Same, But Different

"Ugh!" Lily groaned into Rory's pillow. "He makes me so mad!"

She punched her fist into the pillow and sighed. She missed sleeping in the Girls' Dorm with Sarah and Rory. They were her best friends, and she did everything with them. They would stay up late talking about which boy they thought had the fittest body (during which Rory would always say Sirius, Sarah would say Remus, and Lily would remain very quiet when a certain other Marauder was mentioned). They would also discuss school, food, shoes, clothes, their families, and pretty much everything else. Lily longed to return to the Seventh Year Girls' Dorm and be with her friends again. But no. She was now living with a boy. But not just any boy. James Bloody Potter.

"Who makes you so mad?" Sarah asked.

"Who else?" Rory answered her.

"Oh right," Sarah realized.

"Potter," they both muttered.

"What did the 'arrogant prick' do this time?" Rory asked, sighing at the amount of times they had had this conversation. Lily rolled onto her back, still lying on Rory's bed. She was silent for a few moments, trying to collect her thoughts. Sarah gazed at her curiously, while Rory merely looked amused.

"He…." Lily said, pausing for emphasis.

"He, what?" Sarah urged her.

"He asked me out. Again," Lily muttered.



"Wow! That's such a big deal!! Oh my god, Lily! Alert the media. I'll call up the Daily Prophet; you inform Witch's Weekly. James Potter asked out Lily Evans! Just think. He's only done that about a million times before!" Rory said with sarcasm. "I thought you were going to tell us something worth discussing like when he turned your hair blue in third year."

Lily grimaced at the memory. She had to walk around with blue hair for a whole week before she found the countercharm. It was horrible. She was a redhead, and she knew that her hair pretty much clashed with everything. But blue hair! That was just mean. Blue hair didn't go with anything. "I know it doesn't seem like that big of a deal. It's just that, well…."

"Well, what?" Sarah asked, hoping that Lily would continue.

"Okay," Lily said. "Two days ago, Potter and I went on our first patrol together. Well, something unexpected happened."

"What? Did you guys snog each other senseless in a broom closet? Rory asked.

"No!" Lily said in a scandalized voice. "Eww….mental images. Merlin, Rory. My mind is permanently scarred." Lily shook her head to try and erase the terrible thoughts from her mind. "No. We were not snogging in a broom closet. We actually didn't even patrol together. I had us split up. Anyway, back to my point."

Lily told Rory and Sarah about the incident with Lucious Malfoy. The entire event from being accused of being Potter's girlfriend to being saved by him.

"Why didn't you just disarm Malfoy in the first place?" Sarah asked once Lily was finished.

"I didn't have my wand with me," Lily explained, running her fingers through her red locks.

"Why not?" Sarah asked.

"I was so frustrated after Potter walked in on me in the bathroom that I must have--"

"Wait!" Rory cut Lily off. "James did what?"

"He kinda walked in on me after I took a shower," Lily gulped.

"Did he see anything?" Rory asked excitedly

"Rory!" Sarah exclaimed.

"What?" she responded. "I wanna know."

"No he did not," Lily said firmly. "I had a towel on."

"Thank Merlin," Sarah sighed.

"Shame," Rory added.

"What?" Lily asked incredulously.

"Well, you've got a great body, Lily," Rory said. "I'm sure James would have greatly enjoyed seeing it," she added with a suggestive wink.

Lily smacked Rory in the head with her pillow in response.

"No! Not my hair!" Rory shrieked, her hands frantically trying to calm her blonde hair.

"Can we please get back to the point, guys?" Sarah interrupted.



"Right," Rory replied. "Guys are the point. They are just so yummy with their strong tendony hands, deep mysterious eyes, chiseled abs, firm jaws, soft hair, mischievous smirks, nice asses--"

Lily coughed, and Rory stopped talking. "Aurora!" Lily scolded.

"Sorry. I guess I got a bit carried away there," Rory said with shifty grin.

"Why are you mad at James?" a disgruntled Sarah asked.

"I suppose after he sort of rescued me, I thought something had changed between us, I mean. I guess that was very stupid of me. Nothing ever really changes with that boy. We've never had a steady, er, relationship, I guess, but I thought maybe something was different. He saved me. I actually thought that maybe there was a way we could get along for once. Then he had to go and screw it all up by turning all testosterony and asking me out again," Lily huffed.

"It's okay, hun," Sarah replied soothingly. "I know he can be a bit of an idiot sometimes."

"A bit!" Rory snorted.

