Disclaimer: I don't own anything, I only wish I did.
Chapter 6
It had been almost a week since the Veritaserum incident, and James began to realise that Lily Evans was avoiding him, once again.
James just couldn't keep up. One minute she was sat next to him in Transfiguration, laughing because he'd transfigured his nose into a turnip; the next she was turning the opposite direction when she spotted him heading towards her in the corridors. He guessed it had something to do with the unfortunate drinking game, he wasn't sure if she was embarrassed or angry, but whatever she was she wasn't about to share it with him.
Her constant mood swings were giving him whiplash.
"Don't feel bad, Prongs" Sirius had said one frosty morning when James shared this phenomenon with his friends as they headed down to breakfast together, "She's avoiding me too."
"And me now that you mention it" Remus added as they all entered the Great Hall, "She's had Edgar Bones cover her last two Prefect rounds with me, I haven't spoken to her since she came up to our dorm last week."
"How'd she convince him to do that?" Peter asked.
"Easy, he fancies her rotten" said Sirius, spotting Mary sat half way down the Gryffindor table and sliding into the seat beside her. "Hey McDonald" he said, completely ignoring Marlene McKinnon sat across from her, "You seen Evans?"
"She received a letter about two minutes ago and left" said Marlene, affronted that Sirius had completely disregarded her entirely. Marlene McKinnon was five foot seven of pure tanned perfection with liquid brown eyes and soft brunette hair; she wasn't used to being ignored.
"A letter?" Remus questioned, his eyebrow raised.
"I think it was from her sister" Mary said quietly, her blue eyes widening imploring towards Sirius.
"Oh James, don't we have to-" Sirius started, getting up from the bench.
"Of course Sirius, how could we have forgotten?" James agreed, turning back towards the entrance to the Great Hall.
"Excuse us ladies" said Remus, throwing them both a wink before turning to follow his friends out of the Great Hall, ignoring Marlene shouts and Mary's raised eyebrows at their strange behaviour.
This was a Marauder emergency, and none of them were prepared to stop and explain.
The four of them found an empty classroom just off the Charms corridor and crammed in, as they all squeezed themselves around one table James hissed, "Who has the map?"
Sirius produced the worn piece of parchment from his back pocket and placed it on the table between the four of them. Remus reached out and touched it with the tip of his wand whispering, "I solemnly swear I am up to no good."
Slowly the entire of Hogwarts castle and grounds criss-crossed across the parchment in black ink, labelled dots of both students and teachers alike began to appear as James unfolded the map and spread it across the table. "Search for Evans" he instructed.
The four of them put their heads together and it didn't take long before Remus found her, "There she is" he said, pointing at a dot labelled 'Lily Evans.'
"Why is she just stood outside the library?" Peter asked, raising his eyebrows.
"There's a windowsill on that corner" said Remus, moving back to lean against one of the tables, "She likes to sit there and look out onto the grounds."
"How do you know that?" James asked sceptically.
"Because we, unlike you, actually know a few things about her" Sirius cut in.
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" James demanded, firing up immediately.
"It means you need to stop moping around wondering what you did wrong when it's pretty damn obvious" Sirius said, taking a step closer to James and crossing his arms over his chest. "You should never have pushed her for answers."
"I wanted to know what she was thinking!" James defended himself.
"I've been telling you for weeks to give her some space!" Sirius pointed out. "You don't know her James, stop pretending like you do!"
"Maybe I could if you gave me a chance!"
"Enough!" Remus stepped between the two of them just as Sirius opened his mouth to retaliate, "Padfoot, why don't you go and talk to her?"
Sirius shook his head, "You're better with the touchy feely stuff than I am, Moony."
Remus nodded in agreement and made a move to leave the room.
"No" James cut in, placing his hand on Remus' shoulder to stop him from leaving. "Let me go and talk to her."
"You?" Sirius asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Got a problem with that?"
"I think last week proved you've no idea how to handle Lily."
"I care about her!" James burst out.
"We know, James" Remus said softly, "But the way you acted last year didn't really show her that you cared about her."
"No better time to prove it then" he huffed, swinging his bag over his shoulder. "I'll meet you in Potions" he muttered, turning on his heel and marching out of the empty classroom.
James took a deep breath and tried to control the two emotions battling for dominance in his head. The first was concern for Lily. The second was anger. He fumed as he mulled over Sirius' words, refusing to believe they were true.
