By the Author: I want to buy one to play authentic records one day.

Disclaimer: This story was written by Mari (or SkylarkAincrad). Please do not copyright this story in any way, shape or form – or I will report you to and have my rights reserved. The song off inspiration chosen is "Lover, etc.," by The Nighttime Adventure Society. The characters presented are rightfully handed to Miss J.K. Rowling and Warner Bros® where the Harry Potter franchise are owned by both – mostly to the author of this book and director of this movie series. I just get to change and control who and what they are involved in by the power of FanFiction. Please do not claim any illegal rights. Thank you.

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Music and Lyrical Inspired Fanfiction:
"So paint me a picture, paint of picture of a place. Where all the lines converge."

"Lover, etc." by The Nighttime Adventure Society
Harry Potter: Marauder Universe Inspired

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James Potter was a young man who craved adventure and discovery. He spent his six years at Hogwarts unmasking or uncovering many secrets the magical school held. Best of all, he could remember all of these treasured moments clear as a cloudless day. Certainly, James wouldn't forget the physical scars inflicted by the Whomping Willow in his third year.

There was also the level of head scratching and nights of torture he endured to successfully cast a highly advanced and complicated enchantment to a single piece of parchment paper. This parchment followed every witch or wizard within the gallows of the school. Every corridor he and his friends explored, were perfectly casted and accounted for on the ratted piece of paper.

If this didn't quell the adrenaline he got every time he was fascinated by something, James learned he was a secret descendant of the great Third Brother Ignotus Peverell. It was complete accident though. Second year – James cleaned the family mansion's attic out. At first, it was a gruesome task, but soon became a wonderful vault of interesting finds. The greatest prize of all was attained. To great joy, he stumbled on the family heirloom: a silver and chiffon-textured cloak. Needless to say, he snuck it with him to Hogwarts in his trunk when his parents weren't paying attention. He was the little runt who abused that lovely invisibility coat and went exploring around the school after hours with his best mates.

Obviously, pranks became more enjoyable with it as well.

This drive to engage, experiment, and take risks with the unknown transcended over to his successful academic performance as well. James was a natural born brilliance at all of his classes. He was very unafraid to show others how he excelled at the subjects, only falling short because he was too lazy to do the work. And of course, James was extremely talented and became enamored with the game of Quidditch. His obsession warranted him the position as the Quidditch captain for four years, and managed to win Gryffindor the House cup twice because of this.

In other words, James Potter was a bloody damn, brilliant wizard.

It was even set in stone that he'd produce good things. From the moment that his parents introduced him to the world of magic, they knew that their son was prone to exceed in any trial he'd meet. James was the type to quickly learn and adapt. He was daring enough to try everything to satiate his fascinations with different wonders of the world. James Potter was the type of person who did the dangerous things in life, in for the excitement of it all and to learn about those things he pursued.

This passion inspired three other people, all of whom under normal circumstances would probably not have sought each other as best mates.

By chance of meeting them, he was able form what they called the Marauders. That's what they did: marauded dark and empty halls snuck around and explored the places that no one (probably even professors) knew about. He did whatever it took, which was why most acknowledged that he accomplished much more than others around his young age. He served to understand anything that was put in his way – making him the adventurous type of person, the ideal Gryffindor he was meant to be.

If Godric was still alive he'd have probably taken James as his own apprentice, or called him absolutely mental.

It had been several weeks since his sixth year ended. The first thing he learned after he exited the Hogwarts Express was word that he was to be Head Boy by the recommendation of the Headmaster himself. James found out this recommendation was backed up by nearly all of his professors. To say he was shocked was an understatement. There was absolutely no way that some of these professors supported an insane idea on Professor Dumbledore's part. His grief was staring at the last letter he'd ever receive from this school. The salutation opener: "Mr. Potter, we are pleased to inform you that you have been selected unanimously as Hogwarts School Head Boy, Year 1977-1978."

