You Complete ME

stargirlr

Disclaimer: I own what I own and don't own anything except for my original characters and any original plots or phrases.

(A/N: Okay, firstly, everything I haven't made up including Lily, James, all the Marauders is not mine (however much I wish it was), it's all J.K. Rowling's (God Bless her!) Secondly, this is my very first fanfic…I have no idea how it's going to turn out. Thirdly, I think I'm in love with James. Yaahhhhh. Yes, I'm proud of it! I'm in love with a figment of someone's imagination! YAY! Hurray! YAY! Ok, now that my sugar rush is over…. I really, realllly appreciate any advice or criticism you give me. Just don't break my poor, desolate heart… or else glares evilly at readers )

I have redone this chapter, taken out most of the Lily and James falling in luv in the first scene parts, etc. Worth another read. 23:52, 26th October 2004.

You Complete ME

By: stargirlr

Chapter 1: I Love You James

Lily Elizabeth Evans, green-eyed, red-haired, sixteen and of medium height, stood up, stretched her long arms and yawned loudly. Three hours of continuous History of Magic, homework was no joke. She scanned the Gryffindor common room quickly, on the lookout for trouble. After all, it was her duty; she was a 6th year prefect and a responsible one, unlike James Potter.

Lily paused for a second, contemplating him.

When her mother had seen him for the first time, a few years ago at the London train station, she had called him " The Stereotypical Lady's Man." At the time, Lily had just stared blankly at her mother, wondering what the hell she meant.

But now? Even Lily had to admit, the other girls did find him extremely attractive.

Once, Lily had dared to wonder what they saw in him. A girl from Hufflepuff, (her outfit complete with a large "I'm proud to be in love with James!" button on her robes) had eagerly explained it… or at least tried…

"Haven't you ever seen those eyes? Those tantalizingly chocolatey brown eyes?" She asked.

Lily replied, "You mean those eyes that look like mud pies?" She faked gagging.

"What about that wonderful Quidditch toned body?"

Lily glared at her.

"Haven't you ever want to run your hands through that wonderful jet black hair which can't ever be set in place?" The Hufflepuff had tried, in desperation.

"More like, take a comb or a brush or something and beat the horrible mess on top of his head into shape…" Lily answered.

The Hufflepuff just stared at her.

Lily had turned away and made a mental note never to cross that particular fanatic again.

On the other hand,

James Potter was smart— after all, she guessed it did take a bit of brains to come up with pranks on such a large scale,

Handsome—or so he called himself,

Tall—well, a lot taller than Lily anyway,

A fantastic chaser-- well, he had won Gryffindor the Quidditch up for the last three years and running—he was the team captain in fact—

But even so, how in the world could Dumbledore appoint him as prefect?

Lily sighed. After all the pranks he was behind, all the tricks he was responsible, after all that rule-breaking… Life was so unfair.

She had actually worked hard for the position of prefect—studied for long hours everyday, losing out on her entire social reputation, sucking up to even the ugliest professors.

Well… aside from a few minor incidents—accidental use of magic for almost knocking a boy unconscious by charming a large baseball bat a few years ago… and… and… the last year…

When Lucius Malfoy, the gittiest of the Slytherin gits had started proclaiming his undying love for her during breakfast… Unfortunately, the head of Slytherin house, Professor Herlithan, seemed to think that Lily herself had given Malfoy a love potion. Luckily, Professor McGonagall and Professor Dumbledore did not have as much faith in her illegal potion brewing abilities. Anyway, later she had found out the Marauders had been the ones to give him the potion. She smiled as she remembered how she had got her revenge.

The Marauders- that's what they call themselves- James, the unofficial leader, Sirius Black, good-looking and cocky, Remus Lupin, quietly cute, a peace-maker and Peter Pettigrew, a rat-face, sniveling boy.'

Not that she disliked the rest of them. She would often hang out with group, bearing James' company for only two reasons—firstly, Remus, Sirius and Peter had become her 'kinda' friends last year and secondly, she suspected that Lara was very keen on one of them.

Returning to the present, she concluded that no one in the cozy, maroon common room had any suspicious intentions save perhaps not doing the next day's assignments.

