The Ten Ways He Showed That He Loved Me

1. Pet Names.

In which I scream a lot.

I hate disappointing people. I really do. But when I am asked to do something that is completely irrational, and could cause me a great deal of trouble, count me out. Meaning, when Alice Prewett, Jacqueline Kingsley, and Sophia Clark dared me to go kiss Matthew Haines full on the mouth, I refused. I, Lily Evans, refused to just randomly snog a boy senseless. No matter how utterly gorgeous he was, and let me tell you, he sooo was.

"C'mon Lils, do it. I dare you to," Alice continued persistently, "You said it yourself, you would kiss him if you could. Now he is right there, so do it!"

"Alice! You guys! That's not what I meant!" I protested.

"Oh Lils, we're just teasing," giggled Jac, "Besides, we'd never let you kiss anyone other than James."

"Thank you Jac, and besides, wait… WHAT!" I yell, "I am so sorry, but for a second it seemed like you said James' name," I laugh at the thought.

"That's cause I did," Jac shrugged nonchalantly. My jaw dropped.

"Close your mouth Lils, you'll catch flies," Sophia pointed out. I shut my mouth immediately. "Don't worry Lils, I totally agree with you. James is a git, and you wouldn't be dumb enough kiss him. He's a toerag," Sophia confirmed. I love that girl. I really do. I mean, she's proven to me countless times how ruddy brilliant of a friend she is. I can totally prove it. She has…

-Taken notes for me in History of Magic. (Merlin, how she managed to stay awake in that bloody class is a mystery to me.)

-Given McGonagall countless excuses about exactly why I was late to transfiguration. (Merlin's beard, that girl tells some mental, but brilliant, stories.)

-Told Trelawney I was being cornered by a wild marmaduke so I was not coming to class. (Usually I just didn't want to admit that I didn't do my homework. After all, who wants to sit around planning their death all day? Second, what the bloody hell is a marmaduke?)

-Protected me from riding the broomstick of doom. (I am bloody terrified of heights!)

-Punched every Slytherin that ever called me a Mudblood. (Now that I think about it, all my friends do that. Oh, and that bloody Potter.)

-Cheered me up after every broken heart. (Quite a few. Oh Merlin, I hate to think about Henry Crawford.)

-Stood by my side when I was teased or made fun of. (Usually Jac and Alice liked doing the complete opposite.)

Last but not least, SHE HATES THAT BLOODY POTTER ALMOST AS MUCH AS I DO! (This is something I doubt any other girls but us are capable of.)

See? Sophia has always been the one to be by my side. That's why we have been best friends since first year. I'm not saying Alice and Jac are bad friends, they just aren't always as sweet as Soph. I still love 'em though. My friends have been with me through thick and thin. Oh Merlin! I'm going all weirdo again, talking all mushy!

"Lils! Earth to Lily!" I hear. It's Sophia's voice. Seeing that I am still in a trance, she yells, "Look, Potter is beating up a first year!"

I flash back to reality and by reflex, I bellow, "POTTER!" I yell in anger, "YOU ARE HEAD BOY! TAKE SOME RESPONSIBILITY AND LEAVE YOUR FELLOW STUDENTS ALONE!" I felt rather stupid when I realized Potter was no where in sight.

"Sorry Lils, but I had to get you to snap out of it. Nothing else was working," Sophia explained.

"Sorry Soph. I kinda spaced out," I sighed, "And then lost control. I mean, it's kind of a reflex, you know, to yell at him. It's like second nature." I stood up and brushed off my robes. Then I took Sophia's arm and we headed back to the common room. Jac and Alice had already left, so we walked through the corridors alone.

"Oh Merlin, Lily! I left my Potions book in the library!" Sophia suddenly recalled. (Did I mention everything had happened in there?) She immediately took off to retrieve her textbook, leaving me to walk alone. I was staring at the ground as I walked, and suddenly I bumped into a boy. A guy, a man, whatever you want to call him. Due to my horrid luck, the guy was James Potter

"Hey Lily. How was studying?" he asked. Obviously this was the only thing he could come up with that wouldn't end with me screaming at him.

