AUTHORS' NOTE
Hello again.
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Hey, guys! I'm sorry this chapter was published much later than we anticipated. It's 100% my fault, sorry. However, the chapter is now disseminated for all of you to read so eNJOY!
James
Lily's talking to me again. I didn't bring up the whole "running away" thing. I think she appreciated it. She's still acting a bit odd though. Also, I think she unbuttoned her shirt? I don't know, all I know is she leaned across the table today to get a waffle, or something, I don't know what, and I just got a really nice view. Ahem. Well.
I tried not to stare, okay?! But she was shoving them in my face! I am a guy, after all, attracted to the opposite sex! I have these things called hormones.
Dear Lily, if you ever read this, DO NOT SHOVE YOUR BOOBS IN MY FACE WHEN YOU REALLY WANT TO BE FRIENDS!
Merlin, girls are confusing.
...
Wait, is her skirt shorter?
Shit. NO.
Aw, fuck. COME ON!
Lily Evans has gorgeous legs. (Shocking, isn't it?! ALL OF LILY EVANS IS VERY, VERY ATTRACTIVE!)
Lily, I have one question for you. Just one. It's pretty easy to answer, if you ask me.
WHAT the HELL are you DOING?! Who are you trying to impress? Because let me tell you, if they are stupid enough not to like you back, then I'm sure you have plenty of other people (read: ME) who would be willing to make you feel better with some… never mind.
The point is, dear Lily, that you are very, very hot. Please stop shoving your boobs in my face.
Or don't, that's good too.
I could get used to this.
I walked into potions today not expecting much to happen, but guess what?
We got seating charts!
Guess who I'm sat by? THAT'S RIGHT! IT'S LILY EVANS!
Thanks, Slughorn. I appreciate it.
Not only does more time with Lily make a happier James, she's also really good at potions. Like, exceptionally good. She's been in Slug Club for as long as I can remember. Or, I guess, as long as I've been stalking her for.
I am such a creep. No wonder she doesn't like me.
Today we're brewing the Love Potion Antidote, also known as Contramoris. Later we should be brewing Amortentia, but apparently we have to know how to fight it before we can start actually brewing it. I suppose it makes sense- if one of us accidentally ingested the real thing without everyone knowing how to brew the solution, it could be a problem.
"Okay." Lily says, "Let's get started. I'll get up and get the Wiggentree twigs, castor oil, and the Guddyroots, if you can get the cauldron and start it cooking."
"Sounds good." I say, and reach down to get the cauldron.
Do all girls hips sway when they walk? It's really sexy…
I shake my head. I need to focus.
I get the potion ready, and Lily starts putting in the Wiggentree twigs.
James. Start a conversation.
"What do you want to be once you leave Hogwarts?" I ask. One of the few things I didn't know about Lily Evans.
"What would I like to be or what am I planning to be?" She asks.
"If you tell me both, I'll tell you both."
"Fine, fine." She pauses. "I don't know what I'd like to be. Happy, I suppose."
"You don't think you're going to be happy?" That's kind of concerning.
"There's a war going on."
"That doesn't mean you can't be happy."
"No. It's just unlikely."
"I know. What are you planning on being?"
"An auror. I know it won't be fun, but I also know I have to fight." And I can see it. I can see the fight in Lily Evans eyes, and I can see it in the way she's sitting.
"That's what I'm going to be, too." I say. "It's dangerous, but I couldn't just stand by."
She shakes her head, smiling. What does that mean? "Of course not."
She looks at me for a minute, then back at the potion. "Oops! Time to add the castor oil."
"Yeah."
Merlin, I love Lily Evans.
For homework after potions, we have to evaluate how exactly the ingredients in Contramoris work against the Amortentia in a short essay with our partner.
"Do you want to meet after dinner?" I ask.
James Potter, stop looking at her boobs, you idiot.
"Yeah, sure." She says. "It shouldn't be too bad."
So, we meet. After dinner, in our Common Room. We each have our copy of the Potions Book for this year, and I got us some tea from the kitchens.
"Let's get started." She says.
So we do. We're working until I read aloud the phrase, "Some believe that Mistletoe Berry is the natural opposite of Wiggentree twigs, and that's why it is so effective in the Contramoris potion," and then say, "We should write that, but phrase it differently."
"Wiggentree twigs are often believed to be the opposite of Mistletoe berry, and that is part of what makes Contamoris so effective."
"Last year, Professor Slughorn said that Wiggentree twigs were the opposite of Mistletoe berry." Lily Evans states.
"Well, I don't think we should write it so exclusively, you know? He could be just one of the many who believe that it is." I argue.
"It's Slughorn who's grading the papers, so I think we should say what he said." Lily brings up.
"Don't you want it to be factually accurate?" I ask.
"Yes, but-
I interrupt her. "But what? We need to stick to the current facts."
"You know what this comes down to?" She asked me.
"I don't know, what?" I say sarcastically.
"YOU not paying ATTENTION in CLASS." That was just ridiculous.
"WHAT? I'm using the book! It has nothing to do with that!" Sure, I may have been passing notes during that period, because I don't remember it at all, but-
"If you had paid attention last year, you'd know exactly what he said!"
"I'M SORRY I DON'T REMEMBER SPECIFIC DETAILS!" And now I'm lying.
Lily humphs.
Then I start again."You know what this really comes down to?"
"What." Lily says, obviously mad.
"YOU not being able to be wrong." Just stating the facts over here!
"WHAT?!"
"Yup. Little Miss I'm-Perfect-and-can-do-no-wrong Evans is afraid of it." Gotta stay calm. It makes her even more angry. Her eyes are trying the burn a hole in my skull.
