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“No.”
“No? What do you mean no?”
“I mean I don’t agree with you.”
“You can’t disagree with me on this.”
“Hmm…that’s interesting,” James pursed his lips in a thought. “I know for sure what I will check in your box.”
Lily glared at him. “I'm not sure you will be doing much checking with that,” she pointed at his white-feathered quill.
“Don’t you worry about my quill. It will do the job just fine,” he smirked, letting his eyes drop to her lips.
“Oh, I’m sure it will, but don’t change the subject,” Lily tapped his nose playfully. “The entire point of,” she waved the magazine in her hand “this, is to get to know each other better by working on your communication which will help you in getting through any problem your relationship may face. At least that’s what it says here.”
“This is ridiculous. Even more than that all that rubbish in Witch Weekly. Where did you get it anyway?” he asked throwing his copy on the floor.
“Oi! Careful. These are Mary’s. Her sister sent them to her,” she replied, not looking him in the face.
“Both of them?” James pointed to the magazine in her hand and then to the one that was already lying on the floor where he tossed it. He tilted his head and continued. “Why would Mary need two? I’m quite certain she doesn't even own two sets of robes, but she asked for two versions of the same mag–” he trailed off, hit with a sudden realization.
“They're for you! They are yours, you dirty little liar! One of them at least is!” he laughed, jumping off the bed, now holding the copy – the same that was previously resting on the floor – over his head.
“So what if they are?!” she snapped defensively, unsuccessfully trying to reach it. “I’m allowed to expand my literary horizons beyond school’s textbooks and occasional romance with science fiction.”
”I can’t believe it. Ms-you-will-never-caught-me-reading-that-shite-not-even-for-a-new-cauldron. You said that last summer, don't deny it,” James pointed an accusatory finger at her. “So what has changed since then?”
“Plenty of people read these magazines. They seem to love it. I never see you taking a mickey out of any of them”
“Come on, Lil. You know exactly what kind of people read that. Hufflepuff's 4th years and bored housewives with nothing better to do.”
She was quiet for a moment, then she muttered quietly, “My mum used to read them.”
There was silence for a while, James cursed himself in his head. Trust him to make a fool out of himself and look like an arse about it.
After her mother passed away last month Lily appeared to be a pillar of strength to anyone with an untrained eye. But when it came to all things Lily Evans, there wasn’t a part of him that James would call ‘untrained’.
“Lily..I..”
“No, it's okay. You’re right,” she sighed dropping her own copy on the bed and letting her body follow after. “You’re right. It’s not my thing.” She shrugged her shoulders, “ I don’t know what I was thinking. I just used to watch her doing crosswords and reading articles whenever she had a moment for herself when I was little. And now...” her voice raspy, tears started to gather in her eyes. She tried to wipe them with a back of her hand, but he didn't let her.
Instead, he kneeled directly in front of her, slipped his hands into hers and forcing her to look at him.
“Hey,” he smiled, gently and loving. In a way, he always smiled at her. “Tell me. Don’t hold back on me.”
Lily put her head on his shoulder letting the tears fall. “I-It’s j-just…” she took a deep breath and started again. ” For the past 6 years, I was barely home. With her. Sure, we exchanged letters every week and I came home for Christmas. But that..” she looked up at him. “But that’s not enough. That’s never enough, is it? I wasn’t there. And we just drifted apart. She was my m-…m-mum…” her voice started to break. James sat next to her on the bed and cradled her to his chest, smoothing his hand through her hair, waiting patiently for her to calm down. “I can’t take all that time back. It’s not like I regret being here. Hogwarts is my home. I just didn't realise I will be exchanging one home for another, losing people in both. Maybe Petunia is right. I can’t have it both ways.”
“Hey, hey, hey. No,” gently he took her face between his palms. “That’s not true, all right? There aren't two worlds. There is only one. Lily’s,” he kissed the top of her head. “And only Lily gets to decide what and who is going to be in it. Your mum knew that and I can assure you – from that one time I met her – that she didn’t feel neglected. She was happy for you. And I don’t know about Saint Petty, but I feel bloody lucky for being included in yours. Even if you had just started reading trashy magazines.”
She snorted with laughter. “You’re absolutely dreadful, you know that?”
“Yeah…I know. I make up for that with some questionable charm. Here,” he whipped her nose with his sleeve. “All better now," James winked at her, smiling broadly. "All right, Evans?”
“All right,” she said, finally smiling.
“Good.” He nodded towards the discarded papers, changing the subject. “So what was it that you dislike about me?”
Lily cleared her throat sheepishly. “Impatience. I said I don’t like how impatient you are.”
“Hmm…Very well. I will work on that,” he said softly, putting his forehead against hers.
“Really?”
“No. Probably not, “ and then he leaned in to put his lips on hers, kissing her tears and laughter away.