Title: Deeper Than Love
Disclaimers: I own NONE of them characters!!
Authors Notes: Please R+R
~*~
Harry looked around the house. The living room, in which he had just been brought to by floo powder, was of a light blue color. There were chairs all over the small room.
"Where are we?" he asked Tonks, who had escorted him.
Tonks brushed off the dirt and debris off of her clothes and hair. She was about to answer when Remus Lupin appeared at the doorway.
"Welcome Harry." he greeted. "How are you?"
"Professor Lupin!" Harry said, excited to see him. "Is this your house?"
"Yes, it is Harry. It's also the new headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix," Lupin said.
"Harry dear, you're finally here," Molly Weasley appeared from a room on Harry's left.
"Hi Mrs. Weasley," Harry mumbled looking around the house.
"Ron and Hermione are upstairs. Would you like something to eat?" Molly asked.
"No thank you," Harry said politely. "I'm not very hungry,"
"Well, since you're not hungry, Harry, why don't we go for a walk?" Lupin asked him.
"Sure," Harry followed him to the front door.
~*~
"One reason we decided to bring you here so soon, was because I wanted to talk to you about your parents," Lupin said as soon as they were outside.
Harry stared out into the peculiar shapes of the houses on the block.
Lupin seemed to be leading and Harry followed.
"Ever since you saw Snape's pensieve, it's been bothering me. That you don't know the real story of your parents,"
"The real story? To be honest, it's been bothering me too. I mean, I know at 15 he must've been an idiot...but I'm 15. And I hope I don't seem like an idiot,"
"Well Harry, you've been through more than your father ever has. You've met and escaped Voldemort 5 times, already. At 15, James hadn't escaped Voldemort once."
"Sirius..." Harry stopped at the mention of his godfather's name, "Sirius said that my mum didn't hate my father. Why? When I saw that pensieve, she hated him so much. She even said she wouldn't date him if it was between him and a giant squid," Harry pointed out.
Remus chuckled. "I know Harry, I was there. Lily married your father because she loved him. I know I can't prove it to you, but I can tell you about it."
Harry nodded and Remus continued. "Let's see...I think it was in our 7th year. James and Lily had just been announced Head Boy and Head Girl..."
~*~
"This is insane! I can't work with him!" Lily shouted at her group of friends.
"Of course you can, Lily. For one thing, he's pretty cute.." Liesl Wagner said her eyes sparkling.
"He's small and scrawny, and..."
"He's not small, Lily. He's taller than you are," pointed out Felicia Smith.
"I'll never understand why you two can't get along...it's gone all the way back to our 1st year," said Rachel Bucksworth.
"First year...don't you remember? Those pranks Potter and his gang played on us." Lily gritted through her teeth. "Rachel! Think back...he played it on you too,"
Rachel shrugged. "Well, I've forgotten about it. Can't say you have,"
"He and his friends did everything possible to make sure my first year was as horrible as possible," Lily said.
"Yea, well..." Rachel trailed off. Lily had a point. And it was a good point.
Lily took her seat again. The four girls were on the Hogwarts Express with the rest of the school, on their way back to another merry old year.
"Merry," Lily said angrily.
The slide door opened and in walked James Potter; Lily's worst enemy. Not only was James handsome and charming, he was very intelligent and talented on the Quidditch field. During their 6th year, it had mainly been James and Lily who had been neck-and-neck for the top marks of the class.
"Evans, your head girl this year?" James asked the red-head who was quick to banter.
"You know I am...surprisingly, I thought Remus Lupin would be the head boy,"
"Why Remus? Why not, let's say, James?" James asked smiling. He already knew the answer.
"Because Remus is easy to work with. Remus is decent, and polite. He's the perfect gentlemen. And James is cruel, and mean. And cold-hearted. Did I make my point?" Lily asked angrily.
How could Dumbledore do this to her? Someone must've known that this position would not work out! If not Dumbledore, then McGonagall. If not McGonagall, then Flitwick. Someone! James and Lily were always sent to their offices because of their conduct towards each other.
