A/N: Here is some Valentine's Jily fluff for Sophy (Slytherin Cat) as part of the Valentine's Fic Exchange on HPFC. Enjoy!
The Transfiguration corridor was crowded, as it always was during lesson change-over time. It seemed that McGonagall was teaching the second years next, and they had arrived before she'd let her sixth-year class out, meaning that they were getting impatient. The noise was deafening, and somehow the rule prohibiting students from performing spells in the corridors was never enforced.
Amongst this chaos, James Potter stood nervously, checking his watch several times a minute. "Come on," he muttered, tapping his foot in annoyance as a poorly-aimed hex narrowly missed his right ear. He'd literally run there from his Charms class, desperate to catch Lily before she disappeared off to her next lesson. He just wanted to get this over with.
Finally, the classroom door opened and order was quickly restored in the corridor - none of the second years wanted to face the wrath of McGonagall. One by one, the NEWT students exited the classroom, and the suspense was killing James.
Deep in conversation with Alice Macmillan and Emmeline Vance, Lily was the last out of the classroom. She passed James without a glance.
"Hey! Evans!" he called desperately. He didn't want to let the opportunity pass yet again.
Lily didn't look overly pleased to see him there. She gestured for her friends to keep on walking and said, "What is it, Potter? I've got a lesson to get to."
"I'll be quick. There's a Hogsmeade trip tomorrow," he said, trying to sound casual despite the fact that his heart was hammering in his chest. "Fancy coming to Madam Puddifoot's with me, or wherever you girls like to go on Valentine's Day?"
"I don't think I can imagine anything worse," Lily said disdainfully, and she marched off to catch up with her friends without another word.
"Fine then. Your loss," James muttered towards her retreating back. He had a free period, so he turned around and walked dejectedly back in the direction of the common room. He just couldn't understand what he'd done wrong this time.
He climbed through the portrait hole to see Sirius, Remus and Peter in their usual armchairs by the fire. Sirius stood up expectantly when they saw James enter. James ignored them, collapsing into his seat.
"You didn't chicken out yet again, did you?" said Sirius exasperatedly.
"It's tomorrow, you know," Peter chimed in. "You don't have much more time to ask her."
James sighed heavily. "Oh, I asked her alright."
"And what did she say?" Remus enquired, looking up from his Arithmancy essay.
"She said, and I quote, 'I don't think I can imagine anything worse.'"
There was an awkward pause; all three of his friends could tell how upset James was by this, and they didn't think that making a stupid joke would be the best way to respond.
"I don't understand what I've done!" he exclaimed, the frustration taking him over. "I asked nicely. I haven't cursed Snivelly in weeks. I haven't been harassing her like I used to. And last week, we had an actual conversation. Like, not a shouting match. That's progress, isn't it?"
"Definite progress," Remus agreed, putting down his essay so that he could join in the conversation properly.
"So why didn't she say yes?!"
"Maybe she just doesn't like you in that way," Peter suggested.
Sirius shook his head violently. "No. That can't be it. She might not realise it yet, but she's head over heels for you. It's obvious," he said. "Look, mate, she'll say yes to you one day. Maybe Valentine's Day just isn't her thing."
"What do you mean?" James asked, bemused. "She's a girl. Of course Valentine's Day is her thing."
Remus laughed. "Not necessarily. Not all girls are romantics."
"Sure, the ones that are are probably easier to win over," Sirius told him, "but if she's not, that's fine too. You just need to find out what makes her tick."
Although James would never usually consider taking girl advice from Sirius (he went through girlfriends at a speed unrivalled by anyone at Hogwarts), those words did make him think. And they made him realise that he didn't really know Lily Evans at all. He didn't know her middle name, where she lived, if she had any brothers and sisters... or even what she liked doing, other than homework.
Maybe he needed to get to know her properly before he did anything else.
Lily sighed. Tomorrow would be the first Valentine's Day that she actually had a boyfriend, and all the evidence seemed to suggest that he'd forgotten about it.
It didn't make sense. Despite her reservations about finally giving in and saying yes to going on a date with James, he had actually been nothing but good to her since becoming her boyfriend. He hadn't been taking their Head Boy and Girl duties any less seriously, and he'd been acting far less arrogant. He seemed over the moon.
He'd remembered her birthday, which all of her friends had been very impressed by, and he'd bought her a lovely necklace for Christmas. And yet it was the day before Valentine's Day, and they'd said nothing about it.
"Cheer up, Lil," Alice told her from the other side of the dorm, where she was changing out of her school uniform. "He can't really have forgotten. Everyone's talking about it. He's probably planning to surprise you."
"Maybe," Lily muttered. It was alright for Alice. She and Frank had planned an afternoon in Madam Puddifoot's, and although Lily didn't personally go for that sort of thing, Alice would love it.
Alice finished getting changed and then came over to sit on the bed next to Lily. "Look, if you're that worried about it, why don't you just go downstairs and talk to him?"
"I guess I could." She'd feel bad if James actually was planning some big surprise and she'd ruined it, but on the other hand, she normally found James extremely easy to read. She suspected that if he was planning something, she would have found out by now.
"Go on," Alice encouraged. "Bet you two Galleons he hasn't forgotten."
Lily made a face at her and started down the stairs into the common room. She knew it was stupid of her to such a big deal out of this, but she couldn't help wondering.
"Evening, Lilyflower," James said as she arrived downstairs, greeting her with a quick peck on the lips. "Are you okay?" he asked, seeming to sense that something wasn't quite right.
Lily led him over to a quiet corner of the common room. She took a deep breath. "It's Valentine's Day tomorrow."
"So it is," he said, sounding confused.
"So, want to do anything for it?" she asked, trying her best to sound casual.
"But... I thought you hated Valentine's Day," James said slowly.
Lily racked her brains, trying to think of when she'd said that. "What gives you that impression?" she demanded. Maybe the way some people celebrated it irritated her, but she didn't have any objections at all to the day itself.
"Well... last year when I asked you out, you said you couldn't think of anything worse. And you hadn't mentioned it, so I assumed you didn't want to celebrate it this year either."
"Oh! That wasn't what I meant at all, silly," Lily laughed, relieved that James hadn't forgotten about it after all. She remembered that day - she'd been tired and grumpy, and a small part of her had actually regretted saying no to James afterwards. "I can't imagine anything worse than going to Madam Puddifoot's, but Valentine's Day doesn't have to be about pink and glitter and hearts."
"Really?" James said, looking relieved.
"Really. It's about spending time together and doing stuff we like."
James beamed. "Well then. What would you like to do?"
"Hmm," Lily considered. It was hard to come up with her perfect date on the spot. "I'd like to go for a walk in the mountains by Hogsmeade. Maybe take a picnic with us!" she suggested, inspiration hitting her.
"A picnic? What if it rains?"
"Then we get wet," Lily declared, laughing at him. It was only a bit of water, hardly the end of the world. "You've played Quidditch in stormy conditions plenty of times, you wimp. Who cares if it rains?"
"Who would have thought it?" James said pensively. "Nature is what makes Lily Evans tick."
She shrugged; she supposed it did. Standing at the top of a mountain, looking down on the world below, was one of the times she felt most alive. "There are lots of things that make me tick. That's just one of them. What makes you tick, then, James Potter? Other than Quidditch?"
"Easy. You," he said without hesitation.
He'd caught her by surprise with that line; a smile spread across her face. "You're cheesy," she said laughing, and pulled him in for what she'd intended to be a long kiss, but he ended it far too soon.
"But you love it. Nope," he said, when Lily protested. "Save it for tomorrow."
He walked away, and she couldn't stop herself from grinning.