Summary: It was supposed to be a normal summer, one just like any other Lily Evans had experienced in the past six years of her life. Petunia would call her a "freak," and their parents would encourage them to at least be civil to one another. Little did she know how one chance meeting could change so much…

Disclaimer: I own nothing…nothing at all, sadly…I wish I did though…that would be nice….

Incredulous Skepticism

"I can't believe you just did that," scolded Lily, trying—and failing miserable—to stop the laughter bubbling up inside her.

"Oh Evans, you must remember to never underestimate me," assured James, eliciting a small snort from Lily.

"Of course," Lily agreed with a solemn nod of the head. "One must never underestimate the 'great and honorable James Potter' and must never predict what he might do if encountered by a perfume shop, of all things," she finished, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

James grinned. Ah…the old Evans is back again. "See Evans, you're learning so quickly already. You, of all people, must know that when I, the—what was it you called me again? Oh, yes—when I, 'the great and honorable James Potter,' walks into a perfume shop, all hell breaks loose." He jutted his chin out and puffed his chest pompously. Lily snorted once more and rolled her eyes. The two continued walking.

"I like the sound of that, by the way," James added, smirking slightly.

"The sound of what?" asked a confused Lily, who was not quite paying attention to James, as she was trying to locate where they were. "All hell breaks loose?" she asked, unsure.

"No, no," James replied, with a dismissive wave of the hand, "the great and honorable James Potter." His smirk had grown larger now.

"Oh...that." Lily nodded with mock-understanding, and suppressed the massive urge to roll her eyes. (She had been doing a lot of that lately.) "I apologize for not coming up with something better. It was the first ridiculous title that I could make up off the top of my head," she said remorsefully, with a sickeningly sweet smile.

"Classic Lily Evans," James stated, smiling. "She always knows how to ruin my good mood." He pretended to be hurt. Lily, who happened to hear his not-so-quiet side-comment, rolled her eyes once more.

After a moment's pause, Lily spoke once more.

"I still can't believe you did that," she said again.

"And I still stand by what I originally said: 'you must never underestimate me,'" James replied, wearing the same mischievous grin on his face that practically oozed "James Potter."

"Oh, I wasn't underestimating you, Potter," explained Lily. "I was just hoping that you wouldn't do something drastic, so I ended up fooling myself." She smiled a crooked smile, and glanced up at James, who was still wearing the same infamous Potter grin on his face.

"Evans, it wasn't that bad," he insisted. "You can't deny that had fun," he added, nudging Lily in the arm a bit for emphasis.

"Well…okay," agreed Lily, albeit a bit reluctantly. "It wasn't boring, per se, but I normally don't expect to be doused with perfume the moment I walk into a store. I mean, really, I smell worse than a dung bomb!" she exclaimed.

"Aw, Evans, don't say that about yourself. You smell…what did it say on that bottle again? You smell like untainted temptation," he finished, a large grin on his face. Lily clamped a hand over her mouth to stifle her laughter.

See, she's laughing again already, thought James happily. I'll have her playing a whole game of Quidditch in no time. He smiled, contented.

Lily sighed. "Merlin, I don't even remember…which bottle was that again? Was it the first one that you 'accidentally' sprayed on me, or was it the one that you spilled all over the shop floor?" Lily asked, snickering slightly at the memory.

"No…" James paused, thinking. "I believe it was the one that I dumped into your neck." James smiled fondly, remembering Lily's reaction. Needless to say, she was not pleased.

Lily glared at him, remembering the ordeal as well. She did not particularly enjoy the sensation of any sort of liquid being poured down her neck. That would explain the fact that she was no big fan of disillusionment charms.

"That's nice to know," she muttered.

"Come on Evans, lighten up," encouraged James. He stopped walking and turned to face Lily. "At least I fulfilled one of your requests so far," he observed brightly.

"Oh?" Lily raised an eyebrow, curious. "And what was that?" she asked skeptically.

"I didn't get us kicked out of any shops," James replied, wearing what could only be described as a "shit-eating grin." "Yet…" he added as an afterthought.

Lily gave him incredulous look, and failed to hear the second part of his statement.

"Then what do you call that perfume shop manager running around, holding a ball point pen as thought it were a lethal weapon?" Lily asked, wondering what sort of answer James was going to give.

"That?" James scoffed with an all-knowing air. "Oh, she never got around to kicking us out. Sure, she was about to, but we ran out before anything drastic could happen," he finished with a solemn nod.

"It's nice to know you're so careful not to break any rules," observed Lily, a smile playing on her lips.

"What can I say?" asked James rhetorically, throwing an arm around Lily's shoulders. "Never underestimate the great and honorable James Potter."

