Disclaimer: This story, and all subsequent chapters, is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. The lyrics are borrowed from the following, but are not limited to: Don McLean and various other writers, producers, and record labels.

Author's Note: Welcome to my newest novel-length work! I have had this developing for some time now, and I was going to wait to being publishing until I finished many more chapters, but inspiration finally struck and I think I'm on my way to having some good material written down soon. I don't know how often I will be able to update this, because it depends on how quickly I can get the third chapter typed, but I'm hoping to get a schedule nailed down to every couple of weeks. I am about eight weeks away from finishing my bachelor's degree, so that has to take priority.

This is a James/Lily fanfiction. I gain my inspiration from Don McLean's "American Pie." Yes, I know it's not British. But I really think parts can be used to highlight the story of James, Lily, and the first Wizarding War in general. I use specific lyrics in the beginning of each chapter as inspiration for that chapter. You could say they're prompts, of a sort. Each set of lyrics has a specific meaning that I try to convey in each chapter; whether it's obvious or not is for you to decide. With that said, I hope you enjoy and don't forget to review!

American Pie

Chapter One

"…Well, I know that you're in love with him 'cause I saw you dancing in the gym. You both kicked off your shoes Man, I dig those rhythm and blues…"

He didn't know why he did it; when asked by his mates what possessed him to eavesdrop on their fellow sixth year Gryffindor girls, he'd grin and reply, "All's fair in love and war between the sexes," and carry on smirking smugly as the four boys pored over the transcription of the conversation between Lily and Mary and the other Gryffindor girls. All he knew when he heard his name being spoken was that this, this, could be the key to finally understanding what it was that girls wanted. As a sixteen-year-old wizard, Sirius rather thought this was a brilliant idea; given the trouble he and his friends always seemed to have when it came to dealing with girls.

He had been in the middle of sneaking out on another late-night excursion to the kitchens when he first heard the conversation. He wasn't worried about being caught; he had James' invisibility cloak and had planned a prank to explain why the portrait was suddenly opening of its own accord over the portrait hole. The map was currently in his left back pocket and he was in no hurry to get there or to get back. He had just rigged the portrait hole to explode in fireworks upon being opened when he realized the tone of the conversation.

"…Black never tries to talk any sense into the git, he just lets him amble along like a troll in a tea shoppe. Quite frankly, I just wish even one of them would get it through his thick skull already!" The words came from none other than one Lily Evans. Now, normally, Sirius would have rolled his eyes and disregarded the redhead's words; he liked Lily well enough, but she wasn't exactly a close friend of his. It was the next sentence, however, that caught his total attention.

"Oh Lily, come on! Face it, you fancy Potter," Marlene McKinnon contradicted her. Sirius stopped just as he was about to open the portrait hole.

"Marlene, I'm not saying I don't like him him, I just don't like the him that always seems to come out every time I'm around!" exclaimed Lily. She shook her head and turned to watch the flames coming out of the grate in the fireplace. "He's a total different person when I'm not there. I see it all the time. It's amazing how many split personalities he seems to possess!" Sirius watched as she shrugged her shoulders and seemed to sink into the armchair she currently occupied. Slowly, a grin began to form. Sirius looked around the common room and, upon spying a stray quill and inkwell, proceeded to carefully take the items under the cloak so as not to alert the girls of his presence and edged as near as he dared. Waving a wand and thinking a nonverbal recording spell, the quill began to write everything the girls said on a piece of parchment Sirius had just conjured.

"So wait, Lily," Alice asked, "you don't hate him?"

"In all honesty, no. He's not a bad person. He just acts like a total moron."

Sirius watched as Lily rubbed her eyes as the other girls looked on in disbelief. Marlene and Emmeline exchanged curious glances and Mary said, "Then why do you always act as if you can't stand to be in the same room with him?"

"That's because I can't stand to be in the same room as him and other people. He always acts a complete fool if we're anywhere near a crowd. Remember that day in fifth year?" The other four girls nodded hesitantly, knowing full well that Lily was talking about that day after their defense against the dark arts OWL when James hexed Snape, causing the Slytherin boy and Lily to lose whatever friendship they had had before that incident. "I was watching him out of the corner of my eye. He kept running his hand through his hair and glancing over towards us every few moments to see if he was having any effect on me." Sirius had to stifle a chuckle as he watched Lily roll her eyes. "Then, he gave me an ultimatum of going out with him or continuing to see him engaging in bad habits and behaviors he shouldn't even think of doing!"

"I see your point," said Mary. "It would be a bit embarrassing being treated in that way."

