Unexpected Love?
'SUMMARY: - Year 7th year for Lily Evans and James Potter.
'DISCLAIMER: - i dont own any of the characters, well, except ellie who is based on my god sister, and Liz who is based on me. But then i guess i do own her :p
'AUTHOR'S NOTE: - This is a re-write of my fic, Unexpected Love, I wasn't happy with my last (incomplete) attempt as it had little or no storyline! I hope this id better than my last attempt!
Lily was rushing around her room trying to get everything packed and ready, she knew she shouldn't have left packing to the last minute but it is so easy to get
distracted, especially when you had some one like Petunia for a sister. She was also rather distracted, she had had a dream about James Potter, and it wasn't a nightmare
either. She hated James Potter, he had always been so nasty to her since their first year, it wasnt just him thought, he and his gang, the Maurauders, were always pulling
pranks on everyone, yes, she hated him. When she was sure she hadn't left anything behind she got dressed, she threw on a plain top and jeans, the only clothes she
hadn't packed to take with her, she would change into her robes on the train as she didn't want to draw much attention to herself at the station, well, more attention than
she usually got. Lily had long fiery red hair which flowed down past her shoulders. she was tall, above average and had a slender frame like her mother, although she
looked mainly like her mother, she had her fathers eyes, they were a bright emerald green. After tying her hair into a long plat, she grabbed her trunk and owl cage, her owl,
Galadriel, was off hunting, and went downstairs into the kitchen.
Her parents and sister, Petunia, were all sitting around the table when she entered, her mum and dad looked up as she entered and beamed
"all ready for your first day back, Love" said her mum as she bustled around making her breakfast. she sat down in her usual place next to her dad who kissed her on the
head and told her
"you look beautiful, i cant believe i wont be seeing you for yet another year!" he said, this was what her had said for the past 6 years, just before she left with her mother for the train.
"Hi Petunia, how are you this morning?" asked Lily. Petunia didn't acknowledge her presence at all, this was usual behavior for petunia. ever since Lily had got the letter
accepting her into Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry, Petunia had hardly spoken to her, except to make it perfectly clear to Lily that she thought she was a freak
and didn't want anything to do with her or "her kind". You see, Lily wasn't an ordinary girl, she was a witch and was in her 7th and final year of school at hogwarts, she was
the best in her class at Defense against the Dark Arts and History of Magic, she was also Head Girl.
Her mum place a plate of toast in front of Lily. Lily looked at it, but didn't eat it, nerves had started to kick in. she always felt like this on the first day back, she was
looking forward to seeing her friends and going back to Hogwarts, but there was always apprehension there too. she didn't know why.
"come on honey, we have to go now or you'll miss the train!" Lily grabbed her trunk and said good bye to her father and Petunia.
"your not coming back for any holidays are you? its just Vernon will be here then and he doesn't want to see you, he hates your kind you know, he thinks your all freaks, I
quite agree with him actually. since you got that stupid letter all you've ever done is go on about Hogwarts this Hogwarts that! oh yeah, and i forgot that James Potter." said
Petunia, " i has half expecting you to announce you engagement to him this summer!" she seared. she knew she had touched a nerve with Lily. Lily absolutely despised
James Potter. he was an insufferable show off and was so big headed and arrogant it was unbelievable. he had spent the whole of last year asking her out, he just wouldn't
take the hint that she didn't like him, at all!
"Good bye Petunia, I will miss you" said Lily hugging her sister, she wouldn't rise to the bait and get angry, seeing her sisters face when she hugged her was much more
rewarding then watching her smirk as if she had won. Lily grabbed her coat and ran out the door before Petunia could throw back yet another snide remark, however, the
dig about Potter had got her thinking, did she really hate him all that much? maybe he wasn't so bad, she thought perhaps she ought to get to know him better.
her mums voice interrupted her thoughts,
"are you ok hun? you seem very quite, its not like you, is anything wrong?"
"no mum, its nothing" she replied "I was just thinking"
"hmm, you know Petunia doesn't really mean all those things she said, shes just a bit, well, Jealous"
"you really think?" added Lily sarcastically.
"now theres no need to be like that. you two were close before, i think she just doesn't really understand, its just how she is, she misses you while your away"
"we were never close mum, she always thought i was weird, and i think this has just proved it! she doesn't miss me, anyway, she has that Vernon to keep her company
now, she defiantly doesn't need me!" Lily's good mood was fading, and fast.
"yes, she does seem to be spending a lot of time with him, its so sweet, there just perfect. Anyway, what was she saying about this James, huh? why don't you go out
with him?"
"mum, if he and I were the last two people on earth i wouldn't even consider going out with him! ever! he has to be the most arrogant little pig i have ever had the misfortune
to meet! he only thinks of him self and his "gang", and there just as bad,they go around hexing everyone! even innocent people, they just don't care! so the answer to your
question, is, in case you didn't get the hint, NO!" Lily ended up shouting. she and her mum hardly ever argued, she certainly never lost her temper with her. they drove the
rest of the way in an awkward silence.
