James and Lily:

A Love Story Begins

Chapter 1

It was 11:45 p.m., and a tall boy with messy black hair and laughing blue eyes was just crawling thought the portrait hole to the Gryffindor common room, which was seemingly empty. The fire in the hearth was crackling, and slowly burning down for the night. Everything was still and silent as he started for the stairs leading to the boys' dormitories. Just then, he heard the turning of a book page coming from one of the overstuffed armchairs in the corner next to the fireplace. He saw a glint of light from the flames shine off of the auburn hair of a pretty girl who was curled up with a book, a mixture of concentration and interest on her face. She seemed to be so engrossed in the book, she didn't realize the boy was even in the room.

"Hey, Evans," said the dark-haired boy in a would-be-casual voice.

The girl turned quickly, forced back into reality by the sound of his voice. "Oh, it's you. Hello Potter. What are you doing out so late? You were supposed to be here over an hour ago. Curfew's 10:00, even for James Potter."

"Oh, Evans, I'm hurt! To think you'd accuse me of breaking the rules!" the boy said in mock distress. "McGonagall told me I could stay out a bit late to practice for the big game Saturday. Said she didn't want to have to give up the trophy, and we'd better win. Oh, yeah, and she wanted me to give this to you." He pulled a slightly crumpled letter from his robe pocket and handed it to her. "It came by Muggle post today. Who's writing you anyway?"

She snatched the letter from his hands and glanced at the return address. "It's from my sister, not that it's any of your business," she said as she opened the envelope.

"Well, see ya Evans," James said as he turned away slowly. He just didn't understand why she didn't like him. Oh well. It's her loss, he told himself without really believing it. Nearly every girl in the school would go out with him, given the chance; as a matter of fact, every girl would but one. It just happened though, that the one girl was the only one he wanted to go out with. Lily Evans. He hid his dejection as he once again turned toward the staircase leading to his room, and once again was distracted by a sound near the fireplace. He turned to see Evans quickly wipe away a tear and take a sniffing breath.

"You okay, Evans?" James asked concernedly, walking toward her.

"Yes, I'm fine," she said in a thick voice and blinked several times.

"You sure? 'Cause you don't look fine. What's the matter?" James was really worried now, he'd never seen her cry before, and wasn't quite sure what to do. He raised his hand to hold her shoulder, but hesitated and rested it on the back of the chair instead.

"Nothing! Now please, go away!" She hid her face in her arms took a shuddering breath, clearly trying not to break down completely in front of James.

"Please, tell me what's wrong. I know I'm not your favorite person in the world, but, well, I want to help if I can. Please?"

Lily was caught off guard at his open manner and gave in. She pointed to the letter that lay on the floor. James picked it up and scanned its contents.

"My sister, Petunia, she, she said. She said that our parents, she said that they're dead. She said that a group of wizards broke into the house, and they, they started breaking everything. Petunia hid in her room, but my parents, they went to see what was making the noise. She said she saw green light under her door, and some men laughing. They were laughing, James! Then there were a lot of cracking sounds, and when she went to see what happened, they were dead. It was the Death Eaters. I know it was. They killed my parents because of me. Because I'm a muggle-born studying magic, and they can't get me at Hogwarts, so they killed my parents instead. It's all my fault, and now my parents are gone, and Petunia hates me, and they can't be dead James! They can't! Please, please. They can't! They can't!" She broke down into heaving sobs and buried her head in James's arm.

Shocked though he was by everything happening, James knew Lily needed to have someone, even him, to be there for her. He hesitantly rubbed her back in as comforting a way as he could and tried to calm her down. "Please, please, it's not your fault, Evans. It's not! Those Death Eaters, they're, well, they're evil. I can't change what happened to your parents. I wish I could, but I can tell you that there's no way it's your fault. And there's nothing you could have done to stop it."

