Can't Buy Me Love

By: liliesandantlers

Chapter 1: Spats in the Library and O.W.L.s

"Would you look at Potter over there? I'm surprised his body can still support the weight of his big head." Lily whispered to her friends, Delphine Westwood and Cassandra Sweetwater, who snickered and shook their heads. Nothing got under Lily Evans's skin like James Potter.

"I mean, look at him tossing around that stupid snitch. This is the library, not the Quidditch pitch." Lily whispered vehemently. "Not to mention Eleanor and Marissa won't shut up," she added as an afterthought, glaring daggers into the backs of the two giggling Hufflepuffs' heads.

Across the library, James Potter sat at a large table with his three best friends and two girls who had rushed to join the boys as soon as they had sauntered loudly into the library just a half hour before. Of course, the group was getting no real work done, despite James promising Remus they'd be as diligent as Ravenclaws and as quiet as church mice. Remus had known it was too good to be true, but it was nearly impossible to say no to James.

Presently, the group, known only to themselves and a select few as the Marauders, were engaging in an increasingly loud game of Exploding Snap. Well, at least James and Sirius were. Remus had his Defense Against the Dark Arts textbook open, attempting to look over the material for the upcoming O.W.L., but he stole glances towards the game every several seconds, unable to resist watching what was sure to be a huge blow up when either James or Sirius lost. They were both rotten losers. Peter hadn't had any intention of studying to begin with, so he was quite content to watch the game and cheer on his friends. Eleanor and Marissa had rushed to join the boys as soon as they'd walked in, and the latter hadn't refused their company. They needed an audience, obviously.

"Shit!" Sirius swore as James won the game. "You cheated! I swear you did! He cheated didn't he, Wormy?" Sirius asked, nudging his friend roughly.

Peter looked panicked, his mind waging a war between siding with James or Sirius. As he started to mumble a response, James cut him off.

"Troll shit! I won fair and square, Padfoot! Unlike you, some of us were born with both good looks and talent!" James joked, ruffling his unkempt hair as he snuck a quick glance in the direction of a certain redhead across the room.

"Now I know you couldn't possibly be addressing me." Sirius replied, feigning a look of hurt and shock. "For I possess both good looks and talent in unlawfully large quantities. Perhaps you were talking to Moony or Wormtail."

"Hey!" Peter scoffed indignantly.

"Let's not forget about your unwavering loyalty to your friends," Remus replied sarcastically, still staring at the page in front of him, rereading the same sentence for the eighth time in a row. The group laughed as Sirius punched the young werewolf's shoulder.

"Ow!" Remus shouted, rubbing the spot where Sirius's fist had been only a moment before. "Must you always resort to physical violence, Padfoot?"

The two began to bicker back and forth, while Eleanor and Marissa busied themselves with making eyes at James, who had begun to toss around the golden snitch again.

At her own table, Lily was absolutely fuming. How dare Potter drag his friends to the library just to play silly card games and make noise while people who actually cared about their futures studied for what could only be described as the most important exams up to this point in their academic careers. Well, Lily certainly wasn't going to take it.

"That's it! If no one else is going to say anything, I will." Lily huffed as she stood from her table and marched over to where the Marauders were sitting. James noticed the redhead get up, and he smirked to himself as she walked towards him, hands on hips, brows furrowed.

"Excuse me, Potter." Lily said coolly to James when she reached him. He was leaned back in his chair, feet on the table in front of him, looking far too pleased with himself for Lily's liking. She despised that smirk he always wore when she was in his presence. It was as if he actually enjoyed annoying her.

"Evans! Lovely of you to join us! You're looking gorgeous today, you know that? Have you come to tell me you've changed your mind about our Hogsmeade date?" James asked with a cheeky smile as he continued to toss around the golden snitch.

"My answer has been the same for two years, Potter. No!" Lily snapped. She took a deep breathe and smoothed out her wild red hair as she tried to regain her composure, James grinning from ear to ear. "I came over here to ask you to kindly leave the library because you're making an absurd amount of noise, and unlike you, some of us actually care about our futures and are trying to study for the O.W.L.s."

