A/N: Continuing dear James's story- not to worry though, we'll be back to Lily in about two chapters. Now, without further ado-here it is!
Songs-
1)She's so lovely by Scouting For Girls
"I don't know how we'll make it through this...I think that you are lovely, I think that you are beautiful."
3) Noticed by Mute Math
"You are reaching something that is beating, I can't believe I never noticed my heart before..."
Chapter three: To be fair to James Potter (Part 2-Pretty in pink or maybe otherwise)
"God, I hate the color pink," James said with a shudder. Sirius threw him a strange look. They were sharing a table at the back of their fourth-year Double Potions class in the dungeons. Remus and Peter were huddled over their own potions at table beside theirs.
"Our potions are supposed to be green. All the materials we are using to make this stupid potion, in fact, are green. Where are you getting pink from?"
"The girl sitting in front of us- the Slytherin, what's her name? Anyway, her hair-tie. It is a disgustingly offensive shade of neon pink."
"Ah," Sirius said, glancing at the girl in front of them, who had in fact tied her hair in a rough pony tail with said offensive object. "I'm not particularly fond of the color either. You know me, I myself prefer some BLACK," he said with a cheesy grin. James snorted as he added frog skin to the contents of his cauldron. "But where is all the animosity coming from?"
"Remember that disastrous date I had with Iris Brown last year? When she forced me to take her to Madam Pudifoot's place? That was the worst experience of my life. Everything there, and I mean, everything, was freaking pink. Pink teacups, pink cupcakes, pink sugar cubes. And urgh— I remember even Iris's stupid sweater was pink. By the way, who goes out in only a sweater when it's negative ten degrees outside?" James ranted as he savagely chopped at his basil leaves. Apparently, the memory of that day still stung. "Now I can't even look at the color without wanting to punch someone."
"James, that happened at least eight months ago. Maybe it's time to let it go and move on with your life. I know you were in love with Iris and all—"
"Don't even joke about that," James hissed. Sirius laughed. He pulled out his wand from the pocket of his robe and surreptitiously pointed it at the Slytherin in front of them. He muttered a spell under his breath. The girl's hair tie immediately turned a dull shade of brown. James, who had been watching to make sure his friend didn't hex a girl just because he didn't approve of her hair accessories, sighed in relief.
"Nice, man," James said with a grin. "Thanks! Should have thought of that. Actually should have thought of that last year…" Sirius ignored James. An idea had just popped into his head.
"Hey, you know who would look really good in pink?" he asked James, with a devilish grin on his face. James caught on immediately. He sat up straight in his chair and grinned back at Sirius.
"And how are we doing today, boys?" James and Sirius jumped out of their seats as their Potions teacher waddled up to them. How they had missed his rather prominent presence was a little beyond them. "Hiding in the back as usual, I see, where I have no idea what you two boys are up to. Let us see how your potions are coming along, eh?" He peered first into James's and then Sirius's cauldron, before giving them both an approving nod and a smile.
"Not perhaps the exact shade that Ms. Evans' potion and Mr. Snape's potion are up front, but an excellent job none-the-less. Now you, Mr. Pettigrew," Slughorn continued, wobbling over to Peter's grey concoction. Sirius scowled as soon as he was out of earshot.
"Git. Our potions look exactly like Evans' and Snivellus's," Sirius said darkly, peaking over a few heads to make sure, despite himself. "He loves them so much, Ol' Sluggy embellished theirs in his mind by the time he got back here."
"Who cares?" James asked nonchalantly with a shrug. "What we were talking about it much more important." He said, grinning. "So what exactlydid you have in mind? Pink skin or pink hair?"
As the class filed out at the end of the lesson, James tried to catch sight of a certain greasy-haired Slytherin. Severus Snape and Lily Evans, who sat in the front row of their Potions class, had a head start on James and had already made their way out into the hallway together. Barging through the crowd and knocking over Slytherins and Gryffindors alike, James and Sirius made their way outside the classroom in time to catch sight of the two rounding a corner.
"I'll talk to you later then, Sev," Lily was saying in a bright voice.
"Do it now," Sirius whispered to James. James pulled out his wand. He pointed it at the pair and began muttering a spell under his breath just as someone quite suddenly rammed into him from behind.
