Ways that I can get over 'This 'Potter thing' (yes, I have named it. No it's not very inventive, but I don't have time for creativeness at present).

By Lily Evans.

Plan A – Completely ignore the git. You remember what he used to be like, Evans. Get over yourself, and be realistic. You can't suddenly like him after two days.

Pros to this plan

1. You can go back to living your life just like you did before there was a tiny little version of James Potter running about your head screaming, "Love me Lily, love me Lily!"

2. You can stop having urges to be Potter's... friend. Just his friend. Which is bad enough!

3. You can sleep peacefully at night, with no more Potter related dreams! (Probably. I've never really trusted my sub conscious to behave, if I'm honest.)

Cons to this plan

1. I don't actually want to ignore him. However much I wish I wasn't, I am intrigued by this new, improved James Potter. He's luring me in…maybe that's his plan. If it is, by Merlin, it's working.

2. See con number one.

3. See con number two.

Plan B – Talk to Marlene and Alice about it.

Pros to this plan

1. They're your best friends. They will have an insightful, intelligent view on the whole situation.

Cons to this plan

1. Marlene and Alice would never even be able to voice a coherent thought about the situation, let alone be insightful and intelligent. They'd be bloody delirious about the fact that I've finally succumbed to the 'Potter charm.' Which I haven't. That's just what they'd think. Incorrectly.

Plan C - Talk to your closest male friend about it – Remus.

Pros to this plan

1. Remus certainly wouldn't go all gooey eyed on me. The likelihood is I would get some decent advice from him.

Cons to this plan

1. He's far too close to person that can never, ever find out about this…this-thing. Potter has always had a way of knowing when one of his friends is keeping something from him. Way too risky.

So that leaves… Umm... Well, I suppose I could...

"Lily, what are you doing?"

Oh crap.

She had gotten so lost in her plan making she'd forgotten she was meant to be helping Potter with the prefect meetings.

Who would have thought it, eh? James doing all the work while I just sit and do nothing?

Lily was starting to seriously consider the possibility that they had somehow been transported into a parallel universe. One where James Potter is head boy, and doesn't act like the arrogant prat, she'd been confident he was. One where she has an overly flirtatious best friend, who's flirting with someone that she previously hated.

Wait a minute. Now, there's a thought. Maybe Marlene is going through the exact same thing as me? Except, she's just being more vocal about it. And Black hasn't even made any significant changes. Oh god, this is all too confusing.

"Um. What we're meant to be doing, Potter. Obviously." She laughed nervously, suddenly finding it incredibly difficult to look him in the eye.

"Right. So, why are you writing in that little notebook, instead of on the schedule sheets?" He asked, sounding somewhat bemused.

Lily looked up at him slowly, and gave a shrug of her shoulders.

"Note taking. All the great academics do it." She said matter-of-factly.

Potter raised an eyebrow, and went to dip his quill in the pot of ink, a small smile on his face.

"You know, Evans, it's alright to goof off, once in a while. It's not illegal. In fact, it's encouraged." He told her in a soft voice.

Lily snorted. "Encouraged where, exactly? The James Potter Academy for Young Hooligans?" She offered sarcastically.

James looked up, his eyes wide in mock horror.

"Hey! That's a rather prestigious school, I'll have you know." He protested.

Lily shot him a look, trying to get across the statement ' Potter, I'm really not amused.' using just her face.

"And no Lily, I was talking about society." He corrected, as he started to write on the sheet, not looking up at her.

She rolled her eyes at him.

"Who says I was goofing off anyway, hmm? I don't goof off, Potter, just because you don't do work. Voluntarily, anyway." She mumbled.

James looked up, his eyebrows furrowed.

"I wasn't that bad, last year, Evans." He defended.

Lily shook her head.

"You were still the complete opposite of this, though." She said simply, waving her hand in his direction.

James sighed. "Is that a bad thing?"?

Lily paused for a moment, to contemplate this.

"No. Of course not. But it's... hard to take in, is all." She said.

