Disclaimer: JK Rowling is ridiculously rich. I am not. Make of that what you will.

Lily Evans wasn't happy. It was her first week at Hogwarts, and she had already managed to get into a fight with one of the girls in her dormitory, fail miserably at her first Transfiguration lesson, ruin three of her shirts by spilling ink all over them, light two of her essays on fire (she soon learned that keeping lit candles next to her parchment as she worked wasn't a very good idea), and get set ten tons of homework. Now she was on her way back from the library, having just

finished her DADA essay.

I miss Sev, she thought miserably. Her best friend, Severus Snape, had been Sorted into Slytherin, while she had gone to Gryffindor, so she didn't see very much of him. She did see quite a lot of someone else, though. Someone (Potter, she thought he was called) who insisted on calling her "Carrots".

Lost in her self-pitying thoughts, she didn't pay attention to where she was going, and when it's your first week in Hogwarts, that is precisely what you shouldn't do. Soon enough, Lily realized that she had no idea where she was, and didn't have a clue how to get back to her dormitory before curfew.

I should add getting detention onto the list of things that went wrong this week, she thought, and then sighed. She would have to try and retrace her steps, which was pretty difficult seeing as nothing ever seemed to stay in its proper place.

Trying to remember if the suit of armor had been there the last time she'd turned that corner, she didn't notice Potter sprinting down the hallway until it was too late.

She let out a groan as he collided with her and sent her books tumbling out of her hands. She bent down to pick them up, but he had already done that.

"Sorry," he said, handing the books back to her. "It's ok," Lily answered, rather stiffly. "I should

get going," she said, and walked off. Then she realized that she had gone in the wrong direction, and turned around, and then turned back around again, trying to figure out which way was the way to Gryffindor Tower. Potter watched her, evidently amused by her confusion.

"Need help finding the common room?" he asked, smirking at her.

"Obviously," she snapped at him, trying to cover up the fact that she was blushing (why was she blushing?)

"Follow me," he said, and ducked behind a tapestry.

Lily hesitated for a second, then looked behind the tapestry. There she found a tunnel. Hoping with all her might that it wasn't some sort of sick prank or something, she climbed in.

It wasn't. In exactly three seconds flat, she was facing the Fat Lady.

"Woah," she said, impressed. Maybe Potter wasn't so bad after all. He certainly had his merits.

"What would you have done if I hadn't crashed into you, eh?" Potter asked.

"I'd probably still be wandering around that corridor," Lily admitted. "But that doesn't excuse you from breaking the rules," she added. "Running in the corridors isn't allowed."

Potter's smirk only grew. "Carry on talking like that and you might be made a Prefect," he warned.

"And what's the matter with becoming a Prefect?" Lily asked coolly. She was rather hoping to be made one herself.

Potter gasped dramatically. "What's the matter? Why, Prefects are boring, rule-abiding nerds that like to destroy fun!" He turned to the Fat Lady before Lily could say anything. "Hopping Pot." He climbed into the portrait hole.

"See you around, Carrots!" he called cheerfully, and disappeared from view. Flushed with anger, Lily climbed through the hole after him, vowing never to accept help from the jerk ever again.

xXxX

Lily couldn't help but let out a whoop as James Potter scored yet another goal. He really was one of the best Quidditch players out there, despite the fact that he was only a second year.

"And Potter is off again, stealing the Quaffle from the Ravenclaw Captain and throwing it- HE SCORES! That's eighty-twenty to Gryffindor, folks, eighty-twenty-"

The commentary was cut off by a great roar from the Gryffindors, who were shouting themselves hoarse.

Lily leaned forward in her seat. At times like this, she could almost forgive Potter for being the biggest git on the planet.

"We're in the lead!" Marlene cried, jumping up and down.

Suddenly, Lily saw the Gryffindor Seeker, Sommers, go into a steep dive. The Ravenclaw Seeker noticed and dived too, inches behind Sommers.

"They've seen the Snitch!" Lily shrieked at the top of her lungs.

