A/N: I don't own Harry Potter, his parents, his school or his friends.
"You're too hard on him, you know."
Lily looked up from the book she was reading and raised a questioning brow at her friend.
"Who?" She asked, the glint in her emerald eyes betraying her innocent expression.
Remus sat down next to her on the squashy sofa in the Gryffindor common room and looked at her sternly.
"You know very well who I'm talking about, Lily. James is mad about you and you're horrible to him. If I didn't know better I'd say you're a cold-hearted woman."
Slapping her book closed, she sighed heavily.
"Honestly Remus, the idea that James Potter is mad about me turns my stomach. He's a complete idiot. I've never met anyone as arrogant and attention seeking as he is." She thought for a moment. "Except possibly for Sirius Black."
The sandy haired boy laughed quietly and shook his head before becoming serious once more. "I know that James has always been a little…high spirited and Sirius does love to egg him on. He's settled down quite a lot though. He's been made Head Boy after all; Dumbledore wouldn't have done that unless he believed James had matured. He's even quit showing off with the snitch."
"He still antagonizes Severus Snape," Lily countered gruffly.
"Severus does his fair share of antagonizing James. It's not all one-sided. Tried to slip him the Draught of the Living Death last week."
Lily's brow furrowed, "Is that what he was brewing? Professor Slughorn said something to him about using the Potions classroom in the evening. Well, what about the ridiculous way he's always mussing his hair?"
Remus shot a knowing glance at his fire haired friend. "That you can blame entirely on yourself." Lily opened her mouth to protest but he cut her off. "We broke him of that habit over the summer. He only started again after he overheard you telling one of your girlfriends that when he came off the Quidditch pitch with his hair wild and his cheeks flushed from the wind you had to walk away before you gave in and kissed him. Ever since then he's been ruffling his hair and telling us to slap him whenever he knows you'll be around. Sirius, of course, is always glad to help him out."
Closing her mouth (it had dropped open during this revelation), Lily tried in vain to come up with another reason why James Potter would be an unacceptable boyfriend. Finally she smiled.
"What kind of idiot asks his friends to slap him to impress a girl?" she asked incredulously.
A voice came from behind the couch and startled her.
"The kind that's in love with you, Evans."
She hadn't seen him come into the common room. Fresh from Quidditch practice, James Potter stood there behind the couch, hair wild and cheeks flushed. She didn't walk away this time. Slowly she stood and walked to him. Reaching up, she ran her fingers through his untidy black hair and pulled his face down to hers. "Idiot," she whispered just before their lips met.