A/N: All right! Who's ready for another year of Emerald Eyes? * raises hand * I am! And there are going to be SO many different things happening, I hope this story isn't just like everyone else's! That would suck and we're trying for individuality, aren't we Beta Reader?

* Beta Reader nods enthusiastically *

And, we've reached 20 chapters! HOORAH!

I'm going to go reward myself with a cupcake.

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8:00 rolled around much too fast for Lily's liking and before she knew it, she was saying goodbye to her friends and walking (much to her distaste) with James back to the Charms classroom.

"You're an utter prat, and if you do even one thing I'll hex you so hard –"

"Trust me, Carrots, I don't want to socialize with you," James said blandly, calling her by one of his many nicknames.

"Don't call me Carrots," Lily said immediately.

"Ok, Princess," James replied and couldn't help but grin at how peeved she looked.

"And since we're on speaking terms, when're you going to change my bloody hair back?" Lily asked primly.

"It has a twenty-four hour spell on it, Princess, I can't do anything about it!" James said tragically in a mock sincere voice.

Lily bit down a scream of rage. "You mean I've got to live with this until I go to bed?"

"Yeah. And since I'm the worst at Charms, you might be stuck with it until someone does something about it!" James said with an evil grin.

Lily whacked him upside the head. "You're an utter, insufferable git!"

"And you're a petite flower with the sharpest thorns I've ever seen," James replied.

They turned a bend and arrived at the Charms classroom at precisely 8:01. Professor Hughes looked quite different not wearing his half-moon spectacles with just a sweater and khaki pants - no robes.

"'Lo Professor!" Lily chirped happily. She might be serving detention but she was still the best student in their year.

"Hello Lily, James," he said, nodding.

"So what's the deal, Professor? Cleaning the desks? Washing blackboards? Truth to tell, its all a bit old," James intoned grandiosely, completely full of himself. It came off to Lily that he was bragging in an unsaid sort of way.

"If it's so old, I expect the entire classroom and the blackboards to be spotless, Mr. Potter," the professor said sharply.

Lily gulped. "B – both?"

"Yes Miss Evans, you didn't think I'd let you off easily because you're both exceptional students?" Professor Hughes said with a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

Actually sir, that'd be about correct, Lily thought bitterly.

"I'll check up on you regularly and if I hear anything going on, I'll give you both detention for two more weeks!" He said on a final threatening tone and walked down the darkened corridor.

Lily sank to the floor with her hands over her face. "My career as a perfect student just went down the drain."

"Come on Evans, stop being such a bloody melodramatic! It's one freaking detention," James said, rolling his eyes.

"Yes! And that one freaking detention just put a mar on my perfect record!" Lily moaned. Faint tears stung her eyes.

James didn't feel a bit of sympathy for her; one detention was absolutely nothing big at all. Ten detentions in two months was something to be proud about! He, Remus and Sirius were trying to break the school record for most detentions. Professor McGonagall told them that the school didn't have a school record but that they were shooting for setting one.

"Evans, let's just do this and get it over with. I really don't want to be here right now," James said. He walked nonchalantly into the classroom.

Lily got up and followed him in before getting out her wand.

James looked at her like she'd been beamed down from another planet. "What're you doing with that?"

"Um… it's my wand. Yeah, we use it in all magical classes?" Lily said like he was stupid.

"No shit Evans, but we don't clean with wands. We clean with Muggle devices," James said gesturing towards a bucket filled with soapy water and two sponges.

"Darn it!" Lily wanted to curse so badly but she was afraid James might tease her about her squeaky clean image she seemed to have.

"Take it and get working," James said while handing her a sponge. She stuck her tongue out at him once his back was turned.

Lily dipped the sponge into the soapy water, trailing the sleeves of her robe in the bucket. She walked over to the blackboard and began scrubbing away the chalk writing. The soap trickled down the blackboard in great foamy rivers and dripped down Lily's arms. Lily scowled and cursed herself for putting her robes back on; she took them off and laid them on the back of a chair. She rolled up the sleeves of her white Oxford shirt and pulled her hair back into a messy bun and started up again.

James couldn't be more furious: the fact that he had to serve a detention with Lily and the fact that she'd actually do what she was told boiled his rage to straining point. Not to mention the fact that they couldn't fool around like he did with Sirius during detention. He chose that exact moment to look up from scrubbing off 'Tammy and Daniel 4 Ever' on a desk and saw the most extraordinary thing he'd seen in his four years at Hogwarts.

Lily Evans.

