Disclaimer: Nothing's mine. I wish it were, but Merlin knows I'm not JKR. And as always, innumerable thanks to my Beta, Lady Panthea. Couldn't do it without your help!

.o.O.o.

Book One

- TEN -

.

…The fortuitous appearance of an unknown group of wizards at the –shire attack last evening bought the aurors the minutes needed in order to arrive at the scene. With the combined force of the auror department and the unknown organization, the Death Eaters were beaten back and forced to flee into the night.

Although none the –shire residents managed to escape unscathed, there were thankfully no deaths. A few residents were injured badly enough to require admittance to St. Mungo's, but the majority were tended to at the scene…

~ Excerpt from an article in the Daily Prophet

.

LILY

I hate James Potter.

I hate him, hate him, completely and utterly hate him.

How I could ever have been worried for his health and safety, I don't know. It must have been a moment of insanity.

I'm utterly furious as I storm out of Defence Against the Dark Arts and Alice has to run to catch up with me.

"Breathe," she says, matching my pace. "Come on, Lily. Just breathe."

"I'll kill him," I growl.

Alice raises an eyebrow. "For being good at Defence?"

"For being a complete bastard and a show-off."

"And getting rewarded for it," Alice says quietly, and I stop walking to stare at her. She raises an eyebrow. "Well, that is what's really pissing you off, isn't it? Not only that he completely and utterly bested you in that duel, but that Spalding gave him forty points for it."

I clench my jaw and push my hair out of my face. "It's bloody favouritism," I spit, and resume walking.

"Something that you never take issue with when you're the favourite."

"What's your problem, Alice?"

She rolls her eyes. "You. You can't stand the thought that James Potter might actually be smart."

"He's not," I grind out.

Alice raises an eyebrow. "No, he is. He helped you through the Transfiguration exam, he's as good as you at Charms when he tries, and now he's proved he's brilliant at duelling and Defence Against the Dark Arts. And it's hardly a surprise considering his parents."

I glare at my friend. "Again, what's your point?"

Alice sighs and grabs my arm, forcing me to stop walking and face her. "You can't pretend you're above all these prejudices if you're going to insist on being prejudiced against members of your own house. It's hypocritical."

I see Hestia Jones passing by with September Hines, one of the other Gryffindor girls in our year. Hestia catches my eye and opens her mouth as though she wants to say something, but shuts it instead, letting her eyes fall to the floor. I frown at the oddness of it – Hestia and I rarely talk – but let it go.

"I'm not prejudiced," I say, bringing my attention back to Alice.

"Then admit that James Potter is smart."

"But he isn't," I insist, jerking my arm from Alice's grip and resuming my path towards the grounds.

Alice lets out an exasperated groan and runs to catch up with me again. "Then what, you let him win today?"

"He got lucky."

"Yes," Alice says sarcastically. "He's fresh out of the hospital, broken and bruised, and on top of that, just so absolutely lucky that he caught you on an off day and was able to beat all the odds and best you in Defence. You know," she insists, "considering who his parents are, that's about as believable as saying he and Snape are in a secret gay relationship."

I fake a gasp. "They are?"

Alice gives me an exasperated glare. "Come on, Lily. I thought we were making progress!"

"With what?"

"With you agreeing Potter was decent. You told me last term that-"

"I believe," I say, hurriedly interrupting, "that what I said last term was conditional upon a complete overhaul of his entire personality. And I haven't seen that happen. In fact, it looks like he's gotten worse."

Alice sighs, but finally drops it as Mary meets us on her way down from Divination. "You will never guess what the tea leaves said!" she exclaims, falling into step on the other side of Alice. Alice laughs, and even I allow my glower to crack into a smile.

Mary keeps chatting away about this year's predictions, about how she saw Potter saving Sev and she'll get pregnant before 7th year starts. "Which is completely ridiculous," she giggles. "I'm not called the Virgin Mary for nothing."

"Well, technically that's exactly why you're called the Virgin Mary," Alice smirks. Mary lets out a long-suffering sigh and shakes her head. We're just passing through entrance hall when I hear someone call my name. I turn in its direction to see Lachlan Tighe making his way towards me.

Mary squeaks and Alice drags her away, calling, "We'll be at the usual tree."

I'm intensely aware of all the stares from students passing by as Lachlan stops in front me, grinning widely and flipping a card of heavy parchment between his fingers. "Hey, Evans. Did you get one?" I frown at it for a second before I recognize it. With a smile, I reach into my bag and pull out the envelope that Slughorn had slipped to me at the end of class earlier. I hold it up, and Lachlan grins. "Back in the Slug Club!"

I smile. "Do you know who else got one?"

"Well, Phyllis Carmondy, the Ravenclaw prefect in my year, got one, but I think that's it from the seventh years. Most of the club is your year and fifth." He smiles ruefully and a dimple forms in one cheek. "I think he's already weeded out the hopeless cases in our group."

"I suppose you're glad to make the cut."

"Well, it certainly is an honour. Ol' Sluggy seems to think I could make Minister someday."

My eyebrows shoot up in surprise. "Do you want to be Minister?"