He nearly had a seizure with this.

Thoughts buzzed in his head, a sliver of doubt. With all of the stress and expectations that he had to accept James, with a heavy heart, knew that this was another thing he could check off his list. James wrote back to Professor Dumbledore, humbly thanking him and the staff for offering this position to him wholeheartedly and graciously. After a long week of thinking, he decided to sacrifice his naughty antics and bad boy nuances for the chance of wearing a shiny badge on his robes. Not to mention his mother had a meltdown, and cried her eyes out in happiness when she heard the news.

In a fragile stage of juxtaposition, James was summoned to show up in Hogwarts by Professor McGonagall. It caught him off guard. While he wanted to reject his favorite professor, he didn't have the gall to do that. So here he was, in the summertime, moving his stuff into his second Common room.

It was another shock to him that he was going to have his own dorm. James was caught in between loving and hating the idea of his own quarters. He felt privacy was a good thing, but at the same time he'd miss his mates and sharing dorm with them. Not to mention, the long nights of them plotting and scheming new things that they'd do the next morning. Those times would be gone forever now. Not to mention, James still kept this a secret from his friends. None of them actually knew James was chosen to be the Head Boy. He'd be distant with them now.

It certainly hurt to think about that. James spent another long week to convince himself that one of the two situations would be the lesser of two evils. In the end, the shiny badge still won. He tried it on his robes, and it looked freaking awesome.

It was at that moment, that he remembered he was going to live alongside the Head Girl. Another wave of turmoil boiled in his gut once again. He was filled with anxiety again. Convincing himself that week everything that year would turn out for the best, he still felt mentally exhausted going back and forth with internal debates.

No one had told him who his female counterpart was yet. It was unnerving.

He had a hunch of the worthy candidate.

Nausea bubbled in his stomach. James definitely felt very self-conscious and out-of-place now. His previous behaviors and childish ways were gone. All he felt was dread, especially since he knew that his co-Head would be judging him extremely. James never even wanted this before. He still thought one of his best mates in the quartet of them – one Remus Lupin, whom had been the male counterpart to the Gryffindor prefects, instead. Remus got along with everyone, and most likely the Head Girl would work well with a responsible and quite person like him. James was just nervous that he'd never be good enough, and thinking of his "partner" was raising doubts in him.

After practicing how to properly better his reputation in his mirror, James Potter could bashfully admit that he mastered the art of looking older and refined. Course, he'd never really admit to it out-loud because, for sure, the recipient of that news would only laugh at his face and call him a liar. His sparkling personality before had certainly ruined any reputation he had at playing the mature role.

Nonetheless, he had tried and tried to at least play the part of an adult. He practiced his posture, the way he communicated, the way he presented his image. James did not resemble the rambunctious past life.

When he arrived on campus, exiting the train, he took his time to calm down. Walking up the steps of the school, he observed his favorite professor carefully. She welcomed him with a short pat on the shoulder, and both of them entered the stone castle. Passing many hallways and corridors, devoid of any people, he dragged his suitcase filled with shrunken items.

It put him at ease once he saw the moving stair cases. Most of the time, there was silence between them. James felt pleased with this though. There weren't any questions, scolding, or nagging. She simply escorted him to a hallway on the 8th floor. Conveniently or not, this room had been one above the Gryffindor Common Room. He wasn't sure it was built that way, but McGonagall had said it'd always been there and it was a secret that only the Heads knew about.

…too bad really; a huge shame. James knew he had to let the mates know to add the region on the map later.

They stopped in front of a portrait adorned with red and gold and a lion that winked at him. James stepped backwards in shock. There was no actual wizard in the painting awaiting his arrival. This was a rare phenomenon that the Gryffindor colors would be the portrait.

He knew who was on the other side awaiting his arrival.

Dammit, it made his stomach insides stir.

The beautiful and talented school-idol Lily Evans of the same House he bore from was the Head Girl. This didn't come as a surprise really. But, James was secretly hoping it wasn't her.

