Chapter 2:

James sat up and looked around his quiet dormitory. It was full of sixth year Gryffindor boys so it was rarely ever quiet. He laid back on his pillows and smiled. He was back at Hogwarts, him and Sirius were planning a prank for the new school year and Quidditch practise starts on Saturday. Everything felt right.

Except Lily, a nagging voice said at the back of his head. Why didn't she like him? Well, she told him as much when he pulled that prank on Snivellus during their O.W.L's.

But surely it would be different now, he smirked to himself. He was annoyed at Snivellus for calling his girl a Mudblood. He'd make sure Snivellus paid for that one. There was one good thing that would come out of that event though. Those two were no longer friends, so surely it wouldn't make Lily angry to see Snivellus be the subject of a prank. Hopefully she'd be the opposite.

As he got out of bed, and wandered to the bathroom that he and his three friends shared, he wondered when she'd come around. Surely she would. They were meant to be together, everyone knew that!

Lily and James, the smirk was back. She'd be his girlfriend. All he had to do was wait for her to come around. He jumped into the shower before his fellow Marauders woke up.

"Oi, Padfoot, hurry up!" Remus called in the direct of the bathroom. Apart from Sirius, all of the boys were dressed and ready to go to breakfast.

James wasn't a very patient person and had forgotten how long Sirius took in the bathroom. When they'd stay at the Potter house over the summer together, they'd each had their own bathroom. Now that they were back at Hogwarts, James felt thankful that Sirius had woken up last this morning and hoped it'd stay that way.

He pushed open the door, hoping Sirius was dressed. As it was, he was standing in front of the mirror, checking his hair.

James laughed, "Come on, you vain git, let's go."

So with a sigh from Sirius, they made their way down to breakfast.

As they settled in the great hall, James immediately looked for Lily. When he realised she wasn't there, he returned his gaze to his friends. Sirius gave him a knowing look but made no comment.

"What are we doing tonight then?" James started, looking at Peter and Remus.

Remus shrugged, "Surely you don't have plans yet, Prongs?"

"I just love a back to school party," He offered as an explanation.

For the remainder of breakfast, they came up with a plan for their party. They'd host it on the Quidditch pitch – they got away with that last time.

"Alright, spread the word thorough your lessons, boys. But make sure it doesn't reach any teachers," Sirius warned.

James rolled his eyes, "Do you think we're stupid?"

It was so quick that only James noticed it, Sirius' eyes darted to Peter and back again. James bit back a laugh.

"Alright, alright," Remus said.

The bell for their first lesson went shortly after that.

"What lesson you got, Prongs?" Remus said.

"Potions with Slughorn," He sighed.

"Me too," Sirius chipped in. They grinned to each other and begun walking towards the dungeons.

"Still got your eye on Evans?"

James nodded.

"Don't worry, mate. You'll get her."

Grinning at that, he walked into the classroom.

"Sir, could I have a new seat?" He heard as soon as he was in earshot. Slyly, he looked over to see Lily talking to Slughorn.

"Oh, I don't know, Lily..."

"You can sit with me, Evans," James smirked as he took his seat.

She smirked, "I'll be okay, thanks for the concern, Potter."

A snigger from behind caused both James and Lily to turn. Directly behind, old Snivellus sat. He looked pleased at Lily's answer.

"You know, Potter, I'll take you up on that."

He looked at her, surprised. It seems she was trying to spite Snivellus. Well, that was fine with him. He was pissing off Snivellus and sitting with Lily. That's hitting two birds with one stone, he thought smugly.

"Hey, here's an idea, Snivellus! There's this new thing, called Shampoo! Try some of that and Evans might give you a chance," Sirius said from somewhere behind.

James laughed openly, along with others, as he turned back to look at his best friend.

Halfway through the lesson, he decided to go for it. He turned to Lily. "Hey Evans, there's a party on the Quidditch pitch tonight. You in?"

Before she made a reply, Snivellus gave a snotty laugh, "You'll have to do better than that, Potter."

Before he could come up with a witty remark, Lily replied, "Sure, why not?" After glaring at Snivellus, she went to get more Ingredients.

James turned towards him and smirked, "Thanks for that, Snivellus. I should make sure you're around when I ask her out in the future, as an alternative, you see. With you in comparison, I don't think she'll ever say no again."

"I wouldn't be so certain, Potter. She thinks you're an arrogant toerag-"

"And she knows you're a vile Slytherin who called her a Mudblood..."

He could literally see the other boy fuming at this point.

About ten minutes later, the bell rang. He turned to Lily and handed her a piece of paper, "Here, Evans. About the party tonight."

She nodded in acknowledgement and took it from him.

"See ya, Evans!" He yelled as Sirius dragged him out of the classroom.

She almost smiled, he thought with satisfaction.