Look at me, updating on time! Whoop, Chapter 2, which starts towards the end of their sixth year. Enjoy!

"Potter!"

James Potter rolled his eyes and turned around to face the redhead walking up behind him. She smiled confidently as she came to a stop in front of him.

"Yes, Evans?"

Lily bit her lip and took a deep breath. "Are you going to Hogsmeade this weekend?"

James tried to refrain from rolling his eyes again and nodded – he knew where this was going.

"Want to go with me?"

He let out a frustrated groan and turned around, beginning to walk down the hall again. Lily, not taking the hint, followed him. "Well?"

"No, Evans." She rolled her eyes this time and followed him further down the hall, frustrated by his continuing refusals.

"Why the bloody hell not?"

"I have a date."

Lily stopped walking and stared at his retreating back. James Potter had a date? Since when?

James noticed that Lily had stopped following him and sighed in relief. Speeding up slightly, he made his way towards the kitchens and finally relaxed when the door shut behind him. Why couldn't the girl take a hint? He wasn't interested.

Lily trudged morosely back to the common room, muttering the password and collapsing in front of the fire, staring at it without really seeing it.

Why she was so fascinated with James Potter, she had yet to figure out. Lily knew she liked him, but he didn't seem to have any interest in her – maybe that was it. All the other guys in school had either asked her out or been asked out by her already. As a result, the only guys she had yet to go out with were Sirius, James, Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, and the Slytherins. But Sirius was practically her brother and she had no interest in Remus or Peter other than friendship.

But James, she honestly felt something for, or at least she thought she did. Everything she'd seen of him over the years she'd liked: he was cute, smart, funny when he chose to be, kind, slightly nerdy. Maybe, she mused, this was some kind of karmic payback for the pranks she had assisted Sirius with over the last six years, and the hearts she had broken. She never had been very careful with the guys she dated. The second she lost interest, the relationship was over.

"Finally, I found you! Where have you been?" Sirius's voice cut into her thoughts. Lily looked at him as he sat down on the couch next to her.

"Getting turned down, again," she replied sullenly. Sirius sighed and pulled her towards him so that he was hugging her awkwardly.

"Why do you keep doing it Lily?"

"Because I like him," she murmured into his shoulder. Sirius pulled away from her slightly and looked her dead in the eye. They stared at each other for a few moments before Sirius sighed again.

"I told you this was going to happen. As soon as Marlene dared you to ask him out, I knew you were going to really fall for him. Lil, you know he's not interested in anyone except that Jennifer girl that's going to Hogsmeade with him next weekend."

The back of Lily's throat seemed to be burning. "I need to go, umm, study something." Without waiting for a response, she stood and dashed upstairs, flinging herself on her bed. She let out a frustrated groan and pummeled her pillows.

Damn Marlene! This was all her fault – during a game of Truth or Dare in their third year, she had dared Lily to ask James out, and she had. He had said no and, not being one to give up easily, Lily had kept after him. Now it was the end of sixth year and he still refused her, except now it tended to hurt.

The sound of the door opening, followed by footsteps caused Lily to turn her head slightly. Marlene was standing there uncomfortably.

"Sirius told me he turned you down again."

Lily grimaced. "Thanks for the reminder."

"Sorry," she muttered. "Look Lily, I know this is kind of my fault, since I dared you to ask him out in the first place, but I never meant for you to take it this far. The dare was only for you to ask him out the one time. Why do you keep doing it?"

Lily sighed and rolled onto her back, staring up at her canopy as she repeated the words she said to Sirius, "I like him." She could practically feel Marlene's skepticism oozing off her, and she sat up, looking her dead in the eye. "I know it seems unlikely, but I do. I honestly like him, and I just wish he would give me a chance. I just think that maybe he'll eventually say yes, and then he'll see how good we could be together. What do you think the chances are of that happening?" She looked at her friend hopefully.

Marlene sat gingerly on the edge of Lily's bed and reached for her hand. "Not good, sweetie. I'm sorry, but as much as you like him, he dislikes you that much more. I think you should give up on James Potter. There are plenty of guys in the school who would be happy to date you…again." The corners of Lily's mouth turned up for a fraction of a second, then she frowned again.

