Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing. Wish I did, but don't. Wait... Except Evey and Charlotte. I do own them. But nothing else. Nada. Zilch.
Summary: Lily Evans has fallen. Literally. Will a simple fall prove the catalyst to events that she's been dreading? James Potter hopes so.
Falling
By WeaslyIsMyKing
Chapter One: A Fall, Literally
It all started with a fall. Naturally, it ended with one as well.
Lily Evans stood precariously perched atop a rather tall ladder in the Gryffindor common room, hanging Christmas ornaments on an even taller fir tree. She slowly inhaled the pine scent - it was one of her favorites. That, mixed with the equally intoxicating scent of the crackling fire, brought Lily to a sigh. There had been few times in these past six years that she had felt as at peace as she did right now.
All around her, Lily saw the tell-tale signs of Christmas' arrival. The hushed tones of those in the common room revealed a sense of secrecy that indicated event planning, gift ideas, and general contentment. On top of the wonderful smell of winter, pine trees, and smoke, Lily loved the sense of Christmas. Everyone was happy, kind, and giving. Not that she didn't enjoy her share of chaos. But sometimes it was good to relax, something she rarely did. It was hard keeping the top marks, and even harder to beat James Potter.
Speak of the devil.
Enter the Marauders-- Exit Peaceful feeling.
Lily sighed. Not the nice, peaceful sigh she'd just let out. Oh, no. This was a Shit - the - Maruaders - are - here sort of a sigh. Seven years with the likes of them had been enough. And sure, she and her best friends, Evey and Charlotte, hung out with them all the time, and were actually quite good friends the Marauders. But enough was enough. THEY were the chaos that entered her life. It was fun chaos, the kind that always made you want more, but Lily also loved avoiding the chaos. Especially when the chaos escalated into a prank on the Slytherins, resulting in dention for all of them. The girls somehow managed to always be there at the instant the boys decided to intiate their pranks. Lily often wondered if the boys planned it like that.
As a rule, they irked her, those boys. Lily liked quiet and they were loud. She like the inside, they wanted out. She studied, they rarely cracked open a book. She wanted good marks, James and Sirius, at least, got them without trying. As a whole, they were an irritating lot.
However, judging the Marauders as a whole was unfair. Peter Pettigrew was sweet, soft, and generally unobtrusive. He merely followed, never instigated, and never led. And Remus Lupin was brilliant. Quiet, but brilliant. He was also uncannily insightful, and always ready to lend a hand.
Sirius Black was another matter entirely. He was loud, obnoxious, and considered himself God's gift to women. Well, actually, he was sexy has hell. So, Lily supposed, it was alright for him to think that. He had floppy brown hair that he was forever sweeping out of his laughing gray eyes. He was the instigator of ninety percent of every single prank the Marauders had ever pulled off. He frequently called Professor McGonagall "Minnie," and every time she heard him utter the nickname, she gave him detention (which was at least once a week). He didn't care what others thought, and that was what attracted the girls to him. It didn't help that he could charm the socks right off of Voldemort, if he wanted to, either.
James Potter, though, was another matter entirely. And it was because of James Potter that Lily Evans fell. Well, not his fault directly. But if he hadn't been there, she would have remained atop her ladder.
Typical Peter, he'd left the portrait hole wide open. In a mad contest to see who could then make it back to the portrait hole to close it (the boys had made it across the room by the time before anyone had noticed), they took no notice of her, and thus, the ladder. And Peter, in his joy at winning the contest (such an occurance was rare), walked right into it.
Everything proceeded extraordinarily quickly after that. Unable to keep her balance, Lily let out a small cry, and toppled off the ladder. Right into the arms of James Potter, who had immediately rushed past the astonished Peter, who was so shocked, he was unable to move. Even though she disliked him immensely (or felt something akin to that), she had to admire his reflexes. And for the next few seconds, that was all she thought of.
Potter is really fast. Lily thought. Must be all that Quidditch practice.
