At least…
Wise people say that sometimes the best thing you can do is to just not leave your bed, and if James Potter had taken that advice, he would've saved himself from a long day.
First, his alarm clock desided to take a day off and he got up late, due to a nightmare. Great. After his late last night adventure in the library the last thing he wanted was to get in trouble for being late. He got in the shower and two minutes later heard a scream, which meant Peter had woken up too.
Honestly he didn't want to go to class and he really didn't want to see Evans. Even though they were (sadly) never romantically involved, even though she didn't like him and he had nothing to apologise for, he still felt uncomfortable around her. He just wanted to go and tell her what had happened last night with every little detail, explain it was just an accident and that his heart was hers, even though she probably didn't care.
It was 8:17 and James was practically running for his life down the hallway, as he knew McGonagall wouldn't be very happy with him being late, especially since today they were having a test. The Transfiguration door finally became visible and he thought he had made it until... BOOM! Of course he had to bump into someone. He fell on the ground, the other person landing loudly on top of him.
" Hey! Watch it you... Potter?"
He straightened his crooked glasses and blinked on the sight of the last person he wanted to see right now.
" Lily? What are you doing here?"
Lily realised she was laying on top of him and tried to stand up but lost her balance and instead ended up landing on his stomach, both of them blushing.
" What am I doing here? We have a class you idiot!"
" Yeah, I noticed! Since when are you late to class?"
"Since when are you so annoying? Oh let me guess, forever!"
" Hey, are we gonna have a chat round here or are we going inside?"
" What? No, you go first! I don't want people to think we came here together!"
Ouch. That hurt. He was thinking of a very smart comeback, but right then McGonagall opened the door and faced them. Lily's face went -if that is even possible - paler than ever.
" Are you insane?" The teacher whispered.
" You are the Heads of this school, the brightest students of your year, and you still behave like five year olds? " She looked at them with anger and frustration. " Not only are you late to class, but you start yelling each at other in front of the classroom while your friends are taking a test? I'm really disappointed. You especially, as Heads of your year are supposed to be inseparable, united like a team, not fighting like siblings!"
James looked at a Lily on the verge of crying, still laying on him.
" Professor, I..."
McGonagall cut her off.
" I don't wanna hear it. You're grounded. Both of you. Tonight you are going to the forbidden forest together, as your detention. Maybe this will teach you some teamwork."
She turned around and vanished into the classroom, slamming the door behind her.
James gulped and looked at Lily, then standed up and helped her do the same. They walked to the Gryffindor dorms in silence and James went straight up to his bed, burying his face in his pillow and screamed.
Some days the best thing you can do is indeed to just not leave your bed.
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James had absolutely no interest in going to detention. And most certainly he didn't want to have to do it with Lily Evans.
That was it. She was rude, disrespectful and careless. She hated him with a passion and showed it off, never cared about his feelings and emotions. He knocked on her door. She was annoying, infuriating and, and...
Lily opened the door and he couldn't help but notice how beautiful she was.
and... Absolutely magnificent.
" What is it Potter? Are you here to pick me up?"
" Er... Not exactly. I mean, it's your first detention, right? I wanted to give you some tips as we head to the forest." He responded when he managed to get his eyes off her.
" I think I'll survive and without your help." She said, but tried to hide a smirk." I mean you do it all the time, how difficult can it be?"
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"What? We gotta stay here all evening? In the forbidden forest all alone? You must be insane!"
James looked at the feisty Head girl and tried not to smile. God, all of this was so new to her it was almost entertaining.
" You need to calm down Ms Evans" replied Mr, Collins, their mugglology professor, responsible for explaining their detention. " It's not that many hours and I'm sure your boyfriend will keep you company. He is sort of an expert, right Mr Potter?"
Lily seemed desperate and he wasn't sure if it was because she had to stay at a forest all night or because she got called his girlfriend. And to be honest he wasn't sure he wanted to know.
" Rules are simple. You're staying here until midnight. No wandering around. No splitting up. No having sex. No harming any creatures. And no fireworks, Mr Potter I'm talking to you. And I'm taking your wands with me.", the professor added before waving them goodbye and James signed. He didn't like not having his wand with him, but at least this meant Evans couldn't hex him, right?
James usually couldn't spend enough time with Lily, but when they were left alone he felt like he was... panicking? No, no that couldn't be right. James Potter didn't do panicking. He was supposed to be smooth, funny, cool guy but right now he felt awkward and unsure. He took a big breath. He had this, he just needed to relax. Speaking of relaxation, Evans certainly didn't seem relaxed at all.
"C'mon Evans, are you afraid of the dark or something?" And no, that came out a lot less cool than he had imagined it. She looked at him offended.
