James had always loved Lily. There was no doubt about it. And everyone knew it. They just didn't tell James or Lily. Remus and Sirius were two such individuals. They were both completely aware of James' feelings towards the lovely Lily but both had agreed that they should allow James to discover this on his own. And he did. After four long years. Remus and Sirius could remember the day as though it were yesterday…

James walked through the hallways of Hogwarts, along with his three best mates, acting for all the world that he was better than anyone. And in some respects he was. He, and many others, were better than any Slytherin. James was the best Chaser that Hogwarts had seen for years and that didn't seem about to change. James was at the top of fifth year Transfiguration, a fact that annoyed a certain Lily Evans to no end. On this particular September afternoon, James had just beaten Lily in a test for Charms, which was Lily's best class. And James, the bastard, had beaten her and she was pissed.

"I am the greatest. It's official." James announced. Most people ignored him but the females in the immediate vicinity nodded, or voiced, the various agreements, which made James' smile, and ego, increase tenfold.

"I rather doubt that, Potter." James, surprised that anyone, least of all a female, could disagree with him, looked around himself for the source of the blasphemy. And his eyes settled on the lovely Lily Evans.

"What would you know, Evans? You're just upset because I beat you." James' face took on a smug look, and Remus, Sirius and Peter grimaced.

"You didn't beat me, Potter. You cheated." Lily said this without so much as a smile, vindictive or otherwise.

"I, Evans, do not cheat. No matter what you think. I beat you, so you may as well except it." Lily gave him her most famous and chill inducing stare.

"There is no way that you could ever beat me. Especially when it comes to Charms. So you must have cheated." By this stage everyone within ear shot had stopped in the hopes that they would see one of the famous Potter vs. Evans fights. And they weren't disappointed.

"You think so?" Lily finally smiled, vindictively, crossed her arms over her chest and nodded. "Alright then. Let's put it to a test."

"A test? What kind of test?"

"Simple. We get a third party to be the judge and we each perform three charms. Whoever does the charms best wins. How's that sound?" Lily was silent for a minute before she suddenly brightened.

"I chose the judge though."

"No one from Gryffindor though." Lily shrugged.

"Fine by me. Justin Holmes." James' face visibly darkened and the buy named Justin Holmes stepped into view. He was in the same year as James and Lily but was a Ravenclaw. And a Chaser. He was very good looking but not pompously so. He was, in essence, the exact opposite of James Potter in every way. The only similarity the two shared was a liking for Lily. However, Lily actually got along with Justin.

"He's biased." James said child-like.

"Potter, everyone is biased. Justin will judge fairly though, won't you Jazz?"

"Absolutey, Lily." Justin smiled and James dislike for the boy increased.

"Two judges then. To make it fair," Lily smiled and indicted that she didn't really care either way. James fixed Lily with another smug expression before saying "Hannah Cobalt." This time it was Lily's face that visibly darkened. Hannah Cobalt stepped forward and smiled warmly at James. Hannah was in Hufflepuff and was one of James' many admirers. The girl was, in Lily's opinion, very shallow and would do anything to get into James pants, though she never actually had. She was an attractive girl but she knew it and so flaunted it every opportunity that she got.

"Fine then. Can we get started please? I have other things to do." Lily took out her hand and held it confidently down by her side. James mirrored her action and posture, something that he had been doing unconsciously for several weeks now. Many had noticed but no one said anything. Plus Lily hadn't noticed yet.

The first charm that they had to perform was relatively simple and yet Lily easily beat James. James' attempt at the charm had somehow gone backwards and the affect was rather disturbing. Instead of making the feather float James had somehow managed to turn the feather into a flower and set it on fire. That in itself was not disturbing but the flower had been a white lily and that was the disturbing bit.

The second charm was technically taught in defence but because it was called the Patronus Charm it was allowed. James went first and pulled it off beautifully, although he was slightly embarrassed when a swan appeared. When this happened James did notice that Lily smiled slightly and guessed, correctly, that the swan was Lily's favourite animal. Lily went second and when the silvery doe appeared James nearly fainted. He spun to look at his friends who didn't actually seem surprised at all. They merely smiled at him in encouragement. That round went to James.

The third charm that they had to do was a very complicated one that Flitwick had only taught them the day before. The most complicated bit of the charm was the wand movements they had to pull off. The correct outcome of the charm was that the person whom the charm was being used on (Sirius) would float five feet off the floor standing upright. Lily achieved this perfectly whereas James let his buddy fall to the floor. And so Lily won.

"Nice, Potter. Let your friend go crashing to the floor. How nice of you." The sarcasm in Lily's voice couldn't be missed by the most stupid person but James found himself merely staring at her. "Well, that was fun. Ta, Potter." With that Lily turned and walked away holding up her left hand in a wave. When James was alone with just Remus, Sirius and Peter he sat down on the floor, leaning against the wall, and stared after Lily.

"Is it possible to love someone who hates you?"