Slowly, she shook her head, ridding herself of the slight shock. It wasn't every day a girl had the chance to fall off of a ladder.
"Let go, Potter," Lily growled, fully recovering her faculties, and realizing just who it was holding her.
He was unfazed. "Merely assisting you, Evans. Thought you might be greatful. I've just saved you from breaking a bone, or possibly, one of Peter's."
"I'm SO sure there was no ulterior motive here for you, Potter," Lily snapped.
Still unfazed, and now smirking, James replied, "Not initially. But now that you mention it, now seems an excellent time to ask you out."
"And what," Lily sighed, annoyed now, "do you think my answer will be?"
"Yes?" he said hopefully.
"Be realistic, Potter."
"A 'no,' then?" he said, slightly crestfallen.
"And it's not subject to change. I don't like you. You didn't used to like me. Not going to change. Now. Put. Me. Down." Lily said through gritted teeth.
He let her slide from his arms, savoring the moment, since it was likely to never happen again.
"Now," she continued, reverting back to usual cool, Head Girl, authoritative tone, "if the lot of you are finished with my attempted murder, I have to finish decorating."
With that, she turned, righted her ladder, and once again climbed to the top, apparently unfazed by the tumble she had taken moments before.
Across the room, where the Maruaders have once agian settled.
"What do you reckon is her issue?" Sirius asked. "She generally likes us. Well, not you Prongs, but she doesn't hate us. What brought on the ice queen?"
"Could have to do with the fact that I've picked up the habit of asking her out again," James muttered, wishing that he had let her fall. If he'd let her fall, he wouldn't have annoyed her. If he'd let her fall, he wouldn't have asked her out. If he'd have let her fall... he would have hated himself, because he wouldn't have had the chance to have her in his arms.
"Prongs," Remus said, obviously unhappy, "we talked about this. If you do that she'll never - "
"I know, Moony!" James interrupted. "But I can't help it. I've done well for the last year, and she STILL hates me."
"You know," Peter interjected, "I don't think she hates you."
This caused the remaining three Marauders to whirl on him.
"What do you mean, Wormtail?" Sirius asked. "She hasn't changed at all. She gets along with all of us but Jamie here."
Wormtail, overjoyed with his sudden entrance into the middle of the discussion, replied, "She doesn't yell anymore."
"That's it?" Remus asked.
"That's all there has to be. Remember when he used to really set her off? You could hear them yelling from the Quidditch pitch. She never yells anymore. She just resigns herself to saying no when he asks her out."
"Meaning...?" James asked.
"She says no because she can't bring herself to say yes. She can't undo the past two years of saying no, so she doesn't. She just... changed her mind about you, I think." Peter, looking quite pleased with himself with this assessment, settled himself back into his chair and continued reading Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.
"You know," Remus started, "she really hasn't yelled in a while. I think Petey's right. She might not like you James, but she doesn't hate you anymore."
Pleased with this news, James added, "Well, then. I think it's time we start my plan of attack. Tonight. Just... not while she's in the room."
The boys agreed, and went about their own busines- Sirius proceed to flirt with Andie Bell, a pretty sixth year; Remus and Peter continued to read; James brooded.
He couldn't remember when he didn't love Lily. The feeling had always been there, and now, the feeling was right up there with the necessity to breath. She was beautiful; her curly red hair fell to the middle of her back, her porcelain skin was flawless, her cheeks flushed pink when she was cold. And her eyes? Bright green, they sparked when she was angry (usually at him), sparkled when she laughed, and shone when she knew she was right. She always had answer for everything. She could be a downright cow when she felt she needed to use her authority. She always had to have the last word. She was cranky in the morning, and on more than one occassion, had spent a sleepless night in the common room. She rarely admitted she was wrong. And she hated (or at least strongly disliked) him. Despite all that, he'd fallen for her. Over the years it had become increasingly worse, most notably after that incident with Snape in fifth year.
And he knew, no matter what plan of action he was going to take, she wouldn't like it. But at this point, it was a risk he was willing to take.
In the girls' dormitory, an hour or so after the incident, and after Lily finished decorating.
