Somebody's supposed to tear this place apart,
Until you find me hiding, silently, I wait,
You'll be excited just to see me
Someday, everything's okay.
Summer and gold throw their colours at the dark,
A mother tells her son darling look at the sparks.
But you hold my attention without even trying,
A beautiful reflection from firework eyes.
But never means forever
James woke up particularly early the next day; the day of his date with Lily. He sat up for a while, wondering how the day would go, and trying to plan it out in his head. He imagined all the perfect things that could happen, and it made him all giddy and happy.
Eventually, Remus stirred. With a sleepy little groan, he hauled himself up into a (nigh on) upright position.
"Moony! Guess what day it is today?!" James asked loudly. Remus let out a huge yawn, and looked at James.
"Hogsmeade." He mumbled groggily. James nodded with vigour, clasping his hands together. "I'm so excited! It's going to be great, I can just tell!"
"Unless you want your glasses where the sun don't shine I suggest you pipe down." Sirius's angry demand came muffled from amongst the tangled mess of blankets and pillows that were on his bed. Sirius moved around a lot in his sleep, and he also had a tendency to cuddle up to one of his pillows, or whoever was sleeping beside him. Girls thought he was adorable. James, on the other hand, thought he was an absolute menace.
James pouted, and then looked back at Remus. Remus looked extremely tired as he sat up and stretched.
"Come on, Moony. Get up, and help me choose something to wear!" James tugged on Remus's blankets. Sirius shifted and James heard him saying into the pillow he had begun cuddle; "Tais-toi!"
Remus pulled his curtains shut, presumably to change. He disliked people, even his best friends, seeing the scars that criss-crossed his chest, back, arms, and legs. Once he had changed he stood up and stretched his arms high into the air, yawning as he did so. James smiled brightly at him, and Remus couldn't help but smile in return.
"So, what do I wear?" James said, pointing at his trunk. Remus let out a huff. "I don't know James. Whatever makes you feel comfortable. I'm sorry I can't stick around to help. I have things to do elsewhere."
"Wait. Where are you going?" Sirius asked, suddenly wide awake and sitting bolt upright. Remus raised two eyebrows in his direction.
"I'm only going to the library." He informed Sirius, who swallowed. "Oh, okay." He said rather awkwardly, before falling back into his bed. Remus tried to hold back a smile as he left the room.
Over in the girls dorm, Mary was marvelling over how she had never seen Lily so nervous before.
"Well, do I look alright?" Lily asked for the hundredth time, smoothing out her high-waisted shorts. Her hair cascaded down her back and over her shoulders like a sea of perfect red waves. She had spent a long time trying to find an outfit that was both cute, and comfortable. Although it had not been entirely her choice; she would have chosen a different shirt.
"You look lovely, and you still have twenty minutes before you have to leave." Mary said, standing up and hugging Lily tightly. She was very excited for James and Lily's date. Lily sighed, hugging Mary in return. "What if he tries to snog me?"
"So what?" Mary laughed. "He'd be a fantastic kisser, I reckon." She finished, pulling away and holding Lily at arms-length. Lily let out a long sigh. She had, of course, thought about cancelling the whole weekend. But whenever she thought about that she remembered the look in James's eyes, and she knew that she couldn't cancel on him again. Lily left the dorm at 11:52 to wait for James in the Common Room. She sat on the red couch before the fire and fiddled with the edge of her shirt. Forever seemed to pass before she heard; "Hey, Evans."
She stood up and turned to face none other than James Potter. She took a brief moment to look him up and down. Canvas shoes, black jeans, red shirt, and a jacket. He looked plain, but it still weakened Lily's knees.
"Shall we go?" She asked James, a hint of nervousness in her voice. James nodded in return and Lily could tell that he was just as uneasy as she was. Although she hoped she wasn't as transparent.
The walk to Hogsmeade was awkward and somewhat tense as the two of them tried to make conversation.
"I think Gryffindor's going to win the Cup this year. We've got it in the bag, what with Stebbins as our new keeper. Although Quinn… don't get me wrong, Quinn is a fantastic player and he certainly has a flare about him and a passion for playing the game, it's just that he's not as quick as me. He can't continue to chase alongside me if he can't keep up. I don't think it's a problem with his broom. He has the same model as me. But maybe he doesn't keep it well looked after? I don't know… Not to mention that Regulus is Slytherin's new keeper. That's Sirius's little brother in case you didn't know. Pretty sure he hates me. I'll just tell my beaters to pay special attention to him. I don't really think it's anything to worry about, deep down. Like I said, we've got this in the bag. This season is ours." James looked down at Lily with expecting eyes, and she blinked at him in confusion.
