A/N: Hi guys! This is my first Lily and James fic so please go easy on me. As per usual, same rules apply: NO FLAMES.

I also have other stories (mostly D/HR) so if you guys happen to be a d/hr shipper, feel free to read my other stories.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this new fic of mine. Don't forget to REVIEW.

Oh, and one more thing… You might find Snape a little OOC but don't worry, he'll get better in later chapters. The following story takes place on their 6th year at Hogwarts.

ENJOY!

Summary: Lily hated boys ogling at her and so she asks help from James. James, who also have the same problem agreed to help her. Their solution? They'll have to act steady for 3 whole months. The plan was fine until James starts to have feelings for her.

Acting Steady

by: mya14

chapter 1: Dumping

Lily was headed to the Great Hall. It was already lunchtime and she could feel her stomach growling of hunger. She was trying to get to the hall as fast as she could since she missed breakfast that morning due to some errands Professor McGonagall asked her to do. Lily rummaged her bag to check whether she forgot to bring something when someone suddenly grabbed her wrist, causing her to spill her things on the floor. Lily looked up, quite irritated, and came face to face to the last person she wanted to see. She sighed heavily. It was Severus Snape.

"Did you receive my note this morning?" Snape asked, oblivious to the fact that Lily was not very happy to see him.

"Ugh!" she thought disgustedly as she grabbed her spilled things on the floor.

"Have you read it yet?" He asked again, not even bothering to help her pick her books on the floor.

"Yes. I got the letter." She muttered softly. "That's the very reason why I'm running so late." she added to herself.

"So what do you say? When do you wanna go out with me?" Snape asked, point-blank.

Lily plastered a sweet smile on her face and pulled him in a near corner. Lily sighed heavily. This git just never gives up.

"Please Severus… Don't waste your time on me... Didn't you get the message when I dumped you 3 days ago? I'm counting 6 for 6 already. I dump you every month, isn't that obvious enough?"

"Lily, if you just give me a chance to prove that-"

"Look." Lily cut in quickly, "If you really love me then please stop bugging me... All I can offer you is my friendship-"

"but-" Severus tried to explain but Lily butted in yet again.

"Nothing more. Nothing less. Please understand..." Lily pleaded exasperatedly. She quickly turned around and left without looking back.

"I'll only stop, Lily Evans if you're already taken!" Snape called after her but she didn't mind him.

Lily sighed. Sure she was sorry for the guy but sometimes he was just too much. As much as possible, she tried not to hurt him. Almost every tactic she used still wasn't enough for Snape. She tried the "not-so-hurting" approach 3 months ago, then the "my-mum-is-strict" excuse 4 months ago, then the "I-need-time" alibi when he first asked her out.

"Well, if offering-my friendship trick still doesn't work. I'll physically hurt him!" she muttered to herself.

Lily finally reached the Great Hall; it was awfully loud as usual that she had a bit of trouble locating her friends.

"Hey Lily!" James Potter shouted over the noise. "Over here!"

Lily smiled and made her way over their table. James was her best friend. Though Sirius, Remus and Peter were also her best friends, he was closest to her.

She sat in between Remus and Sirius, just right in front of James and Peter.

"So Lily… What's up?" James asked as he put some food on his plate. "What took you so long to get here?"

"It's Snape." she answered as she grabbed all the food she could reach and placed it on her plate until it overflowed.

"Whoa! Calm down, Lily." Remus and Sirius said together. Both were staring at Lily's plate.

"You sure you can finish all that?" Remus asked, surprised.

"Well… actually Remus, No. But I don't have to worry, Sirius is here to eat whatever leftovers I have." Lily said happily as she started to chow her food in fast speed.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sirius said in mock anger.

"Isn't it obvious?" James said jokingly. Sirius glared at him but James just laughed at his expression, he then faced Lily. "So what's the deal with Snape?" he asked. "Is he bothering you again?"

"Oh that..." Lily said as she took another bite on her chicken. "The git is asking me out again. I don't get it. He's starting to get really annoying."

"Actually Lily, he's been annoying ever since. I just don't get why you're only feeling it now." Sirius said with certainty.

"What did you say to him?" James asked again, curious.

"I told him that all I can offer is my friendshi-"

Lily suddenly stopped talking when she felt someone tapping her shoulders. She turned around and looked up. Her face fell yet again. "Oh no! You got to be kidding me!"

"Hi Lily!" Amos Diggory greeted, his face blushing furiously.

Sirius, Remus and James snorted.

"Umm… Hello, Amos." she said heavy-heartedly. "This is so not my day…" she thought.

"Umm... Lily, I was just... umm... wondering if… umm…" he stuttered.

"Yes?" she asked, pleading inwardly that the guy won't ask her out.

"If you're free this Saturday... I want you to be with me on the next Hogsmeade trip..." he said slowly and nervously.

Lily turned around and faced James and mouthed, "Help me!"

"She's going with me, Amos. Sorry." James butted in loudly.