"And it's Sommers and Goldstein, racing after the Snitch- neck and neck- Sommers reaches out- so does Goldstein- SOMMERS CATCHES THE SNITCH! GRYFFINDOR WIN! Two hundred thirty to twenty! What a game, what a game!"

"We did it!" Lily and Marlene squealed, hugging each other.

"Come on! Party in the common room!" Mary MacDonald said. "Sirius has got it all set up!"

"Black?" Lily frowned, but Mary and Marlene weren't hearing it. They dragged her out of the stands and all the way up the stairs to the common room.

Once the party started, Lily had to admit that it wasn't that bad. There was excellent food (where Black had gotten it from, she didn't know- and she wasn't sure she wanted to know), and the atmosphere was a very fun one. Even McGonagall had stopped by to congratulate the team.

Potter stood in the middle of the room, surrounded by admirers. Lily teetered for a moment on the edge of her seat, then got up. If McGonagall had congratulated him, then she probably should too. And she would've, if she hadn't had heard him showing off to everyone just then.

"Oh, it was one of the easiest things I've ever done," he was saying. "I mean, I'm an excellent flier, so it wasn't all that hard. And that Ravenclaw Captain- Bones, or whatever she's called- is just pathetic. When I'm Gryffindor Captain-"

Lily turned around, not wanting to hear him any more. She didn't need to congratulate him, he was doing a fine job himself. She stalked off back to where her friends sat. Bigheaded prat, she thought.

xXxX

Merlin, Potter was annoying.

Ever since the notice for the Hogsmeade trip had been put up, he

wouldn't stop asking her out. Every time she saw him, he proceeded to

ask her. It was becoming the main topic of discussion at school. "I

hear Potter is going to ask Evans out again." "Really? Again? Even

after she told him that if he asked her again she'd concuss him?"

If he asked her again, she really would. It was her first trip to Hogsmeade and she didn't want Potter messing it up for her.

And there he was again. Lily quickly ran up two staircases and took a shortcut to the library, hoping to shake him. She had to finish her Transfiguration essay about Animagi anyway. She pulled out her books and set to work, but was distracted by the sound of the door opening.

Her heart sank. There stood Prat Potter.

She had no hope of packing everything before he saw her. She shrank against the wall, hoping against hope that he wouldn't notice her.

Surprisingly, he didn't. He walked straight over to one of the shelves and started flipping through one of the books. Lily craned her neck to see what was written on the cover. One Hundred and One Facts About Animagi. Huh. Potter was doing his homework. Strange.

She didn't want to continue working lest he hear the scratching of her quill, so she watched the rest of the people in the library. Three tables away, two Slytherins were snogging. Lily quickly looked away at the table to her left, where a bunch of timid first-year Hufflepuffs were practicing the Levitation Charm on some books. Potter was a few feet away, a faint frown on his face, immersed in his book. Lily was slightly alarmed by the fact that Potter was reading. The only times she'd ever seen him use a book were when he was using them as projectiles to throw at Black's head. But here he was, reading. Lily couldn't make any sense of it.

BANG! Lily jumped violently. At the table next to her, one of the volumes a small blond Hufflepuff girl had been trying to levitate burst into flames. The rest of the Hufflefuffs screamed while the girl stared, horrified, at what she had done. Quick as a flash, Potter was there, putting out the fire with his wand. The blond girl burst into tears, looking at the smoldering wreck of what had used to be a book. Lily winced, thinking of what Madam Pince would do to the poor girl.

"What was that- Oh my goodness!" Madam Pince had arrived, and was currently shrieking at the top of her lungs, looking from the sobbing girl to Potter, who was patting her awkwardly on the back. The snogging Slytherins had broken apart to see what all the fuss was about. "Explain yourselves!" she demanded furiously.

Hiccuping, the girl tried to speak, but Potter interrupted her. "It was my fault, Madam. I was showing these kids here how to produce fire that doesn't burn, but I guess something went wrong." He grinned at her. "Whoops."

