A/N: A one-shot inspired by my own love of the rain. Thanks to Tara for beta-ing. Please review.
Dancing in the Rain
It was raining.
Not a light sprinkle or grey drizzle but rain, the kind that comes down in sheets. Cool, refreshing, huge raindrops fell down on the parched earth. The earth drank the rain, the green of the grass became more vivid and the flowers brighter. Occasionally the sky would light up, and veins of lightening would move across the great expanse. A few seconds after, a loud growl would be heard, and the great Hogwarts castle would shake.
Lily Evans loved the rain…the smell, the feel of it on her skin, the excitement as she heard the lightening crack and the thunder boom. The air was sticky, and she wanted nothing more than to run outside and dance in the water, allowing her skin to soak in the rain.
Sighing, she glanced down at her parchment. Only a few inches to go, and her homework would be completed. Then she had to do rounds, and by the time those would be over, it would be time for bed. She looked out of the window once again, admiring the force of the storm.
This was too good to miss.
Only a few people were in the common room, and they were wrapped up in their work. No one would notice if the perfect Lily Evans discarded her homework to twirl wildly in the rain. She scooped up her quills, parchment and books and walked up the stairs to the girls' dormitory. There were several girls lying on the beds talking, and they looked up when Lily entered the room. They all looked at her quizzically when she set her homework on her bed.
"What are you doing, Lily?" one asked. Everyone knew that between six thirty and seven thirty was Lily's work period. Not many things could deter her from her homework during that time. A few of the girls suspected someone had died, or maybe the roguishly handsome James Potter had pulled another one of his pranks.
"Oh, I just wanted a break from my work," she replied, ignoring the gasps of surprise. "I thought maybe I'd take a walk around the grounds."
"But, Lily, it's raining!" exclaimed Emily, a tall blonde. Her remark was accentuated by a loud roar of thunder.
"Yes, I suppose it is," said Lily, distractedly. "Goodbye." Lily floated out of the room.
"I hope she realizes she has a white shirt on," said Sarah, a handsome girl who always noticed these things. "It'll be completely see-through. Hopefully she doesn't meet anyone out there."
"She probably won't," Molly, another one of the girls, commented. "I don't think anyone else would want to take a walk in the pouring rain." They all nodded in consensus and promptly changed the subject.
Lily was rushing through the halls of the school, eager to be outside. She saw a pair of fourth years snogging passionately behind a statue, but she knew that stopping to reprimand them would cost her precious time. She wasn't sure how long this storm would last, and she knew she couldn't be outside long. Lily finally reached the double doors that led outside. Taking a deep breath and smiling, she flung them open and bounded outside. Sighing happily, arms open wide, Lily began twirling around. Sticking out her tongue, Lily tried to catch raindrops. It wasn't hard, and it was raining with such force that she caught more raindrops than she could count.
Looking around, Lily realized she was only a few paces from the school. She didn't really want anyone to see her in this way. Thunderstorms released a side of Lily that most people didn't see, and she wanted to keep it unseen. Lily became wild and reckless during thunderstorms, so unlike the usual straight-laced Head Girl she usually was.
So she moved away from Hogwarts and journeyed closer to the lake. Her common sense kicked in, and she threw up a quick protection spell (she had learned it especially for this kind of occasion) that would prevent lightening from hitting her.
Continuing the wild rain dance she had been doing, she spun around in circles. When the thunder boomed, Lily would yell as loud as she could, letting loose her frustrations and anger, knowing that her voice would be covered up by the loud roar. Getting a bit dizzy, Lily decided to stop. She laid down on the wet ground, spreading out her arms and legs, and looked up into the grey, tempestuous heavens. Several bolts of lightening crackled across the sky, and Lily smiled. She couldn't help "ooh-ing" and "ah-ing" as the storm unfolded.
"I've always liked the rain too," said a familiar voice. Lily jumped up from her spot on the ground and faced a very wet, very disheveled raven-haired boy.
"Hello, Potter," replied Lily, none too kindly. She felt as though he had trespassed on sacred ground or looked at her diary. "How long have you been here?"
"Well, I've been outside for as long as the storm has been here and only just stumbled upon you." He smiled at her. "What were you doing?"
"I don't see how that is any of your business," snapped Lily.
"It isn't really, but I don't see why you can't tell me," replied James. Lily said nothing. "I assume you're out here for the same reason I am."
"And what would that be?"
"Even though it is none of your business," James began with a smile, "I was out here because I enjoy the rain. It makes you feel so…so…I dunno, wild, I s'pose." He looked at Lily.
Merlin, James thought. Does she realize she's wearing a very wet, very white shirt?
Lily hadn't thought of that, of course, and that's one of the things James loved about her. She didn't realize when she was beautiful and never flaunted it. But she was. Oh, it made James's heart ache to see her. Her fiery red hair had been teased into loose ringlets by the rain, and her lips were bright red from the cold. Her white shirt was plastered to her, and James could see things that were usually hidden by her baggy robes. She was barefoot, her shoes discarded some ways away, and the jeans she wore were also tight and wet.
