This one's written for Amanda (DarylDixon'sgirl1985) via Hogwarts' Gift Tag! I hope you like it, love!

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... if I die young bury me in cherry blossoms ...

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"you've got to be one that, wherever you are, like a flower, you've got to blossom where you're planted." Cory Booker
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#5. blossom storms

"Harry, dear, are you ready to go?"

Lily Evans sighed as she watched her 9-year old son gather his backpack, shoes and books and raced right through the door, past the daffodils she had so carefully planted in the front yard and right through a pool of mud, which splashed onto her dress.

'Great, now my dress is ruined,' she thought bitterly.

Shaking her head, she grabbed her son's turquoise-colored rain-coat and sat down behind the wheel of her car.

They drove for about half an hour before they finally reached their destination. Little Harry, always the excited one, jumped right out of the car and rang the bell.

Lily followed him – though she wasn't as thrilled to see the door opening as her son was.

Hand's full with her son's belongings, she reached the front step just in time to see her ex-husband sticking his head out of the house.

"Hey, Snitch!" he greeted his son, who immediately jumped into his father's arms, giving him a tight hug, before he rushed off into the house.

"Lily," James acknowledged her with a little nod.

"James," the red-haired woman answered with a small eye-roll. And albeit the two of them had a comparably friendly divorce, Lily couldn't quite get rid of the nudging feeling of jealousy that rushed through her body every time little Harry's eyes lit up when she told him that he had to spend the week at his father's house. Sadly enough, due to her job, she only got to see her little boy on the weekends.

"I take it everything went well?" James asked, looking a bit suspicious.

Lily sighed. "We had a nice weekend, if that's what you mean."

"Sorry I asked…" James mumbled and this time, he was the one to roll his eyes.

"Never mind," Lily continued skilfully threw her son's rain-coat over James' shoulder. "Here, weather forecast predicts heavy rain for the next few days."

"You know, Harry's got a coat at my house."

Lily shrugged. "Very well, then… I'll be back to pick him up in two weeks, then?"

James nodded. "Yes, that'd be great, thanks."

This said, he shortly waved and shut the door.

The young woman was about to return to her car, when suddenly, James' called after her once more.

"Lily, hold on a sec."

She turned around; eyebrow raised. "Yes?"

"There's a teacher's conference at Harry's school next Friday… and, well, Marlene doesn't have to work that day, so…"

"You want me to go?"

"Would you?" he asked, and quickly added, "please?"

Lily sighed. Although she hadn't really been fond of Marlene at the beginning, she had to admit that her ex's new girlfriend was not that bad… and she really did like Harry. Additionally, she'd finally get a chance to get to know Harry's 3rd grade teacher herself…

"Fine. Though I hope they won't be too shocked to see that I'm actually Harry's mother and not Marlene," Lily mumbled the last part to herself before she waved a quick good-bye and got in her bug.

…

It felt like the 15th time that Lily stared at her watch that night.

She sat on a high char in a pub in a rather fancy hotel she'd never been before, sipping on her third Gin Tonic and her friend Alice still hadn't showed up.

'What did you expect?' she frustratedly thought to herself, 'this ain't the first time she stood you up."

When she was about to leave, a handsome stranger approached her.

"Can I get you something, beautiful?"

She had two choices. Either quickly think of a suitable white-lie to excuse herself, nicely pay her bill, get into the next cab and let herself get driven to her flat where she'd probably fall asleep on the sofa in front of the TV – watching some heavily dramatic soap show that was nothing but boring.

Or, she'd accept this stranger's invitation, order another drink and enjoy a nice evening in his company.

Apparently, he had studied her for a while, and noticed her inner conflict.

"You know, it would be quite un-gentlemanly of me to let you go now, seeing that it's raining cats and dogs outside," the stranger said, pointed to the nearest window and smiled mischievously.