It wasn't, at all, her fault for him feeling this way. Obviously she deserved this position more than any girl he knew in this school. His "not-so-secret" crush of four consecutive years had come to a short and brief closure. James had to forcibly accept that his previous ways of wooing the lovely redhead with the doe-like emerald eyes was never going anywhere. With diminished spirits, he learned to get past all of the heartbreaks and feeling of pain in his chest. He settled for being very good friends with the girl. And they got off well. She seemed to appreciate how they stopped arguing and fighting all the time. Their friendship was moving along quite well and slow. This occurred about a week after the event of fifth year, and he was glad that Lily could stand to be in the same room with him.

James didn't give up his affection and admiration for this Gryffindor he was to spend a lot of time with. He just decided to move onward, and try to rid of these lingering feelings he had. He was not even sure they were true emotions anymore. She was always a smart girl to avoid his advances, afraid of his past ways of flirting with girls on to next and his shamelessly horrid methods of dating and using girls. At the time, he was only testing the waters. He wasn't exactly sure if he had meant it when he admitted to her and confessed many times that he truly liked her. Surely, it was a crush but usually crushes were short-lived in lifetime.

With all of that in mind, he was certain she would be outraged when she saw him walk through the portrait. He sucked in air, looked at McGonagall for confirmation. The Transfiguration instructor smiled weakly, and James winced. He gulped and held his breath.

Once Professor McGonagall uttered "Lionheart," the portrait opened. James walked in almost too slow, dragging his suitcase now. He was immediately blinded with red and gold colors. This red and gold phenomenon he thought of earlier – that it decorated the Heads room could only mean one thing.

A figure appeared from the left corner of the room and he was confirmed. Their eyes met. She certainly looked confused at first. He blushed and wanted to break eye contact. But, Lily just beamed at him. To his surprise, it seemed she did not mind the fact that he was to be her partner. In fact, she appeared to be shockingly pleased at the revelation at that time he expressed it to her. She looked at him with a different aura and air that James never knew possible.

Lily Evans nonchalantly stated that the Head Boy should be a wizard who stuck to his title.

She set her lantern on the small table, next to the red and comfortable looking loveseat couch. She used her fingers to comb back tresses of her hair that framed her face. She crossed her arms carefully around herself, and looked at him expectantly. James let his suitcase stand up on its own. When he moved a bit closer to Lily, she smiled at him. It staggered him a bit, prompting him to stop.

"I think you're a good candidate. From my experience, the best Head Boy should be an example to follow. Ideally, the Head Boy should be popular with everyone so that they would listen to him with respect and full attention," she commented. He quietly listened to her, and she dropped her hands, and placed them on her hips. She continued, "You have that. Most of all, he had to have a good heart and the right mind in place. A Head Boy is the model wizard for other younger wizards to follow and aspire after, no matter who it was."

James sighed, "I think," he licked his dry lips. "I think you're seeing Remus," he said in a monotone voice. Lily shook her head and rolled her eyes, "Please don't…think of Remus right now. He's not the Head Boy. You are," she said. He sighed and she gave him a sheepish look. "Look, I wasn't the most pleasant person to you before. But, I'm not ungrateful that you're my partner in this. To be honest with you, I'm actually glad," she paused. An eyebrow rose, he watched her cheeks tinge pink with extreme fascination. "I'm glad…you're here. We've had our differences and you're not exactly stellar quality in my opinion. But, you're someone I can work with. I'm…willing to work with you," she replied.

Lily admitted she despised the fact that they had a horrible relationship, to which he agreed wholeheartedly. She also relinquished that tone of disgust that she had before as she said that she'd give him the opportunity to make up for his past cruelties. She said that this really would be the only chance for him and her to patch what little relationship they budded two weeks after she distanced with a certain Slytherin ex-best friend in their 5th year. He wanted to make amends this last year at Hogwarts. Besides, they would be surely spending enough nights patrolling side by side.

