She thinks at one point that almost everyone has You-Know-Who printed on their left arms. He's everyone's enemy, right?

But for her, her mortal enemy changes with the times.


"Evans?"

"What do you want, Potter?"

"I was wondering if you wanted to go out with me to Hogsmeade this weekend."

"Not on your life, Potter."

After he leaves, she feels a tingling sensation on her left arm, and when she pulls back the sleeve, words have appeared on her arm.

Her current mortal enemy is James Potter.

Her right arm, her soulmate arm, is blank.


"Go out with me, Evans?"

"No, and get out of my face before I hex you bald."


In seventh year, everything changes. He grows up and so does she, in different ways. They become Head Boy and Girl and as much Lily hates admitting it, James is the perfect choice for the role.

And slowly, little by little, the name on her left arm starts fading.


He traces lazy circles on her arm as she reads. It tickles, but pleasantly so.

"Lily," he says as she turns a page, "do you know what the names on your arms mean?"

"Mhm." She doesn't lift her eyes from the book. "They're your mortal enemy and your soulmate."

"Yep." His fingers skate down her arm and causes shivers to roll down her spine. "Guess who's on my soulmate arm?"

She bookmarks her book and shuts it, looking him right in the eyes. "Three guesses who's on my soulmate arm."

"Hmm." He leans in, the musky scent of his cologne engulfing her and her breath hitches. "I bet their name starts with a J and ends with an R."

Lily leans back. "Joseph Carter?" she teases. "I don't know about him, James, he's really not my type."

"Then who is your type?" His eyes, which have been light and playful, start to smolder.

"Hmm," she says, tapping her chin. "He has to have black hair, for starters."

As if on cue, James's hand darts up to his hair and starts to ruffle it.

"Hazel eyes," she continues, biting her lip and watching with satisfaction as his burning eyes are drawn to the movement. "Tall. Handsome. Marauder."

He's losing his composure, they both know it. She's undoing him, little by little, and it's only a matter of time before—

—his lips crash onto hers, and it's heaven and hell and everything she's ever dreamed of.


"Lily?" It's an idyllic Saturday afternoon. She's once again reading, her back against a tree facing the lake, and James is laying on her lap, staring up the sky.

"Yes, love?" Her hand combs through his hair and James closes his eyes.

"Have you wondered what would happen if we got married?"

"James Fleamont Potter, you better not be proposing to me," she scolds, though they know she doesn't mean it. She would say yes in a heartbeat.

"I'm not," he reassures her. "But have you ever thought about us getting married and starting a family together?"

She chews her lip, setting her book aside. "I have," she admits. "I want nothing more than doing all that with you."

"That's good to know," he says thoughtfully.

They're silent for a few moments before James speaks again. "What do you want our kids' names to be?"

She's given this a lot more thought than anyone gives her credit for. "Harry," she says immediately. "Or if it's a girl, Emma."

"Harry Potter," he tests out. "Emma Potter. Those are lovely names."

"I know." She side-glances at her exposed arm, her soulmate arm, and then a swift glance at her mortal enemy arm.

James Potter has switched sides, now on the soulmate side of her arm, and a new name has appeared on her other arm—Tom Riddle Jr—and she has no idea who it is, but clearly it's someone she'll have to fight sooner or later.

But as long as she has her soulmate at her side, she can face them.


647 words

Assignment 1, Archaeology Task 3 - Write about someone planning for the future.

Sophie's Tearoom - Boston Cream Pie

Writing Club - Amber's Attic - T2; Em's Emporium - Sophy (The Crownless Queen): Write a marauder era fic.

Romance Awareness - You have your soulmate's name on one wrist and your mortal enemy on the other