Love Story
I think it was the summertime,
When I laid eyes on you,
I didn't even know your name,
Somehow we'd end up in the same room.
I was late. Again. Mum and Dad had taken an awfully long time in humiliating me in front of everyone. Don't take me wrong, I love my parents very much, but sometimes, the teary eyes and crushing hugs just get on my nerves. For them, it's like I'll never see them again, and I know it's because they love me, but still, they were a tiny bit exaggerated.
As I was saying, I was walking fast to get to the train. I was walking fast, not running as others might say. I always keep my cool, mind you. I knew that the train would leave without me if I didn't get there on time. After all, Dumbledore himself had gently, but firmly, made clear that the Hogwarts Express would not wait for me another year. Also, this year, I was Head Girl, which meant that I had to be a role model, and role models never arrive tardy.
I was thinking about this with frustration as I tried to move as fast as my short legs could carry me with the weight of my immense trunk, when I felt myself crash into something and I fell clumsily to the floor.
"Fuck. Now there is no way I'm getting there on time," I whispered to myself, rubbing my sore butt.
"I'm so sorry!" someone said from above me. I tilted my head upwards, knowing perfectly well that my face was turning crimson red, to find the face of a very handsome Potter, looking at me from above. And there I was, thinking I had bumped into a wall. I must admit, I didn't know his name, not because he was unpopular, but it was more the fact that we were in completely different cliques that didn't mix.
"It's okay, Potter." I said tiredly. I had already taken in the fact that I would have to find another way to arrive to school. "Just help me get up."
He did this in a very gentlemanly fashion, which left me gaping at him awkwardly. As I said before, I always keep my cool.
"You need help with that?" he asked me, pointing to something behind me as he ruffled his hair nervously. I looked around, unaware of what he meant, and found my trunk upside down with all its contents spilled, including my intimate clothes.
"No, it's okay." I managed to say, but he was already on his knees, putting my things back in place, leaving strategically what he thought was improper for him to touch. It was that, or the fact that he was aware of my naturally violent manor, and he didn't want to be my target.
I bent down too, and we quickly finished. When we both got up, he handed me the handle of my truck and smiled timidly.
"I'm sorry. Again," he said goofily.
"No harm done, Potter. By the way, why aren't you on the train?"
"Don't you know? It's running an hour late," he admitted. Damn. "By the way, my name is James. I thought you should know that now that we have to work together."
"What do you mean?" I asked curiously, but it was too late. He was already gone.
I found out what he meant about an hour later, when I entered the Heads' compartment and found him grinning at me.
It never crossed my mind,
I never saw you like that,
I should've listened to my best friend,
She knew we'd be a perfect match.
"So, what's up with Potter?" Donna asked me. I looked at her, confused.
"What's up with him?" I was completely lost, which usually happened a lot when I was around Donna.
"You know what I mean," she said, as if I couldn't be stupid enough not to know what she was talking about. I was.
"No, I don't actually," I said, caught between curious and scared.
"Yes you do. The sawoon." I stared at her with my eyebrows raised. She had recently made it a habit to invent words, which, she said, explained things that other words didn't.
"Sawoon?" I asked unbelievably.
"Yes!" she said, frustrated. "You know he is gorgeous, and whenever a girl looks at him, you can totally tell they are going sawoon." When she saw that my face was still blank she grumbled. "Like you can tell by their face that they are amazed by him. See why I invent words? Because there is no other way to explain it!"
"Okay, I think I get it. You're saying that girls just drool over James," I stated, hoping that this would be the right answer.
"Yes! Though it's more than that, but anyways," she cried in relief. I smiled at her and went back to my dinner, that is, until I heard her clear her throat. Several times. I looked up from my plate into her expecting eyes.
"What now?" I asked, peeved; she was getting on my nerves. I was hungry after all.
"Merlin, Lily, I swear sometimes you are so dense." I looked at her, annoyed. "My question was that what was up with Potter, remember?" I nodded. "Well, it is clearly obvious that when you look at him you go sawoon, so, do you like him or something?"
At this, I snorted.
"You must be kidding." But Donna still looked at me seriously.
"No way!" I said, but her face was still full of incredulity. "We're just friends."
"Well, I suppose that's good." I looked at her, frowning. I didn't like him, but still, what was she on about? Seeing my face, she immediately clarified. "You two would make a great couple. You are perfect for each other, but the fact is, you come from two different worlds, and people would not like it."
