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James Potter stared wistfully at the canopy over his bed, pondering the dream he had just had.
A girl he had never spoken to in his entire life (Lily Evans, was it?) had come up to him BEGGING for an autograph. He didn't know whom Lily Evans WAS, but by the impression he got, she would never ask anyone for an autograph.
Well it was only a dream… he thought to himself and pushed it aside.
The clock next to his bed told him it was only 5:30 AM. Since he wouldn't have been able to sleep anymore anyway, he got up.
By 6:00, he was showered and ready, walking down to the common room.
Since it was mid-December, the sun had not yet risen and the windows were covered in snow.
There was a fire already burning, and a copper-haired figure sat curled with a book nearby it.
James was shocked to find Lily Evans down here this early, and even more shocked when she spoke to him.
"Potter, I know you're there," she nearly whispered. He took that as an invitation to sit down.
By the look on Lily's face, it obviously wasn't.
"Lily Evans?" he asked, just to make sure. Lily pursed her lips and nodded, looking so much like Professor McGonagall that James laughed.
"Something funny?" she snapped with an evil glare in his direction, which made him laugh even more.
"Chance meeting you here," he mumbled. "What is that you're reading?"
Lily never took her suspicious eyes off him while she spoke.
"Romeo and Juliet," she told him.
"Why in bloody hell are you reading that?" James spat.
"Because I admire Shakespeare and his way of thinking. He proved that when something is bound by fate to happen, there's no stopping it, and that lessons can sometimes only be taught by drastic measures, such as a horrible tragedy. Besides, Romeo and Juliet is a personal favorite of mine. Two people, so alike, yet so different, come together, barely knowing one another. They move so quickly that it ends in tears. It's almost screaming something that few people realize, and that's that passion needs friendship for a basis. Do you understand?"
James nodded his head, though he did not understand at all. "Anything to shut her up."
He hadn't meant to say it out loud. Yet, there sat Lily, indignant, upset, and most of all, appalled.
"And here I thought you were at least DECENT." With those words, she closed her book, stood up, and walked out of the common room.
James sat on the couch, watching as the fire's glow faded at the same time the sun rose.
With a shrug that SHOULD HAVE made his guilt go away, he walked back to his dormitory.
After all, why should Remus, Sirius, and Peter sleep when James couldn't?
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Lily knew she had overreacted. But she hated how popular Potter thought he could get away with everything. Well, she wouldn't become another of his pawns, one more ADORING fanatic.
She realized, a moment too late, that she was outside during blustering winter weather without the proper coat or shoes.
Well Lily was not weak. She could handle it.
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Remus shook his head shamefully at James.
"She's standing outside without a coat, James," he sighed. James looked out the window and, as always, Remus was right.
"What am I supposed to do about it?" he grumbled.
"APOLOGIZE?" all three other Marauders yelled, even good old Sirius.
James shook it off, his mind still enthralled with her magnificent green stare. He couldn't get those eyes to stop glaring at him, calculating him up, listening to his every thought.
"James?" Sirius asked, waving a frantic hand in his face. "You, all right?"
"Yeah, sorry, my mind was occupied with…with other useless garbage." Though Lily definitely isn't useless garbage.
James didn't bother explaining to his friends that his mind was caught up on a girl he had never noticed until that morning. He also didn't bother explaining where he was going when he suddenly stood up and walked out of their dormitory.
Honestly, even he didn't know where he was going. He trusted his feet to carry him wherever his unconscious said.
However, that trust was lost when he found himself standing next to Lily, as a single snowflake fell from the sky.
Lily in took a deep breath before hissing, "What do you want?"
"Firstly, to give you this." He took out his wand and conjured a blanket, which Lily grudgingly accepted. "Secondly, I wanted to apologize."
"I only accept heartfelt and pitiless apologies," she spat.
James groaned. "EVANS, come on! PLEASE forgive me? This is rare! I NEVER beg for forgiveness!"
Lily looked at him scornfully. "I like you less and less, Potter," she smirked, throwing the blanket at him and walking towards the door.
Now that was uncalled for, she told herself while trudging through the snow. He WAS kind enough to give me that blanket and come out in this temperature just to ask me to forgive him.
She sighed solemnly at the great oak doors.
I suppose it doesn't matter anymore anyway.
What she didn't know was that it DID matter, a lot.
Sirius had watched the entire scene from his window, so he was not surprised when James came into the dorm room seeing with fury.
"I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT WRETCHED BRAT!" he fumed. "I was being perfectly NICE!" With a large ARGH, he plopped back on his bed to mope.
Good thing it was a Saturday.