"do you want me to come onto the station and see you off?" asked Lily's mum cautiously
"no, you cant, you wont be able to get thought the barrier, there isn't any point"
" well, i can at least walk you to the barrier, you have never let me even get out the car! i haven't so much as seen one of your friends, i am your mother you know, i care about you!"
"I'm sorry, i didn't mean that. i don't know why i said all those things, i didn't mean any of them, I'm sorry." said Lily sadly, she really was sorry
"i know you didn't love, your probably just a little nervous because of you new duties, don't worry about it, you will be fine, do you know who the head boy is yet?"
Lily shock her head, "no, i only hope it isn't"
"James Potter" they said together, and started to laugh. Lily opened the car door and got out
"bye love, I'll miss you" said her rather tearful mother.
"aren't you coming to see me off then?" said Lily smiling
" yes, of course i am" replied her mother, breaking into a smile. they walked into the station together.
"Evans"
Lily heard a familiar voice calling her name
"o, god" she murmured turning round to her mum "ready to meet the infamous James Potter?"
"Evans, OY EVANS" came the voice again, this time Lily and her mother turned around.
coming toward them was a tall, rather hansom, 17 year old boy. He had jet black hair which was slightly too long and stuck up at the back, he was wearing round glasses and was carrying a trunk like Lily with the Griffindor Lion on the side. he was also, like Lily carrying a broomstick. Lily and James were both on the house Qudditch team and were both exceptionally good, there team had not lost one match since they had joined.
"alright Evans?" he asked
"fine" said Lily stiffly
"are you going to introduce me then?" her mum butted in.
"Mum this is James Potter, Potter this is my mum."
"pleasure to meet you" her replied kissing her mums hand. Lily couldn't believe it, he KISSED her mothers hand!
"oh, and you too" said her mum, looking rather embarrassed.
"what are you doing here anyway, shouldn't you be organizing some kind of prank with little friends" asked Lily spitefully
"no, i wanted to come and find you first" he said picking up her trunk and walking away.
"well, i guess i had better leave you now, have a good year, and don't forget to write!" said her mum
"OY EVANS, YOU COMING" shouted James
"thanks mum" said Lily hugging her mother "I'll miss you"
" I'll miss you too, we all will! have fun! i think James is calling you, again" said her mum winking
"yeah, i know, he never shuts up!"
"bye" they hugged again, Lily watched her mum walk off, she then felt a presence behind her and turned around, it was Potter again
"you had better hurry up or we'll miss the train" he said rather more gently, "i hate having to say goodbye to my parents"
Lily did a double take, did she just see some emotion in him?
"come on then! do you really want to miss the train? cause if you do your going the right way about it!"
Lily was still pondering over James display of really emotion, something she had never seen before from him, when she walked down the train to meet with the head boy and to be given a list of their duties. Her best friends, Ellie and Elizabeth (or Liz as she preferred to be called) had noticed something odd about Lily's behavior. They had spent the past hour trying to find out what was up, but Lily had spent the whole time denying the fact that she was acting weirdly, well, weirder than usually. they gave up when they put their robes on, and lily had a feeling they were discussing her right this moment and trying to come up with a theory and would quiz her on it again when she got back. she was so preoccupied in her thoughts that she didn't notice who had entered the compartment she was supposed to be meeting the Head boy in.
"Hi Evans, mind if i sit?" she herd some one ask, it was Potter.
"only the head boy and Girl are aloud in here, so, no, you cant"
"wot makes you so sure that I'm not the head boy?" he said showing her his badge, it was exactly the same as the one she was wearing, but instead of a silver HG like hers, his was a large silver HB.
"hahaha," she said sarcastically, "I'm not going to fall for that one, i know you too well Potter"
"no, really, i am Head boy, look at that book with our instructions in, it has you name under head girl, and mine under head boy! you really think i would waste my time with a prank like this? you really don't know me at all, Evans" he replied, almost shouting the last few words, picking up the instructions and started to read.
Lily felt ashamed, of course she didn't know him at all, she had never tried to get to know him. she guessed she would have to, now they were sharing duties. she didn't feel as bothered by this as she would have thought she should have, maybe she was beginning to like him. she shook her head, pull yourself together Lily, you don't like him, and thats final. she picked up the instructions and began to read.
Lily stopped reading and looked up, James had finished reading and was now staring out the window, he looked like he was deep in thought. Lily got up to leave, when he
heard her move, he looked up, he looked like he was about to say something, but didn't, Lily was thankful for that, she knew she had been wrong to assume he was pulling
a prank, but didn't feel like apologizing, even though she knew she should. just as she reached the door to the compartment, she felt a hand on her shoulder.
