Disclaimer: All the characters that you recognize belong to J. K. Rowling. The plot of this story was greatly inspired by the movie, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days.

Author's Note: Thanks to Rylie D, Lillith Potter, Eve1980, puppyluva, koolkatkt123, asianhomiequeen101, born-to-perform, featherfinger, Greekchic, onesmartgoalie, Sarah12345, JeNnIfEr88, Dancer girl923, xxquidditchjunkiexx, -Scp-, mrspadfoot4eva, rayolis, Queenofrootloops, pyscho-pyro-shrink, Miss Myrtle360, Sam's Firefly, Mrs LilyGirl, ourlittlesecret7, Katie, magical ex-auror hobbit., thehalfbloodprincess, Beatriz Evans, Untamed Loner, hpottersgirl, potterchik, zuska1985, lovin potter, Asian-Novelist, 1ss2cos3poa4gof5ootp6hbp, sillymonkey13, reviewer, siriusforeva, EboniteEvans, NJ MacReiley the Helpless Romantic, Irma, Marauders4me, Hypatia Cade, dancechic12345, jess, RubyBinds, lizziee, piratequeen24, JPx3LE, Washed Soul, addictedtocookies, writersblock777, teengirl01, serindraxx, rowling-wannabe, Allie, hotblacknesss, SingDownTheSunAndUpTheStars, Fiery Flower, snoopykitty, and ThePranksterQueens for reviewing! You are all the most incredible people in the entire world!

Okay, so I am very sorry that I haven't updated before now. I know it's been about two weeks, which is a very long time for me! I do have an excuse though; I was away on vacation and didn't have computer access. Also, I lied in the last chapter when I said this one was going to be the final one. I need one more after this—hope you don't mind! Okay, so I'm finished blabbing on, so Happy Reading!

Lily didn't know how she got back into her dorm room last night. She didn't recall Sam and Kelsey finding her in the hallway, trying to ask her what was wrong. She couldn't remember them levitating her through the common room at two o'clock in the morning, when the party finally came to an end. She didn't know how they dressed her in her pajamas and tucked her into bed. She couldn't remember anything about last night, just what occurred between her and James.

As she lay in bed, the warm sunny rays shining through the curtains, her tears started up again. Soft droplets of salty tears glimmered down her cheeks, painting a trail across her face. Still, Lily didn't sit up from her bed, nor did she open her eyes. She just wanted to lie there and escape from the world.

Never in her life had she ever felt so betrayed. James Potter made a bet about her. He bet money that she would fall in love with him after ten days of dating. Sadly, Lily knew that she did love him. She wished she didn't though. If she didn't love him, she would have been insulted by the bet and very disgusted with James. But now, with attached feelings, Lily felt even worse than she would have otherwise. Now, she not only felt insulted and was disgusted with him, but she also could physically feel her heart sinking.

She gave him her heart and he stomped on it. He only stayed with her because of some stupid bet, he was only with her to win some money. She gave him everything too. She gave him her heart, her mind, and her body. In each aspect, he used her.

He used her heart to win money. It was a purely selfish act on his own behalf. He didn't once consider that it might hurt her. He used her mind with his own mind games. His intellect and charm tricked her mind into craving to be with him. He used her body most of all though. He performed an act of love with her, one that Lily had only experienced once before and saved for only people that she truly cared about.

Lily pressed her eyelids into her skull, trying to erase the memory of last night from her eyes and mind. However, she had no such luck with that. She could perfectly see Tracey approach her. She saw Tracey's lips moving, a distant sound coming from them. The words were scrambled in her mind, only catching glimpse of them. "Made a bet… about you…fifty galleons… love… ten days…"

How could she have been so stupid? Why didn't she see it coming? Why else would he have put up with her stupid and obnoxious antics? Why didn't she see through his act before? But most of all, why did she let herself fall in love with him?

All of her friends had warned her about him. They all reminded her of what she already knew. James Potter was a jerk. He treated women badly. He only puts the charm on to get what he wants. He's stuck-up and bigheaded. He admires himself more than anyone else in the world. James Potter is the only man that Lily ever truly hated, but she let her guard down. She fell in love with him.

Suddenly, Lily opened her eyes. She wasn't sure why, seeing as no one was in the dorm room at that time and no sound could be heard. Yet, she opened them, revealing blood shocked, watery green eyes. She rolled onto her side and looked into the room. She could see the sun blaring through the cracks in the curtains. Glancing at the clock that was on her nightstand, she noticed it was four o'clock in the afternoon. She hadn't left bed at all. She was too depressed. In fact, she never felt like leaving her bed.