It was meant to be an insult, but James was enjoying watching Lily get worked up far to much to be offended by the implication of her words.

"Oh come on, Evans. I don't need to study for those silly exams." James replied with a casual roll of the eyes that he knew would drive Lily mad. "I'm great at Defense Against the Dark Arts, and even if I weren't, I'd still have a perfectly fine future. I'm going to take over my dad's company, you know." James added as he caught the snitch effortlessly.

"Sleekeazy's Hair Potion? Yes, I've heard of it. Perhaps you should actually try some, Potter. Maybe if your stupid hair wasn't so messy all the time, you wouldn't feel the need to run your fingers through it every two seconds like some sort of chimp." Lily shot back, crossing her arms with a huff. If there was one thing that annoyed Lily more than James's smirk, it was his perpetually unruly hair.

"You think my hair is stupid? Now that's not very nice! I don't think your hair is stupid. I actually think your hair is very, very smart," James teased. Lily was about to reply when he cut her off. "Lads, I believe Miss Evans wants us to leave, so I suppose we must be off. We'd hate to get on her bad side, if she even has one. I've yet to find it." James said as he stood up, looking Lily up and down.

He gestured for his friends to follow him and shooed off Eleanor and Marissa, who glared at Lily for interrupting their time with the cutest boys in Fifth Year.

"You're absolutely disgusting, Potter!" Lily shouted as James and the rest of the Marauders strutted out of the library. "And don't worry, you've been on my bad side for years!"

James was almost out the door, but he turned around, unable to resist having the last word.

"You know, Evans," he began, a twinkle in his eye and a smile playing on his lips, "You may want to keep your voice down. I've heard you're supposed to be quiet in the library. People have exams to study for."

And with a wink and a final ruffle of his hair, James strutted into the corridor outside.

If Lily had been fuming before, she was positively livid now. After several moments of staring at James's retreating figure, mouth hanging open, Lily let out a loud "Ugh!", stamped her foot, and marched back to the table where her two best friends were trying and failing to contain their laughter.

"You two think this is funny?" Lily hissed, taking a seat and trying to ignore the stares she was receiving from students who had just witnessed her public spat with James.

"No, no!" Cassandra assured her quickly, even though her soft, melodic giggles were still trickling out between each word.

"Are you kidding me? That was hilarious!" Delphine roared as she clutched her stomach from laughter.

"Good to know I have the support of you two when Potter is being an arse." Lily shot back coolly, glaring at her fellow Gryffindors.

Cassandra and Delphine, or Cassie and Della to anyone who knew them well, had been Lily's closest friends, apart from Severus, since starting Hogwarts. The three met after all getting sorted into Gryffindor and had been inseparable since.

Della, a boisterous half-blood and chaser for the house Quidditch team, never failed to let everyone know what was on her mind. She didn't have much of a filter, but no one seemed to mind because she was so beautiful. Her muggle mother had introduced her to the music of Sonny and Cher as a little girl, and she had been obsessed with the female half of the duo ever since, drenching her long, dark hair in James Potter's father's Sleekeazy Hair Potion to achieve Cher's silky smooth look. Lily had been a bit unsure of Della when they first met as eleven-year-olds, but the half-blood quickly proved her worth as a friend, standing up to anyone and everyone who dared to say anything about her new friend, Lily Evan's blood status.

Cassie, on the other hand, could not have been more unlike Della if she tried. A pure-blood witch, Cassandra Sweetwater reminded Lily of the fairytale princesses her mother used to read her stories about as a child. Tall and graceful, with long blonde hair and bright blue eyes, Cassie was a quiet, sweet girl with an affinity for taking care of magical creatures, just like her family before her, who had been advocates for the protection of unicorns for centuries. Lily had taken to Cassie immediately, finding her quiet presence calming.

"Oh hush! You know we'll always have your back, Lils." Cassie replied, placing her hand on Lily's and giving her a sweet smile.

"Thanks, Cass." Lily whispered, still trying to compose herself after her unpleasant run in with Potter. Cassie nudged Della, who was still laughing. The dark haired girl quickly covered up the last of her giggles with highly unbelievable coughing.

