a/n: a little Halloween treat. well no, not really… I initially posted this on LJ for my friend Cath, but decided to see what y'all thought.

888

Routine.

That was what James Potter was to Lily Evans: routine. Something familiar and secure that she had come to rely on; something that, should it ever disappear, would drive her completely bonkers. And although Lily would never admit it to anyone (not even to herself), James Potter played an important, if often annoying, role in her everyday life.

It was a warm Saturday afternoon and the Hogwarts grounds were being gently fanned by a soft breeze. It is on such days that Lily can be found nestled underneath a large oak tree on the edge of the Black Lake, her nose buried deep inside a book. Today, Lily was immersed with Arthur Conan Doyle's 'The Hound of The Baskervilles', when she heard a loud whoop from her right.

"Evans!" shouted a voice from the same direction. Lily's brow furrowed but she refused to look up from her book. She knew very well what the consequences would be if she looked up, and she recognized that voice.

But the cry was repeated.

"Evans! Oi! Evans!" Again, Lily chose to ignore it.

"Evans!" it rang again. "Evans! Evans! Lily-flower! Lilykins! Lillers! Lilea! Lily-love! Lily! Evans! Oi! Evans!"

By now, Lily was furious. A vein was throbbing in her temple and her stomach was doing dizzying back-flips. Throwing her book aside, she turned to the speaker, brilliant green eyes ablaze.

"What do you want Potter?" she asked venomously.

The hazel-eyed boy with the gloriously messy hair grinned his trademark lopsided grin. "Oh nothing, I just wanted to say hi," Lily glared, her arms crossed. "And ask you to go out with me."

Lily rolled her eyes her cheeks going pink, something they had never done before. "How many times do I have to tell you Potter? I'd rather go out with the Giant Squid than you."

If Lily had expected this answer to send James packing she was quite wrong. James had obviously expected this and without missing a beat, he presented her with a transparent box containing—

"Good Lord!" Lily cried. "Is that a tentacle?!"

James grinned. "Yep," he answered. "It sure is. Guess you'll have to go out with me now eh, Lily?"

Lily had to admit that he had a point. Of course since the Squid was supposedly gone, there was only James left. But o course, she wasn't about to say that.

"You are such an arrogant prat Potter!" she shrieked. "How dare you harm the squid in such a way? Do you know how much trouble you'll be in if McGonagall finds out?"

"But I—" James began.

"I don't know what you were thinking Potter but the answer is still no!" she cut off. "I would never date someone so heartless."

And with that, she snatched up her book and walked away, leaving a very forlorn looking James in her wake.

This was what she and James were: routine. People expected them to blow up at each other and it was what they had gotten used to. To try to change that would quite possibly result in mass genocide. Or at least—that was what Lily believed.

888

'Routine. That is all James Potter is to you Lily Evans.' She reminded herself, her teeth gritting in anger as she watched James dance provocatively with another girl. It was the night of the Halloween ball, a month after the tentacle incident and Lily was sitting alone at a table, glaring at the blonde tart James—no, Potter was currently swinging around. She was not miffed to find herself alone, she was used to it, it was more of the fact that Potter was dancing around with some vapid blonde instead of annoying her and offering her love-potion-spiked beverages.

Lily shredded a piece of left-over cabbage on her plate while she glared at the grinding couple. 'What does he think he's playing at?' she thought indignantly. 'Doesn't he care about the students who will commit mass suicide because he's ruining something routine?!'

After fifteen more minutes of agonizing jealousy—uh, did I say jealousy? I meant jelly, yeah that's right, jelly-like dancing, the music finally stopped. James escorted his partner off the dance floor ("Gone off to snog her more like.")and walked over to Lily's table, a massive grin polluting his face.

"Hello there Lily," he greeted cheerfully.

Lily glared darkly at him in response.

"Would you like to dance?" he asked, grin still in place. Lily stared at him in a stony manner before abruptly standing up and slapping James' cheek.

"What the bloody hell was that for?" he asked angrily.