"Ok, Lily," James said, using her first name, "I'll tell you what. I'll resign from my title as Head Boy if....you go out with me," James finished his sentence quickly.
Lily rolled her eyes. James had been trying to get her to go out with him since the 5th year. After all these rejections, you'd think he'd learn something!
"Are you joking?" Lily asked him seriously.
James looked sincere and thoughtful for a minute. Before finally cracking a smile.
"No," he said grinning before bursting into laughter. "And you fell for it!"
"I didn't fall for a thing, Potter! I simply asked..."
"You fell for it!" James burst into laughter again.
"Potter, get out, get out!" Lily shouted, pushing him out of the compartment. "Get out! You're so immature! GET OUT!" she shouted again.
"Fine, fine. Geez, control your temper, Evans. You'll need it if you're going to be head girl!" James cried before Lily gave him a final shove out of the compartment.
"This is going to be one great year," Liesl commented.
~*~
"Professor Dumbledore, I am begging you. Me and James Potter. You've got to be kidding me! He and his gang of friends will only abuse the power!" Lily cried as she made her final plea.
"Miss Evans, one reason I paired you and Mr. Potter up was because I was hoping this arrangement would settle your differences. Your time at Hogwarts is nearly up. You and James are in the same house...don't you agree that you should at least get along? For the sake of all of us?"
"I suppose your right," Lily said uncomfortably.
"Good," Dumbledore said smiling. "Now, let's head down to the feast,"
~*~
"Evans, can I sit next to you?" James asked as he approached her.
"I don't know, can you?" Lily asked sweetly.
James sat down anyways and Lily took a sip of her pumpkin juice pretending she didn't notice.
"Well, I was thinking about what you'd said." James started.
"And what did I say?" Lily asked, as if she was talking to a 5 year old.
James ignored her actions. "I know why you don't like me. It's because I'm competition, isn't it? Sure I may have a little fun once in a while...but I still have top marks in all my classes. In fact, it's you and I who are always at the top, isn't it?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," Lily lied.
"Well, how about a challenge?" James asked huskily. "A wizard's duel. To prove, once and for all, who is the better one,"
Lily finally moved so she could look at him. Lily Evans was by far the prettiest girl in their grade. With flaming dark red hair and stunningly beautiful green eyes. The green eyes were the first thing James noticed about her; her personal attitude was the next. The emerald eyes had a unique touch to him, made him crave something inside. And although he had tried to get her to go out with him for a long time now, she kept refusing and only getting even angrier at him. They had never been friends, more like the worst of enemies. But this year, this year was different. James felt as if this would be his last year to impress her.
"Tonight?" Lily asked, avoiding his eyes.
"Hey James! What are you doing over there! Come on!" Sirius was yelling and waving. Remus looked on at James and Lily, and Peter was eating his chicken.
"Tonight. Meet me in the Quidditch field. Come by yourself." James told her quickly before leaving his seat.
~*~
"Your crazy, James. This is Lily we're talking about." Peter stumbled.
"I know." James insisted.
"And you told her to come by herself?" Remus asked.
"Yes,"
"But James...she's going to kill you. She's hated you since..." Sirius started.
"I know," James said impatiently. Sirius looked at James for a minute before realizing what he was going to do.
"You're not going to, no...James, you can't!" Sirius cried as he took him by the shoulders and shook him hard.
"If this is what it's going to take, I will," James told him firmly.
"You can't!" Sirius yelled and shook him harder. "She's not worth it! There's plenty of other fishies in the sea!"
"Not anyone like her..." James said.
"Wait, what? What's James going to do?" Peter asked.
"He's going to let her win! He's going to surrender!" Sirius yelled in his face.
"Love makes you do crazy things..." Remus said quietly.
"But, James's not in love with her!" Sirius yelled before catching the quiet look on James face. "Are you?" he finally asked James.
"Maybe," James shrugged.
"You don't even know her! And everyone in this school knows she hates you!"
Students walking by are starting to stare.