Didn't they all realise he knew what a prat he'd been all of last year? Hadn't they noticed that was why he was trying to act a little differently? He'd spent a lot of time joking around with Lily in fifth year and he really regretted it now, if he hadn't treated the possibility of a date with her as such a joke then maybe she would have taken him more seriously.
Did his friends not know how serious he was? How much he cared about her.
His anger and jealousy over Sirius bubbled out over his skin like hot lava. Who did he think he was, claiming to know Lily so well? Sirius was only friendly with Lily when it suited him, was only nice to her when James was around.
James was the one who really cared about her.
Why didn't anyone see that?
He paused for a moment when he spotted her and took a deep breath in an attempt to control his anger. It would not do well to start a conversation with Lily when he was angry, even the calm ones seemed to end badly. She was sat cross legged on the window ledge exactly where Sirius had said she would be.
It irked James how well Sirius seemed to know her. He wanted to know her too, he cared about her more than Sirius ever would. If only she would let him.
Lily wasn't looking out of the window as Sirius had suggested she would be, instead she was looking at a piece of paper open on her lap. Her red hair spilled down her back and her green eyes looked even bigger on her face. Despite all their efforts Lily still wasn't eating, and had lost a lot of weight because of it. Her face was skinny, her arms were so thin he could have easily snapped them in two and her face was chalk white.
This was not to say that she was not beautiful. In his very humble opinion, Lily Evans would always be beautiful. But he did miss the colour in her cheeks and the spark in her eyes.
"Hey Evans" he said quietly, startling her so she jumped and looked up at him. A few stray tears lingered on her eyelashes as she glanced at him. "Have you been crying?"
Lily made a move to wipe her eyes but James beat her to it, catching the last tear clinging to her eyelash. He was so close he could feel her breath against his cheek, "What are you doing here, Potter?" she asked.
"I came to talk to you" he said simply, sitting down on the window ledge beside her.
"I don't really want to talk to you" she said softly, her eyes staring resolutely down at her feet.
"You can't avoid me forever" he chastised softly, "Or the boys, Remus is starting to worry he's personally offended you."
Lily sighed and turned to look out of the window, "I thought it would be easier if I wasn't around as much."
"We were trying to be friends" James pointed out.
"Were we?" Lily asked, glancing at him for the first time. "I thought so, but every time we made a little bit of progress you went back to talking about the boys I used to fancy, or reminding me that you still have feelings for me."
"Sirius talks about boys you used to fancy all the time" James said quietly.
Lily rolled her eyes, "He does it to wind me up" she said, looking at him with those big sad eyes, "I told you I couldn't hurt you anymore James, and I see in your eyes how much I hurt you whenever I bring them up."
"Look Lily, there's no point in pretending the past didn't happen" he pointed out, shifting his leg so his body was angled towards her. "But I really want to give this friendship thing a go, and I will try harder."
"You think we can do that?" Lily asked, she looked almost hopeful and James took heart from that.
"Why don't we start over?" he suggested, reaching out his hand towards her. "I'm James Potter, I'd really like us to be friends."
Lily looked like she might laugh as she reached out to shake his proffered hand, "I'm Lily Evans" she told him, "I could really use a friend right now."
"So, what are you doing sat here all by yourself then?" he asked.
"I was just thinking" she told him sadly.
"You know Evans, friends tell each other stuff" he teased, nudging her with his arm.
He thought he saw a ghost of a smile on her lips, before she passed him the piece of white paper she had been studying. It appeared to be the letter Marlene had alluded to earlier, and James had to assume as it was not written on parchment, that it was from a muggle.
Dear Lily, he read.
I am merely writing to inform you that Vernon has recently proposed to me, and I have accepted him. I would like to invite you to the wedding as I believe it is what mother and father would have wanted; therefore please find enclosed an invitation for you and a guest. I would prefer if you didn't bring that vile Snape boy with you, however the choice is yours.
Unfortunately the upcoming wedding means I have been forced to push forward the sale of our late parents' house, I don't see the sense in waiting now and I'd like to move along with my life. I am living with Vernon's parents for the time being but I am afraid to tell you that I cannot allow you to come and stay here for Christmas; you know how Vernon feels about you and your sort of people.
I will see you at the wedding next July.
Yours,
Petunia.
