Chapter 11: Prongs Pursuing Evans

James opened his eyes slowly, and looked around, slightly disorientated. He was lying on the couch nearest the fire in the Gryffindor common room, a blanket carefully draped over him and a pillow under his head. He sat up slowly, noting the crick in his neck and pins and needles in his right arm. He had no idea how long he's been asleep for. Or what time of the day it was. He groped around for his glasses, obviously not an easy thing to accomplish when he really badly needed his glasses to see in the first place.

"James," a quiet voice on his right made him spin round quickly. "Here you go."

Lily handed him his glasses and he stuck them on immediately and drank her in. She was sitting in the window seat, no shoes, feet up against the wall, leaning back with a book in her hand, her hair making a red cushion for her head to lean on.

"Thanks," he mumbled sleepily. "How long…?"

Lily smiled fondly at him.

"You were exhausted," she said. "One minute you seemed very lively and the next you were out cold. You've been asleep for hours."

"Oh," said James, trying to fix his hair, which he knew would be looking worse than usual.

"And you started coughing after about two hours, and have been doing so since, even in your sleep. I really think you need to ask Madam Pomfrey to have a look at you, James!" said Lily sternly.

"Oh, it's James now, is it?" he replied playfully. Merlin, he groaned to himself, say something to impress her, you sound like a dimwit, Eloquence-is-not-your-middle-name-Potter!

"Whatever, James, Potter - we're friends now, according to you," said Lily closing her book and looking at him with an unusual expression. "And stop trying to change the topic! Pomfrey, yeah?"

"She's seen me in far worse states," said James shrugging. "I'm forever annoying her. Can't really afford to pester her when I have a minor problem. I'm fine. Never missed a day's Quidditch training in my entire life. If that happens, I'll go and see Poppy, alright?" he concluded, sitting up and trying not to stare at her. "So, friends, yeah?"

"Very much so, great friends, I believe you put it," replied Lily, and her tone of voice was ever so slightly off, James thought.

"Em, I didn't do anything to annoy you earlier did I, Evans?" he asked, ruffling his hair yet again and trying to appear confident. He just couldn't recall anything that had happened once they reached the Gryffindor common room.

"No, not at all," Lily gave a short laugh, her face unreadable, as she glanced back down at her book.

"What are you reading?" James enquired conversationally, hoping he was misreading the signals he was getting from her.

"Pride & Prejudice" she replied. "Muggle author."

"What's it about?" he asked.

"A snobby, posh, rich guy who thinks he's better than everyone else and an intelligent, sassy, girl with no money or connections and a dodgy family to boot. She thinks he's a git."

"Ah," James said wincing. "Sounds familiar."

"Yeah. It does," said Lily archly. "I've to do Prefect rounds with Remus now, see you later."

"Oh, right," said James, not quite managing to hide his disappointment. "Later so."

….

"Awake at last!" said Sirius as he strolled into the room a few seconds later, throwing an apple at his head, which James caught with a smirk. "Sleep tight?"

"Yeah," replied James, rubbing his brow in confusion. "Pads, do you remember what exactly happened after the four of us got back here?

"Ah, that," replied Sirius warily, throwing himself on the other sofa and sighing. "Not much!"

"Oh. Good," said James looking relieved.

"No, trust me, that was not good, Prongs! Due to your utter daftness, Prongs Pursuing Evans has been fucked up once more!"

James stared at him blankly, then slumped back onto the sofa with a slight groan.

"How?" he asked in disbelief.

"You say that as if the possibility of you having fucked up was exceptionally remote, Prongs!" said Sirius drily, biting into his apple and resting his head back onto the leather armrest. "I'm really pissed with you, old chap! I had a bet going that you two would end up an item before Halloween."

"Cut the bullshit, Pads!" admonished James grimly. "How?"

"How? By behaving like a bloody ponce, Prongs, that's how!" snorted Sirius.

"What?" said James looking confused.