Lily shook her head. "It's not so much embarrassing as it is annoying. I fancy the idiot, and Merlin only knows why. But he always acts so childish and immature, how can I give him a chance when he's always doing the wrong thing to convince me to give him that chance in the first place? I can't, not until he grows up and quits bullying people and acting like he's Merlin's gift to witches, and least of all trying to bribe me into going on a date with him. He has no idea of what romance is about, and even less of an idea of what actually makes something romantic. Telling me that if I go out with him he'll never curse Snape again, for example, is NOT romantic."

The girls laughed at that. "He certainly seems to think bribery is the best way to get you to agree to go out with him," Marlene grinned. "It's too bad none of us are recording this conversation, maybe if we sent him a copy he'd finally wake up a bit as to how to get girls to agree to dates."

"No, I don't think that would still be enough," Mary retorted, "He still wouldn't know how to go about talking to girls. He'd only know what not to do." The five girls giggled at the expression they imagined would come across his face if he were ever asked how to implement the advice the girls wanted to give him.

"Well, maybe he'll come back a bit more mature next year," Alice said reasonably. "After all, especially with You-Know-Who around, I think we'll all probably grow up a lot in the course of this summer."

"I hope so Alice. If there's one thing I ever noticed, it's how unaware he is of everything he has. He has a loving family, friends that are always there for him and don't want to have anything to do with the Dark Arts, gets good grades, is talented at Quidditch, and is actually very intelligent. He takes everything for granted, though." Lily paused and looked down at her sock covered feet.

Emmeline wrapped Lily in an embrace. "It's alright love. Tomorrow is the official beginning to a new summer, after all."

Marlene smiled softly. "Another summer, another year. It's amazing to think we only have one more year left before our education ends. What are we all going to do after this?"

"I'm hoping to be an Auror," Alice said.

"I'm not sure yet," Emmeline replied and Mary agreed.

"I think I want to do something to help the advancement of Muggleborns. That, or operate my own potion-making service," Lily amended her answer after a moment and grinned at the four girls.

"I like your idea about helping Muggleborns, Lily. That's definitely something that needs to be focused on in this present climate," Marlene mused. Silence fell over the group as they all thought about the predicament they were currently facing, even with being still in school. The prospect of having to leave the safe haven that is Hogwarts School was daunting at best. Sirius, upon seeing that the conversation of why James was an insufferable idiot was coming to a close, grabbed the quill and stuffed it in his pocket. As quietly as he could, he folded the parchment and held it carefully in his hand, leaving the inkwell in its place on the desk he had located to upon beginning his eavesdropping. He stood as fast as he dared and moved towards the staircase, not noticing that as he did so, part of the cloak slipped off.

He heard a gasp just as he put his first foot on the stairs, and turned around to see if there was going to be more of the conversation that would prove valuable. Sirius froze, however, when he realized that Marlene was staring at him in surprise and that the cloak had slipped. Quickly, he made a shushing gesture towards her and mouthed, 'I'll explain later.' Eyes still slightly wide, she gave the barest of nods. The other four Gryffindor sixth years noticed none of this exchange, and Sirius slipped up the stairs, confident that Marlene would not give him away, at least not to Lily. Just as he was opening the door, he heard Marlene say, "It's getting late; we should head off to bed. The train leaves tomorrow after all," and the sounds of clothes rustling could be heard as they all stood to head to their beds. Sirius smirked as he entered the dormitory and showed his bounty to the other four boys in the room.

"Are you sure you can't come," James inquired of the three boys who were huddled together on Platform 9 ¾, waiting for the moment when they would reluctantly part for the summer holidays.

"Very sure. My parents want me to attend a clinic somewhere in the south of France to help with my 'furry little problem," Remus replied. "I probably won't be able to come 'til at least August, and that's at the earliest."

"Dear old Mum is having a family reunion. There's no way out of it, mate," Sirius said dully.

"My parents and I are vacationing in Majorca," Peter shook his head.

James shook his head, furious at the luck that forced their group to be disbanded. Scowling, he told them all, "Don't worry about it then. Just write and when we can get together, you can come over then. He raised his hand and ruffled his hair, responding to his mates' good-byes before turning in search of his parents. He saw Lily meeting her parents. As the Evans family left, he spotted his mother near the entrance to the platform; she smiled and waved when she saw he was looking at her. James sighed and pushing the trolley that held his trunk and owl towards her, not really wanting to spend this summer without his best mates but still glad to be able to be back home.

