The title of best display boards in the school district isn't necessarily that hard to beat, Beauxbatons high are too pretentious to have messy displays bring down their image, and Durmstrang institute have more than just their boards to worry about, what with all those safeguarding issues that have recently been plastered all over the tabloids. But Hogwarts grammar pride themselves on having excellent displays all over the walls, informational and fun to brighten the old castle-like building up for the kids, and Lily Evans, the schools resident English teacher, always does manage to create the best boards in the students’ eyes. Every time she puts a new one up, it’s somehow better than the last, and all the kids love watching them all go up just as much as they hate watching them being taken down.
So when Halloween hits, and all James’ class are on his arse about how shit his spooky board is in comparison to Miss Evans', his ego is knocked down a good few pegs, and he can’t help feeling a little butt hurt. It’s not even that he’d really tried that much, except with the spiderwebs that he’d almost done his back in trying to get up, and those skeletons that had ruined both his and Sirius' hands as they'd tried to teach him how to paper mache; but he feels more let down than anything as he finds himself taking down the board, wondering if the kids would ever appreciate his work, especially because not everyone could spend as much time on theirs as Miss Evans does.
He silently wondered how much time Lily really did spend on hers, because it sure as hell looked far over the overtime he knew most teachers already put into their work. And there was no way she didn't spend half her pay check on some of the supplies she must've used, even just on the Halloween board. Unless she just had police tape kicking about her house on the daily.
"I would hope her house isn't constantly a crime scene." Sirius snorts. Cutting off James' pondering and almost sending the PE teacher toppling off the stepladder he was stood up on to reach the top of his display.
"And she usually thrifts most of her stuff for the board." Remus offers his own input as he catches James before he lands flat out on the floor, sending a look towards Sirius, "the ghoul was just a reupholster of that one she did a few years back, remember that?"
James does remember, he'd just started working at Hogwarts that September, and he still remembers how cool he'd found all the displays in those first few months. "Woah. So she cheats?" Remus helps James back up the ladder safely, then stands close next to him as if he doesn't trust the man a good few feet higher up than him.
"Well, no?" Sirius looks at James incredulously, but the other just looks confused, "Reusing, especially in these cases, is good, Minnie wants us to show the kids that things like that can be reused, better for the environment too." They explain, holding a hand out to take all the webbing from James' hand so he can continue deconstructing his shit board. "Like this, it can be used as snow for a Christmas board. Or texture in one of my art boards."
"Oh." James nods in understanding but focuses more on the staple remover in his hand so he doesn't end up doing something stupid.
"Did the kids like your board then?" Remus prompts him when a silence fills the empty corridors.
But James only shakes his head, pulling down another femur a little rougher than what was needed. Shooting a glare at Sirius when they go to protest the reaction. "They said it was stupid. Apparently bones aren't as cool as Mrs Evans' Ripper ghost."
Remus looks up hesitantly before pointing out, "the Whitechapel one was actually mine."
James just lets out another put out sigh at the information, the thought not making him feel all that much better. Even Remus, a boring history teacher, could create better boards than him. "Oh."
"Hey, you'll make a good one soon, you just need-." He's trying to be encouraging, but both Remus and Sirius know another chance will probably end up turning just as shit too.
"Right!" James jumps on the stool, oblivious to their complete lack of faith, and immediately Remus' arms are shooting around his waist, grabbing him before he can hit the floor, again. "I just need another chance!" The PE teacher is being released from Remus' grasp when he's finally on the ground again, and within seconds he's sprinting towards the giant set of double doors at the end of the corridor, a groan echoing from the distance when he crashes into them full pelt, before he's completely disappeared.
Pete's head peeks out from the classroom closest to the doors that had just slammed shut, "Was that James again?" he asks the couple, and they both just nod at the only other teacher left in the building laughing when he just shakes his head before returning to whatever work he was doing.
"Bloody PE teachers." Sirius mutters.
Remus nods in agreement before slinging an arm over his partner's shoulders and steering them out towards the exit. "And James in general, he's too competitive for his own good."
"Mhm. Should we tell him he won’t be able to get a board in time for Christmas or shall we let him figure it out?"
"I say we let him figure it out."
"Yeah, you're right." Sirius nods, remembering the first time he'd gotten on James' bad side. "We don't wanna be the reason for his heartbreak, I think I'll cry if he gets his sports teams taken out my lessons again."
"That wasn't the worst thing he could've done-."
"They hated me for months after I made them do the catchup work in their lunch. As if I wanted them in my studio." They grumble the last bit more to themselves more than anything and Remus snorts.
"I think some of them don't understand that we can't just go giving out good marks for nothing."
