"NO! Not the penguins!"
James Potter awoke with a start. "Sirius, shut the hell up," he told his best friend Sirius Black irritably, and threw a pillow at him.
Remus Lupin, his other best friend, was awake now too. "Is he having his penguin dream again?" he asked drowsily.
"Yeah."
"Sirius, shut up!" Remus said, and buried his head in his pillow.
James laughed; Sirius was out of his mind. He was sure why his best friend kept having nightmares about penguins, and frankly, he wasn't sure if he wanted to know. "Sirius, you prat, we have class in the morning."
"But the penguins – " he muttered.
"Are going back to their glaciers to sleep, like everyone else. Now be quiet."
"Okay..." A minute later, Sirius' loud snores could be heard once more.
James sighed and tried to go back to sleep, but the events of the day before kept replaying in his mind.
James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter were sitting under one of the many trees next to the lake, watching some girls from their year splashing in the water.
"Hey," Sirius said suddenly, his metallic silver eyes resting on a short redhead, "Wanna make a bet, James?"
"Sure," he had replied in a bored tone. Sirius had recently discovered that he fancied making bets with random people. James knew he would come to him eventually. "What is it?"
He continued to stare at the redhead for a moment, before replying, "You think you can get any girl in this school to go out with you, right?"
"Yeah," James replied. "And your point would be…?"
"I know one you couldn't." His eyes sparkled mischievously.
"Who?" James demanded.
"I bet you couldn't get Lily Evans to go out with you."
James was taken aback. "Evans? Why would I want to go out with her?"
James had to admit that Lily was exceptionally pretty, with her waist length dark red hair, cream colored skin and bright emerald green eyes, but she had an awful temper and wasn't exactly fond of him. Plus, James was pretty sure that Remus had a crush on her, even if he wouldn't admit it.
"Well… if you're that scared…" Sirius had taunted.
"I'm not scared. I could get her to go out with me like that," James said, snapping his fingers for emphasis.
"Prove it. Get Lily Evans to go out with you by next week or you lose the bet."
"What's in it for me?"
"Um… fifty galleons," Sirius decided.
"Sirius, you git, you don't have fifty galleons," James chuckled, Sirius didn't hold onto money for too long.
"I do too," he had replied resentfully.
"Where?"
"Gringotts."
"Well, when I win you're going there to get it," James said, and extended his hand. "Deal?"
"Deal," Sirius smirked, and shook his hand. Sirius looked back over at the pretty redhead. "James Potter, you are going down."
Now that James thought back on it, making that bet had been a very stupid thing to do. There wasn't much of a chance that Lily was going to go out with him… unless he talked to Phoenix.
Alice Howard had been Lily's best friend since they met First Year, and since she's was also quite close to Sirius, she was an honorary Marauder as well as one of James' best friends. Alice would help him. Maybe. He hoped so anyway.
0o0o0o0o0oo0o0o0o0o0
"Alice, what are you doing?" Lily Evans asked laughing as Alice started stripping off her robes down by the lake.
"I'm going swimming, what does it look like?"
"It's only seven in the morning," Lily pointed out. "Won't you be cold?"
Alice sighed. "Lils, it's the end of June. I don't think I'll be cold."
"Whatever you say," Lily muttered sarcastically, and plopped down on the shore.
"What do you think you're doing?"
Lily looked at her strangely. "…sitting."
"No you're not! You're coming swimming with me. Take off your robes."
"I'm not wearing a suit!" Lily protested.
Sighing, Alice sat down next to Lily. "Lily-Billy, don't you ever just do something random and crazy?"
"Nope."
Alice shook her head and disbelief, then looked up and gave her that mischievous smile of hers. "Well, starting today you are!" Without warning, Alice picked up Lily, threw her into the murky water, and jumped in after her in her blue bikini.
Gasping for air, Lily surfaced and screeched, "Alice, you twit! I'm still in my robes!"
"That's why we have magic, silly," she replied. "To dry things." Phoenix laughed evilly and dunked Lily underwater.
When Lily reached the surface again, she stayed turned in the opposite direction of Alice, pretending to be mad. However, when she did turn around a minute later, Alice was no where to be seen. "Alice?" Lily called apprehensively. There was no reply.
"Alice?" she called again, her voice a little shaky. "This isn't funny." She looked around, and realized that Alice's robes were gone; she'd left her.
Fear beat the anger that was racing through her mind. Lily was somehow past the point where she could touch the bottom. Way past it. And with her robes on they're was no way that Lily was going to be able to swim.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
James had been dozing on and off for the last few hours, but after 6:45 he couldn't take it anymore. He got up, pulled on his robes, grabbed his broomstick, and headed out of Gryffindor Tower. On his way down he looked out a window and saw that he wasn't the only one up early: Phoenix and Lily were headed down to the lake. He watched them for a minute, and laughed as he saw Phoenix starting to strip off her clothes into her bikini; she always did that when she came over to his lake house.