"Oy, Sirius!" Felicia Smith, followed by Liesl Wagner and Rachel Bucksworth joined the group.
"Go away Felicia, this is important business," Sirius told her.
"Sorry, actually, we wanted to talk to ames. Lily's really excited about killing you tonight," Felicia said with a straight face.
J
"She's in our dormitory practicing all the hexes she knows. I think she's even practicing one of the three unforgivable curses," Liesl added.
"You're joking, right?" James asked his heart racing.
"You better tell her not to practice. James is going to let her win," Peter told them, making eye contact with Liesl.
"I personally don't even think you should be dueling! On your first night back, too," Rachel said loudly.
"Shh, keep it down, will you?" Sirius hissed checking to see if there were any lurkers listening. Severus Snape passed by the group and Sirius eyes him suspiciously.
"Eavesdropping, were you, Severus?" Sirius asked coldly.
"Hi Severus," Felicia said brightly, to which Severus nodded as he walked by.
"How can you talk to him?" Sirius asked him with as much dislike as Severus.
"How can I not? He helped my in potions...I needed a favor," Felicia shrugged.
"James, are you still going to let her win?" Sirius asked changing the topic.
"Of course...this is the only way she's going to notice me. In fact, if she hurts me bad enough, she might have to send me to the hospital. And she'll feel extremely guilty then, I'll pop the question..."
"You're going to get hurt, on purpose, so Lily will finally agree to go out with you due to guilt?" Rachel asked surprised.
"Sure. If it's the only way..."
"You're pathetic, James. I really expected more out of you," Rachel said, leading the girls to the lake.
"I'm not pathetic, am I?" James asked unsure of himself.
"No, you're just in love..." Remus told him.
~*~
Lupin stopped walking for a minute and looked at Harry.
"What do you think of your father now?"
"You know, during the time I saw the Pensieve and till now, I'd always thought of him as an arrogant little prick. Just like Malfoy," Harry admitted.
"Even when Sirius and I told you we all were idiots,"
Harry nodded. "But now, it seems like...he's matured, somehow. I mean, he was willing to let my mum win...that must mean something, right?"
"It did. In fact, Sirius wouldn't speak to him the entire afternoon because he was angry that James was going to lose purposely. Your father and Sirius were the...they were basically the kings of the school. Everyone looked up to them to be brave and bold...and losing on purpose was just something Sirius couldn't handle,"
"But, my dad did lose on purpose to my mum?" Harry asked, hoping he did.
"Well, he was about to. Sirius had dragged me and Peter to spy on them. Lily had just hexed him, and James hexed her back. But your parents were very strong...James was about to let Lily stun him, when..."
~*~
"I CANNOT BELIEVE THIS!! OUR HEAD BOY AND HEAD GIRL, IN A WIZARD'S DUEL!!" McGonagall shouted with disbelief.
James and Lily put down their wands immediately.
"Professor, we weren't..."
"I know exactly what you were doing, Miss Evans! And I am outraged! I expected you two to keep the school in order!" She shouted again.
"It was my idea, Professor," James told her. Lily glanced at James uneasily.
"And Miss Evans just went along for the ride?" McGonagall snapped. "We're going to Dumbledore's office, right now! Follow me,"
~*~
"You just had to get me in trouble, didn't you?" Lily hissed as McGonagall dropped James and Lily off in front of Professor Dumbledore's office door.
"If you didn't notice, Evans," James hissed back in the same manner, "I'm in trouble too. And I took the rap for it," James said before the door opened unexpectantly.
"Mr. Potter, Miss Evans. Come in," Dumbledore greeted them.
"Evening, Professor," Lily said. James muttered his "evening".
"Well, McGonagall has informed me that you two have been dueling?" Dumbledore said, his blue eyes twinkling.
"Yes, sir," James said. Lily nodded.
"Honestly, I thought that matching you two up as Head Boy and Head Girl would teach you how to become, not friends, but partners. I guess I was wrong,"
Lily, who hated disappointing the headmaster, immediately protested, "James and I can work together. Honest...we can. We'll try harder. I'll try harder," Lily promised.
