Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

This story takes place shortly after my other one-shot, "Something More"
I advise you to check it out before checking this one out!

Something Else
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Her jeans are tight, but not too tight.

She's wearing a V-neck sweater, one that dips down, not showing anything but driving his crazy nonetheless.

Her eyes are sparkling – but then, when aren't they? Bright, gorgeous green, so deep that James thinks he could get lost in them if she would only give him the chance.

She smiles and it's different this time. Maybe because it's directed at him or because it's random and he hasn't really done anything to make her smile.

She smells of lilies, something he finds both funny and intoxicating at the same time.

And her hair is loose, flowing, cascading down her back. It's the most brilliant shade of red he's ever seen and it's blowing in the wind, getting in her face. He wonders if she knows that's the way he likes it best. Messy.

Imperfect.

It's odd to use that word in connection with her – to him, at least. She is a lot of things: smart, funny, sassy, brave, confident, kind, caring, loving, outgoing, pretty, sexy … perfect.

She has always been perfect in his eyes. Her only flaw was that she wouldn't give him the time of day. And now, she's actually talking to him. She's been at Hogsmeade with him all day, walking around in public.

But despite this, he knows that it isn't possible for Lily Evans to be perfect. She is stubborn and a bit of a control freak. She takes things too seriously sometimes. Other times, she is too easy-going … especially when it comes to Snape and Malfoy calling her derogatory names. She just shrugs it off as if nothing happened. Meanwhile, James wants to kill them. How can she be so calm and collected? Merlin, she's intimidating.

And she might be mental, because she's laughing and smiling at him like she hasn't hated his guts for years. She actually seems like she's having a somewhat good time with him today.

She sighs and brushes her hair out of her face for the umpteenth time.

'You know, it's useless for you to keep doing that,' he says. As soon as the words are out of his mouth, he regrets them. Despite the fact that he's spent most of the day with her, he still doesn't know how she will react to certain things. He hopes she won't go nutters and ditch him for her friends, the ones who will no doubt fill her head with awful things about him.

Sometimes, James wonders if Lily hates – no, hated – him because of her friends. At first, they were on his side. They were the voices that always said, 'Merlin, Lily, just go out with him already.' But recently, they've started saying, 'Leave her alone, James, she doesn't like you!'

He doesn't understand why. And he still doesn't understand what made Lily agree to to Hogsmeade with him, or why she stopped hating him. Or what made her hate him in the first place. Merlin, girls are confusing.

'I know,' she agrees. 'But the wind is messing up my hair and it looks awful.'

He resists the urge to tell her that she looks bloody brilliant no matter what the wind is doing to her hair. Instead, he shakes his head and brushes the hair off her face for her the next time the wind blows. She smiles in appreciation and starts walking again.

'Come on,' she says, beckoning for him to follow her. The crowd is thick, but because her hair makes her stand out – has always made her stand out – he doesn't loose sight of her. He follows her obediently and they weave in and out of people, passing by students and teachers alike.

She seems oblivious to the stares they are receiving. Not just from students, but from the teachers, as well. When Slughorn passes, he smiles toward Lily and then glares at James, almost daring him to try something with his favourite student. McGonagall stops and does a double-take. Fellow Gryffindors squeal and cheer, Slytherins scowl, Ravenclaws whisper excitedly and Hufflepuffs point shamelessly.

Perhaps she doesn't notice, or perhaps she simply doesn't care. Perhaps she's used to being stared at. After all, she is the most beautiful girl at Hogwarts. James bets she's the most beautiful girl in London, in all of England … in the world, even. And although he is the most persistent, he certainly isn't the only bloke after her for a date.

They end up in the Three Broomsticks. It's hardly a romantic place, but Lily led the way and James figures that maybe she doesn't want to go to a more intimate setting with him. He wonders if she's only here with him in an attempt to get him off her back about dating him.

But then why would she kiss him?

