A/N: Written for The Quidditch League as Chudley Cannons' Chaser 3 reserve, Round 5.
Prompt: Pocket Dimension
Additional Prompts: [Action] Whistling
[Word] Fire
Word Count: 1,450
"Hey, Lily, wait up!"
A rather disheveled-looking James Potter was running through the courtyard, his glasses askew, nearly tripping over his own feet, with a little box in his hand. Lily looked up and tried not to laugh.
"What do you want?"
"I wanted to give you your Christmas present early," he said, stumbling to a halt in front of her and straightening his glasses. His black hair was even more messy and wind-ruffled than usual, but he wore an insatiable, goofy grin that Lily couldn't help but smile at. He thrust the little box into her hands. "Come on, open it."
Lily pulled off one of her knit gloves and felt the cold winter air like a frigid hand grasping hers. She carefully untied the silky ribbon, which was as fiery red as her hair, and opened the velvety green box. Inside, there nestled a lovely little snow globe.
"It's beautiful," she said. She looked up at James and smiled. "Nobody would think you're the type to give these pretty, sentimental presents."
James' grin spread wider. "Well, you're my girlfriend."
Girlfriend. Lily caught the word with its warm glow and tucked it away in her heart before the crisp winter wind could steal it.
"But that's not all it does," he said. "I knew you wished it'd snow this year—Look."
He lifted the snow globe out of the box and set it on the ground, then pressed a hand to it. The glass rippled like a soap bubble, and suddenly, James was gone.
Lily dropped to her knees beside the snow globe and set the box down next to it. She peered into the little glass orb and her eyes widened. Inside, no bigger than a thumbtack, stood James, waving at her. Even as tiny as he was, Lily could see his smile. He made a "come on" motion with his hand.
Lily glanced at him, unsure. He emphatically waved both hands. She looked at the snow globe, then tugged her glove back on and pressed her hand to it. She felt the glass grow soft beneath her fingertips as though melted by fire, and then the world vanished in a blur of white and silver.
Snow crunched beneath her feet.
Lily shook her hair out of her face and looked around.
She and James stood in a quaint, picturesque little village that reminded her of Hogsmeade. The cabins and cottages nestled into the snowdrifts like sleepy children, their clouded windows like half-closed eyes. Wispy clouds drifted through the frosty silver sky overhead, from which snowflakes slowly drifted down to settle silently on James and Lily, alone in a world of snow.
"How'd I do with this one, Lils?" James asked, still smiling, his messy hair and glasses dusted with snowflakes. He gently brushed a snowflake off of her cheek. "They're landing on your freckles," he laughed softly.
Lily flung her arms around him and soaked in the warm, woodsy smell of his coat. "You hopeless romantic," she said into the fabric, a smile twitching at her lips. "How did you—?"
"Some Marauder magic," James answered. "It was mostly my idea, but Pete and Sirius helped with the design, and Remus helped me find some of the charms I needed."
"You four make a good team," Lily said, pulling back and taking his hand in her own. "I'm glad you're finally using your talents for good."
"But we always have!" James said in mock surprise. "Us? Use our skills for questionable purposes? Where would you think of such a thing?"
Lily raised her eyebrows with a smirk.
"All right, fine, so you ought to avoid the Quidditch pitch next Thursday," James admitted, looking as if he was trying very hard to seem ashamed.
"Don't try that with me," Lily said, rolling her eyes as they strolled down the empty cobbled street. "I can see how proud of yourself you are."
"Eh," James said with a shrug, his grin unshaken. "I'm just enjoying this."
Lily held out her hand and watched as snowflakes landed on it, only to melt and vanish. What would that be like—to only exist for a flicker, barely a blink in time, and then to disappear? What would it be like to land on a warm glove instead of cold earth and have life melt away so much sooner than you'd expected?
She knew it was a possibility. Lily Evans was a smart girl. She knew there was a war; she knew that it was only going to get worse before it got better, if it ever did. She knew who she was and where she came from. And James...she didn't know when he had changed, exactly, but he had grown so brave, so noble. She knew he would want to fight. But they were both Gryffindors—both ready to be heroes, both with fire in their hearts.
She would fight with him, when the time came.
"Hey," came his voice from beside her. "What're you thinking about?"
"Snowflakes," Lily said quietly, resting her head on his shoulder.
He pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "This is our own little world, Evans. Let's let this be about us and just be seventeen while we still can."
Lily looked up at him and a smile spread slowly across her face. "Okay."
"You're a Chaser, aren't you good at throwing—ah!"
Lily giggled as a snowball hit her back. "You'll pay for that!"
"Oh, will I?" James asked, ducking behind a tree to shape another snowball. Just as he peered out to take aim, a snowball smacked him full in the face and knocked off his glasses.
"Yes," Lily said triumphantly as he fished his glasses out of the snow, "you will."
James laughed. "All right, fine. I was going to go easy on you, but…"
"Go easy on me?" Lily snapped indignantly, the corners of her lips twitching. "Well, I have no intention of doing so."
James packed some snow between his gloved hands. "As if you ever would," he said with a smirk.
Lily got a running start and launched another snowball, which ricocheted off of the tree and exploded in a cloud of powdery white against the back of his head. James yelped and ruffled his hair, grinning. He lunged forward to retaliate, but leapt too far and tripped. He fell on top of Lily and they landed as a giggling pile in the snow.
James leaned down and let their lips brush. "You win."
"Like that's a surprise," Lily teased. Something about that smile of his always made her want to smile back, no matter how she felt.
James leapt to his feet with an unerring agility that Lily secretly found impressive, then bowed grandly and offered her a hand. "Milady."
Lily took it and let him help her up, shaking the snow from her hair. "Sir," she said, green eyes sparkling. She wrapped an arm around his back, and he around hers; she placed her hand on his chest, and there they stood, staring into the silver sky.
James whistled a snippet of a melody, letting it float away on the cold winter wind.
"D'you remember that song?" he asked. "I don't know what it was called, but I think it went like this…"
A few more high, clear notes drifted into the silent sky. They sounded familiar. Lily joined him, softly humming the parts of the song she remembered.
James set his free hand on her waist and gently spun her in a circle. Green eyes met hazel and she placed a hand on his shoulder. Alone in the snow, warm in a silent, cold, beautiful world, they danced to a half-remembered melody that didn't need words. It was simple but perfect, just swaying and spinning to what Lily realized was the song they'd first danced to. And even though there was snow in her hair, and snow on their hands, and they both wore nothing nicer than cloaks and snow boots, when she danced with James, he always made her feel like a princess.
When the last whistled note drifted into the clouds to join the snowflakes, they opened their eyes and saw each other. They saw snow and silence and everything from a smile to a single freckle that they'd fallen in love with.
Their eyes fell closed again when their lips met.
It was cold air and warm hearts; it was a golden glow and a silver sky. It was his hands in her hair, on her waist, down her arms, holding her like he never wanted to let go.
All around them, against the frosted sky, snowflakes danced in time with the beat of their hearts.