It wasn't unusual for James to spot Lily in the middle of a crowd of Slytherin students. Her and them, they were always getting into fights. Lily usually won those fights because 1) bigoted Death Eater wannabes weren't as clever as she was, 2) she was one of the best witches in the entire school, only 9 people could get the jump on her, and only 5 were teachers, 3) she had rage on her side. Lily Evans was not one to take bullying lightly, especially when the threat could always be real. And, it was real for her. Luckily for James, though, she always fought back.

There were rare occasions that Lily Evans could not handle the attacks. Like today.

James was strutting (however, he was trying to stop. It had become a nasty habit he was trying to kick, trying to use that tool to make Lily think he was cool was not working, he had discovered.) out of the Great Hall towards the Gryffindor common room when he hear them. There was shouting and jeering and laughing. He figured he would have to go check it out. When he turned the corner and spotted what all of the commotion was about: Lily was floating upside down in the centre of a small group of Slytherins, trying to keep her knickers from being exposed.

"Evans!" James shouted, jogging over to the group. "D'you need help?"

Lily looked at him for a split second before shaking her head. He nodded and began to turn around, intending to stay close just in case she needed him. He hadn't even had the chance to turn the corner when he heard a girl say, "My arm's getting tired. Have a nice fall, mudblood."

Lily just began to fall when James lifted his wand and shouted, "Arresto Momentum!" Lily softly landed on the ground, then stood up, grabbing her wand off of the ground and fixing her skirt. James stood next to her and kept his wand raised.

"Leave," Lily growled. The group began to scramble, but Lily tapped on one of the girl's shoulders. When she turned around, Lily grabbed a fistful of her shirt. "Oh, and another thing-" Lily raised her hand, drew it back, and punched the girl in the nose. "You bark," she threatened, dropping the girl o the ground, "I bite."

Lily turned and grabbed James's arm, walking away. Behind them, the girl shouted, "You'll regret that, Evans!" James turned and saw that she was holding her nose, blood dripping onto the floor.

James looked down at Lily, realising she was hanging onto his arm with both hands and gripping tightly. "Lily? Are you alright?" Lily looked like she was about to nod a 'yes', but she moaned and dropped his arm, ran about 3 feet, and collapsed, the contents of her stomach spilling out onto the ground.

James crouched down next to her and pulled her dark red hair away and rubbed her back. "Sorry," she grumbled hoarsely, sitting back on her heels and wiping her forehead. "They spun me a lot. It took everything not to lose it in front of them."

"Are you okay, Lily?" He asked after a second, standing. She nodded and pushed herself up, hanging onto his arm for balance. He guided them back to the common room.

"Lily," she whispered. "You called me Lily."

James stared down at her, squinting. "That's your name, 'innit?" He smiled, his hand moving to his hair. Lily's eyes followed the movement and rolled, realising what he was doing.

"Why do you do that, anyway?"

"Huh?" His eyebrows scrunched. "Do-do what?" his hand fell, and he, too, figured what she was saying. "Oh. Yeah, I... I dunno, actually..." He chuckled and sat them onto the couch. Lily stood after a minute of silence.

"I'm gonna turn in," She smiled. Right before she climbed the stairs to the girl's dormitory, she turned and looked at James. "Thank you. For everything." Lily sprinted up the stairs, taking them two at a time, James watching her disappear. He smiled to himself.

"That's why," he mumbled to himself, pushing himself off of the couch and heading up the stairs to his room. "That's why I'm mad for you, Lily."

That's chapter one! So, I hope you all liked it. I've kind of gotten tired of all of the stories that James swoops in and saves Lily because Lily is a helpless girl who can't do anything for herself. Honestly, that isn't Lily. So... Yeah! I hope you liked it! Comment, review, do whatever!