She kissed him after he asked her out. It wasn't a peck on the cheek, either. It was a real kiss, with tongues and everything. And it left him with a silly grin on his face and an ache in his trousers.

He wonders if he'll get a kiss at the end of this date and silently vows that he will show her the time of her life, because he doesn't think he'll be able to handle it if she doesn't agree to go out with him again.

And Merlin, he wants to kiss her right now. But he knows that if he does, he will most likely end up with a handprint on his cheek. He asked her out four days ago, and everyday since then she has let him walk her down to breakfast or smiles at him in class, but doesn't kiss him or touch him at all. He thinks their kiss was a momentary lapse in her sanity, actually.

But even if she doesn't end up wanting to be romantically involved with him, James wouldn't mind being her friend. She's one of the most interesting people he has ever met. She has started doing her homework in the Head's common room, as opposed to in her room. In fact, she has been coming out of her room far more often lately. James is glad because he really likes spending time with her, even platonically. She is smart and witty and flirty, as of late. Or perhaps she has always been flirty with him. His brain has a tendency of turning to mush around Lily. Maybe he has just never noticed before.

Sirius, Remus and Peter are in the Three Broomsticks, sitting at a table in the far corner. James holds his breath when he sees them, remembering the way they reacted when he told them about his date with Lily. Truth be told, James hadn't even been sure they believed him when he told them that Lily agreed to go out with him. Sirius had even seen the whole thing, but it didn't seem to convince Remus and Peter at all.

But there he is, ordering two Butterbeers and sitting down at a table with Lily. He knows that his friends must realize he has been telling the truth. Sirius is beaming, while Remus and Peter are staring at him, slack-jawed. James fights to contain his grin.

The barmaid is a young woman, one who normally flirts tactlessly with James whenever he comes in with his fellow Marauders. She keeps giving him big, flashy smiles, but unlike most Hogsmeade visits, he doesn't return them. When she approaches to ask if there is anything she can help them with (something she doesn't normally do for regular customers), Lily watches the woman with raised eyebrows and a slightly amused expression.

'You're quite popular here, it seems,' she says lightly when the barmaid leaves.

'Yeah, well …' he says, looking round the room and noticing that all the blokes in it are staring at Lily. 'So are you.'

Lily looks around and her cheeks colour slightly, making her look both sexy and adorable. She spots his friends in the corner, apparently for the first time, and asks if he wants to go say hello.

'Nah,' he shrugs. 'You don't like them very much.'

Lily frowns but doesn't deny it. 'Maybe on the way out, then,' she suggests and James nods. They sip their drinks in silence for a few minutes. James watches Lily and wonders if she realizes how beautiful she is. She looks up and meets his gaze, smiling slightly. 'What is it?' she asks.

'Nothing,' he says quickly. 'You look nice … better than nice.' It's the understatement of the century, he knows. But he's trying not to come on too strong. He hopes she knows that he's being completely sincere.

She smoothes down her hair a bit and thanks him.

He runs a hand through his own hair and she laughs softly.

'What?'

'Why do you always do that?' she asks.

He looks down at his Butterbeer and shrugs. 'Same reason I do anything,' he tells her. 'To impress you.'

She laughs again, but this time it's different. And when he looks back up at her, he sees that her eyes are different.

'The Quidditch season starts soon,' she says conversationally. 'I hear you've been made captain?'

'Yeah,' he nods. 'Our first match is in two weeks. We play Slytherin.'

'You're going to kick their arses, I expect?'

'Naturally,' he says smoothly.

Snivellus walks into the Three Broomsticks and James tenses immediately. Shite! His friends are in the corner. Sirius is going to do something stupid, isn't he? Lily looks over her shoulder and frowns when she spots the greasy git.

He spots James and his hand flies into his robes. James knows that Snape is reaching for his wand, and if he wasn't with Lily, he would probably be laughing at the panicked look on Snape's face.