"Yeah, what Cassie said." Della added hastily, shooting Lily an apologetic look.

The redhead sighed and shook her head, giving her friend an exasperated smile. She couldn't stay mad at Della and Cassie for long. Plus, it wasn't even them she was mad at: it was Potter. Horrible, up-to-no-good, spoiled, arrogant Potter. The boy all the other girls in school fawned over incessantly. The boy all the other boys wanted to be like. Hell, even the professors seemed to think he was special, although Lily couldn't possibly imagine why. What's so great about a rich kid who bullies others just because they belong to the "wrong house". Lily had a feeling it had to do with the rich part. Well, perhaps everyone else at Hogwarts could be bought by James Potter, but Lily Evans couldn't. Every galleon at Gringotts couldn't convince Lily to go on a date with him. He was an insufferable prat and that's all there was to it.

"It's okay. I'm not mad at you two. Potter just makes me so angry sometimes. I mean, I'm usually perfectly levelheaded and reasonable, but that arrogant toerag just irks me to no end." Lily vented with a sigh, looking down at her Defense Against the Dark Arts book, fearing her trip to the library was in vain.

Lily had been trying to get in some much-needed review before her next O.W.L. when Potter had burst in with his posse, breaking her focus and ruining any chance of her getting work done. Just thinking about his blatant disregard for everyone else in the library made her blood boil.

"Can you imagine the nerve of him?" she asked, beginning to get worked up again. "'You should keep your voice down. People have exams to study for'," Lily said, mimicking the way James had thrown her words back in her face. "Who does he think he is? Telling me to be quiet and respectful when he's the one who hosted his own Exploding Snap tournament for thirty minutes!"

Lily could feel the heat rising to her cheeks as her fists curled up into little balls. It drove her mad the way Potter could get a rise out of her like this when he wasn't even around. Della and Cassie stared at their friend with concern before meeting each other's eyes, both realizing that something needed to be done quickly to prevent a full-blown Lily Evans meltdown.

"Alright, I think that's enough studying for now," Della said hastily as she stood up and grabbed her things from the table. Lily began to protest, but the chaser quickly shut her down. "You know the material, Lily. We all do. And besides, we need a break." she insisted, motioning for Cassie to collect her things.

"I don't know, Della. I still feel like I don't have a very good grasp on lycanthropy yet," Lily replied hesitantly, wanting desperately to get some studying done, if for no other reason than to prove to herself that James Potter couldn't hinder her work ethic. But she could feel her resolve slowly crumbling, and if she was being honest, a break did sound good.

"Oh bullocks, Lily! You could spot a werewolf from a mile away! Now, let's go find a nice spot by the lake. I need to tan," Della insisted, grabbing her two friends by the hand and practically dragging them out of the library.

Lily sighed, but didn't argue, allowing Della and Cassie to lead her down corridor after corridor towards the warmth and sunlight of the grounds. She just hoped Potter and his friends weren't outside. Honestly, Lily didn't know how much more of him she could take. James Potter was absolutely the most vile person she had ever met, and she prayed that one day he would take a hint and leave her alone for good.

Author's Note: Hi, everyone! I'm new to this whole fanfiction thing, and I'm still learning how to publish on this wonderful website, so I appreciate your cooperation while I learn the ropes! Anyway, I adore Lily and James and couldn't help but write this. This fic won't just be about Lily and James, but they will be the central plot point. I've studied what we know as canon from JK and Pottermore about the Marauders' lives at Hogwarts, and based on what I've learned, I want to try to write an (mostly) accurate and interesting account of what I believe transpired at Hogwarts when the Marauders and Lily Evans called it home. If not already obvious, this story does begin at the end of Fifth Year (i.e. Snape's Worst Memory) and hopefully it will chronicle the development of Lily and James' chaotic relationship up until graduation, if not a little past that point. It's gonna be a little slowburn because of the timeline, but I promise I will try to make it as interesting and eventually, rewarding as possible! Rated T for right now, but will change rating if need arises later. Please Review! xoxo