A/N: Wow. I have been gone for a long time. My apologies. Well, this little ficlet is nothing much, just some fluff about Lily and James. It was mostly to get my mind off of things and because I felt like I needed to put something new up. Hehe. I hope you enjoy this little miracle.
Mwahs.
Happy New Years my dear readers.
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“Happy New Year’s love,” James whispers to me as he crawls closer to me on our very own chesterfield. He leans in close to kiss me on the lips. “Are you going to smile for me or am I going to have to ask?”
“You know that you never have to ask again. Not after-”
“Our seventh year,” James finishes for me before he snuggles closer to my body and pats my stomach with tender care. “Tell me the story,” he murmurs softly and I can’t help but smile.
“Well, it all started on New Year’s Eve...”
I never smiled on New Year’s Eve. I guess I just didn’t see the point of smiling in a new year. A new year of new mistakes, new schoolwork, and everything else, but there would be nothing new about how I would spend this New Year’s Eve. I would sit in the Gryffindor Common Room, drink butterbeer, dance with my friends and count down the seconds with my rowdy peers. But yet, I would not smile.
Smiling was for happy people anyway.
“James, mate, why are you smiling like that?” Sirius asked his best mate as he handed him a refill of hijacked butterbeer. James sighed and turned away from Lily.
“She never smiles. I’ve watched her every new year and she never smiles,” James muttered to himself as he absently gripped the handle of the mug.
“Who never smiles?” Sirius prodded mildly interested. James jerked his head towards Lily and Sirius sighed. “I should have known.”
James began to smile again.
“Mate what are you planning?” Sirius whispered conspiratorially, a grin growing on his face.
“This is our last New Year’s Eve in school and I think that she should be smiling.”
“Let me guess, you’re going to be the one who creates that smile on her lovely face?”
“Is there really anyone else?” James tilted his head closer to Sirius’s and began whispering his plan.
James was staring at me again.
Dorcas giggled as she pointed it out and I nearly growled with frustration. “Why can’t you give him a chance, love? He’s completely bonkers for you!”
I glared at Dorcas. “Do we honestly have to talk about Potter and his stalking problem? It’s New Year’s Eve after all?”
“You’re just trying to not think about him because you are secretly harboring deep and immense feelings for him. Besides Lily, you don’t even like New Year’s Eve,” Dorcas countered.
Scowling at Dorcas and her rather astute observation I turned away from her smug face. I was suppressing some deep, dark emotion for James, but as far as I was concerned it was hate not love. Funny how things aren’t what they seem.
“You never even smile,” Dorcas continued and I couldn’t help but sigh.
“Maybe I have nothing to smile for.” Dorcas eyed me slowly before her eyes shot to James whispering something to Sirius.
“Maybe you’ll smile for James,” Dorcas speculated casually, but I only groaned before I turned to follow Dorcas’s gaze.
“Ten galleons says you snog Sirius tonight,” I wagered gleefully. Dorcas sniffed.
“You’re on. I won’t lay my lips on that bloke. There is no telling where he’s been,” Dorcas huffed as she flipped her hair over her shoulder.
“You know you want him,” I crowed, but Dorcas just smiled.
“Just like you want James love.”
That shut me up.
“Dorcas is looking over here mate,” James muttered faintly before his head fell into his hands. His mind was whirling, trying to figure out how he was going to initiate his plan.
Sirius’s head whipped around from watching Peter trying to dance just in time to see both Dorcas and Lily looking their way. “Blimey, I think they’re talking about us,” Sirius whispered, nearly choking with excitement.
“Why would you even think that?” James’s question was ignored as Sirius was now entranced by Dorcas flicking her hair. “You have it so bad,” James chuckled as Sirius tore his eyes away.
Sirius flicked James’s nose before he shot one last glance at Dorcas. “Ten galleons she snogs me tonight.”
James looked skeptical. “Do you even have ten galleons to your name?”
