Chapter 1

Dragging Evans

Disclaimer- Not mine.

Sirius and James were at their usual spot by the lake accompanied by their fellow Gryffindor friend, Julia Carr. They were discussing the upcoming Gryffindor match against Slytherin.

A lively red-haired girl came creeping up behind James and put a finger to her lip motioning for the Sirius and Julia to stay silent. "Guess who!" The girl asked hopping up on James back and covering his eyes with her hands.

James stumbled forward from the force but quickly regained his balance. "Judging by the weight on my back I'd say...a small dragon? Or perhaps a large bear?" He joked.

The girl grinned at his cleverness but smacked him for his cheekiness. She had known James long enough to recognize this as just teasing. She knew James would never say anything like that meaningfully, especially not to his best friend.

"Hey Lily." James said and set her down on the ground.

"That was harsh Potter." Julia said, grinning at the pair of them.

"Yeah she doesn't need a reminder at the rolls of fat she has at her stomach. How could she miss them?" Sirius joked, watching Lily narrow her eyes at him.

"Very funny. But at least I don't chow down on frog's brain every now and again." Lily spat, a smirk curling across her face.

Julia laughed remembering last year during Potions when Sirius dug his hand into a huge tub of frog brains pulling out a particularly plump one covered and black bubbles and oozing with green pus and popping it into his mouth.

Sirius grinned a bit but had nothing to say to that. He had rather enjoyed the brain though the texture was a bit rough...

"And I'm not speaking to you because of that comment." Lily said, turning her back to James knowing that it would drive James crazing if she wasn't speaking to him.

"Aw Lils you know it was just a joke." James pleaded.

Lily shook her head and turned away from him.

"I bet I can get you to change your mind about not talking to me." Lily still said nothing but Julia and Sirius watched both wearing grins, knowing that James would get what he wanted. He always got what he wanted.

"How about a dip in the lake?" James asked Lily as he pulled her closer to him, wrapping his arms tightly around her. "I'm sure the Giant Squid might like some company."

Lily's eyes widened and she struggled to break free from James. "James no!" She said, frantically searching her pockets for her wand. It was only just the beginning of spring, a bit too cold to be thrown into the murky depths of the Black Lake.

James noticed she was looking for her wand and quickly pulled it out of her pocket. "I don't think so." He said smiling and tossing the wand to Sirius.

Sirius laughed and caught it. "Sirius please give it back." Lily begged as James pulled her towards the lake.

"Not this time Lily. James is my best mate and I can't let him down by giving this back to you. Besides you were just making fun of my eating habits."

"Go on give it back to her." Julia said, though she wasn't making much of an effort to help her friend who was only a foot or two away from the lake. Instead, she chose to sprawl out on the grass, soaking up the sun.

Sirius shook his head. "Maybe in a bit. But for now, I'd like to be entertained." He replied, grinning.

"Please James no!" Lily said tugging at James's arms to break free. "Please! I'm so sorry. I'll never ignore you again or ever get mad at you but please don't throw me in." Lily begged as she watched a fat brown fish with thorn like needles protruding from its skin jump out of the water to eat a dragonfly. Lily gasped at the fish and tried more frantically to break free. But James was a lot stronger than she was, though she was putting up a decent fight.

"Something tells me that you're not being completely honest. In fact, I think if I let you go you'll get mad at me, get your wand and hex the crap out of me." James replied, knowingly.

"No I really am sorry. I won't hex you...or beat you up."

James chuckled. "You're not going to let me forget that beating me up thing."

"I don't think you need me to keep you from forgetting. After all, it's not every day a girl kicks the stuffing out of you." Lily replied, smirking a bit.

"Aw come on Evans that was in first year."

"Doesn't matter. I still beat you up."

"You were a foot taller than me."

"You were a year older."

James sighed still smiling. "Alright fine Evans, you won that round. But if I were you, I wouldn't be tempting me at a time like this."

Lily looked down at the dark water and frowned. "James I will never forgive you if you throw me in there."

James laughed again. "Nah I'm not that heartless." He said, letting go of her. "But next time I won't think twice about doing it."

Lily let out a sigh of relief. "How sweet of you." She spat and straightened herself up.

"I am pretty sweet, I know. But mostly handsome." James replied, winking at her.

Lily rolled her eyes and headed back towards Julia and Sirius, but not before laying both hands on James's shoulders and pushing him with all her strength into the lake.

Sirius let out a roar of laughter and Julia quickly joined in. Lily grinned as she watched James resurface, a large chunk of a seaweed-like plant on his head.

"Well that was unfair." He murmured, pulling himself out of the lake.

Now Lily couldn't help but laugh. "How's the water James? Nice and warm" Lily cooed walking back towards the castle. She figured the farther away from the lake she was, the better.

"Cute Lily. Really adorable." James replied, walking towards her as he wrung the cold water out of his shirt.

"I'm pretty adorable but mostly clever." Lily said, mocking what James had said earlier. "Oh and James I'd suggest washing those cloths with warm water and Earl's Finest Soap. It's the best way to get the lake stink out of them." She poked her tongue out at him before making a dash for the door.

