Disclaimer: I do know own Harry Potter, his mum or dad, Sirius Black, yadda yadda yadda…
He Isn't So Bad After All
Lily Evans stormed into the common room, seething with rage. Damn that boy. First he asks me out, then I catch him snogging her? Ugh, the nerve! And to think I was interested with him or any of the Marauders… She looked around looking for something to take her anger out on. Her eyes alighted on a black-haired boy lounging about on one of the couches.
"You!"
The boy in question looked up, a cocky grin spreading across his face. "Evans! Lovely to see you…" His voice trailed off as he saw the fury clearly etched on her face. His grin remained, but it looked forced. The common room seemed to suddenly empty itself.
"You!" she nearly shouted. "You and your friends! You're all just… you do the… argh!"
"Evans, calm down. What did I do this time?"
"It's not just you! It's you and your friends!"
He thought for a moment. "Just calm down and tell me what happened."
Lily looked at him. Am I really gonna talk to him? Well, I suppose it's better than killing him or anybody else… She sat down in a huff. "He was snogging her."
She received a blank stare. "Oh right. So, it all started when Sirius asked me out. I-"
"He what?"
"He asked me out."
James looked horrified, jealous, and murderous. "Go on…"
"I said I'd think about it and he said he'd wait. Then around five minutes later, I pass what I thought was an abandoned corridor and I see him snogging her, and we argued and I stormed up here."
James had an odd expression on his face. He nodded, thanked her for confiding in him, and ran up the stairs. Lily felt better after her brief rant and was glad she had talked to him instead of jinxing him into a pulp. She got up and was about to go up to her dormitory when she saw James rush down the stairs and towards the portrait hole with a piece of parchment clenched in his fist. She turned around and decided to follow him instead.
He wove effortlessly between the wandering students and almost vanished at times. He repeatedly checked his parchment as if it would reveal something. She lost sight of him next to a portrait of an ugly old witch and hurried to catch up when she heard his muffled voice from behind the portrait. She pressed her ear to the wall to see if she could pick up any of the conversation.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" came James' voice.
"That depends. Does this have to do with the prank or…"
"You know damn well what this is about. I'm talking about asking Lily out!"
Lily drew her ear from the wall and stared at the wall, confused.
"Ah yes. Well, I was gonna tell you eventually…"
"Where did you get the idea that you could ask her out, anyhow?"
"What's it to you? She's not yours!"
"But you know I like her!"
Lily gave a small gasp. She had thought that James flirting with her was just another one of his jokes, or something he did with every girl. Now that I think about it, I've never seen him flirt with any girl nearly as much as he does with me.
"But all you do is make stupid jokes! She probably thinks you're a lousy git who flirts with everybody shamelessly!"
"What, like you?"
"At least I had the balls to do what you couldn't!"
An awkward silence ensued. "And past the fact that you asked her out, which I'm not forgetting about, why were you snogging some other girl directly after asking her?"
"Er… what are you talking about?"
"Cut the crap. Lily told me all about it!"
She heard a noise that sounded like a laugh mixed with a cough. "Yeah right! As if Lily Evans would tell you her boy problems!"
"Well she did! And what's more, doing it in plain view of everyone else was just plain stupid."
"Okay, you got me there. But…"
"Yes? Your snog partner?"
"Elizabeth Abercrombie. You know, the hot chick in fifth year."
"Nice. But don't change the topic! Why did you ask Lily out then snog Abercrombie?"
"Well, Abercrombie asked me out, and Lily obviously thinks all the Marauders are jerks and would never agree to going out with me, so I seized the opportunity and… I didn't think Lily would care."
"Then why did she come nearly crying into the common room?"
I was not nearly crying, she thought indignantly.
"Look I'm sorry I forgot your love for Lily and for hurting her, alright? Can we leave this behind?"
There was a short pause. "Fine. But don't think I'll forget."
Lily ran off just as the portrait swung open. She hurried to the common room and slumped down onto the couch, pondering the argument she had just heard. That was sweet of James to stand up to Sirius for me. Maybe he isn't so bad after all. She waited until the pair climbed through the portrait hole. The two looked as if nothing had happened.
"James…" Lily called out. James did a double take and stared at her questioningly. Sirius grinned and slapped him on the back. Shoving James forward, he wandered off apparently searching for Abercrombie.
"Sit down." She gestured to the open seat next to her on the couch. He eased into the couch as if expecting some sort of trick. "I'm not gonna hurt you." They both smiled.
"As if you could." Lily glared at him.
"Look," she said uneasily. "It was really sweet of you to stand up for me."
"What are you talking ab- ah crap. You heard that?"
"Yeah. Thanks for standing up for me and my feelings. I didn't think you actually cared."
"I told you I did! Many times!"
"I thought you were kidding."
"Stupid reputation," he grumbled.
"But anyway, I was wondering, if you're not doing anything next Hogsmeade visit…"
James' eyes met hers, then shifted to a point above her shoulder. He grinned and nodded. "Go on…"
Lily whipped around and saw Sirius twiddling his thumbs and staring at the ceiling, whistling merrily. She turned back to James, who had a disgusted expression on his face and was in the process of removing several of her hairs from his mouth. "Warn me before you do that next time. Stupid longhaired… Geez…"
"Anyway, wanna to the Three Broomsticks and grab a drink?"
"I'd be delighted to."
This be my first online fanfic, so it would help if you reviewed. Seriously. Flames and/or praise accepted.