“No.”
“Awfully confident aren’t we?” James snickered, but Sirius shrugged it off with a wave of his hand.
“I’m Sirius Black,” he stated and James began to laugh.
“Well, that explains everything.” The two began to laugh when suddenly James got an idea. “I know how I can start my plan!”
Sirius leaped off the couch, his mouth set in a pout. “Are you really going to go through with this, mate? I mean, it falls into the category of so cheesy it just might work, but are you ready if it does? No more pranking, no more insulting and no more little rendezvous with girls who like-”
“Stop before you go too far,” James warned before standing up. He looked Sirius straight in the eye before answering, “‘Course I’m ready. I’ve been ready for six years.” Sirius grinned wickedly.
“Hey Black.” Dorcas’s cool tone made me look away from Peter’s weird dancing. I had no problem with that-poor Peter was starting to scare me. What made me rather angry was the fact that James had positioned himself right in front of me and so when I turned I was forced to looked right into his eyes. His brown, hazel, simply gorgeous eyes. Of course at the time I thought they looked simply ugly.
“Potter, just because we’re now friends of a sort does not mean you can be near me all the time.” I sounded ridiculous, but when I was around him my mind never worked quite properly. Probably because of all the hate.
“No worry Lils,” Sirius assured me, “James is just here for me.” I looked to Dorcas for support, but she was diverting her eyes and had become terribly interested in what was in her pocket.
Oh yes, she was definitely snogging Sirius tonight.
“So, why are you here?” I asked more politely now that I was talking to Sirius.
Sirius didn’t answer me right away, his eyes focused solely on Dorcas and her fascination with her pocket. “I’m here to ask Dorcas if she wanted to dance,” he began, a slow smile spreading on his face. “But it seems she’s already busy with her pocket.”
Dorcas blushed and lifted her eyes to look at Sirius. “I was cleaning out the lint,” she said rather defensively before turning to me. “Help me!” Her eyes pleaded, but I had made a bet and those ten galleons were within my grasp.
“Oh, go ahead love,” I urged before turning away, barely able to keep my face straight. Dorcas issued a spluttering noise before Sirius trapised away with her hand in his grasp.
“I made a wager that she’d snog him tonight,” I explained as James looked at me with an incredulous expression on his face.
“That’s something we have in common because I made the same bet with Sirius,” James revealed lightly as though he wasn’t sure how I would take having something in common with him, but in all honestly, I truly didn’t mind.
“I guess if we have something in common for tonight it won’t be so horrible,” I murmured and James had to lean closer to hear me. Normally I would have instantly moved away from his presence, but for some reason I didn’t. I let him stay close to me and I felt at ease.
“I’ve noticed something,” James whispered into my ear. This time I did move away, feeling uncomfortable and light headed.
“You are obsessed with me, Potter, so I realize that you notice things about me all the time.” The snarky remark cost me James’s warmth as he moved even further away. The look in his eyes told me something was afoot.
“You know Lily, it may seem like an obsession. I mean, after all, I have been pretty obvious about my-erm-crush, but I only wanted a chance. You never even gave me the time of day, it was like I completely turned you off or something. I know that I’m not horrible looking.” James was rather long winded after his confession and I nearly took pity on him, but it wasn’t in the cards.
I turned so my whole body was facing him. I was going to get this entire mess fixed right now. “Listen James,” I began, “it wasn’t your looks that turned me off, it’s your behaviour.” I stopped for a moment realizing that I sounded like some stuck up, little, prude so I added, “I know everyone thinks of me as some snob who doesn’t like to have any fun, but I can be wild, I can be fun. It’s just never the right moment.”
“What about now?” James whispered, his head dangerously close to mine.
I shook my head in attempt to get my thoughts straight. “What?”
James drew back and smiled rather charmingly before his eyes caught sight of Dorcas and Sirius moving rather provocatively on the dance floor. “Before I tell you what, I think you should look over there.” James pointed behind me and I turned my head to catch sight of Sirius dive in for a kiss. Dorcas happily obliged.
