James Potter is absent from campus on the days that follow the football tryouts. Rumors fly throughout the campus as to what the reason is, but Lily doesn't know the Potter Heir well enough to ascertain if they are true. She is far too prideful to go ask Joe when she has carefully crafted an indifferent attitude towards Potter.
Yet, Lily is far too curious for her own good, so as she writes her essays in the common room with Joe, she can not resist the temptation, but ask. Nonchalantly, of course.
"What has Potter been up to these days, Joe?" She tries to sound as disinterested as possible. She has a feeling that she didn't as Joe looks at her, an eyebrow raised curiously.
"He has some stuff to straighten out at home. He should be back soon."
Lily nods absentmindedly, wondering why Potter saw the need to leave for home when the term just started. Realizing that she thinks far too much of the man, she shakes her head, trying to dispel any thoughts of him. She is far too invested in his affairs than she should be.
"Is Lily asking about my boy, Jamsie?" Lily has no idea how Sirius heard her, seeing as he appeared to be materializing from nowhere. She scowls, biting her tongue to prevent herself from lashing out at him. The moment she decides to utter James Potter's name, Sirius has to be in vicinity. She curses that she had not had the foresight to check her surroundings before asking.
She inhales before answering, ignoring Joe's own snickering at the question. "If I did?" There is no point in outright denying it when Joe is sitting right beside her.
Sirius flashes her an eager smile. "If you did, Jamsie will be ecstatic to hear that the Flower missed him ever so gravely."
Lily abandons her paper on the laptop, levelling a furious glare at Black. "I do not miss him." She says with a bit more vehemence than she probably should have.
Sirius laughs, and Joe has to restrain Lily from hitting him over the head. "Keep telling yourself that, Lils." He leans in to her, and whispers conspiratorially in her ear. "Let me warn you, Flower, when James reappears your heart will give a lurch, and that is when it will start going downhill."
Lily swats Sirius away from her, scoffing. "You are delusional." After a pause, "What do you mean downhill?"
Sirius flashes her with another of his infamous grins, before rising and stocking off. "I'd hate to spoil all the drama, Flower. You'll see for yourself."
In retrospect, Lily wonders if Sirius could see the future or that if he is simply very lucky that his words hit the bullseye. She is sure that if she asks, he will insist on the former. So she decides she will not ask, however, the accuracy of his words unnerve Lily.
It all happens far too fast for her to process properly. It begins with her walking down the halls, her books in hand when she crashes into a hard cold chest. Her textbooks go tumbling to the ground, and she immediately kneels down to pick them up as she profusely apologizes.
After gathering the books, she looks up to find someone looking down on her, a sneer carefully placed on his face. She recalls that this person had been one of the people that James and Sirius took their train seats from. She tries to recall their names in vain.
She gets up from her spot, "I'm sorry. I wasn't looking where I was going." She feels her stomach twist in anticipation when she notices that he isn't alone, and is accompanied by a group of lackeys.
"Clearly." He answers as his eyes travel down her face to her feet and back up. Lily has to bite her tongue from saying anything rude - she is more than capable in holding her own, but she is in an empty hallway with a bunch of boys that she doesn't feel so sure about. After the man, not so subtly leered at Lily, he takes a step into her personal space. "I rather liked it when you were on your knees before me."
Lily takes a large step back, not bothering to hide her distaste of him now. She had apologized and there is simply nothing more to be said. "I'll be on my way then." She tries to circumvent him, but he steps before, blocking her. She can hear his friends snickering behind him. She recognizes them as residents of the Slytherin Residency, and Lily's stomach squirms with discomfort. She has heard rumors about the Slytherins.
"Don't leave so soon. It is not so often that we find ourselves alone with a mudblood that is easy for the eyes."
Lily can feel her temper rising at the insinuation. "Mudblood?" She is unfamiliar with the insult, but she knows it is an insult.
