Disclaimer: I don't own the characters. Only the plot.
Beta by: ilovethedotgame
Chapter Nine: Project Fix My Personality
I like Evans' friends. Despite my first impression of them as violent people who hide it well, they're actually nice girls. I've gotten to know them quite well since we've been working together to try and get Evans to date me.
On the train ride home, Alice invited the guys and me to sit in the girls' compartment with them. Evans wasn't exactly hospitable, but that was to be expected. I tried to start up a conversation with her once or twice, but all I accomplished was learning that she doesn't have any big plans for the holiday.
When the witch with the food trolley came along I offered to buy something for Evans, but she refused.
Then Sirius had to butt in with some mumbo-jumbo about how Evans wasn't letting me be chivalrous, which she wasn't, and how being chivalrous is a Gryffindor trait, which it is. In spite of Sirius's chivalry speech, Evans declined my offer again.
Now, I am going to try and be a better man, but I figure that whole process starts over the summer and until I walk through the front doors of my house, I can still be a prat.
Besides, I think if I come back changed after holiday, it will make more of an impression than if I acted differently on the very last day. If I started changing now, Evans wouldn't take as much notice. But when I return, a different person, she will.
Now that I've gone completely off subject, we'll get back to the train ride and the food trolley incident.
To recap, I can still act like a prat. So I told the food trolley lady (or whatever is that you call her) that I would be paying for Evans since she was my girlfriend.
The lady gave me a warm smile and my change. Evans gave me a death glare and a look that clearly she would have dearly loved to deck me. It's looks like that really make me want to change.
Evans ignored me for the rest of the ride. I stared at her, stared out the window, and stared at her. It's hard not to, okay?
On a brighter note, I got to see Evans's parents again this afternoon. They were waiting at the station for her and they were talking to a familiar looking couple. I couldn't believe my good luck when I realized that her parents were talking to mine. And I didn't even plan it! It was great!
Evans didn't seem to think it was so great though. She actually stopped walking and stared. I stopped next to her and asked if I could take her trunk, but she didn't seem to hear me. So I took her trunk from her and headed towards where our parents were talking.
It was only after I pried her hands off the handle of her trunk and was walking away with it that she noticed that I was even there. She demanded that I give her the trunk back, but I refused. Carrying the lady's luggage is the chivalrous thing to do.
Evans told me to stop being chivalrous. So I replied that I couldn't; it was in my Gryffindor heart to be chivalrous. And hey, it is.
She responded by telling me that I didn't have a heart. I found myself leaning towards her and saying, "I do too have a heart. It tells me that you're the most wonderful girl alive and that I should do anything and everything possible to make you mine."
I'm not sure where that little speech came from; I was just about as shocked as Evans was, and she had her mouth hanging wide open.
After a moment, I shook myself out my reverie and introduced her to my parents, Hericus and Agalaia. Thank Merlin I got a normal name.
She then introduced me to her parents, (out of sheer politeness) whose names are Mark and Kathleen.
Our parents chit chatted for a bit, then Mrs. Evans said that they had to be going. I was a tad depressed at the thought of not seeing Evans for an entire summer when my mother spoke up and suggested that our families would have to get together sometime over the course of holiday. Mrs. Evans agreed and promised to invite us over for dinner!
I gave mum a big hug once Lily and her family were out of site. She's a wonderful mother. She may not realize that she's helping me to win Lily Evans's heart, but she is.
Do you know, I called Evans Lily as I was saying goodbye to her...I called her Lily...I wonder why I did that.
This summer marks the end of "James the prat" and the start of "James the nice guy whom Lily Evans would willingly date".
You'll always be a prat, Prongs.
Are you saying that you don't think that I'll ever have a shot with Evans?
Given Evans's current attitude toward you, I don't think she'll be drinking any form of alcohol with you anytime soon.
Be serious. No! I take it back! You know what I meant.
You can't take it back! However, I do think that you'll get your chance, but you'll always be a prat. You'll just be a different kind of prat.
There are different kinds of prats?
Sure.
Give me back my notebook.
Your journal, you mean?
Give it!
