1Ok, I know I have no business starting something new when I have two stories both with only 1 chapter -but both are being worked on!-but this is something I just suddenly had an urge to write. After reading 'Deathly Hallows,' I was left wondering more about James. We now know so much more about Lily and even Severus Snape, but still almost nothing about James. And I know that a lot of people don't like James-yeah he was a jerk-because of the whole Snape-loves-Lily thing, but I think there's more to him. So this is a story of James Potter on July 31, 1980 and through the past and present we see how he grew up and became the man who Lily loved as Harry is born.

Certainly James had been surprised before; wasn't that the stuff life was made of? If life became too predictable, it would get rather boring. That had been one excuse he'd always given so cheerfully during his days at Hogwarts when caught in a prank. It was his duty as a Maurader to keep the world interesting. Of course he'd then be led away from a typically large crowd full of people clutching their sides from laughing so hard, usually by McGonagall. Or Minnie, as he so cheekily enjoyed calling her. The best part though was having the Mauraders with him.

James couldn't remember life without them. Meeting Sirius on the train had been one of the best things to ever happen to him. They were meant to be best friends, quite clearly. Each day was an adventure of laughter and joy. Remus had been a little harder to get to know, but that was all understandable now. He'd been so protective of himself, that it had taken James and Sirius some time before they'd been able to convince him that he didn't need to live as a loner. Now James didn't know what he'd do with without Remus' wit; probably never pee his pants from laughing so hard. And Peter...Peter was an entity all to himself. Even to James it wasn't clear sometimes what he was doing as a Maurader, as he was sure other people had wondered. But Peter was a good listener, and always ready to leave behind the mundane.

Leaning back on the couch, James gave a light yawn. He was utterly exhausted, but he would never fall asleep. His nerves were completely shot at the moment, and every time he heard a noise, he moved as though to jump up and grab his wand. And consequently Sirius would place a gentle but firm hand on his shoulder to restrain him. Just like now, when James heard a whimper sound from upstairs. It was considerably weaker than the one that had sounded just a few moments before. James felt as though he would die.

" Dammit James, would you stay still? You're driving me bloody insane. Listen, you know Lily is strong. Probably better than anyone else...but never mind that. She's a fighter, and this will all before sooner than if you sit there all tense and irritable. Do yourself a favor, and get something to drink. Heck, even read a book; those always put you to sleep. And by doing that you'll do me a favor cause I am mighty tired." Sirius closed his eyes after finishing his quiet tirade and leaned back, sinking into the plush couch. He closed his eyes but opened them again a quarter, keeping them on James.

It was only the fact that James knew Sirius was right that stopped him from being furious with his best friend. James knew he was being difficult to humor. The comment about books had almost made him smile, which he hadn't done in hours. Wearily he looked at his watch and was shocked to see it was so late; nearly midnight. 'Poor Lily, she must be exhausted. And sweating like a pig,' James couldn't help but think ruefully as he pulled on his shirt, feeling how it stuck to his chest. It was really bloody hot and humid. The room Lily was in upstairs had been like an oven when he was ordered to leave, about an hour ago or so. The midwife had claimed James was driving her up the wall. She'd also said that if Lily didn't keep her promise of removing James of his manhood, then she would gladly do it for her. In between that and Lily's swearing at him, James had decided to leave.

Ah, Lily. James couldn't help but smile every time he thought of her. She was the reason he lived, the reason he fought for a free world. Through the years, she had always been there. Of course not always in the way he'd desired-though he did have to give her credit for her hexes. She was one talented spitfire of a witch. And he loved her.

When they'd first, er, met, on the train all those years ago, James had pitied her for only knowing Severus Snape. Blech, even thinking of him made James want to go take a shower. But oh what a stupid pity it had been, and how stupid he had been to tease her. Of course fate would go and make her the one that he wanted to spend his life with. Even more stupidly, he had told her so- in front of Snape-after he and the Mauraders had played a prank on her fourth year.

Halloween, 1974

"Shh! Quick, here they come!" James could barely stop laughing as Sirius put the final enchantments on the piece of cake as they walked down the hall. The Halloween feast had just ended and most people were making their way back to the common rooms to hang out for awhile. But others, such as James, Sirius and Remus, were being the good little mischievous students that they were and wandered around looking for something fun to do. They had saved food for Peter because he was in the hospital wing with frog legs after an 'experiment' gone wrong. It of course had kept them laughing on the ground for quite some time, and only after Peter threw a book at Sirius in his fury did they bring him down to the hospital wing still laughing and invent some clever story as to what happened. But as soon as he had seen who was walking down the hall, some of the food had had to be sacrificed.

"James, are you quite sure you want to be doing this? I don't know about you, but pranking Evans doesn't exactly say that you fancy her."

"Moony, Moony, Moony! The fact that I am doing this says everything! But-er-when did I say that I fancy Evans?"

Sirius and Remus exchanged derisive smirks. "Oh I don't know," Sirius began, "maybe on the Express when you said, "'I think I quite fancy Evans."' "Or how about when you stare at her during class? "And when you make a big spectacle of yourself when she's around." "My personal favorite is when you said that you forgot your name because 'Evans is stopping all my brain from functioning properly.'" "Ooh, and-" "Alright I get the idea! Shut up already!" James glared as Sirius and Remus roared with laughter. He couldn't wait till they got bit by the bug. Some friends they were!