"I have absolutely no idea what you just said to me…"
James chuckled in an out of place sort of way. "Sorry. I ramble when I'm nervous… So, um… what have you been up to?"
"Trying to help Remus and Sirius."
"Oh. Same here. Well, kind of. I'm not much of a help, probably more of a hindrance. I don't know what's up with them at the moment. They're friends again, at any rate." James said, smiling. Lily smiled right back at him as they finally reached Hogsmeade gates. Naturally, they went to the Three Broomsticks first, and sat down at a table away from other people. A few students in their year looked at them with surprise; nobody expected James Potter and Lily Evans to show up anywhere together.
James left Lily for a moment to fetch drinks. He came back five minutes later with two large mugs of warm Butterbeer. Setting them down on the table, he sat in his chair and a heavy silence hung over them. Lily sipped her drink a little.
"So…" James began, staring at the mug between his hands instead of the gorgeous redhead before him. He had always imagined his first date with Lily to be all snuggly and hand hand-y, but once he was there he was more nervous that he thought he could ever be. "Your outfit is really cute."
Lily stared at him for a moment, before bursting into laughter. James grinned. "What? I'm just trying to make conversation!" He said, chuckling as he did so. Lily shook her head. "That was an interesting thing to notice about me. Usually it's my eyes, but no. Today, it's the fact that this is a very expensive shirt that I've only ever worn once." She tittered. James raised two eyebrows. "Only once? Why's that?"
"Like I said, it's super expensive. That, and I usually have something better to wear. It's just that this was what Mary said was best. I argued it wasn't though, as it's pretty loose. Doesn't show off much, y'know?" She said, tugging at the loose material as she did so. James shrugged. "That doesn't matter to me. You don't have to try around me, or anything. You kind of just capture my attention regardless of how you look. Because it's more than your looks. I won't ramble on though…"
"No, no, it's okay. That was kind of sweet." Lily said, smiling slightly at the blushing boy across from her. James beamed in return.
After they finished their Butterbeers, James stood up abruptly. Lily raised her eyebrows at him in question and he smiled. "We should go. Perhaps to Honeydukes? I could buy you some chocolate, if you like?" He suggested, and Lily nodded. Much to James's pleasure, as they walked out the door, Lily took his arm. Outside, rain gently fell. James didn't hesitate to shrug off his jacket and drape it around Lily's shoulders.
"Oh, you don't have to do that. You'll get cold." Lily said, uncertainty in her voice. James scoffed. "Nah. I'll be fine. Besides, we'll be in Honeydukes in like, three seconds."
In three seconds, they stepped in Honeydukes. It was almost full of people, and James nearly fell over when he saw Remus with a boy, who was showing him some chocolate. He told Lily to wait a second while he went to talk to Remus, and Lily slapped his arm. "Nuh-uh, I'm going to talk to him too." She said, and they made their way over to Remus. The boy, who was facing away from Lily and James, broke a piece of chocolate away from the block. Playfully and in a shamelessly flirtatious manner, he slipped the piece of chocolate into Remus's mouth.
"Remus! You said you were going to the library." James said, and the boy turned to him. James sighed nasally.
"And you, Winston, said that you were going to read up on the tactics." James said dryly, looking at the boy. It was Winston Goodsir, a member of the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Winston had auburn hair, and blue eyes. Although he was not better looking that Sirius, he was still a very lovely boy and could be competition. Lily narrowed her eyes at Remus as Winston jumped into an explanation.
"Well, you see, captain, I was reading the tactics for a good amount of time. But then Remus sat with me and he said he was bored so here we are. But I did read the tactics, I swear."
"I guess I can let you off. But Remus, you certainly have some explaining to do. Doesn't he, Evans?"
"He sure does. Where's Peter? And, y'know, Sirius?"
Remus fought back a blush.
"I guess they're still in the dorm."
"How would they feel if they found out that you went to Hogsmeade without even telling them?" Lily asked, and Remus stared at her with pleading eyes. "They won't. It's not important. I'm just hanging out with a friend. That's all. Now, if you'll excuse me." He brushed past Lily and James, and Winston followed him out. Lily huffed, crossing her arms. "The nerve of that boy!"
James opened his mouth to agree, but a burp escaped his lips. He slapped his hand over his mouth, flushing pink.
"Pardon… it was the Butterbeer…" He mumbled from between his fingers. Lily began to laugh quietly. She was finding James's company more pleasant that she thought it would be, and she was really enjoying herself...