"I would if I could."
"Yeah, I know you would." Remus laughs again, holding the door open for Sirius, "Let’s go home."
They both notice that only Peter's car is left in the carpark beside the janitors as they drive off, James' Prius nowhere to be found.
James visits almost every The Works and Range shop within a thirty-mile radius of his house over the course of the two days he has off, spending his weekend, and pay check, gathering every Christmassy thing possible he can get his hands on. The cashiers give him a good few looks as he checks out, he thinks he must look a little bit crazy, but every time he goes to explain himself, they just look away, almost like they don't even want to know what a 25-year-old man wants with this much Christmas shit on the third of November. And he silently thinks they're weird for that.
But when he shows up on Monday morning, a car full of decorations, and an ego ready to be fixed, he finds himself feeling more cheerful than ever. Even his classes notice it, making all kinds of comments about how he bounced back from his previous distraughtness over the display board. Little do they know, he thinks, packing his bag at the end of the day, that his next board will be better than anything he's ever done before. Or it will be, when he gets permission from McGonagall to even get the board running.
He rushes to the deputy headmistresses' office as soon as the final bell rings, hoping he can catch her before she whisks herself away to wherever it she always disappears to, and is in her office before he's even had the chance to think about what he actually needs to say. "Ah, James, hello?" Looking up quickly from her desk, McGonagall seems almost worried at the teachers sudden arrival, wondering what exactly the old troublemaker was up to.
James takes a breath, trying to catch it after all his running about, but before he can open his mouth again to talk, he hears Sirius' voice call out from behind him. "McGonagall! Love of my life-,” Sirius begins, already ruining the interaction James had finally prepared in his head with their insane flirting with the deputy head, their own husband staring at them in disappointment from behind when James turns to look.
“What they mean, is hello Minerva.” Remus properly greets his superior with a nod of a head before turning to glare at Sirius. “Sorry for the intrusion, but we noticed James in here, and we realised we also have a similar question for you."
"Well, Remus?" The clearly put out deputy head shakes her head, "I would appreciate if someone would tell me what they wanted to ask about?"
"Oh, right, well, Sirius and I were wondering if it would be possible for you to put them on my Christmas display board, and we give one of them to James?”
“You want history and art on a board together?” Minerva asks at the same time as James mutters his own take. "Why would the two of you have to merge together? Why can't-."
But nobody takes notice of him as Sirius finally speaks up again, suddenly over their sulking, and talking over James. “Well, in the spirit of team building, Remus and I thought we could do some of the most influential Christmas artists throughout history."
"You've clearly put a lot of thought into that." McGonagall almost laughs, but before either of them can protest, she's turning to James, “And you James?”
“Uh, yeah? I mean that's a good idea I guess, I just-."
Minerva rolls her eyes, “I mean, your board? What will it be on? Because PE isn’t the most festive of subjects.”
“Oh, right, yeah, about that-.”
Remus snorts at his clear inability to make something up on the spot. “He has no idea what he’s doing Minerva, he’s just trying to one up Lily’s board this year.”
“Miss Evans isn’t doing a Christmas board this year.” McGonagall offers before James can protest, and all heads snap towards the older woman at even just the insinuation that Lily won't be doing a board.
Remus looks just as confused as James, who begin stammering through words to get out a janky, "Wha-? That's not right? How, why, what?"
“She was away when I was booking everyone in, and because you two insisted on having a board each, there just wasn’t enough room.”
"Oh, well-," For a second, James considers the possibility to give away his board, but a part of him wants to keep it all for himself, hoping that maybe he'll be able to create some kind of masterpiece that the kids will love, and they'll finally respect him as a teacher. "Have you told her?"
"Of course I have Mister Potter. She understands she won't be able to do a board this year. Probably took it better than you even," The deputy head actually does laugh this time, before looking towards the couple either side of James. "Are you finished in here? Because I would love to take my leave, I've got cats waiting to be fed."
"Right, yeah, of course." Sirius nods, stepping away from the doorway to let the deputy headmistress out before they're pulling both Remus and James out of the office and towards their studio.
As soon as they’re safe in the art classroom, or Sirius’ studio as they like to call it, Sirius begins, “So, did you actually have any ideas about what you wanted to do or was Rem right?”
Shaking his head in defeat, James drops into one of the stools by Sirius’ desk. “I have no idea what I’m doing.” And when he finished talking, he knocks his head down against the table, attempting to maybe beat an idea into his tiny brain.
“Then we better get planning. Remus we could probably do with one of your stupid mind maps about now.”
Remus rolls his eyes, slipping a hand between James’ forehead and the table to stop him from getting a concussion, and uses the other to pull out his phone. “How exactly do we mind map this shit?”
“Uh, that part I haven’t quite figured out.”
Turns out the three of them are pretty hopeless. James only gets increasingly more insane as the hours slip by, and Sirius and Remus, who decided they’d rather talk about their own board, have moved to their own table, where they have all of Sirius’ favourite art books spread open, picking artists for their collection. And James is ready to give up on his stupid ‘outdoing the doer’ thing when he has an idea. “What if I just torture all Lily’s ideas out of here. I bet she was planning to do something, so what if I just use that?”
“Well you obviously want to impress Evans, but stealing from her definitely isn’t ‘one upping’ her work like you wanted to, maybe this weird rival crush you have on her is-.”
“Crush on Evans?” James laughs but Remus just watches him like he’s crazy until his laughter dies down. “What does that-.” But he trails off the question with a shake of his head, not even wanting to ask about it. He didn’t have a crush on Lily. That would be weird, and unprofessional, and totally-. “I need a drink. I’ll be back in a bit.” The lie doesn’t fall from his mouth as easily as he wanted it to, and neither do his feet as he trips over them on his way out of the door, ignoring Sirius calling for him to come back.
He doesn’t really know where he’s going until he’s stood outside of the English classroom, and by then its too late for him to stop himself. “EVANS!” James calls out, slamming the door open and ignoring the way it slams against the wall behind, “I need your help!”
Lily’s head shoots up from her desk at the sound of crashing, only to catch James Potter stumbling into her classroom. “Potter? What do you want?”
“You. I mean, I need your help.” One hand is buried in the messy black hair on the top of his head, and the other plays with the rectangle shaped glasses on his nose as he awkwardly asks for help. “For some reason I put myself up for a Christmas board, and I’m already in over my head.”
“You? Put yourself up for a board?” Lily laughs, the noise echoing around the otherwise silent room, and all James can do is stare at her, waiting for her to stop. “Ha-.” She hiccups, and James cant help the smile that finds its way on his lips when he hears it. “You’re serious.”
“You don’t think I can do it?” James’ smile drops, and Immediately his hands fall together against his stomach, scratching at his left knuckles with his right hand. “I mean, I know most of mine have been pretty shit-.”
“Most of them?”
“Okay, fine, all of them have been shit." He forces his hands away from one another, passing it off as gesturing wildly, "But that’s only because they're always like right next to yours, and your creativity just outshines mine. But, I mean, that’s why I need your help.”
“Well, I’m not doing one this year, so you don’t have to come asking for me to downplay my abilities so you can win.” Lily sounds upset and James wonders if maybe he’s upsetting her more by basically rubbing it in her face that he has a board. But at her accusation, he suddenly finds himself a little bit less bad.
James’ mouth drops open at the insinuation, offended Lily would even think he would be asking to cheat. “NO! I mean, no. I would never!”
“Oh. Why are you here then?”
“I’m not here to gloat, I just thought, if you’re taking a year off, maybe you teach me how to make a good board.”
“You want me to teach you?!” Lily seems surprised at his words, but James had thought his idea was logical, She knows how to make a good board, he needs help, wouldn't anyone else do the same?
“Well, obviously you can keep some of your secrets,” James winks, “that way I wont beat you every year-.”
“Oh, you want to beat me some years?” Lily smirks, raising an eyebrow almost in challenge.
With his own smirk, James shrugs, “Maybe?”
“And what do I get for helping you?”
Oh. James hadn't exactly thought about that-. “Uhm, street cred and the knowledge that you cured me of my inability to create a good display board?”
“Not good enough.”
“To be determined?”
“How about drinks. On you." James had been too mesmerised hearing her swindling him, that he hadn’t even realised she’d been packing away as they spoke, Or he hadn’t, until she was standing right before him, handbag in hand and that same smirk still on her face. "You can invite Sirius and Remus too, if you’d like to completely rinse your bank account.”
Swallowing a couple times to rid the cotton mouth he was dealing with, James just about manages an, “O-oh,” before he’s having to chase Lily through the corridor, “W-wait, is that a yes?”
“I don’t know? Is it?”
But before James can respond, Sirius is grabbing his shoulder, twisting the shorter man around to face them. “The shit was that?”
“She wants to go out for drinks if we do the display board together.”
“She wants to go for a drink?” Sirius asks, at the same time as Remus asks, “you’re actually doing the board with her?”
But James ignored the disbelief on Remus’ face as he looks up at Sirius, a hopeful glint in his eyes. “Actually she said drinks." James corrects, before finally, he realises what he's just said "Wait? Is drinks a date?”
“For your sake mate, I bloody hope so.”