He smiles at her, or rather grins at her the way a predator would do its prey. "Mudblood." He nods sagely. "Someone who really has no business acting as though they are as good as us. You lot," He snakes a filthy finger up her chin, tilting her head and making her look into his eyes. "Are parasites to society."
Lily knows that she should not resort to violence when she is so easily outnumbered in the empty hallways. She knows, however, Lily's temper has always had a temper of its own. So she kicks him in the shin.
Despite the fact that Lily is well aware that she is no farther from danger than she was a moment ago, she feels satisfaction coarse through her veins when the Slytherin howls in pain as she stumbles backwards. She steels herself, ready to make a run for it. She doesn't get the opportunity to her bad luck. The Slytherin recovers quickly, and his friends are advancing on her.
Panic rises within herself when the man raises his hand, screaming. "You bitch!" She tries to duck out of the way, and she, involuntarily, squeezes her eyes shut because she knows that if he misses with this strike, he probably won't with the second.
Expectantly, he misses, and Lily waits for the next one to strike her face. She waits a second and then another, and when nothing happens she cracks her eyes open slowly. She catches sight of the Slytherin before her, writhing in pain, and her eyes travel to his hand, that happen to be in the clutches of the hand of another.
She is suddenly keenly aware of the warm presence beside her, and the strong masculine scent from it. She whips her head to find out who it is.
Her heart does give a lurch.
James Potter, who had been MIA, for the last whole week, stood beside her, wearing all black, his arm outstretched as he prevented the Slytherin's blow. She can't make out his expression from where she stood, but she did not need to. She could feel the fury emitting from his body.
He doesn't look at her, he pins the Slytherin with a glare that should send people running for their lives. "You wanna try that again, Avery?"
Avery had been fearless when he had cornered Lily, his disgusting confidence oozing from his being. However, with his hand trapped in the clutches of James Potter, Lily spies the flicker of fear in his eyes.
She remembers Joe and Remus telling her that James Potter has much influence on campus. She sees that they were not wrong.
His confidence rocketing down, Avery, for the sake of his pride, does not back down. He retrieves his arm roughly from Potter's death grip and stumbles backwards. The Slytherins appear unsure of how to move forward.
"Stay out of what is not your business, Potter." Avery spits out.
James raises an eyebrow, "I'm afraid this is my business." Avery scoffs in return, however, it seems that he does not want to start a quarrel with James.
He backs away. "It is a pity, Potter. A pity that you keep picking the wrong side."
James doesn't say anything in return as he watches the Slytherins leave the corridor. Once they are out of reach, Lily can feel him relax slightly.
That is, until, he turns to her and fixes her with a fury glare.
"What do you think you are doing conversing with Avery of all people? Alone?"
Lily feels a rush of indignation. Does he think that she wanted to be in that situation? "Wow, Potter." She had intended to thank him for his timely intervention, but it seems he would not deserve it. "Way to go with the victim blaming."
She sees a flash of guilt in his eyes. He raises his arm, scratching the back of his neck. "My bad." At least, he acknowledged the utter insanity of his question.
They stand in awkward silence before both of them open their mouths at the same time.
"Are you okay?"
"When did you get back?"
Both of them pause, waiting for the other. Lily can't help but laugh slightly at the situation they are in. James watches her, his eyes going unfocused for a precious second at the sweet sound of her laugh.
"That's the first time I heard you laugh."
Lily stops smiling, staring back at James. "Huh?" He seems to have registered what he had just said, for Lily can see a hint of blush in his cheeks. She finds it adorable, that James Potter is flustered.
"Um, I mean I've never seen you laugh before."
Lily smiles in return, her stomach filled with butterflies. How can she blame herself for reacting that way when a man as good looking as James Potter acknowledges something so small about her?
However, she doesn't know what to say in return, so she veers away from the topic. "When did you get back from home?"
James looks just as relieved as her for the topic change for he immediately answers. "This morning." He pauses before asking, "How did you know I went home?"
Oh, this time it is Lily's turn to blush. "I as- I heard Joe say it, I think." James must have seen through her lie. He takes a step towards her, a grin making its way onto his face.
"Really?" He asks, "Joe knows better than to air information regarding me. She would not have said anything unprompted."
Lily clears her throat, her eyes widening at the close proximity James is. He is in her personal space, and she can smell his cologne and scent and it is making her feel lightheaded. "I don't know anything about that."
James snorts, "Liar." He bends down so that his eyes and hers at the same level. "Did you miss me, Evans?" His lips are spread into a wide smile.
Lily musters what self control we she can, and scoffs at the question. She takes a step back in self-preservation. She really can't think with him that close. "In your dreams, Potter." However, the answer comes out weaker than she wanted, therefore, losing its bite.
James chuckles as he watches Lily try to recollect herself.
After a few moments, he turns and starts walking down the corridor. "Come on, Evans. I'll escort you to your next class."
That incident opens a floodgate of interactions between Lily and James. Until that particular incident, James Potter has been nothing but aloof towards Lily. However, after his return from home for whatever urgent business that made him leave, Lily found herself running into him much more often.
He even began to prank her, for heaven's sake. One morning, he, along with Sirius, if she is correct, had the audacity to humiliate her in Professor McGonagall's class. Unaware, she had sat on a balloon full of paint, causing it to pop and wreck her outfit. At least, they had had the decency to make sure that she was not the sole victim to their antics. Sirius and James had dared to play the same prank on McGonagall, incurring her wrath. Sirius had bore the brunt of it, for he insisted that James had nothing to do with it.
She knew that James had everything to do with it, but she guessed that Sirius enjoyed the attention so he shouldered the blame. Lily swears that the two are a bunch of kindergartners.
It is a testament to her statement when the two have the gall to join her and Joe for lunch after she changed out of her paint scattered skirt and blouse. She had already been eating her lunch rather fiercely, but when the familiar scent of James Potter engulfs her as he seats himself beside her, she literally spears her food with much more force than necessary.
"Evans, what did your lunch do to you for you to do that?"
Lily scowls, refusing to answer his question. Joe does her favour by subtly telling James and Sirius to fuck off. "James, honey. Lily is the last person you want to be pissing off right now."
Sirius feigns surprise at that, James just snickers in response. Lily is tempted to impale Potter with her fork.
"What is wrong with Lily?" Sirius asks aghast. "What troubles our precious flower?" She rolls her eyes, far too angry to answer them. She is sure if she does, she will combust and that is the last thing she wants to do in the cafeteria.
So she takes the easier road, deciding to walk away from a confrontation. She sets her fork down and poses to get up, when James interrupts. "You going to throw away that cupcake, Lils?" He points to the chocolate cupcake that is perched on her food tray. Her eyes flit between James' stupidly handsome face and the cupcake, cold and calculating.
After a pause, she plants a sweet smile on her face. "I'm stuffed. Would you like it?" James is taken aback by her sudden change in demeanour, but he accepts. Who in their right mind would say no to a free chocolate cupcake? He may be rich, but free food is free food.
"Sure." He says, showing off his pearly white teeth as he smiles at her.
Lily answers his smile with one of her own. "I really hope you enjoy it."
She wastes no time in picking up the cupcake and promptly smearing the delicacy all over his shocked face. She derives a surprisingly large amount of satisfaction as she hears gasps and comments around her, above all, from the gobsmacked expression that Potter adorns.
"Damn, Lils." She hears Joe exclaim, impressed, as Sirius bursts into peels of laughter. Lily at this point can't even control her grin. She raises an eyebrow at Potter, who still has not recovered from the whole incident.
How does that feel, Potter?
Lily chooses not wait for him to get his wits about. She follows through her original plan and gets up, deposits her food tray and saunters out of the cafeteria - victory thrumming through her veins.
James keeps his distance after that particular incident, but Lily just knows that he is bidding his time. Whenever she passes by him, she can feel his gaze following her. Whenever their eyes meet, he smirks at her as though he knows all the secrets in the world.
