Summer Fever: Jily Fest 2018
The summer air is stifling and she can feel the sun burning through her light flowery top as she sits there in silence staring up at the sky and watching clouds go by. Alone on the grassy hill, Lily cannot wait for summer to end. The factory towers rise into the sky and emit a trail of black smoke that rolls against the bright blue sky. Her fingers tap against her stomach to a song only she hears. Her red hair fans out behind her head like a blanket. At her side a thick potions book sits unused because her mind always trails off to broomsticks, magic, and a pair of hazel eyes.
The days seemed to drag on until she'd see him again. She replays his smile over and over in her mind. It's like it's a song she can't get out of her head and Heaven forbid she starts thinking about the laugh that accompanied his smiles. Merlin save her, if she remembers the whispers that fall from his red lips or the wicked curve of his jaw when he's playing chess. She wasn't supposed to think of her best friend in that way.
Friend's don't think about kissing each other after they've had a little too much to drink. Friends don't send letters almost everyday, just to say hello. Friends don't stare at each other in the dark shadows of the train station, too caught up to say goodbye. Friends don't think about each other in the ways she thought about James.
Even when she's not bored, her mind trails to him. Her parents take her to Llanddwyn Island in Wales and she tries to lay on the beach without letting the accents of the locals take her back to laying in the grass but the lake with James at her side. It's almost impossible not to remember his laugh though, not with her eyes closed and the tide rolling into her toes softly like the soft laps of the lakebed. She wouldn't change a thing about his laugh, it was just as wild and as inviting as the water that pulled the sand out from under her feet.
She walks along the shoreline with her dad at sunset and memorizes the purples, pinks, and golds that create a painting against the sky. The vivid colors remind her of other sunsets in Scotland with her friends and she thinks of watching his silhouette against the orange and pink sky.
It's almost like love, the way she cares for him so intimately.
Lily goes to a street quidditch game organized by Nigel Babbington in July and he's there. She goes with their mutual mates, knowing he will be there, but she doesn't find him amongst the dirt and bruise ridden players at first because she is maneuvering herself among the audience on the grass. Street quidditch is played in fields far away from attentive muggle eyes and this particular game was a yearly tradition. All the students from Hogwarts went and spread out blankets on the lawn as people traded summer stories and placed bets on the team that would win.
James is easy for her to spot once she settles in between Sirius Black and Marlene McKinnon because he's wearing a red jersey that makes his summer tan even more golden. He is wearing a sleeveless jersey, giving her the opportunity to stare at his muscles when he clenches his broomstick handle to roll out of the way of a blunger bat being swung in his direction. Her favorite part about his outfit is the way he is sporting a multicolored band in his hair to keep the messy curls back. The band is lopsided on his head, matching his square framed glasses. The glasses look cracked when he swings his broomstick close to the audience and Lily sees a long red scar along his arm that is accompanied by a lot of raw skin.
Street quidditch is played lower to the ground and is a lot more contact intensive. James plays street quidditch like he plays anything: competitively. She's enthralled as she watches him bark commands to the other players in red, his deep voice echoing over the field. She wonders if he uses the same deep tones when he's ordering girls around in the bedroom. His team wins and she cheers as loudly as anyone, clapping her hands over her head. He tosses his broom over his shoulder and spots her. His grin only widens.
Her heart's a runaway then, fluttering nonstop as he slips next to her with an green apple and a grating grin. Sirius, his best mate, claps him on the back and makes a comment about James' quidditch skills. James nods at Sirius before considering Lily over the rim of his glasses, which were definitely broken, she could see now. There's a bit of mud on his face and yet she thinks he has never looked more handsome. He looks her directly in the eyes as he lifts the apple to his mouth and takes bite.
"Your glasses are broken." she tells him dumbly, eyes focusing on the way his tongue licks spare apple juice from his lips, not his cracked glasses.
James swallows the bite of apple in his mouth, "Erin McGregor threw the quaffle into my face with I called her cheating scum."
"Of course she did." she smiles before reaching out, making James freeze as she pulls the glasses from his long nose.
She examines the glass against her fingertips before she pulls out her wand and fixes the frames with a simple tap. Sirius mutters something about James being blind either way so she shoots the sarcastic boy a look. She places her wand back in her pocket and then looks up to see James staring at her affectionately with soft hazel eyes. She is unable to look away as she leans up on her tiptoes to slide his glasses back onto his nose slowly, her fingers finally getting the chance to trace his skin for the most fleeting of moments.
