Gift-Giving Extravaganza 2021: owlwayssandforever
Prompts:
James/Lily
WC: 2243
"Are you sure this is going to work, James?" Sirius leaned over James's shoulder to peer at the cake on the table. James hummed as he carefully applied the blue frosting to the sides.
The five-tiered cake slowly swayed. It seemed to be held up only by faith and Remus' Strengthening Spells. Still, James's chest swelled with pride as he gazed upon his masterpiece.
"Positive. Lily won't be able to resist my charms after she sees this. What girl would?" James wiped the sweat off his brow and stepped back, almost crushing Sirius's toes. The house-elves chittered as they stood nearby, staring at the cake with wide eyes.
"I still don't think this thing is edible," Remus said, his nose scrunching up in distaste. He stood on the other side of the table, where Peter sat perched on the edge. "I tasted the batter. You're going to poison her."
"I followed the recipe, Moony," James stated. He wiped his hands on the frilly apron he wore and grinned. "Lily will see this cake, fall in love with me, ask me to marry her, and voila! My dreams will come true."
"You've gone loony." Peter licked his lower lip. He finished eating his cupcake, which was given to him by a lovely Hogwarts house-elf, before tossing the wrapper towards the bin. It fell to the ground silently, and a house-elf immediately hurried over to pick it up. Peter murmured, "My sixth sense states this is not going to end well."
"Well, your sixth sense is wrong," James grumbled, annoyance creeping in. "You're all just jealous because you don't know how to bake a cake, but I do."
"I don't think you can call this...this thing a cake," Sirius said carefully. James turned around to look at him, his lower lip trembling. Sirius ran his fingers through his hair and sighed. In a monotone voice, he declared, "Fine, you've done a wonderful job, James. Lily is sure to love this."
James happily whirled back around to his cake, reaching forward to steady the top tier. Despite the Strengthening Spells, it was still leaning to the side, and the blue frosting had curdled and was slowly melting off from the heat. He needed to get the cake to Lily before any disaster could strike.
He wiped his hands on the apron again, ignoring his friends when they all rolled their eyes at it. It was a gag gift from Lily when Professor Dumbledore had asked them all to play Secret Santa. Even though the apron was horrifying to look at, it was the first present Lily had given James; therefore, it meant the world to him.
James said, "Okay, boys, I'll take the cake to Lily now. I hope she eats it, though…"
"Do you want us to Imperio her?" Sirius asked, pulling out his wand. James grinned at Sirius' protectiveness but shook his head. Sirius slipped his wand back into his sleeve with a quick nod.
"Do you need any help?" Remus asked, but James shook his head.
"No, I've got it. I'll be fine. You go on ahead."
"Good luck," the boys said in unison, and James gave them a quick thumbs-up before they left the kitchen.
James used his wand to Levitate the cake, and it swayed in the air. His breath faltered for a few seconds as he willed the tiers to remain in place. Please, don't fall. Please, don't fall. Please, don't fall.
It didn't.
Not until he had reached the Black Lake, that is.
Lily was standing under the tree, facing away from him, her wand in one hand and a thick book in the other. James's lips turned up in a wide smile, and he called, "Lilybug!"
A blue spell whizzed past James's ear, and he squealed and ducked. He lost his concentration on the Levitation spell, and the cake tottered in the air before plummeting to the ground with a loud splat.
"My cake!" James sobbed, falling onto his knees in the grass. Tears welled up in his eyes as he stared at his destroyed masterpiece. "My cake's ruined!"
"Serves you right for sneaking up on me like that," Lily snapped, walking closer to him. "What are you doing here?"
"I—" James was unable to speak, his eyes still trained on the mess on the ground. "I—"
"Well, speak up, Potter. I don't have all day," Lily said, and James finally looked up at her.
"I...baked you a cake," James whispered, lowering his gaze again. "But…"
"That was a cake?" Lily blurted out.
James's lower lip trembled at her incredulous tone. Why couldn't anyone see it was a cake? Was it not obvious?
Lily coughed before saying, "I mean...that was a cake."
James muttered, "I can't believe everything's ruined. Even the frosting…" He poked the cake, and the sad frosting dripped down onto his finger. His shoulders slumped at the sight.
"Was this a prank?" Lily asked, suspicion evident in her tone. James looked up at her, his brow furrowed, and he shook his head. Lily narrowed her eyes at him, and James sighed.
"I know you think I'm a hideous toerag, but this wasn't a prank. I tried to bake you a cake without magic—I heard you talking to Mary about how much you missed the blue cakes your mum used to make for you. I thought maybe I could...Never mind." James pulled out his wand and was about to cast an Evanesco on the cake when Lily interrupted him.
"Hold on. You really baked me a cake? And it doesn't have any suspicious potions or Zonko products in it?"
"No, of course not. Have I ever pranked you before? Think about it. Yes, I love pranking people, but have I ever pranked you?" James knew the answer to this question was a resolute 'no'; the Marauders had a strict 'no pranking significant others' policy. Even though Lily wasn't his girlfriend—yet—the boys had spared her.
Lily bit her lower lip as she thought, and James turned back to the cake. He sighed and raised his wand to clear it off, but Lily interrupted him again.
"Wait." She slowly stepped closer to James, and his heartbeat began to thump in his ears. He held his breath as she crouched down next to him, her lower lip caught in between her teeth. The urge to tug it free overwhelmed James, but he quickly looked away, his face warming at the thought.
Lily didn't notice the direction in which his thoughts were going. How could she? She wasn't a mind-reader; James thanked Merlin for that. She would have hexed him silly if she could read his mind.
