A Night They Never Forgot

A Night They Never Forgot - A Jily Fanfiction
24th December 1977 - Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Scotland
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It was surprising how cold the corridors were in winter. The classrooms, common rooms and bedrooms are always warm with a roaring fire in the grate. But the corridors are always cold; there was no point in having a fire every few feet in the corridor, the fuel would be wasted and the heat would be soon lost as doors opened to the outside world. So when the weather became colder, so did the corridors at Hogwarts. It was these months when the students stuck together in their common rooms in a warm jumper and get down to a game of exploding snap or an urgent essay.
Nothing was different for James Potter and Lily Evans, Head boy and girl. For the two of them the last few weeks ha been had not been filled with the exciting anticipation that The few weeks before Christmas were normally filled with. Instead they had spent it attempting to organise the Christmas Ball. A normally difficult task, not helped by the tension between the two of them, the whole school knew that James was totally in love with Lily, and that Lily totally hated James. At the latest moment that had arranged - what they hoped would be - a ball to remember. Now there was just precious few hours before their ideas would be put to the test as everyone in forth year and above would attend to see Christmas Day in.
* * *
Lily sat in the head boy and girl common room, trying to take her mind off things by finishing her Potions essay that was due in on the first day back. She looked down and saw that on the last few lines she had started to write the lyrics to Paranoid by Black Sabbath, the song she currently couldn't get out of her head. Sighing, she magically removed the song lyrics and set the essay aside, hoping to catch a few minutes peace and quiet with her own brain before James arrived.
No such luck, just as she placed her essay on the low table beside the crimson couch the portrait hole opened, revealing James Potter in his scarlet and gold Gryffindor Quidditch hoodie and navy blue faded jeans and usual messy black hair. Much to Lily's delight he was alone without any if his boisterous friends - the marauders.
"Afternoon, Evans", he spoke softly as he sat beside her on the couch.
"What do you want, Potter?", she replied, annoyed at his disturbing her peace.
"No need to get so aggressive, Evans, I was just saying hello",
"Actually, Potter, you were saying 'Afternoon'"
"And you wonder why I like you Evans".
It was the first time he had mentioned liking her so far this year, once they had become head boy and girl and would be working closely he had promised not to ask her out every two seconds anymore. She wasn't too pleased at this mention, for her it showed the old James Potter who was an annoying, arrogant bastard. She got up and left, hoping to gain some solace in her bedroom.
James stayed sitting where he was, he had skewed everything up. So far this year Lily had began to hate him less with his giving up in asking her out like everyday. When he returned to the common room today he had intended to ask her to the Christmas Ball, seeing as they were getting on ok now and neither of them had a partner. Now he had ruined that plan. Why had he mentioned liking her?
After coming in from the cold corridor, the warmth of the roaring fire in the hearth was making him feel uncomfortably warm. He shod his Gryffindor Quidditch hoodie and threw it over the back of the couch. It was still three o'clock - still four hours until the Ball - but it was already dark. He leant foreword to pick up a pack of playing cards from the low table just in front of the crimson couch that took up the middle of their cosy common room. He took them out and began to absentmindedly shuffle them, he had always found that shuffling cards helped him take his mind off things.
In her room, Lily was watching the shadows slowly lengthen as it got darker despite only being mid afternoon. She couldn't be bothered to light a candle or anything, she was just annoyed at James. Why did he have to mention liking her? She much preferred the new James potter who didn't ask her out every time he saw her, she even thought she might be starting to like him now. But he had messed everything up, as usual.
She didn't know how long she lay on her bed, thinking about how much of an arse James Potter was - but liking him at the same time. It must have been an hour before she realised that the fire in her room had burnt out and she was freezing. Slowly, she got up and walked toward her window. Form here she got a great view of the Quidditch pitch, she looked out and saw a group of people practising (or having a snowball fight as it appeared) in Gryffindor colours. James was captain if the team so she presumed he would be with them and she could go downstairs without any awkwardness.
James wasn't out with his team, he was meant to be, but he wasn't. It had been an hour since Lily had Stormed off, in that time he had managed to play a few games of clock patience, never succeeding. While the rest of the castle had been enjoying the run up to Christmas, he and Lily had been struggling to organise the ball, now he had been an idiot and ruined everything just as it was all coming together. He set the cards aside just as the door from the bedrooms opened, revealing a cold looking Lily Evans, who didn't seen pleased to see him.
"Potter, what the heck are you doing here, your Quidditch team is outside practising, go join them", she shouted at him as she saw him lying there in the couch.
