THE RUNNER LIKES HALLWAYS by Vadergirl90
Summary: Things get weird when James agrees to drop the bully act if he can get a quick snog from Lily. Soon people question their sexuality, dance on tables, actually study for tests, clean bedpans, destroy Quidditch equipment, and something far worse: fall in love. James/Lily.
Disclaimer: Oh yes, I sold all my rights to JKR years ago, so everything belongs to her now.
Author's Note: Maybe you won't read this, but I'll just say that, in this fanfic, you can review the story and give me some of your ideas, and I will try to put them in here. How's that? Good?
Chapter 1: SNAPE HUNTING
Three Hogwarts students sat in detention on Saturday – one writing a love note, one plotting murder, and one staring at a textbook.
The first had his face almost hidden from view by long black locks thrown here and there (probably from rubbing his head in frustration). "Prongs-ee?" the boy emitted into the silence of the classroom.
He was answered by another student at the opposite end of the room, a boy with very messy hair and glasses. "Yes-ee?"
"What's a good way to tell her she looked hot the other day without her slapping me next time I see her?" The first boy threw back his head as if addressing the ceiling rather than his friend. Sirius always wanted to write nice letters to his new and most likely short-term girlfriends (apparently girls like to get notes, he discovered).
"Why don't you ask a girl instead of Potter? I don't see him charming any female soon," offered a girl in the corner. Her bright green eyes flashed dangerously.
The one in glasses sighed heavily and said, "Can't talk anyway, I'm envisioning Mrs. Norris's inevitable demise. And Evans, I don't think we asked for your input – and before you analyze what I just said under all that red hair, I'm not insulting you."
Lily Evans looked utterly miffed but stared holes into her textbook all the same. "Getting ahead of the game now, Potter?"
James gave her a wide smile. "Only trying to keep up with you."
Sirius coughed loudly. "Okay, well, help would be appreciated," he said, directing his voice toward Lily. It seemed to be the last thing he wanted, but she had a point. Really, Sirius was pretty good at expressing himself; he'd just gotten so used to using the limited expressions "she's pretty hot" and "kinda twirls my beanie." Girls always wanted more details and all that romantic stuff.
"Tell her she looked really beautiful. Girls like that," she added in conclusion. Lily couldn't help but half-glance at James out of the corner of her eye when saying that, and saw him bang his head on his desk three times. "What?" she practically yelled.
Sirius began scribbling away again and James turned to face Lily. "Next you're gonna tell him to compare her to the sun or rainbows or goddesses or something."
"No, I'm not. I just think 'beautiful' is a very nice way to flatter a girl, that's all." She crossed her arms and closed her eyes in a dismissive manner.
"Well, how would you feel if I said you were beautiful?" James said, and she opened her eyes somewhat reluctantly. She noticed he had leaned forward in his chair slightly and was looking right at her as if trying to prove a point.
"I wouldn't care, because you're so self-assured you think it'd flatter me."
"Evans, you just said it would," he replied, his voice thick as honey.
Arguing is a great means of distraction, so she continued. "No, I didn't. I merely said –"
"Aren't you a girl?" He leaned back again in his chair by this time and had crossed his arms as well.
"Yeah, Potter, I think we've established that much, but I'm not the kind who would go for Black over there – no offense," she added in case Sirius was listening.
There came a snort and then a "None taken."
James still had his eyes fixed on her. She always looked best when she was all fired up, but she wasn't really angry yet. He could always change that. Besides, she probably got uncomfortable when he stared at her. Though, admittedly, sometimes she would stare right back and it'd scare the hell out of him; he'd end up looking into her almond-shaped eyes and have to force himself not to try and kiss that stubborn frown off her. She needs to be kissed, and often, he had convinced himself. "So what could flatter you, anyway?" he asked, feeling even more confident at the slight shade of red her cheeks turned to (she'd never let herself appear affected if she could help it).
"That's none of your business, Potter, so stop it." Of course, that was the usual response she gave him when he began to "probe."
