Valentine's Day with Jily
Valentine's Day was supposed to be the most romantic day of the year. If everyone was in a romantic mood, wooing someone shouldn't be too hard, right? Unless that someone was Lily Evans, and you just happened to be James Potter. Even Lily wasn't immune to the excitement of Valentine's Day, but no matter what plan James had come up with before, she always gave him the same look of disgust. Today had to be different, though. By a lucky coincidence, Valentine's Day had fallen on one of the school's Hogsmeade trips.
Due to the large number of students that would be spending the day in Hogsmeade, several places had decided to put on a celebration of sorts. There were a few lunch specials going on for couples, and one place that was a sort of refuge for those that didn't have a special someone on Valentine's. What everyone was really looking forward to, though, was the dance at The Three Broomsticks. It started at six-thirty, and Dumbledore had graciously agreed to give the students a curfew of midnight. The party would end at eleven-thirty, and everyone was expected to be back in the castle by twelve sharp. This gave them five hours to enjoy the Valentine's festivities at the all-ages pub.
He started off the day by striking out with Lily for what would be one of many times that day. Since they shared the Head's quarters, all James had to do was stroll into the common room, where Lily was studying. For whatever reason, Lily studied on the couch in the common room every morning, even on the weekends. James couldn't fathom why she would want to do something so boring, but it meant she was always easy to find. She stuck to her schedule the way glue stuck to… well, everything. Words weren't really his strong suit.
"Evans," he said by way of greeting. "Want to go to the dance with me tonight?"
"Potter," she replied, giving him half a glance. "Why in the world would I want to do that?"
"There's plenty of reasons," James grinned. "Firstly, I am the most attractive bloke around here. Second, you're the most attractive girl around here. It makes perfect sense."
"Perfect sense, eh?" Lily asked, flipping a page. She hardly seemed to be paying attention, but was more interested in her Charms book. "I hardly think that the level of attractiveness is what matters most when it comes to a date."
"But it helps."
"It does," Lily amended, "But it's not everything."
"Alright," James said, starting over. "You should go to the dance with me because I really like you, and you'd have a lot of fun."
"Much better," Lily informed him, scribbling a quick note onto a spare peace of parchment. Lifting her gaze for another short moment, she added, "But my answer is no."
"Aw, come on Evans!" James complained. "Give me a chance."
"Nope. Now could you leave me alone? I'm trying to study."
Sighing in defeat, James left the Head's quarters and went downstairs to the Great Hall, to find his friends and eat breakfast.
. . .
James was surprised when he reached their usual spot at the Gryffindor table and Sirius was nowhere to be found. Peter and Remus were eating breakfast pretty quietly, since neither James nor Sirius had been there to make breakfast its usual loud affair. James sat down next to Remus and asked, "Where's Sirius?"
"I haven't seen him since we got up," Remus answered, taking a bite of eggs.
"Hmm," James said, starting to scoop food onto his plate. "I wonder where he-"
James cut off when he looked up and saw Sirius entering the Great Hall, his arm wrapped around the waist of a Hufflepuff. She had long, waist-length blonde hair and green eyes and looked like she had just won a thousand Galleons. Obviously this girl was Sirius' date to the Valentine's dance. He paused at the edge of the Hufflepuff table, gave her a generous kiss, and strolled over to the Gryffindor table to join his friends.
"Who's your date?" James asked as he sat down.
"Her name is Natalie," he answered. "Fifth year. Who are you taking?"
"No one."
"Lily said no?" Sirius asked. "Wait, don't tell me. Of course she said no. Just ask someone else, mate."
"I don't want to go with anyone else," James said. "I only want to go with Lily."
"Come on," Sirius complained. "Moony is going with Marlene, and even Wormtail has a date. He's going with Caroline, from Ravenclaw."
"It's fine, Sirius. I can spend the day alone," James assured him.
"You're going to be really alone," Sirius informed him. "I'm going to spend most of my time making out with Natalie."
"I wouldn't expect anything less."
. . .
The students left Hogwarts just before lunch time. James spent the majority of the day running into girls who didn't have dates and expressed varying degrees of interest in him. Lily was spending her day with Mary MacDonald. Normally she spent her time with Mary and Marlene, but since Marlene was on a date with Remus, it was just the two of them.
James asked Lily to the dance three more times that day, each time he ran into her, but she rejected him flat out all three times. "I actually want to enjoy my Valentine's Day," she said, crossing her arms when he asked her the second time.
"Ouch," James said, putting a hand over his heart. "Your words are as sharp as knives."
"If I believed that I actually hurt your feelings, I might consider apologizing. As it is, you'll be lucky if I don't punch you next time," Lily said primly.
"Ooh, threats now? Anger is a very passionate emotion, Evans," James teased. "It could easily blossom into love."
"Don't count on it," Lily snapped. She grabbed Marlene's arm and stalked away.
. . .
Just before six-thirty, James rejoined his friends. Sirius, Remus, Peter, and their dates had gathered in a group outside of The Three Broomsticks to wait for James. After spending the majority of the day alone with their dates, they had decided to go to the dance as a group. James couldn't decide if they were taking pity on him, or if they would have done that even if he did have a date. He knew that if Lily had agreed to go with him, they wouldn't be spending much time around his friends. Namely because she didn't like Sirius, but also because he would have wanted to cherish every second he had with her.
