James Potter's 10 Favorite Things

Lily snorts, shooting a look at Mary sitting next to her. "What the hell is this?"

Mary shrugs, her eyes focused on the front of the room. The corner of her mouth curled into a small grin. "It got passed to me to give to you. Just read it."

Lily rolls her eyes and looked back down at the list, written on a piece of crumpled parchment. She rereads the title once more before looking up and scanning the room.

Ah, there he is. Stupid Potter, sitting with his stupid friends (well, maybe that's not fair to Remus, but he does choose to spend time with stupid Potter), looking stupid. He catches her eye and grins, miming holding a piece of parchment and reading it. When McGonagall's back is turned, he mouths "read!" and points at the parchment he's still holding. Sirius laughs quietly beside him while Remus just sighs.

"C'mon, Lily, what does it say?" Mary inquires, finally abandoning the pretext of listening to the lesson. Lily just manages to hold the parchment out of reach when Mary makes a grab for it.

"Hey! It's for me!"

"Yes, well, you're not reading it fast enough!"

"Will you give me a bloody second then?"

"Just hand it over! I'll read it!"

"Evans! Macdonald! Is there a problem?"

Professor McGonagall's stern voice breaks through the girls' whispered argument. Lily's face reddens as stupid Potter attempts to smother his laughter in the front of the room. "Not at all, Professor."

"Then I expect no more interruptions. Especially from a prefect. Is that understood?"

Lily nods, and when McGonagall turns her back, punches Mary in the shoulder.

"Ow!"

"Shut up!"

Mary rubs her arm dramatically, muttering something about an ice pack, and cranes her head over Lily's shoulder as the two begin to read.

James Potter's 10 Favorite Things

1. Lily Evans

2. Beautiful red hair

3. Stunning green eyes

4. Lily Evans

5. Dates to Hogsmeade

6. Girls that have a knack for Potions and Charms

7. Lily Evans

8. Not getting hexed after pouring his heart and soul out to a certain fiesty red head

9. Sly attempts at asking out (please refer to #5)

10. Lily Evans

And written at the bottom, in three different types of handwriting:

11. SIRIUS "THE GREAT" BLACK Remus Lupin (the true great) Peter "who do those other two think they're fooling I'M the greatest" Pettigrew

Lily only barely manages to contain her horror. Mary only barely manages to contain her mirth.

"This is-this is absolutely-the stupidest-" Lily splutters, traumatized by Potter's most recent attempt to "woo" her.

Mary's giggles subside just enough for her to mutter, "Oh c'mon. It's kind of cute."

Later that evening, when Lily is lying in her bed, contemplating the hex she used after Transfiguration to make Potter's skin shift through all colors of the rainbow, she decided that maybe (and this was purely playing the Devil's Advocate), just maybe, his list was, in fact, kind of cute.

But that of course did not matter. Not at all. If she thought it was actually cute, she wouldn't have gone and stomped all over #8 on stupid Potter's stupid list.

Right?