A/N Everything you recognize belongs to J.K. Rowling

Made for the Quotes For All Occasions Competition. Quote below. I hope you guys LOVE it and if you don't please tell me what I'm doing wrong!

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"A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives."

- Jackie Robinson

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The fic isn't really directly in tune with the quote, but this is what I wrote with the quote in mind.

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The Right to So Many Wrongs

James sighed, sitting back against the tall tree. Their books were spread out in front of them. Remus was trying – and failing – to teach them something new. James put his hands behind his head about to tell him to stop trying: Sirius was eyeing Snivellus sitting under a tree nearby; while Peter had his eyes glued to a rather scandalous area of Dorcas Meadowes's body where she was trying to give Marlene McKinnon a piggy-back ride a few metres off, but just then, he spotted a flash of red hair. Instantly, he dived for his snitch, which lay beside his textbooks. Anything to keep his hands busy.

There was only one girl at Hogwarts that had that amount of red hair. James couldn't count the amount of times that he'd wished his hands were free to run through that hair, partly, of course, because admitting it would send his mates into fits of laughter. The twinge he'd always felt when he'd see her had now grown to an ache, but he'd stopped bothering her about it anymore. He hadn't spoken to her from the very beginning of the school year now, except for necessary conversation, and people were beginning to notice. He didn't go up to her when he was with his friends; he actually tried to blend into the shadows, mumbling excuses when they teased him about it. They'd started to back off, now, sharing meaningful looks, which he thought was a bit silly, really. I mean, how were you supposed to know what the other person was thinking? Remus probably looked at Sirius thinking, "Just let it go," and Sirius probably stared back at him thinking about Marlene's ass.

Whatever they were thinking, it was at least nice to get a tad bit of privacy to his feelings for Evans. She joined up with Marlene and Dorcas, giggling as Dorcas yet again tried to lift Marlene. She managed to get about halfway, knees wobbling, before she collapsed to the ground. Marlene swatted her leg, roaring her head off, and James grinned. Marlene had that kind of laugh. When she laughed, so did you. The trio had attracted most of the attention due to the noise they were making, but no one told them to hush. They just watched, some grinning at Marlene`s laugh, happy for an excuse to forget the pressure of the N.E.W.T.S.

Sirius had definitely taken advantage of the noise and ruckus they were making. He pulled his wand out of his sleeve, catching James's eye and grinning. James tried to shake his head, motioning for him to stop, but he had already turned away and was sneaking towards Snape. James sighed and pulled out his wand, about to summon Sirius's, but before he could, Sirius got to Snape. He was suspended in the air by his ankle, yelling. His swiveled, arms swinging wildly and saw James with his wand out. The look he sent him was enough to make the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.

The following events were as usual.

Except for one thing. The reason Lily and Snape were mad at James weren't actually his fault, for once. It was Sirius's. He hadn't taken the blame, and let him get detention for the next two weeks, and twenty points taken off! He was rightly pissed, and he let Sirius know so, as soon as it was safe to.

"What the bloody hell was that, Padfoot?" He asked, grabbing the front of his robes and pushing him against the wall of the Seventh Year's Dormitory. Sirius looked at him in surprise, putting his hands up. "I have no idea what you're talking about, mate! What do you mean?" James rolled his eyes, pushing him harder against the wall.

"You know bloody well what I mean!" he shouted. When Sirius shook his head, looking at him confusedly, he slammed him against the wall. "Standing there!" James yelled, releasing his grip on his robes. "Letting me take the blame for something I didn't do! Making me look like a stupid, immature fool!"

"Oh, yeah." Sirius sneered. "That's what it's always about, isn't it? Making sure wittle Jamsie doesn't look like a fool in front of Evans!" Sirius shook his head and walked out of the dormitory. James made to go after him, but Remus held him back with a shake of his head. "Let him wear off his anger, and eventually he'll see you're right." He sighed. "Even if he doesn't want to admit it." James shook off his hold on his arm and nodded.

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Remus was right, as always. By the time they had to go to class again, the two of them were joking and shoving each other around again. They went into class, and stopped abruptly. Class had already started, and everyone was in their seats. The Slytherins in the back of the class snickered, and Sirius glared at them. McGonagall's voice cut through the quiet snickers. "Nice of you to join Potter, Black. Twenty points off of Gryffindor for tardiness." She turned back to the class. "We should quit school and go into the music business, James." Sirius commented. "'Potter Black'. I like the sound of that."

