Hey, I just wanted to tell you about this story. It's one of those Lily/James things, how could I resist? I always try not to be cliché, because it drives me crazy. If you have any comments leave me a review or whatever. This story takes place in Lily and James's 7th year at Hogwarts, they're Head Boy and Girl together. I didn't write a lot of side details in this chapter because I just wanted to establish the relationship between the two famous characters. Of course, all the familiar characters, plots, settings, etc. are J. K. Rowling's. I thought I would mention that the smashing Marauders will take a large part in the story and I love them to death.
"Lily – wait up!" yelled a boy as he chased the flaming red-head down a flight of spiral stairs. He gripped the banister and sprinted down the last few steps to catch her arm as she tried to round a corner. "Lily…" he said, seeming to forget his urgent query as a sudden tingling sensation went up his arm at contact with her skin.
The girl named Lily turned her eyes – startlingly green eyes – to his face with a look of great distain. He felt his heart pick up speed at her icy glare.
"Potter," acknowledged the girl. She jerked her arm away from his grasp and put her hands on her hips.
James Potter just stared down at Lily with an intense gaze. He wanted to speak but he seemed to have forgotten how. All he could think about was how he'd touched her arm, still feeling a burn from her skin on his.
Her gorgeous eyes narrowed and her mouth tightened when he didn't speak. "Well?" she demanded.
"Um, I was just wondering…" he said, trying to remember why he had been pursuing her moments before. He was suddenly aware that he was grasping something in his left hand. "Did you drop your quill?" he asked, holding up the one in his hand.
Her frown faded and she glanced down at the quill he was holding. "Oh, yes, I think I might have…" she said rummaging in her bag. He handed it to her. "Thanks Potter," she said, and her angry blush turned to one of embarrassment. She started to leave and stopped, looking over her shoulder. "Have a nice day," she called to him and was off to her next class.
James stood still for a moment, shocked. Well, that went rather better than I'd expected, he thought to himself staring after her until she was lost in the crowd of other students making their way to class.
"James!" yelled a high, girly voice behind him. He turned warily, expecting one of his female admirers seeking a chat. Instead, he saw an outrageously handsome seventeen-year old by with shoulder-length black hair walking swiftly at him with a huge grin on his face. Beside the boy was another; tall, lean, and with the tired air of someone just recovering from an illness. This boy had shorter, light brown hair, and blue eyes. Trailing behind the two attractive young men was the last boy. He was shorter and a bit round, but had a mischievous look in his beady eyes.
"Sirius!" called James. Sirius and the other two approached him and they all fell into stride on their way to class.
"Did we just see our little James talking to THE Lily Evans?!" asked Sirius, in the same screechy voice of a mother whose son just became prefect.
"Why, mum!" said James, acting shocked. "I thought I told you that I know nothing about this person who calls herself 'THE Lily Evans'."
"Of course not," said Sirius patronizingly, returning to his normal voice. "You've never even met, much less been so obsessed with her that you worship the ground she walks on…"
"Would you care for us to introduce you?" asked the sallow-looking boy with a smirk.
"Why Remus, I would be delighted if I weren't already involved with Elizabeth here," said James, wrapping his arm around the waist of a random fifth-year Hufflepuff girl.
"My name's Jessica, actually," said the girl, seemingly elated by his attention.
"Of course," said James to the girl. Then, he pulled his arm away and blew her a kiss.
"I'll see you after class, baby!" he called and stepped into the History of Magic classroom followed by Sirius, Remus, and Peter, all of whom were roaring with laughter.
The four boys traipsed to the back row of desks in the room and sat down. James and Sirius decided to make themselves comfortable, making the aisles a hazardous jungle of legs.
A bunch of giggling Ravenclaw girls sat in the seats in the back near the four boys.
James, Sirius, and Peter turned their attention to the girls, while Remus pulled out a book and started to read.
"Hey James!" yelled Sirius, even though he was sitting in the desk right beside James's.
"What's up, Padfoot?" said James loudly, using Sirius's nickname.
"What were you and Evans talking about before class?" asked Sirius, allowing his voice to carry to the girls.
"Oh, nothing in particular," James said, winking at a pretty girl named Susan. Susan blushed.