"Yes, a bit," Sarah continued. "But I think he genuinely likes you. Try to give him a chance to get on your good side. Don't snap at him for every little thing he does wrong. Give him a chance to explain first. Don't assume the worst of him all of the time. Don't snog other boys right in front of him just to irk him. You know how mad that makes him. Don't yell at him during every conversation. Don't mouth curse words at him during lessons. Don't punch him in the chest, stomach, nose, or groin. Don't slap him for staring at you. And above all, Lily, please stop not combing your hair, not putting on any make-up, or not wearing nice clothes just because you know he's going to be there. Let him show you what he's really like. I think he may just surprise you."

"All this lovely dovey crap is making me want to gag," Rory said.

"Lovely sentiment, Ror," Lily replied.



"Thanks, I know," she replied cheekily.

"Transfiguration starts in ten minutes," Sarah pointed out.

"I guess we better get going then," Rory sighed.

"Ugh!" James groaned into Sirius's pillow. "She makes me so mad!"

He punched his fist into the pillow and sighed. He had missed living with Sirius, Remus, and Peter in the Boys' Dorm. They were his best friends. They were the Marauders. No bond was quite as strong as theirs. They would spend all-nighters together talking about which girls had the biggest boobs or longest legs (Sirius had always longed for Rory and Remus only had eyes for Sarah. Peter liked this one pretty Hufflepuff Seventh Year girl. James, well, James liked Lily.) They would also discuss pranks, professors, girls, classes, animagi, girls, their monthly transformation activities, prank possibilities, girls, and why Severus Snape's underpants were that grayish color. James loved living with the Marauders. But now, he was living with a girl. But not just any girl. The lovely Lily Evans.

"Who makes you so mad?" Peter asked.

"Who else?" Remus answered him.

"Oh, yeah," Peter realized.



"Evans," Peter, Remus, and Sirius muttered simultaneously.

"What did the 'most beautiful girl in the whole world' do this time?" Sirius asked, sighing at the amount of times they had had to listen to James drone on for hours about Lily's innate Lilyness. James rolled onto his back, still lying on Sirius's bed. He stared at the ceiling for a few moments in order to figure out the best way to relay his feelings to his friends. Remus peered at him curiously, Peter watched worriedly, and Sirius looked like he was watching a good show and waiting for some popcorn.

"She…" James said, pausing.

"She, what?" Remus urged him to continue.

"She turned me down. Again," James said.

"Merlin! This is huge! Evans turned you down! I can't believe it! You asked out Lily Evans and she turned you down. I never thought that would happen! I've only witnessed it about a million times," Sirius said.

"Would you like a towel to dry up some of the sarcasm still dripping on your chin, Padfoot?" Peter asked.

"Haha," Sirius laughed. "Nice one, Wormtail. Anyways, Prongs, why are you surprised? You ask Evans out, she's says no. It's been the routine since like First Year. It's clockwork. I thought you had done something good like when you dyed Evans hair blue in Third Year."

James grimaced at the memory. He had wanted to try to charm Lily's shirt to say 'Potter's Property,' but he had screwed it up, and instead, he had turned her hair blue. After a week of blue hair, Lily was pretty pissed off. In revenge, she dyed James's hair pink, and it stayed like that for a whole month. "I know it's not anything earth shattering. It's just that, well, it seems so stupid now….."



"What?" Peter asked.

"Two days ago, Lily and I went on our first patrol together. I've already told you what happened, for the most part, that is. I did leave something very important out."

"I hope you used protection," Sirius said.

"Padfoot!" Remus squealed in a very manly way, of course.

"No. We did not shag, Padfoot," James corrected him. "Ahh, mental images. That would have been so nice." James shook his head to try to erase the wonderful images that had blossomed in his mind. "Unfortunately, no, we did not shag. We actually didn't even patrol together. She didn't want to patrol with me!"

James reiterated the tale about the night with Lily and Malfoy and how he saved her from the slimy git to the Marauders, including the crucial facts he had left out from their brief previous discussion. Then he told them about the morning after, the saving not the shagging. There was no shagging, again, unfortunately.

"What I don't understand is why Lily didn't just disarm Malfoy in the first place," Remus said.

"She didn't have her wand with her," James answered him, ruffling his hair with his fingers.

"Why not?" Peter asked.

"I suppose she must have forgotten after I walked in on her in the bathroom--"

"You what?" Sirius cut him off.



"I accidentally walked in on her after she took a shower," James muttered.

"Did you see anything?" Sirius asked.

"Padfoot!" Remus yelled.

"What?" he replied indignantly. "I wanna know."

"No, I didn't," James said sadly. "She had a towel on. It was a pretty short one, though," he added with a grin.

"Shame," Sirius said.

"What?" Remus asked.

"Well, I'm sure James would have greatly enjoyed seeing Lily in the nude. She, I am sure, has a great body. Nice legs on that girl. If I wasn't into Rory, James might have some competition," Sirius said jokingly.