"Fine, thank you. Potions will be a cinch. I'll ace the pop quiz Slughorn's giving us tomorrow," I said plainly.

"If it's a pop quiz, how'd you know about it?" James wondered.

"He always gets this bouncy, gleeful tone in his voice a few days before hand. I've noticed it since first year," I replied dully. How curious was this guy?

"Well Lil, I'm glad you are so confident. Good luck," he grins at me and I smile stiffly. Only then do I realized he just gave me a nick name.

"What! James bloody Potter, you… you… you prat! You have no right to just go waltzing around giving people pet names!" I scream fiercely at him.

"Lily Flower, I am doing no such thing," he grins mischievously before saying, "Later Red," and disappearing into the dark corridor. I realize he was just holding my hand. Huh. I didn't even notice. That's odd.

"I mean, he called me THREE pet names in two minutes! Boys only give pet names to their girlfriends! Or at least he does! He has no right to just call me those thingy-mabobers just like that!" I was pacing across the room complaining to my friends.

"You know Lils, he could like you. I mean, he gave you pet names and all," Alice suggested. Jac and Sophia looked at Alice with an expression that said, 'Oh my god you should so not have said that!' They were too right. Immediately I exploded into a fit. The tantrum lasted about an hour. By the time I stopped screaming my head off, it midnight. I then started admiring my friends as they slept. Maybe this is the right time to describe my friends and me. Starting with myself. I have dark, fiery red hair, emerald green eyes, extremely pale skin, no freckles, and every part of me is small. I am sort of, well, bright. I stared at my friends, who, unlike me, were all very pretty. Alice had a short, curly bob of very dark brown hair with black streaks. Her eyes are a deep shade of chocolate and she too, was pale and rather short. About two inches taller than me. My eyes wandered to Jac. Jacqueline Kingsley was beautiful. She had sleek, shiny, black her to her waist, and long, luscious eyelashes. Her grey eyes were rather intimidating, but when she was happy, they shimmered and gleamed joyously. She was tall and had cocoa skin that she got from spending summers at her family's beach house. Sophia though was by far my favorite. There was something about my best friend that made me think she was gorgeous. She had skin that was perhaps paler than mine, very light, pale blonde hair that was straight and a bit higher than her shoulders. Sophia had pale, crystal blue eyes and she petite. Her eyes were small, just like the rest of her body, as was her nose, and her thin, pale pink lips. Everything about her seemed kind of, well, faded. But she was still so sweet looking. Like a child, actually. The thing that made her blonde hair seem so sweet was a chestnut colored feather that was woven in. Sophia was a sweet, innocent, childish looking girl. And I liked her that way. I was fierce and fiery, and she was calm and cool. We were a perfect match. Like yin and yang. Except… well… we didn't represent good and evil.

"Hey Soph?" I shook her and she blinked before responding with a nod. "Wanna go to bed? I kinda need to talk to someone," I sighed.

"Sure," Sophia replied kindly and I pulled her up into the girls dormitories. There, Sophia lay down in her bed and I plopped down on mine. "So what's up?" Sophia asked pleasantly.

"It's..."

"Potter?" Sophia cut in. I nodded and sighed.

"The whole pet name thing. Why would he call me by pet names? I mean, he always calls me Evans, and now, just out of the blue, he gives me three pet names all at once! What's up with that guy?" I say, exasperated. Sophia just shrugs.

"Lils, go to bed. We'll talk in the morning, kay?" Sophia asks.

"Sure. I am pretty tired," I yawned while saying that. Sophia climbed into her bed and closed her eyes, but I sat for a while thinking. Why had I sorta liked it when Potter called me that? After running the questions through my mind over and over, I gave up and fell onto my bed. Oh well. I 'd think more about it tomorrow.

Then it hit me. Fuck. I totally left my two friends in plain sight, in the common room. Oops?