Lily Evans walked down the hall to potions. She walked with her head up looking straight ahead with a look in her eyes that told you not to bother her. She didn't talk to anyone as she sat at an empty desk in the last row, farthest to the left. No one else was in the classroom. They were all out at lunch, which she almost skipped but then decided to eat half a sandwich. Lily opened her bag and set up her stuff neatly on the table as people started filing in. She watched as boys and girls talked and laughed, oblivious to the rest of the world and, more importantly, her. She didn't want them to notice her. It wasn't like she needed them.
She didn't have any friends now; she'd pushed them all away in her fifth year. The year when her life ended. Lily would have liked to say that she had a happy childhood, but that wasn't entirely true. Until she was five it had been okay. 'Only because I was ignorant, shielded.' She thought without emotion. She hardly ever showed emotion.
When she was six she started... growing up. Her dad had always been her closest family member, a lot closer than her mother or sister anyway. Her mother had never really been mean exactly, just distant; she favored Petunia, Lily's sister. Petunia was a different matter. She hated Lily, always had. Lily never knew why, and at six she decided to stop trying to make Petunia think otherwise.
Life had been bearable with her dad. When Lily was ten her parents started arguing. Lily now looked back and thought that they probably had been for some time but it only started showing then. When she was eleven Lily got her letter to Hogwarts. She'd been ecstatic. She'd always loved fairy tales when she was younger, and this was a chance to get away from home, from the fighting parents, from Petunia.
Lily had a few friends at Hogwarts, never a lot, but still some. She was put in what was supposedly the best house, Gryfindor, and she'd done well in school. Everything was great until the last day of her forth year.
Her last day, she'd gotten off the train with her friends. It'd been raining, but no one really cared. Her friend's parents had been waiting at the platform, but her parents hadn't shown up yet. She didn't find this unusual. Her friends' parents were all wizards and witches, so her father had probably been caught in traffic. She knew that her mom and sister weren't coming because they'd written so in a letter.
After 15 minutes Lily began to wonder. At 30 she started to worry. It wasn't like her dad to be late, especially not for something like this. Finally an hour later, Lily, soaked to the bone, saw her mom's car pull up. Her mother and sister got out. Petunia hung by the car, but her mother ran over.
Lily, sweetheart... Her mother said, tears streaming down her eyes. Your father... He got in a car accident. It doesn't look so good right now.
Lily had started crying. Two days later her father died in the hospital.
The next year she became tough. She pushed her friends away and lost herself in her schoolwork. She'd been made a Perfect, but it didn't matter much then....
Lily was shaken out of her thoughts by the potions' professor dismissing them. She gathered her stuff and headed out of the classroom.
Walking down the hall she heard someone call her name. She turned to face a boy with messy black hair and kind brown eyes. He was a sixth year like herself, and she knew who he was - James Potter, Perfect, head of the Gryfindor Quidditch team, good student, perfect roll-model.
What does he want with me? Lily thought.
"Hey Lily. You know how Quidditch tryouts are in two days?" He asked. Lily nodded although she this was the first she'd heard of it.
"Well, I was wondering if you were planning on coming. I remember that you were a pretty good chaser when...." He stopped.
When I flew. Lily had given up flying with the death of her father. Until then she'd flown almost everyday. She still had her broom in her trunk, basically untouched for a year.
"I hadn't really given it much thought." Lily replied truthfully.
"Think about it. I'd really like it if you tried. We could use another strong flyer." He said.
"Sure." She said even though she meant to do no such thing. James caught on.
"Seriously! I'm going to make sure you're there, even if I have to carry you." He joked.
He'll probably forget all about me come practice. All the better. Lily forced a smile and continued walking. James watched her go.
She really needs to get out more.... He thought.
*~! ~*~! ~*
Saturday morning Lily got up and dressed hen headed to the Great Hall. Over breakfast she barely touched her food. She'd always hated breakfast. So had her father. Lily sighed.
I've got to stop doing that. It's been almost two years! Okay, so it's more like a year and a half, but I need to get on with my life! Lily thought, knowing it wouldn't do any good.
She looked down the table. James Potter sat laughing at something his friend Sirius Black had said while his other friend Remus Lupin rolled his eyes. She was satisfied that he had forgotten about her and the try-outs today.
As she was leaving, James stopped her.
"Go get your broom." He said grinning and being entirely too cheerful for 8:00 on a Saturday. Lily looked at him. He hadn't forgotten! She had wanted him to, though. Right? So why did she feel... excited?
"Oh, fine." Lily replied. She went and got her broom from her dorm and headed out to the Quidditch field. James was already there with the current members of the team and three more students that were to try-out too. There were two third year boys that were talking quietly and a fifth year girl.
"Alright. Now that we're all here, I want to see your flying abilities. You all know that you're trying out for the position of chaser. If you make the team, we practice at night on Monday Wednesday and Friday. There might be extra practices before a game. If you don't think you can spare the time, I suggest you leave now." James said. No one moved, though Lily thought about it. James smiled.
