The Call of Duty

Sure, you could call Lily Evans an average girl, but was she really average? According to James Potter, no. In fact, if someone had asked him that, he probably would have hexed them until the cows came home. Was James Potter obsessed? According to Lily Evans, yes.

James would stroll up to her everyday and say, "Lily Evans, will you go out with me?" And every day Lily would say, "No, James Potter, I would die before going out with you." She just couldn't stand the way he sauntered over like he was a super model or something. And the way he asked as if the thought just popped into his head; like it didn't really make a difference to him. She really did not understand how he could be such a ladies' man with the way that he treated women.

James had just asked her to go out with him(AGAIN!), and she was trying to get him off of her mind. After all, she didn't want to ruin her day by thinking about him! She decided to just focus on her next class: potions. She sat down and chatted with her friend Maggie before class started.

"Quiet down now, class." said the professor. He told them of their project for that day. They were going to be working on a travel potion. "But be careful, many things can go wrong with this potion! It is very advanced." Lily felt a little proud that the professor thought that they were ready for such an advanced potion.

Lily and Maggie got started on their potion, and used their time well. They still didn't have enough time to finish though, so the professor said, "If you have not reached the 15th step, then you will need to come in on your own time and catch up. We will do the remaining steps in our next class. Have a good lunch!"

"When should we come in to catch up?" Maggie asked because they had not yet reached the 15th step.

"I'll take care of it. You go ahead to lunch. I'll meet you there when I'm done." Said Lily, confident that she could handle it herself.

"Are you sure that you'll have enough time to eat?" asked Maggie.

"Yeah, it shouldn't take me that long. There are only a few steps to go and then I'll be done." Lily said.

"Ok, thanks Lily. I'll see you when you're done." Maggie said as she left. No one else decided to finish then, so Lily was alone. She would prefer that to being stuck there with James Potter or one of his ridiculous friends! Although Remus Lupin was pretty nice. And at least he wasn't a complete idiot, like the rest of their group!

As she thought about James and Remus, she began getting slightly careless with her potion-making. She couldn't even remember which ingredients she had put in already.

She thought that she heard a noise, so she went to peak out the door, but she accidentally knocked over her cauldron, spilling the contents all over herself and the floor. All of a sudden, she started spinning around and around and getting faster and faster. Then she began to see bright flashes of blue, and then just as she thought that she was going to fall over, it all stopped.

As she got her bearings, Lily realized that she was no longer in the dungeons. In fact, she was no longer in Hogwarts castle at all. She was now in someone's house. She began to worry, and then she noticed that everything looked black and white, except for her. Then a man entered the room. Lily recognized him as James Potter, although he looked a little different.

"James, what the hell is going on?!?!" Lily snapped. She stood there waiting for a reply, but none ever came. He just continued about his business. Lily started to get really annoyed.

"What did you do, James?!?! Answer me!" Lily demanded. She was really not in the mood for one of his games at this point.

She heard a baby crying, and a woman walked in carrying the baby.

"Wait, that's not some random woman! That's…..that's….me! What am I doing looking at myself? And whose baby is that? And why is everything black and white? And why is James here? And why do I look so happy?!?!" Lily thought.

"Hey, honey! How is little Harry doing?" James asked black and white Lily.

"Hi. He's doing just fine. Our little munchkin just had his first bath!" black and white Lily replied as she tickled the baby.

"Our little munchkin?! What is going on?!?!? How can this be happening?!?!" Lily thought in shock. All of a sudden, she started spinning again. "Not again!!!" she thought as dizziness overwhelmed her. She closed her eyes in hopes of becoming slightly stable again.

When she opened her eyes, she was in the dungeons again. She was really confused, so she decided to clean up the mess from her potion and then go talk to Dumbledore.

The Headmaster silently listened as she recounted what happened. Then he said, "Now, I am no potions master, but I believe that you somehow managed to accidentally create a time travel potion. When you see an event that is not from your current time, the event appears black and white. What you saw must have been in the future." Lily tried to interrupt, but he stopped her. "I know that you cannot believe it now, but it is your future. As hard as you try, you cannot change it. It is…fate. So please Lily, just try to accept it. It may not be as bad as you think."

