i.
Lily missed the England snow.
It wasn't like Spinner's End got a lot of snow, but when it did it was gorgeous. Not too much, not too little. Always gone before you really started to hate it, which was just how Lily preferred it.
Unlike at Hogwarts.
Here, it snowed constantly. It would press up against the windows and beg to come inside. It would attack you whenever you did decide to go outside, suffocating you with the white flakes, and demanding your attention. The snow pelted at your face and made it hard to breathe; resulting in the majority of the students staying inside because it was just too much work to zip up a jacket or toss on a jumper and bundle up a scarf, especially knowing that you'd be frostbitten within the minute. Efforts were futile, it seemed. The snow had already won.
So, naturally, Lily missed the England snow.
Thankfully, everybody she talked to shared her criticism for the stupid snow. They'd complain about the temperature and the freezing winds. Spring would be whispered about in hopeful tones, discussing the potential opportunity for the snow to be vanquished. Everybody was excited.
Except for oneJames Potter. She'd watch from her nook in an empty classroom as he and his friends would go outside for hours, always coming in just seconds before curfew, shaking out their hair and letting the leftover flakes float to the ground, promising to continue their adventures another day. Remus always mentioned the homework, but the other boys promised they'd get to it. Eventually.
Still, Lily didn't envy the lot of them one bit. She could finish her homework early and drink some tea and sit by the fire and play her favorite game of Exploding Snaps all by the time they came in.
She just wished the snow was more like England's. Then, she supposed, she'd be happier.
ii.
"Did you know," Lily said, packing a snowball tightly between her gloved fingers, "that I hate winter?" she tossed the snowball at Marlene, the misfit that had dragged her out for the afternoon.
"I know," she confirmed. Swooping down, she balled the snow in her own gloves before tossing it at Lily. "I think we all know, Lils. You get positively wretched when the stuff comes down."
Lily wrinkled her nose as a fat flake landed on her eyelid. "It's wet."
"So is rain," Marlene pointed out, who had just chucked a snowball at the back of Sirius's head. They watched as it sailed through the air. It was quite graceful.
"Maybe I should just—"
"Duck!" Marlene whispered as the snowball splatted on the back of the boy's head, pushing Lily down behind a snowbank forcefully.
Together, they observed as Sirius whirled around, his mouth pulled down into an outraged frown. "Who was that?" he cried. "Wormtail if that was you I rightly promise to skin you alive, you git!"
"He'd never expect me," Marlene said after a moment of watching the boy circle the yard, rolling her eyes. "Nobody is good enough to be with Sirius and his gang. Nobody would dare disrupt the peace they so kindly keep for our class."
"'Gang'," Lily repeated, making a face. "You make it sound like they go around mugging people."
Marlene's lips flickered mischievously. "Maybe they do."
"I could be in a gang," Lily said, mostly to herself than to Marlene. Her roommate snorted, obviously unimpressed.
"Sure, Lily. And I could play for the Cannons."
"It wouldn't be that hard!" Lily protested, grabbing a handful of snow. "See? All I'd have to do is 'keep the peace', yeah? So, since you hit Sirius, I would be keeping the peace by doing what he would do to you if given the knowledge of said hitting."
"And what's that?" Marlene asked in mock-excitement, bouncing on her heels. "Will treacle tart be involved?"
"This," Lily grinned, bringing her arm back to push some snow into her companion's face before sprinting back into the castle. She could hear Marlene's whooping laughs from the entrance, confirming the belief that she, Lily, could so be in a gang.
Maybe Sirius would let her join his.
iii.
The fluffy flakes landed in Lily's hair as she marched across the courtyard to her Care of Magical Creatures class, shaking her head all the way. Requiring a class to be held outdoors was mad enough, but in the snow? Mad, the lot of them! Lily had nearly skived off to work on something more important—like Transfiguration, for example. Merlin knew she needed the help.
"James, you bleeding idiot, move faster!" she heard Sirius cry from somewhere behind her, followed by a long laugh. She didn't understand how the boys could be so cheerful about the snow. It was wet, and Sirius was running around as if it was enjoyable.
"Oomf!" Lily gasped, falling forward as a body slammed into her back. Her knees skid across the not-quite-snow-covered cobblestone, elbows clattering after her. Her books flew into a snow pile, ruining her copious notes on the differences between unicorns and hippogriffs.
"Evans!" a voice near her elbow groaned.
She looked up, blinking snow out of her eyes, to glare at James Potter. He didn't see her practiced Look, though, since he was busy rushing over to the snow bank, pulling out her books and performing a quick Warming Charm to get rid of the slushy snow stains.