James was now, officially, bored. Normally, he would have been cavorting and causing all sorts of mischief with his three friends, but each had had their own obligations to fill that summer, and so he was for all intents and purposes left to his own devices. Even the fellow witches and wizards who lived in Godric's Hollow were unable to join him in his frolics due to an outbreak of dragonpox in the quiet little village. To vent his frustrations at being left on his own, he kicked a rock lying beside his drive. He didn't even have the pleasure of taking a quick trip to Diagon Alley; his mother felt it too unsafe for him to travel there alone. Sighing at his misfortune, he turned from his drive and took refuge under an elm tree that took up part of his front yard. Wishing for once that something interested would happen in this sleepy village he ruffled his hair absentmindedly. He closed his eyes and began to let his mind drift into daydreams of what he could be doing with his friends had they all been able to come stay that summer.

"James, you've an owl. It's from your uncle," his mother called out to him from the front door. Sighing, he stood up, brushed the seat of his jeans to remove the twigs and dead leaves, and strode towards the house. Upon entering, he kicked off his shoes and followed his mother into the kitchen. Slumping against the table he opened it and read the brief contents.

"Apparently Sirius is driving his family bonkers. Uncle Charlus says so far he's charmed the silver to tap-dance across the table whenever someone tries to eat or drink, rigged the doorways so everyone trips whenever they enter or exit a room, and he's managed to convince Regulus that there are pixies hiding in his wardrobe. Apparently Walburga has threatened to disown him, he's done so much," James told his mother with a slight smile.

"It's good to know Sirius is doing well," Mrs. Potter grinned.

James grinned back, but after a moment, frowned. "He also says Regulus has hinted about joining the Death Eaters."

At this, his mother frowned as well but said nothing. It was, after all, common knowledge that Walburga and Orion's family, at least most of them, were big supporters of You-Know-Who's campaign. Charlus and Dorea Potter were both pureblooded, and Dorea was a bit haughty when it came to a person's lineage, but thankfully neither believed in eradicating those who were not pureblooded just for the sake of it.

After a moment, James' mother said, "Your father should be home soon."

"Has he had to work much lately? Your last letter didn't say, Mum."

Mrs. Potter sighed, "Yes, he's had to work a lot. He's rarely home for more than a few hours there's been so many accidents he's had to work." She turned from James and took out the kettle for tea. Once the pot was filled and the water charmed to boil and she had placed the leaves in to steep, she turned back to her son. "When he gets home you can question him about it then. Now tell me what you've been doing since you wrote your last letter. Has that Lily Evans finally agreed to go on a date with you?" She grinned and looked at James expectantly.

James sighed, "No she hasn't. I don't know what to do about that."

"I find that just being yourself often works better than you think." She turned and began pouring two cups of tea, not noticing James' look of doubt. He had tried being himself so much even he was sick of it, all of which had been to no avail. Not that he was going to tell his mother he didn't think that was the best course of action anymore; he'd rather just make a complete arse of himself instead, if only to break up the monotony a little. And no matter what Sirius thought, that transcription of the girls' conversation from yesterday didn't make the answer any clearer as to what he had to do to get his chance.

The mother and son duo conversed on several topics, including why the May prank on the Hufflepuffs went wrong, his marks in his classes, Sirius' plans to get a motorbike upon leaving school and enchanting it to fly (something Mrs. Potter wholeheartedly disapproved of, but James himself thought was a brilliant idea), and the strange occurrences and events that have been happening in the wizarding world. You-Know-Who was wreaking havoc on every corner of the world, both wizarding and Muggle in the British Isles, and it was believed that he was the source of myriad disappearances for many members of pureblood families. The Daily Prophet, James learned, was only reporting about half the occurrences that happened.

It was just as their house elf had finished dinner that James' father came home. The last time James saw the elder man was back during the Easter hols, but upon first glance, James knew something was dreadfully wrong with Julius Potter. His skin had a faint green twinge, and even as Julius clapped him on the back, looked greener still.

"Dad, you don't look so great. You're not getting dragonpox too, are you?"

"Oh, James, m'boy, I'm fine. Sharp as a sneakoscope, as a matter of fact!"

"But Dad-"

"Oh, James, enough about me. How'd your last term go? Still giving those Slytherin berks hell?" Julius sat down at the dinner table just as his wife came in levitating the shepherd's pie they would have for their evening meal. James and his mother shared a glance, but no more was said. Instead, James began recounting the tale of the prank against the Hufflepuffs that went askew, his latest marks in Transfiguration, and Sirius' escapades at the Black family reunion. His father laughed in all the right places, asked questions when he needed to, and ate a healthy portion of the meal, but still James felt as if something wasn't quite right.