He continued downstairs and got out the front door, then mounted his StarRider 260 and kicked off of the ground.
James loved to fly; that was his one way to escape from everything. He flew around the castle a few times, stopping once to bang loudly on his dormitory window. As he flew away he heard Sirius cursing quite loudly, and laughed. Once he got a safe distance out of reach of the window (and Sirius' wand), he stopped and admired the view. Hogwarts really was one of the most beautiful places he had ever seen.
Then suddenly, the thought of asking Lily out suddenly came charging back into his head. As pretty as she was, he wasn't really interested. And he had a feeling that she felt the same way he did.
His thoughts were pushed out of his head, however, as he heard a shriek of outrage. Alice had just tossed Lily into the lake, and jumped in after her. He laughed as Alice dunked her head under the water. Then Alice quietly snuck out, took her clothes and made a mad dash back into the castle, leaving Lily still in the lake pretending to be mad. After a few seconds, though, a strange look passed over her face and she disappeared into the murky water.
Calm down, James, he told himself sternly. She's probably just looking around under the water.
Another few seconds passed, and she still had not come back up. Oh. Crap. She can swim, right?
Apparently not. James pointed his broom downward and appeared to be doing a nosedive into the lake, but he jumped off at the last second and arched into a perfect dive.
It didn't take long to find Lily. She was still relatively close to the surface. He grabbed her around the waist and pulled her to the surface, and she began to cough and sputter.
"Evans? Evans, are you okay?" James asked with concern.
She took another few seconds to catch her breath, before whispering weakly, "I think so."
He nodded and said, "Let's get you to the hospital wing."
She began to argue that she was fine, but he simply put his finger over her lips and told her to be quiet. Apparently too tired to argue, she just rested her head on his shoulder as he carried her out of the lake like she was a damsel in distress. Which, James thought amusedly, she pretty much was. And he knew she hated it.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Lily pretended to pout as James carried her back up to the school. Her emotions were very mixed up at the moment. She was mad at Alice for leaving her in the first place, since she knew she couldn't swim with robes on. She was mad at herself for not taking them off while the water was still shallow. She was drained from the adrenaline rush that had taken over when she realized she couldn't make it back up to the surface. She was mad at James for reasons that were unbeknownst to her. But mostly, she was extremely anooyed that James had become her knight in shining armor.
She had never admitted it to anyone, and doubted that she ever would, but Lily Evans had liked James Potter ever since First Year when he had teased her on the train for having red hair. And for some strange reason, she had liked him ever since.
Lily smiled at her two new friends happily. She was so worried that no one would like her, like Petunia said, but then she met Remus Lupin and Alice Driscol.
"Oh," Alice said suddenly, listening to voices outside the door. "My brother's coming, well this guy who's like my brother anyways, he lives near enough that whenever mum goes grocery shopping he comes running. I can introduce you." She slid open the compartment door and shouted, "Oi! Sirius! Come here!"
A minute later, two boys stepped through the doorway. They were both very tall and lean. The one that must have been Sirius had raven colored hair, the face that would soon be what every girl talked about, and the same mischievous sparkle in their bright silver eyes as Alice. He was just as cute as Lily was pretty. And that was very.
The other boy, Sirius' friend, was also very cute – cuter even, in Lily's opinion. He had extremely messy jet-black hair that fell into his beautiful hazel eyes, glasses, and wore a lopsided grin on his face that Lily guessed never left.
"Alright," Alice had said. "This is my Sirius and his friend… er…"
"James Potter," he supplied, and Phoenix nodded her head.
"Right," she said. "James Potter. Well, Sirius and James Potter, these are my new friends Lily Evans and Remus Lupin."
James grinned as his eyes landed on Lily. "Well, would you look at this Sirius? We appear to have a carrot top in our midst." James said, gesturing to Lily's long dark red hair.
Lily grinned up at him and said sarcastically, "Good observation, Captain Obvious."
Inside she was jumping up and down. The cute James boy had noticed her! YES! Maybe it was worth leaving all of her old friends behind after all…
It was very confusing – James was just so… James. He was cocky, a bully, and besides Sirius, the biggest player in the school, but Lily had fallen for him anyway. And she hated it. She loved the way he would get that mischievous look in his bright hazel eyes when he was in dark corners with Sirius, Remus, Phoenix, and Peter, plotting their latest prank. She loved his hair, too; it was jet-black and extremely messy, and he was constantly ruffling it to make it look like he'd just gotten off of his broomstick. Part of her wanted to slap him for being such an egotistical jerk, but the other part unfortunately thought he was absolutely adorable.
Everywhere he went, his stupid "fan club" followed, making absolute fools of themselves trying to get his attention. And usually, it didn't work. Lily knew however, that if for some strange reason he asked her out, she would definitely say no. There was no way he would turn Lily into his next one week, I'm-Sorry-But-It's-Not-Working-Out relationship. Not a chance in hell.
