A/N: Prompt - drabble where James and Lily fight then make up?
Rating: T
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'You bloody, blithering moron!'
It was pretty rare for Lily's face to flush so much it began to blend with her hair colour, but this was one of those times.
Incandescent. That word described her pretty well at this point. James moved discreetly out of direct firing line, distinctly wary of her casting hand as she shook her wand at him.
'What did you think you were doing? Were you even thinking at all?'
She'd been at it for a good five minutes now, and James knew that there was absolutely no point in interrupting her with anything resembling an excuse, or logic for that matter, until she was done. Sometimes, it was best to just let her wind down.
'You went. For a drink.' She scowled at him. 'A drink at the Leaky Cauldron, of all places! The most public place you could possibly think of! I mean, exactly how stupid are you Potter?'
James was doing his best to keep a leash on his already fraying temper - he was well aware that it was more than a match for Lily's, and he knew that if he blew up as well they'd be fighting for hours - but he was being sorely tested. He remained silent, not trusting himself to speak.
'You are right up there on the Death Eater hit-list and you go out drinking in public?' Arm-waving had started now, a sure sign that Lily's temper was reaching its limits. 'And to make things just that little bit better, you went with Sirius! One of the few people they'd be even more eager to get their hands on than you! Of all the idiotic, stupid, brainless…'
'All right, that's enough.' James heard his voice come out in that low tone he knew she hated; if her temper was fire, quick burning rage, his was ice – slow to move but implacable once it started. 'It wasn't the best idea. Poor judgment on my part, I admit it. But nothing happened. You're being hysterical over something so incredibly tiny…'
Lily stared incredulously and snarled her response. 'The Death Eaters cast the dark mark and set fire to a shop only a few doors up from there. They came within yards of you.'
'And they didn't get anywhere near me.' James replied shortly.
'That's not the point!'
'What is the fucking point here Lily?'
'You could have died!' She screamed at him, wand falling from her fingers as her hand began to tremble. 'You could have been captured, tortured….for a stupid drink that you could have had in any pub in the country! Or at someone's house! You could have….you could have…'
She trailed off on a broken sob, and James felt his temper die back a little, not gone, but it's importance blunted, edged out by the wretchedness her hoarse and shaky voice evoked in him. He reached out for her, but she backed away from him, one hand raised defensively.
'Don't.'
'Lily…' He searched for words. 'I know it was careless. And I won't do it again. But it's not worth fighting over, and it's certainly not worth getting yourself worked up into this kind of state. I came home, safe and sound. Let's not borrow trouble, hey?'
'Oh, don't think you're getting off that lightly.' Lily's voice was wobbly, but there was steel in it.
James reached for her again, and this time she didn't pull away quite so far. 'Could you…do you think you could scold me tomorrow? I don't want to do this right now.'
'I don't want to do it at all.' She sniffled. 'I want you to take better precautions so that I don't have to yell at you.'
He sighed. 'Lily. Stop it.'
She glowered at him for a moment, then her shoulders slumped. 'Okay. Okay. But we're talking about it tomorrow.'
'Alright.' He held his arms open for her, and for a moment he thought she was going to ignore it but then she collided with him hard, her arms looping around his neck as she buried her face in his shoulder.
'Scared me, Potter.'
'Yeah, I know, I'm an arse.'
'You really are.'
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