Hi again.

First off, thanks for all the positive reception. It really does mean a lot to me.

Secondly, I realized that the original fic did have an extra chapter with James's point of view on the whole thing. While a little cliché, I did want to keep the same format (or, I just really enjoyed writing this story and didn't really want to give up on it quite yet). So, here will be all of those chapters from James's point of view. I hope you guys like it. I've tried to give him a bit of a different 'voice' than Lily, and a bit of a different perception of events. Let me know what you think. Thanks for reading.

Location: Gryffindor Common Room

WEEK FIVE of 7th YEAR

Usually, I'm a fairly tolerant person.

I tried to not explode at the midget first years. I'd been working on not hexing the second years that never seemed to shut their traps. I even had knocked down my Slytherin duels to two a month! My efforts had not gone unnoticed, to my disappointment, as I had been praised by both Dumbledore and McGonagall for my efforts. It seemed my days of 'awesome bad boy Marauder' were at an end. And, for the most part, I didn't really care. The more I thought about my younger years, the more ashamed I became. The intolerance, the superiority complex. I'm not proud of any of it. So, to combat my fairly indecent past, I've tried on upping my 'good kid' levels. And, this includes patience, which, normally, isn't really an issue.

But, on this particular day, I was about worn thin. My girlfriend (Haley) had been sitting across from me for about twenty minutes, whining and complaining about some compliment I gave her. It didn't even really remember what I said, but I remembered saying it for the sole purpose of not offending her. While she was pretty, Haley was rather high maintenance. I understood that she had been hurt by undeserving and false intentioned boys in the past, so most of the time I let these rants slip by.

Most of the time.

But MERLIN.

She was just going on and on and on and on about it. I had already apologized about six times, though I wasn't really sure what for. She just kept rambling about how I 'didn't truly appreciate her efforts at seducing me' and how I 'undervalued her' as a person, and how I was 'letting our differences cause a rift in our relationship.' That last one I truly did not understand. We were very different people; that much was true. She was a Ravenclaw, and I was a Gryffindor. She valued schoolwork a good deal more than I. She was a part of a different group of friends. She also took relationships a lot more seriously than I had in the past. Before, I am embarrassed to admit, I was never a good boyfriend. I found a girl I sort of liked, and used her. I was never thoughtful or charming. But I hated being single, so I kept having girlfriends. Even when they made it clear that they did not want to be with me, I tried to hold them in the relationship for my own personal indulgences. This is a terrible trait, and I was trying to redeem myself with Haley. I wanted to make it work, and I wanted to make it work for the right reasons. And while we might not have seemed like a conventional couple, I liked us for our differences. She was totally different from me, and it allowed for a unique perspective and a variety of discussion topics. She didn't take shit from me like so many of my other girlfriends did. She'd call me out if I was not treating her right, which is exactly what I needed. I needed to know what is normal boyfriend behavior, so I could someday become the one I am supposed to be.

But, I felt like she was being completely unfair today. What I said was a compliment, and she was taking it far too personally. I always tried my best to appease her, and do what she wanted, because I felt like that's what boyfriends were supposed to do. But she seemed to ask a lot of me, and hadn't given me a ton in return. She monopolized my time. While I don't mind hanging out with my girlfriend a lot, I didn't think it'd come to her separating me from them during class and at lunch. The separating during class was unwelcome, but not totally surprising. She asked to be my partner in every class, and would not take no for an answer. Transfiguration with Sirius, Charms with Remus, and Potions with Lily were all gone. I would have been okay (not happy, but okay) with this if it wasn't for lunch. She basically forced me not to sit with my friends anymore. Granted, she tried to give it a try, and Sirius was a total dick to her. I understood her stance, as I wanted to slap Sirius across the face as well (Like, seriously mate? My first real relationship in a year and you act like she's a death eater or something?). Even Remus was surprisingly cool a few times. I remember one particular instance when she tried to talk with him about a lecture of McGonagall's, and he told her she was completely wrong in her summation. She went a little bat shit crazy on him, but that was the same day she had received a T in Charms, and I knew she was a little emotionally fragile, so I let it slide without talking to her about it. But, even with this, I hated sitting without them. I really missed hearing Lily's anecdotes, and Remus's dry humor, and Sirius's terrible manners. They were my friends, and I missed them. It never helped that those three moved where they were always in full view across the table. They looked like they were getting on famously, while Haley constantly was upset about the amount of syrup that the house elves put on her waffles (eventually, she actually made a spell that sucked up excess syrup. It amused me endlessly that she put that much effort into her waffles, but I couldn't help how impressed I was that she actually made her own spell).

