Disclaimer: I don't own any of these and if you sue me I'm suing you back!
The First Date
By Nicecupoftea1107
"Dreams do come true, if we only wish hard enough. You can have anything in life if you will sacrifice everything else for it."J.M. Barrie
James' hair blew every which way as he walked down the busy street. Today was the day of his first date with Lily and he had woken up to find that it was an extremely blustery day. He had dressed in Muggle clothes…he preferred to wear them on outings…they were just more comfortable. He was fashionably dressed in khaki pants, a black sweater and black Converse. James hugged his arms around him, attempting to shield out the cold and the wind. He stopped in front of a small cottage like building with a wooden sign that hung above the door. The sign swung in the wind. Three crossed brooms were pictured on the wooden sign, with the words "The Three Broomsticks" written in gothic letters.
In two quick steps he was at the door to the small cottage and in the door. Kids of all ages and many adults were sitting around small, round oak tables, sipping at their drinks and talking. The boy with the messy black hair scanned the room quickly, looking for his date. When he noticed she wasn't there yet, his shoulders sagged visibly with relief.
In four strides he arrived at the bar and flagged down the lovely bar maid. He bent his head towards hers and they began to talk in hushed tones.
"Hello Mademoiselle Verde. I was wondering if you would by chance be willing to pack me a picnic lunch for two…I'd pay you well for it." James smiled at her charmingly.
The bar maid giggled at his smile. "Of course Mr. Potter," she said with just a hint of a Spanish accent.
"Good good…I'll come to pick it up in 15 minutes…but until then could you give me 2 butterbeers please?" James dropped 3 sickles on the bar as the bar maid walked away and soon came back with two butterbeers.
James picked up the butterbeers and fought a way over to an empty table by the window that looked out onto the windy street. He stretched his legs out under the table and crossed his arms over his chest.
Lily walked through the door to the Three Broomsticks and saw James sitting at a table in a corner by a window, slowly sipping his butterbeer, another butterbeer was sitting across the table from him.
He was staring out the window at the wind blowing the brown and red leaves, scattering them to the four corners of the earth. His eyes had a dreamy cast about them, and she almost hated to interrupt his daydreams.
Lily stepped over to the table, sliding into the seat across from him. She smiled at him and he looked startled to see her.
He grinned at her. "Lily."
"Is this for me?" She asked him reaching for the butterbeer that was close to her. James nodded vigorously. "Oh…thanks." She grinned at him again before she took a sip.
They sat in silence for a long while, just enjoying each other's company and occasionally lifting the butterbeer bottle to take a swig.
Finally, James gulped down the last of his butterbeer and then cleared this throat. Lily looked up, startled that he had broken the quiet at their table. "Are you ready?" James leaned forward in his chair, resting his elbows on the hard oak.
"Ready for what?" She inquired.
James grinned at her, than gave a small chuckle. "You'll see. Follow me." He stood up quickly, and grabbed her small white hand in his long sun browned one. He dragged her towards the front of the pub, and got the attention of the bar maid. She gave a quick nod to him and stepped through a swinging door to get into the kitchen. She came out carrying a large blonde wicker basket, and she handed it to him.
"Here you go Mr. Potter. Have a lovely afternoon." The bar maid handed him the basket and he smiled at her.
"Thank you very much." He pulled the basket over the bar, and smiled at Lily once again. He picked up her hand again and dragged her to the entrance of the bar and out onto the windy street.
"James where are we going?" Lily's eyebrows knit together in curiosity and concern, her fire-red hair blowing everywhere.
"You'll see my flower." He began to pull her up the street, past Zonko's and Honeyduke's until finally they came to the Shrieking Shack. James pushed open the gate and led her in.
"James? Are you sure its wise to go in there…I mean what if that werewolf is still in there." He still was dragging the red-haired girl willingly to their destination.
"He's not, don't worry. Plus we're not going in anyway. We're going out to the back." James dragged her around the dilapidated old house and into the back. He led her to a grove of withered old apple trees, their leaves and apples having long since perished. Brittle brown grass covered the yard. James winked at her and smiled.
"What?" Lily looked irritated. She expected him to bring her someplace special to him.
He laughed. "Come on, we're not through yet." He walked towards some trees that were placed at the end of the yard. He pulled her through the trees and after 5 minutes of walking through dry and brittle trees, she noticed that the trees were getting fresher; the leaves were a bright red instead of the dull brown. Finally, they came to a field where the grass was still green and there was a small lake in the center of the field.
"I found this one day in 3rd year when I was upset." James didn't mention that he had come here after he had first asked Lily out and she had first rejected him and called him an ignorant, egotistical, pigheaded brute. "Since then it's always been special to me."
