Hiyaa theree! I was on my evening run the other night and was inspired! Sometimes, I refuse to believe that Lily Evans was so similar to Hermione, like a lot of fanfictions make her out to be. I really don't believe that Lily was all about books and studying. So then I thought, what if she was a runner? And then it all started making sense to me. This Muggle-born girl needed to have some sort of hobby before she discovered her magic. I thought running would be a perfect fit for Lily because it is something that you can always get better at, and although I don't believe that she was all about grades and studies, I do believe that she was a perfectionist. So this is my cute little story about Lily and how her escape from reality turns into her escape fom James Potter which turns into her escape with James Potter. Enjoy! This will be either two or three chapters!

DISCLAIMER: No, I don't own Harry Potter.

I slipped on my sneakers and laced them up, and then proceeded to glance at my watch. It was six o'clock on a Tuesday which meant that I had just finished dinner, a handful of Gryffindor students were at Quidditch Practice, and I had exactly three hours left until curfew. My long, red hair was carelessly curly and borderline untamable, so I decided to just throw it up in a high ponytail and away from my green eyes.

I stood up from my seat on the grass just outside of the Hogwarts Castle, and pressed a few buttons on my watch to start the stopwatch. From there, I took off on my daily run.

I decided to take the path along the tree line of the Forbidden Forest and then run the perimeter of the grounds. There was a light breeze, just enough to be a comfort. My slender legs relaxed into my usual pace and I was beginning to feel the exhilaration that running brought me. Strange, most people might find it, especially people of my sort. Witches and wizards obviously don't see the benefits of running when they are always sat upon their brooms, flying around like hooligans. Of course, I would never tell anyone where I actually went at six o'clock every night. My friends always assumed that I was at the library, getting some good quality quiet studying in. I laughed at the thought of that even slightly being true.

Before I knew I was a witch, I dreamed of going into the Olympics and participating in a running event, maybe the 5k. Whenever someone would ask me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I would just tell them that I wanted to be a gold medalist. They would always smile and compliment me for 'dreaming big.' Petunia would always time me as I ran around our neighborhood, and we would celebrate together once I would beat my previous time.

But that was before I met Severus and discovered that I was different. That was all before Petunia hated me for being what she couldn't be. That was all before everything became so complicated.

I wouldn't change being 'magical' for anything in the world, but that doesn't mean I don't love going back to my roots, where everything seemed so simple.

As I ran, I looked up at the sky. Tonight, it was a mixture or oranges and violets as the sun began to set. In the distance, I heard owls chirping away and the faint splashing from the Giant Squid in the Black Lake. I still couldn't grasp the concept of this being my last year hearing the familiar sounds of Hogwarts. I wasn't even sure about what my life after Hogwarts was going to be like. A few career paths interested me, but my uncertainty was too prominent at the moment to actually lock in a decision. I still had the rest of the year to think about it, since the school year only just started a month ago. I pushed these stressful thoughts from my head and focused on the present. Running had always brought out the meaningful thinking. It was something about the feel of the breeze running through my hair and the reminder of solitude that evoked those thoughts. I began humming to myself. My muscles were warmed up by now, and I lowered my arms to perfect my form. The tall grass rustled as my sneakers made contact with it. But then I soon realized that my feet weren't the only ones hitting the ground at this time.

"Evans? What the bloody Hell are you doing?" Of course, the last voice I wanted to hear, was speaking from somewhere behind me.

"Running," I replied, not bothering to look behind me. Don't encourage him, just give him one word answers, show your disinterest, and he'll leave you alone, I reminded myself of the strategy I had planned out so well for situations like these.

"I can see that," James Potter stated. I heard him jogging behind me to catch up with me. He was in his Quidditch robes and as always, his black hair was a complete, pathetic mess. I was beginning to think that he liked it that way, and was under the impression that that dreaded hairstyle looked good, because his hair was like that even when he didn't just come from Quidditch, "I mean why are you running?"

"Shouldn't you be at practice?" I hissed. I couldn't believe that my evening run was being spoiled by such a brainless git whose hair looks like it just faced a tornado slash hurricane slash tsunami, because he was also drenched in sweat.

"I decided to end practice early today. Everyone was complaining about how they needed to finish this Transfiguration paper due tomorrow. I can't believe them, Transfiguration Class is a breeze," Potter rolled his eyes. His flashy Captain badge caught my attention and I rolled my eyes at his arrogance. Transfiguration was not easy, "Dammit, Evans, will you stop running?"

"No, I will not stop! I have fifteen more minutes until I'm done with my forty-five minute run," I snapped.

"Which goes back to my question of, why are you running?" Potter raised his eyebrows.

"Because I enjoy running," I answered, getting quite annoyed.

