AN: This was written for Michy Drarry Shipper as part of the Holiday Fic Exchange :) I know your otp is Drarry, but I've never written slash and I wouldn't want to butcher your otp like that, so I wrote another pairing you like instead. I hope you like this anyway.

Also written for round 13 of Quidditch League compettion.

Prompts: Library, "Let it go," and patient.

Word Count: 1,834

Snippets

She should have known it was too good to be true. James Potter would never cease to annoy her with his constant pranking and asking her out every other day. For a while, he had stopped bugging her as often and she had begun to think that James had given up. Of course, she was wrong. James Potter was not one to take no for an answer.

Lily sat at a table in the far corner of the library with Marlene, working on her potions essay. Well, she was trying to while her friend talked her ear off about a certain Gryffindor chaser.

"He must really like you if he's going through all this trouble," Marlene said.

Lily sighed. "He's James Potter. Trust me; he'll soon get tired of me constantly turning him down and more on to someone else."

Marlene shook her head. "I don't know Lily. He seems pretty persistent. I've never seen James like that."

"Let it go, Marlene," Lily said after a brief moment of silence. She wasn't really up for having this conversation or anything to do with James Potter. All she wanted was just one James free day.

Was that too much to ask for?

"For the last time," Lily said. "No, Potter."

She was sure he had started to ask her out for the umpteenth time and she turned him down before he had a chance to get the words out of his mouth.

"You don't even know what I wanted to ask," James replied, casually leaning against the wall.

"Why wouldn't I when you've spent so much of your time all but begging me to go out with you?" Lily asked, crossing her arms across her chest. "Just get it over with," she eventually said.

James took a moment to reply, as if he was choosing his words carefully. "Will you tell me what the History of Magic homework was?"

Lily raised an eyebrow. "Was that really all you wanted to ask?"

"Gotta keep things interesting, Lily," James replied.

She blinked her eyes, slowly coming out of her confused daze. She quickly told him the topics for their History of Magic essays and watched, shocked, as he walked away.

Lily sat by the fireplace in the Gryffindor Common room, chatting with Marlene and Alice. She shook her head and laughed at her friends antics.

"You're kidding! Marlene!" Alice exclaimed.

Marlene shook her head. "I swear to you, I'm not."

Lily opened her mouth to ask how on earth Marlene knew that when her gaze fell on James as he walked through the portrait hole with Remus and Sirius. She couldn't help but think that he was up to something – because he was James Potter after all.

He'd changed a lot since their fifth year. Not only had he stopped bugging her to go out with him, he had defended her when Severus had called her that horrid word. He had acted as if he really did care like Marlene had said.

She was pulled out of her thoughts when Marlene slowly shook her back to reality. Lily quickly turned her head to look at her friends.

"Earth to Lily," Marlene said.

"What were you saying?" Lily asked, looking up at Marlene.

Marlene shook her head. "If you weren't so lost in la-la land, you would have heard me." She looked at Lil, with a smirk on her face. "Oh my Godric – you were so staring at James."

"I was not," Lily said too quickly.

"Well, Lily, you didn't go off into your own little world until James came into the common room," Alice said.

Not helping, Alice, Lily thought.

"He has been different lately," Marlene went on. "Especially with Severus."

"Can we not talk about that?" Lily said. "Please." She didn't want to think about that anymore than she had to. It wasn't something she was fond of remembering.

"Talking about me?" a familiar voice asked.

Lily turned her head to see James Potter walking towards them and repressed a small groan. "Why would we?" she asked.

"Do you two mind if I borrow Lily for a minute?" James asked, ignoring Lily's question altogether.

Lily sat there while Marlene and Alice left her to deal with James by herself. After while she turned her attention towards James.

"What do you want?" Lily asked, hoping he wasn't going to ask her out again.

"I wanted to know how things are between you and Snape," James said. Lily could swear, she heard anger rising in his voice.

"I can take care of myself," Lily replied.

"I have no doubt of that," James stated. "But it doesn't stop me from being curious." After a moment, he added, "I've always disliked him but that dreadful world he called you was the last straw."

Lily slowly felt her eyes widen just the slightest bit.

"James," she started, but stopped, not sure what to say.

Did he actually care? she thought.

"At least now you know that you deserve better friends than him," James replied.

Lily stood up from the chair she was sitting in. "You know, I never actually thanked you for defending me."

James shrugged. "Don't worry about it."

Lily was pulled out of her revision from sounds of loud voices and footsteps. Looking up from her parchment, she saw James and Sirius running towards the portrait hole.

"What on earth are they up to?" Lily wondered aloud.

