"He's been following me around all year. Every day, at least once, he asks me out. It's getting really old," Lily complained as she and her friends packed their bags to go home for Christmas.
"Did you ever think that you could just go out on one date? What will it hurt?" Emily tried. Ariel nodded in agreement.
"It would be torture, that's why! All he wants is…well, you know," Skye completely agreed with Lily. She had just caught her now ex-boyfriend, Randy Copreena, snogging another girl in the broom closet. She was extremely tense, and was now completely against men in general, for the hundredth time that year.
The girls finished packing in silence, and left their dormitory to the Entrance Hall where they would leave to go home for the holidays.
"So, umm, Lils, are you doing anything special for the holidays with your family?" Ariel asked, trying to make polite conversation and steer the anger away.
"Well, every year, my mom and I help out at this Winter Festival at the park across the street from our house. We paint faces, have a barbeque, have games, prizes, you know, things like that, to raise money for those who don't have the money to enjoy the holidays," Lily stated. "The best thing is, though, that I don't have to deal with any pranks from Potter during the Holidays. I can go somewhere without fearing a water balloon, or a sneezing whizbee! Lily and her friends laughed about the ridiculous acts of the Marauders until they got to the train.
"Lily! Honey, over here!" Lily ran into her mother's arms as she left her friends for the holidays. "Mom! Dad! It's great to see you! Where's Petunia?" Lily looked around her parents, hoping to see her sister hiding behind them. "She's on a date, with this boy named Vernon Dursley. He's, uh, quite-the-catch," Mrs. Evans said hesitantly. Lily and her father laughed and headed home. On the ride back, Lily told her parents everything about school. She had always had a great relationship with them, and loved telling them all about the world that they would never fully know.
They arrived home, ready for a lovely Christmas as a family again. "It's good to have you home, pumpkin," Mr. Evans kissed his flame-haired daughter on the forehead as he opened the door. All of the lights were out, but there was a strange noise coming from the living room.
"Um, Dad, did you leave the television on?" Lily looked to her father and mother, who had very confused looks on their faces.
They all walked carefully into the kitchen/living room, where a moan was heard, along with a movement on the couch. Mrs. Evans flipped the lights on to find her daughter, Petunia, sprawled out on the couch on top of her boyfriend, Vernon.
"PETUNIA EVANS!" Mrs. Evans gasped; Lily covered her mouth in a laugh at the size difference of the two people, and Mr. Evans darted towards the two. He pulled – well, tried – Vernon off and away from his daughter.
He was so furious that he could only manage a few words out of his mouth, like, "YOU! COUCH! TOGETHER! IRRESPONSIBLE! OUT! GET OUT NOW!"
Petunia ran up to her room in tears as Vernon waddled out the door as fast as he could. This was sure to be an interesting Christmas.
About a week later, Lily awoke to a pecking on her window. She rose from her bed, groggily, and took the letter from the owl. She read over the letter from Skye, and how her brother drove the car right into her parents' bedroom. By the time she had finished the return letter, her mother had walked in.
"Hurry and get dressed, baby! We have to get to the festival to help set up. I know that you've had a lot of stress from your schoolwork, so I'm giving you an easy job, hon." Lily's mother smiled.
Lily stared at her mother for just one second, recognizing the same red hair that flowed down the back.
"What am I going to do?" Lily asked, eager to hear about how she could help raise the money.
"You, my beautiful girl," said Mrs. Evans, kissing her daughter on the forehead, "…are going to paint the children's faces! It will cost each person just one dollar. Paint whatever they like onto their cheeks, but nothing too risqué, kay, dear?" Lily's mother laughed, hugged her daughter, and left the room.
Lily got ready as fast as she could, eager to spend another beautiful winter day repeating traditions. She charmed her clothing to stay warm (hey, it was one of the charms for homework in Flitwick's class over break!), and ran out the door to meet her mother.
"Hi, there! That'll be one dollar. What would you like to have painted?" Lily asked the little girl with a smile.
"Um, may I have a rainbow, please, maim?" Lily beamed at the small 5-year-old. She loved how her golden locks curled at just the right places, and how her little smile caused dimples in her cheeks. 'I want a little girl just like that, if I have kids,' Lily found herself thinking, as she changed to the purple paint.
"There you go! You're all done!" Lily said brightly. The little girl started to walk away, but came back and gave Lily a quick hug and a, "Thank you, lady." Lily laughed and leaned back in her chair, welcoming the little break she had. She took out a magazine, and began to read about one of the Weird Sisters getting married.
"How about a pair of lips?" A voice asked from behind the booth that Lily was sitting at.
"James, honey, are you alright? You have seemed so distant since you got home," Mrs. Potter said in a concerned voice while ruffling his hair into an even messier state. She and James were sitting in the living room, on the couch. James had been staring at the wall when his mother walked in to ask him if he was hungry enough for lunch. James looked down at his shoes at his mother's question, and shook his head. His mother smiled slightly, although James could not see it from the way he was looking downward.
"Do you want to go see her?" His mother asked him, slyly.
"See who?" James asked, suddenly looking up.
"Lily Evans: that girl you always talk about. I know that's who you're thinking of. Go ahead, go see her. Are you two dating yet?"
