A/N: I wrote this in a random bout of boredom. I'm not sure about its actual quality. Anyway, if there are any typos, feel free to point them out. I may have missed something while writing, and my eyes are heavy from insomnia to proof-read right now.
My first attempt at a James/Lily, or my first completed Harry Potter fanfic. I want to try another fandom aside from Kingdom Hearts.
Reviews are much appreciated.
///
James Potter was, in his own eyes, the very epitome of perfection. He had good looks, riches, good grades, and he had every single girl in Hogwarts falling head over heels for him.
The only thing that was ruining this was the fact that there was only one girl in the entire school that was not madly in love with him, and this bothered and irritated the brunette more than he could ever understand.
Then again, James Potter wasn't exactly a very understanding person.
At least twice a week, he would see Lily Evans in his Potions class. It drove him mad, seeing her so focused and dedicated to whatever Professor Slughorn was rambling on about, instead of paying attention to him.
He had tried to talk to her, he tried to use everything he could learn from Sirius to try and break her, but the redhead was stubborn, and seemed eternally repulsed by him. He was repulsive in her eyes. That kind of description was usually reserved for Peter, but never for him. The redhead was clearly out of her mind. He was a Potter. He was James Potter. He was perfect, and he would not let a mudblood like Evans tell him otherwise.
"Yes, Mr. Potter? Is there a problem?"
Professor Slughorn's voice snapped James back to reality, and he found himself staring at the cauldron in front of him, realizing that he had, in fact, not started with anything.
"Nothing, Professor."
Slughorn nodded. "Very well then, carry on." He walked away, leaving James back to his thoughts.
This time, he started making the potion on the board, but eventually his focus went back to his angry, internal ranting about Lily Evans.
There she was three seats away from him. Her eyes darted back and forth from her book, the board, and her cauldron. He hated her. He despised her. He hated the fact that for the past 10 minutes he could not stop being angry about her, yet she was completely oblivious to his loathing. She was so near him! How could she possibly ignore him?
She was currently chatting away to the person beside her. That was another thing that drove him to near-violent rage. She dared to shun him, but she was friends with Snivellus. She was repulsed by him, but she could stand to be within 4 feet of that greasy-haired, long-nosed prat. How was that even possible? Snivellus was obviously some lonely, bloody sod.
This was an outrage. She was insane. He would not let this continue. Before the week is done, he would have Lily noticing him. He would have her worshipping him, like every other girl in the school.
It wouldn't be hard. After all, he was perfect. He was James Potter.
He ended his thoughts with his trademark smirk and went back to work.
///
"Now class, I'm going to be assigning you an essay that will be accomplished by partner. This will be due next week. Now, Mr. Potter. We'll start with you. Who would you like as your partner?"
James opened his mouth and almost replied what he usually would have in this situation; obviously, his partner would be none other than Sirius. However, something clicked in his head. Evans cared about her grades and would never let herself fail…even if it meant having to spend an entire day with him. It would be perfect.
"Mr. Potter? Is something wrong?"
"No, not at all. I'd like Evans to be my partner, Professor."
Several heads turned; some turned towards James, others stared at Lily. All eyes in the room were filled with confusion(and anger, for some of the girls.) Sirius glared at James and mouthed a "What?" Immediately after, Sirius nodded. Only he could have guessed James' intentions that fast.
However, the most violent and surprised reaction was that of Lily Evans when she realized what had just been said.
"WHAT? Excuse me? Potter, do you honestly think that-"
"Wonderful. I expect a fantastic essay from the two of you. Next off. Yes, you there, Ms. Owen."
---
Lily could not believe this. This was…this was a mistake. There was no way she would have been paired up with Potter. There was no way she would be forced to work with just him. That would mean she'd have to spend some time with him alone. It would be bad for her sanity; it would be bad for her health to have to spend more than 15 minutes alone with that pompous, conceited and rude twit. Surely this was a joke.
"The topic of this essay will be about a potion called Mico Solum. A minimum of 2,000 words. Class dismissed."
