Three Little Words
Disclaimer: No, Harry Potter still isn't mine. You really think I'd create characters this good?
A/N Another story that has been kicking me around for a few days. Inspiration seems to be striking regularly lately…must be the weather! This time James Potter is living with Lily Evans after Hogwarts. He adores her and at first he was sure she loved him, so why can't she say those three little words and what lengths will James go to find out her true feelings?
As ever, please read and review, but most important of all, enjoy!
CHAPTER ONE: A DECISION FOR JAMES
James Potter was making his way home from a long day in Auror training. He was exhausted and couldn't wait to get home and change out of his work clothes into something more comfortable, have a good meal and snuggle up on the sofa with his girlfriend, Lily Evans, who he had been involved with for a year and had been living with for the last three months.
James sighed at the thought of Lily. To him she was the most beautiful woman in the world. With her striking emerald eyes and thick red hair there was no other woman who could compete with her. He knew that for him this was it, Lily was the only one he would ever want. She always had been.
James thought of all the years at Hogwarts when he had tried to get Lily to go out with him. He had failed spectacularly, mainly because his means were distinctly…unconventional. For years he tried various ways of drawing Lily's attention to himself, which usually involved him showing off on his broom or pulling some amazing prank with his friends, thinking that she would be impressed and give in. She had ignored him and called him a bighead.
When the more extravagant plots to conquer Lily failed James tried other methods. Usually this involved following Lily around a lot and asking her at random moments if she would go to Hogsmeade with him on the next trip. The idea was that he would catch her off guard and she would agree to the aforementioned Hogsmeade trip in a moment of weakness. Lily Evans, it seemed, never had moments of weakness. Soon it was as if the two had a rehearsed script. James would stroll over to Lily in between classes or at lunchtime and say the immortal words, 'Go on Evans, give in and go out with me, you know you want to!' Lily's reply would either be a bellow of 'I SAID NO POTTER!' or, in a more thoughtful mode, 'Potter, which part of the words 'get lost' do you not understand?'
There were other replies Lily gave to James's constant request, but seeing as these usually involved Lily threatening to cut off James's most delicate body parts if he asked again, he chose not to remember those too clearly. He did remember, however, that after she made the threat he never asked again unless he was in a situation where a quick exit was possible, or one of his friends was around. James was sure Lily wouldn't attack him in front of witnesses…..would she?
The two went on like that until the 7th year. Then suddenly James was confronted with something that would fill most teenage boys (especially teenage boys who spent as much time in detention as in classes) with dread….and disbelief. He was made Head Boy. He was even more amazed when Lily Evans, known throughout Hogwarts as 'James Potter's Lily Evans' was made Head Girl. Immediately his mind went into overdrive. He could hardly believe the Headmaster was condoning him spending time with Lily, after all, the school Head students had to work closely with each other. James didn't have a problem with that. Lily Evans, strangely enough, did have a problem with that, and made sure she told everyone at every opportunity.
Then, a couple of months into the 7th year Lily received some terrible news. Her parents had been killed in a terrible car crash. At just seventeen years of age Lily was an orphan. Worse was to come when Lily realised that her older sister, Petunia, blamed her for what happened and informed her that she was no longer part of the family and wouldn't be welcome at home when school was over.
During this awful time for Lily James Potter took it on himself to be her protector. He couldn't stand to see her so upset. Seeing her cry gave him a physical pain around his heart, so he quietly offered his support. At first Lily was suspicious. She couldn't believe that James was being kind just because he wanted to. It was hard to accept that his motives were innocent. But James steadfastly stuck to the task and Lily softened. Soon James became her constant, a figure of security in a world that was so uncertain. She confided everything to him in long emotional conversations in the Heads Common Room. She admitted that James knew things about her she could never tell anyone else. She had grown to need him in her life. That admission gave James the confidence he needed to confess his real feelings for her. To his amazement Lily said she felt the same. Within a few short weeks Lily and James had gone from arguing all the time, to friends and then to more….much more, James thought happily. At least that was how he felt. Either way, Lily officially became his girlfriend. He was happier than he'd ever been.
On leaving school Lily had tried to reconcile with her sister, but had been harshly turned away. Lily had eventually moved in with a distant relative on her mother's side of the family but the elderly lady didn't like Lily receiving frequent visits from the boy she referred to as 'that strange boy with the funny hair'. Eventually, after much worry over the problem, James asked Lily to move in with him. Apart from the fact that he hated the old woman Lily lived with, he was spending so much of his time with her that living with her seemed the most sensible thing to do. His own parents had been dead for a few years, so he still lived in the family home. There was more than enough room for one more. Lily agreed happily providing it was understood that she would need her own room. James gladly agreed. He wanted to look after Lily. He wasn't about to make her do anything she wasn't ready for. James could still hear his best friend Sirius Black shrieking with laughter at that one. He flatly refused to believe that James could live under the same roof as Lily and not want to sleep with her. James informed him through gritted teeth that what he wanted didn't come in to it; he was more concerned about Lily's feelings. Sirius had just shrugged and muttered 'Yeah, yeah, I believe you' in a tone that said he clearly didn't.
Now James and Lily were living together happily. All except for one thing, he reminded himself, sighing again. He thought it over for the millionth time.
In all the time James and Lily had been a couple, Lily had never used three important little words. Not once had Lily ever looked James in the eye and said 'I love you'. At first he didn't mind. He was always saying it. They could be in the middle of a meal, or doing some mundane task like the weekly shopping and James would turn to Lily and utter those three words he had waited years to say to her. She would beam with pleasure and hug him before she looked up into his eyes and said 'I know you do', or 'me too James'. She never actually said the words themselves to him. Even in private she was the same. His declarations of love would be greeted by 'Yes, I know' or, if Lily was in a funny mood, 'Of course you do, why wouldn't you?'
James had resigned himself to the belief that once they had settled properly into their relationship she would be able to say it, after all, she had not long lost her parents and had been abandoned by her closest relative, she was bound to feel insecure. However, now, a year into their relationship and three whole months since she had moved in with him, he wasn't so sure. He was starting to think that maybe she hadn't said it because she didn't feel it. Perhaps she didn't want to lie and saying 'I love you' to someone when she knew she really didn't, would be a lie. Perhaps she had never loved him.
As James walked the last few streets that would lead him home he made a decision. If Lily couldn't admit her feelings soon he would have to break the relationship off. As much as he loved her, as much as he knew he needed her, he couldn't be with someone who didn't love him.
A/N There we are, the first chapter. Bear in mind that this will be a short story, probably no more than about four chapters. It was supposed to be a one-shot, but regular readers of my stories will know what I'm like. My previous story, Waiting (nothing to do with this new one) is a one-shot and I know it's too long really, so I decided to make this a short story. Anyway, enough from me. As ever, please review; let me know what you think. You know I like it! The more reviews I get, the faster I update, promise!