"Another ten points off for pure cheek, Mr. Black." Her voice silenced the class again letting them know that she'd heard them. "Now, if you'd like to pay me a visit Tuesday night, you may continue to show such utter disrespect, or you can sit down with your fellow classmates and take out your books. I, however, will return to my job: teaching." She turned to face the class again, who took out their textbooks. James and Sirius searched for seats next to each other. There were none. There was one in front of a Slytherin boy who looked like he might be drooling as he slept, and another behind Evans. With a grin, Sirius sat in front of the sleeping buy and took out his textbooks. James, with a sigh of resignation, sat behind Lily, also moving his textbooks and trying to focus on McGonagall. He couldn't. With Lily in front of him, he couldn't concentrate. Suddenly, a paper airplane landed on her desk in front of her, blotting the still-wet paint on the paper. She turned around, eyes on fire. "Potter! Why the bloody hell can't you just leave me-"

"Ms. Evans!" gasped McGonagall, adjusting her glasses as if she couldn't believe her eyes. "What on earth are you yelling for?" Lily turned pink, ducking her head down.

"I'm sorry, Professor," She mumbled, "It's just that Potter-"

"Actually," Started Sirius, standing on his chair, as if all the eyes in the rom weren't on him already. "That was me." He looked her in the face, not at all ashamed to admit it. He wobbled a bit on the creaky chair, wind milling his arms exaggeratedly, to the amusement of most of the people in the class. A group of girls behind him whispered and giggled, their eyes glued to a spot a little lower than really respectable.

"Well, I'm sure since he didn't have anything to do with it; you wouldn't mind joining Mr. Potter and I for detention for the next two Thursday nights?" Lily just looked down, her face about the same colour of her hair. "Yes, Professor."

"Now, Mr. Black, would you please try to restrain yourself in my classroom and get down from your chair. Class, turn to page 317, Marlene would you mind starting…"

Even though he knew he'd regret it, as McGonagall resumed class, James put his head down in his arms, and tried not to think about the coming Thursday.

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Of course, Thursday came, as it always must. In spite of all James's wishing and hoping, the morning after Wednesday came, and the few moments when he blearily opened his eyes without remembering were bliss. But then of course, Sirius saw him. "Looking forward to detention, mate?" he asked, grinning. James groaned, rolling over in bed.

"I'm not getting up." He moaned, pulling a pillow over his head. He felt the cushioned thud of another hit his covered head. "C'mon, mate! You can't just skive off the whole day! Besides," He felt Sirius jump on his bed, pulling the pillow off his head, letting the unforgiving sun shine in through the dormitory window. "I thought you liked Evans. You get to sped one-on-one time with her."

"With a chaperone. McGonagall Beady Eyes. Anyway, she hates me." James tried unsuccessfully to retrieve his pillow from Sirius. "Don't be so negative, mate. That's my department." James sighed, giving up, rolling out of bed, groping blindly for his glasses. This was going to be a long day.

He was right.

He had at least ten things due the next day that he hadn't even started, but he had the damn detention. He sighed, looking at the clock on the Common Room wall, knowing it was probably time he started over to McGonagall's office. He got up rather difficultly; the chairs in the Common Room were large and plushy and tended to swallow you up. He remembered one time, Sirius had actually hexed a chair that a first year had been sitting in, and it had literally done just that. They had gotten in so much trouble, yet had such a good laugh over it. Heck, Sirius still laughed over it if someone mentioned it. Lily came down the stairs from her dormitory just as he was leaving. "Potter," she said curtly.

"Evans," he replied nodding. They left the dormitory together, not saying anything. In silence, they made their way to McGonagall's office. They stood awkwardly in front of the door, not knowing who was going to knock. James eventually stepped up and did it. It was tentative, tiny. They heard the okay to go in, and Lily opened the door. She motioned for James to go first, but no way in hell was that going to happen. That was like saying 'yeah! I'll go into the dragon's layer first and be the distraction. You get the treasure!' With a sweeping gesture, he swept his arm out like a butler, making her go inside first. When she just moved an inch into the doorway, his hand hit the small of her back and she tensed, pulling away from his touch, therefore giving him room to get inside and shut the door. The room was bare, yet warm with the red and gold of Gryffindor upon the walls, and fire in the grate. The scratching of a quill that had filled the room a moment before stopped. McGonagall motioned to two desks in front of her large one, both with parchment and quills already there. "Mr. Potter," she said briskly. "Your lines will be: 'I will not hex my fellow students.' And yours, Ms. Evans," she continued, "Will be: 'I will not yell unnecessarily during class.' Six hundred times for you both, I think." And with that, she returned to whatever she was working on upon her desk, quill scratching busily away.

