MC4A; Hogwarts
Stacked With: Hogwarts; Shipping War, Spring Bingo; BAON; FPC; Snicket Fence
Individual Challenges: Short Jog (Y); Click Bait It; Yellow Ribbon; Yellow Ribbon Redux
Representations: James Potter; Lily Evans; Sirius Black; James and Sirius are a family; Lily changes her name constantly
Bonus Challenges: Found Family; Nontraditional; Teat Juice; Second Verse (Not a Lamp)
Prompts: James Potter/Lily Evans (auction); Flirt (365 words); Helpless-Hamilton (Insane Prompts); Bingo - 1B (Ribbon/Cord)
Word count: 2,147
The bell above the shop door rang and a man walked in. Although the building was a florist and thus thought of to be a feminine place, she saw a lot of men come and go. Most of them were looking for bouquets for their loved ones and Lily happily helped them. There were a few who figured a flower shop would be a great place to find a willing woman, but she quickly corrected that opinion and threw them out of her shop.
The man who had walked in had messy black hair and glasses covering warm brown eyes. There was a glint in those eyes that Lily instantly identified as mischief. The man grinned at her before moving over to the stacks of red roses that were held together in various designs by twined ribbon or sitting loose in case someone wanted their own design or only a few flowers.
He picked out the largest bouquet, inspected it, and then carried it over to the counter with a smirk curling his lip. Lily rose her eyebrows and asked, "Have a lot of apologising to do?"
He laughed, bright and full of mirth. "Nah, just letting my mate know that I still love him, even if he brings a giant dog home when he was just going to the movies. Though that was probably partially my fault by letting him go see a movie where the dog dies unsupervised."
"Well, feel free to give some of these to the dog as well; roses are perfectly safe for dogs to nibble on."
At those words, the man smiled in a way Lily knew meant trouble. "In that case, these are just for the dog, not Sirius."
"Should I write out a card as well?" Lily asked, enjoying the man's humour.
"Please do," he said.
Lily plucked out a card with beagles running around the edges and picked up her pen. Welcome to the family. I'm sure you'll replace Sirius in no time. -Zinnia. She had to check the spelling of the man's friend's name and also ask if he wanted her to sign it as her or him, but she was pretty happy with the end product. The man was too, if his chuckle was anything to go by.
"Zinnia, huh," he said as he read the card again. "Nice name. I'm James."
"Nice to meet you, James."
After paying for the flowers and the card, James strolled out of the shop—struggling slightly with the flowers blocking his vision. Lily watched him go with a smile on her face. She liked the fun customers; they were an enjoyable change of pace from the general stream of people picking up flowers because that's what they thought they should do.
Sirius was laying on the purple L-shaped couch when James returned home. James shifted the large bunch of flowers in his arms and grinned at Sirius. The man was staring at him in confusion, obviously wondering if there was something going on he should be aware of.
"You got a big date coming up or something?" Sirius asked.
"Nope," James replied, popping the p. "These are for the dog."
"Padfoot? Why did you get roses for Padfoot?"
James set the flowers down in front of the black dog and handed over the card to Sirius. "See for yourself."
Sirius gingerly took the card from James and then barked out a laugh when he read it. "I love this person," he stated.
"She was awesome," James agreed.
"Did you get her number?"
James slapped Sirius over the head. "No. It's rude and creepy to ask for personal information on the first meeting. Seriously dude."
"I want to meet her," Sirius said, shrugging off the slap.
"You've only just learned of her existence via a card attached to some flowers, and you want to meet her?"
Sirius waved the card in James' face. "Dude, she has the best sense of humour. I'm halfway in love with her already."
"I saw her first," James declared childishly even though he knew Sirius was highly unlikely to 'steal his girl' given his lack of romantic attraction to anyone (and the fact he didn't currently have a girl to be stolen).
Sirius snorted. "Yeah, you just don't want me near her in case she realises that I am far superior to you."
James lunged at Sirius and they started tussling with each other on the couch and eventually on the floor once they fell off the soft cushions. Padfoot sniffed the roses and pulled a petal off one to nibble as his humans rolled across the floor.
The bell rang and Lily looked up to see the male from a few days previously entering. "Hi, how did the dog like his roses?"
James smiled and made his way over to her. "He loved them. I think Sirius liked them more though, even if he didn't get any."
"Oh?"
"Yeah, he really liked the card you wrote for them."
Lily grinned. "Glad I could provide some amusement. Did you need some more flowers today?"
"Yeah, just a few this time. I was thinking some orchids would be nice, do dogs like those?"
"They sure do. Pink, white, or blue?" She had all three of those colours ready to twine together into a bouquet.
James shrugged. "All three of them, I guess?"
Lily nodded and circled the counter to grab the flowers she would need. When she had two of each colour, she carried them back and tied them together using a purple ribbon. There was a card laying on the counter where there hadn't been before and she looked at James accusingly. He just grinned innocently.
Picking up her pen, Lily wrote out a short message on the card. I hear Sirius is still around. Don't worry, we'll convince him that you're a much better companion soon. -Poppy.
"Poppy?" James asked as he read the card upside down. "I thought your name was Zinnia."
Lily winked at him. "Where's the fun in that?"
"Different girl?" Sirius asked when he read the card as Padfoot happily sniffed the orchids.
"Same girl," James replied as he fetched tea bags from the cupboard.
