A.N: Okay, another spoiler-ish fic. I'm not quite sure about it, James seems rather young in this, so that could be a bad thing, or it could be just my experience with fourteen year old boys ;)

Lyrics at the beginning and the end belong to Guster, Centre of Attention, which I think seem to fit James pretty well.

I'm the centre of attention, I promise you I've always been like this.

James just couldn't understand it. What was it with Evans? He'd been perfectly courteous to her; well, as courteous as a fourteen year old boy going through a growth spurt with an exceedingly privileged lifestyle could be, and yet she was still refusing to acknowledge his existence!

"Dun' worry about it, mate," Sirius had said to him when James had voiced his thoughts one night in the dormitory, "She's being a girl, plus, she's friends with Snivellus; you can't expect her to adore you, can you?"

Although his best friend did have a point, the young boy, (or rather, young man in James' own opinion of himself, as he was fourteen now), wanted to get to the bottom of it. He racked his brains for anything that he could've done that would have make her act so…uncivil towards him and bought up no results.

He'd complimented her looks, (although Remus had told him what he'd said was rather crude, whatever that meant), carried her things for her, (alright, so he black-mailed a first year to do it, but to him, it wasn't that big of a deal), he'd even tried to get that snivelling slime-ball, Snape, off her back for her, as he was clearly poisoning her mind, (he'd got into trouble for that, so to him it showed her that he was willing to lose points for hexing Snivellus in a corridor for her attention), but none of it had worked.

Most of all, James couldn't understand how Severus Snape of all people had managed to befriend Evans, managed to make her smile, spend time with him, listen to him. How was it that Snivellus could do that when he, James Potter, couldn't?

He managed to successfully survey them one day in the courtyard, going over schoolwork or something like that but, to James' glee, Evans wasn't smiling.

"– No, Sev, I don't understand how it's perfectly acceptable –"

"For heaven's sake, Lily, Avery wasn't aiming it at you –"

"Oh, no, you're right, why on Earth would he want to call me a Mudblood, anyway? I mean, it's not like he's an opinionated Death Eater in the making, is he?"

He watched as Evans packed her things away, watched Snape's desperate attempts to get her to stay, watched as he stopped and stormed off to the dungeons, and felt indignation rise up inside of him. How dare Snape say it was okay for someone to call Evans the…M-word.

Lost in his own thoughts, James didn't notice the red-head collide into his shoulder, knocking her books flying across the cobblestones.

One of his hands ruffled his hair instinctively, his insides rapidly tying up in knots, "Er…sorry, Evans, didn't see you!" He grinned widely, ignoring the roll of her eyes as she bent to pick up her fallen material.

"It's alright, I'll get them," James was instantly on the floor beside her, hastily grabbing the books and placing them in her hands. He noticed her surprised expression and grinned again for good measure.

Lily stared at him for a few moments, and James suddenly felt very exposed whilst under the scrutiny of those vibrant, emerald eyes of hers.

"…Thanks," she said slowly, and James could see that she was still shaken from the incident before.

"You know," he began hesitantly, "You can't please everyone."

"Excuse me?" An incredulous look formed itself on her face, eyebrows rising.

"Well," James tried again, "I mean that…well, you shouldn't care about what people like Avery think –"

"– You were eavesdropping! –"

"– Yeah, actually, I was, but that's beside the point." He sighed, and willed himself to actually think about what he was trying to say.

"What I'm trying to say, Evans, is that you shouldn't try to please someone that's never really going to see past their own prejudices, because it's like…like trying to eat one of Hagrid's rock cakes; there just isn't a point."

Lily considered for a moment, and James watched as her eyes glanced backwards to the spot where she and Snape had been seated minutes before.

"You really think so?" She turned back towards him, and James was surprised to see that she looked quite troubled. Did Snivellus' friendship really mean that much to her?

"Er…it's not like you couldn't try," he answered, trying not to upset her even more, "but, you know, Augurey's can't change their song and all that. If I were you I'd just…I'd just stick to people who you know admi– like you."

A ghost of a smile flitted across her face for a brief moment, and James instantly felt elated, thrilled at being able to make her actually smile.

I'm just as good, no, what am I on about? I'm better than Snape, anyway.

"Sometimes, Potter," Lily stated as she began to walk away from him, "You actually are alright." Her head turned to look him in the eye, "But only for brief moments."

So from that moment on, even though James carried on being James and playing Quidditch and generally being amazing, (in his opinion), and Lily carried on being caring and trying to get along with everyone and ignoring the names and remarks about her heritage right up until the end, James felt that they'd come to a mutual understanding of a sort.

And that was something James knew Snape no longer had.

My bubble can't burst.