Hey, sorry for the reallly reallllly long wait. i have a whole bunch of excuses in mind but i'd rather not bore you with all that. now, i know a lot of people have been telling me to hurry up with the romance, but you can't really rush these things...at least that's what i think. slowly but surely they'll get together, but not yet. my whole story mostly deals with all the elements of life heh, at least that's what i'm trying to accomplish. anyway... ummm...this chapter was sort of difficult for me since i really didn't know how to make it so that it didn't seem to hurried. i think i managed to do the job but i'm not exactly sure. ah well once you guys and girls read it you'll have to let me know if it came out ok. alright well have fun!

"I hate weekend homework," sighed James. It was late morning and he was in the common room, sitting on the mahogany table with a long roll of parchment and a quill in hand. He had been putting off all of his Transfiguration and Potions essays this whole weekend and now he could hear Professor McGonagall's voice in his head, scolding him for not doing the work earlier. At the moment, he was writing intensely about ten major potions for healing a redcap bite and was so absorbed in his work that he didn't even notice a small creak from across the room as Lily opened her door.

"What are you doing, Potter?" Lily asked spontaneously, coming up from behind him.

Not bothering to stop writing or pick up his head to look at her he said, "Morning, Evans. Just doing some homework."

He heard her small footsteps come closer. Soon they stopped and he could now feel her hovering above him; he had the urge to look up but didn't think it would be polite if his face ended up right in her chest…which on second thought didn't sound like such a bad idea after all.

He continued to write his essay, and Lily continued to read over his shoulder. He was about to ask her what she was up to when he was interrupted.

"You're doing it wrong," she said.

Like a whip, James's face shot up from the table to look at her. He was about to reply angrily to her comment but that was before his eyes caught sight of what she was wearing.

Behind him, only a few inches away stood Lily, clad in a light pink tank top and a pair of faded jeans that sat perfectly on her hips. The tank top and jeans fit snuggly over her shapely body, showing of those enticing curves that he so loved.

His eyes quickly roamed over her body and in a matter of seconds he began to feel his face get hot and flushed.

"You should wear stuff like that more often," he mumbled under his breath.

Lily looked down at him, her face in slight puzzlement.

"What did you say, Potter?" she asked, her voice getting that edge that it usually got when she was getting annoyed of him. Her arms were now crossed over her chest, causing her breasts to push up a bit, showing off more of a cleavage than before.

This was beginning to get bad. If she continued to stand in that pose then he was probably going to have to take a cold shower soon.

Be cool James. Think of Quidditch, dead puppies, bad breath. Ew, bad breath. He thought desperately, trying to get all the blood from rushing to his nether regions.

"Oh, ah, I said you should help me with my homework if you know it then," he replied smartly, getting a hold of himself.

She sniggered and rolled her eyes then suddenly held out her right hand in front of him. "Hand it over."

James looked at her curiously with raised eyebrows. "Pardon me?"

Placing her left hand on her hip she said very seriously, "You heard me, Potter. Hand over your paper."

He eyed her, but obediently gave her the essay and sat back against the chair.

For a couple of minutes he watched as she read. Her face was set with a determined expression and then finally she glanced up at him from behind the parchment. "Do you mind if I…"she started, finishing her sentence with a little gesture with her hand signifying that she wanted to write on his paper.

"Sure, by all means," he said, crossing his arms in front of him, now eyeing her even more peculiarly. Lily is going to actually help with my homework. All of hell must be frozen over right now. He thought with amusement.

Swiftly, Lily pulled a chair out from under the table to sit next to him and reached over to grab the quill that was lying by his hand. Her hand accidentally brushed his and for a moment he got a rush as their skin touched for that brief second. James looked at her, wondering if she might have reacted the same way, but unfortunately she seemed set on his paper. Without delay, she dipped the tip of the quill in the ink bottle and then went back to the parchment in front of her and began to make corrections.

James watched her with curious wonder. What had gotten into Lily to make her want to help him with his work? Had someone placed a Cheering Charm on her or something, because this couldn't actually be happening! Nonetheless, this was a great opportunity for him to start a conversation with her. Regrettably, his mind was completely blank as to what to talk about.

For what seemed like an eternity, James watched as Lily scratched out and added words all over his essay. He watched how she seemed to immerse herself into what she was doing and then suddenly she looked up at him with a stern glance.

"Could you stop staring, please? I can't think when you're looking at me like I have a sign on my face," she said crossly.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to stare," he said lamely. Lily let out a long, labored sigh and went back to scratching out things on his paper.

