James Potter looked at Lily Evans and saw the determination in her eyes. He saw her put her wand at the ready and then he heard the call to duel. He quickly yelled out the first spell he could think of, but she was quicker. His wand flew out of his hands as he sailed across the room and straight on to his back. He got up and dusted himself off. No one got the best of James Potter. He got back into dueling position and with one flick of his wand he sent Lily flying into the air. Lily chided herself for being so unprepared. She had been the dueling champion for the past three years at Hogwarts. Although she had to admit that she had won only because James had managed to land himself in the hospital wing on the occasions when they were supposed to compete. However, today she wanted to prove to herself that she was better than he was. She had no intention of losing, so she picked herself up and got back into position. James stared at her with admiration. Even he had to respect her talent.
"Get ready to land on your backside Potter or even better on your head so it can deflate at bit," Lily said as she put her wand in the ready position.
"Only in your dreams could you ever think of beating me Lily," Potter said as a smile drew across his lips.
"Don't flatter yourself by thinking you have any effect whatsoever on my dreams," Lily retorted quickly.
James just smiled widely. He had grown to like their banter and Lily's feisty temper. He grasped his wand tightly and waited for Professor Sprout to say the magic words.
"Duel," Sprout yelled.
Red sparks shot out of both Lily and James' wands and the students waited to see who would be hit first. The crowd was torn between rooting for the Gryffindor Prefect and top Hogwarts student or the popular Marauder bad boy and Gryffindor quidditch captain. Lily attempted to shield the blasting curse that James had sent her way with a simple shield charm while James tried to protect himself from the Bat Bogey Hex that Lily cleverly sent flying in his direction. James found himself being attacked by bats, which had been sent by Lily. Flitwick quickly banished the bats and held Lily's hand up as the winner. James' stomach turned and he couldn't look at Lily. She came over to shake hands with him and he looked at the smile on her face and he couldn't help feeling happy for her.
"Good duel Potter," she said as she extended her hand.
"Yes well next time you won't be so lucky," James said.
He wanted to take it back because he hadn't meant to be rude, but his ego got the better of him.
"Luck has nothing to do with it. I beat you fair and square you are just embarrassed that you lost to a girl and that for once in your life you aren't the best at something," Lily retaliated coldly.
James stared at her and tried to hold back his temper. He was not going to let the red head get the best of him.
"Next time we fight Evans you will be looking up at me from your backside," James spat back.
James immediately regretted his words and started to look down at his feet.
"Oh please, come see me when you are more worthy," Evans said as she turned to leave the great hall.
She stormed back to Gryffindor Tower fuming over what James had said to her. She slammed her dorm room door and flopped down on her bed. She hated him for not letting her enjoy her triumph. Her best friend Chloe Stepford came in to the room right behind her.
"Lil you did it. You beat that arrogant pompous wanker. You should have seen his face when you hit him with that bat bogey hex. I thought he was going to die of shock when he realized that he lost," Chloe crowed.
She jumped on to Lily's bed and started to laugh uncontrollably. Lily just stared at the ceiling trying to figure out why she continued to let James get under her skin the way he did.
"We better prepare ourselves for the upcoming prank war. You know the Marauders are going to want revenge on you for the humiliation you caused James. God Lil it was perfect you are the cleverest witch in the school," Chloe continued.
Lily didn't respond. She was too busy being furious with James.
"I am tired Chloe I think I am just going to go to bed," Lily finally said.
She got up and started to head to the heads room so she could take a bath and relieve her achy muscles. She headed down the stairs to the common room and was on her way through the portrait hole when she felt someone grab her shoulder. She spun around to find Remus Lupin. Out of all of the Marauders, Lily had always had a soft spot for Remus. He was, after all, her fellow prefect and he was the voice of reason for his rowdy friends. He somehow managed to keep James and Sirius out of Azkaban despite their best efforts.
"What do you want Remus I am too tired to quarrel with you right now or withstand any of your jokes at my expense," Lily said wearily.
