James Potter has been in love with Lily Evans since the day he met her. Now, at the end of their sixth year, she still won't return the feeling. As Voldemort rises, new skills are developed, loyalties are tested, and Lily finds herself relying on James more than she would like. Story will continue until their deaths.
Chapter One: Around the Lake
"Oh...that... James Potter. He is... such a ...prat!" Lily Evans fumed, hardly able to put a coherent sentence together. Her green eyes flashed fiercely. "I wish he would leave me alone!"
Lily flung herself down on the bank of the lake with a flourish of wildly red hair. Her best friend Aurelia watched her with an amused smirk. Lily had violently crossed her arms and her chest was heaving as she tried to regain her calm. Lily had just shouted down James Potter for harassing Severus Snape. As usual, Potter had turned this into an opportunity to proposition Lily. She always overreacted to these advances, making it clear to Potter that she was not interested. There had been many of these confrontations over the six years the girls had spent at Hogwarts.
"I don't see why you're so upset with James, Lil, I'd be a lot more upset with Snape calling you a mudblood. At least James defended you!" Aurelia replied. She flipped her blonde hair over one shoulder and sat down next to Lily, her sparkling blue eyes staring at the ripples in the lake. Being a pureblood wizard, Aurelia was always sensitive about this criticism of her friend. Aurelia was a quiet, sensitive girl with a fierce loyalty to all her loved ones and a compassionate nature. As a result, she was frequently sought out by most of Gryffindor House, as well as a good number of boys and girls from other houses, when someone was in need of comfort. Aurelia's tall, thin figure, blonde hair and heart shaped face also caused her to be considered the most beautiful girl in the seventh year.
Lily visibly winced at the reminder of being called a mudblood, but instead chose to focus on Potter, and snarled, "I am used to that, but the way Potter is always trying to show off - he doesn't want to defend me, just impress his ridiculous fan club- it really frosts my cookies."
"Frosts your cookies?" Aurelia laughed. "Where did that come from?"
"From my own mind. Why, you don't like it?" Lily asked, starting to giggle. "I think its gonna catch on!"
"You know you're letting him get to you, right?" Aurelia asked seriously after a moment of giggling. "Is that what you want?" Aurelia, always a supportive friend, hid her true feelings when it came to discussing James Potter with Lily. She couldn't help wondering what really caused Lily to hate Potter so much. She had never found any of his actions offensive enough to merit the amount of hatred Lily poured out on James whenever he came near. Perhaps Lily's anger masked something else she was feeling. Aurelia didn't know what to think of the situation, but was determined to be supportive of Lily.
"Of course I don't want to let him get to me," Lily dismissed the comment. "Let's go back up. We should enjoy our last day at Hogwarts."
Aurelia nodded her blonde head in agreement, relieved that Lily had recovered from the encounter relatively quickly this time. She loved her best friend, but it was a bit tiring constantly cleaning up the mess made by James Potter. She wished Lily would learn to stop losing her temper.
As they walked slowly back to the castle, Lily silently thought back on the event that had just taken place. Once again, the Marauders had been harassing Severus Snape, which was behavior she found absolutely abhorrent. However, she couldn't deny that Snape's ungrateful attitude made her wish she did not defend him. At least James Potter didn't call her a mudblood. 'He's just as bad, though, showing off for the crowds of girls that always surround him,' she reminded herself. Pushing thoughts of James Potter out of her mind, Lily forced herself to smile, determined to enjoy her last day at Hogwarts before a long and painful summer with her sister, Petunia.
:::::::::::::::
James Potter, Gryffindor Quidditch Captain, generally accepted as the smartest guy in every class, and the informal leader of the Marauders, was standing under the birch tree near the lake running his hand unconsciously through his thick black hair. He was vaguely listening to his fellow Marauder, Sirius Black, describe his next plan for retaliation against Severus Snape, but his gaze was intensely focused on the fiery redhead making her way back to the Hogwarts Castle with her tall friend. He had asked her out again, even willing to trade the amusement of harassing Snape for her acceptance, but to no avail. She always turned him down. James didn't understand why this one stubborn girl wouldn't give him the time of day. All the other girls fell all over themselves to shower attention on handsome, well-built James Potter, but not Lily Evans. All he ever got from her were insults and dirty looks.
