Chapter 1: Losing it
James Orlando Potter was sitting in his favorite chair in front of the fire in Gryffindor common room on the eve of his last term of his sixth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He was writing on a piece of parchment in his lap. He paused sometimes, often tapping his fingers on his leg, or humming and mumbling to himself. Everybody left him alone when he was like this. They all knew what he was working on and how important it was to him. They also knew that he would get very upset if interrupted, and if James Potter was mad at you, you became friendless until he was over it. You see, James Potter is in a band. He is the lead-singer, drummer, and songwriter. His best friends Sirius Sebastian Black, lead-guitarist, Remus Jonathon Lupin, keyboard-player, and Peter Mark Pettigrew, equipment manager, all left him alone as well because they weren't even spared his wrath. The other member of the band is Franklin Falstaff Longbottom, who plays a double-necked guitar. The Marauders, as they are called, haven't "hit it big" yet, but everyone in Hogwarts loves them. They've been playing every Hogsmeade weekend in The Three Broomsticks for the past year. There were only a couple trips left this year and James wanted to some new stuff to go out with a bang.
"...Can't be held responsible... touching ... I won't... in the first place..." James mumbled, then tapped his knee. He went back to his parchment. He paused, glanced around the room, stopping for a moment on the chairs gathered by the window farthest from him. He looked at his parchment again and started writing.
***
Lilian Marie Evans was sitting by a window in Gryffindor common room with her best friends Gwennivere Elizabeth Matthews and Evangeline Grace Donovan. It was almost the end of their sixth year at Hogwarts. They were talking about their Easter Break, but Lily wasn't really paying attention, she kept watching a certain black-haired someone sitting in front of the fire.
"Right Lil? Lil? Lily! LILY!!" Gwen snapped her fingers in front of Lily's face.
"Huh? Oh, yeah, right."
"Lily, you weren't even listening were you?"
"Don't be silly James, er, Eva. Of course, I was staring, I mean watching, er... I mean listening."
"Uh huh. Right Okay Lily."
"Right! Exactly! I was... umm..."
"All right Lily, I'm going to put blue dye in your shampoo."
"Okay Gwen."
"And I'm going to put dungbombs in your bed."
"Whatever you want Eva."
"And we're going to tear up your two-foot potions essay."
"I totally agree. You're so right."
"We're going to cheat off your exams and steal all of your study notes."
"Gotcha."
"I'm going to go make-out with James now."
"WHAT?!?!? NO WAY!!! You can't do that! It would totally betray me Gwen!"
"Lily! LILY!! Calm down! She was joking! At least that got your attention!"
"What do you mean? I was listening the whole time!'
"Whatever Lily. Why don't you just go talk to him?"
"What? Me? Talk to James? When he's writing? Yeah right!"
"Why not?"
"Well Eva, let me explain this to you again. Gwen, pay attention because I know you would have asked if Eva hadn't beaten you to it. 1- What chance would I have with James after despising and refusing him for the past five years? 2- Not even I'm so crazy to interrupt him when he gets into one of his writing modes. Sirius won't even bother him. 3- He probably would just ignore me anyway. He probably doesn't like me at all anymore."
"Yeah right! 1- No guy doesn't like you."
"2- No guy could ignore you even if by some miracle he doesn't like you."
"3- James wouldn't be able to get mad at you."
"4- Even if James did get mad at you, it wouldn't last more than 12 hours."
"5- I swear, James just looked over here at you."
"No way Gwen. Don't even joke like that."
"I'm not joking! He did! Just now, James Potter looked at you, Lily Evans."
***
James sat down his parchment and stood up. He stretched his arms and looked around, stopping to stare at the back someone's head who had loose deep red curls.
("Oh! Lily! He's looking at you again!")
"JAMSIE!"
"SNUFFLES!"
"HEY! You're not allowed to call me that!" Sirius plopped down in the chair James had just stood up from.
"And you're not allowed to call me Jamsie."
"Fine," Sirius picked up James' parchment, scanning it. "Is this that song you were talking about?"
"Yep, that's it. I just have to write out copies for you, Remus, and Frank."
"James, mate..." Sirius cautiously started.
"What? What's the matter?"
"James, is this about that chick from last summer?"
"Yeah... So what?"
"James, you were 16. You're 17 now. It's been almost a year. Let it go man."
"Sirius, it's not that simple."
"James, it wasn't your fault! You can let yourself date again! Especially since the girl of your dreams is starting to actually let you be nice to her!"
"Siri, Lily is... I don't want to lose her like... I can't take the chance that it will happen again."
"James... Is that what you're worried about? Lily is a lot different from Claire! For one, Lily is a witch!"
"A muggle-born witch... I just can't Sirius, not now."