Lily mouthed a quick 'thank you' to James before facing Amos again. "I'm really sorry. He asked in advance. I can't cancel."

Amos face looked totally sad and disappointed. "I understand… No problem." he smiled sadly at Lily and slowly slumped his way towards his table.

Lily watched Amos moved away before facing James, a bright smile on her face. "You're such a great friend. I love you."

"No problem." he answered, chuckling.

"So he was the guy who kept talking about himself, right?" he asked.

"Yes. He's been really proud about beating you last year in quidditch." Lily said as she finished her food.

"Well Lily, that won't happen again." Sirius, who was the keeper of the Gryffindor quidditch team, promised loudly. "I give you my word. That guy will be crushed! We've trained hard enough to beat that git!"

"And by the way… " James butted in suddenly. "If that Rebecca isn't on their team and wasn't showering me with kisses and charmed hearts, ugh! I've probably would've grabbed the snitch before Diggory, you know!"

"Oh… And speaking of Rebecca…" Lily muttered in a singsong voice. "Here she comes..."

James looked up and saw Rebecca McKinnons, Hufflepuff's resident bitch and chaser, now making her way towards their table. James immediately looked away, feeling miserable as ever.

"Hi James! How are you?" Rebecca asked, seductively.

James just nodded in response. He was sick and tired of Rebecca's tactics and flirty moves. He hated it when girls make the first move on guys. It was just not his style.

"So you're free this Saturday, right?" Rebecca asked while harshly pushing Peter aside and taking his seat.

Peter raised a brow but didn't say anything.

"Well, Actually Rebecca I'm going with Lily." He said, borrowing Lily's excuse.

Rebecca raised a brow at Lily. "Well if you're going with him, how come I heard Snape say that you've agreed to go out with him?"

Lily's eyes widened. "He didn't!"

"Yes, he did." Rebecca said while chuckling softly.

"Don't believe her, Lily." Peter butted in suddenly. "It's obvious that she's lying!"

"How can you be so sure?" Rebecca asked, challengingly.

"Well, if Lily really agreed, Snape wouldn't be sulking over there." Peter answered evenly, his eyes narrowing in anger as he spoke. He then pointed her at Snape's direction. "Now that I've made my point clear. Please leave my seat immediately!"

All of them, including Rebecca stared bewilderedly at Peter.

"I thought you were stupid!" Rebecca said suddenly as she stood up slowly.

"Well… Sorry to disappoint. Now please leave immediately. Thank you." He grabbed his seat, sat down and started to finish his food. Rebecca shrugged and did indeed leave the table.

Sirius was the first to recover. "What's gotten into you?"

"I'm nasty when I'm hungry." He said simply.

"Well... nice to know you have that kind of side." Sirius said as he drank his juice.

Remus checked his watch and stood up. "We better leave. Transfiguration will start in 5 minutes."

All of them followed him, grabbed their bags and went to their next class.

The Gryffindors usually have Transfiguration class with the Ravenclaws. It was tradition. They had this class with them ever since Lily could remember and to be honest, she really had no problem with the Ravenclaws… well that was until Richard Davies started noticing her and started bugging her the same way Amos and Snape did. He was Ravenclaw's Quidditch Captain and was one of the most popular, good-looking and nicest guys in school. He was perfect. But that wasn't enough for Lily, she just didn't care… or maybe she felt a bit intimidated by him that's why she felt uncomfortable around him.

Lily tried to focus her attention to the blackboard. She felt weird having the Ravenclaws around. She tried to busy herself by copying notes and just forget the fact that Richard was staring at her.

"Hey Lily..." Sirius whispered. "You have a note!" He slowly passed her a small piece of paper and stared quickly at McGonagall, looking innocent.

"Thanks." she whispered back.

She opened the note slowly and noticed immediately Richard Davies' neat scrawl. She rolled her eyes. "Why can't they leave me alone?" she muttered annoyingly to herself.

Lily,

Is it okay for you to meet me tonight?

Richard

She rolled her eyes once again and tore a small piece of paper in her notebook and wrote down.

Don't you ever give up?

She folded the piece of paper and handed it to Sirius. "To Richard, please. Thanks!" Sirius slowly got the paper and gave it cautiously to Richard. He got it and immediately responded. He passed the piece of paper again. Lily opened the note and read the content.

You might think I sound cheesy but I'll never give up on you.I'll only stop when you find that someone you decide toshare a part of your life with.

Lily folded the note and shuddered. "Wow. It IS cheesy!" she muttered silently to herself. She sighed. "So… if I'll have a boyfriend, they'll stop bothering me, huh."

She searched the room for a possible acting boyfriend. Her eyes, as if by fate, suddenly landed on James Potter. Lily smiled slowly. "Oh well… I'll give it a try."

A/N: And that's about it. Thanks for reading chapter 1. If you read this chapter before, I kind of changed some parts to make bits of it a little descriptive. I hope you like it. Please REVIEW. No flames. Thanks!