Honestly, whoever thought that James Potter and snow was a good combination, were seriously mistaken.
Take first year for example. The first signs of snow, and you could guarantee that one James Potter was running outside ready to pelt snowballs at anyone passing, especially the Slytherins. He even shoved snow down Lily's back, giving her frostbite.
Then there was second year. The year James and Sirius decided it would be a good idea to bury Peter Pettigrew in the snow, leaving only his head untouched. A SnowPeter, they called him. Of course, Peter went along with it, as he often let James and Sirius do what they liked as long as it meant he could be friends with them. They got two weeks detention for that, but of course that didn't deter their antics.
Third year, there was no snow. So Potter and Black decided it was a good idea to jinx the girls dorm, Lily's dorm, to snow. Not harmless, decorative snow, but real, icy, will-melt-when-heated, snow. When Lily realised who had jinxed her dorm, and really, it wasn't too hard to find out, the boys got a month's detention with McGonagall. The boys didn't seem bothered with the punishment, but James did look put out at the fact that Lily had told on them.
Fourth year December was spent lobbing snowballs at Snape's greasy head, though a lot of them ended up hitting Lily right in the face. Snickering at the glares the unlikely duo sent their way, Potter and Black carried on throwing snow at people's faces, until they hit McGonagall in the face. That was the year they got banned from throwing snow, or they would get expelled. The ban got lifted the next year though, which Lily didn't think was fair.
There weren't many snow antics in their fifth year. Potter had a new girlfriend, Lily couldn't remember who, but he spent most of the time in the snow with her. Black didn't seem to want to mess around without his best mate.
In sixth year, Potter was trying to be friendly towards Lily, as she'd just lost Snape as a friend. It didn't snow, but he cast a spell causing glittery, magical snow to fall in Lily's dorm, disappearing just before it hit the ground. Lily warmed up to him slightly after that, much to Snape's chagrin.
Now that their seventh year had come, and James Potter was Head Boy, you'd expect him to have matured, wouldn't you?
Lily glanced outside, and gave an exasperated sigh. Potter had rounded up as many students as possible, and was starting a snowball fight. No, scratch that, a snowball war.
It was absolute chaos. It was almost as if there was a blizzard in the courtyard, there was so much snow flying around that Lily couldn't make out any faces.
Except James Potter's.
When he hit her in the face with a snowball.
"Merlin's beard, Lily, I'm so sorry!" He yelled, running over to her. "I swear, I wasn't aiming at you, just an off throw."
"It's fine James, honestly." She rubbed her nose. "Is my face bright red?"
"Yes." He replied, then added, "But its not any less beautiful."
"Maybe I'd be blushing if you hadn't thrown a snowball that made my cheeks go bright red because they're so cold."
"It didn't hurt, did it?"
"A little, but you did throw snow full force at me. It was to be expected."
James nodded, then stood a little awkwardly next to her, rubbing the back of his neck absentmindedly.
"OI EVANS! PRONGS! LOOK ABOVE YOU!" Sirius yelled over, then started laughing as they both stared upwards and saw the mistletoe growing magically above them, trapping them both in place.
"I hate magical mistletoe." Lily grumbled. "But we kinda have to get this over with. We have Defense Against The Dark Arts in 10 minutes." James nodded, uncharacteristically mute.
Seeing that James wasn't going to make the first move, she leant up on her tiptoes and pressed her lips against his.
Her first thought was his lips are really soft.
Her second thought was I'm kissing James Potter.
Her third thought was that she wouldn't mind doing it more often.
Their chaste kiss lasted only a few seconds, until she pulled away, and moved out of proximity of the mistletoe.
"I, um, I'll see you in class." She said, barely louder than a whisper, before scurrying off.
She avoided him for the rest of the day, though he wasn't actively seeking her out either. She needed time to reflect on what had happened, on how she had felt whilst kissing him. Once she had reached a conclusion, she didn't know what to do. As luck would have it, or perhaps fate, destiny, any other force controlling what happens in their universe, she stumbled across him sitting in an abandoned corridor, a piece of parchment sprawled across his lap.
"Hi" She spoke, her voice breaking.
"You've been avoiding me."
"True."
"Is it because of the kiss? Because you know that kisses under the mistletoe mean nothing-"
"I want it to mean something."
He looked at her, dumbstruck. Lily felt the sudden urge to clamp her hand over her mouth to stop her from speaking. Her eyes were wide as she watched him stand up and slowly make his way over to her.
"The kiss under the mistletoe didn't mean anything. It was a means to an end, a way to become unstuck. If you want a kiss that means something, all you have to do is ask."
They were standing so close that Lily could feel the heat radiate off of his body.
"Can I have a kiss that means something?" Her voice was so quiet that she could barely hear it herself.
He took her face in his hands, looked her dead in the eye for what seemed like hours, then leaned forwards and kissed her.
She'd thought the kiss earlier had been good, but she'd never imagined that kissing James Potter would ever feel as amazing as this. She leaned into the kiss, tasting chocolate and firewhiskey on his lips, feeling more at home than she had ever felt before.
Maybe good things can come from mixing James Potter and snow.
