Earning Every Drop of Happiness

By luvnmarauders

i

Filled with nothing but mischief and hormones, James Potter walked into a compartment, wiping off his glasses. However, when he entered the compartment, he didn't find three loud and obnoxious boys; he found a group of petite girls, staring up at him in confusion. One especially caught his eye, the one with the fiery red hair and bright green eyes. She glared back at him hatefully.

"H- Hello," he managed to stammer out. His beating heart drowned out the commands from his mind. He was only in fourth year; it was only natural that he be overwhelmed in the sight of very handsome girls.

"I think you're in the wrong compartment," one girl pointed out to him kindly. James barely heard her. He was much too absorbed in staring at the girl with the red hair. She scoffed at him and turned her head very disagreeably.

"Er, yeah," James answered, nervous all of a sudden. He started to walk out, but added a last bit for that girl. "I'll see you around then."

-----

James Potter then devoted himself to this girl who he found out was named Lily Evans. For some unknown reason, she seemed to hate him and screamed at him continuously. Every time he would try to confront this Lily, she would snort disdainfully, turn away and stomp off. He couldn't understand why.

So James was suffering in his dormitory, half of his body dangling off his bed upside down, trying to come up with the reasons for Lily's hatred for him. Had he provoked her in some way? But wouldn't he have remembered bothering a bad tempered red haired girl? So what had he done?

"Prongs!" a voice cried out as the dormitory door slammed merrily. "What are you doing?"

James didn't even bother to look up as the blood rushed to his head. "I'm trying to figure something out."

"That Evans girl?"

Sirius Black, his best mate, stared down at him with his hands stuffed in his pockets. This idiot managed to look perfectly handsome all the time, even in the mornings. James couldn't understand how Sirius' hair fell so elegantly over his eyes while his own stuck up in all directions.

"She isn't just a girl-" James started, getting up from his position, tone starting to sound defensively.

"She's the only one who have ever rejected you," Sirius interrupted, rolling his eyes. "I know."

James frowned and fell back on his bed again, muttering about "Telling mates just entirely too much."

"Why don't you give up already, mate?" Sirius inquired, cocking his head. "It's obvious that she hates you."

"I'm not giving up," James replied firmly. "I'm not."

Sirius sighed and ran his hand through his brilliant hair. "Why not? If you haven't noticed, there are plenty of other girls in this school. Find someone easier who actually likes you. And besides, I heard Evans was a really hard catch," Sirius added.

James wrinkled his nose and sat up to face this friend of his. So far in his dating career, none had rejected him; he had chosen the right sort of the girls who were pretty, nice, and melted under his gaze. But they were too easy. What fun was this easiness?

"That's why they call them crushes, Sirius," James murmured, staring straight into Sirius' eyes. "If they were easy, they'd call them something else."

They stared at each other for a moment, but then Sirius walked out the room without another word. Just when the dormitory was completely empty and Sirius' footsteps had long melted into silence, did James whisper, "And if they were easy, it wouldn't be worth it."