Chapter 9: Mates, Then

22nd November, 1976.

So, even though I pretty much mastered swimming in two days, James insisted that I still took lessons with him every day until the task, which by the way is on the 24th of November, i.e., day after. I wonder why… (That was sarcastic). And you never heard me say this but, I kind of – well - Ugh. Okay I'm just going to say it; I kind of enjoy the lessons too. Yeah, there, I said it. I mean, maybe I just love swimming you know. It's not necessary that I like it because of the company, right? Right?

Right.

I mean since when have I likedJames's company? He's been a total pain in the arse all these years. I literally have a list of things that he has done over the years that piss me off to this day.

He made me fall off my broom in First Year (That's why I hate flying).

He never even apologized for it. Hell, I don't even think he remembers.

His pranks ruined my First Year.

He was mean to Severus in our entire Second Year.

He pretended to ask me out, for a prank. (In Second Year! Who does that? We were twelve!)

He managed to turn my hair green then purple then blue and then white in our Third Year.

He made me think he was actually nice, in our Fourth Year, and I kind of started liking him (Yes, I can admit it now).

He never took the hint that I liked him, in time. Idiot.

When I had to choose between him and Sev, I chose Sev, thinking that maybe James would understand that I had to choose him because we'd been friends or so long. He didn't understand.

He caused that scene in the lawn, which is now my worst memory. He hurt Severus, and Severus hurt me.

Technically speaking, his stupidity is the reason that we're not friends anymore.

Wow, that just reminded me how much I hate him. I need to do this from time to time, so that I don't become like one of those girls from his fan clubs. But, maybe I don't have to hate him. He's not evil, he's just daft. I mean Fourth Year was precious, it showed me that he's kind and sweet and funny and just—ugh I'm doing it again. Why do I think so much?

Maybe I should try and just be friends with him. Merlin knows I could do without all that anger and hatred inside me. And there is no reason to hate him anymore; he's stopped asking me out. He hasn't bullied anyone in a while. He's been pleasanter than ever. He has kept the pranking to a bare minimum (Not that I don't like his pranks, sometimes, sometimes they're fun). He hasn't asked me out for more than two weeks now and that is a record, for James.

Perhaps being friends with him wouldn't be half bad. It'll keep the group sane. Perhaps it'll patch Marlene and Sirius up. All that sexual tension is frustrating. Remus will no longer be torn between choosing between us – even though he knows I'm always right. Peter will probably be much more normal with me if we aren't arguing all the time – you know, because sometimes, I become scary during said arguments. Alice will definitely be happy with the peace. Mary will stop teasing me for once! If all those other things weren't incentive, the not-teasing part definitely is.

So maybe I should try this friend thing, it should work. I'll ask him tomorrow during our lesson. Aah. Happy prospects.

23rd November, 1976.

"Hmmm," I said as I woke up at five in the morning. I opened my eyes to see that it was still dark outside. I tried going back to sleep but that wasn't working. I tossed and turned on my bed until I realized, I really couldn't go back to sleep. I figured I would go for a walk in the grounds, since I didn't have homework to do and almost an hour's worth of time to kill before the lesson with James.

This was really abnormal. It has never happened before. I have always been a sound sleeper – nine hours of sleep every night, in bed by 9:30, no middle-of-the-night awakenings. Perhaps, it has something to do with all the exercising that I've been doing. But, wait, isn't exercise supposed to make you sleepier? Ugh, I'm sure it has something to do with the task. It's also probably all the anxiety I've been feeling because of the whole prospect of asking Potter to be friends again. And, of course, the task. It's tomorrow. Merlin, the task is tomorrow. All these thoughts flew through my mind as I got dressed and went out to walk.

I got tired of walking in about fifteen minutes and then spent another half an hour just sitting by the lake. But the cold wind finally got to me and I had to leave the open and find shelter inside the castle. When I reached the fifth floor, I decided I would I go early to the swimming lesson. I literally skipped all the way to prefect's bathroom.

As I entered the bathroom, I heard a faint splashing sound coming from the direction of the bath, or well, the mini swimming pool. I figured it was probably James, swimming while waiting for me. And James it was, swimming merrily wearing nothing but his swimming trunks. Now, I should probably tell you something, all these days that we were practicing, we always had our uniform on because being magical people, we could just dry off our clothes after coming out of the water.

So seeing James in just his swimming trunks, well, caught me a little off guard because firstly, he was looking really attractive (yes, I said it, again) and my Fourth Year self couldn't help but giggle and drool over him, and secondly, because this was James we were talking about, I was supposed to be mates with him and this was really confusing me. I couldn't be mates with him if I was going to fantasize about him every day. So now what?

I decided it wasn't right to just keep staring at the poor, unsuspecting bloke so I alerted him to my presence by, well, "Ahem, ahem." Yes, I fake coughed and it worked. It worked really well, so well that it scared him so much, that he almost jumped out of his own skin.

"Merlin, Lily, you scared the shite out of me!"

I didn't respond because, well, he called me Lily. Argh. This was confusing me. "What're you doing here so early, anyway?" he asked as I continued to stare at him, deep in thought. God, his hair was looking so se—no I won't say it. I will not say it.

