Hi. Well, well, well, the oneshot bug has bitten me yet again. I haven't forgotten about my other stories, don't worry, but updates will be less frequent, what with school and all. This was inspired by. . .well, do I really need to say it? Really? Fine! Hula Hoops! Enjoy! I couldn't decide who's POV to do this from, (I even considered doing it from Sirius') so if you'd like me to rewrite it with someone else's POV, tell me. Plus I have a nice little epilogue idea, so let me know if you'd like to see it :)
.o.O.o.
Hula Hoops
They're funny things, Hula Hoops. I mean, they're supposed to be crisps, but they're not really crisps are they? Crisps are supposed to be round and crunchy…well, OK, Hula Hoops are round and crunchy. I am aware of that. I haven't gone mad. Yet. But they're not round round. They're just like…hoops. What kind of crazy crisp has a hole in the middle, besides Hula Hoops? I'll tell you: none..So, are you wondering why I'm rambling on about the insanity of certain food products? I hope so. If not, you might just be as…quirky as I am. But now that I've brought it up, you are probably curious. If not, you may just be a vegetable. Or a Hula Hoop.
I was just sitting in the Great Hall on Saturday morning. You know, as one normally does during breakfast. Not that I usually eat the blasted meal; for some reason my stomach can't handle food so early, much to the wonder of Alice, who can't even make it through first lesson without breakfast. Anyway, I was very tightly squished between Alice (formerly mentioned breakfast-loving girl, also known as my best friend) and Dorcas (slightly loopy yet good friend, about three times the height of me), who were both trying fruitlessly to force some toast down my throat. You have to credit them for trying, I suppose.
"Alice, get off me, you know I can't eat it!"
"How? How can you not eat it?"
"Alice, don't you remember what happened last time I ate breakfast?"
Alice froze in her position, her arm around my neck, while Dorcas released her hold on my open mouth so I could speak.
"Erm, maybe we should leave this for today," Dorcas said nervously, moving away from me slightly.
Clever girl.
"Thank you, Dorcas, you finally get the idea."
"What happened last time?" Alice asked in confusion, rubbing her chin thoughtfully with her free hand.
"I was sick all down the Charms corridor."
Alice let go of my arm and I sighed in relief, rubbing my neck. She is a lot stronger than she looks.
I was about to open my mouth to say something, what it was I can't remember, but I was immediately interrupted. Ha. If you just leave the explanation at that, it looks like there's an extremely rude person somewhere, doesn't it? Either that or somebody fainted and I lost the ability to speak from the shock…As I was saying, before I interrupted myself, I was interrupted (the first time) by a fluffy cloud of owls shooting through the high windows of the Great Hall, and coming together as one collective mass of squawking.
The birds dropped packages and letters on people's food and heads (us magic folk really need a better method of delivering mail), and I heard a familiar screech as a tawny owl skidded along the long table, leaving deep gorges in the long table from its talons.
Cherub finally managed to halt millimetres away from the nearest milk jug, and I breathed a sigh of relief. My owl has been known to knock things over far too many times. So many times, in fact, that she have been threatened more than once with expulsion, whilst my queries on how on earth you expelled a bird were ignored.
Cherub dropped a brown box onto my empty plate and blinked innocently, while people up and down the table straightened their dishes and McGonagall tutted about untrained animals. I smiled at her, and picked a couple of cornflakes out of Alice's bowl as a reward, ignoring Alice's protests.
"Go on, Cheb, go and have a sleep," I said softly to the owl. Now that she had stopped blinking, I could see her eyelids drooping wearily. I couldn't blame her – that package was heavy. Cherub fluttered off gratefully.
"What did we get, Lily?" Dorcas asked excitedly.
I rolled my eyes and ripped the paper off, revealing a large black tin. Once a month, my parents send me a box absolutely crammed full of my favourite Muggle foods, which I share with the nutters, naturally.
"C'mon, let's go up to my common room and have a look," I suggested, lifting the box off the table and beginning to stand up.