"Good! Now mount your brooms. I want to see how you fly, so just weave around the goals." He instructed.
Lily mounted and started off on the task. She drifted easily, not going fast. One of the younger boys got impatient and sped up to get in front of her. I t wouldn't have bothered her except that he turned around to her and asked, "Is that the best you can do?" annoyingly.
Time to teach this kid a lesson. She thought. She sped up and went under him closely, then came up right in front of him, making him jerk up a bit. She went into a barrel roll and looked up at him from her position upside down.
"Is that the best you can do?" She mocked. The boy glared and tried to speed up and get in front. Lily, turning right side up, sped up too, staying just a bit in front. Weaving through the seven posts, she started making sharper turns, daring the boy to match her. He tried.
All too late, the younger boy realized that he wasn't going to make it. He tried to turn quickly, but just managed to knock himself off his broom. Lily heard the broom hit the pole and turned. She saw the boy falling and immediately zoomed after him. Five feet off the ground she caught up. Letting go of the broom, she grabbed his hands. Swaying slightly, she commanded her broom to go down with her knees. Only when the boy's feet were on the ground did she let go.
Landing, she saw everyone rush over.
"Is everyone okay? What happened?" James demanded looking worried.
Lily looked at the boy who nodded.
"I'm okay." He said.
James turned to Lily.
"I'm fine. We just... got caught up in the game." She said not wanting to shame the boy. James nodded slowly.
"Fine. Lets...Lets wait till tomorrow to finish this up. I think some of us need to cool down. You sure you're okay, John?" James asked the boy, John.
"Yeah." The rest of the team headed up to the castle, but Lily and John stayed behind.
"Um... thanks." He said.
"It's okay. I shouldn't have led you on up there."
"Well, I was being a jerk. Sorry. You fly really good."
"Well. I fly well. And thanks, you're not so bad yourself." Lily corrected.
"You really think so?"
"Yeah!"
"Cool!" He said.
"Want to go get lunch?" She asked. John nodded and they headed up to the castle.
*~! ~*~! ~*
The next day at the Quidditch field, Lily was a little early. She decided to warm up a bit. Rising quickly into the air she let out a sigh. She loved flying, the air in your face, the feeling of weightlessness, the... freedom. She started doing loops and rolls, testing how fast she could go, how tight she could make her circles.
She continued for a while till everyone started showing up.
"Having fun?" James asked. Lily grinned, her first real grin for a long time. James felt like the wind was knocked out of him for a second. Lily turned and walked away, and the moment was gone.
What was that about? James thought. He hadn't felt that way the first time he asked a girl out. A long time ago. Lily, however, didn't notice anything unusual, so nothing interfered with her tryout.
Finally, when the sun was setting, James decided that they were done; the team conferred for a few tense moments.
"Okay. You all did really well, but unfortunately we can only pick one of you." He stopped, "We decided on... Lily Evans! Great job to all of you. I'm sorry." Lily grinned and was surprised to find out that she'd been holding her breath. John smiled.
"Way to go Lily!" He said.
"Thanks." The others nodded their congratulations and headed off for the shower. James stayed behind.
"Welcome to the team." He said.
"Thanks. ...And thanks for getting me out here...." She said awkwardly. James smiled; Lily's heart skipped a beat.
What was that for? She asked herself.
"I wanted you out here." He said. Lily raised her eyebrows.
"No, I mean... You always seem so... lonely... I don't know...." James looked out to the lake. Lily studied him for a moment. Lonely? She'd never really thought about it before... but she was lonely. Still, how did he know?
"Well... thanks." James turned to look at her. She realized how close they were, but for once she didn't pull away. James looked into her eyes; then, he leaned down and gently kissed her.
In the bushes, Severus Snape grinned to himself.
This is good! James' stupid admirers will want to here this. He crept quietly up to the castle in a good mood; not only had he gotten information for the Slytherin team, he'd gotten dirt on his biggest rival. Come Monday, the entire school would know of this.
*~! ~*~! *
James headed to breakfast Monday in extremely high spirits. The team was going to be great now that they had Lily, their secret. Lily was on his mind a lot at the moment, to tell the truth. After last night, he really couldn't stop thinking about her. Her eyes seemed to be right behind his eyelids, so that every time he closed his eyes they popped into his mind.
When he reached the Great Hall he scanned the Gryfindor table. She wasn't there. Just as well because his biggest rival, Severus Snape, had a tendency to spread nasty rumors about any girl he got close to, even if it was just on friendly terms. Instead, James sat in his usual spot next to Sirius, across from Remus and Peter Pittegrew. Sirius was, as usual, joking around. Today he seemed to be concentrating on one sixth year girl with blond hair named Jill. By 'concentrating', I mean that he was teasing/flirting with her. She didn't really seem to mind all the attention from such a cute, available boy.