I've invited Remus over for a week or two to help me be more like him.
See, I've noticed something. Evans talks to Remus. Evans likes Remus as a friend. Therefore, I need to be more like him.
Maybe Lily talks to Remus because he's nice to her and doesn't stalk her...
Maybe you should stop writing in my notebook!
Being like me had nothing to do with it, James. In time you'll come to see what I mean. I want you to start finding the answers on your own.
Tomorrow, Remus and I start what I like to call, "Project Fix My Personality" or as Sirius likes to call it, "James's plan to make a complete prat out of himself while making Lily hate him even more."
What inspiring friends I have.
I'm going to record the progress of "Project Fix My Personality" in here for...posterity I guess.
Lesson #1
You should call her Lily. It is her name after all. Friends are on a first name basis with each other and you need to become Lily's friend before you can become her boyfriend. But we'll get to that later.
I guess calling her Evans is kind of rude...I'm usually on a last name basis with my enemies and I definitely don't want to be her enemy. Lily it is.
You know, I can't remember that last time I actually called her by her first name. It must be third year, at least. I wonder why I started calling her Evans in the first place. Lily is such a pretty name.
Lesson #2
You have to be her friend first.
Can't be just skip forward to the boyfriend stage?
No!
Why not?
Think about it.
Well...I suppose because I don't really know that much about her. If we jumped right into a romantic relationship, we'd have little to no idea what kind of person the other is. We'd just sit there trying to figure out information about the other.
You're quite insightful when you choose to be, James. You just need to choose to be so more often. I think it would make a lot of people's lives a heck of a lot easier.
I'm insightful? Who would have thought?
Not me.
Oh laugh.
I wrote a letter to Lily saying that I'm sorry for the lake incident and that I want to change. Remus looked it over for me and declared it safe to send. And it passed inspection on the first try too!
Dear Lily,
How has your summer been so far? Mine has been all right. Remus is here at my house for a couple of weeks. His parents are on vacation, so he's staying with my parents and me.
Listen...I'm really sorry about the whole lake incident...I didn't realize that it upset you so much. I'm going to make a conscious effort this year to work on that little quirk in my personality. I said at the train station that I'd do anything to get you to like me, and I meant it. If it means completely re-doing my whole personality, so be it.
Just thought I'd let you know what to expect.
Sincerely,
James Potter
There. I was nice, I didn't ask her out and I told her my plans. I doubt that even she can be mad at me for that letter.
An owl arrived from the Evans' household today, inviting my family and me to dinner this Friday night.
Now, I'm not usually one to be nervous. Normally I'm fairly calm and collected about big events such as this. (i.e. quidditch) But somehow the thought of going to Lily's house has me freaked out.
Lesson #3
When you ask Lily out, what kind of a response do you get?
She always says no. You know that. Why did you have to ask?
It's all part of the process. What else happens?
Well...she seems kind of annoyed and she usually gets a bit shirty with me.
Do you have any ideas about how to remedy this?
Let's see...I tried asking her out nicely and giving her stuff, so that's obviously not the answer. I suppose if I didn't ask her out she wouldn't get mad at me.
Very good. You're making excellent progress.
It probably helps that I'm doing this of my own free will. I really do want to be a better person, Remus. This isn't just about Lily, even though she's a major factor.
I know James. Just don't loose sight of you are.
What do you mean?
I mean, don't get so wrapped up in this changing your personality that you loose who you really are. You're basically a great guy. You're smart, funny and extremely loyal. You just don't know how to show that side of you to Lily. All she sees is the not so good part of your personality. So show her the good parts and hopefully they'll outweigh the bad.
Thanks, Remus. That's one of the nicest things any one has ever said to me. Oh Merlin, we're getting all sentimental aren't we?
Yeah, a little.
I think this session is over. Want to go play quidditch in the backyard?
You'll just beat me.
I'll go easy on you.
Show off.
Pretty much.
Fine.
Note to Self: Do not think about Friday night when trying to sleep. It's not a good idea. It took me over two hours to finally get to sleep.
