A Valentine's Day to Remember
James opened his eyes groggily and looked at his surroundings. He was lying in a bed in the hospital wing, and Madam Moonluck was busy filling up a tall goblet with a bright green potion.
"Oh good, you're awake," she said briskly, thrusting the goblet at him. "I can't believe what happened yesterday…" she said, shaking her head. James sat up in bed, drank the potion, and checked to see if the others were awake yet. Lily was stirring. Suddenly, her eyes flew open, and she sat bolt upright in bed, shivering.
"James…" she said, her voice faltering. "Did it all really happen? Do you think he'll come back?"
"He's back for sure," said James sadly, resting his head on a pile of pillows. Lily shook her head in disbelief while James stared at the ceiling. Suddenly she spoke.
"Er, James, thanks for…" she began, smiling weakly. "Thanks for… well, saving my life," she finished.
"You'd be better off thanking Snivelly. He carried you to the Portkey," said James simply. Lily merely smiled serenely.
"Yes, but… you fought You-Know-Who single-handedly. If it weren't for you, most of us would have been dead," she admitted.
"Honestly?" asked James, raising his eyebrows. Did Lily really think he was that great?
"Honest," she smiled, and James almost melted. Lily actually likes me! Even if it's just a little bit, she still likes me! Feeling considerably more light-hearted than he had been just minutes ago, he decided to finally ask Lily a question that had been rolling around his head for months.
"Lily, why didn't you join the Gryffindor Quidditch team?" he asked. Lily rolled on to her side, and laughed. She fingered the beautiful golden bracelet on her wrist that she had been given a long time ago.
"Well, if you want to know the truth, the reason I didn't play Quidditch was because I didn't want to be in a team full of show-offs," she admitted truthfully, and together, she and James began to laugh.
A week had passed since James and the others had finally been allowed out of the hospital wing. Sirius hummed under his breath as they sat down to a huge stack of books, prepared to spend the afternoon studying History of Magic. None of them looked forward to the prospect of reading about bloody goblin rebellions, yet Sirius was smiling absently, tapping his quill on the desk.
"How can you be so happy?" asked Peter. James was lost in thought. How could Sirius be happy at a time like this? Voldemort could come back any day now! In fact, he was probably gathering followers this very minute… Then there were the OWLs, homework, Lily…
"I'm happy because, in case you hadn't noticed, tomorrow is a very special day," said Sirius smugly. James, Remus and Peter looked at each other curiously.
"Er – it's not your birthday, is it?" asked Peter tentatively. James sniggered.
"No, you ignoramus! Guess again!" said Sirius, who was clearly enjoying his friends' confusion.
"Oh, I don't know… Hey wait; it's the fourteenth of February… That's…" said Remus.
"Valentine's Day!" cried James, finishing his friends' sentence. Sirius grinned.
"Absolutely. And it just so happens that tomorrow is a Hogsmeade trip!" he said, thoroughly excited. In the few seconds of silence that followed, each of the boys was lost in their own thoughts.
Ah, a whole day with Star, thought Sirius happily, imagining walking down the main street together, hand in hand, without a care in the world. Nothing, Sirius thought, not even exams can interfere with tomorrow!
Remus, however, was panicking. What should he do? If he asked Bellatrix to come to Hogsmeade with him, then he would have to avoid Sirius and Star all day… and that wouldn't be easy! But if he didn't ask Bellatrix, then she would be offended! This is definitely a problem! he thought, hanging his head slightly.
James was thinking of Severus and Lily, who were still going out. They would probably spend the whole day together… Why does Lily like that slimy git instead of me? Why, why, why? In James' opinion, life could sometimes be very unfair.
Valentine's Day dawned bright and sunny, and everyone seemed to be in a cheerful mood. James brightened a little when Lily handed him a small valentine. However, his happiness was soon deflated when Sirius pointed out that she was giving valentines to all her friends. Sirius and James reached the Entrance Hall. Star was waiting for Sirius by the door, and they set off together. Now James was all alone. Peter was spending the day with a girl named Rosa, Sirius had Star and Remus had… Remus didn't have anyone! But he was absolutely nowhere to be found… Before James had a chance to look for Remus, however, Lily came careering down the Entrance Hall stairs. She quickly fixed some pink ribbons in her hair, before spotting James, and walking over to him breathlessly.
"Why the hurry?" he asked, while Lily panted.
"I thought everyone had gone to Hogsmeade already," she said, "But I can see I'm not the only one who's late." She grinned at James and straightened up, no longer out of breath.
"I thought you'd be going to Hogsmeade with Severus," James pointed out as they walked.
