Harry Potter Fic - "Baby, It's Cold Outside" (Lily/James)

Title: Baby, It’s Cold Outside
Author: ravenne_crion
Rating: PG
Pairing: Lily/James
Wordcount: 3,315
Category Romance, pure unadulterated fluff, Songfic I suppose
Warnings: some alcohol consumption
Summary: During a bad snow storm Lily and James find themselves stranded in Hogsmeade. James takes this opportunity to make a last ditch effort to convince Lily to spend the holiday break with him.
Author's Note: Dialogue features lyrics or variation of the lyrics cause I wanted a bit of a challenge. There are some bits that just came out kind of silly but I had fun.


The sun had set hours ago and at the time, James and Lily had believed that they would be able to make the trip back to Hogwarts with no trouble. They had walked the path several hundred times since their third year and knew it well, even in the dark. Those assured thoughts vanished however when the storm began.

The change in the weather had been so small and subtle at first with the start of a light snow fall. Snow wasn’t unusual for this time of year and it had been pushed into the back of their minds as the two continued with their date and intimate conversation. Only when they had heard the wind as it picked up and began to howl did they realize that the light snow fall had escalated into a full blown snow storm with wind that blew so hard that it looked as though the snow were falling horizontally. Visibility was cut down substantially and the thought of having to walk blind through what looked to be the makings of a blizzard didn’t appeal to either of them.

Not that James looked much put off at the idea of having to stay in Hogsmeade a bit longer till the storm passed. And as Lily sat by the window, alternating between watching the snow as it continued to fall at a seemingly ceaseless rate and turning her head to watch James as he leaned back in his chair she couldn’t help but wonder if he didn’t have any worries They were well past due when they should have returned to Hogwarts. They had duties as head boy and girl to finish up before break and Lily hadn’t even finished with packing yet! Not that it would take her very long but she didn’t like to be rushed.

“I really can’t stay.” Lily said suddenly, standing up from her chair and walking over to grab her cloak, knitted hat and scarf from one of a cluster of pegs that were on the wall by the entrance to the pub and began to put the articles on.

Letting the chair he had been leaning back in drop to its normal position, James stood up, glancing briefly out the window and seeing nothing but swirling haze of white. “Lily, it’s cold outside.”

She paid little attention to his reasoning as she wrapped the scarf around her neck and placed the knitted hat atop her red tresses. “I have to go away.”

“Baby, it’s cold outside,” he repeated with greater insistence moving over to where she stood by the front door. If he had to, he would physically hold her back.

Stopping then, Lily looked over to him, slightly annoyed but that they were on a date before the storm had started. The mood was effectively killed with her insistence that they had to go. She gave him a fond but slightly sad smile. They had, had a fun evening together and it was a perfect way to end the first term. Come tomorrow morning she would be going to spend the holiday with her family and he with his, it seemed appropriate for them to see each other one last night before taking the train back to London tomorrow and parting ways till January.

“This evening has been so very nice, James” she said with a fondness that matched her smile. She really had enjoyed the little Tavern that was off the beaten path of the ones that the students usually went to. It was interesting if not a little odd but there was a charm underneath all that; now that she thought about it that sort of was James Potter in a nutshell.

He took her smile as a sign that she was in a good mood-aside from the fact that they were trapped. He really liked it when she smiled. Her whole being seemed to glow. It was a very different contrast from their earlier interactions; though both emotional states seemed to hold an equal amount of fire and her passionate personality. “I’ll hold your hands,” he said reaching down and gently gripping her pale hand in his larger one. He gave a mock cringe at the touch and shivered then said in a teasing tone, “They’re just like ice.”

She laughed and pulled her hand from his, giving him a push before moving around him and returning to the window to look out at the storm, hoping to see any indication that it was passing.

Letting his hands drop, James blew out a breath as he walked up behind her. He had been trying to gain the courage to bring up the topic of her coming home with him for the holidays all night. To him the snow storm was a blessing. It was giving him time, one last opportunity to man up and convince her to spend this time with him. Yes, he could always tell Lily that he knew passages back to Hogwarts that would enable them to get around the storm but not before he achieved his goal.

“I’ve been hoping that you’d drop in while we are on break.” He finally managed to get out, “I think it would be fun. You can spend time with me and meet my parents, see what a full blown traditional magical Christmas is like and most importantly spend time with me. We have at least 2 years to make up for. Remember? When you considered me…what was that phrase you liked? Oh yes, Toe rag.”

Looking over her shoulder, Lily looked over her shoulder and smirked slightly. She didn’t say anything at first and looked as though she were considering his offer. It was a bit disheartening that she had to think about spending time with him but James forced himself to be patient for her answer. This was sudden and they had only just started dating. It wasn’t exactly proper to invite her to a family holiday so soon but they had known each other for years now. He trusted her and hoped that she trusted him.

“James…” she began but then turned to look back out the window again. “McGonagall will start to worry.”

