Not A Chance
By Lalita
Disclaimer~ If I said that I owned Harry Potter, would you believe me? No. Do I own Harry Potter? No.
Summary~ James doesn't think he has a chance in the world with Lily… Can she change his mind?
Author Notes~ Here's chapter two for ya! Thanks to everyone reviewed- please do it again! ^___^ Tell me how ya like it!
Chapter Two~ One Boy
Lily Evans bit her lower lip, as she always did when she was nervous or thinking about something. And she certainly was thinking about something. In fact, the big, important something that she was so occupied with dealt with a handsome, breathtakingly wonderful guy. The guy was none other than James Potter.
Lily frowned at her Arithmacy homework that lay before her, untouched. James Potter was not wonderful, not at all. He was conceited, arrogant, and obviously considered himself as Merlin's gift to women. He had proven that enough today. But still...
Lily slapped her hand to her forehead in frustration. She really should have been getting on with her work. It was late; Madame Pomfrey had sent Sirius and her to the Gryffindor Tower hours ago. " Maybe I should get some sleep," Lily reflected. " This isn't due for another two days, anyway."
Yawning, Lily gathered her quills, parchment, and Arithmacy book, stood up, and headed for the dorm she shared with the other Fifth years, keeping her thoughts carefully diverted from James. Lily stumbled up the steps, blinking rapidly, trying to stay awake and see at the same time, while also trying to block out thoughts of a boy with deep eyes and dark hair. It was maddening.
Kaitlyn and Marie were giggling about something in the corner, whispering excitedly and poking each other when Lily came in. But Lily, for once, didn't bother to snap at them, as she usually did. Instead, she flopped down onto her own bed and buried her face in the pillow, which muffled her groan of both exhaustion and frustration. Kaitlyn and Marie glanced over at her, seemed to reach an unspoken agreement, and ignored her. Lily was grateful. She didn't know if she could handle any questions right then.
Just when she had almost drifted off to sleep, Lily heard them talking again. She had nearly flung back her curtains when she heard, " That's right. Lily rejected James in front of the whole school today. Jenna told me all about it."
Marie leaned forward. " Is she mad?" she asked, incredulous.
" She must be. And James was absolutely furious." Kaitlyn rolled her eyes, as if she thought Lily wasn't worth wasting a moment on.
" Ohhh," Marie said, interested. " Who would've thought that he would have a crush on a bookworm like her, of all people?"
Kaitlyn nodded. " That's not all," she said, her voice hushed. Lily nearly fell out of bed, struggling to hear what she was saying without being too obvious. Kaitlyn continued. " Tonight, they say James was fighting with Snape."
Marie sighed. " What else is new?" she asked impatiently.
" I'm not done yet, if you'd just listen to me," Kaitlyn snapped. She took a deep breath. " I heard that Snape wrote Lily a love letter, and James found it."
" Uh oh," Marie said, giggling rather loudly.
" Shhh!" Kaitlyn jabbed Marie with her elbow. " Do you want to wake her up?" Marie must have shook her head, because Kaitlyn gave a satisfied grunt and went on. " James was furious. He started attacking Snape, and was winning, but then Lily butted in."
" What happened next?" Marie begged, clearly fascinated by the story. Lily was too; she wanted to hear the latest rumors about her as well.
" Lily was nagging at him again, and obviously Snape was gonna take advantage of the situation. He cursed James, right behind his back. They say Lily was so angry she jumped on Snape and started punching him! Sirius had to drag her away!"
Lily stuck her fist into her mouth to keep from laughing hysterically. Unfortunately, a muffled sound must have come out, because Kaitlyn stopped telling her story and peered through the curtains, eyes narrowed suspiciously. Lily tried her best to look innocent and sleeping, although it was hard. Kaitlyn, however, looked appeased and went back to the tale. Marie wasn't the only one hanging on every word; Lily was just as, if not more, amused.
" Sirius-" Kaitlyn sighed- " pulled her off of him and they rushed up to the hospital wing with James. He must have been in an awful state. Clyde swore he saw some emergency team wizards fly in on broomsticks to save him!"
" Poor James," Kaitlyn and Marie said in unison. Marie giggled nervously. " You-you think Lily fancies him?"
Kaitlyn snorted. " The only thing Lily fancies is a whole day in the library, alone with dusty, old, boring books."
Lily frowned. That wasn't true. She did like to go out and have a good time! It wasn't her fault that she was responsible. " Just wait until I'm Mistress of Magic, and they're working on the Knight Bus!" she thought maliciously. But the thought, however vindictive, brought a smile to her face. She could just picture it so perfectly...
" But why does James fancy her?" Marie persisted.
Lily, for one, knew that Kaitlyn fancied James about as much as You-Know-Who fancied power. " Probably because she plays hard to get," Kaitlyn snapped. Lily frowned. She wasn't " playing hard to get " with James. That was about as far from the truth as one could go.
