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.

Authors Note: Thanks for waiting everyone! Have y'all (hee…southern accent…happens a lot) heard the song "I'm Already There" by Lonestar? Gotta love that song. I can cry if I think of something sad while listening to it.

I have a problem.

Wellllll now that I've made that little declaration, ON WITH THE CHAPTER!

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

McGonagall snapped her head down at Lily, and James almost fell over.

"Lily, I'm Professor McGonagall, your Head of House, and Transfiguration teacher. You know that, do you not?"

Lily turned from Professor McGonagall and began to hum. "I remember being here." She said in a cheery tone. "My first day. And I remember Lions and Snakes and Badgers and Birds. There is a squid in the lake and ghosts in the castle. I know magic." She turned to James. "But I do not know him."

James' mouth opened in shock; he clamped it shut and held out his hand. "James Potter." He said, feeling rather foolish. "I'm your fellow Head Boy of Gryffindor House."

"James is also the reason you are in this situation." McGonagall said crisply, and James let his hand drop. "He has come to apologize."

Lily stared expectantly at James.

"Um…Lily ¾ that's your name okay? Lily Katherine Evans." Lily scowled.

"I know."

Glad to know that the old Lily is in there somewhere. James thought glumly.

"I just wanted to let you know that I had no intention of hitting you that hard."

"Mr. Potter!"

"Wait, I didn't mean that. What I meant was that I didn't mean to hit you from behind, that I was trying to get directly above your head."

"Mr. Potter!"

"Wait! That didn't sound right…okay, Lily, I um…have horrible aim?"

"Mr. Potter! Do not lie! As one of our star chasers, your aim is incredibly accurate! Now please just get the apology overwith!"

Lily looked lost. What was a chaser?

James sucked in a breath. When it came to apologizing, he stunk.

"Lily, I'm sorry for bringing you into this situation and I hope that you can find it in your heart to forgive me. I wasn't even aiming for you…wait Professor, let me talk (McGonagall narrowed her eyes)…it was a total and complete accident, and I promise that nothing like that will ever happen to you again…at least, not by me."

The Professor sighed. "That'll do." She said, and put a hand on Lily's good shoulder. "You need your rest, Miss." She said, gently pushing her back onto the bed. Lily allowed herself to be directed onto her pillow and James was turning away when she said "Oh, James?"

"Yes?" He asked, sitting on the edge of her bed.

"I don't know what you guys are talking about, but I forgive you."

And she fell asleep.

James blushed.

McGonagall raised her eyebrows.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Lily was back in school three days later. Madame Prenny informed everyone that Lily had amnesia, which was liable to last anywhere from a couple of days, to many, many years. Everybody (besides the Slytherin house) was being kind to her, helping her along with school, and showing her around the castle. The teachers were very sweet to her, and many boys seemed to enjoy this nicer, less defensive version of Lily a little more than the regular one.

It made the Marauders sick.

"Look, the map says she's in the Astronomy Tower with Chris Bergott." Sirius said, smirking, "Hey, the dots aren't on top of each other yet!"

"Give me that!" James said, grabbing the Marauders' Map out from Sirius' clutches. He scanned it. "Quit lying!" He scolded, his face giving away his relief. "She's in the Entrance Hall with Maria Grafton."

"Psyche!" Sirius yelled. "You should have seen your face, Prongs. It had 'Oh my God, my future wife and child bearer is doing it with some man-whore in the Astronomy Tower' written ALL over it!"

James blushed, and gave the map to Remus.

"Guess Maria decided to go to bed." He said, peering down closely. "She's going back to the Hufflepuff common room."

"So she's by herself?" Peter asked, suddenly showing up from behind the couch. Why? We don't know…maybe it had to do with a certain Dark Lord hanging out Peter. Or the fact that Peter was hanging out with a certain Dark Lord. It probably had something to do with a certain Dark Lord.

"Yeah." Remus said, and raised his wand, preparing to wipe the map clean. "Mischief¾ "

"WAIT!" James yelled, and the whole common room stared. He gulped.

"Don't wipe it clean just yet." He said quietly. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU ALL LOOKING AT? I'M NOT A FREAK OR ANYTHING!"

Sirius stopped making bunny ears over James' head, and the common room began to take on its normal chatty nature.

**1 Hour Later

James trotted around the Common Room impatiently awaiting Lily's late arrival. Sirius sat in his chair, and every time a pretty looking girl passed by, he would hurriedly mat his hair onto his forehead and then casually blow it off, which gave him a 'bad boy' look. Remus was on the floor in front of the chair that Sirius was in, eating a Honeydukes chocolate bar and reading a book. Peter was mysteriously absent (A/N: he wasn't really…I just don't care for him). But who cares about Peter? (A/N: HA! Told you)

Finally, James quickly grabbed the map from a nearby table. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." He recited, and soon lines and dots began to form on the worn parchment. He quickly sought out Lily's and discovered that she hadn't moved two feet from where she was an hour ago!