But he is with Lily. And he can't do anything, because he likes Lily more than he loathes Snivellus.

Although Snape would deserve it. James still can't believe that he was bested by Snivellus. It was worth it, though, because it landed him Lily.

'Ah, Mudblood and Potter, how lovely,' Snivelly spats before turning around and walking out like the coward that he is. James feels his fists clench and he starts to push his chair out.

'James,' Lily says.

He sighs and pulls his chair back in, unsurprised to see Sirius walking past him, toward the door.

'Padfoot,' he calls.

Sirius stops in his tracks and sighs but turns around and goes back to his table. 'Already got him trained, Evans?' he says, though not unkindly.

To his surprise, Lily laughs and says, 'I like to keep my men in line, Black.' Sirius laughs appreciatively and raises his bottle of Butterbeer, taking a long swig.

When they finish their Butterbeers, they wave goodbye to the Marauders and get up. James boldly grabs her hand and leads her out of the Three Broomsticks. He sees Sirius' cousin, Narcissa, walking around with that oaf, Lucius Malfoy. Forgetting that he is with Lily, he makes an inappropriate joke about the couple. She laughs loudly and they look over, giving Lily and James dirty looks. Lily blushes and James laughs, even though he hears Malfoy call Lily a Mudblood

'It's time to go back to the castle,' Lily says, pointing at his watch.

This catches James off guard. It doesn't seem like they've been together that long. Time seems to stop around Lily – as far as James is concerned – but apparently, it only speeds up. He can hardly remember anything that they did today, because it is all just one big, wonderful blur. He wishes they had more time. They're Head Boy and Girl … what would happen if they decide to stay longer than everyone else? James sighs because he knows that Lily would never agree to stay behind.

The only consolation is that Lily actually sounds disappointed.

'Well then,' he says, conjuring up all of his courage. 'I'd say it's time you tell me what made you come out with me today.'

Her laugh is music to his ears. 'I suppose,' she says slowly, 'that my reason for never accepting your invitations has always been that you were a complete git.' James doesn't know if he should laugh or not. 'But this year … you're different. Or maybe you aren't, and I'm just not as judgmental as I usually am. Because you don't seem like such a git anymore.'

'Oh,' he says. 'That's good, right?'

She nods. 'And I guess I might … sort of …'

He knows what she means, and a part of him wants to draw it out, to hear her say the words. But another part of him opts to give her an easy way out. 'I've stopped making you sick, then?' he asks lightly.

She looks down at her feet. 'Sorry,' she says quietly. 'I … I always told you off for being dreadful to people and I was just as horrible to you. I judged you and I shouldn't have.'

James likes that she is apologetic, although he doesn't understand why. Anything she ever did or said to him, he had always deserved. Perhaps it is the fact that she was constantly rejecting him that has made him so obsessed with her.

Suddenly, it's raining. Lily gasps and looks up, blinking against the water droplets hitting her face. The rain increases, falling quickly to earth, pounding on the ground around them. James runs a hand through his hair, which is quickly becoming soaked, and is about to suggest that they head back to the castle when he hears Lily exclaim that she loves the rain.

Students and teachers are rushing by them now, on their way back to the castle, but James doesn't move. Lily is beaming at him, letting go of his hand so she can spin around. Her hair is wet, turning a darker shade of red than usual. Her sweater is starting to cling to her but James can't seem to tear his eyes away from her face. She's laughing and staring at him as if he's crazy, because he isn't twirling around in the rain like a patient in St. Mungo's crazy ward.

She stops spinning and grabs his hand again, telling him that when she and her sister were little, they used to play in the rain until their mother forced them inside.

He tries to imagine Lily as a little girl, free and uninhibited, doing little girl things like playing with other Muggle children and their toys.

Lily pulls out her wand and points it at his face, muttering a strange spell he's never heard before. Suddenly, there are no water droplets on his glasses, and he can see clearly again.

