"Oh, come on, Evans give me a break!"

"No! You don't deserve a break!" Lily Evans yelled with all her might, "I gave you a break the first couple times you did this, thinking you might turn it around. But now, four years later? No, I'm not going to give you a break! This is ridiculous! You're acting like you're ten. When are you going to grow up?"

"I'm as grown up as I can possibly be Evans. This is just who I am!"

"No it's not. You're not a bully, Potter, and you know it! You know it, I know it, and everybody else knows it. And if this is who you are, then how the hell can you expect me to go out with you?"

Lily helped Severus Snape up and walked off with him. Before she was out of sight, she yelled, "It might be a good idea to find out who you really are! Maybe then, I would have a different view of you."

That was fourth year. Lily closed her eyes, sitting in the middle of the Common Room. That was not one of her favorite memories. Deep down, she had known that James Potter was a good, kind, person. He just refused to show it, thinking that it was cool to do these things that he did. Severus always used to bother her about him, telling her never become even aqauintences with him. That was before he called her an unspeakable word for no apparent reason.

Fourth year was easy. In fourth year, James Potter was a jerk, Severus Snape was her best friend, and she herself was top of the class. That was it from first through the middle of fifth year. But then Snape called her a mudblood, and that changed everything. In sixth year, something seemed to change about Potter. He still pulled stupid pranks, and got endless detentions, but they were harmless. Snape was only bothered when he deserved it, and Lily knew he did. Snape hadn't tried to change for Lily, he was still aiming to be a death eater, and he still hung around with the same people, who still did the same evil things to innocent muggles and muggle borns.

Now James was Head Boy. When Lily saw James sitting in the Prefects Compartment, she really wasn't surprised. Not only because he had been so much better in sixth, but because she knew, and she was sure Dumbledore knew, how much potential this seventeen year old had to be whatever the hell he wanted to be. And she also knew that he was a great leader. I mean, it takes a great leader to become the most popular guy in the school.

So, Lily took her seat, and spoke to the prefects about what she needed to speak about. She knew none of them were listening, because they were all staring in awe at James, except for Remus, who Lily had suspected already knew.

Now, it was late October. James had been so nice to her, and everyone else since the beginning of the school year. Well, except the Slytherins, but he hadn't bothered them yet. He just ignored them. Lily didn't know what to think of him. Lily found it hard to let go of things, and she found it hard to let go of dislike for James. Lily would smile warmly at everyone she knew and liked whenever she saw them. She couldn't do that to James when the Marauders passed in the hall. She couldn't keep from staring at anything but him when they went on patrols. Lily had never learned how to welcome the new, unless it was good.

Lily knew this was good, somewhere. But a bigger part of her was telling her that he had only changed for her. And not really for her, but so he could have her. So that he could show her around like a little trophy, then go back to being an idiot.

It was a stupid theory, but Lily had been through it before. By a heartless guy. Lily didn't want to go through it again.

She didn't fancy Potter, that was for sure. They could have been friends though, by now. It was only Lily's unwillingness to let go that was stopping them.