"So, um, what's it like living in a muggle home?" he asked abruptly, trying to get the awkward silence out of the way.

"Well, it's very muggle, Potter. What else am I supposed to say? My family can't do magic, so there's really nothing special about it," she answered as she continued to write.

"There must be something interesting about it," he said, half wishing he hadn't asked her out her muggle life. "I would find it interesting…" he muttered.

"If you'd find it interesting then why not go live with a muggle and find out yourself," she retorted.

"Is that an offer?" James suddenly asked, not realizing what he'd just said until it was too late.

"Like hell it isn't, Potter. Can't you just grow up?" she snapped; now glaring him.

James stayed silent for a brief moment, thinking how stupid he was for letting his mouth run off without him. "I'm sorry… I didn't mean to upset you. It was just a behavioral instinct…I didn't mean any mischief, Lily," he responded with apology, actually catching himself off guard by using her first name.

She stopped writing for a few seconds, but didn't look up at him and then continued to write.

"It's fine…I guess I shouldn't have just dismissed your question in the beginning. But truly, there really isn't anything impressing about being a muggle. You must have an idea of how it goes. Everything is basically done by yourself without the flick of a wand or the use of a spell. It's just so…so, boring, really…" she let her sentence trail off, as if thinking about her own words.

"Well then if there isn't anything special about living with muggles, then tell me about your own family. Do you have any siblings or some crazed cousin? Because you know, I just so happen to have many crazed relatives," James said, trying to lighten up the mood.

Lily was quiet for a couple of seconds before answering his question.

"To start off, I must say I have wonderful parents who love me unconditionally and I do happen to have an older sister," her expression suddenly turned dark at the mention of her sister, "but she basically thinks I'm a…ah, forget it. Let me just get back to finishing up the last part of your essay."

James didn't know what to say. Lily was about to open up to him about her family, but it saddened him to see how her face turned into a frown when she mentioned her sister. Surly her sister couldn't be that bad…at least she even had an older sibling. "I wish I had a sister or brother," he said with remorse.

"Hmph, no you don't," she replied harshly.

"Why not?"

"Just believe me. You wouldn't want one."

"So if you had a choice, you would rather be an only child?"

"If it would mean that I would stop getting picked on then, yes, I would say I would like to be an only child."

"You get picked on?" he asked; his eyebrows scrunched up at knowing that the feisty Lily Evans was getting picked on at home by her older sister.

That explains her tough exterior. James thought. He was really interested now…not that he wasn't before.

Suddenly, Lily looked up. Her bright green eyes stared into his, and for a moment it seemed as if she was about to break down and reveal something about her past but it quickly went away. "There. It's finished," she said a little too quickly. She really seemed uncomfortable at the moment. "Now remember that you should probably look through your book just incase I forgot something, but that's basically it. Here's your quill," she said, handing it over to him, "I suggest you start writing now so that you don't waste the rest of a pretty day like this one turned out to be," she said, quickly rising from her seat and pushing the chair under the table. "You know today just might be the last warm day before fall comes," she added awkwardly.

"No, I didn't know that. What were you planning to do today?" he asked, hoping to find the courage to ask her if she would like to hang out with him later. Unfortunately, his courage was nowhere to be found. He just couldn't understand how he was acting so unlike himself at the moment. Usually he would be able to ask her out any day, but today...it just wouldn't come out.

"I was planning to go with Gwen and Liz down to the lake and continue our planning," she said with not much care.

"Oh, planning for what?" James asked carefully. He could tell Lily really wasn't keen on having this little chat with him, but at least she wasn't just blowing him off."The Halloween Ball."

"Well, if you need any help, don't hesitate to ask, alright Evans? I am the Head boy you know, and as Head boy and girl we should, um, help each other out and such." James didn't know where he was going with this but he hoped that he was getting his point across. "And thanks…for helping me with my homework," he added, looking at her with his soft hazel eyes.

Now it was she that was looking at him peculiarly. Then her lips formed into an uncertain smile as she said, "I'll remember that, Potter. And don't mention it."

After one last glance, she picked up her satchel from the table and hurried out of the common room, leaving James wondering if this had all been some weird dream.

ah, and so that's the start of their odd friendship...or relationship...which ever. now gimme some feedback people!!! thanks for reading so far and i'll be back sooner than last time...and that's a promise!!! laters!

Elie

p.s. thanks to Dani for editing the chapter! love ya girl!!!! and stop using my real name on the reviews you send me!!!!! grrrr! lol :