I just can't seem to stay away from Lily/James can I? I completely forget where the inspiration for this oneshot came from, but it begged to be written. I'm not to happy with the title though. I couldn't come up with anything too good.
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Lily Evans was angry.
No, angry was an understatement. Lily Evans was livid.
Just as he had before with any other male that showed interest in Lily, James Potter had completely ruined Lily's chance of getting asked out by the extremely good-looking Hufflepuff Quidditch Keeper Erik Doyle.
Erik Doyle was tall, athletic, and brilliant. He had amazingly gorgeous blue eyes and short, light brown hair. (Which Lily preferred over a certain someone who's hair was semi long for the sole purpose of running his hands through it) He'd shown interest in Lily, talking to her between classes and even daring to sit next to her when the Gryffndors had double Herbology with Hufflepuff, which had immediately put him at number 1 on Potter's list of rivals to destroy.
The fact was, James Potter was an extremely jealous boy, especially when it came to Lily. Was he going to sit back and watch another man take his girl? Heck no! So he and the Marauders had immediately come up with a series of pranks to pull against him, one of which actually landed him in the hospital wing with a swollen purple tongue that prevented him from speaking and caused his skin to change color and sprout boils whenever he came in contact with sunlight.
It wasn't much of a surprise that he was terrified of Lily when she came to visit him in the hospital wing.
Lily was so furious with Potter that there were no words to describe her anger. There was no sign of him anywhere (smart move on his part) and Lily was in desperate need of something- or more preferably, a certain someone- to unleash her fury upon. So, she headed for the heads tower she unwilling shared with James Potter.
The portrait guarding the door (a young woman wearing a silk dress that looked suspiciously like the fat lady) frowned as she noticed the angry look on Lily's face.
"What's he done now?" she asked. (She had learned quickly that is was almost always James that stirred any sign of anger from Lily.)
Lily stopped in front of the portrait, her hands on her hips.
"Oh, he's just gone and ruined my chances with one of the greatest guys in the school!" the girl clicked her tongue sympathetically.
"Who was it?" Lily sighed, crossing her arms over her chest. "Erik Doyle." The girl whistled.
"Erik Doyle?! It's no wonder you're mad. He's a total hottie! He rates 98 on the hottie scale!" Lily raised an eyebrow at the portrait. "Not helping."
"Sorry," Lily stomped her foot in frustration.
"Well, one thing's for certain. Potter's not setting foot in this tower if I can help it." The portrait smiled at her.
"That's the spirit. I had a feeling this would be coming. So, what would you like the new password to be?"
--
James has known Lily was going to be mad. I mean, come on, he'd completely ruined her chances with Doyle, who, according to Lily's friends, was one of the hottest guys in the school.
Oh yeah, Lily was going to be very mad.
And of course, because James had known Lily was going to be mad, (everything he did made her mad) he'd taken it upon himself to find somewhere to hide. Currently, he was hiding behind one of the suits of armor on the seventh floor, his invisibility cloak draped over him.
He'd decided not to tell his fellow Marauders where he was hiding in case Lily decided to try and torture it out of them. He knew they'd find him via the map if they needed him.
Hopefully Lily's cooled down by now. James thought, leaning his head against the stone wall behind him.
Of course, James knew not to underestimate Lily. He'd learned that lesson a while ago.
Maybe I'll wait just a little longer… he thought.
"Prongs, Oi Prongs! You up here?" James recognized the voice of Sirius coming from around the corner.
"The map says he should be behind the that statue… but I don't see him, maybe he's got the cloak?" James recognized that voice as Remus. And sure enough, when he peered around the corner, he saw Sirius and Remus bent over the map, studying it.
"Oi, Padfoot, Moony, is the coast clear?" Sirius and Remus looked up at the sound of his voice.
"Prongs? Is that you?" Sirius asked. James rolled his eyes.
"No, it's the Minister of magic. Of course it's me! Now is the coast clear?" Sirius nodded. "Yeah."
James quickly pulled off the cloak and stepped out from behind the armor to join his friends.
"No sign of Evans right?" He asked his now-grinning friends. This time, it was Remus who answered, shaking his head.
"Nope. You're safe Prongs. She's back at the heads tower." James breathed a sigh of relief.
"That's good. At least we'll be alone when she chews my head off." Sirius and Remus snickered. "If she doesn't kill you first mate. We talked to those two cute friends of hers, apparently Lily's more that mad at you, she's livid." James mentally winced. This was not going to be good.
"You best be getting back." Remus said with a grin. "Maybe if you're lucky we'll see you at dinner tomorrow." James shot a glare at him before making his way towards the heads tower he shared with Lily, leaving his two grinning best friends behind.
As James got close and closer to the tower, he felt his nervousness grow more and more. Unconsciously, his steps grew slower and slower, and by the time he reached the tower, he was barely walking.
This is ridiculous. James thought, I shouldn't be afraid of Lily. James mentally winced as he remembered what Lily had done to a Ravenclaw 7th year who'd tried to grope her. (Of course, that was nothing compared to what James had done to him, but it still made him shudder at the thought of it)
The point was, you didn't make Lily Evans angry, not unless you had a death wish. But them again, James seemed to of had a death wish for seven years.
