VINGT TROIS
lily edwards is a nerd!
LILY DIDN'T KNOW why she was so nervous to ask him. That was a complete and utter lie. She knew exactly why. She'd met his parents, but this was him meeting hers ( which was totally not something she wanted to happen, not yet, at least ). Was this what he felt like when he'd asked her?
Gael and Pierre Edwards had ( somehow ) tracked down an owl and written to Lily, asking her to bring her boyfriend to France with them for their spring holiday ( she also had no idea how they found out that her and James had gotten together ).
She looked nervously down at the letter when James kicked down the door to their dorm.
"Honey! I'm home!" he yelled as he looked at her with excited eyes.
"I understood that reference!" she chirped as a smile settled itself onto her face.
"What're ya nervous about?" James asked casually as he kicked off his shoes.
"How did you-?" Lily asked.
James just looked at her with an unimpressed face. Lily sighed in response and showed him the letter.
"What does it say?" James asked as she still didn't speak.
"My parents are inviting you on spring holiday with us and they said if you want, your family could come as well," Lily said. "We have a manor in France. My papa inherited it when his parents died."
"Your parents — the big, scary, tall ones — want me to come on spring holiday with them?" James asked.
"They're tall, but they're not scary. My papa looks intimidating, but start talking about architecture or Jane Austen, then he'll melt like a puddle," Lily said off-handedly.
"Well it sounds like fun, I'll let my mum and dad know," James said with a quick smile.
"What? No, I was going to say you had plans or something," Lily said as she followed James into his room where his quill and ink were.
"Looks like I'll have to write your parents myself then," he said as he rummaged through his pile of things.
"I'd like to see you try," Lily said with a scoff.
"Bold of you to assume I don't know your address," James said with a sassy face.
Lily opened her mouth to counter him, but ultimately decided against it. There was a very high possibility that he was not lying and she honestly did not want to find out the truth.
"You know what, I'm going to send them a letter even if you send one. First impressions!" James said merrily as he sat down at his desk and grabbed a quill and a piece of parchment.
"It's not necc — " Lily protested.
"Lils, you know by now that it's almost impossible to change my mind," James said, not looking up from the letter he was crafting.
Lily sighed and gave up. She walked out of his room, but stopped briefly at the doorway. She held the frame slightly, turning back. Lily smiled faintly to herself at the sight of quite possibly the love of her life determined to make a good first impression on her parents by writing them a letter. And she could tell by how concentrated he looked, he was trying to write in his best penmanship.
"Don't forget about our date later today," James called back from his desk.
"I won't," Lily called back. "What are we doing?"
"That's a surprise," James replied.
"Fine, then where are we going?" Lily asked.
"That's also a surprise," James answered.
"Well then what should I wear?" Lily asked.
"Something comfy," James replied.
"I'm loving your description, James," Lily called sarcastically.
"Look, love, you have no one to impress but me and it doesn't take a lot to impress me when it comes to you," James said. "So wear something that you feel pretty in."
"First of all, who said I ever dressed up to impress anyone but myself and second, I always wear something that I feel pretty in," Lily retorted. "That's the point of fashion."
"Well I don't know, love, jeans. Wear jeans," James said.
"Alright," Lily called as she made a mad dash into her room.
Of course she didn't have to plan her outfit, but nothing brought her more joy than going through her wardrobe and discovering old clothing that she'd forgotten about ( wearing a uniform 5 days of the week takes its toll, even on a small wardrobe like hers ).
She quickly rummaged through her closet until she found just the right outfit, set it out on her bed and then turned her attention towards a letter home to her parents.
After writing her letter to her parents, she got up and got dressed. When she left her room, she found James already waiting.
"Those aren't jeans," he said with a goofy smile.
Lily looked down at what she was wearing: her Weasley sweater, a just below knee length green skirt ( that had pockets! ) and black Doc Martens.
"Well, you didn't seem super sure on the jeans, so I decided to take liberties. Or will this not do?" Lily asked.
"No," James said with a chuckle. "It's perfect. You look beautiful."
