CHAPTER 2: A LITTLE MIX-UP

Normally the thought of a convention would make me sick, but I was far from feeling nauseous as I sat in the common room with Sirius after a particularly hefty and satisfying lunch. Some would call me crazy, obsessed even. I would like to consider myself... thoughtful. I was, after all, putting myself through pure hell for the one girl I could never get: Lily Pot-... Evans. So what if it was five days of pure torture? So what if I had to spend a week in London without my friends? The thought of being with Lily put all those worries to rest. Of course, Sirius had rolled his eyes at my plan. He told me I would never be able to convince Remus to miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I proved him wrong.

Remus turned out to be very understanding. He's a great person, that Moony. Unlike Sirius, he never laughed at how pussy-whipped I had become. It was in his nature to help others and hell, I wasn't complaining. Now, I know what you're thinking - I took advantage of him; that wasn't the case at all. You see, this trip inconveniently occurred right after the full moon, and poor Remus was still recovering from a particularly nasty night. It all turned out for the best.

So, I was sitting there in the common room, staring blissfully at the wizard chess set in front of me, not really concentrating on the game at all. I was planning my attack to get Lily extremely drunk and then confess my love for her. I'd say it was a pretty fool-proof plan. I determined that I would have a fairly good chance of expressing my feelings to her without spells and curses flying at my face. Well… not unless she was an angry drunk, and knowing my luck, she probably was. I knew she would be more apt to give me a chance if I tried hard not to be a douche-bag; you know, not act like the "arrogant prat" she so pleasantly refers to me as. Through the years I've gotten used to her rejection, her taunting, and her insults. It doesn't make me mad anymore. If anything, it just turns me on. But hey, this isn't about my sexual fantasies. It's about her: the ever-wonderful, extremely beautiful, fiery little redhead named Lily.

I was awakened from my reverie by Padfoot, who decided it a nice gesture to kick me in the shins. I was about to return the favor and give him a good kick myself, but he quickly (and fearfully, may I add) nodded to the staircase behind me and mouthed one beautiful word- "Lily". I hesitated for a moment, wondering if he was trying to create a distraction so I wouldn't break his leg, but I was too gullible and wouldn't turn up the chance to drool over her. I turned around as the graceful figure of one Lillian Evans descended the girl's dormitory staircase. She squinted at me, a look of frustrated annoyance stamped on her face, and I wondered how I had already managed to piss her off.

"Hello, my Lilykins." As the last syllable left my lips, a sudden chill swept my body and the air turned thick and quiet around me. I felt my jaw drop as I realized what I'd just said. Padfoot snickered from across the table.

"Lilykins?" he choked through his teeth, trying to hide his amusement.

I watched in embarrassment as her faced flushed red. Shit.

"Shut the hell up, Potter. I'm not in the mood. Are you ready?" Feeling incredibly ashamed, I watched her stomp down the remainder of the steps before answering.

"Yeah, I guess," I sighed. "I'll see ya later, Padfoot." I got up and patted my friend on the back before levitating my trunk and walking timidly over to Lily.

"Yeah, see ya. Oh, and try not to have too much fun while you're away," he said, still giggling as he waggled his eyebrows. I tried to give him an angry look, but it ended up more as a smirk.

"Boys," I heard her mutter angrily behind me. Then she turned on her heel and was off.

By the time I realized what was going on, Lily had already made her way through the portrait hole and I heard her heavy stomps echoing down the hallway. I shot one more quick glance at Padfoot and then ran to catch up. How she got that far so quickly I would never know, but I finally reached her on the staircases.

"Hey, wait up Lily," I panted.

She rounded on me. "Listen, Potter. I don't know how you did it, but I know that you weren't meant to go on this trip with me—even if Remus was sick, Dumbledore wouldn't send you of all people. I don't know how much you paid him, and I don't want to know what kind of evil magic you used for mind control, but I want to make this very clear to you right now: I don't want you anywhere near me. I want you to leave me alone. I don't want to talk to you, and I don't want to take care of your ass all week, got it?"

