"Every fairy tale needs a good old-fashioned villain." - James Moriarty, Sherlock.
Lily Evans; in her own world, she is a princess, with ruby locks and jade eyes and an emerald dress that twirls around her like a riddle.
James is a villain in Lily's story. He always has been, since the moment he walked up to her a week after school started and told her he was irrevocably and completely in love with her.
"Hello," she says, looking down at the black haired boy in her House that was slightly shorter than her. "What's your name?"
"I'm James Potter," he says confidently. "And after giving this much thought, I have decided that I am utterly, completely, irrevocably, beautifully, wonderfully, stupendously, fantastically-"
She coughs, irritated, and he grins at her. "Could you get to the point please?"
"Er...I love you?" he says intelligently, and she looks at him with a glare that will become quite familiar to him quite fast.
"That's funny. Good-bye." She pushes past him, and he stares after her, with a light in his eyes that only she will ever bring out.
And so James becomes a villain. At first, he is a horrible dragon that breathes the fire of stupidity and raging love that isn't real and she longs to get rid of him. As time goes on, he becomes somewhat of a prince; still a nasty person, but bearable, and a tad bit cute. But she still hates him, so he's still a villain to her, even after five years.
But every fairy tale has a few helpers, to push the story along, and it just so happens that in this story, it's one of the prince's best friends.
Outside the Fat Lady, a girl of perhaps fifteen years stands, taking deep breaths to calm herself. Squaring her shoulders, the redhead walks in, as if she's preparing herself to face something momentous.
Inside is nothing particularly scary; there are the usual empty tables and love-seats at this time of day, along with the speckling of regulars who are always here around now.
She sighs in happiness, smiling as she walks over to her favorite seat...only to have it turn around and reveal a scrawny brunette boy, cheekily grinning up at her.
"Oh, hello, Lily," he greets cheerily. "Sit with me."
Lily complies, sitting in the seat across. "How are you, Remus?"
"Good, thanks. And if you're wondering, James is out at Quidditch Practice, Peter is watching him, and Sirius is in detention for a solo prank on Snape, again."
"I wasn't wondering, but thanks." She makes a face, before smiling at their antics. "And what about you? What are you doing here all alone? Are you up to something? Doing research for any future pranks of yours?"
Remus chuckled, before shaking his head. "Unlike my stupid friends, I've decided that academics are worth something in life, so I'm working on my Transfiguration essay. I suppose you're working on homework too?"
She nods, before pulling out a complex star chart from Astronomy. "I'm still working on this."
He looks at her in sympathy. "I'd help you, but I'm not done with it either."
After a few more minutes, they settle into a mellow silence, the fire embers crackling in the background.
This is why I like Remus best, Lily thinks happily as she finishes labeling one star. He's got his priorities straight, and he isn't annoying like the rest of them. He just goes along with them. A shame, because then I would have loved to be his friend.
"Lily, what do you think of James?" Remus asks, putting down his parchment to look at her.
Her head snaps up, her lips pressing together in a tight line. "Well, I thought my extreme dislike for him was pretty clear from the way I constantly try to avoid confrontation and insult him."
He sighs, as if he expected this to happen. "Yes, I know, but...he really likes you, you know?"
"If you're just going to try to convince me to give him a chance, believe me, it won't work," she retorts, crossing her arms. "I've tried before. He's literally the only one who can get me so mad so fast."
Remus coughs into his arms, trying to hide a smile. Well, at least James does make her feel something...even if it is extreme anger.
"I'm not going to convince you to like him," he clarifies. "It's his problem. It's just a little hard for me to watch him tirelessly chase after you for five years straight and not even see you give him the light of day."
"He's been doing it for five years, and every time I reject him, he bounces back just fine. I don't see your point."
He sighs, running a hand through his messy brown hair. "That's what I'm trying to say. He doesn't just bounce back. Lately, a lot of the time when you say no, he gets a lot more upset than usual."
"How so?" she asks.
"He shuts us out and won't laugh at any of our stupid jokes," Remus deadpans. "And if that's not an upset James Potter, I don't know what is."
"That's good though," Lily huffs, refusing to take responsibility for her wrong actions. "Maybe it's finally getting through to him that I don't like him, and I never will."
"Lily, he really loves you," Remus interjects desperately. "I know it's odd to say someone could love when they're only fifteen, but he really does. What kind of person stubbornly pines after a girl who has rejected him countless times? And the thing is, he still thinks you're beautiful, no matter how mean you are to him or anyone else."
She blinks, swallowing noticeably. That is not what she expected for him to say.
He thinks I'm beautiful?
"I remember," Remus whispers. "I remember, when I first met James, Sirius, and Peter in my compartment on the Hogwarts Express, there was a red-headed girl who walked down the isle with a black-haired boy. And I remember James staring after her and saying she was beautiful."
Lily lowers her jade eyes in shame, suddenly feeling a bit of wetness on her cheeks. Beautiful. Such an odd thing to call me, of all people. I'm just Lily. Plain, old, boring, ugly, mean, selfish, heartless Lily.
"'I'm not beautiful," Lily says. "I have so many flaws-"
"And that's why he thinks that," Remus interrupts. "You are human. And in his eyes, that's what makes you perfect."
She is silent for a few moments. How can she go back to facing him now, after all that's she's learned? How could she reject him now?
He thinks she's beautiful. And no one has ever thought that of her before, between Petunia's constant insults and Severus's new tendency to judge her on her background.
"No offense, but sometimes I wonder why he chases after a girl like you. There are so many girls that would go out with him in a heartbeat if he asked, and so many more prettier, nicer ones."
She shoots him a glare. But he continues on obliviously.
"But you're the only one for him," he tells her. "You're still as beautiful as ever to him, and that's why he can't get over you."
"So I'm asking you one last time. Just give him one more chance."
She cannot stop thinking of that word as she goes to bed that night.
Beautiful.
It is it's own riddle. Beautiful could mean so many things, but to her, coming from James, it means something that could work.
The next day, when James asks her on a date in the middle of the Common Room, Lily smiles and says she'll think about it.
James stutters in shock before jumping in glee and hugging Sirius. Remus shoots her a thankful smile, to which she shyly returns it.
Beautiful.
A/N: I suck with friendship.
Done for:
Quidditch Competition - Round 10 (Platonic Lily with Remus. Prompts used: "Every fairy tale needs a good old-fashioned villain." - James Moriarty, Sherlock.; "Er...I love you?"; riddle.)