Jily one shots

We could be friends

Disclaimer: written by @AMagicGirlInAMuggleWorld

Hogwarts, Fall Term, 1976

Thunder crackled in the distance, and Lily Evans looked up from her Transfiguration text. Gray storm clouds rolled towards her, low and menacing above the lake. "Shit," she murmured.

Lily slammed her textbook shut and shoved it into her bag. She leapt up from her favorite spot under the tree on the edge of the lake (perfect for studying on a warm September day) and began running up the hill towards the castle. The afternoon had gone from mostly sunny and breezy to dark and stormy in a matter of minutes. Lily urged her legs to move faster. Almost there, almost there, almost there, she repeated in her head as she ran.

The clouds split open at the same moment her school bag did. Her belongings - her textbook, some quills, a sketchpad, colored pencils, an ornate compact mirror that had belonged to her mother, and an unopened letter - spilled onto the newly wet grass. Her shoulders slumped as she looked at the things scattered at her feet. "Bollocks," she said, sighing.

She pulled the now-useless satchel from her shoulder began scooping up her possessions from the ground. She paused as she picked up the letter. The ink on the envelope was smearing in the rain, but she could still see Petunia's name and address on the front, and her sister's prim cursive below it. "Return to Sender."

Squatting in the grass in the courtyard, Lily clenched the envelope in her fist and closed her eyes, letting the rain run down her face. The letter had been an impetuously-offered olive branch from younger sister to elder, written on their mother's birthday. The first such birthday since their mother had died last year. In her loneliness, in the sorrow she felt as her mother's birthday approached and Lily realized that the day would come even though her mother was no longer alive to celebrate it, Lily thought that maybe Petunia would understand. Maybe, she thought, Petunia would be feeling the same loneliness, and would appreciate the chance to put aside their differences and reconnect with her sister.

She had been wrong. Petunia was not interested in putting aside their differences. In fact, it appeared Petunia was so thoroughly over, done, through with her sister that she didn't even bother to open the letter, didn't even want to read what Lily had to say before sending it back.

The rejection had hurt Lily more deeply than she had thought it could. Shoulders sagging, she wrapped the rest of her things in the torn satchel and walked the last fifteen feet to the castle slowly, heedless of the rain. Arms full, she leaned her shoulder against the heavy door leading in from the courtyard and stumbled into the dry corridor.

She bumped directly into James Potter. He caught her arm to steady her, then blinked in surprise as he recognized the dripping girl. "Merlin, Evans!" he said, grinning. "You look like a drowned cat."

Not the best way to win the affections of a young woman, but James' methods had never been orthodox. Besides, Lily Evans gave as good as she got.

Now, she looked at the sopping-wet items in her arms and then blinked up at James with wide green eyes. He smirked, hazel eyes mischievous behind his black-framed glasses, awaiting her witty retort.

And Lily burst into tears.

"Bloody hell!" James took a quick step backwards, then immediately forward again, hands extended almost ... gently, as though he wanted to pull her into his chest, grab her face, stroke her hair - something, anything, to comfort her. But he didn't, and quickly shoved his hands in his pockets instead. "Evans, what's wrong?"

Lily dropped everything she was carrying, except the returned mail bearing her sister's name. The mirror from her mother cracked as it hit the ground. With a gut-wrenching sob, Lily slumped against the wall and slid slowly to the floor. She angrily wiped the tears from her cheeks and turned away from James. "I'm fine, Potter. Just leave me alone."