Lily

"Why didn't you tell me you were staying, Evans?" James asked as they turned the corner, clutching Lily's arm tighter as she attempted to wriggle away now that her mother could no longer see them.

"My mum decided to spring it on me minutes before you arrived," Lily said miserably, still trying to free herself from James' arm, "I found out pretty much the same time you did. Oh will you let go?"

"And disappoint your mother? Never," James grinned, holding her tighter, "It is my duty as a gentleman to find a suitable room for you."
"I'd be much happier with the couch," Lily grumbled miserably.

"I'm afraid that wont do for the Potters; we like to spoil our guests," James smiled as they ascended the staircase, "Besides, you haven't even got anything other than that dress, and I doubt that's comfortable to sleep in, so it looks like you're going to have to-"
"Potter if you think that I am going to take off this dress and sleep in your house with no clo-"
"Exactly what I was getting at, which is why I think we should take a slight detour and find you some sleepwear," James smirked as Lily glowered at him, "What did you think I was suggesting, Evans?"
"I swear if you even try anything whilst I'm here-"
"Evans, I'm a sensible, well mannered young man and I wouldn't do anything my lady friend wouldn't want me to," James said raising his palm before his facial expression changed completely, "Anyway my parents would kill me if they found out I did anything in the house…and it would be weird knowing they'd be around if-"
"Well don't even think about it Potter because I wouldn't touch you with a barge pole," snapped Lily before James could even finish suggesting such a thing.
"Says the girl linking arms with me," James grinned and Lily rolled her eyes, "Seriously though, Evans, you can trust me."
"Yes, clearly I can trust the boy who secretly pays a barman to abandon me behind the bar in order to get me alone for an hour," Lily scowled, "You wasted those twenty galleons seeing as my mum did it for free."

"I still think it was worth it," James said quietly, "I'd pay twenty galleons for every hour of my life it meant you were constantly in it, Evans."
"If that was meant to be sweet you just made me sound like a live-in prostitute," Lily snapped. She knew she was being difficult but she just wanted to find a room, climb in to bed, hide under the covers and try not to have nightmares about wanting to close what had been that very very small gap between herself and James' lips.

"Urgh, see?" James moaned, his arm growing limp and sliding out of hers, "I can't say anything right when you're around! It just comes out all wrong and I make myself look like an idiot and it's because I make myself look like an idiot that you hate me!" Lily winced and lowered her eyes to the floor, regretting the remark she had made; she didn't really want to upset James, she was just confused.
"I don't…hate you, Potter," Lily hesitated, trying to sound convincing; she didn't even know how she felt after tonight's events.

"Oh come off it," James grumbled, "You think I'm a bully, touching me disgusts you and most of the time you wont even look at me…you're not even doing it now! You're looking at the floor!"
"Maybe I'm looking at the floor because I'm not one for eye contact!" Lily spat suddenly, meeting his gaze now that he had drawn attention to the position of her stare, "Or maybe it's because this conversation is making me very uneasy. Or maybe the floor is just very interesting…neither one of those reasons amount to me hating you; you just assume too much."

"Well it's hard to assume anything else when you made it so painfully obvious from the moment you walked through the door that you'd rather be anywhere else, with anyone else rather than here with me," James said sadly.

"I…" Lily began but she really didn't know what to say; she couldn't exactly tell him that he was wrong, she had instantly assumed the moment she had received her invitation that tonight would be unbearable. And touching him didn't disgust her; it frightened her.

"Look just…I don't really…ok fine I'm sorry, alright?" Lily stammered, "I suppose I was a little prejudiced about how this evening would pan out but you can hardly say I was wrong when you've spent the entire evening arguing with your cousin and making another girl cry…not to mention punching me in the face."

"Yes but I didn't mean for those things to happen!" James argued, "Especially what happened with Rose. And Eli…he's just…" James pinched the bridge of his nose and breathed a laugh.

