"Sometimes I think we're alone in the universe, and sometimes I think we're not. In either case, the idea is quite staggering."
-Arthur C. Clarke

Staggering.

CHAPTER ONE- dreams.

It's such an odd thing when you realize that there will always be that one person there who will never leave your side. The thought is really quite comforting, but it's something that is rarely ever thought of- rather, it is sort of stored away in the back of our minds, that little hopeful dream that we only take time to examine on rainy days. We very scarcely ever know who that person is- it could be anyone: a best friend, a parent, a sibling, or your significant other. Of course, women are always hoping it will be the latter, our dreamy minds constantly weaving tales of heroism, beauty, and romance- whether we like to admit it or not. That is what the dreams of little girls are made of, as they sleep comfortably, never doubting that it will someday happen to them.

Lily Evans patiently turned the page of her thick Transfiguration textbook, whilst impatiently tucking a strand of her wavy auburn hair behind her ear, the dainty diamond studs placed in her lobes sparkling in the sunlight, catching the eye of many a young man, none more so than him.

She looked like a complete mess, or at least she thought so, but to him there was no greater beauty in the all the word. Her make-up-less face and messily put up hair were undeniably attractive to him, for reasons she could not understand.

She had tried so hard to get him to stop fancying her- she called him names, picked fights with him, slapped him, kissed his best friend in front of him last Christmas, and even tried to make herself as unattractive as she could possibly bear- all for naught. It wasn't that she had any particular feelings of dislike toward the boy- she hardly minded him at all, and actually thought he was rather dashing- but there were certain rules that she had found out long ago, and she had never really been one to break the rules, or even bend them.

She, very simply, did not want to put up with all attention she would surely receive from jealous peers if she went out with him, and as she was well-enough liked as it was, she didn't particularly care to ruin that… or her reputation, for that matter. She had become known as a good girl- she did her work on time, was a prefect, was kind to most nearly everyone (except for him, but I digress), and was rather pretty and charming. Her life had been thus far simple, happy, and singularly uneventful, and she liked it that way.

She was liked by many boys, of that she knew, and although she suspected that some of her female schoolmates may be a little jealous of that fact, none had ever given her any trouble, and they were all quite agreeable with her. Therefore, it didn't really matter in the end, not as it was now anyway, but of course if she did date that boy, things would surely get a bit out of hand.

Many girls had liked that boy for rather long times, and she had a sneaking thought that some of them probably knew even more about him than his best friend did. They were constantly spying on him while he changed in the locker rooms before Quidditch matches. Lily had never joined in on this silly tradition- he was just a boy, and rather conceited one at that- his ego hardly needed more stroking than it already received.

And although she did find him rather attractive, and she did sometimes wonder what it would be like to have him all to herself, she simply could never date him. Even if he was very polite, had a sweet temperament, came from a very nice and highly influential family, and was obviously mad about her.

Actually, she had a feeling that the two of them were really far too alike for their own good, and so every time that he asked her out, he was met with a very firm but polite decline. "No, thank you, you're really quite kind, and I'm awfully flattered, but I'm just not that interested."

After a few hundred times, however, her good breeding and the well-mannered responses gave way to somewhat petty insults and put-downs. Often times, the response came even before the question. "You realize that this is the 453rd you've asked in the past two years, correct? Do you realize that this is also the 453rd time that I am going to say no? Good, shall we just skip to that part, then?"

James Potter watched her as she tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear, smiling slightly at the look of utter frustration on her face as she studied Transfiguration. She was, without a doubt, extremely bright, but she had never been good at Transfiguration. Charms was her thing, Transfiguration was his.

He had often thought about using that to his advantage- say that he would help her in Transfiguration if she would help him in Charms- that way he would at least have an excuse to be near her, and be able to talk to her, never mind that it was about homework.

He had tried it once, too.

His brilliant ploy failed when it became obvious to her that he had no trouble whatsoever in Charms. She had been a bit angry about that, he remembered, because she had made a fool of herself letting him know how hard something was to her, when everything was still easy to him.

He remembered that she had slapped him, twice, during that week.

It was last week actually.

But he knew that he was running out of time- they were already halfway through their sixth year, getting ready to take their final exams before packing and going home again. Their last year was steadily approaching, and he knew that if he didn't have her by then, he never would. He would have lost everything that mean anything to him (other than his friends, house, parents, owl, gold watch, and cat- but those were all something else entirely).

And James Potter was not a loser.

He was many things, of course, including handsome, honest, brave, chivalrous, funny, charming, generous, kind; but he was most certainly not a loser.

He was a Potter, after all. They were very stubborn people. He could admit that much, at least. However, they were also very persuasive people.

So it was simple really.

All that he had to do was use some of the famous Potter Charm- it had never failed him before- and she would be his!

And they could get married and have a baby and a cozy little house out in the country with a white picket fence in a tree-lined neighborhood and roses in the back garden, a big dog sitting in front of the hearth on a braided rug and an overstuffed couch- everything would be absolutely wonderful. She would cook and clean and do his laundry and always greet him at the door looking like his beautiful wife- a happy smile on her face, and tell him all about how the baby had learned a new word today and how she found a great dress when she was shopping today and--

"OI! WAKE UP, PRONGS!"

"I wasn't asleep."

The boy across from him scoffed, folding his arms against his broad chest and tucking his long legs underneath him, preparing to stand. "Well, you might as well have been. Have you heard anything we've been saying for the past ten minutes?"

"Er… well… was it about Moony?" He said, his hopeful voice drifting off a little towards the end as he looked around at the other boys. Obviously, he was wrong. Ah, well. They would have to get over it. Really now, how could they expect him to pay attention to them when she was so nearby?

Remus sighed, shaking his head no. "It was about Peter, actually. His mother is ill, and he's going home for the week."

"She is not ill, Moony. She's just bored and wants someone there to boss around and worry about," Peter explained. Since his father had died, when he was only 10, his mother had doted upon him as though he was five years old.

"Come on now, Pete," Sirius interrupted, "The woman is lonely. If it were my mother- well maybe not my mother, but if it were James' mother- I would go home for her in a heartbeat. Besides," He drew himself up to full height, stretching and casting a wary eye around him, "You're getting out of school, and being excused from all missed work."

"You're lucky, you are. The teachers all like you."

"James, the teachers would like you just fine if you would turn in some of your work now and then."

"Oh, sod off, Moony," He said, more than a bit grumpily. "You're a Prefect; it's your job to turn in work. Not mine." He looked over toward her one last time.

Sirius noticed. "Oh, come off it, mate. She's never gonna like you, the way you've been behaving." At his friends puzzled expressions, he elaborated, "Well, we know exactly what it is she doesn't like about you, right? And, we have two whole months over the summer to work on it. Three, if we start right now."

He was met with two puzzled faces, and another slowly dawning in realization. "So you're saying… that we'll have to completely revamp his outer personality?"

"Exactly. Nothing else has worked so far, has it?"

"All right then. I'll help. I wouldn't exactly call it a good idea to leave such an operation to you. His ego would end up even bigger than it was before… either that or it would be totally destroyed." Remus said, laughing softly.

Sirius appeared to take slight offence, but then shook his head, laughing. "Excellent."

I really don't like the ending at all. It's way too… blah. I don't know.

Anyways, review and you can be named The Coolest Person I Know for a whole day.