"You really don't think he'll ever be interested in me?"

Reluctantly, Marlene shook her head. Lily sighed, trying not to feel the overwhelming hurt and disappointment that accompanied this revelation.

"Then I guess I give up." She met Marlene's gaze and smiled half-heartedly. "Really. I'm going to try to get over him and move on and find someone else, someone who doesn't run in the opposite direction when he sees me. At least it's the last few days of school. I can avoid him, and then spend the summer finding a new guy."

"Or," Marlene ventured, "you could stay single for awhile."

Lily's eyes widened at the suggestion, and Marlene hastened to explain. "You have never been single longer than two weeks since you've been here, and I think it would do you some good. Just try it, Lily-pad. It might work for you, and it might help with the whole getting-over-James thing."

Her eyes lost their shocked look, and became kind of thoughtful. "You know, I might try that too. Apparently this is my summer to be doing new things, so I might as well do as many as possible. Getting over James, and staying single…this summer is going to be very interesting."

James couldn't help but feel slightly off balance in the last few days of the term. He had become somewhat accustomed to Lily Evans chasing him around asking him out and now…it was almost like she was avoiding him. At mealtimes she had taken to sitting with her friends and not even glancing at him.

And now that he was thinking about it, it was kind of…nice. Whatever she was doing, he hoped it continued throughout their next – and final – year at Hogwarts so that he could actually enjoy himself without constantly looking over his shoulder in case she snuck up on him. James just prayed that she wasn't trying to lure him into a false sense of security.

Finally, Lily sighed, they were on the train on the way home, and now all she had to do was suffer through this summer doing her best to get over James. Oh, and Petunia's wedding was coming up as well, and their mother had insisted she let Lily be the maid of honor.

Sirius noticed his best friend's distracted look and furrowed his brow. It was one of two things, he knew – Petunia or Potter. Judging by the slightly angrier look on her face, it was her sister. Sirius had already offered to come with Lily to the wedding, as had Marlene and Alice, but she had insisted she could handle it and she didn't want to give her sister another reason to hate her. Bringing other 'freaks' to her wedding would be a surefire way to do it.

He attempted to distract her with a game of Exploding Snap, and was glad to see that for the most part, he succeeded. After a few games, she grew bored and pulled out one of her many books and began to read, not setting the book down until the train arrived in London.

In the chaos that usually surrounded the disembarking , Lily picked up her trunk and left her book sitting on the seat. Marlene spotted it, and attempted to follow her redheaded friend through the crowd.

"Lily!" she called, trying to walk around the tall person in front of her.

Lily heard Marlene calling her and turned to see where she was. Not paying attention, she smacked right into someone else and tumbled to the ground. Rubbing her arm, she looked up and met the hazel eyes of James Potter, who was staring at her with a mixture of dread and concern.

"You gonna keep staring at me or are you going to help me up?" She snapped. Looking taken aback, he quickly extended his hand and pulled her up. Ignoring him, she turned around and picked up the two books that had been in her hands when she fell.

Lily faced him again and smiled slightly. She almost burst out laughing at the resigned look that appeared on his face – he was expecting her to ask him out again. Poor guy, she thought, I really have sort of made his life miserable for the last six years.

"Sorry I snapped at you," she said with a small laugh. "I wasn't watching where I was going." James's eyes widened slightly behind his glasses. "Anyway, I heard Marlene calling me, so I better go find her. Have a good summer, James."

And then she was gone, leaving James to wonder what had just happened.

Lily caught up with Marlene, and the two of them headed towards the barrier together.

"So you're going to try it?" Marlene asked. Lily nodded.

"I am going to be single all summer, and I am going to get over James Potter," she declared.

"Yeah right," Sirius laughed, having walked up to Lily's other side. "If you go all summer being single, I will eat three Cockroach Clusters with nothing to chase them down."

Lily laughed as he moved in between them and threw an arm around each of their shoulders. "I will be buying you those Clusters come September Sirius, just you wait and see."

So still a bit of setup, the fun really begins next chapter. As always, review please! Much love!