"James. James! JAMES!" Sirius said, a look of annoyance shooting through his deep brown eyes.
"Huh? What?" James said, coming out of his reverie.
"Um, heeellllloooo! We, your loyal friends, were just sitting here planning retaliation against that prig Snivillus - on your behalf, I might add - while YOU were staring off into space and ignoring our noble efforts." Sirius said with a laugh like a bark. He gave James a friendly slap on the back, and then followed his gaze up to the castle doors, where a bright red head was just disappearing. "Oh, I see... you gotta let it go, mate. That girl isn't interested."
James' other friends, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew, chuckled knowingly. James had spent all six years at Hogwarts trying to attract Lily Evans. He watched her during class, followed her in the halls, and had even taken to scanning every room he entered, just to see if she was there. Unfortunately, James' method of attracting women was to show off. This led to some ridiculous habits, such as rubbing his hair to look like he just finished playing Quidditch, fidgeting with the Golden Snitch he kept in his pocket, and pulling pranks on other students. Immature, perhaps, but his method did seem to be fairly effective. These attempts had obviously not impressed Lily Evans, but they had gained James a large following of Hogwarts girls hoping to be lucky enough to spend some time alone with him. And most of them had at some point. Remus Lupin, by far the most astute of James' friends, secretly felt that James hid his feelings for Lily Evans by experimenting with any other girl he found convenient at the time.
"Leave him alone, Padfoot, he can't help it," Remus said, looking up from the book he had been reading while lounging by the lake.
"Yeah, a little rejection is good for his over-inflated ego," Peter said, viciously. "Ju-just joking," he whimpered, when he saw the horrified looks on his friends faces.
"It's been six years Prongs, give it up! What about that Leona Whipple? She's been hanging around a lot lately. Maybe she could help you get your mind off Evans, if you know what I mean," Sirius said, eyebrows wiggling.
"Yeah, I know." James replied, in a defeated voice, clearly not taking the time to understand Sirius' suggestion. "There are always girls hanging around. Mindless gits, all of them." James flopped to the ground next to Remus as he said this, his hazel eyes lazily scanning the surface of the water.
"You talk to her, Moony. Why won't she give me a chance?"
"James, I am not getting involved in this thing between you and Lily," Remus replied. "If you want to know why, ask her humbly, without your usual sarcasm, and be honestly prepared to listen to her answer."
Sirius and Peter laughed uncontrollably at this. James cracked a smile, and even Remus smirked at how silly he sounded.
"Moony, you crack me up," Sirius said, bending down to pat Remus on the back affectionately.
:::::::::::::::
With a bang of the heavy door, a tall, gangly boy with black, stringy hair threw himself on his bed in the Slytherin dungeon of Hogwarts Castle. Severus Snape did not bother to see if any of his roommates were there. The boy let out a low growl of frustration, and punched his pillow viciously. Lily Evans was not the only person at Hogwarts infuriated by the behavior of James Potter.
'I am so sick of that egotistical, pompous idiot and his little group of mindless followers,' he thought to himself, as he stared at the ceiling of the cold impersonal chamber. 'Always making me look like an idiot, especially whenever Lily Evan is around. Playing with that stupid Snitch, trying to remind everyone how great he is.' Snape had loathed James Potter since their first year at Hogwarts. The two spent countless hours planning cruel schemes to inflict upon each other, and never missed the opportunity to hex one another in the hallway.
'Everyone's attention is always focused on James Potter,' he though, unwilling to admit to himself that much of his hatred stemmed from jealousy at Potter, who was everything Snape wanted to be. 'At least Lily sees through him.'
Serverus felt his anger seep away as he allowed his thoughts to drift to beautiful, enchanting Lily Evans. He didn't even care that she was a mudblood, although he would never admit that in public. He longed to give her the love and protection she deserved, despite the fact that she seemed perfectly capable of protecting herself. A slight smile played across his face as he remembered the way she had just defended him. It was quickly replaced with a frown however, as he felt recalled his feeling of shame at needing to be defended by Lily. 'Why did I lash out at HER like that? Oh, I'll get that James Potter someday.'
