A/N: I had absolutely no inspiration for this, except a poster I saw in Japan and a couple of quotes here and there. I don't think it's fantastic, but I'd still like you guys to review. This practically just came up because somewhere, a little blue bird told me I had to write something happy to make her feel better. So this is for that little blue bird.
Smile Is Best Makeup
Lily looked at him like he was a complete idiot. He had even forgotten the definite article in the sentence that he had just spoken.
'Pardon?' she asked, turning around to face him. She found he wasn't even looking at her, but the wall beside her.
He seemed to ignore her and stepped closer to the wall, squinting carefully at it.
'Smile is best makeup,' he muttered again, this time understanding what he was saying.
She looked closely at the wall and saw, etched into the sandstone the words: Smile is best makeup.
It was written messily, the letters everywhere, and some of the words were almost unrecognisable.
'How could you read that?' she asked, staring at him again, hoping that this time he would actually listen.
'Well, why wouldn't I? I did write it,' he said, his voice smiling.
'James, when did you write it?' she asked, running her fingers along the uneven etching.
James sighed, stepping away from the wall, giving it an almost longing look.
'A long long time ago,' he muttered, finally tearing his eyes from the wall. 'Come on, let's get a move on.'
He started walking away, but Lily stayed in one spot.
'When a long time ago?' she called, her hand still resting on the wall.
'It doesn't matter,' he called back, not turning around.
'James!' she exclaimed, running after him.
'Now there's something I'd never thought I'd see, Lily Evans running after me!' he laughed.
She smiled and hit him although not very hard.
'When did you write it?' she persisted.
'You really want to know, don't you?' he asked teasingly. She groaned, sometimes, Potter could be alright, others he was annoying, but she wasn't quite sure what he was right then.
'Yes,' she finally admitted. They weren't very far from the wall; she glanced back at it, then back to him. He sighed and ruffled his hair.
'It was just before the first time I asked you out. Do you remember? We were talking about makeup.'
She squinted her eyes trying to think back, and vaguely remembered saying that makeup didn't make you look any better, it just hid your personality.
'Anyway, we had different views. I thought that makeup made anyone look hot, and you thought that being bare was so much more beautiful. I don't really remember how it happened, but somehow we laughed it off and agreed to disagree. But as you smiled, and I remember thinking that you were right, makeup wasn't anything compared to a pure smile. I thought you looked absolutely beautiful.'
He shook his head embarrassedly, but Lily remained completely silent, she knew what happened next, but he continued on anyway.
'I asked you out, and you said no,' he sighed, 'so I came out here after curfew and write that, so I'd remember.'
After finishing James became fidgety, scratching invisible itches, and fiddling with his hands. Lily stared at him fro a little while, a bit stunned. Her memory of that experience was very different, but when she looked back she could see that it was the right one.
'Why did you ask me out, just like that?'
'It's a long story,' he said, trying to avoid answering.
'We've got all of patrol, what do expect we'll do?'
He sighed again as though it would be the biggest ordeal telling her.
'Well, when I was six my grandma died,' she looked sharply at him but he seemed unaffected by it, 'and she gave me this on piece of advice; "Life isn't a round trip ticket, James," she said patting my hand, "Try it, you might like it," and that's all she said.'
Lily frowned, trying to work it out.
'What did she mean?' she asked quietly.
'Well, I thought about it for a long time, and I realised that she meant that I couldn't necessarily do things again and again. I might only get one opportunity to do things, so I might as well try it. So after that I tried everything, I guess.'
He glanced over at Lily, waiting to see her reaction.
'That's a really smart piece of advice James, but it wasn't a very long story,' she smiled.
He chuckled and shook his head. They walked in comfortable silence, stopping once they came back to the wall.
'So,' he said, rummaging around in his bag, 'what are you going to write?' he handed her a quill.
'James!' she scolded, 'that's breaking the school's rules!'
'So what? You may never get this opportunity again. There isn't anyone here, Lil, try it, you might like it.'
She sighed looking at the quill, then the wall, and then back at James.
'James, I…' but he had already started turning away.
'Life isn't a round trip ticket, Lil,' he said.
So, without thinking, Lily ripped the quill from his hand and started scribbling away at the wall, only a couple of centimetres above his.
'Life's too short to let anyone rain on your sunny day,' James read as she spelt out the words.
'Where did you think of that one?' he asked as she started walking happily away from the wall.
'Made it up just then,' she answered with an extra bounce in her step.
'What made you think of it?' he asked carefully, catching up.
'Oh, well there's this thing that has kept me down for the last couple of years. You know, raining on my sunny day and such, so I think that life's too short to let that happen.'
'Was that thing me?' he quietly said, not wanting to know the answer.
She looked over at him, a smile playing on her lips.
'No, silly. I was talking about my conscience.'
James sighed, relieved, and then he frowned.
'Why your conscience?' he asked, stopping still and facing Lily.
'Oh, well it's let me be too stubborn for the last couple of years. Not letting me try anything.'
James smirked, getting what she was talking about.
'Oh, and what did you want to try?'
Lily feigned confusion.
'Well, there was this boy, and he always asked me out. I should have given it a go, but I didn't.'
'What a shame!' James exclaimed. Lily laughed.
'Yes, what will I do about it?' she smiled, and leant towards him.
'I have an idea,' he said, before lowering his lips to hers.
You could say it was all because of the fact that Lily's smile was the best makeup, or that life wasn't a round trip ticket, or that life was too short for rainy days, or some people even thought that they were made for each other, but you never really know, do you?