"OI, watch it!" James said, rounding on a poor stumbling Peter Pettigrew.
"Sorry James!" Peter squeaked. "Remus and I were just trying to catch up to you and then this Slytherin pushed me…"
"Whatever," James said gruffly before turning back around to see if his spell had been properly executed. His eyes widened.
"Oh bloody hell," James whispered. Sirius burst out laughing. Remus Lupin, who had just made his way out of the classroom stared first at James, then at Sirius, and then finally at Lily Evans' lone retreating figure. He blinked.
"Uh, James…what did you do?" he asked.
"Bloody hell," James repeated. He broke into a jog, trying to catch up to Lily before she headed into the Great Hall. "I was trying to hit Snape with a spell, but then he rounded the corner, and I had already started the spell, and then Pete ran into me, and the spell…OI, LILLIAN EVANS!" But Lily was too far ahead of him, and as a class of sixth-years burst through another door in the hallway, they were quickly separated by a dense crowd.
"Looks like goody-two-shoes turned into quite the rebel, eh?" Sirius said, catching up to James. He was hooting in laughter. "She must be pretty thick though, how could she not have noticed that she's—"
"She was reading over her paper, that's how," James said . "And, well, everyone rolls up their sleeves for Potions. Or else she probably would have noticed her pink sleeves. Or the stares she is getting right now."
"If we don't stop her before she gets to the Great Hall, McGonagall might just kill her, and then she might just come and kill me. Guys, I'm too young to die," James said with a whimper. Sirius rolled his eyes.
"What, are you afraid of a girl, James?" Sirius asked.
"She's a redhead. I have every right to be scared. Have you seen Muriel Weasley?" Sirius rolled his eyes again and then began scanning the halls.
"Oh, this is the hall that has the hidden door isn't it?" Sirius fought his way through the throng before glancing around; sufficiently securing that nobody was paying any attention to him, he quickly shoved an innocuous looking part of the wall. The wall gave way to allow Sirius to squeeze behind it. James, Remus, and Peter glanced around before following Sirius down a dimly lit passage. The four boys made their way up and across Hogwarts in record time and pushed through an opening right next to the Great Hall, literally bursting through a wall and giving Lily Evans, who had been one step short of entering the Great Hall, quite a fright.
"Oh!" She shrieked, dropping her parchment and placing a hand over her heart. "What are you doing?"
" Evans, we were looking for you! You see, we thought you'd get into trouble going into the hall like that, so we wanted to stop you," James said bluntly.
"Actually, it was mostly James. I was all for letting you run in like that," Sirius contradicted, smirking, his gaze dropping downwards.
"Like what?" Lily asked blankly. She glanced down at herself. And then she froze. And then hell broke loose.
"FLIP— JAMES POTTER, why are my robes HOT BLOODY PINK? MY Robes are supposed to be—BLACK!" She yelled, rounding on Sirius.
"What did you do?" She shrieked, glaring at the four boys in front of her. James had the decency to look a little ashamed. He was also feeling a little uncomfortable. Not only did the bright pink robes look absolutely horrible under Lily Evans's auburn hair, her steadily flushing face seemed to be doing its best to transform her into a red-tinted spectacle. Her bright green eyes provided the only source of contrast on her whole persona putting James in mind suddenly of Christmas.
"Look, I'm really sorry Evans, it was an accident—"
"Why me?" She asked bluntly, with a desperate edge in her voice. "What did I ever do to you? You know what, forget that for the moment, just- FIX IT NOW!" James looked helplessly over at Sirius who was still grinning, and then at Remus who looked a little at loss for what to do. He shook his head.
"Uh…I'm not exactly sure that I know the spell that'll make your robes black- I can make them dark brown?" He suggested while backing away slowly as Lily began to advance towards him. She had a deadly look in her eyes.
"Potter," she hissed. "If you don't find a way to fix this right now, I'm going to—" she broke off, and gulped. She suddenly looked quite close to tears. Her lower lip was suddenly trembling. Her eyes welled up.
Now, there are a handful of fourteen year old boys who are capable of comforting a girl who is distressed and close to tears. But only a very small handful. James Potter was not one of those lucky few.
