Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this story. The plot is slightly mine, but not entirely. Everything you recognize belongs to Joanne Kathleen Rowling, the magician who created the Harry Potter series.

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INCOMPATIBLE

PROLOGUE

It was common knowledge in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry that Lily Evans and James Potter despised each other. Ever since they had met on the platform at King's Cross Station in London to catch the Hogwarts Express, the two had been at odds. The story went that James had played some stupid prank on Lily (which no one, not even the two of them, could remember) and that the rivalry had started from there.

At school, they had both been Sorted into Gryffindor, and excelled in their classes. The competition was especially high between them in Charms, which was Lily's forte, and Transfiguration, James' major strength; Lily's weakness was Transfiguration, while James' was Charms. Neither could stand to let the other be better than them at anything. This was especially taxing on their friends, who had done their best to keep the two from bickering. Nothing ever worked.

Alice Prewett, Marlene McKinnon, and Dorcas Meadowes were Lily's best friends. The four of them were all in the same year in Gryffindor, and had been friends since the first train to Hogwarts. The same went for James' friends, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew. The six of them had tried just about everything to get Lily and James to be friends, but every single one of their plans backfired. To date, they had tried at least thirty times to end the constant arguing, only succeeding in making Lily and James even greater enemies.

Once, in exasperation, Alice had asked Lily why she and James never got along. In answer, Lily had replied, "Potter and I are incompatible; we were never meant to be friends." James had, of course, concurred with this statement when Sirius told him, to the disappointment of his and Lily's friends. It was the only thing they had ever agreed on.

Their relationship worsened in Fifth Year, when Lily became a Prefect. James was the biggest troublemaker in the school, and enjoyed making life hell for the "obnoxious, stuck up pricks" that were in charge of enforcing the rules of Hogwarts. However, for some reason that none of the other Fifth Year Gryffindors could comprehend, he did not bother Lily in any way. Some supposed that it was because his friend, Remus, was also a Prefect, but their friends knew that would never stop him from tormenting Lily.

The reason became evident when Sirius caught James doodling the initials, "L.E." upon one of his homework assignments. Soon the mission of Alice, Marlene, and Dorcas was to make Lily see James' better qualities, causing her to like him and agree to go out with him (if he should ever ask). Unfortunately, their efforts failed. The year culminated in a particularly nasty incident after the Defense Against the Dark Arts O.W.L.s, in which James asked Lily out and was consequently ripped up one side and down the other. He then decided that Lily Evans was not the girl for him, and two recommenced hating each other.

This sorry state of affairs continued until Seventh Year, when, in an apparent moment of madness, Professor Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts, decided to appoint Lily as Head Girl, and James as Head Boy. Upon hearing this news, the entire school wondered what their headmaster was thinking, and waited with bated breath for September 1, when school would restart. All of them—with the exception of the Slytherins, who despised the two—hoped that their newly appointed Heads would not kill each other. However, none of them could deny that it was very likely that by the end of the first day, either Lily or James would be in the Hospital Wing.

The morning of September 1 dawned bright and clear. To the friends of the Head Boy and Girl, it seemed as if Nature was mocking them; they were positive that the day would end in disaster for one or both of their friends.

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A/N: And that's the first chapter! I don't know if I should continue or not; if you like it, please tell me! If you see anything that needs correcting, or whatnot, tell me! Reviews are always nice…(hint hint)