She looked through her Homework Scheduler. That little baby had saved her several times from less than acceptable marks on an assignment. She regarded it as one of her most precious belongings and treated it as such. She had even devised her own spell to prevent smudging, tearing, ink splattering or any signs of wear on the notebook.

"Astronomy: Complete chart on N 69 E sky," She read and groaned inwardly. She couldn't believe there was actually a time when she liked astronomy. Clutching her books, she jogged all the way to the astronomy tower, thinking, "At least I got my daily quota of exercise…"

A few torches placed at sporadic intervals dimly lit the tower. Lily slid down next to one of them. She examined the sky, enjoying the peace and quiet of her solitude.

Lily froze as a male voice spoke, "You are so gorgeous."

"I love you James" A girl's voice sidled.

"I love you too, Brittany"

'Potter and Brittany? But…isn't Potter going out with Jeanine Coogan?' she thought.

As sounds of moaning arose from the darkness, Lily, clearly disgusted, went down the spiral stairs making silent actions of gagging.

Lily hurried to dinner, only slightly later than usual. Her red hair swayed as she walked. Inside the almost full hall, she slid into her usual seat besides her best friend, Larika Anderson. Though both the girls always stood out in a crowd, they were poles apart. Lily had long red-auburn hair, striking green eyes while Larika had short blonde hair and crystal-clear blue eyes.

Opposite to Lily sat the Marauders (currently) without Potter.

Sirius was tall, had black hair, very short and very spiked. His gray eyes were twinkling with laughter.

Remus was the tallest, had sandy blonde hair and light blue eyes.

Peter was shorter than the rest of them, slightly pudgy, always on a constant diet.

Larika was trying desperately to eat, but, unfortunately, Sirius was spouting milk from his nose making her laugh.

"Immature." Lily commented, pouring some pumpkin juice in her goblet.

Sirius pouted, "And here's Miss Grown-up-Prefect-Self-Professed-Goddess-who-thinks-too-much-of-herself."

Lily smirked. "Whaaatever."

After a bit of thought, she asked, "D'you happen to know where Potter is?"

All three Marauders looked up simultaneously, startled.

Larika caught their uneasy glances and curiously inquired, "Yes, where is Potter?"

Lily grinned at their discomfort, "In the Astronomy tower--" she said slowly.

"Doing his homework, right?" Sirius interrupted hastily.

"Yeah, right, homework…" Lily said, her smirk widening.

Just then, a very distraught looking James parked himself across the table.

Still grinning to herself but managing to keep a straight face, Lily said, " So, Potter, did you find the homework difficult today?"

"Homework…what homework?" he asked quite bewildered.

" Your astronomy homework, you know, the homework you were completing-right-now-in-the-Astronomy-Tower." Sirius said pointedly.

"Oh, Okay, that homework…It was all right, you know…." he said, still puzzled.

"Uh-uh and, er, what's that on your collar?" Lily questioned, raising her voice and pointing to an exceptionally bright swab of pink near his collar.

"Er, er…."

But Jeanine Coogan, on the other side of the table, had heard.

"Yes, James, what is that?" she asked in a would-be sweet voice. The entire hall was watching now.

"Why, er, it's your lipstick of course, your…."

"James?"

"Uh-uh?"

"In case you've never noticed, I use red, blood-red lipstick."

"Oh, er, really, I didn't know that honey….", James said clearly embarrassed.

"That's not mine. So-who's-is-it?" she said saying each word distinctly.

"Er…."

"James Tristan Potter, HAVE YOU BEEN CHEATING ON ME?"

James took a deep breath.

"I'll take that as a yes." Saying so, she stormed out of the hall, leaving everyone to stare at a beetroot James.

"What the hell just happened?" James asked.

"Weeelll, I think that Jeanine found about you and Brittany and she got angry aaaand she basically dumped you." Sirius said.

"It was a rhetorical question!" James replied angrily.

"You asked it!" he retorted.

Remus, the peacemaker, spoke, "Padfoot, will you shut up? Give the guy a break." He turned to James. "And Prongs? Get over it."

