Baby It's Cold Outside

A Jily Oneshot

I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING, JUST THE IDEA

Lily Evans enjoyed her job, she really did. And she was good at it, which made her like it even more. Marketing and advertising weren't really that difficult for her, and her ideas were regularly used or at least considered highly. Not a lot of people as new as her got their ideas ran so often. Except for one.

James Potter.

The name sent chills down her spine, that git, that prat who's ideas were the only ones who had ever managed to beat out hers. She hated the competition he gave her, but admired the fact that he made her work for the success, that just came so easily for him. She only wished it came so easy for her. Her ideas required at least a week of planning, while his ideas seemed like he pulled them out of his arse DURING the meeting. She absolutely couldn't believe it.

And not only did brilliant ideas come to him so easy, he was just a cocky toerag. He always seemed like he was king of the world and everyone had to bow to him and his stupid grin and messed up hair. Lily didn't fall for his stupid act though. She was too smart for that. Which made speaking to him even more difficult and trying.

"Hey Evans, hows the new idea coming?" He asked her one snowy Wednesday.

"Oh fine Potter, thank you for asking. I'm sure you've thought long and hard about yours." She said sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

He grinned that stupid grin. "Oh Evans, I thought you knew me better than that. I don't really plan too much, it requires too much thinking, and over-thinking can occasionally be the fall of a brilliant idea. I like to see how it forms just on the spot, and elaborate from there." He explained cheekily.

"Oh I see. So really, you just goof off until the last minute and think of the least idiotic thing that floats through that matter you call a brain." She said, glancing up at him from her desk, her face unamused.

He smirked and winked at her. "You got it. You should try it sometime. Well, I gotta go, see you at the meeting Evans." He spoke over his shoulder as he walked away, going off to do who knows what.

Lily huffed and managed to scribble a few things in her notebook before the meeting of everyone in their department assigned to this product was called. She wandered in the meeting room, sitting in her favourite spot where she could see the snow falling out of the window.

James sat directly across from her, blocking that lovely view with his stupid big head. He started talking to his friend Remus, the kind boy next to him. Lily liked Remus and respected him, he always helped her with ideas if she asked for it and wasn't as big of a prat as James. She really didn't understand how they were friends. She was wondering that as her boss began the meeting.

"So. Throw them at me." Harold said, looking around at the table of young men and women. He envied them and their youth and their health, and he just was waiting for that promotion so he didn't have to deal with the bunch of them anymore.

Lily raised her hand immediately.

"Evans?" He asked tiredly, not surprised that she was one of the first to respond, seeing as she usually was, and most of the time she was one of the only ones with an actual good idea, besides that Potter boy.

"Well, if we're trying to sell this to kids, then it has to seem cool, it has to seem like the new thing, and so I was thinking we do a commercial with teenagers promoting it, saying how great it is, with some of these slogans." She said, pushing over her notebook with about a dozen witty puns made about their product, a new pair of boots that a company had asked them to sell.

"These are good Evans, some of these have real potential. Email these to me, and I'll see what I can do with them. Anyone else?" He asked, looking around the table of bored, tired, 20 something year olds.

James held his hand up a bit. "Well, I appreciate Evans's idea, I think its clever, and I'm sure she made some great witty puns, but kids these days aren't really so into puns. They like slang, simple one to three word phrases that make them sound cool. And I think that those would catch their attention more, and make them notice the product." He explained, actually having the possibility of sounding intelligent, if it wasn't for the lazy, stupid grin on his face.

Harold smiled. "Good thinking James, that's really thinking outside of the box." He said cheerfully. With that, the meeting was basically over. As everyone was leaving, Lily and James were called to stay.

"So, I really like both of your ideas, and I want you to try and put them together somehow. I think I can trust the two of you to make a complete marketing scheme for this, but I need you to work together. So, can you do that? And maybe get me an idea by Friday? That's the deadline for me to send something to head office." He explained, smiling as if they were his two star students.

Lily glanced warily at James, who just shrugged. "Yeah I guess. Sounds like a plan." He said simply, not even bothering to ask Lily what she wanted to do about it. She made a small face and looked at her boss.

"We'll have it done, thanks for the opportunity." She said to Harold, gathering her things to leave.

"Make me proud!" Harold called as the two left.

Lily huffed immediately as she left the room, glaring at James. "Thanks for even considering my opinion." She said, holding her notebook tightly in her hand.