"How is your summer going?" James asks Lily when her hands fall to her sides.
"Boring." she says truthfully, "Petunia went to London for a typewriting course and Mums been working overtime a lot."
Sirius speaks up, reminding them both that they are not alone, "I would've thought you'd be happy Evans, your sister's gone."
She sighs pathetically, "We might've fought but she still made the house seem less empty."
"I envy you." Sirius disagrees, "No one there to bugger you every moment of every day. Do whatever you want whenever you want."
"Hey!" James glares, seeing as that he is the one who lives with Sirius.
"Not all of us are social friendless recluses." Lily reminds Sirius.
"I have friends."
"Yeah, like five." James says with a snort.
Sirius grins sheepishly, "and you're one of them."
"Sarcastic arses with great hair are hard to come by." he agrees, ruffling Sirius' hair like Sirius was a dog.
"See, you have each other to stay entertained," Lily says, "My house is empty."
"You want to hang out with me tomorrow Lily?" James teases, leaning towards her, wrinkling his nose playfully.
Her gaze drifts back over to James and finds high hopes rising in her gut, "Yeah?"
"Sure." James tosses his half eaten apple in his hands, back and forth, "I've got no plans tomorrow, we can get ice cream in Diagon Alley?"
She agrees calmly but suddenly she is jittery. She feels as if someone injected pepper up potion directly into her bloodstream. It's all because of the way he looks at Lily when he thinks she's not looking. She knows the cost of being infatuated with her best friend and she's not sure if she's willing to pay it but she cannot imagine how much longer she can sit back and wonder what it'd be like to kiss him. She's pretty sure she doesn't want to take it slow, not when he makes her heart move so fast.
Lily sits on the steps of her townhome later that night staring up into the summer night sky. Each twinkle of a star through the cloud cover reminds her of the sparkle in James' eye when they'd said goodbye after quidditch. She is still in the peace and quiet of the summer night, stuck in a never-ending dream where James is hers.
He meets her at the bus station half past twelve the next morning. He's wearing a light black summer robe over a striped shirt and Lily admires the colors against his skin. She's not the only one staring, his eyes drop to her long dress covered in yellow lines and flowers. It's only when she steps closer to him that his smile appears and wipes away the awestruck look in favor of a friendlier gaze.
"You look nice." he tells her, tips of his ears red from embarrassment.
"I tried on all my dresses." she doesn't lie to him, because she likes him, "But I picked this one because it has pockets for my wand."
"Smart witch."
James taps his forehead and then points to her before leading the way into their hidden world. The wizardry marketplace is bustling with wizards and witches shopping for goods under a rare cloudless day. A hot breeze blows through Lily's hair and she tucks the red stands back as she stands close to James in line for ice cream. He buys them both a cone filled with pink swirled ice cream that tastes like candy floss and when she says this, he gazes at her in confusion.
"You've never had candy floss?" she states, shocked by his admittance.
"No."
"Have you ever been to a fair?" she asks, "Or even a circus?"
"No." he sounds sure, "Should I have?"
"My family loves the Stafford Fair. It's by this really old castle and there's all these animals and you get to eat candy floss." she grows reminiscent and she smiles over her ice cream, "I used to win every time at this bottle toss game and Petunia would get so mad…now we know it's because of my magic I was able to toss the rings perfectly every time…but as a kid I just thought I was really lucky."
"Bottle toss?"
James seems genuinely interested, he's got his boyish look on his face, the one where he wants to understand but doesn't. She thinks of how much fun James would have at a local fair. He'd love all the food and animals. She knew he'd marvel at all the muggles since he thought they were fascinating. James would try to beat every tent game he could.
"Let's go to the county fair together." she decides, "You've got to experience one at least once."
"When is it?" James asks, taking another lick of his ice cream, "Mum n' dad are taking Sirius and I to France for a week but those dates might be flexible."
"It's always right before we go back to school." Lily tells him, "the last week of August."
"Then it's a date."
She is luminous under his implying gaze and suddenly Lily doesn't think she'll think of anything else all summer.