I kept envisioning myself making a complete prat out of myself in front of Lily's parents. I know I've already met them and they like me, but they could always change their minds.
And what if Lily doesn't notice I've changed or that I'm at least trying to change? What if she doesn't care? What if our parents get into a disagreement over something and Mum decides not to ask them over for dinner?
What if her sister flirts with me and Lily thinks I fancy her sister? Or what if her sister hates me, and Lily values her sister's opinion and hates me even more than she already does?
What if we can't connect the Evans' house to the Floo Network and we have to apparate? But I can't appartate yet! What if we have to take Muggle transportation and get stuck in traffic and don't make it on time?
What if the Floo Network does work, but it malfunctions and we get sent to some old Muggle lady's house and my family coming out of her fireplace shocks her so much that she has a heart attack and dies?
I can't do this!
Breathe, James. It'll be okay. You just need to be tactful.
Lesson #4
Tactful is the adjective form of tact, which means "delicate perception of the right thing to say or do without offending".
Think about what you're going to say before you say it. Blurting out the first thing that comes to mind is never a good idea, especially with you, since the first thing that comes to your mind is usually not the most tactful.
Way to boost my self esteem, Remus.
I'm just trying to be helpful.
Oh, fine.
Do not, I repeat, DO NOT under any circumstances ask her out. If you do, you'll be back to square one. And that's considering you even make it to square two. Be polite, friendly and don't bring up past experiences that went awry.
Got it. It sounds like a good plan and I will make every attempt to stick to it.
Three days left. I was fine until today, then I got all nervous again.
Remus went home today so I can't ask him what to do. Maybe I could owl him...Oh wait, he told me not to. He said he wanted some peace and quiet for a few days. Oh bugger.
What should I wear? Do I wear wizarding apparel or Muggle clothes? I own Muggle clothes, so that's not a problem, but would they find that offensive and think that I was trying to dress like them? Or would they find wizarding robes to be offensive to their Muggle life style?
This is just great, a guy worrying about his clothes.
I've decided to wear robes since that's what my parents are wearing. We might as well all dress differently together. Then we're not really dressed differently, just not the same as the Evans.
I never thought I'd see the see the day when I cared about what I was wearing for a bloody girl.
A letter arrived for my mother from Lily this afternoon at lunch. Mum let me read it, but it was just a letter asking when we we're going arrive tomorrow.
However, I did learn some information from the letter. Lily referred to her owl, and said that its name is Galadriel. It's not much, but every bit helps.
We're leaving for Lily's in ten minutes and my knees are shaking. Not a good sign. I hope my nervousness doesn't make a complete idiot out of me. Well, Lily already thinks I'm an idiot, so her dislike of me can't get much worse. At least...I don't think it can...
I hope she notices that I've changed. Granted, I haven't changed that much, but still I have made some improvement according to Remus.
Here goes.
Well, it could have been worse. Before I tell what happened, it must be noted that I did not ask Lily out once although I did come dangerously close to the subject once, but only once. Remus should be proud. All right, to the story.
My parents and I arrived at the Evans household at six o'clock just like my mother said we would. The Evans live in a house my mother described as "quaint". It's a one and a half story cottage looking home with navy blue shutters and flower boxes in the kitchen windows.
Lily seemed amused by our wizarding robes and actually smiled. I know that sounds rather bizarre, but I've hardly ever seen her smile and certainly not in my direction. I smiled back in an attempt to be friendly.
Mrs. Evans insisted that Lily give me a tour of their home, so Lily led me around, showing me her habitat. I paid close attention, trying to pick up clues to the kind of person she is.
I must say that Lily was looking exceptionally nice tonight in a below the knee length, black skirt and a green shirt that brought out her eyes. When I told her that she looked pretty, and she asked if Remus had told me to say that.
Now, how would she know that Remus is helping me? Do you suppose that she has a spy network through our friends just like I do? Must be on the lookout.
Anyway, I was a little miffed that she thought I would have Remus tell me what to say. I may be a tad thick when it comes to women, but I'm not completely stupid. I can think for myself.
I think that you can tell a lot about a person from where they live and what kinds of things they have in their room, so I took this opportunity to pick up new facts about Lily.