Maybe it was the lighting or maybe it was then in that exact moment she'd struck something in him, but suddenly he found he was looking at Lily Evans (Lily Isabella Evans. LILY EVANS, DAMMIT!) in a completely different way. Why had he not noticed her before? She wasn't exactly the person he'd want to end up with, but hell, she blew the competition right out of the water anyway. She was so short in their first year but she'd shot up. Not gangly, definitely not gangly. Lily was elegant and petite, like any flower would be. The way James figured it, the only reason he was staring like a bumbling idiot at her, was because of her sudden womanly figure. It made James want to burst out laughing and not stop for days to think that Lily had matured into somewhat of a young lady, but she had. She had the longest legs at Hogwarts (and it's a pity no one ever sees them in that skirt, he thought wryly) and the creamiest complexion that didn't need a spot of makeup. Her red hair had lost none of its luster - although it was hard to tell that now, with its current bright blue color - and it was one thing that kept her originality fresh. Her green eyes sparkled like never before, and she had full cherry red lips that never seemed to stop smiling.

"Potter! Hello?" Lily asked rudely waving her wand in front of his face.

"What?" He snapped.

"You were – you were staring at me," Lily said, blushing slightly.

"Must've had a memory lapse. Who'd want to stare at you?" He commented, continuing his scrubbing.

"Mm, that's what I thought," Lily said with a smirk.

"When did you grow up?" He asked, and then bit his tongue. That was completely off topic.

Lily dropped her sponge in shock. "What'd you say?"

"I – I – nothing!" James said. He bent back down and began scrubbing the desks once more. "Nothing at all."

"What'd you say?" Lily demanded, putting her hands on her hips.

"I said, 'when did you grow up?'" James repeated, looking at the floor.

"It's called puberty James, want me to explain it to Mister five-year-old?" Lily snapped.

James blushed crimson. What was up with her tonight, making him blush like an idiot adolescent?

"Aw, it's OK wittle Jamesie! Sooner or later you'll go through it! Though, more later than sooner," she said with a laugh.

"Sod off Evans, I was just curious about why all of the sudden you've grown up. What'd you do, get plastic surgery?" He jeered.

"I've got natural beauty, unlike most of your fake girlfriends," Lily said coolly.

"Yeah well I'm sure all of your past boyfriends were hyped up on steroids, so don't start," James said.

"Yes James, they were hyped on steroids so they could play Quidditch. Jesus, how hard can it be to fly on a stick of wood?" Lily asked him sardonically.

"A lot harder than you think!" James retorted.

"Yes it's incredibly difficult. But then again, it must be for you considering you've got the intelligence of a parrot!" Lily said with a grin.

"See? We never get anything done without arguing," James said throwing up his hands.

Lily picked up her sponge and went back to the blackboard, ignoring his last comment.

"You know, I really can't remember what it was like to friends with you!" James said truthfully.

Lily turned around. "I can."

"You can?" He asked blankly.

"Yes, I can. And I want to know what happened to that boy I used to be friends with," Lily said in a serious voice.

"He got a life?" James cracked.

"Haha. I suppose I should've gotten used to the fact that I can't have a serious conversation with you," Lily said and turned back to the blackboard.

"Come on Evans, I'll be serious," James said.

"No you won't!" Lily said loudly.

"All right. You want to know the reason why we aren't friends anymore?"

"Yes, it'd be appreciated," came Lily's sarcastic remark.

James sank into a chair and propped his elbows on the table, running his hands through his messy jet-black hair. "The truth is I don't know, ok?"

"You don't know?" Lily asked, genuinely confused.

"I don't know. I guess the reason is because we've never been able to agree on anything and I've just stopped trying," James said.

"You're fishing around for an answer, I know it," Lily said with a slight shake of her head.

"Well bloody hell Evans, what the hell do you want me to say? That I hate your guts?" He asked frustrated.

"Well I hate your guts too then, to be even!" Lily said and spun around so fast she nearly hit her face on the blackboard.

Silence settled over the room and the only thing you could hear was the sound of the sponge swishing against the tables and blackboard. They could both sense the tension in the room but neither one talked.

"Professor Hughes will be back soon," James said quietly after a while.

"Good. I can't wait to get out of here," Lily said in a normal voice.

"It hasn't been the most enjoyable evening," James said lightly.

Lily sighed and went over to dip her sponge into the bucket and just as she bent over, James dropped his sopping wet sponge on her back. She shrieked and jerked up, soap spilling down her back.

"WHAT THE BLOODY HELL WAS THAT FOR?" She hollered lividly. James shot her an innocent look.

"I didn't do anything Lily, I –"

"YOU ARE SUCH A JERK! You're right James, we can't do anything without fighting and you know who's fault that is?"

James shrugged.

"IT'S YOURS!" She bellowed and took the entire bucket of soap and poured it on top of James's head.

"EVANS! You stupid git, get back here!" He yelled and whipped out his wand. She ran around to the teacher's desk and ducked so that only her head and her sopping blue hair could be seen.

"What're you going to do, Potter?" She said.

"I am going to hex you so bad, it'll take a year for them to wear off!" He threatened. Lily grinned and decided to play a little game of chase.

