035. 6 november 1976. date.

[alotofgood]

November 6, 1976 — noon
Hogwarts, Scotland
Great Hall


It's a nice, brisk Saturday as far as Saturdays go. The sky is overcast with brief periods of sunshine, it's chilly enough for a nice warm fall jacket, but not cold enough for hats, mitts and scarves.

And it's a Hogsmeade weekend, the first one of the year, which means any and all students from Third Year and up are brimming with excitement.

Of course, for James Potter, this Saturday means a whole lot more than just a Hogsmeade weekend trip. He's seen the shops, he's spent hours in The Three Broomsticks Inn, watching Sirius attempt to charm Madam Rosmerta and laughing when James did a much better job of it without hardly trying. All of it is nothing new.

Today is his date with Lily Evans.

After seeing his friends off, Sirius looking far more sullen than usual, assuring him that he was going to "miss a brilliant Saturday with your mates, Prongs — you're going to regret it when I come back from Hogsmeade with my pockets fat from Honeydukes sweets and jokes from Zonko's and all you get at the end of the day is boring prefect conversation, disappointment when Evans rejects your request for a second date and maybe a Sugar Quill if you're lucky", James checks himself in the mirror one last time before making his way to the Great Hall where he told Lily he'd meet her.

(He'd exhibited great self-control when he chose not to transfigure Sirius' nose into an elephant's trunk and jinx green pustules all over his cocky, arsehole face for that. Remus ought to award him at least 25 Gryffindor points.

He just gave James a sympathetic smile and allowed him to shove the stupid git out the door.)

He's dressed in his best casual clothing: a new red jumper and a pair of dark jeans, and then a black double-breasted peacoat on top and his usual (slightly worn but still in good condition) sneakers on his feet.

His attempt to tame his ever messy mop of black hair into something presentable falls through. After about five minutes of doing so in vain, he opts, instead, to make his mess look as purposefully done as possible. Then he wipes his glasses, readjusts them on his face, and heads out the door.

His hands and feet are cold, his limbs are a bit like they've been transfigured into jelly, his insides feel like they're being jostled about, and he feels bloodless, sliding down the length of the staircases and through corridors like a great, pathetic sack.

And yet, he's never felt more excited.

Nervous as hell, yes, but excited too.

Comments

[brilliantchaser]

Unfortunately, the girl waiting for him is not Lily Evans.

"James!" Cliona calls, from her place a little away from the main group of students, beckoning him over.

[alotofgood]

"Cliona," James greets. "Hi."

He might be looking around for the familiar ginger-haired girl.

Vaguely distracted: "Are you heading into Hogsmeade today?"

[brilliantchaser]

"She's not here, James," Cliona says. "Lily.

"She can't make it.

"Mary got really, really sick at about three this morning, and Lily's in the hospital wing with her. And she doesn't want to leave her alone.

"She said to tell you she's really sorry."

[alotofgood]

"Oh."






He tries not to let his disappointment show, but it's a little difficult when he feels vaguely like he's fallen off his broom and is plummeting to the ground.

Right.






Right.

"Okay," he says. "That's fine. Thanks, Cliona. For letting me know."

[brilliantchaser]

"She really is sorry, James. And it's not fair to either of you."

But Mary's very sick.

And James would do the exact same thing, wouldn't he, if it were one of his friends?

[alotofgood]

James shrugs.

"Well, these things happen, don't they?"

And it's true. Though it really couldn't happen at a worse possible time, it does happen.

[brilliantchaser]

Cliona nods.

"Yeah.

"What will you do?"

[alotofgood]

"Dunno," James admits. "I didn't exactly come up with a contingency plan for today."

And he's really not sure he wants to catch up to his friends right now.

That'd require a lot of explanation.

[brilliantchaser]

Cliona nods.

"I'm sorry, James."

[alotofgood]

James nods, too.

"S'all right. See you later, yeah?"

He's going to ... well, he isn't quite sure. But standing around like an idiot in the Great Hall while the rest of the school heads off to Hogsmeade is definitely not one of his preferred options.

He heads back down the corridor he came from, deciding at once to retrieve his broomstick and change into something a little more flying-appropriate, then he makes his way down to the pitch.





The brisk November air is almost like a balm.

A couple of hours in the air with nothing but the wind and chill for company (and the occasional bird) calms him down, makes him feel a little less like crap for this day not working out at all.

(He still has to come up with some explanation to tell the others later. And, of course, he still has to talk to Lily at some point.)

