mayfield_logs | Oh once upon a midnight dream

Oh once upon a midnight dream

Who: James Potter and Lily Evans
What: James finally got Lily to agree to a date with him!
When Friday evening
Where: the Malt Shop
Warnings: fluff and awkward

James tugs on his ascot, glancing around the shop. They'd said four, hadn't they? Granted, he got here a bit early. Well, a lot early. At about 3:27 he'd wandered in, a little lost, a lot nervous, and perhaps a smidgen scared too. As he got dressed (with Sirius' help of course, thus the bright red ascot around his throat and the tapered coat that is far too fancy for the venue, but it's not like he knows any better), he'd remembered that this is Lily Evans. Lily. Ruddy. Evans. The girl he'd been half in love with since he was thirteen, head over heels for since he was fifteen, and just about resigned to his fate of never loving another since he turned seventeen.

He's on his second malt already, cursing these prudish muggles and their drinking age saying that no, he can't add alcohol to it, when it finally turns four. His heart speeds up tenfold as the clock on the wall strikes the hour, his hand gripping his glass far too hard.

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Lily is many things (supportive, understanding, punctual), but not late. Except for this one time when she's an entire half an hour late in heading out of the house. When she steps inside the venue, cheeks reddened with the extra pedaling to make up for her tardiness, she's all but out of breath.

She could have been exactly in time, dressed in a pair of trousers that Remus had graciously let her borrow (painstakingly hemmed to her fit) and a button down shirt. Lily had not counted on her fake drone mother guessing correctly that she was going on a date, and being subsequently dragged back into the house to dress in something much nicer.

So she tucks her hands under her elbows, dressed in a light green dress and matching shoes, as she steps into the half familiar parlor. Half an hour late.

Maybe Potter had changed his mind, she assumes all too quickly. It's far more comfortable to think that way, and she's about to turn on her heels when she notes ends of wild hair peeking impishly from the top of one of the dividers.

James gave up on the clock twenty minutes ago, content to stare into his malt instead, no longer even inclined to drink it. He should go home, the thinks, she's not going to turn up, he's an idiot for thinking she would, but even the thought of going home, of having to see anything else but this sickeningly sweet chocolate malt, is too hard to even fathom. He's trying to coach himself on how he's going to go home to avoid the most people, how to get Sirius to somehow get him more booze without having to talk about his failure of a "date". It's a date! You're supposed to actually make the date!

But he's not exactly mad at her either. Really, he's sure it's something he did wrong too. It generally is, with her, but he's actually trying now. He's realized how much of a prat he's been and is trying to change it, at least with her. Being an arrogant twat obviously wasn't doing it for her.

So at 4:30, he's stopped looking up whenever the little bell on the door jangles. His malt proves much more comforting.

"Thank you, I'll be fine." Lily says over and over again to the saccharin eager drone waitress as she makes her way through the throng of vapid (if incredibly happy) teenagers around her. She's never ventured into the shop on her own before, but she's clearly overestimated its popularity.

Dragging over a recently vacated chair, she steps up and hauls her weight over the divider, peering down at the boy sitting on the other side with what appears to be a generous helping of chocolate drink. Goodness, do those American eat a lot!

"I'm sorry I'm late! Mum happened..."

James jerks, looking up at her with wide, disbelieving eyes. "Lily-- oh-- ah, it's alright." He gives her a tiny, pathetic smile, shifting up so he's sitting straighter. "Was wondering if you'd show up."

"She caught me wearing Remus's trousers and was not happy about it." The redhead goes on, disappearing behind the divider for a moment to emerge from a sea of people and chairs. The pinkness in her cheeks is not all due to her hasty biking; there is some embarrassment in not being punctual for once.

Sinking down into her own seat, Lily brushes the hair out of her face, too flushed to care about being rigid and proper before Potter. "You know I'm not normally late. I apologize for-- What are you staring at?"

"I-- ah, what? I'm not staring," even though he was, and he flushes a little, glancing away, but he can't help it. She's just so bloody beautiful. "And it's really alright. I'm sure that the lot here appreciated my hard earned money."

"Just how many of those did you have?" Thanks to her tardiness, of course, but the thought that a block can drown his nervousness in chocolate doesn't cross her mind at all. And now that Lily's here, she's mildly at a loss.

"It must have been awful, though," she concedes, without a hint of malice in her tone, "leaving you to wait in a sea of drones. Let me pay for your next one. Have you tried the float?"

"About three," he grimaces, swirling his swizzle straw in the milkshake. "And no, I haven't. I think that Remus has rubbed off on me. Been going for the chocolate."

James is relaxing a little, now that she's actually here. He's coached himself for this part. Be nice, be charming, don't be at all foul. It's bound to work.