James held back a burning question: did she hit her head against something?

He found it almost hard to believe, and said he shouldn't have gotten it off like this so easily. He felt despicable and should be treated like the worst person continuously. James reintroduced all of their past banters, expressing exasperation about her about her earlier hatred for him.

"I don't hate you, Potter. I never did."

He swore his eye balls would have popped out of their sockets if he hadn't practiced any self-control. She replied that she never actually hated him to begin with. He doubted her, but with such an honest look in her gorgeous green eyes he had to believe her. She explained lengthy detail, and James listened to it all.

"I knew you were jealous of Snape. It makes sense: he was my best friend. He hung out with me, not you or the other gents."

He retorted, "I-I wasn't that desperate…you know to get your attention. And I already apologized." She laughed at this. "Really? You think I didn't know?" His ears went pink in response. Lily took steps closer to James, and he looked away with a small grimace on his face. The redhead continued, "He thought I didn't know this…but I knew. I knew about how he'd get you guys to look like the bad guys sometimes. It didn't help that he was immature about your unannounced but obvious feelings for me." He spluttered nonsensical words with this; cheeks enflamed red.

Lily cut him off, "Snape didn't know that I knew he was making those atrocious smug faces when I picked his side over yours. He egged you on a lot…so, I shouldn't blame you for feeling haughty all the time," she had paused to catch her breath when she put her bookends up. James had finished unpacking his last compartment of his trunk.

"But, it got annoying when you began to become an insufferable toerag about it. And, since he was almost like a brother to me, I didn't like the attitude or you that much." James tried to apologize with his discomfiture, but she hastily continued.

"But that doesn't necessarily mean that I hated you either Potter as you and everyone in this school may think. I just wished that you'd wouldn't have that arrogance; to stop treating others lesser than you. It's quite a distasteful trait of yours that doesn't allow your good traits to show. You've changed, and for the better. You and the lads. That is why I would like to start from the beginning: by being your friend. I think it's best for everyone's health, including us, James."

James replied that he would show a better side of him and not the reckless being he put off before.

"So, to a fresh start." He looked at her confused. Lily gave him a dazzling grin. "My name is Lily Evans, I'm the Head Girl of Hogwarts and I'm proud to be a Gryffindor." James laughed, when she exchanged her pleasantry and stuck her hand out.

He firmly took. "Hello, Lily," he paused and she nodded. "My name is James Potter and I'm the Head Boy of Hogwarts. I'm proud to be the Quidditch captain of the House you're proud to be a part of."

In those four days of moving in, James learned a lot about the lovely Lily Evans than he ever had before. She had insisted that they fix their rooms the Muggle way. While it made the task of home decorating much longer, James didn't mind because it meant the time spent together would be extended.

She was an absolute enigma.

Lily Evans was much different than other witches he knew or had known before. Her likes, her dislikes, her hobbies, the things she enjoyed, things she didn't appreciate, things that irked her, things that made her happy – everything about her was different. It was amazing really. What he thought would be what she liked was absolutely false and what she hated were actually things she liked. His past self would have never gotten this far to knowing anything about her.

To his discontent it seemed he did know very little about her. It became a no brainer why she wasn't so lovely and sweet towards him in the past.

He learned about her life growing up. Her parents, who were Muggles clearly, had always been so proud of her and always so curious of the wizarding world. She managed to counteract that thought. She bitterly spoke about how her parents came off as supportive, only just recently. Lily said her prior years were spent trying to convince her parents that she wasn't pulling a long time prank on them. She had to explain that she wasn't insane either. She told James about the night before they found out what she was. Lily's memory of that day was limited to how her parents were going to send her off to a mental ward. If she hadn't checked her letters, he wouldn't have met her. James was grateful that her parents hadn't pursued the thought of giving her to those hospitals. It didn't sound pleasant the way she described it.

