Thanks a million for all the reviews and favorites and story/author alerts! You guys are honestly fantastic. I'm pretty excited about where this story is going, honestly! (And also because, y'know, this is my first "real" story...I'm awful at procrastinating. I should win and award or something. Also, apologies for those who said that the chapter didn't show up! Something went weird and I tried to edit it and it...well...yeah. Deleted it. Sorry!

And I know I haven't done this in the past chapters, but I want to start doing it now. So. Special thanks to:

ihearttheweasleytwins: Thank you! I'm glad you're enjoying the story so far :D

EnchantedWords17: Why thank you! If you like the plot bunnies so far, there's a lot more where THAT came from, lol! Thanks for reviewing!

And then thank you for everyone who added my story to alerts, favorties, etc! It means a lot!

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. J.K. Rowling does.

Chapter Three: All Alright

And I know, ohh nooo,

You've fallen from the sun,

Crashing through the clouds.

I see you burning out, and I know, ohh nooo,

That I put out a front

But maybe, just this once,

Let me keep this one

-"All Alright" by Fun.

SEPTEMBER 18TH, 1976

The Common Room was close to being empty. It was close to midnight, and many students were starting to drift into their rooms. I wished I were one of those people. But, alas-I wasn't. Transfiguration homework was, once again, keeping me from being able to sleep. How anyone could actually understand this was amazing to me! All of the spells and direction look like a foreign language to me! Marlene told me I should just ask someone to tutor me-I always replied with a, "when hell freezes over." I have my pride. I have my dignity. I would just sort through the jungle all by myself, and somehow I'd get a good grade. I had to. I had to get something above an A this year. Since I wanted to become a Healer (that's like a Doctor in the wizarding world) I had to get really good grades in most of my subjects. Which, I'd like to point out, I've pretty much accomplished. Hell, I knocked most of the students of Hogwarts out of the ballpark with my O.W.L.S last year! You know, except that pesky Transfiguration grade...it was going to kill me. Whether I threw myself off the Astronomy Tower or was driven stark raving mad, it was going to happen. I knew it!

I told Marlene this and she told me I was working too hard and I should go to bed. Pfft. Pfft. Me? Working too hard? How preposterous! "I think you should go to bed," she started and I huffed at her suggestion "but, obviously you aren't so try not to be driven into insanity." And with that, she patted me softly on the shoulder and went up to the dorms, as well, leaving me as the only one in the Common Room. Perfect. Now maybe I could actually focus and not be worried that Potter would walk in at every given second and try talking to me. Ever since I'd actually agreed to try-I say "try" because this was practically an impossible feat-and be his friend, he's been trying to talk to me. And what did I do? Like the great coward I was, I hid from him because I didn't want to have to "try" yet. I much preferred for him to stop perusing me in any way, friendship or relationship, and we could both go on our jolly way. I take back anything that I said that I missed him around. I would do anything to take back those few days of peace that I enjoyed.

What determines the form one takes when he/she transforms into an Animagus?

I know Professor McGonagall said something about this. I know she did! I remember something! And I, hopefully, had my wits about me and decided to write it down. Hurriedly, I searched through my pile of notes, scanning the parchment paper for a key phrase: something about Animagus or something along those lines. I was about to give in to the fact that I was, obviously, at utter failure, when the Portrait Hole opened, and suddenly a figure was climbing in. I hoped it was Remus. Maybe he'd be able to help me make sense of this! But, second thoughts, he wouldn't be here because he was off visiting him mum because she was suddenly very ill.

"Hello there, Evans!" Oh, please, no. Not him.

I ignored him, hoping that he'd get the hint. The last thing I wanted to do was have to deal with him, probably going on about Merlin-knows-what while I was trying to sit here and sort through Transfiguration. Not like he'd understand, anyway, considering he was a big genius at it-oh. "Potter! I need your help!"

