by Annie (abriella63111) on archiveofourown.org
She had the worst luck in the world. That was the only way she could explain what was happening to her. Her life was in ruins there was nothing left for her. Okay maybe that was overdramatic but that's how Lily felt. After the events of this afternoon she felt alone with no one to turn too.
Of course that wasn't accurate she still had Marlene, Alice and Mary but Severus had been her childhood best friend and losing him like that hurt more than she could imagine. She should have seen this coming. She should have realized that when he first started hanging out with blokes like Rosier and Malfoy.
She should have done something more. Lily shook her head no, she wasn't going to go down that road again Severus made his choice and there was nothing more that she could have done. She then proceeded to get some wine out of the kitchen cabinet. Though she was not one to get drunk on a Thursday evening for once she believed that today called for this.
Lily woke up the next to the sound of her alarm and a pounding headache. She snoozed the alarm and rubbed her temple. Getting drunk on a weekday was a bad idea but going to work hung-over was an even worse idea. She would be lucky if McGonagall didn't fire her today.
She rushed to get ready and managed get out the door and in her car under fifteen minutes a new record even for her. She picked up some coffee and a croissant for breakfast and managed to reach Gryffindor Publishing only five minutes late.
She worked as a junior editor under one of the best editors in the company Minerva McGonagall. She loved her job, helping authors publishing their work and reading the manuscripts to find new talent and the best part was that the job paid well. She went to her desk and started to check her mail for a Friday her workload was quite light.
There was nothing major that required her attention she answered her emails went through some drafts making some notes on the margins. The day was not as hectic as usual and she was thankful for it as she doubted that she would have been able to get much work done today anyway with the massive headache that didn't seem to want to go away.
Realizing that she had some free time she opened Instagram and went to check her DM's and almost died of shock. There in recent chats it said James Potter active five hours ago. She clicked on the chat and scrolled up. It looked like drunk Lily had decided to open Instagram in the middle of the night to text a celebrity but what surprised her was that he had replied. No it had to be a joke there was no way the actual James Potter soccer star and one of the most popular people in the world had replied to her but he had and she could see the blue tick of the verification sign.
As she reached to the top of the conversation she vaguely remembered going through peoples stories and replying to James poll about how everyone was feeling and had jokingly asked him if he would be interested in egging her ex best friend's house this weekend and he had replied, that had ended up with her telling him how her best friend had betrayed her, and giving him her address but more surprising was him agreeing to her plan. She sighed out loud it was probably a joke there was no way that he would actually show up and decided to not over think it because for now she had work to do.
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Lily put her bag on the kitchen counter and started searching for whatever leftovers she had. After the day she had she was more than ready for a relaxing weekend, Gilderoy Lockhart had shown up just as she was about to leave and had demanded to see McGonagall about his new books cover because apparently his shirt was clashing with the background. Honestly how McGonagall managed to maintain her temper with him was beyond her.
Lost in thought Lily almost missed the doorbell ringing. She wasn't expecting anyone and Marlene was in Cardiff and would be back on Monday. She opened the door and the sight that meet her eyes left her dumbfounded James Potter the star forward for Puddlemore United the international soccer star stood in front of her but the most astounding thing was that he was dressed in dark sweats holding egg cartons and toilet paper rolls in hand.
She gaped at him like a fish unable to comprehend that he was actually there she had thought that it was a joke that he wouldn't actually show up but there he was. Realizing that she must look like an idiot standing in the door way staring at him she cleared her throat and held out her hand "Hi, I am Lily Evans" he looked at her appraisingly before smiling "James Potter" he says while taking her hand "So judging by the look on your face I am assuming that you were not exactly expecting to see me" "Yes, honestly I was quite drunk last night and assumed that you were just agreeing so as to not hurt my feelings and if not, quite frankly I am a stranger to you for all you know I could have been a serial killer luring you into a trap so no I was not expecting you" she finished babbling.
God what was wrong with her, she was Lily Evans, she does not babble and she certainly does not blush for no reason but somehow she found herself doing both in his company. "I came because your friend sounds like a brat and a harmless prank never hurt anyone, besides you aren't a stranger Remus knows you and is friends with you and that is good enough proof of your character in my books."
Remus of course how could she have forgotten? She had meet Remus during the short fling her friend Mary had had with him before deciding that they were better off as friends. Remus had told her once when he had dropped by to pick up Mary for a lunch date about his friends and James had been one of them. "So are we going to do this or not?"
Lily looked at him and then at the stuff he carried. He was right it was just a prank, not like they were committing murder or something and she had nothing left to lose now so she might as well have her last hurrah. She straightened and responded "Yes, let's do this." Five minutes later they both were in James's car heading towards Snape's house.
