Mirrors & Mistletoe— ch. 8

"So, what should we do tomorrow?" James asked as he plopped down on the couch next to Lily in the Gryffindor common room. The fire was blazing and snow was falling gently and silently outside the large windows. She looked totally taken by surprise at his sudden arrival, but he liked keeping her off-balance. It gave him the advantage.

"You said you had lists," he added, "so let's have a look." He pulled the book she had been reading gently from her grasp, relieved to see she did not resist. Instead she dug into her pocket, pulled out a sheaf of papers and began leafing through them. James, whose arm was already lying across the back of the sofa, inched closer to Lily trying his luck. His confidence was bolstered mightily by the day's events and the possibility that he might be closer to making her realize her feelings for him. And, yes, he knew she had feelings for him after their kisses earlier. She could deny it all she wanted, and James was rather irritated that she insisted on deluding herself. But a girl did not kiss a boy she did not like the way Lily kissed him. Now just to make her admit it.

As she went through each list explaining in detail all of her ideas, he mentally planned his own course of action. Obviously his popularity and his family's wealth meant nothing to her. She definitely did not appreciate a cocky attitude or find it the least bit appealing. On the other hand, she did seem to like how he plunged right in and took charge of the decorating. And he noticed her watching his interactions with the younger students with what seemed like approval. She might not realize, but he liked kids. In fact, when he married he planned to have a whole brood of little Potters running around underfoot. At this thought he refocused on her profile as she continued to expound on her plethora of ideas. Yes, he thought with a smile, a whole brood of little ones with beautiful green eyes and red hair. As the only child of an older couple, he longed for a big family of his own with someone by his side that would make a wonderful wife and mother.

"Are you even listening to me, James?"

He snapped out of his daydream and stumbled over his words. "I…I was just…just…yes, of course I was listening… and I agree wholeheartedly with whatever you were saying."

She eyed him skeptically. "Oh, is that so?"

The mischievous glint in her eye had him rethinking his response. "Unless," he added, "it has anything to do with causing me unnecessary harm or humiliation. In which case, I most certainly do not agree."

She chuckled and shook her head. "You're ridiculous," she said with a smile.

"And you're beautiful," he replied quickly.

She was stunned to silence, but only for a second. "James, I think—"

He scooted closer, never breaking eye contact. "Yeah, go on. You think…"

His hand lightly came to rest on her shoulder. He was going to kiss her again, he could feel it. No way could she resist him anymore. They were meant to be. 'Give it up, Lily,' he thought to himself. His eyes closed as his lips drew nearer and nearer to hers.

"I think," she whispered," we should go with the ice-skating and sleigh rides. Don't you?" she ended with a hair's-breadth of space between them.

James stopped as realization dawned. "What?" he shook his head to see if he had heard correctly. One of Lily's lists sprang up between them and he jerked his head back. "Tomorrow," she stated, all business once again, "for our activities. I think we should take them ice-skating on the pond down by the woods and have some sleigh rides." She jumped up from the couch triumphantly. "Yes! That's what we'll do! I'll have Hagrid hitch up some sleighs, and we'll use that freezing spell to make sure the pond is frozen solid, and—"

James banged his head on the back of the sofa and groaned in exasperation. "Good grief, Lily! You're killing me here!"

A laugh came from her general direction, but James refused to open his eyes and admit defeat. Suddenly he felt her breath near his ear.

"Thanks for listening, James," she whispered. "Good night and sweet dreams." Then she placed a feather-light kiss on his cheek and went to her room.

He remained head back, eyes closed with a humongous grin across his face for a few more moments. Then he opened his eyes and stared at the door to the girls' dorm. "You're a tough nut to crack, Lily Evans, but you're underestimating my determination and my will power. James Potter does not give up!" he yelled. "Quit is not in my vocabulary! Even in the face of impossible odds, a Potter never says never!"

Lily rolled over to her side and squeezed her pillow closer. The sun was just starting to peek through the heavy drapes on the dorm window above her bed and tickle her eyes awake. She stretched and smiled to herself as the events of the last night replayed in her mind. She had felt his gaze on her while they sat on the couch and she tried to explain her many lists. It had not taken long to realize he was not listening to a word she was saying. However, when she noticed him simply looking at her in the firelight, she was too nervous to stop talking. Then he told her she was beautiful, and by the sincere look on his face, he really meant it. He actually made her feel beautiful, which was not something she had ever thought too much about before. She refused to be vain or shallow, wrapped up in her looks. But the way James Potter looked at her like she was a goddess he wanted to worship— well, she would be lying if she said she did not like it, at least a little.

