Disclaimer-See Chapter One. If you're too lazy to do that, then too bad! That means you're too lazy to sue me, too, for not saying this isn't mine, which it isn't...so what's really the point of telling you to go back to Chapter One, if I've just said what I wanted you to read there right here? Long and confusing sentence, huh?

Chapter Two

James heaved a great sigh as he collapsed onto the seat in the Head's compartment on the Hogwarts Express. He had spent the whole summer preparing for this year, his last at Hogwarts. And, finally, the day had arrived. Today, was the day he would put into action a plan that would hopefully help him to win over Lily Evans once and for all.

Just then, the door to the compartment opened, and none other than Lily Evans walked into the compartment. James unconsciously sat up straighter. The movement attracted Lily's attention, and she looked up from the piece of paper she had been studying. A confused expression appeared on her face.

"Do I have the right compartment?" She asked him. "This is the Head's compartment, isn't it?"

James nodded eagerly. "Yep, it is."

At this, Lily looked even more confused. "Then…what are you doing here?"

"Well, why are you here?" James replied, answering her question with one of his own.

"I am the Head Girl." Lily said. "I'm supposed to be here. I have to meet the Head Boy."

"Then look no further: I'm Head Boy." James said. Then he frowned. "Did I really just say that?"

"You're the Head Boy?" Lily repeated disbelievingly.

"Well, that's what I said, isn't it?" James questioned.

"Dumbledore is off his rocker." Lily said faintly, sitting down on the seat across from James with a thump. "Who in their right mind would make you the Head Boy?"

"You know, I've been trying to figure that out for a while now, too." James told her. Then he changed the subject, "So, the letter I got said we were in charge of the Prefect's meeting on the train. I'm new at this whole thing, so I thought I'd just follow your leadership for now—if that's alright with you, that is."

An alarmed expression replaced the confused one on Lily's face now. "Who are you and what have you done with the real James Potter?"

Now it was James' turn to look at Lily strangely. "Why don't you think I am who I am?"

"Well, first of all," Lily began, perfectly understanding James' question, "If you really are James Potter, then why haven't you asked me out yet?"

"Did you want me to ask you out?" James asked her, looking confused as he recalled what Remus had told him the last time he had been on this train.

"No!" Lily said quickly. A bit too quickly.

"OK, then." James said. "What else leads you to believe that I am not James Potter?"

"You're talking like Remus." Lily stated.

"Well don't your friends' habits wear off on you?" James demanded. "And I'm really not talking any differently than I normally do."

"You don't talk like that around me." Lily muttered.

"What was that?"

"Nothing." She said swiftly. Lily looked down at her watch. "The Prefects will all be getting here soon. I'll run the meeting—like you wanted." She paused here, a look of indecision upon her face, as if she wanted to say something but wasn't sure if she should. After a second she shook her head as if to clear it, then looked directly at James. "I'm sure you'll get the hang of everything in no time, though."

"Wow…" James said softly, almost in a dream-like tone. "That's probably the nicest thing you've ever said to me."

Lily bit her lip to keep from smiling. "Yes, I suppose it is."

No more could be said, however, because there was a knock at the door then; the Prefects had arrived.

"Hello, Lily." James said, sitting down next to her on the couch in the Common Room later that evening. "I can call you 'Lily' right? Because I figured it would help give everyone else a good example if we treated each other civilly, and all that."

Lily looked at him strangely. "OK, seriously, why are you acting like Remus?"

"Huh?" James replied confusedly. "Wait…so now you think I'm acting like Remus and Sirius? I'm just acting like me."

"When did I say anything about Sirius?" Lily questioned. "You know what, why don't we just forget I just said anything at all? Let's go back to the beginning of this conversation. Pretend you just sat down here and I haven't said anything yet…Hello James, I agree with you. We should be an example for everyone else. I don't mind if you call me by my name."

"And you thought I was acting weird." James muttered.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, Lily got back to the book she had been reading before James had come over, and James stared thoughtfully in to the fire.

"Lily," James said suddenly, in a serious tone, "There's something I need to ask you."

"What?" Lily asked, suddenly wary as she put her book back down again. She knew it had been too good to last.

"Do you hate me?"

"Why do want to know?" Lily asked after a moment of contemplative silence, trying to hide her shock that that was the question he had wanted to ask her. In the back of her mind, she recalled James asking her that question before, at the end of the previous year.

James shrugged. "I just do. You see, Sirius is doing a poll on who at Hogwarts likes me and who doesn't. So far, for the no's, he's got all of Slytherin House."

Lily opened her mouth to say something but no sound came out.

"Just kidding." James said swiftly, taking in her expression. "I was just thinking about how you swore to 'hate me for all of eternity'…and I really do think that you shouldn't use the excuse of trying to be a good role model for everyone else to deny whatever you might feel about me. So, you still hate me, right?"

Instead of answering, Lily just looked at James, an unreadable expression upon her face.

"Do you want me to hate you?" Lily finally said.

"I don't care." James said, holding up a hand as if to stop her. "Like I said before, I just don't want you denying whatever feelings you might have towards me."

"Yes. I do still hate you, James." Lily said suddenly. It was the way James had worded it. But now she knew for sure, it didn't matter that they were going to be Head's together, it didn't matter that they should be setting a good example for everyone else, Lily still hated James. And she always would.

"Excellent." James said, standing up suddenly and walking away without another word, a huge smile on his face.

Once he was gone, however, Lily didn't go back to reading her book again. Instead her gaze drifted to the fire in front of her, the same fire James had been looking into moments before.

Lily didn't really hate James…OK, well yes, she really did, but that wasn't the point. Actually, it was more like she hated the way he acted. Lily had seen James quite civilly towards other people on rare occasions, and she really liked the person he was then. If only he would act that way around her…

But wait, he was acting like that around her, wasn't he? In the past twelve hours, James hadn't asked her out once, had he? And he hadn't pulled out that obnoxious snitch either. And, as far as she knew, he hadn't pulled any pranks on anyone…yet. And hadn't Dumbledore made James the Head Boy? Weren't many other, much more qualified, students passed over for the position so that James could get it?

Deep down, Lily really did like James. It might be the deepest level of all, but she did know that, beneath all of the years of stored-up hatred, there was something more. And it was only a matter of time until that something more made itself known.

a/n-before I say anything else, I just want to thank Rider Arya Svit-kona, who has undertaken the task of being my beta for this story. So, moving on, I know it's been a while, not too long really...but kudos to those who tuned back in for more. Hmm...that's something i've never said before and will probably never say again.

So, for those of you who like reading Harry Potter, most especially MWPP era (which, ya know, considering that you are right now, I hope you do) go check out the two stories I've co-authored with An-Jelly-Ca. They're both posted under the account SiRiUsLyPiNkAnDgReEn and the links to both are in my profile. Warning: Do not read them if you are in an area where laughter will most likely not be tolerated.

So, I hope you liked the chapter, and maybe if I get some more positive feedback I'll update sooner this time! Oh and thanks to all of those who wished me luck on my tests last chapter. I'm hoping they both went well, I don't know yet!