James arched a brow at that reply. Was she really dodging having to answer him? That wasn’t like her. Generally Lily Evans was a very decided woman. Perhaps this was a sign that she really wasn’t certain? Perhaps she could be convinced that it would be a good time? This brought a renewed sense of hope and courage to James. He hadn’t been flat out turned down. He still had a shot.

Reaching out he placed his hands on her shoulder, gently pulling her away from the window and began to steer her towards a fireplace that was situated in the tavern with two arm chairs positioned in front of it. “Beautiful, what’s your hurry? The night is young.”

Lily seemed to relax some when he didn’t pressure her for an answer. She turned around to face him completely, “Alice and Mary will be pacing the floor. It’s not like me to be so late. Really, James, I have to scurry.”

“No, Beautiful, please don’t hurry,” he said holding up his hands as though the gesture alone could keep her from moving. “Just relax, we’re not very late, we’re 7th years and we’re head boy and girl. Don’t be afraid to take a little advantage of that position.” Again, he began to maneuver her to sit down in one of the chairs.

“Listen to the fireplace roar,” he said in an enticing tone.

Lily smiled and shook her head, perhaps she should just relax. The storm would pass eventually and surely the teachers would understand their position. Well, hopefully. She would hate to lose points for their house because of bad weather. “Well, maybe just a half-a-drink more but that’s it.” She said in a light tone.

“Brilliant!” he exclaimed in an excited tone. “Put some records on while I pour,” he added before going off to the bar.

“You mean while the bartender pours!” She called after him, leaning over the armrest of the chair.

Blowing out an exasperated breath she shifted to face the fire place again before standing up. Off in the corner was what looked like an old juke box. It seemed so out of place in a village like Hogsmeade but who was she to say what was ‘normal’. Her definition of normal had changed since she had first learned about magic being real. Clearly the proprietor of the tavern had a muggle item fetish though it had to be charmed as there was no cord plugged into the wall.

As her slender finger went through the selection that appeared to be a rather eclectic collection music by muggle and magical folk alike as well as many different genres, another thought popped into her mind. “I can’t imagine what our classmates will think…” she muttered to herself.

James returned just in time to hear her mutter. Honestly, he didn’t care what the others would think. He wasn’t going to do any bragging. He knew better then to insight Lily’s wrath by spreading rumors about her and him. He had just convinced her that he was mature enough to be worthy of her attention, he wasn’t going to risk it for bragging about something that didn’t happen. James didn’t even think that anyone that knew her would really believe anything he said. It had taken a while just to convince his friends that he indeed was dating her.

Giving her a slight nudge to grab her attention, he held out the drink he had gotten her before taking a sip of his own. After she took her drink from him, Lily turned her attention back to the juke box to keep going through the song selection.

James’ attention went to a nearby window to check on the condition of the storm. It still raged on. “It’s bad out there, no people, and no sleds to be had out there.” he commented softly in between sips from his drink.

Taking a sip of her drink, Lily coughed, caught off guard buy the intensity of it. Looking over her shoulder at him, she raised a brow, “Say, what’s in this drink?”

He looked down at her, a slight grin coming to his lips just before he winked at her.

“I’ll take your hat,” he said, reading up and taking the knitted garment from her head. Tossing it over to the arm chair, he next went for her scarf and unwrap it from around her neck. He pulled the scarf from her shoulder, causing the friction to charge her fine red hair with static. Setting her drink aside, Lily reached up to begin to smooth the hair down before James reached out and gripped her wrist. “Your hair looks swell,” he assured her.

“Swell?” she asked with a laugh then continued in a teasing tone, “Gee, golly, gosh, James.”

Tossing the scarf onto the chair with her hat, he let out a slight snort before his fingers moved to the clasp on her cloak to unbuckle it. “You need to work on the come backs, Evans.”

With the clasp now free, he let go of one end of the cloak and pulled the other hand to slip it off her back. “Much better.” He said with a grin as he looked down at her in her slightly disheveled state. He really did think she looked pretty like this with her red hair framing her face, her intelligent green eyes made only more vibrant against the red. “You know, with the light from this machine reflecting in your eyes they are like starlight now.”

She gave him an amused smirk, “You need to work on your pick up lines, Potter.”

Turning back to the juke box, Lily pressed a combination of numbers for her final selection and the music began to play in the next moment. It was a muggle song that James was unfamiliar with but had a nice mellow beat to it; Perfect for some slow dancing. “Mind if I move a bit closer?” He asked, taking her hand and wrapping his other arm around her waist to pull her close to him.

Lily tried to suppress the smile that threatened to cross her lips as he pulled her close. Warmth filled her suddenly.

“I ought to say no, no, no, sir,” she said in a mock coy tone, it was uncanny how she could talk like that and he totally believed it. Luckily for him, he knew that she was a crafty actress when she wanted to be. It was especially telling when she pressed her body close to his and brought her free hand up and placed it on his shoulder. “I wish I knew how to break this spell. Well, at least I’m gonna say that I tried.”