Lily's cheeks bloomed bright red as she grabbed a coat from the rack and followed James out of the door. The sun was setting by the time they left their dorms and the last golden rays illuminated their hair and made the golden specks in James's eyes shine. Lily couldn't stop staring.
"So," Lily hummed as they walked in a comfortable silence as she looked down at her walking feet. "Where are we going?"
"You know I can't tell you that," James said with a playful smile.
"Oh come on," Lily teased. "A hint, perhaps?"
"Fine, it's not something you'd normally say yes to," James said as he struggled to hold back his laughter.
"I'm sure it isn't, and I promise not to tell the Head Girl if you promise not to tell the Head Boy," she joked.
James threw his head back in laughter. Lily laughed as well while shaking her head. She looked down, laced their fingers together, brought James's hand to her lips and softly kissed the back of it.
"I promise I won't," James said as he looked down at her lovingly. "Come on, this way."
James walked ahead of Lily, slightly dragging her, as he exited the castle. They walked hand in hand down the path as the wind blew their hair in different directions.
"Ok, so, do you want to hear some of the cheesy pickup lines I would've used if I hadn't stopped asking you out after our deal?" James asked.
"Of course!" Lily exclaimed.
"Of course?" James asked. "You always hated them."
"Hate cheesy pickup lines? James Sirius Potter! Those were my favorite bits, I just hated that I loved them," Lily explained.
"A- all right then," James said. "Um — did it hurt when you fell from heaven?"
Lily threw her head back as she laughed.
"Uh- are those space pants?" James asked, he then looked at her intently for an answer. She just shook her head. "Because your arse looks out of this world."
Lily scoffed and laughed at the same time and lightly hit his shoulder.
"Please tell me you weren't planning on using that one in the Great Hall!" Lily exclaimed.
"After that reaction, I just might," James said cheekily. "Let's see ... if you were a cat, I'd spend all nine lives with you."
"Awe, James," Lily gushed. "I'd spend them with you too."
"Well, you said that you like cheesy pickup lines, do you have any of your own?" James asked as he helped he lead her down the stone steps that lead to the Forbidden Forest.
"Um- I have one really good one that I've always wanted to use," Lily revealed.
"Well? Let's hear it," James urged.
"I don't think you'd understand it, it involves muggle chemistry," Lily explained.
"You can explain it to me after," James suggested.
"Alright," Lily mumbled. "Are you 10 potassium nitrate reacting with 8 carbon to produce 2 potassium carbonate, 3 potassium sulfate, 6 carbon dioxide and 5 dinitrogen?"
James looked bewildered while Lily was struggling to get the words out due to laughter.
"Because all I see are fireworks," she finished through tears and cackling.
James started to laugh even though he had no idea what just came out of her mouth, but seeing her laughing and finding something so funny that her witch cackle came out caused him to laugh as well.
"Because- do you know what chemistry is?" Lily asked.
"Sort of?" James replied.
"It's very much like potions, but instead of frog spawn or bezoar, we have elements like nitrogen and carbon that make up life and the world around us," Lily explained. "And what I just said was a chemical reaction."
"So you're saying you memorized an entire chemical reaction just for a pickup line?" James asked.
Lily nodded as she burst out laughing again, her laughter subsided, however, when she realized where they were headed. They were getting quite close to the Forbidden Forest.
"Are- are we going to the Forbidden Forest?" Lily asked, trying to hide the nerves that started to rise.
"Yeah, we are," James said, then he remembered something, pulled out his wand and muttered a spell.
Suddenly, one by one, floating orbs burst into light, showing the way. They were in all different colors: some in blue, green, pink, yellow and purple. They floated at staggering heights and moved slightly the longer they stayed lit. Lily gasped at the sight, it truly was beautiful.
"Henry mentioned something about you being scared of the dark," James said quietly. "He also said you hadn't been to the Forbidden Forest because of it."
"Yeah I am," Lily breathed out as she stared at the lights leading the path. She started to tear up a little bit, "I don't deserve you, you've really thought of everything."
