surprise and hit the back of the broom shed. Then, as Lily kissed him passionately, he put his arms around her waist. Lily let out a low moan as she ran a hand through James' already-messed up hair. James pulled Lily right up against him as they kissed.
When New Year came, the whooping and cheering Gryffindor students let off some of Dr Filibuster's fireworks and their party got even louder. But Lily and James didn't care – they were creating fireworks of their own.