Disclaimer: What a cute couple, but no, they're not mine. Unfortunately, my initials are not JKR.

Summary: One date; that was it. Just one date to pacify Potter's insane desire to go out with her. But things are never easy for Lily Evans.

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Pacifying Potter

Part Six

Loving

"Sirius?" Lily asked meekly. It had been two days after her break-up with James, and she was miserable. She felt incredibly stupid and horrible and like a total cow. She wanted to believe James, she wanted to so much, but she had to know. She just had to know if what he told her was true.

"You can always tell the true soul of a person by their friends," her mum had once told her. Remembering that advice, Lily went in search of Sirius Black after rounds. After returning with no luck, she found him in the corner of a sparsely filled common room, quietly reading up on Zonko's latest catalog.

When she called him, his head snapped up, his eyes narrowing. "What do you want?"

Swallowing, Lily gathered up her Gryffindor courage. She knew this wasn't going to be easy.

"I wanted to talk," she said quietly. "About James."

Sirius gave a mocking laugh. "Of course you do," he said. "You fucked up. Royally."

At his harsh language, Lily flinched. "I suppose I deserved that," she said quietly. "But... I know I messed things up. And I only want to right them."

"And you want my help," sneered Sirius. "Which, of course, I'm not going to give. You've hurt him too many times in the past and this was the last straw. You're no good for him." He felt a little guilty, however, when he saw Lily's face crumple. Had he gone too far? Whatever, she deserved it. But her next words—

"How many times have I hurt him?"

Sirius sighed, slightly understanding as to why James put up with this girl. She could never be truly vindictive. "A few times," he told her, "mostly when you—quite harshly—put him down publicly."

Lily winced. She had been tough on him on numerous occasions. He just—he just caused her to go through such turmoil—he made her feel like her whole world was like a rollercoaster.

"Look," Sirius said, taking pity on her, "I know that Prongs hasn't always been the nicest bloke to you, but he genuinely cares about you. I'm pretty sure he'd walk through hell for you. I don't know if I want him around you—it seems like he usually does end up walking through hell because of you—but for the most part, you make him happy. And if Prongs doesn't mind prancing around in the underworld, then I suppose I shouldn't either."

Her eyes lit up happily, gratefully. As she opened her mouth to speak, Sirius held up a hand. "Look, Evans," he said. "I can't give you too much advice—I have no bloody idea what's going through his mind right now. But whether or not you get back together, you two should have a talk. Clear the air, if anything, before we graduate. Just do it soon, would you? He's driving me bonkers."

Giving Sirius a tremulous smile and a big hug, Lily dashed off, saying, "Thank you so much, Sirius!"

"He's in the library!" called Sirius before the portrait door slammed shut.

Muttering to himself, the handsome Marauder took up his magazine. "The things a guy does for twenty galleons."

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"So," James said quietly, bitterly, "this has all been a game to her?" While Lily and Sirius were having their heart-to-heart, James had confronted Alice while she had been studying in the library, demanding to know what Lily thought of him. Knowing she would be unable to lie to the Marauder, Alice told him everything, including their "pacifying" scheme.

"Of course not," Alice said crossly. "If anything, I'm the one at fault here. I was the one who goaded her into going out with you. I knew she liked you—I had caught her staring at you numerous times. I just needed her to fall for you without realizing it. I told her that one date would 'pacify' you. I was hoping that you two would hit it off so well she would see how serious you were about her, forget all about the stupid 'pacify' nonsense, walk off into the sunset and live happily ever after."

James looked at her oddly, not sure whether or not he should be furious or amazed. "Are you sure you're not meant to be in Slytherin?" He questioned.

To his surprise, Alice pursed her lips together, as if she was thinking about it. "I wonder sometimes about that, too," she said, "but only a Gryffindor would have the guts to go through with the plan. Lord knows how many people are upset with me now."

Black, especially. Once he had heard the news, he had raged at her about how her best friend broke his best friend's heart and how it was all her (Alice's) fault.

"Black," she had said. "You and I just helped them along to becoming a couple. Staying that way is their priority."

Of course, she had momentariy forgotten about the wager the two had forged.

Coming back to her senses, Alice softened when she saw James's forlorn face. "Look," she said gently, "I'm not trying to defend her actions, because they were right idiotic, but you have to understand where she's coming from. For years you've been asking her out, saying it was only a matter of time before Lily Evans finally bowed down to you. Suddenly, you're this guy she's having these really intense feelings for and it's confusing her. Lily has her own insecurities." Licking her lips, Alice contemplated telling James the next piece of information. Then, she continued.

"I'm not positive on whether or not this affected your relationship, but I do know that it still bothers her greatly. Anyway, Lily has only one sister. Petunia. The two used to be really close when they were younger, but once Lily got into Hogwarts, the two grew farther and farther apart. Petunia grew to resent Hogwarts and when Lily was in fifth year, Petunia begged her to quit and come home, live a normal life. When Lily refused, Petunia washed her hands of Lily, saying that she was a selfish freak and denounced her as her sister. It was really tough on Lily. Here was someone she thought she could trust and then she turns around and stabs her in the back. Now here you are, someone who has been something of an enemy all these years, suddenly so sweet and adoring. I don't know what's running through her head, but what I'm assuming is that her heart and her mind are at odds with each other."