"Have to make me look bad, eh?" James asked her a bit angry. Lily glared at him.
"I think you, Potter, have said enough. You either decide to work with me..."
"Now, Lily. The first step to accepting James as a partner of yours, is to act with kindness,"
"I am being kind!" Lily said losing her temper.
"No, she's not Professor. Evans, here, is being nothing but kind! Kind is how you'd treat your friends! She doesn't treat me the way she treats her friends!" James said raising his voice.
"Because you're not my friend!" Lily yelled.
"How come Sirius is your friend? And Remus, and Peter? Why not me?" James asked heatedly.
"Because they're not immature! They don't hex people for the fun of it! They're not mean to the Slytherins!"
"Not mean to the Slytherins? Sirius! You don't think Sirius is mean to the Slytherins?! Do you even KNOW SIRIUS?!" James yelled.
"Ok, that is enough!" Dumbledore cried. James and Lily turned to look at him. They had forgotten he was in the room.
"You two will both be serving detention tomorrow night. The History of Magic classroom...don't be late." Dumbledore told them, which was their cue to leave.
~*~
"You will both write 'I shall not duel again, especially with my partner'. How many times should we make that?" McGongall asked aloud. "Let's make it 600," she decided. "And no magic. I will be back in 2 hours...and I expect it all to be written," she said, turning on her heel and exiting the room.
Lily, who was seated in the front, far away from James, took out a quill and piece of parchment and started writing quickly. James, on the other hand, took this opportunity to talk to her.
"Why do you hate me so much?" he asked taking a seat in the desk next to her.
"I don't hate you," Lily mumbled without looking at him, and she continued to write her sentences.
"Yes, you do!" James cried.
Lily snapped out her wand at James. "Don't you dare accuse me of anything," she said warningly.
James took his wand out and pointed it at her. "We never did finish that duel,"
"All right, Potter. Let's finish it," Lily said, her mind full of anger as she removed herself from the desk and walked to the front of the room.
"1," Lily started.
"2," James followed her lead. But instead of waiting for her to count to 3, James yelled, "Expelliarmus!" Lily was shocked but her wand had already flown into the hands of James, who then yelled, "Windgardium leviosa!"
Lily floated several inches, and then several feet.
"Let me down, Potter!" she shouted.
"Not until you tell me why you hate me so much!" James yelled back.
"For the last time, I DON'T HATE YOU! NOW LET ME DOWN!"
"NO! TELL ME! NOW!" James demanded to know. He didn't know why this mattered to him so much; no, he did. He was in love with her. He was in love with Lily. And it just broke his heart, shattered it, to know that she hated him so much. But why? Why did she hate him? Was it because of the pranks he played on her their 1st year? Their 2nd year? He'd hoped she'd forget about them...realize that those were only signs of attraction. But she didn't, and finally, in their 5th year, James asked her out. Repeatedly. But still, she kept refusing. Why? He wasn't that ugly, was he?
As he pondered these thoughts, Lily kept floating in the air. James knew that this couldn't make her like him anymore. It'd probably just make her hate him even more. With the swift movement of his wand, James released Lily from the air. Lily landed with a big thud and James yawned and walked back to former seat to start his sentences.
As James sat down at his seat in the back row, he realized that Lily hadn't removed herself from the ground.
"Lily?" James asked hoping she'd respond. But she didn't.
James quickened his pace as he headed towards the front of the classroom. Lily was lying there, her face pale. She wasn't moving.
"Lily!" James cried. He brought his ear to her heart. She wasn't breathing. James picked her up, her head dangling from his arms.
"Help! I need help!" he shouted as he kicked the classroom door. Professor Dumbledore appeared from the cooridor and gasped at what he saw. Lily Evans, Head Girl, obviously unconscious, carried by James Potter, the Head Boy.
"Quick, James, quick! To the hospital ward!" Dumbledore ushered him in the other direction.
