Disclaimer: Lily, James, Hogwarts, Hogsmeade, Remus, Sirius, Peter and that whole world belong to the loverly JKR. I made up Cynthia and Sherri.
"Lily, will you be my Valentine?"
"Aww, of course!" Lily replied, "It's not like I have anything better to do."
"Thanks for making me feel worse!"
"Sorry, let's shake on it!"
"But Lils, I just painted my fingernails!"
"Oh yeah, sorry Sherri."
Sherri Palentino, fellow seventh year Gryffindor, examined her nails from a distance. Lily Evans surveyed the room and sighed. Today happened to be February 14th and Valentine's Day actually fell on a Saturday this year. Every seventh year girl seemed to have a date, it seemed, except for Lily and Sherri.
"Where is dear Philip, again?" Lily asked.
"He couldn't get off of work," Sherri mumbled. "I've been looking forward to this for months but he said that he was completely swamped."
Lily could see Sherri's eyes misting over and gave her a bone-crushing hug. "Come on now. There's no crying in baseball!" Lily said soothingly.
Sherri sniffed, "There's not crying in…in what? What are on about Lily?"
Lily pulled back and smiled, "Muggle thing. Never mind."
"I'll never understand you Lily Evans. No matter how long I live-"
Sherri was cut off by an owl tapping at the window.
She gasped, "Oh it's Philip's owl!" Sherri opened the window up and nearly knocked the owl's eye out as she reached for the letter.
"Thanks Petri," Sherri said, smiling as she scanned through the contents.
"Well…what does it say?"
Sherri frowned slightly, "Look out your window?"
They shared a look before rushing to the nearest window.
"I don't see anything," Sherri whined.
"There! Right there next to the lake!"
"PHILIP!" Sherri squealed before running out of the door.
"Great," Lily sighed, plopping herself on the window seat, "Just great."
"What's so great Lily-Quilly?" asked Cynthia, another seventh year, as she curled her bangs perfectly.
"Sherri and I are—well were— the only two without dates. But now, her boyfriend is here from Wales so I'm the only one left," She sighed.
Cynthia tutted sympathetically, "Sucks to be you."
The other girls, after applying the finishing touches to their hair and makeup, joined Lily by the windowsill.
"What are you going to do all day then Lily?"
"Oh, I don't know. There's always homework to catch up on I suppose."
The other girls looked at each other nervously. It simply wouldn't do to have Lily spend Valentine's Day all alone doing homework. However, each girl was excited about spending the day in Hogsmeade.
"You don't," Cynthia began hesitantly, "You don't…want any company, do you?"
Lily smiled, "On no. You guys go out and have fun."
She could almost feel the sigh of relief that the girls released.
"Well, see you later! Have fun, er, try to!"
Lily chuckled and waved, "Don't do anything I wouldn't do ladies!" And with that said, Lily was left all alone.
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James Potter was feeling out of character. He was sad, lonely, and daydreaming. Sirius and Remus shared a concerned look. The two were secretly arguing over who would be on "James Duty" for the day. Both Sirius and Remus, and Peter as well, had dates for the day. While they loved their Prongs dearly, they certainly didn't want to be around a disheartened James all day long. The look Sirius gave Remus clearly told him "You are the relationship specialist for a reason! It's your turn to do the sensitive/understanding thing."
Remus sighed, "James-"
"No, you guys go out and have fun. Really, I'll be just fine here."
"Come on James!" Sirius said, "I'm sure you'll have no problem finding a girl once you get out! I know for a fact that Veronica Calwin is out with Matthew Reid," Sirius smiled, "He'll screw up before noon and she'll be all yours!"
James turned to look out the window. There, he could see two lovers reuniting by the lake.
"No thanks." Sirius threw his arms up in defeat. "Look guys, I appreciate it—really I do—but I'm just not in the mood. You guys go out and have fun."
Remus looked skeptical, "You sure-"
James laughed and threw a pillow at him, "Yes, I'm sure. I'd just ruin your day."
"Well, if you're sure-" Remus began.
"He's fine. He's dandy. Let's go!" Sirius yelled, putting his cloak on. "We don't want to miss the carriages!"
"Don't do anything I wouldn't," James yelled good-naturedly.
Peter popped his head back through the door, "That's a very short list that is. 'What James Potter Wouldn't Do On Valentine's Day-'"
"You git!" James yelled running out the room after him.
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Lily tried everything. She finished her potions essay, counted the cracks on the wall, read an entire chapter on gillyweed while upside-down, and made up everybody's bed all before 10 A.M.
She sighed as she walked down the stairs with the intention of curling up beside the fireplace. She stopped in her tracks as she noticed a figure seated in her favorite chair, staring moodily into the fire. As she cautioned closer, she recognized the figure as, none other than, James Potter.
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After chasing Peter around the common room, James bid his friends farewell at the portrait hole. By that time, the room was empty and James was left to his thoughts.
I wonder how much longer I will have to hold up this whole "Passive Interest" thing with Lily. I mean, two perfectly good Valentine's Days, Christmas', and birthdays have passed since the "Lake Incident." That's…um…SIX perfect opportunities to win her over gone down the drain. You'd think she'd be over the whole "Incident" by now…any normal person would be. Not that Lily qualifies as "Normal" in any way, shape, or form.
Everyone is always going on and on about "How lovely it is to be in love." Bullocks. Love stinks.
James sighed out loud.
"Long morning for you as well then I see," said a very familiar voice
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James held his breath, suddenly nervous and too afraid to look up. "You could say that again."
Lily smiled and sat down next to him. "Long morning for you as well then I see," she repeated pleasantly.
James chuckled and smiled back.
"Wow. He smiles! What are you even doing here? Why aren't you in Hogsmeade?"
James turned back to face the fire.
"No hot date, Mr. Potter?"
James chuckled again, "No Lily, not today."
Lily raised her eyebrows, "Well I, for one, am amazed."
"Are you? Well, why aren't you in Hogsmeade Ms. Evans? Nobody ask you out?"
"For your information, plenty of guys asked me out."
"Oh plenty, eh? Then why are you here instead of in Hogsmeade with one of them?"
Lily turned to face to fire. The light reflected off of her face ever so nicely.
James bit his lip, "Did you not get asked by the right guy?"
Lily nodded slowly, "I suppose you could say that." She smiled and faced James, "There was this brave first year that asked me out. He was rather charming, I must say."
The two laughed and caught each other's eye. Green met hazel for a split second before they both turned away.
"Sad. Innit?"
"Yeah, the Head Boy and Girl-"
"Most eligible in the school-"
"Alone on Valentine's Day-"
"Well, we're not completely alone. We've got each other."
Lily turned and faced James with a most peculiar look on her face.
"Well, I don't mean we're, like, together—because we're not—I just meant…you know we're together—here on the same planet, you know, breathing the same air, and we're both going to Hogwarts-"
"We're in the same house together. With each other at the same time even." Lily said, containing her pleasure at his obvious discomfort.
"R-right," James stuttered, "We're even in the same room, here, together."
"Yeah," said Lily.
James took a deep breath, weighed his options, then braced himself. "We could go to Hogsmeade together," he said before adding quickly, "I mean, if you would like to and if you aren't doing anything else today-"
Lily's heart leapt with excitement, "But the carriages have left already. It'll take too long to walk-"
"-Ah, my dear, sweet, naive Lily. You underestimate me," James said, leaning back in his chair.
Lily smiled and pulled her hair back into a ponytail, "If there's one thing I've learned in my seven years here at Hogwarts, It's to never underestimate James Potter."
