QLFC: Season 10, Round 7

Team: Kenmare Kestrels

Position: Captain

Prompt: Soulmates

Word Count: 1341

Notes: It's a little bit Soulmate AU, but in a way that technically could be canon. I hate writing fluff.

Lily stared at the ceiling of her dorm. It was three am, they all ought to be in bed, but instead the sixth year Gryffindor girls were sitting, or lying, on the floor with Arrelda Abergene's Spreadable Face Potion on their faces.

"Do you believe in soulmates?" Lily asked. "Like, could there really be someone out there that's so perfect for you that your souls are drawn to each other?"

"Well," Mary said, "people have been telling stories about soulmates for ages, at least since the ancient Greeks, surely there must be some truth to the matter."

"I don't," Alice said. "I believe any relationship is as good or as bad as the effort people put into it. You can choose to love anyone."

"I think soulmates is a nice concept, but there's four billion people in the world, we're probably never going to find our soulmates if they do exist."

"Can you imagine if we did though? Mary asked.

"How would you know?"

Lily rolled her eyes as Mary and Emmaline trailed off into a bickering match. How would someone know if they'd found their soulmate?

"You know there's an easy way to answer this," Marlene said.

Lily turned her head to look at Marlene, who was smirking at them from underneath her face potion. "How?" she asked. Even Mary and Emmaline quieted to listen.

Marlene looked far too excited for anything good to come of it. "There's a spell that will show you what your soulmate's patronus is…"

"What good would that do?" Emmaline asked.

"Well," Marlene continued. She paused dramatically. "We're all supposed to learn the patronus charm tomorrow. I say we all do the spell, then see if our soulmates are in our year."

"We can finally see if James has been on to something all these years," Mary said, a teasing not in her voice.

"Mary McDonald!" Lily said. "James potter is not my soulmate."

"Then why are you blushing?" Mary said.

"And why did you have a crush on him back in third year?" Alice continued.

"And why are you so committed to the I hate James Potter bit that you've kept it up all these years?" Marlene finished with a dramatic flourish of her hand.

"He's not my soulmate!" Lily sputtered. She could tell that Mary was right though, she was blushing. "And to prove it, I'll do the spell and you'll all see tomorrow."

Lily's head was spinning as she rushed out of the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom having muttered some lame excuse about needing the toilet. That was not supposed to happen. That was the last thing that was supposed to happen. When the spell last night said her soulmate's patronus was a stag it was not supposed to match James Potter's patronus! But there he was, standing in the middle of the classroom, looking exhausted but with his annoyingly attractive cocky grin on his face and a perfectly formed stag patronus trotting around him taunting her. She pressed her back to the wall and tried to take a deep breath. It would be fine. This would all be fine! Just because his patronus matched her soulmate's didn't mean he was her soulmate.

"Are you alright," James asked.

If Lily had been holding something soft she probably would have thrown it at his head. Alas, a look that she hoped could stop a dragon would have to suffice.

James put his hands up in surrender. "Sorry, the other girls said I'd be the best one to come check on you," he said. "If…"

"Well they were wrong," Lily said. "Please return to the classroom and send Remus or one of the girls. Not Mary though, or Marlene, they'll just rub it in my face. Maybe send Emmaline. She doesn't believe in any of this—" She cut herself off before he rambling revealed information she would definitely rather James not have.

"Right," James said. "I'll send Remus or Emmaline." He turned to go. Actually turned to go. A few years ago he would never have left her alone even if she hexed him but now he'd gone and grown up and it made Lily want to scream. James took a few steps, then turned back towards her. "Did I make you angry because I successfully cast a corporeal patronus first?"

"No," Lily said. She rubbed her hands down her face. She was far too tired to deal with this. Staying up till four am on a school night was definitely not a good idea. "Just send Emmaline."

"Right," James said again. This time he didn't turn back around on his way to the classroom.

It was a good several minutes before someone approached her and cleared their throat. Lily looked over to see Remus standing a few feet away.

"James told me to tell you that Emmaline was working with the Professor," Remus said.

"Did you know soulmates are real?" Lily said.

Remus shrugged. "Yeah, but I've never put much stock into the idea. I'm not really the marrying type," he said. "Why do you ask?"

"Did you know there's a spell that tells you what your soulmate's patronus is?"

The smirk on Remus' face told Lily that he knew exactly where she was going with this. "Is your soulmate's, perhaps, a stag."

"You don't need to look so smug about it," Lily said, trying to ignore the way her face was heating up in a blush.

"It's not surprising really. You've both had crushes on each other for ages," Remus said.

Lily groaned, but she could tell that the emotion behind it was fading fast. "I can't go out with him! I spent years telling him I'd never say yes to him asking me out, I can't give up now!"

"You do realize there's a very obvious loophole in this, right?" Remus said.

For the second time that day Lily wished she had something soft in her hands. "Oh shut it," she said, playfully pouting. Remus really was a good friend, and he was right, there was a loophole.

"Just give him a shot," Remus said. "I know he can be annoying, but he can also be extremely kind."

"And he's hot," Lilly muttered.

Remus laughed lightly. "Yeah, that too."

Lily sat down next to James in the great hall. Her heart was pounding at a million miles an hour. Honestly it was a bit ridiculous how nervous she was. They'd known each other for six years, and the topic of romance was never one James had shied away from. Besides, he was her soulmate, and in addition to that he'd never hesitated to let everyone know that he liked her.

"Good morning, Evans," James said.

"Good morning, Potter," Lily said. "It's a hogsmeade weekend tomorrow." She was stalling. One glance at Remus told her that he knew she was stalling too.

James sat up straighter and turned towards her. "Would you like to go together?" he asked.

Lily bit back a laugh. She was far too committed to the bit to say yes, even to the hopeful look in James' eyes. "No," she said. "Would you like to go on a date with me to Hogsmeade tomorrow?"

James almost jumped out of his seat, glancing at Remus, Sirius, and Peter, as if confirming what he had heard. "Yes, I would love to!" he said, grinning. "I… hang on. I just asked you and you said no?"

This time Lily couldn't keep from laughing a little. "I told you, I'm never going to say yes, no matter how many times you ask me out," she said. "I'm a woman of my word, James Potter." She stood up to go sit with the girls, but mostly for dramatic effect. "I'll see you later and we can work out the details." She walked off, no longer trying to hide her grin.

She was finally going on a date with James Potter, but unlike any of the times he'd asked, this would be on her terms. And she could keep up the bit.