A/N: A somewhat belated Happy New Year to you all! Unfortunately, my beta's computer has died. In an attempt to keep updates to the story at least vaguely frequent, I'm publishing this chapter unbeta-ed (is that a word? :s) so it may not be as accurate as usual; the spellin mae be al rong and stuf. Hope you enjoy it anyway! :P

For the rest of the journey, I sat in silence, in something of a state of inner turmoil. How on earth could this be possible? A few short weeks ago, I had been furious with James to the point of hitting him around the face and bursting into tears. Yet now here I was, unable to issue an honest denial to the accusation that had become more and more frequent recently: that I fancied him. How on earth had things come to this?

Admittedly, James had changed. He was no longer the boy who was arrogant, rude, and cruel; no longer the one who dated countless girls yet still pestered me to go out with him; no longer the irresponsible student who seemed more intent on bringing havoc to the castle and humiliation to its inhabitants – or at least, some of them. Particularly those with the Slytherin colours adorning their robes. No, he was none of those things any more. He had certainly changed.

What worried and, in fact, slightly scared me was the fact that these changes had happened exclusively over the past month or so. How in the name of Merlin could I have fallen so quickly? Nearly six solid years spent hating him, and, in a span of time that is a mere blink of an eye in comparison, my feelings had turned on their head, and I suddenly fancied him.

Inwardly, I compared how I felt about James to how I had felt about other boys that I had fancied or dated during my Hogwarts career. I had certainly received my fair share of notice from boys in the castle, both from within Gryffindor Tower and from those outside it. I had gone out with two boys – well, technically three, but the first couldn't really have been called a proper relationship. It happened in my fourth year, when Sam Harwood, a Hufflepuff boy in my Herbology class, had asked me out, with much stammering and blushing. I had agreed, mainly because I did not want to offend him by saying no; but I had not the slightest idea what going out with a boy entailed. The following week and a half were spent with the two of us so embarrassed around each other that we hardly even spoke, until I had the courage to tell him I didn't think it was working out. He agreed, and we went back to being perfectly good friends, as before.

Only one of my other two relationships had fared much better. The first was with a Ravenclaw student, again in the same year as me, and consisted of one ill-advised date on a Hogsmeade weekend, which caused me not only to end the relationship before it had even got going, but also to resolve to never enter Madame Puddifoot's teashop again for as long as I lived. My most recent and so far most successful boyfriend had been Paul Thorogood, a Gryffindor in the year above. This had lasted for about six weeks or so in my fifth year, but we broke up after he had confronted me about the amount of time I spent revising for my OWL's when I should have been spending it with him. I had gathered from this that he was a lot more serious about our relationship than I was, so decided it would be kinder to break it off then before leading him along any further.

I had fancied several other boys too; it is inevitable, really, when you have several hundred hormone-driven teenagers together in a castle that there will be at least one member of the opposite sex you find deeply attractive at almost any given time. These included the typical teenager crush on boys I'd never even spoken to, but had also been directed at a few people somewhat closer to me, briefly even close friends such as Remus. Of course, he had then started going out with Emmeline, and although I slightly resented this, I didn't show it, and got over it soon enough.

I rapidly came to the conclusion that I certainly did not feel the same about James as I had about anyone else. There was something different, completely unfamiliar to me, and slightly intimidating. I brooded on this for some time, but as we changed into Muggle clothing and the train neared King's Cross Station, I decided that I couldn't possibly fancy James. It was such an unfamiliar feeling, and after all, I knew what fancying someone felt like.

Trying to convince myself that this somewhat shaky conclusion made absolute sense, I ignored Alice and Emmeline's sideways glances, responding only half-heartedly to their attempts to draw me into conversation, until the train gradually shuddered to a halt in Platform 9 ¾. I lifted my trunk down from the luggage rack and stepped off the train. I turned around to pull my trunk after me, but before I could do so, someone came up beside me, lifted the trunk up off the train and set it down gently next to me. I looked around, and saw James. He was grinning at me.

You do NOT fancy him, said a firm voice inside me.

Politely, I said, "Thank you, James," giving him a small smile, but turning away quickly. I pulled my trunk towards Alice and Emmeline, who were waiting for me just in front of the barrier. They were smirking once again, but I ignored this, instead leading them to back of the queue of students waiting to return to the Muggle world.

As we exited the barrier a few moments later, I looked around and caught sight of my mother standing waiting for me. I ran towards her, as fast as I could whilst still dragging my heavy trunk behind me, and threw my arms around her.

"Hello," she smiled as I released her. "Good term?"

"Very," I said, beaming back. "Dad not here?"

"No, he had to go into work for a meeting," she replied. "He sends his love, and he insists you come and talk his ear off this evening and tell him all about your term."

I smiled, and hesitantly asked, "And… Tuney?"

Mum's face fell slightly, and she said, "Sorry, Lily. You know how she is about… well, everything, really." Recovering herself, she said, "Well, why don't you go and say goodbye to your friends, and then we'll be off."

Nodding, I left Mum and the trunk and went off in search of Alice and Emmeline. After wishing them a good holiday, brief chats with their parents and hugs with both of them, I began heading back to where Mum was standing, waving to several people along the way. As I neared her, I heard someone calling out my name.

Turning, I once again saw James. I waited for him to catch up to me.

"Hi," he said. Once again, he was alone. "Um… have a good summer, yeah?"

I smiled at him, and said, "Thanks, you too."

He appeared to hesitate slightly, then moved forward and hugged me. I stiffened very slightly and very briefly before hugging him back. After holding the embrace for a few moments, we released each other. He was grinning again.

"See you then," he said.

"Bye," I replied, and he turned and walked back through the crowd. It took me a moment to realise that I was still staring after him; I turned and walked back to Mum.

"Who was that boy?" she asked, looking interested.

"James," I replied evenly, grabbing hold of the trolley Mum had got for my trunk and pulling it towards the exit.

"James? James Potter? I thought he was the one you completely hated." She sounded slightly confused.

"He's… changed," I said vaguely, as we reached the car and I began hoisting my trunk into the boot. As Mum moved round to help me, she chuckled unexpectedly.

"Oh, changed, has he?" she said, and looking up, I saw a very knowing look in her eyes.

"Yes, changed," I said firmly. Still smiling, she walked away to return the trolley and I got into the car, pondering my mother's reaction.

Was I really that obvious?

A/N: Thanks for reading, and virtual hugs for all people who review! :)