\/p>
-1 4th Year
"Will you go out with me, Lily?"
Lily sighed and turned to face the tall, dark-haired boy behind her. "No, James. How many times are you going to ask me?"
He grinned cockily and responded, "As many as it takes, Lilyflower."
They were in fourth year now. James had liked Lily since that very first day, and he had been asking her out incessantly since the beginning of third year. He dated other girls, and yet something always drove him back to Lily. Sometimes he thought he desperately wanted to date her because she was one of the few girls in school who would ever turn him down, but he had a feeling it was something more than that.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lily sighed as she walked away from James. She knew he was only asking her out because she was the only girl in their year who would turn him down. But she didn't just want to be another one of James Potter's girlfriends. She wasn't about to be some cute little fling that would last one week and then have him dump her because she didn't laugh at every one of his jokes or make a fuss over how good he was at Quidditch.
She turned into Transfiguration and collapsed into the seat next to one of her best friends, Alice.
"Hey, Alice, how's it goin'?" she asked as their three other roommates joined them at the table. Julie, Charlotte, and Kayla muttered greetings to the others. All of them were exhausted; they'd stayed up late the night before painting their nails and talking.
Professor McGonagall cleared her throat loudly and began the lecture. "Today, class, we will be working on transforming mice into chalices. You gain points if your chalice appears polished or fancy; you lose points if it is furry. Very well, you know the spell, you have your mice, you may begin. "
Lily sighed and pulled her wand out of her backpack. She could feel James' eyes on her, watching her every move, and she wondered why he was so obsessed with her.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7th Year
James leaned back in his seat on the Hogwarts Express, eating a Chocolate Frog. Sirius and Wormtail were sitting across from him, and Remus was next to him. Outside, he could see the last few first years, who had been nervous to leave their parents, rushing to board the train as the whistle blew.
As the train began to move, he leaned forward, studying something very intently for an instant. Then, suddenly, without offering an explanation, he shot out of his seat, through the door, and down the corridor. He leaned out the door as the train picked up speed, holding on with one hand and offering his other to someone that his fellow Marauders, who had followed him, couldn't see.
"Help me!" he threw back over his shoulder, and Sirius rushed up beside him to take the girl's other hand and pull her onto the train, which was rapidly picking up speed. As the station whipped out of sight, the two pulled a red-haired girl onto the train, sending all three of them toppling over backwards.
James and Sirius both landed flat on their backs, and Lily, somewhat awkwardly, landed face first on top of both of them.
"Hi, there," James said brightly. "How's it goin'?" Lily didn't move, and for an instant concern washed over James. But before he could do anything, she pushed herself off the boys and stood up.
"Thanks for that," she said, blushing. "I was helping the first years board, and I guess I didn't move fast enough."
"No problem, Evans," James said, a cocky grin spreading across his face. "Will you go out with me as a thank-you present?"
Lily just groaned and turned to walk away, but Sirius swept her up into a huge bear-hug.
"It's good to see you again, too, Lilyflower. You're welcome, it was really no problem half throwing myself off the train to help you, and my summer was fine, thanks for asking."
Lily pulled back with a grin. "Yes, yes, thank you Sirius. Why, wait a minute, yes, I do believe I said that before, but someone decided I was speaking only to him," she said, glancing playfully at James.
She said hi to Remus and Wormtail, waved, and left to find her friends.
James was still laying on the floor, propped up on one elbow. The cocky grin was gone, replaced by a silly, loopy smile that always scared the others. They glanced at him, then left laying him there. After a minute, James looked around and realized he was alone. He saw his friends a few yards away, and picking himself up, called out, "Hey! That's not very nice. You just walk away and leave me here! You know what?"
"What, Prongs?" Remus called back tiredly.
"I think I forgot how pretty she was over the summer."
Three sets of hands all reached out to slap him at the same time.
"Hey!" he shouted.
\/p>