Disclaimer: I don't own anything to do with Harry Potter. Although, like many others, I do wish I owned James Potter …
A/N: So, I fail. School has been kicking my butt since semester started in September, and I have actually had zero free time. But there's no excuse for why I haven't uploaded this yet, which I wrote back in August. Here it is, sort of rough, still. It was inspired by a short-story my friend sent me of the same name. Enjoy!
James Potter loved to people-watch. He watched at every chance he got, whether it was at a charity event his parents threw, or simply a park he visited. He liked to observe the habits of all kinds of people, to examine their relationships, to decide whether or not they were more similar to him than different.
Therefore, it only made sense that James arrived early at King's Cross Station to do just this. He watched the students, young and old, mill around at the station, arriving in groups, pairs, or single students. He watched how their faces lit with smiles upon seeing old friends, chatting with their parents, or, like him, watching the joy of others.
The platform became more and more crowded as the time neared eleven o'clock. James' father helped him put his luggage in a compartment before going back outside to say goodbye to his mother.
"James!" his mother crooned. "My little baby –"
"Mum, I'm eleven years old," James interjected.
"That's right," Mrs. Potter corrected herself, patting James' cloak smooth. "My young man, going off to Hogwarts for the first time. Promise me you'll write us?"
"Of course!" James vowed, hugging his mother. "Every day."
"James, son," Mr. Potter began. "Have fun at school, don't break too many rules…" But the rest of what Mr. Potter had said was lost on James, for he had seen a flash of red behind his father's arm. It was then, having moved slightly to the left, that James first saw her. He didn't know her name, he couldn't hear her laughter over the other students', and, by the time he turned back to his parents, he couldn't even remember any specifics, like the colour of her eyes, or the shape of her nose.
"Mum! Dad!" he whispered excitedly. "Do you see that girl behind dad, talking to her parents?"
The Potters turned around subtly, as if they, too, were simply people-watching.
"You'll have to be more specific, dear," said Mrs. Potter. "There are many girls."
James turned around and looked again. "She's got brilliant red hair," he clarified.
"Oh, yes, I see her now. What a lovely shade."
"She is one hundred percent perfect for me. I'm going to marry her."
At that exact moment, as if she had heard what he said, the girl turned to face James. Her stunning green eyes fixed on his and, noticing his admiring gaze, her cheeks flooded with pink.
She turned back to her parents, but her eyes often flickered back to James.
"You're going to marry her?" Mr. Potter questioned lightly. "How can you be so sure?"
"Oh, don't discourage the boy!" Mrs. Potter chided.
"It's ok, mum. Don't know how I know," he said, turning back to his father. "I just … know. Here." He put a hand to his chest.
Mrs. Potter sighed. "Well, good luck, sweet heart," she said encouragingly. "Now, you must be off or you'll miss the train!"
With one last hug from his parents, James boarded the Hogwarts Express. Just before turning to go into his compartment, he saw her board the train, too. She was walking to opposite direction, but she glanced back, just once, and in that moment, James knew that she knew that they were one hundred percent perfect for each other.
He would just have to convince her of that.
During her first year, Lily Evans was overwhelmed by Hogwarts – by its size, by the classes, by the people. Everything was better than she could have imagined.
There was one person in particular who overwhelmed Lily, and his name was James Potter. It was this boy whom she had caught staring at her on the platform, who continued to gaze at her during their classes, as if he knew something that she didn't, as if he was waiting for something to happen.
Lily remembered that James had the messiest black hair, was fairly tall and was tanned from his family's vacation to Egypt. Though none of those features compared to his best – light hazel eyes that sparkled when he laughed or looked at her, and which were framed by glasses that made him look intelligent – not that he wasn't, because he was. Incredibly so.
James had a special gift for Transfiguration, with which Lily sometimes struggled. Since James sat in front of Lily in that course, he often offered her his help. Every time he helped her, or whenever Lily saw him, she felt a sort of rumbling in her chest, like someone was telling her that they belonged together. There was some sort of ... quality about him; a quality that seemed to have the effects of gravity. She often found herself itching to join him and his friends when she saw them studying at the next table over in the library, or, at other times, found herself fighting back a smile when she heard James' zealous laughter in the Gryffindor common room.
Yet, since Lily was not a believer of love at first sight, she let her emotions get in the way of that rumbling, let her emotions speak to her so loudly that they completely drowned out the rumbling. She couldn't hear it at all anymore.
Sometime during third year, James and his friend, Sirius Black, began to change. They became louder, arrogant, and took pleasure in cursing and pranking almost anyone and everyone they could, especially Severus Snape, who was Lily's best friend. The entire school knew that James only preferred to prank Snape because he was Lily's best friend and also fancied Lily, and Lily's obvious preference of Snape made James jealous.
Unfortunately, Lily's extreme loathing of James for these continued confrontations got the best of her. Her emotions took over her mind and heart, drowning out that rumbling. It was for that very reason that Lily didn't know that James was genuinely jealous of Severus – though, being Severus' best friend, her intuition was off with him at times, and she wasn't aware of his true intentions, either.
James' jealousy, pranks, and date proposals to Lily, Severus' affections for Lily, and Lily's general abhorrence of the marauders and everything they did (except for her frequent study partner, Remus Lupin) persisted until their sixth year.
The previous year, their fifth, James and Sirius had been cursing Severus by the lake. Lily had overheard them, intervened, and Severus had ended up calling Lily a mudblood. That had been the breaking point for Lily and she had ended their friendship, harbouring bitter feelings towards James for the incident, though he claimed Sirius had instigated the "attack," as Lily had so bluntly put it.
Through half of the sixth year, Lily was more resentful towards James' advances than ever, though the turning point in their relationship soon came.
After dinner one night, a night of a full moon, Sirius snuck off without notice, leaving James and Peter waiting for him to get back so they could all go and join Remus.
Sirius returned half an hour later, jubilant. He eagerly confessed to James that he'd found a way to lift James out of his Lily-induced rut. He told James that he'd told Severus about Remus and is condition, and how to get into the Shrieking Shack.
Lily had heard the next day that James had risked his own life to save Severus', but she never found out what the danger had been. Though, from that day on, Lily saw something different in his eyes, a maturity that wasn't there before. She saw once again that look of waiting in his eyes, one which she'd seen many times over the year but, after third year, never thought twice about it.
Through sixth year, James continued to mature. His pranks dwindled and he could often be seen at the library with Lily and Remus, studying – though it annoyed Lily that his grades didn't improve a great deal, because there hadn't been much room for improvement to begin with.
By the end of sixth year, Lily was so confused about her feelings for James that she was glad when the Hogwarts Express came to take the students home. She was so used to hating him for the inconsiderate things he'd done and pranks he'd pulled that she didn't know what to think.
Summer came and went quickly for Lily, and before she knew it, she was boarding the train back to school for the last time. She had decided that if James could mature that much during one year, then she should at least give friendship a chance.
It was in that frame of mind that she found James in the last place she expected him to be – the Heads compartment. Upon opening the door, seeing his messy black hair and hazel eyes behind his glasses, she knew. She felt that rumbling in her chest – so familiar though she had not felt it in years – and knew instantly that he felt it, too. Her eyes darted to his, which no longer had a look of waiting. Instead, seeing her expression, they were triumphant. After waiting for so long, he knew that she finally knew. James' face split into a wide grin, and Lily couldn't help but smile back, for she knew, and he knew, that they were one hundred percent perfect for each other, and that this was going to last forever.