"And since when have I cared about what people think?" I questioned defiantly, my pride hurt.
"I don't know, Lily, since always?" she replied sarcastically.
I pouted because I knew it was true.
It's a typical love story,
Started out as friends,
We met way back then,
This is just a typical love story,
The boy you never wanted just steals your heart,
I never saw it coming till I fell so hard.
"So, are you excited about Christmas?" James asked me as we did our rounds.
"Duh!" I said. I really was. I was going home to my loving family that I missed very much. "You?"
"Definitely," he grinned widely.
We had gotten quite close over the last few months, but it was very easy to like James. He was funny, happy, and all together what you would call a good guy.
Suddenly, he caught my hand and pulled at me so I would walk faster. I looked at him quizzically but he just grinned even more, which I didn't think was possible. We stopped abruptly a few feet ahead, and he pointed to the ceiling. I followed his finger.
"No way," I said instantly.
"Come on! It's Christmas!" he said. I looked at him, and he reminded me of a puppy. I shook my head in refusal, and to get the mental image out of my head.
"Why not?" he asked.
"Well, first, it would be disgusting." He looked at me and put a hand on his chest, trying to convince me that he was hurt by my accusation, but I didn't budge.
"Second?" he inquired.
"You have a girlfriend and I, a boyfriend," I stated matter-of-factly.
"Third?" He was starting to get on my nerves, even though I knew he knew this, and was doing it just so that I would accept, as confusing as it sounds.
"There is no third," I confessed.
"There is always a third," he said childishly.
"Not this time," I said stubbornly.
"Okay. Now it's my turn." I looked at him worriedly. "Firstly, it would NOT be disgusting because I know for a fact that my kisses are great." I snorted at this. "And secondly, it's just plain mistletoe. It means nothing."
"I'm still not kissing you." I crossed my arms to make my point clear.
"Please?" he nearly begged.
"Ew! Why?" I asked simply.
"Because it's Christmas, it's tradition, and it's what you're supposed to do." He was convincing me.
"Okay then. But just a quick peck!" I was still a bit reluctant.
"Just a quick peck," he promised.
But it was everything except a quick peck.
I always made up some excuse,
Saying that you weren't my type,
Didn't want to face the truth,
Didn't want to cross that line.
"You smell weird, Lily." Donna told me as I was made my way towards her.
"I smell like James," I confessed, but Donna was like my diary. I told her everything, and I knew that she wouldn't judge me or tell anyone.
"What do you mean?" she asked me calmly.
"We just kissed." She looked at me quizzically. "Or I should say, 'made out'. There was certainly too much tongue involved for comfort," I mumbled, sitting down on my bed opposite her.
"Why did you kiss?"
"Well, because there was mistletoe basically," I admitted.
"Oh, so then, what's the problem?" It was incredible the way she could read me and know that things didn't end there, even though I thought they did, or that they should.
"Well, the problem is that it was supposed to be just a peck, but when we broke apart from the kiss, my lipstick was all smeared around his face and his hair was messier than normal." I couldn't help but giggle as I remembered his red lips.
"So, it was like sawoon?" she questioned.
"You like that word, huh?" She just smiled. "That's just it. It was completely sawoon, but that doesn't mean I like him, right? I have a great boyfriend, and James is not my type. Anyways, he has a girlfriend too, and it would all be too weird."
"Are you sure?" Donna asked, sympathy in her voice.
"Yes," I said, with a newfound confidence. "It was just a kiss. He's a great kisser, so what?"
"Well, if you're sure." But she didn't sound very sure.
"I am," I said, and I really was.
However, the next morning, when I saw him at breakfast and our eyes met, I wasn't sure that he thought the same way.
Til one day I saw you,
Out of the corner of my eye,
You were flirting with some girl,
And inside I thought I would die.
"James! Can I talk to you?" I asked him. I had just seen him walk out of breakfast and had immediately followed him. I had been debating whether to act civil about the situation, to talk about it with him, or to just ignore it. I don't really know why, but I chose option one. I suppose I must be a masochist.
He looked at me, confused. He appeared tired.
"I'm sorry, Lily, I can't right now." I couldn't quite place what was in his voice, but I knew it was nothing good. I was sure that he just didn't want to talk to me.
