A Simple Mind
Summary: "Don't you know what I'd do for you?" James Potter loves Lillian Evans with all his heart . . .but his feelings aren't returned. Is there hope for a future that may never come?
Disclaimer: JK is the soul provider for these great ideas and talents; I merely embellish them into what you see before you now.
Author's Note: This is a story taking place in Lily and James' seventh year at Hogwarts. It will go all the way to their graduation day, and then I might write a sequel. I've been thinking about this story for a while now, so it's only fitting that I start writing it. This is my first romance fic, so please don't hate!
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James Potter woke up on Sunday morning with a feeling of excitement deep in his gut. The sun was barely visible over the mist rising from the ground, but as he looked out his window, he could tell it would be a good day. Reaching over to his bed-side stand, he felt for his round, thin-rimmed glasses and carefully placed them over his ears. He pulled the sheets off of him and jumped out of his bed, having the excitement within him replaced with a wave of anxiousness.
After showering with his favorite shampoo and soap, and shaving with his manliest after-shave lotion, he brushed his teeth vigorously and flossed until his gums bled from the harsh rubbing.
He grimaced as he caught sight of his hair in the mirror, and grabbed a prickly brush to tame it with. However, James' hair remained wild and the brush handle snapped, leaving the actual brush caught in the tangled mass of locks. He winced as he sharply pulled it from his head, and angrily threw it to the floor.
Pulling on some neatly pressed blue-jeans, he searched his closet for a shirt that didn't have any stains or botches on it from ink. He grinned as he pulled one out, a scarlet one, and slipped it over his head. A pair of his finest black leather loafers sat in the corner of his room, and he pulled them onto his feet, tying them with the utmost care.
Crossing to the other side of the room, he admired himself in the mirror.
"Positively gorgeous!" the mirror said, voicing what James had only just been thinking.
Yes, the mirror talks. In fact, most of them did, where James was from. James was a wizard, in his seventh (and final) year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He was going to pursue his life-goal of becoming an Auror after he graduated which was a career his long dead father had favored. Mr. Potter had been one of the most famous Aurors in the wizarding world, but had been tragically killed while saving five muggles from a new threat that called themselves Death Eaters.
Back in the present, James was inspecting his face for pimples. Of course, he didn't have any, for his mother was once a very successful Medi-Witch (she had retired early), and she always only needed a flick of her wand or a small drop of bubotuber pus to rid his face of blemishes (which he seldom got anyway).
Smoothing his shirt with his hands, he cleared his throat, and looked back into the mirror at his own reflection.
"Hey there!" he said, waving. "How's your summer been?" James shook his head, and started over. "Hi! What's new with you?" He asked, grinning a little too widely. He quickly wiped the horrifying look off of his face.
"Yo." He said, making a gun-shape with his right hand, while running the left one through his hair. He smiled. 'Perfect', he thought giddily.
"Yo, yourself." A voice said from the doorway. Mrs. Bianca Potter made her way into the room, her nightgown billowing behind her in layers of silk. He smiled warmly at her while she hugged him, and stepped back a foot.
"My, my. Look at you! You're certainly putting in the effort to look your best this year. For once." She muttered the last two words but James heard her anyway and put on a fake puppy dog pout. Mrs. Potter frowned as she licked her fingers and began the impossible task of trying to make James' hair stay flat, but Alas, this is why it is called an impossible task. It cannot be done. He had been cursed from the time he grew hair with the famous Potter looks.
James looked exactly like his dad, especially in the face. They had the exact same smile and the same type of jaw; they're hair was free and refused to stay put, and of course, James had inherited the Potter charm. Yes, it was a saying in their family that every male Potter looked exactly as their senior did, but they did not inherit the eyes; those came from the mother.
At the moment, two identical pairs of chocolate brown eyes were glinting in the same mischievous manner, and they both threw back their heads and laughed, Mrs. Potter laughing softly, like the wind, and James, laughing deeply, and rich.
"Why up so early?" His mother asked, curiously eyeing the clock on the wall. "It's barely six-thirty! James, we don't need to leave for the station until about ten!"
Kings Cross Station was the particular station they had to be at, you see, because if you run through a certain barrier between platforms 9 and 10, you end up boarding the Hogwarts Express, which will take you directly to Hogwarts School.
James shrugged and avoided the older woman's gaze as he bent over to pick up his Quidditch play book. Mrs. Potter raised her eyebrows, but said no more.
