Chapter I: Troublesome Feelings

"You're nothing but an arrogant toerag who does nothing but show off and who THINKS he's all that!"

"Toerag? TOERAG?! Is that the best you could do, Evans?"

"Well, it's not like YOU can come up with a witty retort, Potter."

"Oh I just don't want to hurt your itty bitty feelings, Lily-poo."

"Stop being such a bloody git."

"Only if you being such a damn know-it-all."

James Potter stood there glaring icily at Lily Evans. Everyone in Hogwarts knew that the two shared a mutual dislike for each other ever since their third year. Now in their seventh year, they're still trying to bite each other's heads off. No one knew how it all started, only that it seemed to get worse by the day.

"Oy, are they still at it?" asked Sirius Black as he removed two earplugs from his ears, addressing the question to Remus Lupin who was engrossed in the book he was reading. "Hmm... Yeah, I believe they are," he answered as he glanced at them shortly. "Wormtail sure is lucky that he fell asleep before all this started," said Sirius. Remus did nothing but nod in agreement, as he was still reading his book intently. "It seems to me like they've made the Gryffindor common room their very own fighting arena with a scheduled fight every night," continued Sirius with an amused look on his face. Remus let out a chuckle and said, "I agree. They act like a married couple." Upon hearing this, both Lily and James stopped their bickering and glared at Remus. He let out a nervous laugh and said, "Okay, okay. I didn't mean it. Now, if there is nothing more to be said and no more death glares to be given, I'm going to head off to bed." "Alright then, night Moony," said Sirius cheerfully. Remus nodded at him and simply smiled at Lily and James before retiring to bed. "Well, I think I'll head on to the girl's dormitory now if that's all, Potter," said Lily, looking quite tired as she looked expectantly at James. Sirius turned to face James, who in turn mumbled something that sounded like, 'Just go, Evans.' "Very well then," said Lily in an exasperated tone. "Goodnight to the both of you chaps," she said, only facing Sirius this time. "Sleep well, Lily," he said with a small wave. She nodded and went straight to the girl's dormitories.

As soon as he was out of sight, Sirius faced James and said, "Nice girl, that Lily Evans. Wouldn't you agree, Prongs?" James felt the urge to insult her right there, but he just restrained himself from doing so. "Not my kind of girl, that's for sure. She called me a bloody toerag! What in the bloody hell was that load of rubbish?" he said heatedly as he pulled out a Golden Snitch from his pocket. Ignoring James' outburst, Sirius said grinning, "I didn't say that she was your type of girl, mate. I just said she was a nice one. A bit defensive there, are you Prongs?" James caught a glimpse of Sirius' grin and he knew immediately what James was thinking. He casually let go of the snitch, allowing it to fly all over the common room. He fell silent for a while, admiring the snitch, until he finally said, "I know, Padfoot. I'm just saying I don't like her, that's all. "Then why do you pay so much attention to her then?" asked Sirius automatically. "I don't know," said James almost to himself. Sirius got up from his chair , walked up the stairs to their dormitory and said, "I know why mate." James looked at him with a puzzled expression. "You fancy her, Prongs," he said simply before he disappeared into the dormitory, leaving James by the fireplace.

That's not true, he thought. I don't like Lily Evans. I can't like her. Not again...