AU: Hi guys! So, decided to give writing Potter fanfic a try. In the story, James tries his best to woo Lily, a task made more difficult due to the fact that she can't stand him. The story will follow his various plans and strategies to get Lily to fall for him. Expect fluff, and comedy, but no heavy drama or anything too intense.
Well, like I said, it's my first time writing a HP fanfic, but I hope you all enjoy it anyway!
"Evans" James Potter called, leaning confidently on the edge of her desk as she put her potions textbooks away.
"What is it, Potter?" Lily Evans replied, not even glancing at him as she continued to pile her books into her bag.
"Go on a date with me" he said, his tone oozing an overconfidence that always annoyed her.
"I decline" she said flatly, still not sparing him a glance as she finished putting her books in a bag.
"You could at least look at me when you reject me" he complained, "You're wounding my ego here, Evans"
"Would that make you more likely to stop bothering me with stupid questions, Potter?" she asked, again in that same flat voice.
"No. But you've got pretty eyes, Evans, it's always nice to see them" he told her.
She sighed at the unbelievably cliched line, and turned away from him, making her way out the door.
In no time she was surrounded by a group of her friends, chatting happily with them and smiling as she went. Damn it, what did he have to do to get her to smile with him like that?
He felt a sympathetic hand over his shoulder.
"Hard luck, Prongs" Sirius said, nodding his head solemnly, "Cheesy line was a nice touch though"
Behind him, he could hear the sniggers of Remus and Peter, enjoying his rejection as they did every time. He didn't have to look at Sirius to know that he was suppressing laughter himself.
"I'm not done yet" James announced to them, "Next time for sure she'll say yes to me!"
"That's what you said last time she rejected you" Peter piped up.
"And the time before that" Sirius added.
"And the time before that" Remus joined in.
James glared at them, causing them all to erupt into laughter.
Later on, they were in the common room, sitting by the fire to warm themselves against the November cold, and going over practical applications for the spells they'd learned.
"Transfiguring cushions into cats" Sirius mumbled, referring to the spell they'd learned that day in transfiguration, "How could we use that effectively?"
"Jinx the cushions in the slytherin common room while they sleep" James replied, "Let 'em wake up to a bunch of screaming cats with their place wrecked"
"Interesting" Sirius modded thoughtfully, noting the idea down on the parchment in front of him.
"Forget it" Remus said, "McGonagall is gonna know it was us- we were the only ones in that class who got the spell right"
"True" Sirius said, "Why is everyone else a bunch of idiots?" he sighed.
"Actually, didn't Lily get the spell right too?" asked Peter.
"And?" Remus asked, "You think they're going to suspect her?"
"Not to mention, lover-boy here would never let Evans take the fall for us. He'd rat us all out in a second" Sirius grinned, gesturing to James.
"You're not wrong, you'd all be under the bus in no time" James told him, returning the grin.
"Dunno why you're trying so hard, Prongs" Sirius shrugged, "You're the star of our quidditch team, you could have any girl you want" as if to prove his point, he nodded to the room around him, where girls could indeed be seen whispering excitedly to each other and casting shy glances at James. Some of the stares were aimed at his best friend too, but Sirius chose to ignore that.
It was true, his quidditch skills made him popular with girls, and his talent in classes showed that he was more than just brawn. He could, he knew, have virtually any girl he wanted on his arm. Except he didn't want any girl. He wanted Lily. He still wasn't sure why, what is was about her that made him fall for her so hard. It was like she forced him to up his game, to try harder. She called him on all of his crap, and never took him on at his games. She wasn't blinded, like all those girls were, by his quidditch skills and cleverness, she wasn't afraid in even the slightest way of making him aware of exactly what she thought of him. He grinned at the thought, thinking how great life would be if only even one of those thoughts was pleasant.
A sharp pain in his forehead drew him out of his thoughts, and he turned his head to glare at Sirius.
"Back with us?" he asked, unwrapping another another ball of chocolate and tossing it into the air, catching it in his mouth.
James took the chocolate that had hit him, unwrapped it and ate it, "That's actually pretty good" he commented, enjoying the sweet taste of melting chocolate on his tongue.
"Did you check for love potions this time, Padfoot?" Peter asked, eyeing his chocolate suspiciously.
"Yeah" Sirius grinned, "Wouldn't want another repeat of last year, would we, Moony?"
"Don't remind me" Remus shuddered, "That was horrible"
"Nah, she was cute" Sirius offered, "Imagine if it'd been a love potion for a slytherin girl, you'd be in the hospital wing...least you only got off with being stunned last time"
"I did not enjoy it" Remus sighed.