"Well, you've woken me up, and since I can't get back to sleep, I might as well join you for breakfast." She gracefully left the room and James could hear her walking down the hallway of their mansion. After polishing his shoe, he checked himself in the mirror once more, then made his way downstairs.
The dining room had the early morning sunlight from the enchanted ceiling filtering in through it, and a lovely breakfast was already hot and steaming on separate platters. James filed eggs, bacon, ham, and toast onto his plate and poured himself a glass of orange juice from a pitcher that was settled nicely in the middle of the table. He sat down, and grabbed a napkin from under his silverware and tucked it into his shirt before proceeding to carefully butter his toast.
"How cute!" Mrs. Potter's voice rang in his ears and he promptly dropped the toast buttered-side-down onto his pants.
"Mum!" James cried out in alarm, and didn't move, for fear of smearing the stuff into his pants even worse than before.
Finding this amusing, Mrs. Potter giggled and walked over to James, wand pointed out at the toast. "Scourgify!" She said lightly, and the butter disappeared. Breathing a sigh of relief, James decided that eating his eggs would be safer, and started on that next.
"My God!" His mother exclaimed. "I have never seen you act so well behaved! You don't even act this way at my dinner parties!"
Not wanting to answer that, he downed his juice, finished his plate of food, and hurried back up to his room to make sure he had packed all of his school things into his trunk.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The rest of the morning passed without many events, except for James' constant checking of the clock. Noticing this little interaction, Mrs. Potter suggested flying for a while, for she knew that James shared his father's love for Quidditch as well as his looks, but he declined, muttering something about his 'hair already being messy enough'.
At long last, the two family members loaded the heavy trunk into Mrs. Potters' car, and they drove into London, which took the better half of thirty minutes. As they arrived at the station, people gave them bizarre looks while they walked, and James had always guessed that his trunk had attracted attention.
Reaching the platform, Platform 9 ¾, James said farewell to his mother.
"Bye, Mum." He said hugging her, and quickly kissed her cheek. "Goodbye, Jamie." She said and watched as he ran through the barrier.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Prongs! How've ya been?"
Suddenly, there was a mass of dark hair surrounding James' vision, and he shoved it all away on impulse, because he was trying to maintain his record. He had to look nice today; everything had to go * perfect *.
"Whoa, someone's sure spiffy today!" Sirius Black said, taking a step back to take a look at his best friend. James once pretty-ok hair was now tangled and messy again, his shirt was rumpled, and his glasses were terribly askew.
"SIRIUS! I spent all morning trying to manage my hair!"
"Since when did you care about your hair?" Remus Lupin, resident bookworm, and only Werewolf of the bunch of friends popped his head out of a compartment, which James loaded his stuff into.
"Since(you know(" James trailed off uncertainly, and his friends shared knowing looks.
Suddenly, the compartment opened, and two girls entered. One of them was a cute brunette named Lynette, with gleaming gray eyes and a cheery smile. The other was a petite blonde named Paige, with sharp brown eyes and usually wore a suggestive, curved smile on her face. Both of the girls smiled at Sirius and Remus who blushed and turned to look out the window and onto the platform.
The train began to move and everyone grabbed hold of a rail or seat so that they wouldn't fall over.
"Free space here?" Paige asked politely, but slid her trunk onto an overhead compartment and took a seat anyway, Lynette following her example. The two girls sat down opposite the boys and crossed their legs (female instinct) which happened to hike up the Lynette's shorts and Paige's skirt by a couple of inches. The three boys suddenly felt the room get a bit hot, and Remus actually stood up and tried to excuse himself, but the compartment door opened, and a redheaded girl entered, looking flustered.
James' heart stopped beating.
This is what everything had to be * perfect * for.
Lillian Evans stood in the doorway, a white shirt accenting her bright green eyes, and a red skirt that matched her hair perfectly. Green earrings dangled from her ears and her pearly white teeth shone as she smiled upon seeing her friends.
"Hey, Lily." Lynette said, motioning her over. "We were wondering where you got to!"
"Sorry, I was busy speaking with the train conductor." She said. "I had to get the key to my compartment."
"What compartment?" Sirius asked. "Why do you get a key? I want a key. Not need. I WANT." His voice began to take on a demanding tone.
"Because of this," Lily said and took out a red and gold badge from her pocket. She pinned it to her blouse and stood with authority.