"Oh you better run!" James said, grinning as he chased off after her.

"And now the show begins." Sirius said to Julia as he followed the pair of them towards the castle.

Julia laughed and nodded. "I bet Lily comes out on top."

"Nah, James has got this." Sirius replied, walking into the castle.

"If Lily wins, you have to do my Charms homework." She said and pushed a finger into his chest.

"And if James wins, you're doing my Transfiguration homework." Sirius said, extending a hand to her.

"Done." Julia replied, shaking his hand.

"Come out Lily Evans I know you're around here some where." James called over the noise in the entrance hall as he searched for the red head. Many students were giving him questioning looks seeing as he was dripping wet and covering the floor in pond mud.

Lily chuckled and ducked behind a corner. "Have you seen a 5th year come by here...Lily Evans...Yeah she has red hair..." Lily could hear James' half of a conversation with a first year. The first year pointed to the corner Lily was hiding behind and she swore.

"Rutty first years..." She mumbled as James cornered her.

"Well well well...What do we have here?" James said, smirking at Lily.

Lily looked up at him and frowned. "A sweet little fifth year that had nothing to do with just throwing you in the lake." She finished, smiling innocently.

But it didn't work.

James grabbed a hold of her again and began to pull her back out the door. "And this is why I should never trust you Lils." He joked.

"Help!" She screamed but it didn't seem to be doing much good. "Rape! Rape!" She continued to yell which received many startled looks from the students around them. Not that it did much good anyway, seeing as the onlookers were all in 2nd year or younger. And if any of them tried to curse James, they would probably just end up blowing up the place.

James laughed. "She's joking." He said to a group of first year girls. He pulled out his wand and muttered "Silenco." Lily continued to scream though no words could be heard.

"Much better." James said.

"You better be getting ready to do some extra Transfiguration homework tonight." Sirius said to Julia.

Julia frowned. "It's not over just yet...Lily will come through."

Lily, realizing the screaming thing wasn't doing much, let her whole body go limp like a rag doll. If he were going to get her to the lake, he'd have to work at it.

"Be stubborn all you want Lils. You're going for a little dip today." James said now dragging Lily along.

Lily swooped her leg up around a suit of armor. With her leg latched on, James frowned and gave her a hard tug. The suit fell right in front of Sirius and Julia and towards Lily.

Lily pushed off the ground with her feet and back into James to avoid being smashed by the armor rather ungracefully. Not that being dragged was all that graceful to begin with.

"Careful Evans. You're breaking all the decor." Piped in Sirius. Lily scowled at him but was completely helpless to do anything about it.

"Come on now Lily don't hurt yourself." Joked James as they reached the great Entrance doors. Lily felt heavier the farther James dragged her. "Geez Lils, lay off the pumpkin pie next time." He teased.

Lily's mouth dropped open and she had a strong desire to turn around and smack him but given her current situation, that was impossible. Instead, she started to wiggle and kick as they reached the cool grass.

"You could always walk you know..." James suggested holding onto Lily's wrist and continuing towards the lake. "Besides a little lake water never hurt anyone. I was just in there. I know." He joked and Lily dug her heels into the ground.

By the time they reached the lake, both of them were exhausted from their efforts. Lily stood upright as she looked down at the water and gave a shiver.

"Any last words?" James muttered the counter-curse to the silencio spell.

"I will never forgive you James." Lily said sticking her nose up in the air, accepting her fate.

James chuckled. "Fair enough." He said before pushing Lily back into the lake. If he were looking closely, he would have noticed a small smirk curling at the corner of her mouth noting she was up to something. He had completely missed it therefore was not expecting what would happen next.

Lily grabbed tightly onto James's arm; the force of James' push not only sending Lily into the lake but James as well.

They both surfaced soaking wet. "I hate you Potter!" Lily said, splashing him with cold lake water. Though she wasn't happy about being in the lake, she was grinning anyway.

"Damn it Evans I wasn't suppose to end up in here." He replied, splashing her back.

"You stupid prick!" Lily said, pushing James under the water. He came up sputtering water and laughing.

"So who do you suppose won that one?" Julia asked Sirius as she watched the two in the lake.

Sirius shrugged. "Clearly James." He grinned and turned to her. "You owe me a night of Transfiguration homework."

Julia shoved Sirius. "He so did not win. He's in the lake as well." She pointed out.

"Aye but he was already wet to begin with so is it really a loss? Besides Lily ended up in the lake and that was the whole goal."

Julia shook her head. "Nope. Now Lily is still one up on him because she got him in the lake twice but she's only been in there once."

"But you're forgetting that James dragged her a near mile through mud, dirt, probably chewed gum and who knows what else." Sirius debated.

Julia smiled a bit, not knowing what to say to that. "It was not a near mile..." Was all she could think of.

Sirius laughed. "Fine we'll call it even. Besides I wouldn't want you doing my Transfiguration homework anyway. You're rubbish at it."

Julia grinned and shook her head. "Even it is."

A/N- Like it? Hate it? Let me know and review.

Kait