His father never complained of feeling ill or made any mention of a possibility of being under the weather, and so James decided by the time the evening was over to put it out of his mind. He didn't consider how that might come to haunt him one day, and that putting it out of his mind just might be one of his biggest regrets; James just simply didn't think of the consequences. He was quite glad his father was home and wasn't about to question any abnormalities.

"It still amazes me that Sirius hasn't run away," Mr. Potter shook his head. "If it were me, I'd have done a bunk a long time ago. He's a true Gryffindor, that's for certain."

"Now, Julius, don't go giving James any ideas. If Sirius wants to leave that mess of a family, then he can come up with it on his own. He might be putting up with it so he can make sure he gets his inheritance. You never know with that boy." Mrs. Potter scowled at her husband, while James looked on grinning.

"Godiva, you can't tell me he's happy with that lot, just as you can't tell me Sirius wouldn't ever leave that rot. All that pureblood nonsense. I still don't understand how my brother married one of them."

"Aunt Dorea's not that bad, Dad," James interjected. "She's a bit standoffish, I'll admit, but she doesn't support the Dark Arts."

"No, she's doesn't support the Dark Arts, you're right. But I promise you, she thinks just like all those other Blacks do, that since she's a member of the Black family, she's wizarding royalty. Hell, they're not even from the British Isles! No one ever remembers, but they're no more Britons than our house elf! They came over here from Normandy during the Norman Conquest and have been here ever since. Seems to me that the blood was purer on this side of the English Channel; after all, the ancestor who came here was quite wealthy there; had a title and everything! They just like pretending they're one of us so their sons and daughters can marry high up in the wizarding society we Britons struggled to achieve!"

"Wouldn't that make the Blacks descendants of Vikings, then, dear? If they are descendants from Normandy?" Mrs. Potter asked.

"I'm sure the fathers got Vikings to marry their daughters, yes, but that doesn't change the fact that they're French!"

James chuckled at his dad. Julius probably knew more about the lineages of the wizarding families of the United Kingdom than any other wizard to date. He never understood why his father wanted to work in the Magical Accidents and Catastrophes department of the Ministry when he could just write a book on the history of the pureblooded families and other historical events that impacted wizarding society alongside Muggle society. History and wizards' involvement in it was his father's passion. Certainly, at every Christmas and birthday, his father received some sort of historical document or text.

He leaned back in his chair and half-listened to his father carry on about the Malfoys ("They're just as bad as the Blacks, claiming a false lineage they don't have!"), quickly moving on to the Boneses and the Abbotts. It was when his mother became cross at his father for some (according to her, at least) false remarks that James decided to go to bed. He didn't rather fancy hearing his mother and father argue about his mother's family (she had been an Abbott herself, born and bred just the same as his father right here in Godric's Hollow). Biding them goodnight he took the stairs two at a time to his room and proceeded to get ready for bed.

Once in his pyjamas, he took out the copy of the conversation Sirius recorded and studied it. He knew some of the things he had done in the past were shameful, but he also didn't believe that Lily was right in claiming that he was arrogant. After all, if the Slytherins are going to jinx him, why shouldn't he hex them before they got their chance? James knew Lily's heart was in the right place, but, being Muggleborn, she just didn't understand the pureblood vendetta; she was only in direct contact with the wizarding world for a short time each year and thus didn't have much exposure to it. He was surrounded by the vendetta all the time, however. James understood that you had to give back as good as you got with those types of wizards, and he wasn't about to change that. He wasn't sorted into Gryffindor for nothing after all.

Shaking his head, he decided that he had no other option but to fight against it. That blasted vendetta was going to be the end of the wizarding world as everyone knew it, and that blasted opinion of the redhead's was going to drive James to insanity one day as well. Everyday he fought those Death Eater hopefuls and everyday he fought to change Lily's opinion of him. Quite honestly, he wasn't able to distinguish between the two fights any longer.

He sighed and got up to put the transcript back into his trunk. He wasn't really in the mood for introspection tonight, and anyway, he knew his mother would come and wake him bright and early to de-gnome the garden and wanted to get a good night's rest before then. As he slid under the bedclothes his eyes fell on a picture he had taken in secret of Lily in fifth year. She was standing by the lake, her hair blowing in the breeze, wearing a red floral patterned dress and smiling with not a care in the world at someone out of the frame of the camera. It wasn't a wizarding photograph; James had used the Kodachrome camera he had received as a gag gift from Sirius, who admittedly tried to find every instance he could to use Muggle items instead of wizarding ones. James thought the camera was simply brilliant. He had used the entire roll of film that came with the camera taking pictures of Lily; he felt the nonmoving picture captured her as best as she was, both the Muggle side of her as well as the witch within.

In spite of the differences between the two, James rather thought that it was the most perfect way for her to be.