Chapter One: Around the Lake
"Oh...that... James Potter. He is... such a ...prat!" Lily Evans fumed, hardly able to put a coherent sentence together. Her green eyes flashed fiercely. "I wish he would leave me alone!"
Lily flung herself down on the bank of the lake with a flourish of wildly red hair. Her best friend Aurelia watched her with an amused smirk. Lily had violently crossed her arms and her chest was heaving as she tried to regain her calm. Lily had just shouted down James Potter for harassing Severus Snape. As usual, Potter had turned this into an opportunity to proposition Lily. She always overreacted to these advances, making it clear to Potter that she was not interested. There had been many of these confrontations over the six years the girls had spent at Hogwarts.
"I don't see why you're so upset with James, Lil, I'd be a lot more upset with Snape calling you a mudblood. At least James defended you!" Aurelia replied. She flipped her blonde hair over one shoulder and sat down next to Lily, her sparkling blue eyes staring at the ripples in the lake. Being a pureblood wizard, Aurelia was always sensitive about this criticism of her friend. Aurelia was a quiet, sensitive girl with a fierce loyalty to all her loved ones and a compassionate nature. As a result, she was frequently sought out by most of Gryffindor House, as well as a good number of boys and girls from other houses, when someone was in need of comfort. Aurelia's tall, thin figure, blonde hair and heart shaped face also caused her to be considered the most beautiful girl in the seventh year.
Lily visibly winced at the reminder of being called a mudblood, but instead chose to focus on Potter, and snarled, "I am used to that, but the way Potter is always trying to show off - he doesn't want to defend me, just impress his ridiculous fan club- it really frosts my cookies."
"Frosts your cookies?" Aurelia laughed. "Where did that come from?"
"From my own mind. Why, you don't like it?" Lily asked, starting to giggle. "I think its gonna catch on!"
"You know you're letting him get to you, right?" Aurelia asked seriously after a moment of giggling. "Is that what you want?" Aurelia, always a supportive friend, hid her true feelings when it came to discussing James Potter with Lily. She couldn't help wondering what really caused Lily to hate Potter so much. She had never found any of his actions offensive enough to merit the amount of hatred Lily poured out on James whenever he came near. Perhaps Lily's anger masked something else she was feeling. Aurelia didn't know what to think of the situation, but was determined to be supportive of Lily.
"Of course I don't want to let him get to me," Lily dismissed the comment. "Let's go back up. We should enjoy our last day at Hogwarts."
Aurelia nodded her blonde head in agreement, relieved that Lily had recovered from the encounter relatively quickly this time. She loved her best friend, but it was a bit tiring constantly cleaning up the mess made by James Potter. She wished Lily would learn to stop losing her temper.
As they walked slowly back to the castle, Lily silently thought back on the event that had just taken place. Once again, the Marauders had been harassing Severus Snape, which was behavior she found absolutely abhorrent. However, she couldn't deny that Snape's ungrateful attitude made her wish she did not defend him. At least James Potter didn't call her a mudblood. 'He's just as bad, though, showing off for the crowds of girls that always surround him,' she reminded herself. Pushing thoughts of James Potter out of her mind, Lily forced herself to smile, determined to enjoy her last day at Hogwarts before a long and painful summer with her sister, Petunia.
:::::::::::::::
James Potter, Gryffindor Quidditch Captain, generally accepted as the smartest guy in every class, and the informal leader of the Marauders, was standing under the birch tree near the lake running his hand unconsciously through his thick black hair. He was vaguely listening to his fellow Marauder, Sirius Black, describe his next plan for retaliation against Severus Snape, but his gaze was intensely focused on the fiery redhead making her way back to the Hogwarts Castle with her tall friend. He had asked her out again, even willing to trade the amusement of harassing Snape for her acceptance, but to no avail. She always turned him down. James didn't understand why this one stubborn girl wouldn't give him the time of day. All the other girls fell all over themselves to shower attention on handsome, well-built James Potter, but not Lily Evans. All he ever got from her were insults and dirty looks.