Okay, first of all, there was only minor persuasion done on my part…secondly, no illegal potions were used for brainwashing. She underestimated my charismatic personality.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" I put both of my hands in front of me, palms faced out, a sign of peacemaking. "What's with all the hostility Lils? You don't really mean that now, do you? I'll be on my best behavior, I swear." I put as much emphasis on that last word as possible, while making the best puppy dog eyes I could muster. It worked. She didn't exactly smile, but her face softened a bit.

"I don't believe you, Potter. I can't possibly picture you being mature or responsible, even for a second," She paused as if in thought, and suddenly her voice sounded much sharper. "Oh, and one more thing—stop hitting on me all the time. It's getting rather annoying and it's not helping your chances."

I smiled. "But it's just so hard not to flirt with you. Philandering is part of my personality, and your good looks don't help matters."

I got an extremely violent stare and felt that I was pressing my luck. God, she was truly beautiful.

"Oh, come on. I'll leave you alone. Just give me a chance, Lils. That's all I ask."

I received no reply. She turned away from me and kept walking.

.::-::.

We made our way onto the Hogwarts grounds, past Hagrid's hut, and to the front gates without any more conversation. There, Professor Dumbledore was waiting to give us instructions. As we approached him, he smiled at us.

"Ah, Miss Evans and Mr. Potter. About time you came. I was beginning to believe James had gotten himself another detention." There was a glint in his eye and he paused to glance at me over his half-moon spectacles. I didn't know whether to smile or be intimidated.

"If you would kindly follow me, I will escort you to the train." He quickly turned on his heel and strode off through the gates towards Hogsmeade station. There was a moment when both Lily and I looked at each other, making assessments of each others' next moves, and then she was off, her trunk still following closely behind her. I sighed. I loved following Lily. There, I could have free reign to soak in her beauty without her noticing. Plus, she had a nice ass.

After Professor Dumbledore had finished giving us information on our hotel, the convention, and a lecture about how we were representing our school ("You'd be wise to behave yourself this once, Mr. Potter"), we said our goodbyes and boarded our ticket to freedom. I picked out a compartment and to my surprise, Lily joined me. I helped her put her trunk on the luggage rack and received a mumbled "thank you" which I sincerely appreciated, then seated ourselves across from each other. As the train began moving, she pulled out a book and began reading leaving me to fiddle with my thumbs and otherwise be bored out of my mind.

.::-::.

I don't know how long I sat there before I fell asleep, but I was soon being awakened by a particularly violent read-head's angry shrieks and kicks on my legs. My eyes snapped open to find her flushed face merely feet away from my own.

"Potter, we're here. Wake up, you dirty great lump."

"Okay, okay!" I said groggily as I ran my fingers through my hair. Girls like that. "I'm up."

I felt her hand take a hold of my wrist and with great effort, she managed to pull me out of the seat. Unfortunately for me, I was still slightly unconscious and my legs couldn't hold my weight. I fell to the floor. It hurt…a little.

"Oh, sorry James. You alright?" she asked as she leaned down and grabbed my arm again.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I said weakly. "You called me James."

She looked a bit confused for a second, then said quite assuredly, "I did some thinking on the way here. You asked me to give you a chance, so I am." She smiled slightly and then helped me pull myself up, for real this time. I stumbled for a minute, but soon the room stopped spinning and I was able to get my trunk down from the luggage rack.

I had a second chance to be civil with her. I couldn't screw it up.

After I had helped Lily with her trunk, we made our way out into the dark streets of London. Thankfully, our hotel wasn't too far away and we managed to get there before Big Ben's twelfth chime sounded, which reminded me of how tired I actually was. We walked through the front doors of the hotel and were instantly overwhelmed by the scenery around us. It was an extremely nice hotel - everything shined. I wanted to curl up and sleep on the couches in the entryway.

We approached the front desks and waited our turn to check in. There were a lot of witches and wizards there, all going incognito but still easily recognizable by us. After waiting in line for what seemed to be a good ten minutes, I got bored and left Lily to check out the place. I had obviously gotten lost in thought because the next thing I knew, she was standing behind me, tapping me on the shoulder. I turned around to see her cheeks flushed with anger and a look of shock on her pretty face.

"What's wrong, Lily?"

"There's been a mix-up. They don't have any more rooms, Potter. We have to stay..." she paused for dramatic effect and took a large gulp of air before continuing.

"TOGETHER."

Uh-oh.