He was already halfway up the stairs to the boys' dorms, but at the sound of my voice he stopped. "Why?" He sounded dubious. Honestly, the bloke wanted to try and be friends with me! He could start by helping me not fail this bloody essay!

I peered at him over the back of the couch. "Transfiguration. I need you to help me."

Now he wasn't hesitating at all. He walked back down the stairs to sit next to me on the crimson couch. He was a little too close to me to be comfortable. I tried to shift away from him the best I could without him noticing. "What do you need help with?" He asked.

Ah, there we go! Good boy! "This," I pointed to the question. "I can't remember."

He chuckled as if that was some sort of joke. Considering this was James Potter we were talking about, it probably was some 'sacred' thing or whatever. "It's the person's personality. Whatever animal form they take depends on their personality, their nature, etcetera, etcetera."

Oh. Well. That was easier then I thought. I was expecting some long, drawn out explanation. I wasn't simply expecting...that. Merlin. Maybe I was more tired than I thought. I blushed. "Oh, er, right. Thanks." I picked up my quill and scribbled it down on the paper. He just continued sitting next to me. "Right. Well. I think I'm done for the night." I was done for the night sitting by you. I was just waiting for him to bring up That Subject.

"You know, if you need any more help on Transfiguration ever..." he trailed off. I didn't like where this was going.

I turned on him. "Look, just because I asked you to help me on one question does not mean I'm failing the class!" Dammit, I didn't mean to say that. "Not that I am, I'm just...studying."

His eyebrows were rising at an alarming rate. "I never said you needed help. I just said if you wanted help...I'm always here."

"Yeah. Well. I don't need help either." My face felt like it was on fire. I had to get out of here as quickly as possible. I did not just tell Potter that I was failing Transfiguration. Only a few very select people knew that, he was was not supposed to be in that list! "Goodnight, Potter." I gathered my books together as quickly as I could.

He plopped his legs on the pieces of parchment paper I was just about to collect. Therefore, I turned and hit him with 'the glare.' The Lily Evans glare that was apparently able to make anyone tremble in their boots. Or so I'd thought, but he just sat there, staring at me calmly with a quirky grin on his face. "We need to talk." Oh, how I hated those words.

I crossed my arms over my chest. "Can't this wait until tomorrow?"

"No, because you'll make sure you avoid me tomorrow. And since we're both here..." he slowly glanced down at the work he was blocking me from grabbing "I figured now's as good as time as any!"

Well, I beg to differ, you three-headed pig-faced toe rag. "What is it?"

"Why're you avoiding me?" He asked bluntly.

Merlin's beard, and he was supposed to be a 'genius' in Transfiguration. "Because I don't like you?" Surely, that was clear to him by now. I knew I'd told him we could try being mates, but-honestly? I was apprehensive about the whole thing. Potter and I being mates didn't work. Sort of how it can't rain without clouds in the sky, how one couldn't live without a heartbeat, how Professor Dumbledore would go have tea with Death Eaters-it didn't work. He was kidding himself to think that there might actually be a chance we'd be able to be friends.

His brow furrowed. "But we're friends now."

"Not really. I don't think I could be friends with someone that's a bullying toe rag."

"See, that's just the point!" He suddenly exploded, causing me to jump slightly. I sshed him, since people were actually sleeping and he lowered his tone of voice. "You say that you don't want to be friends with me because I'm oh so horrible! You don't know a single thing about me! You never took the time of day to actually try!"

I huffed. "That's not true! I know everything I need to know about you! You take some sort of sick joy in making other people's lives miserable, you like to get your way and when you don't get your way you're unhappy! Because you're a spoiled pompous arse who's had everything in his life handed to him on a golden plate!" As soon as the words left my mouth, I regretted them.

He stared at me for a few seconds, mouth wide open. Obviously, he had no idea what to say to that. Finally, he spoke, and his voice was dangerously calm. "Alright. Fine. Since you apparently know everything about me, tell me this, then. What's my favorite color? What's my hobby? Where do I live? Who're my parents? Can you answer that?"