~*~
Disclaimers: I own NONE of them characters!!
Authors Notes: Please R+R
~*~
Harry looked around the house. The living room, in which he had just been brought to by floo powder, was of a light blue color. There were chairs all over the small room.
"Where are we?" he asked Tonks, who had escorted him.
Tonks brushed off the dirt and debris off of her clothes and hair. She was about to answer when Remus Lupin appeared at the doorway.
"Welcome Harry." he greeted. "How are you?"
"Professor Lupin!" Harry said, excited to see him. "Is this your house?"
"Yes, it is Harry. It's also the new headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix," Lupin said.
"Harry dear, you're finally here," Molly Weasley appeared from a room on Harry's left.
"Hi Mrs. Weasley," Harry mumbled looking around the house.
"Ron and Hermione are upstairs. Would you like something to eat?" Molly asked.
"No thank you," Harry said politely. "I'm not very hungry,"
"Well, since you're not hungry, Harry, why don't we go for a walk?" Lupin asked him.
"Sure," Harry followed him to the front door.
~*~
"One reason we decided to bring you here so soon, was because I wanted to talk to you about your parents," Lupin said as soon as they were outside.
Harry stared out into the peculiar shapes of the houses on the block.
Lupin seemed to be leading and Harry followed.
"Ever since you saw Snape's pensieve, it's been bothering me. That you don't know the real story of your parents,"
"The real story? To be honest, it's been bothering me too. I mean, I know at 15 he must've been an idiot...but I'm 15. And I hope I don't seem like an idiot,"
"Well Harry, you've been through more than your father ever has. You've met and escaped Voldemort 5 times, already. At 15, James hadn't escaped Voldemort once."
"Sirius..." Harry stopped at the mention of his godfather's name, "Sirius said that my mum didn't hate my father. Why? When I saw that pensieve, she hated him so much. She even said she wouldn't date him if it was between him and a giant squid," Harry pointed out.
Remus chuckled. "I know Harry, I was there. Lily married your father because she loved him. I know I can't prove it to you, but I can tell you about it."
Harry nodded and Remus continued. "Let's see...I think it was in our 7th year. James and Lily had just been announced Head Boy and Head Girl..."
~*~
"This is insane! I can't work with him!" Lily shouted at her group of friends.
"Of course you can, Lily. For one thing, he's pretty cute.." Liesl Wagner said her eyes sparkling.
"He's small and scrawny, and..."
"He's not small, Lily. He's taller than you are," pointed out Felicia Smith.
"I'll never understand why you two can't get along...it's gone all the way back to our 1st year," said Rachel Bucksworth.
"First year...don't you remember? Those pranks Potter and his gang played on us." Lily gritted through her teeth. "Rachel! Think back...he played it on you too,"
Rachel shrugged. "Well, I've forgotten about it. Can't say you have,"
"He and his friends did everything possible to make sure my first year was as horrible as possible," Lily said.
"Yea, well..." Rachel trailed off. Lily had a point. And it was a good point.
Lily took her seat again. The four girls were on the Hogwarts Express with the rest of the school, on their way back to another merry old year.
"Merry," Lily said angrily.
The slide door opened and in walked James Potter; Lily's worst enemy. Not only was James handsome and charming, he was very intelligent and talented on the Quidditch field. During their 6th year, it had mainly been James and Lily who had been neck-and-neck for the top marks of the class.
"Evans, your head girl this year?" James asked the red-head who was quick to banter.
"You know I am...surprisingly, I thought Remus Lupin would be the head boy,"
"Why Remus? Why not, let's say, James?" James asked smiling. He already knew the answer.
"Because Remus is easy to work with. Remus is decent, and polite. He's the perfect gentlemen. And James is cruel, and mean. And cold-hearted. Did I make my point?" Lily asked angrily.
How could Dumbledore do this to her? Someone must've known that this position would not work out! If not Dumbledore, then McGonagall. If not McGonagall, then Flitwick. Someone! James and Lily were always sent to their offices because of their conduct towards each other.