James grinned, "If you got up onto a desk in the middle of a lesson, and declared your undying love for me, I would appreciate it, Moony...not stun you"
"Why'd it have to be McGonagalls class?" Remus sighed, "That really sucked"
"Got a nice kick out of it though" Sirius laughed, "That potion was definitely meant for you, Prongs, that girls confused glance at you right before she stunned Moony proved it"
"Glad it wasn't me- thanks Moony" James grinned.
"Anytime" Remus replied darkly.
"Oh- why not try a love potion, Prongs? Slip Evans one with some Christmas chocolate and it'll be fine" Sirius told him.
"No way- that's the same as giving up. I'll get Evans to date me on my own. Potions are for the weak" James declared.
"I'm worried that you didn't even consider the ethics of that plan" Remus threw in.
"Don't sweat the small stuff" James told him, "I'll figure something out with Evans"
"The Christmas Ball is coming up, Prongs" Remus said, "Ask her to that"
"And get rejected again" Peter muttered, causing Sirius to snigger.
"That's a good shout, Moony, think I'll try that next"
That night, James struggled to go to sleep. He kept turning ideas around in his head, trying to think of a way to ask Lily to the ball that didn't end in her saying no. A difficult feat, since he'd never actually heard her say yes to anything regarding him.
He sighed, his thoughts were getting him nowhere. He needed to clear his head, and there was only one place to do that.
Grabbing the marauders map, and his cloak, he went downstairs, into the common room, intending to make his way to the quidditch pitch to fly.
As he approached the common room, he noticed someone was still there, sat in an armchair near the fires.
Lily sat reading a book by the fire was a sight James knew he'd never forget. Her head was inclined forward slightly to read, causing her beautiful red hair fell in a soft veil around her face. Her gaze as she read made her look peaceful, and the slight smile on her face as she read was unbelievably endearing.
James walked into the room, scanning the place and noting that there was no one else there.
Lily heard him coming, and looked up at him, her eyes instantly shifting from the soft look they'd had while she was reading to one of annoyance...How about that- a damn book got affection from her than he did. She turned back to said book, ignoring him. James continued to walk towards her.
"I refuse" she said, not looking up from her book.
"At least let me ask you out before you reject me" James said indignantly.
"I don't see the point" she told him. James sighed, and sat on the armchair next to her.
"You're a difficult woman, Evans"
"I don't care what you think of me, Potter" she told him, still reading.
"I think you're pretty" James grinned, "And smart, and funny, cute and charming"
"And how long have you been working on that line?" she asked, turning a page.
"Just came up with it now" he told her proudly, "Mean it though" he added.
"Good to know" she muttered.
James sighed, "You're not giving me much to work with Evans"
"I have no reason to"
"Then I need better lines" he said, making a note to think of some good ones.
"I'm sure there's lot of girls who those lines would be perfect for" she told him.
"Oh? Are you jealous, Evans?" he asked, genuinely curious. Her eyebrow twitched.
"I'm desperate" she replied, a note of irritation in her voice, "For you to leave me alone. I feel bad for pawning you off on some other poor girl, but I can't afford to have morals at this point"
"Why are you so against the idea of us dating?" He asked,genuinely perplexed.
"Why can't you take a hint?" she responded, her tone now dripping annoyance.
"Cause you're worth the effort, Evans" James grinned again.
Lily sighed, and continued to ignore him. A few minutes passed in silence, with James becoming entranced again at the sight of Lily reading her book (how did she manage to look so gorgeous doing something so simple?), and ignoring him stoically.
"If you don't stop staring at me" she said finally, "I'm going to hit you with the conjunctivitis jinx"
"You've already charmed me Evans" James replied.
"Your lines are lame, Potter, stop. What are you doing down here anyway, it's late"
"Wanted to spend some alone time with you Evans"
"The feeling isn't mutual"
James sighed, he was getting nowhere. "What's so bad about me?" He demanded finally, "Why do you hate me so much?"
To his surprise, Lily smiled down at her book, "If you really can't figure that out, you don't deserve to be called the smartest boy in our year"
"Well I can't!" he stood up, and began pacing in front of her. "I think you're being unreasonable here, Evans, all I'm saying if that you consider the possibility that we-"
James immediately felt his entire body lock into place. His arms snapped to his side, his legs stuck hard to each other, and he couldn't move an inch. Losing his balance mid stride, he fell over in that position with a heavy thud. He recognised these effects: The Petrificus Totalus jinx . Glancing up at Lily, he saw that she had her wand pointed at him from the side of her chair, it was partially hidden by her leg, which mean that he wouldn't be able to see it. The vixen. She'd hexed him. Anger boiled inside James, even as his body refused act on it.
"That's one way to keep you quiet" Lily said brightly, looking down at him with a satisfied smile. James grunted his rage, but couldn't move otherwise.