"Okay," I said, and we stayed in an uncomfortable silence until he finally spoke.
"I have to go to meet Dumbledore. I'll see you around, Lily." I knew what this meant; it meant that we would not be friends again. I had overstepped the line, which I hadn't intended to do, but the damage was done. He probably thought that I was pathetic now.
He walked away, but seconds later, I decided to follow him on an impulse. Imagine my surprise when I found him with his girlfriend, talking comfortably in the common room.
Out of nowhere, I felt a pang of jealousy. The girl was beautiful. Not only that, but she was intelligent, and she had James' heart.
I left the room unnoticed, and headed back to where my friends were, where I shouldn't have left in the first place. Where I knew I should be.
It's a typical love story,
Started out as friends,
We met way back then,
This is just a typical love story,
The boy you never wanted just steals your heart,
I never saw it coming 'til I fell so hard.
"Sometimes, I really doubt your intelligence." I looked up from my book. Donna's words confused me, but this wasn't new. I knew she didn't say it meanly.
"What have I done this time?" I asked tiredly.
"Well, the whole school is talking about it, I'm sure you've heard." This time, however, it wasn't Donna who spoke, but Sirius Black, a name I had learnt thanks to my friendship with James Potter. They were, after all, best friends.
"No, I haven't," I said, angrily. "Care to explain?"
"It's just so sad." Suddenly, out of nowhere, a fat boy with the name of Peter Pettigrew appeared.
"What is?" The situation was starting to get frustrating.
"Lily, remember that you told me that you saw James with his girlfriend the other day? That they looked happy? That you were jealous?" Donna was really making me squirm.
"Donna! That was a secret!" I reminded her, as everyone seemed to be going bonkers.
"That doesn't matter anymore. It's all very tragic really." And there was Remus Lupin, the last of James' friends.
"Okay, anyone care to explain? And while you're at it, you might also want to explain why you're all talking to me suddenly," I said, now getting furious.
"Evans." I looked at Sirius, who seemed to be the one who was going to clarify. "James really likes you."
I couldn't help but laugh sarcastically. "Yeah, right."
"No, really, Lily, listen to them. It all makes sense now." I looked at Donna's excited face.
"Look, Lily," Remus was speaking now, so I turned to look at him. I was actually becoming very dizzy. "When you saw James with his girlfriend the other day, he was breaking up with her. He thought that after the kiss and what he thought you both felt, you would want to be together. He's liked you for awhile now, but he's denied it until recently."
It all seemed too farfetched for my liking. "So then why hasn't he told me anything?"
"Because he's seen you extra close to your boyfriend since then, and he's realised that you might not feel that way. Also, the fact that you've been ignoring him hasn't helped much," Sirius admitted.
I couldn't believe it.
"I have somewhere to go," I said, and ran out of the common room. It was my turn to break up with my boyfriend.
Can't believe it's happening,
When I least expect it,
My prince under disguise,
How you fooled me with those eyes.
I was still running. I had run to find Sawyer, my now ex-boyfriend, and presently, I was running to find James. I finally came across him outside, near the lake. When he saw me, I stopped, still a few feet away from him, but I had to catch my breath before I talked to him.
When I walked to him, he was looking at me quizzically, but I had taken an awfully long time to calm down. As I've repeated several times now, I'm a genius at keeping my cool.
What did I say to him first? That's a good question.
I said nothing, but just wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled myself up. When our lips met and his didn't react at first, I started to get worried. What if Donna and the boys had just been fooling around?
Suddenly, I felt him grab my waist forcefully, and his tongue entered my mouth in a kiss full of desperation, passion, and relief.
That was all it took for me to realise that I had made the correct choice.
When I feel like letting go,
In your arms is where I know,
I am wrong,
From the beginning we always belong.
"It's going to be okay, don't worry," James said, while he held me in his arms. I had just received my first detention, and as stupid as that sounds, it was a huge deal to me. "We'll be together. Sirius will probably be there too. I don't think he's gone one day without one, the wanker," he said, which made me smile.
Recently, I had found out that James could always make me smile.
I looked up at him through my watery eyes, and it hit me. Donna had got it perfectly right the first time, and I was lucky that I now fully understood what she meant.
Because just then, looking into his hazel eyes, my heart did a complete and huge sawoon.
This is my love story.