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Chapter 2 - Potter himself
When Matthew had finally let her go, Lily started heading towards Ravenclaw tower, on the West side of the castle. She sighed. She hated kissing Matthew in front of other people, it always made her feel so uncomfortable...
"Ouch!" Something, or someone, had trodden on her foot.
"Sirius!" called an angry voice. Lily glanced around, feeling scared and confused. She was completely alone.
Suddenly two boys appeared out of thin air, one of them holding a silvery cloak. Lily recognised them at once they were Sirius Black and James Potter himself.
"Sorry Evans, didn't see you there," grinned Black.
"Yes you ruddy well did!" said Potter, looking as though he would dearly love to thump his best friend. "Are you OK?" he asked Lily, in a much more gentle tone of voice.
"I'm- I'm fine," said Lily, still suffering from shock. "But - but - I mean - how did you-"
"This," said Potter, pointing at the cloak he was holding. "An Invisibility Cloak - I inherited it from my grandfather. It's really useful for nicking food and stuff, that's where we're going now-"
"James!" Black shot Potter a warning look.
"What?" he demanded.
"Evans is Head Girl, remember? You can't go telling her stuff like that!" Black hissed. Potter eyed Lily nervously.
"It's OK, I won't tell," she said, smiling.
"Cheers," said Potter, and he grinned back at her. "Anyway - see you around, Evans." He and Black disappeared back under the cloak.
When she was sure that they had gone, Lily started to walk again, still smiling. She had known those two for so long, yet they had changed so much. Only two years ago, Lily had hated both of them more than any Slytherin. Potter in particular had been a right scumbag, Lily thought. Arrogant, cocky and big-headed, Lily had loathed him. She had detested every little thing about him, the way he showed off with those Snitches he stole, the way he messed up his hair, the way he hexed all the first-years in the corridors... But what Lily had hated most about James Potter was the fact that he had continually asked her out. It didn't matter where she was or who she was with, if Potter saw her, he'd ask her. He simply refused to take no for an answer.
But he's not like that any more, thought Lily fairly. He's stopped all that, hasn't he? Lily tried to remember the last time he'd asked her out - it had been in her fifth year. He'd been dangling Severus Snape from the birch tree by the lake. She'd told him to leave Snape alone, and he replied,
"I will if you go out with me. Go on, go out with me, and I'll never lay a wand on old Snivelly again." Lily remembered how her insides had boiled at these words.
"I wouldn't go out with you if it was a choice between you and the giant squid," she had said, as cuttingly as she could, furious that he dared to treat her like that.
Since then, Potter hadn't asked her out once. Perhaps he had finally accepted that she didn't fancy him, or perhaps he was afraid of the answer, Lily didn't know. She wondered if she would go out with him now. She liked him so much more now he had stopped showing off and his jokes were tasteful.
At the other end of the corridor, where Lily couldn't hear him, Potter was whispering furiously.
"I - don't - believe you, Padfoot! I really don't! You know I fancy her, how could you just tread on her foot like that?"
"I didn't do it because it was her, I did it because she couldn't see me, and I couldn't resist it!"
"You could've really hurt her!"
"For God's sake Prongs, she doesn't fancy you and she never will, so why can't you just get a grip and accept it?"
"You never know, she might do... Come on, lets go and find old Snivellus, tread on his feet..."
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I love this chapter! On the other hand, you might not. Please review and tell me your thoughts.
PS. Message for Posels and Sledgehammer:
Maybe Matthew should be called Richard Goldstein instead. Except then I might be tempted to change the whole story and let Lily marry Richard. But then Harry Potter would never be born, and then there would be no Harry Potter books, and then there would be no books on which to base my Lily and Richard fanfic.... AAARRRGGGHHH! Lol (mmmmmm Richard)