The Journal

Summary: James recieves a journal for Christmas from an anonymous sender. What better to do with it, than write? Seventh year, JP pairing. R&R please!

A/N: Wewt! Another update. The story is coming to a close - almost. There are still one more chapter to be done.

Harry Potter does not belong to me, but to J.K Rowling.

James: Not bad, you're formal for once.
Me: Shut up. -pulls out lightsaber-
Remus: Now, now, let's not get into agressive negotiations...
Me: Sometimes, you make no sense.

James Potter sullenly saw the grey skies from the ceiling of the Great Hall. It was around a week after the disastrous New Years Eve that he had spent with Lily. He'd hoped that she would at least stop thinking of him as a prat, but she didn't. She still thought that he was a jerk, and a child with no maturity.

He sighed. It was the first day of second term, and McGonagall had hunted him down already to tell him about the Prefect's meeting scheduled for that afternoon. With a groan, he remembered that Lily was going to be there. It was the first time he would get close to Lily after what had happened.

Glancing around the Hall, he noticed that it was still rather early. So, he pushed away his plate of toast and pulled out the leather bound journal and began to write.

January 8, 1979

Prefect's meeting later today...it's the first time I'm going to get close to Lily after that fight we had. Can it be called a fight? Okay, let's recap...

1. She accused me of not misbehaving

2. Does not believe that I am no longer an arrogant jerk.

3. Doesn't believe that old habit's eventually die out.

Yeah. Well, I didn't do much. I just told her that I changed, and she's stuck believing that I'm still a grade A jerk, with a warped sense of humor. What the hell am I supposed to do, if a spider crawling up Minnie's hat makes me laugh? That's not being immature, that's simply laughing at a funny situation. Sometimes, I just feel that Lily and Minnie (Professor McGonagall), ought to go out for tea sometime. I mean, they have a lot in common. No sense of humor, and a tendancy to think the worst of a situation.

Now, I'm not saying anything bad about my professor. She's excellent in a lot of things, such as Transfiguration. During our first year, she used me as an example when Lily couldn't turn a matchstick into a needle. Of course, mine was a perfect needle. Needless to say, I got a perfect for that assignment. Then, there's her love for Quidditch. If she were just a few decades younger, she would have made the team for England. I've seen her play in Dumbledore's pensieve. Do not ask how I managed to do that. Long story.

Well, there's nothing much I can do about the situation, except ponder on about what's going to happen. I have some Quidditch moves to perfect, some strategies to try out, some idiots in Slytherin and a certain jerk in Hufflepuff to hex for associating and conspiring.

Cya.

James.

"What in the name of Nymphadora K. Tonks are you doing?" Remus had just gotten down to breakfast and was frowning at James, who paused.

"Why did you just use Sirius's cousin's name?" he asked curiously. His friend simply shrugged, then sat down and grabbed a piece of toast.

"I have to get down to the hospital wing after classes." he said casually, then lowered his voice. "Got it planned?" he asked.

James nodded. "Been perfectin' it. Sirius helped a lot, which is quite nice for a change." he whispered back, then reopened his journal and pulled out a few pieces of folded parchment. Remus frowned slightly at the sight of his journal, but said nothing as James pushed it back into his bag. "Okay, so I suggest that we head from the Shrieking Shack, down Hogsmeade to that pile of rocks. Remember last time we found a nice little hole there? We can spend our time there if you want, then head back."

Remus frowned. "That's it? No sneaking around Hogsmeade, back into the Castle? No exploring mountain ranges? None of that?" James shook his head.

"I wanted to spend some quiet time, just the four of us." he explained. "Paddy agreed with me, so that's what we're doin'." Then, he said casually, "He also suggested that we ditch Peter."

"What?! You know we can't!" Remus replied shocked.

"C'mon, how long it is going to take for one of us to stuff him into a crack in that house? I mean, there are tons of them." James said.

"What if he goes into shock, then transforms?" Remus shot back.

"He'd bust a wall, so what?" James replied, shrugging. Remus shook his head.

"I don't think you can understand the gravity of the situation here. He can get seriously injured." Remus explained. "I don't think we ought to ditch him."

James sighed irritadedly. "Fine, we won't. Happy?"

"Yes."

Sighing once more, he returned to his toast, wondering what the first week of the new year would bring him.

