L/J: When Lily's family is killed, James comforts her. One Shot.
James Potter was pondering how to get his crush to notice him. Well, actually: correction. Lily knew he existed all right… and that was where the problem was. She. Hated. Him. So, when he walked into the corridor, whilst patrolling as part of his head boy duties, he was more than a little shocked to see Lily curled up in a ball and crying piteously.
"Evans?" his voice betrayed his surprise.
"Not now, James," she said through choked sobs. "Just… leave me alone."
"Was it Snivellous? If it was, I'll kill him!"
Lily shook her head, and just cried harder. "Evans?"
"Go away, James!" she said, ignoring his questioning tone.
"No. Tell me what's wrong," there was no answer except the heart wrenching sobs. "Lily?"
She just buried her head deeper into her robes and cried harder. "Go away. Please, James, just leave me alone."
"No, please talk to me." Lily gave no verbal sign that she had heard, but she dropped a letter on the floor, seemingly wanting him to read it.
Dear Miss Evans,
We regret to inform you that your parents' home was the victim of a Death eater attack. Your sister Petunia was not home at the time, and she was the one who found the bodies of your parents and brother. You are expected to attend the reading of their wills Monday the 10th.
Madam Hornby, Ministry Representative.
James's heart froze. That... thing... had killed her parents. He immediately abandoned all dignity and slid to the floor beside her. "Lily, it's going to be alright." He said, rubbing circles on her back.
She pulled away from him. "No, it's not, James! They are dead, and, and, and I don't know what to do! Only Petunia survived, and now she'll hate me because she hates magic and it killed them!" she cried, before flinging herself onto him and crying into his chest.
James just held her tight.
"Shhhh…" he soothed. "I don't think your parents would want you to be so sad, they'd want you to move on and still be the wonderful, beautiful girl that you have been. They wouldn't want you to cry like this."
"How do you know?"
"Because I don't want you to cry like this. It makes me sad that you're sad, and I think that it would make them sad that you're sad."
Suddenly she looked up at him, and gave him a watery smile. "I didn't know that you could be so sweet, Potter."
"Ah, but I'm a sweet kind of guy, aren't I?" he said, still not releasing her from his hug.
"If you say so."
"I do say so, Lils."
"I know what you mean, James, but… it still hurts, you know? That they are gone and they aren't coming back."
"I know."
"How can you know?"
"My mother was an Auror."
"Was?"
"She didn't ever return from one of her missions." He answered simply. "It was a while back, but I still miss her."
"Oh." She said, wiping her eyes. "Well, thanks for talking to me. It, you know, helps," she said, extracting herself from his grip, and looked him in the eyes for what seemed an eternity. Smiling, she gave him a soft kiss, stood up, and straightened her robes, walking away.
He was still holding the letter. He looked down at it in his hands, and looked at his watch, before sighing. His duty was over.
He walked back to the head boy's room, and went to get changed to go to bed, before he saw Sirius sitting on his bed. "Not now, Sirius."
"What? Not what now? Why not?"
"I ran into Evans on my duty." He explained, not wanting to go any further.
"And you kissed?"
"It's not my business to tell you." He said shortly. "Now if you don't mind, I'm going to have a shower."
He didn't notice that he'd left the horrible note on the chair, and disappeared into the bathroom. Sirius picked it up, and read it through.
"Now how the hell did that lead to them kissing?" he asked himself, scratching his head. Sirius always did have a one-track mind.
Authors Notes:
I like this one better than Crookshanks. It is another of my MSN Challenges. This time the topic was Lily/James. Include more about why Petunia hates magic. (from memory, anyway.) I still need to try an action one shot! Feel free to challenge me!
- The Magic Bringer