Carefully, she said, "Come to think of it, you haven't ever pranked me before, so I'm willing to give you a chance. I have to admit...I don't really want to eat the cake off the grass. That seems disgusting and unhygienic. But because you made this for me—after eavesdropping on my conversation—"
"I just happened to be around. I wasn't eavesdropping."
"—I'm going to eat it. But if anything strange happens to me, I'm going to kill you, Potter."
James's cheeks stretched in a wide smile, and he clapped his hands. "You will?"
"Yes, I will kill you."
"No, I meant you're going to eat my cake? Oh, this is wonderful," James exclaimed. He grinned as he scooped up some of the smashed cake off the top tiers in his hands and held it up towards Lily. "I hope you like it!"
Lily stared at the cake for a few seconds, unease evident on her face. James's shoulders began to slump at her expression. If she didn't like it, he couldn't force her to eat it, could he? He started to lower his hands and said, "It's okay. You don't have to eat it."
"No, I'll eat it!" She swiped a handful of the smushed cake and shoved it into her mouth. She chewed on it, and her eyes widened.
"So…what do you think?" James asked, leaning closer, staring at her face. He hoped she liked it; he had made it with so much love.
Swallowing, Lily opened her mouth to say something but thought better of it. Her scrunched eyes began to water as her nose turned pink. She thumped her chest and gagged, and James knew something was wrong.
"Lilypad? Are you okay? What do you think of the—"
Before he could finish his question, Lily gagged.
He instantly dropped the cake onto the ground and placed his hands on Lily's shoulders. "Merlin! What's wrong? Why are you—"
Lily threw up, interrupting him again. Tears and snot dripped down her face, and she gasped for breath. James hastened to his feet, ignoring the mess on the ground and helping Lily up to her feet.
"I'm so sorry! I don't know what happened," James stammered. He scooped her up into his arms and sprinted towards the castle as fast as he could. His feet beat down upon the ground, and his legs almost got tangled in his robes. He stumbled but did his best to run through the hallways. "I promise you'll be okay!"
"You won't be when I get my hands on you," Lily choked out, gagging as she twisted her neck and spat out a lump of hardened cake at a suit of armour. It batted it away with a wave of its hand.
"I swear I didn't mean for this to happen," James cried, barging through the infirmary doors. "Madam Pomfrey! Madam Pomfrey! Look! Something's wrong with my Lilybug!"
"Stop calling me that," Lily whined, but her head lolled back onto James's shoulder. She groaned and clutched her belly. "Merlin, what did you do to me, Potter?"
"I didn't know this would happen to you. Are you allergic to any ingredients? Milk? Sugar? Flour?" James demanded, lowering her on one of the empty beds. He pulled the sheet over Lily, and she batted it away with a small scowl.
"What did you do to her, Mr Potter?" Madam Pomfrey bustled around the room, gathering pain-relieving potions and ointments. She hip-bumped James out of the way, and he almost fell onto the ground.
"I don't know! I didn't do anything—I just baked her a cake," James cried, wringing his hands. "She started gagging, and then she threw up, and I carried her here."
"You mean you got the house-elves to bake her a cake?" Madam Pomfrey asked, pouring a vial down Lily's throat. Lily gagged and grimaced as a little potion dribbled past her lips.
"No, I baked her a cake. Without magic. It was supposed to be my masterpiece. I thought she would love it," James whined, his lower lip jutting out in a small pout.
"It was horrible," Lily cried, shaking her head. "It was so salty I choked on it! And what did you add to it? Rocks? Why was it so hard? I almost broke my teeth!"
James's face warmed at her accusations. He thought back to the bowl of white powder he'd poured into the batter. Had he added salt instead of sugar? Was that why Remus had said it didn't taste edible?
He stammered, "It was my first attempt. I just wanted to make you happy."
Silence.
Madam Pomfrey cleared her throat to break the uncomfortable silence. "Well, I'll leave you two to it, then. Please, Mr Potter, try not to kill her again."
Once she had left, James lowered his head and stared at the floor, kicking at the bedside table's leg. He couldn't believe he had ruined the cake with such a trivial thing. The embarrassment was overwhelming, and James (if he'd had the option) would have hidden as a child may have, but it was time to own it, make apologies, and show that he was more grown-up than all that, that he had inner strength.
"I'm sorry," James whispered, his head hung low. "I didn't realise I added salt instead of sugar...Was it that bad?"
"It was terrible," Lily said, and James winced, wishing he could rewind time to stop himself from messing up the cake.
And then, the most amazing thing happened.
Lily's hand reached out and covered his own. "I loved it."
James snapped his head up and gaped at her. Did she just…
"What?" he croaked out, unable to think straight. Her hand was soft and warm, and tingles ran up his arm from where she touched him; James's heart thundered in his ears when she squeezed it. He just couldn't stop staring at her. This is a dream. This can't be anything else but a dream. I must have hit my head somewhere—
"Except for my parents, no one has ever baked me anything before. I haven't had someone bake me a normal cake ever since I got to Hogwarts," she admitted, gazing up at him through her spidery long eyelashes. James's heartbeat was so loud it reverberated in his head, pounding against the sides of his skull. Bright colours swam in front of his eyes when Lily's lips turned up in a slow smile. "Your cake was terrible, but I loved it. So, thank you, James. I appreciate what you did for me."
Hearing his name on her lips, James's eyes rolled to the back of his head, and he fell onto the ground with a thud. Before he lost consciousness, his last thought was, 'I did charm her.'