Staring off into space, she started to recall her incident with James last night. Her heart sank deep into her chest as she vividly saw the expression on his face. Never in her seven years at Hogwarts had she ever seen him make that face. He looked angry, as if the devil had possessed him. There was also a soft side of him too, one that showed how hurt he truly was. It was that look that made Lily feel awful about what she did to him.

Yet, as awful as what she did to him was, she knew that his bet was much worse. His bet involved money and hurt feelings. Hers only involved hurt feelings. However, she knew that James had loved her since fifth year and she still played with his heart and contorted it, making him despise her throughout the ten days. Maybe what she did to him was just as bad as what she did to him… She groaned, making the only sound that left her body since her loud sobs the previous night.

Why did everything have to be so messed up? Why did this have to happen? Why did she need to go through with her stupid plan? Why did James have to make a bet with his friends?

She fiercely turned around in her bed, now looking into the corner of the wall. Still, the sun's rays shone into it, illuminating the white walls. She groaned again and slammed the covers above her head, locking in the darkness from his blankets.

Even with the blankets covering her head, she could still hear James's annoyed, yet angry words. "You know what Lily, you wanted to lose a guy in ten days, congratulations, you just did." Those words stung her like a bee, no not a bee, a wasp. It was an unbearable pain; one that she knew would last forever.

What really upset her about his words was that they were completely true. Her goal from day one of their relationship had been to drive him away. She wanted nothing to do with him. She only wanted him to lose interest in her.

Suddenly, she heard a noise; the creak of the door being opened. She tightly shut her eyes and wiped her eyelids dry to cover her tears. She hoped that whoever it was would just leave her alone.

"Lils, come on, get up, please," Sam said, a desperate tone on her lips.

Lily didn't say anything, nor did she move. She didn't even breath, holding her breath to act as if she wasn't even there.

"Lils, we just want to help you," Kelsey added, the same tone that Sam had was present in her voice.

Still, Lily didn't budge.

"Come on, Lils," Sam begged. "Just talk to us… We're worried about you… It after four on a Saturday. You're usually up by nine."

Still nothing.

"We don't have to go anywhere or anything, we just want to talk. It doesn't even have to be about what happened, it can be about the weather," Kelsey said. "Besides, you must be starving and we snuck some food out of the Great Hall for you."

No response.

"Lily Evans, do not make me use magic on you," Sam threatened, starting to get annoyed. "I know you're awake and I know you can hear everything we're saying."

Nothing.

"Evigilo," Sam said as she pointed her wand at Lily. In an instant all of the covers were stripped from Lily's bed, leaving a petite redhead curled up into a ball and hiding.

"There, now you have to get up," Kelsey exclaimed.

Lily groaned again, but rolled over to face her friends and opened her eyes. "Alright, alright," she whined. "I'm up."

"Now sit up," Kelsey instructed.

Lily did as she was told and grumbled, "What did you bring me."

"We snuck out ice cream sundaes from the Great Hall," Kelsey replied.

Lily stared at the vanilla ice cream topped with whipped cream, hot fudge, and a cherry. She felt her eyes begin to swell up again and a flood of tears exploded from her eyes. She groaned and leaned over on her side, burying her head in her scarlet colored pillow.

"Lils, what's wrong?" both Sam and Kelsey asked as at once.

"James took me to the kitchens to get ice cream sundaes the other night," she sobbed, remembering how perfect the evening had been. She would do anything to get that night back. At the time, she and James were happy together. No one knew of any bets or plans… life was simple then. She missed it.

"Oh dear," Kelsey stated. "Okay, we're getting rid of them."

"Yes we are," Sam agreed and walked over to the window. She narrated her actions to Lily as she walked across the room. "Okay, I'm at the window. I'm opening the curtains and now the window is open. The ice creams are out the window… Oh shit, I just hit someone… Shit, it was Filch… Fuck."

Lily allowed a slight smile to form at her lips, despite the fact that she was trying to hide it. Although, she had to admit it, it was funny. Filch getting nailed by three flying sundaes was quite a humorous sight.

"God I hope he didn't see that it was me," Sam muttered as she came back to the bed and sat on its end. "Is that a smile I see?"

"No," Lily lied, looking down and away from her friends.