He shrugged and smiled. "Really Evans, were you going to say no? If you did, you would have completely lost the credit for everything, and it would have been another sell on my idea. I'm doing a you a favour." He said happily.

She rolled her eyes. "Whatever Potter. Well, my shift's ending, so we can start planning this tomorrow. I need to get home before this blizzard hits." She said, gesturing at the heavy snowfall outside.

"You're on Appleview right? At least let me walk you, so I at least know if you got blown away or decided to quit about the idea of having to work with me." He said, smiling, but genuinely.

She sighed. "Well, I have a feeling I'm not allowed to say no." She said annoyedly.

He grinned his regular grin and shook his head. "Nope, not this time." James said cheerfully. He got his coat and hat, shutting down his computer and walking to the front with her.

Lily looked outside and made a face, buttoning her light coat up as high as it could go. "It wasn't this snowy when I left." She mumbled sadly, absolutely knowing her hair would get wet and frizzy from the snow and the cold.

"There's a thing called the morning news, and they tell you what the weather is going to be like for the day so you can dress accordingly." James teased, smirking at her. But he felt really bad inside, wanting to offer his coat but knowing he would freeze, just wearing his button-up shirt underneath.

She scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Prat." She retorted, opening the door and stepping outside to the blustering wind and snow. She scrunched up her face, her eyes barely open, and started to walk with him.

They walked in silence, the wind too strong even if they felt like speaking. But really, Lily wanted to spend the least amount of time speaking with James Potter. He just made her so... Frustrated. And the fact that she found him the slightest bit good-looking made it even worse, because no matter how annoyed she was with him, he always flashed his stupid grin and ruffled his stupid hair to make himself look even better than he already did.

Her thoughts were blown away as the gust of wind basically threw her body against the side of his. Her hands were shoved under her arms, her stupid coat only having fake pockets, and her nose and lips were blue, teeth chattering. The streets were practically empty, and she thought she heard something about a blizzard warning coming from a TV in a nearby bar.

James looked at her, his heart sinking. She looked so cold, and so weak, and they were still four blocks from her street, but his apartment was just up past a few buildings.

"Hey! Come stay at my place! Until the snow dies down!" He shouted over the loud wind.

She heard only bits, but nodded desperately, needing to be somewhere warm before she got frostbite. James wrapped his arm around her shaking shoulders and walked her to his apartment, buzzing in and bringing her up to his place. He opened the door and immediately turned the heater on to high, looking over at her. She was even more noticeably blue, and shaking like a scared chihuahua. He took off his coat and hat and pulled her right by the heater.

"Do you need something? Tea, coffee? A warm shower?" He asked her, wanting to help in any way possible.

She just nodded, looking over at him. "T-t-tea, and a sh-shower would be n-n-nice." She stuttered, her teeth chattering like crazy.

He nodded and got her up, helping her take off her damp coat. Her hair looked ridiculous, but ridiculously cute, and he decided not to comment. "I'll bring you to the shower, and make some tea while you're in there." He said kindly, bringing her to his bathroom. He quickly told her how to work everything, and said she was free to use any of the products.

"Th-thank you." She said sincerely, looking up at him. She really wanted him to change so she could get in there.

He realized why she wasn't doing anything and blushed, hoping his cheeks were still red from the wind so she wouldn't notice it. "Sorry, I'll go. I'll bring you a pair of dry clothes too, so you don't have to sit in that wet, uncomfortable stuff." He said with a small smile, and left.

She quickly got undressed and went in his shower, turning it on and standing under the warm water. She rinsed off, just warming up, and put just a bit of his conditioner in her hair so it wasn't damaged or frizzy.

James grabbed an old, but clean, sweater and a pair of track pants, knocking on the door.

"Hello?" Lily called, quickly covering everything, even though his curtain was opaque.

"It's just me, I'm leaving some clothes at the door, and there should be a towel on the rack." He said through the door, smiling a bit to himself at the thought of her in his clothes.

She blushed herself and smiled at the same thought. "Okay, thank you James!" She said, realizing she had said his first name to him for probably the first time since they had first met.

He noticed it as well and smirked, leaving the clothes and going to make her tea, after getting changed himself into something warm and cozy and dry. He turned on the news while he was waiting for her, seeing there was a red alert for a blizzard warning and that everyone was advised to stay inside, at least until morning.

Lily turned off the shower and dried off with a towel, wrapping it around herself and going out to get the clothes, seeing a bit of him down the hall in the kitchen and quickly going back in the bathroom. She changed into his huge sweater and pants, thankful that those fit well enough if she pulled the drawstring tight enough. She walked out looking much better, her lips and nose a normal colour, and her damp hair up in a messy bun. She noticed James now sitting on his couch and watching the TV, two steaming mugs on the table in front of him.

