Thanks again to Amenti, american nymphadora and amanamanam for reviewing!
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Ch 10: About Time
"Ready to go and patrol the corridors Lily?" James stood at the base of the stairs going up to the girls' dormitories grinning broadly.
Lily smiled weakly back. Despite all of what Marly had told her, Lily still felt awkward.
"So, friend Lily, where should we start?" James asked with a giant grin and the enthusiasm of one who had just won the lottery.
Together they made their way across the castle, checking the freezing corridors, occasionally catching a student out of bed and docking points. Lily felt slightly less uncomfortable but still didn't know how to go about this whole friend thing. To be honest, Lily didn't really know much about James except that he came from a rich, pure-blood family and that he was a bully and mischief maker.
James was the one who broke the ice and started to talk about himself. Lily was thankful that she hadn't been left to start the conversation. She really was a terrible conversation starter.
For hours they walked and even laughed. James shared outrageous stories of his childhood and last summer with Sirius staying with him and wreaking havoc all over the place.
"You did not!" Lily could barely speak through her laughter.
"We did." James confirmed, trying hard to look serious but failing miserably and laughing hard also.
"Now, your turn, I've just about told you my whole life story. I still don't know much about you except that your beautiful and smart and funny and my new friend." James had been trying to add that into the conversation as much possible, and while it hadn't annoyed Lily before, it seemed to now.
"I'm not!" Lily said sounding slightly irritable. James just laughed good-naturedly again.
"What? My friend or beautiful, smart and funny?" James joked.
"Stop it." Lily said, only now she sounded angry. James had thought that she was joking too but he could tell now that he had been very wrong.
Taking a calming breath, Lily's face drained of anger. "I'm sorry, I just don't like compliments. I am quite well aware that I am not pretty or funny or interesting and I really do not need my nose rubbed in it by you." Lily looked upset but defiant. "Marly is the charismatic, funny one that everyone loves and I'm just boring Lily Evans who everyone forgets or doesn't even notice in the first place."
James looked truly shocked. What was she talking about? She was the most amazing girl he knew. A minute ago they had been getting along like a house on fire. What had gone so horribly wrong?
"I don't study so hard because I particularly always wanted the title of 'Lily the Nerd' or 'Lily the Bookworm'. I can't change what I look like or the kind person I am, but I can work hard and I can get good marks. And maybe one day I can make more of myself than a boring little freak with her nose glued to a book."
Astounded, James eventually found his voice. "Who told you that? Who told you all those things?" He sounded angry and this time it was Lily's turn to be surprised.
"It's nothing alright. Just drop it and let's continue our rounds." Lily looked ashamed of herself and rubbed her eyes roughly.
"No! I won't drop it. I want to know where you got all those ridiculous ideas from!" James was astounded at Lily's lack of confidence in herself.
"My sister." Lily said quietly, hoping he wouldn't hear. "She been telling me that my whole life."
"Your sister?" James asked incredulously. "Your sister told you all that?" He still sounded angry.
Lily had never really admitted to anyone how much her sisters' words and constant insults hurt her. Marly had known that Lily didn't have very much self-confidence but not even she realised it had all stemmed from Petunia's taunts.
Many teenagers suffered from self-esteem issues and Lily was no exception. Most of the time she was fine, only when people, mainly James, showered her with compliments did it bother her. Lily found it impossible to accept a compliment and often thought that the person was just making fun of her. She told James as much.
"She's always told me I won't ever make anything of myself. To her I'm just a useless boring freak who will one day meet a sticky end which will be no more than I deserve for being abnormal." Lily told James sadly. She hated to admit her weakness. While Petunia was always cruel and horrible to her, Lily felt defensive of her sister. She didn't quite understand why but she never wanted anyone to know how mean Petunia was, dislike her or talk badly of her. Clinging to an impossible hope, Lily unwisely believed that maybe one day Petunia could forgive her for being a witch and maybe even love her. Doubtful, but a hope that Lily clung to nonetheless.
"Lily," James said seriously, "You are not a freak and I mean it when I tell you that you're beautiful and funny and interesting. You don't have to compare yourself to Marly. She may be more outgoing but she definitely isn't anymore fun or interesting than you. And as for your sister," James scowled, "don't listen to her. She's just jealous because she could never be as amazing a person as you are!"