"I think it is," Kelsey remarked. "Do you want us to do it again, we can throw Rina's make-up kit out the window and pray that it hits him upside the head."

Lily smiled again, but replied, "No, that would just be mean."

"He's kind of mean," Sam sweetly remarked, desperately trying to make Lily feel better. She hated seeing her best friend in such distress, especially about a boy.

Lily sighed and ignored Sam's comment. She leaned back, allowing her head to rest the cool wall behind her, instantly chilling her skull. "Why did this have to happen to me?" The question wasn't directed toward anyone in particular, it was more of a comment.

"I'm sorry, Lils," Kelsey gently said, bringing her hand to Lily's long red hair and stoking her fingers through it.

"Do you want to tell us exactly what happened?" Sam carefully pried.

Lily tightly shut her eyes and the images came flooding back into her mind. She saw his angry words leave his lips, the hurt look across his face. She tried desperately to conceal her tears, but couldn't do it. She felt them tremble down her cheeks, leaving a salty trail.

Both Kelsey and Sam tried their best to console their friend, but there was no use. No matter what they did, the tears continued to fall until her eyes were all dried up. Finally, Lily gathered up enough energy to look at her friends and whisper, "If you don't mind, I'd really like to be alone right now."

---

James sat up in his bed, a stern look upon his face. He was staring at the wilted plant that Lily gave him, their "Love bush" as she had named it. It was the only remaining trace of Lily in his room, everything else was long gone out the window. This one object, however, he must have overlooked. For this afternoon, in his dorm room it was just him and the love bush.

He stared at it with pure disgust. At first he thought that relating a bush to love was a stupid idea. After all, love and gardening were complete opposites. There was nothing remotely similar about them, despite what Lily may have thought in her own little universe.

Now, however, he saw it perfectly. Clear. The plant was dead and their relationship was dead. It was as simple as that.

Staring at the wilted leaves, he felt his hands clench into tight balls. He slammed one fist down on the bed and slammed his head against his pillow. Why was everything so wrong? Why did Lily have to ruin his life? Why did she have to break his heart?

He pressed his eyes shut and slammed his fist down on the bed again, this time with a much harder force. He felt the mattress shake beneath his body, and he was certain the floor shook too. He never felt so betrayed in his life. He thought he loved her. No, he knew he loved her. Yet, she broke his heart with one stomp.

Lily Evans was the girl of his dreams, the only woman he ever truly desired. He spent years pursuing her and after several harsh rejections, he didn't give up. Throughout his life, he was certain of one thing; that he and Lily Evans should be together. It was his one goal in life, to be with her. He knew it was right too. It wasn't just some manly macho thing, something he had to prove. He knew from the moment he laid eyes on her that she was special. There was something about her, even at eleven, that was curious to him. That curiosity grew to attraction, which quickly evolved into love in fifth year. Ever since then, he knew he belonged with Lily. He knew it was written in the stars that he and Lily should be together.

Now, however, his dreams, wishes, and instincts were all ruined. He and Lily didn't belong together. If she truly cared for him, she would have never made that stupid plan. He smacked his forehead with the palm of his hand. Why was he so stupid? Why did he actually think that he and Lily belonged together?

He should have known better. Sure, on paper they looked like a great couple. He was Head Boy, Quidditch captain, popular, and received outstanding grades. She was Head Girl, popular, smart, beautiful, and one of the kindest people to ever enter Hogwarts. Yet, they were an awful match. He was the one person that she despised, and he knew it. Why did he actually believe that her opinion could change? Why was he so stupid?

He let out a large groan. He felt insulted by Lily's plan. She knew that he cherished the ground she walked on, yet dated him to drive him away anyways. She knew what she was getting into. She knew that it would break his heart in the end, yet she did it anyways.

It was the one thing she did in life that took away from her outstanding paper-like qualities. It was not an act that a Head Girl would do, nor was it something nice girls would do. It was a ruthless action.

What angered him even more was the fact that he was too blind to even see it coming. If he was in his right mind, he would have been able to easily see Lily's plan. It was all to obvious now. Why else would she have dated him? Why else would she have been so horrible to him? It all added up now. Everything was fake and he should have been able to see it. He cursed himself for not being able to sense her goals all along, knowing it was a weak aspect of his personality.