"You only want to go up there because you know that's where James will be," Alice muttered under her breath. I chose to ignore her. I've had nothing but hassle from that girl ever since the moment I admitted to her that I like James Potter. She claimed to have known all along, of course, but knowing her she probably saw it in me anyway. She really does know me too well, but sometimes I'd wonder what I'd do without the maniac, except for having a lot less things exploding around me. She has a real talent for that. I sincerely hope she doesn't pass it on to any unfortunate child she gives birth to.
Despite her muttering, Alice followed me out of the Great Hall; apparently she had lost her appetite for breakfast food. Dorcas mooched along moodily behind us; there's nothing she loves more than good bacon butty.
After about ten minutes of navigating through the endlessly complicated halls of Hogwarts, I stuck my head gingerly through the wall that leads to the Head's common room. Literally gingerly; my hair couldn't get much redder if it tried, which I think is impossible, but I'm getting off track again.
I yanked my head back out through the wall quickly, pushing my hair out of my face.
"Is he in there?" Dorcas asked unnecessarily. Of course, once Alice knew about my feelings, it had been much easier to admit them to Dorcas, too.
"Yes, he's there, and that arrogant twat is too."
"What, Sirius?"
"Who else?" I responded, a little snappier than I usually would've..
"What are they doing?"
"Lounging on the floor near the fire, stuffing their faces with crap." Nothing new there.
Alice and Dorcas laughed, and I stared at the wall, trying desperately to control my butterflies. Funnily enough, it didn't work. Stupid metaphorical insects.
Alice sighed and pushed passed me, and Dorcas shoved me through the wall from behind. "No need to be so pushy," I muttered, knowing she wasn't going to reply.
Sirius immediately looked up from the magazine that he and James (eek) were fighting over, and flashed us a smile. James (eek) continued to look down at the pages. Typical.
"What can I do for you lovely ladies?" Sirius asked with a smirk, throwing another sweet wrapper on the floor. Men.
"More like what can't you do," Dorcas smirked back. Sirius smiled even wider and winked. He refuses to admit that he's met his match with Dorcas.
"There is nothing that Sirius Black can't do," Sirius boasted. "Right, Prongs?"
"What?" James asked innocently, jerking his head up from the magazine and acting as if he hadn't noticed our entrance.
"I said there's nothing I can't do."
"Oh. Well, I think it's more like 'there's nothing you won't attempt'," James murmured, raising his eyebrows and looking down again. Sigh.
I tried my best to hold back the manic laughter that was threatening to escape; my body tends to do strange things when James speaks. Please don't take that the wrong way. As in, you know, I don't grow antlers or anything. Not the way you were thinking, you dirty minded lot.
"Anyway," Sirius continued, looking slightly disgruntled at James' less then supportive response, "what are you ladies here for?"
"Well in case you haven't noticed, Black, this is my common room just as much as it is his, and I have every right to bring my friends here if I want to," I said airily. I've really been trying to control the sarcasm lately. Honest.
James smirked. Sigh.
"Alright then, if you don't want to tell me," Sirius huffed, holding his hand to the place his heart would be if he had one.
Drama Queen.
Alice, seeing that I was struggling between the grounds of gormless and brain-dead, took my arm and gently tugged me over to the wooden table and pushed me into the corner seat which, conveniently enough, was the only one angled so that the boys would still be visible to me. Smart girl.
"Alright, Lily, what have we got in the tin?" Dorcas asked excitedly, rubbing her hands together.
I placed the tin on the table with a gentle clunk, carefully watching James as he reached out for another box of Every Flavoured Beans. The second the tin was open, two pairs of hands that weren't my own reached out eagerly to snatch whatever food they could.
.o.O.o.
The evening of the same day, at around ten o'clock, my friends had left to go and finish some last minute work for Ancient Runes (a subject that I see as being totally pointless) and I was left alone in the Heads' Common Room. I stared into the fire, trying to ignore the fact that I had a huge pile of homework to deal with myself, and succeeding surprisingly easily. After I have no clue how long of slightly less than clean fantasies about you-know-who (James, not Voldemort) I realised that I was wasting precious time. I wouldn't be able to sleep – I never can on the weekends, since I have no inclination to get up early in the morning – so I decided to do something useful.
