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Is It Worth It?
Chapter 10
Lily stood in front of the mirror and gave a nervous smile to herself. This was going to be her first date with James, and for some reason she had an army of butterflies in her stomach.
She tried to tell herself that she had nothing to worry about, but that just didn't help her at all. Sure, she knew that when she put her mind to it she was beautiful, but there were just some things you felt like you had to be just a little more than what you could give. This was one of those times apparently.
She was wearing a dress that she had bought right before coming back to school – she had loved it at first sight, and was more than grateful that she had brought it with her.
It was a green knee length silk dress with a double V-neck dress that featured a sheer tonal mesh overlay in the same green color and was detailed with ribbon embroidery.
Her red hair had been fashioned into loose curls that she had left down for James. She had quickly learned that he loved to play with her hair.
And for her makeup, she went without any cover-up and opted for a smoky eye shadow look instead.
She looked great; she just hoped that she wasn't overdressed. He had told her to wear formal, but was she formal enough?
Just as she was about to walk back to her closet to see if there was anything else that she could wear, James knocked at her bedroom door, causing her to start in surprise. There was no going back after this.
Grabbing her black pea coat off of her bed as she passed it, Lily took one deep calming breath before she opened the door.
"You look great," James breathed as he saw her, making Lily blush and push a few strands of her hair behind her ear.
"Thank you," she smiled as she looked at him. He didn't look so bad himself in his formal wizarding clothes. His pristine black and white outfit made him look debonair and older than he was. And amazingly enough it looked as if he finally won a battle with his messy hair. It was slicked back off of his forehead, with no of the usual hints of untamable hair that he usually had.
"You don't look so bad yourself," she told him as he grabbed her jacket from her limp hands and held it up so that she could slip into it.
"I have something for you," James grinned down at her, his blue eyes shinning with an emotion that Lily couldn't place. She loved the dimple that he got on his right cheek when he smiled – it gave him a boyish charm.
"You didn't have to get me anything," Lily protested softly as she turned to look at him better. Why is it that some guys had to be so damn perfect?
"Yes I did. You need something to remember this night by," James told her as he reached into his cloak pocket and withdrew a perfect white lily. "I know it's a huge cliché because of your name, but it reminded me of you," he said sheepishly when he noticed Lily's amused look.
"Thank you, I love it," Lily grinned as she took the flower from his hand and brought it to her face to smell it. Such a small thing made everything in her go soft – it was amazing.
"Are you ready to go?" James asked, holding up his arm, elbow out for her with a charming smile on his face.
"Let me put this away, one moment," Lily told him as she rushed back into her room to place the Lily on her bedside table where she had a half full glass of water that she never finished drinking last night.
"Okay," she smiled as she took his offered arm and followed him down the staircase. It wasn't an easy task, but they managed to get down without falling over. "That's harder than it looks," Lily laughed as they exited the common room.
"I thought that it was wide enough for both of us," James said in way of an apology as he grabbed her hand and brought it up to his lips. He was determined to make this night perfect for her. Nothing was going to go wrong.
"Where are we going?" Lily asked as they strolled through the halls hand-in-hand. The carriages were going to be leaving soon if they didn't hurry up, but she didn't want to rush him.
"A place where we won't be bothered," James told her with his trademark smirk as he dropped her hand and wrapped his arm around her waist instead.
"And just why wouldn't we want to be bothered Mr. Potter?" Lily flirted back with a small smile. She couldn't help but to smile when he was like this with her.
"Because I want you all to myself without everyone staring and pointing at us," he told her as they stepped onto a staircase just as it stopped moving.
"Thank Merlin," Lily sighed happily. She was starting to get extremely tired of everyone's constant attention. She understood that the school population as a whole was shocked, but that doesn't mean that they have to gawk at her like she came from another planet every time they saw her walk by.
"Lily!" someone yelled from behind the new couple.
Lily looked at James in a way that told him to behave as she turned around and stared at Snape. "Yes?"
"You don't have to do this," Snape gasped for air as he skidded to a halt in front of the two, his ever present black robes swishing around him. "If you want to date someone, date me instead. I thought that you weren't ready for it yet."
Staring at Snape with a blank expression, Lily tired not to recoil in disgust as he dragged his hand through his oily potion smelling hair and then extended it to touch her. "I'm sorry, I wasn't aware that you wanted to date me," she said slowly as she discretely backed up out of his reach, dragging the snarling James with her. She didn't want him close enough to Snape to inflict harm. "And I believe that I'm fine with the decision that I have made. I'm sorry Snape, maybe next time."
James turned his head to look at Lily in shock. Why is she being so nice to this piece of filth! He screamed in his head. This was his Lily, and he wasn't going to lose her to someone like Severus Snape. Hell, he couldn't lose a donkey to Snape, let alone the most beautiful girl in school.