He let out a deep sigh, this one much more relaxed than his previous angry groan. With his eyes shut, he clearly envisioned last night's events. He could see the anger and sadness present in her emerald eyes. Yet, the moment he saw her sad expression across her kips, he opened his eyes. He couldn't bear to see it. He didn't want to see it. He didn't want to think she may have been hurt by the situation. Lily screwed him over, not the other way around. He was completely innocent in this matter. The bet was much more reasonable than her stupid plan, right?

James didn't have time to contemplate the matter, for at that moment his dorm room door burst open. The person standing across the room from him was not who he expected to see. He was certain the confusion written across his face showed his emotions. He wasn't looking at Sirius, Remus, or Peter. Instead, Rina stood in his room, a light smile on her lips.

"Hi James," she softly said.

"Hi," he muttered.

"How're you doing?" she asked, walking closer to his bed as she spoke. He noticed that she shut the door behind her, leaving him trapped alone in the room with her. She approached his bed in a matter of seconds and sat down on it, edging too close for comfort next to James.

"Fine."

"Are you sure?" she sweetly asked, running her hands through his messy hair. He wanted to launch at her and escape from her fingernails. He didn't want her touching him, especially not his hair. For some odd reason, he felt like it was off limits to all girls. It had been Lily's to pull at and run her hands through. He wasn't ready to let anyone else take over that job.

"Yeah."

"I'm really sorry about what happened," she said, leaning down to reveal a line of cleavage. It was obvious that she wanted him to look at her and marvel at her revealing outfit, but James wasn't in the mood. He was too depressed to care about girls right now.

"Whatever."

"No, James, don't say whatever," Rina replied. "Lily Evans was a bitch to you, a cold-hearted bitch. I, for one, am refusing to speak to her because of her behavior. I'm ashamed to be roommates with her."

"Don't say that," he snapped, looking fiercely into Rina's eyes. He didn't know why Rina's false comments got to him. They shouldn't have. He wasn't supposed to care about Lily anymore; she betrayed his trust and broke his heart. Yet, coming from Rina, the words truly bothered him.

"Sorry," she muttered, stunned at his outburst. She paused for a moment before regaining her train of thought and in a sexy voice said, "You know, I'm here for you… If you need anything at all, I'm at your service."

"Okay."

"And I mean anything," Rina said, raising her eyebrows slightly as she spoke.

James looked at her, disgust in his eyes. He couldn't believe she was actually coming onto him. He was in the worst romantic crisis of his life, and Rina Spears was flirting with him. Not only was it an insult to him, but he felt like it should be an insult to her as well. Did she have any self-respect at all?

"You know what, there is something you can do for me," he sternly informed her. "You can get the fuck out of my room and away from me." His expression didn't change throughout his entire speech. He stared at her with cold eyes and an empty heart.

Rina looked stunned at his words, as if she had been slapped across the face. She stood up from her seat on the bed and stared at James as she edged away from him and out the door. She didn't say anything as she left, but felt her heart sink. All she wanted was for him to like her. She just wanted one chance and she was sure this was the perfect opportunity. After all, Lily was out of the picture now. Rina was willing to give herself up completely to James, and he threw her away like yesterday's trash. Still, she wasn't going to give up. She needed to be with James. She wanted to be with him.

---

Later that day, Lily could still be found in her bed. She hadn't gotten up all day long, nor did she plan to. She did eat some food, leftovers that Sam and Kelsey brought her, but that was it. For the most part she lounged in bed and thought about James.

Tracey eventually found herself wandering up to the dorm room. She sympathetically looked at Lily and attempted to flash her a small smile, but couldn't find one in her heart. Lily looked too miserable. Instead, she sat down on the edge of Lily's bed and asked, "You doing okay?"

"I don't know," Lily answered. She peered into Tracey's eyes and saw something that wasn't present in her two best friend's eyes. It was a look of knowing, a look of understanding. For some unknown reason, it was a look that made Lily feel as if she could open up to her roommate. "A part of me hates him so much for doing it, but at that same time I miss him."

"I know," Tracey replied, shrugging her eyebrows close together. "Men can be such pigs."

"Why did he have to make that stupid bet?"

"I wish I could tell you a better answer than because men are stupid, but that's the best I've come up with," Tracey responded, slightly smiling as she spoke.

Lily smiled back, but only half-heartedly. "I really thought he changed," she admitted.

After pausing for a moment, Tracey stared Lily in the eye and asked, "Would you have liked it better if I didn't tell you the truth?"

"I don't know… No, I'm glad you told me," she answered, changing her mind as she spoke. "I'm just mad that he would even do something like that."

