"Marlene, he's completely awful," Lily complains, pouring herself and her guest a glass of red wine each.

"And you're positive you're not overreacting?" her friend asks from the couch.

"I don't think he said a single word to me that wasn't a suggestive comment." Lily brings the glasses over, passing one to Marlene. "And he wouldn't stop calling me Evans!"

"Well, that is your name," Marlene points out.

"I'm Doctor Evans at work, not just Evans. I didn't drag myself through Oxford Medical School and an internship from hell just to get referred to by just my surname."

"So the bloke finds you attractive and called you by a nickname. I don't see what's so bad about that." Marlene takes a sip of her wine. "Plus, I Googled him, and Lily, I am not attracted to men in the slightest, but even I can see that he is fit as hell."

"Maybe he is, but he has a shit personality," Lily responds.

"Is he really that awful, or are you only picking out the worst things about him?"

Lily considers that for a moment. Marlene is, perhaps, being a bit more logical about this situation than she is. "Well, I've only just met him – so I don't even know if he has any redeeming qualities. If he does, he sure as hell didn't show them. I spent the entire time trying to maintain at least a semblance of professionalism, but he was just so damn infuriating."

Marlene cocks her head, giving Lily a judging look. "So you mean to tell me that you had a flirtatious and fit-as-hell rugby player under your care today and you didn't flirt back once?"

Lily's cheeks color slightly as she remembers her final comment. "No, I didn't."

Marlene breaks into a wide smile, her face lighting up at her friend's blush. "Lily Evans, you dirty minx, you're lying to me! You did flirt with him!"

"Just once, and only a little bit, as I was leaving," Lily defends herself. "And what does it matter anyways? In all likelihood, I'm never going to see him again. And he has no way of getting in touch with me."

Lily chooses not to mention the fact that she now has his number saved in her phone.

She tells herself that it's strictly for medical concerns; after all, if he doesn't allow for the proper recovery time, it's going to cause Lily a whole lot of pain as well.

"Why won't you see him again?" Marlene asks.

"Because he doesn't live in London," Lily explains. "He was here for a match, but the Wasps are based in Coventry – I looked it up."

"If it's meant to be, it'll happen. He is your soulmate, after all."

Lily snorts. "At least now I know why he's been getting himself hurt so much over the years. I was starting to worry that he was just extraordinarily clumsy."

"Rugby player certainly wouldn't have been my first guess," Marlene replies.

"Right?" Lily replies, a bit more enthusiastic about the conversation now that it's not just Marlene trying to convince her to give James a shot. "I was thinking my match would be another doctor, or a barrister, or something like that – not someone who gets injured for fun and probably only has like ten brain cells left."

"Well, you know what they say, opposites attract. Also, you've only just met the bloke, so how do you know he's not some sort of genius in disguise?"

"If he was a genius, I can't help but imagine he'd be doing something more… respectable with his life."

Lily is aware that she's being a bit judgmental – not to mention that a world-class rugby player is eons better than, say, a drill salesman, like Petunia's husband.

"And don't give me that 'opposites attract' lark when you and Dorcas are so alike that you basically complete each other's sentences," she adds as an after-thought.

"No two soulmate pairings are exactly alike, Lily," Marlene reasons, and Lily briefly hates how logical her friend is being about all of this. She just wants someone to commiserate with her about how annoying this soulmate situation is for her, dammit.

"I know that," Lily finally relents, "I just didn't expect mine to be quite like this, you know?"

Marlene pats her friend's shoulder reassuringly. "I know, dear. Just give it time, yeah? Who knows, it could work out better than you expect."

Marlene leaves her with those parting words, heading down the hallway to her own flat.

Once Lily's alone, she pours herself another glass of wine – probably not the best idea since she has to be at work at 7:00 tomorrow – and pulls out her laptop.

She finds herself Googling the science behind soulmate genetics. While the real world may be messy and complicated, Lily has always felt at home in the world of academic literature, where things are much more black and white.

It takes her only a few moments to find the very first article on the procedure, published about nine years ago. Lily was sixteen when the soulmate system finished its final round of clinical trials and was opened to the public – she remembers poring over this paper obsessively when it first came out, and she's read it a number of times since then as well.

Essentially, scientists had discovered a sequence of genes about 20 years that determined compatibility with another person – these sequences are completely unique, save for one other person. That person, with that same sequence of genes, is supposed to be your soulmate.

And of course, there are flaws to the argument, because it completely ignores how much of a person is determined by things outside of their genetic makeup. But regardless, it's generally correct at predicting soulmate matches.

The 'soulmate procedure,' as it's now commonly referred to, uses that gene sequence to link the two soulmates together. It essentially links people together by their nerve endings, allowing them to feel each other's pain – this procedure, the scientists claimed, would increase empathy for one's soulmate, therefore resulting in a stronger and more intimate connection once the two soulmates actually connect.

