James Potter had various problems – Potions, getting the Quidditch championship for the third year running and Slytherins. His problems did not include Lily Evans. Sure, she was fit. Sure, she'd turned him down a couple of time but that was it. He did not want to marry her. Hell, he didn't even know if he wanted to be married. He was 16 for goodness sake, way too young to know about love and marriage and fucking forever.
"I don't understand where these fucking rumours came from." He muttered angrily to Sirius. Sirius snorted as he was likely to do.
"Girls." He offered as a matter of explanation. "One question at an inappropriate time and they think it's a marriage proposal."
James nodded in agreement. Sirius smirked and leaned back on the grass. The orange glow of the setting sun cast its shadow on the Black Lake. The congealed surface of the lake rippled lazily.
"Yeah mate. And now it's awkward. Evans won't even talk to me in Potions and she's my godsdamned partner." Irritated at the thought, James tangled his fingers amidst the grass, pulling at it from its stems.
Sirius scoffed in response.
"Girls."
-.-
James Potter's problem with Lily Evans began some time in fifth year when he asked her to Hogsmeade at a somewhat inconvenient time.
He had Snivellus hanging by a foot in a Levicorpus death grip. And of course, Evans being a prefect happened to storm into his fun, her unwieldy red hair flying across her face.
"Leave him alone!" she snarled at both him and Sirius. James turned from the all too pleasant sight of the greasy-haired Snape hanging from his ankle and turned towards her.
"All right Evans?" he asked cheekily, deepening his voice, hoping his charm could prevent a possible detention coming his way.
Evans scowled. Her face scrounging into what seemed like her best imitation of hatred.
"Leave him alone." She repeated, demanded. "What's he done to you?" she asked imperiously. Typical, James almost snorted. Evans thinking that she was better than everyone else because she befriended Slytherins.
"Well," he replied smiling, trying his best to be as amicable towards her as possible. "It's more the fact that he exists, if you know what I mean…"
It wasn't his fault that he didn't like Snape. Snape was suspicious. He skulked around, leering in the dark like a hormonal boogeyman. He befriended purebloods who hated the muggleborn even though he wasn't himself a pureblood. That fucking hypocrite.
To his pleasure, other people seemed to agree, laughing along with his little joke. See, there was good reason to hex Snape.
Well, except Evans of course because she was a self-righteous, prudish prefect.
"You think you're so funny." Her voice cold and flat. "But you're just an arrogant, bullying toerag, Poter. Leave him alone."
Of course. I'm arrogant and you're not. He thought maliciously. He wasn't Evans biggest fan – she was too absurdly perfect but of course, with girls like her, it was rather simple to push them off their high horse…
"I will if you go out with me, Evans," he replied, raising his eyebrows in what he thought was a charming gesture. "Go on…" he laughed, goading her. "Go out with me and I'll never lay a wand on old Snivelly again."
Evans looked at him aghast. Her cheeks flooding red.
"I wouldn't go out with you… if… if it was a choice between you and the giant squid." She fumbled with her wards before shooting them out with what seemed like mortification and anger.
Sirius laughed – obviously amused.
"Bad luck, Prongs."
-.-
And that was how the rumours all began. James Potter loves Lily Evans. He's obsessed about her. He keeps asking her out to Hogsmeade. He was heartbroken when she chose Snape.
Bullocks.
To be fair, he did ask her out a couple of time but that was only to fluster her when she caught him doing something wrong. Like when he tried to put Bubotuber Pus into the Slytherin beater's gloves. Not that he was cheating, it had been after the match and Avery Mulciber (absolutely ridiculous name, if he could say so – two pureblood surnames as an actual name) had purposefully shot both Bludgers at Sirius. Sirius had then of course gotten hit by the Bludgers and broke nearly half his bones after plunging 50 feet from his broom.
Of course, Evans caught him with the Bubotuber Pus just when he was trying to sneak it out of the greenhouses and to distract her, he asked her out. Not that he wanted to, it was just an efficient way to get out of trouble. Hell, he'd ask Snape out if it would have gotten him out of trouble.
And that was it. James Potter didn't love Lily Evans. He would have snogged her if he had the chance but that was only because she was fit. He only asked her out of convenience.