Lily's room is a sunny-yellow color, which I translate into happiness and cheerfulness. She has a mirror over her dresser and the mirror has pictures of her friends tucked in the sides. On her writing desk there are more pictures of friends and what I assume to be her family, which translates into a love of those close to her.
A large wooden bookshelf stands in one of the corners and all the shelves except for the very bottom one are filled. Obviously this means that Lily enjoys reading, but if the bay window seat with the book lying in it means anything it also indicates that she likes to read in peace and let her mind be taken far away.
On a table in another corner sat something I had never seen before. It had a wooden base and a black semi-transparent lid covering it. Next to it was a stack of very thin, cardboard boxes with circular, shiny black things inside.
The thing on the table turned out to be a reecode...no, that's not right...recoud...recod...record! It's a record player; the black discs are records. It's kind of like a radio. All the music is on the records, you can start and stop it at will and there are no commercials.
Lily was nice and showed me how the record player worked. She picked up a random record and carefully placed it on what she called the turntable. She then placed the needle in a grove in the record's surface and pushed a button.
Almost instantly, I knew I loved the song. Lily hadn't really paid close attention to the song she had picked out and I'm glad she didn't. The song was called, "I'll Get You", by a Muggle band called The Beatles.
I don't remember the whole song, but the beginning goes something like this:
"Imagine I'm in love with you,
It's easy, 'cause I know,
I've imagined I'm in love with you many, many, many times before. It's not like me to pretend,
but I'll get you, I'll get you in the end, oh yeah."
That should be my theme song! I love it! It's perfect for me! It's exactly how I feel about the relationship Lily and I have.
She may not like me much, but eventually she will. Now, I'm not trying to be cocky or boast about how Lily will fall at my feet. She won't fall at my feet because she's not that kind of girl and I don't want her to anyway. I just feel that someday she'll see me differently.
I sure hope that someday comes sooner than later. I'll take later though. Better late than never.
Back to the story, I decided to have some fun and sing along to Lily on bended knee, hands on my heart in a sort of "lovesick prat serenading fair lady" pose. My singing amused her rather than annoyed her, so that's a good sign.
Lily let me look through the rest of her records and we listened to some other songs. I found that I really like the Beatles. I made her listen to "I'll Get You" again and that time I danced with her.
She seemed very surprised that I can dance. But I can. I can waltz, tango, foxtrot, swing; you name it, my parents made me learn it. I never thought that knowing how to dance would be of any use whatsoever, but I guess I was wrong.
Things were going swimmingly until her sister, Petunia, showed up in the doorway.
I have to say, her sister isn't a very pleasant person. She doesn't seem to like Lily very much, which is reason enough for me not to like Petunia. Not to be critical or mean, but I don't like her name either. Lily is much prettier name.
Anyway, Petunia made a comment questioning Lily's dislike of me and got Lily rather flustered. ("Don't like him, huh? Can't stand him?")
What a snob. What kind of sibling treats her sister like that? If she had been joking it would have been one thing, but she wasn't, she was just being mean.
I covered for Lily by telling Petunia that Lily did hate me and that was okay, I'd get her in the end. (Notice the allusion to the song)
Lily looked stunned. Her mouth was hanging open and she rather resembled a goldfish. Mind you, a very pretty goldfish.
We were rescued when Mrs. Evans called us down to supper. Mrs. Evans wanted to know what took so long, so Lily told her about the record ordeal, minus the part where we danced.
Petunia opened her mouth, undoubtedly to make some snide remark, but she shut it again rather quickly with a wince. Since Lily was sitting across from her, I can safely assume that she kicked Petunia in the shins. Sirius and I do it often enough to one another; I can tell the signs.
Mr. and Mrs. Evans must have forgiven me for the note at Easter, because Mrs. Evans made sure that Lily and I sat on the two-person swing. I like Mrs. Evans. She cooks well and she wants Lily and me to be together. Lovely woman.