"It's not like you know those answers either!" I defended myself. Truthfully, I didn't know those details. He was right, in a way, that I didn't know everything about him. But I knew the basics of him, and the basics told me that I didn't like him enough to know the actual details. Surely that was fine, right?

"Your favorite color is white. You like to draw. You live in Cokeworth. Your parents are Rose and Harold Evans. Is that right?" He stared at me impassively, his arms crossed tightly over his chest. The light from the crackling fire was casting light across his face, making his eyelashes cast long shadows over his cheekbones. For the briefest second, I could see why every girl thought he was impeccably handsome. My stomach churned uncomfortably. Damn it, Potter, why're you doing this to me?

And he knew everything, making me feel awful for reasons that I didn't know! Should I have known all of those facts about him? I supposed I had known him for six year, and maybe I could've been a little more observant..."Yes, but, you've stalked me for the all those years! Of course you'd know those things!"

He didn't even acknowledge I said anything. There was was, slouched on the couch, forehead pressed into the palm of his hand, his long legs stretched across to the table where they were resting on top of my parchment paper (and there was probably dirt of it now. Thanks, Potter. You know how much I love things dirty.) He struck an impressive figure; he looked much more mature and older then a simple sixteen year old. "Merlin, Evans, the least you could do is to actually get to know me before you decide you hate me."

"I never said I hated you-" I started softly, but he soon cut me off.

"Oh, really? It seems like you do!" He laughed bitterly. "Prove me wrong, then. Prove it to me that you don't actually hate me."

My eyes closed on their own accord and my hands balled into fists. Considering I hadn't actually trimmed my fingernails for awhile, the sharpness was an unpleasant feeling as they dug into my skin. "I don't-I don't-hate you. There's some redeeming qualities in you."

"Like what? Amaze me." Now he was just being sarcastic, the cheeky bastard.

I racked my brain for any persona traits that I'd thought were redeeming in him. The list was short and sweet compared to the long and lengthy one that seemed to go on forever and forever about those not so redeeming traits of his. "Well...uh...let's see. You're really loyal to your mates," there we go. "you're, er, really good at school...and genius in Transfiguration..." Come on brain, think! There must be more!

"Not good enough." He stood up abruptly. Panic rose in my chest, so I did the first thing I could think of and launched myself across the open space between us and grabbed his arm, pulling him back down onto the couch. I didn't want him to leave, especially when he was upset. Potter or not, I didn't really tolerate anyone being angry at me. I hated it, actually.

"I'm not done yet!" I declared. Alright. Here we go. This was the moment when we figure out whether or not I'm as smart a witch as everyone says I am. "You like to help people," when you aren't bullying them, I added to myself mentally "you're a really good listener, you put a 110 percent into everything you do and you're brave."

He sighed. "But you still don't like me."

Well...as I didn't respond to that, I simply offered him a sad smile which he returned. It was quiet after that. The only sound that could be heard was the fire spitting and the gentle lull of the wind outside. Normally, it would have been a peaceful situation if my heart hadn't been in the middle of slowing down from the anger or the fact that the bloke next to me was still tensed, an irritated expression on his face. If those few things weren't present, I might actually go as far as to say that it would have been an enjoyable evening. However, that wasn't the case.

I inhaled deeply. I couldn't believe I was going to say this. "Okay look, Potter, let's try this whole being 'mates'," My fingers made air quotations "thing. I don't know how it's going to work but I'll try, okay? But I have a few guidelines."

"Here we go," he muttered under his breath.

I ignored him. "Actually try and be mates with me, and not use this as a whole plan to get in flirty comments at me. Right? Right. Also, don't terrorize people anymore. I can't be friends with someone like that. Does that seem easy enough for you?"

He simply nodded. "Alright. But I have on condition of my own."

I felt like I wasn't going to like this. "And what would that be?"

"You have to call me James."

