A/N: This is my first L/J fic, so don't flame (actually, you can flame all you want, but I'm just saying :P I hope you enjoy! J

Disclaimer: I own nothing; everything belongs to J.K. Rowling except for a few of my made up characters like Violet Walker, Jennifer Dean, Professor Hurst, etc.

Lily and James: Their Story

Lily Evans stared nervous around King's Cross. Where was Platform 9 ¾? As a matter of fact, was this "Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry" even in existence, or was this all a stupid joke? As her eyes darted rapidly toward the barrier between 9 and 10, her eyes rested upon a boy dragging a trunk like her, with an owl.

She blinked, and looked at her own tawny owl, which was nipping its beak. Should she dare ask the boy for directions?

Lily decided that she would. "Excuse me," she called, lugging her trunk and owl, which she named Hannah, along with her. "Would you happen to know how to get on Platform 9 ¾?"

The boy looked puzzled for a moment. He's a bit cute, thought Lily, as he pondered on her question.

"The platform?" he repeated, still puzzled. "You don't know how to get on the platform?"

"Well you don't have to rub it in," replied Lily, ruffled.

The boy laughed. "Oh, it was just a joke. Of course I know how to get on the platform. I'm James, by the way," he said, extending his hand towards Lily, "James Potter."

"Lily Evans," replied Lily, relieved that there was some way to get onto the platform. "So—how do you get on the platform?"

"Simple. All you do is walk straight ahead between Platform 9 and 10. Don't worry," he reassured, as he spotted Lily's doubtful look, "it's not difficult. It looks solid, but trust me, you'll be able to do it. Unless if someone's sealed the barrier. Anyway, you'd better run if you're a bit nervous."

Lily thanked him, and stared straight ahead at the solid wall between Platforms 9 and 10. She ran straight ahead, closing her eyes, and waiting for the crash, but it didn't happen. When she opened her eyes, she saw a scarlet engine with the words "Hogwarts Express" on it. She felt relieved, and felt a tapping on her shoulder. It was James.

"So you did make it, eh?" he said teasingly. "Didn't think you'd crash, did you?"

"No," said Lily haughtily, and she could hear James chanting, "carrots, carrots" behind her. She raised her hand to slap him, but instead she slapped an innocent bystander, who was passing James.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" she exclaimed, ignoring James' sniggers behind her. "Are you all right?"

"Oh, I'm—fine. Watch who you're going to slap next time, though." The boy looked extremely stiff, and Lily shuddered. He had black, greasy hair with cold black eyes, examining Lily closely from head to toe.

Then he spotted James and replied acidly, "I suppose this is your girlfriend, Potter? Pity… she's cute, too. Too bad she's too clumsy for the liking of me."

James opened his mouth in protest, but the boy continued. "I suppose you're wondering who I am, Potter?"

"Of course I know who you are," said James, glaring at the boy. "Dad's told me about you. You're Severus Snape, I presume?"

"At your service," he said, with a snicker. Then he rounded onto Lily. "And who are you?"

"Lily Evans," Lily said. She didn't like the boy too much.

"Never heard of you," said Snape disdainfully. "What do your parents do? Do they work for the Ministry of Magic?"

"The what?" Lily stared at the boy.

"Oh. You don't know. I thought so, you're a mudblood." He sneered. "I suppose your parents were so proud when you got your letter."

"As a matter of fact, they were," snapped Lily. She felt a rush of anger in her.

"Look Snape," interrupted James, staring coldly at the greasy boy, "leave her alone, will you? It's a bad enough experience not knowing much about our world, so don't give Lily a hard time."

"Oh, sticking up for your girlfriend, Potter?" asked Snape, sneering. "What are you naming the children?"

Before James could reply, Lily whipped her wand out of her jeans pocket and gave a casual wave, leaving Snape mouthing furiously, but with no sound coming out.

"How did you do that?" asked James, astonished. "We haven't even learned the Silencing Charm yet!"

Lily shrugged. "I tried a few simple spells at home."

"James! James, over here!" A boy was calling James, grinning widely. He halted as he spotted James talking with Lily, and grinned even more widely.

"What, is this your new girlfriend, Jamie?"

"For the last time, Lily is not my—" began James crossly, but the boy cut him off.

"Sirius Black, at your service," said the boy, bowing to Lily. "And who is this precious flower?"

