Tuesday, October 18th, 2016, 3:30 PM

This day can't get any worse, Lily Evans thinks somberly, tying an apron around her and glumly exiting the employee break room of her job, a Häagen-Dazs ice cream shop adjacent to Hogwarts Secondary. She ties her hair into a messy low ponytail and brushes the stray strands out of her face before taking her place behind the counter of various tubs of ice cream flavors, some half empty while others are filled to the brim, waiting for an eager customer to enter.

At that moment, the door to the small shop opens, bringing with it gusts of the crisp October afternoon breeze while the ebullient voices of the new customers are carried into the building as they airily enter the shop, tilting their heads back in laughter while they do so.

"Welcome to Häagen-Dazs, what can I get-" Lily looks up from the counter to see none other than James Potter, accompanied by his three rambunctious, mischievous companions. "What can I get you?" she finishes weakly, sighing while she does so. She'd been having a shit day, starting with a broken down car in the morning, followed by a lecture from her Economics teacher and a failed test in Psychology, to name a few things, and now she finds herself dealing with the Marauders, as they called themselves.

"You work here?" Peter Pettigrew asks, his astonishment clearer than the bright blue sky on a sunny, cloudless afternoon.

"Obviously," she answers, her voice drained, though not unkind. "College isn't going to pay for itself."

"Huh, college," Sirius repeats, rolling the word on his tongue like it's a new, exotic food. "Forgot that existed. All discussion of education aside, I'll have a-"

"Rocky Road ice cream cone with two scoops?" Lily guesses, finishing his sentence with one brow arched upward.

"How'd you know?" he raises his eyebrows in awe, watching her prepare the order. "Are you a psychic, or something? Have you been stalking me, Evans?" he pretends to glare, his grey eyes intensely boring into her forehead.

"I like guessing people's orders, and I guess I must've gotten pretty good at it," she shrugs, handing him the cone. "Cookies and cream for you," she points at Peter, "and Belgian chocolate for you, correct?" she points at Remus next. "Both in a cone?"

"She is good," Peter whispers and Remus' ear, earning a nod of his head in agreement from his friend as a response. Lily feels the corners of her lips curl up to form a small smile at their compliment before busying herself with their ice cream.

"And what about you, Potter? I'm guessing maybe..." she trails off, her elbows leaning against the counter while she peers at him curiously, as if analyzing him and picking out every miniscule detail forming his personality, almost like a robot would.

James looks right back at her, a smile resting on his face accompanied by a fond glint in his eyes hidden behind his glasses. "Take your time," his smile widens, revealing his pearly white teeth. They'd made up after their small, yet intense, fight from the prior day and were back on casual speaking terms.

"You know what? You're the first customer I haven't been able to guess," she remarks, tilting her head at him with a smile to match his. "So, what'll it be then, Potter?"

"Can't come up with even one guess?" he questions, raising an eyebrow.

"Nope," she pops the p in the word and lifts her elbows off the counter, never breaking eye contact with the curly haired teen.

"I'll have a scoop of vanilla in a cup, please," James requests, still grinning ever so slightly at the red haired teen, attempting to avert his eyes from the vividly purple bags circling her eyes.

"Keeping it basic, I see," Lily comments, grabbing a cup and preparing his order.

"Are you calling me basic, Evans?" he raises an eyebrow, a playful, nearly challenging, glint dancing in his gold flecked eyes behind his square spectacles.

"Maybe... or I could be calling your taste in ice cream basic. There's a difference, Potter," she smirks ever so slightly, nearly all the traces of exhaustion clearing up from her eyes as she passes him the ice cream cup. She feels her heart nearly explode out of her chest when James' fingers brush against hers during the brief exchange.

"Oh, now I'm offended," James mirrors her smirk with one of his own. "Please do inform me of these fascinating characteristics."

"I would do that, but as you can see, you're holding up the line, so I suggest you pay before someone gets fed up with you lot and decides to call the manager."

