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I am so sorry I am late posting this chapter! I promise it won't take this long again! I also hate it when other writers take forever to update. :) And I value your reviews and follows.
Jets Sparrow: I'm so glad you love it! And it's not a problem :) Tell me what you think about this chapter.
Musicluver99: Thank you! And I will keep writing. I am so excited for this next chapter.
OnceUponaRavenclaws: First off, awesome name. Second, yay! I'm glad. Hope you like this chapter!
James's POV
Whenever James was upset, he came to the lakefront and sat on one of the strangely comfy roots of a birch tree. Whenever he was upset worrying about his heroic parents, to the lake it was. Whenever he was mad at Padfoot for his 'oops-I-went-too-far' pranks, he brooded as he stared at the calm water. And especially when a certain redhead refused to be with James, did he contemplate staying by the lake for the rest of his life, depressed.
This time, at the lake, it was different. James wasn't upset that Lily wouldn't like him back, though that was still a situation. He was upset that no matter how hard he tried; he could not get over Lily Evans.
Now that he barely saw her, he began to daydream about her. She consumed the entirety of his thoughts, 24/7. And it gave him massive headaches trying to block out his fantasies. He couldn't find anything to think about that wouldn't involve Lily, for his life was surrounded around her. Like his own personal curly red, fiery sun.
So today, James sought to forget about Lily by staring at the calm blue rippling water and thinking about everything but Lily. He was doing a great job, thinking about the next time Remus was going to transform, knowing that it had nothing to do with Lily. That is, until he heard a familiar female voice call to him. Just my luck.
James turned to see Lily bounding down the hill to meet him. How did she even know I was here?... I'm going to kill Padfoot. Suddenly, Lily was standing right next to James, blocking the sun out with her head. James looked up, squinting to see her face. She even looks like the sun from this angle. Ugh Prongs. Stop it.
"Hey Evans…"
"Hello Potter. What're you doing here?" Lily asked, although she probably already knew the answer.
James shrugged, "Just thinking…what are you doing here? Surely you're not looking for me?" He tried to keep his tone light and somewhat teasing, but he failed at that, cracking only the tiniest of smiles.
"Actually, Potter, I did come here looking for you. You see… I'm a terrible person."
James cocked an eyebrow, not quite sure where she was going with this allegation.
Lily breathed in, as if to suck up some courage that was somehow in the air, "I'm a terrible person because I judged you and was horribly mean to you when you didn't even deserve any of my insults. You see, I was so used to despising you that I didn't even notice that you changed. A lot. I didn't notice you stopped pranking irresponsibly. I didn't notice that you stopped bullying first-years. I didn't notice you telling Sirius to lay off and shape up. And I didn't notice what a good person you actually are. That is completely my close-minded fault. And I am really truly sorry."
Lily blurted this all out, and stopped abruptly, holding her breath, looking apprehensively at James. After a few seconds, although they felt like an hour to Lily, James responded.
"It's ok, Lily, I sorta understand. You have hated me since we were first years and I guess old habits die-hard." Yeah, old habits like loving Lily…
Lily looked at him curiously, "James?" He finally looked up at her, hearing her say his name for the first time. "Do you think that maybe I can make up for my terrible actions by asking to be your friend?" Lily looked so anxious, as if waiting for Potter to reject her, just as she had so many times in the past.
"Of course, Lily, of course." Lily beamed at James and extended her hand to him. James took her hand and shook it, confirming the beginning of their strangely new friendship.
This is slightly better than her hating me, and I can live with that. But there is still a hole in my heart that will probably be empty forever.
Lily's POV
Lily trudged up the hill back to Hogwarts thinking immensely about the conversation she had with James. She had to analyze every second of the 5 minutes she was down there. And it was killing her why she even cared that much.
Did he seem happy we were friends?
Did I lose him forever?
Did he believe my apology? OMG. Maybe he didn't. Maybe he thinks I'm an even worse person because I faked an apology. Wait no that doesn't even make any sense…
Does he still want to be my friend?
YES of course he does, Lily…But then why did he not look as excited or his usual Pott—James self?
Did I break him into so many pieces that an apology won't glue him back together? Because then I have to do something else. I HAVE to work harder. To fix him….Because I owe him that much.
But what do I do?
Here, Lily was at a loss. And as she grew accustomed to her surroundings, she realized where she was and found herself actually lost.
Are you serious?! SIRIUS! What would he do to cheer up James? Wait Lily, we've got pressing matters. You don't know where you are.
So Lily wandered around the castle, looking for a familiar landmark, thinking of what Sirius would've done in her place.
Well I know they sneak out to Hosgmeade… And talk a lot about Quidditch…. And girls…I can't really do that with him...
Lily reached an abandoned corridor that had pink and green graffiti on the walls, no doubt magically permanent, because there was a row of weird looking cleaning bottles on the floor, all empty. The graffiti read:
MOONY LOVES TO SNIFF BUTTS! (kind of furry butt drawn)
PADFOOT SHAG NUMBER (followed by tens of tally marks)
PRONGS AND RED SITTING IN A TREE S-N-O-G-G-I-N-G (with 'Red' crossed out in green and a broken heart painted sloppily on top)
It was so painstakingly obvious who wrote that, and despite her situation, Lily began to giggle. And then chuckle. And then full out laugh. After a few minutes of being that crazy bird in the middle of a corridor laughing her head off, Lily wiped out her laughter tears and knew what she had to do to help her new friend get better.
I'm going to prank the school.
What do you think Lily will do? Any ideas? Please review! I seriously would love to hear from you all!