"Whatever man, but eventually you'll have to. Either that, or you are going to lose Lily before you ever had her."
"Yeah..."
"So... Er, do you want to have a party?"
"Not tonight. I'm going to bed. Can you tell Remus, Frank, and Peter that we have practice tomorrow after dinner in the transfiguration classroom?"
"Yeah, whatever man. 'Night mate."
"'Night." James walked up the stairs to his dorm and laid face-up on his bed, thinking of what Sirius had. "...you are going to lose Lily before you ever had her." Was he going to lose Lily like he had Claire? No. No, Sirius was right, Lily was different, but how long would she wait? He drifted into an uneasy sleep.
... Lily was sitting in the window on the opposite side of the common room. As he looked at her, she seemed to be getting farther away from him. 'No. No, I won't lose her.' He moved towards, she stopped drifting away. He reached her. She smiled up at him. He smiled and leaned down to whisper in her ear. She stood up and he took her hand and led her out of the common room and out on to the grounds. They laid down on a small slope on the far-side of the lake. As Lily lay watching the stars, James propped himself on an elbow and watched her. Before he could stop himself, he leaned towards her and brushed his lips over hers. He gazed into her emerald eyes as she smiled. She reached her hand behind his neck and pulled his mouth to hers again...
A particularly loud snore from Peter's bed woke him. He smiled and whispered, "If only that was real..." He rolled over and fell into a dreamless sleep.
***
Lily watched James walk up the stairs and yawned.
"I'm going to bed guys. Good-night."
"'Night Lils."
"'Night."
Lily walked up to her dorm and got ready for bed. She lied down and fell asleep.
...James was leading her on to the grounds. They were lying on the grass watching the stars. Unexpectedly, James leaned over and kissed her lightly. His hazel eyes were locked on hers. She reached up and pulled him into a deeper kiss. When she released him, he laid back down and pulled her close to him, resting her head on his shoulder...
Lily woke up that morning thinking about James and her dream from the previous night. 'I wish,' she thought. She got up and got ready for her morning classes, then went down for breakfast.
~~A/N: Thanks if you've read this far. I'm sorry I didn't post this last night, but I had to go to bed right after I posted the prologue. Please R/R. I know I changed their names a bit, I've changed them since I first typed that up and I forgot to change it. I fixed it in that first post though. Thanks a bunch to Phyllida for reviewing!
James Orlando Potter was sitting in his favorite chair in front of the fire in Gryffindor common room on the eve of his last term of his sixth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He was writing on a piece of parchment in his lap. He paused sometimes, often tapping his fingers on his leg, or humming and mumbling to himself. Everybody left him alone when he was like this. They all knew what he was working on and how important it was to him. They also knew that he would get very upset if interrupted, and if James Potter was mad at you, you became friendless until he was over it. You see, James Potter is in a band. He is the lead-singer, drummer, and songwriter. His best friends Sirius Sebastian Black, lead-guitarist, Remus Jonathon Lupin, keyboard-player, and Peter Mark Pettigrew, equipment manager, all left him alone as well because they weren't even spared his wrath. The other member of the band is Franklin Falstaff Longbottom, who plays a double-necked guitar. The Marauders, as they are called, haven't "hit it big" yet, but everyone in Hogwarts loves them. They've been playing every Hogsmeade weekend in The Three Broomsticks for the past year. There were only a couple trips left this year and James wanted to some new stuff to go out with a bang.
"...Can't be held responsible... touching ... I won't... in the first place..." James mumbled, then tapped his knee. He went back to his parchment. He paused, glanced around the room, stopping for a moment on the chairs gathered by the window farthest from him. He looked at his parchment again and started writing.
***
Lilian Marie Evans was sitting by a window in Gryffindor common room with her best friends Gwennivere Elizabeth Matthews and Evangeline Grace Donovan. It was almost the end of their sixth year at Hogwarts. They were talking about their Easter Break, but Lily wasn't really paying attention, she kept watching a certain black-haired someone sitting in front of the fire.
"Right Lil? Lil? Lily! LILY!!" Gwen snapped her fingers in front of Lily's face.
"Huh? Oh, yeah, right."
"Lily, you weren't even listening were you?"
"Don't be silly James, er, Eva. Of course, I was staring, I mean watching, er... I mean listening."
"Uh huh. Right Okay Lily."
"Right! Exactly! I was... umm..."
"All right Lily, I'm going to put blue dye in your shampoo."
"Okay Gwen."
"And I'm going to put dungbombs in your bed."
"Whatever you want Eva."
"And we're going to tear up your two-foot potions essay."
"I totally agree. You're so right."
"We're going to cheat off your exams and steal all of your study notes."
"Gotcha."