But feeling horribly guilty, James had to try and stop her before she actually began crying. His more sensible friend Remus in the mean time pulled out his Charms textbook and hastily began searching for a proper spell to return the robes to their original state.
"No no no no- don't cry! It's alright Evans! We'll find the spell to fix your robes up in a jiffy. Remus is looking it up right now, see?"
"You just had to ruin my day even more, didn't you, Potter?" Lily said, scrunching up her face to stop tears from falling. She did not quite succeed. "First an owl decided to use me as its target for bird droppings this morning, so I had to run up and change before class started and I ended up late to Arithmancy, which cost me five points, and then I had to receive my paper from the other day which I failed. I spent four hours working on that paper! Four hours! Wasted! And then Moaning Myrtle had to show up in my toilet and wouldn't stop wailing in my ear until I was absolutely horrible to her so that she would leave me alone, but I've been feeling guilty all morning for being so awful to her, and now, you've dyed my only good pair of robes PINK. I'm a red-head! I can't wear pink because I look bloody awful in pink, and now you are saying you can't fix my robes! My robes are SUPP0SED T0 BE BLACK N0T BR0WN!" Lily said this all so quickly that James barely caught half of what she said. He was making shushing noises in an attempt to calm her down.
"Look Lily, I'm sorry that you've had such a horrible day. Really I am. I can see it sucked. Um. Arithmancy is hard? And, Moaning Myrtle doesn't deserve your…um, niceness, she's horrible," James stumbled over his words in guilt and mild panic. "And uh, you look uh…fine in pink?"
"FINE?" Lily wailed. Her eyes blazed.
"Sorry, not fine! Uh, really pretty! You always look…pretty. But you even manage to look pretty in pink!" Lily made a scoffing noise but did not resume wailing. James took this as a good sign. He nodded to show her he meant what he said. " Really! You're the only red-head I've ever known who looks good in pink," he continued. Sirius was snorting with barely smothered laughter next to him. James surreptitiously kicked him.
"Here, Lily," Remus cut in, stepping forward. "I'm just going to try this spell now. Is that okay with you?" Lily nodded while hastily wiping at the tear tracks on her face. Remus pointed his wand warily at her long black robes and hesitantly muttered a spell under his breath. A small ink-like stain appeared on Lily's hot pink robes. It began to spread, creeping over the fabric and spreading over it. It slithered and snaked over the entire length of Lily's robes until she was covered in proper black Hogwarts robes once more. Lily looked down at herself.
"Oh, thank you Remus!" Lily said, beaming at him with effusive gratitude. He smiled back at her in return.
"No problem. And sorry about the…well, chocolate always helps on days like these," he said wisely. Lily nodded. She glared once at Sirius who had not stopped grinning, spared a glance in James's direction before turning on her heel and speeding into the Great Hall. She did in fact reach straight for the chocolate dessert on the table.
The four boys were left in the Great Hall. James, for the first time in his life, was uncommonly silent.
"Well, that was a good laugh," Sirius said, breaking the silence with a grin.
"Will you stop playing with that snitch?" An irate Sirius asked. James ignored him.
"Won't they need the snitch for the next game, James?" Peter asked, watching eagerly from his bed as James caught the snitch with ease before letting it float above him again.
"Nah. Snitches have flesh-memory Petey- they need a new snitch for the next game. Read Quidditch Through the Ages. Good book: very informative."
"James, come on. Let's go exploring! I'm sure there are plenty of secret passageways that we have yet to discover around this school."
"That would be quite amazing- I feel like I've visited every nook and crevice of this entire school with you guys," Remus said sensibly, glancing up from his school textbook. "Outings past curfew, midnight escapades around the castle, "adventures" in the Forbidden Forest, entire weekends spent exploring hallways and staircases and wings…I don't think there is a part of the castle left."
"Remus, this is Hogwarts. There has to be something around here we haven't seen yet. And I've been aching to have another look at the "Come-and-go" room, as the house-elves call it," Sirius countered. James sighed.
"Sirius, I'm just not in the mood tonight."
"Fine, how about we work on the Animagi transformations?" Sirius pressed stubbornly. Peter winced, still sore from his last attempt at his own transformation. James sighed again. He shot an apologetic glance at Remus.