James took the argument and oozed in some of his well-known charm. "I beg to differ. I mean, I'd like to call you names – flattering names. You just don't let me."
I hate him, she thought, I hate him, I hate –
"And Evans," he continued oh-so-delicately, "I'm not so bad with the female population. You just think I'm an arrogant, pigheaded bastard." He added a sardonic grin to top everything off.
"You haven't proven me wrong," she said, knowing another win was coming her way.
"And you haven't given me the chance to. Just go out with me, Evans. You know you want to."
She could usually stick up so well for herself, but she was very tired of throwing one very true insult after the other – and he never would quit. Never. "No, I don't. As I've said before," Lily said, gathering all her thunder, "I would rather go out with the – "
"Giant squid?" he interrupted. "Or the Whomping Willow? Or maybe even the bag of pus I threw at ol' Snivelly the other day? Make up your mind, Evans, or it sounds like you're gonna have a gang bang with all your would-be boyfriends."
"Prongs," said Sirius, making James look towards him. "C'mon, mate. Leave her alone for a bit."
Lily leaned forward both suddenly and violently. "I hate you! You think you're so great. It makes me SICK."
"I can't stop. I'm a man out of control." He placed a hand over his heart seriously but let out a laugh anyway.
"And what makes you think I'd EVER want to go out with someone like you?"
James smiled. "That's easy. You're attracted to rebels, but also men of authority. And me, being Head Boy and all – "
"Prongs," Sirius began.
"Why'd I even come in here?" Lily asked herself aloud. "Oh right. I came in here to copy notes for Professor Flitwick." She shoved her things in her bag and stood up to leave. "And I just finished."
"But Evans, why did you miss class?" James asked, stalling her exit.
"Again, Potter, that is none of your business."
"I'd like to make it my business." And he smiled brightly at her. The smile that stopped the hearts of millions, she sarcastically thought to herself as she slammed the door behind her.
James shifted in his seat to face Sirius, who hadn't even bothered to look up. "Did you see the way she looked at me?"
Sirius stopped his writing and turned to look back at James. "Oh, like she was gonna make you burst into flames with her eyes?"
"Of course. Nothing says 'I love you' like reducing someone to a smoldering pile of ashes!"
------
Three hours later, Lily had left the castle and began to stroll about the Hogwarts grounds. A lot of people were outside; it was a sunny day, with little to no clouds and a faint, caressing breeze. The temperature was near perfect – not cool, but not hot. Warm, but not humid. The air felt clean and fresh.
Somehow, though, Lily had a feeling things might heat up soon.
She quickly scanned the area for any sign of Potter and his gang (they were the first she tried to avoid running into) but could find none. A group of her friends were gathered close to the lake, some even wading in the water. They had tried to get her to come out with them and she stuck to her same old excuse: "I really need to catch up."
They would whine, "But you don't need to! You're brilliant." And then she would look at them with her really-girls-I-need-to-be-alone face. Sometimes it would work and sometimes they would drag her with them anyway, claiming she desperately needed a break. With her friends, there was nothing complicated at all; they were there when she needed them to be, but usually knew when to back off. They enjoyed being simple so much that you could address them all in one breath: "Sara-Jackie-Jessica-Mallory-Mandy-Cammie-Carol."
After all the trouble she went through to be alone, Lily couldn't deny the need to be outside on a beautiful day. Ergo, ten minutes later she grabbed a book and blanket and snuck outside as well.
She saw them splashing around a bit, kicking at the water and squealing. They were having fun, and she decided not to join them after all. Instead, she found an area semi-hidden by a bush, with soft grass and a view of the lake. Even semi-hidden, she had to keep an eye out for The Horror.
------
The Horror stood next to Sirius with a wild expression on his face. "Well, guess what I'm thinking?"
Remus and Peter exchanged uneasy looks, but Sirius appeared almost thoughtful. "Girls, mud, the lake, perhaps even food."