"I'm going to go make-out with James now."
"WHAT?!?!? NO WAY!!! You can't do that! It would totally betray me Gwen!"
"Lily! LILY!! Calm down! She was joking! At least that got your attention!"
"What do you mean? I was listening the whole time!'
"Whatever Lily. Why don't you just go talk to him?"
"What? Me? Talk to James? When he's writing? Yeah right!"
"Why not?"
"Well Eva, let me explain this to you again. Gwen, pay attention because I know you would have asked if Eva hadn't beaten you to it. 1- What chance would I have with James after despising and refusing him for the past five years? 2- Not even I'm so crazy to interrupt him when he gets into one of his writing modes. Sirius won't even bother him. 3- He probably would just ignore me anyway. He probably doesn't like me at all anymore."
"Yeah right! 1- No guy doesn't like you."
"2- No guy could ignore you even if by some miracle he doesn't like you."
"3- James wouldn't be able to get mad at you."
"4- Even if James did get mad at you, it wouldn't last more than 12 hours."
"5- I swear, James just looked over here at you."
"No way Gwen. Don't even joke like that."
"I'm not joking! He did! Just now, James Potter looked at you, Lily Evans."
***
James sat down his parchment and stood up. He stretched his arms and looked around, stopping to stare at the back someone's head who had loose deep red curls.
("Oh! Lily! He's looking at you again!")
"JAMSIE!"
"SNUFFLES!"
"HEY! You're not allowed to call me that!" Sirius plopped down in the chair James had just stood up from.
"And you're not allowed to call me Jamsie."
"Fine," Sirius picked up James' parchment, scanning it. "Is this that song you were talking about?"
"Yep, that's it. I just have to write out copies for you, Remus, and Frank."
"James, mate..." Sirius cautiously started.
"What? What's the matter?"
"James, is this about that chick from last summer?"
"Yeah... So what?"
"James, you were 16. You're 17 now. It's been almost a year. Let it go man."
"Sirius, it's not that simple."
"James, it wasn't your fault! You can let yourself date again! Especially since the girl of your dreams is starting to actually let you be nice to her!"
"Siri, Lily is... I don't want to lose her like... I can't take the chance that it will happen again."
"James... Is that what you're worried about? Lily is a lot different from Claire! For one, Lily is a witch!"
"A muggle-born witch... I just can't Sirius, not now."
"Whatever man, but eventually you'll have to. Either that, or you are going to lose Lily before you ever had her."
"Yeah..."
"So... Er, do you want to have a party?"
"Not tonight. I'm going to bed. Can you tell Remus, Frank, and Peter that we have practice tomorrow after dinner in the transfiguration classroom?"
"Yeah, whatever man. 'Night mate."
"'Night." James walked up the stairs to his dorm and laid face-up on his bed, thinking of what Sirius had. "...you are going to lose Lily before you ever had her." Was he going to lose Lily like he had Claire? No. No, Sirius was right, Lily was different, but how long would she wait? He drifted into an uneasy sleep.
... Lily was sitting in the window on the opposite side of the common room. As he looked at her, she seemed to be getting farther away from him. 'No. No, I won't lose her.' He moved towards, she stopped drifting away. He reached her. She smiled up at him. He smiled and leaned down to whisper in her ear. She stood up and he took her hand and led her out of the common room and out on to the grounds. They laid down on a small slope on the far-side of the lake. As Lily lay watching the stars, James propped himself on an elbow and watched her. Before he could stop himself, he leaned towards her and brushed his lips over hers. He gazed into her emerald eyes as she smiled. She reached her hand behind his neck and pulled his mouth to hers again...
A particularly loud snore from Peter's bed woke him. He smiled and whispered, "If only that was real..." He rolled over and fell into a dreamless sleep.
***
Lily watched James walk up the stairs and yawned.
"I'm going to bed guys. Good-night."
"'Night Lils."
"'Night."
Lily walked up to her dorm and got ready for bed. She lied down and fell asleep.
...James was leading her on to the grounds. They were lying on the grass watching the stars. Unexpectedly, James leaned over and kissed her lightly. His hazel eyes were locked on hers. She reached up and pulled him into a deeper kiss. When she released him, he laid back down and pulled her close to him, resting her head on his shoulder...
Lily woke up that morning thinking about James and her dream from the previous night. 'I wish,' she thought. She got up and got ready for her morning classes, then went down for breakfast.
~~A/N: Thanks if you've read this far. I'm sorry I didn't post this last night, but I had to go to bed right after I posted the prologue. Please R/R. I know I changed their names a bit, I've changed them since I first typed that up and I forgot to change it. I fixed it in that first post though. Thanks a bunch to Phyllida for reviewing!