"From the moment I knew you were coming, all I wanted to do was prove to you that I'm not the git you think I am," he smiled sadly, "And instead tonight has been a total disaster." For a moment silence stretched between them and kept them to their own thoughts and Lily couldn't help but think about what would have happened in the bar if the bar man hadn't turned up, not to mention what had been said in James' garden after she had received her black eye.

"Not a total disaster," Lily insisted giving a small smile, breaking the silence, "You listened to me go on about Tuney…"
"I guess," James said, clearly still downhearted.

"And…it's not completely over until I leave tomorrow," Lily said, her smile spreading, "I guess I could try and put up with you until then." James smiled softly and for a bizarre moment, the two remained staring at each other in their Victorian clothing, triggering memories of a scene from Pride and prejudiced within Lily before James nodded and continued along the corridor, this time without Lily's arm wrapped around his. Lily followed him in silence with only the soft rustling of her dress for audible company, wondering if it was because Jane Austin had been in a similar position to hers with James that she was inspired to write about Mr Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet. She wondered if perhaps Lily Bennet would have been a more suitable name than Lily Evans for tonight, whilst she was dressed the way she was…or Elizabeth Evans…or even Elilybeth Bennet. But then did that mean James was her Mr Darcy? It was true that they argued the way Elizabeth and Mr Darcy did but James was not nearly as distant and mean as Mr Darcy…however, Lily could be. Sometimes she had been distant and mean to James and she had most definitely been prejudiced.

What am I then? James' Mr Darcy?

Miss Darcy even.

James stopped in front of a door at the very end of the corridor and snapped Lily out of her bizarre thoughts. It was strange that being dressed the way they were should make Lily compare them both to a famous romantic couple, a couple so clearly infatuated with each other. What was going on tonight?

Ok, this is scaring me now. Thank Merlin I'm the only one that can hear me.

James twisted the doorknob but it stopped suddenly in mid turn. Lily caught up with James as he tried to open the door again but it froze in the same position.

"My parents must have locked this knowing that Mr 'Stickyfingers' Wiggins was on the guest list," James said finally, "I guess you're going to be stuck in boys clothes for the rest of the evening, Evans."

Great, not only will I be in his house, I'll be in his clothes. So much for trying to get away from him.

"Believe me, it sounds like heaven after wearing a corset for hours," Lily grinned politely but James only breathed a small laugh before squeezing past her and heading in the opposite direction, leaving Lily to follow him with a furrowed brow.

James

This has officially been the worst party ever.

"And…it's not completely over until I leave tomorrow," Lily said, her smile spreading, "I guess I could try and put up with you until then." She may have laughed but James knew she wasn't joking about having to put up with him; if it meant swimming home in miles of ice cold water she'd do it just to get away from him. Leaning against the wall, James stared in her direction; she looked so beautiful that his heart sunk so low it was in his shoes. He had really thought that tonight would be the night that he'd prove to Lily that she was wrong about him, that being in his home, his comfort zone, he would have the upper hand.

Instead I give her a black eye and call her a prostitute.

Realising that he had been staring at her for far too long, James nodded in agreement to whatever she had been saying and strolled along the corridor leaving her to follow. He would have declared that he had officially given up, lost all hope, but he knew that he'd be lying. He'd told himself that a thousand times and every time he still tried to win her over, he still hoped and every time he still crashed and burned as she rejected him again and again. He heard Lily follow him, her dress rustling behind, and James hated that dress for doing what he thought had been the impossible in making Lily Evans ten times more beautiful than she already was. Making his way to his parents' room in search of something for Lily to wear, James thought about looking for something hideous in his mother's wardrobe to dress her in but perhaps it would be too obvious that he was trying to make her as unattractive as possible if he did so.

James finally reached his parents room and turned the doorknob only for it to stop suddenly when he turned it. Automatically James tried it again but he knew too well that the door was locked.

"My parents must have locked this knowing that Mr 'Stickyfingers' Wiggins was on the guest list," James said finally, but his heart sank a little; Lily was going to have to wear something of his and he knew that that was most definitely not going to help him in his quest to get over her when he'd probably have it stashed somewhere secret and never wear it again after she had.