"You okay?" he asked, pressing the books into her hands as he guided her to her feet. "Merlin, I didn't even see you."
"It's okay," she spluttered as the boy looked at her apologetically. Truthfully, she hadn't really talked to James before, and now he was standing in front of her, expecting Lily to say something. There had always been Sirius leading some jeer, or Remus to talk to about studies. Even with Peter she could usually find something to talk about. James had always been the lone figure with the crooked glasses and the distracted smile.
"I swear, I didn't see you," he said after a beat, belatedly realizing that Lily wasn't saying anything. He must've thought she was mad. "Sirius took my books, so I was chasing him, and then he ran between Remus and Peter, and you were right in front of them, so—"
"It's fine," she confirmed, cutting him off as she pushed her sopping hair out of her face. She had to squint to see him properly; the snow was really coming down now. "Thanks for getting my books, though."
He nodded, releasing the grip he had had on her arm. He looked as if he was having an internal battle with himself, face pinched slightly. "As long as you're okay..."
"Perfectly," she nodded, smiling at the wave of relief that washed over his face. "Look," she added, leaning in closer to look at him carefully. Her mum had always told her to look at people in the eyes when talking to them. And Lily couldn't help but notice that he smelled like chocolate. "You're not going to get your books back by standing here, talking to me."
James grinned, finally looking back to normal before shoving his hand into his hair saying, "True that, Evans. See you in a few." He then spun on his heel and pushed through the throng of Gryffindors to chase after a wayward Sirius Black.
Lily could only watch him go with amusement, his dark robes fluttering behind him strikingly against the white blizzard among them. For some reason, she felt certain that she'd always be keeping an eye out for him—wary that he'd run into her, or because she wanted to continue talking to the strange boy with the glasses again, she didn't know.
iv
Lily was devastatingly ill and the snow didn't make matters better.
Okay, so she might not've been devastatingly ill. Just terribly. When she coughed, she saw black spots, and she was always always cold. Marlene brushed it off as her being a wuss. Dorcas offered to take her to the infirmary, but Lily was adamant on finishing her potions work, so she holed herself up in her dorm and tried not to stare out at the snow, watching wistfully as the Gryffindors attempted to enchant a snowman.
Of course, the only time she actually wouldn't mind the snow would be the time she couldn't actually complain about it.
She felt trapped and stuck inside with this bloody cold and pounding headache. She just wanted to do something, but she knew that both her mum and Dorcas would murder her if she stepped foot outside. So, she settled for the kitchens. She closed her books with a huff, making her way down to the common room. Her belly rumbled. She hadn't realized she had missed dinner, damn.
"Lily?"
Turning, Lily wasn't at all surprised to see James standing by the portrait hole, wrestling with his gloves. One was already on, and he couldn't seem to get the other.
"Hey," she sniffed, shuffling over to him, hoping she wouldn't sneeze over his jumper. "I was just going to get something to eat."
"You weren't at dinner?" he asked, quirking his eyebrow. Lily shook her head, gesturing towards her ratty hair and stuffy nose and cotton mouth. There was also a blanket wrapped tightly around her.
She coughed, suddenly feeling self-conscious. Her breath probably reeked.
"I'm a tad sick," she ventured, shifting from foot to foot. A weak smile graced her lips. "I don't know if you've noticed."
He grinned, gesturing to the ground. "I noticed. Never have there been this many tissues in the common room."
Lily nodded and blushed, and James nodded, and there was an awkward silence that Lily didn't quite know how to fill.
"Here," she said quickly, reaching over to push his other glove on his hand. He stopped his fidgeting, and Lily found herself holding his hand for a moment before jerking away. He did the same and took a slight step back. She hoped it was only because of her cold and not her breath.
"Er, I'm going to go," he said, pushing open the portrait and stepping into the hallway. The Fat Lady grunted, and Lily nodded understandingly. "You're welcome to join us. After you eat. Maybe if you look up how to do a Sneezing Repellent charm or something…" he trailed off, flashing her a genuine smile.
She smacked his arm. "Yeah, yeah."
"See ya later, Evans," he said, taking a step back. "Do me a favor and cough on Sirius when we come in, okay? He's been a right git since he scored higher in Charms than me."
"Watch yourself, Potter," she warned teasingly.
"Always."
And then he turned on his heel and ran outside to join his mates in the snow.
Lily sneezed.
v.
"So, how do you feel about that Defence test?" Dorcas asked at lunch in the Great Hall, swirling her mashed potatoes around on her plate dejectedly.
