disclaimer: yeah, yeah, it's all jk's.

A/N: Hello faithful readers! I'm back to writing again, finally. You probably don't really care about why I've been taking so long to write, but just in case you do, here's why. It's been super tough for me to get any writing done because, like I said in previous author notes, I have been more than booked with softball. I have practice 3 times a week for two hours, on top of school (but now it's finally summer), and then tournaments on weekends with three games each day. I also just had finals (may i say HELL). I even typed half of this chapter in school just for you all! But anyways... the future chapters I post shouldn't take as long as this one to post because since it's summer, I have the whole morning to afternoon to write, monday through friday. Then again, I am starting a new story but I don't think I'm posting it on here. Again, sorry about this late posting, but I hope you enjoy anyway!

The Rivalry of James and Lily

Year 5, Chapter 1

Expressions

"Shut up, Petunia!" Lily yelled through her ugly new door in her ugly new room on the ugly new 4 Privet Drive. This was the new house where Petunia, and big, fat, loud, annoying Vernon Dursley had decided to live after their marriage that last December. This house was two stories; neat, tidy, plenty big, and quite comfortable, other than the fact everywhere you looked there were shrines to Petunia and Vernon. There were pictures of them at fancy restaurants, mementos from their weddings, and roses from special occasions, all framed and scattered throughout the house. These frequent reminders were more than enough to make Lily want to hurl every time she simply left her room. And ever since the end of her fourth year, after her adventure with James, and after the end of term feast which the Gryffindors' all celebrated heartily (they had won the house cup, again), Lily had been stuck with stupid Petunia and stupid Vernon in this stupid new house.

Not only was the appearance of this new house as horrible as dead rotting fish (at least to Lily), but so was the atmosphere. Petunia couldn't last five minutes without picking fights with Lily over silly things, such as leaving a towel on the bathroom floor, or eating the last of the cereal.

"Lily! This is the last straw!" Petunia bellowed, swinging the door open, savagely. "Get out! Get out of this room we have so kindly given to you! Get out, now! And go sleep... sleep in that cupboard under the stairs! That's all the better you deserve. That's all anyone friends with you deserves. You are the foulest little creature to walk this planet. I can't believe I ever agreed to take you in!" Petunia's face was so crumpled and ugly that Lily couldn't help but be scared. Lily, however, not having any clue what she did, refused to collect her belongings.

"I said get out!" Petunia yelled. Lily stayed rooted to her bed, or should I say mattress, in which the springs were beginning to pop out. Petunia swiveled on the spot, slammed the door, and hurriedly walked down the stairs, searching for Vernon. Petunia knew he would be able to set Lily straight. Not knowing what to do, Lily took everything she owned and stacked it against the door. She was tempted to use a charm to lock the door, but as magic in front of muggles was extremely forbidden, she didn't want to risk getting expelled from Hogwarts. That was now the only place she was actually happy.

Lily heard pounding footsteps coming up the stairs. She shrank back to the window in fear, as far away from the door as possible.

"Lily Evans!" Vernon's voice yelled, shaking with anger. "Get out here!" He began to slam the door with his fist, causing it to break in several spots. Lily could feel a cool breeze on her back from her opened window. She was about to close it, but she couldn't tear her eyes away from the door. Suddenly, she heard a whisper in her ear.

"Lily," someone hissed, poking her back.

Lily jumped about a foot and screamed. She turned to see James's head outside her window. Then he tore off his invisibility cloak and showed the rest of his body and the broomstick on which he was flying.

"James! Get me out of here!" Lily wailed, scared out of her wits.

"What's wr-," James began, but he was interrupted by another slam on the door.

"Lily! Open this door this minute!" Vernon bellowed. "Who's in there with you?"

Lily only whined, and looked pleadingly at James.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" James asked. "Come on, now. Gather your belongings, and hurry!"

Lily's trunk, which was already packed for Hogwarts was over by the door. She quickly dragged it over to the window, praying the rest of the furniture would hold to Vernon's burly strength. She flopped its top open and then ran around, gathering any other supplies she might need, throwing them into her trunk. She grabbed her owl cage and attached it the top of the trunk. She figured she'd let Oe follow her and James. James took out his wand, getting ready to perform a feather-light charm.

"James! Wait! You'll be expelled. They're muggles!" Lily exclaimed.