"I guess you're going to be stuck in boys clothes for the rest of the evening, Evans," he said finally.

"Believe me, it sounds like heaven after wearing a corset for hours," Lily grinned but James only breathed a small laugh before squeezing past her and heading in the opposite direction. If he was going to have to give her something of his it meant that he had to take her to his room and that worried James. His room was his place, where he went to escape; if Lily went in there even that would remind him of her and he'd have nowhere left hide. It would mean she'd have taken over his house, his room and his school and if that happened there'd be no hope.

As James neared Sirius' room, he hesitated, wondering if Sirius had left anything behind that he could dress Lily in, but he knew all too well that Sirius had taken everything with him and James had no choice but to give her something of his. Finally reaching his own room, James' heart pounded in his chest; as soon as he opened the door she would be absolutely everywhere.

"Um…I guess I could find you a T-shirt or something," James mumbled as he opened the door and stepped into his bedroom.

"As I've said before, so much better than a corset," Lily said with a somewhat awed expression as she looked around his room. Feeling slightly uneasy, James made his way to his wardrobe and opened the door, catching a golden snitch before it could fly away.

"You have a snitch?" Lily asked as she perched on the end of his bed, "Don't the school check it's there before the holidays are over for next season?"

"They have a new snitch for each game," James explained, "That snitch was the snitch from my first game and the first one I caught. It remembers who caught it and belongs to them from then on."
"Wow," Lily exclaimed as James put it back inside a red pouch.

"Dumbledore doesn't normally let the seekers have them until they leave Hogwarts but after the fifty times I tried to steal it he saw how much I was attached to it," James shrugged.

"Is that why you're so good at it?" Lily asked, "Because you have your own to practice with?"
"I suppose," James said, "Although it always stays at home. I always nick the one in the Hogwarts trunk to practice with." James rooted around in his wardrobe until he found what he was looking for; a long red Westgate Winged Horses T-shirt miles too big for him that Quinn had bought him as a joke after claiming that he was eating far too many pumpkin pies last year; it would be the perfect substitute for a nighty seeing as Lily was already much smaller than James.

"Here," James said sheepishly, handing it over.

"Thanks," Lily replied and once again the room fell into silence.

Well this is far too awkward for me…

"I erm…better let you erm…get dressed," James said suddenly.

"Yeah, thanks," Lily giggled as James hurried from the room trying not to think about the fact that Lily Evans was going to be half naked in his room any minute now.

Lily

As soon as James closed the door, Lily dropped the shirt onto James' bed and took a proper look around the room whilst she had the chance. As soon as she had walked into the room it had been quite obvious that this was not a muggles room and this had fascinated her instantly. The deep blue paint which coloured James' bedroom was barely visible underneath all the posters, newspaper clippings and Quidditch programmes that were pasted to the walls complete with moving photographs of many witches and wizards. Above her head was a floating golden orrery with a tiny golden wizard on a broomstick continuously zooming in between and around the planets. As Lily neared the articles on the walls she realised that a lot of them were about Quidditch world record accomplishments but vast majority of them were based on James' favourite Quidditch team, the 'Westgate Winged Horses', however, articles on this team soon stopped short on the 22nd of November of last year for a reason unknown. The posters on the walls consisted mostly of Quidditch players zooming around a Quidditch pitch and Seraphina from James' favourite band 'Seraphina and the Trolls', wearing less-than-sophisticated outfits, blowing kisses, playing with her hair and winking at whoever gazed upon her photo.

On James' bedside table was an autograph book that Lily guessed was once again full of Quidditch players, but was surprised to find that when she opened it up a mini clone of the player belonging to the signature strolling along the pages, reciting their own personal message to James. In the corner of the room lay a pile of books that Lily assumed were text books but as she drew near there was one book that was thick, black and slightly tatty looking; a sketchbook.

