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“Will you go to prom with me, Lily Evans?” James asks, a huge cheesy grin on his face.
Lily shakes her head, exasperated. It’s the fourth time he’s asked her in the last week, but prom is tomorrow and he seems to be getting desperate. Even though Lily’s told him no every time.
“I told you,” she says. “I already have a date.”
“Snape?” James scrunches his nose. “No offense but really?”
“Yes, really,” Lily smiles. “No offense but he isn’t arrogant and obnoxious like you.”
“C’mon Lily, I thought we were friends!” James groans, still grinning.
“Yeah,” Lily says. “Friends. Just friends.”
She walks away giggling, James groaning behind her.
***
“Lily! Hurry up!”
Lily rolls her eyes behind the locked bathroom door. Petunia will just have to wait.
“Lily! I’m not kidding!” Petunia shouts unhappily through the door. “C’mon we have to leave soon and I need my mascara!”
“Fine,” Lily sighs, opening the door then going straight back to curling her hair.
“Finally,” Petunia shoves in, forcing Lily to move over so they can share the mirror, even less room since they’re both in dresses.
“Is Vernon picking you up?” Lily asks, carefully sticking a pearl clip in her hair.
“Yeah in ten minutes,” Petunia says, leaning close to the mirror to apply her mascara. “Severus?”
“Same,” Lily smiles. “I’m excited. I’ve never been to prom before.”
“It was so fun last year,” Petunia says. “I can’t believe this is my last school dance before I graduate next month. You’re lucky you have next year.”
Lily giggles. “Come on, you’ll be going to college, that’s way more exciting.”
“I guess,” Petunia shrugs, now fluffing her hair. “Now hurry up! We’ll be late!”
She runs out of the bathroom and Lily takes another moment to make sure everything is perfect. Hair done, emerald green silk dress on, pearl necklace and earrings in place, makeup finished. Lily smiles at herself in the mirror before following Petunia out and grabbing her heels, then hurrying down the stairs.
“Oh look at you darling,” Lily’s mother says when she comes into view. “So beautiful.”
“My girls,” her father smiles. “Picture time.”
“Dad,” Petunia groans, glancing out of the window. “He’s here!”
“Really fast, one with your sister,” their mother says.
“And he can come to the door if he’s taking my daughter to the dance,” their father huffs.
Petunia rolls her eyes, Lily giggles and stands next to her sister, letting their mother take a quick couple of pictures of them together.
Petunia shrieks when there’s a knock on the door. Lily doesn’t pay much attention to her parents greeting Vernon, she would never tell her sister but she doesn’t like Vernon very much. Instead, Lily stands by the front window, watching for Severus to arrive.
“Lily!” Petunia calls, snapping Lily back into attention. “Are you coming?”
“Yeah, just still waiting,” Lily says. “You guys can go without me, I’ll see you there.”
“Are you sure?” Petunia asks, though Lily can tell she doesn’t really want to wait.
“Yeah,” Lily nods, smiling. “Go on. See you in a bit.”
“Okay,” Petunia giggles. “Bye!” She waves to their parents then takes Vernon’s offered arm and they step outside.
Lily waits. A few minutes go by and her smile drops a bit. Severus is ten minutes late. Maybe he got caught up in something? Lily refuses to let it nag at her. He’ll definitely be here soon.
“Maybe he’s just running a little late?” her mother says with a soft, unsure smile.
“Yeah,” Lily says. “I think I’m just going to wait on the porch. He should be here soon.”
“Ok sweetheart,” her father says. “Have fun.”
“Thanks dad,” Lily smiles, giving him a quick hug, then kissing her mother on the cheek before stepping outside.
A few more minutes go by.
Then a few more.
Lily’s smile drops fully.
Ten minutes.
Fifteen.
Twenty.
Thirty.
Lily sits down heavily on the porch step, the position awkward with the heels and her dress.
Forty.
Lily stops looking down the road hopefully.
Forty-five.
“Hey love,” her mother’s soft voice from the door behind her. “Company?”
Lily just sniffles, holding back tears. How could Severus just stand her up? He seemed so excited when he asked her, and they’ve been friends for so long. She thought it would be the best night ever. Instead she’s just sitting on the porch step, the dance has long since started by now and nobody seems to miss her.
“I thought he liked me,” Lily sniffles. “How could he just—” a soft sob breaks free.
“Oh honey,” her mother whispers, voice full of sympathy. “I don’t know, I’m so sorry sweetheart.”
Lily leans her head on her mother’s shoulder, past trying to keep her tears at bay. She doesn’t care much about ruining her mascara now. What’s the point? She cries on her mother’s shoulder for a little while, until the sun has fully set, every last shred of hope gone. She feels so stupid. She got all dressed up and excited just for this. She hides her face in her mother’s shoulder, embarrassed at herself.
