by anavihs
The first time James Potter had ever heard Lily Evans laugh, it was because of something that git, Severus Snape had said.
He had fallen in love with the sound and eventually, he had fallen in love with her.
Multiple attempts to make her laugh had failed miserable, ensuring instead, her undying hatred of him.
James Potter, however, according to his friends, was always a stubborn twit, and so, didn't stop trying.
It was a rather rainy morning in the Summer before their Sixth Year when he showed up at her house. He had assaulted Moony with tickling charms until he had told him her address.
He grinned at the white picket fence of her house, laughing at the wonderful cliché that didn't describe a bit of Lily Evans. Making his way forward to push open the gate, he quickly moved towards her front door. He took a deep breath and knocked, praying that Lily would answer.
When instead, a blue eyed blonde opened the door and surveyed him before sending a flirtatious smile his way, he wondered if he had the right house.
"Is Lily Evans at home?" he asked, peering around her.
He watched in fascination, as the smile dropped and her face took on a rather unattractive, pinched look.
"Lily!" she turned to call and left him standing there without another word.
"What?" came the annoyed voice of his future wife and he grinned, peering inside. He saw her then, making her way over, wearing a baggy sweatshirt, so large for her that it had slipped off one shoulder, with shorts.
When she saw him, she froze, her eyes widening.
"Potter?" she asked, her mouth hanging open.
"Hullo, flower!" he called and she stomped forward.
"What the bloody hell are you doing here?" she asked, glancing around, obviously making sure no other members of her family had seen him.
"I met your.. cousin?" he asked, unable to stop beaming.
"My sister," she said, shaking her head and his eyes widened slightly.
"I didn't know you had a-"
"What are you doing here?" she interrupted him to say.
"I thought I might let you know that I've missed you and-"
"If this is some stupid joke, Potter-"
"It's not!" he said, brows furrowing. "I really have missed you and I thought-"
"Can we go somewhere else?" she asked, her gaze jumping around the house.
Quirking a brow, he nodded and watched, fascinated, as she pulled him inside and straight up the stairs. They took a right and headed down the little corridor before she opened a white door, dragging him into the room and slamming the door shut behind him.
James looked around in shock. He was in Lily Evan's bedroom. He had stepped into holy territory. This was something he had been dreaming about since-
"Listen, can you hurry this up, Potter? My Gran is here and I don't want her to-"
"I like your room," he said, moving to sit on her bed.
"Potter, stop being a git and just tell me why you're here!"
"I told you," he said, lifting up the bra he found on her bed between his fingers, feeling how silky it was. "I'm here because I've missed you."
She snatched the bra out of his hands, her face scarlet, and stuffed it into a drawer. He glanced around and saw multiple pictures stuck to the walls. They were of her and her best mates, Alice Fortescue, Marlene McKinnon, Emmeline Vance and Mary McDonald. He also noticed some spots where it looked like pictures had been ripped down. They had probably been of that twat, Snivellus.
"I know it's not that, Potter. We hate each other-"
"I don 't hate you," he said, frowning at her. That seemed to shut her up for a moment before she continued,
"If you're here for some kind of prank, I'm going to hex you."
"You're not allowed to do magic outside of school," he said, smugly, sending a crooked grin her way.
"Potter, I swear to Merlin-"
"Would you calm down, Evans? I really am only here because I've missed you. I wanted to see you."
She quirked an eyebrow at him suspiciously before nodding, decisively.
"Well, good then. You can leave."
She opened the door and gestured for him to go.
"Don't throw me out yet, Evans. I only just got here. First time I've been in a muggle house, too," he added, moving to poke at her bedside lamp.
"Please don't break anything!" she said, rushing over to push his hand away and he found himself much closer to her than he had ever been.
"How have your holidays been so far, Evans?" he asked, his voice slightly husky and she fussed with the lamp for a moment longer before moving away to sit on her bed.
"Utter shit," she said, shaking her head.
"That bad?" he asked with a smirk, sitting next to her.
"My parents have gone on vacation to the Netherlands," she said, rolling her eyes and he was shocked that she was still speaking to him. Maybe her holidays had been that horrible. "Petunia is being Petunia and my grandmother is driving me bonkers. Added to that, I can't even go see Sev-"
She cut herself off, her gaze bouncing to his face and then away. He cleared his throat and said,
"Listen, Evans, I never got to fully apologise before we left, but-"
"It's fine," she whispered, pulling her legs up to rest her chin on her knees. "He's a git. I would have figured it out eventually. It's my fault that I blamed you."
James had never been more shocked in his life.
"Don't get me wrong. You're still an idiot," she said and relief filled his being. There was his Evans, "But I'm glad you got me to see him for who he is."
"He's a twat," James said with a shrug and Lily turned to smile at him.
His stomach coiled into a little ball. She had never sent a smile his way before. This was his chance.
"I was thinking, maybe, you might want to go out with me?"
There was a pause, for just a moment and then she laughed.
As he was shoved out of her house with more force than necessary, he smiled to himself, walking down the muggle street, his hands in his pocket.
He had gotten her to laugh.