Second chapter! I'm suffering a serious bout of writer's block at the moment, so cut me some slack for this chapter :)


"JAMES POTTER!" Sirius yelled. "GET UP, YOU ARSE!"

"Okay, okay." And twenty minutes later, four very sullen, tired boys were walking into the Great Hall for breakfast.

James caught a glimpse of fire in the corner of his eye and immediately turned to look at the flame. "Oh," was all he said. It wasn't a fire. It was just the Evans girl's hair. He watched her talk animatedly to Marlene and Mary. He watched her giggle. And then he fell flat on the ground.

"Mate," Remus said, "do you mind? Those girls are laughing at you." James stood and glanced over at the girls. Alice wasn't looking, but the other three were laughing. Lily had her hand over mouth and looked mildly amused.

James mentally hit himself.

"Okay," he grumbled. "Let's go." Sirius rolled his eyes and pulled out a chair.

"Hey, Evans!" he yelled loudly. Lily turned halfway and raised an eyebrow at him. James looked on, intrigued.

"Yes, Black?" A small, unfamiliar feeling surged within James's chest. Had they met already? "What do you want?"

"Are you even mildly interested in being my girlfriend?" James choked on his water, coughing loudly. Remus patted his back.

"You must be kidding, Black." Lily was no longer facing Sirius, her fiery hair talking to him instead. "No, thank you."

"Oh, all right then." Sirius shrugged, seeming mildly disappointed. "First girl to turn me down." He turned to his food, but James's eyes remained fixed to the stubborn girl with the flaming hair. He felt a sudden desire to be with her, a sudden determination that he would get her to date him. Maybe it was a mere infatuation, but it was now, and he wanted it.

"What are you looking at?" Remus said, following his friend's gaze. "Oh. Please tell me you don't fancy Lily. You've got your work cut out for you, mate."

"What do you mean?" Remus only smiled slightly.

"Nothing." Frowning, James went back to his breakfast, but he couldn't help but keep stealing glances at Lily. She had the greenest eyes he'd even seen, perfectly almond - shaped, and her hair… Merlin, he wanted to run his hands through those tendrils. He wanted her to look at him the same way he looked at her. But he knew, watching the way she went about her life, that it was near impossible. Lily Evans was one of those girls who wouldn't let you get to her.

"Which one of you is James Potter?" A high-pitched voice squealed. James glanced up at a slim, curvy blonde girl with wide blue eyes. He raised his hand indifferently.

"Me," he said, shoving a piece of waffle in his mouth. "What do you want?"

"Oh, nothing," she said, "just wondering if you're free sometime this week. I thought maybe we could -"

"Yeah, no," he told her. "I think you're more Sirius's type." The girl flounced over to Sirius, flashing him a bright smile. James rolled his eyes and tuned out of their conversation.

"Yeah, definitely my type," Sirius said as the girl sashayed away. "I like blonde girls."

"James only likes redheads," Remus piped up.

"Is that so? My, my. Only eleven years old and you've got your sights set on a girl. Which one, then?" Sirius scanned the room, now full of hungry students. "Merlin, there are a lot of redheads. They tend to have quite the temper, like Evans over there. Oh, Merlin. She's glaring at me. Why do I feel like I've done something wrong already?"

"Sirius," Remus said, mouth half full of food, "I don't think she likes you lot very much."

"What, and she's all right with you?"

"Well," Remus looked sideways at James, "we're friends, I guess. After that whole thing on the train, I wouldn't think she warmed up to you. Also, in case you've forgotten, she ran away from us when we first met her."

"That was her?" It seemed impossible to James that the confident, strong girl he saw now was the same one that had fled the compartment earlier.

"Yeah. She told me." Remus's cheeks flushed pink again. "Lily kind of hates you, Sirius."

"What about me? I don't think any girl can resist the Potter charm."

"Eh, well, she doesn't really have an opinion on you," Remus said. "She thinks of you as Sirius's sidekick." James snorted. A sidekick? He attracted girls like a flower attracts bees - and Sirius only got the leftovers. Take the blonde girl as an example.

"Hey, here comes McGonagall with our schedules." A stern - looking woman swooped down on them with paper. James grabbed his.

"Sirius, mate, I think we've got the same classes!"

"I think all four of us got the same classes, James, you thick - headed idiot. We're all first years in the same House." Remus rolled his eyes as James dismissed him.

"I knew that. I was hoping we'd all be in the same ones. Wait," he said, looking down the table at the girls, "so McKinnon is in all of our classes, too?" Sirius's eyes widened, then he brought his head down on the table.

"Noooooooo," he moaned. "Not McKinnon, for Merlin's sake."

"You already know Marlene?" Remus asked, surprised. James snorted.

"She lives across from me, and Sirius knows her from those stupid pureblood family parties those nasty Slytherins hold. I can't stand her, personally, but she can be nice to have around sometimes."

"Nasty Slytherins indeed." Sirius raised his head. "My whole family have been Slytherins. Pureblooded gits, they all are. Abusive people. I hate them, all of them."

"Um, Sirius?" James tapped his friend's shoulder. "We have to go."

"Yeah. Come on." Sirius rose, striding out of the Great Hall. Was he crying? It was hard to tell. His gray eyes shone usually, so one couldn't tell when tears welled up in his eyes. Besides, James knew that Sirius wasn't one to cry. James sighed, crumpling his paper - then thinking better of it, rolled it up and stuffed it in his bag.

"Get a move on, Potter." Marlene kicked James's ankle and he stumbled forward.

"Not nice," he said, frowning. "Be nice."

"You know, Mar, he's right," a melodious voice said. Lily emerged from behind Marlene. "You could have just asked."

"Yeah, but Potter's an arrogant, stuck up, snobbish prat, so asking doesn't work."

"Potter?" James looked down at Lily, who was half-smiling. "Could you move? We kind of have to, you know, get to class. As do you. So."

"Yeah, sure." James shuffled to the right as the girls filed out. Watching them exit, he was emboldened by something, some strange adrenaline. "Hey, wait!" he called out. The girls turned around, looking exasperated. "Evans… will you go out with me?" Lily's gaze turned cold as her mouth twisted into a sneer.

"First day of classes, and all you can think of is girls? If you really need someone that bad, ask one of those mindless pigs over there. I'm not that stupid, Potter." And she turned and walked away. A low whistle sounded from behind him.

"Bad move, mate, bad move." Remus shook his head. "First day of classes? Really? You couldn't have waited, gotten to know her better? You're an idiot."

"Yeah, I know." James rubbed his eyes. "I think I've screwed up enough for the rest of the year."