"You're a weird one, you know that, Evans?" James shook his head.

"Stay out of it! How did you even know where you find me in the first place?"

"Because I'm a Marauder," James stated as if it were obvious, "I can find out what anyone is doing and where they are at any hour, moment, time of any day."

"I think the correct term you are looking for is stalker," I wearily pointed out.

"Ah, Evans, you're too funny, that's why I love you! Hey, since we're on the topic of love, want to go out tomorrow?" James questioned me excitedly. When was this torture going to end?

"You couldn't have picked a worse time to ask me that, so congratulations on that one. The answer however, is still no, and it will remain no for…well, for forever," I informed him. I tried to speed up my pace to get away from him but he just mirrored my acceleration and remained by my side.

"The best time to ask Evans out…is all the time," James dementedly sang.

"That was disturbing."

"I know, disturbingly good singing and devilishly good looks is a bit overwhelmingly charming," James pushed back his hair in a rather poor attempt to impress me.

"Are you aware that with every encounter I have with you, you manage to piss me off, or is that how you plan it?" I asked dryly.

"Oh, Evans, lighten up!" James laughed as if it were nothing, "It's all in good fun."

I glared at him, and decided to take back on the ignoring technique. I continued on with my run but to no surprise, he kept up with my pace. Checking my watch, I noted that I only needed to deal with him for approximately ten more minutes.

"Evans, how about we start over? I feel like we always get off on the wrong foot," It spoke again. I huffed, realizing I couldn't just decline that offer.

"Hi, I'm Lily Evans," I chose to humor him.

"I didn't mean literally," James chuckled, "Hey it looks like it's going to rain…"

As if right on cue, the angry clouds overhead made the decision to grace us with overwhelmingly cold rain water. I couldn't help but let out a small screech because of the sudden downpour.

"Nice call, Potter, you could be a meteorologist."

"What's that?" James glanced at me in confusion. His black hair was completely stuck to his head now, drenched from the rain. I assumed that my own hair was in a similar, horrid condition.

"Never mind," I quickly said, remembering that Potter was a pureblood so of course he didn't know any Muggle references. I knew for a fact that he didn't pay any attention in Muggle Studies, so I shouldn't have expected him to know any Muggle career paths.

"Are you still going to run in this rain?" He asked incredulously.

"I have five more minutes," I shrugged, not too bothered by the rain any more.

"Just enough time to race me back to the castle?" James grinned mischievously, "Ready, GO!"

"What?" I yelled in disbelief as James took off, full speed in the other direction. I realized that being alone was not in my best interest, since the sky was darkened by the storm, and even if I did have the misfortune of Potter being the only source of human life within a mile radius, I decided to run after him, "You forgot to say 'set'! You can't just say 'ready, go' without the set! I wasn't set!" I shouted as I chased after him.

Of course Potter beat me.

And I was pissed.

"Potter!" I roared, the sore loser I was. Strands of my red hair that had fallen out of my ponytail were sticking to my forehead, and I probably looked downright dreadful. He was standing triumphantly right outside the doors, his arms folded right over his chest, "That wasn't fair! You had a huge head start and I slipped and…"

"Whiners never prosper, Evans," James snickered.

"It's 'cheaters' never prosper! You would know because you are a cheater!" I emphasized. The sound of thunder booming from somewhere up in the clouds made me jump a bit, ruining my intimidating nature, and causing James to laugh even harder.

"Fine, Evans. Same time tomorrow! Starting right here, we'll race down to the Quidditch Pitch, across to Hagrid's Hut, all the way up alongside the tree line of the Forbidden Forest, and back towards the Black Lake. First person to make it to the Lake wins."

"Deal," I folded my arms across my chest, "But this time, no head starts."

"Fair enough, let's make it a little more interesting," James had that smirk on his face again and it was starting to scare me, "Let's make a bet out of it, shall we?"

"Alright," I agreed, a bit brazenly, "If I win you have to take a swim in the Black Lake."

"So basically you wish to watch me freeze to death, and then proceed to become a meal for the Giant Squid," James remarked, sounding a bit insulted by my side of the bet.

"Well don't lose and you won't have that problem," I challenged, my overconfidence getting the best of me. James seemed to have picked up on this and the playful smile on his face returned.

"Alright, deal," James nodded fairly, "But if I win…you have to kiss me."

My jaw dropped a bit stupidly, wishing I hadn't been so shameless beforehand to even get myself in this situation. I really needed to work on my weakness of being a bit too impulsive. But my pride got the best of me and I couldn't back out now. Besides, it's not like this was a bet on who could score the most goals in Quidditch. This was a bet on something I was passionate about: running.

Almost inaudibly, I gulped, desiring to swallow up the single word I was about to speak.

"Deal."

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