Arrogant Prat

"Lily! Lily—wait!"

"No!" she sobbed, red hair gleaming as she rounded a corner.

James Potter had done it again. Except this time he'd really done it. He never meant to get her mad; it just… happened. He just wished she would stop looking at him that way. That why-don't-you-ever-follow-the-rules way. That just-because-you're-good-at-something-doesn't-mean-it's-okay-to-show-off way. That how-dare-you-you-arrogant-prat way. Why couldn't that Lily Evans just see that he never meant any of it like that? That he was just a teenage boy? And that teenage boys operated in a much different way?

…But sure… it was easy to blame it on his masculinity.

Lily fled up the stairs, obviously trying to lose him. Little did she know that this was one of the few people who knew every last nook and cranny of the enormous school. She should have known better. He was, after all, a Marauder.

"Lily!" that exclamation only made her run faster.

James tried to think of all he'd ever done to Lily Evans. However, there was his problem: his mental list remained empty. He only pranked slimy Slytherins and little first-years. And the occasional unsuspecting person in the hallway when he needed a laugh. Never Lily. But… wasn't that his other problem? The more he thought about it, the more it occurred to him that if Lily Evans had been the victim of the Marauders' pranks, the less she would have cared. Too bad it never crossed James' mind before.

Lily reached a corrider on the fifth floor. She paced back and forth for a short while, then disappeared behind a strange door. James rounded the final corner just to see it click shut.

He ran up to it, hoping he could still get inside.

He reached for the knob just in time.

"Lily?"

James closed the door softly behind him. Looking about him, he saw shelf upon shelf of books. Every book imaginable. Charms. Transfiguration. Goblin history of the fourth century. Divination. Quidditch. Something written in Ancient Runes that he couldn't make out. He walked down each row slowly, searching for Lily Evans.

"Lily?"

Still no answer. He continued walking.

"Lily?"

Silence.

"I… I'm so sorry."

Silence.

"I really am. I… I…"

Silence.

James Potter could not think of anything else to say. He was sorry. He was just sorry.

Finally, James saw a familiar head of flaming-red hair. Lily Evans was sitting against the very back wall of the room, knees pulled up to her chest. Cloak wrapped tightly around her. Wand on the floor three feet away. Head Girl badge about to fall off her uniform.

James wished she would look at him. Or say something. But he knew that as soon as she did, his heart would drop to his stomach.

He decided to give her a little space, so instead of sitting at her side, he sat on the floor across from her.

He tied his shoe.

Lily knew he was a mere arm's-length away, yet she didn't acknowledge him at all. She continued her silent crying.

"Lily?"

James' pleading voice sounded so sincere. Somehow it sounded as if he had put his whole heart and soul into that single word. As if he couldn't think of anywhere else he'd rather be than sitting across from her, waiting, no matter how long it took.

"James Potter." She finally lifted her head, brilliant green eyes sending daggers his way. She said his name with pure disgust. It reminded James of the way he spoke to those nasty Slytherins.

James tried to smile at her. Tried to crack even the slightest grin. All he managed to do was make his face resemble that of a sad puppy more and more.

Her face seemed to soften a little, ever so slightly. Maybe he wasn't such an arrogant prat. Such a heartless boy. Afterall, what put him in Gryffindor? There was so much… good… in him. It was almost as if she could see the real James Potter now. Almost as if she had been the blind one the whole time. But… if that was the case… why was James Potter the one apologizing?

James removed his glasses as he looked away from Lily. He cleaned them on the sleeve of his robes.

"James…"

He didn't notice how soft her voice had become. How it resembled the way she spoke when she didn't know James was around. Not the way she told him off for hexing Snape. Not the way she called him an arrogant prat. Not the way she threatened to give him detention. He didn't notice.

James seemed ready to give up.

He repositioned his glasses and stood up, avoiding Lily's gaze. "It's alright. I get it. I… I just wanted… to say I was sorry… And… But I don't think I would… could… forgive myself… if I were you… I… I just… I'm… I'm sorr—"

James was interrupted by a pair of lips touching his own. As Lily pulled away, she smiled warmly at him. For the first time, her smile was directed at James. Her twinkling emerald eyes were actually smiling at him, not just a look full of loathe.

James was completely lost for words. That had been the last thing in the world he'd been expecting. The absolute last. The last of the last. In James' mind, Snape becoming friends with him was even more likely than kissing Lily Evans. No, being kissed by Lily Evans.

She had kissed him.

There was a long, awkward silence.

Very long.

And very awkward.

"I've been the prat," Lily finally whispered.

How could James respond to that? "Yeah, you have," seemed completely untrue. "No, you haven't," sounded ridiculous and childish. "What are you talking about?" was the ignorant answer; the one an arrogant prat would give.

Yet he'd been called an arrogant prat so many times. By Lily Evans.

"What… what are you talking about?"

Lily shook her head at him. She hadn't bothered to wipe the tears off her face. They just made her cheeks glow more.

"I'm sorry."

James was confused.

"Oh, you prat," she laughed. "Just say, 'I accept your apology, Lily.' Go on…" she prompted.

"I… I don't accept your apology, Lily," James replied. "I can't."

"But… I'm… I was so…"

"Lily. If I were you, I would have hated my guts, too."

James sat down again. Lily followed suit.

"You always think of everyone else. I never did anything to you… just to the Slytherins… and first-years…"

Lily smiled. All of a sudden they were understanding each other.

"Then let me be selfish for just one moment," Lily said. "Take me to Hogsmeade this weekend." It wasn't a question.

James cracked his famous grin. The one that caused girls to fall for him left and right. The one that helped Gryffindor win their first game his second year because the Ravenclaw keeper had been to distracted by James to stop any scoring. "Lily. How would you like to go to Hogsmeade with me on Saturday?"

"I would love to, James."

This would have been the perfect moment for James to wake from a dream. He waited with baited breath. He closed his eyes.

He opened them.

He was still in the Room of Requirements.

Still sitting with his back to one of hundreds of bookshelves.

Lily was still opposite him.

She giggled. "What was that for?"

James blushed. "I thought I was dreaming…"

"You're not," she reassured him. She slid over to sit next to him and put her head on his shoulder.

James hoped she couldn't hear his heart beating.

James wished he could stay with Lily in the Room of Requirements forever. Just as they were.

Lily couldn't understand how it took her six long years to see past the immature little boy she'd taken James Potter to be.

Lily admired him for not giving up. Didn't that say something about him? That maybe he was just that much better than she was?

Maybe Lily was the immature one.

As well as the arrogant prat.

And the blind one.

The judgemental one.

Everything she had ever accused James Potter of being.

The room got darker.

"James? I think we should get back to the common room…"

James nodded.

The common room was empty when they returned.

A/N: So. What do you all think? I really like this. And I want to perfect it. It felt perfect as I was writing it, but rereading it… not so much. It feels too… rushed.

I actually have a continuation of the ending, but it's not that great. I might fix it up and post it later…