The Marauders: Year Six #Wattys2017

Omelettes

Omelettes

James was up before the sun. He cleaned the living room. Used his wand to move the telly so it made most sense of them to sit together on the couch instead of the two chairs his mum and dad usually sat in. He cut up all the ingredients for the omelettes and pulled two plates from the cabinet. He poured orange juice into cups and went out back and plucked a small handful of flowers that he tied together with string. He made coffee and he shook a bit of nutmeg into it.

When Lily Evans knocked on the door, James ran for it. He had on dark denim trousers and a nice plaid shirt with a sweatervest over it. He'd even put on a tie. He ran a hand through his hair and took a deep breath as he reached for the knob and pulled open the door. "Evans!" he said, as though he hadn't been waiting for the knock all morning. As though it were a bit of a surprise to see her. He smiled and opened the door wide to let her through. "Hullo. Good morning."

She was wearing the romper outfit her mum had chosen for her last night and the pearls. Her hair was down in loose curls about her face.

James couldn't believe how green her eyes looked.

"Morning James," Lily answered, hoping she said his name the way he liked.

He smiled.

"The show's a repeat, of course, but it's supposed to be a good one and they're playing all four parts ot the serial at once so we can see the whole film. It aired in January, I only got to see part one before we were back at Hogwarts... About Morbius? Did you see that one?"

Lily shook her head. "I didn't."

"What I've seen is brilliant," he assured her.

"I mean it's Doctor Who," Lily laughed, "I don't reckon it's possible for it to be anything but."

"I know, right?" James said, grinning, "Okay, but first." He paused and plucked the flowers he'd picked for her that morning off the table in the hallway. "These are for you."

Lily looked at them in surprise. "You got me flowers?"

"I picked them myself."

Lily flushed, "They're pretty."

"These little buggers that haven't opened yet are blue," he said, pointing to the flowers, which he'd taken from a vine of them that climbed an archway in Dora's garden. "Really pretty blue, like the sky. They're great when they open." They looked like white bulbs at the moment. There were also a few sprigs of teeny white flowers and little bitty pink roses and yellow and white daisies and he'd even plucked a few bits of grass and ferns to add some green to it...

"They're pretty even closed," Lily said.

"I have a cup of water for them in the kitchen," he offered.

"Thank you," Lily answered. She followed him through the hallway and her eyes lit curiously over the house as she followed him. The house was warm and comfortable, filled with love that was so thick you could feel it in the air. There were knick-knacks on little shelves, loads of raggedy old books, and family photos in mismatched frames... The telly glowed from the living room, the volume low. There were blankets and pillows on the couch.

The kitchen was lovely and clean and smelled like lemons and coffee and Lily smiled when James waved her into the seat where Dora usually sat, "Here, sit, sit," James said. "Here's the glass. I put a bit of sugar in the water, mum always says that helps flowers stay alive longer." He put the glass in front of the seat. It was a tall, narrow glass, blue with a hobnail pattern. She gently put the flowers into it. When those blue flowers he'd talked about bloomed, the glass would be be perfect.