He ignored their continuing laughter and stared down the hall, where he could see Evans approaching. Blech, she had Snape with her. They were talking quietly and James couldn't help but notice the odd expression on her face as it seemed that was avoiding eye contact with Snape. James stared at them quizzically, his eyes narrowing. After he'd noticed Evans missing from the feast, he'd looked over to the Slytherin table and found Snape gone as well. Had they been alone together all this time? They both had their cloaks and scarves on; cheeks slightly rosy. It appeared that they had just returned from a walk outside.

As the two came closer, Snape looked up and glared at James with such intensity that James almost considered flying up into the rafters to get away. But then he scoffed at himself. Wasn't he a Gryffindor? It was in the job description; bravery! And old Snivellus was certainly nothing to be afraid of, unless he asked to wipe his hair off on your towel.

"What do you want?" Snape sneered as he eyed the three witih loathing. How dare they stand in his way. If it weren't for Lily he'd hex them till they couldn't walk. And thinking of Lily...Snape smirked at how James' eyes bugged when he noticed how close he was to Lily. Snape had just told Lily about James' rather obvious affection for her-which the girl still didn't believe. He raised an eyebrow and turned to face her while inching slightly closer to her. She was his Lily first, and would never be James' Lily.

"Now, now, have we done anything to deserve that kind of treatment? Why, we're just making our way through the castle to spread some Halloween cheer. It's our duty as Maurauders-" James stopped short as he noticed how Lily was avoiding eye contact with him. Even though she professed to hate him and wished a thousand painful deaths on him everyday, she never looked at the ground in his presence. Especially when he was at his snarkiest-though of course he just did that to grab her attention, even if he'd never admit it to himself. And why, was she blushing?!

"Evans, are you alright?" he asked gently, forgetting that Sirius, Remus and Snape were all standing there. Snape went rigid as James stepped forward to close the gap between himself and Lily, brushing a finger under her chin to bring her face up. Yep, she was blushing. Blimey, was it something he'd done? Or Snape...eww. That thought didn't bear thinking. It simply wasn't good for his health.

"Yes...Yes I'm fine. Why do you ask?" Lily's eyes were wide in a somewhat sarcastic shock. He was being very kind and it almost seemed genuine. But could she trust it? A wry, lopsided grin appeared on his face and Lily saw some mischievousness return to his eyes. James pretended to think about her question and without her noticing he stepped even closer and took her hand in his. "Because," he started, "if you were upset already I'd hate to cause something to add to your grief. Which I'm sure this will." With that the food that had been intended for Peter, suspended high up and invisible, came pelting down and squashed on them in a delicious series of ker-SPLATS. Lily-in a new pair of robes-, James and Snape were covered in cupcakes, bread, pieces of chicken, mashed potatoes, and other items that Lily didn't even want to think about. All she wanted to think about as she turned red with fury was how the boy still holding her hand laughing his goofy laugh was going down.

"You...IDIOT!" Lily shrieked. She pushed James back and he fell to the ground with a cry of utter shock. He stared in disbelief as Lily pounced on him, forgetting that they had a little audience. She could only concentrate on how to punch him without breaking his glasses. It couldn't have been more that a minute before Sirius and Remus picked themselves up from the ground and helped pry Lily off James as they roared with laughter. For such a small girl, she could pack a mean right hook. James certainly looked a little worse for the wear, but all Lily seemed interested in was adding to his injuries. It took effort to hold her back.

Somewhere in between gasping for air through his laughter and holding his right eye-she really could pack a mean right hook, James managed to stand up and stare at her incredulously. Lily fought against Sirius and Remus, but to no avail. Her eyes flashed with green fire as she tried not to think about the state of her new robes. Lily even forgot about Severus, who just stood there yelling 'how dare they', no nerve to do anything back. All Lily could do was watch James watching her as his eyes widened and he breathed audibly, as though he'd had a revelation. Having all the luck in the world, Lily was stuck to stand and listen as James voiced this thought with an actual smile.

"You are the most amazing girl I've ever met! No other girl would ever even think of punching me! But you-you're not like the other girls, not at all! No not at all. Evans, go out with me?

Oh Lily Evans-no, she was Potter now. Lily Potter. Just the thought brought a smile to James face. He almost laughed aloud; how ironic could fate get? The girl who'd punched him in their 4th year, albeit deservedly, was his wife! The girl, who after shrieking that he'd lost his mind with such a stupid revelation, was giving birth to his son! How much weirder could life get? Or better yet, how much happier could James Potter be?

So this was supposed to be a one-shot, but James Potter is just one of those characters that can't be explored in a one shot. James Potter growing up is going to take longer than I'd expected, but I have a feeling I won't mind all that much. I've always thought it would be interesting to know James' thoughts on himself, and this is my attempt at that. So if you have any suggestions for ideas of flashbacks (I've got a fair few, but outside creativity is never unwelcome) just let me know!

Please R+R!