"You have every right to be upset."

"And then he goes off on a tangent saying what I did was worse, which is totally unfair," Lily rambled on.

"I'm sorry."

"And do you know what the worse part is?" Lily questioned, peering out at the dark sky as she spoke.

"What?"

"If we were still together right now, I'd be with him… He was planning on making me a nice dinner, just the two of us… And he was going to cook for me and everything. I was really looking forward to it too," she admitted.

Tracey gave her a sympathetic look and felt a stab of guilt in her stomach. She wasn't sure why she felt so guilty all of a sudden, but it hit her very hard. Lily loved James, she could easily see that. Yet, Rina had convinced her to break Lily and James apart. In a way, Tracey was responsible for the misery that her friend was feeling.

Tracey was about to say something to Lily when Rina stormed into the room, slamming the door shut behind her. "Tracey, we need to talk now." The force that she said "now" with was almost scary.

Biting her lower lip, Tracey looked between Lily and Rina, unsure who needed her attention more. She watched as Lily curled up beneath her covers again, completely ignoring their previous conversation. Rina still peered at her with beady, impatient eyes. Her hands were on her hips and her foot began to tap against the carpeted floor.

Sighing, Tracey got up and walked toward Rina. She looked back at Lily and mouthed "I'm sorry," but Lily turned her head at once. Once again, she felt a stab of guilt. She truly couldn't understand why, after all, Rina was her best friend. She was supposed to be there for her through thick and thin.

"Come on," Rina snapped, leading Tracey to a deserted area of the girl's staircase, away from anyone who might be listening. "I don't understand what's happening, the plan is failing."

"What plan?" Tracey questioned.

Rina looked at her as if she had three heads before replying, "My plan to win over James's heart… what's wrong with you?"

"Nothing, I'm fine," Tracey stuttered before focusing her brain on the situation. Yes, she could easily recall it now. Rina was madly in love with James Potter and had been for years. She did everything in her power to make James like her, but always failed. Now though, it was a sure plan. Once James was a wreck, Rina was going to swoop in and mend his broken heart. He would surely fall for her in the process.

"He told me to go away," Rina blurted out, a sense of urgency in her voice. "Why is he doing this?"

"Maybe he still cares for Lily," Tracey suggested.

Rina groaned before replying, "No he doesn't. He's mad at her, he doesn't want anything to do with her… He's supposed to come running for me."

"Maybe if you give him some time to adjust he'll realize what a great person you are," Tracey said. "Just give him some time and then he'll start liking you. He just needs healing time, alone."

"You know what, you're right," Rina exclaimed. "Healing time, why didn't I think of it before? It's so obvious… I'll write him a letter in a couple days, apologizing for my actions. It'll show a level of truce, a growing friendship. He won't be able to resist that. We'll be friends. And after that, he'll start to love me…I know he will."

"Sounds like a plan," Tracey replied, smiling at her best friend as she spoke. However, her mind and instinct weren't relaying the same message. Something inside her knew that Rina and James would never be a couple. Yes, she did believe that they would be friends, but never anything more. Something about them together just wasn't right.

---

The following day, James sat in his dorm room with his three best friends, a queasy look upon his face. He had thirty minutes until his detention with Professor McGonagall. Usually, he didn't mind detention, but this one was going to be very painful. It was going to be the first time he faced Lily Evans since their big break-up two nights ago.

"Remus, please, I'm begging you," James whined. "We still have a little bit of polyjuice potion left and you don't have any homework left to do for tomorrow. You don't have any excuse at all."

Remus gave him a doubtful look. "No excuse? How about the fact that you're the one that got yourself into this bloody mess and now you have to deal with it."

"But I don't want to… I can't face her," James admitted.

"I'm not doing it," Remus replied. "I'm not going to pretend to be you just so that you don't have to see her. It's not fair to me or Lily."

"Who cares if it's fair to her," James snapped, sudden rage coming over him. "She's a fucking wrench."

"Isn't that a little harsh?" Sirius asked, looking up from his Potions essay.

"No," James answered.

"Come on, you did something just as bad as she did," Remus reasoned.

"Wait a second, Moony you can't be saying that," James announced, jumping to his feet. "A few days ago you were all for the bet, thinking I wouldn't win at all. So you can't say it was bad."

"Well, when we made the bet I honestly didn't think she would ever love you," Remus replied.

"Why not?" James asked, getting very defensive.