"Piece of cake," Sirius answered for the redhead, sliding into the spot across from Lily and next to Marlene, who batted her eyes and launched into a conversation about Pygmy Puffs. James settled next to Dorcas, reaching over to grab a spoonful of corn.
"I wish we had cake," James said mournfully with his mouth full. Lily made a face. She couldn't understand how these boys were always eating. During class they'd pelt Bertie Botts at each other or swap Chocolate Frogs underneath the desks. It was all very annoying.
"I mixed up the iguanas and vampire bats," Peter said frantically, taking a hearty sip of the pumpkin juice. He burped. "Merlin, I wish this was stronger."
"Remus?" Lily asked, turning to the boy sitting next to her, pushing her hair out of her face. "How did you think it went?"
He shrugged, unconcerned. "I studied, so I didn't have a problem with any of the content, but I wasn't sure—"
"He did fine," James interrupted, rolling his eyes. "He's just trying to sound smart."
"Hey!" Remus protested indignantly as he stabbed into his chicken pot pie. "I am smart!"
"Not as smart as you think, probably," Sirius muttered into his goblet as Marlene's story came to an end. Remus tossed a roll at his head, causing Sirius's plate to overturn into Marlene's lap, who promptly let out an unnecessary shriek.
"Shit, sorry!" Sirius cursed, bending over to help the smaller girl wipe sauce off her robes. Lily shot a mischievous grin at Dorcas, who started giggling. Marlene, seeing the transaction, rolled her eyes. And then she "accidentally" ran her fingers through his hair, pretending that there was a plop of gravy in his locks. Lily snorted loudly.
"What?" James asked confusedly. The brunette continued laughing. He peered over her to stare at Lily, looking bewildered as the girls tried their best not to give it away. "Have I got something on my face? Evans, tell me if I have something in my teeth."
"It's not about you, Potter," Lily said, pressing her lips together to keep from bursting into laughter herself.
"What is it?" Peter demanded. "Are you laughing at my sure-fail Defence botching?"
"It's nothing," Dorcas said finally, composed. She quickly glanced around the Great Hall before saying, "Lily just pointed out the snow. It's an inside joke."
It wasn't.
But that just set off another round of giggles, causing James and Peter to widen their eyes in confusion, and Remus to glance at Sirius and Marlene, resisting the urge to smirk himself.
iv.
The snow looked beautiful as it touched down in Hogsmede, even Lily had to admit it. She liked the way the fluffy flakes landed in her hair, making the red strands seem so much more vibrant. It was a rare occurrence for her to enjoy her hair and the snow in one day. She blamed it on Hogsmede.
"I'm going to run to Honeydukes to pick up some treats for my mum," Lily said to Dorcas and Marlene, who had already been eyeing the Three Broomsticks. "See you later?"
They nodded in agreement, shivering in their jackets as they headed to the pub. Lily turned the other way and marched through the door of the candy shop, setting off a tinkling bell in the depths of the store.
"I like the fudge," Lily heard a voice—his voice—protest half-heartedly. "The licorice wands are so Muggle. I'm surprised the Slytherins haven't boycotted them already."
The stupid, selfish, fake-pretty girl that was hanging by his arm giggled. "Says the boy that enjoys fudge over everything else in this store," she said. Merlin, her voice was annoying. "Fudge is so generic!"
"You take that back," James said, feigning hurt. The girl on his arm giggled even harder.
"Never. Licorice wands are the best." And then, just to prove her point, she opened the packaging and took a playful bite at the end of one. Lily grinned to herself as the other girl's seductive ploys failed, as James's attention turned to the Chocolate Frogs.
"Point taken," James admitted distractedly. Clearing his throat when the girl pinched his arm due to the lack of attention, he grabbed the licorice wands and fudge, bringing them up to the counter. "However, since I am the best boyfriend in the world, I think we can both enjoy the extreme pleasure of eating our favorite candies and call it a day. Agreed?"
"Agreed," Adlie, the girl, chirped, batting her eyelashes. "Although Madame Puddifoots sounds nice today, too…" Lily had to pinch herself to keep from groaning. Adlie Gray and James had been going out for a little over a month and there seemed to be no stopping the Perfect Couple. Hand holding and snog sessions in the corridor seemed to be no match for their outing planned today. Puddifoots would only cement it into their—and everybody else's—brains that they were in loooove. A play, admittedly, that Lily didn't even put past Adlie.
She was a devious little Ravenclaw.
