Disclaimer: I do not own anything in Harry Potter, from Harry Potter or you know, anything else that the franchise may or may not touch.

Pairing: Lily and James.

~*~

He's never seen a more perfect girl.

And yes she's got her faults (let's be honest, who hasn't?) but somehow, on her, they only seem to be advantages. He's heard Sirius crack jokes about the way that she has her hair in those 'ridiculous' bunches with that 'silly' pink ribbon that clashes horribly with the fiery mass of her tresses. But he doesn't care (if you'd found someone who made your heart skip a beat every time you saw even a glimpse of their smile flashing in the corridors, or their eyes sparkling with laughter, or their face flushing with pride at their latest magical achievement in class, would you?) honestly, he thinks they're terribly endearing.

(And when he catches himself thinking thoughts like that, he knows that he's hopelessly in love with her.)

But he doesn't know what to do, it's been all of two years now, and she still won't say yes to him (and damn it, he's asked her enough times), if only that incident on the train had never happened first year (but dreaming of if only's, is no way to win the heart of fair maiden and it's no way to live either). Because he's tried so hard to change (and it's all been for her) but she still won't give him a chance (and that's all he's asking for).

And to add to it all, he swears that he's jinxed because whenever he finds himself in a situation where her being there would be catastrophic (we'll use that one time with Severus by the lake as an example – and he swears that wasn't his fault, honest-) she always arrives. And when he finally does something worthy of her affections (because for years now, that's all he's wanted), she's never there (and he's a fingers breadth away from screaming because he doesn't know what to do.)

However, when she is there, he's this tumultuous mess of wonderment and nerves because he (finally) has the chance to show her how he's changed but he nearly always ends up playing the fool because whatever he does he just can't seem to summon up that all that courage that Gryffindor's are supposed to be famous for, (and in the dark of the night, when thoughts of his own cowardice keep him awake he wonders if he should have been sorted into Slytherin) and it's such a shame because he's fizzing on the inside from the sheer force of the emotions he's trying (and failing) to release.

(But more importantly, he doesn't understand how he's the only one that sees it, and when he says it, he means the way that they were made for one another.)

Because they're like fire and ice. Her with her (fiery) temper and (blazing) hair and (smouldering) eyes and (searing) witticisms and him with his (permanent) coolness and (unfaltering) loyalty and (pure) sense of fun and mischief and adventure and (never-ending) facade of oh-so-perfectthat no-one else could ever hope to live up to.

And he's not even asking for that much, just her heart in exchange for his, and he truly doesn't see how this is a bad thing, (because she's never going to find another boy who will love her as unconditionally as he will. As he does.) but he doesn't know the words to use to let her see that he means it when he says that life without her wouldn't be worth living.

But he won't give up, (when you love someone, you never give up no matter how painful it is) and he's going to fight for her until the day she says yes (because he has to hope that that day's going to happen). So when he sees her in the common room, with her books spread all around her and her eyes heavy from revision he asks her again.

"Lily, will you go out with me?"

And it's not a declaration (he'd rather save those for some other time) it's just a boy telling a girl that he wants to be with her (and only her) and when she looks up at him, her (emerald) eyes wide at his question he can already tell what her answer will be. Because he can see it in her tired gaze.

"Not this time, James."

There's something like disappointment and sadness and anger and despair all rolled into one that claws at his stomach at her answer but he fights it back, because he knows that she's dead on her feet (he's always making excuses for her) and that this is the perfect time to show her how much he's changed. So instead of going to bed where it's warm and safe (well relatively safe, he does share a dorm with Sirius after-all) he joins her on the floor in front of the burgundy sofa.

"Need some help with this?"

The question is just that, a question. There's no hidden meaning or underlying tone, merely his unexpected sincerity and it shocks her into idiocy for a moment. But she recovers quickly, and her lips mould into that perfect smile, and she hands him a book and asks him to test her.

And sure, for now this is where they are, tenuous friends as a result of his arrogance and her prejudices but he's happy being friends (and she'll never admit it but she is too) and he can wait (he's done a lot of that already, so a bit more won't hurt).

After-all they belong together, and everyone knows that some Happily Ever Afters take longer to find than others, (but that's what makes them so perfect in the end).