In the common room of Gryffindor, a few students are chatting in a cheerful atmosphere. There are just a couple of days left until the Christmas holidays, and almost everyone is busy with preparations to spend them at home, but that afternoon the energy in the air is different.
"I already told you, I have no intention of coming."
James, leaning against one of the walls in a relaxed pose that doesn't betray ther estlessness he truly feels, allows himself a slow smile. Lily, on the other hand, crosses her arms over her chest and meets his gaze with indifference.
"Come on, Evans, we’ll have fun," he insists, adjusting his glasses on his nose.
She scoffs “we’re not ten years old anymore, Potter,” emphasizing the surname with a note of mockery “and I need to study. Just like you, by the way.”
Now it's the boy’s turn to scoff.
The night before, a snowstorm had hit Hogwarts, and in the morning, the sky had given way to a cold winter light and a completely white landscape. According to an unwritten rule, that only means one thing: snowballs.
"We're both head of house" he argues, hurrying to walk alongside the girl who is leaving the room with her books in hand "we both have excellent grades, so we can afford an afternoon of relaxation".
"We have two very different ideas of relaxation. And besides, we just buried the hatchet; you wouldn’t want to start a new battle, would you?"
He smiles mischievously, but before he can retort, an arm wraps around his shoulders. "His hatchet is always ready to be raised for a battle with you."
Sirius darts for cover right after saying those words, narrowly dodging his friend’s hand.
Lily rolls her eyes at the implication and manages to walk away "go on and play like kids together" she says without turning to look at them, but a smile surfaces on her lips before she can stop it.
However, the two boys don’t notice it, both because they can’t see her face and because they are busy shoving and playfully insulting each other.
As soon as she turns the corner, James pushes Sirius away with one last shove and fixes his hair. "Was that really necessary, you idiot?" he asks, partly irritated but unable to suppress the smile.
Pdfoot raises his eyebrows. "Of course it was," and ruffles his friend's hair again. "Come on, grumpy, let it go and let’s go have some fun."
Once outside, the two meet up with the rest of the group.
Peter is buried in his own layers of clothing, while Remus is struggling with his scarf, trying to adjust it the way he wants.
"Hey" calls out James, "are you going to take much longer, or should we get started?"
"Shut up, Prongs" Remus retorts, but before he can finish his response, a snowball hits him square in the face.
James and Sirius high-five, and so begins a battle to the last snowflake.
An hour later, they are sitting, panting, on a bench beneath one of the trees, watching other students laugh and chase each other.
They've used a spell to clean off the snow and are chatting about this and that.
Wormtail wa the first to retreat, a victim of his own clumsiness, and he's pressing an ice block against his swollen nose. Nevertheless, he jokes with the others and takes their teasing in stride.
James sighs and leans back against the trunk of the tree, closing his eyes.
"Listen, broken heart," Sirius calls him, giving him a pat on the back, "there will be a next time."
"What happened this time?" asks Remus with his usual bored expression.
"He invited Evans, and she turned him down," Sirius grins, cutting in.
"Maybe because someone made one of his usual inappropriate jokes" he shoots back, "and I don’t have a broken heart; I wasn't even thinking about her at this moment."
The trio exchanges glances and bursts into laughter, causing James to roll his eyes.
"Why don’t you just ask her out instead of playing games?" Lupin suggests with a shrug.
"I already did."
"More than once," adds Peter with a quiet chuckle.
"Every time," emphasizes Sirius with a broad smile.
James catches their enthusiasm and looks at them. "Don't worry; she will give in" and he winks.
His attention is caught by a mass of red hair, and he straightens his back suddenly.
His friends follow his gaze and snicker.
"Here we go again" Moony says with a theatrical sigh.
However, the group soon stops smiling and becomes more vigilant.
Behind Lily Evans is a group of Slytherins who seem to be following her. They are too far away to hear them, but it looks like they're saying something to her.