Trying to be a gracious guest, I told Lily that I'd had a nice time at her house. That approach didn't yield much response, so I informed her of my decision to buy a record player. Only, I pronounced it ree-cod. She corrected my mistake, but said little else. We sat there in an uncomfortable silence while everybody else carried on conversation. Well, Petunia kept to herself, but our parents talked.
I had something to ask Lily, but I sat there debating whether to ask it or not. And no, it was not about asking her out. I had strict restrictions not to. After several moments of opening my mouth and then snapping it shut again, I finally just spit it out. I asked her why she hates me.
Dumb, I know, but I needed to hear it from her. Sirius and Remus and all of her friends have told me numerous numbers of times, but she's never said it herself. I wanted to hear it from her own lips.
And do you know what? Lily doesn't hate me. She just doesn't like me very much. (Her words!)
Well, that's good news at least. Not liking me is certainly better than hating me. Not liking is significantly better than hating. It's much closer to like than it is to hate.
In any case, I decided to ask her why she doesn't like me very much.
Lily: "Hasn't Remus filled you in on that?"
Again with the Remus thing...
Me: "I want to hear it from you."
While I wanted her to answer truthfully, I wasn't sure she actually would. This isn't to say that I thought Lily would lie to me, I just thought she'd try and evade the question.
But she didn't. She answered me and she doesn't like me because I bully people like Snape.
Being the stupid prat that I am, I threw everything that Remus told me right out the bloody window. I...asked her if she'd ever go out with me. And as if that wasn't idiotic enough, when she said no, I told she was going to go out with me someday.
Stupid, stupid, stupid. I should be shot.
Lily didn't take kindly to being told that she was going to date me, (I wonder why?) and became angry with me. I had been doing so well, too. Guess all good things come to an end. More like my common sense comes to an end.
We exchanged some words and she ended it by telling me to bugger off. And for once in my life, I listened to her, shut up, and left her alone. At least I did something right.
After carefully assessing your visit to Lily's, I've come to a conclusion.
You're improving, James. You really are. Don't be discouraged mate. You're just beginning this "new James" thing. Time cures all.
You of all people should know that time does not cure all.
Well, what I was trying to say is that given time, you'll get better at knowing what to say, (or what not to say,) and Lily will start to realize you're growing up.
I'm changing, becoming a new person.
That's what I said. Growing up.
I was so wound up in the events of the other day I forgot to mention that my mother invited the Evans over for tea on Friday afternoon.
I just about had a nervous break down going to Lily's house and now I have to go through the process again, except this time she's coming here. I have to clean!
Oh Merlin! Lily at my house! Sitting on my furniture, eating off my dishes, touching my stuff...
Clean? Lily is coming to your house and all you can think about is cleaning? I thought I'd raised you better Prongs.
I have a brother! Well, not really, but it will be like having one.
Sirius got into an argument with his family and ran away for good. The Black's are an old wizarding family and very prideful of being what some like to refer to as "pure-blood".
Lately, there's been news of a wizard named Voldemort who's rising to power. He's said to be a big supporter of the purity of blood. All of the Blacks, except Sirius, are in favor of the pure-blood concept and this guy.
So Sirius left. It's not just this Voldemort character that sent Sirius over the edge though. It's a lifetime's worth of little disagreements. This was just the last straw for all of them.
My parents have said that Sirius can live with us until he's of age or finished school, whichever he prefers. So now I'll have Sirius living down the hall from me all day every day. The one place I had a little privacy...gone.
In all seriousness, (no pun intended) I am glad that Sirius came here. He truly is like a brother to me. Still, for all he's like my brother, I don't trust him around my notebook.
Time for a new password.
I'M QUIDDITCH CAPTAIN!!!!!!!
My Hogwarts letter came today and with it was a letter from McGonagall saying that she's naming me quidditch captain! This is what I've been waiting for since my first year! And I wasn't even on the team then!
Remus went home this afternoon, because his mum is sick. She came down with pneumonia the other day and Remus thought it would be better if he were there to help his dad with things at home.
I have the sneaking suspicion that he just doesn't want to be here when Lily and her family come.
Oh my gosh! I was so excited about being named captain, completely forgot about them coming! I only have three days to clean my room!