"In that case, I think I'll have to keep coming back here until I receive my answers," he pulls his wallet out from his back pocket and extracts a couple of ten pound notes. "I'm dying to know what these intricate differentiating details are, Evans."

"Guess that means I'll be seeing you around here quite a bit from now on," Lily accepts the cash from his hand.

"What time does your shift end?" James inquires abruptly, dropping money into the tip jar.

"At 5'o'clock," she answers. "Why?"

"See you then, Evans," he smirks, turning around and exiting the store without another word.

Lily shakes her head, watching him leave, a curious expression flickering in her eyes like sunlight behind clouds of exhaustion. Only James Potter, she thinks, would ask someone out on a date and leave that abruptly. Is it even a date? Does she want it to be a date? Holy shit, is she catching feelings? Suddenly, the girl is yanked from her whirlpool of thoughts by the passive-aggressive clearing of throats from her line of customers. "S-sorry," she apologizes to the glaring line, full of customers with their arms crossed. "What can I get for you, today?"

---

Lily scrubs a makeup remover wipe against her face, ridding her cheeks of the remaining stubborn smudges of mascara staining her skin before flicking the wipe into the nearby dustbin and glancing at her face. Her face is red from the scrubbing, matching her wet, red rimmed, puffy green eyes, stinging from tears. If only she could forget this day, she thinks, turning on the sink and splashing cold water on her face. She should've expected it, really. Of course her sister would unknowingly find a way to make her day even shittier, and she was a fool for dreaming, even for a sliver of a second, that Petunia had changed.

But that's life, Lily thinks, drying her face with a paper towel. Just like dreams and ambitions, people come and go in the blink of an eye. She may have accepted the fact, but that doesn't mean she has to like it. With a heaving sigh, she yanks open the door for the employee restroom and exists, lacking the energy to even lift her head up.

She trudges around the break room, collecting her few belongings, bumping into various pieces of furniture, before departing from the store into the cool October air and the blinding glare from sun, which is beginning to descend from the sky, concluding the day. Lily holds her hand over her forehead, shielding her face from the harsh light of the sun when she walks straight into someone.

"Sorry," she mumbles, attempting to step around them and continue her route to the parking lot.

"'S not exactly courteous to show up fifteen minutes late to a date, Evans," remarks the tall person she bumped into seconds before.

"A date?" Lily echoes while looking up at the boy, her expression clearly befuddled and distraught.

"Only if you want it to be," James answers with a grin.

"Call it what you want, Potter," she shakes her head as if attempting to rid herself from the view of his cute, no, idiotic smile, "but make it quick."

"As you wish!" he chirps, nonchalantly slinging an arm around her shoulder. Rather than shrugging it off, Lily sighs in defeat, realizing she'd undoubtedly have to carry a conversation with the doofus at some point today, and walks in step with him.

"So tell me, Potter, what did I do to end up being plagued with your presence on this fine, Tuesday evening?"

"Plagued?" James feigns vexation and gasps, pressing hand against his chest. "That's a bit of a strong word, don't you think?"

"I meant what I said, Potter," Lily sighs, attempting to repress the smile already forming on her face, thanks to the boy's presence.

"I never knew you were so harsh, Evans," he grins at the girl, the twinkle dancing in his eyes intensifying.

She shrugs, "Some would prefer to say harsh, I'd rather say blunt, but it's all a matter of which point of view you're looking from."

"Wise words right there," he nods. "Wise words."

"Eh," Lily raises her shoulder in nonchalance once more, "it's not that deep."

"Ah, but once again, it all depends on the point of view," James winks. "Some might point out that you're being a bit self-deprecating while others would view you to be rather humble."

"Self-deprecating? What's wrong with you?" she laughs, shaking her head at the fool. "I'm not self-deprecating, as you put it, thank you very much."

"Hey! I'm just stating the facts, Evans!" he defends, raising his hands in surrender, a grin of his own widening and bringing out the mirthful glint in his eyes.

"The facts?" she scoffs, jokingly ramming her shoulder into his. "That's called exaggeration, Potter, there's a difference."