"Nice to see you too, Evans", he replied in a depressed tone - a tone that fit his mood perfectly. Feeling pretty pissed off at James still being in the common room, but not wanting to back off back to her room to sulk (plus it was freezing in there), she went to sit with her back to the wall adjacent to the fireplace. she crossed her arms across her chest in an attempt to warm herself up quicker. Despite the warmth of being beside the fire she was still cold, she hated that feeling of being warm really but the world hates you so much that it insists you stay cold for that bit longer; she hated life sometimes (it had brought her James Potter).
Sat on the couch, accross from Lily, James had no choice but to look directly at Lily. He noticed she looked a bit different from normal. He was sure she wasnt normally that pale, he was sure her lips didn't normally have a blue tinge. She looked to be shivering. James longed to wrap his arms around her and warm her up, but right now there was no possibility of doing that and keep any last strand of 'friendship' that was still remaining between him and Lily.
"Lily, are you warm enough?", he asked, hoping sh wouldn't murder him for asking.
"Seriously, Potter, I'm sat right next to the fire, do I look cold?" His reply was simple,
"yes, Lily, you do". She looked up to see James staring back with a concerned look on his face, the way his glasses had slipped down his face, onto the end of his nose made him look like he knew what he was doing. She smiled at his serious look and he smiled back.
"I suppose I'm not exactly warm, the fire went out in my room and I didn't notice until I was literally freezing to death, this shirt isn't the warmest garment I own", she couldn't beleive how much she had just revealed to him. This was Potter after all.
"Here," he tossed her his Gryffindor Quidditch hoodie that he had discarded earlier in the heat of the common room. She pulled it over her head, messing up her hair but feeling instantly warmer. His hoodie was baggy on her but neither of them cared. Once she was wearing the hoodie he gestured for her to take the seat next to him on the couch. At this she raised her eyebrows, she clearly hadn't forgiven him yet. Shrugging he lay across the full length of the couch.
They sat in campaniable silence for a few minutes. Lily bagon to warm up, James began to get bored and reached for the pack of cards on the table and began shuffling them again. the room was filled with the sound of the logs, crackling on the fire and she gentle sound on the cards brushing together and James shuffled them to occupy himself. It wasn't long before the fire started to die down, at the same time they both reached for their wands to levitate a few more logs onto the fire to keep it going on the cold night, not long after mid winter. Between them and in almost perfect co-ordination they slowly lowered the large log onto the roaring fire. They grinned at eachother for the second time this evening.
"Are you going to do anything with those cards, or just sit there and shuffle them all night", asked Lily as James bagan shuffling again.
"That depends", he began, "if you know any good games, by all means suggest one"
"How about old maid", she said, getting bored and wantign somthing to do to pass the time before the ball.
"If you want". he magically split the deck into two equal halves and removed on of the black queens, he then offered the halves to Lily so she could decide who got which one as he lowered himself onto the floor opposite Lily. Systamatically they picked all the pairs out of their halves before fanning the remaining cards out to begin the next stage of their game. For the next few minutes they took it in turns to pick a card from the others remaining cards. The amount cards held by each of them was slowly decreasing, every pick brought a new pair to add to their increasing piles of cards that had been already paired. Eventually Lily had only one card ramaining to James's two, one more pick to decide the winner of their game. She slowly moved her hand foreward, trying to decide which card to pick; finally she took her pick, a king of spades to watch her king of clubs. Adding them to her pile she smiled at her competetor who turned his card round to reveal the old maid card.
"I win", she said simply. Neither of them knew how what happened next happened, I suppose it's just one of those things. They smiled at each other with a little laugh, moved a bit closer and hugged, Lily resting her head against James's shoulder.
"Sorry about before, James, I was just pretty pissed off at you mentioning about liking me again" she whispered
"It's okay, Lily, I probably would've done the same" he replied as they broke apart. They leant in toward each other, they could feel each other breathing as they placed their arms around each other again. Eventually their lips touched in a passionate kiss, it was the most wonderful thing that had happened in their short lives. After what felt like a lifetime they broke apart, James's hair even messier than normal, pushing the cards to the side Lily moved to sit next to James on the floor, leaning against the crimson couch.
"So, Lily, I noticed that you didn't have a partner for tonight's ball and as I have no partner either, I was wondering if you wanted to go with me". In reply she kissed him again.
* * *
At half past six, half an hour early due their organisers status, James Potter and Lily Evans walked to the great hall dressed in their new dress robes, ready to see their first Christmas day as no longer enemies in.
Not long after the bell tolled in the clock tower for seven o'clock, many students poured into the hall, looking foreward to the annual Christmas Ball. The orchestra started playing and the choir singing as students took their places on the floor to dance. James offered Lily his hand which she took and pulled him on to the floor to start a night that they would neve forget.
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