Well, that wasn't as bad as I thought. I was expecting something like a secret ritual I had to do to become one of his friends that involved something probably humiliating. Or weird. Or inappropriate. Or against the rules. Or all of the bloody above. I smiled, shaking my head. "Goodnight, James." This time his foot wasn't trapping my poor scared piece of parchment paper. So I snatched it out of the grasps of his feet and stuffed it into a book.

"'Night, Lily."

SEPTEMBER 19TH, 1976

"So what did he say?" Marlene was trying to get every single detail of Potter and my conversation last night. Like a typical best mate.

I sighed. "We argued-nothing new. So that's your overly interested story that you were dying to know." Oh, Marlene. She was the one out of all my mates that lived to gossiped, gossiped to live. I could so imagine her on a rocking chair on a porch, knitting and yapping a mile a minute about something the girl next door did.

"Oh, stuff it. You're not seething today so I figured something probably went differently. Are you guys in a secret relationship or something?" She popped a strawberry into her mouth as she spoke.

We were lounging in the open grassy fields. It was a nice sunny day-which was surprising as of late-so Marlene and I took the liberty to go soak up the sun. Of course, Cass had disappeared, muttering something about how she was supposed to meet Jonathan Bills for studying (yeah, right) and Alice was spending the day with Frank Longbottom. Honestly, they were attracted to each other-everyone knew it! Everyone but both of them, apparently. One of them just needed to ask the other out and get it over with.

"Me and Potter? Secret relationship? When hell freezes over..." The day Potter and I were actually dating would be the day that I should be admitted into St. Mungos. And I hoped that never happened, as I actually value my sanity.

She leaned back in the grass, closing her eyes and extending her head towards the sun. "I dunno. Hell's starting to feel a little colder nowadays."

I groaned and flopped back into the grass. "Just because I agreed to attempt to be friends with him, doesn't meet I'm all for him, y'know. He's still a bloody annoying toe rag."

"So you say." She never got any of my apparent hatred towards Potter. But that was, of course, because she'd grown up as neighbors with him. Many times she'd recount endless tales about what they got up to when they were little kids. Some of the stories were actually amusing.

"So I do say." I said in a final tone, and that was the end of the conversation.

...

"Can I talk to you for a minute?"

I was late to my next class, so naturally now would be the time everyone decided to talk to me. However, the person in front of me made my blood run cold and my heart give an unsteady thump. I swallowed nervously, pushing a lock of my hair behind me ears. "What do you want, Snape?"

His unfeeling black eyes bored into mine. "I wanted to apologize."

Oh. Right. He was still trying to apologize for what he did last year. How he called me a filthy Mudblood. Still, a year later, those words were like shoving a knife into my chest. I crossed my arms, blinking tears out of my eyes. "It's too late."

Disappointment flashed across his face. "I didn't mean it, Lily! It was a slip of the tongue-"

"We've been over this before," I said tiredly, like said this many times before. Which, truthfully, I had. I felt like a broken record playing over and over and over. "What's different about me? You call everyone else of my blood status mudbloods. Why am I different?"

He winced. "Lily, you're-you're not the same-"

I scoffed. "I'm not the same? That's a new one. What makes me different? What makes me different from everyone else?"

That seemed to throw him. He stared at me and the severity in his gaze made me uncomfortable. Extremely uncomfortable. "I'm sorry."

"I have to go." I pushed past him roughly, but I didn't even get a foot away from him before his hand was grabbing my wrist tightly. Too tightly. I felt his fingers digging into the flesh, forming a bruise that I was sure I'd be sporting tomorrow. Charming. "Lily! Please!"

"Leave her alone, Snape." Please not him, please not him. Gritting my teeth, I yanked my arm out of Snape's grasp and turned on Potter.

"Excuse me, but since when did any of this concern you?"

His mouth was agape,which he quickly shut. His jaw clenched. "Excuse me for trying to help out a friend."