Lily Evans was troubled. In fact, she was more than troubled. James had been acting extremely strange since Christmas, and on odd occasions she found him with a certain leatherbound journal tucked under his arm, along with a quill somewhere in his hair. With a jolt, she realized who had sent that journal.

I didn't expect him to write in it! she wailed internally. She had sent him the beautiful book as a joke, a misunderstanding. Lily had half-expected him to throw it into the garbage bin at first sight. However...another part of her hoped secretly that he would keep it, write in it as time went by. It was nothing more than a hope, but now that it had actually come true...she wasn't exactly prepared to deal with the consequences.

Sighing, she walked onwards. It took her a few moments to realize that the corridor was completely deserted.

Where the heck am I? she wondered panicking. She was lost, that was obvious. Lily never knew how Potter and his mates took the long routes and always made it to class on time.

Smiling slightly, she remembered the first ever time she'd met them. It was on the train, and she had been sitting in the compartment, talking with Sev about the Houses. With a pang, she reminisced Severus Snape. She saw him around the school, but nothing was exchanged between then except for a curt nod, or perhaps nothing, if he was surrounded by his Death Eater cronies. It was unacceptable to associate with a mudblood. Lily smiled sadly, and remembered all those secret meetings by the park, where he opened up a whole new world to her.

And then there was James. Black-haired, annoying...and so dreamy. Currently, Lily's feelings for James had been taking a rather winding turn. She'd spent the rest of New Years huddled in that little couch that he had given up for her, wondering what all that was about. The fight had left her rather speechless. Both at James and herself. She couldn't believe that she'd been such an idiot and completely overlooked what had been sitting right in front of her.

A small sigh escaped her lips, she glanced at the stone floor in front of her. The steady grey, with the occasional bump soothed her nerves for some reason. She quietly steeled herself for what was about to come.

The next time Potter asked her out, she would say yes. As her mother had always said, you never know what a thing was until you gave it a chance.

And right now, she felt ready to give James Potter a chance. A rather big one too.

She heard a scuffling noise behind her and turned to see who it was.

"Blasted quill...I hate Padfoot, I hate him, I hate him, I hate-" James stopped and stared as Lily came up the deserted hallway. "What are you doing here?" he blurted out before he could stop himself.

Lily raised one perfect eyebrow, and gazed at him. "That's none of your concern, Potter." she replied coolly. "I think we have to get back to our Common Rooms now. The Prefect meeting is over, after all. Unless, of course, you want to stay behind a curse some poor first year for looking at you funny?" she questioned.

James shrugged. He was too tired to put up with her jabs at the moment. "I've changed. You know that," he replied tiredly. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go curse a certain best friend for making my ink bottle and quill explode in the middle of the meeting."

Lily rolled her eyes, and managed a small smile. "Still up to all that junk, is he?" she asked. "I thought he'd mature." She looked at him pointedly.

Lily Evans had come to terms with the fact that James Potter may be a hazel-eyed jerk, but that did not make him any less of a person.

Or any less of a gorgeous Quidditch player, with finely toned muscles.

Lils...keep yar cool. she reprimended herself.

"Oh, so Sirius has more capability to mature than me? I'm surprised at you, Ms. Evans." he replied.

"I didn't say it that way." she said quickly, masking her words. "I meant that..."

"Meant what...precisely?" He was too close to her. James Potter had noticed exactly how Lily's green eyes had looked at him. He couldn't mistake that look.

Gently cupping her cheek, he kissed her. Lily's eyes widened, but she kissed him back. It was all that she could do, after all.

When they broke apart, the look on Lily's face was priceless. "What-what-how-why...JAMES POTTER YOU ARE SO DEAD!" she screamed. James shrugged, and continued on his way.

"I had to find a way to make you realize that I'm not a prat." he said to her over his shoulder. Hiding his smirk effectively, he walked onwards down the hallway. Lily glanced at him momentarily, until she ran down the hallway too and hugged him from behind.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. James smiled.

"I knew you'd come around." he said back to her. She hugged him even tighter, but said nothing. This was the moment that he had been waiting for.

Whoo, journal do you ever have an entry...he thought silently to himself as they walked back towards the Gryffindor Tower.

A/N: Yay! They kissed! It's been building up to this moment for a while now. I'm very sorry to see this story go, but hey. I'm thinking about a sequel...nothing is solid though! I might, or might not. It really depends.

To Come: Journal entry.