AN: So, this lovely little piece managed to lose itself on my computer, part-way finished. Anyways, I've found it now, and I hope you enjoy the story of the roses.
On Valentine's Day of 1972, James Potter and Lily Evans were First Years at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Lily walked into the Great Hall for lunch that Monday, enjoying the day, though wishing she had received a valentine of some sort. Marlene had received four cards at breakfast, and Frank gave Alice a card not even five minutes ago. Needless to say, the twelve-year-old was disappointed. Lily sat down, waiting for her friends to arrive, when someone tapped her shoulder. She turned around, red hair whisking in the air, to find James Potter standing behind her, glasses slipping slightly.
"James?" She questioned. "What do you want?"
Eyes wide and hair ruffled, her housemate pulled out a red rose from behind his back. "Happy Valentine's Day, Lily." James gave the flower to her, and then practically ran back to his seat.
Lily's cheeks were red as she stared at the flower, but she smiled and mouthed "Thank You" to the boy with the glasses, and he shot her a broad grin in return. She didn't really have a reason to be disappointed now, even if it was James Potter.
In 1973, Valentine's Day fell on a Wednesday, and the aforementioned two were Second Years. James and Lily had a truce of some sorts. If they left each other alone, nothing would go wrong.
Secretly, Lily had been looking forwards to Valentine's Day, even if she normally regarded it as silly. After all, Potter gave her something last year. It was possible that he would remember her again. Sadly, the entire day, Lily received nothing from her hazel-eyed classmate. Sure, her friends gave her cards, and it was nice. But something in her couldn't forget her first Valentine from someone other than her father.
She was studying at around nine o'clock that night, disappointed, but getting over herself. The Common Room was empty, and Lily was in front of the fireplace, Charms book balanced on her pajama-clad legs. Absorbed, Lily bent closer to read in the dim light, the flames making her auburn hair turn gold. Suddenly, two red roses were levitated and dropped on top of her book. Lily started, and turned to see where they had come from. The only clues were the fleeting glance of messy black hair disappearing up the boy's staircase, and the note attached to the flowers that read "Happy Valentine's Day Lily."
1974 rolls around, and Hogsmeade weekends were the hottest thing on campus. James and Lily were Third Years by now, and elated to be that. The truce had remained in place, though it was shaken a few times.
That Thursday morning, most of Third-Year Gryffindors were sitting down for breakfast.
"Where's Lily?" Alice Fortescue asked, looking around the Great Hall. The response was pretty much the same all around. No one had seen Lily, and Marlene noticed that Snape was already eating, so they weren't together.
"There she is!" Remus pointed to the petite girl walking between the tables. "Where were you?" He asked as she sat down.
"It was nothing." Lily brushed off the questioning stares of her friends and grabbed a plate.
James looked at her quizzically from his seat across from her, but she wasn't saying anything. After breakfast, the Gryffindors headed back to their Common Room. Halfway there, James pulled Lily aside, and into a hidden alcove.
"What is it, James?" Lily asked somewhat irritably.
"Lily, I was wondering if you wanted to go to Hogsmeade with me this weekend." James managed to get everything out at an understandable pace. He smiled down at Lily, but that quickly disappeared once he saw her facial expression.
"Oh. James, I'm sorry, but Edgar Bones already asked me. Just before breakfast, actually." Her face was pained. "And, well, I said yes."
"Um, that's alright, I guess." James summoned something quickly, and then handed it to Lily quickly.
They were three red roses, and the sight of them made Lily tear up. Here was someone who had always given her roses on Valentine's Day ever since she had met him, and she just turned him down for a date.
"They were for you anyways. Just… Happy Valentine's Day, Lily." James bowed out graciously, realizing that he was too late in this situation. He walked away quickly, looking back and smiling before heading out of sight.
Valentine's Day of 1975 eventually arrived, and the lovely teenagers are in their Fourth Year. Lily and James had devolved into a state of mutual silence. Basically, they just don't speak with each other.
This was to be expected, though. They weren't in their early years of Hogwarts anymore; each had their own friends, their own groups, and Lily had Severus Snape. Ahh…Snape. He was the bane of James's existence. He acted like a lonely tortured soul around the sweet, kind, Lily, and cursed everyone who dared to brush him in the halls when she wasn't around. James hated Snivellous Snape to his core.