Unfortunately for her, the irony of it all was that James—and the rest of the Marauders besides Sirius—were banned from Puddifoots after a certain incident involving a stray black dog and tea pots.
How could she not know that? Lily wondered. Weren't girlfriends supposed to know the deep, dark secrets of their boyfriends and strive to watch out for the places at which they were banned?
From where Lily was standing, she could see James's face whiten. It was almost comical, really. This magnificent boy was unafraid of facing Slytherin persecutors, did not fear dropping into oblivion on his broomstick, but was deathly afraid of a tea shop. How odd.
Weighing her options, she decided to intervene and do what a true Prefect would do: lie.
Coming out from behind her shelf, Lily (holding a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans) allowed James to see her. And, like she had guessed, he called out to her.
"Hey, Evans," he called, his eyes sending out a major S.O.S signal.
"Oh, Potter, good," Lily said hastily, trying her best to look distracted and not at all concerned by Adlie's hands intertwined in James's. "Look, I think Sirius was looking for you. He's with Mar and Dorcas at the Three Broomsticks. Said it was urgent."
He glanced at Ad, who looked like she was going to bite Lily's head off for interrupting their Perfect Day Planned at Puddifoots While Eating Licorice Wands and Fudge. Oh, Golly!
"Oh?" he asked carefully. He must've noticed his girlfriend's look, then, too.
"I'm just the messenger in all this, but he sounded really upset and a tad drunk, so I don't know how you feel about that, but Marlene was, ah, getting worried."
"To say the least?" James asked, a smile twitching on his face despite the circumstances of his best friend being drunk off his arse in the middle of a pub.
"To say the least," Lily confirmed, the twitch on her face as well.
Adlie sighed loudly, probably to call James's attention back to her, interrupting the moment as she shot Lily a nasty look. Overall, she looked very annoyed.
"Go on, then. Be a hero. Save the day." And then, without warning, she yanked on her boyfriend's collar and snogged him for a good minute or three just to prove she could. It looked sloppy and wet and very tongue-based.
Still, Lily cleared her throat, ignoring the pain in her chest as she looked at how James touched her. Or how Adlie was threading her fingers in his hair, or how close their bodies were—
"Okay," James said after he came up for air. "Okay, I really have to—mmf—get Padfoot." He tried patting his hair down, but with no avail. It was obvious: James had just been snogging.
Lily only wished it had been with her.
"Finally," she muttered with a frown, stalking out of the store. James trailed after her, choosing not to mention any of his girlfriend's antics at Honeydukes.
"So on a scale of zero to 'where-did-I-put-my-hippogriff' how bad is he?"
"A zero," Lily said, turning back to give James a conspiratorial look. He seemed taken aback. The snow pelted at their cheeks and stung at her eyelids, but Lily saw enough and relished this moment of Great James Potter being confused. She had the upper hand. She almost giggled.
"What?" he asked.
"I mean that I have no idea where Sirius is. I mean that I overheard Arselie's plans of dragging you to Puddifoots. I mean that I just saved your sorry arse from going there. I mean that you owe me big. Big as in chocolates and jumpers and pocket watches—the works, James Potter."
He opened his mouth. And then he closed it.
Lily grinned.
"You're amazing, you are," he said finally, shaking his head before tossing his arm over her shoulder as they made their way to the Three Broomsticks. He didn't say that was where they were going, but she knew. Where else would they go?
Plus, she didn't really want to argue with him. She liked being pressed up against him.
"I'm aware," she said happily.
"I am going to buy you a drink," he said, glancing down at her to shoot her the warmest smile she's ever received, "to celebrate your first act as a lying troublemaker, and to initiate you into the club. Then we'll get as smashed as Sirius isn't, but he'll probably want to join anyways."
"So it is a club?" she asked incredulously, thinking back on her second year conversation with Marlene. All this time she had thought it to be a gang. How odd.
"What?" James said.
"Nothing," she responded quickly, tucking her arm around his waist as they went to join their friends for one Firewhisky. Or five.
iiv.
"You're idiotic," Lily said finally, shaking her head at her boyfriend as he stood in front of her in the common room with the most ridiculous look on his face.
And yet, she somehow allowed him to drape the Cloak over their heads. Along with a blindfold, which she still wasn't sure about. He stood behind her, hands pressed lightly on her hips as he guided her down the stairs as they made their decent from the common room down the flight of moving stairs. She wasn't sure where they were going, although if she had to guess, she'd say the kitchens. However, she did know that James was extremely persuasive in ways other than his words. She knew she was cold, and she really, really wished he'd stop brushing his fingers against the skin above the waistband of her skirt.