"Catch me if you can, Potter!" She yelled and ran to the side of the classroom. Turning deftly on her heel, she shot a spell in his direction. It missed and hit the wall behind him, leaving a gaping hole through the stone.

"Evans, I'm not going to toy around with you," James said through gritted teeth. At that very moment, though, they both decided to rush forward to the center of the room. Lily slid over the wet, soapy floor and frantically tried to regain her balance by swinging her arms around. James crashed into Lily and they both toppled to the floor.

Professor Hughes ran into the room at that time and found quite a sight. The blackboards and desks were only partially cleaned and soapy water was running in small rivers between the cracks of the floor. The bucket of water was overturned, as well as several desks and chairs, and papers were scattered throughout the whole scene. Finally, James Potter lying on top of Lily Evans, not to mention a rather unattractive looking hole in the wall. If any other teacher were in his place, they would've fainted to at least see the two most highly regarded students in their year in such a position.

Lily shrieked in disgust. "Get off me, you ogre!"

It was more of a panicked scream than anything because as soon as they had made even the slightest contact, sparks flew. And they weren't angry sparks. Lily was so petrified by what had just happened she couldn't even think of a good insult. All she could see was James… and his gorgeous chocolate brown eyes…

"Miss Evans and Mister Potter, what in the name of Merlin is going on here?" Professor Hughes asked, not trying hard to conceal his obvious anger.

James blinked a few times as though coming out of a trance and slowly got off Lily. "Sorry, Professor, I – "

"You what exactly, James? YOU WHAT?" He bellowed. James winced.

"We had a bit of an – an argument – "

"And decided to completely sabotage my classroom? Never in all of my years of teaching have I come across two students who had such a strong dislike…" He trailed off, nearly bursting into tears.

Lily got up, embarrassed beyond what she had ever thought mortally possible. She would never live this one down if the students ever caught wind of what had taken place that night.

"Sorry Professor, we'll – we'll clean it up – "

"NO! For the love of God – just – just get out of my classroom," Professor Hughes said tiredly and dismissed them with a wave of his hand.

Lily went to go fetch her robes and she and James walked guiltily out of the classroom. Neither one spoke for a few moments.

"Some detention," James said in a fake bright voice.

Lily was still in stunned silence and didn't comment.

"Hey Evans, your hair's back to normal!" James commented, picking up a soaked strand of fiery hair.

"Yay," Lily said without enthusiasm.

"Aw, do you feel guilty about what happened back there?" James teased, although he had a pretty good idea about what she was thinking about.

"I suppose," Lily lied. Although at the present time, Professor Hughes was the least of her worries. For the first time since Lily could remember, she wasn't thinking about her grades. She was thinking about a damned good lie to tell people about her and James.

"Pretty creepy what happened back there, huh?" James said.

"Oh my God, Potter, you have absolutely no idea," Lily said. She was only vaguely aware that she was shaking from all the different emotions flooding her at once: fear, shock, abhorrence, embarrassment, and anticipation…

"That's not usually what happens on a normal detention," James said with a small laugh.

Lily nodded like she was hypnotized. "I understand."

"Um… look… about that… I really didn't mean to do that," James mumbled.

Lily laughed out loud. "No kidding! I don't think anyone, save you, would ever do that!"

"Monkey tail," James muttered as they approached the Fat Lady.

The common room, to Lily's luck, was completely empty. They stood there for a few moments, debating on what to say.

"Goodnight – I guess," James said awkwardly.

Lily smiled woodenly. "Night."

They both ran up the stairs to their dormitories so fast someone probably would have assumed their pants were on fire.

Breathing hard, Lily shut the door and ran into her bed, pulling the covers over her head and wishing that the floor would open up and swallow her whole.

"Lily? That you?" Sabrina muttered sleepily, propping herself up on her elbows.

"Go away," Lily said in a dead voice.

"Lily! You're back! Now you can spill on all the juicy details of detention with James Potter!" Misty said, perfectly chipper considering it was almost midnight.

"I'd rather not talk about it," Lily said in a quiet but firm tone.

"Guys, don't press her. She'll feel better in the morning," came Arabella's sleepy reply.

All the girls sighed, resigned, and there was much movement in their beds trying to get back to sleep. Lily rolled onto her back and stared at the ceiling.

Why did she have to keep replaying what had happened back there? James had knocked into her, she'd fallen and he'd landed on top of her. She suddenly got chills as she recalled the warmth of his body and how serene she'd felt, looking into his eyes…

Jesus Christ, Evans, you're losing it, she thought miserably.

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A/N: Well, well, well. What do we have here? A bit of L/J for you there but I think you'll be dead surprised what happens next! And this story is FAR from over, so don't think they're just going to go from there, oh no, it's much more complicated than that! * laughs evilly * Mwahahahaha!