James' first thought was that he and Lily's sister at the very least had one thing in common; they both detested that vile Snape boy. His second was thought was disbelief that Lily could put up with this person as her sister, who didn't seem to have any compassion for the fifteen year old girl who had just lost her parents.
He always thought loss brought people together, but he guessed in this case it drove people further apart.
"It's from my sister" Lily said quietly when she noticed he had stopped reading.
James nodded absently as he crushed the paper into a ball with his fist, "What does she mean by your sort of people?" he asked.
"Magical people" Lily said, sighing as she reached for her school bag. "It's ironic really; here I'm bullied for being a muggle and back home my sister doesn't talk to me because I'm a witch."
"I didn't know you had a sister" he said, simply because he didn't know what else to say.
Lily smiled sadly, "I don't talk about her much."
"I can see why."
She frowned at him and collected her things together, "We should get to class, Potter."
He hastened to keep up with her as she began marching down the corridor at a breakneck speed, "Do you want to talk about it?" he asked.
Lily glanced at him and raised her eyebrows, "Do you want to listen?"
"I've been known to be a very good listener" he boasted, puffing his chest out as they walked. "The trick is to keep your mouth shut long enough to hear what other people are saying."
Lily laughed, "Something I'm sure you haven't mastered" she teased.
"Give me a try" James implored his eyes wide.
The redhead sighed and rolled her eyes, "Me and Tuney fell out when I first found out I was a witch, it was Sev who told me when we were both about nine" Lily explained, "I think Tuney resented me having this gift and someone else to share it with, something I would never be able to share with her. She has used every opportunity she can to remind me what a freak I am ever since."
James opened his mouth to interrupt but she shot him a look, "You promised you wouldn't open that mouth, Potter."
Slowly he pressed his lips together and nodded for her to continue.
"Well, after our parents died we sort of got closer, I suppose that's what loss does to people" she shrugged, "We lived in our parents' house together over the summer and Tuney promised not to sell it, she said we would have a family Christmas together to remember them." Lily's voice wobbled when she said this and came dangerously close to cracking but her eyes remained dry. "Anyway, we don't have a lot of money and weddings don't come cheap, so I suppose I understand why she's doing it."
Lily turned and levelled him with that green eyed stare that always managed to leave him breathless, "I'm just worried about the summer, I don't exactly have any money or anywhere to go" she explained.
"You can stay with me" he said, the words were out of his mouth before he'd even realised what he was saying. He mentally kicked himself, they were only just making strides towards friendship, of course Lily Evans would not want to stay in his house for two months. She barely knew him. He expected her to look scandalised at the very idea.
She wasn't, instead she snorted and said, "Be serious!"
James sighed as they crossed the Entrance Hall together on their way to the dungeons, "Oh come on, Evans" he groaned, "I know you like him more than me but do you have to rub it in my face?"
She bit the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing but her green eyes were dancing with mirth.
"Plus if you're really worried about money you could always just marry me" he jested, shoving her lightly in the arm as they made their way to where the class were lined up outside Professor Slughorn's classroom. "I'm pretty rich."
At this she did laugh a warm, comforting sound that he felt right down to the soles of his feet.
"You're so full of it, James" she giggled, rolling her eyes. His heart skipped a beat at the sound of his name and he had to wonder if she even realised she'd used it.
"What's so funny?" Sirius asked, his eyebrows furrowing as they reached him and Remus stood together at the back of the queue.
"Potter has just proposed to me" she informed them, grinning away as if Christmas had come early and her eyes shining brighter than they had in months.
"I call best man!" Sirius shouted, holding his hand up and grinning smugly at Remus.
"Ring bearer!" Remus retaliated, shouting as though there was someone to compete with.
James laughed, "I'm not telling Peter he can't be in the ceremony."
"Don't worry, I'll give him first pick of the bridesmaids" Lily whispered, throwing him a wink that made the pit of his stomach swoop.
"Come on now, Ginge" Sirius piped up, "You can't promise him that when you know they'll all be fighting over me."
Lily snorted and skipped to move next to Sirius as Professor Slughorn opened the door and the line began to shuffle into the classroom, "I think my bridesmaids will have better taste, Snuffles."
James paused in the doorway behind Sirius and Remus as Lily made her way to their bench. He wasn't sure what to do now, in the last Potions lesson she had avoided sitting beside him, and he wondered if that would still be the case. She had strategically managed to sit with Milly Davies between the two of them to act as a buffer, the perky little Hufflepuff was so fascinated by James she spent most of the lesson chattering, and James suspected Lily had planned it that way, so he hadn't been able to speak to her.