"Head Girl." Paige said proudly. "Oh, Lily, I'm so happy for you!" Just then, Remus began to chuckle, and Sirius started making funny choking sounds.
"What?" Lily asked. "Something funny? Let's hear it."
Sirius elbowed James in the side, to which James returned with a smarting slap to the back of his head. As Sirius rubbed his head, James pulled a badge from his pocket, also red and gold. He held it up for all to see.
"No(" Lily said acknowledging James' presence for the first time. "Are you - this is a mistake. I've got to see -"
"Evans, I'm Head Boy. Deal with it."
He had apparently said the wrong words, because her eyes took on a dangerous glow, and he shifted around in his seat, a bit uncomfortable.
"Oh, REALLY?" She asked. "Potter, I WILL get to the bottom of this. If this is one of your sick jokes, then -"
"It's not a joke, Evans!" James said, his voice rising. "Here, look! It's just like yours, except for this little 'B' here! Nothing is different. It's a real badge, and I'm really Head Boy."
Lily looked ready to kill. Remus was looking at her with his lips in an 'O' shape and his eyes wide, while Sirius was gawking openly at the two. Only Lily's friends maintained a look of calm, as if they saw this sort of thing happen everyday.
"Well, then." She said, shutting her eyes tightly. "I believe we have a prefect meeting to attend." And she stormed from the compartment, leaving James in a look of shock. How had he already screwed up THAT fast? This was not going good at all.
James followed her angrily to the prefect's compartment, where Lily had already started the meeting without him. He made little nods once and awhile, but mostly just let Lily explain everything (he had never actually been a prefect before). When it was all over, Lily walked quickly to the front of the train, to a gold-plated compartment, which he guessed was for the Head Boy and Girl. He had started to enter it, but Lily had stepped inside and locked him out before he could slide it open.
She refused to speak to anyone during the ride to Hogwarts, and several students thought they heard muffled sobbing noises coming from the compartment, James included.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
That's the end of chapter one! Yeah, I know, it's a little sketchy right now, but it'll get better, I promise! If I could, I'd write the last chapter for you, I have it all figured out already! Sigh.
Ok, so, please review and tell me what you think; however flames will be deleted. Thank You! * HUGGLES *
Summary: "Don't you know what I'd do for you?" James Potter loves Lillian Evans with all his heart . . .but his feelings aren't returned. Is there hope for a future that may never come?
Disclaimer: JK is the soul provider for these great ideas and talents; I merely embellish them into what you see before you now.
Author's Note: This is a story taking place in Lily and James' seventh year at Hogwarts. It will go all the way to their graduation day, and then I might write a sequel. I've been thinking about this story for a while now, so it's only fitting that I start writing it. This is my first romance fic, so please don't hate!
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
James Potter woke up on Sunday morning with a feeling of excitement deep in his gut. The sun was barely visible over the mist rising from the ground, but as he looked out his window, he could tell it would be a good day. Reaching over to his bed-side stand, he felt for his round, thin-rimmed glasses and carefully placed them over his ears. He pulled the sheets off of him and jumped out of his bed, having the excitement within him replaced with a wave of anxiousness.
After showering with his favorite shampoo and soap, and shaving with his manliest after-shave lotion, he brushed his teeth vigorously and flossed until his gums bled from the harsh rubbing.
He grimaced as he caught sight of his hair in the mirror, and grabbed a prickly brush to tame it with. However, James' hair remained wild and the brush handle snapped, leaving the actual brush caught in the tangled mass of locks. He winced as he sharply pulled it from his head, and angrily threw it to the floor.
Pulling on some neatly pressed blue-jeans, he searched his closet for a shirt that didn't have any stains or botches on it from ink. He grinned as he pulled one out, a scarlet one, and slipped it over his head. A pair of his finest black leather loafers sat in the corner of his room, and he pulled them onto his feet, tying them with the utmost care.
Crossing to the other side of the room, he admired himself in the mirror.
"Positively gorgeous!" the mirror said, voicing what James had only just been thinking.
Yes, the mirror talks. In fact, most of them did, where James was from. James was a wizard, in his seventh (and final) year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He was going to pursue his life-goal of becoming an Auror after he graduated which was a career his long dead father had favored. Mr. Potter had been one of the most famous Aurors in the wizarding world, but had been tragically killed while saving five muggles from a new threat that called themselves Death Eaters.