"Well, for starters she hated you a few weeks ago," Remus answered. He sensed James's anger and subsided the conversation concerning the hatred. "But obviously I was wrong… She did love you…"

"Until she found out," Sirius added.

"Shut up," James growled as he slammed back down onto his bed. "You really won't go for me, Moony?"

"Nope."

"Damn."

Moments later James slowly made his walk down to McGonagall's classroom. He carefully looked over his shoulder, trying his best to avoid Lily Evans. Before leaving the dorm room, he took out the Marauder's Map and plotted her movements, making sure he wouldn't run into her. He even decided to take an obscure pathway to get to the Transfiguration classroom, just in case.

When he finally arrived at the classroom, he noticed that Lily was already there. She casually leaned against one of the student desks, her arms crossed in front of her. James noticed that the brightness that she usually brought to a room was completely gone, no traces found anywhere. She looked paler than usual as well, as if she hadn't seen daylight in a week. Her hair was a disaster as well; red hair peeked out from her messy bun, sticking out in wild directions. In an odd way, it almost looked like a red version of his own hair.

"Evans," he said, painfully nodding in her direction.

"Potter," she responded after tightly blinking her eyes shut for a brief moment.

"Where's McGonagall?" he asked, trying to find something to say.

"I don't know," she blandly replied, her eyes darting to the ground. She wanted nothing more than to escape that moment, anything to break their awkward silence. Yet, nothing came. The two teens just stood there, standing on opposite sides of the room and desperately looking down at the floor or up at the ceiling.

Finally, after five minutes (which felt like eternity) McGonagall turned the handle of her classroom door and entered the room. Trailing behind her were two very large buckets, water sloshing out of the sides.

"Good evening Miss Evans, Mister Potter," she said, smiling at her two students.

"Hello," they both muttered.

"Cheer up," McGonagall said, looking stunned to see the Head Boy and Girl so solemn. "It's only detention, it's not the end of the world... Besides, you have each other to work with."

Both Lily and James were very disheartened by McGonagall's words. They knew she meant well, but the two students were dreading the night.

"Alright, your task tonight is to clean up this room," she announced. "Without magic."

"Without magic?" James asked, a stunned look on his face.

"Yes, Mister Potter, without magic. You'll scrub every inch of this room the muggle way, with sponges, soap, water, and mops… I'm going to go to the faculty room, so if you need me, that's where I'll be. And don't think that you can use your wands here once I'm gone. I've charmed the room to decline magically activity of that sort," McGonagall informed her students. With that said, she left the room, leaving the two students in an awkward position. Neither one of them knew what to do or say.

"So, um, I suppose we should get to work then," James finally said, not looking at Lily while he spoke.

"Yeah," she agreed as she grabbed one of the buckets of supplies and headed toward the blackboard.

They both worked in silence, although not the comfortable silence they were used to with each other. This silence was very awkward and the tension in the room could have been cut with a knife. Despite the fact that both Lily and James had plenty of work to do, their minds weren't occupied at all. They could only think of how unbearable their current situation was.

An hour and a half passed; still neither of them said anything. James stole a glance at Lily and watched as she scrubbed one of the tables up front. Throughout their entire cleaning process, James stuck to one side of the room, Lily to the other. They never once crossed paths. He watched as she forcefully ran her sponge up and down on one spot of the table, as if it were her goal in life to wash off the paint. A while ago, she tied her hair back into a messy bun, moving it away from her emerald eyes. James could tell that she was tired and wanted a break. Her stance was loosening up, not as stiff as it had been when they first came in contact that night.

Gathering up his courage, James finally said, "Do you want to take a break?"

Her head snapped up and she stared at him with piercing eyes. It was a look that he hadn't seen in over ten days, not since before they started dating. Although, he wondered if you could really call it dating. After all, she only wanted to drive him away.

"I'm not a slacker," she coldly replied. She didn't want to sound so mean, but it was the only way she knew to cover her emotions. In reality, she wanted the past two days to disappear. She wanted her life back when she was happy with James. Everything was perfect then… now she was miserable.

"And I am?" he asked, giving her a doubtful look.

"Yes."

The next thing he knew, James was slipping out words that he would soon regret. He didn't know why he said it, but it rolled off his tongue so easily at that moment. "If I'm the slacker, then why'd I stay with you for as long as I did?"

Her lips pursed together and her entire face seemed to tighten up. She looked as if he had just slapped her across the face. "I don't know James, maybe we should bet on it."