"Look, we were all high on Amortentia, acting pissed, right? One minute you and Evans are drooling over each other, and I'm convincing Mary we need to give you some privacy, so I drag her off, being a decent fellow. Next thing, when we get back, you're out cold and Evans is looking a bit shook. So Mary gets me to piss off so she can interrogate Evans, and finds out that you apparently put her off, mouthing on about Evans being such a wonderful pal of yours, not wanting to take advantage or whatever, and then fell asleep on the spot. Instead of snogging her. Frankly very un-sexy, Prongs."

James looked shocked.

"Stop looking so stunned, Prongs, you and your bloody nobility," sighed Sirius, shaking his head at James. "Anyway, Evans would have bloody snogged you senseless earlier on, I'm sure of it, but Mary said she told her that she was really relieved she didn't, that you were completely right, that she sees you as a great friend too, and is really glad nothing happened to spoil that."

James continued looking at him in silence.

"I'm afraid you're a blithering idiot, Prongs, as Minnie would say!" said Sirius, who was starting to feel sorry for his best friend. He got up and patted James on his shoulder a few times. "You probably did the right thing."

"Yeah. Probably," said James croakily, burying his head in his hands for a moment. "Fuck!"

"And do you think she means it, that she just sees me as a friend?" he asked after a slight pause.

"I haven't a clue, have I? I have no idea how women's brains work! Mary was very disappointed by the whole turn of events, reckon she shipped the two of you, big time. Whole mess made the effects of the Amortentia wear of pretty quickly for the two of us, mind you. So then we did the only sensible thing we could, under the circumstances," said Sirius, winking at James rather suggestively.

James raised his brow.

"You two snogged?"

"Yeah," said Sirius grinning. "We did, pretty nice actually. Not going out or anything daft like that, but it was good. And we're still mates, no acting weird stuff, thank Merlin!"

James shook his head, smiling.

"How come you're so much better at this than I am?" he asked.

"Cause I don't actually allow myself to give a shit," retorted Sirius, with a shrug. "None of it means anything, and as long as the other person knows that and is cool with it, nobody gets hurt."

James looked at him and sighed.

"Sirius, at some stage you're going to have to let yourself care and risk getting hurt."

"Merlin, you really are a complete wimp, Prongs!" said Sirius, defensively crossing his arms. "I'm not doing anything remotely like that till I'm at least thirty. Get a grip!"

James waved him off dismissively.

"What time is it?" he asked looking outside.

"Time for your bloody detention, that's what. I feel like I'm suffering withdrawals, haven't been in detention for weeks. It's not right," said Sirius, stretching languidly. "I've given up Divination, that woman was driving me insane! Minnie managed to get me into Ancient Runes instead. Have no clue what the damned thing is all about. Remus isn't impressed, when he found out he told me he's not helping me catch up and if I end up with better marks than him at the end of the term, he's never speaking to me again."

James looked at Sirius fondly and laughed. He really had to try to put Evans to the back of his mind or he was going to drive himself mad.

"Yeah right! Bet you've managed to cajole him into letting you copy his homework already!"

"Course I have, Prongs!" grinned Sirius. "I'm irresistible, even to my friends!"

"You're a menace, Pads, that's what!" said James, throwing the apple core at his face.

"Why don't you give it up too?" asked Sirius.

"I might yet!" muttered James, drumming his fingers on his thigh in an exasperated manner. "I actually think I could learn some useful stuff in Divination. But the main reason I haven't ditched it yet is that I don't want her to think she's fucking beaten me into submission, if that makes sense?"

"It sure does!" said Sirius beaming at him. "That's why you're captain of the Gryffindor quidditch team and I'm not. It's a question of being arsed."

"Being arsed and being a stubborn bastard!" said James grimly.

Cursing loudly he stood up slowly and heaved a sigh. Having regained his composure, he resolutely stood up straighter and headed for the door.

"Bloody Malum!" he offered to no one in particular as he left the common room, his persistent coughing echoing down the old castle corridors.