"What? No I'm not!" She made a small pause. " If there's anything I'm afraid of right now is Minnie. Haven't seen her that mad since the Slytherin Quiddich Incident! I'm sure she's much scarier than... Merlin knows what kind of creatures live here"
"Waht? No! Sirius and I have picnics here all the time! I can assure you that the most dangerous creature round here is a short redhead."
" I can assure you that the most dumb creature round here is a tall guy with glasses "
" Hey! Our grades are literally the... Hey! What was that?"
" An other tall idiot?"
" I'm being serious! Did you hear it?''
Something made a weird sound behind the bushes. Lily looked gave him a look suggesting he wasn't going insane.
''I never thought I'd say this out loud, but I hope it's Slughorn and Davidson again!'' She whispered, while drawing something from her pocket and sheding light onto the bushes.
''Hey! I didn't know you had an emergency wand!''
''It's called a flashlight James, and be quiet! You'll scare it away!''
''Scare wha-'' He suddently stopped talking when he saw the mezmerized look on Lily's face. They were beside the lake which seemed even more mysterious at night. The trees seemed huge and thretening, while the pale light of the moon and the flashlight unveiled hundereds of little wildflowers. But it wasn't the beautiful sight that had caught Lily's attention.Behind the bushes lied a wounded unicorn.
James rushed to it and tried to stop the beautiful creature from bleeding. The silver blood was flowing as the poor unicorn was quietly crying. It shouldn't be much older than a year old. Both Lily and him knew that it was probably a Death Eater attack. The Dark Lord was seeking power and having to harm innocent unicorns was definately not gonna stop him from doing so.
''I didn't know you could take care of magical creatures Potter!'' she mumbled as she was petting the animal.
''Errr... I know... sort of'' he responded, thinking of Moony's monthly adventures. He was glad she couldn't see him blushing in the dark. '' I could probably do more with my wand. But we should get it to Hagrid.'' He said while carefully picking up the unicorn. And of course that was when Lily's flashlight decided to stop working.
''Great! I knew that I should have kept my wand!'' he said laughingly
''Hey, at least I know what a flashlight is!''
''At least I know what a broomstick is!''
''Well at least I know what a potion should look like'' she said, half annoyed, half smirking.
He felt an adrenaline rush. Merlin, he liked this girl so much, that even this silly game was lowkey exciting.
'' At least I dodn't hang out with potential Voldy admirers''
''I don't even- At least I brush my goddamn hair!''
'' I do that! At least I can drink a bottle of firewhiskey''
''And you're proud of that? At least I don't kiss my best friends cousins!''
Oh no. This wasn't fun anymore.
''That wasn't- No, Evans, no- look at me!'' he blurted out. ''It wasn't like that, I swear, I'm sorry!'' His face was probably very red, but he didn't care. He realized his hand was cupping Lily's cheek and quickly let go, noticing she had turned red too.
" What? No! Hey, you don't have to apologise to me for... Kissing a girl James! It's not like I'm your girlfriend or something..." She said, blushing. Of course. She would never be his girlfriend. She looked at the floor, but then continued.
" And look, I have no business telling you who to snog, but Sirius'cousin? And the only one he is still talking to? I just... Don't know, I thought you were better than this!" He let out a breath.
" See, that's what I wanted to tell you. Andromeda sent her boyfriend a note, telling him to meet her here, but... I accidentally received it. When she kissed me last night she thought I was her boyfriend. I had no idea." Lily looked at him in disbelief.
" Yeah right. Just give it a rest ok?"
" Wha- I'm serious! Really now Evans, why on earth would I kiss a random stranger in front of my crush?"
His response made her blush, and he found himself blushing too.
" Look, if you don't believe me we can go ask Androm..."
" It's ok. I believe you." She waited for a minute. "And I guess I'm sorry for just... Assuming."
His voice softened.
" It's ok, I would probably think the same if I were you." He stopped for a second. " Does this mean I win?"
Lily's eyes sparkled.
" What? Absolutely not! At least I don't bully first years"
" I've stopped doing that years now! And at least I'm not afraid of Pygmy puffs!"
" Don't you dare! Those things are fucking scary! At least I don't share a bedroom with Sirius Black!"
" Wha- How is this even insulting? At least I'm not a redhead!"
" For real now? You love redheads!"
James smiled. And you know what; he really couldn't argue with that.
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So what do you think happens next?
Are Lily and James friends now?
What does Wolfstar have to do with this?
Will our favorite wixards find true love?
I know this chapter is really late, but I hope this is a comeback! Hope you enjoyed, don't forget to leave your thoughts in the comments!
Stay safe
xxx
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