10 Things I Hate About James Potter
James's eyes nearly popped out of his head as he reached for the abandoned piece of parchment he had spotted lying on the ground.
"Bloody hell…" he muttered to himself.
10. He's a prat.
Appalled, James threw down the list, only to scramble to pick it up again before it got even dirtier and hard to read.
For instance, it was already hard to tell what the title was. Fortunately, James's deduction skills were enough to tell him that 10 th ngs I hat ab ut Jam s Pot er was, indeed, 10 things I hate about James Potter.
Number nine was more difficult to read. It was something along the lines of:
9. Black, Lupin, and Pettigrew all follow him around like lost puppies.
Thinking as hard as he could, James realized after a moment that the only person he could think of to make such a list was Lily Evans! Hurriedly, he kept reading.
8. He is so arrogant when he knows the answers in classes.
7. His hair can't lie flat for more than a half a second.
6. He's mean to Slytherins.
5. He's cocky.
4. He's rude.
3. He hasn't asked me out since last year.
Wait a second! James had decided at the beginning of seventh year that the only way him and Lily could be Head Boy and Girl was if he stopped asking her out. And she considered that a bad thing?
2. The way I'm totally in love with him.
"Bloody hell!" James repeated, louder this time. Without even realizing that number 1 on the list was missing, he was off to find Lily.
She was in the common room, reading.
"Evans," he greeted her smugly.
"Potter," she replied, not bothering to look up from her book. More polite than the previous year, but still slightly short of friendly. James decided she was and excellent actress.
"Shall we go to Hogsmeade this weekend, just you and I?"
At this point she put down her book. "You really have no intention of leaving me be, do you?" she asked him, one eyebrow raised.
He shook his head, grinning broadly.
She sighed. "Fine, James. I will go to Hogsmeade with you this weekend, if that is what it will take for you to finally leave me alone." And with that she went back to her book.
A very good actress, James amended.
Across the room, she watched, her eyes filling with tears as she picked up every word. Looking down at the bottom of her list, which she had managed to tear off when her roommates snatched her secret list from her hands, she read the number one thing she hated about James Potter:
1. The way he's totally in love with Lily Evans.
*****
Hey! It's me, Deadly Poppy! Just wanted to make it perfectly clear that I DO NOT own Harry Potter, James Potter, Lily Evans/Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, Hogsmeade, Hogwarts, or the Gryffindor common room. I do, however, own the mystery character at the end of the story. ;)