Bloody Evans, he thought to himself as he walked on alone, when was he ever going to get his act together? Was there even any point? Was she even remotely interested?

James couldn't help noticing that Lily was deliberately avoiding him over the next few weeks. In class she made sure not to sit near him, he never caught sight of her in the corridors (not for want of trying), and she also seemed to disappear at lunchtime and avoid the common room.

"Look, Prongs, stop ruminating about it! Everything's going to be fine, you two will be back on track in no time," Peter said quietly as they packed up their bags after Charms.

"Am I that obvious?" said James, grimacing.

Peter shrugged, then nodded slowly.

"I suppose you're right, Wormy," James agreed half-heartedly, as they headed down towards the main hall.

He was clearly moping around, overthinking the whole situation, unbeknownst to himself. Pathetic really.

"Shit!" said Peter. "Lily, three o 'clock, she's mad as hell and I think you're in trouble!"

James looked up immediately. He gulped slightly. She did indeed look livid, striding towards him purposefully with blazing eyes, hair bouncing around her like a mini tornado. She still looked hot though, he thought. But then he always thought that.

Just then Remus materialised beside James, panting slightly from running.

"She's really pissed off with you, Prongs," he hissed sharply. "Rumour going round-"

But Lily was standing right in front of James now. Hands on her hips, one foot slightly in front of the other. In a duelling stance.

"Shit!" whispered Peter, moving ever so slightly so he was standing behind James, hand reflexively holding his wand.

"Potter!" she spat out, in the same tone he would have been used to back in First Year, and Second Year, and Third Year, and Fourth Year (fine, all the time, in fact, except for recent weeks).

"Evans," said James evenly, crossing his arms in front of him defensively, feet slightly apart. Hoping he looked less intimidated than he felt.

"How dare you! How dare you spread those lies about me! Do you realise how humiliating that was for me?" she was so angry that her cheeks were blazing, practically singeing, hands trembling at her side.

"What are you talking about?" said James, frowning as he tried desperately to figure out what was happening.

"You bloody well know exactly what I mean, you bastard!" she practically shouted. "Telling everyone that I was throwing myself at you after Potions that day, and that you had to fight me off. And other lewd details I can't even… how could you?"

She could see fleeting emotions flickering on his face for a few seconds – confusion, distress, replaced by anger.

"Fuck!" squeaked Peter (who had also registered this), making sure to edge discretely behind Remus.

James often lost his temper - in quidditch matches, and with annoying students, even with them, but the only time he had ever witnessed James completely losing it was after the Sirius/Snape incident last year, and Peter really didn't want to be anywhere near James if that happened again.

Peter watched as James began moving slowly in Lily's direction, his voice low and shaking with anger.

"Did you honestly think that I would do that to you, that I would say such things about you, Evans?"

He was standing right in front of her, inches away from her face. She swallowed.

"I… I wasn't sure," she faltered. "They said… and I felt so humiliated…"

Her eyes met his, vulnerable and moist.

James' facial expression softened.

"I'm sorry, Evans," he said, quietly but firmly. "But it wasn't me."

She looked at Remus who shook his head slightly, confirming what James had said.

"Shit," said Lily, biting her lower lip anxiously, looking from one to the other. "I shouldn't have believed it… but who would make up something like that?"

Remus could think of one person in particular who might want to destroy Lily's friendship with James. He opened his mouth to say something and was interrupted by Peter.

"Oh some sad bastards, no doubt, who are bored stiff and looking to cause mayhem!" he said hurriedly, giving Remus a pointed look. Merlin, the last thing they needed was for James to have a conniption and attack Snivellus, he thought.

Remus immediately understood. He thought about how upsetting it would be for Lily to find out her ex-best friend had instigated the rumours, and how Sirius might react, never mind James.

"Yeah, most likely, it's awful Lily, so sorry!" he said kindly, going up to her and rubbing her shoulder gently.

Lily nodded, blinking hurriedly.