“Shhh, it’s alright sweetheart,” her mother whispers, wrapping an arm around her back and stroking her shoulder gently. “I’m sorry darling. It’s okay, I’m here. I love you so much.”
“How could he—” Lily cries. “How could he do this? I don’t understand!”
“Boys aren’t very nice at this age,” her mother says, though it doesn’t soothe Lily very much, too caught up in her own distress. “But they get better, give them a few years.”
“I’m never talking to him again,” Lily says stubbornly.
“I wouldn’t either, sweetheart,” her mother says. “Just let him go, he doesn’t matter.”
Lily sniffles for a few more minutes before the front door opens again and her father sits down on her other side. Lily turns to him with another sob and falls into his waiting arms, the only man she could possibly tolerate right now.
“Daddy,” Lily cries miserably.
“Shhh my little flower,” he whispers. “I’m so sorry boys this age are so shitty.”
Her mother makes a halfhearted scold at the swear but Lily huffs weakly, not quite a laugh, but something in the direction.
“But hey, I’ll always be here,” he continues, kissing the top of her head. “No matter what, your old dad will always love you.”
Lily presses closer to him, resting her head on his chest like she did when she was little. She cries some more while her father holds her and her mother rubs her back.
She’s so lost in her head going over every single detail of her friendship with Severus wondering where she went wrong that she doesn’t hear the car pull up or see the headlights, as her face is still buried.
“Lily,” her father whispers. “I think someone’s here for you.”
“What?” Lily asks, her voice thick from crying, sitting up out of her father’s arms to look.
Her eyes go as wide as dinner plates when she sees none other than James Potter stepping out of his car and walking up the front path toward her. He’s wearing a navy blue suit but his signature red converse that he never takes off.
Lily hastily wipes her wrecked face with shaking hands, almost not believing her eyes.
“James?” she squeaks when he stops just in front of her. “What are you doing here?”
James just grins, holding a hand out to her. “Lily Evans,” he begins, his voice not cock and overconfident as usual, but softer, kinder. “Will you go to prom with me?”
“Prom—” Lily stammers. “Prom’s over,” she says stupidly, looking up at him in confusion. “I– I missed it.”
“Pretty sure you didn’t,” James says, still grinning. “So? What do you say?”
“Umm,” Lily says, glancing at each of her parents who are both smiling at her. Traitors. Lily looks back at James, biting her lip. She thought James was arrogant and egotistical, but here he is, skipping prom just to make her feel better. He can’t be all bad. “Okay,” she agrees before she can overthink.
James’s grin gets even wider as she accepts his hand and he helps her up. She wipes her face again and smoothes out her dress.
“You look stunning, Lily,” James says softly. “Seriously. I’m in awe.”
Lily blushes, trying to tuck her hair back into its updo.
“I like this one,” her father jokes approvingly from the side.
“Dad,” Lily blushes harder.
“Oh, right,” James says, turning to her parents. “I’m James. Lily’s friend.”
James and Lily’s father shake hands.
“Friend, huh?” her mother murmurs, coming closer to fix a few out of place strands of Lily’s hair.
Lily shushes her with a small smile despite herself. Her mother just giggles and kisses Lily’s forehead.
“Have fun darling,” she smiles.
“Ready?” James asks. Lily nods, taking his offered hand again. “Your carriage awaits m’lady.”
Lily giggles and lets him lead her toward his car in the driveway.
“I expect her back by eleven!” Lily’s father calls after them, laughter in his voice.
“And not a minute later Mr. Evans,” James calls back, grinning again. “I wouldn’t dream of it!”
Both of Lily’s parents laugh and Lily giggles as James opens the passenger side door for her, then closes it once she’s in. He gets in the driver’s side and pulls away, waving at her parents as they go.
“James,” Lily says. “Prom is over, I completely missed it.”
“Yeah, maybe,” James says, shooting her a sly grin. “But you didn’t miss the super special prom part two, exclusive cool people guests only and way better than the dumb school hosted dance.”
“What are you talking about?” Lily laughs. “You’re crazy.”
“Just trust me,” James says.
Lily shakes her head fondly but doesn’t say anything else, watching out of the window and listening to the songs playing through the car speakers.
A short drive later and the car slows to a stop near the town square, which is deserted at this hour. Lily starts to get out of the car but before she can even open the door James scrambles over the hood of the car, which doesn’t look as cringe-worthy as she thought it would, and opens the door for her. Lily giggles but curtseys just for fun once she stands.
James smiles and grabs her hand again, pulling her toward the center square.
“James,” she says, fond but exasperated. “What are we doing here?”
“I said trust me,” James laughs, pulling her along.