I dragged myself off the couch and sloped over to the table that me and my friends had occupied earlier. I tugged my bag up onto the table and pulled out a textbook, a roll of parchment, a quill and a pot of ink. I stared at them for a moment, not quite wanting to work, but not quite wanting to continue wasting my time. I reluctantly decided that something to eat might help my thinking process.
The black tin was still perched on the corner of the table, and I pulled open the lid with a clear idea of what I was looking for. I rummaged through the box, then, finally, I caught sight of a blue packet near the bottom: Hula Hoops.
Throwing the box carelessly back to the edge of the table, I tore open the bag and placed a crisp on each of the fingers on my left hand. It's a good job I'm so slim, really. Not that I'm bragging. I don't brag. Well, hardly ever.
I considered the rings on my fingers, particularly the one on my ring finger. What would it be like to have a real ring there? I shrugged and placed my teeth over the Hoop, just as James' head, followed by his shoulders and sexy, sexy torso appeared though the wall. I glanced up at him, doing my best not to turn red, and noticed him staring at me.
"Hey," I said cheerily, you know, to break the silence without seeming mentally impaired. You don't want to hear about my past conversation starters. You do? Well, let's just say they involve coconuts. Followed by long silences.
Anyway….moving swiftly on. James (sigh AND eek) blinked once, then smiled. "Hi. What are you doing?"
I swallowed the Hula Hoop that I had been crunching whilst enjoying the (utterly lush) sound of his voice, then spoke. "Eating."
"Really?" he asked sarcastically. "I meant what are you eating, and why are you wearing it?"
I groaned internally at his sexy sarcasm and gorgeous grin. "Hula Hoops. They're a Muggle food," I added at the look of confusion on his face. That totally adorable look of confusion.
"Oh," he responded, nodding, though I could tell he didn't really have any idea what I was talking about.
"Want to try some?" I blundered on bravely, holding out the bag.
"You really think I'd turn down free food?" he joked, pulling a few crisps out of the bag and thrusting them onto the tips of his fingers, like me.
Awwww.
He stared at the food on his fingers, then shrugged and gently tugged one of them off with his teeth.
"Not bad, actually," he nodded, running the tip of his tongue over his lips to rid of any crumbs…oh that tongue…ohhh those lips-
"Evans?"
Yes. I sort of missed what he said since I was distracted by his mouth. So sue me..
"Mmm?"
"I said do they come in different types, like them other things, what were they called, they looked like paws…Monster Munch."
"Oh. Yeah, they do. I have some more, do you want some?" Look at me being all polite and generous. AND coherent.
"Do you mind?" James asked. Not being funny either, just being nice.
"No I don't mind."
James took a deep breath as if he was going to say something, then paused. I saw that mischievous glint in his eye as he spoke words that I was sure he wasn't going to say originally. "Yeah, go on then…" he grinned widely, and besides melting, I became curious.
"What are you planning?"
"Nothing."
He's a terrible liar.
"You're a terrible liar."
"I know."
Silence.
"So what is it you're planning, and how many detentions are you going to get for it?"
James continued to grin. "I can't tell you. And none, hopefully."
"Always the optimist."
"And you love me for it," he smirked with a wink. A WINK. How sexy.
Unsure of what to say, not even positive that I'd be capable of speech, I just rolled my eyes theatrically.
"Anyway, Lily, I'm off to bed, if that's OK."
I took a deep breath, attempting to stay calm. Hearing James saying the words 'bed' and 'Lily' in the same sentence was almost too much for me to handle.
He was halfway to the opening to the stairs when I realised that he hadn't taken the Hula Hoops.
"Erm…don't you want the thingys?"
"Oh! Yeah! I forgot. Whoops," he smiled sheepishly, backing up to scoop a packet from the table. There were pink splodges forming on his pale complexion. I made him BLUSH! How good am I?
"'Night…James," I said softly as his foot touched the first step.
He took his foot off the step and turned his back on the staircase, looking at me straight in the face. It's a good job I was sitting down, actually, or I might have collapsed.
"Goodnight, Lily," he said back, his voice so low it was almost a whisper. He gave a wistful half smile before turning and continuing up the stairs.
I needn't mention that that day was the first time he had ever called me 'Lily'.
Or the first I had ever called him 'James'.