Madam Pince's eyes bugged out of her head. "You did what, idiotic child?"

"What you heard," Potter lied easily.

"One- no, two- no, three, three months of detention, Potter! And I'll be reporting you to the Headmaster! You have desecrated one of my books! Out of here! All of you!" Madam Pince looked like she was about to explode. "Everyone out! The library is closed!"

Nobody needed any convincing. All the students ran out of the library as fast as their legs could carry them.

"I'm sorry," the little Hufflepuff wailed. "Don't be," Potter said cheerily, "I've gotten plenty of detentions in my life. What's three more months?" The girl continued crying, so he pulled a chocolate and a handkerchief out of his pocket and handed them to her. "Come now, it's

ok. Everybody has some magical accidents now and then, I once turned my best mate's hair pink and orange. He was ready to murder me," he added with a reminiscent smile. The Hufflepuffs all giggled. "Run along now."

The Hufflepuffs walked away, talking excitedly about James Potter.

Lily bent down to reorganize her bag, she had stuffed everything in there in her haste to get out of the library. She heard footsteps behind her and turned around. It was Potter.

"How's it going, Evans?"

"Fine. That was a nice thing you did back there," she said. She wasn't sure why she had complimented him, and regretted the words the instant she had uttered them. It was rather nice of him, but his already over-inflated head didn't need more praise.

"You sound surprised," he noted, leaning against the wall.

His tone of voice was playful, flirty, even. This annoyed Lily to no end. "Yeah, well," she said, straightening up and swinging her bag over her shoulder, "It's not every day you see James Potter do something that isn't at other people's expense."

He laughed. "Is that really what you think of me, Evans?"

"Yes," Lily said, blushing slightly -what was the matter with her?- and starting down the hall towards the Charms classroom.

He followed her. "So, what were you saying before? Oh, yeah, now I remember. You were telling me what a nice person I am, how handsome you find me-"

"I said nothing of the sort, Potter," Lily snapped.

"Come on, Evans, you know that it's true," he sang.

Lily tried her best to ignore him, really, she did. But when she heard him say, "Go out with me, Evans?" she couldn't control herself. The thump her bag made as it crashed into Potter's head was music to her ears.

xXxX

Lily didn't know what to think.

Potter had saved Severus.

Potter had saved Severus.

Potter had saved Severus.

Sev could deny it from today till next year, and maybe Potter had been saving his own neck, but the fact remained that Potter had saved Severus.

She had seen Potter the day after, covered in scratches from the Whomping Willow. To her surprise, he wasn't bragging about his great rescue mission.

Something was strange about this situation.

Which brought her to Severus' theory.

As much as it pained her to admit it, the idea that Remus was a werewolf made a lot of sense. That didn't mean that she was disgusted by him. No, Remus had always been the nicest out of all the people in Potter's clique. He was shy and rather bookish, but had a great sense of humor and was kind to everyone.

If he was a werewolf, Potter would obviously know. And Severus had gone down to the Willow on the night of a full moon… And Remus had looked rather tired the next morning… And Potter hadn't boasted. He actually seemed positively desperate to keep the whole thing secret.

Was Potter trying to help his friend by keeping his identity a secret?

It was all too confusing. But sometimes Lily wondered if maybe Potter wasn't as black as she painted him.

Then she would get mad. Why was she defending Potter? Severus was right, Potter was just trying to save himself from expulsion. Besides, if she started to defend Potter, who knew where it would end?

Lily shuddered at the thought.

No, hating Potter was much safer.

xXxX

"It's ok, Mar, breathe please! Just breathe!"

Lily had no idea what to do. They had just been doing some last minute revising before their first O.W.L, Defence Against the Dark Arts, when all of a sudden Marlene collapsed, sweating and shaking. Now she was sobbing, too, and Lily was afraid that she was hyperventilating. Or worse, having a heart attack.

Lily glanced around. The common room was completely empty. She knew she should go get Madam Pomfrey, but she didn't want to leave Marlene alone in her present state. She bit her lip, close to tears herself.