"Yeah. And I'm not doing this in front of them am I? They're on the other side of this door."

"Good point," Lily agreed.

He was beginning to twirl his wand when, yet again, he heard another, "Wait!"

"What now?" he asked a bit irritated, his arm raised in the ready position.

"Are you sure you don't want me to that?" Lily asked, unsure of James's charms abilities. After all, she had been tutoring him for quite a long time now and he still was hardly passing.

James simply flashed her his winning smile and replied, "I think I'll be alright, thanks." He quickly performed the charm and picked up the trunk with one hand. "You see, Lily. I had this great tutor, and I think I'm finally starting to get the hang of this charms business. Although, my last report card sure doesn't show it," he mumbled in an afterthought.

Lily flashed him a smile, blushing slightly, and helped him tie the trunk to the back of his broom. He then helped her onto his broom, covered them with the invisibility cloak, and sped away, leaving the continuous bangs on Lily's still-closed-door behind.

Relieved by her escape from Petunia, Lily didn't notice she was 500 feet in the air until she saw a duck flying next to her, quacking in her ear. And at this point, she felt herself jump another foot, slam her eyes shut, and tighten her grip around James. She heard James cough a few times, and loosened her grip just a touch.

"Isn't it beautiful up here?" James asked later, as calm as a bird.

"Oh yes, as beautiful as a summer sunset," she replied, trying to hide her fright.

"Uh, Lily. This is a summer sunset," he said, pointing to a mountain range in the distance. Lily squinted her eyes open a sliver. "Maybe if you opened your eyes you'd notice those things," he laughed.

Lily blushed in embarrassment. So, he knew she was scared. Oh well, right? She wished she could have brushed that feeling off as easily, but for some reason she felt herself stay red for quite a long time. She slowly loosened her grip more around James and began to try to enjoy her surroundings. After a couple of minutes, she was actually quite comfortable sailing through the skies with James by her side, watching the sunset in the far distance. With her eyes open, she was quite a bit more relaxed and began to actually enjoy herself.

"James, why did you come over to my house?" she wondered aloud.

James didn't answer. At first he just shrugged, and Lily didn't bother him about anything until they reached their destination, his and Sirius's houses. He carried her trunk into the spare room she had stayed in the last time she had been there with Alex and Kate. On his was out of the room, James informed Lily that Sirius was back in Italy at another family reunion until August 29, which was 1 week from now and that she could stay until the start of term, if she liked. He was just about to leave when Lily stopped him.

"James, do you still hate me?" she asked bluntly.

He looked back at her puzzled for a minute, then he looked down at his hands. "Nope. I don't hate you at all." He turned again to go back out the door. As he was shutting it behind him, he poked his head in and asked her, "I'm going to go make some macaroni and cheese, care to join me?"

Lily smiled. "Surely," she grinned. "I'll be down in 5 minutes. I'm going to change into some sweatpants real fast."

Lily slipped on her green sweatpants and a white spaghetti strap shirt. She looked in her mirror and was quite pleased when she realized she really didn't look that bad. Her hair, which was half-up, was a bit wind blown. Little wisps of hair framed her face, and her eyes were accented from the green in the pants. Before she met James in the kitchen, she unpacked a few of her belongings, and then hopped down the stairs. When she entered the kitchen, she was shocked to see James wearing a white apron and chef hat. Lily let out a small giggle, which got James's attention.

"Good day, my lady. Would you please take a seat?" he asked in his heavy British accent, motioning toward the kitchen table, which was lit with two flaming candles.

Lily quickly sat down and watched in silence as James turned on some light Italian music and continued slopping the macaroni and cheese together as though if it was his greatest masterpiece. He hummed lightly to the music as he poured two servings into separate bowls and added a bit of parsley for a touch of color. He tore off his apron and removed his chef hat from his already messy black hair. Smiling, he served Lily her food and sat down next to her.

"Thanks Chef Potter," she said, looking down at her perfect macaroni and cheese.

James was looking at Lily tentatively as she took her first bite. She looked at him when her food reached her mouth and laughed.

"I thought only Sirius was this serious about his food!"

James smiled weakly.

"It's good, don't worry!" she grinned.

For James, this was the ticket and he began to dig into his mac and cheese forcefully. They ate together in silence for a while, and then James began smiling into his food.