James sighed, and finally shut the large book he was writing in as he leaned back in his chair.

"I thought we covered this yesterday." He sighed, running a hand through his hair.

Lily narrowed her eyes at him.

"Yes, but only briefly. You think that was enough to satisfy me?" She huffed.

James tilted his head slightly, studying Lily for a moment.

"Why not? Can't you just accept that I've grown up? I mean, we were fine yesterday." said James

Lily scrunched up her nose and let out a harsh laugh.

"Potter, you just don't get it do you?"

James looked confused.

"Get what?"

Lily groaned in frustration, and stood up.

"I know you. At least, I thought I knew you. For six years, I had you pegged. You were arrogant. You thought the whole world revolved around you, that guys wanted to be you, and girls wanted to be with you. You were ignorant. You did things, to make people laugh, to make people like you, but you didn't think of what you were doing to other people. How you were hurting them, whether it was with your words or your hexes. You were selfish in that way too. You thought you could get everything you wanted, when you wanted, because you are James Potter. But it didn't work that way. It doesn't work that way. You-"

Lily stopped. She was out of breath and red in the face from her rant. She was going to continue, but did she really need to? She thought she'd gotten her point out across.

James stared down at the floor for what seemed like forever, before he too stood up, his jaw set.

"That was who I was, Lily. I can't deny that. Not all of us were born perfect and mature, you know," Lily flinched at his harsh tone. "I was all of those things. But why does that have to define how I act for the rest of my life? Just because you have made up your mind about me, doesn't mean I need to act like a twat until I'm old and grey." James paused for a moment, looking as though he was debating whether to carry on or not. "And ' I always got what I wanted?' The thing that I wanted, more than anything, was you, Lily! And you despised me! You'd made your snap judgements and dismissed me. Now, I'm trying to change, trying to better myself, and you won't stop questioning me!"

Lily's eyes flared.

"Look, Potter," she hissed, pointing her finger at him, "I do not make snap judgements. That judgement was built up over a long period of time. And I'm questioning you, because you're expecting me to forget about everything you did during those six years, and welcome you into my life with open arms. I can't forget, James. You've been like this for just under two days. I need time. It's weird for me!" Lily's voice was raised, but she no longer sounded angry. Tired and confused were probably better fitted.

James frowned at her, and sat down, looking crestfallen.

Lily sighed, and sat down as well.

She hesitated, before speaking again.

"I do want us to get along, James. I do, really. But I can't just suddenly be your friend. I need to get to know you."

James was silent for a moment, before he stood up, and looked Lily in the eye.

"I... part of the reason I changed, Lily, was because I was sick and tired of being insulted, and criticized by you. I put on a brave face but it hurt. And I do want us to be friends. I really, really do. But... don't keep me waiting for too long. I don't want to get my hopes up and then you decide you don't want me as a friend after all."

And with that, he walked out of the room. Lily stared at the spot he'd been standing in, desperately attempting to process what had just happened before she gave up and. grabbing her book, left too.

/

Later that night, Lily lay on her bed, only dimly aware of the reality surrounding her as she allowed herself to get lost in a particularly good book, one she was rather fond of actually. Reading had always been her way of dealing with things and she'd found she'd been quite dependent on it recently. Stepping into another place entirely was so therapeutic; Lily's personal opinion was that it should be prescribed as a treatment for stress of any kind. However, someone obviously disagreed with her as she vaguely registered a knock at her door. With that knock, all her real life worries and concerns returned with a vengeance. There was no time for thinking of those now, she had to deal with her immediate problem.

Who was at her door? What if it was James? She didn't have the slightest idea what she would say to him if it was.

Reluctantly, Lily shut her book, though not before marking her place, and dragged herself from her bed to answer the door.

"Sirius?"

Standing at her door, with his hands in his pockets and looking rather shifty, was Sirius Black. It was pretty safe to say, she hadn't expected him to be the one at her door.

"Let me in before James sees Evans. Hurry!" Sirius urged.

