"I don't think he ever chased her. I don't think she was ever really running away from him." A different approach to the James/Lily relationship.
Come On Get Higher - Matt Nathanson
May 26th, 1975. The day I guess I finally realized he was something more than what I previously thought of him. It's clearer in my mind than it really should be, but I guess that's life, isn't it? You remember the small things, which make a big impact on your life, rather than the big things, which have little to do with your life.
Like how I remember the first day I spoke to my now best friends. We bonded over how we thought our Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom smelled too much of smoke, coughing as the small little first years that we were back then. Marlene had her dark brown hair pulled back into a plait, and I remember thinking Jane had the clearest blue eyes I'd ever seen in my life.
But it's also like how I don't remember much about when the United Kingdom changed to decimal system for currency in... what year was it again? 1972 perhaps?
That wasn't the point. The point was, this day—no, more specifically this class is clear as day in my mind, and I don't think I'll ever forget it.
"Oi, Evans!" He called to me from the back of the classroom. I turned at the sound of my name, knowing already who was calling me.
"Oh," I said, pretending I was surprised he was calling me. "Hey Potter." Calling each other by our last names was sort of our thing. When or how it started, I'm not sure, but calling him by his first name seemed so foreign to me now.
"What's up?" I asked, twisting my chair around. He sat about two rows behind me, but the students who sat in the rows between us had not yet arrived. He opened his mouth to say something, then thought otherwise, and got up from his seat to come sit closer to me.
"Charms is 'what's up.'" He told me, frowning, his eyebrows drawing together.
I laughed. "Having some troubles?" I asked in my best fake-concerned voice.
He scoffed. "Now really Evans, let's be realistic about this. I was simply offering you my help, if you'd like it." He stared up at me through his long lashes, and I couldn't help myself from rolling my eyes.
"No, I think I'm doing great in Charms actually, Potter. But thanks anyway." I turned so my back was to him, displaying that this conversation was officially over.
"If you're sure..." He sung, leaning over the desk so he could say it nearly in my ear. I pushed his head away from mine, rolling my eyes, but chuckling all the same. "But I think," He said, as he got up. "You'll think otherwise once you get your test back."
I raised a curious eyebrow at this. Turning around, I was prepared to ask what he meant by that, but he had already turned and started walking back to his seat. As a couple Hufflepuffs filled in his previous spot, I leaned around them to look at him intriguingly. He simply winked at me, then looked away.
Sighing, I turned to our Charms teacher, now on the edge of my seat to know what I got for my last test. I was almost sure I had gotten almost perfect on it! But then, how would Potter know what I got anyway? I snorted into my notes as I realized he was just trying to get me worked up.
As Professor Flitwick (whom was a new professor this year, and had been—surprisingly—doing great since day one) started calling his student's names out, as their test scores flew to them, I felt my heart speed up just a little. I couldn't have honestly failed could I have?
Calm down, I told myself, wiping my hands on my pants nervously. You didn't fail. Potter's just trying to get into your head.
But I wouldn't let him. I refused and so, when my test scores zoomed to lie on my desk, I picked them up with easy confidence, and opened it to see what I had got.
I looked to the ceiling in shock as she dropped the test onto my desk, folding it over embarrassingly so no one could see my score. How the hell did I fail? I had studied so hard, and I was sure I had known it all!
Pushing the test into my book bag, I felt eyes on the back of my head. I looked behind me slowly, seeing Potter smirking at me, his brown eyes twinkling with teasing.
Professor Flitwick gave the class a chance to look over their test scores, something I most certainly did not want to do, and then he told us to pair up into partners of our choice. I looked to my two best friends—Marlene and Jane—to see they had simply paired up with the people sitting beside them. As I looked to the person sitting beside me, I noticed Andrew Brown already had a partner. I sighed, looking around the classroom, catching a familiar pair of brown eyes. I walked up to him slowly, feeling depressed and disappointed in myself.