I didn't need this. Not right now. "Yeah, well, that would be the case if we were friends." I regretted the words as soon as they were out of my mouth. It wasn't his fault that Snape had decided to approach me today. It wasn't his fault that Snape had called me a Mudblood. Yet, he was always there. He was always there for me to throw all my problems on. As awful as it made me sound, I liked it.

"What about last night?" He asked, confused.

Snape's head whipped sharply in my direction. "What, so you can't forgive me yet you can forgive him? I thought you said he was a bullying toe-rag, that his ego was too big to fit through the door-"

"Very original, Evans." Potter commented in a dry tone.

"-and now you're off seeing him behind my back? You're friends with him? Merlin, Lily! I didn't think you were that stupid!"

Potter glared daggers at him. "You take that back. She's smarter than you'll ever be, Snivellus!"

"At least I actually have brains compared to you. I often find myself wondering what inhabits that empty head of yours." Snape countered, his lip curling up into a sneer.

"ENOUGH!" I shouted. Both of their heads swiveled in my direction.

"But Evans-" Potter started, but I cut him off.

"But nothing! Honestly, you go around like you're so much better then Snape! Yet you're just like him! Going around, judging people when you have a giant stick up your arse! I've never met anyone as hypocritical and snobbish as you are! I don't even think you realize there's other people in the world besides you, because everything has to go your way!"

Beside me, Snape's face broke out into a satisfied smirk. And Potter, well, Potter was simply standing in the same position. Several emotions were flickering across his face, yet none of them I could really pinpoint to an actual word. He opened his mouth as if to say something then closed it as if he thought better. He ran a hand through his hair-I wanted to just grab his hands and tie them together to stop him-and smiled sadly. "So that's what you really think of me?"

"It's not what I think. It's what I know. Really, I don't know what to do to get through your thick head that I'm not interested in anything involving you!" My voice rose several octaves, causing passerby's in the corridor to stare at me sharply. Some in disapproval, some in amazement. "It's like you have no heart-how can you bully all those people with a clear conscience?"

Finally, he seemed to find his voice. "I haven't bullied anyone since last year! People do change, you know!"

"Not that I'm seeing." I retorted and, again, I heard a snort from Snape.

Potter stared at me for a few seconds, hurt displayed clear across his face. "You want me to leave you alone?"

"Yes."

"Fine. Wish granted." Then he turned on his heel and walked in the complete opposite direction. I couldn't tell you what the sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach was, or why my heart was suddenly accelerating to an unhealthy rhythm. As many times as I'd envisioned this day when I'd tell Potter exactly what was on my mind, it never turned out like this. It seemed like, for real, he was finally done with me.

Taking a deep breath, I tried to stop any tears from cascading down my cheeks. "And you," I addressed Snape "You just leave me alone. You've gone your way, I've gone mine. We're different people, Sev. People who aren't meant to be friends." I gave him a watery smile. "Goodbye, Severus Snape."

SEPTEMBER 20TH, 1976

"So what did you do on A?"

Cass, Alice, Marlene and I were all walking out of History class. There had been some awful pop quiz that Professor Binns had thrown on us at the last second. Though he said it in the same monotone voice he was famous for, I could almost hear his ghostly sneer at the expressions of horror on our faces.

"I can't remember what that was," Cass said. "Wasn't it something about the history of werewolves?"

Marlene shrugged. "Everything blended. Who the hell cares? It's not like we're actually going to use those things in real life."

"Unless you, you know, decide to replace Professor Binns." I piped in, smiling. The idea of Marlene teaching History of Magic was hysterical. She'd most likely say "Bollocks. Let's just have fun!" and not actually teach a single second of the class.

She pretended to vomit. "If I ever say that, feel free to slaughter me. I'd deserve it."

"Oh look. Here comes Potter," Cass muttered to us under her breath, glaring at him with as much venom she could muster. As we passed, she stuck her nose into the air and Imarched right past him, not even acknowledging that he even existed.