"Oh, I'm sure neither of us would like to know," Lily looked up to find Remus standing beside the table she was sitting at. "I'm sure it will be better that we didn't know."

"Maybe you're right," Lily said.

Probably off pranking or something, Lily thought.

"What's his deal?" she eventually asked, wondering if she could get anything about James out of Remus.

Remus raised an eyebrow.

"Why has he just stopped bugging me about going with him?" she clarified.

Remus shrugged. "I never have the slightest idea why James does anything he does."

Lily chewed on the end of her quill, wondering about James. She'd spent the past few months, wondering what changed and why he wasn't bugging her constantly. She wouldn't admit it to herself, but something about James intrigued her.

"Come on Lily," James said.

Lily stopped in her tracks. He rarely called her Lily – it was always Evans. She would probably regret it later but she caved anyway. "Well, I guess you have changed and you aren't such an arrogant toe-rag anymore." She sighed and after a few moments she said. "Alright."

James gave that signature grin of his "Hogsmeade this weekend then?"

Lily slowly nodded. "Sure."

I hope I don't regret this.

Much to her surprise, their 'date' had gone well. They had stopped at the three broomsticks for two Butterbeers and were heading towards Zonko's at James' request.

"Am I going to regret agreeing to go in here?" Lily asked as they neared the joke shop.

"Not at all. I just need to pick up something Sirius and I agreed on," James replied. "And you can always drag me into Madam Puddifoot's tea shop."

"Oh Godric no!" Lily exclaimed. "Don't make me gag."

She absolutely hated that place and she cringed just thinking about it. The way couples acted in there grossed her out.

"Well," James told her, opening the door of Zonko's. "We both feel the same way about that awful place."

"Do you think you have enough sweets there, Potter?" Lily asked jokingly.

"One can never have too many sweets, Lily, my dear," James replied as the two of them slowly made their way towards the Head's Common Room.

"Don't blame me when you get sick from all that," Lily said, entering the portrait hole.

James shook his head. "Nonsense."

Lily made her way over to the couch and sat down. "You know, I actually had fun today."

"You sound surprised," James said as he walked further into the room until he was standing in front of her.

"I wasn't really expecting it, is all," Lily replied, stifling a yawn.

"Will this surprise you too?" James asked and then he quickly leaned down and gently pecked her on the lips before pulling away.

Lily stared after him in shock, not sure what to do or say as he walked towards his dormitory.

"Goodnight, Lily,"

"Goodnight," she finally found her voice to reply as he disappeared behind the door.

"How do you feel?" Lily asked. She was sitting at James' beside in the hospital win after his Quidditch injury.

"I am perfectly fine," James replied, sitting up and wincing.

Lily gently pushed him back down onto his pillow. "You took a nasty hit from a Bludger to the head and fell from your broom. You are not perfectly fine."

James let out a small sigh.

"Madam Pomfrey says you're going to be in here for a while," Lily told him. "So I brought you your homework," she pointed to the bedside table. "That is if you even do it."

"Are you trying to torture me in here, love?" James asked.

Lily smiled and gave a small laugh.

Typical James.

"Can you believe that in a few weeks, we won't be in Hogwarts anymore?" James asked.

Lily sighed and leaned into his shoulder. "It's hard to believe that seven years came and went as fast as they did."

James wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "We've had some good times at Hogwarts, haven't we?"

"Besides all the years you begged me to go out with you?" Lily said.

The two of them spent a good deal of time recalling memories of the years; Lily laughing at how much seriousness they had regarded arguments and challenges.

"We were terrible most of the time, weren't we?" Lily asked after she had stopped laughing.

"I don't think so," James slowly replied. "But maybe the teachers do."

Lily glanced up at him. "That would mostly be you and Sirius."

"We weren't that bad," James replied.

Lily gave a small laugh. "What do you call your constantly pranking and dragging Peter along with you, then? Not to mention what you did in Charms class second year,"

"That was an accident."

"A terrible accident that covered the whole Charms class and everyone in it in blue goo," Lily stated.

"It was Sirius' fault," James muttered.

"This is it," James said.

Lily glanced back at the castle as she James, Sirius, Marlene, Alice, Frank, Remus and Peter walked with the rest of the students to the carriages.

"Our Hogwarts careers as we know it are over," Lily said, a sad tint in her voice.

They stopped walking when they were a few feet from the carriages and James pulled her into a tight embrace. He quickly kissed her lips and her forehead before helping up into the carriage.

James wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her close as the carriage carried them towards the Hogwarts Express.

"Hogwarts will always be our home."