Why wouldn't Remus want to be here when Lily comes? I thought he liked her.
Remus likes Lily? Since when? Are you sure?
No!
Why aren't you sure? You said he did!
Calm down, Prongs. I mean that he likes her as a friend.
Oh. That's all?
Yes.
Why did you say he liked her?
The way you said that you thought he was going home so he wouldn't be here when Lily comes made it sound as though he were avoiding Lily.
Oh. Just say so next time.
Well, pardon. Maybe you need to be more specific.
This is ending right now.
What's ending?
This stupid notebook conversation. It's pointless. Especially since we're sitting right next across from each other and saying what we're writing out loud.
You have to admit it's rather funny.
No, it's not. And it's ending now.
James has gone mad. I'll swear it in front of the Minister of Magic myself.
He's cleaning his room. Again. He just cleaned it yesterday!
And you know what the really sad part is? His room wasn't even messy to begin with. The House elves keep it so clean you could eat off the floor.
But does he notice this? Nooo! His room has to be spick and span for Lily.
It's not like she's going to spend that much time -
Oh Merlin. The subject of conversation just walked in and asked if I knew the dusting spell. That's sad, that is.
Anyway, as I was saying, it's not as though she's going to be spending that much time in there. Unless James has plans I don't know about. But James doesn't have plans I don't know about because he can't keep secrets from me. It's a proven fact and I'm writing in example A.
I can too keep secrets from you...I just pretend to let you know all of my secrets.
And my room was too messy! There were two shirts, five quills, eight books and exactly fifty-three socks underneath my bed.
So there.
James, you have no secrets from me. I know them all.
I know about the time that you ate an entire acid pop and had to have your tongue and insides of your mouth re-grown.
I know about the time back in first year that you sent Katherine Devon an anonymous love letter.
See? I know plenty of "secrets" about you.
Those aren't secrets!
Yes they are!
They aren't secrets if you, Remus and Peter know about them!
But it's a secret among us four!
Give me back my notebook.
Lily will be here in less than an hour!
I've decided to think before I speak so I won't say stuff I'll regret. For once, I feel confident that tonight will go well.
Wow. I'm in so much trouble it's not even funny. Oh well, it was for a good cause.
Let's just say a few pepper imps found their way into Petunia's teacup. I don't know how it could have happened. It's not like I was the one who carried the tea trays or anything. No, of course not.
My father yelled at me until he was hoarse, but it was well worth it. She deserved it. I think my new happy thought for a Patronus Charm is the look on Petunia's face when she realized her mouth was smoking. Classic.
Everything else went smoothly. Lily seemed a bit surprised by my room. I'm not sure why she would be. Sure, it's kind of big, and there are an insane number of quidditch posters on the walls, and I have lots of random quidditch paraphernalia, but other than that, it's just like any other sixteen-year-old wizard's bedroom.
Oh... I forgot that Lily wouldn't have seen many wizarding homes. She fits into the wizarding world so well I tend to forget that she's Muggleborn.
The stupid prat who calls himself my best friend left my idea notebook out on my writing desk in plain view of the whole world. True, it was closed, but it still drew Lily's attention. She didn't comment on it, but I could see the questioning look on her face.
I didn't ask her out once this visit and we didn't fight at all. I loved it. If things could be like that between us more often I feel certain that we could be friends and even maybe eventually more. But for now, I'd be content with friends.
Cherry: I do like getting more personal reviews from people. It is rather annoying to see "Update!" is the only thing they bothered to write. I guess I should be grateful that they bothered at all, but it still irks me.
I'm sorry you didn't understand the engraving thing. I apologize. Basically, what the idea was, is that James enchanted all the desks to have the engraving on them and when anyone touched them, you could hear Lily's voice saying the whole "L.E. J.P." thing. Since this is a counterpart to Lily's point of view, when I originally wrote many of pranks that James pulls on Lily, I didn't plan out how he managed it. So now the second time around, I have to think of ways for things to happen, and sometimes, I completely run out of ideas. Sorry. :-(
PammaPotter: This is a counterpart story. It clearly says so in my summary, at the beginning of Chapter One and in a few other chapters. I've already written this story from Lily's point of view. It's called "In This Journal". This story is the counterpart to that one. And no, I'm sorry, I won't be writing this again from a third person point of view. As much as I love this story, twice is enough. I hope this chapter was long enough for you!
Loves to Read: We only have about 1,050 students, and we're the second smallest school in our area! I can't even imagine having only 60 people in my whole class!
Queen Of Day Dreams: Like father, like son. Everyone always portrays James as so suave and dashing, so I made him mess up. :-) I honestly have no clue when James is going to admit that it's a journal. I only know that he will.
Spikora: James is an attention seeker isn't he? How ironic that he thinks (or he did) that getting her attention was the way to go, when it was the exact opposite all the time.
dragonzflame: Just thought I'd let you know that I haven't forgotten about your idea that I promised to use. I'm still planning on using it and we'll see it in a couple of chapters or so.
Some12: Eh...sorry about the grammar mistakes. It seems like no matter how many times I look it over, I still miss something and then realize it the moment after I update.
bLuECoW219: Thanks for reading my stories and please keep reading this one!
DOJ: Thanks! I liked the part about James's mind going blank too. You're right, so many authors make James out to be this perfect guy who always knows what to do or say, but nobody is always like that. I have lots of fun making James human.
tinkerbelldetention101: It's perfectly okay to be proud of James, I am too!
emps: Oh, thanks! No, I won't be using that password idea, but it's given me an idea for one...
ChaosMage28: You know, I realize that you want me to update, but reviewing about it five times isn't going to make it happen any faster. I would like to be able to update more, but I'm busy and my schoolwork comes first, followed by my clarinet and babysitting two nights a week after school. That's just the way it is. And I slightly resent being refereed to as an evil person.
bluestar: That's okay that you haven't reviewed. I know you're out there reading! James is defiantly going to keep pranking Snape, although he will lay off a little.
James is going to keep on writing after Lily reads it. I don't know how far it will go, obviously at least until they start dating, but after that, I'm open to suggestions or whatever my mind comes up with, which is not a whole lot right now.
I understand what you were saying about James still writing in it and Lily not knowing about it...um...I'd have to say, I never even thought about if he still wrote in it or not when I was writing my other story. I suppose though, that he still did. He probably kept it more to his dorm, but even if she saw it occasionally, she wouldn't question it since she knew what it was.
You're right; James is starting to see Lily as more of a person than just someone up on an unreachable pedestal. He's not quite where he needs to be, but we all know that's coming!
Cleopatra Lunare: I could never be a comedian. I'm much more funny on paper than in person. I'm not much for thinking of things at the drop of a hat, so I enjoy being able to think out responses. Thanks for reading!
MuGgLeNeT27: Yeah, you do sound like a telemarketer, but that's okay. :-) Thanks for inviting to me to be staff member, but I'm going to have to decline. I spend way too much time on the computer as it is and I don't think I have the time to devout to something like this.
But if you want to put my story on your list of favorite stories, go right ahead. Thanks for asking my permission first, I greatly appreciate that and I feel very honored to have even been asked in the first place.
RabidEnyaFan: I don't have a Malfoy fic...maybe you're thinking of "Midnight Jealousy" and the guy under the hood...? And if that is what you're thinking of, the guy under the hood isn't Malfoy.
gabriella: I just want to say thank you for such an inspiring review! At the time I received it, I was really feeling like I didn't want to be writing this anymore and I couldn't motivate myself to work on this. But your review helped me to get busy on this chapter and now here it is!
Lady Farevay: I'm glad you like my portrayal of James! I like James's perspective too. It never fails to be highly interesting. Thanks for reviewing this story and all of my others. Please keep reading!
My thanks to:
J.E.A.R.K.Potter
JKRobsessed
LilliannaRose
little pink sock
Laughing Dragoness
i-h8-sclub
the-insufferable-know-it-all
Ildreen Love
The Great Charlotte
little-angel12345200
chippagirl
MPPSexxySiriusJamesRemus
Kita