"I'm sorry, just not tonight. Tomorrow, definitely." Remus nodded in understanding. He also looked somewhat guilty.
"I told you guys it was silly of you to be trying this anyway- it is extremely dangerous—"
"Put a sock in it, Lupin." Sirius grunted, his eyes not leaving James. "Alright spill it, Potter, what's gotten into you tonight?"
"Nothing," James sighed, leaving the Snitch to fly around the room instead of swiping it. Sirius pulled out his wand.
"Accio Snitch," he said and the snitch zoomed into his waiting palm.
"Alright, you asked for it James," he said in a dangerous voice. He picked up a stray sock that was lying near his trunk and stuffed the Snitch inside. Next he made his way to James' bed.
"You asked for it," he repeated. James belatedly realized what he was doing.
"Sirius- don't you dare—UMPF." He said as Sirius landed on him and began to tackle him. He was on a larger scale than the James, who was quite scrawny, and used this to his advantage.
"BLOODY HELL, GET OFF ME- STOP IT SIRIUS, I MEAN IT. SIRIUS. SIRIUS BLACK, OW THAT HURT YOU SON OF A—"
"Language, Potter," Sirius said, baring his teeth in a grin, a knee in James' back and a hand twisting his arm back rather painfully. "Now, spill. What's bothering you?"
""I'll spill if you LET GO OF ME," James said, his voice muffled since his face was stuffed into his pillow, glasses askew.
"Fair enough," Sirius said easily. "But, if you try to get out of it, I'll hex you this time," he said before releasing James.
"As if you could," James said darkly, sitting up and rubbing his arm. He settled his glasses once again. "Thanks for the help Rem, Pete," he said sarcastically. Peter squeaked an apology though his expression clearly said he was glad not to have gotten on Sirius's bad side. He had on many occasions been on the receiving end of Sirius' roughhousing and did not relish the experience.
"Well, I'm curious as to what is bothering you as well, James," Remus said. "You're not acting like yourself."
"Yeah well," James replied, rubbing the back of his neck. He glanced nervously at the three friends around him as if to gauge their reactions before he blurted out, "I'm feeling guilty about this afternoon. You know…making Evans…cry," he cringed at the last word.
"WHAT? THAT'S what is bothering you?" Sirius yelped. Remus looked at his friend with a pensive expression.
"I mean, you didn't really seem to mind when you made Devan Patel cry when you hit him with that gluing jinx….or when you made that first year cry when you shrunk his—"
"You are never going to let that go, are you?" James said wryly, cutting Remus off.
"That was completely horrible, and you know it. How would you feel if your….shrunk out of the blue?" James looked uncomfortable at the thought. "But anyway, the thing with Lily wasn't even ALL your fault- you weren't even aiming for her, and she was just having a bad day," Remus said. James didn't look comforted.
"I know, but I feel bad." Sirius looked up at the ceiling in exasperation.
'This is Lily Evans we're talking about, isn't it? The annoying goody-two-shoes who always rats us out to Prefects, yells at us for laughing in the Common Room too loudly, who has turned her female hormonal wrath on us so many times I think her face will be stuck in that grimace soon- THAT Lily Evans?" Sirius gestured erratically as he spoke. He ended with a snort. "I don't know why you are bothering."
"Doesn't justify making her cry…" Sirius looked at James strangely. Peter valiantly tried to come to the rescue.
"Maybe James means… Lily gets annoyed at us a lot, but in general she's really nice. She helps me out all the time in Charms since we're near each other in that class…" he trailed off as Sirius threw him a look. Remus carried on for him.
"She's one of the only people who has the decency to be nice to Snivellus- I'm not his biggest fan, but I do feel right sorry for him sometimes." He ignored Sirius's noise of protest. "Lily is one of his only friends." Sirius raised an eyebrow.
"Ok, she's a nice witch. Fantastic. Doesn't stop her from being an annoying pain in the-"
"I think I feel bad because Lily is usually so nice to everyone that everyone is usually nice back to her. It sort of looked like she took what happened today as a personal attack on her. Like she thought it were her fault, like we attacked her on purpose. We didn't even get to tell her the spell wasn't for her. I dunno, I just feel bad," James finished lamely and somewhat uncomfortably. Talking about feelings is another thing few fourteen year old boys do with ease.
