Lily would never understand the reason behind Valentine's day.
It seemed like such a waste of time and was frankly a boring holiday.
Out of all the things wizards would take from Muggle culture, why did Valentine's Day have to be one of them?
“Oh my God,” Marlene gasped from beside her, “Mary must really be into this guy. It looks like she’s trying to suck off his face.”
Okay so maybe there were more reasons for Lily’s deep hatred of Valentine’s Day.
Ever since her first year, Mary and her had become the absolute best of friends. Two peas in a pod, attached by the hip, whatever you wanted to call it. They were always together, never leaving the other’s side.
That is, until a plague that seemed to infect more than half of the Hogwarts student body got to Mary as well.
The plague in question would best be described as a switch that happened somewhere in their third year. Where, instead of girls running away from boys giggling about cooties, people began to have crushes. Now, the girls in the common room talked about the hottest boy they knew rather than their usual talks about how gross boys were.
It was the most isolating period of Lily’s life. How was she supposed to tell them that she didn’t even care about boys that way? How was she supposed to explain that thinking about her and a boy together - romantically, made her want to throw up?
Mary, not realizing all this and quickly got swept up in the crowd.
She had always been pretty, eleven year old Lily certainly thought so because her beautiful curls and deep brown eyes were the first thing she noticed about her.
The thing was, other boys thought so too.
As they neared their fifth year, every Valentine's Day, Mary would get dozens of letters, cards, and candy from boys in their year.
If she liked them enough, she would go out with them, maybe “date” him for a few days just to end it.
It hurt knowing Lily would never be in the same position as these boys. She would usually be the one to choose her outfits for these dates, pushing down the thought of her and Mary on a date instead.
This Valentine's seemed no different at all.
Mary’s boyfriend (“He’s the one, Lils!”) was some guy who had been sending Mary cards on Valentine's Day for probably two years. Lily would have found it weird but at least he had the courage to send her something, Lily had been quiet for six years now.
“No therapy is going to help the poor eleven year olds seeing what I’m seeing,” Marlene said, seeming so utterly grossed out by Mary and her boyfriend, “Scratch that, no therapy is going to help me after seeing this.”
Lily let out a small laugh, not looking up knowing it would hurt too much.
//
That afternoon, Lily found herself back at the dorms, finishing up on a book her mother got her for her birthday.
The dorm was empty, something that was extremely uncommon, so Lily took the opportunity as soon as she heard everyone else had plans. Marlene was going to be with Dorcas and Mary had a date.
Lily tried to pretend it didn’t hurt that Mary hadn’t chosen her dress and makeup with Lily. Something they had done ever since her first date.
She scolded herself for being so childish, Mary had a life outside of her and Lily didn’t want to stop her from enjoying herself.
Just as Lily was ending her chapter, Mary burst through the dorms, looking frenzied and stressed. She met Lily’s eyes, instantly relaxing.
“Lily! I was looking for you, where were you? You’re supposed to help me find my outfit for my date!”
Lily had no idea she had agreed to that beforehand but still, she made her way to Mary’s wardrobe.
“What colour dress? You have a nice red one, it’ll go with the whole Valentine's Day thing,” It truly was a really nice dress, simple but elegant at the same time.
Mary made a face when Lily showed it to her, though, “I wanna wear red lipstick, it’ll look weird with a red dress.”
Lily thought it would look fine, nothing really looked bad on Mary, she managed to make anything seem beautiful. Still, she looked for something that would go well with red lipstick.
She searched through the endless amount of clothes Mary had, stopping until finally, she found a dress similar to the first one. It was short, ending at the mid-thigh, black with a sweetheart neckline, and most importantly, would go very well with red lipstick.
Mary’s smile grew, as she let out a sound of approval, “Lily, I could kiss you right now,” Lily’s cheeks grew redder and she hoped Mary didn’t notice, “I’m gonna go try this on, just wait it’s going to look amazing.”
Mary began to change right where she was in the middle of the dorm, causing Lily to turn away, her cheeks feeling warmer as she cursed whoever made her so pale.
“I look hot.”
You always look hot.
Lily turned and was not at all corrected, it shouldn’t have taken her breath away as it did. It was just a simple black dress, but Mary managed to make it just look so beautiful.
“Lils, which necklace,” Mary held up two, again, very simple gold necklaces. Both had been gifts from Marlene and Lily, “Actually, never mind, I’ll wear this one,” she held up a gold chain that had a small crescent moon on it, Lily had gotten it for Mary during their fourth year. Lily had no idea that Mary still had it.
Mary was at the mirror the three of them shared, she seemed to struggle with the clasp on the necklace, groaning in frustration.
“Here, I’ll help,” Lily offered, making her way to where Mary was standing. She pushed Mary’s hair to the side, giving her a better view of the necklace clasp. She closed the necklace and pushed Mary’s curls back, she turned around beaming.
“It’s so pretty, Lily. I love it.”
Lily just smiled at her, not confident she would be able to form actual words with Mary so close.
She could see flakes in her brown eyes, the small moles in the corners of her eyes, her dimples that were noticeable even when she wasn’t smiling.
Words in the English language could never begin to describe Mary Macdonald’s beauty.
“Y’know Lilis, I always wondered why you hate Valentine's Day so much,” Mary’s brown eyes meet Lily’s green ones, once again, making her stupid cheeks redden.
“It’s just a waste of time,” Lily forced the words out of her mouth, hoping she wasn’t spouting nonsense.
Mary’s hands brushed away a strand of hair that fell out of her loose ponytail, “I have a feeling I can change your mind,” and before Lily could wonder what that even meant, Mary closed the already small space in between them and kissed Lily.
Mary fucking Macdonald was kissing her and it wasn’t even a dream this time.
Mary kissed with purpose, she kissed Lily with the intention of leaving a mark. She had her hands on Lily’s cheeks, trying to pull her closer even when there was no space between them.
Lily couldn’t form a coherent thought, all she could think about was Mary’s lips on hers, how she tasted like the strawberry candies she was obsessed with, and where her hands were.
Mary was the one to pull back, grinning, seeming very pleased with herself, her hands interlocked with Lily’s.
“Still hate Valentine's Day?”
“Yes.”
Mary cocked her brow, not convinced, “You sure?”
Lily rolled her eyes, “If it makes you happy, I might hate it a bit less than before.”
Mary laughed and Lily had never felt more complete.
Lily had many reasons to hate Valentine's Day but now she had one reason to enjoy the (stupid) holiday.