"I think it may or may not be the other way around," James corrected as he gently started leading her into the forest. "But, any time you want to leave, we can. We're not doing anything you're not comfortable with."
"Thank you so much," Lily said earnestly as she stared at him with lovingly shocked eyes. "This is beyond everything — truly."
"I'm just glad you like it," James said softly as he gazed at her.
"Don't be so modest ... not now as least," Lily joked. "This must've taken so much planning."
"Eh," James shrugged as a smile creeped onto his lips. "It was worth it."
Lily smiled back at him and nodded towards the glowing trail.
"Would you like to go in?" she asked.
He nodded and led her into the Forbidden Forest. In truth, this had taken an immense amount of planning on James's part. He'd somehow convinced the centaurs to let them venture deep into the forest without being disturbed, they just couldn't go beyond the agreed bounds ( who knew centaurs were such romantics? ). Then, he had to learn how to actually make the glowing orbs ( though he learned a trick or two from his Uncle Ron, who also helped him color them ). And there was still more that he did.
As they ventured further into the forest, Lily couldn't stop staring at the way the orbs sparkled and James couldn't stop staring at her. Once they reached the end of the path, there was a picnic blanket that was littered with small rosettes and was surrounded by small flowers, mostly daisies with a picnic basket perfectly placed on top of it.
"This looks familiar," Lily said giddily as she approached the blanket.
"Sure does," James said with a nostalgic smile. "That was a great day."
"Even though I rejected a perfectly good proposal," Lily replied remorsefully.
"Yeah that one broke my heart a little bit," James admitted with a sad laugh. "But it all paid off in the end."
"I truly am sorry," Lily said as she sat down on the blanket, James quickly following suit.
"Nothing to be sorry about, Lil, you didn't like me back yet and that was a perfectly good reason," James reminded her.
"Right," Lily replied as she laid down one side of the blanket. "Apologizing for shit like that is a fucked up female habit."
"Which is why I call you out on it," James said as he laid down on the side directly above hers so their heads met.
Lily rolled on her side and propped her head on her hand.
"So, what have you prepared for us tonight?" Lily asked.
James smiled and reached forward and grabbed the wicker basket. He slowly took things out of the basket and showed off his cooking and baking skills ( and skills of having absolute breakdowns over whether or not the butter was cool or room temperature ).
"First, we have steak and potato pasties, your favorite," he said as he showed off his perfectly crimped pasties ( that took him hours ).
"Oh my goodness," Lily moaned and smiled at him gratefully.
"Along with the pasties, I brought muggle crisps in just salt and salt and vinegar and, to be healthy, I have carrots," James said as he pulled out the snacks. "And last, but not least, I have the classic Victoria Sponge."
He pulled out two slices of the sandwich cake and placed them in front of her.
"But, never fear, to drink during the meal, I brought water and butterbeer," James said as he brought out two glass bottles of water and two bottles of butterbeer. "And for the way back, as it's still a little chilly, I have hot cocoa so we don't get cold."
Lily just gazed at him. Her heart could've burst at that point. The thought that he had put into the picnic was spectacular. She had never said that any of those foods were her favorite, but he'd paid attention and remembered.
"You're amazing, you know that?" Lily breathed out as she gazed at him, if she wasn't a stone cold bitch, she might've cried.
James leaned forward and pecked her lips before sliding a plate with an assortment of the food on it. He'd even packed actual plates instead of paper ones.
Lily quickly ate her food, savoring every bit of her cooking all the while thinking about how lucky she was to find someone that just got her. Was that what a soulmate was?
"So," Lily said as she licked her fingers to savor the last bits of the pasty.
"So," James repeated with a small smile.
"What do you normally do on a first date?" Lily asked.
"Dunno, never been on one," James said absentmindedly.
"You weren't joking?" Lily asked bewildered. "Surely someone must've asked you out."
"People did ask me out, but I wasn't joking when I said I'd wait for you," James said.
"So you've never been on a date?" Lily asked again, still slightly shocked. James just shook his head. "Merlin you should've told me!"