That particular Valentine's Day, James was not going to be without a date for the first time ever. Yes, James Potter had his very first girlfriend, a lovely girl named Dorcas Meadowes. They had been going out for one week exactly, and were going on their first date the next day.
Dorcas had come down for breakfast earlier that morning, and had stopped to eat with her boyfriend before going off to class. Lily and the others were all in varying stages of their breakfast when the mail arrived, and eyes went up to the ceiling as always. A mysterious owl floated down in front of Lily, and she unwrapped the bundle to find four red roses awaiting her. Glancing towards James, who had just handed Dorcas a box of chocolates, she smiled. Before Lily glanced away, James shot a quick wink at her before going back to his girlfriend.
Yes, James had a girlfriend now, but that didn't mean that things would change.
On Valentine's Day of 1976, Lily Evans was in the Hospital Wing. She had come down with a bad case of the flu the day before, and was confined to her bed. Alice and Marlene had stopped by, but both were busy with their own boyfriends, and Lily had waved them away. So, on the most romantic day of the year, Lily Evans sat in the Hospital Wing, a book propped on her lap.
Suddenly, the Hospital Wing door creeped open, and James Potter stuck his head in. Lily was surprised that he had come to the Hospital Wing, and when he waltzed over to her bedside, her suspicion that he had come to see her was affirmed.
"Heard you had the flu Evans. How are you doing?" James's tone was cocky and boisterous, and it described him perfectly.
"I'm feeling better. It was bad yesterday, but Madame Pomfrey can work wonders." Lily was still very pale, and she knew that she did not look good at all.
"Well, I hope you feel better, Evans. Anyways, I stopped by to give you these." Performing an Illusionment Charm, James revealed five roses and a vase floating in the air beside them. He set them on her bedside, and turned to her, saying, "Happy Valentine's Day, Evans." before walking towards the door.
"Potter, wait!" Lily's voice halted him, and James turned to face her once more. "Why is it always roses? I mean, I-"
"You love roses. I overheard you talking about them with Alice in First Year." James interrupted.
A soft look came over Lily's face, and her eyes darted back and forth between the flowers and James.
"You're right. I do love roses. T-thank you, James."
"You're very welcome, Lily." A smile came over the boy's face, and he grinned broadly before loping out of the Hospital Wing. "Get better soon!" He shouted over his shoulder.
Lily shook her head, smiling, before falling back onto her pillows where exhausted sleep soon claimed her.
In 1977, James Potter and Lily Evans were in their Sixth Year. After the disaster that marked the end of Fifth Year, James and Lily avoided each other for the beginning of their Sixth Year. But, after being paired for a Defense project, the teenagers got back on speaking terms, and soon became good friends. Lily could be seen walking around with James Potter and his friends, and the five of them often studied in the library together. She had become the official unofficial Marauder, and even assisted them with pranks on occasion.
Valentine's Day came around that Monday morning, bright and early. For the first time since fourth year, James Potter actually did not have a girlfriend on Valentine's Day, and there were multiple upset females throughout Hogwarts because of this.
So, that delightful morning Lily Evans was sitting with the rest of the self-dubbed Marauders, waiting for their final member to arrive. James hadn't come down for breakfast yet, and Lily was starting to get worried.
"What if he's been confronted by a Slytherin?" She reasoned.
"Lily. Sit. Down." Sirius sounded exasperated. This had been going on for ten minutes as is. "James will be fine. He can handle a Slyther-" Lily opened her mouth to interrupt. "But he's not going to have to because none of the confrontational Slytherins are gone from their table."
"Snape just left." Peter had to go and open his big mouth, which happened to be full of food at the time, a sight that made the others recoil.
Lily stood abruptly. "I'm going to find James. If I'm not back in fifteen minutes, come find us." She sighed, running her fingers through her hair, a trait she had picked up from James. "And of course James has the bloody map. What's the use in that thing if I can't use it to find him when needed?" She muttered to herself as she walked off.
After searching for a good five minutes, Lily found James. He was just meandering through the corridor, his nose in a Transfiguration book, and a bouquet of roses floating beside him. She snuck up, and tapped him on the shoulder. He jumped a good six inches, whirling around to look at her.
