First Year
"Hey Evans," James Potter said to the redhead, "How's your buddy Snivellus? He doing good?"
"Shut up, Potter."
"Shouldn't you be in Slytherin? Oh, wait, I forgot, you're a muggle born. Hmm, I wonder what Snivellus the Slytherin thinks of you…"
"Shut up, Potter. Severus isn't like the others!"
"Oh, really? I really thought I heard him say 'mud blood' once or twice…"
"SHUT UP, POTTER! He did not!"
"Are you sure?"
"…"
"Ow, Evans, that hurt!"
"Then shut up!"
Second Year
"LEAVE HIM ALONE, POTTER!"
"Why should I?"
"Because you're a bullying idiot, that's why."
"That's not a reason."
"Yes it is! It had, that's why, at the end!"
James ruffled his hair. Lily groaned. While Lily and James argued, Severus stood up and left.
"Evans, loosen up! Learn to laugh a bit!"
"If loosening up means watching you torment my best friend, and laughing at it, I don't want to loosen up!"
"Yes you do! You want to loosen up!" James did not realize what he was saying by now. He just wanted Lily to smile, or something, but she seemed to hate him no matter what.
Lily raised her eyebrows.
"You can't tell me what I want, Potter," she said angrily, and walked away.
James watched her go in disappointment, and was vaguely aware of Sirius laughing behind him.
"Hey James!" Sirius called out. James turned.
"You do want to loosen up!"
"Oh, shut the bloody hell up."
Third Year
"Hey, Evans!"
"What do you want, Potter?"
"Uh…Well…"
This was the first time Lily had seen James hesitant. Her eyebrows rose.
"What?"
"I just…Can I ask you a question?"
Lily looked surprised. Sirius, Remus, and Peter watched from the lake. Lily narrowed her eyes in suspicion and asked,
"What about?"
"Well, see, it has to do with you and me…on Saturday night…in Hogsmeade…"
Lily realized what was going on.
"Are you asking me out?" she questioned in a hushed voice.
You could see James' extreme nervousness on his face.
"Well…no…."
"Then what are you doing?"
"I mean…not yet…"
Lily waited.
"Uh…uh…Willyougowithme?"
You could hear Remus' snort as though he was standing right next to them. James turned around and glared.
Lily looked at James like he had grown tentacles. She had obviously not expected him to really ask her.
"Don't just stand there…" James pleaded.
"Are you…insane?"
"Well, that doesn't sound good."
"Did you really expect me to say yes?"
"Well…sorta…"
"Why would you expect me to say yes?!"
"I dunno."
"Why are you asking me?"
"I dunno."
"Do you even like me?"
"I dunno."
"Do you know anything?"
James stared at her.
"No…But, Lily, please? I've been planning this forever!"
"What?"
"Please, will you go out with me?"
"Are you seriously begging me to go out with you?"
"Yes. I am."
"Well, the answer's no."
Lily walked off.
"Lily!"
"Don't call me that," Lily said, not turning around.
James stared at the ground as his friends came up to him. Sirius said,
"James, I'm sorry, but that was honestly the most pathetic asking out I've ever seen."
Fourth Year
"James Potter, you are the most annoying person I've ever had the misfortune of meeting!"
"Lily, will you go out with me?"
"SHUT UP ALREADY!"
"Lily, will you go out with me?"
"NO! I said no like a million times already! Leave me alone!"
"Lily, will you go out with me?"
"Potter, I swear if you ask me one more time I'll"-
"Hex me into oblivion? Smack me in the face? Tattletale?"
Lily struggled to think of a new thing to say. He took all the things she usually said, except for tattletale. She didn't know where that came from…
"I'll – I'll "-
"Lily, will you go out with me?"
"Stop it!"
"No. Lily, will you go out with me?"
"POTTER!"
"Yes?"
"Just – just – stop it!"
"I refuse to. Lily, will you go out with me?"
Lily looked at him like he was toilet paper she found on her shoe.
"No. I refuse to."
"Fine then. I'll have to go on – Lily, will you go out with me?"
"Oh, grow up, Potter. Leave me alone."
"Lily, will you"-
"James, it's not going to work," said Remus softly. He grabbed his friend's arm and pulled him away. As Remus dragged him, James called out,
"Evans! You'll go out with me one day!"
And she had replied,
"Yeah! In your dreams!"
James was getting farther and farther away. Who knew Remus was so strong? He yelled out one last thing.
"LILY, WILL YOU GO OUT WITH ME?!"
There was no reply.
Fifth Year
James looked at Lily's tear stricken face.
"I told you he was going to do that to you."
"You had no idea that he would do that to me."
"He's Snivellus, Evans. There was no doubt he would call you that – that – word."
"Just shut up. I'm just as mad at you as I am at him, Potter."
"Well, you're not yelling."
"Maybe I don't feel like yelling."
"Okay."
There was an awkward silence.
"Why are you even talking to me anyways?" Lily asked.
"I figured you needed someone to talk to."
"I have friends."
"I know, Lily. I'm just trying to be nice. I could be your friend too."
"As if."
"Lily, I'm just trying to help."
"Well don't, okay? I don't need your help."
"Fine."
But James didn't leave. After a few minutes, Lily started to get frustrated.
"Can you just go?"
"Sorry, but I was under the impression that this was the Gryffindor Common Room, not the Evans Common Room."
"Potter, it's three o' clock in the morning. Don't you want to go to bed?"
"Not particularly, no."
Lily huffed in annoyance.
"Why not?"
"Because I know you're not okay."
"So?"
"So, I'll only leave when I know you're okay."
Lily failed to not look touched by this.
