Drip, drip. Drip, drip.
The pound of the rain against the surface of the earth was absolutely soothing and serene, to Lily Evans anyway. It was majestic, if not absolutely magical. And to her, there was no better way to spend a Friday afternoon than curled up in a chair by a window, a mug of hot chocolate and a book in hand. It never rained much on Fridays, not when Lily had the opportunity to relax, anyway. So when the rare occasion came, Lily thrived on it. It was always the same book, the one she always saved for these afternoons and never read unless it were under these conditions. And so she sat in front of this window when it rained, completely absorbed in this book.
But when not entranced by said novel, Lily's fascination was caught by the falling drops of water. There wasn't anything particularly special about these droplets, but in a way they were her muse. When she stared out the window into the rain, she could think. And not just about homework, she could think about anything. In fact, sometimes at night after all the other girls had gone to sleep, sometimes she'd crawl up onto the bench that she sat on to read and open the window. And she'd sit there while the rain pounded against her face, against her entire being. Though the water was cold and it stung when it fell upon her porcelain skin, somehow it felt cleansing and calming.
It was her way of finding tranquility in a school where drama and dark times lay ahead.
So it was no surprise that as she grew older, the outdoors was where she turned to when times got rough for her. When her sister grew into a cold and intolerable person, she ran out back to the quidditch stadium and sat on the bleachers in the pouring rain. When James Potter got on her nerves and would cease to let up, she left to a tree by the lake and sat under it as the rain fell upon the earth. When she had trouble tolerating the rest of the world, she escaped to the outside portion of the Hogwarts grounds during a storm and situated herself in an area where the rain could fall upon her delicate figure.
People who didn't know her called her weird for just leaving in the middle of strife, but James Potter knew better. Despite his careless and relaxed attitude, he was quite observant. You see, like the rain was a muse to Lily, Lily was James's muse. When she was around, the world seemed so much clearer and brighter. Things just made sense when she was on his mind. So, when he had realized this back in his earlier years of Hogwarts, he made a habit of keeping an eye on her and learning about her quirks. However, there was a slight obstacle to this. Lily Evans absolutely hated his guts.
This never stopped James, though. It wasn't hard to keep a quiet watch on the girl. She was rather obvious with what she liked and disliked. There were always the obvious quirks, the things that everyone knew. She loved to read, and she was rather argumentative. When she had an opinion, she voiced it. And she loved to help. She was a perfectionist and an overachiever. But, there were also the not so obvious things, the small characteristics that only James seemed to notice. Lily seemed to be ticklish and she had a certain face when she was sincerely being nice and when she was being nice just to be polite. Her favorite color was in fact green, and, of course, her favorite type of weather was rain. The rain brought out a different person, someone who was intriguing to study. She seemed to be entranced by the falling water, in a daze and unaware of those around her. It was the exact opposite of the person who hated James with a passion. So it was no wonder that James had chosen a rainy day to really tick Lily off.
It was towards the end of 7th year, just a few weeks away from graduation. At that point in time, it seemed as if nothing could ruin Lily's spirits. She was just walking into her Head Dorm, big stack of books in hand and book bag at her shoulder, which was full of books to no one's surprise. After delicately setting the tower of books down onto a table in her room, she headed back out to the common room her and the other Head shared and sat herself down on the window bench, once again loosing herself to the rain. She stayed there for a good amount of time, only being broken out of her trance when James slammed the door on his way in. Normally this would anger Lily and send her into a fit of rage, but she just looked at him and then returned her gaze to the scenery outside.
Being completely out of character for Lily, this threw James and his plan off a bit. After all, for anything to work, she had to first be enraged. But, James was not one to not think on his feet. So he slammed all his belongings on the floor and smiled at his work. Then looking up, he saw his fellow dorm mate, glaring at this sudden outburst. For one, she just didn't like disturbance when she would have liked to be left alone to relax in silence. But, adding a mess in her perfectly clean room just tipped her off the edge. Lily was never one to accept a mess, especially when it was so obvious in a room that was otherwise flawless.
Seeing this, James's smile grew. This was exactly where he wanted her. He was in for a bit of a tantrum, but in the end it would be worth it.
By now, Lily's entire body had turned from facing out the window to facing James. Red flushed across her normally ivory face, showing that the annoyance and fury inside her was just itching to burst out in full commotion. She was entirely still, watching James's every movement, every breath. To those who knew her well, they knew that a hurricane was growing inside her, about to escape in full swing. And all James could do was stand there and smile at the infuriated red-head.
