Disclaimer: JKR is the genius behind Harry Potter. I do not own anything that you would recognize from the Harry Potter series. I merely took her ideas and tweaked them to fit my stories.

Summary: James loves Lily, Lily hates James...or does she? Lily contemplates why she hates James, and comes to a startling conclusion.

Hate?

"Why do you hate me?"

She opened her eyes and was startled to find his bright hazel eyes staring back at her with such honesty and truth. He was completely serious; he wasn't playing around.

She wasn't completely sure how to answer that, and she wasn't completely sure why she did hate him or if she even really hated him at all. Her confusion turned into defensiveness which quickly turned into anger, her default defense.

"'Cause…'cause…"She started but was so confused she didn't know what to say, so, she picked up her work and walked out of the common room to presumably get some work done in the library, or so she told herself, but she didn't get any work done the rest of that day.

Her feet took her down to an old beech tree where she just sat and stared at the lake thinking.

Why did she really hate him?

Well he hexes people for the fun of it for one.

He hasn't done that once this year. A voice in her head said.

Well, he pulls stupid pranks that are supposed to be funny, but they're not.

Yes they are. That little voice said back. You know you secretly want to laugh at them. And anyway, he hasn't done anything out of line since he's Head Boy this year.

That's not the point. He's arrogant and cocky and …and…and I'm arguing with myself.

She brought her arms around her knees and put her head down on top of her knees. She found herself thinking what she really felt but was too afraid to admit.

Why do I really hate him? She thought. I mean, he really isn't as bad this year. They've only played a couple of harmless pranks this year, and they weren't even on Slytherins. He hasn't been cursing people in the middle of the corridors for no reason. And he really has taken being Head Boy seriously. He's never late to any meetings, he doesn't abuse his authority, and he doesn't take it for granted. And…I guess, he really isn't that bad looking. Admit it. Okay, I find him attractive.

Just give him a chance. You know you like him.

I do no-…oh merlin I do.

This revelation was a bit of a shock for her. She was so deep into her thought that she didn't hear someone else come up to her. That someone else said her name several times before she finally heard it.

"Lily."

She looked up into those beautiful green brown eyes that were full of concern for her, and question still wanting an answer to his question, and fear that her answer would be that she really did hate him.

She knew she didn't hate him, and that she'd make him the happiest man alive by telling him the truth. She couldn't help smiling and as his face became confused, just smiling more, knowing she could make him happy, and absolutely wanting it.

"No, James, I don't hate you."

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A/N: This started out as just a writing exercise, putting a pen to paper and seeing what comes out, and I continued it into a short little one-shot. I like it. I like how it turned out. Fastest story I've ever written, and the shortest story I've ever written.

If anyone would like to beta for me that would be great. Just PM me or email me. I know there are terrible grammar mistakes but I'm terrible with that so it would be great if someone wanted to help with that. I would be immensely grateful.