"Merlin," Lily mutters under her breath, looking up to find an eagerly beaming face that's holding out a menu, even as the waitress's attention isn't entirely directed at Lily. Gosh, done with a third, already? You're a trooper, aren't you? the waitress titters at James while Lily buries her nose in her own menu. The air is now somewhat oppressive, and she finds the fawning downright inconvenient.

"Has she been doing that all afternoon?" she nudges, sending the waitress away with her own order. Leave it to Potter to charm the knickers off drones, even.

"Just about," James smiles at the drone, telling her no, he's alright for now, thanks. When she walks away, James turns back to Lily, tone light and teasing. "I think she rather fancies me. Seemed rather down when I told her I was waiting for a beautiful woman."

"Of course she'd fa-- what?" The grimace on Lily's face turns into surprise comically fast. In all the years she's known James Potter, he's not once called her beautiful. Teasing her about her looks and acting entitled to her attention is something else, but it's never been anything as direct as an honest compliment.

"I don't suppose you mean myself." she intones unintelligently.

"Who else would I mean?" His smile turns soft and he's so tempted to reach out for her but no, James, that's too fast, you don't want to scare her off this soon.

Lily almost finds him sincere, especially when he looks at her like that. She's never paid attention to the flicks of gold in his eyes before. Initially, she waits for the blow, the hex that turns her hair green to match her eyes, the hasty remarks, but nothing comes. The trance is broken when her banana split is set between them.

"I don't know. Some of these are drones are rather cute." she teases.

James shrugs a shoulder, saying honestly, "I haven't really noticed. Their voices are too annoying for them to be cute. I'm not sure I really like being surrounded by Americans."

It's not that they're American, Lily wants to say, but it's something else she blurts out instead, "Did you know your eyes have some gold in them?"

Well. She's never noticed before. And for some horrifying reason, it seems something like that needs to be said at the moment.

"I--" James blinks, taken by surprise. That's nothing at all like what he rehearsed in his head, not even close. "Do I?"

Edited 2012-08-04 03:04 (UTC)

"Stay still," Lily orders, pushing the ice cream bowl aside to lean close enough to shorten the distance between their faces, "I've never even noticed, but it's there. Bits of green, too. And here I thought they were just brown."

James' breath hitches in his throat, eyes getting wider as she looks into them. He can't move, but she's so close, he could just lean forward and kiss her--

Without realizing it, that's just what he does, their lips barely brushing because halfway through he realizes what he's doing but it's Lily Evans. He almost doesn't want to pull back, but this is too far, too fast, he knows it, but he really wants to keep going, to really kiss her.

Well, he is James Potter. He doesn't dot hings halfway. So with a moment's hesitation, he presses forward, sealing his lips on hers in a messy, hurried kiss.

She's never seen Potter's eyes go so wide before, or so close to her, for that matter, especially as the distance between them is closed in one swoop of colors and scent. He smells and tastes of sweet chocolate and syrup, and Lily notes all the tiny flicks of green and gold in his eyes so much better when they're this close.

And his lips are moist with sugar and anticipation. It's Lily can think of as everything else shuts down except for his stubbornness in not being the one to close her eyes first.

When she doesn't pull away James feels like he could just melt. He presses harder against her lips, eyes falling half shut, just meeting hers, and he can't help but smile a little into the kiss. His mind seems to have shut off except for Lily. Lily Evans. I'm kissing-- Lily Evans!

The firmness against Lily's lips jolt her awake, and she flutters her eyes shut for a long moment before breaking the kiss. Well, that's unexpected and not entirely unpleasant, even as a part of her braces herself for the worst. A joke, perhaps.

Looking down at the safe ice cream bowl, Lily shoves a mouthful against her heated lips, not meeting Potter's eyes. Her reddening cheeks say something else, though.

James is left shell shocked when their lips part, just trying to catch his breath. He never knew a kiss could be like that, so all consuming, with no thought in his mind but it, with no thought but her. He's still staring at her, not really aware that time is passing, even with the noise and bustle of the other patrons around them.

After a few more spoonfuls, Lily's still waiting for the derisive comment, or even a laugh as that lighter part of her mind dwells on how pleasant this kiss has been. A few more minutes of silence pass as she moves the melting ice cream around, and Lily has yet to lift her eyes to the ones watching her.

Potter has just kissed her, and her chair has yet to be pulled from underneath her. There is an alien sense of relief.

When she looks up, she can't help but licks her lips. Potter's certainly consumed three milkshakes by how the whole thing tastes.

James swallows as he follows the movement of her tongue. He's not sure what to say. What do you say after you kiss someone that you've been dying to kiss for four years?

"Ah... is that good?"

"It's very chocolaty," Lily's seriousness is only betrayed by her pink cheeks. With her complexion, they will stay that way for a while.

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