Chapter Four

What Lily had to say about the fight in the hallway

Several days passed, and James kept trying to find a way to talk to Lily, but she avoided him as if he had the plague. The only perk in those few days was knowing that she and Snape hadn't become friends again while she took him to the nurse's office. He must have told her the reason for their fight, and she had been so mad that she had made him walk to the nurse's by himself. But if that was the way it had been, then she would be thanking James, not completely avoiding him. Snape must have told her something else, make him seem like the victim when really James was. Or was he? The more James thought about it, the harder it seemed for him to distinguish who the bad guy had been. His friends (except Remus) had assured him that he had done the right thing. Even Alice agreed that Snape deserved what he got ('Alice, please don't say that, he believes everything you say!' had said Remus), and yet the silence from Lily seemed to be proving everybody (but Remus) wrong. By the time the sixteenth rolled around, James felt bad about having punched Snape's brains out. He didn't feel bad about defending Lily, but he did feel bad about Snape having to walk around alone with a large purple mark around his left eye.

After classes that day, James decided that he needed to go apologize to Snape, and so, without telling his friends, he walked out of the common room and went to look for him. He found him stalking the halls, looking gloomy and annoying. He swallowed his pride and walked towards him.

"Um, Snape?" he asked. Snape turned around, looking surprised.

"Potter," he said dryly. James ran his hands through his hair.

"Listen, Snape, I . . . I feel bad about . . . you know . . . what happened the other day in the hallway by the library."

"Really?" asked Snape sarcastically.

"Yeah, and um . . . well . . . I'm sorry," he said. Snape raised an eyebrow, as if he was waiting for James to suddenly scream 'Not! You totally deserved what you got you inconsiderate git'.

"Oh, well . . . thank you, I guess," he said after a while, and he turned around and started to walk away. James shrugged, guessing that was as good as it was going to get with Snape, and then decided that there was someone else he needed to apologize too.

"Hey, Snivelly," he called. Snape turned around.

"I knew you calling me Snape was just a charade that would end as soon as you felt like a good person again," he said. James ignored him.

"Do you know where Lily is?" he asked.

"Yes," he said, and he walked away. James groaned.

"Well, could you tell me?" he called, but if Snape heard him, he didn't let on. James stuck his hands in his pockets and went out looking for Lily. He checked the library, but she wasn't there. He checked the grounds, but she wasn't there. He roamed the hallways for a while, and finally went into the common room where he found her talking to Alice. It seemed weird to see them talking, but James decided he would ask Alice about it later. He walked towards them and stopped when he was standing right behind Lily. Alice smiled and then pointed to him. Lily turned around and then looked at her watch.

"Well, I think I better get to work on that potions essay Slughorn assigned us . . ." she stood up and looked like she planed to leave. James grabbed her arm.

"Lily, come on. Please talk to me."

"Talk to you? You act as if I've been avoiding you," she said, looking uneasy. Was she blushing?

"You have been avoiding me," said James. "Look, could I just have a quick word?"

"I . . . I guess . . ." she said, and she followed James to the portrait hole, where they stepped outside.

"Look, Lily, I'm sorry for what I did to Snape . . . I know he's your friend, and—"

"He's not my friend," said Lily coldly. James looked at her, trying to act surprised.

"He's . . . not?"

"No. He, um . . . he told me why you hit him."

"Did he? And what did he say?" asked James, skeptical.

"He said that he called me a mudblood and that you defended me. He said that he was really sorry and that he deserved the beating," said Lily, digging her nails into the palm of her hand. James bit his lip.

"So . . . why have you been avoiding me then?" he asked.

"Because, James, you defended me! And I was afraid that if I talked to you . . . You know, never mind."

"Is this about this guy that you're so crazy about?" he asked. Lily looked at him, obviously startled by what he had just said.

"Excuse me?"

"Yeah, I know about this guy you're into. And just to let you know all of my friends and Snivellus seem to know who he is."

"You mean . . . Sirius and Peter know, too?"

"Yes, they do! And it seems unfair to me to single me out like this, so you should just tell me who this character is," he said crossing his arms over his chest.

"Well, I'm not going to tell you who it is. And yes, this does have to do with him."

"Well if it has to do with him, then why are you ignoring me? You should be ignoring him!"

"I AM!" screamed Lily.

"No you aren't! The only people you're ignoring right now are me and Snivelly."

"God, you're stupid!" said Lily. "Plus, how can I be ignoring you if I'm talking to you?"

"You wouldn't be talking to me if I hadn't practically forced you too," retorted James.

"Of course I wouldn't!"

"Why not?"

"I can't tell you!"

"But it has to do with this guy you like."

"Yes!"

"How does he have anything to do with me?" asked James, and Lily groaned, exasperated.

"Think about it. Think about it real hard, James Potter" and she stomped back into the portrait hole.

"Wait, Lily!" called James, acting completely on impulse. Lily peeked her head out, looking livid.

"What?" she snapped.

"Do you wanna go to the charity ball with me?"

"Gimme a break," she said, disappearing into the portrait hole. James groaned and followed her in, sitting beside Sirius who was sitting by the fire on the couch.

