This is just a short story about Lily and James inspired by the song 'Someday Soon' by Francesca Battistelli. You don't have to hear it, I just wanted to give credit where credit is due.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Harry Potter and I don't own the song Someday Soon I'm just the one who combined them together into a cute little story.
Lily glanced down the table; James was laughing with his friends about something. She inwardly sighed. What was he laughing about? She wanted to go down and ask, but that would seem rude, and Lily Evans wasn't rude. Besides, she didn't want it to seem like she was interested in everything James did, although she was. That boy was one big mystery to her and she was determined to figure him out.
She shook her head and tried to focus on food. What was happening to her? A year ago she would have done anything to act like James Potter didn't exist, but now... Something had happened to James over the year that made Lily's feelings about him change. He was far more responsible (Lily couldn't deny how proud she was that he was Head Boy), and he didn't seem quite so full of himself. Another big change was that he didn't ask her out anymore, he didn't even seem to want anything more than her friendship. Lily would tell her friends that she was very glad about this new development, but deep down she was hurt that she wasn't the center of his attention any more.
Yesterday, James had been sitting in the Gryffindor common room reading a Quidditch magazine. Lily had sat on the other side of the room pretending to work on a Potions essay, when really she was staring intently at James. She was trying to make up some head duty so she could go over and talk to him, but was beaten by a sixth year named Maggie Onan. Maggie had kept her eyes on James since the beginning of the year, and she had managed to get close to being his girlfriend without actually being his girlfriend. They sat next to each other at meals, they talked during free time, she cheered for him at every Quidditch game. Right now they were pouring over his magazine together, laughing. Maggie ran her fingers through his jet black hair, not knowing how close she was to getting hit in the head with Lily's Potion book.
There was only one reason that Maggie was still unharmed, and that was the fact that James hadn't once asked her out. James hadn't asked anyone out this year, and Lily held onto the thought that she was still his number one choice. She wasn't sure of his feelings any more, but as long as he didn't have feelings for other girls then she could be somewhat happy.
Lunch ended and Lily got up, not caring that she had barely eaten. She walked to her class. Boys passed her in the hallways, throwing her smiles, trying to get her attention. If she noticed, Lily didn't care. She wasn't going spend her time on useless relationships. She had waited for James for months and she wasn't going to give up waiting now.
History of Magic was boring and Lily didn't even try to listen or take notes. Instead she sat and daydreamed about a certain Quidditch player.
Lily knew she wasn't in love with James, but she did know that her feelings for the boy were strong. She could perfectly see them walking through the hallways at night on patrol. They would be holding hands and talking about what they wanted to do on the weekend. She could picture them sitting outside on a beautiful day with the blue sky overhead and just talking. She would tell him everything about herself, giving him every little piece of her heart. Classmates would be talking about their story for years to come.
The day passed slowly. Lily only had one thing to look forward to, and that was evening patrol. It was the only time she got to be with James and only James. If it was up to her they would be together all the time. At night, they could go up to the astronomy tower and watch the stars, just being together without the necessity of words. Or during the holidays James could come visit at her house, and she could introduce him to the Muggle world. They could wash her father's car and end up in a water fight. They could go for walks around the neighborhood and she could point out uses for various objects around town. They could go to the store and she could show him how Muggles shop and what they buy. Lily knew James would find it all interesting.
Even though Lily knew she wasn't in love with James, she could picture them getting married. Lily Potter. It has such a nice ring to it. Her notebook was full of scribbles about being Mrs. Potter, of course she only wrote in invisible ink. It wouldn't do if the whole school thought Lily was planning on changing her last name to something that sounded an awful lot like James's last name.
To Lily Evans, nothing could seem better than falling in love with James Potter. He made her happier than anyone else in the world, but he could also make her angry or cry. Yet, whenever he hurt her, he regretted it and tried everything he could to make her smile again. No one understood Lily like James did, and that's why Lily knew that loving James was the best thing she could do. He'd make her feel safe when her hand was in his. He'd ask her what she thought he should do in order to make both his and her dreams come true. Her heart would be his, and he'd treasure it more than anything else, because she was all that mattered to him. Yes, Lily knew that she would someday fall in love with James, but she didn't know when.
Night finally came, and Lily waited outside the Charms room for James. She was early and she hoped he would be too. They never left patrol duty until the last second, and the early they started the longer they could be together. While doing head duties, James wasn't just one of the Marauders, or the captain of the Quidditch team, or object of Maggie's (and many other Hogwarts girls') affection; he was just James.
Lily was staring out one of the windows and was caught up in her own thoughts. She didn't notice James walk up to her, didn't see him stand behind her for a minute so he could watch her, didn't notice the way he looked at her. If only she knew that he was twenty minutes early for the same reason she was, to be together longer.
"Thinking about me?" James finally said to her and she jumped slightly. Last year, a comment like that would have made her think he was far too arrogant. Now, she just saw it as friendly banter.
"No." She said in half-angry voice. She, of course, had been thinking about James. She had been thinking about the day when she really knew she was in love with him. The day would be perfect, the sun would be shining, the birds would be singing. Lily would look right at James and utter those three precious words 'I love you' and her head would be filled with the sounds of angels singing. Lily was meant to say those words to James. But she wasn't going to tell him that, certainly not now. "I was thinking about the Hogsmeade trip this weekend."
He nodded and started walking down the hall, and she ran to be next to him. "Sirius and I were talking about that too. We need to stock up on some supplies at Zonko's."
"Why don't you ask Maggie to go with you?" Lily blurted out, and wished she hadn't. Lily didn't want to know how James felt about Maggie.
"Maggie?"
It was too late to take back her words, so Lily had to continue. "You know, sixth year, Gryffindor, really pretty, is always at your side. I'm pretty sure she wants you to ask her out."
James smiled. "I know who she is, but what makes you think that I want to ask her out."
"If you don't want to go out with her then you really shouldn't lead her on." Lily refused to look at James. She was sure her eyes would tell James just how jealous she was.
"Lead her on? I'm not leading her on. Maggie knows I'm not going to go out with her, and she choose to fight a lost battle. I'm always telling her that she'll ever only be my friend."
"What?" Lily stopped for a fraction of a second but tried to not look to phased. "Why?"
Now it was James's turn to stop, and he grabbed her arm and pulled her in front of him. "Lily Evans, where have you been for the last six years? There has always only been one girl for me and Maggie could never change that. Nothing could."
Lily's face turned bright red. Having James reaffirming his feeling for her was something she'd been wanting for months, and she had pictured all the ways she would show him she liked him back. Now that he had actually done it though, all she could do was look at the floor. She didn't know what to say or how to respond.
"I still think you should take Maggie's feelings into consideration." She muttered. Her head was screaming about her stupidity.
James laughed, and Lily felt that the whole night wasn't quite as bad as she thought it was. "There's only one way Maggie will ever give up, and that's if you went to Hogsmeade with me."
He wasn't really asking her out, and maybe that's what gave Lily her confidence back. "Well if it will help Maggie then I suppose I have no choice." She winked and started walking again, leaving a dumbfounded James behind her.
It took him a moment to catch up to her. "Hold on, did you really mean that?"
Lily thought James looked adorable when he was surprised. It was true that Lily wasn't in love with James, but she had a feeling she would be someday. And that someday was very soon.