"Ok, Lily," James said, using her first name, "I'll tell you what. I'll resign from my title as Head Boy if....you go out with me," James finished his sentence quickly.
Lily rolled her eyes. James had been trying to get her to go out with him since the 5th year. After all these rejections, you'd think he'd learn something!
"Are you joking?" Lily asked him seriously.
James looked sincere and thoughtful for a minute. Before finally cracking a smile.
"No," he said grinning before bursting into laughter. "And you fell for it!"
"I didn't fall for a thing, Potter! I simply asked..."
"You fell for it!" James burst into laughter again.
"Potter, get out, get out!" Lily shouted, pushing him out of the compartment. "Get out! You're so immature! GET OUT!" she shouted again.
"Fine, fine. Geez, control your temper, Evans. You'll need it if you're going to be head girl!" James cried before Lily gave him a final shove out of the compartment.
"This is going to be one great year," Liesl commented.
~*~
"Professor Dumbledore, I am begging you. Me and James Potter. You've got to be kidding me! He and his gang of friends will only abuse the power!" Lily cried as she made her final plea.
"Miss Evans, one reason I paired you and Mr. Potter up was because I was hoping this arrangement would settle your differences. Your time at Hogwarts is nearly up. You and James are in the same house...don't you agree that you should at least get along? For the sake of all of us?"
"I suppose your right," Lily said uncomfortably.
"Good," Dumbledore said smiling. "Now, let's head down to the feast,"
~*~
"Evans, can I sit next to you?" James asked as he approached her.
"I don't know, can you?" Lily asked sweetly.
James sat down anyways and Lily took a sip of her pumpkin juice pretending she didn't notice.
"Well, I was thinking about what you'd said." James started.
"And what did I say?" Lily asked, as if she was talking to a 5 year old.
James ignored her actions. "I know why you don't like me. It's because I'm competition, isn't it? Sure I may have a little fun once in a while...but I still have top marks in all my classes. In fact, it's you and I who are always at the top, isn't it?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," Lily lied.
"Well, how about a challenge?" James asked huskily. "A wizard's duel. To prove, once and for all, who is the better one,"
Lily finally moved so she could look at him. Lily Evans was by far the prettiest girl in their grade. With flaming dark red hair and stunningly beautiful green eyes. The green eyes were the first thing James noticed about her; her personal attitude was the next. The emerald eyes had a unique touch to him, made him crave something inside. And although he had tried to get her to go out with him for a long time now, she kept refusing and only getting even angrier at him. They had never been friends, more like the worst of enemies. But this year, this year was different. James felt as if this would be his last year to impress her.
"Tonight?" Lily asked, avoiding his eyes.
"Hey James! What are you doing over there! Come on!" Sirius was yelling and waving. Remus looked on at James and Lily, and Peter was eating his chicken.
"Tonight. Meet me in the Quidditch field. Come by yourself." James told her quickly before leaving his seat.
~*~
"Your crazy, James. This is Lily we're talking about." Peter stumbled.
"I know." James insisted.
"And you told her to come by herself?" Remus asked.
"Yes,"
"But James...she's going to kill you. She's hated you since..." Sirius started.
"I know," James said impatiently. Sirius looked at James for a minute before realizing what he was going to do.
"You're not going to, no...James, you can't!" Sirius cried as he took him by the shoulders and shook him hard.
"If this is what it's going to take, I will," James told him firmly.
"You can't!" Sirius yelled and shook him harder. "She's not worth it! There's plenty of other fishies in the sea!"
"Not anyone like her..." James said.
"Wait, what? What's James going to do?" Peter asked.
"He's going to let her win! He's going to surrender!" Sirius yelled in his face.
"Love makes you do crazy things..." Remus said quietly.
"But, James's not in love with her!" Sirius yelled before catching the quiet look on James face. "Are you?" he finally asked James.
"Maybe," James shrugged.
"You don't even know her! And everyone in this school knows she hates you!"
Students walking by are starting to stare.