They write back and forth when they cannot hang out. He's been telling her about Sirius' new motorbike that he's helping build. She's been sending him dried flowers she's collected out in the fields looking for toadstools. He always reminds her of their impending date at the end of his letters. She starts complaining of boredom again when her friends go on vacations and she is left to fend for herself at home again.
He shows up a day later with a knock to her door and a smile for her appearance.
"Thank Merlin you're home." he invites himself into her house, only pausing to glance at a photo of her on the table by the door and smiling.
"What's up?" she asks, capturing his attention away from the still photograph.
James admits with wringing hands, "I don't know what to wear on our date."
She laughs quizzically and tosses her head back, "Pardon?"
"It's not funny Evans! What do muggles wear to county fairs?"
His sentence catches her off guard. She doesn't know why she assumed he would just wear his normal clothes. Even now he wore a set of maroon robes embroidered with black, she could probably count with one hand the number of times she'd seen him wearing just muggle clothes. She takes pity when he continues staring at her, his eyes are as round as saucers.
"Come on," she takes his elbow and grabs her purse from the tabletop before guiding him out of her hallway and into the streets, "I'll take you to Marks & Spencer."
She is reminded of Christmas' spent shopping with her mum as soon as she enters the department store because she used to look at all the displays with the same wonder as James'. He wants to buy Remus a pair of socks knitted from warm wool. He stops himself at the makeup counter, picking up tubes of lipstick for her to try on ("James Potter, I am not wearing purple lipstick") and he picks out a pricey and short dress with a wink as she led him past ladies apparel.
It's inside mens apparel that James loses his mind.
"Merlin, Lily muggles wear this?" he points to every overdressed mannequin they pass and she can't help but laugh as she tries to quiet him down.
She is unable to keep him quiet and he has her laughing like a loon outside of the dressing room as he tries on almost every single shirt he finds on the racks. He drops a sparkly squeezed purple vest. He models a feather ridden blouse. She tries to keep him on track by picking out less flashy clothes for him.
She hasn't ever considered that she's never seen James in a form fitting ensemble until he comes out of the dressing room in a pair of slacks that give his legs an even longer appearance. He tries on a leather vest and decides to buy it for Sirius instead of for himself. It takes an hour and a half but she helps him settle on a nice dark orange button down shirt he can wear with a pair of corduroy slacks.
She laughs even harder when he tries to pay the cashier in gold galleons and the cashier threatens to throw him on his arse if he's playing a ruse. Lily explains that he has to use muggle money and calms the cashier down by telling him James was from another country. She buys James his new outfit happily with the last of her birthday money. The look on his face when he's handed the new clothes was worth every pound.
They walk around Birmingham a bit more. James loves it because he's always been enthralled with muggle things. He's been living in magic for his whole life and the world of technology fascinated him. She talks about toasters and telephones. He tries to compare their technology with magic, always saying how he could improve all their products with a simple flick of his wand. They share a sandwich outside a little cafe and he tells her about the trip he's taking to France. They compare notes for a Transfiguration essay they've both been procrastinating on. Lily is distinctly aware of James' hand as it keeps brushing against hers as she explains how electricity works.
After lunch they stop in front of St Phillips Cathedral and James stares up at the white walls and long arches. He looks at the church with a sense of childlike wonder and she looks at him as if he'd built the damn thing himself. The summer sun is cutting through his hair, making it almost glow in a black halo about his head. He had't shaved and the stubble along his chin is creating a handsome dark shadow along his squared jaw. Before she could look away he curved his face to glance at her and the world around them just grew still.
All this time she's been patient and waiting, constantly expecting him to make the first move. She's not ready to spend the rest of her summer waiting on him and he's not sure if he remembers a time when he wasn't waiting on her. Finally, his hand brushes against hers as he turns so that his back is to the cathedral and he is facing her.
"I had fun today." he says, "Next time we should go to the cinema."
"I thought we were going to the fair?" she teased.
"Let's do it all before we have to go back to school."
She takes his hand and he glances down as their fingers entwine.
"I can't wait to go back to school." she admits, feeling content under the shadows of the ancient building.
"Why?"
She wants to say 'so that I can see you everyday again' but she settles for, "Home is so boring."
"Are you at least a little less bored today?" he asks quietly and she doesn't know how to tell him she's never felt more loved than she does under his steady gaze so she just shakes her head and offers him a kind smile.