Lily only nodded absently. Feeling a strange, warm pressure around her shoulders, she unconsciously moved closer towards James. It felt as though gravity was pulling her head down to James' should—wait. It was James' arm that was embracing her, which—as much as she hated to admit it—felt rather nice, and—oh my god. She promptly went into a slight state of panic, and hastily tried to remove James' arm from around her. Alas, it was to no avail.

"Please move your arm, Potter," Lily asked politely, grabbing James' wrist in another attempt to remove his arm from around her shoulders.

"What?" asked James, feigning innocence.

"Would you mind finding something else to use as an arm rest next time?" Lily asked, smiling hopefully. "You are invading my personal space."

"But you love it," replied James, pulling Lily even closer to him. Her head was, once again, in danger of resting upon James' shoulder. She pushed herself away lightly, ignoring the strange feeling in her stomach.

"Of course, Potter," she replied. "I just love having little to no breathing room," she muttered sarcastically.

"See," James started, gleefully, smiling fondly at the top of Lily's head, "you even admitted it yourself." At this, Lily rolled her eyes once more and sighed.

"Potter, please," she asked, in a half pleading, half threatening voice, giving James the most intimidating glare she could manage.

"Fine," James consented, sighing, and slowly withdrew his arm from its original position.

The two wandered aimlessly around the mall, all the while James giving off the air of a wounded puppy. After five minutes of silent trudging, Lily had enough. James Potter always knows how to be so mature, she thought sarcastically.

"So…where do you want me to drag you off to next?" Lily inquired, looking up at James, who was humming quietly to himself, his hands in his pockets.

He looked up, slightly startled, and thought about Lily's question. "Well…now that you mentioned it, what do you think about ice cream?"

"Ice cream?" Lily asked, slightly dumbfounded. He goes all the way to a Muggle mall, and he starts having cravings for ice cream? What's wrong with getting ice cream in Diagon Alley or something?…I bet they have more flavors, anyway….

James gave Lily a look. "Yeah, ice cream—you know, that yummy cold, frozen stuff—"

"I know what ice cream is, Potter," Lily interrupted quickly. "I might say and do plenty of not-smart-things," she added, "but I'm not that thick."

"Oh, I never said you were," James amended hastily. "You just looked like you were having a lapse in brain activity or something."

Lily snort. "Nice, Potter—thanks. I'm glad you have so much faith in my mental prowess." She nodded, smiling grimly.

"Don't worry Lily," James assured, "you're a very intelligent—but slightly sadistic—witch." Lily laughed good naturedly at this. "If you weren't," James continued, "why would old Sluggy have a crush on you?"

He earned a slap in the shoulder for that.

"Ow…that hurt…" James complained, rubbing the "injured" joint and testing to see if it still functioned properly.

"Feel the wrath of paper-back novels, Potter," was Lily's only attempt at consolation, which earned her a small chuckle from James.

"See what I said? She's sadistic," stage-whispered James to a nonexistent audience, which elicited yet another eye roll from Lily.

He suddenly clapped his hands together. "So," James began briskly, "how about that ice cream?"

Lily sighed, as though considering it. "Well, as your unofficial tour guide," Lily began slowly, tapping her chin thoughtfully, "I suppose I'm obligated to show you where one can find such a delicious, frozen treat," she finished with exaggerated formality.

"Then by all means, lead the way."

Author's Note: Well...I'm not dead, so that's good...I just haven't updated in...what was it, three months? So yeah, I haven't abandoned this story, I've just been having some nice little writer's block issues, but that's a terrible excuse, isn't it? Nah, I've been having this identity-crisis thing, and a huge fangirling period, which lead to me drawing a lot of Makorra fanart, or just Legend of Korra fanart in general...and some Sherlock...and some Doctor Who, even though I've only watched four episodes of the season with the Ninth Doctor...

I hope this chapters okay. I was seriously considering abandoning fanfiction in general, but just recently, I've gotten some very motivating reviews, so thank you, to all those that reviewed this story, and my fanfic for "Olive's Ocean."

Wow, this is turning out to be a rather long author's note isn't it? Well...please, let me know if you think the charactarization of Lily and/or James has changed, but please, no flames. I think my view of the characters may have changed with the increasing bitterness I put on over the years...so...please, tell me what you think. I actually intended this chapter to be longer, but I decided to upload what I had. So...yeah...enough of rambling, then, I guess. But please, read and review, if you have even bothered to read this far. And sadly, there is no new book featured in this chapter. I think I'll have one next chapter, or I'll edit this chapter to make it longer.

I think I actually might end up finishing this thing...that's a first, isn't it?

Thanks again for reading, and I would really appreciate it if you reviewed. :)

And sorry if there are any typos-I promise I'll fix them later when I get the chance.

-Delia