James crossed his arms and shook his head violently, perhaps just to mess up his hair some more. "I'm in a more, oh, whimsical sort of mood, mate," he said, and Sirius just stared.
Peter piped up, wanting to put in his say. "The potions test?"
"Do you really think I'm that dense, Wormtail?" James said, his eyes narrowing. Peter looked a little stunned, not knowing what he did wrong. Sirius, who knew James best of all, simply shook his head.
"He's already done enough thinking about that. Actually studied. That's why we came out here, remember? To get him away from it all?"
Peter shuffled his feet a bit. "Yeah, I know, but I couldn't help saying it. You're always staring at Ev–"
"Merlin, Wormtail, will you shut up?!" James yelled suddenly. "Can we get back to what I'm actually thinking?"
Peter reddened, but added, "I think anything related to Evans is a good guess."
"Prongs," Remus began, "Please don't tell me your thoughts involve a greasy-haired, long-nosed –"
James had already whipped out his wand and Remus silenced himself. "Of course they do, Moony. His trick with Filch was low, and it got me and Padfoot in detention. He deserves whatever he gets." He looked first in all directions for Lily, making sure she wasn't watching him. Oh, she'd find out, but at least she wouldn't make a scene today. Ruffling his hair just by habit, he strode towards a spot nearly always taken up by Snape.
It was under a dead tree, gloomy, depressing, quiet – and yet, surprisingly, Snape-less. James couldn't help but clench his fists.
"Must be inside," Remus said. "If he's not here, he's not outside."
Just then, he caught a glimpe of a dark-haired person hiding behind another tree. "Bugger," he said aloud, and he sent a red spark towards the tree immediately. Whoever was behind it hadn't moved. He's actually hiding from me, James thought to himself. Sirius, Remus, and Peter were staring at him as though he were mad, but quickly caught on.
"Snivelly!" James yelled with relish. "I'm going to hunt you down, you stupid bastard. Fight back."
Remus rolled his eyes and walked over to another tree, leaning against its trunk. Peter and Sirius stood silently behind James, the latter with his own wand already drawn.
------
It's just like Potter to interrupt my solitude, thought Lily. She got herself up, stretched, and brought out her wand with lightning speed. By the way it sounded, Snape was avoiding Potter-and-friends and not succeeding (something familiar to her own situation). Snape was a bit of a jerk but she defended him anyway, even after saying she wouldn't. It wasn't fair how Potter would attack him, humiliate him, hurt him – not always by himself, but with the help of friends. Even worse, he usually had it to where a crowd surrounded them, anxious for entertainment.
And of course, Potter would deliver.
Striding into what was normally Snape Zone, she spotted a torn, black robe attached to a limb of the tree Potter was shooting at. Where was Snape? She looked around for a second before it hit her – both the fact that they thought the robe was Snape, and the curse Potter had flung at the tree.
------
He caught a flash of red hair and felt his stomach drop. Lily was over there. Suddenly shifting his weight to his right leg, he hoped he appeared confident and charming, but –
Holy shit! I hit Lily! I HIT LILY!
Strangely, he stood rooted to the ground for a second and vaguely sensed three forms running past him towards the tree. "Prongs! PRONGS!" All three of his friends were yelling at him, and he felt very, very sick. Running over to her limp body, his gaze locked onto her face. She was unconscious.
"What did I do?" he said to himself.
"It seems you hit her with two different spells. Just one that knocked her out and sliced up her clothes a bit." Remus was studying her face, Peter was looking around for anyone who might've seen, but Sirius had a strange look on his face.
"Good thing I didn't hit her with anything I'd normally throw at Snape," James said, relaxing a little. SNAPE. He whirled around at the tree and saw just a tattered robe stuck to it. Smacking himself violently across his forehead, he looked back down at Lily, then at Sirius.
Sirius was checking her out, and James could see why. Her shirt looked as though someone had ripped it apart in five different places, but her skirt was only torn at the side. Easily mended, but she did look nice in her bra.