"I'll see you around," Lily told him firmly as she dragged James towards one of the waiting carriages. Most of them were already gone, but they managed to get one by themselves miraculously.
"I can't believe that you talked to him!" James vented as he looked at Lily. "He goes around calling you the 'M' word and you still talk to him! Are you crazy?"
"I have a hard time being mean to people when I'm in a good mood," Lily shrugged, her green eyes laughing at him as she kept her lips straight. He looked adorable with his pout.
"But still, this is Snape that we're talking about, not some weird half nice half mean furry animal! Snape is always a bastard," James argued, folding his arms over his chest, peeved.
"But I'm here with you," Lily shrugged, sighing. Men were such idiots – never had a clue when to drop a subject.
"I know that you're here with me," James said slowly, not sure what she had meant by that. Looking at her though, he couldn't help but feel a little guilty. He had made up his mind to make this the best day of her life, and here he was arguing with her over Severus Snape of all people. Smooth moves Potter, no wonder why you have all the girls chasing after you.
"I'm sorry Lily, I shouldn't have brought it up," he apologized as he picked up her hand, which had been picking at the hem of her dress and brought it up to his lips.
"You're a man, which means that you are a dunderhead, which means that you're not really sorry, but you don't want me upset," Lily told him as she looked at him from the corner of her eyes, nearly laughing as she saw the blush on his cheeks. James Potter didn't blush.
"Does it now?" James asked sheepishly, not wanting to admit that she was correct.
"Yep!" Lily laughed, nodding her head as she looked at him.
Just then the carriage came to a stop, making the two teenagers look out the windows – they were there already.
"Come on," James grinned as he hopped down and held out a hand so that Lily could get down. His parents had always thought him to greet a girl with more respect than you would a queen – he had just never tested the theory with any other girl before.
"I can't believe that it's so cold already," Lily said as she pulled her jacket closer to her body, wishing that they could have been on a date that allowed her to wear pants instead of a dress.
"It's going to be worse once December comes," James told her as he wrapped his arm around her waist and drew her close to his body. "I'll be more than willing to share my heat with you, don't worry," he grinned as he looked down at her. Sometimes it amazed him how vibrant Lily could be yet fragile looking at the same time. She was close to a head shorter than him, and weighed at least half his weight – sometimes he was scared that he could break her just by touching her.
"Where are we going?" Lily asked as they passed all of the usual Hogsmeade shops and into a richer, less student populated side of town that she hadn't realized existed.
"Right there," James said as he pointed to a small shop that had a wooden sign hanging above the door with the traditional celtic knot on it.
"What is that place?" she asked with a frown, suddenly scared that James was going to take her into a seedy bar. It was too small of a place to even hold a kitchen and a table by the looks of it, so how could it be a restaurant?
"One of the finest dinning selections that you could find around here," he told her as he opened the frosted glass door for her and watched as her mouth dropped in shock.
The restaurant was nothing like you would expect it to be from the outside. Inside it was almost as if it read your mind and picked out the perfect fairy tale and portrayed it into every setting.
Like Hogwarts, the ceiling was charmed like the sky, yet this one was set with the starry night sky, with a full moon. Even though it was only lunch time it was dark inside, the only lighting in the whole restaurant came from the candles that were placed on each table, hovering over the diners heads so that they weren't in the way on the table. The table cloths were a filmy white silk, and every table was a booth seat and had its own section to allow the diners their privacy.
"Good day," a voice drawled from next to Lily, causing her to jump. "Can I have your name please?"
"James Potter," James chuckled as he stepped behind Lily and slid her jacket off of her shoulders.
"Don't laugh at me," Lily hissed and dug her elbow into his side as he handed over her jacket and his cloak. Underneath he was wearing a pair of black slacks and a dark blue button up shirt that complimented his eyes. The top two buttons were undone, giving her a glimpse of the white t-shirt that he was wearing underneath. Add in his shaggy black hair and grin and it was just enough to make Lily weak at the knees.
"Sorry, love," he smiled as the host started to motion them towards their booth.
Lily just smiled and followed the sleek haired host, scrunching her nose against the over powering smell of the cologne he had put on before he came to work that afternoon.
"Your server will be with you momentarily," the guy – Stanly his name tag revealed, drawled as James helped Lily slide into the booth, and then moved to slide into his own side.
"I can't believe this, I thought that you were taking me to a bar," Lily told him with a smile as she brushed her hair over her shoulder, revealing her long white neck.
Laughing, James leaned back and simply looked at Lily. It was hard for him to think of a time when he ever thought her to be ugly. She looked perfect, every time. "Now why would I make you dress up in this very nice dress to take you to a bar – great legs by the way."
"Thanks they're my mother's work of art. And who knows with your mind – you could have thought that it was romantic," Lily shrugged as she started to draw little designs into the table cloth with her nail unintentionally.