"Lily Evans," said Lily, grinning at the boy's comical antics.

"I see," said Sirius, still smirking at James. "So—Lily. How is Jamie-boy treating you?" He gestured James with a casual wave with his arm.

"Oh, he saved me from probably many insults from Snape," said Lily, pointing her finger towards Snape, who was still silently mouthing.

"Wow! How did you do that Silencing Charm? Even Dad didn't expect me to do that!" exclaimed Sirius, looking envious.

"It's quite a simple spell. I can show you if you like."

James sniffed, and Sirius turned his way, still grinning. "Aw, jealous of your girlfriend, Potter?"

"She is not my girlfriend!" cried James angrily.

"We'd better get on the train," said Lily hurriedly. "It's leaving in five minutes."

"By golly, you're right! Come on, Jamie, let's follow your girlfriend."

With James not even protesting after Sirius' comment the three of them both hurried onto the train, looking for an empty compartment.

There were no empty ones to be found, so Lily collapsed in one that was almost empty, except for a pretty girl with brown curls sitting by herself in a corner.

"Hi," greeted Lily. "May I sit here? The other compartments are full."

"Sure," said the girl brightly, scooting over and pushing her luggage to the side. "I'm Arabella Figg."

"Lily Evans."

"Nice to meet you Lily."

Before Lily could say another word, the compartment doors slid open, revealing Sirius and James laughing.

"Lily! How charming to see you again! Oh," he said, his eyes falling on Arabella. "Who are you?"

"Arabella Figg," replied Arabella primly.

"Oh," he said, disinterested. "Sirius Black. Lily," he said, directing his attention to Lily again, "guess what we did to old Snape?"

"What?" asked Lily eagerly. She had soon found her first enemy at Hogwarts.

"We let him talk a bit more, and took off the Silencing Charm. Then James found a simple spell of bounding a person with rope, so we used that on Snape and—" Sirius stopped and grinned wildly. "Well, no doubt he's looking for us right now."

"Oh, Sirius, you bad boy!" cried Lily in relish. Sirius grinned and bowed. Lily suddenly realized then that James and Arabella were in the compartment too, so she turned to the shy, brown-curled girl.

"Are you a first year?"

Arabella's face brightened. "Yeah. My father works and is the head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports, so we pretty much know the latest news about Quidditch matches. What about your family?"

"Well…my father works at a business—stocks," said Lily. Then, looking at Arabella's confused expression, she added, "I'm muggle born."

"Oh! My apologies…but what are stocks?"

So Lily went explaining to Arabella, James, and Sirius about her whole family and the Muggle world. All three were fascinated, just as Lily was fascinated with everything about the hidden wizarding world.

"Petunia's my sister—a real pain," Lily added, making a face. "She hates me."

"Why?" asked Sirius.

"Because, she hates magic, and she thinks I'm a freak because I'm a witch." She shrugged. "Petunia's odd at times, but she hangs around that fat boy, Vernon—"

She stopped, noticing James' eyes on her. He blushed, noticing her gaze, and turned away. Sirius saw this immediately and took advantage of it.

"Ah, Jamsie entranced by your girlfriend's ethereal beauty?"

"Ethereal?" James raised his eyebrows. "Since when have you been using big words like 'ethereal', Sirius? How long did it take you to learn it? A month?" He snickered.

Sirius turned red. "My dad said it was a good word to impress a girl," he muttered, shrugging.

Both Lily and Arabella burst into giggles, making both James and Sirius annoyed.

"Girls," mumbled James, "I don't think I'll ever understand them."

"'Course you won't, they're of a different species," replied Sirius airily, secretly smiling at the furious looks on Lily and Arabella's faces.

"Sirius Black—" began Lily, but the compartment doors slid open once more, and Severus Snape went storming in, grabbing the cuffs of both James and Sirius.

"Black! Potter! You two will pay for what you've done to me. The witch with the food cart had to say the counter-curse…"

"Food cart?" Sirius bounced out of Snape's grasp and looked eagerly around. "Where?"

Before Snape could properly answer, a smiling plump witch pushed in a food cart into their compartment.

"Anything off the trolley, dears?" she said, smiling, but frowning slightly at Snape's fierce grasp on James' shirt.

"Not fighting I hope, Severus? I trust these are the boys responsible for using the Body Bind curse on you?"

"They are, ma'am," said Snape oily. He glared at Sirius and James. "Black and Potter."

