This fan fiction is written for a writing contest. Reviews are welcomed.
Hugs to Salysha, the greatest beta reader ever!
Under the Bright Sunlight of December
Dear Mother,
Christmas is very near and everything here is great. I'm doing very well in my school; please do not worry about me. I will not be coming home this Christmas. Headmaster Dumbledore had to make me stay because as Head Girl, I have responsibilities to complete during this short break. I hope to see you all soon, you, father and Petunia. I have not a lot to say. Take care and say hello to them for me.
Happy Christmas!
Best Wishes,
Your daughter,
Lily Evans
"That should do it," mumbled Lily under her breath. It was past midnight. Her eyes were drowsy and her lips dry. She was ready to fall asleep anytime, but resisted the sleepiness and finished the letter to her mother.
The seventh year at Hogwarts had been the hardest year ever. She had been nominated Head Girl, and her partner was the most unimaginable person ever: James Potter, the boy that she had detested for such a long time.
"Why is he Head Boy? Why not someone else?" shouted Lily.
"Lily, are you still up?" asked Melissa, who joke up at the shout and rubbed her eyes.
"It's OK, Mel," replied Lily to her roommate, who was also her best friend.
"Are you still angry at James?" asked Melissa.
"Never mind. I was just writing a letter to my mom."
"Oh, right, night," replied Melissa before falling asleep again.
Lily remembered when James had kept pranking her and playing with her like she were a living dummy. He had turned her hair pink, destroyed her room and even humiliated her in front of the whole class in her fifth year. That one day had been just horrible.
She had been walking down the hallway proudly with the Prefect badge attached to her chest; she had been heading to her Potions class. Unfortunately, James was in her class. Somehow he had managed to change Lily's vision so that every direction she had read from the blackboard had been wrong. She had done the opposite of what the others had. At the end of the class, her potion had exploded, turning her black. Her robes had burned, and she had been enraged. It was the worst day she had ever had.
Lily crept under her white bed sheets, and closed her eyes. The bright moonlight of December shone on her. She looked like an angel from heaven. With her long red hair on the pillow, her small pink lips formed in a warm smile, and long lashes covering nice eyes, she was a beauty. With her intelligence, she was probably one of the most wanted girls at Hogwarts, but none of the boys have ever dared ask her out yet. Everyone knew that she had refused every offer.
Sometimes, Lily was just like a normal Ravenclaw girl, but not always. When she was in Prefect meetings, a lot of Prefects looked at her with admiration, like she was the Prefects' model, but not all of them admired her: neither the Slytherins nor James. She never liked being watched by James Potter with his amused face and being glared by the Slytherin Prefects. She moaned annoyingly in her sleep and changed her sleeping position.
~*~*~*~*~
Daylight shone through the window in Lily's room. As the light landed on her delicate face, she opened her eyes slowly. She looked around her and seeing that her roommates were all asleep, she sighed and got up. After dressing in her winter robes and brushing her hair, she went to the girls' bathroom, then to the Great Hall. Nobody was here except for some teachers and Professor Dumbledore.
"Good morning, Professors," greeted Lily.
"Ah, Miss Evans, good morning," replied Professor McGonagall.
Even though Lily wasn't in her House, Professor McGonagall had always treated her like a Gryffindor, as Lily was one of her best students.
"Greetings, Professor McGonagall," said Lily, bowing slightly and sitting at the empty Ravenclaw table.
"So, Miss Evans, have you told your parents that you would be staying over for the winter break?" asked Dumbledore raising his voice a little so that Lily could hear him. "Yes, Professor Dumbledore," replied Lily.
The Headmaster smiled warmly and looked at Lily through his half-moon glasses.
"Good. Now, Lily, you would like to enjoy the sunny Sunday, wouldn't you? Go outside and have some fresh air after breakfast," suggested Dumbledore.
"Thank you, I will," replied Lily politely.
Lily took some fresh buttered toasts and ate them happily. It was simply delicious, or maybe she just hadn't eaten a good meal for a long time. Her homework kept her busy even in December as her NEWT classes were never light. Being Head Girl took nearly all of her free time. She sighed. Now she would finally have a free Sunday to spend alone sitting under a tree in her warm fur coat and reading her favorite book.
She suddenly snapped out of her dreams when some noisy students entered the hall. She looked up from her plate and saw four guys; two tall boys, both with jet black hair, walking in front proudly. The one wearing the Head Boy badge on his chest was smiling widely. Two other boys followed, one with golden hair and another one with brown hair and a ratlike face. Lily frowned.
'Not Potter and his gang again,' she thought.
She stood up and walked pass them, without even looking at them. James grinned.
"Hail for the Marauders!" he cried.
Lily was so furious that she stomped away like an elephant. Sirius made fun of her by trembling as if afraid of Head Girl, and the Marauders all laughed. Remus Lupin was the first one to stop.
"Better hurry up, guys, you have a Quidditch practice today," said Remus who sat down at the empty Gryffindor table.
James waved hello to the professors, smiling widely again. They all sat down and ate. There was a small food fight during breakfast but Remus managed to put a stop to it and clean the whole mess with one spell.
James ate some bacon and toast, and drank a cup of orange juice. After his healthy breakfast, he pulled out his Golden Snitch and ran his hand through his stuck up black hair, making it look even messier. He released the Snitch from his hand and in mere seconds, caught it and continued on. Peter seemed annoyed while Sirius grinned in a boyish way.