"Lily? Lily! Lily, hey!" him shouting my name brought me back from my thoughts.

"Oh - erm - sorry. I zoned out a bit," I said lamely.

"Yeah, I kind of noticed." He said with a smile. Aah his smile was so—damn it!

"Anyway, now that you're here, I wanted to tell you there's a change of plans for the practice today."

"Umm… Okay?"

"I hope you know that the first task is a race, which means you'll have to swim really fast. So, for today's practice, we're going to race. Come on in."

I jumped into the pool with a splash. Up close, I could easily make out the muscles on his torso, and his arms and Merlin, could he make a girl swoon. But, not me. I'm not that girl. Some other girl. Not me. Not me.

Thankfully, he was didn't do Legilimens and didn't know what the fuck I was thinking because I would really be sending some mixed signals to him.

"I'm going to count and when I say three, the race starts. Okay?"

I nodded a yes.

"Alright then, one, two, three," he said and we darted off towards the other end. I thought I was doing pretty well but when I reached the other side after him, James did not look impressed. He frowned for a second and then smacked his forehead as if realizing something stupid.

"Okay, I know what the issue is. You're wasting your time in coming up for taking a breath. But, you know what I just realized? You can't come up for air tomorrow. The squid lays its eggs deep inside the water, which means—"

"That I'll have to dive deep, which means I can't come up for air, which means I am so going to suck at this task," I said.

"No, you're not," he smiled, "You're can use the Bubblehead Charm for breathing underwater. Honestly, you call yourself a genius." He's right, why didn't I think of that? Ugh stupid, stupid, stupid. This Wizarding tournament is killing my brain cells.

"Hey, I don't call myself a genius. I only call myself smarter than average which – let's be honest – I am."

"Of course," he smirked in that characteristic way of his, "Anyway, let's try racing once more, but this time with the Bubblehead Charm."

"Fine," I huffed.

I did the charm on myself and then on him without really thinking about it. He gave me a small smile that could have melted me from Fourth Year's heart.

"One, two, three!" he exclaimed and I started swimming again.

It felt good to be able to breathe underwater, and I could even see more clearly. I realized I was almost as fast as James, when I saw his legs beside my head. I tried and increased my speed, but in the end James came up fist and I just sort of crashed into him. Yes, that's right, I crashed into him.

As I came up and the Bubblehead Charm lifted, I realized how close James and I actually were. I could feel warmth radiating from his body, and his hot breath near my cheek. I stood stock still for a moment, trying not to meet his eyes, but I had to in the end, and what I saw, blew my mind. His hazel eyes were looking into mine so pleadingly, as if expecting me to do something, and in that moment, I wanted to do it, I wanted to kiss him so bad, but, of course, I didn't.

Instead, I just sort of gave an awkward laugh and apology for bumping into him and moved away. This could not be happening. I wanted to kiss Potter? Oh, bollocks!

"Er, well done, Li—Evans," he coughed. Ugh, again with the last name.

I thought that this was the perfect moment to spring my question on him. I don't know why, it just felt appropriate.

"James, can I ask you something?"

"'Course, go ahead."

"You've been acting a little weird lately, no, not weird, different." His eyes widened as if he wanted to say something but I held up my hand to stop him and started off really quickly. "Yes, you've been acting a little differently, and I don't hate the not-asking-me-out-every-second aspect of it and the fact that you haven't really picked on me for more than two weeks now. And I have been thinking – not like all the time, I have other things to think about, too – but I feel like I don't really mind this arrangement. So, maybe we could drop the last names and stick to calling each other by first names. I – I think we can be friends, yeah?"

A mix of emotions crossed his face. First surprise, then realization, a little pain – was that pain? But then, all of it was masked by a huge happy grin.

"Sure, yeah, we could be friends," He shouted. Thank Merlin, Agrippa, Circe and all things magical.

"Well then James, what do you say to another race?"

"I say, Lily, game on."

And then we raced to the other end of the pool and then back and then to the other end again and back. Aah, good times.

My practice went on till seven-thirty and we were both tired when we returned to our respective dorms. I was too knackered to go down for breakfast and slept in my bed for an hour before getting up, taking a bath, brushing my teeth and stuff, and going down to the Great Hall. All I could think about on the way was my time with James. I was surprised to see him there with the rest of my friends when I reached the Great Hall.

"Hey Lil! Bed treat you well?" asked Alice.

"Yeah, yeah," I muttered. I was still half asleep, I needed my coffee. I saw that the seat next to James was empty, so I went and sat beside him. He gave me a huge grin, which I couldn't exactly reciprocate because I hadn't had my coffee yet.

I looked around and spotted an empty cup, but before I could take it, James grabbed it instead. I looked at him as if to say 'what the hell?' He just shrugged and started making coffee in my cup. I gave him a look again.

"Since when do you drink coffee James?"

"I don't," he said with a wink and offered me said cup, filled with coffee, smelling like heaven, and you know what? I took it. I didn't shriek or shout at him as I usually would. He made me a cup of coffee because he was my friend and he could and I took because I was his friend and because I could. The two of us continued to our Thursday classes with an extra kick in our steps.