James was half way done with his meal when an unpleasant voice made him turn around.
"So, going for redheads now Potter? I hear that she even bribed her way on to the team." James turned cold and slowly turned around. He looked at the greasy-haired boy behind him.
"I don't know what you're talking about, Snape." He spat out his name like a curse word, all the time wondering, How'd he find out? Snape just smiled maddeningly.
"I know what went on after Quidditch tryouts between you and that Evans girl." He said raising his voice.
"Severus, I think all that slime in your hair is getting into your mouth. Though, I'm surprised that Pandora Page hasn't cleaned it all out for you." A crisp, clear voice said a ways down the table. Page, Snape's girlfriend, let out a gasp. Snape and James looked over to see a furious Lily standing up. She had her hand in her pocket on her wand. Snape seemed to notice this and started sauntering back to the Slytherin table hissing at her, "My work here is done."
Lily sat down, looked at her food, and decided that she wasn't hungry anymore. She got up to leave and went to the common room. A few moments later, James joined her.
"Hey."
"Hi." Lily looked up at him.
"Look, I'm sorry about Snape. Um... he doesn't... like me." Lily snorted, seeing the obvious understatement.
"That's okay. He doesn't like me much either."
"No?" James questioned. Lily grinned.
"I beat him on the last Potions test." James laughed. Being better at Potions was a definite way to get on Snape's 'Most Wanted' list.
"So..." James said after a pause, "You're not mad at me? Because I'd understand if you didn't want to see me." He said quickly. Lily looked amused.
"I never knew we were officially 'seeing' each other." Lily continued before James had a chance. "But I'd like to. And, no, I'm not mad at you. If I were, Snape would have succeeded, wouldn't he." Lily grinned. James leaned over, but right as they started to kiss, Sirius walked in.
"Whoa! Snape was right about something! That's a first!" Lily looked up blushing, but James just tried to scowl, failing because he was laughing.
"Sirius, get lost!" James said. Sirius tried to look hurt.
"Sorr-y! I was just coming to say that if you don't start moving you'll be late for Transfiguration, but...." James looked at the clock and jumped. The three left quickly and made it to transfiguration just in time.
*~! ~*~! ~*
As Lily was heading down to lunch, a group of girls stopped her.
"Hey." Said one girl with strawberry-blond pigtails.
"Hello." Lily said, not knowing what to expect. The girl next to the first with shoulder length brown hair said rather frankly, "So, you think you're good enough for James Potter? Well you aren't! I've heard things about you."
Lily laughed a bit, surprising the other girls some.
"You seem to be, dare I say, jealous? I wouldn't take the crap Snape talks to heart if I were you."
The third girl sneered. "Yeah? Well, I never talked to Snape. Never had to. I heard that you took drugs last year, maybe still are." Lily gasped taken aback. Last year she'd had horrid nightmares; she'd seen Madam Pomphrey, who'd prescribed pills that prevented nightmares.
"That was medication! And, besides, I stopped taking them last year!" She had, since her nightmares had become less frequent. Still, sometimes she'd wake up in the middle of the night, heart pounding, but she could never remember the dreams.
"Sure." The second girl said. Lily gave up. She threw up her hands and left for the common room. Lunch wasn't that important. Lily realized that 'seeing' James Potter was going to be tough, but when she thought of their kiss....
It's worth it. She decided.
*~! ~*~! ~*
James walked down to the Quidditch field, deep in thought. The other sixth year boys, besides his closest friends, had believed Snape.
"So, how far did you get?"
"Evans, huh? I always though she was kinda quiet..."
"You sure picked a pretty one. Shame I didn't get to her first."
Their voices echoed in his head. He could only hope that Lily wasn't going through this. Now that he thought about it, he really didn't even know her, but he was drawn to her. It kind of scared him because he'd always felt in control. Now just looking at her made him feel lost. Well, not lost... just, like he'd lost something and finally found it. Remus said it was love, but James just laughed.
James didn't realize that he'd reached the field until Lily flew down in front of him.
"Hey Coach!" She said with a grin that James returned.
"Ready for your first practice?"
"You bet!" They flew over to the rest of the team.
After two hours of nonstop practice Lily felt like she was almost caught up to the other chasers. Once again she and James hung back while all the other teams went to take showers. Lily looked up at James.
"Do you think Snape's hiding in some bush nearby?" She asked with a smile. James playfully kicked at the closest shrub.
"Nah. Leslie put some charm around it for practice. Too bad we didn't do that for the tryouts, huh?" Lily just nodded. She looked at the horizon; the sun was setting.
How romantic. She thought jokingly. James wrapped his arm around her waist.
"I love you, Lily." He said, surprising himself a bit. Lily marveled at how natural it felt before calmly answering back, "I love you too, James.
A/N: So... how was it? let me know in that box down there. Thanks :)