"James, why do you care so much? You're turning out to be such a good egg," Sirius said managing to sound exasperated, sarcastic, and affectionate at once. Remus shot him a skeptical look out of the corner of his eye. "How about this-we'll find Evans tomorrow and tell her she wasn't the intended target at all. Will that make you feel better?" James blinked at his sheets, blank-faced. He finally sighed and pushed his glasses up his face.
"I guess," he said uncertainly.
"Hey James," Peter interjected suddenly. He looked nervously at his friend, his eyes wide with curiosity. "You don't feel bad because you, you know…like, I mean like like Lily Evans, do you?" James, Sirius, and Remus all stared at Peter, a little shocked by Peter's bold statement. And then what he asked finally sunk in. Sirius and James glanced at each other before they simultaneously burst out laughing.
"HAHA, THAT'S A GOOD ONE PETIE…IN LOVE WITH LILY EVANS, MERLIN." Sirius hooted, laughing. James laughed along with him.
"I know she's nice but she's also annoying as hell, Pete," James chortled. Sirius fell back against the headboard of his bed, grinning lazily.
"And she's not even that fit, Petie, c'mon- Jamesie here can do so much better!" James blinked mid-laugh. He paused and looked thoughtful for a second.
"Wait, really? I thought she was sort of fit…" Sirius snorted.
"Are you kidding? No way. If you want a fit gal, look at Lisa Turnpike- there's a fit-y if I've ever seen one."
"Oh, she is fit," James agreed readily.
"She's got more curves than the muggle-roads on my motorcycle ads," Sirius said eagerly. James gave him a strange look.
"What? I started ordering muggle magazines to piss off my mum. I want a motorcycle. It looks like good fun."
"You should really stop going out of your way to antagonize your mum, Sirius," Remus said, although he looked amused. "And for the record, I heard a conversation between Lisa and her friends the other day. Let's just say that she thinks you are pretty fit as well, though I personally don't see the charm." Sirius threw a pillow at his face which Remus didn't quite succeed in dodging.
"Ah, Lisa's not really my type. I mean, she makes darn Hogwarts robes look good with that figure—do you think she got hers tailored tighter on purpose?— But she's a slag. And I mean, her best friend is Berta Jorkins- a moron if I've ever seen one."
"I'm proud of you for having standards mate," Remus said. Sirius glared at him.
"You wound me, Lupin," Sirius said.
"At least Evans has got smarts in her favor though," James said suddenly, looking thoughtful. Sirius and Remus looked over at him. Remus raised an eyebrow, and Sirius just looked shocked.
"Are you still thinking about Evans? God, maybe I should be worried- do you like her, seriously, James?"
"No! No, I don't like her, honestly," James replied. He apparently believed what he said as well. He pulled at the threads on his comforter. "I was just saying you know- she may not be as fit as Lisa, or Iris Brown, or Linda Chung, or whatever, but at least she's got a brain, you know? And she's…I mean, she is pretty. Her eyes are sort of amazing, aren't they?" He said, still staring down at his sheets. And then as if he just realized what he said, he looked up at his mates in horror.
"They are very unique," Remus said cautiously, staring at his friend in a calculating manner.
"James…" Sirius began, looking disconcerted. For some reason the idea of his best friend liking a girl seriously disconcerted him a little. It did not fit into any of the scheming plans he had in mind for their future years at Hogwarts. It was also rather annoying that his best mate apparently seemed to have a soft spot for the girl who seemed to make it her mission to yell at them over some petty misdemeanor or the other at least once a week.
"No wait, what I meant was….no— Sirius, guys, I definitely don't like her. I think she is really annoying and bossy, and needs to get off her high-horse once in a while. She's more a stick in the mud than Remus here," he said. Remus shot him a look.
"I just…" James paused. "I just think she reminds me a little of my mother, that's all," he blurted finally. Sirius blinked in surprise. He opened his eyes to shut down the idea immediately. But then he closed it again.
"Huh. Actually, you know, I do see that," he said thoughtfully.
"Yeah," Remus agreed. "The red hair for one. They are both really pale..."
"Yeah," James agreed. "And…"he hesitated before continuing. "Obviously not the same eyes, but they look similar for some reason…."
