It was all pretence
"James Potter! You'd better stop following me or I'll hex you into the hospital wing." Lily Evans shouted. She couldn't bear it any longer, another second that man followed her and she would have exploded with anger. It wasn't the first day James was following her, so it was natural for Lily to get irritated or annoyed. Lily had warned Potter before, but he wouldn't listen.
The comment left James thrown back. He didn't expect the demure woman in front of him to blow up, did he? Actually, he should have, Lily was known for her temper. James stood staring at Lily stupidly for a moment and then hastily collected himself, rounding up his "cool" attitude. He threw his hands up in the air as if to show that he surrender, and shrugged. Lily Evans rolled her eyes and continued forward. To her consternation, James followed suit. It was another excruciating 5 minutes before Lily reached her limit. She swiftly turned around, pulling out her wand in her robes.
"Affli-" Lily Evans shouted, pointing her wand at James Potter.
"Expelliarmus!" Potter was too quick for her. Lily's wand flew out of her hand. "Hey, no need for aggressiveness, ok?" Lily rolled her eyes; she seemed to be doing much of that lately, as if she was trying to roll her anger back.
"Well," Lily retorted, "I had warned you and you didn't back off. It was getting hell annoying! Besides, ever heard of privacy?" She crossed her arms and cocked her head to the side.
"Well, Professor Flitwick asked me to pass you a note, but if you were ignoring me, how was I supposed to do it?" James reached his hand into his robes and pulled out a memo that was full of scrawled handwriting.
Lily raised her eyebrows. "James Potter! You pranks are getting more and more stupid! Can stop finding excuses?"
A thought suddenly struck her. She had sent a note to Professor Flitwick a day before to ask him a question. She was wondering why it was taking him so long. The handwriting on the note was certainly Professor Flitwick's. Potter hadn't been lying. With that strong personality of hers, she was unable to admit that she was mean in making hasty decisions about Potter, and instead snatched the note from her hand and stalked away. James stood where he was, looking at the back view of Lily, obviously hurt.
James trudged back to his dormitory, since there were no classes today as it was Sunday.
As he climbed through the portrait hole, his friends looked bewilderedly at him. Sirius, Remus, and Peter had rarely seen James in such a bad mood. The three looked at each other, contemplating what they should do.
"Hey, what's the matter, mate?" Sirius said first, trying to lighten the mood. "Girl problems, eh, prongs?" James glared at him. "Shut up", he said softly, and proceeded to his room.
He climbed into his bed and closed the curtains around it. He casted some protective spells to avoid prying eyes. He didn't want to be disturbed. He hugged his knees, looking down at his toes. Evans' actions today made him feel discomforted. It started him thinking.
Does Lily really hate me this much? Why doesn't she trust me? Am I not good enough for her? Am I really an irritating git? It is because of the pranks I play, that makes her feel that I cannot be serious? Well, I can be! But she doesn't know that. Does she think that because I'm unruly, that I cannot be gentle, too? Or am I just not good enough for her?
Outside in the Gryffindor common room, Evans had just climbed through the portrait hole and headed straight to the girls' dormitory. She hung her head low as she proceeded, looking at her feet and no one else. She pretended she could not hear her friends. The 3 marauders looked at Lily incredulously at her strange behavior. "Well," Remus said, "at least we know the cause."
Lily did the same as James and settled on her bed. She pulled her covers over her as she felt snug underneath them. She felt remorseful for being mean to James, for not trusting him.
I should have asked him what he wanted! Not just hastily conclude that he was up to no good! What if he doesn't like me anymore? He doesn't know this, but recently I found his jokes amusing, his pranks entertaining, being around him seems fun. I feel comfortable around him. But he doesn't know that. I made no effort showing him that. Why did I have to act so nonchalant to his quirks, his actions, his hints? Why do I act that I am angry with him? For that stupid reason of testing his love for me. It isn't worth it! Why didn't I just tell him that I love him!
Lily buried her head in her hand and started sobbing. Sobbing for being so insensible, so childish.
That day, neither Lily nor James went to the Great Hall for meals.
The next morning dawned bright and sunny, a perfect contrast to James' and Lily's mood. James woke unnaturally early and quickly prepared himself for the day. When he was finished washing up, he made his way down to the Great Hall, without his friends.
There were only a few early birds there and they included Lily Evans. He pretended her never saw her and sat down at the other end of the table.
Lily stared at James in shock. He wasn't his usual self. Not at all. He was wearing his uniform properly. He had gelled his hair. He was early for even breakfast. The whole day, James had avoided Lily, not even asking her if she wanted to go to Hogsmead with him on the weekend.
James' sudden change in character had taken off course. He was suddenly early for lessons, even potions. He did his homework. He stopped bothering Severus. He had stopped playing pranks. He had stopped interrupting lessons. He had stopped telling jokes. Lily wondered if he had stopped loving her.
"James!" Lily called. He turned around to look at Lily. She grabbed his hand and dragged him into an empty classroom. Once settled, she started, "Hey, what happened? Why the sudden change?" James stared into Lily's emerald green eyes, they were as beautiful as he remembered.
"I changed, Lily," he paused and looked at Lily earnestly. "for you." With that, James slung his bag on his shoulder and started towards the door.
Tears rolled down Lily's beautiful cheeks.
"Wait! Look, I'm so sorry about the other day. I was a complete cow. The truth is… I… I… love you." She looked down and blushed, heat rushing to her face. "I know I've been harsh on you, but that was all pretence, I don't know what got over. I love you, James Potter. I love the old you. The new you isn't … well, quite you. I love the James where played pranks, told Jokes, had ruffled hair, and was unruly."
James looked at Lily, "Really?" he said, doubtfully. This was a 180 degree change of attitude from Lily, and he hadn't exactly anticipated this.
Lily reached her hand the hug James.
"I love you, Lily Evans, and I'm serious."
A/N: Hey How did you find this fic? Please review! Tell me what you think so I can improve!
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, not now, not ever, not even in my wildest dreams.