"Thanks," she mumbled so low that he could barely her.
He smiled.
"You're welcome."
There was a moment of silence. Suddenly, before Lily knew what she was doing, she started crying hysterically on James' shoulder.
"He was my best friend!" she said in between fits of tears.
James panicked; he had no idea what to do. Thinking about what his mum used to do when he was little, he rubbed her back and said,
"I know, I know."
After ten minutes of this, Lily pulled away. She looked at James, apologized, and ran upstairs, leaving James looking hopelessly confused.
Sixth Year
James paced up and down the dormitory in front of his three best friends. They weren't really listening. James was mainly talking to himself. Even when he asked a question, he didn't wait for the answer.
"I don't even know what to do anymore!" he said, clearly frustrated, "I just don't get it. She hasn't talked to me since that night. Not even one insult!"
James sat glumly on his bed. He didn't seem to notice that Remus was immersed in a book, Sirius was actually studying, as the exams were three months away, and Peter was playing with his wand. He ranted on.
"I even miss her insults. I haven't heard her voice in forever. Well, not directed at me, anyways. I think she hates me. I was just trying to comfort her! I didn't know she would get so embarrassed. Are you guys even listening to me?"
James didn't wait for their vague answer.
"I don't know what to do. I don't know, I don't know, I don't know! Isn't there a book for this type of thing?
"She's just so…so…AUGH! I can't even explain it.
"I-I-…I think I'm in love with her."
Peter kept playing with his wand, but Remus and Sirius looked up at this. They had heard James say many things about Lily – in first year that she was an idiot to hang out with Snape, in second year that she was kind of cute, in third year that she was really nice and pretty, in fourth year that she was beautiful and smart, in fifth year that she was amazing – but not once did he ever say the word 'love'. They had merely thought it was an infatuation, because when they reached third year, she was all James could talk about. It was strange at first, seeing as James nearly hated her in first year, but they got used to it. But now…this was much, much, stranger…
"In love, James?" asked Sirius softly. James didn't answer the question. He just went on as if there was no interruption.
"I just can't do this anymore!" he said, "I need her! I need her to talk to me; I don't care what she says. I don't care. I just…I don't know what to do anymore…"
Sirius and Remus were afraid for their friend's sanity.
"James," Remus interrupted, "Are you sure this is love?"
"I'm prepared to marry her right here, right now, Remus. It's not infatuation. It's not lust. It's love. It's Lily. She's perfect. Don't you think, Sirius?"
Sirius looked at James. He looked much like a little kid asking a question.
"Well…she is for you."
"But she hates me!"
"She doesn't hate you, James," said Sirius.
"She'll talk to you in time," said Remus, "Right now she's just embarrassed because you witnessed her crying, and worst of all, she turned to you for comfort."
"Worst of all?"
"For her."
James sighed.
"I hope time comes fast."
Seventh Year
Since James was Head Boy, he and Lily were on speaking terms. In fact, they were actually good friends. Lily seemed to have forgotten everything that happened in fifth year. Or at least, tried to.
"What do you think of me, Lily?" James asked her one day. They were sitting in the Common Room. It was very late at night. Late at night was the only time they did hang out, because they liked having the Common Room to themselves.
"What do you mean? I think of you as my friend, of course."
Lily seemed to choke on the word 'friend'. James sighed.
"I know that. I mean, if you had to describe me in ten words, what would you say? Ten adjectives."
Lily smiled.
"Well…I would first say, loyal."
James grinned.
"I would then say, arrogant."
"Still?"
"Yeah. Less, but still."
"Fine. What else?"
"Strange. Talkative. Sweet. Mature, actually."
"Really?" James looked taken aback.
"A little. Handsome."
James beamed at this. Lily swore she heard someone chuckle by the boy's dormitories.
"Smart. Friendly. And this last one is more like four words, but it's basically still one adjective."
"Oh?"
"Yes…and it's just a guess. I know absolutely nothing about this."
"Really?"
"Yes. And my guess is…my guess is that you're a very, very, good kisser."
As James' eyes grew to the size of tennis balls, Lily inched closer to him.
"And since I don't know if this is true or not, why don't I find out?"
James was sure he heard someone gasp near the boy's dormitories, but he had no time to think about that right now, as Lily crushed her lips to his. She started to kiss him, and James eyes grew once more. But it was only for a second, because after that he closed his eyes and kissed her back. He had been waiting for this for years.
They broke apart and James looked at Lily in shock and happiness. She just smiled. They stared at each other for a moment, and then Lily said,
"James Potter, how would you like to be my loyal, arrogant, strange, talkative, sweet, handsome, smart, friendly, boyfriend?"
"You forgot one thing."
"James Potter, how would you like to be my loyal, arrogant, strange, talkative, sweet, handsome, smart, friendly, awesome kisser boyfriend?"
James didn't answer with a yes or a no. He didn't answer with a kiss. But he did answer.
"I love you," James replied. Lily sucked in her breath. She hesitated before saying,
"I love you too."
Suddenly, clapping and wolf whistling was heard by the boy's dormitories, and Remus, Sirius, and Peter threw off the invisibility cloak.
"We heard James was going to ask you that question about the ten words," explained Remus, "So we wanted to see what you'd say."
"We didn't know you were going to kiss him!" Peter exclaimed.
"And you didn't just kiss him, you told him you loved him," said Remus.
Sirius walked over to James, pointed at him, and turned to Lily.
"You see this man I'm pointing at?" he asked, "You just made him the happiest man on Earth."
James was grinning from ear to ear. He ignored everyone and kissed Lily again.
"Okay," said Remus chuckling, "We're gonna go upstairs now…"
They were ignored.