"When's the next Quidditch game?" Susan asked, eyeing the Gryffindor Quidditch Captain badge on the front of James's robes.
"This Sunday, Gryffindor versus Hufflepuff," said Sirius, nonchalantly.
James casually ran a hand through his messy black hair.
"You know," said James, winking at Sirius. "You should come watch."
"Yeah, you never know when something –interesting- might happen," added Sirius with a sly grin.
The girls squealed and Peter, who had been unsuccessfully trying to join their circle, gave up and started chewing his fingernails.
"ATTENTION!" called a deep voice from the front of the classroom. All the students looked up at Professor Binns. Well through, actually, seeing as Binns was hardly more substantial than a wisp of smoke. The oblivious bloke seemed to have no idea that he had died many years previously, and continued to obstinately teach the most boring class in the world, History of Magic.
Remus folded down a corner the page he was on and stuffed his book into his bag. He then pulled out a roll of parchment and a quill. The other students didn't even bother, seeing as trying to pay attention to Binns would result in immediate drowsiness and even loud obnoxious snoring.
As if on cue, a loud, obnoxious snore was emitted from the "sleeping" form of Sirius Black. James gave his friend a very obvious shove and Sirius "woke", with a theatrical jerk.
"What the ruddy hell was that for?!" yelled Sirius in mock-outrage. Binns didn't even notice, but continued plowing through his lecture.
"Sorry mate, but I think you might have been causing a bit of a disturbance with your set of lungs," James replied giving Sirius a sympathetic pat on the back.
"I'll let you know that I was having a very pleasant dream! I believe it involved a few lovely ladies such as these." Sirius winked.
The girls giggled helplessly.
Lily was furious with herself.
She was supposed to be clever. She was supposed to be dignified. She was supposed to be the brightest witch in her whole goddamn year! She was HEAD GIRL, after all. Head Girls were brilliant, cunning and a role-model for well-intentioned students.
And right now Lily just felt like a normal girl. And normal girls at Hogwarts tended to flock to James Potter. Not that Lily was about to do that. No, she could never betray her self-respect and fall to the level of the drooling, desperate girls who followed Potter like geese.
Of course it wasn't just Potter.
It was them. The Marauders. The very thought of the name brought a sneer to Lily's lips. The Marauders were a tight circle of friends. There were four in the infuriating square.
First was Remus Lupin.
Mysteriously dubbed "Moony" by his mates, Lupin was the most studious of the four. He was often seen with his head in a book. Lupin was someone Lily could actually respect. He was a prefect, and he carried a certain aura of wisdom. Lupin never lost control or showed his emotions. Calm, cool, and collected, of course.
Next was Sirius Black or "Padfoot".
Black was possibly one of the most infuriating people Lily had ever met. Between hitting on every girl in the school and causing mayhem whenever he was bored, Black glided around without a care in the world. Of course, there wasn't really much to care about when you're naturally brilliant, gorgeous, and have girls falling at your feet. Black was an arrogant heartthrob, that was for sure.
There was Peter Pettigrew.
Carrying the odd nickname of "Wormtail", Peter sure was the oddball of the group. No one could really understand why the elite trio accepted Pettigrew as a Marauder. There was nothing exceptional about Peter; quite the opposite. Peter was not charming, beautiful, intelligent, brave, or admired. How he managed acceptance was past Lily; she was fairly certain that she was not the only one who saw him as less of a Marauder and more of a worshipping tag-along.
And last was James "Prongs" Potter.
Never, never, would Lily have imagined such a hot-headed, self-assured git could exist. But James did more than just exist. He was best mates with Sirius Black; the two of them were the leaders of the Marauder foursome. He was star Chaser, Quidditch Captain, Most Revered, Most Desired, Most Arrogant, Most In-Love-With-Himself, Most Likely-Mussing-His-Hair, and somehow, somehow, Head Boy. Sure, James was a brilliant student, popular, respected. But HONESLTY Dumbledore, What The Hell? James was certainly capable of leading his fan club or his Quidditch team or his gang or his entourage, or whatever, but without a doubt in her head, Lily was sure that James was not cut out for being Head Boy. After all, Lily was Head Girl.
