Winning Lily
He was the most wanted boy in Hogwarts; well one of two. With his messy, jet black hair, and piercing hazel eyes. Plus a mischievous sense of humor to go along with his already good looks. One look from him sent all the girls swooning; he could have had anyone he wanted.
He was in love with only one girl.
Lily Evans, the brightest witch of their time. Not to mention the fact that she was unnaturally beautiful; yet she hadn't the slightest idea. She was a redhead. With long, flowing, wavy, red hair, and emerald green eyes that shown so bright they would give James Potter's a run for his money any day. They were deep and meaningful. She was beautiful in all the unconscious accidental ways that many girls weren't; beautiful and exotic.
In James' eyes she was perfection. Her beauty was just an added bonus. Yet she didn't give him the time of day. Since their second year James had asked Lily out. He asked her so may different ways. She always said no.
"Come on Evans, go out with me. I've changed, I swear," he pleaded.
"A leopard doesn't change its spots over night, Potter. You're no different. Still arrogant, still cocky."
"I'm not. If you accept you will see. I'm only going to ask you one more time. Go out with me."
"Good, because I hate reruns," she said smiling slightly, walking away.
"Don't walk away," he called after he, but she was already gone.
That was two weeks ago.
"He hasn't asked me out in two weeks," Lily said somewhat upset to her best friend Katie.
"Lils, he told you it would be the last time. Besides I didn't think you liked him so why does it matter if he asks you out or not?"
"It doesn't, its just he's said that before and never actually went through with it. Actually, I'm somewhat relieved," Lily said. Still, she wasn't entirely sure if relief was the only thing she was feeling. Was she also a little disappointed as well?
James on the other hand was going crazy by not talking to her. It had been two weeks. He was up one night in the Gryffindor common room talking with Sirius about his problem. "I'm going bloody insane not talking to her. Me and my ruddy mouth, why did I say that that would be the last time? I have to ask her one more time, but I don't know if I could handle another rejection."
"Prongs, calm down mate. I wouldn't put too much thought into it. I'm sure she will eventually agree to snog you senseless…" he didn't get to finish because James cut him off.
"It's not about the snogging, Padfoot. Yea, that's important too, but with her it's different; there's more to it than that. I think I have more than "like" feelings for her."
"Whoa man, calm down. It's alright. Hey how about this, why don't we ask them to come swimming with us tomorrow at the lake," Sirius suggested. "Besides, I think I'm rather starting to fancy her friend Katie."
"Yea, yea, we should do that."
What the boys didn't know, was that Lily, being the curious girl she was, had heard everything when she was seeing who was out of bed so late at night and causing so much ruckus.
"Hey Evans, Scott, what do say about going for a swim with James, Remus, and me?" Sirius asked.
Lily knew the question was coming, and secretly she was a little excited. She had no idea why yet.
"Sure, we've got nothing better to do," she Katie. She too, liked Sirius, everyone knew.
Fifteen minutes later the girls met the guys by the lake.
"Why isn't Peter swimming?" Lily asked.
"He doesn't like being shirtless in front of people," James eagerly responded.
Katie took off her clothes to reveal a baby blue bikini with brown polka dots. It matched nicely with her tan skin, blue eyes, and short blonde hair.
Lily was now a bit nervous. She slowly took off her clothes to reveal a deep plum bikini. It was strange because it made her eyes so much more vibrant.
Katie and Sirius were already in the lake. "Lils, come on hurry up!" Katie yelled, and then grabbed her leg and pulled her in.
"Ahhh…Katie I'm gonna hex you silly!" Lily screeched as she came up for air.
"Moony, Prongs, come on," Sirius bellowed, as Remus cannonball in. James was now the only one left standing.
"Oh, come on Potter you aren't afraid of a little water now are you?" Lily yelled at him with more courage than she knew she had.
James grabbed his heart in mock hurt. "Thou cruelty, thy name is Lily Evans!" James cried as he grabbed his heart again and fell into the water.
When he finally resurfaced Lily spoke, "Theatrics was never your strong point, Potter." she said as she splashed him.
He quickly grabbed her, picking her up, and tossed her back into the water.
That's when it hit her. In the few seconds he held her; how his skin brushed against hers, the way he looked at her, she knew; she loved him.
The hard part now was how to tell him.
Later that night Lily lay wide eyed, awake, thinking of James and her new feelings toward him.
"You love him, don't you?" Katie asked.
She didn't know Katie was awake and the question threw her off guard.
"Yes," she answered quietly, "How'd you know?"
"I could tell. I'm your best friend, it's my job to know these things. So are you going to tell him?"
"No. he probably hates me by now, I've said no so many times. Besides, I'm too scared to actually do anything about it. What if it ruins everything?"
"That's what's great about love, the mystery. Besides James could never hate you Lils. He's held out for you for five years, I highly doubt he will change his mind anytime soon. "
"Yea. I don't know, it's just so complicated. Why do crushes have to be so hard?"
"They're supposed to be; they aren't supposed to be easy. If they were easy, they'd call them something else."
From then on all Katie did was drop hints of Lily's new found love, and Lily, in turn, was a nervous wreck whenever she was around James.
One night, James, Sirius, Katie; who were now a couple, and Lily, were all outside lying under the stars.
"Sirius, why don't we go inside and get something for us to eat?" Katie asked, obviously trying to get Lily and James alone. Sirius took the hint.
It was just the two of them now.
Tension was running high.
"James?" Lily asked after a few minutes.
"Yea?"
"Are we alone, like this? Are we the only ones who have lied here, under the sky?"
James looked up at the sky, and he remembered all those who had lived and died and he knew the answer. "No, Lily," answered James, "I think that this place has been like this forever."
Lily nodded, knowing that it was right. A few more minutes ticked by. James now knew what he had to do.
He jumped up suddenly and it startled Lily. He looked down at her and spoke, "I know I've asked you time and time again but I've got to give it one more shot Lily."
She knew where this was going and as much as she wanted it, she was terrified. "Don't," she whispered, "It'll be too complicated," she pleaded.
"Life isn't easy…the right things they never are. You've got me all revved up. Now I've asked you forty different ways and it's time you came up with a fresh answer."
"James."
"I'm asking you to go out with me. I love you, Lily. Now I know I said and done a lot of things, that I hurt others; I hurt you, but I promise, I'll never do that again. I only want to take care of you. I will not leave you like that Dutch boy with your finger in the dam." "You're my best friend. Go out with me." he finished pleadingly.
Lily was on the verge of tears by this point. "Alright."
"Yea?"
"Yea," she whispered. "Yes."
AN: This is my first James/Lily shipper. There a few quotes in here that do not belong to me, they are from the movie "Walk the Line."