"So Evans," he said suddenly, cutting into her thoughts, "can you not swim, or what?"
She reddened, as she usually did at the drop of a hat. "Well I can swim but not with robes on," she was already angry with him.
He laughed. "Really? That's so funny, I really thought you couldn't swim."
He received a hard emerald gaze as his response. "Actually, James, it's not, considering that I almost drowned."
"Until I saved you," he said, grinning cockily at her.
"Potter," she said in a warning voice.
"Hey, don't get an attitude with your savior," he said in a hurt voice.
"I appreciate you saving me. Really, I do. But I can walk to the Hospital Wing by myself, thank you." She thought for a moment. "Actually, I don't even need to go to the Hospital Wing. Now if you'll just let me down –"
He interrupted her laughing. "Evans, you aren't going anywhere. I am carrying you to the Hospital Wing, whether you like it or not."
For a moment she considered struggling, but she knew there would be no point. He was a lot bigger than her. She sighed. She was trying to get over him, not like him more. Curses! Why did he have to be sweet, damn it!
He carried her through the still sleeping school in silence, and at last they reached the Hospital Wing. James just pushed open the door without even knocking, and walked inside.
"Madame Pomfrey?" he called. Madame Pomfrey was the young new nurse at Hogwarts, and was very sweet. For the time being, at least.
She came bustling out in her night robe and sleeping cap, and looked at them in alarm. Lily imagined that the pair of them must have looked pretty awful; they were both completely soaked, and Lily was as pale as death.
"What in the world happened to you two?" she asked incredulously.
Setting Lily down on the nearest bed, James said, "I'm fine. It's her you need to look at. She almost drowned in the lake."
"Potter, I told you, I'm fine. Can I go back to my room now?" Lily whined.
"No, not until I've checked you over, dear. What were you doing swimming in the lake so early anyway?" Madame Pomfrey asked, while feeling Lily's forehead.
James, seeing an opportunity to escape, quietly slid out the door, leaving a very angry Lily being poked and prodded. She sighed. Today just wasn't her day.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
"It worked perfectly," Alice giggled excitedly. Her blue eyes sparkled with humor.
"Did it now?" Remus asked, not bothering to look up from his essay since he had no bloody idea what she was talking about.
"Yup. I saw James hovering above us, so I left. Obviously Lily would start to drown and then James would save her and –"
"What? Start to drown?" Remus questioned furiously.
"Yeah. No one can swim with robes on, you know that."
"Why would you leave her if you knew she couldn't swim?" Remus demanded.
"I already told you. I knew James was right there and that he would save her."
"And why did you want James to save her?"
She looked around the common room, checking to make sure that no one was in hearing range, and said, "Well, besides me, you're her best friend, so I don't think she'd care if I told you this. Although you probably already know…" She trailed off, thinking.
"Know what?"
"Isn't it obvious? She likes James, and is refusing to admit it to herself, she'd probably be better off if she just spent some time with him."
Remus felt like he had just been punched in the gut. Even though Lily was his best friend, and it was kind of an unwritten rule not to like your best friend, he did. Since First Year, actually, when he met her on the train.
Remus sighed as he sat in his compartment alone. Great, he thought. Another place where people can reject me because of my problem. Maybe I shouldn't have come after all…
His thoughts were interrupted as there was a knock on the door and it slid open. A very short, pretty girl stood in the opening and asked, "Do you mind if I sit here? There are no more compartments."
Remus just nodded, unable to say anything. She had to be the prettiest girl he'd ever seen. She was short, probably around 4'9", had waist-length dark red hair, perfectly straight white teeth, smooth cream colored skin, and emerald green eyes that sparkled and seemed to jump out at you. That was it, he decided. It was the eyes. They were the most intense green he had ever seen, and reflecedt the kindness she seemed to possess.
The girl sat down across from him, and sent him another smile that made his heart race.
"Hi, I'm Lily Evans," she said, extending her hand.
"I'm Remus Lupin," he replied, shaking it.
"Are you a First Year?" she asked.
"Yeah. You?"
"Yep. I was so excited when I got my letter. I'm a muggleborn, so I was very surprised, of course, but I really wanted to come. I hear it's the best wizarding school there is."
"Yeah, it is," Remus said, trying to form a full sentence in his mind. That emerald gaze of hers knocked the wind out of him. "My dad's a wizard and my mum's a muggle, so they weren't really surprised when I got my letter."
The two of them talked for the next hour, until Lily excused herself to go buy some candy.
Hmm, Remus thought to himself watching her walk out. Maybe it was a good thing that I came here after all…
Remus just stared in front of him. He had no idea something could hurt this badly. "How long has she liked him?" he managed to ask.
Alice looked thoughtful. "Well, I'm not quite sure. I've thought so since First Year, but…"
Remus didn't hear any more. Getting up from his chair, he said, "You know what? I think I'm going to go find Lily. I'll talk to you later."
And with that said, he got up and walked out of the common room, leaving a very confused Alice.
