Don't waste your time on jealousy.

"I cannot believe it!" James said, clutching at his heart dramatically. "Did I, James Clarence Potter, actually beat Lily Marie Evans at Charms? The world must be coming to an end."

At 15 years old, James was perhaps at his most irritating. If he had not been so busy rubbing his essay in Lily's face he might have noticed some of the more obvious warning signs that she was going to snap.

"Look at it. It's beautiful. 97%. And what did you get, dearest?" James asked in a sing song voice as he batted his eyelashes at the redhead.

"I think it was 95%, wasn't it, Prongs?" Sirius Black piped up from where he was lounging idly on the sofa in the Gryffindor Common Room.

"Ah, yes. Thank you, Padfoot." James grinned at his partner in crime as he proceeded to rock on the balls of his feet, still cradling his essay to his chest.

Lily's face had gradually turned a rather unattractive purple colour throughout the performance and her friends were eyeing her warily, slowly retreating from the inevitable explosion. Lily's hands clenched tightly around her quill, her knuckles turning white, and she felt the writing utensil snap in her grip. She willed herself to calm down.

"You know, Evans, if you want I could always give you a few pointers on the next one."

There was a primal scream, words that didn't sound like English bubbling past her lips, as she lunged at the infuriating prat over the back of the couch. There was an instant, brief though it was, where they locked gazes, his amused and smug, hers angry and murderous. His eyes widened in fear momentarily until Mary Macdonald managed to grab Lily's right arm, Alice Prewett quickly coming to her assistance at the other side, and the two of them managed to haul Lily bodily up the girls' staircase as she yelled profanities that made Peter blush.

"I was only trying to help." James said with fake innocence before he and Sirius burst out laughing.

Sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind.

"Lily! Oi, Evans!" James shouted as he stumbled from the fireplace, brushing soot and ashes from his robes as he all but danced on the spot with excitement. He heard her light footsteps on the stairs as she flew down to greet him. He had a letter clutched tightly in his hand and the biggest grin he think he had ever sported spread goofily across his face. Lily rushed into the room, took in the sight of him and raised her eyebrows.

"Well?" She asked expectantly, taking a step closer.

"I got 92." He said with pride. She squealed girlishly and ran at him. She leapt up into his arms and, in a surprising show of strength, he picked her up with one arm and spun her around as he laughed. She was laughing too when he put her back down on the ground, the smile on her face warming his soul.

"I passed too." He gave a whoop of joy before wrapping his arms around her and lowering her in a dip that had her laughing again. He pressed a kiss to her lips, still grinning like a lunatic. He slowly brought her to stand the right way up, keeping his hands on her waist, and she curled her arms around his neck. "I can't believe we're going to be Aurors together." She giggled again. "God, you're an Auror now."

"So are you. Merlin, how old does that make us seem?"

She laughed merrily again and he smiled down at her, his glasses sliding down the bridge of his nose. She smiled, a real smile that wrinkled her nose, as she ran her finger along the bone of his nose to push his glasses back into the right position.

"Thanks, love." His eyes twinkled warmly down at her and he could not remember the last time he felt so content.

"Not a problem. 92, you clever clogs." She said as she laid a hand on his chest. She frowned as she did some quick calculations in her head. "Isn't that better than all your practice test scores?"

"Yeah." He nodded proudly and his hold tightened on her slightly. "Moody said he's only seen a handful of tests that were better than that." James grinned and put the blush that crept up Lily's neck down to the fact that she might not have done as well. "What about you? How did you do?"

"I passed and that's enough for me." Lily said with a genuine smile.

'That's not what I asked.' James thought but, remembering past experiences, he knew better than to push and let it lie. After all, he didn't want a repeat performance of their fifth year argument over who was better academically. He kissed her on the cheek.

"Fair enough." He said and left it at that.

It was a week and a half later that he stumbled upon her results letter, entirely by accident, as he rifled through some paper work looking for spare parchment. Curiosity took over before he could stop himself and his eyes ran hungrily over the red ink.

Miss Evans,

It is with great pleasure that I write to offer my congratulations on passing your final written examination.

109%

This, along with your exceptional performance in the physical exam, has earned you a position as a fully qualified Auror.

Congratulations.

Alastor Moody and Rufus Scrimgeour.

James stared in stunned silence at the parchment in his hands. 109%?! How the hell had she managed that? His brain was suddenly fuzzy and he almost missed the scrawl at the bottom of the page. He squinted and tried to decipher the messy hand writing of Moody.

PS. Congratulations, Evans. Top of your year and the second best result the Auror headquarters has ever seen, beaten only by myself. Give 'em hell, kid.

James was shocked. Completely and utterly gobsmacked. Why hadn't she said anything?!

'Because she doesn't need to brag about it to be proud of herself.' A voice that sounded oddly like Remus Lupin piped up in the vaults of his rather confused mind.

James shook his head with a smile. She was incredible.

And he was going to marry that Evans girl, one day. Of that, he was 109% certain.

The race is long and, in the end, it's only with yourself.

~*~