"Oddly commitment is best expressed in the realm of the mundane. Those tiny things observers deem insignificant; the brush of fingertips across a palm when hands separate, a tiny smile after an exhausting day, the 'sweetheart' appended to a greeting or farewell are the turning cogs which keep the magic alive. "

Elysian Winter

AN: I came up with the quote above literally at this moment. Man I'm good, if I say so myself.


Glance

There's a certain expression that Lily makes which James adores above all others. It's this way she has of looking at him in the most unlikely moments. He'd never admit it but this particular expression is what James has been thinking of to generate his patronus since the winter of their sixth year.

It always occurs at the oddest times in James' mind. He has seen it immediately after she comes home after a horrible day in healer training or when a mission with the order has gone badly; in the middle of her sobs when she's crying; in laughter and joy, bemusement and anguish. It never fails to catch him unawares.

When it happens, her eyes become so soft and tender; his heart immediately skips a beat. Then there's this twinkle in her eyes that makes him unconsciously half-gasp the next breath he takes. Finally there is the not-quite-smile that her lips quirk into which fills him with a near-overwhelming desire to kiss her.

He has never told her but the first time she ever looked at him with that expression, he had decided to give up on her after so many rejections. That look made him ask her, just one more time, to go out with him (the first time she said yes). And every time he got angry enough or hurt enough to end their relationship (one of the astonishing things James learned from finally being with Lily was that she was in fact capable of making him want to end things between them) that one look halted his plans.

With one glance, she makes him fall in love with her all over again. And every moment following is a new chapter in their romance.


Elysian Winter: (whining) Nobody is reviewing my story! bursts into tears

Sirius Black: As you can see the author is reduced to being pathetic. Please review so that she can salvage what little dignity she has left.