After James had played quite a while with the Snitch and everyone had finished eating, Sirius gave James a thumb up and James winked at Sirius, grinning. The two stood up speedily and ran outside. Remus followed them only some feet behind while Peter was so behind that he took all of his energy to catch up with them. The Professors in the Hall looked at each other, then shrugged.
"Wait up!" cried Peter, gasping.
"You know, Wormtail, you should keep your shape up, play some Quidditch," said Sirius.
Remus grinned and said: "I don't think that Wormtail would be able to play Quidditch. Remember? He's a rat."
Peter blushed slightly and looked at the sky innocently.
"Whatever," said James, he grabbed his broom from his locker and headed to the Quidditch field.
Sirius grabbed a Bludger from a big box, and took his Beater stick and broom. Remus and Peter took seats in the stand to watch their friends. Both James and Sirius mounted their brooms.
"Since we're early, how about a little game of one against one?" asked James.
"Sure! Be ready to be knocked out of your broom, James," said Sirius grinning widely as ever.
"Go break your leg!" shouted Remus.
The two black-haired boys flew in the sky with extreme agility. Sirius hit the Bludger forcefully with his stick. James dodged the Bludger by making a quick dive towards the ground but just before touching it, he went up again. They both tried to knock each other off their brooms. It would have turned into a real fight had Remus not broken in.
"You guys, we want to see action!" he shouted.
"You got it, Moony," James yelled back.
They flew high in the sky, glaring at each other. Then Sirius hit the Bludger again. This time he hit it even harder. James dodged it by an inch.
"Good job, Padfoot, but you didn't get me," said James.
"You too, Prongs, but next time, beware," replied Sirius.
As they had been talking, they hadn't paid attention to the Bludger, which hadn't stopped flying.
"Umm, guys?" called Peter.
"What, Wormtail?" asked Sirius.
"The Bludger."
They looked at each other with their eyes wide open. James and Sirius flew down and demounted their brooms quickly and panicked.
"Oops," mumbled Sirius.
"Well… better go search for it. Where did it go?" wondered James.
"Over there," said Remus pointing at the gardens.
They all ran to the gardens. James and Sirius left their brooms behind, and saw the Bludger, still flying but now with slow speed, heading towards someone.
"Head's up!" cried James.
***
Lily was walking in the gardens. The snow made noise under her weight as walked looking for a good spot to read her book. She spotted a bench that bathed in sunshine and did not have traces of snow. She sighed happily.
"Great," she murmured, smiling in her heart.
She sat down and opened the book. She had just started reading when someone caught her attention.
"Head's up!" she heard someone cry.
She looked up and saw a black ball coming at her. She screamed in fear and tried to dodge the ball but without success. She was knocked down, and sliding on the snowy grass she cried in pain. She felt something break in her right arm.
"Aaah!" she cried, with tears in her emerald eyes. Through the tears she only saw blur, but when her vision cleared then she saw four people approaching her. "Help!" she cried. She didn't care who it was. She just needed someone to help her to the nursery.
"Lily Evans?" asked James, frowning. As he ran towards her he saw blood tripping down her sleeve.
'Not him,' thought Lily.
"Don't move, Lily. We'll get you out of this mess, it's our fault," said Remus, trying to help her up.
"Thanks," mumbled Lily under her breath.
"Help, guys," said Remus.
"Did Miss Evans gain weight? Moony can't even lift her up," teased James.
"Shut up, Potter, and help me!" roared Lily.
"Gee, okay," replied James. Sirius and Peter also came along, trying to help.
"It's no use, she can't walk," said Remus, "I'll go get the nurse."
"I'm coming," said Peter and Sirius in unison.
"Me, too," said James.
"No, you're not, Prongs, someone has to watch over her," said Remus.
"But I…," started James, but it was too late. His friends were all running towards the castle. "Gee, thanks," he added, his arms crossed in front of his chest, hiding his Head Boy badge. He then looked at Lily who was still gasping. Her breathing was heavy, and he could hear it perfectly.
"Are you, um, okay?" asked James.
"It's not the best day ever, is it?" said Lily, trying to smile a little.
"You know, Lily, I'm really sorry. I'm sure that Sirius didn't mean that."
"Since when did Mr. Potter apologize? You're just teasing me."
"No, no, I'm serious."
"You're Sirius? What?"
"No, I meant I'm not kidding, we're all sorry, we didn't mean to hurt you. Now would you forgive us or me at least?" asked James.
"First, help me up," said Lily. James nodded in response.
He slid his hand to hers and tried to lift her up. Lily pushed all of her weight on him and got up weakly. He helped her back on the bench.
"Better?" asked James with concern.
"Yes, thanks to you," said Lily. "You know, I never imagined you helping me."
James grinned. "I guess not," he said.
They paused for a while. James's hand slid on Lily's left shoulder, and she turned to look him in the eyes. James gazed at her, his eyes full of care. Lily looked at him, confused, lost in the hazel eyes.
"I…" whispered Lily softly.
James moved closer to her, trying to hear what she was saying, but something wasn't right… she was too close. So close that he saw every tear that clung to her eyelashes, her emerald eyes looking at him. He felt weird, special, he felt something that he never felt before… .
Lily's body shivered when she looked into his hazel eyes. Her mind was confused, and her body was paralyzed. A tingling sensation spread in both their bodies as they sat there, in that position, so close… .
"I forgive you," said Lily.
"What?" asked James.
"I forgive you," she repeated.
There they were, under the bright sunlight of December, when they shared their first kiss ever.
Author's Notes: I put Lily in Ravenclaw for this fan fiction, I might have made a mistake, but I just decided to do so.