The students began to gather their things to leave for their next class. Lily was still in anger. How dare Potter just announce her to be his partner! How dare he not even ask for her consent first. Irritating bloke, he was. Just who does he think he is? She had been trying to avoid him and keep as far away from him as possible for the past 4 years, she can't believe that she'd be forced to endure his presence now.
It's for your fifth year Potions grade, Lily. You can do this.
She brushed her red hair back, let out a long, exhausted sigh, and started to walk out of the room.
"Oi, Evans."
Her anger immediately flared up again.
"What do you want, Potter?"
"When do you want to meet up for this essay, then?"
"…I don't know. I think I'm free later. Meet me in the Library."
"Sure, whatever you say Evans."
"Potter?"
"Yes?"
"Don't be late. I'm going to kill you if you are."
///
He's late. Again. Why am I not surprised?
Lily had made it clear that she wanted to meet right after dinner, and it seems that James had forgotten, or his dinner consisted of eating for 2 hours. That would explain why he was an hour late, but she highly doubted he would take that long.
That jerk. First he chooses me to be his partner, and then he makes me wait. This is an outrage. What an arse.
She decided to give up waiting and start on the first part of the essay. If she would wait for Potter, she might just waste the entire evening and end up with no results whatsoever.
"Evans, sorry to keep you waiting."
Lily looked up and her grip on her quill tightened when she saw James sit casually on the chair beside her, his nonchalant grin on his face.
"So what have you done so far?"
"You've got some nerve, Potter. You come here an hour late and expect me to have done a lot?"
"I didn't say-"
"Bugger off, Potter. The books are on the table. Can we just get this done?"
"You're too serious, Evans. Stress is bad for your health."
"You're one to care about my health, Potter."
"I'm hurt, Evans. I'm not heartless."
"You may as well be."
Immediately, something changed in his eyes. Lily couldn't quite tell what it was, but he looked away and bowed his head. Did she…hurt him? No way, it couldn't be. James Potter did not get hurt. He was arrogant and annoying and a total arse. Nothing could change that.
"Look, I'm sorry I'm late, alright? I had to bring Sirius to the hospital wing. He got an allergy to his food. I didn't leave until he could."
"…o-oh."
She was caught off-guard. That was the last thing she expected. Well, two things she last expected. First of all, Potter had actually apologized. Second of all…he was late because he was actually…
No. Lily, focus.
"Well, we better get started then." She cleared her throat and handed him one of the books she found.
The silence was agonizing. The only sound that she could wear was the sounds of the quills scratching against their parchment. Wasn't he even going to try to make this any less uncomfortable?
Would it even be any better if he talked, Lily? He'd probably go on and on about great he is, like he always does.
All the thoughts of what he would say if he did talk only irritated her, and so she grabbed at the nearest book she could and grabbed it without a second thought. Unfortunately, this caused several other books to fall…and they landed on James' foot. He let out a yelp which caused a glare from some of the other students.
"Evans! Merlin's beard, that bloody hurt."
"Sorry! Are you okay?"
"Oh, I don't know Evans. Let's drop 6 bloody books with hundreds of pages, and very thick hardbound covers on YOUR foot. Then you tell me if you're okay."
"There's no need to be sarcastic! Honestly, sometimes I think you're just so rude!"
"Me? Rude? What about you? Every time I try to get you to at least not bloody ignore me, you make me feel like I'm just being a worthless sod!"
"Mr. Potter, Ms. Evans, can you please take this argument some place other than the Library?"
"Y-yes. Sorry." Lily gathered her things and started to rush off, but stopped when James called after her.
"Evans…I can't stand up."
"What?"
"…I think you broke my foot. You twit."
His face actually looked like he was in pain. Lily actually found that he looked…almost like a child, with the expression he had on right now. She found it…adorable.
SHUT UP, Lily. You have no idea what you're saying! You are NOT thinking that James Potter looks adorable, that's INSANE.
"Fine. I suppose since it is my fault…I'll bring you to the Hospital Wing."
---
It was hard for Lily to bring James up to the Hospital Wing. His arm was around her neck, and she was holding his other arm to make sure he didn't lose his balance while they both walked around the Hogwarts campus. It was incredibly uncomfortable, being this close.
"I'm sorry, by the way. About your foot."