"You know Lily," Charlotte said pointedly, "most girls would ENJOY being in the arms with the dashing James Potter."
"And you know Charlotte," Lily replied, just as pointedly, "that I didn't. He asked me out again! I wish he'd just stop! We could be friends if he'd just... get over it."
"Now Lily, you know that will never happen," Evey added. "He's completely in love with you. Always has been. You can't undo seven years."
"Come on. We're too young to be in love. In real love, anyhow. James is just mad that I'm the only girl who still tells him 'no.'"
"Lily!" Evey said exasperatedly. "You know that's not it. The boy is positively head over heels for you. Give him a break. Or I'll take him." She giggled.
"Please take him Evey, or I'm bound to kill him. He did SO well last year. Why he suddenly thinks it's alright to relapse is beyond me."
"Evey's right, Lily. Give James a break. Just because you're too stubborn to see how great he is, doesn't mean you have to berate him every single time he asks you out," Charlotte added.
Lily rolled off of her bed, and sat down on Charlotte's with a plunk. "Listen to me Char. There is NOTHING I find attractive about a prat who thinks he owns the earth and thinks that we should worship the ground he walks on. Or a Quidditch player who wants me because I'm the only one who's said no. I'm fairly sure Potter fits these descriptions on all counts."
"Lily, James is none of those things. He used to be, but he's changed a lot. Just like you have. You don't yell at him anymore, and he doesn't attempt to publicly humiliate you into going out with him. Neither of you are fourteen anymore. If you weren't so stubborn, you'd see that," Evey said as she also slid off of her bed and sat down on Charlotte's.
"Tell you what Evey," Lily appeased, "I'll try very hard to be less stubborn, if you'll consider Remus."
Evey blushed scarlet, and muttered something along the lines of, "Fine."
"And Charlotte--"
"I'm not doing anything, Lil. You already got Evey-- better your own social life before you try to better mine," Charlotte replied sagely.
"Ugh! Fine."
With that, Lily and Evey retreated to their own beds, and the three settled in to sleep.
Two hours later though, Lily was still awake, staring up at the canopy over her bed and listening to the soothing sound of Charlotte's breathing and Evey's occasional snore.
And then there was James Potter, she thought. The last of the Marauders. James Potter had jet black that he constantly ran a hand through, making it more unruly than it already was. He was nearly as tall as Sirius, though his height seemed less daunting than the other's. He was well- built, but lean, so that you knew that he was strong (Lily thought of the way he had effortlessly caught her earlier that night), but you had to guess exactly how much. But his eyes, despite everything else, were the one thing Lily truly had trouble with. Hazel and flecked with gold, the eyes of James Potter betrayed his every emotion. She couldn't imagine how he could ever pull off a lie. The sad thing was, she hadn't even noticed them until the fourth or fifth time she had rejected him. She'd looked up into his eyes (a mistake, she had thought in hindsight), and the hurt was evident.
Seeing that hurt was what had changed her opinion of him. Even though he'd kept a smirk on his face, his eyes had betrayed everything, and she had realized that even though he was an idiotic prat, he was one who was capable of incredible emotion. After that moment, she had begun to watch him. She watched the way his eyes shone with happiness and jubliance every time he and his friends pulled a prank, or every time one of their friends had made him laugh at meals. She especially watched the way his eyes still held that hurt every single time she told him "no." And then she watched as the hurt look became deeper as the years wore on, and how they had become guarded and fearful every time he asked her. She wondered what on earth possessed him to continue putting himself through the pain of asking her out. Because he knew the answer. Every time, she knew he knew the answer.
She wondered if it was sheer stubbornness (that was the one thing they had in common), or if it was to prove a point. She wondered if it was simply because she was the only one to tell him no. And secretly, she wondered if it was because he really felt that way about her. Because she knew that if he kept going, one day, she wouldn't be able to say no. Because she knew that she was in serious danger of falling for him. Because she hated the fact that she knew that she already was falling.
Author's Note:
