10 things I hate about you
James Potter dunked his head into the ice cold water for another time. Would this leave him with severe brain damage? Probably. But then again no pain no gain.
" Oh my god, are you nuts? What are you doing?" He heard Remus's concerned tone and Padfoot coming closer.
" Trying to get Evans out of my mind. I heard somewhere that ice water helps"
" Where would that be? A suicide guide?"
" Don't mock me Mooney. I'm in real trouble here!"
" Hey buddy, we know that Evans is your"soulmate and stuff" but isn't that a little too far?"
" No, you don't understand! This whole roommate thing is driving me crazy! Not to mention yesterday after we kissed and..."
Sirius dropped his cup of coffee on the ground and Remus's jaw dropped.
" You did what?"
" We, we kissed and..."
" Wha- How did that happen?"
" It was just a silly bet... Nothing more. I don't even know if she liked it! And now I can't stop thinking about her!!!"
" Well I can see why!" mumbled Sirius... Smirking?
"Did you like it?"
" Are you kidding me? Probably the best kiss I've ever had! Stupid, idiot me! I should've never kissed her!"
" And why is that now?" Asked Remus, seeming weirdly interested.
" Hey, I might be in love, but I'm not delusional! Evans will never like me! It's time to move on already and now she has completely ruined anyone else for me! How will I be able to kiss another girl, knowing I've had this experience?"
Remus thought for a minute.
" Ok, I think I've found a solution for you. Is there anything you... Hate about her?"
" Huh?'' he looked at an equally puzzled Sirius.
" Something I... Hate about her?'
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Lily Evans was in terrible distress. And that didn't occur often, but when it did it was certainly... Something. That's why she liked being prepared. Right now though, sitting in the Gryffindor common room, with a cup of tea in her hands, a box of chocolates on the table and her friends surrounding her she realised that it still might not be enough.
" Can you believe that girls? Me, Lily Evans, a Head girl, a good student, a good roommate, being unable to get a kiss with Potter, out of my head! James fucking Potter! I hate Potter!"
" I know babes! You don't have to tell us about it!" Said Marlene. "But, just out of curiosity, was the kiss any good?"
" That's the worst part! Marly, I might be losing my mind. Or , I'm too inexperienced. Or I'm cursed!"
" But...?"
"But this was the best kiss I've ever had!"
" Really? Who knew?" Mary took a sip out of her drink. " So? How are you feeling about it?"
" I mean I hate his guts! Right? " She looked at her friends. "Right? Why are you looking at me like that?"
Let's say their expression wasn't exactly what she hoped. Alice took a seat next to her and gave her a sympathetic pat on the back.
" Lily darling, we, I mean... I don't want to invalidate your feelings, but... Just so you know, there's nothing wrong with having a little crush..."
" What? That's absurd! I don't have a crush on Potter! I DON'T LIKE HIM!"
" Lily, sweetie calm down, it's not the end of the world! "
" You too Dorcas?"
Alice sighed. " What I was trying to say is that it took me ages to admit to myself that I liked Frank! I didn't want to ruin our friendship and every time I thought about us together I completely dismissed it! I was in denial for sooo long"
" I'm not in denial!
Mary sighed and took her hand in hers.
" Honey... Are you sure?"
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" Ok, let's see... Alright I've got one! I hate how stubborn she is! I really do!"
" Congratulations mate" said Sirius in an ironic tone. "Only nine more to go!'
" Hey don't mock me! I'm tryna do something here!"
" Really? And you think making a list of things you don't like about her will help getting over her? "
" Have you got any better ideas? Because let me inform you, getting over Lily Evans is no easy job! She just won't get out of my mind! Now that I think about it let's write this down.
Number two: it's annoying how much of my time she takes."
" You know what, I give up!"
" To be honest babe I don't think it's a bad idea!" Said Remus. " Maybe reflecting on his feelings for Lily is what he should be doing!"
Was he imagining things or did Remus emphasize those last words?
" Even the bad ones?" Asked Sirius
" I believe so yes!" Replied Remus suggestively. Maybe the two of them had gotten into a fight.
" There's number three! We always seem to get into some sort of argument. I just hate it when that happens!"
Sirius raised his shoulders.
" Tell me about it!"
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" Ok, that shouldn't be difficult.
1. His huge ego!"
" Lily hun, I don't see how writing it down will help those feelings disappear."
" The only feeling I have right now is resentment towards my so called friends! What happened guys? I thought you were here to support me!"
" Fine! You know what? If it helps you I'm in. What's number two?"
" Well... His cologne! It's so strong and... It lasts forever and it's... It's everywhere!"
" But I thought you liked his cologne." Whispered Marlene while raising her eyebrows. She freezed as she remembered the amorentia incident.
" No. Definitely not. Hate it.
2. His cologne."
" Oh great! What's next? His hair? His height ? His lips?"
" Yes Dorcas! Now that you mentioned it he is so tall it irritates me! And his hair is just so messy all the time, it gets on my nerves. Sadly I can't say anything about his lips. They're pretty great. Did I say that out loud? Pretend I didn't say that out loud."
" Ok, you know what? I'm just gonna go ahead and say what everyone's been thinking." Mary stood up. " Haven't you two been getting along lately? I thought you were becoming friends. Plus if you only kissed because of that.. bet or whatever that was then it's not that big of a deal! Where did all that sudden 'I hate him' thing come from? Isn't that in the past already?"
Lily bit her lip. As much as she wanted to deny it Mary did have a point.
" Mary, leave her alone, she's upset!"