I was expecting him to say something, to stop me and apologize for the conversation that had been exchanged yesterday. However, he did nothing. He simply passed me without saying anything. I felt my mouth drop open. I was dreaming. Pinch me. That hadn't just happened. I'd fantasized about this day, but I'd never thought it would actuallybecome reality!

"Did you guys just see that?" I turned to Alice who was closest to me. "Tell me I didn't imagine that."

She shrugged. "Nope. You didn't. He passed you without saying hello."

"Good riddance." Cass said, a smug smile spreading across her face.

Marlene cocked her head at me. "Do I even want to know what happened?"

I felt my face flush. "I, er, it wasn't...well, it wasn't anything that big. Er. Snape-"

"Snape? Lily! We're supposed to all be best mates! Why didn't you tell us?" Marlene cut in.

Cass snorted. "Because of this, obviously."

I ignored them and continued on. "Snape tried to talk to me again, Potter intervened and...well, things got nasty. I said a few things that maybe I shouldn't have said."

"Like what?" Alice prompted.

"Itoldhimtoleavemealone." The words came out of my mouth all at once.

"Obviously he's doing it," Alice said pointedly, pulling her books closer to her chest. "Oh look! There's Frank! See you girls later!" She waved at us and hurried over to where Frank was waiting, smiling widely. As soon as she approached him, he reached out and took her books from her. A delicate blush spread across her face and Cass, Marlene and I exchanged knowing glances.

"The sooner he asks her out, the better. I'm getting sick of this." Marlene commented.

All conversation concerning Potter and me disappeared, and I was perfectly fine to not broach the subject again. I didn't want to explain the dynamics of our relationship when I didn't understand it fully myself. One day I'm wanting nothing to do with him and the next I'm wondering why he isn't talking to me.

...

He's avoiding me. I just know he is. I was sitting next to him the entire Divintion lesson. We were partners for interpreting whatever the loony lady had us try and interpret. Originally when I'd sat down I had the intention of simply waiting until he broke and spoke to me. There was no way that I was going to apologize first. There was nothing for me to apologize for. I'd simply spoken the truth, and if he was immature enough to not be able to take it gracefully, then that was his problem.

However, halfway the lesson he was still ignoring me and I had enough of it. "What the hell is your problem?" I demanded.

At my sudden exclamation, he turned towards me with bored eyes. "What?"

"Why're you-why're you not talking to me?"

Instead of making up some fanciful tale like I was imagining, he gave me a meaningful look before turning his attention back to the crystal ball in front of us. I huffed angrily.

"Like that? Why aren't you defending yourself?"

That caught his attention. His head snapped sharply in my direction, his hazel eyes ablaze. "Oh, I'm sorry! I'm just too selfish and caught up in my own world to care. Sorry about that. I apologize deeply." He was being sarcastic now.

"You're such a bastard."

"I didn't know you cared!" He rolled his eyes at me. "Can we just get back to the lesson?"

I couldn't tear my eyes away from him. Never, in my entire time at Hogwarts, I never thought I'd hear him suggest to actually do schoolwork instead of basking in the moment of being able to talk to me, or squeeze in flirty comments.

"Shut your mouth. You'll catch flies."

My mouth clamped shut. "Bugger off, Potter," I mumbled, pulling my hair in front of my face so I didn't have to look at him for the rest of the lesson. If he needed help, I sure as hell wasn't going to help him.

So that's the chapter! I always feel like it's a bit unrealistic that Lily's suddenly like, "James Potter! I love him! He's amazing!" I don't think accepting that and suddenly coming to terms with being...friends...with him would be that easy. Nevertheless, she's trying but it's difficult for her to actually remember that fact. And this was kinda a filler chapter leading up to more plot bunnies! SO. Review? Subscribe? Should I continue this story? Thank you for everyone who actually reads the story! And those who review are amazing :D If you could review too, and not just subscribe, that would be great! Let's try this. 5 reviews and I'll have a chapter up in two days? How does that sound? Love you guys!

LadyEmilie :)