"...Hrm."
"Potter, out of curiosity…why me?"
"What do you mean, 'why you?'"
"Black is usually your partner for everything. Why'd you pick me this time?"
"That's not important."
"Of course it is, you git."
"I don't…know, Evans. It was impulse. I already forgot why I did in the first place."
"You honestly expect me to believe that?"
"Of course I do."
"You're hopeless."
They finally arrived at the Hospital Wing, and Madam Jones stood up. "Mr. Potter. It's you, again. What seems to be the problem?"
"Evans broke my foot, I'm afraid."
"Hey Potter, you make me sound like I'm that violent! It was an accident!"
"Enough of your bickering, I should have this mended in a heartbeat."
---
"Do you want to continue doing the essay in the common room, then?"
"Sure."
Thankfully enough, this time Potter wasn't right beside her because he needed support to get around. Although, after a while it wasn't so bad, actually. Potter actually smelled rather nice…
What the bloody hell are you thinking, Lily?! Stop thinking about the way Potter smells now!
"This hasn't been a very productive night." She said to try and keep her thoughts as sane and as Potter-Smell-Free as possible.
"Whose fault is that, I wonder?"
"Are you going to blame me again, Potter?"
"If you had just thought about what would happen if you pulled the bloody book, then maybe you wouldn't have yanked at it so viciously. Then maybe books wouldn't have toppled over to crush my foot."
"Stop playing the victim here, Potter."
"But I am the victim."
"Oh, bugger off."
///
James was feeling weird. This night hadn't exactly gone according to his plan…but somehow he actually liked it. He couldn't explain it…but he was actually having some kind of fun with the redhead. She wasn't like the other girls…of course not. She was…different. He actually found that the difference was refreshing.
What on earth are you thinking about, James. You're not going to start falling for her. You will fall for no one. Stop it.
The common room was practically empty, only two students were sitting by an armchair…and they seemed to be…cuddling. Well, this was a rather awkward situation. Although…he almost felt jealous.
Jealous? Jealous? What the bloody HELL?! You're not jealous. You're not a SAP.
The two of them pretended that the couple was not there and proceeded to go to the wooden table in the corner. After tonight's events, the two tried to pretend as if nothing had happened. This was all strictly professional.
Of course, he was currently confused. He didn't understand what he was feeling. While Lily sat down and started to fix all her stuff, he clear his thought and sat down in the chair next to her. The noise of their movements caught the attention of the other two students, and the quickly leave.
"Erm, thank you for tonight, Evans."
"What?"
"I don't know…it was fun."
"Fun? You honestly call all that happened tonight fun?"
"…Yes. I would." Much to the surprise of both of them, a smile lit up his face. A genuine one, that was nowhere near his usual smirk.
What the hell is happening to you? Stop it.
Lily was staring at him with surprised eyes. "Potter…you're smiling. Is that really you? Are you feeling alright? Do you need another trip to the hospital wing?"
As she always did, the redhead had made him feel like everything he was doing was just idiotic. Maybe it was. She drove him angry and indignant every single time, and he stood up.
"What is your problem with me, Evans?!"
The redhead pushed her chair back and stood up to meet rage-filled hazel eyes.
"My problem is YOU, Potter."
"Why you-" He took a step forward, but his leg caught on of the chair's legs, and he found himself stumbling…and falling over the redhead.
…Immediately, all his anger left him. His face was mere inches away from Lily's, and both of them were silent from the shock.
That's when he knew…he knew why it bothered him so much that she never noticed him, he knew why he actually even BOTHERED to apologize for being late. He knew why he was ACTUALLY grateful enough to THANK her for tonight, why he SMILED, even. Lily Evans…was different. As he stared into her emerald-green eyes, he knew that there was no other girl he could ever even NOTICE. There was no other girl he would bother remembering. There was no other girl who would ever be good enough for his own perfection. She was perfect.
James rested his weight on his hand on the floor, and slowly leaned in closer…
Only to have his lips meet the texture of parchment.
"W-well, we better continue with the essay then, Potter. Quit lazing off."
Once again, the redhead was able to remind James as to why she was the only girl that would ever be good enough.