James Potter an artist?

Intrigued, Lily opened the book to find a moving, very realistic sketch of yet another wizard playing Quidditch. Lily laughed and shook her head; this was clearly all James thought about. As Lily turned each page, admiring the hidden talent James appeared to have kept for many a year, one particular drawing made her stop. There on a clean, crisp piece of paper placed carefully within the book…was her.

Lily took in a sharp breath in surprise at how life like it was. Her black and white copy sat on the edge of Hogwarts lake completely engrossed in the novel she had been addicted to a few months ago, ribbon thread through long thick plaits; her favourite casual hairstyle. In complete awe, lily watched as her charcoal twin turned a page and grumbled something incoherent as an autumn breeze blew the pages and her plaits into a frenzy. He must have done this when she hadn't been looking.

"Evans, are you done?" came James' voice and Lily almost squeaked in surprise.

"Uhh…in a minute!" she said in a slight panic, trying not to make it obvious that she'd been rooting around his room, "I uhh had a little trouble with the corset!" Hurriedly Lily dived across the room, accidentally knocking over James bedside table.

Crap!

"Umm…are you ok?" James asked nervously.

"Yeah I'm just a klutz!" Lily called back, cursing herself for sounding so stupid. Hurriedly Lily replaced the draws in the table along with quills, deodorant, men's spray and…a strand of her red ribbon and her writing. Lily froze; it was a note between her and James from class.

Evans, will you go out with me?

Never.

Why not?
Stop bothering me in class Potter.

Why not?

Does it matter?

It matters to me.

Get lost Potter.

Not until you say why.

Reason number one: You're a bully. Reason number two: You're constantly making trouble. Reason number three: You think you're the most amazing person in the world. Reason number four: you're not exactly romantic about asking me out, which leads to Reason number six: You're a coward. Reason number seven: You only think of yourself. And reason number eight: you destroyed my relationship with my best friend…Reason number nine: I will never ever forgive you for that Potter.

I'll make it up to you.

Golden reason number ten: You never know when to give up.

Surely that's a good thing because it proves that I mean what I say when I tell you how I feel.

Reason number eleven: I've just got detention for passing your stupid note.

Lily stared at her long list of reasons why she had rejected James and noticed that pencil crosses and been passed through all of them apart from reasons number four, eight, nine and ten; finding a romantic way to ask her out, destroying her relationship with Severus, the fact that she would never forgive him and the fact that he never gives up.
Suddenly James opened the door leaving Lily to remain sitting on the floor, still in her dress, looking guilty.

"What…are you doing?" James asked looking both confused and embarrassed.

"Why did you keep this?" Lily asked ignoring is question, holding up the note.

"Keep what?" James asked stupidly.

"This note from fifth year…"

"Oh," James said blushing, "I erm…I thought you were getting dressed?"

"Potter…" Lily sighed, "Why did you keep this?"
"I…oh alright," James sighed sitting on the end of his bed, "I…I meant it when I said that I really cared about you Evans…"
"Right…" Lily said, ignoring the tingling feeling in her stomach and chest when he'd said that; she must have been really, really tired or something.

"So…so I kept all the reasons why you wouldn't say yes and used them to better myself," James said, blushing redder than ever, "For you…"
"Oh…James…" Lily began, her heart suffering a terrible, wonderful tingling pang, but James hastily interrupted.

"I better let you get dressed for real this time," he said before edging past and hurrying out of his room. Fighting the strange urge to call after him Lily stared at the remaining items of the list that James had yet to cross out, now understanding what it all meant.

1. A romantic way to ask her out.

2. Destroying her relationship with Severus.

fact that she would never forgive him

fact that James Potter never gives up, no matter how hard he has to try and no matter how much he'd already changed for the better.

Authors note: So I started writing this on holiday and found myself writing around about five pages which I did NOT expect. Suppose I got carried away XD Anyways hope you enjoy this extremely long chapter and as always PLEASE REVIEW :) xxx