He learned that she had an older sister, Petunia "Tuney" Evans whom had once adored her to death and would never leave her side. That sister defended her in front of bullies, and stood up for the younger one. She began to get quieter, and he managed to get the phrases together "then she found out that I was a witch and never wanted to have anything to do with me again." James replied genuinely, "I think she just misses you before you discovered your true potential. And because you're different now, it scares her." Lily shook her head, "I suppose that's true. But, now she's getting married to a Muggle version of Avery and Mulciber. He's a lot nicer than those two absolutely, but the way he views me isn't very kind. And, to make it worse: I cannot do anything about it…she won't even allow me to get involved. So all the misconceptions he carries…that I'm absolutely mental. I can't fix them. I just have to go with the stories she tells him. It's disappointing, but he leaves me alone about it." Lily complained dramatically. "I should consider myself lucky that she's allowed me to attend her wedding."

James learned a quite a lot of her other relationships with other people. And she explained how her relationship with one Severus "Snivellus" Snape began. Lily Evans had performed such non-wand base underage magic at the age of around nine it was astounding. He stalked her, prompting James to tease her about. Lily swatted his hands away from her, with a huff. She explained to him how Snape had introduced her to the magical world, and how their friendship was. She explained her worst moments with him. To James's disbelief, Lily wasn't always a goody-two shoes. Around Snape, his influence and presence always negatively impacted her.

There was that time she ended up listening to Snape and it was the worst task to do. She spied on her sister and even intercepted the mail to Dumbledore about Hogwarts. She explained how Snape swayed her to do it, until she bowed to the peer pressure of it. Lily teared a bit at the outer corners of both eyes. She betrayed her sister's privacy, and lost her in return.

It was refreshing really to him. Lily appeared alarmed when James admitted that she had no right to intrude. He said perhaps it would have been better had Petunia found out she couldn't attend Hogwarts the correct way. Lily shyly replied that she shouldn't have listened to Snape. Soon after, their conversation went into detail on the events of her end of the line relationship with the Slytherin.

The worst thing was the Snape was two-faced, and if James didn't already despise what Snape was he certainly did now.

For Lily's only true best friend to treat her like that with their history, it was almost blasphemy. In part, James felt partly responsible but decided against saying anything. Lucky for Lily to learn the true meaning of one of the nastiest and cruelest cuss words by a fellow friend, before total ignorance would have caught on to her. It had been her old roommates and good friends Mary MacDonald (along with Alice Prewett, Emmeline Vance, Marlene McKinnon, and Frank's cousin Odette Longbottom) who explained that racist name Snape used so easily for others.

Lily concluded that "he even tried to apologize to me after calling me that name. I don't care for apologies, I just want him to realize what he's doing is so utterly stupid! And, I'm so sick of him. He's the worst being, and yet he pretends to be the victim that was corrupted. I don't believe him and I hate two-faced lying people more than insufferable and irritating people," she paused indignantly.

He muttered quietly in defeat, "…well, he loves you…"

She shook her head. And, after Lily placed a weird-looking machine on the small table and fixed it upright. There was a momentary silence that made James feel slightly stroppy. She pushed in the back, and she gracefully turned to him. She looked angry, "I don't feel the same for him at all. I won't lie….he was not always like this at least in front of me. If things would've been different, maybe I would've."

James winced at the implication of her words. She smiled sheepishly, "Perhaps things happened for a reason. Maybe this was good for me. I know he really was like this around others. But, I tried really hard to remain friends with him because he was the first person to tell me I wasn't crazy or cursed at birth…"

James was stunned and she smiled.