For the past few hours, the doors to The Three Broomsticks had been closed while it was being prepped for the dance. At six-thirty exactly, the doors swung open on their own and the line outside poured in. Being seventh years and essentially the epitome of cool (not everyone bought into the idea, but enough people did), James and his friends got in first. Not that it mattered all that much, because everyone flooded in right after them.
A space for dancing had been cleared in the center of the pub, while tables in all sizes ringed the room. Food was everywhere, and music blared from no apparent source. There were hearts everywhere, and everything was some form of pink, red, or white. The color scheme took a few minutes to get used to, but it wasn't completely horrible. James could live with it for a few hours.
James had hoped faintly that Lily and Mary would come over to join them, considering Marlene was with him and his friends, but they didn't. They claimed a table in the far corner, and had a plate piled high with chocolate between them. Despite not having anyone to dance with, they looked happy enough. He considered approaching them, but he decided to give Lily some more time to recover from their last encounter. He didn't want to bother her too soon.
For a little more than an hour, James danced with numerous dateless girls. He felt bad saying no when he had no date to claim his attention. Maybe his Valentine's Day couldn't be perfect, but he could always make someone else's night better. When he glanced over at Lily again, he saw that she was now sitting alone. He didn't see Mary anywhere, and although Lily didn't necessarily look sad, there was something about the way she was sitting that made her seem lonely.
Making a split-second decision, James headed over to her before another girl could ask him to dance. Silently, he slid into the chair opposite her. She was startled by his sudden appearance, but didn't seem surprised to see him. She must have been waiting for him to make another move. "Hi," he said.
"Hi," Lily answered, her chin resting on her hands.
"Having fun?"
"Not really." She smiled, but there was no happiness. "Mary left me for some Hufflepuff guy. I can't say I blame her. It is Valentine's Day."
"Everyone likes to feel special," James replied. "Asking someone to dance is one of the best ways to do that."
"Yeah, I guess," Lily sighed. She ate another piece of chocolate. Then, to James' utter surprise, she looked pointedly at the dance floor and then back at him.
He briefly considered that this might be a trap of some kind, but decided to take the risk anyways. "Do you… want to dance?"
"Eh, why not?" Lily said. "It's not like anyone else is lining up to dance with me."
"I'm flattered," James said dryly.
Lily flashed him a grin, hopped out of her seat, and grabbed his hand. "Come on, let's go before I change my mind."
It was easily one of the greatest nights of his life. Lily actually seemed to be enjoying herself, despite having told him she would never dance with him in a million years just a few hours ago. They danced together for two songs, but when a slow song came on James hesitated. Lily looked at him expectantly, but James couldn't stop himself from asking. "You still want to dance?"
"I'm still standing here, aren't I?"
"I thought you said you wouldn't dance with me in a million years," James said, unable to stop himself.
"Yeah, well," Lily said. It might have been James' imagination, but he could have sworn her face turned just slightly red. "You're not as annoying as I assumed you'd be."
"Was that a compliment?" James wondered with a smile.
"Maybe half of one," Lily answered, his smile mirrored on her face.
Without any more questions, James placed his hands on Lily's hips and pulled her close. She put her arms around his neck in return, and even rested her head against his chest. James would never be able to explain exactly how he was feeling at that moment. Overall, there was just a sense of rightness. About halfway through the song, Lily pulled away just slightly and looked up at him.
"Thanks for this," she said. "It's actually kind of fun."
Normally, James would have said something clever and witty. Instead, all he managed to do was blurt out, "Can I kiss you?"
A second passed. Then another. Then, "Yes."
James blinked. "Really?"
Lily smiled, and her green eyes were gentle. "Sure. It's Valentine's Day. I might as well kiss someone, so why not you?"
James laughed, too eager to be offended. "You mean that?"
"It's not really something I would make up," Lily pointed out. She titled her face up just slightly, and he leaned down to meet her. While this was nowhere near to how James had imagined their first kiss, it was still close to perfect. It would have been better if they weren't surrounded by a crowd of people, some of whom were now openly gawking at them, but it still ranked number one on his list of best kisses.
Lily pulled away first, and ignored all the strange looks they were getting. "Hmm, not bad," she said.
"Good enough that you'd be willing to do it again?" James asked, reaching out to twist a piece of her silky red hair around his finger.
"I'd say there's a definite possibility of us doing this again," she said in a low voice, smiling slightly.
"Any ideas when?"
"Now is as good a time as any."
James didn't need to be told twice. He kissed her softly, savoring the moment. He had the feeling there would be plenty of time for this in the future, when there weren't so many people watching them. "Well, you certainly made my Valentine's Day," he told Lily. "Does this mean you'll finally go on a date with me?"
Lily gave a mock heavy sigh. "I guess I could stand to go on a date with you now."
"You guess?" James laughed. "Come on, I'm not that bad."
Lily rolled her eyes, and yet another smile spread across her face. "Just shut up and kiss me."
James was happy to oblige.
A/N: Here you go, lots of cheesy Valentine's Day fluff! Better late than never, right? Cheese. Fluff. Enjoy.