The procedure has always been entirely discretionary – forcing people to go through the procedure would be a bit too akin to the dystopian fantasy novels Lily read as a child.

So there have always been people like Lily's sister Petunia, who scoff at the science of soulmates and opt out of the procedure. It's not as if refusing the procedure denies the person any chance of finding love; Petunia and Vernon have been happily married since they were twenty.

But because Lily is filled with a sense of morbid curiosity, she finds herself Googling "failed soulmate matches."

There are over a million results.

The stories range from the mundane to the macabre. There's a ton of poorly-written, rambling blog posts about people finding their 'soulmate,' only to discover that they're nothing remotely close to twin souls. And then there's the stories of soulmates going rogue – becoming so disappointed with their genetically-determined match that they come unhinged and murder their unsuspecting partner.

At the very least, Lily feels relatively confident that James Potter isn't going to kill her. At least, not in that way.

It's just over six weeks from that day when Lily's daily tube ride is interrupted by a searing pain in her shoulder.

At first, she thinks it might've been a really aggressive shoulder check from a fellow passenger, but then she notes that they're all a bit too packed in for anyone to hit her quite that hard.

She immediately pulls out her mobile, scrolling through her contacts to find the one she's looking for.

17:42

What the FUCK did you do this time?

The screen instantly displays a message send error, and Lily curses herself for being so naïve as to forget that she has absolutely zero service on the Underground.

She gingerly shrugs her shoulder, trying to alleviate the pain even though she knows it's pointless. It's a strange sensation that she's never quite grown accustomed to – the fact that she can feel the pain like it's her own but it doesn't mitigate or worsen based on her own movements.

It's not until she gets off the tube and is walking up on the street that she feels her mobile buzz in her pocket once, twice, three times.

18:02

evans?

is that you?

i knew you couldn't resist me forever ;)

She's abandoning her hard-and-fast rule of never texting while walking through the busy streets of London, pulling the gloves off her hands to type her response.

18:04

Don't flatter yourself, Potter.

Just please tell me why it feels like my shoulder's about to fall off.

18:07

today was the first day i was cleared for practice – i got a little overexcited

18:08

Of course you did.

18:11

sorry, evans. i'm icing it now, if that'll help

plus there's no actual damage this time – just a bruise

18:12

Thank God.

Lily slides her phone back into her pocket. Her fingers have gone numb at this point, and she fumbles for longer than usual to get her keys out of her bag.

Once inside the comforting warmth of her apartment, Lily makes short work of changing from her scrubs into an oversized Oxford sweatshirt and pyjama pants.

Her phone buzzes again, and she pulls it out of her recently discarded scrub pants.

18:23

so, apart from the shoulder thing, how was your day?

any other dashing rugby players come into a&e recently?

18:26

It was… good. Busy.

And definitely no dashing rugby players.

We haven't had one of those since… 10 weeks ago maybe?

Lily smirks to herself. As much as she hates to admit it, she's getting a bit of a rush from teasing James like this.

She does begrudge him for his apparent aversion to using periods and capital letters, though. But she's always been the odd person out who insists on properly capitalization and punctuation in text messages.

And maybe it's because she's in the comfort of her flat, reheating leftover Chinese takeaway and flipping through channels on the telly, but she finds that James' arrogance isn't quite as grating as it was last time.

18:28

you wound me, evans

18:29

Don't call me Evans.

18:33

well then what am i supposed to call you, love?

you're not my doctor anymore, and i don't know your first name

18:34

It's Lily.

18:36

lily potter has a nice ring to it

18:38

This conversation is over.

18:40

shit, that was too far

sorry evans

wait i mean lily

fcuk

Lily can't help but audibly laugh at James' panicked backtracking. She'll answer him – in the morning. She has to make him stew in his stupidity for a little bit.

She does actually reply to him the next day, and the day after that, and the day after that. She finds that texting him isn't actually quite as infuriating as interacting with him in person. Apparently, typing words out on a keyboard grants him a filter that he doesn't quite seem to have in person.

James does attempt to ask her on a date a few more times, to which Lily responds by coming up with all manner of creative ways to turn him down. "You'll have to hop in line behind all the other rugby players I've fixed up in A&E" and "sorry, I only date boys who didn't break their nose in the middle of my BMAT" are just two of her favourites.

Marlene and Dorcas both take the mickey out of her when they realize she's been texting the soulmate she claimed to despise so much. Dorcas tries to convince Lily to let the poor bloke take her out on a date, but Lily doesn't budge. She claims she likes him much better over the phone than in person. And plus, he lives in Coventry.

She won't admit it to anyone, but she's also terrified that James only sees her as a game – a prize to be won. That's certainly how she felt on the first day she met him, like he was just trying to wind her up and push her buttons for the fun of it.

