Lily plonked the ice cream firmly on James Potter's head. It was the first occasion the
two of them had met, or that was what Sirius, carrying his usual arrogant, handsome look
with ease, claimed when Lily and James were married eighteen years later.
"James' poor hair was never been the same again," Sirius emphasized by making none-to-
subtle gestures towards his best mates hair, that was sticking out at odd angles. Lily stuck
her tongue out at Sirius, before ruffling her husbands' hair playfully, as the crowd laughed.
Both of them were three years old at the time, and when James burst into tears, Lily's
mother, Rose Evans rushed over to find out what the problem was. All Lily was willing to say
on the subject, and she repeated it several times, was, "Well, he asked for it,
didn't he?"
Lily ended up with a spanking. Not the ideal start for any romance.
"Always the romantic aren't you, Sirius," asked James' other best friend, Remus.
"Ofcourse, Moony," said Sirius, grinning carelessly before adding mischievously," But we
don't want to steal the couple's thunder by regaling about my virtues, do we?"
Both James and Remus rolled their eyes, while the others laughed at their friends' antics.
The next recorded meeting, according to Sirius, was when they both arrived at their
elementary school.
Lily declared with a knowing air that James was a cry-baby, and what's more, a sneak.
James told the other boys that he would share his Graham crackers with anyone who was
willing to pull Lily Evan's pigtails. Few boys tried a second time.
At the end of their first year, Lily and James were jointly awarded the class prize. Their
teacher considered it the best course of action if she hoped to prevent another ice-cream
incident. Lily told her friends that James' mother did his homework for him, to which James
responded that at least it was in his own handwriting.
The rivalry continued unabated throughout Hogwarts' years. Hogwarts witnessed numerous
verbal-volleys between the pair and it became part of Hogwarts folklore. They both went on
to become Head-Girl and Head-Boy at Hogwarts and even that didn't put a stop to their
bickering, like married couple, added Sirius. After Hogwarts, they departed for different
Job training, James to Auror Training Academy and Susan to Healers' Internship at Saint
Mungo's. For The next two years, they both worked hard at avoiding each other.
In fact the next occasion their paths crossed was, ironically, at Lily's home, when her
parents threw a surprise party for their daughter, on becoming full time-healer. The
biggest surprise was not that James accepted the invitation, but that he turned up.
Lily didn't recognize her old rival immediately, partly because he had grown four inches and
was, for the first time, taller than her. It wasn't until she offered him a glass of wine and
James remarked rather cheekily, "At least this time you didn't pour it all
over me," that she realized who the tall handsome man was.
"God, I behaved dreadfully, didn't I," said Lily, wanting him to deny it.
"Yes, you did," he said, "but then I expect I deserved it."
"You did," she said, biting her tongue.
They chatted like old friends, and Lily was surprised at how disappointed she felt when a
colleague from Saint Mungo's joined them and started flirting with James. They didn't speak
to each other again that evening.
James phoned the following day and invited her to see Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan in
Sleepless in Seattle. Lily had already seen the movie, but still heard herself
accepting, and couldn't believe how long she spent trying on different dresses before he
arrived for that first date. Her being good at charms helped her speed up the process.
Lily enjoyed the film, even though it was her second time, and wondered if James would put
an arm around her shoulder when Tom Hanks kissed Meg Ryan. He didn't. But when they
left the movie house, he took her hand as they crossed the road, and didn't let it go until
they reached the coffee shop. That was when they had their firstrow, well, disagreement.
James admitted that he was going to vote for Rufus Scrimgeour in the November Wizard
Elections, while Lily made it clear that she wanted the incumbent Minister, Cornelius
Fudge, to remain at the helm of the Ministry. The waiter placed the ice cream in front of Lily.
She stared down at it.
"Don't even think about it," James said.
Lily wasn't surprised when he owled the following day, although she had been sitting by
the windowsill for over an hour pretending to be reading.
James admitted to his mother, Felicia Potter over breakfast that morning it had been love at
first sight.
"But you've known Lily for years," remarked his mother.
"No, I haven't, Mom," he replied, "I met her for the first time yesterday."
Both sets of parents were delighted, but not surprised, when they became engaged a year
later, after all, they'd hardly spent a day apart since Lily's surprise party.