As soon as the small town square comes into view Lily gasps and stops in her tracks. The gazebo in the small green space right in the middle of the square has lights strung up a bit haphazardly, and flowers thrown around it in a hasty manner. There’s a speaker on a stool next to the entrance and best of all, her friends, Mary and Marlene. Also James’s friends, Sirius, Remus, and Peter, all dressed in their prom attire and grinning at her and James.
“James…” Lily whispers, shocked. “You did all this…”
“I wanted you to be able to go to prom, even after that greaseball stood you up,” James says.
“I— I don’t—” Lily stammers weakly. “I don’t know what to say. I can’t believe this.”
“Well come on, let’s start this party,” Sirius calls. The others all cheer. Lily blushes crimson but her smile is so wide her cheeks hurt.
James squeezes her hand and leads her the rest of the way to the gazebo. Mary and Marlene are hugging her immediately.
“Lily!” Mary exclaims. “You look amazing!”
“Oh you just wait until we tell you what your knight in shining armor said to that loser who stood you up,” Marlene giggles. “We’re so happy you’re here.”
“You— you helped?” Lily asks.
“Well of course,” Mary giggles. “We couldn’t trust these boys to do everything by themselves now could we?”
“I resent that,” Remus says, though he’s smiling too. Everyone is smiling, Lily widest of all.
“Yeah, we had it under control,” Peter agrees.
Marlene scoffs. “The lights were tangled in a knot and you didn’t even have a good playlist.”
“Whatever, whatever,” Sirius says. “Evans is here so music!”
Sirius turns on the speaker which starts playing and James comes over to Lily again.
“Would you dance with me?” he asks.
Lily blushes and hides a giggle behind her hand, then nods. James grins, then takes her into the gazebo and spins her around. Lily laughs freely, a complete turnaround to how she felt thirty minutes ago. She never thought that James Potter would be the one to cheer her up but she’s not mad about it in the slightest. Actually, as everyone starts to dance and jump and laugh around the gazebo, Lily finds she can’t stop smiling.
They have fun for a while, Lily dancing with Mary and Marlene, then Remus and Peter and Sirius. They all dance with each other, just having fun being teenagers at their own makeshift prom. It’s not perfect, but Lily thinks it is.
Eventually, a slow song comes on and Lily finds James again, falling into a soft sway with him. She sighs softly, pressing a bit closer to him.
“So what did you say to Severus?” she asks. “How’d you know he stood me up?”
“What I said isn’t important,” James snickers. “And that was easy.”
“What was easy?” Lily asks, confused.
“How I knew,” James smiles softly. “I couldn’t find the prettiest girl in the room.”
Lily blushes as red as a tomato. She’s speechless. She knew James wanted to go to prom with her, but she thought all those times he asked her had really been just a joke to annoy her. Apparently not.
“I thought you were just trying to annoy me,” Lily admits, giggling again. “All those times you asked me to go with you.”
“No,” James blushes sheepishly. “Sometimes I’m just an idiot. But the truth is, I really really like you Lily. I’ve had a big fat crush on you for ages.”
Lily laughs and James just smiles at her, his gaze adoring.
“Seriously Lily,” James says. “You’re the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen.”
“Oh is that all?” Lily teases.
“Well— no—” James says quickly, still blushing. “You’re smart, and funny, and witty. I like your smile, and the way you light up every room you walk in,” Lily stops teasing, letting his words sink in. He really does like her, it wasn’t all just one big joke. “I love how you twirl your hair when you’re nervous, and when you get all exasperated but can’t quite keep the smile hidden even though you think you can. You’re kind, and sweet, and… shit, Lily, if you don’t look so damn good in that dress.”
Lily laughs, still swaying to the music and looking up at James’s hazel eyes behind round glasses and his big goofy grin. Her arms are around his neck, his hands on her waist. She almost can’t believe that James Potter isn’t the arrogant idiot she thought he was at all. He’s really just a big soft soppy teddy bear who wears his heart on his sleeve and damn if Lily doesn’t find that highly endearing. She’s not even thinking about Severus standing her up anymore, James Potter has singlehandedly, utterly, completely pushed any sadness out of her mind, something she didn’t think was possible only an hour or so ago when she was sitting on her front porch crying, but here she is.
“You wanna know something James?” she whispers, going on her tip toes to lean closer to whisper in his ear. “I like you too.”
“Wha— really?” James blurts, his grin impossibly wide. Lily giggles. “You—”
“ALL HAIL PROM QUEEN LILY AND KING JAMES!” Everyone else shouts, cutting James off and unaware of the moment they just ruined.
But James and Lily are laughing, not angry in the slightest. Lily feels lighter than ever as Mary places the tiara on her hair, Sirius doing the same with the king hat to James.
“Thank you,” Lily whispers as everyone cheers for their king and queen, as silly as the tradition is. “For all this.”
“Anything for you, Lil,” James whispers back, smiling brilliantly at her.
Lily was wrong before, this is the best night ever.