"Hey, it's good, but not that good," giggled Lily, teasingly.

James shook his head, "Oh, it's not that. I was just thinking."

"About what?" Lily asked, intrigued.

"Well, I was mainly thinking about... well..." James looked at her nervously.

"Well, what?" asked Lily.

"Oh... um. It's nothing."

"Come off it, James. Just tell me," said Lily.

"Ok. Well, mainly, I was thinking about how much I really don't hate you at all. As a matter of fact, I haven't hated you since the third year. I admit, I despised you our first and second years, but after that, you had changed somehow. You weren't as immature after that."

Lily punched his arm hard enough to make it hurt but not injure him.

James laughed. Then as Lily re-aimed to punch him a bit harder, he put his hand up. "Come on, Lil', let me finish." He fed her some puppy begging eyes, and sadly she lowered her arm. He eyed her suspiciously for a minute, prepared for a surprise attack. Lily laid her hands on the table so he could keep watch on them and continue.

"Thanks," he muttered. "Anyway, as I was saying. I really haven't hated you for quite some time now. Actually, I think I'm rather starting to like you.. erm.. a bit." He turned slightly red, and Lily just stared at him, both eye brows raised.

James looked at her and laughed. She looked as though she just saw Snape die or something. "Come on, Lily. I know you love me. Or should I say, like me a lot? Weren't those your words?" he smiled, menacingly.

Lily's jaw dropped. "What...?" she gasped.

Seeing her anger, James looked away, timidly.

"You... you were awake?" she gibbered. "But you... you weren't breathing!"

James fed her innocent eyes. "I barely heard. I mean I really wasn't able to breath. You just yelled it so loud."

Lily kept staring at him in shock. Then she looked down at her food. "Merlin's beard," she mumbled, forking her food with extreme force.

James looked back down at his food. He wished more than anything he could take back what he had said. He knew if Lily had been dying in front of him, he would have expressed his love profusely. And he was going to tell her so, but as she was now smashing her food into a giant glob, he decided maybe he should clear her plate before that glob ended up on his face.

"Er... May I take that for you?" he asked.

Lily simply pushed her plate towards him and got up from the table. Why did she ever yell her feelings out so loud? She punched herself mentally for being so stupid. She walked up the stairs. Now she almost wished she were back at Petunia's. Almost, that is. She'd never felt more embarrassed or ashamed in her life. She quickly brushed her teeth and washed her face and climbed in bed. She closed her eyes. She knew James would find out sooner or later she liked him (she had finally admitted it to herself), but she didn't want him to find out until she was ready for him to know. She rolled on her side and looked at the stars. She wished more than anything the pit in her stomach would disappear. She didn't know what to do. She didn't have anyone to turn to.

"Mum, Dad, why aren't you here?" she whispered, a solitary tear falling down her cheek. James knocked on the door. Lily wanted to answer, but she didn't. She kept on her side, opposite the door, and closed her eyes. James opened the door a crack.

"Lily," he hissed. She didn't moved. She couldn't. Solemnly, James closed the door. But before it was completely shut he whispered, "I love you, too."

After Lily was sure he was gone, she burst into tears. No one had said 'I love you' to her since her parents died. And as it was James, her sworn-enemy-yet-complete-crush, she didn't know how to deal with her emotions. Crying, she fell asleep some hours later.

Next morning, Lily awoke relieved she was away from Petunia and Vernon. But memories of the previous nights events forced the joy in her stomach to morph into a sense of humiliation and resentment. She laid in bed for a few minutes, then dressed, washed her face, brushed her teeth, and went to the kitchen to make some breakfast. She scrambled four eggs and broiled two tomatoes. And just as she was finishing, she saw James appear on the stairs, his puppy-dog eyes begging for food. Lily, being her smart self, had made two servings, knowing all too well that James would wake up to the wafting smell of eggs at 9 o'clock in the morning. Although why she did him a favor, she had no idea.

After placing a plate in front of each herself and James, she began to nibble at her food, unaware of James eyes glancing at her every few seconds. Only when Lily realized James hadn't touched his food did she notice the circle under his eyes and how awfully tired he looked.

"Didn't sleep?" she muttered.

James simply nodded his head, mutely.

"Me neither," she mumbled, softly, keeping her eyes on anything but James.

