That Summer
by Badiyannu
Yay! Another Harry Potter story, after much request. Hehe... but it's not Ron/Hermione (still my favorite couple!) because, I've been getting into James/Lily lately. I dunno why- I just started reading great fics and looking at wonderful fanart of them, and I couldn't help myself. ;; Still haven't seen PoA yet, but I think by the time I get to the closing a/n, I will have. wink
Disclaimer: all rights reserved to Mrs. J. K. Rowling. :)
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Lily Evans was a very mysterious girl. She held herself high when she strutted the hallways between classes, but when picked on in class, she had very little self-confidence and often squeaked out her answer to the professor. She never flirted with the boys, furthermore- hardly talked to them, yet, boys were drawn to her like a magnet. Was it her long, flowing red hair? Or her stunning emerald eyes? Maybe it was the way she acted hard- to-get, although... she wasn't really acting...
James Potter had been thinking about these theories all through Transfiguration class, hardly even paying a wisp of attention to Professor McGonagall and the apple they were supposed to turn into a frog. He had sketched the initials L.E. over and over on his parchment, but quickly covered it as his best friend, Sirius Black, leaned over to his desk.
"Whatcha got there, Prongs?" Sirius asked, curiously, pushing his long hair out of his eyes. He, too, was not doing his work, but rather reading a Muggle magazine titled Bikes and Hogs.
"Erm..." James mumbled, and shoved the parchment into a textbook, "...nothing. Just... notes."
Sirius laughed, "Yeah, that'll be the day. The day when James Potter actually picks up a quill..."
"Shut up, Padfoot," he said, smiling, and threw his apple at Sirius. It hit him squarely in the forehead. He fell backwards off his stool.
The whole class gasped at ceased their transfiguring to peer over at the fallen Marauder. Professor McGonagall rushed over to his side, and slapped his face.
"Black? You okay there?" she tried mercifully.
James, along with his other two best friends, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew, burst out in laughter at the sight of Sirius. The doubled over their desks, clutching at their stomachs, as their classmates looked at them as though they had all gone mad.
"You lot know he's just playing, right?" a female voice said sardonically from across the room. James turned around. It was Lily. She had her arms crossed and a frown on her face.
Sirius' eyes suddenly flew open, and he grinned, "Dash it all. You take the fun out of everything, Lily." He hopped up to face a very angry Professor McGonagall.
"You," she scolded, "and you"-she pointed at James-"will be attending detention this afternoon. Be here at 4, or you shall receive worse punishment."
James scoffed and Sirius just made a pouty face, and sat back down next to James.
"Uh uh," Professor McGonagall started firmly, "Black, you will be working with Miss Bellatrix"-Sirius made a face, and reluctantly joined his beautiful, but haughty, cousin- "...and Potter... you go work with Evans, please."
Lily groaned, dramatically, while James was grinning. Things went from worse, to better.
He sauntered over to Lily's table and sat down next to her, smiling up at the oblivious redhead. She purposely ignored him and continued with her Transfiguring. But after awhile, Lily was uncomfortable under his observation, and kept glancing at him from the corner of her eye.
She frowned, "Are you just going to bloody sit there and stare at me all day?"
"...That would be nice," James replied honestly.
"Ugh... stop being such a git, Potter, and help me..." Lily was having a hard time Transfiguring the apple into a frog, even more so when James kept gazing at her. "You do it," she said, and shoved the apple to him.
"M'kay," he grinned, still looking at her, and with a light swish and flick of his wand, the apple transformed into a frog.
Disbelievingly, the beautiful redhead gaped at James, mouth open. He gently pushed her mouth close with his index finger and smirked, smugly.
"Man, I'm good... Heh... Evans, if you didn't know, Transfiguration is my best subject- get used to it," he remarked, and leaned in close to her. She was still gaping at him. He lowered his voice and said, "Go out with me?"
Lily quickly came to her senses, and shrieked, pushing James away from her. He wobbled on his stool a bit, then laughed as Sirius walked over and gave him a high five. The two boys continued to double over in laughter as Lily angrily gathered her stuff, and stormed out of the room.
"What about your answer, Evans?!" James called after her, still laughing.
"I'll give you my answer and you can stick it up your arse, Potter! And it's NO!" she yelled, furiously and slammed the door behind her.
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"La la la... ahem....laa laaa laaaa.... no, that's off-key..."
Pricilla Patil was in the choir, and the class had a scale test coming up. She was also in Arithmancy, which happened to have a test on the exact same day. Since these two happened to befall each other, she tried haplessly to multitask by practicing her notes and pitch, while sticking her nose in her Arithmancy textbook. It was hard to concentrate.
"Argh!!!" growled a voice that happened to belong to her best friend, Lily Evans, who stomped into the Gryffindor common room, and threw her books onto the floor. She plopped down on the couch next to Pricilla.
"Lil..." Pricilla gazed worriedly at her friend, "What's wrong? Your face is all red..."
Lily rubbed her face furiously, as if she could wipe the flush from her cheeks. "It's that stupid James Potter again. He's so...so..."
Pricilla grinned, "...hot?"
"Hot?! Are you blind, Pricilla?! That git is far from ever being a smidge good-looking!" Lilly cried, incredulously, "What I was TRYING to say was... James Potter is a horrid, rude, incompetent, annoying man!"
Smiling, Pricilla brushed her long dark hair out of her face, and put an arm around her best friend. "What did he do this time?"
Lily spilled the whole story out, while Pricilla just nodded and smiled. That's what best friends were supposed to do; listen while your friend rambles on about guys they hate. But from the way Lily was telling her the details, about how "extremely close" he was to her face, or "the nerve he had" to touch her, Pricilla thought otherwise. She was just going to have to show her what she really felt for James.
"Well, Lil, if you're up to it... we can get 'im back," the dark-haired girl suggested slyly, "...I know just the way to do it, too..."
Lily always knew Pricilla came up with the best ideas. She was the smartest 7th year in Gryffindor, but her smart mind helped her to be cunning and clever in many ways.
"Let's do it."
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Mwhahah! I'm leaving it at that. :-) Mr. Evil Smilie shall tell you that he is sorry the chapter is so short, but that Mr. Evil Smilie knows that the author has evil things planned for the next chappy. And that is why, I have decided to stop here. Thank you, my fans! (And yes, I did see PoA by now. Heehee. It was awesome.)
:-) Mr. Evil Smilie is back and he wants you to review. NOW.