Summary: “I took a bunch of free condoms from health services just because i could and they all fell out of my bag at once and now you’re staring at me weirdly”
Pairing: James Potter x Lily Evans
Word Count: 754
also on AO3
for Jily ship week
James’ foot caught on the table, and that was when he knew he was screwed.
He was sent sprawling, hitting his chin hard on the carpeted floor of the library. His glasses flew from his face and smacked against a bookshelf, landing pitifully on the ground in two pieces. His teeth very nearly snapped down on his tongue, which would surely have bitten off the end, but he moved it away in time.
Worst of all, James’ bag fell open and everything inside was sent flying.
Which meant the library was now littered with condoms.
It was silent for a moment as he cringed, carefully pulling himself to his feet after he grabbed the broken remains of his glasses. (He would get Remus to help tape them later.) James rubbed at his chin and slipped the strap of his bag off of his shoulder, beginning to shove books and the silver-wrapped condoms into the bag as quickly as he could.
Then he heard giggling.
James’ head shot up, and he glanced around, face paling when he caught sight of Lily Evans sitting at the table he had just tripped over. Her eyebrows were raised as she laughed quietly, and her eyes were trained on the condoms that were covering the table. James cursed under his breath.
“Wow, Potter, way to look like an idiot in front of the most gorgeous girl in this entire fucking school,” he berated himself, hurrying even more to shove his things into his bag. Once the last book was inside, he stood up, slinging his bag back over his shoulder and letting it hang forward to scoop more condoms into it from the table.
“Sorry about that, Evans” he said aloud, smiling brightly at Lily as if he wasn’t panicking inside. Her eyes moved from the small foil packages to his face, and she stared at him a little strangely. “I swear, they aren’t mine.”
Lily pursed her pink-painted lips, and James tried not to notice the slight blush that tinted her freckled cheeks. “Holding them for a friend, Potter?” she asked, mouth quirking up at the corner. “Or did Black decide to pay you back for letting him take the flack for setting off the sprinklers in the dining hall last week?”
“Actually, yes, in a manner of speaking, I am holding them for a friend,” he shrugged in response, not processing all of her question right away. “And the sprinklers prank was actually Moo- wait a second, how did you know it was me?”
Lily shrugged, eyes flitting between the condoms that were in James’ hand and his face. “Lucky guess,” she said. “What do you mean ‘in a manner of speaking?’”
It was James’ turn to turn red. He shrugged, dropping the last of them into his bag and zipping it up. “I was in health services yesterday, and there was a bowl of them just sitting there for free, and I know that none of the others ever has any so... I guess I figured I’d help them out,” he admitted, sliding his arm through the second strap and adjusting his bag on his back.
Lily smiled a little, eyes softening. “The others?”
“Yeah, you know, Sirius and Remus and Peter,” he explained, aware of how strange it felt to refer to them in a way that didn’t include the nicknames they had been using since their first year at this school. “Maybe even Regulus, if he actually came to me or Padfoot about anything like that.”
Something about the way Lily was staring at him had changed. It was less judgmental and amused, more... something else. “I wasn’t particularly under the impression that Remus or Peter would be in need of condoms,” she smirked.
James grinned wolfishly, thinking of all the times Peter had disappeared from the bar with someone on his arm or he had been kicked out of the dorm by Remus and Sirius. “Oh, trust me,” he said at last, “they are.”
Lily shook her head, closing the book she was reading and putting it into her bag. “You and your friends are crazy,” she said decisively as she stood up. “But you’re a good guy, James Potter.”
He couldn’t stop the grin that spread across his face as he ran a hand through his already messy hair. “I try to be,” he said sincerely. “Need someone to walk you to class, Evans?”
Lily looked thoughtful for a moment before she nodded. “Alright,” she said, rounding the table. “I’d like that.”