"Well…" she looked around, "anything off the trolley, dears?" she repeated.

Lily and Arabella both stuffed their hands into their pockets and both pulled out a pile of coins each. "We'll take the lot," they both chorused together.

After the plump witch left, dragging Snape along with her, Arabella, Lily, James, and Sirius were all happily chewing on their purchases.

"D'you think the witch will come back again?" asked Sirius through a mouthful of pumpkin pastries.

"Hmm…I don't think so," said Lily thoughtfully, biting delicately into a Cauldron Cake. "What are these?" She held up a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. There was a rush of explanations right after her question.

"Oh Lily, they're my favorite sweets—"

"Really excellent they are, every flavor—"

"They mean every flavor, careful there, you might get sprouts or booger—"

Lily bit into one. "It tastes like…dirt," she said flatly and promptly spat it out. "Gross," was her comment. She then picked up another box. "Chocolate Frogs? They aren't real frogs, are they?"

"No, it's just a spell. Each box has a card, of a famous witch or wizard. I collect them…have about five hundred," explained Arabella.

"I've got—Dumbledore!"

"I've got about ten of him," bragged Sirius. "Hey—let me see what you got, Bells."

"Bells?" Arabella's brows shot up. "Since when have you started to call me 'Bells'? We've only met!"

"I have a habit of making a nickname for every person I meet," said Sirius simply. He turned to Lily. "Like Lily's is…Flower."

"Flower?" cried Lily.

James snorted. "What about me, Sirius? You haven't got one for poor old James."

"'Course I do. I have three: Jamie, Jamie-boy, and Jamsie."

Lily grinned. "They suit you too Jamsie." She and Arabella burst out laughing.

James grimaced. "Well, Flower, I wouldn't count it on your nickname." He laughed, but was the only one.

"Well—" began Lily, but Arabella cut her off.

"At least she's pretty, James!"

"Pretty? Her?" James sniggered.

"She is pretty, James," said Sirius, looking serious for a change.

"Oh, so now it's James again?"

"You have to admit Flower's pretty," replied Sirius, staring at Lily, pretending to drool.

Lily turned a brilliant red. "I'm not pretty," she said defiantly.

Arabella gave her a reproving look. "Of course you are, Lily!"

"I'm not."

"You are."

"I most definitely am not!"

"Hey, Bella, Evan's is actually telling the truth for once."

Lily glared sharply at him. "I hate you, James Potter."

"And I you, Lily Flower."

Sirius looked from Lily to James and to James and Lily with glee. "Oh, our favorite couple fighting, is it?"

Both rounded onto Sirius like wolves. "Couple? Since when have we become a couple?" demanded James.

Before Sirius could reply, Lily exclaimed, "He's gone!"

"Who—who's gone?"

"Dumbledore!"

"Oh…" said Arabella, trying not to laugh, "oh, don't worry, Lils, he'll be back."

"But he moved?"

"Of course he moved, where have you been, Lily? All pictures move in our world."

"They do?" Lily made a face. "Where I'm from, the pictures just stay the same way the whole time."

"Really?" Bella was astonished. "That's weird!"

The train suddenly slowed down, then stopped. "We're there!" shrieked Arabella, smiling. As the doors swung open by students wearing billowing black robes with a shining badge with a "P" on it, Lily, James, Sirius, and Arabella jumped off and hastily changed into their black Hogwarts robes.

"Firs' years this way!" came a loud boom from behind them. Lily jumped and turned around. There stood the largest man she had ever seen in her life. Large, and with a bushy black beard, his warm, crinkling, black eyes twinkled down at her.

"You a firs' year?" he asked.

"Er—yeah."

"Then c'mon, follow me. Yer all supposed to come down with me an' arrive at Hogwarts in them boats." He gestured towards a fleet of boats nearby.

Lily, James, Sirius, and Arabella, along with many other nervous first years, followed the giant meekly. "I'm Hagrid, by the way!" he called over the tumultuous crowd. "Rubeus Hagrid!"

"By golly, is that man huge!" emphasized Sirius as we followed Hagrid to the fleet of boats.

"He seems nice," said Lily absently.

"He's huge!" repeated Sirius, not listening to a word Lily was saying.

"Firs' years into them boats! C'mon, now, hurry up! Now, let's see…yeah, er, no more'n four to a boat!"