"Er, Lily? umm, I just wanted to say I'm sorry." said James, his voice almost a whisper
"for what?" said Lily, a little confused, he hadn't done anything, it was her who had accused him of lying!
"everything, you know, well, everything I've done to you over the past 6 years, i really like you you know, well, i guess you had guessed that already huh? i just wanted to
say sorry"
"well, I'm sorry too, i mean, for accusing you of lying"
"its ok, I'm sure i deserve it, i mean, i haven't been the perfect gentleman to you over the past few years" smiled James
Lily didn't know what to say to this, she just gave him a week smile instead and walked out the compartment.
"hey, Lily," she heard a voice behind her, "seen you at the feast"
she didn't need to turn around to know who was speaking, she nodded and hoped he saw, then carried on walking down the train to find her friends. She was so deep in
thought she didn't notice she had walked straight past the compartment her friends were sitting in. she only came to her senses when she heard Ellie,
"Lily, OY Lily, EVANS!"
lily turned around and focused on her friend,
"hi, sorry, i was just...thinking." said Lily
"yeah, i can see that, come on" replied Ellie in a rather concerned voice.
Lily sat down at her usual seat next to the window and looked out of it, her two best friend watched her, she seemed to be completely oblivious to her surroundings.
"um, Lily?" asked Liz cautiously, "is there something you want to tell us?"
"what? oh, no, no, there isn't, why?" replied Lily, distractedly.
"well, its just that you've been acting rather, well...weird" said Ellie "we just wondered if there is anything wrong? we are your friends, you can tell us you know!"
"no, i know i can, there's nothing wrong!" protested Lily
" has it got anything to do with Potter?" blurted out Liz, who couldn't contain herself any longer, she and Ellie had been discussing this in her absence, that much was
obvious.
"what? no! what gave you that idea?" said Lily, rather shocked, was it that obvious? no, it cant be, there properly just saying that, i mean, how could they know i like him, if
even i don't know? she thought
"well, we were taking to Sirius and Lupin, and they were saying James seemed rather...off, like you are, and we kinda figured that cant be a coincidence" said Ellie, that
was not, in fact the only reason, she and Liz had both noticed James like her, well, who hadn't? but had also realized Lily was rather sensitive about the subject of Potter,
maybe she hadn't realized she liked him, but needed to be pushed in the right direction. everyone thought they were perfect together.
"well, it must just be coincidence! I don't know what you two have been planning or what ever but there is nothing wrong with me! you must be going bloody crazy! there is
nothing wrong with me!" said Lily, her voice rising to a shout. she realized she had stood up at some point. She sat back down again and went back to looking out the
window.
"umm, Lil?" asked Liz cautiously "um, who is the head boy?"
"oh, that. none other than James Potter" replied Lily, "look, I'm sorry about what i said earlier. its just I'm a bit confused, thats all."
"its ok, we had kinda realized you're distracted. well, if you want to talk, you know we're here for you." said Ellie
"yeah, thanks, i know that, i just need to figure a few things out first ok." said Lily, smiling. the three girls sat in silence for the rest of the journey. When the train came to a
stop the girls exited together but Lily, as head girl, had to make sure nothing was left on the train, although magic was used to take all the students luggage up to the
school, a few items were always missed, generally a stray cat or toad. Lily decided to begin checking the carriages on her own. she re-entered the train and began the
check. she was almost at the front of the train when she realized she hadn't seen James at all. Typical Potter to forget his duties within 2 hrs of reading about them. she
decided to carry on, she had to set a good example if he wasn't going to. when she got to the last compartment she realized with a jolt that there was someone sitting
there, after double checking she wasn't seeing things, she realized it was James, what was he doing?
"James?" said Lily quietly "James?" she walked over to where he was sitting, he was asleep. She gently shook his shoulder to wake him up. he opened his eyes and
looked at her, it took him a while to realize who it was.
"Lily? what are you doing here?" he asked. he looked like her had been crying, she thought it had to be because he was tired. she could never image James, of all people,
actually crying.
"well, i was checking the train for lost items, you know, our first duty, and found you" she replied smirking "i didn't want you to miss another one of your duties"
"Lily, I'm sorry, i was just sat here...thinking, and must have drifted off. have you done the whole train on your own?" he asked, waking up a bit more.
"yeah, well, we should be getting back to the school, or we'll miss the sorting" she said turning away. for some reason she didn't feel she could look at him. she had never
noticed his eyes before, they were a deep hazel, almost black, they sort of drew you in, she couldn't really explain what she felt, but she knew she couldn't face him.
"yeah, we should." he replied.
They walked to the carriage that had been left for them.
"I want to apologize again for what I've done to you in the past." said James completely out of the blue, he opened the door of the carriage and let Lily enter.