"I understand Headmaster. I'll try to accept it." Lily said. She could not believe that she was destined to be with James Potter!

The next day, James approached her before she entered Transfiguration.

"Hey Lily, can I talk to you for a second?" James asked.

"Sure." Lily said resisting the urge to snap at him.

"Lily Evans, will you go out with me?" James asked, as usual.

"Yes, I would love to go out with you." Lily said and managed a smile.

"Really?!" asked James excitedly.

"Why not? You sure have put in a lot of effort!" Lily said laughing. "Maybe this isn't going to be as terrible and hard as I thought." She thought to herself. She had almost convinced herself that it was a good thing, when Remus walked around the corner. She had had a crush on him since their third year when he had sat with her in the Qudditch stands and admitted that he couldn't fly a broom very well either.

The moment she saw him, she knew that she was never going to be completely happy. But what could she do? Dumbledore had said that it was going to happen no matter what she did to try to change it.

She excused herself and began to cry. She ran into the bathroom and cried until it was almost curfew. Then she quickly walked back to Gryffindor tower and tried to think of an excuse for where she was.

When she entered the common room she saw Remus sitting in a chair starring at the entrance. It looked as though he had been waiting for her.

"Hi Remus…." Lily said unsure of what he was up to.

"Lily, we need to talk. Please sit down."

"Ok."

"Now, what exactly is up with you today? You miss lunch, and Maggie has to resort to asking JAMES AND THE REST OF US where you are? You answer YES when JAMES asks you out? Then you hide in the bathroom for the rest of the day? What is going on?!" asked Remus.

"Well…can you keep a secret?"

"Lily, you should know that you can always trust me."

"Ok, thanks. Well, I stayed behind in potions to finish what we were supposed to have done. I told Maggie that she could go and that I would meet her at lunch. I was working and everything, when I started thinking about some things and then I wasn't really paying attention to what I was doing. I just started putting in ingredients. Then I heard a noise and leaned over to look out the door to see what it was, and I accidentally spilled my potion all over myself. Then everything started spinning and blue lights flashed in my eyes and then it all stopped and I was in this house. And everything was black and white."

"Like an old fashioned movie?" Remus asked.

"Exactly. And James was there, and I tried talking to him, but he couldn't hear me. Then I walked in with a baby!!! Then the black and white James and I were talking to each other about the baby, and I called it our 'little munchkin'!!! James and I were married and we had a kid!!! After that everything started spinning again and I was back in the dungeons. Then I cleaned the mess up and went to see Dumbledore. He told me that I had somehow accidentally made a time traveling potion. He said that what I saw was my future, and that I can't change it, even if I want to! He said that it is my fate! Remus I am so scared! I don't want to marry James! I know that you don't think that he's that bad because he's your friend, but I just…..i just can't marry him! I…like someone else." Lily said quietly as she cried. Remus reached over a hugged Lily.

"Lily, who is it that you like?..." Remus asked quietly.

"Well, to be honest, I like you, Remus." said Lily.

Remus looked into her eyes and said, "Lily, I like you too. I've liked you since second year when you helped me with my charms work. You didn't make fun of me for being so bad at it. And you were a really good teacher." said Remus blushing.

"I've liked you since third year when you sat with me in the Qudditch stands and admitted that you couldn't fly a broom very well either." Lily said giggling.

"I know that you have to marry James someday, but do you think that I could have one kiss right now?" Remus asked sheepishly.

"Yes you may. I would like that." Lily said giving him a soft smile. They both leaned forward and their lips met and they shared a sweet, passionate kiss. Then they smiled at each other because they knew that even though they could never be together, they had shared that one kiss. They could always remember that one night when they were happy together.

As much as she would have liked it, Lily never kissed Remus Lupin again. She knew that she shouldn't tempt herself. After all, she had heard the call of duty and she knew that she had to answer it.