Nothing he could say seemed to calm her. She just kept crying as he stroked her hair and patted her back. "Please, please don't cry," he pleaded with her. "Please. Lily!" He said her name with such feeling, compassion, and emotion, she looked up, startled. "Lily, listen to me, it's not your fault, okay? It's not your fault." He looked deep into her eyes and tried to convey all of his feelings into that one look, not sure what else to say or do.

She breathed in deeply and made an attempt to stem the flow of her tears. "Thank you, James." she said when she finally composed herself. She wiped her eyes and then turned to look at him. "You, uh, you called me Lily. You've never called me that before." She looked down and swallowed the tears that threatened to begin again.

"Oh, yeah, right. Well, I guess I haven't. But, hey, are you okay? I mean, I know you're not okay okay, but, are you going to be okay?" he asked her, relieved she had stopped crying, but not wanting to leave her.

"Yes, well, I guess so. I mean, you can go if you want. I'll, uh, I'll be alright." she told him, but she didn't look like he wanted him to leave. This was unusual, and James wanted to make sure she was really going to be alright before he left.

"No, I didn't mean that. I don't have to leave; I'm not really tired anyway. I'd rather stay here, if that's okay with you."

"Well, if you really want to…" she said, then she looked up at him, and he saw the gratitude in her eyes. "Thank you for being here for me, James. You didn't have to." She looked down again, overcome by emotion.

"Oh, really, what else could I do, huh?" he said with a sad smile. "Don't you know I'd do anything for you, Lily?" He had been caught up in a moment of frankness, and said more than he'd meant to, but it was too late now.

"What?" She looked up again, startled by his words. She looked at him, trying to see if he meant what he said. Trying to see if James Potter could really be saying this to her. The same James who ruffled his hair to make it look like he'd just gotten off his broom, and who was constantly breaking the rules with his gang of friends. The same James who was the object of nearly every girl's affection at Hogwarts.

"You got to know it Lily, you've got to know that I've been crazy about you for years, don't you?" He looked in her eyes and tried to see what she was feeling now. He felt bad for bringing this up at a time like this, but it was too late now. He had to tell her. This was their seventh and final year at Hogwarts, and he may not have another chance.

"I, well, no. I mean, I know you asked me out a lot during our fourth and fifth years, but, well, I figured you were just joking. I didn't think you were serious about it or anything." she said. She was very confused, and was having difficulty processing so many emotions at once. First, receiving the letter about her parents, and now James Potter turning out to be a sensitive guy who had feelings for her. It was all too much.

"No, Lily, I was never joking with you. I've wanted to be with you since long before fourth year, I just didn't actually get up the courage to ask you before then. Then, when you turned me down, I acted like I didn't care. Like it was a game when I asked you, but it was never a game. Never. You said I'd never called you Lily before, but that's not true. I stopped calling you Lily when I realized how much I liked you. I didn't want you and everyone to know how much I liked you, and I figured, if I said your name, then everyone would be able to hear it in my voice. That's when I started calling you Evans. It was just easier to pretend I didn't have feelings for you when I called you Evans. Evans is a girl in my class, a friend, but Lily is the person I've, well, the person I've been in love with since first year. I know you don't want to hear any of this, and I'm sorry to dump this all on you now especially. I don't want to hurt you, Lily, and I understand that you don't feel the same way. I just, I guess I had to tell you. I'm sorry it came out tonight. I know you have a lot on your mind. Just, just give me the word and I'll leave, okay? Whenever you want."

He said this in such a sadly calm voice that Lily wasn't sure quite what to say at first. She had always thought of James as sort of arrogant, and never once thought he was being sincere when he asked her out. There were so many feelings crowding her right now, she couldn't think clearly. Then, she realized, she didn't need to think. There are some cases were you only need to feel, and this was one of them. She closed her eyes for a few minutes, and when she opened them, she knew what she felt, at least partially.