Sirius flipped the card around so the writing was facing James. "It's signed Poppy, James. The last one is signed Zinnia. Those are different names."
James poured boiling water into the waiting mugs and added milk. Once the tea was ready, he placed Sirius' cup on the kitchen island the man was leaning on. "Apparently it's no fun having the same name all the time."
"James," Sirius said seriously, "I love this girl. You need to marry her so we can gang up against you."
James rolled his eyes. "I've met her twice, Sirius."
"So? I know you fancy her, you get that look in your eyes when you think about her. You even saved a few rose petals from Padfoot's stash for yourself!"
"Shut up."
"Only if you go back tomorrow and get her new name," Sirius replied impishly.
James threw the biscuit he had just grabbed from a container at Sirius' head. Sirius somehow managed to catch the biscuit in his mouth and grinned around the treat. Accepting defeat, James sighed and grabbed himself another biscuit; it looked as though he was going back to the flower shop tomorrow.
Lily quirked an eyebrow when James walked in the next day. "Well that was quick," she greeted. "Dog already asking for more flowers?"
"Padfoot isn't, but Sirius is."
She laughed. "Feeling a bit left out, is he?"
"Something like that." James wandered over to a display of daisies and snapdragons. "These look like his type of flower."
"The snapdragons or the daisies?" Lily asked and James shrugged.
"Both of them."
"Then grab some flowers and tell me if you want another card for them."
James did so, telling Lily that he most certainly wanted another card and that Sirius did too. She tapped the pen to her lip as she thought. Eventually, she picked out a simple cream coloured card with black swirling around the corners and started writing.
There's a plot to replace you with your dog, watch your back and don't trust anyone. -Rose
"James, are you kidding me? How can you not have asked this woman out already? She's perfect!"
"Sirius—" James was cut off by Sirius' hand covering his mouth.
"Ah, it's Poppy now. Remember?"
James gave Sirius a look that asked if he was really going to be following that name through. Sirius nodded in reply and took his hand away.
"Poppy," he corrected before continuing, "if she hasn't even given me her actual name yet, what makes you think that there's even the slightest chance she'd agree to go out with me?"
"Have you asked for her real name?"
"No."
"Then why do you expect her to give it to you?"
"What's your name?" was the first thing out of James' mouth when he entered the flower shop the following morning.
"Lavender," Lily said without pause.
"Is that your real name?"
Lily grinned. "Who's to determine what's real and what's not? It's my real name for today."
"You have Sirius copying you, you know. He was Poppy yesterday and now he's only answering to Rose."
"Glad I could be of service. Any flowers for you today?"
James shrugged. "Sure, why not. I'm here anyway."
Lily hummed and looked him up and down before declaring, "Marigolds."
She pointed to the orange flowers next to James' right elbow and picked out a card, already knowing that James and Sirius would want one. Variety is the spice of life, don't you think? -Lavender.
Sirius placed the card down on the kitchen counter and declared, "That's it, I'm meeting this woman."
"Don't you think you've invested too much in a woman you only know through notes, Rose?"
"Dude, she gives flowers to Padfoot, she writes witty comments on the cards attached to said flowers, and she still manages to keep her name from you. This is the woman I have been waiting my entire life to meet."
James rolls his eyes. "Fine, you can come with me tomorrow."
"Yes!" Sirius pumps his fist in the air and then dashes over to Padfoot to tell the dog his exciting news.
James was accompanied by another man when he returned. The man standing beside him had longer hair falling to his shoulders. It was black like James' and he had the same sparkle in his eyes that James did. Lily smiled in greeting and put aside the bouquet of violets and roses she had been working on.
"You must be Lavender," she said and the man grinned.
"That's me, and you are?"
"Ivy. How's Padfoot, has he replaced you yet?"
With a sidelong glance at James, Lavender—or Sirius, as he had been known until recently—shakes his head. "He's working on it, but I'm still holding onto my place in James' life. Though I'll gladly share it with you."
He winked as she laughed and James sighed. "Dude, can you not flirt for me?"
"You weren't doing it."
"It's about time someone started doing it," Lily interrupted. "I was starting to think my flowers were the only reason you kept coming in."
Sirius snorted. "He is so far gone on you. He just needs a helping hand now and again."
"What do you say, James?" she plucked a single red rose from the display next to her. "Care to use the red rose as it's meant to be used?"
James was across the store in a flash. "Yes. Yes, I would."
She handed over the rose and he looked down at it, fiddling with the stem. Sirius cleared his throat from behind them to tell him to get a move on and when he looked up, Lily was smiling gently at him.
"Ivy, will you go out with me?"
"Yes."
"So, Flower Girl, what name are you using today?"
Lily hummed in thought as Sirius (otherwise known as Holly that day) handed her a cup of hot chocolate. "Oh, Lily, I guess."
Sirius nodded in approval. "I like it."
She smiled at him and sipped her drink. "I'm glad."
James stumbled in from the bedroom, still groggy from sleep. "What am I calling you two today?" he asked as he made grabby hands at the cup of coffee Sirius was holding.
"She's Lily," Sirius pointed at her and then himself, "I'm Holly."
James nodded and proceeded to ignore them as he let the coffee wake him up. Sirius and Lily watched him with the same amusement they had every morning as they sipped their hot chocolates—Lily had converted Sirius to having the sweet drink in the morning when she had moved in with them. As Lily watched her two boys, a small smile curved her lip—they had her given name now, they just didn't know it.