"So what do you do besides getting drunk on a weekday and texting random celebrities?" she rolled her eyes at the comment. "I work as a junior editor under Minerva Mcgonagall"
"Oh edited any famous books so far?"
"Well I mostly help Mcgonagall but sometimes I get my own projects. I am the point editor for Emmeline Vance and Hestia Jones"
James looked shocked for a second before his expression turned to one of awe. "You were the point editor for Hestia Jones the writer of the 'The brave and the true' book series?" Lily nodded at him and soon the conversation shifted to who their favourite characters were or what they hated most about antagonist. They pulled up a couple of blocks away from Snape's house and started to walk towards it as James told her the plan.
"So we are doing nothing elaborate we'll just cover as much as we can with T.P rolls and egg his porch. Okay?" She gave him a thumbs up and they both separated Lily started on the bushes while James was busy covering the tree's. It took them fifteen minutes to do everything that they could and Lily took her phone out to get picture.
She then turned to James and burst out laughing. He was lying on the grass with broken eggs surrounding him. He pushed himself off the ground and was about to comment when he suddenly grabbed her hand and started running.
Lily then heard somebody call out to them and started to run faster. When they finally reached the car they broke down laughing. After a couple of minutes of uncontrollable laughter they managed to get in the car and James drove away from the scene of crime. "I wish we could see his face when he realizes what happened to his precious house." Lily told him.
"Yeah I can't even imagine how mad he would be."
"So what do we do now?"
"I don't know about you but all that running has made me hungry. Want to grab some food?"
Now that Lily thought about it she hadn't eaten anything since lunch and now that the adrenaline rush had worn off she was feeling famished. "Sure let's go." They drove to the nearest McDonalds and got their order from the drive through. James had tried to order an ice cream but as always the machine seemed to be broken. This made him slightly narky but he got over it pretty quickly when they got their orders. He then parked at the parking lot and they began to eat while making conversation.
"So if you don't mind answering why did you agree to help me prank my ex friend at all?"
"Well like I told you before you are Remus's friend and he vouched for you but it was mostly because of what you told me about what that bloke had done and said to you. While I may not always agree with other people's opinions and views I still can respect them for it but what I am averse to is people shaming or forcing their opinions onto others. So when you suggested pranking him I thought he deserved it and agreed."
He then turned to look at her and whispered like they were discussing a dangerous scheme "I also really love pranks" Well that got a laugh out of her and it then turned the conversation onto James and his love for pranks. He told her about how he and his adopted brother Sirius had once managed to blow up their kitchen when they had been trying to make a cake for their Mum or about how they had turned their pool green for St Patrick's day. She learned how the infamous Marauders came to be when they met two of their best mates Remus and Peter in Uni and of their adventures and how it was to be a pro soccer player.
She in return regaled him with stories of her childhood and her friends Marlene, Alice and Mary. They had been talking for hours before they caught note of the time and James started driving back to her apartment. Never in her wildest dreams could have Lily imagined this. If someone told her a week ago that she would be out at midnight after TPing Sev-no-Snape's house with James Potter she would have called them barmy and told them to get their head on straight.
What surprised her the most was how much she enjoyed his company, he was nothing like she had ever imagined she had always assumed that he would be one of those celebrities who had a god complex and thought they were better than everyone just because they were good looking and rich but he was nothing like that. He had an ego as had been proved by some of his stories but he certainly didn't think he was better than everyone as far as she could tell as for the good looking part well Lily couldn't deny that he was fit actually he was very fit. He was quite muscular and tanned from his time on the field and his messy hair and bespectacled hazel eyes added to his charm. And then all too soon they arrived at her building, James then proceeded to walk her up to her apartment. When they reached they both stood outside her door awkwardly.
"So this was fun"
"Yeah it was, actually I was wondering if you would like to hang out again sometime if that was all right?"
Lily didn't need to think much about it and replied with an affirmative, she had truly enjoyed spending time with him and wouldn't mind trying to know more about him. They then exchanged numbers and hugged goodbye before Lily finally entered her apartment. Her mind was still reeling from the events that occurred today and had James just indirectly asked her out on a date? or was she reading too much into this. She quite frankly did not know and was too knackered to figure it out so everything would have to wait till tomorrow. For now she only welcomed sleep after all le sommeil est la solution à tous les problèmes.
Fin…
Translation for all non French speakers: sleep is the solution to all problems. (Please note French is my 4th language and I am still learning so if there is any mistake in the phrase please let me know).