Author's Note:*eep* chapter 9! Woot! Never thought it'd get this far! Hope you like it!
BIG BIG BIG apologies though!!! I'm SOOOO sorry it's taken me so long to get this out! I started it RIGHT after chapter eight, but I got writer's block about halfway through, and then life took a very big turn. Currently I've got relatives staying at my house, but I managed to get this out! I don't think this is my best work though... Anyway, PLEASE enjoy!
R&R please!
I now return you to your regularly scheduled fanfic!:
Chapter Nine: "Perfect Potter"
Lily was absolutely disgusted. How could this have happened? How could she have let her grades in Transfiguration slip so much that Potter had to be her tutor?
It was after dinner, and Lily was standing in front of her full-length mirror. She put finishing touches on her makeup, and picked up her brush to do something about her hair.
"Lily, you're going to be late," Ananda told her. She stood up and took the brush out of Lily's hand. "You look fine. What, are you worried that he'll tease you about your looks?" Lily stared at her in the mirror.
"No..." she said. "To tell you the truth, I'm not really sure why I'm doing this. I mean, it's not like I'm going to show him anything by being pretty, right?" Ananda gave her a weird look, and she whirled around. "What's that for?"
"I think you're starting to fancy Potter." Lily's eyes widened.
"What?!" she screeched. "Fancy Potter? Are you insane?!"
"Fine. Never mind. Don't listen." Ananda threw up her hands and flopped down on her bed. Lily gave her a last glare and turned back to the mirror.
~ * ~
James felt triumphant. Maybe Lily had managed to play a few tricks. So what? This was an even better trick. Her grades might have been slipping, but he had managed to trick McGonagall into making him her tutor. It had been quite easy after all. He had caught the professor in her office after class two weeks prior to that day, and he remembered it all perfectly...
"Yes, Potter?" Professor McGonagall looked up from the papers she was grading. "Is this about the article in Transfiguration Today? If it is, don't worry about it. It is not supposed to come out for another couple of weeks."
"Er, no Professor," James told her. "It's about Lily Evans." McGonagall stared at him.
"Potter, if you fancy her," she started, "there's really nothing-"
"No!" he had burst out. "I mean... Well, you see Professor, her marks in Transfiguration have been slipping, as you can see, and I was wondering if you might appoint her a tutor."
"A tutor?" McGonagall looked surprised. "Well... I suppose I could..."
"Please?" James looked at her, and gave her his trademark 'innocent' look. "I know she studies hard, but I just don't think she understands it, really. If she had a tutor, maybe her marks would improve?"
"I'm still not sure that's such a good idea." McGonagall still looked doubtful.
"But," James said, jumping in with his perfect plan, "I know that house members are supposed to help each other out. I also know that Lily's too proud to actually come out and ask for help from someone with excellent grades."
"I will tell you what, Potter," McGonagall said, looking as though she would finally break down. "I cannot just do what a student tells me to. So," she continued, as James opened his mouth, "I will give her two weeks more to see how her grades come along. If they go downhill, I will appoint you as her tutor. Does that sound fair?"
James nodded, supressing a large grin that threatened to break. "Thank you, ma'am," he told her, as he turned towards the door. He couldn't wait to see how this turned out.
...And now he had. What a wonderful day. Lily Evans' life was going to be turned upside-down.
He had explained this all to Sirius, Peter, and Remus, but they had all rolled their eyes and accused him of fancying Lily. They had been ridiculous accusations, obviously, because there was no way James would ever fall in love with Lily Evans, but that was okay. He would show them a thing or two, and get back at Lily on the way.
~ * ~
Lily grabbed her books from her trunk, and swept down the stairs and out the portrait hole. She was due to meet James in the library in five minutes, and she didn't want to be late. That would just give Potter another thing to have up on her.
She was had just opened the door to the library when Professor McGonagall came bustling out, knocking into her and scattering her books all over the floor.
"Oh, dear me Miss Evans, I'm terribly sorry," apologized the professor. James stood behind the professor and smirked, as she bent down to pick up the books. She handed a small stack of them to Lily before saying, "I'm so sorry Lily, but I must run off to see to a couple of detentions." She glanced sternly at James, then looked back at Lily. "I was just giving Mr. Potter here a couple of notes for things he should go over with you." She turned to James. "Please help Miss Evans pick up her books, and I will see you both tomorrow." She nodded politely at them both and hurried off.
James smiled, picked up two of the books and handed them to Lily. "Hmph," Lily grumbled, but she grabbed the books anyway. As she bent down to pick up the rest, James did too. Her stomach boiled, and as she reached to pick up the latest copy of Transfiguration Today, her head knocked against something.
She looked up, rubbing the spot that had been hit, to find herself staring straight into the dark brown eyes of James! Her stomach gave a funny lurch, and she stood up wanting to scream. Instead, she stomped her foot and walked into the library by herself.
~ * ~
James put a hand up to where he had knocked heads with Lily. He was positive that there had been a lightening shock of some sort. His heart felt like it stopped for a second, and he was sure that Lily had felt it, too.
He watched Lily walk off, before grabbing the last book and following her. She walked until she came to a secluded table in the back corner of the library, where she sat down. He put her book on the table, and sat down across from her. She stared at him expectantly.
"Well?" she asked. "What are we here for?" The question took James by surprise, and he realized he hadn't prepared anything.
"Um..." He paused. "Well, I guess..." Lily rolled her eyes and sat back in her chair. "We'll start with what your latest marks were, and work from there." She nodded and pulled out a paper.
The rest of their first tutoring session went well. Lily managed to turn some butter into jam, although neither of them dared to taste it, and she was pretty sure she had a good idea of what Transfiguration was all about.
James, however, was confused. During the whole session, his mind kept trailing back to when they had bumped heads. What happened? he wondered. I'm sure that Mum explained something like this to me last year, when I confessed that I thought a Ravenclaw girl was pretty. But Lily isn't pretty, she's just exceedingly fun to tease, and I love the look in her eyes when she gets furious. It's so easy to just sit there and stare into them when she was mad, before she walked off, and... But no! This can't be happening! I'm getting all mushy now...
What's going on?
~ * ~
Lily, meanwhile, was quite sure what had happened. Pure hatred, that's what. But... When her stomach lurched, and all she wanted to do was scream or cry or something, what happened then! When she had looked up, she realized how beautiful his eyes were. But, no, she was just being stupid. A great prat like James couldn't be handsome! Still, she couldn't help but wonder why she had felt the way she did.
~ * ~
That night at supper, James kept looking in Lily's direction.
"James, are you okay?" Remus asked. "You keep looking over th-" He stopped and his eyes widened. "James! Are you staring at... Lily!" Sirius looked up at Lily, then at James.
"It's okay Remus, trust me," he said. "James is probably just coming up with some new pranks to play. Right James?" He just shrugged, not looking away. He was still pondering what had happened, and didn't want to be disturbed too much. He couldn't tell his friends though, they'd never understand. Remus and Sirius had both taken girls to Hogsmeade a couple of times, but he didn't think it was anything like this.
Peter stared at James for a minute, before waving his hand in front of his face. "Hello? Earth to James. We still haven't come up with a solution for Moony here," he pointed to Remus. James blinked and stared at him for a minute, before laughing.
"Moony?" he asked. "I like it. What do you think Remus?"
Remus grinned. "Sure, why not. By the way, I think I've figured out something to make it easier to use the Marauder's Map, we just have to try it out..."