After about an hour of constant scribbling, his hand felt like it had been crushed by a meat grinder, but he was finished. He stood, refusing to look at Evans, handed his paper in to McGonagall, and left. While he was returning to the dormitory, he heard a voice behind him. "Ickle, wickle Potty head! Ha, ha! Student out of bed!" Peeves! He turned to look for him, turning this way and that. He saw the bust of some constipated looking old guy starting to tip, and instinctively covered his head with his hands. As it started to fall, though, he heard another voice behind him. "Wingardium Leviosa!"

"Evans?" He asked incredulously. "Wait a second, I thought you wanted me to get hit in the head and die?" She stared at him, as if trying to decide whether he was joking or not. The ugly bust landed wobbily on its pedestal. He steadied it, cracking a grin. A relieved smile spread across her face. Suddenly, it was replaced with a smirk. "You're a wizard, James; you think you could have saved yourself." He stared at her, open-mouthed.

"Wait a second, Evans, did you just call me James?" he couldn't really tell in the dark light, but he was almost positive she was blushing. "What? Oh, I guess I'm just tired…" She said, slipping a lock of hair behind her ear. Okay, now she was definitely blushing. James grabbed her hand holding them to his chest, leaning in, slowly, in case she pulled away. She smiled slightly, bringing her chin up until their lips were almost touching, so close…and they felt a cat's purring body twining itself around their legs. Filch. "Damn." James said, eyes locking with Lily's. She rolled her eyes. "If you tell anyone, you're a dead man, James Potter." She whispered, planting a small kiss on his cheek and left him, her scent lingering a little while after. He stood there until he heard Filch approaching, two fingers placed to his cheek where she'd kissed him.

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The next morning when he woke, he was grinning. And the day after. And the day after that. The entire week building up to the next detention with Evans. They passed each other in the hall, but there was no sign that either one of them acknowledge the event. Sirius had been waiting for him when he got back that night. "What took you so long?" he asked. When he saw James's grin, he smirked. "Did you shag?" He asked. James laughed, throwing a pillow at him. He caught it and threw it right back. "No," he answered mysteriously.

"No really, James," Sirius begged, as James started up the stairs, yawning. He was bloody exhausted. "What happened? When you left, you looked like you were going to the executioner, but when you come back you look like you're floating on a flippin' cloud?!"

"Can't tell you, mate," he said truthfully, stretching and removing his clothes, before falling into bed. Within minutes he was asleep.

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It was Tuesday again, and James was ecstatic all day long. When it finally came time to go to McGonagall's he left fifteen minutes early, as he was too impatient, and the minute hand on the clock was moving to goddamn slow for him. As he walked leisurely, hands in the pockets of his pants below his robes, the darkness seemed to cloud around him. It was starting to get colder, the days were getting shorter.

He entered McGonagall's office before Lily did, and was already almost half done his lines when she entered. He left, feeling a little disappointed. At least the detentions were over with. "Potter!" He turned to see Lily, red hair bouncing, as she ran to catch up with him. "What?" he asked arms open wide. "No James today?" as in answer, she grabbed the front of his robes, pushing him into a shadowed corner. Before he could say anything, her lips were on his. He forgot everything. He forgot detention, the pressure of the N.E.W.T.S, it was just him and Lily, wrapped in each other's arms. He ran his hand along her head, reveling in the feeling of her soft hair under his calloused hands. She pulled back breathing a little hard. He continued, kissing along her neck up to her chin. She tilted her head up, sighing. He put his hands around her face and kissed her again, gently, and then harder, as her fingernails gripped at his back. How long it went on for, neither of them knew. When they finally pulled back, though, they were both breathing hard and the sun had finally set. She snuggled her head into his shoulder and he sat there with his head leaned against hers. When they entered the Common Room later that night, Sirius was asleep, obviously having waited up for James. James set his finger on his lips, grinning at Lily. They crept past him, each separating into their separated dormitories, but not before another heated kiss in which James yet again ended up against the wall, and James fell asleep, a wide grin plastered across his face.

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Hope you liked! I sure loved writing it! R+R!

~PARADOX

PS - I just felt that my name belonged in capital letters, don't you? :P