Jily Oneshots (pt2)

A lesson in charms and love

by acci0pr0ngs from archiveofourown.org

“I can’t take this anymore, I’ll never do it!” Lily exclaimed, throwing her hands up over her head and huffing in frustration. “Casting a patronus is impossible!”

“Come on, love, we’ve been practicing for only two days, we haven’t even reached this topic in class!” James protested, going over to his girlfriend and pulling her into a hug. He held her to his chest, laying his chin on top of her head, trying to calm her down.

It was a fresh July day, James and Lily stood in the girl’s childhood bedroom, while he tried to teach her how to cast a patronus charm. Seventh year was just a little over a month away, and with the stress of NEWTs just around the corner, she decided that it would be best to get the hardest charm out of her way before classes began. And that is how the pair ended up spending the last two days working on Lily’s patronus, although all she had managed so far were a few silver sparks that didn’t make up any recognizable shape - James thought it was still impressive for someone with so little practice.

Of course, James had mastered a full corporeal patronus by the end of fourth year, when he, Sirius and Peter finally became animagi. His took the shape of a beautiful, grand stag, which was also the reason for his nickname,  Prongs . When Lily found out about the boys’ secret, she was in awe. Three fourteen year old boys had accomplished, by themselves, one of the most difficult magical processes in the wizarding world, and managed to keep it undercover. Becoming an animagus involved months of work and only very few wizards were able to complete it.

She was the only person outside of the marauders who knew, James told her when they began going out. The redhead already knew everything about Remus’ lycanthropy, he had opened up to her when they both became prefects. However, she could never imagine how his best friends - brothers would be a better word for the relationship the marauders shared - were helping him, taking such great risks without having a second thought about consequences.

When Lily and James finally became boyfriend and girlfriend, Sirius, Remus and Peter knew it was only a matter of time before he told her. James Potter had not a single doubt in his mind that he loved the girl unconditionally and would step in front of a curse for her. Actually, everyone knew this - everyone but Lily. Albeit being top of her class and an extremely bright witch, she was oblivious about James, which is why it took her so long to understand that the boy’s insistence in taking her out was a real sentiment, and not a prank. And even longer for her to realise that the flutters in her stomach everytime he did so were  not  irritation.

Two and a half months later, there they were. Although James hadn’t professed his love with every word, he believed Lily knew about it, but she was, again, clueless. She was maybe the only person in Hogwarts who couldn’t see it, and because of that, she was now constantly thinking about it. In just a few weeks of being James Potter’s girlfriend - Mrs. Prongs, as Sirius had put it -, the girl found herself in love. It was a real, burning feeling, one she had never felt before, but she was waiting for him to say it first, and he never did. So, one had no idea how deep the other felt about their relationship.

To James, it still felt like a dream. Lily Evans, the girl he met on the Hogwarts Express in 1971, fell in love in 1972, asked out on a date in 1973 (also the year of his first rejection), 1974, 1975 and 1976 and called his girlfriend in 1977 (also the year of his last rejection ever). When he told his friends she had accepted his invitation to the Hogsmeade weekend in May, they didn’t believe him until they got to the portrait of the fat lady and there she was, waiting for him. Just two weeks later, he asked her to be his girlfriend, and she said yes - it felt like the happiest moment of his life, although he didn’t know that moment would be topped by another “yes” in early 1979.