Back in the present, James was inspecting his face for pimples. Of course, he didn't have any, for his mother was once a very successful Medi-Witch (she had retired early), and she always only needed a flick of her wand or a small drop of bubotuber pus to rid his face of blemishes (which he seldom got anyway).
Smoothing his shirt with his hands, he cleared his throat, and looked back into the mirror at his own reflection.
"Hey there!" he said, waving. "How's your summer been?" James shook his head, and started over. "Hi! What's new with you?" He asked, grinning a little too widely. He quickly wiped the horrifying look off of his face.
"Yo." He said, making a gun-shape with his right hand, while running the left one through his hair. He smiled. 'Perfect', he thought giddily.
"Yo, yourself." A voice said from the doorway. Mrs. Bianca Potter made her way into the room, her nightgown billowing behind her in layers of silk. He smiled warmly at her while she hugged him, and stepped back a foot.
"My, my. Look at you! You're certainly putting in the effort to look your best this year. For once." She muttered the last two words but James heard her anyway and put on a fake puppy dog pout. Mrs. Potter frowned as she licked her fingers and began the impossible task of trying to make James' hair stay flat, but Alas, this is why it is called an impossible task. It cannot be done. He had been cursed from the time he grew hair with the famous Potter looks.
James looked exactly like his dad, especially in the face. They had the exact same smile and the same type of jaw; they're hair was free and refused to stay put, and of course, James had inherited the Potter charm. Yes, it was a saying in their family that every male Potter looked exactly as their senior did, but they did not inherit the eyes; those came from the mother.
At the moment, two identical pairs of chocolate brown eyes were glinting in the same mischievous manner, and they both threw back their heads and laughed, Mrs. Potter laughing softly, like the wind, and James, laughing deeply, and rich.
"Why up so early?" His mother asked, curiously eyeing the clock on the wall. "It's barely six-thirty! James, we don't need to leave for the station until about ten!"
Kings Cross Station was the particular station they had to be at, you see, because if you run through a certain barrier between platforms 9 and 10, you end up boarding the Hogwarts Express, which will take you directly to Hogwarts School.
James shrugged and avoided the older woman's gaze as he bent over to pick up his Quidditch play book. Mrs. Potter raised her eyebrows, but said no more.
"Well, you've woken me up, and since I can't get back to sleep, I might as well join you for breakfast." She gracefully left the room and James could hear her walking down the hallway of their mansion. After polishing his shoe, he checked himself in the mirror once more, then made his way downstairs.
The dining room had the early morning sunlight from the enchanted ceiling filtering in through it, and a lovely breakfast was already hot and steaming on separate platters. James filed eggs, bacon, ham, and toast onto his plate and poured himself a glass of orange juice from a pitcher that was settled nicely in the middle of the table. He sat down, and grabbed a napkin from under his silverware and tucked it into his shirt before proceeding to carefully butter his toast.
"How cute!" Mrs. Potter's voice rang in his ears and he promptly dropped the toast buttered-side-down onto his pants.
"Mum!" James cried out in alarm, and didn't move, for fear of smearing the stuff into his pants even worse than before.
Finding this amusing, Mrs. Potter giggled and walked over to James, wand pointed out at the toast. "Scourgify!" She said lightly, and the butter disappeared. Breathing a sigh of relief, James decided that eating his eggs would be safer, and started on that next.
"My God!" His mother exclaimed. "I have never seen you act so well behaved! You don't even act this way at my dinner parties!"
Not wanting to answer that, he downed his juice, finished his plate of food, and hurried back up to his room to make sure he had packed all of his school things into his trunk.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The rest of the morning passed without many events, except for James' constant checking of the clock. Noticing this little interaction, Mrs. Potter suggested flying for a while, for she knew that James shared his father's love for Quidditch as well as his looks, but he declined, muttering something about his 'hair already being messy enough'.
At long last, the two family members loaded the heavy trunk into Mrs. Potters' car, and they drove into London, which took the better half of thirty minutes. As they arrived at the station, people gave them bizarre looks while they walked, and James had always guessed that his trunk had attracted attention.
Reaching the platform, Platform 9 ¾, James said farewell to his mother.
"Bye, Mum." He said hugging her, and quickly kissed her cheek. "Goodbye, Jamie." She said and watched as he ran through the barrier.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Prongs! How've ya been?"