"Oh, like the difference between calling a person basic and calling their ice cream choices basic?" James retorts, now smirking at his soulmate.

"Exactly," Lily quips. "I see that you're starting to catch on."

"But I'm still dying to know what defines these highly intriguing differences."

"You'll have to wait and see, Potter," she smirks at him.

"You know, I'm going to keep pestering you with questions until you finally start answering them," James informs her.

"Fine, go right ahead."

"What's your favorite color?"

"Starting small, I see," Lily observes. "How basic."

"Just answer the question, Evans," James rolls his eyes, failing to suppress the grin on his face.

"If you must know," she sighs, feigning reluctance and irritation, "it's dove gray and yellow. Sunflower yellow, to be exact."

"Interesting combination," he remarks. "I think it suits you."

"I fail to understand how certain colors can 'suit' a person, so next question."

"What's your favorite thing about me?" he inquires.

"Potter, did you really ask that? I hardly know you, for fuck's sake!"

"Well?" James urges, eager for an answer.

"Shut up, I'm thinking!" she silences him. For a moment, the only sound that fills the ears of the two teens are their own footsteps and the carefree chatter of the people surrounding them as they cling onto the limited time remaining to enjoy the rest of the picturesque day. "I like how you go out of your way to be nice to people," Lily answers finally. "You're not one of those jerks that only gives a shit about themselves. And you don't try to brag about being nice, either, you just do it."

"Well, Evans, I must say," James clears his throat, surprised to hear the honesty in her tone and response, "I'm quite flattered. Next question! What profession do you want to be when we graduate?"

"A psychiatrist," she answers without a beat of hesitation.

"I think you'd make a wonderful psychiatrist," he tells her, the genuine tone of his voice evident.

"Thanks, Potter," Lily responds awkwardly, not used to receiving compliments.

"What's your favorite type of weather?"

"Sun showers," she replies. "The rain seems to glow when the sun is out at the same time, and it's a breathtaking sight."

"Birthday?"

"January 30th."

"Favorite class?"

"Creative writing and chemistry."

"Least favorite?"

"No offense to McGonagall, but calculus."

"Favorite animal?"

"Deer."

"What's Sirius' favorite animal?"

"Easy. Dogs."

"Impressive," James nods his head. "Any siblings?"

"One," Lily answers tensely. "My older sister Petunia."

"What's she like?"

"Don't want to talk about it."

"Understandable. Least favorite holiday?"

"Valentine's Day," Lily shudders, a look of disgust invading her face.

"Don't get me started," James agrees. "Final question: why did you look so miserable today?"

"Wha-" Lily falters, stumbling over her feet and nearly tripping onto the cement. James tightens his grip around her, attempting to meet her eyes. "What do you mean? I wasn't miserable."

"Lily, you spent the whole day trudging around like- like someone had died," he points out gently, his voice barely audible over the conversations of the surrounding people.

"It was just one of those days, you know?" she stammers, not thinking about her school related misfortunes, but about her unpleasant interaction with her sister nearly half an hour before.

"You looked even worse after work, what happened? Did it have to do with your sister?" James persists in trying to make eye contact.

"It's none of your business, James," Lily snaps defensively. Up until that moment, nobody had noticed her on those off days. Not a single soul had ever bothered to inquire on her well-being. Mary had long since learned not to question her, yet here was James Potter, genuinely concerned for her, and she didn't know what to do. "I'm sorry, I just don't want to talk about it," she tells him hastily, hoping he didn't perceive her as being as rude and harsh as she just acted.

"It's all right," James tentatively envelops her in a hug, one that she accepts without much hesitation. "I'll be here if you ever do, though."

"Thank you," she mumbles, burying her face in his jumper. "That means a lot."

"Anytime, Lily. Anytime."

a/n: Omg I am so so sorry for the late and shitty update. Writing is fucking hard sometimes. I don't have much to say other than I hope you're all having a wonderful day/night! Take care!

Bye, loves!
~Madeline