Then came his attempt at another kiss. She had almost given in. Oh, how she wanted to! She shouldn't, but for some inexplicable reason, she really wanted to kiss him again. Luckily, her brain had overruled her heart and body and saved her from pure disaster. If she kissed him again, she might not want to stop, and she just could not let that happen. Losing control. No, Lily Evans did not lose control of herself. Ever. It was a promise she had made to herself long ago. Stay in control of your heart and you won't ever get hurt.

The only concession had been the goodnight peck on the cheek she had given him. Seeing him so upset at being thwarted amused her and caused her to take pity on him. It was a safe way to get what she wanted. Once behind the dormitory door, she stifled her laughter at what he was yelling at her—his vow to never give up on his quest to make her his. It was funny, and a little frightening to think he might actually care so much about her. What if James Potter was truly capable of deep feelings? Capable of putting someone else before himself? It would dash all of her preconceived notions of him and eliminate the excuses she had been using against him for years now.

No. Time to stop thinking about James. She jumped out of bed refocusing her thoughts on all that needed to be done before they could start the day's activities. As she dressed, she noted curiously the absence of the other few Gryffindor girls who were at Hogwarts for Christmas. They must already be awake and preparing for the day, which was odd because she was usually the first one awake. When she was ready, she walked into the common room expecting to see several students sleepily milling around, but no one was there.

As she neared the bottom of the stairs to the entrance hall, she finally heard voices and breathed a sigh of relief. The twenty or so students who remained for the holidays were already bundled up and gathering skates and other gear to take with them. In the hustle and bustle, Lily failed to sense the person moving up behind her.

"You'd better hurry if you plan on going with us."

She spun around expecting it to be James, but was surprised to find Howard Clarkson instead.

"H-howard," she said. "What's going on? How is all this happening? I didn't even have a chance to talk to Hagrid yet about the sleighs." She was utterly confused.

"It was Potter," he answered. "He was up at the crack of dawn taking care of things. The sleighs are all hitched. All we're doing now is loading up. This is a great idea you had, Lily. I think everyone will really like it." He smiled down at her and she noted how handsome he was. But somehow it did not affect her like a mischievous smile, a tousled mess of hair and a pair of sparkling blue eyes behind a pair of adorable glasses.

"Me? My idea?" she asked.

"Well, yeah. Potter said you planned it all out last night. He said you're the brains and he's the brawn," Howard added with a chuckle. Then he turned serious. "Look, Lily, about last week…"

Lily saw a blush on his cheeks and took pity. Placing a hand on his arm, she said, "It's all right, Howard. I just don't want any hard feelings between us."

"Never, Lily. No hard feelings. Any other girl would have rushed to spread around my ineptitude in the romance department, but not you. That's why I—." He stopped abruptly and looked behind her.

She turned around to see James with an inscrutable look on his face and his arms crossed. "Oh, don't stop on my account. Please, finish your conversation. I'll wait."

There it is, thought Lily. There's the pig-headed toe rag I've come to expect. She looked back to Howard who appeared mortified. Her urge to defend the defenseless kicked in once again.

"As a matter of fact, our conversation was finished, but it is none of your business, James Potter. And, Howard," she added, "everything is quite all right, so don't you worry one bit." She glanced back irritatingly at James, stuck out her chin and walked off.

He growled under his breath and took off after her. "Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning," he began as he followed her into the dining hall.

"I woke up just fine, thank you," she replied not even pausing a step.

"I wanted to tell you it worked," he said. She stopped and looked up at him.

"What worked?"

"You told me to have sweet dreams and I did," he explained with a grin. She raised her eyebrows and studied him closely. He continued. "In fact, in addition to being sweet," he leaned down by her ear to continue, "they were also a little…spicy."

Lily burst out laughing, much to James's dismay. It was not exactly the reaction he had hoped for.

"Does that line ever work?" she spat out between laughter.

James was slightly offended. "I don't know," he admitted. "I've never used it before, so you tell me."

She was still laughing. "No. It most certainly does not." She grabbed a pastry from the table and walked out of the dining hall. This time he did not follow. Once her amusement faded, a scary thought crossed her mind.

'What exactly does he mean by… spicy?'

Her face immediately heated up and she hurried outside hoping to disguise the red on her cheeks as cold instead of heat.

"It's going to be a long day," she said to no one but herself.