Lily, James, Sirius, and Arabella all scrambled into a boat together, watching with awe as it slowly moved on the lake, causing ripples on the dark, smooth surface.

"Look at that!" squealed Arabella. "It's Hogwarts!"

They all followed her gaze, and gasping as well. Hogwarts was enormous. It was castle with many doors, windows, and probably hundreds or maybe thousands of classrooms inside. Lily stood, gaping, but James prodded her.

"Come on, it's time to go inside," he hissed.

We all followed Hagrid into the castle, and many more gasps were audible. The hall was simply huge—and the ceilings were probably hundreds of feet high. A strict witch in black robes was waiting at the foot of the stairs. She looked stern, with a serious face, spectacles, and her hair was bound tightly into a bun.

"First years this way, please," she said, her tone sounding slightly impatient. "I am Professor McGonagall, deputy headmistress of Hogwarts. Now, in a few moments, you will be joining your classmates, but first you must be sorted into your houses. They are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each House has produced outstanding wizards and witches. While you are in this school, your House is like your family. Any triumphs will earn you points; any rule breaking, and you will lose points. The House with the most points at the end of the year will be presented the House Cup, a great honor. I hope that you will all be helping and supporting whichever House you are in to this honor. Now, please follow me, the Sorting Ceremony is about to begin."

The first years followed Professor McGonagall into the Great Hall, now looking positively terrified. Many students were seated in one of four tables, and were looking curiously at the newly arrived first years.

"How exactly do we get sorted into our Houses?" whispered Lily to Arabella, as the first years followed Professor McGonagall.

"I think it's some sort of test, but my mom wouldn't tell me anything."

Lily's insides lurched and she nervously followed Professor McGonagall farther, until they reached the end of the hall, where a three-legged stool stood, and on top of that, was an old, battered-looking hat.

Professor McGonagall ushered the first years into the corner and began speaking again. "Now, wait along here please. I will call you each up in alphabetical order, you will try on the Sorting Hat, and you will be sorted into your Houses."

The hat suddenly opened up its brim and sang a song. After it was done, the hall burst into applause.

Professor McGonagall unrolled her long roll of parchment and began calling up the names of students. Sirius had been sorted into Gryffindor, along with another boy with pale yellow hair. At last, it was Lily's turn. She went up and sat on the stool, and put the hat over her head.

"Ah," the small voice said, "a brilliant mind, yes, my dear, you would make an excellent Ravenclaw…but wait! What's this? Right then…you have abundant amounts of courage, my dear, yes—and you will become an important part of the magical world someday along with Mr. Po—but I shall not tell you. You'd be best in GRYFFINDOR!" The hat shouted the last word to the Great Hall, and Lily walked, shaking, to the Gryffindor table where Sirius was clapping and whistling.

The sorting went on, until it finally finished. A couple of other people were sorted into Gryffindor—Arabella, James, Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, Violet Walker, and Jennifer Dean.

"It's finally over," emphasized Sirius, looking hungrily into his golden plate and goblet. "Come on, when's the feast going to begin?"

As Dumbledore called for attention, all eyes were turned to him, and Lily, for the first time, saw the man on her card from the train for the first time. He had a long, silver beard with twinkling blue eyes looking through his spectacles.

"Let the feast…begin," he said, smiling, and with a casual wave of his hand, piles of food appeared before their eyes.

"Finally!" exclaimed Sirius happily, and began to pile his plate with food: platters of vegetables, chicken, potatoes, roast beef, beans, turkey, other foods, and oddly enough, there was a silver platter of peppermint humbugs on the left corner of the Gryffindor table. Lily avoided those, but filled her plate with everything else and began eating.

"Lily, you aren't eating anything," pointed out Sirius.

But before Lily could answer, James said haughtily, "Probably still too shocked over the fact that she's a witch."

Lily glared at him, then stuck out her hand. "Best enemies?" she said lightly.

James stared at her as if she were mad. Then he said, just as lightly, "Best enemies…for life."

"If you two break that promise that you'll be enemies for life, then"—Sirius grinned—"you'll have to kiss."

"What?" the two exclaimed. "Kiss? Are you out of your mind, Sirius Black?"

Arabella stared at the outraged Lily and James, then grinned. "I agree with Sirius."

Lily rounded on her. "Bella! How could you be so inconsiderate? I'm your friend! At least…" she hesitated, "…I think you are…"

"'Course I am," snapped Arabella good-naturedly. "You're the best friend I've ever had. Now"—she grinned—"are you and Jamie going to make up?"

