"It's called a carn-i-val, James, not canarvale," came Lily's frustrated voice as they strolled through the crowded path, hand in hand. She usually enjoyed typical Muggle atmospheres like the Annual Surrey Carnival: the kids with their faces painted like princesses or tigers, the parents carrying the overly large stuffed animals that they won for their child, the balloons, the scent of fried food wafting from almost every square inch of the large area…it was nearly impossible not to forget about the constant threats of the Wizarding World. Every part of it screamed out to Lily but it was increasingly difficult to enjoy with the kid pulling on her hand, practically drooling all over the place. It was like he was sheltered as a child, or lived in a box, or came from a pureblooded family. Oh, right. Ding ding ding, we have a winner!
Why didn't her parents ever teach her a valuable lesson, like patience? Instead she got the useless ones, like keeping her room clean or to not instigate her sister (that one never stuck).
Lily dug her heels into the dirt, successfully stopping him in his hurried attempt to see everything in the first few seconds, including running rampant through a hoard of little kids approaching them. Maybe he never learnt the patience thing either.
Who was she trying to kid? James Potter knew anything and everything about patience. If he didn't, he might have given up on Lily ages ago.
"We have all day, James." Now she felt like his mother. At least he had half a mind to look sheepish.
"Sorry, Lils. I've never seen anything like it!" A passerby eating a corn dog gave them a dirty look, as they were apparently stopping traffic. "Ooh, what is that? I want one!" Lily rolled her eyes.
She really couldn't blame him for being so excited either but she found herself wishing that she had given the idea to Sirius and Remus instead. She didn't want to play babysitter, especially to her own boyfriend, but she had a feeling that she'd have to slap his hand away from a control box or hold his hair back as he threw up all the cotton candy he digested.
But instead she smiled and gave his hand a small squeeze and allowed herself to be pulled through the crowd like the good, patient girlfriend that she was. And she surprisingly didn't find herself caring anymore. The dazzled expression on his face wasn't anything she had seen in a long time – and she loved that she was the one who gave it to him. In fact, she could clearly remember the last time she was that close to that expression and her smile grew as she replayed the memory.
As her mind's eye was currently occupied with that beautifully delicious moment from two months ago, she was fully trusting James to guide her way through the chaos that was called a carnival. No such luck came. With his eyes locked on the looming Ferris wheel, their fate was practically sealed. She felt something sharp in her gut and reluctantly wrenched her focus back to the present, sidestepping the kid who had slipped underneath their entwined hands (how the...?) but ungracefully coming into contact with James' foot instead.
They went down like a pile of bricks.
A pile of bricks being forced out of a dump truck, just to clarify.
In a flurry of dirt, limbs, and murmured curses – after all, there were little children around – Lily landed face first on the ground while next to her, James landed on his back in a huff. It took a bit of maneuvering to get her legs untangled from his and it didn't help that she was currently dying of laughter. She pushed herself onto her knees and held out a hand to help him stand. She should have known better.
With a mischievous smirk, James tugged her down to his chest. Blushing, as some of the spectators stopped to goggle at the scene, Lily tried in vain to lift herself away from him, but the arm around her waist held her tight. "James-"
But he pushed his face forward and kissed her, his dirt-ridden hands finding their way into her tangled hair. She heard some of the people 'aww-ing' and muttering to themselves but for once, she didn't care about their very blatant display of affection. She just thought about the blissful moment before when she was imagining a picture very much like this one.
When she pulled back, that same dazzling expression was back and she swore she felt her chest tighten. "Come on, you klutz," she laughed, her own face matching his as she grabbed his arms and pulled them both to a standing position. She didn't even bother to dust herself off as his arm came around her waist and they continued through the carnival at a much slower pace. Every so often, he would tear his gaze away from the sights and press his lips to her temple and every time she would look up and memorize another feature on his face.
She was glad she got to give experience this to him. Sirius and Remus who?