Then the portrait hole opened and her saviour arrived- in the unlikely form of James Potter.

"What's going on here?" he asked.

"It's Marlene, I don't know what's happened to her!" Lily explained quickly, willing herself not to cry in front of Potter.

Potter took one look at Marlene and seemed to know what was wrong with her in an instant. "She's having a panic attack."

"Is it dangerous?" Lily asked fearfully.

"It isn't life threatening, but you should go get Madam Pomfrey and ask her to bring a Calming Draught," he answered. Suddenly, he looked a lot more mature.

"And what're you going to do?"

"I'm going to try and calm her down," Potter said. He then turned his attention to Marlene. "Hey, Mar, we're going to try to breathe, OK? Come on, we'll do it together." He started counting her breaths. "One... two..."

Lily watched in amazement. Potter was actually managing. Marlene's gasps were slowing.

Potter caught her eye. "What are you waiting for?"

Lily quickly scrambled out of the portrait hole, and as she did so she heard Potter's soothing voice behind her: "Good job, Mar. Let's do it again, alright? One... two..."

Lily ran faster than she ever did in her life. By the time she arrived at the hospital wing, she was breathing as heavily as Marlene.

"Calm down, Miss Evans! What's wrong?"

"Marlene," Lily managed to get out. "Needs... Calming... Draught."

Fortunately, Madam Pomfrey didn't question her. Lily guessed that this wasn't the first time someone needed one before an O.W.L. "You catch your breath, dear, while I go get the potion."

She was back with it in no time. "Where is she?"

"In the common room," Lily answered.

"You didn't leave her there by herself, did you?" Madam Pomfrey asked sternly.

Lily hastened to reassure her. "No, no, I left her with Potter." Then she realized how that must sound. Leaving the school's biggest prankster with someone who's having a panic attack?

But Madam Pomfrey smiled. "Good choice, Miss Evans." She set off briskly towards the common room, Lily hurrying along beside her.

When they arrived in the common room, Marlene was laughing at one of Potter's jokes. Her eyes were still red rimmed, but she was a lot calmer.

"Good job, Potter," Madam Pomfrey said approvingly. "Miss McKinnon, is this the first time you've had a panic attack?"

"Yes," Marlene mumbled, embarrassed at making such a scene.

"Well, if this is just your first time, you should take this to prevent a recurrence." Madam Pomfrey handed the potion to Marlene, who took it obligingly.

"Good job, Potter, Miss Evans," Madam Pomfrey repeated. Then she climbed out of the portrait hole.

The three of them stood in uncomfortable silence. Marlene finally spoke. "Um, I think I'll just go up and wash my face…" she trailed off.

"Yeah, that's a good idea," Lily said. "I'll wait for you down here."

"OK," Marlene said. "I'm sorry I botched our revision, Lily."

"It's fine," Lily said. "Don't worry about it."

"Um, OK. Thanks. You too, James," she added.

"No problem," he said.

Marlene went up the stairs to the girl's dormitory. Lily turned to Potter. "How did you know she was having a panic attack?"

"Well, it's kind of hard to live with Remus and Sirius and not know what a panic attack looks like," he said.

"Black has panic attacks?" Lily asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No, but he's the main reason Remus has them," Potter answered.

Lily laughed against her will. Potter looked rather pleased with himself.

As she walked to the Great Hall, Lily realized something. She had trusted Potter, hadn't questioned him when he told her what to do.

She wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not, but today Potter had proved that he could be trusted. Sometimes.

He was finally growing up, Lily realized.

But then, Potter had to ruin it.

"Leave him ALONE!"

She couldn't believe it. He had seemed so considerate this morning, but he still thought it was funny to torture Sev.

"Ah, Evans, don't make me hex you."

No, Potter hadn't grown up. And he never would.

xXxX

Bad Lily. Don't think that.