"Not you too," groaned James.

"Excuse me," said a voice, and all three of them jumped. A rather pale boy was speaking, and he looked at the four of them sheepishly.

"I—I was wondering if you'd please pass the marmalade, kindly," he said rather shakily.

"Of course," said James, passing the jar of marmalade to the boy. He had light brown hair and a young, good-natured face that looked rather weary and tired, as if suffering from overwork.

"I'm Remus, by the way," said the boy, as he spread a thick amount of marmalade on his bread, "Remus Lupin."

"I'm James Potter."

"Sirius Black."

"Arabella Figg."

"Lily Evans."

"She means Lily Potter," corrected Sirius with an evil grin on his face.

Lily glared at him. "He means Lily Evans. Sirius can be a real joker sometimes."

Remus nodded, and Lily saw that he was trying to attempt not to burst out laughing. "Hello all. I, well, I'll be seeing you in classes then." He blushed and turned away.

"Hey, wait a minute," said James, smiling warmly at Remus. "Would you like to hang around with me and Sirius? I mean…" he glanced at Sirius, "…we'll create a group! One with the pranksters of Hogwarts! I mean, we can be a legend." He grinned at Remus. "What do you think?"

Remus looked as if he would burst into tears. "I'd love to!" he cried, smiling at James' and Sirius' hopeful faces.

Lily and Arabella exchanged amused glances. "And are we not invited?" asked Arabella mockingly.

James stared at them. "It's an all boy's group," he said proudly. "No girls."

"As if we want to join your stupid group. I was just joking." Arabella grinned wickedly to show no hurt expression on her face.

"Whatever," muttered James.

***

As the days and weeks went by, Lily was thoroughly enjoying herself. Hogwarts was amazing—more amazing than she'd ever dream of. The two girls that shared her dormitory besides Arabella—Violet and Jennifer, soon became two of her other closest friends. James was still her enemy, but Sirius, Remus, and a new boy named Peter became her close friends as well. Lily and James competed constantly in academics. They were both excellent students, but Lily failed to learn Transfiguration, which James succeeded in, while James failed Charms, in which Lily excelled the top scores in. Their friends tried to get them together but it was no use; they just weren't made to be friends. But something about them made nearly everyone at Hogwarts, even the teachers, think that they were a couple. It was more than once when a teacher said "Miss Potter" or "Lily Potter" to poor Lily, making her turn beet red from embarrassment while the rest of the class would laugh. The funny thing was that none of the teachers noticed; they simply glanced up at the class to silence the laughter and continue teaching.

"We know you like James, Lily," said Violet smoothly, as she, Arabella, and Jennifer dragged Lily to the Great Hall for dinner.

"You're joking," said Lily, horrified. "I…like James? Are you insane?"

"Lily," Jennifer persisted. "Just admit it."

"I DO NOT LIKE JAMES POTTER!" yelled Lily, causing everyone walking down to the Great Hall to stare at her. A few people sniggered, and the rest ignored them.

"Lily!" Lily turned around and nearly fainted. Severus Snape was running towards her, a grin plastered on his face. Lily exchanged bewildered glances with her friends and they all came to the same conclusion: Snape was probably trying to annoy Lily with further news of her and James as an official couple.

"Yes?" she said coldly.

Snape stopped short and caught his breath. "Look," he said desperately, looking into her eyes, "I know we didn't exactly get a good head start on the train station…" he trailed off. "But I'll try to make it up to you. Friends?" He stuck out his hand.

Lily looked at him doubtfully. "Are you sure you're not sick, Severus? I'm a Gryffindor. You hate Gryffindors." She tried to push some common sense into the greasy-haired boy.

Before Snape could answer, another voice was shouting angrily towards them. "Severus, what do you think you're doing?" He stopped dead as he caught sight of Lily, Arabella, Violet, and Jennifer. "By gosh, you're talking to girls, Snape! And they're Gryffindors!" He glared nastily at them and turned to Snape again. "What do you think you're doing?"

"I'm—just apologizing to Lily—I mean, Evans here."

"Why?" The boy demanded.

"Evan," began Snape, "Lily and I went off to a bad start on the train station because of that Potter, so here I'm making it up to her—"

"Oh," spat Rosier. "Look, Severus, let's go down to dinner and we'll talk about this later." He shot Lily one more nasty look and walked down to the Great Hall with Snape trudging along behind him.