"I like red," Sirius said absentmindedly.
Lily moved suddenly and all four boys jumped back. "Lily?" Remus said softly, waving his hand a little in front of her face. Like something out of his worst nightmares, she reached out and clasped her hand over Remus's wrist so tightly that her knuckles went white, and she sat up in an almost robotic fashion.
As it turned out, this was the beginning of her rage. Sitting up so fast made her clutch her head, but she still held on to his wrist and Remus looked ready to scream. "POTTER!" she yelled with a very murderous passion.
"No, no, I'm Remus. I didn't hit you," he said, trying to pull himself from her grip. She let go and stood up slowly.
Even with her torn clothing (which she hadn't yet noticed), they all looked at her red face – then looked at James, who was backing away with caution. "I would like to speak to you, Potter. Now. Privately." It was obvious she was speaking through clenched teeth.
Sirius, Remus, and Peter ran off with amazing speed and James was left looking at their retreating figures with resentment. Dragging his gaze almost reluctantly back to Lily, he felt a sense of shock he'd never felt before. Man, she was pissed. Furious. He had never seen her this angry, and he had seen her on her worst days. Still, she looked amazing.
Especially in that red bra.
"POTTER." As she said it, he felt a chill go down his spine. Be cool, be suave, be charming, just agree with whatever she says, he thought desperately to himself. Normally, he'd take advantage of a moment alone with Lily, but this time he was expecting both her rejection and her wrath.
------
Struggling to find the right words while trying to balance herself (she felt so dizzy – was it the spells or the anger?), she simply looked at him. He was obviously trying to look unaffected, but he seemed genuinely scared of her. She softened a bit, though not completely voluntarily. "Look, Potter. We need to come to some sort of an agreement, because this is CLEARLY not working."
He racked his brain for whatever he would normally say, had she been standing in front of him with a complete shirt on. "Okay. Go out with me, Evans." Then, he flinched, expecting some sort of angry outburst.
"NO. I will not. Never. Do you understand that? N-E-V-E-R." As he thought, she was yelling. What is it with girls and…yelling?
James decided to sit down, clearly of the opinion that this would take a long time to work through. Being a gentleman and all, he decided to tell her. "By the way, your clothes are ripped."
She looked down quickly and covered herself, feeling the heat rush up to her cheeks. With a small voice, she said, "Could you please hand me my wand?" Without a word, he went over and picked it up for her. "Thank you." Lily muttered under her breath and her clothes were mended.
"And thank you for telling me. I hate the thought of me storming back into the castle with torn clothes. Doesn't exactly look good for a Head Girl, huh?"
James felt the corner of his mouth curl in spite of himself. "Actually, Evans, I thought it looked really, really good." He was awarded with an even deeper blush and Lily looked down at the ground.
"Potter," she said, her voice a little louder now, "I know you and Snape have always fought each other, but don't you think it's time to grow up? I mean, if you really want to be the better person, you can just leave him alone."
"And what?" James said, sounding a little angry. "Let him attack me first?"
"No! I just mean if you still had to do it in self-defense, that would be okay. But you go looking for him and usually make matters worse by targeting him in front of a crowd. These people, Potter, look to you for guidance. You are Head Boy and a majority of the population seems to like you – for whatever reason." She was fired up at this point, with her eyebrows furrowed and her face still red.
"Evans, Snape deserves what he gets. You don't know half of the things he's done."
"Even so, you should lay off. I am asking you to, for perhaps the thousandth time."
James looked up at her and realized she looked tired. "If I said I would and tried, I'd fail. That's just how it is, really. There's no point of even giving it a shot. Can't you see that?"
Lily looked right back at him and narrowed her eyes. "Well, what would you have me do?! I cannot stand there and watch you do this! Not just to Snape, but to anyone else who seems to rub you the wrong way! You go after everyone, and it doesn't help any! You even got me today, and that was because you were careless, and – of course – wanting revenge instead of taking it like a man!"