"It's your own fault" she told him, "I'd have been perfectly happy with you leaving me and going to break whatever rules you'd planned on tonight"
She returned to her book, angering James further. He grunted and tried with all his effort to move, but couldn't manage it, it was a strong hex. She left him there for an hour or so, while she read in silence. Then she stood up.
"It's getting pretty late, suppose I should probably head upstairs" she noted. James grunted agitatedly in protest, and she glanced at him. "Don't worry I won't leave you like this" she told him, but she had a mischievous smile on her face. She pointed her wand at him again,
"Wingardium Leviosa" she chanted. James felt his petrified body float up, and move slowly toward the carpet in front of the fireplace. Lily withdrew her wand, and he landed with another dull thud, hurting his back and head as he landed, grunting his anger again. Lily took one of the cushions from the armchair, lifted his head up and placed the cushion under it. After that, she took the blanket she'd been curled up in, and threw it around him.
James' eyes widened when he realised her intent- she was going to leave him here until morning.
He renewed his efforts to move, grunting loudly in protest.
"Next time you see me somewhere alone, Potter, just keep walking" she told him with a grin. James took a moment to appreciate how pretty she looked when she wasn't scowling at him, before his emotions returned to rage. He grunted loudly, trying his best to demand that she release him without being able to open his mouth.
"Goodnight, Potter" she told him, walking up towards the girls dormitory.
James was left there, petrified and steaming, on the floor of their common room. After what was probably another hour, he relaxed, having no other choice. Eventually, he was able to drift to sleep, with the blanket containing Lily's scent wrapped around him.
"Think it was a slytherin?" asked Remus' voice. James opened his eyes, looking at the faces of his three friends as they all crouched over him, wearing their Pajamas.
"Unlikely" came Sirius' reply, "If one of them somehow got into the common room, he'd be in way worse shape"
"He doesn't look too bad" Peter said, "Just petrified"
"My guess is Evans" Sirius offered with a grin, "He probably tried it on with her and she hexed him, don't think anyone else could get the drop on him like this"
"That makes sense" Remus nodded, "We'll ask her when she wakes up"
They all stared at the petrified James. "Hey" Sirius said, glancing seriously at his two friends, "Let's strip him and leave him in Mcgonagall's classroom before she gets there"
James grunted loudly, causing them all to realise that he was awake
Sirius let out a laugh that sounded a lot like a bark, "Kidding Prongs, just kidding"
A few moments later, Lily walked downstairs, yawning loudly. She glanced over at them, and smiled. Pulling out her wand and aiming it at James, she muttered her countercurse.
James' body came alive again in an instant, and he bounded up from the ground, vibrating in anger. He marched over to Lily.
"What the hell, Evans?!" he demanded angrily .
"Next time, you'll remember to leave me alone Potter" she told him dismissively, not intimidated in the least.
"Damn it, Evans, you owe me for this" he told her, giving her a look that would had had anyone else cowering. Not Lily.
"Is that right?" She asked, drawing her wand. James stepped closer to her, unwilling to back down.
"What's your problem with me Evans?" He demanded again, "What's so bad about me?"
Lily also stepped closer to him, glaring back at him, "You wanna know my problem with you, Potter? I'll tell you, since you're too thick to figure it out yourself" she said, her voice rising steadily, "You're selfish, arrogant, reckless, irresponsible, dishonest, careless and shallow. Everything about you, Potter, screams immature. You don't listen to teachers, and you even disrespect some of them. You think you're above everyone and everything, and that the entire universe revolves around you and your enormous head. I wouldn't go near you with 10 foot broomstick, and if I had the choice, we'd never speak again!" she said this all in quick succession, barely stopping to take a breath. "Is that clear enough for you, Potter?" she asked.
James stood there, eyes wide in shock at her heated outburst.
"Good. Actually, it feels quite good to give you a piece of my mind, I think I'm in a better mood to start the day" she said thoughtfully. With that, she walked off back towards the girls dormitory.
Still stunned, James watched her go up the stone steps.
Sirius came up behind him, whistling softly. "She really let you have it Prongs" he said, in an impressed tone, "Glad I was here to see it" he added with a grin.
"Sounded like she wanted to say that to you for a while" Remus commented, walking up to join them with Peter, "Maybe it'd have been best if you hadn't asked her"
"This is what they mean when they say, be careful what you wish for" Peter added.
"Right? Will you at least admit that it's a lost cause now?" Sirius asked his best friend, "That's gotta be it now"
"No" James said, grinning "I'm more fired up now. I'm definitely gonna make Evan's go out with me. I'll make her eat those words she just said. The best revenge is to get her to date me"
"Truly a horrifying punishment" Remus nodded, earning him a fistbump from Sirius.