"What was that about?" asked Arabella, bewildered. "Snape was apologizing to you? Slytherins do NOT apologize to Gryffindors. Maybe it's James pretending to be Snape with a little help of Polyjuice Potion."

Lily snorted. "The potion for that is in Moste Potente Potions, which means that it's in the Restricted Section of the library. I doubt Potter would risk his neck in there for me."

"But he likes you," interjected Violet.

"Are you all right, Violet? Potter hates me. He thinks I'm even worse than Brussels sprouts, and that's saying something."

"He says that, but you know how concealed boys are with feelings. He's probably daydreaming about your children…"

Jennifer grinned. "Looks like Violet likes James Potter."

Violet suddenly looked horrified as they sat down at the Gryffindor table. "Me…like James Potter? You're out of your mind, no way!"

"Right," said Lily impatiently, annoyed at further discussion of the hated James Potter.

"What's this about me?" said a voice. They all turned around to see James Potter grinning at them.

"Snape was apologizing to me, and the girls thought that it was probably you pretending to be Snape using Polyjuice Potion. Of course, the idea is absurd, but Slytherins like Snape don't usually go apologizing to Gryffindors like me…"

"It's obvious, isn't it?" interrupted James. "Snape likes you."

Lily accidentally spat out her pumpkin juice. "Are you feeling all right, James? Because Snape happens to hate anything to do with Gryffindor. It's common knowledge that Slytherins and Gryffindors have been rivals for centuries."

"Hey, there's always a first," said James, shrugging. "Oh! There comes Snape right now." He smirked at Lily, then sat beside Sirius, Remus, and Peter who were watching with astonishment as Snape strode over the Gryffindor table.

"What is Snape doing?" hissed Sirius.

"Snape likes Lily," replied James, still grinning.

"What?" the other three chimed in. "Snape likes Lily? He hates all Gryffindors!"

"Well he obviously doesn't hate Evans. I heard him apologizing to her at the entrance to the Great Hall. It's obvious that old Slimy likes that carrot-haired Evans."

"James." Sirius shook his head. "I still don't understand why you hate Lily."

"She's a perfectionist, that's what," snapped James.

"Not really. She's really nice—and yes, very clever too. She also loves pranks just like us."

"Oh?" James' eyebrows shot up.

"Yeah," said Sirius, nodding. "Lily played a nasty joke on Snape and his friends Rosier, Wilkes, and a bunch of other idiot Slytherins. Splattered their Potions essay with purple ink. Since the Slytherins are all too dumb to make the ink vanish, Professor Hurst had to yell at them despite being head of Slytherin House…" He trailed off, looking dreamy. "It was definitely sweet revenge."

"That's stupid," said James impatiently. "Professor Hurst would never take points off Slytherin. He doesn't want his own house to lose the House Championship, so he'll be careful never to lose his temper and take points off, and he's already taken off loads of points off us." He grinned. "The sixth years aren't too happy."

"Neither are the fourth, fifth, or seventh years," agreed Sirius. "Though the third years were impressed with our prank against McGonagall…"

"They weren't too happy when she took off 20 points, though," said James, sighing. "Too bad she isn't like Hurst. Then she wouldn't take off any points from Gryffindor…"

"Haven't you seen her as a cat? I've never seen a cat sit so stiffly!" put in Remus.

"She—she frightens me," stuttered Peter. Then he added, "So does Snape."

"Don't worry, Pete, we won't let Snape bother you," comforted James, putting his arms around the fat little boy. "As for McGonagall, well, I'll try to make her see some good magic in you. She favors me better than Evans"—he smiled smugly—"but she likes Evans better. Thinks she's a sweet angel. Well. We'll see how sweet Lily Evans is when we play a prank on her." He grinned around at all his friends.

"Are you sure?" asked Sirius hesitantly. "I mean, playing pranks is fun, but Lily is our friend."

"She helped me with my Potions homework!" chimed in Peter. "I did an even better job than Snape!"

"But Snape also excels at Defense Against the Dark Arts," said Remus, frowning slightly at Peter. Everyone knew that Remus was highly affronted when Snape did a better show of the knowledge of curses than he himself had.

"Don't worry Remus, you're much better than old Snapie."

