Authors Note: I would say I put off studying for this, but if I'm honest, I would have put that off anyway. As per usual: No beta's, less than 24 hours to write it, but this time I don't have a list to go on for prompts. We'll see how that works.

Thanks for reading!

Lily and James run into each other when on winter break.

"I didn't expect to see you here, Evans." James Potter said as he slipped into an already occupied booth, shedding his cloak and rubbing his cold red hands together to warm them.

"I could say the same for you," Lily mumbled, looking through the glass the held in her hand. "It's Christmas Eve, why aren't you with your parents?"

"I got in a row with them, if you must know. Mum ended up crying and I felt so bad that I couldn't stay in the house anymore. Why are you here?"

"I didn't know you could get a guilty conscious, Potter," She said, dodging his question. She set her glass back down, the dark liquid inside sloshing towards the sides.

"I only can in this form, not as my alter ego." James said with a smirk.

Lily raised an eyebrow, perfectly aware that he was baiting her. "I'm not going to ask what your alter ego is. This 'form' is enough for me already."

James smirked, watching as Lily ran her fingers through the ponytail that sat over her shoulder. There were dark bags under her eyes that faded into purple before disappearing into her lightly freckled skin and her lips were chapped and had spots of dark red from where she'd bitten them until they bled.

If he was honest, he couldn't say he'd never wanted to kiss her more. He could remember plenty of times it took all his strength to keep from grabbing her by the wrist and pulling her to his chest and snogging her until neither of them could see straight.

If he was honest, he thought she was still beautiful, even with tired eyes and a stuffy nose, but he didn't want to kiss her. He wanted to make her laugh.

"Satan," He said quietly, staring at the table.

"Hmm?"

"My alter ego. It's Satan."

Lily laughed, burying her hands in her hands, and James swallowed hard despite the smile on his face. "I only called you that once and I apologized!"

"Not directly! You said you were having a bad day and didn't mean it." James grinned, looking at her over the frame of his glasses as they slipped down his nose.

Lily took his hands in hers, pulling them close to her mouth so his fingers brushed over her skin.

"James Potter, I am so, so sorry for calling you Satan. I truly didn't mean it and I feel terrible."

"You wouldn't have said it if you didn't mean it," He sniffed, pulling his hands back and shifting his gaze so he looked out the window. She followed it, watching people on the dark street outside the Leaky Cauldron that walked in the dim light made by lights inside stores and the festive lanterns that adorned the street.

"I did mean it then, but I absolutely regret it. To be fair, you weren't one of my best friends then."

She smiled but her eyes had lost the little light they had found since James had walked in.

"You never told me why you were here." He realized, moving his hand across the table to play with her fingers. Lily was silent and she stared at their entwined fingers, biting and pulling at her lip.

"The day after we got back from school for break, my- my dad died. I needed to get away for a bit."

He tightened his hold on her, tracing her knuckles with his thumb.

"I'm sorry."

"So am I."

James moved to the other side, slipping next to her and wrapping his arm around her should. He kissed her temple, swaying back and forth slightly.

He wanted to kiss her. He wanted to make her laugh. But that could wait.

Doing this without set prompts is a lot harder than I expected, so please send me anything you want to read and, if you have the time and the patience, please review. Reviewing is giving, and it is the holidays.