Sixth Year, May 1977

It had been one week since James Potter fell unconscious and Lily Evans could not, for the life of her, fathom why she cared. She paced outside the Hospital Wing, nipping at the nail of her thumb. She hated him, she thought, walking a foot away from the door only to sigh and turn back. She hated him with every fiber of her being.

So why was she here?

Lily ran her fingers through her hair, tugging at the roots, and groaned. God, save me.

One week ago, James had pulled her aside to make a declaration.

"After I win, I'm going to ask you out one more time," he told her, unabashed certainty coating his every syllable. "And this time, Evans, you won't say no."

This grabbed Lily's attention. He had asked her out a hundred times before, and each ended with a ruthless rejection. Nothing had changed between them. And yet, Potter was confident she would say yes. She was curious.

"Wow, Lils," Mary Macdonald said as they took their seats amidst the sea of red and gold. "First time in five years I've seen you so excited for a Quidditch match." She winked. "Finally falling for Potter's charms, are you?" Lily rolled her eyes at prospect.

The game was quick and dirty. A flurry of green and red zipped through the pitch. Anger and adrenaline hung in the air, as desperation enveloped the Slytherin players. For every one Quaffle a Slytherin shot through the rings, James shot three, and then four, and then five. The gap was growing, and so were the fouls. Slytherin Beaters aimed at arms instead of Bludgers, and Chasers pushed and pulled for the Quaffle. But the Gryffindor team was ablaze. They sped up their passes to make goal, after goal, after goal, unperturbed by the scum scattered in the field. The crowd breathed in as the Gryffindor seeker shot down to the ground like a bullet. A golden twinkle floated meters below her. Both Slytherin Beaters aimed a Bludger at her. James shot through the field to block them. Lily held her breath.

Gryffindor had won, but James Potter had taken a Bludger to the head and the stomach. He plummeted like a comet from his broom, and Lily watched as blood spilled from his body like broken string.

He looked so fragile.

"Lily?"

It was Remus Lupin. He was exiting the Hospital Wing just as Lily's hair had begun to resemble the end of a broom.

"Are you alright?" he asked her.

"Fine, just fine," she piped, her hands falling from her hair to her waist.

"Here to visit James?" Remus smirked.

"I-It's not that I care but M-Mary told me he was awake so I thought I'd just—"

Remus held the door open and stepped aside. "Go ahead," he said, grinning.

Lily listened to her heels against the tiles as she made her way inside. The crisp sound calmed her nerves. Clack, clack, clack. She stopped when she saw Sirius Black, raucous and rowdy at the foot of one of the beds. She took a deep breath and sped up her footsteps. Clackclackclackclack. Stop.

"Evans?"

James Potter stared at her from his white hospital bed. Splotches of red, blue, and purple decorated his skin like ink splatter. He had bandages wrapped around his head and arms, spots of yellow bleeding through the surface.

"So it's true then," Lily said, holding her head up high as she spoke. "You're awake."

James chuckled. "Careful, Evans, or I might think you actually missed me."

"Nonsense," Lily huffed. "I was just curious, that's all." She tapped her foot on the ground as she stood, arms crossed, between Sirius and Peter Pettigrew.

"Look," James sighed. "I know I said I was going to ask you out after we won, but I just don't feel like hearing another no right now."

His words pierced through her like arrows. She felt her chest tighten from, was it guilt? Fear? Shame? She had no time to think. She opened her mouth to reply before the words had registered.

"I wasn't going to say no," Lily blurted. Her hands flew up to her mouth.

James' eyes were wide, like crystal balls. "What did you say?" He was close to screaming.

Lily repeated the words in her head as she spun on her heel and ran. CLACKCLACKCLACKCLACK. She slammed the door behind her.

What did I say?

Hello world of fanfiction! It's been a while hehe but yes I'm still alive. After years of reading James and Lily fanfiction, I decided it was time to write my own. So here's my shot at it :) This starts at the tail end of their Sixth Year.

Enjoy!

xx Schoe