-.-
"Can you please get him to stop?" Sirius turned to see mousy little Mary Macdonald standing behind him with a ferocious scowl on her face.
He groaned inwardly.
"What."
Mary Macdonald seemed to gain a little chutzpah from his attention, she straightened herself a little, readjusting her posture.
"James. Can you get him to stop asking Lily out?" she stated, self-consciously deepening her voice to gain a little gravitas.
Sirius rolled his eyes in frustration.
"Jesus Christ, I don't have time for this." He turned away from her and began to stalk down the hall, without a care in the world. "Bye Macdonald." He tossed back to her irony dripping from each word.
Mary Macdonald shook her head with exasperation. She turned towards her friend, Dorcas Meadows, who stood beside her, her mouth agape from the scene.
"Did you see that?" she asked, her eyes wider than saucer plates.
"Yes." Dorcas answered, with glee in her voice. "James Potter is besotted with Lily, Sirius is jealous."
"We should tell Lily."
"Yes, we should." Mary replied before they scuttled off back to the Gryffindor Common Room.
-.-
James happened to like Potions. Not because he was good at it, Potions had always been something that Peter, surprisingly, was better at. But Potions meant that it was a good time to pilfer wolfsbane. And of course, it was a lovely little plus that Slughorn liked him. Pity, Evans was such a stickler – she was the reason why the letters "J-O-Y" could not be found in the word "experiment".
"Hullo, Prof." he smirked charmingly at Slughorn. "Sorry I'm late." He slung his bookbag on to the bench next to Evans, running his fingers through his feathery hair.
"Ah Potter!" Slughorn beamed, happy to see one of his favourite students. "Tricky little potion we have today. Burn Potion. Ms Evans has been going mad waiting for you."
Evans who had been calmly stirring a blue potion clockwise, arm slipped in mortification. Her eyes, bulging out of their sockets as she choked on her own tongue.
"Ah," James laughed, his hand going to the back of his hair. "I'm always mad to see Evans." He leered winking.
Lily turned red. James smirked and heard Marlene Mckinnon turn towards Lee Ying Fei.
"See, I told you! James is madly in love with Evans."
-.-
It so happened that Sirius sucked at Muggle studies. It wasn't his fault. He was a pure blood, where the hell could he find a telly-poney to "call" someone. Professor Quirrell being a responsible tutor had therefore assigned him to the smartest muggleborn witch he had – Lily Evans.
"What is the point of this Evans?" He groaned, throwing the book on the ground.
"Don't do that!" Lily shrieked. "That's Austen."
This week on Muggle Studies, the class had been learning about muggle culture ie: old stuffy literature written by a bunch of dead people. Evans, of course, had been extremely happy about this turn of events and had been spouting off quotes in archaic English for the past hour.
"I hate Austen." Sirius sighed. "This is pointless."
Evans looked almost offended.
"Austen is not pointless." She shot back, punctuated. "She writes to reflect social class and conventions of that time."
Sirius sighed.
"It's a girl falling in love. And the guy falling head over bullocks in love with her."
Evans turned as red as her hair.
"It's different!" she protested. "The girls are real – they have their opinions, they are intelligent and alive. They were girls that had never been represented before."
Sirius rolled his eyes. Evans looked out of breath from her short rant, she stared at him imperiously – like a tutor.
"Fine."
-.-
"People put too much stock into this boyfriend-girlfriend thing." He told Sirius. "I'm just asking a girl out, it doesn't have to mean anything."
Sirius gave a short nod.
"I blame it on Austen."
"Austen? Who's that?"
"Some muggle authoress." Sirius yawned lazily. "Evans introduced me to her yesterday. She writes these soppy stories about hard headed girls falling for difficult men." The boys rolled their eyes in unison, snorting.
"Shit." Sirius suddenly sat up on the grass. "Does this mean that Evans likes you?" James turned to stare at Sirius.
"Hot headed red head falls for a difficult albeit charming prat." James grinned wolfishly. "Do you know what we could do with that?"
Sirius returned his grin, shaking his scruffy little head with contempt.
"Girls, mate."
"Girls."