He could feel her anxiety from across the room, could hear her heart hammering in her chest. Anybody else would have brushed off her timidness but James had been analyzing her every move since he was 13. She appeared perfectly poised with her gentle smile, rosy cheeks, and glimmering eyes. She was standing tall, tapping her finger on her champagne glass that was clutched between both hands. But James knew she wanted to crumple up into a ball and that sparkle in her eyes was caused by the tears that were undoubtedly threatening to fall.
James politely cut off the old woman that was offering him one of her lovely nieces as a future bride and explained that he had the most beautiful, caring, intelligent girlfriend who was already destined to be his future bride. Pointing her out to the woman, he noticed her teeth pulling off the skin on her pink lips, leaving it raw and bloody. With that, he made his way over to her in long and determined strides which she must have sensed as she looked up and met his worried gaze with huge, anxious eyes. Taking the glass from her now trembling hands, he pulled her into his arms and cradled her neck against his chest.
“Lily, love. Deep breaths,” he whispered softly into her ear. He could feel her chest rising and falling at a rapid pace.
Lily looked up at him through her now wet lashes, opened her mouth to explain, but the words were stuck in her throat.
“Flower, it’s alright,” James said to her assuringly and when she began ripping the skin off her lips again, he stopped her with his thumb and rubbed it over her now raw lips.
“Let’s not do that, okay? We said we wouldn’t hurt ourselves,” James whispered. “Tell me what’s going on in that big brain of yours.”
Lily stammered and closed her eyes, breathing heavily, but overall now relatively calm.
Whispering into his chest, she mumbled, “I don’t know anybody at this stupid Pure-blood party and I overheard the lady in the green hat calling me a muggle-born gold digger.”
She felt James' whole body stiffen, his grip around her tighetend as he craned his neck to see that the lady in the said green hat was Saledie Selwyn.
“Sweet mother of Merlin that hat makes her look so washed out,” James whispered to her and when the corner of Lily’s lip twitched up into a smirk, he felt his heart soften. He leaned down and brushed his nose against hers, making her blush and sending her into a fit of giggles.
He released her from his grasp, took her wrist, and pulled her out of the banquet hall, down the stairs, past the ballroom, and through the golden doors that lead to the wintery darkness.
Lily looked up into the neverending darkness and couldn't help but notice that similar to the golden stars littering the sky, the golden specks in James’ eyes seemed to glow brighter at night. James ran a hand down her now goosebumped arm, savoring the velvety feel of her pale skin. He dropped his head into her neck, inhaling her flowery perfume as she muttered quietly, “I’m sorry I called the party stupid. I know you always enjoy coming and talking to all the grandmas who gush over your jawline and broad shoulders.”
James shot up from her neck and stared into her eyes, now sparkling with mischief instead of tears.
“That’s a bold assumption,” he said chuckled quietly. “I’m sorry about what she said, Lils.”
She was quiet for a minute before hesitantly murmuring, “You know it’s not true, right?”
James grabbed her wrist and spun her around, allowing her red, satin dress to reveal some leg that drove him mad. He pulled on her wrist and she allowed herself to fall into his embrace.
“I never once thought it was true, flower.”