"Lily's really nice, though," said Remus. "She helped me when"—he hesitated—"when my mother fell ill. You know…" He trailed off, looking embarrassed, his ears rather red.

"Evans just makes up sympathy," growled James.

Nearby where Lily and her friends sat, Snape was still stammering an apology while they were trying to ward off Snape's oily odor.

"Lily, get rid of him," muttered Arabella from the corner of her mouth. "He's making me sick."

"Yeah, Lily, we want to live a few years longer," gasped Jennifer, breathing through her mouth.

"All right," murmured Lily, and then said loudly to Snape, "Severus, I still don't understand why you're apologizing to me, especially after that prank, but…shouldn't you be getting back to your table?" She nodded coldly to the Slytherin table, where Rosier was shooting daggers at her and her friends.

"Right…" Snape trailed off, finally understanding that Lily didn't want to be friends with a Slytherin and trudged dejectedly to his table.

"I almost feel sorry for him," said Violet, watching Snape's rather rejected face sympathetically.

Lily, Arabella, and Jennifer stared at her. "I'm not," scoffed Lily. "I mean, he's fine now." It was true. With a few swift words and a berate from Rosier, Snape looked perfectly normal again, sneering and spitting at all his Gryffindor enemies.

"I wonder why the git apologized to you, Lils," said Bella.

"Goodness, don't you ever listen to me?" It was James. "Snape likes you, Evans. It's so obvious, but you wouldn't even notice if it danced in front of you, naked."

"Go away, Potter," snapped Lily. "I don't want to throw up in account of you after that confrontation with Slimy."

"Yeah, James, don't bully Lily," said Violet angrily. They all fell silent in surprise. Violet was usually quiet and sympathetic to everyone, even Slytherins, in their times of need. "She hasn't done anything to you!"

"Shove off Walker, this is none of your business," snapped James.

"James Potter!" cried Lily, her eyes sparkling malevolently down at him. "Don't you dare insult my friend. Apologize!"

"No," said James defiantly, stalking off to where his friends sat. Lily sat back down, and picked up her fork, shaking.

"That James Potter," she declared, "I'll get him one of these days."

For once, her friend's didn't pair Lily up with James again, partly after he insulted Violet. The four of them avoided James and even his friends, which made Remus, Sirius, and Peter very sore. They bombarded James one night.

"C'mon James, let's make it up to Lily and her friends," pleaded Sirius.

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"Pretty please?"

"No!"

"Will you two please shut up!" came a yell from the sixth year boys' dormitory. James and Sirius grinned, but "shut up" immediately.

"You know James, we all know you love Lily," whispered Sirius into James' ear as they went up to the boys' dormitory together. "You're just too stubborn to see it. Don't worry. You'll realize it one day."

James had never forgotten those words Sirius had whispered that night for the rest of his life. It haunted him tirelessly, but nevertheless he continued on with life. But those words came haunting back to him sometimes in his dreams, along with a certain beautiful red-haired girl with sparkling green eyes and a dazzling smile.

"You know James, we all know you love Lily. You're just too stubborn to see it. Don't worry. You'll realize it one day. Now is not the time yet."

***

"Go Gryffindor! Go, go, go!" screamed Lily, as she, Arabella, Jennifer, and Violet bounced on their seats, watching scarlet and green blurs zoom across the Quidditch field.

It was Gryffindor against Slytherin, the first match of the season. Lily, who was plastered with scarlet rosettes and flags with the Gryffindor lion on it, was told to keep quiet by James Potter, who sat in the row in front.

"You're shouting too, you know," she said matter-of-factly, then going back to screaming for a Gryffindor victory.

"You know Lily, James has a point," said Jennifer, covering up her ears and Lily gasped loudly when Kenneth Jordan, one of the Gryffindor Chasers, was attacked.

"How dare those Slytherins!" she cried, jumping up and down in her seat. "I call a penalty for Gryffindor!"

"Oh, hush up Lily, Madam Hooch already did that," snapped James.

"Oh, it's not Evans now, is it?" she teased.

"Wha—oh, I was just so annoyed with you that I had to shock you first, Evans," said James smoothly. Then he said loudly to Remus, "You know, Remus, I have to ask Deanna Jackson to accompany me to a stroll to a lake." He winked at Remus and looked back at Lily, but became disappointed, as she hadn't heard a single word she said.