.o.O.o.
The large raindrops pounded the greenhouse roof loudly, and I threw my bag onto my shoulders eagerly. I love the rain. As I tramped through the mud alone, the people around me slouched along and gossiped with eachother. The main talking point? Sirius Black was seeing a new girl. You'd think people would get used to it by now. What I wasn't used to, however, were the footsteps squelching through the mud.
"Lily! LILY!" a familiar voice was calling. A deep, masculine voice.
James skidded to a stop beside me, splattering mud on the bottom of my robes. Idiot.
"Sorry, Lily, Merlin I'm sorry. Didn't mean to mess up your robes…" he apologised, wringing his hands. It's still a huge shock to me that he gets nervous at times. You wouldn't expect that from someone like James. "Here…" he pulled out his wand and pointed it at the mud, muttering something under his breath. The mud vanished.
Sweet, sexy, gorgeous, smart, AND he can clean. He really does have everything.
"Thanks."
That was all I could find to say. The fact that James had wanted to talk to me had knocked me speechless.
We walked along in silence for a moment, the rain letting up slightly.
"So…what did you want?"
James looked up so suddenly I'll be surprised if he doesn't end up with whiplash. I think he was thinking.
"Oh…you know. Just wanted to say hi, I suppose. I can leave you alone if you'd prefer…I just thought that, after…mm."
I will admit, I was confused. And that's putting it mildly. He was acting nervous AND being vague. I knew then that something was up.
"You don't have to go. Are you OK?"
"Yeah, yeah of course. And you?"
"Your lying hasn't improved."
He was silent.
"Lily…" He took my hand (OH MY GOSH) and pulled me to a stop.
Around me, people began to slow down, staring. The concept of Lily Evans and James Potter holding hands was about a million times more interesting than Sirius' 'new bird' as he so charmingly called her, and much more inviting than the thought of warmth. That's how shocking it was.
James shuffled round to face me, and the Marauders stopped, watching. People were openly muttering now.
"Lily you know how much I like you. Well, I hope you do. I haven't talked to you much this year, I know, but I thought that was what you wanted. Then I realised that you just wanted me to grow up, and I've tried. I'm not perfect…I know. And you know you'll never hear me say that again," he started. He became more confident as he spoke, and his smirk was back by the last sentence.
I knew the sweetness wouldn't last long.
He gently pulled his hand out of mine and rummaged for something in his pocket, finally producing a small box. My mind (and heart) was racing, but no, I couldn't let myself think that. He wouldn't do that.
"Lily…will you please be my girlfriend?" he murmured. I guess I wasn't the only one who had realised that everyone was staring.
As he spoke, though…good grief. As he spoke he flipped the box open…do I really have to explain? Yes?
Lying there, on the black velvet, was a single Hula Hoop.
Of course.
I looked down at the crisp and back up into his hopeful face. The raindrops were clinging to his eyelashes behind his glasses, and his scruffy hair was tangled and damp.
I took a deep breath and did something that I NEVER thought I'd have the courage to do.
Ignoring the muttering around me, I closed my eyes and pecked those perfect lips.
"Yes."
.o.O.o.
The next day…I had to deal with the Marauders. Alone.
"It has to be said Prongs…that was your best effort yet."
"And it paid off."
"Very creative."
"And judging by the way you keep looking at eachother today, she gave you some last night, didn't she?"
"Shut up Sirius," I snapped, giving him a sharp slap across the back of the head.
What?
What goes on in those Head Dormitories is my business. Well, our business, now.
"Aww Evans, you only slapped me 'cause it's true."
"Be QUIET Sirius."
"You're calling me Sirius? Now I know you're serious. Well you're obviously not, because I am, but..."
James (oh James…) gave him a slap across the head.
"Oh great, now I have both of you attacking me. I'm unloved…"
"I love you Padfoot."
"And me."
"Thank you Moony, Wormtail." Sirius looked at James expectantly.
"I love you Padfoot."
Everyone turned to me.
"Not in your wildest dreams," I said, shaking my head.
"Yeah, well,t hat's what you said to me in second year, but five years and two packets of crisps later and here we are…"
Everyone laughed.
Even me.