"He drives me crazy," stated Lily, pushing her plate of pancakes and syrup away, too exasperated to eat.
Marlene chuckled and reached for the plate. Lily pushed it further in her direction. "Thanks," Marlene said, grabbing a fork. "And what did he do today? It's only breakfast; he can't have done anything really terrible yet."
"Well, you know, he was being himself."
Marlene raised an eyebrow at Lily, who raised her hands in surrender. "Well, you try dealing with him for hours on end!"
"Lily, you're going out with him now, I'm afraid you're going to have to put up with James Potter being himself. And what's so bad about him anyway? I think he's rather charming."
"Of course you do, because you have a thing for Sirius, and they're almost exactly alike."
"Shhh," Marlene hissed, glancing over at Sirius, who was with James, Remus, and Peter, visiting friends at the Ravenclaw table.
"Marls, don't be ridiculous, there's no way he can hear us. And honestly, do you really want to get involved with Sirius Black? Too crazy, if you ask me. Besides, you know him, he's too fickle to ever get serious with a girl."
"But you know I like crazy," whispered Marlene, winking at Lily. "And don't be such a pessimist, I might be the one girl that changes his ways."
It was Lily's turn to raise an eyebrow. Marlene made a face at her. "Okay, maybe not, but it'd still be fun. Even if he doesn't want to 'get serious', as you put it, there are things called… benefits…"
Lily slapped her. "Marlene McKinnon! Ew!"
"Oh, Lily darling, you're so innocent. It's what I love about you. Oh, shhh, he's looking over here!" She glanced quickly at her reflection in her spoon, fluffed up her hair, and winked at Sirius, who was glancing at her from the Ravenclaw table. He grinned at her, and she smiled and tossed her hair over her shoulder, then swung herself back around to face Lily. Sirius looked disappointed, and probably would've goggled at her for hours if James hadn't yanked him back around.
Marlene winked at Lily. "That, Lily dear, is how it's done. He can't resist me. Anyway, though, enough about my love life. What exactly was it that James did, and what're you planning to do about it?"
Lily sighed. "I don't even know. It's just the way, today morning, that he was bothering some first year, and making some inappropriate jokes with Sirius, and, y'know, just being bloody annoying."
"It's who he is, Lily. And maybe if you stopped being so bloody stubborn, you'd learn to appreciate it. He's a nice person, you know that. Funny. Charming. It's why you're going out. You saw that side of him, right? The one that was kind, and caring, and sweet, and exciting. And I don't mean to judge you or anything, but you're being awfully mean to him, even after he tried so hard to change. For you. Lily, you're bloody brilliant and perfect and all that, and forgive me for saying this, but you're being totally stupid about this."
Lily blinked a few times, startled. "I get it, Marls, but he said he would change, and maybe he is, but I want it to be because he really wants to, not just because he's trying to impress a girl, y'know? Like, it has to mean something."
Marlene sighed. "Lily. Seriously. That poor kid is trying as hard as he can, because he loves you, insane person that you are, and all you do is push him away. It takes two to work a relationship, you know. He's changing, but you have to change too. You both just need a little patience, and everything will be okay."
Lily cocked her head. "You think?"
"Absolutely. You just need to let him know that you appreciate his efforts, and you have to accept him for who he is. Give a little, take a little, y'know? Besides, you know you're in love when he drives you absolutely crazy. " She winked.
"Sure, I guess. D'you think I should go talk to him?"
"No need. He's coming over here. Now, just be kind and supportive and patient."
"Hey, Lilyflower. Ready to watch me kick ass?" Lily jumped, startled. James was next to her, kissing her on the forehead.
"You wish," she teased, smiling and kissing him back. "But yeah, I'll come and watch."
"Thanks, Lil. I bet you can't wait to see me all masculine and heroic up there."
"Of course," she said sarcastically. She heard an outbreak of snickering from her friends behind her. She swiveled around.
"What?"
"You? Lily Evans? Watching Quidditch?"
James looked slightly disappointed. "Oh yeah, I forgot you didn't like-"
"James, relax. If it means that much to you, I'll come and watch you. Even if you try much too hard to be 'masculine and heroic.'
He looked slightly proud of himself. "Really? You'll watch me?"
"Sure, why not? After all, Dorcas actually thinks you're an okay Chaser, and I trust her opinion."
"Aw, you think I'm an okay Chaser?" he said, puffing out his chest and ruffling his hair.
She arched an eyebrow. "What do you think?"
"Okay, yeah, I am. In fact, 'good' is an understatement," he smirked.
She punched him. "Don't go getting too cocky, now. You haven't won yet."
"Yet," he said, and kissed her again. "I stole you the last pot of coffee from Sirius, by the way; I know it's your favorite," he said, handing her a plate, and then he left for the changing rooms. "I'll see you at the pitch, Lily!" he called on his way out. She smiled and waved at him, actually sort of looking forward to watching the game.
"See?" said Marlene triumphantly. "He can be a good boyfriend. You just have to give him a chance. Patience is the key."
"Yeah, who would've thought?" murmured Lily, sliding the plate of French toast towards her and reading the little note James had stuck to the bottom of it- "For my beautiful Lilyflower that always gets cranky when she hasn't had her morning coffee- I brought you this so you'll be wide awake when I cream Ravenclaw . Love James."
"You should've gone out with him earlier. You could've been this happy a long time ago if you both hadn't been so ridiculous."
"Thank you, Marls, that's quite enough advice for one day."
"Okay, okay. Ugh, I can't believe Sirius didn't even say hi. I hate boys."
Lily smirked. "Whatever happened to having patience and all that? 'Give a little, take a little'? No? Given up on that already?"
Marlene elbowed her. "Shut up, Lils."
Lily laughed, hugging her friend. "C'mon, let's go watch Quidditch." She paused in the middle of rising from her seat. "Wait, you wouldn't mind explaining how the game works, would you? I'm a little lacking in that department."
Marlene sighed and shook her head. "Just when I thought you weren't totally hopeless," she said, and the two friends left the Great Hall, arm in arm.
Yeah, sorry, abrupt ending, but everything else I wrote after that point sounded totally stupid. Hope you enjoyed, it's my first Lily/James-era fic. Sorry if anyone seems OOC, the characters sounded a little weird to me when I wrote this, but oh well.