NEW YEAR'S EVE, 1974
"Oi! Evans!"
Lily Evans felt her stomach churn. Of all the people, he had to spot her? She was really hoping to come to the New Year's Eve party in the Great Hall in time for midnight, and then turn around and leave. She was by herself, so no one would have missed her. Sev had gone back to his house to spend the holiday with his mum, but Lily stayed behind. Unfortunately, there was no such luck of ducking out unseen now. James Potter had spotted her. She frantically searched for a place to hide, an older student to duck behind, or something, but there was nothing. She was stuck.
"Evans!" he said as he walked up to her. "Happy New Year! Aren't you excited to be here?"
"That's not exactly the adjective I would've used," Lily muttered.
"Well then, what would you say to describe it?" Damn. He heard that? She thought she said it quietly enough.
"Er…well, I'd say it's rather…obnoxious."
"Obnoxious?" he asked, incredulous. "How so, pray tell?"
"Well, there's a lot of kids I don't even know here, even though some of them I recognize from Gryffindor. But other than that, I'm here all by myself, and I just barely managed to escape the upper years' corner. Apparently none of them can actually wait 'til midnight to get that kiss." Lily shuddered as she remembered the gruesome sight. It was horrendous, really.
James just laughed. "What do you mean you don't know anyone here? You know me! Aren't I company enough?" There was a sparkle of something in his eye as he said that, although she couldn't quite pick out what it was.
"Let me rephrase: I don't know anyone that I like here."
"Oh." He looked dejected for a split second, but then perked up again. "Come on, Evans," he said. "Midnight's almost here. At least stay until then, and then you can leave. I'll even walk you back if you want." Without waiting for an answer, he grabbed her wrist and dragged her to the center of the Great Hall. The tables and benches had been done away with, and instead there were a few round tables with chairs set up by the edge of the floor. Everything else was open space that the remaining student body had decided to fill by standing around and chatting away.
Lily suddenly felt a little agoraphobic. All she wanted to do was get in and get out, and now this prat Potter had practically kidnapped her, so her plan was ruined. Why did she stay at Hogwarts for the holidays again?
As soon as they reached the middle of the floor, the countdown began.
"TEN!"
Lily looked at James. He seemed like he was having the time of his life. She was miserable. What else was new?
"NINE!"
She wanted to go back to her dorm.
"EIGHT!"
She missed her books. They didn't drag her into throngs of people she didn't even know.
"SEVEN!"
She was going to kill James Potter.
"SIX!"
She really missed her dorm.
"FIVE!"
She thought she vaguely heard James say something next to her, but she couldn't make out what it was.
"FOUR!"
Yep, she was going to kill him.
"THREE, TWO, ONE, HAPPY NEW YEAR!" The entire Great Hall shouted. Lily turned to tell Potter what exactly she thought of him kidnapping her and bringing her to the middle of the floor when she was met with his lips.
It wasn't nice. Not at all. It was awkward.
James realized what had happened a split second too late and pulled back. The look of horror on his face Lily was sure matched her own.
"E-Evans, I'm so sorry! I-I-I was going to kiss your cheek, y-you know, just as a friend thing, b-but then you turned, and oh Merlin I'm sorry!"
Lily was livid. That was the final straw. Lily Evans snapped.
"Merlin, Potter! You just don't get it, do you?! I never wanted to be here in the first place, and now you've not only dragged me into the middle of the party, but somehow managed to k-k—" she struggled to even get the word out.
"K-kiss you?" Potter supplied.
"Yes! That!" she screeched as he winced. "How what would possess you to do something like that? Is this your idea of a good time? Or perhaps just your idea of a joke?"
"Evans, I already told you, it was an accident. I tried to kiss your cheek, but you turned-"
"Why would you even try to kiss my cheek in the first place?" she interrupted. "We're not friends, Potter! Why can't you get that through your thick skull? We'll never be friends! And I don't like you, so please just sod off!"
The look on his face made Lily feel as though she had just kicked a puppy. But there was no taking it back. The damage had been done.
She quickly turned on her heel and stormed out. She could hear Potter calling her name somewhere in the distance, but she didn't turn around. She didn't even look back. She was never really one for parties anyway.