Alice gave James a friendly pat on the hand. "But what I do know is this: Lily is head over heels for you. I can't quite call it love, definitely can't call it nothing, but I'm sure that you are the only person who has made her feel the way she does. If you really love Lily, if you think she's worth it, go talk to her. Otherwise I suspect you'll always wonder about what could have been." Standing up, the girl started to gather her books. Walking off she called, "Good luck!"

James, left behind, was quite shocked at the turn of events. But despite his anger, despite his melancholy, he knew that Alice was right (as usual). Lily was worth it, and he had to talk to her, had to try. Besides, he didn't wait two years for her for nothing.

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Walking quickly, with a determined glint in her eyes and a no-nonsense jilt to her step, Lily Evans was a girl on a mission. She was going to make James Potter talk to her if it was the last thing she did. She would hex him if she had to, just to make him listen. As Yoda said, "There is do or do not. There is no try." Dammit, she was going to do it!

Coming from the opposite direction was James Potter, who strode hurriedly, focused and sharp-eyed. For once in his life he felt ready to do battle with Lily. And dammit, this time he would win. He'd make her see that he was not her sister (whom, he decided, he really hated) and never would be.

Rounding a sharp corner, he crashed into someone. As the two had been walking at a rather furious pace, the impact caused them to land on their bums. "Ouch!" He heard a familiar voice say. "Oh... dear. I'm terribly sorry." Glancing at his love, he realized she was holding her head, eyes shut in pain, not knowing who she was talking to.

Grinning, James realized that he had about a two-second advantage. And by Merlin, he was going to take it. "It's all right love," he said. "No harm done."

Lily froze, wondering at his tone. Opening her eyes and straightening up, she opened her mouth the same time as James—

"We need to talk."

James stood up as well, and held his hand out to her. "Come with me," he said quietly. She took his hand, instantly feeling at peace. Even though it had only been approxiamately 50 hours, she had missed holding his hand. He was strength, and just holding on to a small part of him made her feel safe.

In silence, he guided her out the doors and onto the grounds. The day was nothing remarkable, an overcast of slate colored clouds and a slight, chilly breeze. They stopped at a tree near the lake, which had begun to have leaves again.

"I talked to Alice," he said. "And... she told me. About Petunia. She thought maybe that was part of the reason why... why you didn't believe my affections are sincere." His use of present tense made her smile a little.

"I suppose," she cut in, "that you could... you could chalk it up to Petunia. A little. But in the end, it was my own insecurities that caused us to break up. I spent all these years not trusting you and disliking you that I was blinded into thinking you could never grow up. So when you did... I don't know. I just didn't believe it. But I should've." She looked at him, her eyes tender. "I've never met anyone like you," she said simply. "And while at times you confuse me or anger me, you make me happy. So if you're willing, I'd like to make it up to you. Because I think we could be... we could be something great."

It wasn't a declaration of love, it wasn't something out of a romance movie, but to James, it was a start and therefore, it was perfect. "Regardless of whether or not your insecurities stem from your relationship with your sister," said James, "I just want you to know that I'm not her. I never will be. Whether or not we remain together or go our separate ways, I'll always be there for you. And that's why I want to begin again." He looked at her, smiling at her shiny emerald eyes. "I love you. And that's what love is. Even if you don't love me back, that's okay, because I'm willing to wait."

His speech, simple and lovely, brought tears to Lily's eyes as she wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him. "Oh, James," she whispered, "I already do." I love you.

Releasing her from the hug, James stood and held out a hand. Helping his love up, he wiped the tears from her eyes. "No more crying," he said. Suddenly, Alice's words from earlier resounded in his head. "Come on. It's time to walk off into the sunset and live happily ever after."

And so they did.

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Back in the common room...

"Ow, scoot over!"

"You scoot over!"

Sirius Black and Alice Eaton were currently squished against the only window in the Gryffindor common room that let them see a perfect view of James and Lily, cuddling outside.

"You know Eaton," Sirius said. "I'm so glad I came up with this brilliant idea to get those two together."

Alice's mouth dropped. "What? You must certainly did not come up with this idea. It was me!"

"Now, now, Eaton, I know you're jealous of me, but that's no reason to plageurize my ideas." As she swung a pillow at him, Sirius laughed. His friend was happy and therefore, so was he.

As she thoroughly beat Sirius to a pulp, letting their best friends have their privacy, Alice smirked. So her plan had a few bumps here and there. But in the end, Lily was happy and Potter... well. Potter was pacified.

THE END

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Notes: Ha, had to add that little humor in there.

So, I hope the ending was satisfactory enough. And the chapter was certainly long enough. Quite nice as opposed to all those tiny chapters, eh?

I hope everyone enjoyed this story. It was fun to write, but I'm glad it's over. I can focus on my other story, which is of the fairytale variety. Thank you to everyone who reviewed; I adore you for it!

Until next time!