Sixth year was a very stressful year for Lily. Not just because of their lessons, but because You-Know-Who was, slowly but surely, gaining power. Every day brought more news of disappearances, injuries, and deaths. Lily couldn't help but wonder who would be next. Mum? Dad? Tuney?

You're doing it again, Lily.

But she couldn't help noticing how many Muggles were dying.

She also couldn't help noticing something else.

Potter, to be precise.

He had started putting effort into his schoolwork, had stopped pranking people every five seconds, and didn't get half as many detentions.

It was quite unnerving.

But he was the same, cheerful, insanely annoying person he was. He was constantly making frightened or anxious students laugh, and never missed a chance to tease had stopped asking her out so frequently. In fact, he hadn't asked her for six months already. The people who had bet on him getting her to go out with him were extremely disgruntled.

Lily didn't know for sure what had caused him to change, but she thought that maybe he had taken the words she'd shouted at him on that fateful day by the lake to heart, and decided to do something about it.

She was rather touched.

xXxX

Gone. They were gone. Gone forever.

Lily was sitting in the tunnel James had shown her in first year, her

knees drawn up to her chest.

Her parents were gone. A car crash had taken them from her.

Petunia hadn't even bothered to send her an owl. That hurt. Lily knew Tuney loathed owl post, but these were their parents they were talking about.

It didn't matter. Maybe she thought freaks didn't care about their parents.

McGonagall had told her, as gently as possible. She said that there hadn't been any Death Eater involvement. Lily wondered how she had even found out.

When she had heard enough, Lily ran. She ran to the first place she thought of, which was this tunnel, but she didn't cry. She wasn't crying now either. Merlin, what was wrong with her?

Lily heard footsteps, and looked up. James was standing in the entrance to the tunnel.

They had grown close, very close, in the past few months. Maybe it was because of their Head duties, maybe it was because he had grown up, maybe it was because she had let go of her old prejudices against him. She didn't know how, but it had happened.

"What's with the long face, Evans?" he teased.

Something inside Lily snapped. She jumped up, feeling the old hatred she had once had for him pounding in her veins.

"I'll tell you what's with the long face, Potter. My parents are dead."

Dead. The reality of it hit her with the force of a speeding Graphorn, and she collapsed, her body wracked with sobs. James was by her side in an instant, his warm, strong arms wrapped around her.

"Oh, James," she got out. "They're dead."

Dead. Her parents were dead. Her dad, who had laughed with her, had tickle fights with her, who had scared off boys for her, was dead. Her mom, who had taught her how to read, had girl talks with her, who had always tried to keep the peace between her and Petunia, was dead.

They had been so proud of her…

And there they sat, James Potter and Lily Evans, once sworn enemies, and now best friends, in a dark tunnel, James holding Lily as she cried for her parents.

Gradually, Lily's sobs subsided. She was too tired and heartbroken to cry anymore. She looked up at James, and her eyes met his.

"I'm sorry about your parents," he said softly.

And then he kissed her.

He then seemed to realize what he had just done. "Sorry," he said, his cheeks flaming, and then he jumped up and ran out of the tunnel.

Lily touched her lips with a light finger, recalling how soft and warm his lips were, how he had smelled of cinnamon, and was primarily reminded of his character growth since first year.

A ghost of a smile played at her lips, the lips James Potter had just kissed.

Maybe she didn't hate Potter after all.

A/N: Whew! That was the longest thing I've written so far. I have to say that I've been delighted with the amount of favorites my past three stories have gotten. I wasn't expecting that many at all! But there is a sad lack of reviews, so please don't favorite without reviewing! Or if you didn't favorite it, tell me why! I want to hear you!

I'm in the middle of two other oneshots, so maybe I'll even have time

to post them today. We'll see.

Toodles!

Phoenixes :D

Revised A/N: Hi! I fixed up some minor mistakes here. One of the oneshots I wrote about in the first A/N is finished and will be posted shortly.

Thanks to the two people who reviewed, Sebbyyyyy and Avalain Nightshade!

PF&F