Lily was a little taken back as she stepped to the side and let Sirius into her room, poking her head out the door to check James was definitely nowhere in sight before she shut it.

Lily had never really had a problem with Black, shocking as that may be. He was everything James had been, obviously, but he hadn't tried to ask her out in various humiliating and insulting ways, and ever since they'd been partnered up in Charms in their fourth year, they'd actually gotten on rather well. The only issue was Sirius' awkwardness that she had harshly rejected his best friend so many times, which was understandable but aside from this their friendship was rather good. Lily found Sirius to be quite funny and they often had a good laugh together.

Sirius hopped onto Lily's bed, not hesitating in stretching right out on it, his feet up.

"Please, make yourself at home." She murmured sarcastically as she opted to curl up into a ball in the arm chair nearest the bed.

"Are you and Potter playing hide and seek or something?" She asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

Sirius chuckled.

"No. I needed to talk to you, actually. We can have a conversation, right?" He asked.

Lily nodded.

"Yes, we've had many before. But you never usually seek me out to have them unless it's important. So, what's up?" Lily asked, putting aside her bitterness towards Sirius' ill-timed arrival and replacing it with concern.

Sirius gave her a half smile as he sat up, turning to face her.

"It's about Prongs." He confessed quietly.

"Ah. The reason he can't know your here." She realised.

Sirius nodded.

"What exactly happened at your little heads meeting? James came to our dormitory in a rather foul mood, and I only got a few rough details out of him. Spill, Evans." He said, giving her arm a playful shove.

Lily squirmed.

"It was really nothing."

Sirius narrowed his eyes dubiously.

"Okay, it was something." She admitted, putting her hands up, "we had a... small argument. About his recent personality change."

Sirius' face lit up and he responded enthusiastically. "Ah! You've noticed it too!"

Lily rolled her eyes.

"It would be a bit hard not to. It's quite a big difference." She stated.

Sirius shrugged.

"I guess. But why did you argue? I thought you, of all people, would love the new him! He's gone and done everything you've wanted him to do since fourth year!" Sirius questioned.

"Yeah. I do. But he expects me to not be even the slightest bit unsure, when one minute he's a full of himself toe rag, and the next minute he's the epitome of perfection?" Lily countered.

Sirius shook his head disbelievingly, his lips curling into a mischievous smile.

"Okay, one, I have no idea what epitome means." He began, and Lily rolled her eyes.

" And two, Merlin Lily, for the smartest girl in our year, you can be really dense sometimes." Sirius smirked.

Lily raised an eyebrow.

"Gee thanks Sirius. You really know how to make me smile." She deadpanned.

"A talent of which I'm very proud." Sirius remarked, with a tilt of his head, "And I didn't mean to offend you. I meant, that the thing that's pushed James into reforming himself, is you!"

Lily blinked at him.

"So, of course he expects you to be over the moon! James Potter has finally listened to you! He's grown up, so you can accept him! Let him into your life! And you push him away, Lily." Sirius said.

Lily groaned.

"I did not push him away! I am glad that James is finally becoming responsible. But it's not logical for me and him to become best buddies after two days. How would that look? One minute I hate him, the next I don't?" Lily countered.

"I guess you're right." He admitted, looking away from her for a long moment.

Lily smiled.

"Thank you." Lily said sincerely.

"But be warned, Evans. If you lead my best mate on, you will feel the full extent of my wrath." Sirius warned, wagging his finger.

"I wouldn't want it any other way, Black." She smirked.

Sirius smiled, and stretched his legs out.

"Well, I better be going. I'll see you tomorrow, Lily flower." Sirius said

Lily scowled at the pet name as Sirius jumped up and walked to the door. Just as he was opening it, he paused, and looked back at her.

"Just one question though, Evans."

Lily looked up.

"Go ahead."

Sirius scratched the back of his head, and spoke very quickly before leaving, letting his question hang in the air.

"You say you hated him. But answer me this; did you ever really hate him?"

A/N: Thank you for reading! Review, as always! Any questions I'll answer in the next chapter! Thanks again to my beta, faithless98.