"Not even I am that stupid!" James laughed, and then immediately frowned. "I didn't mean that the way it came out."
"Uh-huh," Lily giggled. "I kind of agree though."
"Now, now, be nice," he pouted, causing her to laugh harder. "I like it when you laugh. It does something to your face that just makes you …. I don't know, but it makes you even more beautiful than you were."
Lily looked at James with a stunned look, blushing to the tips of her hair with the compliment. "Thank you," she murmured.
"It's the truth," he shrugged as he leaned across the table and grabbed her hand. "I feel like we've done this a million times before, yet I still feel as if everything rests on this one date."
Lily just smiled at him and shook her head. She didn't know how to reassure him that it didn't, because truth was, she was thinking the same thing.
Just then their server, a young blond girl, came up to the table with a smile – well, a smile for James and a nod for Lily to be more accurate. "Hi my name is Kayla and I'll be your server, what can I get you to drink tonight?"
"I'll have a pumpkin cider," James said, smiling lightly at the girl before he looked back at Lily, surprised to see her glaring at the waitress.
"I'll have a cinnamon spritz please."
"Great, I'll be right back with those and take your order," she grinned, her voice cheerful.
Barely refraining from rolling her eyes at the girl, Lily looked back at James and raised an eyebrow in question. "What's that look for?"
"You're jealous that she was smiling at me," James grinned as he leaned back and laced his fingers behind his head, smirking at her the whole time.
"No I wasn't," Lily blushed as she looked away from him and down at the table cloth. She had never been jealous of someone before, so this was a weird position for her to be in.
"Uh-huh. Don't worry, I would have been too if it was a guy instead of a girl," James told her as he scooted across the booth so that he was sitting next to her instead of across from her.
Lily turned her head to look at James and couldn't help but wonder how she got so lucky. She had gone from having nothing but Bella in her life to having everything that she had ever wanted. James Potter. She had the most wanted man in school, all for herself – she had the right to be protective of him.
With those thoughts in her head, Lily smiled at the waitress as she came back with their drinks and to take their orders.
"Do you know what you want, baby?" she asked James, looking up at him dreamily.
Shaking his head at Lily's attempts he looked at Kayla and gave her his order, his hand softly caressing Lily's shoulder as he did so.
"What about you, love?" he asked.
"I'll have the herb chicken with a side of the cranberry mixture, along with a side of mixed vegetables, please."
"Okay, that'll be out shortly," Kayla sighed, and Lily could see the girls green eyes rest on the arm that James had over her shoulder with a defeated smile.
Now Lily actually felt bad for the girl. There was nothing like being single and seeing everyone coupled up – especially if one of those people was someone that you liked or thought was cute. It was the single girl curse.
Resting her head on James' shoulder, Lily closed her eyes and smiled. She was no longer one of those girls who had to worry about that curse. She had her man; and she wasn't letting go any time soon.
.0
Lily kept her hand firmly in James' strong, warm, and slightly callused hands as they walked through the town of Hogsmeade. The wind was starting to pick up, and had a brutal bite to it, but she didn't mind. As long as she was within breathing distance of James, she was able to feel his body heat.
"It's beautiful out here," Lily said as she wrapped both arms around one of his. Her head was resting against the top of his arm, her cheek rubbing against the wool of his cloak as they walked. Her legs were frozen but the rest of her body was warm!
"It is," James smiled, looking down at her. She looked so serene as she held onto him, looking around the part of Hogsmeade that not many students ventured to. The leaves were basically all fallen off of the trees, leaving them bare; piles of leaves were piled beneath them just waiting for kids to jump into them, laughing as they threw them at each other. A fine layer of fog was starting to settle in, creating the illusion of the world being completely quiet and quaint without a problem to worry about.
Yet it was Lily who was beautiful to him. Her face was relaxed in a way that he hadn't seen on her since their first year at school. Her green eyes were vivid and attentive and her lips were half tilted in a small smile. She looked perfect – he wanted to remember her just as she was right now.
I love you Lily, he sighed happily in his head as he tilted his head so that he could place a light kiss on the top of her head, a few of her auburn strands of hair tickling his nose as he did so.
"Let's head back, you're getting cold," James told her as he noticed how cold her face felt. "I don't want you to get sick."
"Okay," Lily sighed. The only reason she was agreeing was because if she wasn't careful she was going to die of hypothermia. She felt like a popsicle!
She was going to be sad when this day was over though, it was one of the bests of her life.
Authors Notes:
TA-DA! Two updates on this story within a month, it's a miracle! I think that I've died of shock.
Anyways, this is nothing like the original date – besides the description of the restaurant. I decided to go with something different when it finally came down to it all. I hope that you enjoyed!
Review!