"James. James! JAMES!" Sirius said, a look of annoyance shooting through his deep brown eyes.
"Huh? What?" James said, coming out of his reverie.
"Um, heeellllloooo! We, your loyal friends, were just sitting here planning retaliation against that prig Snivillus - on your behalf, I might add - while YOU were staring off into space and ignoring our noble efforts." Sirius said with a laugh like a bark. He gave James a friendly slap on the back, and then followed his gaze up to the castle doors, where a bright red head was just disappearing. "Oh, I see... you gotta let it go, mate. That girl isn't interested."
James' other friends, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew, chuckled knowingly. James had spent all six years at Hogwarts trying to attract Lily Evans. He watched her during class, followed her in the halls, and had even taken to scanning every room he entered, just to see if she was there. Unfortunately, James' method of attracting women was to show off. This led to some ridiculous habits, such as rubbing his hair to look like he just finished playing Quidditch, fidgeting with the Golden Snitch he kept in his pocket, and pulling pranks on other students. Immature, perhaps, but his method did seem to be fairly effective. These attempts had obviously not impressed Lily Evans, but they had gained James a large following of Hogwarts girls hoping to be lucky enough to spend some time alone with him. And most of them had at some point. Remus Lupin, by far the most astute of James' friends, secretly felt that James hid his feelings for Lily Evans by experimenting with any other girl he found convenient at the time.
"Leave him alone, Padfoot, he can't help it," Remus said, looking up from the book he had been reading while lounging by the lake.
"Yeah, a little rejection is good for his over-inflated ego," Peter said, viciously. "Ju-just joking," he whimpered, when he saw the horrified looks on his friends faces.
"It's been six years Prongs, give it up! What about that Leona Whipple? She's been hanging around a lot lately. Maybe she could help you get your mind off Evans, if you know what I mean," Sirius said, eyebrows wiggling.
"Yeah, I know." James replied, in a defeated voice, clearly not taking the time to understand Sirius' suggestion. "There are always girls hanging around. Mindless gits, all of them." James flopped to the ground next to Remus as he said this, his hazel eyes lazily scanning the surface of the water.
"You talk to her, Moony. Why won't she give me a chance?"
"James, I am not getting involved in this thing between you and Lily," Remus replied. "If you want to know why, ask her humbly, without your usual sarcasm, and be honestly prepared to listen to her answer."
Sirius and Peter laughed uncontrollably at this. James cracked a smile, and even Remus smirked at how silly he sounded.
"Moony, you crack me up," Sirius said, bending down to pat Remus on the back affectionately.
:::::::::::::::
With a bang of the heavy door, a tall, gangly boy with black, stringy hair threw himself on his bed in the Slytherin dungeon of Hogwarts Castle. Severus Snape did not bother to see if any of his roommates were there. The boy let out a low growl of frustration, and punched his pillow viciously. Lily Evans was not the only person at Hogwarts infuriated by the behavior of James Potter.
'I am so sick of that egotistical, pompous idiot and his little group of mindless followers,' he thought to himself, as he stared at the ceiling of the cold impersonal chamber. 'Always making me look like an idiot, especially whenever Lily Evan is around. Playing with that stupid Snitch, trying to remind everyone how great he is.' Snape had loathed James Potter since their first year at Hogwarts. The two spent countless hours planning cruel schemes to inflict upon each other, and never missed the opportunity to hex one another in the hallway.
'Everyone's attention is always focused on James Potter,' he though, unwilling to admit to himself that much of his hatred stemmed from jealousy at Potter, who was everything Snape wanted to be. 'At least Lily sees through him.'
Serverus felt his anger seep away as he allowed his thoughts to drift to beautiful, enchanting Lily Evans. He didn't even care that she was a mudblood, although he would never admit that in public. He longed to give her the love and protection she deserved, despite the fact that she seemed perfectly capable of protecting herself. A slight smile played across his face as he remembered the way she had just defended him. It was quickly replaced with a frown however, as he felt recalled his feeling of shame at needing to be defended by Lily. 'Why did I lash out at HER like that? Oh, I'll get that James Potter someday.'