It was a day that seemed exactly like every other. In fact, it was a day exactly like every other. James Potter was thinking of ways to regain Lily's trust as a friend, or maybe more, and Lily was being bullied terribly by Slytherins a few years up from them. And that was when James found her.

Inside, the older slytherin's scathing remarks made her lip curl up and made her want to snap a flaming retort, but all she really did was roll her eyes. "That's original. Can't you come up with anything better than that?" She would always reply. She never told them that any muggle insult that they could come up with would hurt her more than just being called a mudblood.

Inside, his heart broke a little as he watched her struggle to mask her anger, but on the outside, all he did was act the hero. He whipped out his wand, and made their teeth double in size. Then he sauntered over to her.

Inside, she looked at him with relief, and said a gentle thank you. But instead, she sent him a glare and snapped. "I could have handled that myself, Potter." She could tell that her words seemed far too sharp, after all, he had just saved her.

Inside, his heart broke a little more as she glared daggers at him, but all he did was grin and say: "Evans, there were twelve of them, all stupid Slytherins angry because you're better at potions than them. You stood no chance, I'm afraid." He was surprised at how well he was hiding the fact that her harsh words did hurt. They hurt more than she knew.

Inside, Lily nodded in agreement. I know. But instead of being truthful, she angrily tossed her head, letting her red hair fall in waves around her face. "Don't you have anything better to do?" She spat.

Inside, he shook his head. There's nothing better than making sure you're ok. But all he really did was scoff. "Yes, anything's better than protecting my housemates, especially the ones that bring in all the house points." He said dryly.

Inside, she was taken aback by his sarcasm, he never treated her like that. Maybe I'm just used to him treating me well now. On the outside, though, all she did was sniff haughtily and send him a spiteful glare.

Inside, he was angry with himself for letting her think that he didn't care, and sent her a silent apology. Instead of voicing it, he paused, and turned to walk away.

Inside, her heart swelled as she watched him walk away, but instead of calling after him, she bent down to gather up her books. She couldn't just tell him, that after all these years of her hating him, that she might love him, could she? It was just… impossible. It was actually unLily-ish. She shook her head, and sighed. There was really nothing she could do now, she'd waited far too long.

Inside, his head pounded and his stomach squirmed. There was no doubt about it, he was actually in love. Not infatuation, not something that could stay hidden forever. But all he showed on his face was bewilderment. He, James Potter, did not know what to do.

Outside, their emotions were far different. Once with outspoken and comical love struck-ness, the other with cold distain and almost outright hate, but inside, the emotion was the same. Warm unwavering affection. In both cases, they knew that there was no way that they could ever think of another in the way they thought of each other, and they both thought it was too late for anything good to happen. They had waited too long.

But no matter what they did or said on the outside, nothing could change what they felt on the inside for each other. And that would never change.