So, Haley and I had been through some ups and downs. I honestly did like her, and was learning a lot about being a proper boyfriend. She was (at least in the beginning) extremely, just, NICE, to me. She actually liked me, like, really liked me. This was a never ending source of amazement for me. I always attracted girls, but it was usually in a celebrity type way. Few actually wanted to date me for me (which, looking back, I can't say I am surprised at). But after how many times I had been hurt, played, and...rejected, it was extremely nice to hear the word 'yes' fall from a girl's lips. And she had very nice lips. I know you probably could care less, but she was extremely attractive, which really didn't hurt anything. We got along, and it worked.

Well. It used to work. Anymore, we seemed to fight nonstop. She exasperated me. She misinterpreted everything I said for the worst, and then demanded that I apologized. I wouldn't have minded, except for the frequency of these fights. I sometimes felt like she just liked hearing the words 'I'm sorry.' I don't mind admitting when I'm wrong, but I actually would like to be in the wrong if I'm saying it. She got so offended by my jokes, which was surprising. She knew when she started dating me my sense of humor, but it was like she had completely forgot the way I function. She picked a fight about something I said, and then we hash it out until I apologize, we kiss, and make up.

This particular time, she was fighting tears as she explained how I wounded her deeply. I felt a little bit like a dick as I let my mind wander, but it had happened so many times, I couldn't really help it.

"JAMES! Are you listening to me?" Haley snapped, forcing me back into the conversation.

"Yes, I'm listening. And for the hundredth time, you looked pretty today, and yesterday, and every other day. I didn't mean it like that."

"But you did. Maybe you're not aware that you did, but inside, you don't think I'm attractive enough for you. Which means you think of women as objects. I just can't be treated like that, James. I need to be appreciated."

"I appreciate you, Haley." I said, with a uncamouflaged hint of annoyance and boredom.

"If you're not going to take me seriously, I don't think I can continue this conversation."

"Come on, Haley. You know I didn't mean to offend you."

"No, I suppose you didn't. But you did, and you can't even sincerely apologize. You hurt me, and you can't lower yourself enough to really apologize. I'm going to the lake. Come if you want to make up." She rose from her chair, and began to stalk out.

"Haley!" I called to her. She ignored me. I sighed heavily. I supposed I ought to have immediately followed her out, but, at that moment, I was sick of chasing her around. I looked around the common room, and saw Lily and Sirius engaged in a lively discussion. I wondered momentarily when they became such good friends. I hadn't really noticed that happening. It was probably at all the lunches I didn't attend with them.

With that slightly self-pitying thought, I decided to catch up with them. They were oblivious to my entrance, and I even heard Sirius mention my name.

"James will do what?" I said, repeating Sirius's last sentence. They both jumped perceptibly before grinning at me. I took a seat across from Sirius, and repeated my question.

"Hey, James. How are you?" I narrowed my eyes at Lily's obvious evasion of the question. People hated being caught in the act of gossiping. I decided to let it go for her sake. She absolutely hated awkward situations.

"I just can't win." I said, surprising even myself with my depressed tone. I guess my pity party had manifested itself into my conversation. That probably wasn't a good sign.

"Let's get your mind off it. How about a game of chess? A trip to the kitchens?" Lily said. I smiled slightly at her. No matter the situation, Lily would always try to make it seem better. If the world was overrun by lobsters and we were all forced to be the slaves of the crustations, she would find a way to focus my attention elsewhere, and make it seem like a fine situation.

"No, I had better go after her. She's probably already halfway to the lake." I was already feeling guilty for not following; I usually immediately did, and we made up quite quickly. She was probably already thinking that I was angrier than I was, which wouldn't be good. She always cried when she thought I was angry with her.

"Prongs, maybe you should let her blow off some steam." Sirius said.

"No, I should apologize." Like I would take relationship advice from Sirius, the want-to-be-killer of all my potential relationships.

"For what? What exactly did you do wrong?" Sirius demanded. I was used to him trying to control my relationships, but that didn't mean he understood them.

"I did offend her. She's my girlfriend, and it's my job to make her feel special, not hurt." I said it partly because it was true, and partly because I truly wanted to piss Sirius off for meddling. I got up, nodded to Lily, and ignored Sirius. He was my best friend, don't get me wrong. I'll love the idiot no matter what he says or does to me. But sometimes, he was a little much.