She finds him insufferable, and tries to keep track of her surroundings, ever on the guard for his next move.
Joe finds it hilarious, getting on Lily's nerves whenever she startles her by saying that James is in her vicinity.
However, save for those interactions, Lily and James really don't converse that much, even when they sit a seat apart in class. Sirius and Remus are always the ones that she speaks too. Lily finds Potter insufferable, but his indifference sometimes, bothers her for some reason.
Same goes for when she catches him flirting with some other girl. It happens to happen a lot - from the Common Room to the Cafeteria. And if he catches her staring at him, he just raises his eyebrows, daring her to do something about it.
As if she should or would. Why should she? It's not like he's her boyfriend or anything. Lily would prefer to categorize him as her nemesis, or maybe that is giving Potter too much influence in her life.
No, Potter is an annoying insect. A handsome annoying insect. Lily sometimes thinks it would be easier to avoid him if he didn't look so damn sexy in whatever he wore.
It didn't help that he had been her knight in shining armor when she was confronted by Avery.
She tries to banish thoughts of James Potter from her mind. And the upcoming Hogsmeade trip that they are planning is just the thing she needs for that.
However, the trip does bring up another concern to the forefront of her mind. Hogsmeade Tripp's usually meant the opening of the mating season for the population of HogwartsU. She is well aware of this because she had already seen a bunch of people getting asked out - Joe included. Much to Sirius' chagrin.
She still remembers the disappointment on Sirius' face when he had asked if Joe was being accompanied by anyone. Not that Joe herself noticed it. Those two were so dense.
Lily had not been asked out, and she doesn't know how to feel about that. For one, she knows that her social status does repel much of the elite population of HogwartsU - the load of them being pretentious bastards - but a part of her had hoped. And still hopes that someone will ask her.
The whole thing weighs on her mind, and she finds it difficult to concentrate on her English paper that she is working on in the Common Room. She groans in frustration as she backspaces another one her paragraphs, racking her hand through her red hair.
"What's got your knickers in a twist, Evans?"
Lily almost jumps out of her chair at the interruption. She looks up to find James Potter plop himself into the seat in front her, leaning back as though he owned the whole place.
Well, if what Joes tells her is correct, he kind of did.
She glares at him, trying very hard not to stare at his forearms that were on display as he bunched up the sleeves of his shirt at the elbows.
Glaring doesn't help that much either, as his face is no less gorgeous than his body. So she just opts on ignoring him all together, turning back to her essay. She is about to continue typing when her laptop is shut.
She looks back up to find Potter regarding her innocently. "You didn't answer my question, Lils."
"Maybe, that is because I didn't want to answer your stupid question, Potter." She spits out, her mind is too disorganized to deal with him right now. Why did he suddenly decide to talk to her now? "Fuck off. I have stuff to do."
He doesn't look the least affected by her rude dismissal. If anything, he looks amused. "I don't feel like it." He just shrugs, smiling back at her. She grinds her teeth in annoyance.
She breaths once and then twice. She knows that Potter is as stubborn as she is. So she decides to do what he wants so that he will leave her alone in peace. She squeezes her eyes shut, and opens them - feeling much calmer now.
He's a toddler, for heaven's sake.
"What do you want, James?"
His eyes seem to light up at the question, clearly having waited for an opening to say what he had to say.
"You excited for the Hogsmeade trip tomorrow?"
Lily didn't not expect that to be the direction of their conversation, but she decides to go with it.
"I guess." She says, not knowing what else to say, to be honest.
James hesitates before he continues. Lily resists raising an eyebrow at that. James Potter never hesitates. He says what he wants. He does what he wants.
He raises an arm, rubbing his nape. "You going with anyone?"
This time Lily does raise her eyebrows. Why would he be asking? She doesn't know why she feels a little bit embarrassed with her answer, but she answers nonetheless.
"Um. No. No one has asked me yet."
