The title of this story comes from the Romeo and Juliet quote:

These violent delights have violent ends
And in their triumph die, like fire and powder,
Which as they kiss consume: the sweetest honey
Is loathsome in his own deliciousness
And in the taste confounds the appetite:
Therefore love moderately; long love doth so;
Too swift arrives as tardy as too slow.

If there was one thing she could firmly say she knew, it was that James Potter was a liar.

Of course, Lily knew other things. Many, in fact. But if she had to stake her soul(though it was apparently nonexistent- she was a wily redhead, as people often liked to remind her), she would lay a firm claim on the fact that Potter was a liar.

There were certainly many other things she could have called him. Even at the moment, her mind was conjuring creative strings of curses that she could sling at him the next time he inevitably did something to piss her off (it was unlikely to take long, so she had to subconsciously be prepared).

Deep down, she supposed he wasn't as much of a bastard as she had painted him to be. Unfortunately for the rodent of hatred that had burrowed itself into her heart, she had seen him, at times, meet the standards of a decent human being. Maybe even a kind one. How could a boy as proposedly incorrigible as him tutor little firsties in Transfiguration? How could he volunteer to take the blame for a prank another student pulled(one not nearly as well-thought out as one of his own, she could even recognize that)? How could he be so bloody charming all of the time?

Maybe she was the one that was incorrigible.

No, scratch that, because, because there was just something about him, something so cocky and wild and inane, that she despised. The part of him that had bullied Severus(as much of a horrid ex-best friend and slimeball that he was). The entire span of their years at Hogwarts had only served to teach her how much of a prat he was, and how he was destined to be a cad arse forever.

But sometimes he was kind.

Often, truly.

But how frequently do people really change? How many letters had she written to each and every one of her friends, detailing how much of a misogynistic pig, arrogant toe rag he was? If she was anything, she was a girl of her word. And her word clearly stated that under no circumstances would she ever, ever like Potter.

And after the demise of her friendship with Severus, the catalyst being the fiasco at the lake(which she had slowly stopped blaming Potter for) she had promised herself not to be fooled again. After all, he was a liar, and her contradictory thoughts were clearly a result of some mind-altering spell he had mastered because he could- never mind.

Foolish, really.

It was her own fault.

She had promised herself that she would never don rose-colored glasses again, or turn a blind eye to clear character flaws (and Merlin, Potter had no shortage of those).

She could call him a cad, a bastard, a pig, but above all else... he was a liar.

He was a liar for every time he professed his love to her, conspicuously standing on top of the Gryffindor table, and asking her to go out with him.

He was a liar for every time for he claimed she was beautiful or that she was the only only girl for him.

He was a liar because, in all of his lion bravery, he refused to see his infatuation for what it really was; an obsession.

He was a liar because, for every time he wished her a good morning or smiled at her in that perfect way he did, he would embarrass her the next moment. Either that, or a friend, and she liked to think herself ferocious in the way she defended her friends.

How could someone that loved her hurt her so many times?

And how could she love him back?

Because as much as he played upon her heartstring, ripped apart the puzzle pieces of her erratically-beating heart, she would still have the truth.

That she was in love with him.

And that as much as he protested, as much as he claimed he was, there was no way he was in love with her.

It was impossible, inconceivable, and all around a nuisance.

There was no way.

Right?

There was only one other thing that Lily Evans could say she knew for sure.

These feelings had to go.