Except not really.
"Are we almost done?" she said. "I have Transfiguration and Charms and Potions and—"
"Quiet down, you," he said, his breath fanning against the back of her neck. She felt his voice rumble at her back. They were standing so close and she still had those silly butterflies battering around in her stomach. She thought she'd be used to this feeling by now, but considering how James touching her resembled that of a fire burning inside of her, she wasn't really surprised.
"Okay," he said. "Okay." She felt him slide the Cloak off of the two of them. Felt him move his hands to her shoulders, and steer her into a sitting position. She felt something warm and fuzzy at the backs of her thighs, a cool breeze playing with her hair.
"Okay?" she asked after a moment. He hadn't said anything, and for one horrible moment she feared he had left. That the last three months had been nothing but a prank, and this was the big reveal.
Her palms began to sweat.
"James—"
"No, yeah, er—sorry. I was just looking. At you, I mean. Not at—uh, your particularly short skirt tonight. Merlin, the skirt. Uh…no, Evans, you're just—you are—uh—beautiful." He cleared his throat. Lily could picture him ruffling at his hair and shifting his weight. "You're gorgeous, Lily."
She pressed her lips together to keep from beaming.
"I wish I could say the same to you," she said after a moment, relishing in the slight silence after his stuttered compliment. She didn't think she'd ever get used to him saying things like that to her, and she couldn't believe how lucky she was to have him. "The only thing, it seems, is that I can't see you. I have a blindfold, you see, but if I do remember correctly, you looked quite ravishing in the common room before you assaulted me with this bleeding blindfold and—"
"Point taken," he allowed hastily. She felt the ground shift underneath his weight as he kneeled in front of her to unhook the blindfold. The darkness disappeared, and she was looking at James and his delicious hazel eyes and perfect pink mouth. She didn't even care where she was, as long as she was with him—
"Lily," he greeted, cocking his head. "Hi."
"Hi," she giggled, leaning forward to kiss him quickly. When they broke apart, she still didn't know where she was or what was going on or why this was happening in the first place. It was a feeling she usually associated with James Potter and James Potter only.
Not that she minded.
And then she felt the snow.
And she suddenly minded.
"Are we outside?" she demanded, squinting through the darkness to try and pinpoint the falling particles. She heard James laugh at her side, felt him lay down on the ground and smile at her confusion.
"Relax," he said, tugging her hand and pulling her down next to him. Her hair fanned out like a princess's, and she began to relax. It was easy to, with him holding her hand and doing incredible things to her neck.
"We are outside," she said after another moment of concentration. Again, he was laughing at her. She could feel his laugh coat her skin. The sound was contagious.
"Call yourself bright, Evans?" he whispered at her ear.
"Not around you," she said, turning her head to look at him in the eyes. She brought her hand up to push her fingers through his hair and readjust his glasses before asking, "What's the charm?"
"Mm?"
"The charm that you placed on me. Us. To keep the snow from being, er, snow-like."
"A Warming Charm to keep you from needing a jacket," he said, moving from her neck to her collarbone. His words were lovely against her skin. "And a Melting Charm to make sure the snow doesn't bother you—doesn't make you feel wet or anything."
"Ingenious, Potter. I'm impressed."
He pulled back from her, looking at her intently as he moved to brush the hair away from her face. She watched him through lidded eyes, the snow falling into his dark, messy hair before promptly melting. She doubted he was even aware of the snow.
"I can't take all the credit," he admitted, shoving a hand in his hair. Lily grabbed the hand and held it tightly, kissing his wrist before pulling him—basically—on top of her.
"Sure you can. It's easy," she taunted.
"Remus—"
"James," she said forcefully, fisting her hands in the material of his shirt. "I really, really, really don't want to be thinking about how smart Remus is just before I'm about to snog you." She felt him exhale; felt him calm underneath her fingers. His eyes glinted in the moonlight.
"I don't want you to think of anything but me." His voice was low and rough in the darkness, tined with a sort of shyness that caused shivers to crawl up and down her arms and spine. Her heart began to stutter wildly in her chest as he leaned in closer, his fingertips brushing against her arms, the moonlight casting a milky glow over their skin. She yearned for him like a plant extending towards the sun, his lips tantalizingly far away…
It seemed like forever, but he finally—finally—kissed her, and Lily felt a little like the snow once it came in contact with the Melting Charm. It was then and there that she realized she quite liked the large, white flakes that always managed to burn into her body.
But only when James was with her.