Chapter 3: The Mind of a Red Head

Lily Evans was not the type of love sick girl who spent weeks at a time moaning after some stupid boy who had no more to recommend him than his looks. In fact, Lily could never remember a time when she had ever had any emotion whatsoever towards someone of the male species. (Lily felt boys were so stupid that they didn't deserve to be classed with herself and her friends.)

I mean, there are rare exceptions to the 'boys are stupid' rule, Professor Slughorn, Professor Dumbledore, her father… But these were all individuals who had used their brains to get ahead in the world, not their looks. With such a pessimistic attitude towards boys in general it is little wonder that Lily Evans had never found herself with a crush, no matter how insignificant of a crush it was, on a boy. She had much better uses for her time.

Like planning another prefect's meeting with James.

It was odd how much James had changed since last year. Then his sole ambition had been to act cocky and attempt to get her attention so that he could ask her out again. Like she would ever have dated a boy who was so sure of himself that even when she had turned him down countless times he still thought that one day she would say yes. The nerve…

But that was then. This James was a completely different person. And it wasn't just that he was acting different around her either. The other day she had heard him tell off Sirius for laughing at a poor third year who had accidentally given herself a pair of gigantic wings in place of her arms. Of course, James didn't know she had heard. He was too busy helping the poor girl get her arms back to notice that Lily was standing around the corner listening the whole time.

Lily had also recently discovered that James could understand things that no one else could. Shannyn was still her best friend, and she loved her dearly, but she was an only child from an old wizarding family and she just couldn't understand the problems associated with having an older Muggle sister who couldn't stand the sight of her. James did, though. Even though he came from the same type of family as Shann he seemed to understand what Lily had to deal with. He said it was because he had had to watch Sirius deal with similar issues in his own family that he understood how hard it was.

And then there was the fact that Lily, coming from a background of absolutely no magic, had very little idea as to what she should do with her life, what any witch or wizard did with their life. And that was a scary thought. James seemed to feel for her. Of course, he didn't really need to do anything with his life. He had never told her, but she had dug around on her own and she knew that his family was so wealthy that he never had to work a day in his life and he would still leave a fortune behind. But he still wanted to do something with his life, to make a difference in the world, not matter how small that difference was.

It was comforting to have someone to talk to, really. They could talk about anything. He had even spent an entire week attempting to explain to her how Quidditch works. A hopeless cause, but sweet nonetheless.

Lily stopped dead in the middle of her musings, she had just called James Potter 'sweet'. James, of all people, was not sweet. How could she even think that? What was wrong with her?

Then a small little voice started up in the back of her head. He is sweet to you. And you like it.

I do not!!!! Screamed an irate red head, throwing her pillow across the room and causing the other occupants to stare at her and wonder what kind of messed up potion she had taken that day.

Lily ran up the dormitory steps and threw herself into her bed. She curled up in a tight ball with the mantra I do not… I do not…running through her head until she fell asleep.

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It was a good thing that it was Saturday morning, for Lily didn't wake up until nearly noon. She hadn't fallen asleep until nearly 2 in the morning because she had been so frustrated with herself. First because she was thinking about James, then because she was mad that she was thinking about James, then because she was mad that she was mad that she was thinking about James. It had been a very vicious cycle of thoughts.

She groggily rubbed her eyes and lay in bed, watching the clouds drift across the sky outside, trying to avoid thinking about anything at all.

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James had been sitting cross-legged in front of the entrance to the girl's dormitory all morning, waiting for Lily to come down. About ten in the morning Shannyn had found him thus on her way to breakfast and had given him a fierce stare.

"What are you doing here, Potter?" He glanced hastily around the room to assure himself that Sirius was no where to be found before responding.

"Waiting for Lily. We were supposed to have … uh… a planning meeting this morning, but she never showed. I just got worried about her is all." Shannyn stared at him, trying to unravel his feelings for her friend, and trying to decide if she thought he was quite good enough for Lily. "Is, um, is Lily okay?" Deep within his eyes there was a hint of worry which he was trying desperately to repress. Maybe he really did care for Lily.

"I'm not sure. She had a really rough night and isn't awake yet. But she seems to be sleeping peacefully now, so I'm sure she'll be okay."

"Oh… thanks" he whispered absentmindedly. Shannyn waited for a few minutes, to see if he would saying anything else, but he seemed to be lost inside his own head so she gave it up and went out to find Sirius. They definitely needed to help those two along.

James sat staring up the stairs for several minutes. He was sure she was okay, but he had seen her run up the stairs last night in a fit of anxiety or anger or something, and he was worried. Then a slight smile broke across his face. With a wild look in his eye he pelted up the stairs to his own room and pulled a silken cloak out of his trunk. Glancing around to make sure he wasn't seen, James ducked under the cloak and disappeared. But a keen observer might have heard something fly out the window and around to the window of the girls' room, then slip quietly in the room. He didn't take the cloak off once he was standing by Lily's bedside in case she woke up and saw him there, but he took out his wand, and staring at her beautiful hair cascading all over her pillow he conjured a large red daisy, which he then left on her bed.

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Lily rolled over to get grudgingly out of bed and gasped. There on her bed was a perfect red daisy, the large Gerber daisy that she had only ever seen pictures of her. She gently picked it up, and discovered that underneath it lay a tiny slip of paper.

Sometimes, when things get to be too much, you have to find a way to get away.

Beneath the words there was scrawled a map with a few words of instructions on how to open a door.

Curiously, Lily wrapped a warm blanket around her, threw her hair up into a messy bun, and followed the instructions that had been left for her. They led her to an empty hallway in the seventh floor with a picture of a strange assortment of trolls in tutus. She then followed the rather odd instructions, and walked up and down the hallway, three times, with her eyes tightly shut and her mind repeating I need to find my surprise. By the third turn Lily thought for sure she was being pranked, but when she opened her eyes an exquisite door had appeared in the previously blank wall. Rather astonished, she pulled it open and stepped inside, and her mouth dropped open in shock.

She had stepped into a miniature replica of her own bedroom back home. There was even an exact copy of her favorite chair with the blanket her mother had made her when she was 10 draped across it. A roaring fire had been lit in the small fireplace, a tray of hot chocolate and all of her favorite sweets sat next to the chair, and in front of the chair was a rather odd looking contraption that vaguely resembled a Muggle telly.

Lily walked across to the chair and found a note waiting for her.

Lily- I don't know what is wrong, but I don't like to see my friends upset, so I hope this helps a little bit. Regular tellys won't work around Hogwarts, but I rigged something up anyways so that you could have the pleasure of this little surprise. You told me once that your favorite way to calm down after a horrible day was to curl up in your chair with your blanket and watch an old movie called "Gone with the Wind." So I hope you enjoy your afternoon. No one will bug you in here, this room will only let you in right now, so don't worry about being interrupted.

James

In utter shock Lily collapsed onto the chair, and as she did the makeshift television started up on its own and begin playing the opening credits for "Gone with the Wind." She didn't know how he had done it, but he had actually managed to find a way to play a Muggle movie in the middle of Hogwarts. And he had done so for her.

That clenched it. Lily Evans was in love with James Potter, and there was absolutely no way she could deny it now. Thus instead she did a far more sensible thing and curled up with her blanket to watch her favorite movie with a large mug of hot chocolate.

A/N: RandomObsessivePsychoFangirl, I love gerber daisies, they are my favorite flowers. And they have some that are blood red. So I made them Lily's favorite flower as well. I had the idea that James had cornered Shannyn and asked what Lily's favorite flower was, that way he could get one for her.