Chapter Thirty Eight
Not long after Sirius returned, now clutching a bag which clinked as he walked, Lily and James made their excuses and left; the chilling wind nipped at their exposed skin as they stepped out into the freezing air again and Lily wondered how it was possible for it to be so cold in October. The comforting warmth of their many Butterbeers vanished in seconds and the pair of them tumbled into Honeydukes with a gust trailing them, trying to grab them with its icy fingers before they shut the door on it. “I just need to grab some food,” James explained apologetically, “and then we can head back to the castle.”
“I think I’d rather stay here,” she chuckled, “it’s so cold outside. The walk back is going to be atrocious.”
James’ eyes flickered away from her face for a moment and he nodded mutely. “Yeah… Well I guess there’s a way we might be able to keep warm.” Lily didn’t have a chance to ask him what he meant before he moved away and started grabbing things off various shelves; he didn’t restrict himself to just one of the things he wanted but rather filled a basket with at least three of nearly everything on the shelves and, as she watched him, Lily couldn’t help but balk at how expensive it would be. “Are you sure you need that much food?”
“I’m a growing boy Lilybud,” he replied. “I need as much as I can get. Besides the others eat half of it anyway. Well Sirius eats most of it.”
“You’re only going to grow outwards. I doubt your metabolism is that good. You’d have to play Quidditch for forty centuries before you could work that off.”
“Oh ye of little faith!” he proclaimed. “I haven’t got fat yet.”
“That’s no reason to keep doing it,” Lily teased. “No girls will like you if you get so fat that a broomstick can’t hold you up.”
“The patented James Potter charm will still work on them,” he rebutted.
“No it won’t. You don’t have any charm. They just like you for your Quidditch skill, your popularity and your body,” she joked. “And you’ll lose all of that if your broom breaks under you because you ate four tons of sweets from Honeydukes.”
He approached her slowly, basket swinging from one arm as he did so, and questioned her quietly. “Do you like me for my popularity and Quidditch skills Lily?”
“No, don’t be stupid. I like you for your body.” James’ face froze for a second before splitting into an enormous grin and he began to laugh again, doubling over and nearly collapsing into the aisle as he did so; his hands gripped one of the shelves next to him as he spluttered and struggled for breath, sweets forgotten by his feet, and Lily almost worried that he was going to suffocate. She was laughing too though and neither of them were in a position to do much to help the other, or to stop the disapproving looks of one shopper who glared at them as he shuffled past.
“I always knew,” James finally gasped, “that my good looks would win you over.”
“Yeah yeah, you know it’s true. I was just irresistibly attracted to your gigantic height and stupid hair; the first time I looked at you this year I was like ‘Man that tiny kid has grown a lot! Look at that jaw line and his really, really sexy glasses.’ I nearly fainted when I saw that you had two arms.”
“What can I say? Two arms is a lot to ask of some people,” he sighed. “It does mean I can do this though,” he continued as he trapped her in a tight hug.
“In all seriousness though,” she mumbled as she tried to twist around to face him, “you are weirdly solid for someone whose only exercise is flying around and catching stuff. How do you manage it?”
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The Next Great Adventure (A Marauders Fan Fic)
Fanfiction(Companion piece to Dwelling on Dreams) James Potter has been Lily's enemy since the first day that they both started at Hogwarts. She has never been interested in his being his friend but, when they and their friends return for their fifth year at...
