James came storming down the stairs, tumbling down into the common room, effectively startling all the students currently sitting in the large room.
Previously, the boy had been anxiously pacing in his dorm, trying to figure out the perfect Christmas present for Lily. 'This was the year' he kept telling himself, this was the year Lily was going to say yes to him, and he needed the perfect gift. Almost an hour into his pacing, he remembered the ace he had carefully tucked up his sleeve. His little sister was friends with Lily and in the same dorm as the girl.
That's how he found himself standing in the cold late October air, yelling up at his sister to come down from her broom.
"Well why not Violet! You're being silly, this is urgent!" he pleaded.
The younger Potter looked down at him with a raised eyebrow, "You know what else is silly?" she called down, "Your idiot brother not drafting you for the team even though you are clearly-"
"-clearly better than Florence Maxwell" James finished with the girl, "yes, yes, I know you've said it a million times."
"Good," she called smiling sarcastically, "Nice to see its finally made its way through your thick skull."
James rolled his eyes at her, "C'mon Vi, you know why I had to do that."
She tapped her chin, still looking down at her brother from the air, "No, I actually don't. It definitely wasnt because of her abilities," Violets voice quickly started raising, "because I caught the snitch more than her in tryouts and I completed all the tasks faster than her!"
The boy threw his head back in irritation, "Seniority, Violet!" he groaned, "She was already two years older than me" James began throwing his arms around for emphasis, "and not to mention she was seeker the year before as well! It would look bad for me, a fifth year captain to start pulling all the older players for all my friends and my sister!"
Violet scoffed, "You put Sirius on the team."
"One of the beaters graduated." James deadpanned. The siblings sat in silence staring at each other until James dropped his head, "Fine, look. would you just come down and help me? I promise you a spot this year."
Violet looked him up and down skeptically, arms crossed over her chest. "Would it help if I told you that Sirius, Marlene, and yourself are already on my official list? a week before tryouts even begin?"
She mulled it over in her head, twisting her face in a way to show she was seriously thinking it over. It wouldn't be new for James to say something like that, and still choose someone else as the seeker. Violet wasn't trying to be petty over it, she just really wanted to play her favorite sport with her brother and their friends before they all graduated, leaving her behind.
"If I showed you the official list?" James corrected, cutting the silence and hoping that would do the trick.
Violet hummed, throwing her gloves to the ground, "That'll do." she stated lowering to the ground. Once her feet hit the grass, she propped up her broom, leaning against it and looking at her older brother, "What can I do for ya' James?"
He smiled brightly, "I need your help."
The girl simply blinked at him, "Ok... what do you need my help with?"
"Oh... right." he shook his head, "Um, I need your help with Lily's Christmas present."
Violets eyes opened wide, "You- what? James Christmas is almost two months away!"
"Exactly." the boy stated, grabbing her forearm, "We're running out of time!" he exclaimed dragging her to his room to grab the invisibility cloak, allowing them to sneak out to Hogsmeade.
___
Violet stood next to James, arms folded across her cheast and tapping her foot as he sat scanning through the flower bouquets outside one of the shops.
"James. We've been standing at this display for fifteen minutes." she spoke, already irritated with the boy.
"I know, I just- I just saw these and they looked so nice." There was a brief pause as the bespectacled siblings continued to look at the flowers. One, gazed in interest, the other looked on, trying to see what the boy found so interesting amongst the brightly colored petals. Violet had always hated flowers, they were pretty from a distance she supposed, but the amount of pollen they tended to give off always seemed to throw her into endless sneezing fits.
Suddenly, James stood straighter, eyes brightening signaling he had an idea, "Do you think Lily would like one of these? I could drop it by her seat before she entered the hall for dinner."
Violet turned to the taller boy, eyes wide with shock, "You mean to tell me, we've been standing here for fifteen minutes, just because?" she looked appalled, "That you didn't come to this booth, planing to get something for Lily?"
A dark blush traveled across James cheeks, his head hanging down, watching the small stones he'd begun to kick around. He started mumbling softly, so quiet, that Violet had to ask him to repeat himself.
"No." he muttered, slightly embarrassed, "I just thought they looked nice."
Violet started laughing at this, causing James blush to deepen. "I can't believe it! The mighty James Potter, has a fascination with flowers! Not only his precious Lily flower, but daisies and roses too!" she gasped dramatically, "What will Iris Lovington think when she finds out the love of her life may actually have interest in her after all!"
"Well I'll tell you one thing for certain." James grumbled, glaring to his little sister, who was drawing more than enough attention from passerby, "I have no love for Violets."
She stopped laughing, gasping up at him in horror. Violet was going to try for a response, but every time she opened her mouth, she became too busy choking back laughter to piece a sentence together.
James straightened up again, confidence replacing the blush previously painted darkly across his features, "What is the matter anyway? Are boys not allowed to find joy in flowers too? After all, is it really that hard to understand after we are forced to take all those herbology classes?"
Violet could only shake her head at him, face still screwed up, trying desperately to hold back her laughter. She simply gestured back to the cart with her arms, as if to say 'go ahead, be my guest.'
James nodded finally, moving back in front of the selection. "Do you know what her favorite flower is?" he asked absently, eyes trained down, "I don't want to do lilies, that's too tacky."
"No." Violet shrugged, "I don't know, just do roses or something."
James quickly turned to her scandalized, "Absolutely not! Not only are roses extremely overdone, but they also insinuate passion, romance, and deep devotion! I don't want her to think I'm going crazy or overboard!"
Violets mouth was agape as she looked to her older brother, "First of all, no need to worry about that last bit, you've been begging her to go out with you since first year. Second, you mean to tell me you not only have a love for flowers, but you know the meanings-"
"Herbology." he quickly interrupted, a slight pink returning to his cheeks, "It's because of herbology." Violet nodded, not quite believing him, but not commenting on the matter anyway.
The siblings spent around 3 hours traveling around Hogsmeade shopping for Lily, and eventually, the rest of their friends as well. They returned to Hogwarts around an hour before dinner, arms full of Christmas gifts two months earlier than necessary.
After quickly stashing away both his friends and Lilys gifts for later, the boy made his way to the great hall, carefully placing down a hand picked bouquet at the redheads usual seat.
A beautiful assortment of pink asters, white carnations, and a bit of baby's-breath. Carefully chosen by the boy with both presentations and meanings at heart. Maybe she wouldn't understand what it meant like his sister didn't, but James knew what it meant, and that was good enough for him.
Asters for wisdom and faith, but specifically pink asters for sensitivity and soft but devout love as well. White carnations for purity and sweetness, and baby's breath for innocence and everlasting love. The perfect combination of flowers, for his very own perfect flower.
I came to the realization we hadn't had a real James moment yet and had to fix that... so here's whatever this is :)