Author's Note: This is a collection of short drabbles featuring James and Lily. As I'm new to the site, any type of review would be greatly, greatly appreciated. Constructive criticism is absolutely welcome!
Changes
And then there were the long lasting periods where Lily was the very definition of uncertainty. Her interests changed on a whim, from running to knitting to Quidditch to cooking.
She was a whirlwind of ever changing indecision. Her best friend had once simply said that during the year we all looked inside ourselves, Lily was hunting the universe for the New Lily.
There were wardrobe changes, short hair, long curls, silver highlights, peasant skirts, knee socks and loafers, red stilettos and miniskirts. The redhead tried on any image she could get her hands on and then discarded it just as quickly as it had arrived.
Then came the boys. The older Hufflepuff rebel and the Ravenclaw Quidditch captain, the quiet and studious Derek and the drunken freefall of Ethan.
At sixteen Lily had hit the stage where there was no place in her heart for constants, nothing too sacred to be altered on a moment's notice and no stone left unturned on her quest for happiness.
Sometime around winter the wardrobe changes were too inconvenient and in the spring she started to miss the long, simple auburn hair and in between the two a string of romantic catastrophes had her thinking she'd seen enough boys to last a lifetime.
And then the old Lily slowly emerged, full of metaphorical patches and frays to mark the things she had lost and gained on her one year hunt and it seemed clear that the girl had become a woman who had found whatever she was searching for along the way.
Easy
She knew she didn't love him and somehow that just made everything easier. Her hair had fallen out of its bun, her lips were on fire, her robes had slipped off her left shoulder and it was all okay because they would never be in love.
There would never be regret or heartbreak or awkward acknowledgements in the halls because it was nothing but lust. He couldn't resist the spirited, vivacious redhead and she'd always had a certain fondness for Quidditch captains.
But this one was as fair as the other was dark, so even with her eyes almost fully lidded she could never confuse the two and she didn't want to.
James had been fireworks and falling and tears and crashing and now the weight of their past seemed to smother any potential future, but this boy was merely the present.
No chance for tomorrow, no leftover pain from yesterday, so when she pulled away it wasn't because of doubt or regret of uncertainty, it was due to the simple fact that her patrol rounds started on the third floor in five minutes.
So she gave him a wink, smoothed her hair and reapplied her lip-gloss as she walked away.
Caffeine
That Lily Evans had a predilection for caffeine was in and of itself unsurprising. The girl had more responsibilities than any student he had ever met.
At the top of her class, burdened with Head Girl duties, she was one of the last to bed at night and one of the first to breakfast the next morning. Break time between classes should've been a time for rest, but was instead spent aiding every lost first year or distressed fourth year that sought her out.
With the amount of time that the girl moved at full blast a day, he was unsurprised that she was rarely seen without a mug in one hand. She had her very own convoluted method of determining the drink of the day.
Snow generally implied tea while rain meant coffee. Early mornings and late at night were for peppermint, hazelnut and vanilla, while herbal teas were for breaks and classes.
Of course, these standards could change on a whim as she spent a solid month drinking only red teas and another two weeks with cinnamon sprinkled in every drink regardless of its previous flavor.
But one thing never changed. Official business meant coffee. Prefects meetings, Head Girl business and castle patrols were always fueled by coffee.
James had yet to determine how this caffeine system was governed but that still didn't stop him from appreciating its presence when every kiss meant a wide variety of potential flavors.
Decoration
When they're children he can't help but laugh at her when she insists on decorating various parts of the Common Room regardless of month or theme. Eventually, he gets used to the habit, and though he'll never admit it, he comes to look forward to the bursts of color.
By winter of their seventh year the girl, now a young woman and his girlfriend, has taken this habit to a whole new level when she fixes a wreath of flowers to his cat's neck.
He demands for its removal from his masculine pet and won't relent even as she insists that every cat in the tower is wearing one.
When he refuses to acquiesce, she drastically changes tactics. A pouting lower lip and tear-filled eyes make him the controlling boyfriend who won't humor his beautiful, devastated girlfriend.
With a long suffering sigh she goes to remove the collar and just as her hands hove rover the patient feline, he sighs in response and shoos it away with a reluctant hand.
When she twirls to smile at him with a radiant glow he pulls her against his chest and they both know she's won.
Stress
She doesn't get a single full night's sleep once the autumn term is under way. She's suddenly buckling under Head Girl duties, NEWT Level Studies and a tumultuous social life.
The stress has her caffeine addicted and noticeably losing weight. Pale skin gets even paler, making freckles stand out and large under eye circles look like bruises. Friends tell her to relax, delegate more duties, get some sleep, but they don't understand that she's in too deep now.
And when she stumbles across Amos behind the greenhouses with some blonde Hufflepuff after two consecutive all-nighters she finally loses it.
James is the one that finds her sobbing hysterically on the carpeted floor of the Head's Common Room; her back held straight only by the cold stone wall. He pulls her into his arms and listens to her wail incomprehensibly for the rest of the night.
After she's calmed down he goes to the hospital wing and returns with a sleeping draught. She gives a bitter chuckle that her friends have missed the utter breakdown they've been prophesying for weeks, but then she is taking the draught.
She wakes up a full day later still tired. She spends the next few days almost entirely asleep and within a week a flush has returned to her cheeks and her friends are all thrilled to see disaster averted.
James never says a word about it to anyone, and it this more than anything that has her in Hogsmeade with him a few weeks later.
Problems
It takes a few weeks to realize that she may be a walking disaster. She's fairly certain that she's gained a few pounds over the summer, her transfiguration grade is slipping yet again and despite her
friends' adamant claims that she is a very attractive girl, she realizes it's been months since she was asked on a date.
She distinctly remembers hearing somewhere that admitting you have a problem is the first step, but for the life of her she can't remember Step 2, or any after that.
So she comes to the abrupt conclusion that she will fix all of this herself. She takes twenty minutes a day to review her transfiguration work, begins to run on the grounds every other day before classes and tries to smile approachable at every boy she sees.
Though the first two solutions resolve things admirably, she still finds herself unable to get a date. The final straw comes when the boy she has been actively flirting with for weeks in Muggle Studies still doesn't ask her to Hogsmeade despite repeated rumors of his interest.
This dilemma comes to make much more sense a few days later when she stumbles upon James Potter threatening the boy in a deserted classroom in the East Wing. She hexes him thoroughly, and afterwards decides that two out of three really isn't terribly bad.
Author's Note: Those are six drabbles that I have so far, if anyone would like to see more I'd be happy to continue posting. Please review, no matter how brief! Thank you very much for reading!