Written for The Houses Competition

House Hufflepuff

Category: Short story

Prompt: 'Fly with me'

Word count: 969

Beta'd by Dark Angel of Sorrow Returns


Flying was something he was proud of; something that was just him and not his family name. Of course, a few years ago he wouldn't have cared about what was him and what was his name. Then he met Lily Evans, and she refused to have anything to do with him until he grew up. Back then, he hadn't realised how young and stupid he had been. He still was young and stupid, but tempered it with a bit of 'Lupinism' when required. 'Lupinism' meaning to act like Remus Lupin, all quiet and smart, assessing each action and its consequences. He spent a long time thinking about this action, even talked with Lupin and Amelia, Lily's best friend, about it.

Everyone else had gone to bed. Amelia was keeping Lily awake, and Lupin was giving him the go ahead. James grinned at him, hopped on his broom, and flew out the window of the 7th year Gryffindor boys' dorm.


Lily and Amelia were gossiping, well, Amelia was gossiping and refusing to let Lily go to sleep. Suddenly, there was a tap from one of the windows. The two girls jumped and looked to where the noise had come from. Hovering outside their dorm was James Potter with a cheeky yet shy smile on his face.

Lily leapt up and opened the window, exclaiming, "What are you doing, James?"

"James?" James enquired, "Don't you mean Aladdin?"

Lily stared at him for a few moments, long enough for James to doubt himself and babble, "It's just that you keep telling me about how you love magic carpets and that scene between Aladdin and Jasmine; and I thought that maybe I could give you your own flying experience. I don't have a magic carpet, and I don't actually know who Aladdin and Jasmine are but-"

Lily cut him off, "Breathe, James. I love it."

"Well then, Lily, fly with me?" Lily grinned and nodded, stepping out onto the broom with help from James and Amelia.

They flew around the castle with James pointing out all the things that you could only see from that height. They saw the lights shining from various windows, the Whomping Willow moving restlessly, and the centaurs running through the forbidden forest. It was all unbelievably beautiful, Lily felt the urge to sing, but instead simply marveled at the sights her boyfriend showed her.

They came to a stop at the astronomy tower, where James flew in via one of the huge open space and landed by a blanket, on which laid a picnic. Lily gasped at the sight of the floating candles spinning slowly in a circle above the blanket; two plates were set out, and there were multiple cushions to lay on.

James smiled at her and offered his hand, "Shall we?"

She smiled and nodded, letting him lead her to the picnic and arrange the cushions around her until she was comfortable. He settled himself on the other side and poured them both a cup of tea from the pot. Perhaps not the normal date drink, but it was perfect for them and perfect for a picnic.

James opened the basket at his side and began pulling out a variety of was fruit salad, bread rolls, little quiches and, for dessert, Honeydukes' chocolate fruits.

Lily watched as James piled her plate up with food and smiled softly at him when he handed it over to her. She would never have guessed that this sweet man in front of her existed within the prankster and bully he had been a few years ago.

Now she was glad she had given him a chance; he had shown that he was willing to become a better person. The Marauder's pranks had calmed down a little since they had been dating, they were now mostly all harmless and in good fun as opposed to what they had been once before.

The group had even taken a break from tormenting Severus Snape, as Lily had once been his friend and didn't want any harm to come to him even after he had called her the worst name possible in the Wizarding World for the muggleborn.

As the picnic progressed, James started fidgeting until he could barely sit still. As Lily drained the last dregs of her tea, he got up on one knee and produced a small box from his pocket. Lily's hands came up to cover her mouth as she realised what was happening.

"Lily, I can't thank you enough for giving me a chance to show you who I could be if I had a reason. You became my reason to make myself better. These past few years have been some of the best of my life, and I know you're the reason for that. I want you to stay in my life and continue to make it better as you encourage me to be better. Lily, will you marry me?"

Lost for words, all Lily could do was nod. James' face broke into a brilliant smile, and he shakily put the ring on her finger before swooping her up and around in a hug, kissing her softly as they came to a halt. They grinned dopily at each other for a while before Lily lightly smacked James in the chest, "You made Amelia keep me up, didn't you!"

James shrugged, "Guilty as charged. We should probably get back now, exams are next week and we'll need all the sleep we can get."

"Well then, take me home, Aladdin," Lily grinned.

Your wish is my command, Jasmine."

Together they climbed back on the broom and flew out of the astronomy tower; the House Elves popping in to clear up the picnic things and smiling, happy that the plan had worked, and Lily had agreed to marry James.