He sort of wishes he could just stay here for the rest of the day, but he won't hide — even if it is in the air — and he can't either.

It just wouldn't be like him.




It's a little past noon by the time he heads back to Gryffindor Common Room.

[lilium_evansiae]

Lily has just got back there herself.

It's been a fairly long and miserable morning, but Mary is finally through the worst of it, and has fallen asleep. Madam Pomfrey has chased Lily out of the hospital wing with strict orders to get some food and rest, because she won't do anyone any good if she gets sick, too.

Lily ran back up to Gryffindor tower to change out of clothes she grabbed last night because they were the handiest, but it's still fairly haphazard -- hair pulled back with no attempt at a style, long red jumper over jeans and a blue shirt.

It's hardly her best look.

What does it matter, though? It's not like there's anyone around to impress.

" ... James."

[alotofgood]

The portrait hole closes behind him, and he steps into the common room to see Lily standing there.

She's the only one inside, too.

(Everyone else has probably gone off to Hogsmeade, or the library, or various other places around the school.)

"Lily? I didn't expect to see you here."

He runs a hand through his hair, which must look wild and unruly (well, even more than usual) after his late morning fly-about.

[lilium_evansiae]

Lily's tempted to run a hand through her own hair, but it would probably only make it worse.

"No, you either.

"Mary's finally asleep, so Madam Pomfrey made me leave, so she could rest.

"James, I'm so sorry."

[alotofgood]

He shakes his head.

He'd be a complete git if he blamed her or Mary for the events of this morning, really.

Not that he's going to be happy about it either. But he can be sympathetic and understanding.

"It's all right," he says. "It couldn't be helped. Cliona told me what happened."

[lilium_evansiae]

"I was really looking forward to it, you know.

"I guess this particular adventure turned out to be more of a surprise than either of us expected, didn't it?"

[alotofgood]

"Well," James says, "that is definitely one way of putting it."

He offers her a smile.

"Are you okay?"

[lilium_evansiae]

Lily nods. "Yeah, I am."

Tired.

Wishing she had taken thirty seconds to run a brush through her hair.

But okay.

"Maybe a little hungry.

"I missed breakfast."

[alotofgood]

"And I haven't had lunch yet," he says, though he's not sure he's hungry at the moment.

"Did you want to get something from the Great Hall?"

[lilium_evansiae]

"Yeah, I would. Thanks.

"Just, um, just give me three minutes first, would you?"

[alotofgood]

"Yeah, of course," James says.

"Actually, I should probably put my broom back."

And possibly not remain in his slightly sweaty flying clothes.

"I'll see you in three."

[lilium_evansiae]

James, surely, is too much of a gentleman to mention that Lily is actually gone for closer to eight minutes than three.

She's still in jeans, still not dressed as she would have been for their planned trip into town, but she's swapped her jumper and shirt for a green blouse that picks up the color of her eyes.

And she's brushed her hair.

(She's even put on lipstick.)

She's still tired (and she probably still looks it), but she feels much more herself.

"Hi."

[alotofgood]

James' second fruitless attempt to tame his hair falls through like the first but he, too, has gone back to his former red jumper and dark jeans.

It's a good thing he hadn't even put it away.

(Or dumped it on the floor.)

In any case, it only takes him less than three minutes before he's back in the Common Room and waiting.

"Hi," he returns, noting how brilliant she looks. "Ready?"

[lilium_evansiae]

Lily nods. "Yeah.

"Let's go have an adventure."

It's Hogwarts.

Even lunch in the Great Hall surrounded by first and second years can turn into an adventure, can't it?

Lily hesitates for a second ...

(the morning's event have thrown all the labels up in the air again -- are they dating? on a date? what is the current nature of the relationship between her and James?)

... before deciding it doesn't really matter ...

(because frankly, she hasn't known the current nature of the relationship between her and James for almost a year now, and she gets herself in trouble when she tries to pin it down)

... and reaching out to take his hand.

[alotofgood]

James doesn't make a big deal of the fact that Lily took his hand (instead of the other way around, or not at all, or something).

He just glances from her, to their hands, then back to her and smiles a little.

(And, okay, maybe his heart does something ridiculous like skip a beat.)

Her fingers are warm and soft, and it reminds him — just a little — of the first time he'd held her hand, though that was still for a completely different purpose.

And his tongue feels just a little tied.

[lilium_evansiae]

Lily reaches up with her free hand to push her hair back behind her ear, and smiles at him.

"We should go eat lunch before my stomach starts making really embarassing noises or something like that."