"Why?" James asked, confused.
"Well — I would've — I would've made it special and not have had you do everything and we could've done something totally cheesy and then something totally out there because that's just so you," Lily said, exasperated.
"Well this is special," James said with a small laugh. "Because I'm with you."
"But you should be surprised on your first date and- and- I don't know, have someone else do the work for you!" Lily insisted.
"But I enjoyed doing this for you!" James protested with a laugh. "I've been planning this exact date in my head for the last 7 years!"
"You- you have?" Lily asked.
"'course," James replied. "I'll tell you what."
"Hm?" Lily hummed.
"We can have two first dates," James said.
"What?" Lily asked as she started to laugh a bit.
"Two first dates! That way we can both surprise each other and do the work for the other because while this may not be your first first date, it's your first date with me," James explained.
"Which is just as, if not more, important," Lily hummed as she laid down again, looking up at the starry sky.
"Why- why is that?" James asked carefully as he laid down next to her.
She stayed silent a little bit and just looked over at him. He wasn't looking at her.
"Because," she said slowly and carefully. "I just- I have- I don't know- I have a weird feeling with you."
"How so?" James asked, finally looking back at her.
"It's kind of like this is something so normal, being with you, like this, like breathing air or drinking water," Lily explained. "It's something so ... natural ... almost like I've done it before."
"Hm," James hummed, "you know what's weird?"
"What?" Lily asked.
"I kind of felt the same thing, but I didn't want you to think it was weird or that I was moving too fast or something," James confessed.
"Oh," Lily said. "Well I'm glad we're on the same page."
"Yeah. I kind of felt like..." James trailed.
"Like this is something that is going to last," Lily finished for him. "And not in that silly young love sense."
James nodded and smiled at her. She smiled back. He then scooted closer to her and Lily shifted so her head was on his stomach as they both stared up at the starry expanse.
It was a dark sky zone where they were, naturally, as no muggles were near them and the orbs didn't give off a strong enough light to change their eyes adjusting that much so they could see everything from the milky way to the andromeda galaxy. All of the recognizable constellations became one big mesh in small little lights.
They heard the faint lilting of flute in the background and looked at each other. The centaurs. James noticed that Lily started to panic a little.
"Don't worry," he coaxed. "I made a deal with them, they won't interrupt."
"You made a deal with centaurs?" Lily asked with an incredulous laugh.
"What's so funny about it?" James asked.
"Well it seems as if your family does at least eight incredible things by their last year at Hogwarts, you included," Lily remarked.
"I- well- you're not wrong," James replied. "I guess greatness runs in our blood!"
"Or sheer dumb luck," Lily challenged.
"Hey!" James protested as he sat up.
Lily started to laugh as she sat up too and muttered a quick "sorry" as she reached for the Victoria Sponge. She handed James his piece as she unwrapped the cling film and placed the cake on her plate.
"So," James said as he licked his fingers clean. Lily just stared at him.
"I just- I just gave you that cake and you're already done?" she asked.
"What!?" James defended. "I'm an athlete. I burn a lot of calories!"
"That's the worst excuse I've ever heard, but I guess it's kind of true," Lily said as she started to laugh. "I have been privy to the amount that Ny eats in a day."
"See!" James said as he stuck out his arms dramatically. "So, aside from criticizing how much your date eats, what do you do on a first date?"
"Well it depends," Lily said as she poked at her cake.
"Well, how was your first first date?" James asked carefully.
"The absolute worst," Lily admitted.
James threw his head back laughing at her confession.
"What!" Lily defended as she laughed herself, causing her to struggle to get the words out. "He would not stop talking about this new owl that his parents got him for Christmas and it was so bloody boring!"
James couldn't stop laughing and neither could Lily.
"But," Lily said loudly as her laughter started to subside. "The first good, and probably one of the best dates I've been on, first date was with Grace Andrews. I was 15 and we dated for the last three months of fourth year."
"Oh yeah," James said. "I remember that. I heard a rumour that she had a Tibetan uncle who wasn't into the whole gay thing and threatened to kill you."