Remus smiled at her and beckoned her to sit on the couch. Despite her better judgment she followed him.
"Lily I just wanted to congratulate you on winning today. You really are very clever. I mean how did you know that James hates bats?" Remus said as he laughed at the memory of his friend screaming as he covered his head from the swarming bats that surrounded him.
Lily looked at Remus and smiled.
"Thanks Remus, I am glad at least one of you is mature. You know I don't understand why you hang around with Black and Potter. You are so nice and they are so vile and uncaring," Lily said quietly.
"Oh Lily they aren't that bad. They accept me for who I really am and I really think you should give them a chance. Although he would never admit it, James respects you for your talent," Remus said wisely.
Just then Lily began to feel her skin turn very hot. She ran over to the mirror just in time to see huge boils cover her skin. She turned around in time to see Sirius and James running up the stairs to their dorm laughing hysterically.
"Potter Black get down here now so I can curse you properly and then flog you for being so evil," Lily yelled at the top of her lungs.
The rest of the Gryffindors came out of their rooms to find their prefect running up the stairs to the 6th year boys dorm with her face covered in large green boils. Lily flung the door open and found Sirius and James rolling on their beds with laughter.
"You think you are such a clever little witch and now you look like one. You think you are so perfect and smart. Well you aren't that clever and to tell you the truth not too many people like you. Now your outsides match what you look like on the inside," James said in between fits of laughter.
Lily looked at James and her face twisted in pain. He had obviously struck a nerve. She sat down on one of the beds in the room and buried her face in her arms. She felt the tears well up and she couldn't stop them.
"You are an immature spoiled jerk who thinks that just because you are a Potter the world belongs to you. You haven't had to work for a thing in your life," Lily spit out between sobs.
"Oh don't get your knickers in a twist Lily, it was just a joke," James said realizing he had gone a bit too far.
He had no idea what to do with the sobbing red head who was sitting on his bed. He had never made a girl cry and he started to feel horrible. Remus swept into the room and went straight over to Lily. He put his arm around her and tried his best to comfort the crying beauty. James felt a twinge of pain and a pang of jealousy. He felt the sudden urge to attack Remus for being so close to Lily. He shook the feeling off and went down to the common room to escape the scene. Sirius followed after his best friend, leaving Remus to deal with the still sobbing Lily.
"Here dry your eyes with this," Remus said as he handed Lily a handkerchief.
He shook his head as he thought about how stupid his friends could be. They may be the smartest wizards in the school when it came to their classes, but with women they were definitely lacking common sense. It was no wonder that neither James nor Sirius had been in a relationship that lasted more than a week.
Remus was brought back to reality when Lily started to pull away from him. Lily peaked out from under her eyelashes and gave a weak smile to show her appreciation. She stood up and dried her eyes and started towards the door.
"Thanks Remus. I'll see you latter," Lily said as she realized what a fool she was making out of herself.
Remus watched Lily leave the room and began to smile. If only she really knew how James felt about her, he thought to himself.
Lily walked back down the stairs to the common room where she saw James and Sirius playing a game of wizard's chess. Her stomach dropped as she saw them and decided to take the high ground and ignore them. She wouldn't let them have the satisfaction of making her cry twice in a night. She pretended they were invisible as she began to head to the hospital wing to have Madame Pomfrey cure her boils. She felt someone grab her by the waist and she turned around with a hurt look on her face. She met James' hazel eyes and she looked at him as if he didn't exist. James felt a pit in his stomach as he looked at the expression on Lily's face.
"Lily I'm sorry," James stammered.
"Forget it Potter. As of now you don't exist to me. Nothing you can say or do will ever bother me again," Lily said quietly.
With those as her parting words, Lily turned on her heel and left the common room. James headed back to the couch and plopped down next to Sirius. James looked like he had just been kicked in the stomach.
"Sorry mate, but I believe you are definitely in the dog house," Sirius said as he pondered his next move.
"Shut up Padfoot," James growled.