Misconceptions

Author: BurningIce22

Full Summary—Lily Evans has a secret. A secret that holds the reason why she entered her third year at Hogwarts with black hair and a livid hate of her former best friend, James Potter. A secret she never told anyone about. Now, three years later her friends are determined to find out what James did to make Lily hate him, but no one seems to know...not even James himself.

A/N: Omg thanx to everyone for the reviews!! So far everyone has been SOO nice! I apologize for the lateness of this update, but I was in Washington DC for a week, so I couldn't post or even work on this. Okay wanted to clear one thing up, cuz two of my friend got confused about this and I think other people might have as well. The whole section at the beginning of chapter one that was in italics took place at the beginning of Lily's third year. Everything after that takes place at the beginning of her sixth year. Oh and a little FYI: remember anything in italics means the person is thinking/dreaming it. Also whenever there is this: it means that either time has passed (could just b like later that day or a week or month later or w/e) or that the POV has changed. Little note to everyone, although I had my friend Sydney (yes the person I named my character after) read this over and make a few corrections, this didn't have a ton of beta work done. I edited it myself a bunch, but if u see any mistakes lemme know and ill change them.

Review responses:

Mira White: thank you so much for the nice review!! I will write as much and as often as I can… see authors note above for the reason this chapter was as late as it was, I did work as much as I could. Lol, I bet u are dying to know, but you aren't going to get the full answer to that very soon, as it is a main part of the plot… ill probably drop little hints in the chapters though, so look out for them.

jess131346: lol..yes black hair. And different is what im going for, I don't want it to be the same as what everyone else writes..boring!

tarheelsrule01: lol, I like ur sn. Omg thank you soooo much!! I totally plan on keeping up "the good work" and of course updating as much as I can. Again, see authors note for why this chapter was delayed.

Jessie Flower: Thnx for reading..and liking, lol. omg I 4got u had a Kelly(Kellie) too. Don't worry I didn't take the name from your story. It's from my friend Vanessa (Rivero) : when her parents were deciding on her name they wanted either Kelly or Vanessa. That's where I got the name. really u have? I haven't…so I didn't take it from someone. Thnx…and I will.

AgiVega: thnx for reading my fic. Hey I wudnt either, but this isn't me. Also, 'not standing out' isn't the main reason she dyed it.

usedtobePERSONANONGRATA: thnx 4 da review syd. I feel so special to b smiled upon..lol. I smile baq at ya. Yeah my Sydney is named after you, I was going to tell you, but u were snowboarding when I was writing it, then I went away, and today I 4got. Glad u luv it :) thnx 4 the reminder, ill try and fit that in somewhere. Thnx for pointing out the mistake in chap one. l8ta hun.

gummybear: hey, thnx 4 reviewin it. That is actually something I didn't think about that much, but I'm not going to keep it with their times or w/e. besides, we don't really know what time hp is supposed to be living in. for all we know he's in the future, and lily/james were alive lik now. Who knows. Anyhoo… not doin it that way. Luv ya tons Claire Bear:)

To all my reviewers: thank you soo much for reviewing!! Please review as many chapters of this story as u can, even just to say u read it and liked it (or didn't). cuz reviews let me know that people are reading it, and as of now, liking it. Also it kinda encourages me to write faster and more (which is what everyone is begging me to do).

Disclaimer – If you recognize it, it's not mine. If you don't, it probably is. As always, no profit is being made and no copyright infringement is intended.

And now I will shut up, here is chapter 2:

When They Think You're Not Listening

If you can't lose gracefully, learn how to cheat better!

Lily gazed lazily out the train window, watching the flashes of scenery change behind the glass, lost in thought. She had very mixed feelings about the start of school. It would of course be great to see everyone again, and even the learning part of school could be kind of fun sometimes. But she still worried about things. This new Dark Lord seemed to be rising higher and posing more of a threat. She had a rather bad feeling that he should not be taken lightly. Plus there were a whole slew of worries she had carried with her since her Thirteenth birthday. She crossed her arms and laid her head down on them, still absentmindedly staring out the window. A knock at the door jarred her attention back to the room. Her eyes narrowed as an all too familiar voice asked for entrance.

"What about…?" James' voice trailed off, but she would have bet a whole lot that he was pointing at her. She was about to turn around and answer when Sydney spoke,

"Don't worry, she's asleep. C'mon in." Oh asleep now am I? Lily was about to point out their mistake when a thought came to her and she closed her mouth. A fiendish grin spread over her face. I know how they talk and act when I'm there… but I have no idea what they say when they think I can't hear them. Hmm… maybe I'll play along for a bit and see what happens. Lily you know that you shouldn't do this, its wrong and betraying their trust. Oh shut up conscience. She sighed, but it's true, I mean maybe this is a test or something. On the other hand, they'll never find out, and what they don't know can't hurt them. Besides…I'm getting really curious. Lily smiled slightly and turned her attention to the conversation going on around her.