“I think we won our bets,” I giggled before James touched my hand and tugged me back to face him.
“Want me to tell you now?” James asked and if I didn’t know any better I would have said he was nervous. I looked down and his large hand that was still covering mine and nearly smiled. I had no idea what was coming over me.
“OK, tell me, but I think you should hurry before I change my mind,” I murmured and James smirked.
“Well, I think I know how to change you image.”
“My image does not need to be changed, Potter!” I hissed, feeling rather affronted.
James inched closer to me, but I didn’t back away. This time it wasn’t because of my light headedness, but rather because I didn’t intend to stand down to Potter and his obnoxious attempts at trying to get me to date him.
“It would be really easy to,” he crowed softly and I couldn’t help but wonder what he had in mind. I caved.
“What do I have to do?” I sighed, giving in finally.
“Smile at me.”
The look I gave him could have stopped the snitch in it’s tracks. “Are you delusional?”
“No,” James said, his smirk returning. “But that is what I noticed about you. You never smile on New Year’s Eve. Never. So, you might as well smile at me because then you’ve killed two birds with one stone. Hell, you may even feel good about it.”
My teeth snagged my lip and I chewed it nervously. “All I have to do is smile at you? Nothing else?” James nodded fervently so I closed my eyes and exhaled before the unthinkable happened.
I smiled.
I smiled a deep down, truly happy, toothy grin that I don’t think I had ever smiled before. James returned the smile and then I did something that at first I thought was only because of the butterbeer and the fact that everyone seemed to be doing it, but after I realized that it was because I had wanted to. Really wanted to.
I leaned over and kissed him full on the lips. Seconds ticked by and they were full of shouts of, “HAPPY NEW YEAR,” and, “YE HAW,” but they meant nothing. The only thing that mattered was that I was kissing James Potter and it felt as though the earth had been removed from beneath my feet and we were both falling into bliss that I had never known. What a way to bring in the new year.
James pulled back, his face looked incandescently happy and with the way I was feeling I was pretty sure mine looked the same. “Did you just kiss me?” He asked breathily and I nodded.
“I think I did,” I murmured before James covered my lips with his own. We were separated again, but this time it was by Dorcas pushing her hands between us. I hadn’t even realized that there wasn’t a breath between James and I.
“Seriously, break it up you two. PDA’s are so last year,” she giggled and soon we were all laughing crazily.
A few seconds later I looked over and saw the Sirius was yet again snogging Dorcas and she was, yet again, urging him to do it.
“Crazy kids, aren’t they?” James whispered into my ear. I didn’t move away this time, instead I turned my head and caught his lips in a quick kiss.
“So, how long do you think my prude little image is going to last?” I asked, smiling.
James thought for a moment before grinning wolfishly. “If you keep smiling at me like that then, I predict it won’t be long.” He winked and I was suddenly on my back. Neither of us said anything for quite a long time.
“What was you plan supposed to be anyway?” I ask James as I finish the story. During the story we had ended up in the position that his head was laying on my lap and I was curling my hands through his hair. James did not mind in the least.
“Well, to tell you the truth, I honestly don’t remember.” James sits up and runs his hands through his hair. “I think it was something about bearing my soul and then you’d just see the real me.”
I look at him skeptically and laugh. “Was that really what it had come to? That’s all you had left?”
“Well, it worked didn’t it? I didn’t do something totally outrageous and you fell into my open arms,” James counters and I quickly cut him off with my lips.
“Yes, you made me see the real you and I did. You really, truly cared about me.”
James smiles down at me before his nose crinkles in confusion. “What made you believe that I cared?”
“You were the only one person-other than Dorcas-who realized that I never smiled. And then you got me to smile; something I had vowed I would never do on New Year’s Eve,” I murmur softly and James just smiles.
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