Hogsmeade is deserted now, except for the two of them, and it seems fitting.

James likes to think that this is the turning point in his relationship with Lily. He likes to think that maybe the rain is going to wash away their past and they will be able to start fresh, with a clean slate.

He smiles at the thought and then does the silliest thing of all: he gives into her pull and doesn't protest when she starts spinning, taking him along with her.

But then he stops spinning and reminds her that they really should be getting back to the castle, and that they'll catch their deaths if they don't get out of the rain soon. Perhaps that is the silliest thing of all.

When they finally return to the castle, they are dripping wet and shivering slightly. James performs a Drying Charm on their clothes and hair, then a Heating Charm on Lily.

'I'm supposed to meet Sirius soon,' he says, 'but can I walk you back to our rooms first?' She nods shyly, as if embarrassed of the way she reacted to the rain. James is pleased by the way she opened up, the way she exposed a bit of herself to him and told him about her childhood. He feels like he should do something to somehow return the favour, though he cannot think of anything from his childhood that's worth mentioning.

'I haven't done that in a while,' she sighs. 'Played in the rain,' she explains when he gives her a confused look.

'Why?' he inquires. 'Are you too old for it?'

She shakes her head and frowns slightly. 'I've got nobody to do it with,' she says. 'My sister … well, she and I aren't on the best of terms. We haven't been for years.'

'Really?'

'She wants nothing to do with me,' Lily says evenly, as if this information doesn't bother her in the least.

He doesn't see how anyone could not want anything to do with Lily. Hell, she told him time and time again that she loathed him and he still chased after her for years.

'She sounds like a right idiot,' James says wisely.

Lily giggles. 'She sort of is.'

They walk up a flight of stairs and down a corridor. As they draw nearer to the Head Girl's dorm, there is a sound of footsteps behind them.

'Lil! We've been looking all over for you! Where were you today?' James hears one of Lily's friends exclaim. He and Lily spin around to see four girls, all Gryffindor, coming over to them. 'Oh,' the girl (Lily's best friend, Portia) says when she catches sight of James. 'Been pestering her again, have you?'

'He's not pestering me,' Lily says in a small voice.

Oh. James knows what's going on.

Lily didn't tell her friends that she was going to Hogsmeade with him. He wonders if she's embarrassed of him, or if it merely slipped her mind. Perhaps she just didn't feel like putting up with her friends, ones who James is currently finding to be very annoying.

Portia turns and glares at James. 'You know, Potter,' she says, putting her hands on her hips, 'it's illegal to put someone under the Imperius Curse.'

'I'm not under the Imperius Curse!' Lily protests, her eyes wide and sparkling with anger.

'Did you ever stop to think that maybe she came on her own free will?' asks James. He fleetingly wonders if Lily will mind if he snaps at her friends.

But then the girl says, 'And why in the world would she do that?' and he no longer cares. James Potter isn't going to take any flack from anyone, especially in front of the girl he's spent the past four years trying to impress.

The three girls behind her murmur in agreement and Lily stares at them as if she's never seen them before.

'For your information,' she says in a slightly outraged tone that makes James wonder if she likes him enough to agree to another date, 'James asked me to come with him four days ago and I said yes. And whether you believe it or not, I'm having a lovely time.' She grabs his hand. 'Now, if you don't mind, we have a date to finish.'

James is grinning now, feeling dazed as she walks away from her friends, her hand bringing him with her.

'I'm sorry about them,' Lily apologizes as they get approach their Head Boy and Girl dorm. 'But they aren't normally that awful. It's just … you know, you and I aren't …'

James laughs. 'I get it,' he says. 'They're being protective. I know that your friends aren't awful.' (He only knows this because he is sure that she would never be friends with awful people.) Then he adds, jokingly: 'The only bad person you surround yourself with is me.'

She gives a long, contemplative hum. 'I don't know,' she says thoughtfully. 'I'm beginning to think you aren't nearly as awful as I thought. You're … nice.'