"I've already told you, its fine, it doesn't matter." replied Lily, she couldn't think of a better reply.
"good...i just wanted to make sure you knew it was a genuine apology." he said
"i believed it was the first time." said Lily and she had. she had seen it in his eyes. her voice had dropped to a whisper by this point and wasn't too sure if he had herd her,
he didn't question it further, so she assumed he had. They sat in silence for the rest of the journey up to the castle, both of them gazing out the windows. Lily wasn't
usually the kind of person who liked sitting in silence with someone near to her, in fact it usually made her very nervous, you could never tell what the other was thinking.
but this was different, she felt at ease, relaxed even! sitting in this enclosed space with anyone would have made her edgy, but it was different this time.
when they arrived at the castle and entered the Great Hall, the sorting was just finishing. Lily and James crept around the edge of the hall to the Griffindor table and sat
down at the seats saved for them by their friends, they were at opposite ends of the table. they arrived just in time to hear Dumbledor's start of team notices
"hello, and welcome to another year at Hogwarts, i would like to welcome the new first years and hope you all will fit in well here. Before we beginning our Feast, I have a
few announcements to make, all of them just general reminders that the first years especially, and maybe some of our older students, should pay attention to." his eyes
flicked to the end of the table the Mauraders were sitting at. they were renowned for their rule breaking. "The forbidden forest in the grounds id out of bounds, hence its
name. Filch would like me to remind you there is a list up in his office, consisting of 400 items, which are all banned, anyone caught with them will receive a suitable
punishment. At the end of the feast could all the first years follow their house prefects to their common rooms and dorms, the prefects will tell you the passwords. and
finial, can i see the head girl and boy in the chamber just off the hall after the feast. thank you. Enjoy!" as soon as he had finished his speech, the golden plates filled with
food. The food was, as always, excellent. Lily ate very little and spent almost the whole meal in silence. Only answering questions when she was asked and even then she
used as few words a possible. James also spent the meal in the same way. when the meal was over, Lily ad James went over to the chamber. Dumbledor wasn't in the
chamber when they entered, but they only had to wait a few minutes before he entered.
"ah, James and Lily, yes, i wanted to have a quick word with you. This year I, and a few of the other teachers, have decided to hold a ball at Halloween, we feel the four
houses are growing apart and we would like to hold a ball to try and reunite them once more. I would like you two to organize the event, you may choose the theme,
decorations and of course, the music. thats all, if you have any queries please come and find me. If you can put past differences behind...i feel you will achieve a lot in this
next year." he smiled and winked then left James and Lily alone in the chamber.
"i suppose we should be getting to bed before we get caught by filch, image that, detention before we've been here for 5 hours, that would have to be a record, even for you
Potter." said Lily poking her tongue out at him
"very funny, Evans, and oh, so mature" he said, he smiled dangerously, the kind of smile Lily had learned not to trust
"I hope your not planning a prank to play on me already. you know, as head boy, those kind of things shouldn't even be crossing you mind." said Lily grinning back.
"hey! i wasn't thinking about pulling a prank on you, but i was thinking about..." he stopped mid sentence and grabbed Lily and started to tickle her, she was, as he has
discovered a year earlier, very ticklish. she was laughing so much she crumpled onto the floor.
"that was mean." she said when he finally stopped, she was still sitting on the floor, James offered his hand to help her up.
"no, i can stand up on my own thank you" she said. While standing she caught her foot on her robes and lost her balance, James reached out and put his arm around
Lily's waist to steady her. She slapped his hand away, hard.
"what you do that for?" he almost shouted "I was only trying to help!"
"well next time don't bother." She stormed out of the room leaving James staring at her back wondering what had happened. They seemed to be getting along so well, he had only tried to steady her! She must really hate me! he thought. He sighed and left the room to walk back to the Gryffindor common room.
Lily was angry. Not at James, but at her self. Why did I react like that? He was only trying to help! tears began rolling down her cheeks, she didn't hate him, she never had, in fact she had loved him from the moment they first met in Diagon Ally before their fist year at Hogwarts. She hated herself for the fact she loved him so told herself it wasn't true even though she knew this was a lie. The only way to make herself even remotely believe this wasn't true she acted like she couldn't stand being anywhere near him. At times she let him break through her defenses, as he had done today, but she always caught herself just in time...
She entered the common room and made her way up to her dorm, not paying any attention to what was going on around her. She didn't hear Liz calling her until she hit her on the arm with a scorching spell. She turned around.
"what did you do that for?" Lily asked her friend, feeling a little shocked from her sudden 'awakening'.
"To get you attention, dumb-ass!" Liz replied "whats wrong?" her voice lowered. Lily then notice the tears running down her cheeks and turned away.
"nothing, I'm going to bed" She walked up to the dorm and fell onto her bed, drawing the hangings around her. She was so exhausted she fell asleep in her clothes.