Lily Evans awoke on the morning of February the 14th with a feeling of dread. She had taken all the necessary precautions the night before, like imperturbable charms on the door and windows of the dormitory and a quietening charm around her bed curtains, so she wouldn’t hear anything until she opened them.
She did that now, carefully looking around the seventh year dormitory as her roommates got up and went about their daily business. Lily couldn’t see anything strange with the picture, so she went to talk to her best friend Alina.
‘Happy Valentines Day!’ Jess called out cheerfully as she pinned up her hair.
‘Don’t remind me,’ Lily shuddered. She looked anxiously at Alina.
‘Has Potter –’
‘No,’ answered Alina, looking up at Lily as she pulled on her shoes.
Lily breathed out a sigh of relief. But her apprehension was far from gone; she still had another seventeen hours to get through before Valentines Day was over.
For the past three years, James had been trying to woo Lily into going out with him. Every year on Valentines Day, he would stage an elaborate display of romance, usually involving a lot of roses and frilly pink hearts with half the school looking on.
James had actually been quite friendly to her this year, and hadn’t been asking her out as much. She had only had to curse him once, back in September. Lily could almost consider him a friend, after they had been working together as Head Boy and Girl for almost a year. But old habits die hard, and Lily wasn’t taking any chances this year.
‘Are you ready to go down to breakfast?’ Alina asked while Lily hopped around with one shoe on.
‘Almost,’ she mumbled through a mouthful of hairclips. Alina glanced at her watch impatiently.
‘Can you meet me down there? I’m really hungry,’ she moaned.
‘No!’ cried Lily frantically, spitting out the hairclips. ‘You need to help me get down to the Great Hall so I’m not attacked by Potter!’
Alina looked at her watch again and sighed.
‘Okay,’ she said reluctantly. Ten minutes later Lily was ready with both shoes on and they were standing at the dormitory door.
‘Look around it first,’ Lily instructed, biting her nails nervously.
Alina gave her hand a little slap.
‘Don’t do that!’ she said. ‘You’ll wreck your nails!’
Then she opened the door a crack and peered out. The staircase seemed empty, even though there was no way James could’ve gotten up the stairs. But when she pointed that out to Lily the previous year, she received a glare and a ‘You don’t know James Potter like I do.’
‘The coast is clear,’ said Alina. Lily rolled her eyes.
‘Stun it or something,’ she said. ‘Remember our fifth year?’
Alina did only too well, so she pulled out her wand and muttered the stunning spell.
‘No one is there, Lily,’ she said. ‘Can we go now?’
‘Okay,’ Lily said. ‘But be careful!’
They proceeded down to the Great Hall for breakfast, with Lily nervously checking over her shoulder every ten seconds.
‘Lily! Stop that!’ Alina whispered furiously as they reached the hall.
‘I’m scared,’ Lily whispered back.
‘Don’t show him that,’ Alina said. ‘Just act natural.’
They walked in, acting as casual as possible. A few heads turned as they passed the house tables, but that was only because most people knew about James’s valentines to Lily every year.
They sat down at the end of the Gryffindor table, unfortunately for Lily, right near the Marauders.
‘Good morning,’ said James as they sat down, not taking his eyes off the newspaper.
‘Morning,’ answered Alina.
‘You better not -’ Lily began. Alina kicked her under the table.
‘Morning,’ Lily corrected herself, glaring at Alina. She picked up some toast and buttered it, all the while keeping an eye on James. He seemed perfectly undisturbed, chatting to Remus Lupin about an article in the paper and eating his breakfast.
He’s probably planning something, Lily thought to herself. He’s going to get me when I least expect it!
‘Lily?’ James asked, looking over the paper at her. ‘Remember we have to patrol the corridors tonight. Don’t be late,’ he said, and grinned.
Then the owl post came in, and everyone looked up, eager to see if they would be receiving valentines.
Lily wasn’t expecting one, because James had never gone for a simple card. No, he always had to do something extravagant that would make the whole school notice him. Nevertheless, she watched James carefully as people started opening envelopes all around them.
‘Hey James, I beat you this year,’ Sirius Black said, as he looked up from counting the parcels surrounding him.
‘No way!’ cried James. ‘By how much?’
‘Forty-three to forty-five,’ said Sirius smugly.
Lily had to bite her tongue to keep from laughing at the indignant look on James’s face.
‘Well, maybe some of mine got lost, or delivered to the wrong person! It could happen!’ James cried, counting them for himself.
Sirius shook his head.
‘You just can’t accept that I’ve now beat you three years running,’ Sirius said.
‘But last year it was a tie!’
‘Yes, but I got a singing valentine during the day, so that made me win,’ Sirius explained.
‘I hate to disappoint you, but if I remember correctly, that was a prank from the Slytherins, and you got covered in slime.’
Lily giggled, and then shut her mouth quick as Sirius and James looked around at her.
‘Let’s go, Alina,’ she said, standing up. Alina looked longingly at the remains of her breakfast, but stood up as well.
‘He hasn’t done anything yet,’ Alina said as they left the Great Hall.
‘I noticed. But it’s only a matter of time,’ Lily said. Alina glanced at her strangely.
You sound like you want something to happen,’ she said.
Lily looked at her incredulously.