Meanwhile, Sirius and Professor McGonagall were having an argument, as Sirius was doing the commentary.

"At least keep the language decent," she snapped. "I don't want to know such shame from my own House."

"But Professor," said Sirius, "those dirty, no good Slytherins—"

"I said, no indecency in language," said McGonagall, and there was a tone of finality in her voice that even Sirius understood not to vex.

"And Gryffindor wins! George Brach catches the Snitch!" The Gryffindor end exploded with cheers, while the Slytherins' faces were fixed into murderous glares.

"That was the best Quidditch game I've ever seen," remarked Lily as they headed off towards the castle. "We have a really good team."

"The best," said Jennifer proudly.

"But too bad that I'm not any good at Quidditch," continued Lily sadly. "I can barely sit on my broomstick."

"Don't worry Lils, we're not exactly professionals either," said Arabella, trying to cheer up her best friend. "It's Halloween tomorrow! Don't look so gloomy."

"Oh! Right." They entered the castle in high spirits, and gobbled down lunch considerably fast.

"What do we have next?" asked Violet as they slung their heavy bags over their shoulders and exited the Great Hall.

"Potions," sighed Lily, and all four of them groaned. Potions was a dreaded subject, since Professor Hurst, the Potions master, was Head of Slytherin House and generally hated Gryffindors, especially Lily and James.

They entered the dungeons in low spirits, while James and his friends were huddled together at their usual table discussing something serious, for a change.

"Professor Hurst will blow up," whispered James gleefully. "And he'll think it's Evans and her fan club's fault."

Hearing her name mentioned, Lily strode swiftly to their table and tapped James on the shoulder. "What about me, Potter?" she asked sweetly.

James glared at her. "None of your business."

"I hear you're playing a prank on me, Potter," she said coldly. "Because of you are, I'll be sure to make Professor Hurst think it was definitely your doing."

"Oh, will you?" said James calmly. "I'm James Potter, one of the ringleaders of the Marauders." He proudly pointed at his chest, and then at Sirius. "He's the other ringleader."

"Really?" she said, evidently not paying attention to one word he was saying. "Well, Potter, if you put it this way, then maybe a Truth Potion will work." She took a crystal bottle out of her robes and placed it in front of James. "If you don't watch it Potter, I may let it slip into your pumpkin juice or food…" She made a gesture as if to pour the potion out. "Then Professor Hurst will find out the truth." She smirked slightly, then went off to her friends, whispering something. The four of them giggled.

James looked sore. "Evans wouldn't dare do anything of the sort."

"Oh, I wouldn't count on that," said Sirius seriously. "Lily's one brilliant witch, you know. She's probably already capable of creating the Patronus Charm."

"I highly doubt that."

In the end of class, James never tried to pull the prank he was about too, which was to set a Dungbomb in the middle of Hurst's teaching, with Lily's name written on it. Lily smirked, self-satisfied, as the Gryffindors set off to Gryffindor Tower.

She took the crystal bottle out of her robe pockets and placed it in front of James' face. "You know what's in this bottle, Potter?"

He glared at her. "I thought you said it was a Truth Potion."

Lily suddenly started laughing her head off. "You believed me, Potter? You actually believed me?" She was positively howling now. "You can be so thick sometimes! It's just plain water, which I placed a charm on to make it look like a Truth Potion. We don't even learn how to make the potion until our fourth year!" Then she ran off to join her friends, tears leaking down her cheeks.

James suddenly halted, frozen. That Evans! How dare she trick him out of his cleverest prank! He clenched his fists, glaring at Evans with death-ray eyes.

"Whoa! Why are you shooting daggers at Lily?" asked Sirius, staring at his friend and wondering vaguely if he had lost his mind.

James explained how Lily tricked him, and Sirius grinned. "Told you, didn't I? That Evans is one hell of genius, tricking the famous ringleader of the Marauders, James Potter." Then he added, after seeing James' glare, "'Course, I'm not saying you're gullible…"

"I know you are, Sirius," said James. "And I still remember what you said."

"About what?" asked Sirius, confused.

"It's been haunting me." He repeated what Sirius had said before, word for word. Sirius stared at him.

"I didn't mean for you to get haunted."

"Well…" he shrugged. "It's all right. Now let's get down to the common room and finish that essay of Hurst's." He grimaced. "I'll get back at Evans if it's the last thing I do."

And so James plotted his plan to get back at Lily Evans.