Lily laughed to herself as she realized what they were doing; the girls were writing on a muggle magazine page and giggling.

"Okay James," Kelly said in a faked professional tone, "your IQ level equals that of a bright nine-year-old." Sydney and Remus burst out laughing, as James was one of the smartest people they knew. James pouted slightly and finally pointed out,

"Well I suppose it's a good thing I'm not a muggle now isn't it." Kelly nodded vigorously and they both smiled. Lily was a little annoyed that her friends were having such a good time with James. That traitorous bastard she thought to herself. She knew she only wanted to protect her friends, but she couldn't just tell them not to like him. That was just plain mean, no decent person would ever do that, and certainly not Lily. She turned her attention back to her friends as she heard her name mentioned.

"Now you're sure Lily's sleeping," Sirius nervously asked Kelly.

"Yes, I'm sure," said Kelly in a rather annoyed voice. Sirius held his hands up in front of him as if to shield himself from her. Remus sighed a little as he glanced at Lily.

"You know, it really is kind of stupid that all of us can't hang out together just because Lily and James have this like war going on." Sydney nodded. Lily felt her stomach tighten, this is all my fault. James started to say something, but Sydney spoke first.

"You know, he's right. It is stupid, and we shouldn't let something like that get in the way of all the rest of us being friends. Neither Lily nor James has ever told us that we can't all hang out together…" She stopped abruptly, looking pointedly at James who clearly had something to say.

"Look you guys, I don't mind hanging out with Lily at all. And…" he sighed, "and I don't hate her, I never did." He watched their various expressions of surprise. Lily scrunched her eyebrows together in confusion for a second before she realized his ruse. "Look I dunno what you guys thought before, but… I don't even know why she hates me." Kelly's eyes widened and her eyebrows shot up. The others had similar reactions. Sirius spoke up.

"What do you mean you don't know. I mean you must have done something for her to hold a grudge for three fucking years." James shook his head slowly.

"Look man, if I knew I'd tell you. And your right, I obviously did something…I just wish I knew what." James sighed and ran a hand through his jet black hair.

"Well-l-l," said Sydney breaking the silence, "that sure explains a lot. And at the same time… makes it all the more confusing." She bit her bottom lip and furrowed her eyebrows in thought.

Lily, who had been hanging onto every word, cringed in disgust. You may fool everyone else James, but you can't just talk your way out of this one with me. You lying jerk, I know you know. You were there, I saw you. Despite herself Lily felt the drowsiness she had chased off before engulf her and she slowly drifted off to sleep for real.

Sirius checked his watch and announced that they had better go change before they arrived at school. The three boys hopped up and headed towards the door. James turned and looked at Lily. She looked so peaceful, breathing slowly, her scarlet hair splashed across the black tank she was wearing. He suddenly realized he was staring and quickly turned away, following his friends out the door.

Kelly smiled to herself, realizing she was the only one who noticed James' peculiar behavior.

Lily pulled the maroon drapes around her bed closed and tried to lose herself to sleep, but it refused to come. She kept thinking about the conversation she had overheard, playing over and over again in her head. Now that she had gotten over her disgust and anger at James' outright lying she began to worry about her other friends. She realized that she had never thought about the effect her and James' feud had on everyone else. She couldn't do this to her friends, and quite frankly she didn't like it herself. She, just as much as everyone else, wanted to hang out with Remus and Sirius whenever she wanted. She was a mature, sixteen year old girl. She could handle being around James for the sake of more time with her other friends, and all of them being happier. I'll just ignore him. Just because we're all hanging out doesn't mean I have to talk to him… and I won't. He will be no more then another stone in the wall to me, just a part of the décor. And then everyone will be happy. Besides, Lily smiled mischievously, if they never hang out then how will Kelly and Sirius get together, I just know there's something going on there. Feeling the tight knot that had taken residence in her stomach disappear, her mind allowed her to relax and float away into peaceful dreams.

A/N 2: ive already started chapter 3. and even if u didn't lik this chap that much (heck I didn't that much myself, but im waaaaay overly critical of myself) pleez stick with it, lol cant believe im begging. Ok nuf of that, I'll stop now. So ya know, break is over as of tomorrow, so I dunno how much ill b able to write during the week..weekends I will. Prob lik a chap a week, im hopeing. Anyhoo….go press the little purple button and tell me watcha think!!!!