"Same expression?" Remus mused. James nodded earnestly. "Yeah, that's it!" He said.
"Uh, James?" Peter interjected timidly. "So you are sure you don't like her?" James looked annoyed.
"Jeez Pete! What do you want me to do to convince you?"
"No, no, uh James….it's just that," he looked nervously around at his other friends. Slightly flushing, he continued. "My mom had my Aunt June over one time. I was sitting there and er—accidentally—heard their conversation. My Aunt June said that she read in a magazine that women apparently liked men who remind them of their fathers. And since my Uncle Alfred apparently acts a lot like my Grandpa used to before he…you know, croaked…she said it was true. Well, anyway, she also said that…men usually fell for women who reminded them of their mothers, too," he finished, cringing slightly into his bed.
"Well," Sirius said. He was wide-eyed. "Everyone, listen, and listen good. I vow here and now in front of you all – you lot will be my witnesses— I vow that I shall never marry."
"Sirius," Remus said with an eye-roll.
"No, really. I'm not even going to look at any women— well, unless I have absolutely no chance with her," he added as an afterthought. "Like those witches in Witch Weekly. If I do have a chance of actually getting to know a woman, apparently I'll only like her if she's like my hag of a mother."
"Sorry Sirius," Peter squeaked.
"I DON'T LIKE LILY EVANS," James yelled.
"If that's true Pete, then any future love interest of mine will probably be ridiculously clumsy. But nice as well, I guess. " Remus mused with a sigh. "I shouldn't trust her to watch after our children if they go wandering outside at sunset, though." Suddenly his face turned very serious. He looked years older. "Of course I don't actually want to be with any girl. Ever. I'd never put anyone through the horror of dating a rabid monster instead of a normal healthy bloke."
"Stop being so hard on yourself, Remus," James said sharply. He threw a pillow at Remus' head. "Lupin? Hey Lupin." Remus ignored him, staring gloomily up at the ceiling. "REMUS." James finally yelled. Remus looked reluctantly over at James. "I don't befriend monsters, just remember that. Sirius, Peter, let's get some Animagus training done, shall we?" James said with new determination, hopping out of bed. Sirius followed with a grin on his face.
"Excellent."
Peter whimpered but pushed himself out of bed as well.
James pushed all thoughts of a certain red-head out of his head for the moment.
He couldn't get her out of his mind.
James lay awake. He had stayed up late into the night and had only retired since Peter was unable to hold himself up any longer from exhaustion. If James had been honest with himself, he would have admitted that he had been tired out hours ago. The early-morning Quidditch practice, the day's work, and then finally the overwhelming toll the Animagi training took on his body completely drained him.
Despite all this, poor James Potter found himself in the curious predicament of being unable to sleep. He lay awake in bed with a wandering mind. The conversation he had with his best mates earlier that night kept replaying in his head. The conversation about a certain red-head.
James had never really spared Lily Evans a second thought, unless he was forced to. What did he really know about her?
She usually sat in the front of all their classes together. He first noticed this when he had been trying to scout out Snape's seat in Potions their first year to drop frog's spawn in his bag. He caught sight of her flaming red hair next to his.
Each time he surveyed a classroom he entered, he would catch sight of her flaming hair as he made his way to the middle or back of the classroom. And then, nothing. That was part of the reason he didn't know much about her- he barely saw her in class at all.
But wait…
He did see her. Quite often.
She sat very close to him during their meals in the Great Hall. She always sat right across from the plate of lemon meringue pie- his favorite dessert- during dinner. When he reached for it every night she was always there, he realized. He remembered random snatches of her dinner conversations that he caught as he scarfed down his dinner. He remembered occasionally commenting on those conversations with her friends, two of whom he was good family-friends with as well.
She often rolled her eyes at his corny jokes and wordplay. She pulled a face whenever he said things that seemed to bother her. (It'll take him a little longer to figure out what exactly annoyed her so much.) He occasionally made her smile, the smile that showed all her teeth, pushed a dimple into her right cheek, and crinkled her almond eyes in their corners. James thought when she smiled it was twice as powerful since she smiled with her eyes as well. Just like his mother. Very occasionally he managed to make her shout in laughter- maybe a handful of times in four years. Whenever he had managed it, his stomach had squirmed interestingly. James thought it was with smug satisfaction…
She sat next to the flavored jam that James loved to slather on his toast during breakfast. She always asked Remus how he was feeling on days when he looked particularly pale as soon as she saw him entering the hall. She eavesdropped when Remus read the day's news out loud, her expression either blank or unusually grave. Not quite as pleasant-looking as when a smile lit her face.