Today however Lily turned to him and grinned, "Come on, hubby" she called from across the room, "Are you my partner or what?"
"Oh, you don't want to say things like that to him Lily" Sirius teased as James remained rooted to the spot. "You'll give him a heart failure."
Lily's eyes went wide as galleons and she quickly turned around and busied herself with emptying her schoolbag onto the desktop. James thumped Sirius in the arm on his way past and made his way to where Lily was sitting. Just when he thought he was making some progress with Lily Evans, his so called best friends just had to go and mess it up.
"Lily-" he said quietly, placing his hand on her shoulder.
She turned to look at him, her green eyes wide and her cheeks a little pink, "James, I'm so sorry!" She said breathily, "I didn't even think-"
"I like it better when you don't think" he interrupted her.
"James-" she started.
"Lily" he admonished, "Calm down, would you be having this sort of reaction if I were Sirius?"
"Well, no" she admitted.
"We just agreed to be friends" he pointed out, "And I am a little envious of your easy going friendship with him."
"Really?" Lily asked, raising her eyebrows. "I'm horrible to him most of the time."
James laughed, "Go on then, Evans" he teased, "What would you say if Sirius asked you to marry him?"
Lily wrinkled her nose but her green eyes twinkled with amusement, "No thanks, I can't have a groom that takes longer to get ready than I do."
James laughed and shook his head as he watched Professor Slughorn enter the classroom from his office and take the lid off a cauldron sat on the very front bench, "Should I read something into that?" he whispered, watching Lily out of the corner of his eyes, "That you said yes to me, but no to Sirius."
He expected her to snort, to shake her head and tell him she'd rather marry the giant squid. What did happen was something he did not expect.
A fair, pink blush painted her cheeks.
It wasn't the first time he had made Lily Evans blush. Anytime that he had made her angry with his indecent proposals or embarrassed her by tripping her up in the Great Hall, she'd always blushed. It was usually an angry, blotchy red that covered her entire face and made her look like steam was about to erupt from her ears.
This was different.
This was a delicate pink flush. It told him she was obviously embarrassed about something that she didn't want him to know about. He was pretty sure that something had everything to do with him.
"Are you blushing, Evans?" he teased, turning to face her and unable to stop the full blown grin covering his face.
"No" she said quietly as her blush intensified and she leant her head forward to hide it behind a curtain of hair.
"Yes you are!" he grinned triumphantly and reached out to poke her between the ribs, secretly pleased with himself as she squirmed away from him and tried to hide a smile of her own. "It's okay to admit you like me better than him you know, I won't tell."
Lily giggled and when she looked at him he saw her eyes were sparkling for the first time in so long he couldn't remember. For the first time since he'd seen her at the end of fifth year she looked like her old self. She looked happy and carefree again, like she wasn't carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders.
His heart soared when he realised that was all down to him.
"Shove off, Potter" she said, but she was still grinning.
"Settle down over there, Mr Potter" Slughorn called from the front of the classroom, "And Lily, I can only assume you're so giddy at the thought of making this Potion here."
Lily turned away from him to address Slughorn, "Of course, Professor."
Lily Evans was the only person that could get away with misbehaving in one of Slughorn's lessons. She was his absolute favourite pupil, something which he delighted in telling anyone who would listen, right before he informed them that she was a muggleborn.
Could you believe it?
"Jolly good" the Professor said jovially, "And as you're so excited, would you mind sharing with the class the name of this extraordinary potion?"
"It's Polyjuice Potion, Professor" Lily answered, and James turned to see that it was the mud-like potion bubbling away in the cauldron in front of him. "It allows the drinker to take the form of another person."
"Right you are as usual Lily, twenty points to Gryffindor!" Slughorn exclaimed, looking exceedingly happy with himself. "Now this potion takes a month to stew once it's complete so I won't be able to grade you today, but if you turn to page twelve of your books then we can get started."
As Slughorn continued to drone on about the effects and difficulty of the Polyjuice Potion, James couldn't help but glance at Lily. He caught her eyes out of the corner of his and she threw him a grin, her cheeks still slightly pink from earlier.
Maybe this whole friendship thing wouldn't be so bad, he thought to himself. If Lily Evans was willing to sit next to him in Potions class and laugh at his jokes, then he could get through pretty much anything.