"Oy, Sirius!" Felicia Smith, followed by Liesl Wagner and Rachel Bucksworth joined the group.
"Go away Felicia, this is important business," Sirius told her.
"Sorry, actually, we wanted to talk to ames. Lily's really excited about killing you tonight," Felicia said with a straight face.
J
"She's in our dormitory practicing all the hexes she knows. I think she's even practicing one of the three unforgivable curses," Liesl added.
"You're joking, right?" James asked his heart racing.
"You better tell her not to practice. James is going to let her win," Peter told them, making eye contact with Liesl.
"I personally don't even think you should be dueling! On your first night back, too," Rachel said loudly.
"Shh, keep it down, will you?" Sirius hissed checking to see if there were any lurkers listening. Severus Snape passed by the group and Sirius eyes him suspiciously.
"Eavesdropping, were you, Severus?" Sirius asked coldly.
"Hi Severus," Felicia said brightly, to which Severus nodded as he walked by.
"How can you talk to him?" Sirius asked him with as much dislike as Severus.
"How can I not? He helped my in potions...I needed a favor," Felicia shrugged.
"James, are you still going to let her win?" Sirius asked changing the topic.
"Of course...this is the only way she's going to notice me. In fact, if she hurts me bad enough, she might have to send me to the hospital. And she'll feel extremely guilty then, I'll pop the question..."
"You're going to get hurt, on purpose, so Lily will finally agree to go out with you due to guilt?" Rachel asked surprised.
"Sure. If it's the only way..."
"You're pathetic, James. I really expected more out of you," Rachel said, leading the girls to the lake.
"I'm not pathetic, am I?" James asked unsure of himself.
"No, you're just in love..." Remus told him.
~*~
Lupin stopped walking for a minute and looked at Harry.
"What do you think of your father now?"
"You know, during the time I saw the Pensieve and till now, I'd always thought of him as an arrogant little prick. Just like Malfoy," Harry admitted.
"Even when Sirius and I told you we all were idiots,"
Harry nodded. "But now, it seems like...he's matured, somehow. I mean, he was willing to let my mum win...that must mean something, right?"
"It did. In fact, Sirius wouldn't speak to him the entire afternoon because he was angry that James was going to lose purposely. Your father and Sirius were the...they were basically the kings of the school. Everyone looked up to them to be brave and bold...and losing on purpose was just something Sirius couldn't handle,"
"But, my dad did lose on purpose to my mum?" Harry asked, hoping he did.
"Well, he was about to. Sirius had dragged me and Peter to spy on them. Lily had just hexed him, and James hexed her back. But your parents were very strong...James was about to let Lily stun him, when..."
~*~
"I CANNOT BELIEVE THIS!! OUR HEAD BOY AND HEAD GIRL, IN A WIZARD'S DUEL!!" McGonagall shouted with disbelief.
James and Lily put down their wands immediately.
"Professor, we weren't..."
"I know exactly what you were doing, Miss Evans! And I am outraged! I expected you two to keep the school in order!" She shouted again.
"It was my idea, Professor," James told her. Lily glanced at James uneasily.
"And Miss Evans just went along for the ride?" McGonagall snapped. "We're going to Dumbledore's office, right now! Follow me,"
~*~
"You just had to get me in trouble, didn't you?" Lily hissed as McGonagall dropped James and Lily off in front of Professor Dumbledore's office door.
"If you didn't notice, Evans," James hissed back in the same manner, "I'm in trouble too. And I took the rap for it," James said before the door opened unexpectantly.
"Mr. Potter, Miss Evans. Come in," Dumbledore greeted them.
"Evening, Professor," Lily said. James muttered his "evening".
"Well, McGonagall has informed me that you two have been dueling?" Dumbledore said, his blue eyes twinkling.
"Yes, sir," James said. Lily nodded.
"Honestly, I thought that matching you two up as Head Boy and Head Girl would teach you how to become, not friends, but partners. I guess I was wrong,"
Lily, who hated disappointing the headmaster, immediately protested, "James and I can work together. Honest...we can. We'll try harder. I'll try harder," Lily promised.
