Before Lily

By: Aaliyah-Charity

A/N: Hey folks! Gryffindor-Cynthia had an AWESOME idea of a YOU story, where YOU date James! Yes, we all know he ends up with Lily, but a girl can dream, right?

Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling totally owns 'Harry Potter'

Chapter 1: The Plan

It was pretty evident that the sight of Lily Evans made James Potter flush, only it was apparent to his closest friends, and not anybody else. He wanted her so bad, but it seemed like every time she came close to him, he did something stupid, with emphasis on rude and mean. True, he did act egotistic and maybe he was-Quidditch builds up confidence easily. Whatever the situation, he was truly in love.

"Good morning," Sirius said to his best friend at the Gryffindor table. He mumbled some kind of a response, still sleepy from his slumber. Sirius smiled at him, shaking his head at his friend. James looked over at Lily, but when he caught her eye, she merely glared at him and turned away. He sighed, nursing his head in his arms. Sirius felt sorry for his dear friend, until....

"I GOT IT!" he yelled and stood. Everyone in the Great Hall froze and stared at him, and he sat down quickly. James was taken aghast, and looked at his crazy best friend. He was used to his crazy antics, and he wasn't quite sure if he was up to it today, since he was fatigued with love and sleepiness.

"What's your plan?" he asked, not interested. He was used to Sirius and his never ending supply of energy.

"Well, why don't you make her jealous?" he suggested, "She'll never know what came her way! Just go out with another girl until she gets to her senses and begs you to date her instead!"

"It'll never work," James replied pessimistically.

"Yes it will!" Sirius demanded, "All we have to do is find a girl stupid enough to go through with it!"

"That's a lovely way to put it," James responded, scratching his head.

"Well, it's true," he said, "You have to be stupid if you went along with this sort of plan...but that's why we have got to keep it secret from the lucky girl! Now look around, but not at the Slytherin table."

James heaved a sigh and did as his best friend said, not seeing any promising girls. He merely put his head again, and almost fell asleep, when...

"I FOUND HER!" he yelled again. Professor McGonagall yelled at them quite sharply that if she heard another outburst, she would take points away from their house. How can you take points from your own house? It baffled everyone.

"Who?" James asked, not quite interested.

"Her!" Sirius pointed, and it just happened to be you. Your friends, who were quite taken with your latest clumsy adventure, surrounded you at the table. Your laughter reached the ears of the two boys, and they got a closer look at you. You were stunning, but not too stunning. It was obvious that the boys had never seen you before, or if they did, they had taken no heed to give you any attention. The feelings were mutual however, even if you didn't realize it.

"Who is she?" James asked Sirius, curious.

"I don't know. She's in our house, but I've never noticed her before," he replied, "She looks our age though, so she'll be perfect. Just ask her for a drink at the next Hogmeade trip next weekend."

"Wouldn't that seem odd if I've never acknowledged her existence?" he asked.

"Nope...not at all!" Sirius said, not really hearing James's question. James took another look at Lily, suddenly got a boost of determination, stood up strong, and walked your way. One of your friends noticed him, and stared with her mouth agape, but you didn't. In fact, you wouldn't even know he was there, for at that exact moment, Professor Dippet called your name out.

James looked very embarrassed and hurried back to his seat, where Remus and Peter had just arrived to join them.

"What happened to him?" Peter asked Sirius, who was slightly amused.

"Love," he said, and Peter blushed a bit. Remus took on the exact same look that James had earlier that morning, only he had a better reason for looking so exhausted. Sirius patted him on the back and started telling them the wonderful plan that he had concocted just a few moments ago. He was so infatuated with the plan that neither boy had the heart to tell him that it was indeed, the stupidest plan either of them had ever heard of.

Meanwhile, you walk to the Headmaster and ask politely what he would like with you. You weren't used to so much attention from a teacher, since you weren't that popular, and you only spoke when spoken to or something was to be said.

"Your drum major uniform is ready," he tells you, and levitates to you a garment bag. Immediately, your friends, who were also in the small Hogwarts Band, crowded around you more to take a look at what you've received. Blushing, you hurry to your dorms, your friends following behind you with excitement in their voices and action. Of course you didn't notice the four boys examining you, as was expected.

"Oh, you're the first girl drum major in the Triwizard Marching Band ever!" Aaliyah, a flute player, cried in excitement. It was true. Durmstrang, Beauxbatons, and Hogwarts were big, boisterous schools, but when it came to the extracurricular music programs, they were as small as an ant. Ever since the music program started a few years back, it took all three schools to form a seventy member marching band. It was quite small, but it would have to do. By chance that year, you tried out for drum major (the person who leads the band by conducting during the show), and only two other people had auditioned, and since you were among the two who had the most experience, you got the position. The schools band members met in a neutral setting every weekend to prepare for their performances and competitions with other schools.

"What was that about? What was she holding?" Peter asked curiously.

"I don't know, but I am definitely going to find out!" Sirius said, with a new burst of energy, "For James!"

James merely groaned and joined Remus in laying his head on the table.

A/N: Sorry AGAIN for adding band stuff, but you have to understand! These two weeks are all band band band, and it seems that is all I'm doing! I'm trying really hard to make it work though, and I will make it as interesting as possible! Please review-the motivation really works wonders!