I hate James Potter.

Well, really, I do. Especially when I walk into the common room between classes to pick up some books and I find him snogging the life out of some girl, assumedly his new girlfriend in the middle of the girl's dormitory stairwell.

I coughed. James didn't even look up. Could he have found a more inconvenient place? At that moment, the girl beneath James apparently decided she needed to breath. They both pulled away, panting. Gross.

I stared at James, one eyebrow raised and my free hand on my hip.

"Lily! Hi!" He rolled onto his back and propped himself up on the stairs with his elbows. "To what do I owe this pleasure?"

"You're in my stairwell, Potter. Move, or I'll make you." I brandished my wand threateningly.

"Jeez, so hostile. Fine." James made a halfhearted attempt to move one of his legs over a tad. I was going to be completely late to Transfiguration. That's probably why James was here; he had professor McGonagall in his pocket. No need to come to class when you have the highest grade and the praise of the teacher.

I walked up the last few steps to where James and the girl (whom I finally recognized as a Ravenclaw from Herbology. She wasn't even in our house.) and kicked his shin. Hard. He grimaced in pain, holding his injured leg and curling up. I smirked and walked up the stairs to my dorm.

I had managed to find my books and ran downstairs through the portrait hole when the late bell rang, loud and piercing in the vast emptiness of the corridors. I cringed. Not only was I late, but late to my worst class. Today was going to be a long day.

Panting, I opened to door to Transfiguration a little less than 5 minutes after the bell rang. McGonagall's voice rang in my ears as I made my way to my seat, my face turning all shades of crimson.

"Ms. Evans, I do not appreciate tardiness. I expect punctuality from all my students. 5 points from Gryffindor." The professor continued on with her lesson, leaving me to wallow in my embarrassment and self pity. Why was I so easy to embarrass, anyways? I cringed at the thought of attention.

The Ravenclaw girl from Herbology was apparently in Transfiguration as well, and I wasn't surprised when I found her sitting with Potter. They were an item, then. Considering that every girl in the school, along with some of the boys, would beg to go out with him, I should have expected that. Leave it to James to fulfill the over clichéd fantasy of every Hogwarts student: snog your girlfriend senseless in the common room.

"Ms. Evans, perhaps tardiness can go unpunished, but if you continue to daydream in my class, I will be forced to take disciplinary action. Kindly wipe the smile of your face and pay attention."

I covered my mouth with both my hands and turned a similar color to the bright red textbook in front of me. I had been smiling? While thinking about Ja— Potter? I was not having a good day. Maybe I was catching a cold, or some sort of dangerous, life threatening terminal illness. That would explain it. I struggled to pay attention through the rest of Transfiguration, my thoughts slipping back to Potter and my smile.

In the corridor on my way from supper that night, Potter ran up behind me.

"Lily! Do you wanna—"I cut him off.

"No, for the 64th time this year, I don't want to go out with you."

"C'mon Lils! Please?" He came around my left side, forcing me against the corridor wall, his hands on either side of my head. I was forced to look up at him at this distance, his being so tall. (No, I'm not short. I'm "petite.")

"James, you have a girlfriend."

He looked at me strangely for a moment. "You called me… James?"

I gasped and realized I had. He was much too close; I couldn't think clearly. I could see every detail of his face, namely his deep, hazel eyes partially covered by his perfectly unruly black hair. He even smelled good. I shook my head to clear it. "Yes, that's your name, isn't it?"

He still looked at me that way. I pushed him away and dove out under his arm toward the common room.


A/N: I hate Jennifer, better known as Spearbunny. With that said, don't forget to R&R. I'm going on vacation for the next few days and then school starts, but I'll get an update out soon, hopefully before I leave tomorow morning. P