"I. AM. NOT. I JUST HOLD MY CLASSWORK UP TO THE HIGHEST STANDARD, UNLIKE YOU, MR. I-AM-GOD'S-GREATEST-GIFT-TO-THE-FEMALE-POPULATION!" That was going too far!
"OH, COME ON EVANS, I THOUGHT YOU OF ALL PEOPLE WOULD KNOW THAT I'M NOT LIKE THAT ANYMORE!"
"Oh, POTTER, PEOPLE NEVER CHANGE." And she storms into her room and slams her door shut.
"Lily!" I yell.
She thinks I haven't changed. What have I done.
If it weren't for my pride, I would be crying right here, right now. Instead, I go down to the Kitchens to bring the house elves their tea cups back, and maybe drown my misery in some hot fudge brownies.
I am such an idiot.
I always let her provoke me like that! She can always get me fighting.
It was one word in an essay, and now I feel like shit. Great.
Lily
After a couple days of ignoring James, things start to kind of get back to normal. Feeling more confident than usual, I dress myself in what could be called scandalous clothing. I unbutton the top two buttons of my long-sleeved, collared white shirt, and I hurriedly walk to the Great Hall. I squeeze myself between Alice Prewett and Mary MacDonald. As I gormandize on the delectable food placed before me, Alice and I make small talk. We discuss NEWTs and the names of our future children. I'm currently really hooked on the name Harry. Alice is enamoured with the name Neville. What sort of name is Neville?! That poor child. Mary doesn't even want children, she's insane. I lean to get another waffle, while shoving my cleavage very near James' face. Out of the corner of my peripheral vision, I see James looking at my cleavage. He looks like he's trying so hard not to look. Bloody gentleman. With a smirk on my face, I devour the waffle. We finish breakfast and walk into Potions with Professor Slughorn. Professor Slughorn assigns me to be James's partner in the making of the potion, Contramoris. Contramoris is a potion that you drink to cure Amortentia, the love potion.
"Okay." I say, "Let's get started. I'll get up and get the Wiggentree twigs, castor oil, and the Guddyroots, if you can get the cauldron and start it cooking."
"Sounds good." James says this with his signature smirk. Damn, that boy.
I take this opportunity. I sway my hips as I am walking to get the ingredients for the potion. As I place Wiggentree twigs in the potion that James started, He starts a conversation.
"What do you want to be once you leave Hogwarts?" He asks.
"What would I like to be or what am I planning to be?" I ask.
"If you tell me both, I'll tell you both."
"Fine, fine." I mutter quietly. "I don't know what I'd like to be. Happy, I suppose."
"You don't think you're going to be happy?" James asks, genuinely concerned for my mental well-being.
"There's a war going on." I say matter-of-factly.
"That doesn't mean you can't be happy." James' face gets closer to my face. I think he was about to gently touch my face but he thought against it. God, I wish he did.
"No. It's just unlikely."
"I know," he replies quietly. "What are you planning on being?" He's changing the subject, thank goodness.
"An auror. I know it won't be fun, but I also know I have to fight." It may appear all I think about is winning James over, but I have aspirations. I plan on being an auror. If James and I don't work out, that would be truly terrible. However, not meeting my goal of being an auror would be so much worse.
"That's what I'm going to be, too. It's dangerous, but I couldn't just stand by." He says with as much conviction and passion as me. I suppress a small chuckle.
"Of course not." I say, smiling. "Oops! Time to add the castor oil."
Our homework for Potions is to evaluate how exactly the ingredients in Contramoris work against the Amortentia in a short essay with our partner. James and I agree that we'll meet after dinner tonight to work on the essay.
"It shouldn't be too bad." I say to myself more than to anyone else.
We meet after dinner, in the Common Room that the Heads share. We work diligently until James suggested that I write this phrase.
"Some believe that Mistletoe Berry is the natural opposite of Wiggentree twigs, and that's why it is so effective in the Contramoris potion. Wiggentree twigs are often believed to be the opposite of Mistletoe berry, and that is part of what makes Contamoris so effective."
James, James, James. Wiggentree twigs are the opposite of Mistletoe berry, Professor Slughorn said so last year. I tell James this.
"Well, I don't think we should write it so exclusively, you know? He could be just one of the many who believe that it is." He argues. Ugh, that boy.
"It's Slughorn who's grading the papers, so I think we should say what he said." We'd also get a better grade.
"Don't you want to be factually accurate?" James asks. That bastard. And now I was mad.
"You know what this comes down to?"
"I don't know, what?" He replies sarcastically.
"You never paying attention in class!" James is always messing around with the other Marauders, passing notes, and especially pranking the Slytherins! When that happens, it always disrupts the learning of Potions for that day.
"WHAT?! I'm citing directly from the book!" Me not paying attention in class has nothing to do with this!" James says agitatedly. "You know what this really comes down to?"
"WHAT." The anger starts to boil inside me. JAMES POTTER, you are an idiot.
"YOU not being able to be wrong. Little Miss Perfect-and-can-do-no-wrong Evans is afraid of being wrong." And then, I explode.
"I AM NOT, POTTER. I hold my class work to an extremely high standard unlike you, MR. I-AM-GOD'S-GREATEST-GIFT-TO-THE-FEMALE-POPULATION." James thinks that on the eighth day, God created James Potter. But GUESS WHAT. He's probably the worst thing to ever happen to God when he allegedly created him. Or his parents.
"COME ON, EVANS. YOU OF ALL PEOPLE SHOULD KNOW I'M NOT LIKE THAT ANYMORE!"
"NO, POTTER. PEOPLE NEVER CHANGE." I storm into my room and slam the door as hard as I can. I shouldn't have said some of those things to Potter. People do change, and I know it. Now I can't talk to him because I'm supposed to be mad when in reality, I'm just upset that I could be so stupid. I shouldn't have started a fight. He gets me every time. He truly has changed.
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