Suddenly, there was a mass of dark hair surrounding James' vision, and he shoved it all away on impulse, because he was trying to maintain his record. He had to look nice today; everything had to go * perfect *.
"Whoa, someone's sure spiffy today!" Sirius Black said, taking a step back to take a look at his best friend. James once pretty-ok hair was now tangled and messy again, his shirt was rumpled, and his glasses were terribly askew.
"SIRIUS! I spent all morning trying to manage my hair!"
"Since when did you care about your hair?" Remus Lupin, resident bookworm, and only Werewolf of the bunch of friends popped his head out of a compartment, which James loaded his stuff into.
"Since(you know(" James trailed off uncertainly, and his friends shared knowing looks.
Suddenly, the compartment opened, and two girls entered. One of them was a cute brunette named Lynette, with gleaming gray eyes and a cheery smile. The other was a petite blonde named Paige, with sharp brown eyes and usually wore a suggestive, curved smile on her face. Both of the girls smiled at Sirius and Remus who blushed and turned to look out the window and onto the platform.
The train began to move and everyone grabbed hold of a rail or seat so that they wouldn't fall over.
"Free space here?" Paige asked politely, but slid her trunk onto an overhead compartment and took a seat anyway, Lynette following her example. The two girls sat down opposite the boys and crossed their legs (female instinct) which happened to hike up the Lynette's shorts and Paige's skirt by a couple of inches. The three boys suddenly felt the room get a bit hot, and Remus actually stood up and tried to excuse himself, but the compartment door opened, and a redheaded girl entered, looking flustered.
James' heart stopped beating.
This is what everything had to be * perfect * for.
Lillian Evans stood in the doorway, a white shirt accenting her bright green eyes, and a red skirt that matched her hair perfectly. Green earrings dangled from her ears and her pearly white teeth shone as she smiled upon seeing her friends.
"Hey, Lily." Lynette said, motioning her over. "We were wondering where you got to!"
"Sorry, I was busy speaking with the train conductor." She said. "I had to get the key to my compartment."
"What compartment?" Sirius asked. "Why do you get a key? I want a key. Not need. I WANT." His voice began to take on a demanding tone.
"Because of this," Lily said and took out a red and gold badge from her pocket. She pinned it to her blouse and stood with authority.
"Head Girl." Paige said proudly. "Oh, Lily, I'm so happy for you!" Just then, Remus began to chuckle, and Sirius started making funny choking sounds.
"What?" Lily asked. "Something funny? Let's hear it."
Sirius elbowed James in the side, to which James returned with a smarting slap to the back of his head. As Sirius rubbed his head, James pulled a badge from his pocket, also red and gold. He held it up for all to see.
"No(" Lily said acknowledging James' presence for the first time. "Are you - this is a mistake. I've got to see -"
"Evans, I'm Head Boy. Deal with it."
He had apparently said the wrong words, because her eyes took on a dangerous glow, and he shifted around in his seat, a bit uncomfortable.
"Oh, REALLY?" She asked. "Potter, I WILL get to the bottom of this. If this is one of your sick jokes, then -"
"It's not a joke, Evans!" James said, his voice rising. "Here, look! It's just like yours, except for this little 'B' here! Nothing is different. It's a real badge, and I'm really Head Boy."
Lily looked ready to kill. Remus was looking at her with his lips in an 'O' shape and his eyes wide, while Sirius was gawking openly at the two. Only Lily's friends maintained a look of calm, as if they saw this sort of thing happen everyday.
"Well, then." She said, shutting her eyes tightly. "I believe we have a prefect meeting to attend." And she stormed from the compartment, leaving James in a look of shock. How had he already screwed up THAT fast? This was not going good at all.
James followed her angrily to the prefect's compartment, where Lily had already started the meeting without him. He made little nods once and awhile, but mostly just let Lily explain everything (he had never actually been a prefect before). When it was all over, Lily walked quickly to the front of the train, to a gold-plated compartment, which he guessed was for the Head Boy and Girl. He had started to enter it, but Lily had stepped inside and locked him out before he could slide it open.
She refused to speak to anyone during the ride to Hogwarts, and several students thought they heard muffled sobbing noises coming from the compartment, James included.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
That's the end of chapter one! Yeah, I know, it's a little sketchy right now, but it'll get better, I promise! If I could, I'd write the last chapter for you, I have it all figured out already! Sigh.
Ok, so, please review and tell me what you think; however flames will be deleted. Thank You! * HUGGLES *