Chapter Text
Waking up early on a Saturday morning wasn't exactly Lily's thing. Logically, there was no reason to be up at the crack of dawn, since it wasn't even a Hogsmeade weekend.
But logic had nothing to do with Lily's reasoning.
When the alarm had rang that morning, she had questioned her own sanity. Was she really sacrificing her precious sleep, all because of a boy?
She debated going back to bed for a few moments, but what good would it have done? No, at least she would see his face, and that settled it.
She ignored that voice in her head that kept telling her that you're not dating him and he doesn't even like you and hopped in the shower. She was a free woman, and if she wanted to look at the Gryffindor Quidditch captain first thing in the morning she had every right to do so. It wasn't pathetic, it was empowering.
The dreadful weather had made her change her carefully curated outfit at the last minute, so now she had opted for a cosy cream coloured jumper and green corduroy flares.
She left her coat in her dorm, grabbed her bag and headed down to the Great Hall: she had no intention to leave the castle. The only people mad enough to do so were the players who had to attend Quidditch practice, and she wasn't going to follow him there and watch him from the stands. That would have been pathetic.
As soon as she arrived, she spotted him - which wasn't particularly difficult, seeing as the Great Hall was almost empty - sitting with Sirius at the far end of the table, his head bent, playing with his scrambled eggs without really eating them while Sirius talked to him in a low voice. She had only taken a couple of steps when he raised his gaze to meet hers, his angry expression briefly morphing into a small smile that didn't reach his eyes, and then he went back to his food.
When she sat in front of him, she was greeted by a murmured hey from James, and a morning, Evans from Sirius.
Lily knew that his mood had probably been ruined by something else, but his lukewarm reaction made her stomach churn with anxiety. She dismissed this feeling and soldiered on, determined to find out if she could at least cheer him up.
She helped herself to some crumpets and busied herself with spreading the butter on one of them. “Why the long face? You look like you've just walked through a ghost, Potter,” she asked, but James' expression didn't falter, his eyes still on his untouched plate.
Sirius sighed. “Worse. Quidditch practice has been cancelled by McGonagall. Prongs suspects foul play.”
Lily couldn't hold back the laugh that escaped her. “Foul play? Who's plotting against you?”
“Three players are in the hospital wing and our changing rooms smell like dungbombs. McGonagall wants to 'investigate further', whatever that means. As if she doesn't know who's responsible. And the weather's shit!” At this, James dropped his fork loudly.
“To be fair, Prongs, the Slytherins aren't smart enough to control the weather.”
James chuckled weakly, and Lily and Sirius exchanged a look of relief. A small win.
“If it helps, yesterday I got a letter from my sister... Which is never good news, of course, but this time she invited me to her wedding demanding that I bring a plus one. That, or she'll pick one for me.”
James grimaced. “That's definitely worse. Touché, Evans.”
“I know. So, stop moping and move on.”
“Hey,” he replied, a bit offended, “my practice just got cancelled and we could lose the next match. Go easy on me.”
She knew that if there was someone who could rile him up, that person was her. She wasn't going to upset him: she just needed to spark that fire in him to get him out of this slump.
“Yeah, I think you could even lose the Cup. I'd resign if I were you. Leave the team, leave the school.”
Sirius caught on immediately. “She's right. Maybe you could start playing that muggle sport, what's the name... Calf?”
“Golf.”
Sirius snapped his fingers. “That's right, golf!”
“It's a sport for posh people, you'd fit right in. Not sure you'd look good in golf attire, though,” she added, smiling at the thought of him in those ridiculous clothes.
His trademark grin was back. “So you like my Quidditch uniform better?”
She couldn't tell him how much she enjoyed the way his uniform clung to his body, or how the Gryffindor colours made the pink of his lips look more vibrant. She was grateful her turtleneck was hiding her neck, which she was sure had turned an unflattering shade of red.
“It doesn’t make you look like a pretentious prick, if that’s what you’re asking.”
He cocked his head. “Which is my default look according to you, isn’t it?”
“Now you’re putting words in my mouth. I only think you look every bit the aristocrat that you are. There’s a difference.”
James was laughing in earnest now. “My apologies. I didn’t mean to imply you were insulting me. You were simply being your judgemental self.”
Lily shrugged. “See? This is why we get along now. Communication is key.”
Sirius cleared his throat. “Alright, let me know when you two figure out whatever this,” he gestured between them, “is. I'm heading back to the dorm. See ya, idiots.”
And with that he got up and walked away.
She had told Sirius in confidence, yet here he was trying to make her look like a… well… idiot. She couldn't believe him.
Lily wasn’t sure if James understood what Sirius had implied, and she could only hope he was as blind in the feelings department as he was with his vision.
James' jaw clenched, and for a moment she saw his anger return. Was he aware of Lily’s crush on him? Was he upset about it? Lily froze in her seat.
But then he shook his head and his expression was clear again. “He's just jealous because he doesn't have a valid reason to be miserable like we do,“ he joked, biting into a piece of toast.
Lily answered with an unconvincing chuckle, not entirely sure if he had bought it. It didn’t matter, though: he had moved on to a different topic, seemingly more cheerful than before. They talked about Head duties for a couple of minutes; right when she was getting up to leave after finishing her breakfast, James grabbed her wrist to stop her.
“You'll be there tonight? At Slug's party?”
Her pulse quickened; she hoped he couldn't tell despite the placement of his fingers on her skin.
She smiled a genuine smile. “Yeah. I'll see you there.”
He released her wrist and bid her goodbye, and his phantom touch lingered on her skin all the way up to the Gryffindor tower.
What an interesting morning.