Time's Up!

"James Potter! You promised to not talk to me during these patrols!" yelled Lily Evans, who was currently unhappy with the one and only, James Potter.

"Well, sorreee… Miss Snooty Butt. I was only trying to be nice!" he exclaimed, throwing his hands into the air.

"By telling me I slouch too much?" she cried.

"I was only trying to help! Geez, woman, do you want a bad back?" he asked.

"Well, of course not, but you didn't have to tell me!" she yelled.

'Clearly,' thought James Potter, 'It is that time of the month.' The only problem is that James Potter forgot to just think it…

"JAMES POTTER! HOW DARE YOU! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU!"

"Silencio," muttered James. Lily's yelling ceased, but you could still see her mouth moving. When she notices she could no longer speak, she then preceded to strangle James Potter. "Bloody hell!" he choked. Prying Lily off of him, he managed to say the counter-curse and push her to the ground.

"I hate you James Potter."

"That's good," said James. "Hate is a passionate emotion." He grinned widely.

"I'll give you passion," muttered Lily. "Murder. The ultimate crime of passion." She pulled herself up to her feet.

"Now, Lily dear, you don't mean that," said James.

"You wanna bet?"

"Actually," said James. "I will."

Lily blinked several times. "Really?"

"Yes. Now, give me five minutes to convince you not to kill me."

"Fine," she said.

"Okay. Rule number one: You must listen to what I say. Number two: You are not allowed to yell or make fun of what I say. Deal?"

"Deal," said Lily, pulling out her watch and setting it for five minutes.

"What's tha--?"

"Go."

"Oh, well, um…" James started to stutter. Lily raised her eyebrows.

'Too easy,' she thought.

"I love you," he blurted out.

"You're not helping your case, Potter…" she warned.

"No, I really do."

"Oh, really?"

"Yes."

"Well, prove it then. The infamous James Potter, tell me why it is you claim to love me?" asked Lily Evans.

James Potter took a deep breath.

FOUR MINUTES AND THIRTY SECONDS

"You're amazing. Everything about you. You bring so much happiness, just like the sun, Lily, always shining. You also love life. You may hide yourself behind all of those books, Lily Evans, but that can't hide the beauty radiating off of you.

"I love you because you think. You think about everything! You contemplate the stars, why the grass is green, and even how the giant squid's day is going! You also don't primp. You're one of the few girls who understand make-up should look as if it was never put on and that clothes are made for comfort. Natural beauty, that's what you have, Lily. Oh! And when you worry, Merlin, I love it when you worry about little things, like exams or homework. But, when you worry about the big things, I love how you genuinely care and, just by being there, you make it so much better.

"When you and your friends are down at the lake, you like to lie in the grass and point out all the shapes you see in the clouds to them. I love how you have enough patience to read a 300 page book in a single sitting, but not enough to spend 5 minutes with me. I also love how you're so loyal to your friends, even Snivellus, and how willing you are to help them." James paused for a moment.

THREE MINUTES AND THIRTY SECONDS

Lily, thinking he had finished, opened her mouth to speak, but shut it when he continued to explain.

"But, you wanna know something else? I hate a lot of things about you too," he said.

Lily's face changed from soft to confused. Wasn't the point of this for her NOT to kill him?

"I hate how you can't trust me. I hate how we're not even friends. I hate how you never listen to what I have to say, and when you yell at me. I hate how you're so adamant about hating me, and that you don't give me a second thought.

"But, not only that, I hate how you refuse to look at me, the real me, and judge for who I am now, instead of who I used to be. I hate how you think the world can change, but I can't. I hate how blind you are as to what Snape is really like. I hate how you have more faith in him than you do me. I hate that you don't believe in me, as much as I do you. I hate how you stay in my mind and haunt my dreams at night, when I know perfectly well that it's not reality, even though I want it to be so badly.

"I hate how you love to point out my flaws, and humiliate me with them. I hate how I love you, despite everything you do to me. I hate the number 178; because that's the number of times you've sworn to hate me forever. I hate how this is all my fault and I hate that I know that. I hate how this world means absolutely nothing to me, unless you're in it. But, most of all, I hate that I know that I can't forget about you, and that I don't want to either."

TWO MINUTES

A single tear rolled down Lily Evans's cheek. James walked up to her and slowly wiped it away. Lily stepped back.

"How could you say all that?"

"It's the truth," he said quietly.

"I don't like the truth," she muttered.

"Well, you won't like that there's more either," he said.

"Go on."

"I hate how much I care for you, and want to protect you. I hate how you don't notice what I do for you. I hate it. I hate that you don't know a god damned thing about what I dream of for you, Lily.

"I wish you would notice. I wish you would care. And…damn it! I wish you would give me a bloody chance! I wish I could forget everything about you, what I feel for you, and finally be free. I wish I could live without you, Lily, but I can't. I don't want to. I need you, Lily, and I wish and pray to God that you'll see that someday, Lily, this isn't a crush. It never was."

"I'm sorry," was all she could think of to say.

"Me too."

Lily took a step forward and brushed the side of his cheek with her hand.

ONE MINUTE

"I do notice, James. Everything you just said, I've known. I know I pretend that I don't, but I do. It scares me, James, how much you care for me. I've done nothing but be terrible to you these last few years, but you just won't go. I've never met anyone with as much passion as you have. I know you think I don't care, but you're wrong. I care, I really do, which is why I never wanted to let you down. You've always held me high up on your pedestal as the perfect girl. What happens if I fall from that pedestal, James? I'm not perfect. I never tried to be. But, somehow, you've made me out to be like that." Lily Evans said all of this in a sad whisper.

James took hold of her hand. "I know you're not perfect Lily, no one is. But, I do know I love everything about you. Flaws and all. I can't hate you Lily, no matter how hard I try."

She smiled slightly. "I wouldn't want you to hate me anyway. It would mess a fair few things up. "

"Like what?" he asked.

"I love you, James Potter. I always have. I just never wanted to let you down," she whispered.

"Really?" he asked happily.

"Yeah," she chuckled.

"Does that mean you're finally giving me a chance?" he asked, now some what giddy.

"You never needed one," she said, wrapping her arm around his neck.

He grinned and pulled Lily closer to him. Slowly, he pulled Lily into a kiss, one that he had been waiting for, for a long time. Lily's watch went off and they jumped apart.

"Time's up," she said laughing.

He pulled her tight and kissed her again. "No," he smiled. "We have all the time in the world."

A/N So???? Well, I REALLY liked this one, anyway. But R&R and let me know what you think about it. Oh, and there is a line in here stolen from the best book ever, next to Harry Potter in here, so…freshly baked chocolate chip cookies to whoever can guess the book and speaker(s). Hope you all enjoyed!

Muchos Love,

HoMeSlIcE4LiFe