James looked up at her and didn't look away until they made eye contact. His eyes were sympathetic and sorry. He, however, could not read Lily's eyes. Her face appeared slightly angry, yet hers eyes looked hurt but warm. James looked back down at his food.

"Look, Lily. I'm really sorry," he said honestly. "I truly didn't mean to hurt you at all. That's really the last thing I ever want to see."

Lily looked at him and smiled softly.

James fed her a small smile in return, then finally took a huge bite of his food, mumbling, "Wow, this is good." Lily rolled her eyes and laughed. He could never be distracted from the call of his stomach too long.

"You know, Lily," he started with a mouthful of eggs. "I really have liked you, as in more than a friend, for a long time now. I just really thought you hated me so I was afraid to say anything to you. Plus, I didn't really want to let Sirius know he was right about me liking you for so long."

Lily looked at him thoughtfully, and then smiled maliciously. "Sirius doesn't have to know."

James grinned. "So we're a couple?"

Lily simply smiled as her answer, too afraid she would burst with joy if she said anything.

***

Over the next few days, James and Lily were happy together, once again. They went on picnics, talked endlessly about everything and nothing, and practiced some snogging here and there. On the day before Sirius was due home, letters from Hogwarts arrived for them. Although they were rather late, Lily was quite pleased when she opened hers and out spilled a silver badge with a giant letter P.

"Oh look, James. I've been made a prefect!" she exclaimed, showing him her badge.

"ER, um... good for you," he said, trying to hold back laughter.

"You know, you could pretend to be happy for me," she sighed.

Opening his letter he said, "Sorry, Lil', but I just don't see what's so great about-." But he stopped dead. At that very moment a silver badge fell out of his envelope, too. "What the-," he gasped.

"Oh James! Congratulations!" Lily started, but James cut her off.

"How in bloody hell did I get made a...a... a prefect!" he cried in disbelief.

"In may be a bit... erm... weird-," Lily started again.

"Honestly, Lily, it's ludicrous! I have the second highest detention rate next to Sirius Black. Sirius Black!!! The biggest troublemaker that school has ever seen. The teachers must be on drugs."

"James!" Lily exclaimed.

"Whatever possible reason could there be that they would elect me as Prefect?"

"They obviously thought you were the best for the job," Lily answered, sharply.

James sighed. "I still think they were drunk on butterbeer."

"James, you know as well as anyone you can't get drunk off butterbeer, although I know you've tried."

"Maybe they're all house-elves in disguise," he stated, thoughtfully.

Lily rolled her eyes. "I just can't wait until Sirius finds out."

James looked like he was about to strangle her, so she ducked under the table for cover.

***

The next day, Sirius came back and teased James more than Lily ever imagined. ("You! A prefect! Honestly! What's this world coming to?")

James simply ignored him after about an hour, and stuck to talking to Lily. However, that didn't blow over too well as James and Lily were also trying to hide that they were now a couple. So, when James, Lily, and Sirius went to Diagon Alley for their school supplies, James really could only talk to Sirius about being made prefect, as he didn't want to give anything away about his relationship with Lily. Plus, he had good argument. I mean, it wasn't like he wanted to be made a prefect. It wasn't his decision. Lily, however, was quite amused by the situation, and on the train ride to Hogwarts with the rest of the gang, she teased him profusely along with everyone else. I guess you could say James was a bit peeved by the whole situation. I mean, he was now a prefect. Shouldn't the others look up to him? And what was Lily doing teasing him about being a prefect when she was one herself? And he brought this up to her when they were walking up to the castle together.

"Lily, why are you making so much fun of me for being a prefect when you are a prefect yourself?"

Lily raised her eyebrows at him. "James, isn't it obvious? I mean, you're Mr. Marauder. It's, like you said, ludicrous that you were even considered to be a prefect." James pretended to be abashed at this statement, although he knew it was true. Lily just laughed at him, and made fun of him some more.

"Oh come here," he laughed, pulling her into an empty classroom. And tilting her head up to his, he kissed her lightly on the lips. At that moment, the door burst open and Sirius walked in.

James and Lily pulled away immediately. "Uh, hi?"

A/N: Ok, that's the end for now. I'm not sure if I really like this chapter much, but as I haven't posted for over a month I decided I should just post it anyway. But if you do or don't like it, please review anyway. :) I also want to add, I think the new HP trailer is awesome, and if you haven't seen it, check it out!