"Would you just get over that," he snapped. His compassion that he had felt for her moments ago was vanishing. He wanted nothing more than to ignore her again. He wanted to escape from the memories of the worst days of his life.

"You're the one that brought it up," she countered. She flung her sponge back into the soapy bucket of water and her hands flew to her hips. She gave him a look that said, 'don't mess with me.'

"I didn't mention it exactly," he retorted, now throwing his own sponge in the bucket. "I only said that we dated, I didn't mention anything about bets."

"But you were thinking it," she argued, taking a step closer to him.

"So what if I was thinking it," he shouted. "Of course I'm going to think about it. You bloody messed with my life."

"Me?" she asked, a startled look across her face. "You made a bet about me!"

"So what? It was simple bet. If Tracey hadn't fucking told you about it, you wouldn't have a clue. It didn't mess with you at all," he hollered.

"You leave Tracey out," Lily interrupted.

He ignored her comment and continued his rant, "You on the other hand, you were awful. You made my life Hell. You wouldn't let me hang out with my friends, you made my entire room girly, and you planned our future together. If you don't consider any of those Hellish, then believe me, I've got plenty more."

Lily stared at him with disgust. Of course, what she did was bad, but he made a bet about her. She felt insulted by that. "You're an ass."

"Me?" he questioned. He shook his head slightly before walking a little closer to her. He was now standing in front of one of the student desks, Lily on the other side. Her hands were still on her hips, his were leaning against the black surface of the table.

The enraged look in his hazel eyes made Lily's face twitch slightly, revealing a small amount of fear. She had never seen him like this before, not even the other night when he was yelling at her during their break-up.

"You knew I loved you, you knew it from day one," he angrily said, yet his voice was surprisingly calm. It was slow and quiet, yet furiousness was present. "But you did it anyway. You broke my heart. You were mean, annoying, and dishonest to me… Everything that I did when I was with you was real. Sure, there were times when you drove me crazy, but when you were acting normal, I loved you. I'm not going to deny it… You, however, broke my heart. Everything was fake."

"Stop it," she softly said, his words vibrating inside her mind.

"The laughs, the conversations, the kisses… those were all fake," he continued on, ignoring her plea.

"Stop it," she said again, slamming her hands down on the table.

The sound broke him from his train of thought and he looked up and stared at her. He still had the dark look across his face, although now it spread throughout his entire body.

"Just stop," she repeated, blinking her eyes tightly.

Despite her words, he felt the urge to finish talking. "The Room of Requirement… that was all fake too, wasn't it? It was all part of your little act. You give a guy what he desires, the one true scene of love, but then you take it away. You rip it from him; tell him it was all just a little game… I'll tell you something though Lily, that wasn't funny."

Her expression changed to disbelief. Was he really accusing her of not putting her heart and sole into that one night they shared together? She couldn't believe he would sink so low. Her chest was heaving slightly, her breaths short and heavy. How could he?

"Fuck you," she bitterly said, once again hiding her emotions with anger. She walked to one side of the table, ready to storm out of the room. She had enough of James Potter for one night. She couldn't handle being with him anymore. It didn't matter that she wasn't finished with her detention. She needed air. She needed to breathe.

His rough hand grabbed her though, pulling her small body close to his. His grip was tight, and she could feel her skin bruising as each second passed. Lily tried her best not to allow her salty tears escape. She didn't want him to see her give in. She didn't want him to see her weakness.

"Don't think you can leave me with cleaning up all this shit," he growled, narrowing his eyes at her.

She truly felt scared. "Let me go," she whined, not bothering to hide her fear.

As her words reached his ears, he looked down at her struggling face. The tight grip loosened at once, and Lily stumbled away from him. He stared down at his hand, wondering how he was actually capable of causing her so much pain.

Lily looked up at him from across the room, her breathing still heavy. Her eyes met his again, still showing that same fear. His eyes, however, conveyed a different emotion. He was no longer stone cold; instead, he looked afraid as well.

He watched her leave the room, hesitantly running away from him. She looked back one last time to see him leaning against the table. He continued to look down at his hands, a puzzled look across his face.

Author's Note 2: Hi all! Okay, so I lied before. This is not the last chapter. I was writing it, and actually have more than just this part. But then I was like, wow, these don't belong in the same chapter. So, I stopped and decided to post this now. The rest, which will be the final chapter, will be posted shortly. Please review!