She wants to believe in the science of soulmates, in that 98% success rate. But her and James come from different worlds – how could they ever really be destined for each other? They're too different.

He's arrogant and brash and reckless, and she's cautious and detailed and logical. By all rational measures, they're totally wrong for each other.

She's walking through Tesco, in the middle of a text berating him for his biscuit preferences, that she almost hits another shopper with her trolley.

The man looks up at her, affronted, and then a look of recognition passes across his face. "Lily? Is that you?"

Lily stuffs her phone into the back pocket of her jeans. "Remus! It's so good to see you. It's been – what, three years now?"

"We graduated four years ago, if my memory serves me correctly." The sandy-haired boy – a friend from uni – smiles at her. "How have you been?"

"I've been great," Lily replies, returning the smile. "I'm in the A&E department at Saint Bartholomew's. And how's your… you're doing international human rights law, right?"

"I am, and it's great. I'm working with a non-governmental organization right now that's advocating for refugee rights, and it's just… really good to be making a difference, you know?"

Lily nods. She understands the feeling. It's part of the reason she went into medicine anyways – that opportunity to make a difference in people's lives.

"And how's Sirius?"

Sirius Black is Remus' soulmate – they'd been friends since grammar school, but had danced around the idea of actually dating for years. Then they'd both gotten the soulmate procedure, and Sirius had immediately stabbed himself with a pen the moment the two of them were reunited. When Remus let out a yelp of pain as well, that was all the encouragement either of the two needed.

"He's good too," Remus responds. "Although we haven't gotten to spend much time together lately – we've got a friend from secondary school who's staying with us until he finds his own place, and he's always around whenever he's not at rugby practice."

"Rugby practice?"

Remus lets out a bark of laughter. "Oh yeah, one of Sirius and I's best mates from secondary is a world-class rugby player. Almost a celebrity, really. He plays for the Wasps, and they're currently moving back to their original stadium in London, which means he's crashing with us for the time being."

Lily can't believe the coincidence. But surely Remus' childhood friend isn't the same Wasps player. "What's your rugby player friend's name, by chance?"

"James Potter."

Lily very attractively chokes on her own saliva. As she's coughing and attempting to catch her breath, Remus chuckles.

"I take it you've heard of him?"

Lily can only nod.

"I didn't know you followed sports," Remus adds.

"I don't," Lily explains, as soon as she's able to speak again. "He, er, well, I was the doctor assigned to him when he broke two ribs a couple months ago."

Remus stares at her for a moment, eyes going wide. "Christ, when James said his soulmate was a fit red-haired A&E doctor, he… meant you?"

Lily bites her lip. "Yeah."

"I really should've put that one together," Remus replies, grinning to himself. "I've had to listen to him talk about you non-stop since he moved in."

Lily's a bit surprised. "You have?"

"Oh my God, yes. He's never referred to you by name, but I swear if I have to hear him rave about 'that funny thing his soulmate texted him earlier today' or mope about 'his soulmate turning him down again' one more time, I'm going to smother him with my couch cushions."

Lily flushes. She hadn't really expected James to genuinely be upset about her rejecting him.

"If you don't mind me asking, though," Remus continues, "why exactly do you keep rejecting him anyways?"

Remus' directness catches Lily off guard, and it takes her a few moments to form a response. "He's perfectly fine over text," Lily finally manages, "but in person, he was a complete arse."

To Lily's surprise, Remus actually laughs at that. "That doesn't surprise me at all. James is absolutely shit with girls – you'd really think as a famous athlete he'd be better, but nope, he's just as bad as he was in grammar school. He basically panics and says the first, and often the most inappropriate, thing that comes to mind."

Remus' words have Lily completely reconsidering her first impressions of the bloke. What she'd originally interpreted as James intentionally aggravating her and coming on way too strong was, if Remus is to be believed, just his nerves getting the best of him and causing him to massively overcompensate.

"Hm, and here I was just thinking that was his personality," Lily muses.

"Oh, don't get me wrong," Remus responds, "he's still got a bit of an overinflated ego. But he's a good guy. Give him a chance. Maybe then he'll start staying at your flat and give Sirius and I some damn alone time for once."

Lily can't suppress a smile. "I'll think about it."

Remus smiles back. "Good. See you around, Lily."

"Bye, Remus."

As soon as Remus turns to go down the next aisle, Lily fires off a quick text to James.

14:57

You're mental if you think Jammie Dodgers are anywhere near the best biscuit of all time.

A/N: Yes, for those of you who asked, this isn't just a one-shot! It's actually going to end up being four parts. Also, even though this is technically a James/Lily-centric piece, my favorite moment in this entire story is just picturing Sirius stoically stabbing himself with a pen and watching Remus yelp in pain.