"So, how did it go?" asked Sirius, chuckling.

"Guess," said James, sighing.

"Don't have to. We could all hear you from here. I think everybody knows who Lily's got the hots for now."

"Seriously? Well, somebody should tell me, cause I'm totally lost. Maybe she's into my . . . long lost brother or something. And that's what it has to do with me."

"Lily's right . . . You are stupid," said Sirius, shaking his head, laughing. James punched him on the shoulder.

"Thanks for the support, man," he said, and Sirius continued laughing.

"So hey, I was thinking of asking Nola Patil to the ball. Think she'd go with me?"

"Ugh, don't talk to me about the ball," groaned James.

"Oh yeah, heard you got rejected. Actually, everybody heard you got rejected."

"Wait a second," said James, snapping his fingers. "Wait just a second. Oh my God! Oh my God!"

"You wanna tell me what revelation you just had?" asked Sirius.

"I know who Lily likes," he said, and with that he dashed out of the common room.

It made sense. It made perfect sense. The guy Lily liked couldn't be Snape, Sirius, Remus or Peter, and it was somebody that Snape didn't approve of. Also, she had avoided James after he had defended her, because she was afraid that something would happen if she talked to him. The guy she liked had something to do with James, and she was ignoring him too, even though the only two people she was ignoring were James and Snape. James couldn't believe it. He ran into the library, where he found Remus and Peter doing their homework. James sat down at their table.

"It's me!" he said, excited. Remus and Peter exchanged a confused look.

"I'm guessing there's more to that statement," said Remus.

"I got it all figured out. I just talked to Lily, and I know who she likes! It's me! You guys, it's me! I'm the guy she likes, and don't say 'no it's not' because it makes perfect sense for it to be me!" he said, grinning.

"Fine, James. Yes, it's you," said Remus and James's grin grew. "But you can't tell Lily you know."

"Why not? Why is she so insistent that she doesn't?"

"Because, she's been rejecting you for so long, this is her biggest 'I told you so'. Everybody told her someday you and her would end up together, and now she likes you. She can't stand being wrong. She was wrong about you and that embarrasses her," explained Remus.

"That's so stupid," said James, and Remus shrugged.

"She's a girl."

"Well, what should I do? I mean, should I ask her out again?" asked James. Remus bit his lip.

"Talk to her. Hint that you know that she likes you, and if she's just being really stubborn and really . . . well, Lily, then just confront her about it, and tell her that she's being stupid."

"I can't tell her she's being stupid! You don't tell a girl she's being stupid!" said James and the librarian came up behind him and shushed him. James apologized.

"Alright, so don't tell her she's being stupid. You still have to ask her about it," said Remus, shrugging. "Hey, is this spelled right?" he asked, pointing to a spell in one of the books he was reading. James looked at him as if he was crazy.

"What?"

"This is a crisis, Remus, and all you care about is spelling spells correctly?"

"I don't think this really qualifies as a crisis, Jocelyn. The girl you like likes you back."

"Okay, the Jocelyn thing? Completely uncalled for."

"Well, you're acting like a chick . . ."

"And yeah, she likes me back, but she doesn't wanna do anything about it," James almost shrieked. He realized that he was starting to sound a bit like a girl. He cleared his throat.

"What you have to do is trick her into it," said Remus, smirking.

"Trick her? And exactly how do I do that?" asked James.

"Don't ask me! But maybe Sirius would be able to help you with that one," said Remus, and then with a quick wink, he and Peter went back to doing their homework. James thought about it for a second. Of course Sirius would help him. He was Sirius. He stood up and walked out of the library, wondering what masterpiece Sirius would come up with for him.

When James found Sirius he was arguing with Joel Patil, a six year Ravenclaw.

"Listen, I don't care if she's been sending you signals all week, just stay away from my sister," said Joel, and Sirius rolled his eyes.

"It's just a ball. Geez, Joel, take a pill."

"Don't tell me what to take and what not to take."

"I didn't tell you not to take anything, but now that you mention it, maybe you should lower your dosage on your over-protective-brother vitamin."

"Don't be smart with me, Black. I'm telling you to stay away from my sister and that's final." With that, Joel walked away, leaving Sirius looking confused and a bit entertained. A few seconds later he noticed his friend.

"Dude, did you see that?" asked Sirius, laughing.

"Yeah, I did! What's up that guys butt?" asked James.

"I asked Nola to the dance and she went all 'Oh my God, seriously?' and next thing I know Joel is screaming at me for getting her hopes high and breaking her heart or something . . . That guy's mental."

"Totally. It's not like you've already broken her heart or anything."

"Right? Like, yell at me after I break up with her," said Sirius, rolling his eyes. "Guess I just have a rep and now brothers are getting protective when I get close to their sisters."

"Wouldn't doubt it. Hey, I need your help with something."

"Alright, shoot."

"I need you to help me trick Lily into going out with me," said James.

"Look, James, for the last time, she's never going to want to go out with you! When are you going to get it through your head that—"

"I know I'm the guy she has the hots for," said James, rolling his eyes. Sirius sighed.

"Alright, so here's what you do . . ."