Chapter Two

After the incident in fifth year, I was pretty sure I had gotten over Lily Evans once and for all.

I realize the moment I see her that this isn't the case.

She has always had a way of catching me off guard, whether it was refusing to go out with me when I was sure she would want to, or levitating me by my ankle when she saw me hexing Snape, or-in this circumstance-taking a beginner's flying camp, usually designed for eleven- to twelve-year-old kids. Not a fully-grown and legal-age witch.

Obviously, she is just as surprised to see me as I am to see her. Both of us freeze at the sight of each other, and the poor kid I was instructing is left hanging as I take a long look at Lily. She has the same fiery red hair and deep green eyes, the latter set aflame upon seeing me. I haven't seen her up-close for quite a long time, and I've evidently forgotten just how gorgeous she really is. And she's definitely gotten taller since we last talked...Still not quite as tall as me, of course, but the added height definitely fills out her frame nicely.

"Why, Evans, to what do I owe the pleasure of seeing you here? Couldn't resist me for a whole summer, could you?" I say, smiling at the knowledge that what I said will irritate her. Of course, it does.

"Shut it, Potter. I'm here for business reasons and I don't have time for your petulantly arrogant remarks. Maybe you should try growing up sometime. Why are you here, anyway?" she retorts, once again catching me off guard. Petulantly arrogant? That's a first. The growing up bit definitely isn't, but I feel like I had matured quite a bit since the last time we saw each other. With my father working all hours of the day, there has to be at least one man in the house, and it sure as hell wasn't going to be Sirius.

I bite back a cold response, not wanting to bicker with Lily yet again, and say as civilly as I can manage, "I coach here, didn't you know that? I was sure Alice would have mentioned it to you at some point." The girl behind Lily looks away a little too nonchalantly. Typical Alice. "Besides, I could ask you the same thing."

Lily sighs, suddenly looking more tired that she should be. I instantly feel sympathetic for her and want to give her some form of comfort, but I don't know what I can do. That, and she'll slap me if I try anything. "Auror training."

What the hell? "Lily, you haven't even graduated yet..."

"That's Evans to you, Potter. And it's not real Auror training, I just...if I want to be an Auror, I'm going to need to know how to fly. And I don't. That's what I'm here for. To learn. And as much...As much as I hate to admit it, you're a damn good flier, Potter. So you better make me as good as you or I'll demand a refund." I chuckle at her blunt statement and see the smallest of grins tug the corner of her mouth up. Now if only I could make that smile bigger.

"Who're you?" came a voice next to me, and I looked down to see eleven-year-old Daniel Lynch interrogating poor Lily. He turns towards me and says, "Is she your girlfriend?"

"No!" she and I exclaim at the same time, her looking a little on the terrified side when he mentioned it. Damn it. If only she didn't hate the idea of being my girlfriend. This thought makes me stop and think for a moment: was I ever truly over her, or was it just something I told myself to avoid the inevitable? Upon seeing her here today, I come to the realization that I will never really be over Lily Evans.

"Whatever. Well, when are we going to get started? My parents paid two Galleons an hour for this!" Daniel says, putting his hands on his hips for emphasis. The other children just stand around awkwardly at the edge of the field, clutching their brooms nervously. I sling my Silver Arrow over my shoulder and motion for Lily and Daniel to stand with the rest of the class.

"Um, hello everybody," I begin, feeling awkward in my new position of authority. This is my first year as an instructor here, though I've attended this camp for years, and the responsibility is still new to me. Suddenly, I realize that this is the perfect opportunity to show Lily that I really have matured, and I resume my speech with a renewed confidence.

"Welcome to Quidditch camp! My name is James Potter and I'll be instructing your beginner class. Depending on how well some of you do, some of you may move up to advanced beginner, then intermediate, then advanced, then expert before the summer is even over. Now, how many of you will be entering your first year at Hogwarts?" A handful of the children raise your hands, and I see Lily's mouth set in a firm line. "Okay, second years?" A few more kids than the ongoing-first years in that group. "And...seventh year?" Lily scowls at me and angrily shoves her hand in the air. It takes much of my self-restraint not to laugh.

"Sounds excellent! I can tell we're going to have a fun group this year. To start off today's lesson, we're going to pass around the Quaffle and say our names as we do. We must go in the same order every time, and I'll keep adding more Quaffles as we start to learn each other's names. Oh, and you can't throw it to someone next to you. Now, in a circle!"

The children obediently arrange themselves in a circle-like shape and Lily comes begrudgingly to stand next to me. I very quietly hear her mumbling to herself, "It's a good thing I fucking hate Voldemort or else becoming an Auror would so not be worth this." I smile as I easily see the similarities between us: I despise Voldemort and all kinds of Dark magic and also hope to become an Auror, just like Lily. Funny how that works.

Once everyone is settled, I pass the Quaffle in my hands to Daniel, saying his name as I do so. He glances around the group for a moment before settling on a girl with bright blue hair-I think to myself that she must be a Metamorphmagus.

"Iris!" he says. The game continues.

"Henry!"

"Boswell!"

"Samantha!"

"Nessa!"

"Gregory!"

"Albert!"

"Chelsea!"

"Oliver!"

"Um...what's your name, miss?" the boy Oliver asks Lily, the only person who has not yet received the Quaffle. She smiles at him and pushes her fringe out of her face. "I'm Lily." Oliver has a visible reaction to her: his breath catches and a smile randomly creeps across his face. Poor chap is falling in love with her, and she's only spoken two words to him! Although looking back, it probably only took me two words to fall in love with her, too.

"Lily," Oliver says, tossing the ball to her. She catches it easily, then turns to look at me. She gives it a light push at me and says, "James." I love the way she says my name. If only she regularly called me that instead of my surname.

"You're not supposed to pass it to someone next to you, remember?" I remind her, giving her a teasing push. She glares at me playfully, and I zone out for a second, losing myself in her green eyes. Then one of the younger kids coughs awkwardly and I'm snapped back into the moment.

"Right," I say. "Excellent. One more round of that, then a second Quaffle, yeah?" The kids murmur their agreement, and I throw the ball back to Daniel to start the cycle all over again.

They all do quite well with that exercise, and soon enough I feel as if I know everyone's names well enough. I definitely know Daniel's, Lily's (duh), and Oliver's-I have to keep my eye on the last one. He could be plotting to steal her over from me right this very instant.

Next, I have them get into pairs and each get a Beater's bat, along with a Muggle tennis ball for each pair. They line up in rows of two across from their partner and attempt to hit the tennis ball back and forth with the bats. Lily is left without a partner, since Gregory managed to snatch Oliver up before he could ask to be hers, so I grab a bat for myself and line up with the rest of the class.

"Tennis balls, huh?" she says as she swings the bat casually. The ball goes right towards me, and I'm surprised at the ease of her playing Quidditch (if that's what you can call this). "How on earth did Potter the Pureblood come up with that idea?" For a moment, I think she's taunting me, but then I see the mischievous glint in her eyes and I know she's not.

"Muggle studies. It's not like I could use real Bludgers during their first class, now could I?" I play back. Lily chuckles.

"Well, I should hope not, Potter, or else the parents might not feel quite as secure having you teach their precious children." We share a grin, and I adore how easy it is to talk with Lily on one of the few instances she wasn't telling me off. Although, I was her teacher now, so her telling me off would be just plain weird... "Also, I just wanted to say that you're being very...responsible. It's not really what I was expecting from you, but it's good. I think you're doing a really good job teaching, James. Well done."

James.

She said my name.