Summary: James has a guilty little secret that he keeps to himself…but he ends up telling Lily. Could it bring the two completely different people closer together?


"James!"

No reply. His eyes were firmly fixed on the pages, a finger idly tracing the text he was currently reading.

She sighed and rolled her eyes. "James!"

He ignored her yet again.

Lily decided to try a different tactic. She'd heard what the throngs of his admiring fans called him. Though they thought the nickname was cute and endearing, she'd overheard him complaining about how he didn't like it, claiming it sounded too juvenile.

"Oh Jamesiee," she trilled.

One James Potter fell out of his chair.

"Don't call me that!" he winced and crawled into a sitting position, rubbing his side.

"I don't hear you telling your adoring female fans that," Lily said, grinning. "And plus, it's your fault for hijacking my poor book while I was away. I hope you didn't lose my page, or else I might just have to start over at the beginning."

"No, no, no, your spot's still safe and sound!" James quickly flipped to where Lily's bookmark lay snugly between the pages. "So what's this other book you've got to show me?"

"Well…it's a fairly popular book among Muggles. Here, take a look." She handed him a copy of the first book in the Ranger's Apprentice series, The Ruins of Gorlan.

"It doesn't look very interesting, but I'll read it while you're finishing up Tales of Beedle the Bard," James replied.

"Just try reading it! Who knows, you might like it," Lily said. "It's the first of a ten-book series."

"At the pace that you're reading at, maybe I'll finish the entire series by the time I get to read more of Beedle." James groaned, but opened the book.

A few seconds later, he was completely absorbed. Lily smiled. That should keep him occupied for a while. She turned back to Tales of Beedle the Bard, and continued her reading.

The next few days passed in a blur. Lily still had trouble believing that James Potter, Quidditch Star and the King of Popular, was staying at her house every day and, of all things, reading books. She had always operated under the assumption that the only book he had ever read was Quidditch through the Ages.

"Why don't you just bring it home and read it there?" she asked one day. "I mean, it's not like we're talking or anything."
James turned and looked at her with wide eyes. "Why, am I annoying you?"

"No, not at all," she replied. "Just wondering."

"Well, it's nice to have company, even though we're both kind of doing our own thing. Plus, your mom feeds me." He smirked and picked up another cookie from the now empty platter. Biting into the cookie, he closed his eyes to exaggerate his enjoyment. "Mmm, sugar cookies. My favorite."

Lily sniffed. "Hm, funny coincidence, that. Sugar cookies also happen to be my favorite snack," she teased.

"Oomph," James spluttered through a mouthful of cookie. "Amph shorry!" Swallowing, he proffered the other half of the cookie to Lily. "You can have the rest if you want?" he asked her hopefully.

Lily giggled. "Nah, I was kidding. There's plenty more in the pantry, it's all yours."

James rolled his eyes. "Sheesh woman, you almost made me choke!"

"Pfft...that would've been a funny tombstone for you then. 'James Potter, Star Quidditch Chaser. Death by Cookie'," Lily dictated.

"Hey, just 'cause I'm famous for Quidditch doesn't mean that's the only thing I'm good at," James said.

"Oh, right. Underneath the Star Quidditch Chaser there would be another line reading, 'Filch's Worst Enemy'," she added.

James laughed out loud. "Right, Sirius and I really know how to push poor old Filch's buttons. But avoiding that cat is a bit more difficult than you would think."

He set the book down and looked at her seriously now. "Hey, you should come over to my house sometime. I realized I'm always crashing yours, and that you don't even know where I live yet! I'm just two blocks down the road, it's the house with the green mailbox. You should stop by sometime!"

"Haha, maybe I will," Lily replied, not sure whether or not she was serious. "Then you'll get to see how it feels when somebody pigs out on yourfavorite cookies!"

He tousled his hair sheepishly. "Yeah, I guess I had that coming."

When he left that day, Lily realized with disbelief that she was actually sorry to see him go. The next morning, she was surprised to find that right before the time he usually got to her house, her heart began to beat a little faster.

"He won't be coming," she said aloud. He'd told her earlier the other day that today he would be flooing to a friend's house to practice Quidditch for a bit. Still, reason and logic did nothing to slow her rapidly beating heart. Lily resolved to sit down and iron out her feelings for James Potter, once and for all.


A/N: First update in ages! Realized this doesn't really follow the later books...ah well :P Also yay, I love Ranger's Apprentice :D