" Night, Marie. I need my beauty sleep," Kaitlyn said, slamming her curtains around her bed shut with more force than necessary.
" Night, Kaity."
Gentle snores soon filled the room; Lily heard repeated muttering of, " Two can play at her game," and " James," from Kaitlyn. She frowned. Lily tossed and turned, but she still couldn't get to sleep. Her mind, which had been so tired before, was now full of racing thoughts- all about James. " Did Snape really write me a love letter?" she wondered, touching a hand to her lips, her eyes widening in the darkness. Of course, that could have just plain stupid gossip, like most of the rest of the story. No doubt James would make it sound even more heroic when he recovered, Lily thought, grinning from ear to ear. She wondered what else he would do when he got better... Maybe he would ask her out again... She blushed in the shadows, thankful that no one could read her thoughts just then. They were certainly embarrassing.
But, try as she might, Lily could not stop thinking about James and she could not get to sleep. Besides, even if she did manage to fall asleep, it was more than likely that she would dream about him. Muttering a curse, she swung out of bed, rummaged in her trunk for a robe, slung it over her shoulders, and crept out of the room. Both Kaitlyn and Marie will still snoring. Just as she reached the door to the dorm, Marie rolled over and let out a long, lingering sigh, on which Lily caught the name Sirius. Carefully creeping out so that the Fat Lady didn't see her and grinning from ear to ear, she slipped all the way to the Hospital Wing, narrowly avoiding Filch a couple of times.
Madame Pomfrey wasn't in the room, so Lily was able to make it to James's bed unnoticed. James's head swivelled over to her immediately; Lily jumped and stifled a gasp of surprise. " Lily?" James asked, frowning. " What're you doing here?"
" C-Couldn't sleep," Lily admitted, turning red. He had used her first name! Surely that amounted to something, didn't it?
James turned slightly, hiding the back of his head from view. " Oh," was all he said, a tinge of pink at his cheeks.
Lily coughed. She slowly sank down to the end of the bed, nervously biting her lower lip. " So," she murmured, twisting her hands in her lap. The sensible, logical part of her brain was now lecturing her. " Don't be stupid. This is James, for heaven's sake! You totally detest him! Why are you here? Have you lost your mind, Lily Evans? Perhaps you are as much of a loony as Petunia always says." At that thought, Lily could not suppress her giggles. She covered her mouth with her hands to stifle the noise, but it was useless.
James looked at her, looking vaguely amused. " What's so funny?" he asked her, putting on a hurt expression. " I hope you're not laughing behind my back about my hair again." He sat up, winced, then gave her a fair view of the bald spot created by Snape's jinx.
" Oh no, James," Lily assured him, her eyes widening in innocence. " I could only do that when you're restored to perfect health."
James chuckled. A silence then descended upon them. Lily ducked her head, afraid of meeting James's eye. Finally, she said, " You know... Earlier today? By the lake?"
James's face darkened. " What about it?" he asked curtly. It was obvious it wasn't his favorite topic of discussion. Lily cringed. If truth be told, it wasn't hers either.
" I wanted to say sorry for saying all those things to you," she said softly. She bit her lip again. Where had that come from? Every word of what she had said was true, and he knew it. He was arrogant and pig-headed, and nothing would ever change that. But... Lily inwardly sighed. However conceited, James was still a pretty fun guy. After all, he had defended her, as much as she didn't want it. And tonight, she felt as though she had seen a whole new side to him. A side that she could grow to like.
" Oh," James said again, the red in his cheeks now visible through the dark. " It- It's okay. I mean, I probably shouldn't have been picking on Snivellus- sorry, I mean Snape- so much anyway."
Lily grinned. That was the closest thing James had ever gotten to an apology. After another few seconds that seemed like hours of quiet, James said, " Er... Did you mean it? What you said about me, I mean."
Lily pretended to look thoughtful. " Well..." She smiled. " Half of it was said out of anger, the other half out of truth."
James and Lily laughed together again. Then, James completely took her by surprise by taking her hand and holding it. " Lily..." He looked distinctly uncomfortable for a moment, before regaining his cockiness. He gave her a lop-sided grin. " Want to go out with me?"
Lily was stunned, but she covered her shock by giggling. She withdrew her hand from his and stood up. " Not in this lifetime, Potter," she said, crossing her arms and giving him a mock severe expression.
A smirk played across James's lips. " I wouldn't be so sure of that, Evans."
Lily raised an eyebrow. " Alright, it's a bet, then," she declared. She leaned down and planted a kiss on his cheek. Then she spun around and raced out of the room as if the devil himself were on her heels. Her mind was clouded and her heart was pounding, and all she could think was, " I kissed James... I KISSED JAMES POTTER!" And then she scolded herself for her foolishness.
Meanwhile, James lay there, thunderstruck, on the bed. He lifted his hand to touch his cheek, then whispered, even though Lily was gone, " Alright, it's a bet. And one that you're going to lose."