James gulped down some air. "Get… get over… you're telling me to Get OVER it!"

Remus nodded. "You know just as well as I do that you didn't care anymore for Jeanine than you do for Brittany."

James looked up to see Lara (A/N: short for Larika) and Lily smiling chirpily at him. "What are they laughing at? What ARE they laughing at? There's nothing to laugh at!"

"Aw, shut it, Potter." Lara said laughingly.

"Shut up yourself, you hag…" he muttered back.

Lily's emerald eyes flashed dangerously, a warning sign for everyone that knew her- which of course, did not include James.

Lily quipped, "Don't you go insulting my friends, Potter. You deserved it and you know it."

"Says who?

"Says me!"

"You know… it's all your fault…" He retorted.

Encouraged by Lily's widened eyes, he continued, "Yeah, who asked you to go asking 'bout stuff on my collar? Why d'you care so much 'bout what I do?"

Lily grimaced, "Potter, I'm the last person in the world who gives a damn about your freakin' love-life, but, if you wanna go snog a girl behind your girlfriend's back, choose somewhere more appropriate than the Astronomy Tower, k?"

James stared, his hazel brown eyes focusing on Lily. "The astronomy tower is the appropriate place for that, Evans! What are you, a freak? Don't tell me no guy has ever taken you up that romantic haven in the skies… Christ, you even have to have a reservation if you don't want to be disturbed nowadays."

Lily colored and stayed mute.

"Holy cow, I bet you were actually up there to study weren't you?" He chuckled derisively as Remus put his head in his hands. He had the attention of the whole table now. "You are such a virgin, Evans. It's so pathetic… I mean, I know a few third years who are just as blissfully unaware as you are, but a sixth year? Never thought I'd see the day…" He smirked and a few people began smiling tauntingly at Lily.

Lara could see that she was biting back tears and was about to pat her comfortingly when she suddenly stood up at attention.

For a minute, she just hovered there. She quietly said something about pride that no one but James caught and then stalked out.

James gaped at her empty place blankly for a few minutes as the rest of the group waited in anticipating silence…

"Jay-ames… Hellooo…" said Sirius.

"Lucius Malfoy and Severus Snape want to marry you" Peter tried.

"Lucius Malfoy and Severus Snape want to marry each other." Sirius said.

He got amused looks from her friends and some weird looks from the Ravenclaws.

"Cassie is going out with Steven McConnell" Sirius tried again, naming the popular, handsome Ravenclaw seeker and seventh year head boy and James' old flame.

"WHAT---? The hell she is!" James exclaimed.

"Well, finally, lover boy!" Sirius said.

James blushed furiously.

"Well, well, I think that this IS the first time I've seen James blush so many times in one day!" Lara remarked spitefully.

The conversation paused as James blushed once more.

A few more minutes of silence passed as the company buttered their rolls.

During the silence, Lara felt something gently nudging her foot.

Lara glanced at Remus, sitting opposite her, and then hissed, "What?"

"Aren't you going to check on Lily?" He asked in an undertone.

"Since when do you care so much about Lily?" Lara said harshly.

He returned her gaze calmly, "Since she became my friend on the first day of first year."

She blushed and dropped her glare, "Well, she usually wants to be alone after these James incidents. I'll talk to her after dinner though."

He nodded and resumed eating.

A minute later, she felt some nudging on her foot again, more insistent this time.

"What?" She hissed to Remus again.

"What?" He looked bewildered. "What'd I do?"

Sirius hissed at Lara, "Why are you hissing at Remus? He didn't do anything."

"Oh and I suppose you can tell me who did?" She whispered back.

"Yes, I was the one who kicked you."

She looked surprised, "Why did you do that?"

"I want to talk to you. Outside. After dinner." He said in an undertone.

Frustrated, she spoke in a loud voice, "Why the heck are we still whispering? Black, you can talk to me right here and now if you want to, okay?"

He looked around at the staring multitudes.

"Lara, will you go out with me?" Sirius asked finally.

"Wh-what?" Lara said, much taken aback. "No WAY!"

It was Sirius' turn to be taken by surprise. "Wh-what?" He squinted at her, as if that would help him to hear her better.

