Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling owns all these characters and settings.
Summary: James has been going after Lily for 2 years. On their seventh,
James stops, thinking that their love wasn't meant to be…and Lily finds herself
wishing he didn't. But now, Lily can't quite bring herself to tell James how
she feels, let alone talk to him.
Authors Note: This is twice as long as the first one!!! Yay! I'm so happy
with the reviews! I've decided to make a list of thank-you's! You guys inspired
me to continue, and you definitely brightened up my day! So, you deserve a
personalized thank you thank you thank you!!!
Indiangurl: Thanks for the ideas. Ok, I'm still thinking of where I can put Remus, since I'm still in the stage of character building.
IloveMoony04: I do hope it is in-ter-est-ing! claps hands ;-D
felipe1123: I definitely will continue! =)
GryffindorGoddess28: Haha.Uncle John was just the first
one that popped in my head. And if James did that ploy, the story would be
over! The title is a line from a song by the Bee Gees.
I'm suppose to explain this at the last chapter, so this is all I'm going to
say: James is the Hurricane, Lily is the Fire in the Sun.
You're Hurricane, You're Fire in the Sun
By: kaleidoscopeeyes
Chapter 2: Twists and Turns
"So Prongs, any luck?" Sirius called out as James casually walked back from the other end of the Gryffindor table.
"Well… let's see…" James started, unknowingly bringing his hand up to ruffle his hair "she put her face really close to mine and started saying these words-"
"And what words might that be?" Remus questioned, with a grin on his face.
James looked up at the ceiling and then down back at Remus, "I don't know." He answered, shrugging his shoulders.
"James, how're you going to get her to like you, if you don't even listen to her!" Remus wailed.
"He's right, Prongsie-" Sirius nodded at Remus, "-the ladies dig guys that listen."
"It doesn't matter anyway, she hates me." James sat down and repeatedly banged his head on table.
"Why don't you follow her down to the library?" Peter suggested, finally opening his mouth.
James raised his, now, red and sort of swollen head. He looked at the Marauders and formed a mischievous smirk. "Why not! I mean she can't hate me even more! I bet it wouldn't hurt."
He dashed out of the Great Hall and toward the library. He forcefully opened the door causing some books to come crashing down on his head. Madame Pince, the librarian, straightened her glasses and shifted her hawk eyes at the boy who caused the commotion.
"Ahem!" she cleared her throat, and stood by the pile of books on the floor, tapping her right foot impatiently.
James looked up and quickly piled up the books unto the shelf. As Madame Pince, finally satisfied, strutted back to her counter, James eyes fixated on a single crumpled piece of parchment. He reached his hand out and flattened the sides. As James read it over, his eyes widened, it was a signed permission slip to the restricted area.
Of course, normally James would want nothing to do with this, but with the help of that piece of parchment, there was a chance that he could finally get Lily.
He stood and searched for the redhead around the broad Library. It wasn't that hard, since not many students hung out there.
"I see we meet again."
Lily looked up from her book to see none other than James Potter, smiling widely.
"When was the last time you stepped into the Library?" she inquired forcing a smile upon her face. She knew he followed her there.
"Why just yesterday, my darling!" he answered knowingly, "Sirius and I were planning a prank on our dear Snivellus."
"Why can't you just clear off and leave me alone?" Lily exclaimed, raising her arms in the air as if asking the sky (A/N: or the ceiling for that matter).
"I'm afraid that's not possible. We both know we can't resist each other." Lily just rolled her eyes; she was too annoyed to get angry. She also didn't want to get kicked out of the library. James pulled a chair and sat across her.
The next moments passed silently. James stared at Lily, and Lily covered her face with her book, trying desperately to ignore her feeling of uneasiness.
She looked up, only for her eyes to meet his, and then quickly looked down at her book again. She couldn't form any words on the page, the ink looked like scribbles. She shifted her weight and blinked her eyes. James continued to stare.
"Would you stop staring at me!" Lily said, without looking up. You could hear the tenseness in her voice.
James reached his arm out and pulled down the book. To his amusement, he found a very red-faced Lily.
Lily glared at him. "Sod it!" she practically screamed, and then started packing her bags to leave.
"Wait! Lily!" James called after her. "I, um, I have a gift for you…. But there's a catch!" He put his arm in his pocket and retrieved the crumpled piece of parchment.
"A catch? That's not a gift! That's a bribe!" Lily said. Against her better judgment, she laid out her hand to see what the parchment beheld. As her eyes scanned it, her grin widened. "Do you know what sort of books I could find if I were allowed to enter the restricted section?"
"Sort of." James answered, recalling the time the Marauders snuck in to learn more about animagus, with the help of his invisibility cloak.
"What do I have to do?" Lily asked, sounding a little too anxious than how she would have wanted.
James thought. He would've asked her to marry him, but he remembered one of Remus' earlier sermons 'Take it slow'. "Walk with me to the common room"
Lily shrugged and agreed, thinking how bad could that be. All she would have to do is think of all the wonderful books she could be able to borrow. "Shall we?" She said, and walked alongside him. "And let's pick up the pace."
