"Lily! Wait up!" A young man sprinted after a red-headed witch, who either didn't hear him or was a damn good actress. "Lily Evans!" He shouted, trying desperately to catch her attention. This time, due perhaps to a bit of wind and maybe even some luck, she heard him. Or, possibly, realized that he was a persistent little bugger, who couldn't be ignored any longer.
"What is it, Potter?" She asked impatiently; stopping, but not turning around, thus not seeing the joyous expression on his face when she said his name—surname, but name nonetheless.
"Just… wanted to give you this, Lily." He handed her a small piece of paper, folded into a—
"A lily? Really, Potter! If I have told you once, I have told you a million times—" James cut her off.
"Relax, Lily, it's not me asking you out." As he said those words, he looked closely at her violently green eyes, searching and hoping for a bit of regret. He wasn't disappointed.
"Oh." She said simply, nearly at loss for words. Potter was the only living person who could cause that particular thing to happen. A fact that both irked and pleased her, at once, for reasons that she wasn't exactly going to tell the world.
"Well, what did you want, then?" To anyone who did not know the pair, the tone would sound rude, but to James, he recognized that, while she wasn't really polite, she was being careful. It was more than he could expect, especially after he had pretty much ignored her all year.
"To give you this, of course." He smirked. To the witch he appeared careless, mirth dancing in his warm hazel eyes, but in reality his insides were squirming with anticipation.
"And what exactly is this?" She asked coolly, striving to maintain that perfect balance between the girl who couldn't care less, and the girl who couldn't care more. It was always difficult for her, these days.
"My address, and the code for you to get in." He answered seriously. Lily chuckled, convinced that he was joking, and looked away.
"Look at me, Evans." She glanced at him, looking into his eyes, that seemed somehow wrong without the twinkles that seemed to be ever present.
"Potter?" She asked warily. "What's this about?" He was scaring her, really. Jame—Potter! She reminded herself—was barely ever serious around her. Joke around and make a fool out of yourself seemed to be his unspoken motto for life.
But then Lily had to remind herself that there was more than meets the eye to James Potter. He was funny and sensitive, and loyal beyond measure to his friends. Lily knew that, just like she knew a lot of other things…she shook herself. He was talking to her, and she wanted to pay attention.
"Lily… there is a war going on, one we are both heavily involved in. I would be able to sleep a lot better at night if you had somewhere you could go where you would be safe—and I want you to know you can always come to me for help." His eyes were pleading with her, begging, completely oblivious to the thoughts that were racing around in her head.
"What makes you think I will need your help?" She demanded furiously. It wasn't so much that she was mad at James, it was more that she was mad at herself for being so blindingly obvious that even James "Head in the Sand" Potter, noticed that she was in trouble."I can take care of myself thank you very much!"
"Yes, Lily, I know." He smiled at her, a long, slow smile that made her knees melt. "But this is Voldemort we are talking about. He doesn't like… well, he doesn't like Muggleborns. Which you are. And he will go after you, because of how close you are to Dumbledore." Through his speech, his voice had stayed the same, calm and collected. If Lily hadn't glanced in his eyes, she wouldn't have realized just how much this meant to him. "Just… keep that in mind, ok?"
When she gave him a quick nod, he trotted after his friends, calling over his shoulder, "Have a good summer, Evans!"
The red-headed teenager nodded, clutching the paper lily. Yes, she would keep that in mind, although she doubted she would ever need it.
She had no idea how wrong she was.
~*~
Lily didn't know the first time she had understood that she liked James Potter. Maybe it was when she had found out the Marauder's secret, and had realized exactly what he was risking for his friends. Maybe it had been when he was the only one, all year, to ask if she was okay. Admittedly, it had only been a few times, something she knew was as much her fault as it was his, but at least it had been someone showing her how much she meant to them. And it had helped Lily, knowing that no matter what, he still watched her.
So...I decided that I was going to re-vamp this. I didn't like the first few chapters. If you get alerts for it, just know that it is me re-vamping, and that you don't need to read it. Of course, I alway appreciate it when you do... :)
Jayme