No one in the right mind would make James Head Boy in the first place, but when Lily was Head Girl?! James was… infatuated with Lily. Not in a good way. Ever since they had gotten to know each other in their third year, James had made it a point to declare his undying love for her whenever the moment seemed to present itself to him. Which was usually when the two of them were in the midst of a listening crowd.
"Please, Lily!" he would say, dropping dramatically down to his knees. "Go out with me!" Sometimes he would serenade her, kiss her feet, write ridiculous love poems for her, or conjure extravagant bouquets of flowers out of thin air. But like all Marauders, James did not learn from his mistakes. It seemed to Lily that the more she turned him down, the more he would pursue her. It was unfathomable, not that she wasn't good-looking, but James could have ANY girl in the whole damn school and of course he wanted the one who didn't want him back. Lily suspected that the whole thing was just a big challenge for him; James couldn't – simply could not – lose at anything.
Let him suffer, then, she told herself. He would have to get over her sooner or later. Okay, well she had been hoping for just that for the past four years but still….
James felt the wind blow through his hair as he circled the huge stadium.
It was Friday night and the Gryffindor Quidditch team was having a practice.
"Finnegan! Vane!" James shouted at his Beaters. "I want you two to fire as many bludgers as you can at the Chasers."
He watches as they zoomed away on their brooms.
Then he turned his attention his two Chasers. "Ok, mates. I've been trying to think of a new strategy to get around Hufflepuff's Keeper, Smith. I know, he's brilliant, but I've been watching their training and I think I know just what to do."
He began explaining a complicated play to his teammates as a flock of girls went and sat in the bleachers to watch their practice. He noticed Sirius swoop down and land; walking over to the girls. Bloody hell Sirius, can't you focus for five minutes straight? James thought, annoyed.
"Oi! Padfoot! Want to get back in the hoops?"
He saw Sirius say something and wink at the girls. "Sorry," Sirius told them. "Duty calls." With that, Sirius leapt on his broom and went back to guarding the goal posts.
Thirty minutes later, James blew his whistle and had his team land.
"Alright, mates! That was alright! I reckon we have a chance on Sunday. One thing, Vane, before you go shower. Remember to hit the bludger with your bat if you don't mind, instead of your broom. Yes, I'm sure it impressed the ladies but in the interest of our winning the game, I would prefer you use the bat, or Hooch will have a stroke."
The team guffawed and set off for the locker room.
"Heads up, Prongs," Sirius warned, staring over James's shoulder. James spun to see what was behind him. Lily Evans was standing on the edge of the field with her arms crossed over her chest, looking furious.
"Alright, Evans?" James asked with a charming grin as he walked over to her.
"Potter," she said through her teeth as a way of greeting.
"What? Did I do something? What's wrong? Unless you're coming to accept my offer…" he said smiling even wider.
"You would think, that with all the trust Dumbledore seems to have in you, you would take a greater responsibility in your duties," she said in disgust.
"W– What?" James asked in confusion.
"Patrol," she hissed. A horrible feeling crashed down on James.
"Oh, shit," he said.
"Yes, you were supposed to have Head Patrol this morning, the third years going to Hogsmeade for the first time and all, but no. You decide to play Quidditch with your mates!"
"I forgot! It was mandatory, anyway. Big game this Sunday."
"Mandatory! I looked at the schedule! You've been booking the field for two hours a day for a week! How can a game be that important to you?" she asked, glowering with rage.
"Evans…" he pleaded. She looked at him with revulsion.
"You are such a self-centered git, you know that Potter?" she yelled. "Next time, instead of skiving off duties, I suggest you get your stupid arse over to one of the meetings! Head Boy, indeed!"
With that, she turned on her heel and left.
"Bummer, mate," Sirius said, sympathetically. The two of them started walking to the changing rooms when James spun around.
"You know what? I think I'm going to go for a walk before breakfast," he said.
"Want me to come too?" asked Sirius, being a good friend.
"No, that's ok, Padfoot. I need to think."
Sirius patted James on the back as the two boys headed off in separate directions.
Thanks for reading. Like any Lily/James story, this one will have characters I made up as Lily's best friends but no, I'm not using Alice Longbottom because everyone does that and like I said before, none of the cliché stuff if I can help it. Some of my own characters will come in chapter two, I said at the top that I just wanted to establish the base relationship between Lily and James in this chapter. Well, anyway, I hope you liked it.
