Touch of Gold

Lily was standing quietly in the corridor, rocking back and forth on her heels. Her cloak in her right hand and her Gryffindor scarf in the other, she stood on her tip-toes and looked through the high window of the Hall.

Footsteps. Lily started and turned around, alarmed. They were coming closer. She quickly threw her cloak on and tucked her scarf safely around her neck. Then she leaned against the giant oak door, which easily gave under her weight. And suddenly, Lily found herself outside.

The sky was of a dark grey, making the clouds - which were of the same colour - unnoticeable. Millions of snowflakes were softly making their way towards the grounds, which had already been covered in a thick layer of snow.

Marvelling at the sight, Lily stood still for a while. Apparently, she wasn't the only one who had thought of going outside on the first day of Christmas. Students, all of different houses, were milling about the grounds. Some were engaged in rather violent snowball fights, while others were simply sitting by the lake or on the grounds, quietly conversing.

As Lily walked on, her footsteps leaving marks on the fresh fallen snow, the cold wind touched her face playfully, flushing her cheeks. Then she noticed a group of three boys, who looked very familiar. Surely, that one there looked a lot like...

Lily's eyes widened. She looked around franticly for a place where she could hide. She really didn't want them to notice her. Suddenly, she was struck by an idea. It was rather daring, but she didn't care.

And that's how Lily Evans found herself clambering into a near birch tree, looking for a branch large enough to carry her and hide her from view at the same time. Finally finding one, she settled herself on it rather uncomfortably. Curiously, she looked through the curtain of snow that covered the branch in front of her.

Potter and his friends were engaged in a very fierce snowball fight. It involved tackling, wrestling and eventually pelting your enemy with snow. They seemed to have fun doing it, though. The main reason Lily wasn't down there was because she was not looking forward to being sat upon by Potter, who was currently doing the exact same to Black. Lily was sure that she could easily make a list of females who would have done anything to be in the position Black was in now.

Potter had actually been ... likable this year. He had stopped asking her to go to Hogsmeade with him every other day (a thing he used to do even when there was no Hogsmeade weekend) and he was a very good and responsible Head Boy. Lily found herself liking his funny jokes, witty comebacks and intelligence. It was as if she was getting to know him all over again.

Shaking her head, Lily leaned forward curiously. However, she leaned a bit too far, because she slid off and lost her balance. Barely suppressing a surprised shout, she managed to hang onto the branch with her hands.

Meanwhile, several feet below, Remus Lupin was curiously looking up at the tree.

'Did you hear that?' asked Remus loudly. Potter and Black stopped wrestling and their gazes travelled to the tree as well. Lily gulped and hastily tried to sling her right leg on the branch. She succeeded, and smiled triumphantly.

Potter had detached himself from Black and the three had made their way towards the tree. Potter stepped forward and came face to face with a leg. Curiously, he yanked at it.

Shocked, Lily found herself toppling over the branch and falling onto very surprised James Potter.

Remus and Sirius had burst into hysterics, laughing so hard they were clutching their sides. And no one could blame them. It really was a sight to see, the Head Boy and Head Girl lying on top of each other, both surprised and very red.

Finally, Black stopped laughing enough to tell them that they were going to look for Peter in the castle. He and Remus soon disappeared out of sight. Lily wasn't paying attention to anything around her, however.

Potters arms had encircled themselves around her waist somewhere in the fall, and there was fire spreading from his fingertips. His eyes stared up at hers with a look of surprise, and it was then she noticed for the first time that tiny flecks of gold surrounded the brown in his eyes.

His black mop of hair looked even more tousled than usual, and one strand was messily touching his forehead. On top of that, his cheeks were flushed. He looked rather sexy.

'James, could you let go now?' Lily wanted to say, but it came out in a soft whisper.

Instead of listening to her - like he should have - he pulled her closer and planted his lips on hers. He tasted like chocolate and ice cream. Her hands tangled themselves into his hair which, to her surprise, was very soft.

Suddenly, James pulled back. They were both breathing heavily. 'We-we should do that again sometime,' Lily breathed. James beamed at her.

'Anytime, Evans.'

Lily decided that staying in the castle this Christmas wasn't going to be so bad at all.

Author's Note: I couldn't help myself. This came out rather okay-ish, seeing as it is my first Christmas ficlet ever. I wrote this story as a dedication to Ria, who suggested that I should really give Lily/James a try. What do you think?