the challenge: lily's p.o.v
Lily Evans had never been pampered to the extreme, nor did she consider herself a princess in any right. Her parents, sensible, law-abiding Muggles as they were, had provided for her in all the necessary means. However, when magic and wizardry came into the picture, Mr and Mrs Evans wisely sidestepped buying their daughter a gold-plated cauldron. James Potter, on the other hand, was a prince in his own right. With his good looks and flair for Quidditch, the son of the Potters recieved at least twenty gold-plated cauldrons a month, whenever he so much as boiled a potion in his current cauldron.
That was what had Lily Evans fuming. The redhead stormed down the corridor, black robes rippling about her form. Truth be told, her striking green eyes and porcelain features were extremely attractive to most of the boys, and if she had thought to remove her oversized robes, her figure would've enticed plenty a boy, too. But with such brooding thoughts hanging above her, her expression scared the general population of Hogwarts away. Lily sighed, and swivelled on her heel in the corridor.
Hogwarts was indeed beautiful. Even in the shade of the elegantly curving corridor, she could still make out the lush grounds, the crystalline lake's surface rippling gently. It was truly picturesque. There was only one thing that marred Hogwarts entire appearance, and that thing was none other than a beast, something Lily hated to mention unless it was truly necessary ...
"Hey, James!" came a voice, untamed and wild with pleasure, "Catch!"
A golden ball came hurting towards Lily, and even at such great a distance, she recognized the metallic sheen of a stolen Quidditch Snitch. Her lips curled back in undisguised contempt as she spotted Sirius Black, unruly hair wild in the wind to match his boyish expression. The next moment, a shadow fell over her as James Potter whooshed over her, regal features flushed with exhileration as he looped the loop over her, plucking the Snitch from the air. Lily, her books raised over her head to prevent any further harm, glowered up at him.
"Ah, Evans," James said, his head tilted back to soak up the sun, "didn't see you there."
"Didn't see me!?" Lily repeated, every syllable shaking with indignation, "Didn't see me!?"
"Well, you are a pretty small girl." James teased, white teeth flashing brilliantly, "Not saying you're ugly or anything; you're pretty attractive..."
" THE HELL, JAMES POTTER, YOU FLEW RIGHT ONTOP OF SOMEONE WITHOUT NOTICING THEM!? YOU COULD'VE CRASHED AND HURT SOMEBODY!"
"If you want to go to the hospital wing, there's no need," James said.
Twisting his form quickly over the worn broomstick, he landed, one hand in the middle of his splayed feet to catch his balance. He whistled, and the broomstick smacked into his flesh. A gaggle of girls had already arrived; Lily seethed. This was what she hated most about James Potter – the way he flaunted in front of attention. Sure enough, the Potter tilted his head sideways casually so that his dark, flashing eyes were angled towards his fangirls; they swooned. Still juggling the Snitch, James made his way towards Lily, who stood still.
"There's no need to go to the hospital wing if all you want is a bed." he said, leaning towards her.
"You pervert," Lily said, with as much contempt as she could put into those two syllables, "leave me alone. Go find someone else to go hormonally mad on."
Sirius winked knowledgeably at James, and Lily turned her attention to him. He was as rugged as ever, with girls salivating all over him. Sadly, Sirius was no less oblivious to this fact than James was about his fangirls. He threw a wink at Lily too, who glowered, and glanced over at Remus and Peter Pettigrew. Both remained silent, but while Peter seemed unable to say anything due to the fact that he was wetting his pants in excitement, Remus' lips were pressed into a thin line, and his grip on the book was far too tight.
"Hey Lily," Sirius said, who had caught her gaze, "want to go head-on-head with me and James?"
"No thanks." Lily said coolly; she hated the fact they had an audience, "Besides, going against good Quidditch players is unfair."
"Look at that," Peter finally squeaked, knocking James' elbow nervously, "she called you 'good'."
"James already knows that he's good," Remus said, his voice worn thin, "That's part of the reason why it's so fun to tease you, apparently."
"And what if I don't want to be teased?" Lily said.
At this, the crowd started jeering once more. Over the clamor of voices, Lily could make out the same words over and over; 'She's just afraid to go head-to-head with the wonderful James Potter'. And the crowd really knew how to get Lily riled; she all but screamed bloody murder. In this case, she stood further upright, and met James' eyes. He seemed startled to have her clear green eyes, framed by luxuriant lashes, look into his.
"I'll see you tomorrow, then." he said after a moment's pause, and no emotion could be detected in his tone, "Three-forty, the Quidditch pitch. Bring a second ..."
"... I won't be late." Lily finished.