For the first time, she saw his light
James Potter loved laughing. He loved to laugh, and he loved to see people around him laugh. In his opinion, there was nothing better than a true, heartfelt laugh. Maybe that was part of the reason he became a prankster. To make people, including his best mates, laugh.
When James laughed, he laughed loudly, infectiously, unapologetically. His eyes closed, head thrown back. He never tried to laugh quietly, or decently. He just let the happiness pour out of him. When James Potter laughed, he shone.
And that’s exactly what was happening. He hovered a few feet above the ground on his broom, laughing so loud that people were turning to see what is going on. And as he was laughing, his body was leaning closer and closer to the broom shank. With that movement, it stopped hovering and started to fly very, very slowly onward. But that didn’t bother the quidditch captain. He just laughed louder. And then he bit by bit flowed from the broom and with a splash he fell in the mud. His red and gold quidditch robes now dirty. But that didn’t bother him either.
Beside him was standing Sirius Black. Well, standing is quite an overestimation. He was clutching his stomach that hurt from all the laugh, his knees bent. And when James finally reached the ground, tears streaked out of his eyes.
Sirius Black had two kinds of laughs. One, that was very distinguished and very fake. But that wasn't the case. Now, he was laughing sincerely. It didn't sound as nicely as James' laugh, it was more like a barking, really, but at that moment his face let go of all its tension, he showed his marvelously white teeth, and you could just see that he was genuinely happy.
With time, he also ended in the mud. First, he couldn’t hold himself up anymore, so he knelt right into a puddle, his tight black jeans soaked the water immediately, then he fell on his back, tears now running across his temple and right into his hair nicely put in a tiny ponytail.
And so the two Gryffindors were lying in the mud and puddles, laughing like crazy, wheezing, trying to catch a breath, living their best life.
Another mate of theirs was laughing with them, Remus Lupin. Although he found the whole situation hilarious, he refused to join them on the ground. But boy, did he enjoy it. His laugh was not as loud and carefree as his dormmates'. He was used to holding his emotion back, unlike the two of them, he cared what people thought of him. He needed to make a good impression so if his secret would ever get out, people might remember him as the nice, maybe a little short-tempered, but otherwise sweet boy with a wicked sense of humor. So, he wasn’t exactly laughing, more like snickering and giggling, maybe a snorting from time to time. A smile split his face, but it was still very controlled.
And the last of the group was Peter Pettigrew. He didn’t really understand what is so funny. But when the others laughed, he laughed too. Not too loud, nevertheless. He always watched the others, so he could stop smiling and laughing in time if they would. And so he never really enjoyed it as much as he could.
And that's how Lily Evans found them. For some reason, it was truly surprising to see them like this. She, of course, was used to seeing them laugh, but it was usually in the middle of dinner or even class. That itself annoyed her so much, that she didn't really try to see why they're so joyful and that maybe, just maybe, she could be too.
But now, in the middle of the Hogwarts grounds, with nobody around, where it really could not hurt anyone, she saw them. She actually saw James Potter probably for the first time.
Lily Evans didn’t like James Potter. She despised him even, in the past. She never bothered to try to get to know him, because he was just so annoying and full of himself. But with their seventh year, he suddenly stopped asking her out. She, of course, didn’t know he talked to a bunch of girls about his issue, about what he’s doing wrong. She didn’t know that he was really upset to find out that his constant questions and yelled compliments were not cool but awfully disrespectful. The girls told him, that if Lily said no and he’s still asking, then it means, he doesn’t respect her as a woman and as a human being. So, he stopped immediately. He still wished her good morning, still smiled at her, and made funny faces when Slughorn wasn’t watching. But that was it.
Lily was glad, really. She enjoyed her peace and quiet. It was a relief to be able to enjoy one damn meal without the banter. But then she felt kind of lonely? James Potter was annoying, sure, but she knew he would never hurt her, she just knew, somehow. So, she considered it all just like friendly bickering. Well, not the first few years, but the sixth year was different. She missed it. Just a little. Not that she would ever admit it to someone.
But even though she liked the teasing, she never really tried to get to know James or even see him. And here and now, in the middle of the Hogwarts grounds, sun shining, she, for the first time, admitted to herself, that James Potter is bloody beautiful. His messy black hair, wide smile, weirdly perfect eyebrows, strong jaw, and nice hands. He was almost a foot taller than Lily with a lean and athletic figure. And when he was laughing like crazy, he looked like the most beautiful person on earth.
Lily was staring for a while, then she shifted her gaze to watch Sirius laying in the dirt, mud on his face looking like war paint. He was beautiful too, but differently. Darker. Lily saw him get angry a few times, especially when someone said that he's the same as his family. He tensed, a dangerous spark in his eyes. He looked terrifying. When James got mad, he looked like a puppy. Maybe because she has never seen him truly angry.
James was carefree and shiny, whereas Sirius was elegant, true aristocrat. It was visible in his face, in the way he moved, the way he wrote, the way he talked. He tried desperately to get rid of those habits; he wore muggle clothes, leather jackets, even got himself some tattoos, but he could never hide the grace he was born with. There was something about him that people loved and feared. He could be dangerous. If he would decide to be on the dark side, the light would suffer.
Before Lily could shift her gaze to Remus, the boys noticed her staring. James tried to break from laughing, Remus stopped grinning, Sirius lifted himself into a sitting position and smirked. Peter quieted a little too late and his cheeks turned pink.
“Didn’t see you there, Red. Wanna join?” challenged Sirius with chin high up.
“Not really, no,” Lily shook her head trying to hide the red crawling up her neck.
“So why were you gaping so longingly, then? Or are you in love with me?” he teased, and James elbowed him hard in ribs.
“Leave her be, mate,” he muttered, but well, Sirius just couldn’t help himself.
“What? No! Don’t be ridiculous,” Lily scoffed, although it was very fake and very nervous. “I just- I just wanted to ask Remus something…”
At that, Remus smiled politely and jogged to her, not wanting to make it even more awkward than it already was.
“What’s up?" he asked, hands deep in his pockets.
And then Lily realized that she doesn’t know what to ask him. Dammit.
“Uhm, do you- do you want to, maybe, hmm, do the transfiguration assignment with me? It’s not really my thing.” Oh, why?
“If you need help with transfiguration, James is way better than me. I’m sure he would help you,” Remus offered, and Lily’s face turned to a deeper shade of red.
“Yeah, right. I’ll think about it. Thanks. Bye.”
Well, that was embarrassing. Lily was almost running all the way back to the castle, completely forgetting why she went out in the first place.