"Good." he nods, satisfied, "I hate when you're not happy."
"You're the best friend I've ever had." she praises and he glows bright.
"Don't you forget it."
And it's like a slow burn, as they step together back into the sunlight. The light that filters through the clouds mimic the warmth that seeps through her skin when he touches her so intimately. His fingers unlock from hers but the sensation of his thumb at her wrist is still there. She grabs his other hand and as their fingers interlock together he leans down and presses a soft kiss to her cheek before simply leading her across the street to the bus stop. She is not shy and leans her head against his shoulder the rest of the way back to her small townhome.
She adores the way he looks out the window as the countryside passes like a movie mostly because he has his arm slung about her shoulder and is brushing her red hair with his fingers.
She signs her next letter: all my love, Lily.
He signs his responding letter: yours, James
She misses him.
She wants to kiss him.
He is in France now though, among macaroon cafes and city lights. She sits outside t pass time. She's mostly listening to her dads radio, her favorite artists echoing sickly love sentiments over the hot summer heat. She all alone and he's so out of reach but she's counting the days until she see's him again. She chases the thoughts of him over and over again, never once catching a memory long enough to satisfy her.
A week later it's August 29th and she's standing just outside the fairgrounds in Stafford. He taps on her shoulder from behind and when she turns, she automatically throws her arms around his shoulders, tucking her head into the crook of his neck. He chuckles deeply as he hugs her back tightly.
"I missed you so much." she exclaims into his neck before she pulls out of his arms to look him up and down, "I love that shirt on you."
She wouldn't change a thing, not when he wore the muggle clothes so well. His hair is still a mess but it only adds to his charm when he runs his fingers through the strands as he looks her up and down. She opened her mouth, about to ask him how France was, but a shadow passed across James' face ad a second later he had both hands on her cheeks. She follows the guidance of his hands, lifting her chin slightly, and suddenly he is kissing her.
It's everything she's ever wanted. She leans into her tiptoes and tosses her arms about his shoulder again so as to keep James as close as possible. The confident draw of his lips gives her butterflies in her stomach. She felt warm with the sun beating down on her back as he kissed her sweetly underneath a Stafford flag rippling in the breeze. The long grass tickles her ankles in the same soft way that his fingers trail across her cheeks.
She lets out a contented sigh when he places his forehead against hers, lips pulled back only enough to let them catch their breath. The breeze swirls around them, drifting the summer sweet smells of candied floss and popcorn through her senses. She is vaguely aware of people moving around them as her fingers get caught up in his hair. His nose brushes against hers as he leans in for another quick brush of their lips.
She wants to take all the feelings, thoughts, and sensations from this moment and sew them into her blanket of memories.
"I missed you." he admits tediously, "Next summer you're coming to France."
"What about Sirius?"
"Sirius can stay in England, you're the much better kisser."
And she laughs, throwing her head back, her hands pulling at his neck as he laughs too.
She holds onto the carefree feeling floating through the air as he pulls her into the fair for some candy floss. She imagines that she could laugh until she cries when James falls in love with a fat sheep named Tater. She plucks a flower crown out of a pile of crowns near the grassy slope where a small band is playing.
James takes her hand and spins her around to the soft folklore of violins. Her dress gets caught around her legs, they are dancing so much. She realizes she is grateful just to have him in her life and she knows she doesn't ever want to live a day without knowing him. She is going to be happy the rest of her life as long as he keeps tracing her sides like she's made of porcelain. Lily blushes pink as he dips her playfully over his arm and the flower crown falls from her hair into the grassy dance floor. She grabs the rumpled flowers as James leads her to the edge of the field and they sit next to each other, just listening to the music and world around them. He places gentle kisses along her cheek as she tugs herself closer to him with a possessive hum that matches the band plucking a feverish tune.
Around Lily and James, the summer air is tainted with a cool breeze that brings promises of long fireside chats, studying in the stacks, and cuddly sweaters. James pulls Lily into his arms, rocking her to a softer ballad as the sun set on their summer. Pinks and purples dance across the sky and bath them in a rainbow of color. Crickets and fireflies join the dance and create a magical ambiance that Lily doesn't ever want to end as she drifts away in James' arms.
Written for Summer Jily Fest.
Hope You Enjoyed The Summer Romance.
xxx
Petals