James whacked Sirius in the back of the head.

"No! Not my gorgeous hair!" Sirius shrieked, hurriedly trying to fix his hair with his fingers.

"You're such a girl, Padfoot," Peter said.



"I think you've been spending a bit too much time with Rory," James laughed. "She seems to be rubbing off on you. Next thing we know you'll be shaving your legs and painting your nails."

"I have no problem with the fact that I care about my hair. I am very secure in my masculinity," Sirius said.

"What masculinity?" James taunted him.

"You obviously wouldn't know, Prongs," Sirius said, laughing. "You see, to be masculine you have to have balls, and judging by the way Evans still refuses you, you seem to lack in that area."

James tackled Sirius to the ground in a playful manner.

"Guys!" Remus interrupted them. "Can we please get back to the point here!"

"Sorry," they muttered.

"Why are you mad at Evans, James?" Peter asked.

"I guess after I sort of rescued her, I thought something had changed between us. I guess that was just stupid of me. Nothing will ever change between us. We've never been exactly close, I guess. But I saved her. I thought maybe there was an opportunity for us to be at least friends. But then I had to go fuck it all up by asking her out again," James huffed.

"It's okay, Prongs," Remus replied soothingly. "It's not your fault that you can be a bit of an idiot sometimes."

"A bit!" Sirius laughed.

"I know you like Lily, James," Remus said. "Try to make her pay attention to your good side. If you always act so prickish and arrogant around her, you'll just annoy her. She likes guys who notice her, but don't try to show off to get her attention. Lay off Snape, always be on time for patrols, don't attempt any, er, funny business, try to be a good Head Boy, and just be nice to her. 

And above all, stop asking her out! Show her what you are really like. If you do that, there's no way she won't like you back."

"That was so sweet, Moony," Sirius said, and it seemed he actually meant it.

James coughed something that sounded extremely similar to 'pouf.'

"Transfiguration starts in ten minutes," Peter pointed out.

"Anybody up for a game of Exploding Snap?" Sirius asked.

"That was the longest waste of time ever!" Sirius whined.

"I know!" James agreed. "Who would have thought that Minnie could rattle on about the dangers of being an illegal animagi for a whole hour-and-a-half?"

"You two do realize that we were twenty-five minutes late for Professor McGonagall's lecture," Remus said.

"Ugh!" Sirius groaned. "Imagine if we had actually been on time for class."

"The horror!" James gasped.

"How tragic!" Peter concurred.



"Ah, yes," Remus replied sarcastically. "It would be a monstrosity if we actually showed up to classes when we were supposed to."

"Oh, Moony," James said, putting his arm around Remus's shoulder in a friendly manner. "The Marauders are never late. Everyone else simply needs to get a life."

"Couldn't have put it better myself, Prongs," Sirius added.

"Thank you, Monsieur Padfoot," James replied.

"You are quite welcome, Monsieur Prongs," Sirius responded.

"James, when are Quidditch tryouts?" Peter asked.

"I'm going to have them this Saturday," James answered.

"Can I come and watch?" Peter asked.

"I'd be happy to have you there, Wormtail," James replied. "Now, if you fine gentleman will excuse me. There is a flower over by the lake that is just ripe for picking up."

Remus slapped his hand over his forehead and tried to stop James as he strolled over towards Lily.

"You're looking lovely today, Head Girl," James said.



"And you're looking prickish today, Head Boy," Lily responded, not even bothering to look up from the book she was reading.

"Surely you don't mean that, Evans," James said.

"No. I think I do, Potter."

"Well then, give me a chance to prove you wrong," James replied. "How about you and me do something together Saturday night after Quidditch try-outs? You could wear something revealing and black, and I could pick you up around 7ish. We can go out, eat, and have a nice evening. What do you say, Evans?"

Lily slammed her book shut, not even bothering to mark the page she was on. She looked up and looked at James with her gorgeous green eyes. She didn't look mad, though. Her face was expressionless. He stared at her in shock as she approached him slowly, making him back up towards the edge of the lake in surprise. She leaned in towards him and whispered seductively in his ear, "Are you asking me out on a date, Potter?" Lily asked.

"Yes, I believe I am," James said.

"Right. Just checking," Lily said in her normal voice just before she pushed James into the lake.

He stayed under for a few seconds until his messy hair resurfaced. He watched her storm off back to the castle and shouted towards her retreating form, "I take it that's a 'no' then?"

A/N: here's where the story gets a little bit easier for to tolerate. i shudder less as i go back and read it from this point on! haha. i just want to say a quick thanks to JBayy, -pixidust-princess-, and GemTheWitch. thank you so much for reviewing my story! (everybody should take notice of their example--i'll get edward cullen to dazzle you!)