Jily one shots

Smiles

Disclaimer: written by @GlassVaseVigilant

"I reckon we should turn in," said James. "It's Christmas Eve. Everyone's either asleep or in their common rooms."

"We should still finish the patrol, James" said Lily. "We already cut one patrol short last month, and we gave last week's patrol to those Hufflepuff prefects so we could study."

"There's only thirty minutes left."

"Exactly. No sense in stopping it early."

"The only person in the corridors is Filtch, and I'd rather not look at him on holidays."

"Oh, man up and finish the patrol."

She had to admit, the idea of going back to the common room and curling up by the fire sounded ridiculously appealing. Having hardly sat down all day, due to last minute wrapping and a spontaneous snowball fight, Lily was tempted to give in. However, facing McGonagall's stern look when asked about missing patrol hours was not something she wanted to face.

"I'm beginning to think you only want me here for yourself."

"You wish."

"It's alright, Lily. I knew you would fall for my good looks and charm eventually."

"Since when have you ever had charm?"

"Are you implying I'm good looking?"

To be fair, he was rather fit. However, she was not going to let him know this.

"You're insufferable, Potter."

"Back to a last-name basis, now?"

"I went through the trouble of getting you a decent Christmas present this year and everything," she said, threateningly. "Don't make me regret it."

In response, he merely smiled, and it made her smile too. Lately, everything about James made her smile. Whether it was being paired with him in charms, watching him play Quidditch, or hearing him laugh, it made her irrationally happy. She had this constant urge to rearrange patrol times so they could spend more time together, and she kept wondering where she mattered in the world of James Potter.

She knew exactly what all this meant, but she couldn't bring herself to admit it.

After all, this was the boy who used to make her so livid her face would match her hair in color. This was the boy that bullied her ex-best-friend, just because he could. This was the boy who used to pass time by asking her out in humiliatingly public and ludicrous ways. This was the boy whom she had only recently grown to trust and befriend. Why did it have to be him?

"I would kill for a hot chocolate right now," she said, mostly to herself, as chocolate always managed to make her feel better.

"We could stop by the kitchens."

"The kitchens aren't even close to where we're supposed to be patrolling."

"Lily, I'm a Marauder. I could get you to Liverpool and back before anyone would notice."

She ought to have said no and insisted they continued on with their patrols, but damn it all, it was Christmas Eve.

"Lead the way."

"Excellent," he said, glancing around the hall. "I need some place hidden from eye, in case a teacher comes along."

"There's a broom cupboard around the corner."

He raised an eyebrow. "Now I'm really beginning to think you want me all to yourself."

"Shove off. Unlike you, I was a prefect for two years, so I unfortunately know where allthe broom cupboards are by memory."