‘Why would I want James to court me?’ she asked. Alina shrugged.
‘I don’t know,’ she said. Lily glared at her. Honestly. Some people could be so irritating.
‘I do not want James to give me another stupid valentine. It’s annoying, and distracting. I don’t even like him. He’s wasting his time -’
‘Okay Lily! I get it!’ Alina cried over the top of her speech. ‘You don’t like James’s valentines.’
Lily grunted. Maybe she had over-reacted a little. But why did he have to do it every year? It was kind of sweet, she supposed. If you like that kind of thing. Which she didn’t. But he did try really hard to impress her -
‘Lily?’ Alina said. ‘Are you okay?’
Lily came out of her reverie and looked around. They were outside their Arithmancy classroom.
‘Yeah, I’m fine,’ she said. But that wasn’t what was going through her head.
Oh. My. God. Could I actually be enjoying all the things he does to me? No way. He is way too – too – ANNOYING!
Alina looked puzzled.
‘Lily? What’s annoying?’
‘Oh, nothing,’ Lily gabbled. Whoops. Way to make them think you’re crazy, Lily.
They entered the gloomy classroom. Professor Vector liked the dark, because he was so intent on making Arithmancy seem a lot spookier then it actually was. It sort of drew you away from the fact that Arithmancy was just a lot of math.
For the whole lesson Lily couldn’t hear a thing Professor Vector was saying. Alina kept nudging her to pay attention, but Lily’s mind was fixed on one thing, and no matter how hard she tried, nothing would distract her.
James Potter and his bloody valentines.
Also the fact that you’re not actually sure you hate them or him, isn’t it, Lily?
Shut up shut up SHUT UP!
‘Lily! I didn’t even say anything!’ Alina cried, looking distraught. Professor Vector looked stonily at them from the front of the room, where he was covering the blackboard in a lot of complicated looking calculations.
‘Sorry, Alina,’ Lily whispered, looking at her friend. ‘I’m a bit distracted.’
‘So I noticed. What are you thinking about? You look like you’re arguing with yourself!’
Lily forced a smile.
‘I’m fine,’ she said for the second time that day, even though she was far from fine.
Liar.
Get lost.
At lunch that day Lily could barely eat a thing. James was still acting perfectly fine, and the day was half over. The past few years he had always given her his valentines in the morning, when she was at her most grumpy and most likely to fly at him and strangle him.
‘Hey Lily,’ said James himself, sitting down next to her. ‘Ready for Charms this afternoon?’
She gave him a suspicious look. Then she realized what he had said.
‘Charms? But we have a free period! We don’t have Charms until tomorrow!’
James shook his head.
‘Didn’t you see the notice board? Flitwick’s doing something with his third years all morning tomorrow so our lesson’s been moved.’
‘Oh!’ cried Lily, jumping up. ‘I didn’t know! I need to get my Charms things!’
She glanced quickly at her watch and left the Great Hall. It wasn’t until she was halfway up the stairs that a thought occurred to her that James might’ve tricked her. Wouldn’t Alina or one of the other girls told her about the swap? Maybe James was lying to get her out the way so he could set up a valentine for her.
He wouldn’t do that, said the little voice of reason inside her head that had been annoying her all day. But it was right. He might’ve tried some elaborate things to give her his valentines, but he had never lied to her.
Lily entered the Gryffindor common room and made her way over to the notice board. Sure enough, it was there. Slapped on over the notices for lost spell books and Gobstone competitions, was a large note that said the seventh year Charms class would be this afternoon instead of tomorrow. Then a smaller notice pinned in the bottom corner of the board caught her eye.
Lily -
I’m sorry for everything I’ve ever done to upset you. You’re the only girl I’ll ever love, even though I know you’ll probably never love me back.
James.
As Lily read it, her heart filled with a million different emotions. But mostly one. She ripped the notice off, and stormed out of the common room, with everyone staring after her, trying to figure out what it was that had made her so mad.
‘POTTER!’
James was in the middle of the Entrance Hall, talking to some of his friends with his back to her. Lily marched down the stone steps, but stopped halfway down as James turned. He was taller than her, and she needed some height if she was going to yell.
She was all set to start screaming, but then his large hazel eyes met her vivid green ones, and she couldn’t move. She had seen hundreds of inflexible girls just fall at James’s gaze like this before, but she had somehow never done it herself, which she supposed was due to a large strength of mind not to follow the crowd.
‘You think you can win me over with a stupid letter?’ she asked as James made his way up the stairs towards her.
‘You are so …’ she started to say. What, though? He loved her. What was he for that?
‘Amazing? Charming? Handsome?’ James asked, smiling at her.
‘Annoying!’ Lily cried. Then she grabbed the arms of the boy who had mocked her for so many years, and kissed him.
‘I didn’t think I could win you over with a stupid letter either,’ said James as they broke apart. ‘So that’s why I organised this.’
Lily glanced over his shoulder, and gasped. About a thousand real, live fairies had just flown in the main entrance to the castle; all carrying a glowing pink light.
‘Looks like I don’t need it after all,’ he said, gesturing back at the show.
The fairies had all gotten together. Lily watched, dumbfounded, as they spelt out: BE MY VALENTINE?
It was corny. It was overdone. It was so totally unoriginal; Lily couldn’t help but kiss him again.