James stiffens but tries to remain calm. He doesn't want to come off as the jerk he was in previous years, and besides, Snivellus doesn’t seem to be among them.
But then he jumps to his feet, as the girl is joined by the boys, and she turns to face them with a fierce expression.
As soon as the Slytherins raise their wands threateningly, the Gryffindors react in unison. They point their own wands and, unseen by the Slytherins, unleash a flurry of snowballs. Caught off guard, the Slytherins try to shield themselves but find themselves retreating.
Lily appears perplexed and scans her surroundings for the source of her salvation. James runs his hand in his hair and walks towards her with a sly smile.
As soon as Lily notices him, she raises an eyebrow and crosses her arms in her characteristic annoyed manner.
"Thanks, Potter, but I can fight my own battles" she scolds him.
His smile widens. "Oh really?" he asks.
"Yes," she nods, making a face.
"I was hoping to hear you say that" he admits, and he throws a snowball straight at her face. She can’t dodge it and gasps in surprise.
Slowly, she wipes her face, and James can’t help but laugh at her expression. At that moment, he gets hit by a snowball right in the face as well, and she laughs at him in turn.
"Nice shot, Evans!" Sirius shouts from a short distance away. He soon finds a snowball in his face too and jolts up suddenly.
"Thanks", she says with a mischievous smile, "I have good aim."
James watches her, amused. "You've started a battle you can't win."
Snow flies everywhere, causing Peter Pettigrew to scamper away with an excuse. The others laugh as they chase him almost to the entrance of the castle before continuing their fun. They end up building a fort while Lily's laughter warms James's heart, making him oblivious to the fact that the sky has become dangerously gray.
Her reddened nose and cheeks make her eyes shine in a way he has never seen before.
She catches him staring at her, and to break the awkwardness, she smears snow on his face. He laughs and sputters, and with a spell, he brings her scarf to life, causing it to twist around her arms, then around her legs, tripping her in the process.
She falls into the snow, but before he can do anything else, a storm breaks above their heads. All that’s left for the two is to take cover in the fort, while other students rush to find shelter elsewhere.
"Do you think Remus and Sirius have found shelter?" Lily asks, trying to look outside, but the snow makes it impossible to see any faces, and a gust of cold air causes her to pull back abruptly.
"Definitely," he affirms laughing and shaking off some snow before cleaning his glasses.
As soon as he puts them back on he looks at her, still panting and suddenly aware of their closeness.
She also seems to realize it all of a sudden and instinctively steps back, hitting her head against the cold wall of the fort.
He openes his mouth in a perfect "o" and then they both burst out laughing, struggling to catch their breath for a while. He again loses himself in her eyes, and she grows serious at once.
In all those years, Lily Evans had never looked at him that way. She had always been serious, and even though their relationship had become much more relaxed and less confrontational recently, they had never found themselves in a situation like this. And certainly, he had never had her less than a meter away from his face.
She looks at him with an intensity that, in truth, tightens his stomach in a vice grip.
"Evans" he says in a warning tone.
"Mmmh?" she asks, not breaking her gaze.
"Don't look at me like that" he chides.
"‘No?’ she replies in a tone that dangerously exudes defiance "what if I do?".
He looks both surprised and amused, while feeling his heart beating faster and faster.
He tries to calm down, unsuccessfully, and before either of them can regret it, their mouths collide.
A thousand sparks of emotion flare between them. It's magic at it's peak.
When they pull away, their faces are lit with incredulity and awkwardness.
“Well, I think we just changed our dynamic” James says to beat the silence, a bit nervous.
She smiles timidly and lowers her gaze.
He can't shake off the happiness that he's feeling there, as the snow continues to fall around them like a scene from a movie.
This is perfect he thinks. And the whole world seems to fall into place, as if its pieces were once scattered in a random order and she had carefully arranged them side by side, giving them the right meaning.
They don’t know it yet, but it's the beginning of something much bigger.