"Figure it out!" Lily retorted before storming out of the Great Hall.

888

Lily stomped through the silent hallways, turning at random corners and swiping furiously at the air, speaking angrily to some unseen foe.

Lily was not usually like this. It's true that James Potter has always been able to push just the right buttons to set her off, but never has it been this confusing. For one thing, James Potter has never successfully infuriated Lily just because he was dancing with another girl. And James Potter had never been able to make her heart beat faster and her stomach do back-flips at the sound of his voice saying her name!

'It's highly unhealthy!' Lily thought as she calmed down a bit. 'Would it be a plausible theory that James Potter has, by some sort of old magic unknown, enchanted me?' She racked her memory for an incident during the past month wherein contact with James Potter had seemed off.

She could recall nothing out of the ordinary however.

'So what on earth is wrong with me?' she asked herself.

'The pounding of the heart whenever he's near, the back-flips her stomach keeps doing, the lightheadedness, the sweaty palms…why, these are all the symptoms of Love, Lilliana!' a voice in her head said.

Lily snorted at herself. Love? Now she knew she was enchanted. Potter, Lily and love could never be put together in a sentence otherwise the world would automatically stop turning.

If the heart were truly concerned, Lily could safely say that Potter was some sort of heart-attack inducing miscreant.

'Then why do you think about him so often?' the voice jibed.

'Because he's the bane of my existence.' She answered.

'Or maybe,' the voice said slyly. 'Maybe he's the light of your life.'

Lily wished there was something she could do to make the voice stop. She was not in love with James bloody Potter—or at least she hoped she wasn't.

"Lily…" a voice whispered, snapping her out of her reverie.

She looked up and nearly jumped in surprise to see James Potter kneeling before her. Lily made to recoil, or stand up—or do anything to put more space between her and the boy, but James held her fast.

"Lily," he began.

"Go away Potter." She snarled, pulling on her right arm. "Leave me alone and dance the night away with that blonde wastrel. You two deserve each other."

The boys gaze turned from beseeching to perplexed. "What do you mean by that?"

Lily gave him a look. "A pureblood will marry a pureblood won't they?"

"You know what," James cried petulantly. "I can't understand you! First you tell me you'd rather go out with the giant squid than me, then you humiliate me and now—now you're acting all huffy because I danced with another girl!"

"It's routine!" Lily shot back. "You're not supposed to dance with other girls; you're supposed to ask me to dance! You're supposed to fawn over me like some undesirable leech until I get fed up and throw drinks at your face! You're supposed to bug me, not dirty dance with some vapid blonde! Do you know what would happen if this routine of ours is destroyed?" she asked James, her eyes wide. "It could result in mass genocide that's what! People would think it was the end of the world and they's all start killing themselves! Do you want that on your conscience?"

James stared at her, hazel eyes quite wide, an expression of utter bewilderment on his face.

"That, has got to be the most inane reasoning I've ever heard."

Lily glared at him.

"This has nothing to do with routine Lily Evans." James spoke forcefully. "This has nothing to do with the rest of Hogwarts. This is between you and me; now what the hell was that about? Why did you slap me? Why would you care if I danced with another girl?"

Lily's lip shook as she said as coldly as she could, "I don't."

"Oh, yeah?" James challenged. "Why did you slap me then?"

"Because you're an idiot!"

He paused for a moment, thinking it over.

"You're right Lily." he agreed. "I am an idiot. I'm an idiot because I love you."

And with that, he took one step closer to the red-haired girl and captured her lips in his.
Lily never knew there could be such passion in such an innocent kiss. She knew this was wrong, but as her arms automatically wrapped themselves around James Potter's neck and her fingers got tangled in his hair, she realized to her own surprise that she was actually enjoying herself.

And that was when Lily realized, that the James-Lily routine would have to be done away.

Besides, she didn't really give a damn about routines anyway.

a/n: harhar, hope you liked that atrocity. As per usual, rNr! Happy Halloween!