"That was an accident. I don't go after everybody. You're being completely irrational."
"I'M BEING IRRATIONAL! ME!" Lily was yelling loudly now, and James looked over his shoulder to check if anyone was coming their way.
"Listen, Evans," James started, "I've talked to you about this before. I always said that if you went out with me, I'd leave him alone."
"NEVER. That will always be my reply." She crossed her arms and was breathing hard, trying to calm her anger.
"Yes, see, I anticipated that. So here is my new and improved offer: I'll leave Snape alone if you snog me. Just one quick little snog." James looked almost proud of himself and was watching her intently for a reaction.
She seemed to be considering it! After another second came the response: "No. I couldn't do that."
But James had taken a few steps closer. "Yes, yes you could. It would be easy."
Lily, always defiant, shook her head. "I would rather die." But he was even closer still.
"No you wouldn't. Just think of the good it would do: I'd leave Snivelly alone, you'd get your peace, and the world will be a better place!" Inwardly, he was laughing – but at the same time he was petrified. He was only a few feet away and he finally realized she might let it happen. He'd finally found a way to get through her disliking him to find a happy medium. But where, he wondered, would this lead?
In her mind, the world was coming to an end. She was screaming at herself, trying to do anything to tell him no, NO! But his argument was very convincing, and even she couldn't deny that. His voice was an intoxicating perfume, finding ways through the wall she'd made between them. It found a weak spot she didn't know existed and captivated her soul, filling her and draining her at the same time. The thought of kissing him (which she had never once thought about) brought about some sort of invisible force – perhaps a drum – and it was beating, beating, beating. The sweet, steady rhythm drowned out any true resistance and she sensed him drawing ever nearer.
It seemed James knew the exact moment of her decision. Chills went up and down his spine – this was it, this was the moment. He had been waiting for this for a long time, but would he be disappointed when it all ended? He would have nothing more to strive for with her, for she would never go out with him or allow him any closer.
"Potter," she said, trying to sound strong before her voice could betray her, "If we do this, you have to give me some space, too. No more coming up to me and such. And you cannot tell a single soul, not for as long as you live, or I will kill you myself. Is that clear?" She felt foolish. It's not like we're having sex. It's just a kiss, so why am I making it such a big deal?
"Agreed." His voice was low and almost raspy. He was very close now, so close they were almost nose to nose. Lily wouldn't look at him, but he could not stop looking at her. As gently as he could, he cupped her chin in his hand to force her to look at him – and she did, but soon her face was raised and her gaze rested elsewhere.
"You promise you'll do all I asked?" she said, her voice soft. His hand left her face.
"I promise," he said in a whisper. They were so close, so close, and his mouth was but a few centimeters from hers. "Evans, you sure you won't go out with me?"
She could feel his breath on her lips and a shock seemed to shoot through her. Even his attempt at humor could not relax her, so she whispered her reply back, the only word that could leave her; and that, of course, was –
"Never." His lips were on hers, so soft, so light, but after only a moment he leaned in more and she clung to his shirt. He snaked his arms around her waist to draw her closer, as close as possible, and she angled her face to the right slightly to deepen the kiss. James took the opportunity and molded his mouth over hers, again and again. She was going to fall, she was going to fall – but she was so close, so delicately close to him and he felt near madness. After she felt more secure, she moved her hands up his shirt, her fingers making lazy circles on his back; he shuddered when he felt her threading them through his hair. Soon she was pressed against him and all thought was gone. He was everything: he was the moment, the day, her escape from reality and her ticket to somewhere strangely foreign but familiar and wonderful and frightening. A whimper came from the back of her throat and he moved his hands a little lower.
And she tore her lips off his suddenly and bolted out of sight.
James watched her go and hugged himself silently, missing her warmth. There was a feeling of electricity in the air that lingered after her, but soon it followed and he was left with nothing but his frenzied thoughts. He would be seeing her again soon, he knew.
He thought of Snape, and nodded. It was worth it.