"James, I don't want you to leave. You've been such a good friend tonight, and I can't thank you enough for that. I never meant to hurt you all those times; I would never have done that if I had known. And I truly believe that you're being sincere, so now I'll try and be sincere with you.

"You were always such a show-off when we were younger, that I guess that's just how I thought of you, and I didn't really pay any attention to how you've changed. But you have changed. And I'm so sorry for ever having hurt you. James, I can't think right now, and I can't tell you exactly what I feel, but I can tell you this. I do have feelings for you. I don't know that I had them before tonight, before we talked, but I know I do now. I'm not sure about the extent of them, I'm not sure of much of anything anymore, but I am sure that they're there, and I just thought you should know."

Realization spread through James as he listened to Lily's speech, and he could hardly believe his ears. He told her of his feelings, barely hoping to escape being laughed at. And now, here was Lily Evans, the girl of his dreams, telling him she had feelings for him. After he realized this, he hardly heard what she was saying, trying to make sense of everything. Finally, he became aware that she'd stopped talking.

"Lily?"

"I know, you probably think I'm so stupid and crazy and I don't know what. First, I'm really mean to you, then I start crying all over you, and then, I'm telling you I have feelings for you. You must think, well, I don't even know what you must be thinking of me now. But…"

"Lily!" James interrupted her. "Lily, I don't thing you're stupid, or crazy, or anything like that. I think you're the most amazing person in the world, and right now, all I can think of is that I actually may have a chance with Lily Evans! If I didn't think you'd slap me and change your mind, I'd kiss you right now." He was so happy at hearing everything that Lily had said, his enormous smile was almost bursting into a laugh.

"Really?" Lily asked, almost afraid to believe that, among everything bad that had just happened, something so good, yet so unexpected was happening to her.

"Yes, really," James smiled.

"Then kiss me," Lily said, looking up at him.

"What?" James asked, not sure if he was hearing her right. Only a couple of hours ago, Lily thought he was an arrogant jerk, now she wanted him to kiss her. He was afraid that it was just some side effect of the grief, and didn't want their first kiss to be a mistake and for her to hate him even more for it later. "Are you sure? I mean, you're not just confused with everything that's happening?"

"Yes, James. I wouldn't risk ruining what I'm feeling for you right now by being unsure. As a matter of fact, wanting you to kiss me right now is about the only thing I am sure about."

"Really?" It was James's turn to ask.

"Yes, really," Lily smiled.

James took a deep breath, barely conscious to what was happening. He leaned forward and softly touched his lips to hers, hesitantly at first, then more assuredly. Her mouth moved in perfect rhythm with his, and electricity flowed through their lips. It seemed to last an eternity and to be over in an instant all at the same time. When he pulled away, he looked at her and said, "I know that you're not ready to say this, and I know you're confused about a lot of things right now, but I have to tell you this: I love you Lily Evans. I love you so much."

"James, I, I think I love you too. I love you James. Please don't think I that I'm only saying this because of what happened, or that I'm some silly girl who can't make up her mind what she's feeling. Because I am confused about a lot of things, but there's one thing that is becoming clearer and clearer to me. James, I've known you for so many years without really knowing you. I feel like in this one night, I've grown to know you more than all of our years at Hogwarts combined. And now, I can truly, honestly, and sincerely say, I love you. I really don't know how this happened, but I do. And I don't know how I'd have gotten through this night without you. Thank you so much." Tears were filling her eyes again, but they both knew that these were a different kind of tears.

They were both sitting in one armchair now, and Lily leaned her head on James's shoulder. His arm was around her, and his head was resting on top of hers. The fire had died long ago, and a tiny bit of sunlight was beginning to shine through the window on the far side of the room. Neither one of them realized it at that moment, but they were soon to begin an adventure together that would be remembered by generations to come. They couldn't realize that their love, their bond would create something, or someone rather, who was so powerful, that he would change the fate of the world. At that moment, all they knew was that they had finally found each other, and that as long as they had each other, everything would be alright.