Redeeming Qualities
Prompt: "You give the best hugs."
Setting: Canon, Hogwarts
335 Words
It was a truth universally acknowledged that Lily Evans did not like James Potter.
That was why she hadn't told anyone that when she had received that awful letter from Petunia in their third year and hidden way in the fifth-floor broom closet to cry her eyes out, James Potter had stumbled on her. And with his hazel eyes unusually solemn, he'd given her a hug and held her close while she cried.
They had never talked about that incident.
Just as they'd never addressed that time at the end of the fifth year when Lily had been upset over her recent falling out with Snape and had been meaning to find an empty compartment on the Hogwarts Express so she could wallow in peace. Instead, she had – literally – run into James. Wordlessly, he'd pulled her into his arms and ran his hand through her hair until she had calmed down.
In the start of their seventh year, when Lily's dislike of James had decidedly dwindled, she arrived on the platform 9¾ with her new Head Girl badge pinned on the lapel of her denim jacket. James spotted her, noticed the badge and let out a laugh.
Then, without any warning or preamble, he scooped her up in his arms and twirled her around.
Her head spinning from more than just the circles she'd just been subjected to, Lily was glad to feel firm ground under her feet and had her arms still wrapped around James' shoulders for support.
"What was all that about?" she asked him.
"That was sheer relief that we will have at least one Head student who knows what the bloody hell they are on about," he replied, hazel eyes still twinkling.
Lily's eyebrows rose.
"You're the Head Boy?"
"Unfortunately."
"Don't worry, Potter. You have other redeeming qualities," Lily comforted him, the corner of her lips twitching.
"I do?" James asked, sounding genuinely surprised.
"Yes." Lily pressed close, let her cheek come to rest against his shoulder. "You give the best hugs."