"N-O. No."

"Please."

"No."

"Plea-se."

"No."

"Pretty, pretty please with a cherry on top?"

"Hmmm. Let me think." She paused. "NO!"

"Padfoot, shut up and let us eat, for God's sake!" Peter yelled.

Later in the girl's dormitory

Lily was shuffling and then reshuffling, fluffing and then unfluffing all the pillows on her bed when Lara entered.

Larika's eyes followed her actions from her own bed. She knew when something was on Lily's mind.

"Lily?" asked Lara finally.

"Yeah?" Lily flipped on her back to look at the canopy over her bed.

"Are you alright?"

Lily sighed. "I suppose so." She paused and bluntly continued, "James is such a bastard. "

Slightly shocked with her uncharacteristic profanity, Lara said, "James does say stupid things, but he's not that bad, Lils…''

Lily snorted, "He's got an ego the size of Hogwarts just because he's played a few mildly amusing pranks and is mediocre on the broom, he's notoriously fickle with girls, he doesn't care an ounce for the feelings of others, he doesn't ever follow the rules… how he got to be the prefect, I'll never know."

"He got to be the prefect because he's tying with you for first place in most of his classes, because he's an excellent quidditch player and not that surprisingly, most of the house, if not the school, respects and actually listens to him."

"You wouldn't recognize the devil even if he stood before you, dancing with his pointed horns and spiked tail, Larika. You really don't see the bad in anybody, do you?" Lily shook her head.

Lara smiled suddenly, "Except for Sirius Black, that is."

"Huh?"

"He asked me out after you left. Funny, because I never thought he even knew I was a girl."

"Finally. He's been staring at you for the last three months."

"Has he?"

"Honestly, are you blind?"
Lara disregarded the question, "D'you think he was serious?"

"Sirius?"

"Uh-uh." She aimlessly lifted her foot and dragged it in the air.

A small smile crept on to Lily's face, "Why does it matter whether he was serious or not? It's nor as if you are actually considering going out with him, are you?"

Lara got up hastily, "Why shouldn't I, I mean, if I wanted to? He's perfectly acceptable, isn't he? He's cute."

"Ah, the other girls in this school would crucify you for understating the obvious…"

Lily added skeptically, "But, Lara, you do realize this is Sirius, we're talking about? The Sirius Black who rode a flying motorcycle on the school grounds and nearly decapitating Professor McGonagall, the boy who's made lists rating each girl in Hogwarts on their Sirius-worthiness… "

"The very same."

Lily took a deep breath, "Please, please tell me you still possess your sanity. Please do not tell me you actually like him."

"Okay. I won't." She grinned.

"Lara, do be serious."

"Lils, do be serious." Larika mimicked.

"LA-RA!"

"LI-LY!"

"Larika Julianne Anderson, tell me whether you like Sirius Black or not!"

"Or else?" she asked mischievously.

"Just wait and see."

"Okey-dokey." Lara replied, preparing to run.

"Aaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh" Lily ran after her.

They ran into the common room, both screaming like crazy. Needless to say, they attracted a lot of attention.

Suddenly, Lily bumped into someone, nearly knocking them down.

She looked up into a pair of melted chocolate fudge brownie colored eyes, flecked with bright gold. She stood there, transfixed by the esoteric sight. Then she noticed who they belonged to.

Flushing rapidly, she glared at him, "Get out of my way, Potter."

"Sorry, Evans. But I'm not the one running around the place like an immature five year old, now am I?"

Still looking into his eyes, Lily felt them go cold.

She became angrier. He wasn't supposed to get mad at her, she was supposed to get mad at him. At least that's what it said on the imaginary job description in her head.

He shoved past her, roughly.

Opening her eyes, she saw Lara standing in front of her with an anxious expression on her face.

"Um... Lily, what just happened?"

"Nothing."

"You were a little… mean to him, don't you think?"

"Whatever." she replied rolling her eyes and moving out of sight. "By the way, I think he was." She continued. "Serious, that is."

(A/N: Seriously Sirius. Noticed that after only about my sixth read through. Hahaha. Unintended pun.)