The first few seconds of the stroll was in silence. Lily's gaze focused on the window, noticing that it started to rain again. She was always uneasy in silence. She started moving her legs more briskly.
"Hey, -" James wondered, "-what's your hurry?"
"I just want to get this over and done with." she answered, and then noticed the almost hurt look on his face. "I also have a lot of essays to write, you know, homework to do…."
He watched her babble in hilarity. Lily looked at him curiously. "What? Why are you smiling?"
"Oh, nothing."
Both stayed quiet and continued to walk.
"Lily" James started, trying to break the ice, "why don't you like me?"
"Do you want the truth?" James nodded, holding his breath "Because you can be such a boastful git." she answered simply. To her surprise, James nodded understandingly. He was actually acting mature.
"Let me add, that you use girls as if they were pieces of paper you could just throw away, and not to mention the way you ruffle your hair so you could look 'cute' or your never-ending need for attention-"
"Enough already." James stopped her, afraid to hear more. It finally made sense, why someone could actually not like him.
Lily looked at James downcast face and felt a tad bit guilty. 'Maybe I was too harsh.' She twiddled her fingers, and added "Um, you aren't all that bad." James faced Lily, startled. "I mean, you are um, handsome, ch-charming, and um, funny."
James face quickly turned from sad to highly amused. Pretty soon, he started laughing. "So, you think I'm dashingly handsome, eh?" he said in between his infectious laughter.
It dawned on Lily that James was still immature, and that this was probably one of his many ploys. He was just fishing for compliments.
"Ugh!" Lily screamed in frustration, as they neared the Fat Lady portrait.
"Password?" the portrait hiccupped. Her head was resting on her purple dress; her white hair muddled, and her thin-framed glasses were set askew. She was already falling asleep.
"Lemon Bludgers" Lily said quickly. The portrait swung open revealing a cozy room full of red and gold colors. Without a backward glance, she stalked up the stairs towards her dorm, James only able to see her retreating back.
Lily jumped unto her red velvet bed and sighed deeply. She couldn't believe she almost had fun with JAMES! Of all people… JAMES PRAT-TER, the boy she loathed!!!
'I have to get away from him.'
Next day
The sun shone brightly through the windowpane, as Lily got off her bed with a slight headache. She checked the time and realized she awoke 10 minutes later than usual. She took a quick shower, dressed into her school robes, tied her hair in a messy bun, got her belongings, and rushed down the stairs to eat a hearty breakfast. In too much of a hurry, she ran into a tall figure, a tall figure she didn't exactly want to see at that moment.
Her belongings flew across the room and her hair fell all over her face. She quickly stood up and tried to remain in a state of equanimity.
"Hey Lily!" the tall figure spoke.
"Hello James." She said irritated.
"I was thinking we could go down for a walk to the Great Hall, then maybe hang out in-"
"Look James" Lily cut in, "I'm not interested in you. Whatever happens, I'll NEVER BE! Stop running after a girl who's never going to love you, or even like you. Stop being so daft, and LEAVE ME ALONE!"
With that, Lily stormed off, leaving James, again, to look at her retreating back.
"Well…" Remus greeted James "how was it?"
"Yesterday went pretty well. We actually laughed together." James said without an expression on his face. "But I think I blew it at the end. She said some pretty mean things to me just a few minutes ago."
"What sort of things?" Peter inquired.
"Things like, she'll never like me, and I'm being pathetic…" James sighed, "Things like that."
"Don't mope about it Prongs" Sirius comforted him, "There are plenty of other fish in the magical sea!"
"And maybe Lily just needs more space" Remus added.
James shrugged, and pulled out his plans for the next Quidditch game, trying to forget all about what happened this morning.
"Uh, don't look now but" Peter warned, looking sideways "why does it look like Will Berkley is about to make a move on Lily?"
"I just feel so pestered whenever he follows me!" Lily exclaimed, releasing her frustration.
"I understand how you feel." Alice said calmly, patting Lily on the shoulder. "It's okay." Her eyes glanced at Lily's shaking hand gripping her goblet of pumpkin juice, out of anger.
"Um, Lily.." Lily looked behind her to see fellow prefect Will Berkley of Ravenclaw, holding a bouquet of violet lilies. "Hi."
"Hi Will." Lily greeted, stopping her shaking hand, suddenly smiling.
"Um," he started, fidgeting in place and playing with his fingers. His blonde hair falling over his brown eyes, obviously nervous of what he was going to say. "I know we haven't thought of each other as more than friends, but the day I met you, your beauty captivated me, your personality was endearing, so, and.."
Lily looked into his eyes and held her breath.
"… will you be my girlfriend?"
A/N: Was that a cliffhanger? I'm not sure. That has got to be the worst cliffhanger I've ever seen! lol. Please please please review. Suggestions, comments, constructive criticism, names of your pets, anything! You should see me dance around my room everytime I see REVIEW ALERT!