Round One:
A/N: Written for the Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition.
Main Prompt: "The Lover." Goal: Connection
Extra prompts: 1. (quote) "The excitement of dreams coming true is beyond the description of words." Laila Gifty Akita, 7. (character) James Potter I; 10. (object) love letter.
Word Count: 1517
Today was the day. He had to give it to her now. There were three months left in the school year. Three months until they all graduated, and he never saw her again. He'd made progress this year, really — settled down and put his nose to the grindstone, so to speak. The looming threat of Voldemort, the hushed whispers in the hallways, the somber mood that could be felt around the castle — they all spoke to the unknown that lay before them. They could all be dead this time next year, and that was enough to make anyone grow up a little.
It didn't hurt that Dumbledore had decided to give him the Head Boy position, too. He and Lily made a good team, once she'd seen he was capable of doing a good job, and that he wasn't going to be asking her out every five seconds. He didn't regret doing that — persistence (Remus would say stubbornness) was one of his strongest traits. But it really hadn't been working, and in the months that he'd backed off, just tried to work with Lily and maybe even be her friend, he'd actually gotten somewhere.
It wasn't giving up, per se, he reminded himself. It was just… trying a new tack. And they seemed to be connecting better. Nowadays, her "Potter!" was more often fond than exasperated, and she actually made small talk in the evenings with him when he wasn't off with Sirius and Remus and Peter. He'd even go so far as to classify her as a friend. Even Sirius liked her, and that was saying something, considering Sirius was notoriously difficult and Lily was, well, Lily. And now he was going to take one more shot.
He patted his pockets to make sure the letter was still safely tucked inside. It was then he remembered that Sirius and Peter currently had custody of the Map, since they were on a Hogsmeade run (that he, as Head Boy, of course knew nothing about), and that he wouldn't be able to use it to find Lily and give her the letter in person.
That wasn't a problem, he told himself, though it was a little disheartening that something interrupted his plan the second he resolved to actually do it. He'd just leave it on her desk in their common area between the Heads' rooms — if she wasn't in there already, of course.
And it made sense, he thought, nodding a little to himself and starting off toward the Heads' dorms. It would be awkward to give it to her in person anyway; it would be much better if he just left it somewhere she could find it and read it privately. And it would give him time to bolster his resolve again. A thought occurred to him, and he quickly pulled out the folded piece of parchment he'd written her the letter on, making sure he'd signed his name at the bottom. It'd be just the sort of thing he'd forget to do when writing Lily a… well, he supposed it was a love letter, wasn't it?
Walking down one of the fifth-floor corridors, he paused. What was he doing? He was persistent, sure, but he'd been rejected so many times before… did he really want to lay himself out on the line like this? He swallowed. He'd been running this race for a long time — nearly six years, in fact. Would he bow out just before the final hurdle? If she said no now, he had told himself he would try and move on. But the end of the year was coming quick, and he couldn't hold his peace forever.
No. He had to do it. He had to know. He thought she'd been softening toward him lately — she'd even slipped and called him "James" once instead of Potter — and it had raised his hopes somewhat. He had to know. It would drive him mad with what-could-have-beens if he didn't.
"Potter!" a familiar voice said from behind him, very loudly, and he turned to see the girl herself marching up to him. His stomach swooped, but he pulled out his most disarming grin.
"Hey, Evans," he said, stopping so she could catch up.
"I've been calling your name for the last two minutes," she said, raising her eyebrows at him as they began to walk again, ambling in the direction of the Heads' dorms. "Plotting something?"
"No," James answered, honestly. "Just lost in thought, I suppose." Do it now give her the letter go on do it she's right there just hand it to her—
Lily laughed, which prompted a smile from James. "You're never not up to something," she said, though it was in a fond way. "But all right, then. Keep your secrets."
Go on you idiot give it to her that was the whole point don't muff it now, screamed his brain.
"You figured out what you're doing after graduation, Evans?" he asked instead.
The smile fell away from her face. "I'm going into Healing," she replied, more definitely than he'd ever heard her say it before. "I get the feeling we're going to need more Healers in the near future."
James nodded soberly. The letter felt as though it was slowly burning a hole in his pocket every second he spent with her. "D'you… ever think about…" He took a breath, then soldiered on, "Y'know, where you're going to be in a year?"
Lily gave him an odd look. "You're thoughtful today," she said curiously, but she answered nonetheless. "I think I'll be doing my training at St. Mungo's — if I pass the exams of course — and I'll be helping as best I can. What about you?"
James looked straight ahead. "I want to be on the front lines. I'm going to be an Auror." He'd been clear about this from the start.
Lily nodded — she'd known this already. "I figured," she commented, and though her words were light, her tone was not.
"Lily—" James started, then stopped. Was now really the right time? Ah, damn it all. He'd get it out and be done with it. He had to know if there was room in her future for him. "Here," he said, thrusting his hand into his pocket and pulling out the letter. She took it, nonplussed.
"What—"
"Just read it," he interrupted, feeling sick to his stomach. "I'll be in the dorm." He strode off before she could stop him.
Well, he'd done it, and he'd know one way or the other when she came back to the common room. He may have just made things horribly awkward for the rest of the year (he didn't dare to get his hopes up), but he couldn't let her drift away from him without trying one last time.
He flung himself into the armchair he'd claimed at the beginning of the year, hoping fervently that Remus wouldn't come in. He needed to deal with this by himself first. He loved his friends, but this was more personal than it had ever been before.
The door slammed against the wall and Lily came storming in, her red hair streaming out behind her and a fire in her eyes. "James Potter!" she shouted, zeroing in on him. He flinched back in his seat. She was angry? Why? Had he offended her somehow? He ran over the wording of the letter frantically in his mind as she stalked toward him, brandishing the parchment at him.
"Tell me this is not a prank," she hissed, and to his horror, he saw the beginning of tears in her eyes.
"I swear, it's not a prank," he said quickly, jumping to his feet. "I really mean it — I wouldn't have given it to you if I didn't—" He was cut off as she threw her arms around him and pulled him into a bone-crushing hug.
"You idiot," she mumbled into his robes. He carefully put his arms around her.
"Lily?" he asked tentatively. "What's the matter?"
She looked at him, a smile breaking over her face, though her eyes were still watery. "Why didn't you tell me sooner? I'd thought… I'd thought you'd stopped, you'd — moved on. I was so resigned…"
James felt the smile taking over his own face. "You have no idea…" he started, but somehow couldn't finish his sentence, his joy welling up past words. This was beyond even his wildest hopes. Though the world was dark and there was surely danger on the horizon, for now, all was right with the world.
He couldn't help himself — he pulled her in for a kiss. When they finally broke apart, they collapsed on the sofa, matching smiles and breathless laughter.
"You know," Lily said, giggling a little, "you could have handled that a little better than just saying Here and sticking a piece of parchment in my face."
James could only laugh.
-0-
The excitement of dreams coming true is beyond the description of words.
- Laila Gifty Akita