"Merlin, Lily." James laughed. "I thought you should know by now to at the very least tie my shoelaces together." He cocked his head slightly, giving her a fond look. She laughed heartily.
"If it had taken me any longer to find you, I might have." She peeked at what he was reading. "Transfiguration, again?" She raised an eyebrow. "We both know that you don't need any more help in that field."
"You flatter me." He rolled his eyes, bumping her shoulder lightly, "But I'm trying to memorize some more complicated wand sequences for human to inanimate objects transfigurations. It's more of a Mastery level spell, than NEWT, but still…"
"In that case, I can let the book slide." Lily laughed. Just then, the bouquet of roses bumped her in the head.
"Oh!" James snatched the flowers out of the air. "That wasn't exactly how I had planned on my delivery, but here you go. Happy Valentine's Day Lily." James handed the bouquet to her, and she smelled the six red roses.
"They're lovely." She smiled up at him, standing on tiptoes to reach his cheek. "Thank you James." She whispered, her tone louder as she looked up at him, back down to her normal height. "J-james…I know we never speak of it…but, well, don't give up on me yet. Because I think I'm figuring my life out. And, well, you hold a very substantial place there." Lily blushed slightly at her words, starting when she realized how close he was when James leaned down to kiss her cheek.
"I won't. Not yet."
In their Seventh and Final Year, James Potter and Lily Evans were Head Boy and Girl. They took to the role marvelously, James using his training in politics and Lily using her previous Prefect status to take the school by storm. They were a just team, and Slytherin and Gryffindors alike were given the same punishment. They did their very best to diffuse tension within the school while getting over their own biases against people. As Head Students, Lily and James had to grow up.
By the time Valentine's Day of 1978 rolled around, James and Lily were already dating. He had asked her out…again…on Halloween the previous term. That Tuesday morning, Lily woke up to nothing out of the ordinary. She and James shared a Common Room, so she crept over to his room, which was across the hall. Sliding the door open silently, the girl slipped into the room and crept under the covers to nestle against her boyfriend.
"Hello dear." Lily whispered, shaking James lightly. A few more shakes, and he was awake and groping for his glasses. Lily set them onto his eyes, and James blinked, adjusting to the clear vision.
"Morning sweetheart." James's voice was husky with sleep, and he let out a yawn. Rolling onto his stomach, he reached under the bed and pulled out a long box. "These are for you. I was going to give them to you at breakfast…but this is more tranquil. Happy Valentine's Day, Lily."
The box contained seven red roses, and Lily smiled brightly as she opened them, feeling their soft, delicate petals.
"One for every year." She whispered. "James?" He looked up, and met her eyes. "I love the roses. Thank you very much for them. And in regards to the note," Lily waved a little card he had attached. "I love you too."
The roses started in 1972, when an eleven year old boy thought his classmate was pretty. Knowing that his father had always given his mother flowers for Valentine's Day, and that she liked roses, James Potter gave Lily Evans one rose. For every year after that, whether they were with someone or not, James Potter gave Lily Evans a rose for each year that they knew each other. Even when she proclaimed to hate him, or he resolved to get over her, the bouquet of roses found its way into Lily Evans's hands.
What James Potter did not know, however, was that Lily Evans had saved all of those roses and dried them. A week before their wedding, Lily Evans brought out all twenty-eight of her dried roses, still in perfect condition. At the wedding, which was on Valentine's Day of 1979, Lily Evans carried the eight roses that James Potter had given her that very morning as her bouquet, and the other twenty-eight roses were displayed on a table with the meaning behind them written down. Afterwards, the new Lily Potter dried those eight flowers, and in 1980, James Potter gave his pregnant wife nine roses. On Valentine's Day of 1981, James Potter gave his wife eleven roses, and Harry Potter gave his mummy one. That would be the last Valentine's Day for the Potter family as a whole.
However, the story of the roses was later discovered by the first James's ten year old grandson, who found the card from the wedding with the story of the roses in a box in the attic of Grimmauld Place. And so, on Valentine's Day of 2016, James Sirius Potter gave a red rose to Alice Longbottom, whom he thought was pretty. Their story of the roses is still being written.