As James stopped in front of the portrait guarding the heads tower, the girl in the silk dress clicked her tongue at him.
"You're in for it mister. I don't think I've ever seen her so angry before." James groaned mentally.
"Can you please just let me in? Phoenix feathers." The girl shook her head.
"Sorry, that's not the password anymore." James stared blankly at her. "What do you mean it's no the password anymore? It was the last time I was here a few hours ago!" The girl shook her head.
"Your little girlfriend Miss Evans changed it." James' jaw dropped open.
"She can't do that, we're suppost to come up with an new passwords together!" The girl shrugged again.
"Sorry James, but until you give me the new password, I can't let you in." James groaned aloud this time, his hands on his hips. He stared at the door.
"D-- it Evans!" He shouted at the portrait. A laugh was heard through the portrait.
"Sorry Potter, but unless you can somehow guess the password, you're not getting in tonight." James cursed under his breath, causing Lily to laugh.
"Language Potter. I don't want to have to dock you for fowl language." James cursed under his breath again, this time much quieter.
"Open the door Evans!" he hissed loudly, arms crossed over his chest.
"No can do Potter." She replied. "But why don't you take a shot at guessing? I'm eager to see what you come up with." James sighed, thinking for a minute.
"Lily Evans." He threw out; the girl in the portrait shook her head. Lily laughed.
"I'm afraid you're going to have to do better than that Potter. I thought about this password very carefully." James thought again for a minute.
"Um… Lily Flower?" Nothing.
"Hot-head Evans? Lily darling? Lily Rosalyn Evans?" Nothing. James groaned.
"Come on Lily, at least give me a hint!" Lily snorted.
"It's something you'll never guess." It was James' turn to snort.
"That was some hint Evans." Lily didn't reply, so James went back to guessing the password.
Meanwhile, inside Lily Evans was curled up on the large couch in front of the fireplace in the heads common room, reading the wizard magazine 'witch weekly'. She laughed to herself as she listened to James trying to guess.
"… Head girl rules? James Potter is an arrogant git? LE is the best? :Lily Blossom?…"
"Ooh, that was a new one…" Lily retorted as she scanned through her magazine, a smirk on her face. She should have locked him out a long time ago…
-JamesLily-
A few hours later…
James leaned against the wall next to the portrait hole, his legs stretched out.
"Charms is amazing?" He guessed. The girl in the portrait shook her head for the hundredth time, causing James to groan in frustration.
He'd been sitting their for at least four hours, James was sure it was past midnight, if not later.
He was ready to give up. In fact, he'd already given up. He was tired, he still had homework to do, and his body was starting to ache from leaning against that wall for so long.
Maybe Lily's password was a muggle word? He'd already tried electricity, Television, and fellytone. ("That'd be telephone dear.") But none of them worked.
What on earth could Lily's password be? James was sure he'd tried everything. Her favorite candy, her favorite color, her favorite food, her favorite subject, he'd even tried her favorite insults! But nothing worked…
Of course, as annoying and aggravating as this situation was, James couldn't help but feel proud of Lily. He'd known she was smart- she'd proved that by her grades and by coming up with a password that even he, James Potter, a Marauder, could not figure out.
But what really impressed him was the simple revenge she'd chosen. Simple, and yet it was driving him crazy and causing him more trouble than any hex would have down.
That's my girl. He thought, Simple yet affective.
Unfortunately, James also happened to know that Lily Evans was very stubborn, and was not so easily persuaded out of something. (as he well knew after asking her out for the past 6 years) If she didn't want to tell him the password, he'd never get it out of her. Maybe he should try that apologizing thing that Remus suggested…
This inspired James, so he immediately stood up and stepped in front of the portrait hole. He didn't even know if she was awake or even in there, but he had to try.
"Lily…" he said, pausing to listen for a reply. There was none.
"Listen Lils… I just wanted to say… I'm sorry." He paused for a second.
"I'll admit it, I was jealous. It's just that… watching you talk to another man, fawn over other guys… it makes my insides boil and I get incredibly angry, like you wouldn't believe…" He paused, listening for any sign that she'd heard him.
"So I just wanted to say that I'm sorry." He returned to sitting against the wall after that, pondering Lily.
I must have really made her mad… James thought as he glanced at the portrait hole.
She'd make an amazing Potter. He thought, Lily Potter, I like it.
"Lily Potter." He said aloud. The girl in the portrait next to him jerked away from her sleep.
"Wha'd you just say?" she questioned. She went on without waiting for an answer.
"Say it again."
James looked confused as he pushed himself up off the wall and went to stand in front of the portrait.
"Lily Potter." He said.
Not one word could comprehend the shock that crossed James Potter's face as he watched the portrait hole slowly swing open.
The End.
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Well? What'd you think? Personally the beginning is my favorite part. I read it to Chaosmaiden over the phone and she laughed her head off. Althought I am pleased with the ending too.
If anyone has a better suggestion for a title, I'd love to hear it! The original title was 'locked out a desperate' but I didn't like it too much.
Please review! Reviews encourage writing!