“What’s the sense of hurting my pride?” he asked, hardly serious as he let go of her hand to hold his to his chest for a moment to express the ‘pain’ he felt. Taking her hand again, he leaned his forehead against hers as they began to sway to the music. “Baby, don’t hold out. It’s—“

“—cold outside.” Lily interjected at the last moment so they spoke in unison. “I know, James. You’ve said that about 10 times so far.”

Lily closed her eyes for a moment, allowing herself to just enjoy being in this little tavern and dancing close to him to the music playing from the juke box. If anyone had told her two years that she would be in this position with James Potter, she would have pointed and laughed at that person or maybe accused them of being sent by James who had been so persistent. Of course that persistence had paid off for him hadn’t it?

Pulling back she looked up at him, “This is nice but we simply must go.” She said softly before she pulled away only to have him grip her wrist and stop her.

“Baby, it’s cold outside! Ooooh, cold outside” He exclaimed before pulling her back and giving a mock shiver. He knew he was being silly; anything to make her relax and forget about her responsibilities for a moment. “Besides you haven’t given me an answer to my offer.”

“That answer is no.” Lily replied immediately. She didn’t want to sound harsh but he wasn’t giving her much time to think about it. It was a big choice. A step forward for them and seemed too soon but maybe it wasn’t. With everything that she had on her mind, thinking about this huge choice as well felt overburdening. Taking a deep breath she looked up at him. “Just…give me till morning? This is all very abrupt and I’ll have to send word to my parents on the way to London so they know. They are expecting me and I can’t just run off with you without telling them.”

For a moment he felt his heart sink at her initial answer but he wasn’t going to give up yet. After all, she seemed to ebb back from the stern no and was willing to think about it more. He realized he was making it hard on her by asking this late, if he achieved this, he wouldn’t delay any other requests of her. “Okay, if not the whole break, then a part of it; at least a day? I’ll be satisfied if you just drop in.”

She offered him a small smile at his compromise. “The fact I’m so welcome feels nice and warm. But you have to realize that if I split up my time between you and them, my muggle sister will be suspicious and when I come back, I’m sure she’ll be waiting at the door. Not to mention our maiden aunt will also be spending the time with us and her mind is vicious…”

Lily drifted off as she realized that James seemed to have lost interest in the conversation though as his eyes fixated on her lips, “Man, your lips look delicious. Like waves upon the tropical shore.”

“James!” She said with a laugh, “You’re not even paying attention to what I’m saying.”

“I’m sorry! It’s just…Gosh, your lips look delicious.”

Lily looked at him, not sure at all how to process what he had said. It was flattering but she had always thought James had more of an attention span. Perhaps it was the situation they were in. They were trapped in a Tavern with soft music playing and dancing close. She could get swept up in it as well if she let herself.

“Maybe another half-drink more.” She said slowly before pulling back from him and reaching over to where she had placed down her drink. Though despite stating that she wanted another drink and to continue the night, she looked at her watch again and frowned. “We’ve got to go back.”

James took a deep breath, trying to suppress the urge to roll his eyes or shake her. Why couldn’t she just enjoy the time that they were having together? “Lily, I’ve never seen such a blizzard before. Oh, baby, you’ll freeze out there. Look, it’s up to your knees out there.” He pointed out the window to add emphasis to his words.

“If you’re so worried about the weather, lend me your cloak.” Lily challenged as she began to gather up her own cloak, scarf and hat. She wrapped the Scarf around her neck before turning back to him. “Really, James you’ve been grand. But don’t you see? There’s bound to be talk about this tomorrow. At least there will be plenty implied. I really can’t stay.”

As she turned walk towards the front door of the Tavern, James called out to her. “How can you do this to me? It would make my life sorrow. What if you got pneumonia and died? Get over that hold out, Lily.”

Lily stopped and turned back to him, giving him a look of disbelief at his exaggerated statement. “I’m a healthy young woman, James. I’ll chance it. Besides, I have so much to live for,” she said as she put her cloak on and placed the hat atop her head. A cheeky smirk played across her lips. “I get to go to the wonderful Potter estate and see a real traditional magical Christmas.”

His mood perking up, he crossed over to her and grabbed his cloak off its peg. “If I can’t stop you then fine. That’s good motivation to get you through the storm but may I suggest an alternative?”

She looked at him curiously and was almost afraid to ask knowing the reputation that he and the other marauders had. There was no telling what their alternatives were. He grinned at her confused look. He always got a certain thrill when he knew that he got one over her. “I happen to know an underground passage that goes from Honeydukes, to Hogwarts.”

Lily looked stunned for a moment as her mind processed what he was saying. When she opened her mouth to speak James quickly held up his hands in surrender. “If you want to get out of here and back to Hogwarts, we should just leave now.”

“Fine, but you have a great deal to explain, James,” she said, her tone sounded a bit cross.

After putting on his cloak, James walked around Lily to open the door for her. Hopefully the conversation they were bound to have wouldn’t end with her changing her mind about the holiday break and visiting him.

When the door was open a blast of cold air wafted into the Tavern. “It is cold outside.” He commented before reaching out and taking her hand to lead her through the storm towards Honeydukes.