"I think I'd rather be a teacher," he says, laughing. "But I'm not about to tell that to Slughorn. It's nice to have someone believe so fully in your future, you know? And Merlin knows that's the only reason I'm in the club."

"I wouldn't be so sure. You are Head Boy after all."

"But Lorna's Head Girl, and she didn't make it," Lachlan points out.

"Fair point."

Lachlan swings an arm over my shoulder as we start to walk out onto the grounds. A stupidly happy bubble forms in my chest when I realise that my head only comes up to about his shoulder. I've always loved tall boys. No idea why. "You know," Lachlan says casually, "you never congratulated me."

I raise an eyebrow. "On what?"

"On being Head Boy," he pouts.

I laugh. "Congratulations, Tighe. It's amazing."

"Thanks. I thought so," he says with false arrogance. "You know," he continues with that exaggeratedly entitled tone, "if this relationship is going to work, I'll expect compliments every day."

My heart gives an out-of-sync thump. "Relationship?"

Lachlan looks down at me with a light frown, dropping the jokes. "I never asked you to be my girlfriend, did I?"

I swear my eyes go as wide as saucers and I can feel my pulse pounding in my ears. "Girlfriend?" I squeak.

Lachlan grins and takes his arm off my shoulder so he can hold both my hands. Standing in front of me, he drops down to one knee. I glance around quickly. We're in the middle of the lawn in front of the school. There are students everywhere. Mary and Alice have claimed our tree by the Black Lake, and a few trees over, Lupin and Pettigrew are sitting on a blanket with a heap of food. And everyone is staring at us.

I look back at Lachlan to see him staring up at me with wide, earnest eyes. "Lily Evans, will you do me the great honour of being my girlfriend?"

I'm very tempted to ask if he's joking. How can Lachlan Tighe want me to be his girlfriend? How is it at all possible that the first boy to ask me out (Potter doesn't count) is the most popular, nicest, well-liked, most attractive, smartest boy in school? Without consciously deciding to, I feel myself nodding and grinning like a lunatic, my heart soaring and a weird happy haze settling over my senses as Lachlan gets to his feet, takes my face in his hands, and kisses me gently.

My first.

Lachlan lurches as someone bumps into him, and when we pull apart, I see two black-haired heads making their way towards the lake.

Typical.

Just typical.

.

JAMES

My stomach is somewhere in my shoes, and my head is floating as a disconnected feeling takes over my senses. I can't help it. I knock shoulders with Tighe when we pass by.

I hear a grunt as we connect, but Sirius is already propelling me towards Remus and Peter, muttering calming things in my ear. None of which I actually register.

Every molecule in my body is aching to turn around and clock Tighe on the jaw, but with Sirius's bruising grip on my arm, that's hardly possible.

"Let me go," I hiss as we finally reach the picnic blanket. Remus is on his feet and glancing worriedly between me and where Tighe is, undoubtedly, shoving his tongue down Evans's throat.

"Sit," Sirius says firmly, shoving me to the ground. I refuse to bend my knees and end up sprawled across the blanket. Sirius shrugs. "Suit yourself," he mutters, resuming the place he had been in before.

I push myself to sitting and my expression must be murderous, because Peter takes a hold of my shoulder. "Breathe," he says in my ear. "You have to breathe, James."

"I'll kill him."

"And what good will that do?" Remus asks earnestly. "I probably shouldn't say this, but she was never too keen on your constant attention before. I'm sure you attacking her new boyfriend will hardly make things better."

"He's got a fair point," Peter says when I growl.

"And we've got bigger things to worry about," Sirius says, picking up a biscuit only to start turning it into crumbles.

"Like what?" I grind out.

"Like the fact that I'm homeless." That gets my attention. I stop trying to get away from Remus and sit quietly. After a moment, Peter lets go and sits down, and Remus follows suite.

"Talk."

.

LILY

Mary is staring at me with badly concealed excitement, but Alice is frowning slightly.

"So he just asked you to go out with him? Just like that?" she asks, for what feels like the twentieth time.

I'm starting to get annoyed. "Why is it so hard to believe that Lachlan might like me?"

Alice raises an eyebrow. "It's not. I just think his timing's weird, that's all. I mean, you go out twice before school, and then since Monday – nothing. Until today, when Slughorn hands out invitations to his private little club. And you don't think it's weird he did it in such a public way?"

"Why can't you just be happy for me?" I complain.

Alice sighs. "I am happy; I just think you should be careful is all."

"You're the oddest person. You want me to go out with James Potter, the person at this school who could be considered the most dangerous to a girl's health, and you're cautioning me against dating Lachlan Tighe, the school's golden angel who does no wrong?"

"Exactly! Never trust a perfect person. At least Potter wears his flaws out in the open."

"James Potter is made of flaws," I say contemptuously.

Alice opens her mouth to respond, but Mary digs an elbow into her side. "Would you let it drop, already? The girl's never had a boyfriend until now, and he's the most sought-after boy in Hogwarts. I think this calls for a little celebration!"

Alice is still glowering, but she finally lets it drop.

.o.O.o.

A/N: If you have a second to type an adjective (such as cute, awful, decent, entertaining, etc.) into the review box and then click the Post Review button, I would be eternally grateful! And sorry it's short!

Timmins