"Sirius, something's wrong here. Is the map defective?"

Sirius jumped off the chair, stepping on Remus. Remus spit out a large chunk of chocolate, and some first years screamed and ran to their dorms.

"What do you mean?"

"Lily's been standing there for quite a while now…did the map stop working?"

Sirius took hold of the map. "Nope." He said, puzzled. "Filch is prowling around the library with Mrs. Norris, and Professor Flitwick's dot is moving around the kitchens. I don't get it."

Remus wiped chocolate from his mouth and walked over, shoving Sirius onto the floor. "I reckon we check it out." He said, motioning to the portrait hole. "What if she's unconscious or in some kind of trouble? We need to see." James widened his eyes and checked his watch.

"It's not past curfew yet." He said. "Let's hurry so we don't have to bother with the cloak."

The three boys trooped out of the portrait hole and made their way to the Entrance Hall in a hurry; they ran into some fourth years while running down the staircase, and Sirius' fanclub of girls stole his tie as some of their memorabilia. But they made it to their desired location relatively unscathed, and stopped dead in their tracks.

Lily was sleeping on the floor.

"That's odd."

"Yes."

"Dude."

They peered down at Lily, wondering how she could have fallen asleep in the middle of the Entrance Hall. They didn't ask questions though, and soon James had scooped her into his arms and was carrying her to the common room with Remus and Sirius leading the way.

It felt right, to have her in his arms. She seemed to mold perfectly to his figure, and warmth was radiating from her. She seemed to glow in the dim torchlight, and at that moment, James loved everything about her. Her red hair was the perfect shade, her creamy smooth skin was soft as silk, her small form curled up against him, the way she breathed in slow breaths in and out of her nose. It was all enough to make him smile warmly down at her. For as long as she had amnesia, she would be nice, civil, and conversational with him, but it wasn't the Lily that he was used to. The old Lily was funnier than this one and the school's top Charms student.

The old Lily was hard to please, and when you did, you got a strange (yet good) feeling of accomplishment and pride for doing something that not many people could. When she thought you had done something good, and smiled at you…God he loved that smile. It was full of pearly white teeth and her dimples stood out against her skin. It showed that she was truly proud of you, and James had only been offered that smile one time in his life. That was the first day that he met Lily, in first year, during the sorting, when she was nervous about her house.

Flashback*

A group of frightened first years stood in the Great Hall, watching hundreds of students watch them as a battered hat was brought out. As the hat sang, James couldn't help but notice a girl with fiery red hair and a horribly scared expression.

"Don't worry." He assured her. "I'm sure you'll get one of the best houses here. You don't look like Slytherin material, Hufflepuffs are usually blondes, and Ravenclaws are really geeky looking. Gryffindor seems like the best place for you to be. Besides, the house colors match your hair."(A/N: yeah, I know, cheesy, but he's only eleven!)

The redhead made a curious expression, then smiled in acceptance and thanks.

End Flashback*

Yes, that was the same smile he had seen her give all her friends, to her parents when she saw them after term was over, and to a few boys. His heart always ached for that smile, but it did no good at this time. She couldn't remember him, and if she happened to give him the smile, he'd feel good, but deep down, he would know that it wouldn't be sincere. This wasn't the real Lily.

He wanted Lily to boss him around again and scold him for breaking the rules. He wanted her to give him those eyes that showed that she knew what he was up to, and he missed the way she raised her eyebrows at his stupid one-liners. He loved the way she turned him down for dates. He missed her that bad.

When they reached the portrait hole, Remus and Sirius decided to wait in the Common Room for Peter, and James volunteered to tuck Lily into bed.

Her room was deserted except for Lynette's bed, which was occupied by said person. James sighed and quickly laid Lily down onto her bed. He sat next to her for a while, and then tried to talk.

"Lily?" He said tentatively. "Its me, James. I know that your memory isn't exactly up to par these days, but please try to listen.

"We all miss you, Lils. This person you've become isn't really you. You don't remember most of us, and you don't remember me and how horrible I used to be. That bothers me. It bothers me because I know that when you say 'Hello' in the halls, its not because your happy to see me; its because to you, now, I've just been a nice boy. Please remember Lily. I know that somewhere in your head, there's all those memories, just waiting to be released. Just don't give up on them. Keep trying. Try for the people that love you. Try for me, Lily."

He paused, but refrained himself from kissing her forehead. Instead, he stroked her cheek gently and carefully left the peaceful room.

From a bed across from Lily's, a tape recorder was shut off, and Lynette was sitting up looking extremely shocked and pleased at the same time.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Ok, for all you people who didn't get that chapter, Lynette will NOT use the tape of James talking to Lily as ransom or blackmail…there's an entirely different reason for it. And why would Lily fall asleep in the Entrance Hall? BECAUSE I WANTED HER TO. And I needed to get her and James alone again. So there you go! R&R please!