"Have to make me look bad, eh?" James asked her a bit angry. Lily glared at him.
"I think you, Potter, have said enough. You either decide to work with me..."
"Now, Lily. The first step to accepting James as a partner of yours, is to act with kindness,"
"I am being kind!" Lily said losing her temper.
"No, she's not Professor. Evans, here, is being nothing but kind! Kind is how you'd treat your friends! She doesn't treat me the way she treats her friends!" James said raising his voice.
"Because you're not my friend!" Lily yelled.
"How come Sirius is your friend? And Remus, and Peter? Why not me?" James asked heatedly.
"Because they're not immature! They don't hex people for the fun of it! They're not mean to the Slytherins!"
"Not mean to the Slytherins? Sirius! You don't think Sirius is mean to the Slytherins?! Do you even KNOW SIRIUS?!" James yelled.
"Ok, that is enough!" Dumbledore cried. James and Lily turned to look at him. They had forgotten he was in the room.
"You two will both be serving detention tomorrow night. The History of Magic classroom...don't be late." Dumbledore told them, which was their cue to leave.
~*~
"You will both write 'I shall not duel again, especially with my partner'. How many times should we make that?" McGongall asked aloud. "Let's make it 600," she decided. "And no magic. I will be back in 2 hours...and I expect it all to be written," she said, turning on her heel and exiting the room.
Lily, who was seated in the front, far away from James, took out a quill and piece of parchment and started writing quickly. James, on the other hand, took this opportunity to talk to her.
"Why do you hate me so much?" he asked taking a seat in the desk next to her.
"I don't hate you," Lily mumbled without looking at him, and she continued to write her sentences.
"Yes, you do!" James cried.
Lily snapped out her wand at James. "Don't you dare accuse me of anything," she said warningly.
James took his wand out and pointed it at her. "We never did finish that duel,"
"All right, Potter. Let's finish it," Lily said, her mind full of anger as she removed herself from the desk and walked to the front of the room.
"1," Lily started.
"2," James followed her lead. But instead of waiting for her to count to 3, James yelled, "Expelliarmus!" Lily was shocked but her wand had already flown into the hands of James, who then yelled, "Windgardium leviosa!"
Lily floated several inches, and then several feet.
"Let me down, Potter!" she shouted.
"Not until you tell me why you hate me so much!" James yelled back.
"For the last time, I DON'T HATE YOU! NOW LET ME DOWN!"
"NO! TELL ME! NOW!" James demanded to know. He didn't know why this mattered to him so much; no, he did. He was in love with her. He was in love with Lily. And it just broke his heart, shattered it, to know that she hated him so much. But why? Why did she hate him? Was it because of the pranks he played on her their 1st year? Their 2nd year? He'd hoped she'd forget about them...realize that those were only signs of attraction. But she didn't, and finally, in their 5th year, James asked her out. Repeatedly. But still, she kept refusing. Why? He wasn't that ugly, was he?
As he pondered these thoughts, Lily kept floating in the air. James knew that this couldn't make her like him anymore. It'd probably just make her hate him even more. With the swift movement of his wand, James released Lily from the air. Lily landed with a big thud and James yawned and walked back to former seat to start his sentences.
As James sat down at his seat in the back row, he realized that Lily hadn't removed herself from the ground.
"Lily?" James asked hoping she'd respond. But she didn't.
James quickened his pace as he headed towards the front of the classroom. Lily was lying there, her face pale. She wasn't moving.
"Lily!" James cried. He brought his ear to her heart. She wasn't breathing. James picked her up, her head dangling from his arms.
"Help! I need help!" he shouted as he kicked the classroom door. Professor Dumbledore appeared from the cooridor and gasped at what he saw. Lily Evans, Head Girl, obviously unconscious, carried by James Potter, the Head Boy.
"Quick, James, quick! To the hospital ward!" Dumbledore ushered him in the other direction.
~*~