"What?" Lily asked as she started a laugh a bit.
"That's just what I heard," he replied as he shrugged.
"N- no," Lily said through her nervous laughter. "It was nothing like that. She gave me a promise ring and I freaked out."
"Oh?" James asked, "why? I thought you liked her."
"I did like her, a lot, but it just wasn't- I didn't- I didn't feel right," Lily admitted. "And I mean, come on, a promise ring? Well, she had good intentions and I suppose that's all you can really ask for."
"So what was so great about your first date with her?" James asked.
"She took me to my first, and unfortunately last, wizarding carnival. It was so much fun," Lily said.
"I've been to a couple of those!" James said. "Whenever mum hears about them, she always had us go. They're so cool. Well I guess I know where to take you then!"
"Oh you don't have to!" Lily replied. "I know how hard it is to get tickets!"
"Come on, my dad's Harry Potter. He saved the wizarding world. He can get us tickets," James said haughtily.
Lily rolled her eyes, but smiled a bit. He meant well.
"So, what are you going to do for our first date part two?" James asked.
"You know I can't answer that!" Lily exclaimed.
"Come on!" James begged.
"Nope," Lily replied.
"Fine," he grumbled.
"We should probably start to head back," Lily said, sitting up and checking the time. "Merlin, it's half past nine, we should go."
"You're probably right," James said as he sat up and with a flick of his wand, everything packed itself into the basket, blanket included.
He then held out the two travel mugs of hot cocoa for the way back, which Lily accepted with childish eyes and a grin. She wrapped her cold fingers around the mug and smelled the chocolate in the steam that rose up. Her coat was thrown on and the scarf that she always kept in the pocket ( just in case ) was thrown lazily over her shoulders. James looked pretty much the same, but with a floating basket behind him.
She held out her hand for him to take as they walked out of the forest together. They stopped, however, once they'd reached the very edge of it.
"Woah," Lily breathed out.
She'd never seen the castle from the outside at this time of night. The lights from the common rooms were blazing and she could see students running in the corridor and up and down the stairs, shapeless figures going about their lives. It was beautiful.
James squeezed her hand three times exactly as he looked down at her and her wonder filled eyes. The lights reflecting off of them made her ocean eyes sparkle and the pure joy in them made them even more angelic.
"Let's go in," he whispered.
Lily slowly nodded as they walked slowly back to the castle, careful as it was now night, so they could trip and fall more easily. They walked up the stone path up the hill one by one, helping each other if a stone was loose.
Once they reached the inside of the castle, it was much warmer than the outside, so they took off their scarves. Once they reached their dorm, they found their fire already lit and the room a toasty temperature.
Once coats were off and boots were untied, they looked at each other, both of their cheeks still slightly red from the outside cold.
"Thank you," Lily said quietly. "For the best date I've ever been on."
James truly smiled, dimples and all at the statement. He dipped down and brought her into a slow, soft kiss. But, the lack of concentration caused the basket to fall and a shatter was heard. They quickly pulled away and James went red in the face at his mistake.
"I'll clean that up," he said quickly.
"Here, let me help you," Lily offered as she walked over.
"Lil, it's fine, I'll just use magic," James insisted kindly.
"Ok," Lily conceded hesitantly.
She then walked into her room quickly and grabbed parchment and quill. She wrote four quick paper planes to Nyah, Ruby, Estelle and Josie telling them to meet her the next day to gush about the first date ( which was demanded, sorry requested, by Ruby ). Once she had finished, James had finished as well.
He then looked at her as she pulled off the Weasley sweater, revealing a white tank top underneath because of the fire. Something inside of him clicked and he quickly walked towards her and kissed her roughly.
Lily stumbled back a bit, not expecting it, but soon melted into the kiss. His hands travelled over her ass to the tops of her thighs and he squeezed.
"Jump," he commanded in a low voice. She obeyed and he caught her with ease as she wrapped her legs around his torso.
He walked towards his dorm, not breaking the kiss, slamming the door shut ( though there was no need ) with his foot.