A/N: For the HPFC Valentine Drabble Collection Competition. Pairing: James/Petunia. Prompt: pearls.
Disclaimer: I own nothing, I'm just playing in Jo's sandbox.
Lily brings him home the summer of her sixth year, and when Petunia Evans sets eyes on James Potter, she forgets that she hated her sister, that she hated everything to do with magic. His shaggy hair sweeps the tops of his dark eyebrows, and his hazel eyes peer out from behind thin black frames, and she thinks that he's not bad looking.
He looks at her like just maybe she's beautiful. She doesn't believe it, doesn't really know how to. He's not normal, after all.
She's plain, with her long neck and blonde curls, but even with every doubt lodged permanently in her mind, every time his eyes meet hers she feels wonderful, like she could stand on top of the world and soar. He finds excuses to spend time alone with her, snatched moments here and there, when Lily is away, and he even kisses her one or forty times.
The last time she sees him, she's got her own place, and he presses a string of pearls into her palm in the cramped hallway between the bathroom and the kitchen of the small flat, and he kisses her with a fervor that leaves her head buzzing and her heart pounding.
The next time she hears his name, it's muffled between Lily's sobs, her eyes red-rimmed with grief, and Petunia feels her heart break in two. Raid. Death Eaters. Surprise attack. Dead.
Her lips tremble and she clutches at her neck, her fingers clasping around the string of pearls and she feels as if the world has swallowed her whole.
It hurts to breathe after that, like she's betraying him.
James Potter, the boy who died. The boy with the hazel eyes and the crooked smile who made her feel beautiful and loved and perfect. For a little while, at least.
A/N: I kind of love this pairing, so it's my honor to contribute to this corner of the fandom. Leave a review, please!