"Surprised? It's true. Not just here. I'm considered a freak to other people outside of this place as well. I can't live alongside Muggles very well. When I was about 8 years old, other kids were pointing, calling me horrible names and physically bullying me around. One boy was a bit too overzealous. He pulled my hair, and put mud on it. I didn't cry. When he took note of that, I guess it upset him. So as he picked up a giant scoop of mud with earthworms in it I told him to get away from me. I accidentally blasted him backwards. I just wanted him to get away from me…and it happened. He landed on his arm and broke it. When the other kids realized that I wasn't normal like them, I never ever saw them again." She said as she draped her favorite fleece on the couch. Pausing, she stared at the floor with an blank smile.

"After that, I realized I never fit in anywhere. It's just sad that most of the magical world doesn't accept me either."

James opened his mouth to protest about the absurdity of that.

She continued. "But honestly, I don't care about any of that anymore. I really don't care what other people think." Lily hugged herself. "It's just….deep down, I guess I was looking for someone to understand why I feel the way I felt before. And, it happened to be him. It helped me, and I felt somewhat…I don't know, important?"

James answered her quickly. "I understand the feeling. It's what makes you human. I don't think…I'd be able to go through what you had to. If it wasn't for the company I surround myself with," he said.

She sighed. "It wasn't just because he called me that name. I actually believed he was still my friend and I just refused to believe otherwise. He's been doing all of this all along, but I kept making excuses for him. I realize now that Mary was right. I was stupid to always forgive and forget." she grunted.

He looked at her questioningly and she smiled bitterly.

"I told him that even if, what he called me that day…even if it slipped out, why should any of my kind suffer because they're Muggle-born? The color of my blood is red, and so is everyone else's." She laughed humorlessly.

"There will be people who try to compare your value and worth in this world to nothing. Some people use words, some people use actions, very little kill those at the lowest level of the system. But what I think is worst is those that pretend and hide who they are. People who stick up for those people are all the same. They become blood traitors."

James gaped. "Then that means…"

She nodded. "Yes…and no. He pretends to be a pure blooded wizard. But he's only fooling everyone and himself. The fact is…Sev—…" she had stopped herself, and closed her eyes tightly.

"S-Snape," she hissed uncomfortably. It was painfully obvious she was still not used to calling her ex-best friend by his last name. James wouldn't blame her about that. When he was still mad at Sirius for what he had done to Snape and Remus, the name "Black" sounded so foreign to him.

"Snape is half Muggle…"

James eyes widened. "I-I can't believe, and everything…I've done…I said…I…all of what…" He started to spurt nonsense and his eyes went wide. Lily sighed and nodded. "That's how good Snape is." James exclaimed, "He didn't even deny it when I called him an outright evil Pureblood supremacist!"

She shrugged, "You wouldn't have known that he was a half-blood. He doesn't want anyone to know. I bet even his deranged and evil little friends don't know either. But it doesn't matter because the Muggle side that you're fretting about right now is dead in him. Snape is a master in deception to those he doesn't know or hates well – mostly everyone. He chose to betray that half of who he is. It only shows that he strongly holds such distaste for those of non-magical ancestry. And by Godric Gryffindor…I am not going to accept that."

"…are you…?" James asked in a small voice.

She smiled, "Yeah, I'm all right now. I'm going to be alright now."

He had a new foliage of respect came for the lovely redhead. Suddenly, feelings that were somewhat erstwhile and mostly foreign arose within him. When he learned of how she was introduced to the World of wizardry and witchcraft, it was at that moment that his true nature of curiosity kicked in. James, at the very least, had confirmed that he did enjoy company and fancy Lily Evans quite. She became his new genuine obsession to uncover, as well as someone he admired very much. Not to take away from the fact that he found her interesting, she was charming. Everything about her had blazing and blaring red lights at him.

"Enough depression. What about you?"

And so James told her about his life. He opened up about his family, his aged parents, and being an only child with its ups and downs. He spoke of how much he loved his parents, how much he loved his mates. He talked about everything. Once he was finished, Lily beamed satisfied. James started to take the differences between their upbringings and was extremely charmed.

The fact that she was a Muggle-born who, had for nine years, not known of her ability to perform beautiful magic…this phenomenon had him at the balls of his feet, mind blown.

