"You really like her, don't you?" Sirius's sympathetic voice brought James back into the present world. He didn't even know how long he had been sitting here. Just sitting, staring out at the empty Quiddich pitch, only thinking of that one person who always seemed to be on his mind nowadays, clouding his thoughts. He looked up at Sirius and nodded. "I don't know what to do. I'm sure she hates me." Sirius stared disbelievingly at James and then let out one of his bark-like laughs. "I never thought I'd hear you, of all people, saying something so negative. Shouldn't you be confident and sure that everyone likes you? That's what you're usually like." James shook his head. "I don't think she likes over-confident people. And though I don't want to admit it, I think I am a bit over-confident. Do you think maybe I should try to change myself, just a little bit?" Sirius bit his lip, "I don't know, mate. I don't think you should change yourself for a girl. But I guess if you really like her, maybe try not to pick on Snivellus so much because I think that's what really gets to her." James nodded, and for a while there was silence as he wondered whether Lily would ever really like him. All his life, he had been sure he would get anything and anyone he ever wanted. Now, he wasn't so sure. How ironic that this should be the one person he actually felt something different towards, who wasn't just another girl, who was someone he actually wanted. Very much. He remembered he used to flirt with her just for a laugh, but things were different now. Somewhere between all that flirting and joking around and irritating her, something had changed. His feelings had changed. She meant more to him now than he could explain, and he realised, as he watched the rain drops slowly rolling down the window, that how she felt about him now mattered to him. They mattered a lot, and he knew that to get her, he must change himself. It didn't matter how little or how much he needed to change, in that instance he made up his mind that he would do anything to get her. Looking at Sirius, who was now lounging on one of the chairs of the common room, James smiled and said "I'll do whatever it takes, I'll even stop hexing Snivellus just for the fun of it, however tempting that sounds. But...she will be mine."