"No, mum. She still hates me. She won't talk to me, let alone acknowledge that I am alive…"
"Maybe you should try talking to her again. Not about that, mind you, but about her. Get to know her, be gentle and caring. I know you care about her; you've only talked about her for six years. I love you, son. Now go find her!" James' mother said, pushing him towards the door.
"Thanks mum," James' muttered, "I love you." And with that, he headed out the door.
James knew that Lily lived in a town called Little Whinging. He decided that the best way to show that he was really making an effort was to go the muggle way. He took a train from Godric's Hollow, and found himself, somehow, in Little Whinging. He walked down the street, casually, wondering where on earth he was going to find Lily. Better yet, what would he say to her? By the time he came back to his thoughts, he realized that there was a festival just down the road. The park was fairly small, but there were many people hustled around. James followed his nose to the food stand, but found no Lily.
"And who are you, young man? I know everyone here, except you! Who are you here with?"
James turned around to see a young woman with long, red hair and blue eyes. He muttered, without thinking, "Ev…err…Lily?"
The woman laughed a little bit and shook her head. "You're here with Lily? I didn't know she had a boyfriend, she never mentioned anything…Oh, I'm so sorry! I'm Mrs. Evans, Lily's mother. She's right over there, see? At the booth. It looks like she's out of faces to paint. I'll expect I'll see you later, then?" She said, smiling, as she walked off to check on the other stands.
'Well, I can definitely see where she gets her good looks,' James thought as he walked.
As James arrived to the booth, he saw his beautiful Lily, reading a magazine. Her hair was flowing down her back and across her shoulders. Her emerald eyes were moving right to left, right to left. He took a deep breath, and said, "How about a pair of lips?"
"That'll be one-" Lily stopped what she was doing and looked up. Smiling down at her was the one and only James Potter. James' heart skipped a beat (or 10) when she spoke. Her voice was so beautiful, so angelic.
Lily looked up at James, who was smiling down at her. "What are you doing here? I really don't have the patience for you right now."
She turned her chair around and went back to her magazine. She knew he wouldn't leave and give up that quickly, but she had to keep up her annoyance attitude. James smiled, his eyes pleading for a kind gesture. He told himself, be nice, be gentle, don't be arrogant.
"I came to see you," James said simply.
"And why on earth did you come to see me? Planning on asking me out again, are you?"
"No, actually. I just thought you might want a break from your brushes. And, hey, I want those lips. You are the painter after all, right?" James laughed a little bit, and sat down on the stool next to her.
"I thought you were giving me a break?" She asked.
"Well, right after I said that I realized that there's no chance in hell that you would go on a walk with me, so I quickly changed my mind," James shrugged.
"If I give you lips, will you go away?" Lily sighed and looked at James in a very frustrated way.
"That depends on what kind of lips you give me. There's really only one kind that would really suit me you see," James rose from his chair and walked behind Lily, and started rubbing her shoulders. For some reason, Lily could not lift her shoulders to shake him off. She closed her eyes, and let out a very quiet moan. She had no idea what came over her, but she suddenly had no control over her words.
"D-do you want to, umm, take a, you know, one of those things where you move your legs…and…?" Lily continued to keep her eyes closed, moving slightly with the movement his hands on her shoulders.
He came around to her front to look at her, and smiled. "Sure, Lils, let's go." He offered her a hand to help her up, and she took it, still mesmerized by his touch. They started to walk through the park to the swings, which were a decent walk away from the main area of the park.
Lily finally took her hand back when they arrived at the swings. They both sat down, and swayed gently.
"Why are you really here, James?" Lily asked.
The sound of his name against Lily's tongue made James melt. He decided that if there was anything Lily liked better than cursing him, it was honesty. He didn't want to try anything smart and lose her, so he just told her the blatant truth.
"I had to see you," he replied. "I couldn't do anything at home, I just stared at the wall until my mother told me to go and see you. She hated that I was so miserable."
He looked down to his feet, clearly embarrassed that a marauder could feel so strongly.
Lily, too, looked down at her feet. She saw him reach out a hand to her, but she refused to take it.
"James, I can't do this."
James looked at her, confused. "What are you talking about?"
"You – me – together, I can't do this," Lily stood up and started running away. James sprinted after her, calling her name. He grabbed her hand, and pulled her close to him. She wriggled to get away at first, but then subsided. She made movements as to try to get away, but nothing that said that she really did want him to let go. He looked at her, sadly.
"Why not? I thought you were enjoying this…"
"That's not the point James! You can't just be one way one day and then the next be this entirely different person! I just know that when we get back to school, you'll still be the same arrogant jerk that you always have been! I don't want to do this, Potter; I don't know why you even bothered to show up! Please, just leave me alone!" Lily ran off as fast as she could back to her house, where she curled up in her bed, and cried herself to sleep.
James stood rooted to the spot where Lily had left him. He knew that he should leave her alone now, but he didn't understand what he did wrong. All he did was tried to take her hand, but she jumped all over him like he tried to strangle her!
'Women,' James thought to himself.
He hastily ran back through the park, and went home. He spent the rest of his Christmas break in his room, shut up, dark and alone. His worried parents sent for Sirius, but even he couldn't help James. James' mother held her son tightly as he fell asleep the night before he went back to school, hoping that this girl would come back to him, for she hated to see her son's heart broken into so many pieces.