"Well, I was going with him, but he caught a cold yesterday and right now he's sick in bed. Poor thing," she said sadly. "After breakfast I went to say hello to him and give him his Valentine. Then I checked the time and realised that if I didn't hurry I wouldn't be able to go to Hogsmeade."
James wondered why Lily was walking along with him happily.
"So, what are you going to be doing in Hogsmeade?" asked James, as they neared the small village.
"Hmm, I don't really mind. It's sad to be spending Valentine's Day alone. I wish that Severus didn't have a cold…" said Lily, gazing into thin air. "Oh James, I'm sorry… Look, instead of being miserable all day, why don't we have some tea at Madam Puddifoot's?"
"Won't Severus be upset?" asked James, hardly able to believe his own stupidity. If Lily wanted to spend the day with him, why ask questions? He needn't have worried though, because Lily just shook her head and said, "It's not as if it's a date or anything."
"How about we go for a snack at Madam Puddifoot's?" asked Bellatrix.
"Madam who?" asked Remus, wondering what Madam Puddifoot's actually was. So far, he had had a wonderful morning. After finally summoning up the courage to ask Bellatrix to Hogsmeade, they had set off together, and had managed to avoid Sirius and Star.
"Oh, it's just this little tea shop. You can get cakes and stuff there too. If you don't want to go, I don't mind," said Bellatrix as they passed Zonko's joke shop.
"Oh, no. Of course we can go. I've never been there before," said Remus. Bellatrix grinned at him and grabbed his arm.
"Brilliant. I'll take you there!" she said, and almost bounced down the street. One thing about Bellatrix was that she had almost boundless energy. Remus didn't know how she did it…
They entered Madam Puddifoot's, however the second they went in, Remus wished he was back on the street, maybe going for a Butterbeer in the Three Broomsticks. It seemed as though everything in the shop was a soft rose-pink. A quick glance at the menu told Remus that the shop served every kind of cake imaginable, from ordinary flavours like carrot and mud cake, to wild and wonderful concoctions such as strawberry-peanut cream cake, triple vanilla carrot cake and a host of strangely named tarts, which Remus made a mental note to stay away from.
"It's lovely, isn't it?" said Bellatrix happily, but Remus couldn't care less whether the shop was lovely or not, because sitting in a corner at a bright pink table, were James and Lily. And worst of all, they had just spotted who had come in.
The four of them stared at each other for a moment, before Lily finally asked Remus and Bellatrix to join them. Both hastily sat down and James sat in shock, watching Remus' face turn red. Much to Remus' surprise, James burst out laughing.
"Well, well, well. Here we were thinking that Remus would never go on a date in his lifetime!" he cried, grinning. Lily giggled.
"Oh, stop teasing me, James. You'd better not tell Sirius," said Remus threateningly.
"Me, tell Sirius? I wouldn't do that to you, Moony old pal. But Bellatrix?" said James, grinning at his friend and elbowing him in the ribs. Bellatrix gave him a scathing glare, before turning to Lily.
"It's all very well with Remus and me, but I thought you were going out with Severus…" she said, gaping at her friend. Lily just smiled.
"Oh, this isn't a date, Bella. Severus is sick and James and I are just spending the day together for something to do," she said. Bellatrix eyed Lily and James, before; satisfied that nothing would happen between them, sitting down with Remus.
At last the day ended, and soon, everyone had left Hogsmeade except for two people. James and Lily eyed each other shyly.
"Thanks for today. I had a good time," said Lily, wondering why she was saying this to James. A year ago, she had hated that arrogant show-off, but now… she wondered why she felt so… at ease. With Severus, things sometimes felt… was there a word for it? Yes… uneasy. Yet, here she was standing next to James Potter and everything felt right. Even though so much was happening in the world at the time, everything felt right. Not able to believe herself, Lily laid her head on James' shoulder. At that moment, she didn't care about cheating on Severus; she just wanted James to know…
"James, you're not an arrogant show-off, really…" she said, and then, before James knew what was happening, she was hugging him close. The sun was sinking in the sky, and James held Lily's hand as they walked through the almost deserted street.
"Lily, you don't know how happy it makes me to hear that," said James, and, stroking Lily's long red-brown hair, he held her close. Lily's heart was beating.
"Severus, me… what… think? I…" she mumbled softly, but James silenced her, and as the sky began to turn pink and orange, nothing mattered anymore. James looked into Lily's deep green eyes and, her heart beating at a thousand miles an hour, Lily looked into James' hazel ones. Time stood still as Lily Evans and James Potter finally shared their very first kiss.
~The End~