"What's the news saying?" She asked as she sat next to him, taking the mug and sipping it, smiling gratefully over at him.

"Red alert blizzard warning, they want everyone inside for the night." James said, looking over at her and smiling awkwardly. "You can stay the night if you want, I think it's best you do, but I can understand if you want to try and call a cab to take you home, I am not letting you walk though." He explained, firm at the end.

She smiled sheepishly. "You know what, it may be best to just stay here. And it works I guess, we can work on the project a bit tonight, if you want." She said to him.

He snorted. "If you think I'm working on anything after 8pm, then you're wrong."

Lily made a face. "But James, we gotta get it done. And this is certainly something that you can't leave until last minute." She said, trying not to get frustrated with him.

"I never said last minute Lily, I just said not tonight. Why do you always jump to that conclusion?" He asked her, furrowing his eyebrows and drinking his tea.

"Because it seems like what you do every time! And you've practically admitted it to me before." She huffed, folding her arms over her chest.

He glanced at her arms then quickly looked back at her face, not sure what to say. He sighed and just shrugged, looking back at the TV.

Lily stayed silent and observed his profile. He really does have a nice jawline...She admired, then blushed and quickly pushed the feeling away from her head. That was not something she needed to be thinking about, especially about him at this time and in this situation. She shook her head and looked at her lap, which caught James' attention.

"What's on your mind?" He asked curiously, smiling a bit at her.

She looked back up and blushed deeply, clearly noticeable. "O-oh, nothing. Just work stuff." She said, a small shiver running through her body.

He saw the blush and the shiver, deciding to make a small move. He grabbed a blanket and moved over so they weren't on opposite sides of the couch, and threw the woolly blanket over them. "This should warm you up." He said, smiling sweetly at her.

She looked up at him and blushed more, liking how close they were. No! Stop! This is James Potter, your arch enemy, don't let him get into your- oh look at how cute that little curl is... Maybe he just needs a chance- No! Her mind battled back and forth as they sat in silence, and a small drop of water from her hair rolled down the side of her face and her cheek.

James was wondering what was running through her mind, and saw the droplet of water. He slowly reached out and wiped it away, his hand lingering on her cheek for a moment as he looked at her stunning green eyes.

"Hey Lily-"

"Hey James-"

They spoke and stopped at the same time, the two falling silent as they watched each others eyes. James moved just the tiniest bit closer, hearing her breath and smelling his conditioner and the tea on her.

She could feel his breath on her nose, and she rubbed her lips together, looking down at his, and quickly back at his eyes.

He noticed her look and smiled softly. "Hey Lily... I really do like your ideas at work, and I think they're really smart. Most of the time I base mine around yours." He murmured, his voice hardly above a whisper.

She blushed and smiled more. "I really like yours too, and most of the time they're better than mine, which is why I get so frustrated with you. Because they come so easily to you, I wish they did the same for me..." She explained, seeing her reflection in his glasses.

He smiled. "But you put the work and effort in, which makes them brilliant. You care, and that's what drives your passion and motivation to beat me." He said with a small laugh. He was still close to her face, and maybe even moving closer, with his hand still on her cheek.

Lily really didn't mind, at all. "I suppose..." She mumbled, biting her lip.

James grinned, deciding that this was it. "You are fantastic Lily Evans. I have known that since the day I met you, and I absolutely love your wit and drive and passion, and god you're beautiful, especially when you chew your pen or gaze out that goddamn window, and dammit Lily I can't help it anymore." He finished, and kissed her.

Lily felt her heart and mind explode, the prat, her prat, he was so stupidly fantastic, and she couldn't hate him. She never really did. She just had other, equally strong, emotions towards him. And she expressed that as she kissed him, her hands moving into his stupidly messy hair that made him... Him.

A few moments later he pulled away and just grinned stupidly.

She giggled and fixed his glasses. "Maybe I should just go, it's late and I don't want to be a distraction." She murmured softly.

He smiled and kissed her cheek. "Don't go love, it's too cold outside."

Hello everyone! This is my first work to this website, and I am so excited. Please feel free to comment and share, it will also be posted on my Tumblr; jamesfuxkingpotter, so feel free to follow me there! I would love to post more, let me know if you have any thoughts or opinions! Thank you for getting this far, I really appreciate it!