Disclaimer: I own nothing at all in the world, let alone this story.
Written for:
QLFC: Round 9 – A Captain, or Acting Captain's Love
Character: Lily Evans
Position: Chaser 2 - iFocus on a dislike of your character
Prompts: 1)(word)neighbour, 5)(quote)""I think and think and think, I've thought myself out of happiness a million times, but never once into it" – Jonathan Safran Foer, 12)(emotion)lonely
Word Count: 1,440
Birthday Competition: May, Birthstone: The birthstone is emerald. Write about Lily Evans.
OTP Bootcamp: 13)Hatred
Favourite Era Bootcamp: 4)Driven
This is a new style of writing for me, there's a lot less focus on detail and much more on events, I don't know quite how I feel about it, but I hope you enjoy it!
"If there was one thing Lily Evans disliked, it was James Potter. Or 'that arrogant, self-centred, troublemaking James bloody Potter' as he was usually referred to. You could hardly blame her; it wasn't as if they got off to a good start. The Hogwarts Express was racing through the countryside, and for most of the first years, it was a joy filled journey filled with buzzing chatter and sweet-eating. For one particular red-head however, there was a sourness to the journey. She had been innocently sat in a carriage along with her best friend and neighbour, albeit a greasy haired one, Severus Snape.
"The conversation was centred, as was the case for most of the youngest witches and wizards up and down the train, on the houses that they wanted to be sorted into. While the young Lily pondered which she would prefer out of Gryffindor and Ravenclaw, the wizard next to her was adamant that Slytherin was by far the greatest and noblest of the houses. The two boys who had just walked into the carriage were not at all impressed. Already Lily had taken a dislike to the messy haired one who had sauntered in as if he owned the train. And judging by the way she had seen him give over a handful of a handful of galleons for his sweets without batting an eyelid, it was quite possible his family did.
"'But, Lils, Slytherin is where all the great witches and wizards go!' Severus insisted.
"'If by great you mean sneaky, selfish and arrogant then sure. You'll fit right in," James shot back. If looks could kill, Lily would have been sent packing to Azkaban that very second. "You though, Lils, you'd make a great Gryffindor. Hope to see you there." He grinned and ran out of the carriage, followed closely by his friend, leaving her fuming silently into her pumpkin pasty. But that was only the beginning of Lily's dislike for James.
"Although first year couldn't exactly be described as a great friendship between the two, it was nothing compared to the second year. She disliked everything about him. She disliked the way that he strutted around the castle with those three friends of his, as though the rules didn't apply to him. She disliked the way that he seemed to do absolutely no work at all while she slaved away day and night, and he still managed to beat her in class. She disliked the pranks he pulled, the way he'd messed up his hair constantly, his incessant bragging about Quidditch, and the way his sole purpose at that school seemed to be to annoy her as much as possible. The thing she disliked most of all though was the fact that everyone else simply adored him. They found his pranks hilarious, congratulated his Quidditch skills like he invented the sport, and even the cool and terrifying seventh years would ruffle his hair as they walked past, all while she seethed inside.
"Third year he made no better impression. Instead of growing up, he seemed to be growing down, and she was fond of storming round the castle informing people of this fact. Even though she knew she was right, no one payed the slightest bit of attention to her. He was fast becoming the star of the Quidditch team, ruining yet another thing for her. Not only was she beginning to dislike potions, her favourite subject, thanks to dear old Sluggy's simply inspired idea to sit them on the same table so that she could be a 'calming influence,' he was now spoiling Quidditch for her too. Barely five minutes could go by without a chant of '1 2 3 4, POTTER'S GONNA SCORE FOR SURE, 5 6 7 8, HE'S GOT MORE THAN YOU CAN TAKE!' Even his name made her shudder slightly.
"If fourth year was slightly less Potter-filled for Lily, he certainly made up for it in fifth year. It seemed to her that he was everywhere, and she was fairly sure he had her timetable memorised by the second day of term. She'd always disliked being the centre of attention, and had extremely disliked James Potter. So when James Potter started making her the centre of attention she could barely contain her rage. In fact, on multiple occasions, she didn't. For example, the time when he had stood on the table at breakfast with a huge bowl of porridge, threatening to drown himself in it if she didn't go out with him. She sent such an expertly-cast bat-bogey hex his way he was in the hospital wing overnight. Or the time when he and his friend - the one who had grown from the boy on the train to the heartthrob of Hogwarts - charmed all of the suits of armour in the transfiguration corridor to sing a song dedicated to her beauty, she bewitched the metal knights to chase them out of the castle and around the grounds until the only way they could escape was by jumping into the Great Lake in the middle of January.
"Sixth year, however, something changed. He still did all those things she disliked, but they weren't aimed at her any more. He wasn't an idiot; he could see that she was lonely. She'd lost her only friend, and on top of that she faced daily prejudice from half of the school's population. Sometimes he would catch her eye and start to walk over, the familiar gleam in his eye that meant he was about to make a comment, or a joke, or ask her out again, or one of those other things she disliked so much. Then he'd seem to stop himself, the gleam in his eye being replaced by pity. It was in those moments she disliked him more than ever.
"Seventh year was an interesting year between them. Although horrified when she first found out that he was head boy, it meant that they had to spend a lot of time together. And in that time she realised that he had changed. He was no longer the little boy who had insulted her best friend on the train, or the one who would brag about his achievements from dawn until dusk, or even the boy who had pestered her daily for an entire year. There were still a whole heap of things that she disliked about him, from the cocky air he still maintained to the effortless top grades, and not to mention the irritating and constant hair ruffling, but slowly those things were outnumbered by things she liked about him.
"Even after leaving Hogwarts, there were still things that she disliked about him. The worst thing was when he would go off on the most dangerous missions, always volunteering himself to protect her, never letting her go into something where there was a chance she could be killed. On those nights when he was off raiding Death Eater lairs without her, she would think and think and think, she'd think herself out of happiness a million times, but never once into it. Eventually she couldn't bare it anymore, and joined him on every mission he went on no matter the danger or how much he protested, she refused to leave his side.
"You see, ladies and gentlemen, if there was one thing Lily Evans disliked, it was James Potter. He infuriated her and angered her and drove her up the wall. 'But she can't have disliked him that much!' you're all thinking. And yes, she has gone and married him, along with the arrogance and bragging and oh-so-irritating hair ruffle. But it's not that she dislikes him any less, is it, Lils? It's just that the reasons you dislike him are also the reasons you love him. And I know, I know, a best man's speech is supposed to be hilarious and not at all soppy, but I'd say that even though he's the person she dislikes most of all, the one thing that Lily Potter loves more than anything else in this entire world, it's James Potter. And so, a toast, to the bride and groom!"
As Sirius folded up the parchment he'd been clutching and sat down to the soundtrack of raucous applause, James could've sworn he saw his best friend and best man wipe a tear quickly away. He looked over at his new wife and smiled, "Do you really dislike me all that much?"
"Of course," she winked. "Lucky for you, Sirius was right. I may dislike you more than anyone else, but I also love you a lot more than anything else too."