The smell of wet grass mixed with dirt filled James Potter's nostrils. It was a smell that brought a deep longing into the pit of his stomach. It brought memories and dreams swirling up to the forefront of his mind. He closed his eyes for a moment and inhaled deeply taking it all in. That smell was therapy for the soul. That smell was purely quidditch. It was beautiful. It was an escape.
In the sky, on a broom, sweeping over the pitch with the quaffle under his arm, he was no longer James Potter infamous Marauder and prankster extraordinaire. He no longer had to think about all the troubles and strife in his life. He didn't have to pretend to be something he could never nor wanted to be. He wasn't rejected for stepping outside of expectations of others. He wasn't presumed arrogant or heartless. He just was.
He felt a smile creep on his face in anticipation of the breathtaking feeling he was about to become consumed with. The bespectacled boy rolled his broomstick around in his hands for a few moments savoring every second of his soon to be freedom.
He stood up from bench he'd been sitting on and stepped confidently onto the Hogwarts quidditch pitch. He stood for moment watching the sun set over the trees of the forbidden forest. The sky faded into black as the fiery sun became hidden behind the cover of the looming trees. It was breathtaking. He'd always loved the countryside of Hogwarts and been awed by it's absolute beauty. From the rolling hills and thick forest down to the black lake, it was striking. He straddled his broomstick and shot up into the darkening sky with a yell of exhilaration. He reached up a hand to the brightening stars and gazed at the sky in bliss. He let the feeling wash over and consume him not realizing at that moment he was being watched.
Lily Evans stared up at the puzzling mystery that was James Potter. She watched as he tumbled and soared through the air completely and blissfully unaware of the world around him. He had a content look on his face as he flew. His unruly black hair whipped around his head and face as he dove and climbed through the air. It looked like a choreographed dance that he had been practicing for years. James Potter looked graceful and free on a broomstick. It made Lily see James in a whole new light.
She reckoned that flying to James was what reading or studying was to her. It was an escape. For the first time in her life she didn't think Potter was being arrogant or a show off. He couldn't see the redhead sitting near the edge of the forbidden forest with her pile of forgotten homework. She'd watched him come onto the pitch, broom thrown over his shoulder, looking as if he was in deep thought. He walked over to the benches for the teams and sat. He sat for quite some time and Lily just stared at him in disbelief. When he finally took flight it was with a goofy grin on his face. He kicked off with a shout and then lost himself completely in the feeling. It was a beautiful thing, watching James Potter so careless and free. Lily felt as if she were intruding on a very private moment, but could not bring herself to look away. So, there she sat hypnotized and enchanted by the creature that was James Potter.
Though she would never admit it later, she felt great disappointment when reality finally set in over James. He flew down to the ground and his face seemed to fall with the descent. She watched as the usual features of James settled back over his face. She realized there was a lot of pain and worry in his stance she had never noticed before. There was a weight that seemed to settle back over his shoulders. She had never seen any of this before because under his happy-go-lucky exterior it had always been. It was a constant that he hid well. He was only ever unloaded of his burden when he got up into the air. It was puzzling and sad. Even this prankster boy had troubles in their dark world.
Lily wondered if anybody could truly be happy anymore with Voldemort on the rise. James had always been that happy constant for her. It was part of why she'd hated him so. James Potter was spoiled and the only one unaffected by the turmoil and chaos around them. Even his best friends had it bad, but not Perfect Potter. She'd envied and wanted to be him. She wanted to be blissful and unaffected. If James Potter couldn't be happy and carefree, who could be?
Then she realized that she was just like everyone else. She assumed that whatever exterior James provided was the person that he truly was. He just had been putting on the best face he could provide. He hid his demons just like she did. Just like his friends. He could've always had a hard life and she'd never known. She'd judged someone she didn't know.
Lily felt shame burn in her stomach and face. She'd been terrible to someone she'd never bothered to get to know. She felt like a hypocrite and realized that she was. She had shunned James under the pretense of being cruel to Severus without even knowing him and completely disregarding that the boy had feelings. She was just as terrible.
The thing was that James had only been like that for a brief stint in his life. He'd changed and moved on no longer bullying people. He'd repented and felt great shame in his past actions. Lily had seen it, although she'd never wanted to admit it. She was the one who had continued to hold a grudge against him. She sat their constantly judging and ridiculing him. She was the biggest hypocrite in the world and he'd never even called her on it.
As she stood to follow Potter back into the castle hastily gathering her things, she made a vow. She vowed to solve the puzzle that was James Potter and to not judge him again until she knew him better. There was something hidden within him and she was dying to figure out what it was.