James had been taking a walk about the grounds when the heavens had opened up and poured rain. He was happy it had happened – he was serious when he told Lily he loved the rain.
"Potter, stop staring at me," said Lily, sharply. She suddenly became self conscious.
"I wasn't trying to, but it's not my fault. Gods, Lily, you're wearing a white shirt out in the rain, what else am I supposed to do?"
"Oh," replied Lily, surprised he had given her a straight answer. "Well, I wasn't planning on meeting anyone else out here." She folded her arms, trying to hide the parts of her that had attracted James' stare. They stood for a few moments in awkward silence.
"I had better go back inside," remarked Lily.
"Don't go," James pleaded. There was something about the rain that changed Lily, and he didn't want to let that go just yet. She seemed less rigid and detached, and he wanted to take advantage of her mood. Maybe she would let him get to know her better.
"All right," replied Lily. James was surprised; he hadn't thought it would be that easy. She sat down on the ground, giving him no invitation to join her but no rejection either. James was always the optimist, so he sat down beside her and looked out at the lake.
"Is there any reason that you like the rain so much?" James asked after a bit.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, I think the reason I love thunderstorms is because when I was little, whenever we had thunderstorms, my parents would bend the rules of the house and let me sleep with them. I'd curl up between them, and there would be a raging storm outside, but it wouldn't matter. They were there to protect me, and I didn't even worry about the house getting struck by lightening or a flood happening. I felt so completely safe. I can't really say I've felt like that since…well, since my…" James faltered, feeling that he'd said too much.
"Since what?"
"Since my mother died," he answered, quietly. Lily turned her head to look at him. James was sitting with his arms wrapped around his knees, and rain was dripping off his nose and chin. He looked so vulnerable. Lily had never seen him like this before. He was always so self assured, so…cocky, even, and now she realized that James Potter wasn't the god that others made him out to be. He felt pain like everyone else.
"James…I'm so sorry," whispered Lily. He turned to meet her gaze. Every time he told people of his mother's death, they would pontificate about grief and hope and how she would always be with him and other sorts of useless bollocks. Lily had just shown the deepest sympathy in four little words, and he loved her even more for it.
"Thanks," he smiled crookedly. "So, what about you?"
"It's silly, really," she began. "When I was little, every time it rained, my father would take me out and play in puddles with me, and we would catch raindrops on our tongues or twirl around in circles. Even as I got older, more mature, and they expected me to be responsible and ladylike, my father would still take me out into the rain, and I was allowed to be a little kid again. I don't think any other family tradition has stayed around that long. And being here, playing in the rain, reminds me of my childhood and being home again with my parents, before life got so complicated."
"Must be hard to be perfect Lily Evans all the time," perceived James.
"With a reputation like that, people always expect me to be responsible and to act like an adult. I have to follow all the rules all the time. I always have to push myself to do better and continually be a role model for those around me." She hadn't really discussed this pressure with anyone else before, and it felt good to do it. She sensed that James understood what she felt.
"You don't have to live up to people's expectations all the time, Lily. Once, you could just say to hell with them and do what you like."
"What, like you?"
James sighed. He knew that's how Lily thought of him. A notorious rule breaker, no respect for authority, no care about people's feelings or opinions.
"No, not like me," he said, finally. "Well, not like me all the time. But, Lily, if you're feeling repressed to the point that you aren't yourself anymore, that's when you need to change something."
"You haven't," she said.
"What?"
"I know the great James Potter should be above such character flaws, but I think you have the same problem I do. People know you as the rebel, the clown…that has to be hard to live up to all the time too. I keep catching glimpses of a different James, a serious one who cares about his friends and family. One who is brave and loyal and smart. Are you repressing that part of you, James, just because people have dictated that you can't be that way? People…people like me?"
James was astonished. Was Lily beginning to understand him? Had she just admitted that maybe she was wrong about him? And since when had she called him James?
Lily laughed at James' astonished expression. She was sort of astonished herself, but she had said it, and that was that.
"I don't really know what to say," James started.
"Loud mouthed Potter with nothing to say?"
"Now, now, that comment could just cause me to repress the quieter, more reserved James." Lily grinned and then glanced at her wristwatch.
"Is that really the time? James, we have to do our rounds!"
"Can't we not do them for once?" James inquired. "Why don't we stay out here and enjoy the rain?" For a second, he thought Lily was going to say yes. Unfortunately, she was not quite ready to forget the rules.
"The professors are counting on us, James, we have to go do our rounds." Lily got up and began walking. James followed.
"Fine, fine. But we can walk really slowly back to the castle, right?"
Lily smiled and replied, "I was planning on it." Getting up, she faced James. Standing on her tiptoes, she placed her hands gently on his shoulders and kissed him on the cheek lightly. Standing back, James could see a blush creep onto her cheeks.
"What was that for?" James asked, touching his cheek.
"For being in the rain with me."
"I'll go out in every thunderstorm there is if that's my reward," he replied. Lily smiled, and her cheeks got redder.
And years later, the raven-haired boy and the red-headed girl were still dancing in the rain…together.