"You're not just saying that?" Lily asked disbelievingly.
"Of course not!" James said firmly. "I mean it. Honestly." Lily smiled and James returned it.
"Did you know that that was one of the reasons I hated you so much for so long?" Lily asked.
"What?" James was curious now. "So that was why you hated me more than Sirius, because I complimented you? And flirted with you?"
"Yep. I hated you both because you were fat-headed, bullying prats," Lily grinned cheekily at him and James laughed, "but you always confused me so much with your compliments that I couldn't stand you! I always thought you were making fun of me."
"Never!" James exclaimed honestly.
"So," He shot Lily another playful grin, hoping his humour wasn't going to backfire on him again. "now that we've sorted out your self-esteem issues, revealed that you 'hated' me, past tense, and acknowledged that I am not-joking when I compliment you, does that mean I can bombard you with flattery without you getting mad at me?"
Lily hit him playfully on the arm and laughed again. Was she really friends with James Potter? After all those years of hating him, now here she was, laughing and joking with him like they had been friends forever. Gosh, had she really also just confided in him?
"My beautiful, charming, smart, funny, amazing Lily." James bent over and exaggeratedly pretended to kiss Lily's feet while Lily laughed hysterically, everything from before forgotten. "My friend Lily." He smiled cheekily.
"You do realise that there are conditions, right?" Lily asked jokingly with an irresistibly sweet smile, in James' opinion. Dammit, James thought, that's not fair, she shouldn't be able to smile that nicely, she had an unfair advantage over him!
"Conditions?" James pouted like a child. "That's not fair!" Catching Lily's joking look of disapproval, he stopped pouting. "Fine. Name your terms."
"Well, for a start, no jinxing people including Snape." James face was one of great distaste.
"Come on Lily, that's not fair. Snape is a slimy git, he deserves to be jinxed! If you like, I will make a concerted effort not to jinx him in front of you so you don't feel obligated to do anything about it." James gave what he thought was a winning smile which Lily returned but continued to look expectantly at him. "Fine, fine. No jinxing Snape." James said in a resigned voice keeping his fingers crossed tightly behind his back.
"And all future pranks must have the Lily Evans seal of approval before they go ahead." Lily was testing him and she was also slightly curious about how far he would go to be her friend. James and his friends loved playing pranks. And to be honest, even Lily found a lot of their pranks quite funny, as long as they didn't injure anyone, or God forbid, involve spiders.
"Lily." James whined, "That would take all the fun and surprise out of it! Not to mention that Sirius, Remus and Peter would kill me." Lily smiled. Good answer, apart from the whining. He had proved his loyalty to his friends and even Lily grudgingly admired him for that. And Lily hadn't really wanted to monitor their pranks anyway. She had enough work as it was.
"Fine. But at least try to not strut around the corridors. And God forbid, stop messing up your hair!" Lily said with a pained expression while James laughed hysterically.
"Deal." James said holding out his hand. Shaking his hand, Lily smiled.
"So guess we're friends." She said looking up at him questioningly.
"Damn straight!" Said James firmly. "And about bloody time if you ask me." And companionably, they strolled the corridors.
Lily was surprised at her lack of embarrassment with James. He knew to give her some time and not overbear her with the soppy stuff about how much he liked her. For now he was content to laugh and joke around with her while flirting harmlessly. And Lily, quite honestly now that she knew he wasn't making fun of her, could do with the self-esteem boost. She still had years worth of Petunia insults to get over.
Laughing, Lily and James continued their rounds for another few hours. James was deliriously happy. After so many years, he had finally cracked Lily Evans. For the first time she was laughing at something he had said instead of yelling and she was smiling at him without a hint of sarcasm. The girl he had fancied forever was finally talking to him in a friendly manner.
"So, tell me about you Lily Evans." James said smiling at her. She had got his life story but he still knew little about her.
Lily smiled and began the stories of her own childhood. James listened with rapt attention at her non-magical upbringing, fascinated with the things like computers and muggle school.
Lily was proud of herself. In less than three months, she had overcome some huge hurdles with James. For the first time she had managed to see beyond the arrogant, bulling prat she had hated for years.
He's really not so bad, Lily thought to herself. And in the most unlikely person ever, Lily found a new friend.