The normally bright emerald eyes fell to slits, glaring slits of rage. And her normally relaxed hands were curled up tightly into fists, showing her efforts of trying to hold in any and all rage that was brewing within her tiny body. But alas, she could hold it no more. Whether it was the goofy smile that resided on his face or the mere fact that he just stood there, the storm that was known as Lily erupted and broke free.
"What do you want, Potter? What could even possess you to be here, throwing your useless and pointless items into the center of this spotless and perfect room? Are you trying to just push me over the edge and drive me insane before we graduate so Remus can be first in class? What could drive you to do such a careless act?!" Lily shouted, her whole frame red with fury now.
"Oh, it just slipped, Evans. I honestly didn't mean to wreck your so-called hard work." He said, grinning like a madman.
"Liar. Don't you dare stand here and tell me that all these books and papers and whatnot just slammed themselves onto the floor. And books nonetheless! In front of me of all people, Potter! Could you be any more obnoxious and rude?"
"Would you like me to? I'm sure I could. After all, I haven't even really tried yet, you know."
Annoyance now ran furiously throughout Lily's veins. Getting up from her normally soothing spot, Lily grabbed her coat and put her shoes back on her feet on her way out of the room.
"And where are you heading off too, Evans?" James asked despite the fact that he knew exactly where she was off too.
"Out." She responded coldly. She then opened the door and stomped out of the room, on her way to the back of the school near the quidditch pitch. Normally she would head out front to her favorite tree and just sit under it, listening to the raindrops pound against the earth. But in this case, there were too many people wandering around out there even though the weather was terrible for any sort of activity. So she headed to a spot that was sure to be more secluded and less likely to attract unwanted visitors. So she headed to a spot that was sure to be more secluded and less likely to attract unwanted visitors. Under the bleachers and out of sight.
So she sat there for a while, contemplating everything that came to mind. But after a short amount of time, she found it unbearable to just sit under the stadium and watch mindlessly as the rain fell. So she walked out into the rain and just stood there in the middle of the pitch, letting the droplets fall upon her. It felt good to have the small amounts of liquid hit her skin, cooling down her heated body.
And her arms somehow found their way up and her head fell back and a smile found a path onto her face. And all the while James stood there, out of the wetness of the rain, leaning against a wooden beam holding up the bleachers and watching the girl enjoy herself by simply standing in the pouring rain. And much to his enjoyment, she started dancing around in the rain. He couldn't help but smile even bigger at the pure delight that was Lily Evans. Sure, she was as predictable as a rollercoaster, but she was absolutely radiant when she was just happy.
He stood there for a while, just watching the young woman dance and skip around in the rain in enjoyment, just watching her have the time of her life and find bliss in something so simple, something so unmaterialistic. But after a while, it wasn't enough to just observe her. To feel the true joy that Lily portrayed so well, he had to join in on the festivity. So he moved from his spot against the pole and walked silently out to the middle of the field.
At first, Lily just stared at him. He was truly the last person on earth that she wanted to see, to associate with. But something about the rain changed that perspective, and rather than yell and scream at him, she laughed and threw her scarf around him, pulling him toward her and inviting him to join in.
Stunned, James just stood there, looking back at the girl who was supposed to despise him. But at the same time, he expected this. He had played this out in his mind over and over again, making sure that nothing he did irritated Lily in her natural habitat. So he remained in that spot, just staring back at her.
Realizing that he wasn't reacting, Lily rolled her eyes and danced off, running off to another spot upon the pitch. By now her entire form was soaked from head to toe, and she was bound to be sick within the next few days. But she just didn't care. Nothing mattered when she was in the rain. No hatred existed, no negativity thrived. Just happiness.
So she skipped her way back over to James, and grabbed his hands and held them in hers, pulling him and inviting him to dance with her. Smiling, James moved towards her, entwining her fingers in his. He looked down at her emerald eyes and just grinned. The two ended up inches away from each other, each other's eyes locked on the others. Moving away wasn't an option, and, caught up in the moment, James bent down and softly brushed his lips against hers. It was nothing drastic, but enough to leave an imprint on her.
And, not to James's surprise, Lily didn't object. She didn't fight it or cause him physical pain. Instead, she stood there with her eyes closed, and opened them soon after James had done his damage. For a moment, she looked stunned, even almost blank. But a smile soon broke out across her face from ear to ear, and she then stood up on her tiptoes to kiss him again.