Surprised, Lily followed his glance and noticed that the thunderstorm they had predicted for tomorrow must have approached much faster than anticipated – if she left the pub now, she'd be completely soaked before she even reached a cab…

"Besides, I'm not even sure a cab would drive considering the storm that's raging outside," he continued, and this time, it was Lily's turn to smirk.

"Well, then, I guess I don't have a choice but stay, do I?"

His grey eyes twinkled and he turned to the bartender. "Two Gin Tonics, please," he ordered before he held out his hand for her, "It's only polite to introduce myself to such a lovely woman. Name's Sirius. Sirius Black."

"I'm Lily," she said, blushing heavily. "Lily Evans."

"Pleasure to meet you, Milday," he cheered, and grabbed his drink. "To a nice evening."

Lily clinked her glass with his and smiled brightly. "Cheers."

…

"You think it's still raining?" Lily asked a couple of hours later.

"I bet," Sirius answered without even attempting to look towards the window and the way his lips once again formed this adorable little smile was enough for Lily to giggle like a little school girl. Well, that and perhaps the one or other drink she's had with him.

By now, the bar was almost empty, except for the occasional drunk that had fallen asleep over his beer. The bartender was already cleaning the tables, and both Sirius and Lily had emptied their glasses.

"So…"

"So…"

They said it simultaneously and laughed.

"I should probably get going…" Lily mumbled, feeling a bit tipsy.

Sirius titled his head, and his black curls jumped up and down. "I guess I should, too… but I don't really fancy getting soaked…"

"Which will probably happen once we open the door," Lily continued and smirked.

The dark-haired man's eyes once again twinkled mischievously. "We cannot let that happen now, can we?"

The red-head shook her head in confirmation.

Smiling like a little boy, Sirius gently grabbed her hand, swiftly lifted her off the chair and led her towards the hotel's reception.

"Excuse me, Sir, would there be a room available for two?"

With a knowing look on his face, the receptionist checked his computer. "Well, we're quite booked because of the storm, but our honeymoon suite is still free."

Sirius looked at Lily, who blushed a bright crimson, but nodded.

"We'll take it."

…

"You know, I'm usually not the type of girl who jumps right into bed with the next best stranger…" Lily mumbled later that night, slightly out of breath as she snuggled closer against Sirius' well-built body.

He chuckled, then moved his arm slightly so her head would rest upon it a bit more comfortable, before he quickly tugged at the blanked to keep her from shivering and gave her a chaste kiss on the forehead.

"Well, I'm picking up girls in a bar on a daily basis…" Sirius mumbled and shrugged.

When he saw the shocked expression on Lily's face, he laughed. "Hey, I'm kidding."

The red-haired woman rolled his eyes and nudged him playfully with her elbow.

"It' more of a weekly basis, really… I'm usually waiting for a thunderstorm to approach so I can – "

"Sirius!" she laughed and turned in his arms to face him.

"What?"

"Stop it!"

"Stop what?" he asked, and looked at her with innocent puppy dog eyes.

"Argh…" she sighed, and rolled on top of him.

"I really like you," she admitted and brought her arms around his head.

Sirius cupped her face with his hands and leaned forward to kiss her softly. "I haven't been with a woman in a long time… my family… well, they're a bit… difficult. The Blacks are kinda very influential people and well, they didn't really like it when I refused to marry the girl they picked for me…. And I guess neglecting the family business finally got me disowned."

She shot him a sympathetic look.

"So, yeah, I'm not the type of guy who jumps right into bed with the next best stranger either," he rephrased her earlier statement, "but with you, I don't know, I'm really glad I did it."

Lily didn't say anything. She simply brushed her elegant fingers through his curly hair before she pressed her body closer against Sirius' and kissed him passionately.

…

"I've got to go, but I'd really like to see you again," Sirius asked while putting on his pants the next morning.

Lily, already re-dressed in the pant-suit she wore the previous evening, came out of the bathroom. Her eyebrow's were raised, but her emerald green eyes sparkled. "Aren't you afraid you'd anger your mother?"

