Disclaimer: I'm obviously not Jo. 'Nough said.
"You can't change people." Lily's mother had said the phrase so many times when she had come crying to her about Petunia's rude behavior. Honestly, Lily had never given the words a second thought. She didn't believe them. Her mother underestimated her—she just knew she could convince Petunia that she wasn't really a freak.
Time went on, the years passed, and the sisters grew apart. Petunia never changed.
Despite her mother's warning, Lily still held strong to the belief that she could change people. Her relationship with Severus was no different. Their early days of magic and childhood swiftly rushed by, Lily desperately clinging onto those memories. Severus was changing—proof in and of itself that change was possible—but for the worse. That sweet, kind boy who had told her all about the magical world she would one day be a part of was quickly turning into something dark and angry. Lily refused to see that that darkness had been a part of Severus long before she had met him. He was damaged by his parents, by his situation, long ago.
Lily knew that she could change him. She knew he cared for her, she sensed his feelings, though he never really voiced them. She knew the influence she had over him and had every intention of using it to her advantage to help Severus see the light and turn from the dark magic he seemed so interested in.
Mudblood.
That word, ironically and tragically, changed everything for Lily. "You can't change people" suddenly became "People can't change, Lily." Though Severus tried to convince her that he was sorry, she would not forgive him because she now understood that people just don't change. Severus had always been inclined to the Dark Arts. That would not change.
Unfortunately, Lily's new understanding applied to everyone, including one James Potter, who was constantly trying to find new ways to capture Lily's attention. Try as he might, James couldn't get Lily to budge. Even when he deflated his head a little and started showing more responsibility, Lily refused to see, because people can't change. James Potter had always been and would always be an insufferable toe-rag. It was just a sad fact of life. Because people can't change.
So it was that Lily was faced with a horrible dilemma during her seventh and final year at Hogwarts. For all appearances, James Potter was quite a fantastic bloke. He rose to the occasion when it came to his Head Boy duties, he took responsibility for his actions and, although his pranks and jokes with his friends did not stop entirely, they were of a much more tasteful nature than in past years. He was even, Lily hesitated to admit, sweet. But it was all an act, some malicious, elaborate prank. Because people, even James Bloody Wonderful Potter, don't—can't change.
And she told him just that during one of their particularly heated arguments in the crowded Gryffindor Common Room one night, while both of them were preparing for their NEWTs and were far too tired for serious conversation.
"I've changed!" he insisted, face going red with the effort to try and get her to understand.
Lily remained calm, slowly shaking her head and breathing a small, mirthless laugh. "You can't have changed, James, because people can't change."
He looked at her in utter disbelief. "That's an awfully jaded way to look at the world," he explained to her. "If that were true, then the Chudley Cannons should just disband now. In fact, they should never have even tried, because they just weren't good enough to have won the League Cup twenty-one times, so they obviously can't ever do it again!"
"See! Everything is about quidditch to you!" she replied, crossing her arms in satisfaction from having been proved right.
"You want a different reference?" James asked, also crossing his arms, but in defiance. "I can change. I'm adaptable. If people can't change, explain Transfiguration to me, please."
"That's completely different, James. That's magic."
"Then explain to me an innocent child, a tiny baby who doesn't know right from wrong…turning into a hateful, dark wizard like Voldemort."
"He—"
"He can't have always been evil, Lily."
"He's mad!"
"Another reference, then? How about a little more personal one? What about a stupid bloke who goes around hexing people, acting stupid in front of the girl he fancies, and all-in-all acting like a pretty big prat?"
"That sounds familiar," Lily retorted, refusing to look at James.
"But he's a loyal friend, despite it all, and there are a few people that he would do anything for. Say he finally figures out what a moron he's been for the past sixteen years of his life and decides 'I'm going to start acting more mature.' He finds himself stopping to think before he acts, considering the consequences of his pranks and jokes, and making a conscious effort to be a better student. Are you saying that, after all of that, he still can't have changed, even a little bit?"
"People just can't—"
"No, Lily," James snapped, all patience gone. "People can change, you just can't change people."
The words echo in her head, morphing from James's impatient tone to that of her mother's, soft and sad as she explains to a young Lily why Petunia isn't responding to her constant pleas that she isn't a freak. "You can't change people."
And as James storms off towards the boys dormitories to find some sort of comfort in his friends, Lily considers the fact that last year he was different. In fact, he only asked her out once this year—just a few moments ago. And then they had fought. That wasn't new, but maybe…just maybe…
It hits her, as the mantra replays in her head for probably the thousandth time. "You can't change people."
Although she tried, she couldn't convince Tuney that she isn't a freak just because she is a witch. She couldn't convince Severus to stop hanging out with his horrible, bad influence Slytherin friends. She couldn't even convince James Potter to stop being such a toe-rag.
But James Potter could decide to change for himself. He could deflate his own head, if he really wanted to for himself, and not because some girl had told him to. That's not to say that it wouldn't be (wasn't) hard…just that it might just be possible.
Life wasn't all hyperboles and absolutes, like Lily had believed for the last year and a half. People could change, and maybe, if she made a conscious effort, Lily could change her mind about a few things, too. Like accepting James Potter's invitation to Hogsmeade. Maybe.
I haven't written anything in so long and this is more of an unedited drabble than anything...let me know what you think.