"Well," I sighed, sitting next to him gloomily. "You were right. That Charms help would be greatly appreciated right about now."
I looked to see him wearing an odd sort of smile. It looked like he was just about dying to smirk, but didn't want to be mean.
"Oh, go ahead." I sighed, waving my hand lazily. "I failed. You were right. Help me."
James grinned. "I can't believe you're actually admitting that I'm right."
"I'd be lying if I didn't, wouldn't I?" I said, putting my chin in my hands. "Will you be my partner?"
"Wow, first saying I'm right, then begging me for help. Never thought I'd live to see the day." He said, nudging me in the shoulder teasingly.
"For the record, I don't believe that asking you politely would be called 'begging', but say what you want." I told him.
"For the record, I don't believe saying 'will you be my partner' would be called 'asking politely', but say what you want." He said, teasing me again.
"Potter, will you please by my partner?" I sighed.
He looked at me carefully, seeming to be scrutinizing my face. "What's up with you today?" He asked, voice softer now.
"I just failed my test, Potter." I sighed. "One that I really worked hard on, and was positive I got the answers right. Now I'm more confused than ever."
He said nothing for a while. Then; "Well, why don't I just help you study?" His voice was small and tentative, almost as if he were afraid I'd laugh at this crazy suggestion.
I looked up at him. "You'd do that? For me?"
"Why not?" He shrugged, smiling at me. "Gotta help out a fellow Gryffindor every now and then." He said, grabbing my hand and shoving my wand in it.
"Aren't you busy all week? With Quidditch and all I mean." I added, blushing as I realized I sounded like I was some sort of stalker that knew his schedule.
He thought for a moment. "I'm free Mondays, Wednesdays and alternating Fridays after classes. And I'm free on the weekends unless we've got a match."
"Brilliant. How's we meet today after classes then?" It was a Monday, and I certainly had nothing going on after classes. I found myself waiting impatiently for his answer, praying wildly that he would say yes. But why would Potter want to help me study after classes anyway, I thought with a frown. He definitely had cooler, more popular friends to hang out with.
"Sounds great." He smiled a genuine smile at me, and I felt my insides turn over. He really was nice, once you got over the arrogant smirk and always messed up hair. Though, come to think of it, he hadn't messed it up this whole—
I scratched out my train of thought as he ruffled up his hair, flipping it to one side, then smiling at me with that famous lazy grin of his. I rolled my eyes, pulling out my notebook from my book bag, that I had brought over with me.
"So, coming to our next Quidditch match?" He asked me; voice lazier than it had been before. He seemed to have realized at the same time that I had that he had dropped his false pretense of always being the super put-together, arrogant, cool Quidditch player.
One thing I learned about him today though, is that it was a false pretense. The boy I thought I knew was really nothing at all like I thought. He was only arrogant when he remembered to be.
I smiled at him, and he smiled back at me. Not an arrogant smirk, not a lazy grin with a practiced hair flip. Just a nice, perfect smile, with perfect white teeth, and I felt my insides flip over again.
That's why I'll always remember May 26th, 1975. The day I learned some new things about Potter.
Oh, and it turned out I didn't actually fail my test. Remus came to tell me at dinner that night that Potter had charmed my test to read that I had failed. I had really gotten a perfect score, which I would have been happy about otherwise, had I not realized this meant I didn't have a study session with Potter that night. As I felt my stomach turn, I knew I liked Potter. I hated what he did, but I liked Potter.
Not that anyone could ever know about that though. What kind of girl would they think I was? Liking the jerk guy, everyone would think I only went for looks, and nobody would ever believe me when I told them he was actually a pretty decent guy. And so I waited. I waited two and a half years for him to show everyone else what a decent guy he could be, and in between those two years, well... let's just say I had to cover up my liking for him with, er... hatred.
This, is those two and a half years.
This, my dear readers, is how Potter transformed into a decent guy.