"Oh, it would drive my mother crazy, for sure," he answered, and chuckled happily, "I can't wait for that to happen."

The red-head shook her head, laughing. "You're unbelievable."

Sirius, who still struggled with his jeans, fell backwards on the bed. "You mean unbelievably awesome?"

Lily chuckled. "Not quite the words I had in mind, but well…"

Gathering her things, she put her flaming red hair back in a messy bun and hurried towards the door. "I really need to get going… I've got a meeting with my son's teacher in an hour," she explained and pointed towards Sirius' jacket that was hung over one of the chairs. "I put a note with my cell-number in your pocket. Just…."

"Just what?" Sirius asked, breathing heavily as he finally won the fight with his trousers.

Lily smirked. "Just don't tell your mother about it."

Sirius watched the beauty vanish through the door, a smugly smile on his face at her remark. 'I'm gonna marry that, girl,' he thought to himself, and smirked when he thought about how Lily would drive his mother up the walls.

…

Cursing, Lily forcefully shut the door of her yellow bug, before she hurried into Harry's school. She had underestimated the time it took get from the hotel to the school and checking her watch, she was already late for the 10 o'clock meeting with his teacher.

Out of breath, she didn't even mind nocking at the classroom-door, and burst right in.

"So sorry I'm late," she immediately apologized, "I didn't – "

She stopped mid-sentence when the chair behind the teacher's desk was unvacated.

Confused, she set down her bag and looked around the classroom. Right in the second row, she spotted Harry's name tag, so at least she was in the right room. But why was it empty?

Checking her watch, Lily raised an eyebrow. Quarter past ten, and no sight of Harry's teacher.

Deciding that there was nothing to do but wait, she sat down on one of the chairs, and curiously skimmed through the papers on the desk. When her green eyes fell upon the

Suddenly, the door burst open.

"My apologies for being so late, Mrs. Potter," a hurried baritone voice sounded from behind the pile of books the man was carrying with him into the classroom. "You see, I, erm, got caught up by this very lovely woman this morning and – "

"and I guess you also had some trouble with your clothing?" Lily interrupted, a bright smile on her face.

At the remark, the books in his arms dropped to the ground and when he looked at the woman sitting across of him for the first time, his grey eyes widened and after the initial shock, his lips formed a mischievous smile.

"Lily," he exclaimed, astonished and happy at the same time. "What – what are you doing here?"

"My ex-husband's away with his new girlfriend, so I came to meet my son's teacher," she said, smirking. "Though I'd have never expected him to be so dashingly handsome."

"If I had known, I'd have been here sooner," Sirius grinned, "but like I said, I got caught up by a stunningly beautiful red-head in my room."

Lily beamed at him, pushed the papers off his desk and leaned in so that their faces were almost touching.

"Well, it seems, Mr. Black, that this time around I might have to teach you a lesson concerning punctuality."

"Oh, splendidly," he said cheerfully, "my mother's gonna have a heart attack when I'll arrive at dinner on time."

Then he cupped her cheeks and kissed her passionately.

SPRING SEASON: days of the year:

SPRING SEASON: Spring: #13 (object) daffodils

SPRING SEASON: colours: #7. Turquoise

SPRING SEASON: birthstones: #10 Quartz (dialogue): "Great, now my dress is ruined"

SPRING SEASON: flower: #1. Tulip (theme) curiosity

1000 prompts: #765 (scenario) Hey we hooked up last night and it turns out you are my child's teacher

365 promtps: #33. Crimson)

Scavenger hunt: #61. Write a Spring themed fic.

April Auction: Day16 Auction #4. (weather) thunderstorm

Oliver Wood's Quidditch Training Camp: Level 1: #6. Crunches: Use the Trope, Sharing a bed

Writing Club: Disney Challenge (Cinderella): Songs: #3. So this is love: Write about someone falling in love

Writing Club: Film Festival: #14. (AU) Single parent

Words: 2.088