'Why, Lily Evans, are you saying what I think you're saying?'

She grins up at him and shrugs. 'What do you think I'm saying?'

Seeing his chance, James leans down and brings his face close to hers, so all he can see is the green of her eyes and all he can smell is lilies. 'I think you're saying that you're head over heels in love with me,' he says, 'and now you're standing here waitingfor me to ask you on a second date.'

Lily laughs softly and smiles playfully at him. 'I don't know about that first part,' she says, leaning in a bit closer, 'but I'm certainly not standing here waiting for my friends to catch up to us.'

He goes to laugh but it catches in his throat when he processes what she said and he nearly chokes. He stares at her for a moment and she stares back boldly, worrying her lip between her teeth. She seems nervous and he can't figure out why, because she should know by now that there is no way he would ever not want to be with her.

There is a sound in the distance, one of quick footsteps and hushed, confused voices.

'Then I guess I should make this quick,' he grinds out, 'because I think I hear them coming.'

Lily smiles encouragingly and his heart is hammering so furiously that he wonders if she can hear it beating.

'Next Saturday, Evans,' he tells her, 'I'm taking you out again.' It isn't a question. It is a fact. If it's a question, there is room for disappointment, for rejection. If it's a fact, there can be only acceptance, there can be only agreement.

'Okay, then,' she agrees. His heart soars, full of things he has never been filled with before, his head swirling with thoughts he has never thought before.

And then, when he can hold off no longer, he kisses her. It's slow and nice … teasing, in a way. He longs to put one hand in her silky hair but doesn't, and it takes all of his willpower. Instead, he presses himself against her, marveling in the way they fit together perfectly. It's as if they were made for one another and James knows that this is where he belongs, where he always wants to be.

But he pulls away from her quickly, more quickly than he'd like. Well, what he'd like to do would be to follow her inside and maybe –

'I had a lot of fun,' she tells him, earnestly, before muttering the password and stepping through the portrait hole.

He stands there for a moment, staring stupidly at the closed portrait hole. He is tempted to follow her through, into their private dorms, but knows that he shouldn't. If he does, he'll wind up doing something he'll regret later. Finally, he collects himself, shakes his head and turns around.

He wasn't lying when he told Lily that he was supposed to meet Sirius.

He was merely stretching the truth ever-so-slightly.

James is going to track down Sirius … and then Snivellus. He isn't daft enough to do anything to Snivelly when Lily is around – but Lily isn't around now. Snivelly called Lily a Mudblood. Being that James has kissed Lily twice now, he thinks it is only right that he steps up to defend her honour.

The annoying girls, who no longer look incensed but merely seem confused and slightly awed, are watching him as he begins walking down the corridor. They have been watching the whole time, James realizes.

'You'd better not break her heart,' is all Portia can say.

James shakes his head. 'Never,' he says sincerely, both amazed and pleased by the fact that, if he plays his cards right, he could possibly be in the position to break Lily's heart.

He's bound to do something prattish that will get her hacked off with him. He's bound to let his inner idiot shine through, the part of him that she has hated for so long. He's bound to mess this up.

But he hopes it won't be for a while, because being with Lily is even more wonderful than he expected it to be.

She is intoxicating … infatuating … completely and totally terrific.

Her smile lights up a room and ties his stomach up in knots. She smells like heaven and tastes like it, too. She is kind and not afraid to stand up to people, even her best friends, or to twirl around in the rain like a lunatic.

But sometimes, she laughs at inappropriate things or judges people incorrectly. She can be close-minded and stubborn. And when she wears her hair down, the wind musses it up.

She is imperfect.

She is beautiful.

She is carefree and serious, loud and quiet, outgoing and defensive, smart and silly, strong and vulnerable – all at the same time.

She is something else, for sure.

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Be sure to check out the next part of the "Something" series, "Something Foreign", which will be out shortly.