"Bloody hell," James muttered into thin air, turning over his side and staring at the curtains surrounding him. "Stop being such a mushy girl," he told himself. Thinking about feelings and pretty faces is another thing that most fourteen-year old boys will tell you they are uncomfortable doing. "You can't like her, James Potter, since she's bloody annoying."
And that was true. Lily could be extremely annoying. He remembered being put into his first detention since Lily couldn't shut her trap about how dueling with a first year Slytherin at midnight was a bad idea. He didn't even get a chance to, since McGonagall overheard her in the halls and put him in detention instantaneously.
He remembered wanting to show off that new spell to Sirius that he saw a sixth year using- it was supposed to be a laugh, but he didn't really have anyone to practice it on. Snape, the slimy, nosy, git who was…well, in the wrong place at the wrong time, had seemed like the perfect target. But then Lily had to shriek over his hex until a Prefect caught him and awarded him another detention.
He was annoyed over the way she charmed Slughorn into liking her the first day of class, with a big grin and a cheeky response on Muggle-born talents.
He found it extremely annoying the way she, Mary MacDonald, Marlene McKinnon, and her other girlfriends always giggled. Loudly and quite obnoxiously. Giggling coupled with an occasional squeal or shriek.
He found it annoying the way she hung onto Severus Snape's every word, and looked at the slimy git as if he were…actually a human being. Not a creepy stalking thing that needed to learn to mind its business and stop asking questions about Remus and his monthly disappearances.
But then again, in a twisted way, he found her attitude refreshing. Remus was right, she was one of the only people who was nice to Snape— not that he deserved it, but still.
She was nice to everyone. She helped that first year find a book in the library. She let the gamekeeper Hagrid and his dog Fang cuddle her cat (or in Fang's case, lick it with senseless joy). She rarely said anything bad about anyone; she always had a kind word or two to spare. She helped others in class whenever she understood the material being covered, or had worked out the spells being taught. Which was often
Well, she was smart. No, smart wasn't it exactly. She just studied like a possessed maniac. It was disconcerting to watch. And annoying to be around- she became extremely temperamental whenever she was disturbed. Especially when she was studying History of Magic (James learnt the hard way that was her least favorite subject. To be fair, she had no prior knowledge of any wizards or any magic, unlike many pure-bloods and half-bloods in school).
And annoyingly, she was most temperamental with him and Sirius. The ugliest her behavior got with everyone else was a quick glare at an obnoxious voice in the library, or an eye-roll aimed at Amos Diggory's back. With them, it was somewhat-short-almost-harsh words. This was the equivalent of having frequent f-bombs thrown their way from anyone else.
She only ever yelled at all when she was yelling at them, when they were uh…roughhousing. It annoyed him to no end, hearing her yell. Her voice became exceptionally high-pitched and grating. James thought that was why her voice rung in his ears for so long. Why don't you leave him alone?... He hasn't done anything to you...You guys are just mean bullies…Don't make fun of the poor thing!...Would it kill you to deflate your head a little? You know what you are James Potter? You're arrogant ….
Girls. Girls in general were annoying, James concluded. He punched his pillow, and made a sincere effort to go to sleep.
Sleep.
Yes, blissful sleep.
Blissful sleep, haunted by a pair of green eyes.
Oh, wait.
A pair of green eyes.
Green eyes that were swimming with tears. A pretty face turned into a red-tinted spectacle. Horrid pink robes. Green eyes.
Green eyes that smiled in that familiar, yet unfamiliar way. James' stomach squirmed.
Merlin's soggy left buttock, James thought. It's going to be a long night.
A/N: Phew! So I sort of wasn't too sure about how this chapter would turn out...so what did you guys think? Let me know? And thank you thank you again for all the support you guys have given this so far with the favorites, reviews, and etc =) You guys rock!
Peace, and remember- reviews are like chocolate-covered strawberries!