"I'm so sorry, James," she said haltingly. She felt terribly guilty. What sort of a friend was she, that she had immediately believed such things about him? She usually erred on the side of caution when it came to gossip, as ever, standing up for the underdog. The problem was that when it came to James, she couldn't think clearly.

"I'm such an awful bitch," she began, tears pooling in her eyes. Really, she was exhausted after this emotional roller-coaster of a day, and if she wasn't careful she was going to start sobbing in front of these boys and they were going to die of embarrassment, and so was she. She wished the floor might swallow her, like the trick step.

"Don't you dare, Lily Evans," he said softly, closing the distance between them and wrapping his arms around her tightly. "None of this is your fault. We're fine. I'll make sure everyone knows that this was all a load of tosh, and you'll have nothing to worry about."

Lily nodded her head, tears streaming down her face silently. He was so kind, she thought, feeling ashamed again. After a moment, she cleared her throat and looked up.

"Thanks Potter, I'd really appreciate that. I hope you can forgive me for… that we can go back to being friends?" she asked.

"You don't need to ask, Evans," he smiled back wistfully.

….

Later that evening Lily recounted the entire episode to Mary, as they sat on her bed in the girls' dormitory.

"Tell me again what Potter said!" said Mary, her elbow on the bed, hand propping up her head.

"I've told you everything, Mary," said Lily, smacking Mary's arm.

"Well it's amazing what those boys can do when they put their minds to it! Within one hour of your rant, the entire school seemed to know, and more importantly believe, that the whole thing was a very sick joke!" said Mary, obviously impressed.

"And what about you and Sirius then?" Lily asked, covering her mouth as another yawn escaped her.

"Nothing more to tell," said Mary evasively. "We've snogged a few more times, I don't bother him, he doesn't annoy me, and that's that."

Lily looked at her shrewdly.

"And you're happy with that?" she asked.

"Merlin, yes!" laughed Mary, fidgeting with her sleeve. "Why wouldn't I be? I get to snog the best-looking bloke in the entire school! What's not to like?"

"Well, you might want to date him," Lily suggested.

"Lily, Sirius Black doesn't do relationships! I think the entire school knows that by now!" she replied, rolling her eyes at Lily for even suggesting that.

"Well, you seem to really like him, and you were getting on so well together, so I just don't want you both to ruin things," she sighed.

"Trust me, we won't!" laughed Mary. "Are you getting excited about the Hogwarts Christmas Ball next week?"

Lily shrugged.

"Kind of?" she said. "I don't really have anything to wear and I can't afford to buy a dress just before Christmas."

She knew her parents wouldn't be able to afford anything at that time of the year. She also knew that they had recently spent a fortune on Petunia's modelling agency. Apparently, she was still trying to "make it in the fashion business" as her mother had put it. Not that Petunia had told her, she had sent back all of Lily's letters unopened. It was only from correspondence with her parents that she knew any of this. Petunia apparently had a new boyfriend and her one letter to Lily had been a one liner, requesting that she refrain from coming home for Christmas this year as she didn't want Lily to "ruin things between Vernon and me, like you've managed to ruin the rest of my life."

"Hey, don't fret, Lily!" said Mary, seeing her mood had dipped. "I have loads of clothes! Why don't you borrow one of my dresses and charm it to fit you perfectly? You are the Charms Goddess according to Flitwick!"

"Thanks Mary," said Lily shooting her a gratefully look. "I'd really like that!"

Mary was loaded, by muggle standards anyway. Her family owned a flourishing business and had recently expanded it to the United States. But nobody would have guessed, because she didn't go on about it, thought Lily, looking at her affectionately.

"We could really do with a Ball right now," mused Mary, lying back on the bed and crossing her ankles.

"Yeah," said Lily, pushing away visions of Potter in dress robes holding her in his arms again.

They were friends now, that was all he was interested in, she told herself crossly.

Good friends.

And she was fine with that.

Perfectly happy.

...

Any thoughts? Thanks so much to the amazing people who go to the bother of commenting on this story! It thrills me no end! I am so happy when I see them...