It was extremely rare to hear stories of younger Muggle-born children to know they are magic before they got their letters to Hogwarts. Of that percentage, a smaller group of them could more or less perform magic (even lower of that percentage, wandless magic). It only meant there was something about her.

Lily Evans evidently had such a different way of living than he did. James wanted to understand everything about Muggles to satisfy the unyielding curiosity burning inside him. He wanted to know life was like for her, and his interest with the non-magic folk manifested.

While there was much to learn, James settled for the one thing that he found most interesting of her world first: Muggle-man made devices. Most of them, he was able to figure out – the common ones, the practical ones, the ones that his lovely partner Head Girl owned. He made it obvious to her, that curiosity he pursued. She was, at first, astounded (and he knew it definitely made her feel a little uncomfortable) at how he served to grasp everything about her own culture.

But, she marveled at him for his pursuit of knowledge. He desired a World of magical unity despite the magical blood purity and status – he, too, had Muggle birthed friends throughout the years at Hogwarts other than her. James explained to Lily during the fourth day, after helping her shelve all of their reading books, that his pet-peeve was students' prejudice against those who were born from non-magical parents to go so far and deep to deeming them horrid names.

He gave her a story of his mother's best friend. His mother's best friend had been a Muggle born, quite a lovely woman indeed the way James described her. It was a morose story when James had said that his mother's best friend had too been called that disgusting name before many times. She couldn't get married and so she became an Auror like his own parents straight after Hogwarts. He said that she was as close to him as his own mother, but ended up dying tragically by a Death Eater attack because of the early signs of the war raging against blood status.

She wasn't all shocked, and assured by the very look in his hazel eyes. She smiled and thanked him for defending for her kind. She told him she was aware how he made it very clear up to date that he absolutely hated that "m" word. He replied that it was one of the sole purposes he and the Marauders had ever hexed anyone in the first place. He had shown his will to understand what World she came from. She seemed to appreciate it wholeheartedly and she admitted from the beginning they met, those traits in him had always been things that she noticed and liked about him. In a spin of events, she confessed that she could never really hate him because of his vigilance and appreciation of others. In a nutshell, she was utterly pleased with him, and made it noted to him kindly. They formed this type of friendship now, but it took years. Somehow, both James and Lily could appreciate this; both content. This didn't mean, granted the chance, James would not take a relationship with her further than friendship.

He'd settle for anything he could get as she was there.

It was then James fully accepted that he was made Head Boy.

He still had a small list of endeavors. But all of them came after his top priority: to learn as much as he could about Muggles. He wanted to learn enough to understand what relationship he had (and willing to pursue) with the most complex and lovely Lily Evans.

What he didn't know, was Lily Evans found herself enthralled with him. And, for an odd twist of events, she even felt a bit enamored with him. James, she knew, was always chivalrous and charming. That was who James Potter was.

She could see his hazel-blue eyes shining with truth in every word he said.

She didn't particularly harbor that much of negativity over him that most people, including him, believed. She was simply cautious. She knew he was never a bad person to begin with – just very childish and conceited. James was too proud, and perhaps that was because he strived at everything that it inflated his head. But, she never exactly went as far to hate him despite all the things she said after she lost Snape as a best friend. After the fourth day of moving in their things to their new dorms, she knew she was right all along about him.

James Potter, in her eyes, was absolutely wonderful – all flaws and flawlessness.

So when he asked her about the Muggle World, Lily Evans had to refrain herself from choking on her own spit. It would be humiliating to have a break down in front of him for sure. She strengthened her resolve, and replied that he could ask her about any non-magical thing he wanted to know. After all, what he was to her she did not quite know yet. She felt confused and wasn't sure she understood what she felt was.

One thing was for sure: Lily Evans wanted to know more about James. She could happily and willingly admit she wanted nothing more but to indefinitely see more of him around.

End Chapter 1.