James' eyes twinkle at that. Lily decides that she quite likes his eyes. He nods his head at her answer, his eyes now focusing on a point on the table. "Would you - Would you want to come with me?"
Lily blanches at question. She has to force herself to stop from gaping at the question. Did James fucking Potter just ask her to Hogsmeade? On a date? Her stomach does a flip at the thought. For a long moment, she basks in the feeling. She peers at him to see that he is eagerly waiting for her answer.
She opens her mouth, almost saying yes, a very eager, yes, before she shuts it again. How can she say yes to her nemesis? Not a day ago she had been ranting to Joe about Potter. Also, what if this was some ploy to get back at her for the cupcake in his face? She is supposed to hate him, not want to go on dates with him. Deeper in herself, a part of her questions if she is worthy to date the James Potter.
Lily desperately tries to come up with an answer - torn between saying yes and saying no. The former being the most tempting.
She opens her mouth again, not even knowing what she is going to say when someone takes a seat beside James. She blinks at the newcomer, not being to recognize him immediately in her shock.
It is Frank. Frank Longbottom. Their Senior.
Frank looks between James and Lily, before asking. "Am I interrupting anything?"
Thankful for the distraction, Lily says quickly. Too quickly. "No. 'course not." In the corner of her eyes, she can see James about to say yes. She thanks God that was fast enough to beat him to it. "How can I help you, Frank?"
He smiles at her softly. "Hey Lily, you going to Hogsmeade with anyone tomorrow?"
Lily glances at James, who is staring back at her with an expectant expression. She answers. "No. No, I'm not." She curses herself for saying that. A part of her desperately wanted to go with James. And wasn't that a problem? She didn't want to seem desperate to get with James Potter.
Frank beams at that. "Wanna come with me?" Lily wonders why everyone waits for the last minute to ask her out. She thinks for a moment. She likes Frank, maybe, not like that yet. However, Frank is cute and a genuinely nice guy. Lily decides there would be no harm in saying yes. It isn't complicated like when it came to Potter.
She smiles at him tentatively. "I don't see why not." She pointedly ignores James, who is leaning back in his chair, shaking his head - telling her to say no. "I'd love to, Frank."
"Good." Frank says, happy. "I'll meet you here at 10 tomorrow."
Lily grins, despite the uneasy feeling in her stomach. "I'll be there."
Frank leaves shortly after, with a cute smile in Lily's direction and a friendly slap on the shoulder for James.
Lily, unable to digest the rather tense atmosphere with James, starts gathering her stuff.
"I think that is your answer, Potter." Lily says nodding her head in Frank's direction, desperately hoping that the disappointment she feels is not showing.
Potter studies her face for a moment, a hint of a smile on his lips. "Is it?"
She nods, and Potter just keeps staring at her as though she is a puzzle he is trying to figure out. Uncomfortable under the scrutiny, she gets up and scurries out the room.
James stares at Lily's retreating form as Sirius takes the chair that Frank had been occupying just a moment ago.
"Did Flower just reject the James Potter?"
James' rolls his eyes, the smirk that he had been trying to suppress when Lily had been around working its way back onto his face.
He shook his head, his mind already doing its own calculation. His focus not on the conversation.
Sirius says dubiously. "You sure about that, mate? I just heard Frank tell Kingsley that Lily agreed to go with him."
"She didn't say no, Sirius." James says, not able to contain the glee that he is feeling. He had seen the disappointment in her eyes when she answered Frank's question. It had been there for a second before she could truly mask it.
James can feel Sirius' questioning gaze, and he has to stop himself from rolling his eyes. Sirius just didn't get it. It isn't particularly surprising with the way he is in this department. James is beginning to think he'll be grey and in his eighties when Sirius finally grows the balls to ask Joe out.
"Don't you know anything about flowers?" He asks.
Sirius shifts sheepishly beside him. "I actually don't."
James smirks, his gaze still trained on the chair that Lily had been occupying.
"You have to nurture them." He says, mischief and determination written all over his face. "And let the nurturing begin."