"It's beautiful James…I can't wait to see what it looks like in the summer!" Lily plopped herself down on the ground and stared at the small lake. "Where did this lake come from?"
James sat down next to her. "It's a section of the lake in the Forbidden Forest; it just loops around and forms this. Sometimes I go swimming here, its fun. The only people that know about it are me, Sirius and Remus."
"What about Peter?" Lily inquired. She had always thought Peter Pettigrew was a good friend of his.
James shrugged. "He's still our friend but, I dunno. He's been acting funny lately and when I first showed Sirius this place Peter was sick as a dog."
"Oh. Ok." Lily stared out at the water.
James gave a long sigh. "Do you want some lunch?" He reached into the blonde wicker basket and pulled out several containers. He also pulled out several paper plates and cups and several plastic utensils.
He began to open the containers and set them down on the grass. "Ok we have lamb chops, tuna salad, bread, pumpkin juice, butterbeers, asparagus, green beans and potato chips." He handed her a plate and a fork, knife and spoon.
"Alright," Lily took a fork and used it to spear a lamb chop. She also pushed several asparagus and a piece of bread onto her plate. She carefully cut into the chop and took a small bite of it. James also helped himself to some food, eating whatever Lily hadn't picked up. They sat in silence for a good while.
James cleared his throat. "So…um you need help with Transfiguration?" He inquired of her as he picked up two pieces of bread and put some tuna salad and potato chips in between them.
"Yes…it's the only class I'm not getting an O in." Lily shook her head as he took a large bite of his odd concoction.
"Oh what do you have? An E?" James said with as much as a playful grin and a sarcastic edge as he could muster with a mouthful of tuna salad sandwich.
"As a matter of fact NO I'm not getting an E…if I were getting an E I wouldn't be complaining…I'm getting a P." She wrinkled her nose.
"Wow…a P? That's the same thing I'm getting in Charms."
"Hmmm…we should help each other." She said as she finished off her lamb chop and started on a large helping of asparagus.
"Yeah that's a good idea." James nodded at the idea.
"So how DID you learn to become an Animagus?" She inquired of him as she speared a large hunk of asparagus.
"Well…I started in about 3rd year and had mastered it by the beginning of 5th year. It WAS difficult but if you've done it once then it gets easier as you do it more…in fact sometimes I find it hard NOT to transform. There are just times when it feels like it would be easier to just run into the forest and forget about my real self." He took another large bite of his sandwich.
"But how does it feel?" She finished off her asparagus and poured herself a glass of pumpkin juice.
"It's just like…It's hard to explain. It's like everything changes." He gave a hearty shrug and shoved the last bit of sandwich in his mouth.
Lily nodded. For awhile they sat in complete silence, sipping at their drinks. Finally, she stood up and brushed off her jeans. "Well shall we head back?"
James nodded, and stood up. He gathered up all the extra food and trash and tossed it all into the wicker basket. Together they walked back towards the Shrieking Shack, watching as the beautiful autumn trees turned into shriveled brown branches sticking up from the ground.
For the rest of the day they walked through Honeyduke's and Zonko's, buying candy and jokes. Finally, in mid-afternoon they walked up the path that led towards Hogwart's castle.
James walked her to her room, which was close to his. He stopped at the portrait of an old wizened wizard who sat in front of a window, revealing London. They stood in front of the portrait and said good bye, Lily promising to sit with him at dinner later that night.
"So umm…"James eyes shifted unsteadily. "Does this mean we're officially going out now? I mean…are you my…girlfriend?" He was nervous about this because he wasn't sure if she really wanted to be his girlfriend.
"Sure." She grinned at him brightly.
James grinned back. "Well…I guess I'll see you later." She turned around and whispered her password. "Wingardium Leviosa." The portrait swung open, revealing the nicely furnished room within.
He had just turned to walk back to his room, when she turned back around. "James…wait!" He had already made it several strides down the corridor, and she had to jog after him. He stopped and turned quickly around.
Lily ran to him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek. "Thanks for a nice day." With that, she pulled away, flushed a dark red almost as dark as her hair, and took off down the hallway.
"You're welcome Lily…you're welcome." He whispered under his breath. He strode off down the corridor, a small spring in his step.
James reached his room which was close to the common room and whispered the password, "Golden Snitch." He walked into the red and gold decorated room and flopped down on the soft mattress, pulling the curtains around him. He laid in the dark until dinner…a huge grin plastered to his face.
YAY I'M DONE WITH THIS CHAPTER! FINALLY AN UPDATE! Ok this is going to start moving faster and more characters are going to be involved so I hope you guys will enjoy!