" No Alice! She's upset but she can't deal with it like it's a project or a rom com or something. And I'm not saying Potter is a saint or doesn't have flaws, but he's also a great guy and he's made a lot of progress lately. Drawing him out to be the villain only to be mad at him for making you like the kiss is just... Wrong. And it's not like you at all!"
Lily's jaw dropped. Oh god, she was right. Mary sighed.
" Look, I'm sorry I shouldn't..."
" No. You're right. You're all right."
" We just want you to know we'll all be there for you."
" Thank you. I- I know. And now I have to deal with this. On my own. "
" You go girl!"
" We're here for you!"
" See ya!"
She smiled as she was heading towards the Heads rooms. She was ready to do this.
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" Hey, Prongsie, give it a rest! You're stuck on number five for thirty minutes!''
''I'm not stuck! I have plenty of things to write! I just need to... Consentrate!''
''Yes, so you can come up with more of- What was it? ''Bad taste in men''? ''
''She dated Amos Diggory for two weeks in fourth year and yet wouldn't give me a chance! What would you call that?''
'' Honestly, I think you're wasting your time! Do you think completing a list- Heck, a thousand ones!- is gonna fix your crush? Because I think it reminds you how much you like her and it makes you fall in love even more!''
'' Ok Padfoot, then what do you suggest? That I curl myself into a bowl and spend the following six months eating ice cream and listening to sad music, trying to process my feelings?''
''No! I'm just saying getting over her doesn't equal hate her! You- You fucking live together! What are you gonna do? Just avoid her forever or be passive agressive?''
''No, but... It hurts, ok? It hurts loving someone so much and knowing she probably genuinly hates me and... Look, don't you think I'd want to get over her? Do you think I like her on purpose? I want to be friends with her, I want to move on and... find someone else, but I'm stuck in the middle! Not lovers, but not excactly friends, not over her, but knowing I can't be with her! Knowing she'll probably be dating someone by the end if the year and I'll just have to watch and pretend I'm happy for her but I'm not and I wish we were together every second of the goddamn day, but at the same time wishing I never met her! Does that make sense?''
He looked at his friends, Sirius being too quiet and Remus staring at the floor.
''Now, if you two don't mind, I'm going to bed. And I'm taking my list with me. ''
''Prongs, I'm sorry. We didn't mean to...''
''I know. And... thanks. For being there for me. But right now I just need... some time. Alone.''
''We... Get that. And mate... Good luck''
He waved them goodbye and headed up to the dorms. Time to do this.
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James Potter sighed before entering the room.
''Hey!'' Lily was laying on the chouch and smiling politely.
''Hey!'' she said and took a seat next to her. She seemed nervous. ''What are you holding?''
He felt himself blushing. ''Nothing. It's nothing. Trash''. He crumbled up the piece of paper into a ball and threw it in the garbadge can.
''Oh. How was your day?'' she asked calmly.
''Ummm... Fine! It was fine. Yours?''
''Errr... Good. I mean ok.''
''Good.''
''Good.''
God, that was so awkward. He took a big breath.
''Evans... We have to talk.''
''Yes, I wanted to talk to you too.''
''So, about yesterday. I'm sorry about... you know. I hope it didn't make things... Weird.''
''Oh god. James, you know what? Don't worry about it! I think we've both overthought this! I mean... It was just a kiss, right?''
He left a sigh of relief. Wait. Did she just say she's thought about it?
''So... Are we good?''
''Yes Potter. I think we're good.''
There was a moment of comfortable silence between them.
''Oh my god, did I tell you about what happened today at Quiddich practice?''
''Nooo! Please tell!''
''Ok, so I had booked the quiddich pich for us to practice and apparently there had been a mistake, because so had Wendy and then she and Sirius got into this huge fight and then Minnie showed up and dragged them to the office!''
She giggled. ''No way! Can't wait for their match on Wednesday.'' she paused. ''Hey Potter?''
''Hmm?''
''I'm sorry''
''What? No. Don't. You don't have to be sorry for anything.''
''No. I'm sorry for being so... prejudiced towards you! I've been acting like you're my enemy or something, but truth is... I know basically nothing about you.''
''Wow, well... That can be fixed!'' He stood up and took a little bow. Ok, that was maybe unecessary. He shouldn't have done that. But Lily didn't seem to mind.
''What are you doing?'' she said smiling
''Hello m'lady. I meant strange... stranger! I'm James Potter, I'm seventeen years old and first time I rode a broomstick I did it in secret and it was my dads and I kind of crushed it into a tree.''
''Whoa! Did you get in trouble?''
''Actually, no! I never told him. He thinks it was drunk teenagers or the neightboor or something. To this day.''
''What? You're malicious! Ok, my turn. I'm Lily Evans, I'm seventeen and I hate my sister's boyfriend.''
''Really? Why?''
''He's just so... ugh! I guess he's a constant reminder of how shallow my sister has grown out to be! Stuck up, show-off, inconsiderate and selfish! And get this! They've been together for a year and Petunia still hasn't told him about me being a witch.''
'' How? Hasn't he noticed already? With you being far from home and having an owl and stuff?''
''They've probably told him I'm off to some posh boarding school. But I don't really know! Tuney could've told him anything, that I'm at rehab or something!''
''Can you imagine that? It would be so hillairious!''
''I beg to differ! Ok, your turn''
''Let's see... My dad owns this huge hair product company and my hair can litterally not be tamed.''
''Sometimes in class i nod to make it seem like I'm paying attention, but I'm really just thinking about lunch.''
'' I can't read a map to save my life''
'' I've wanted this pair of shoes for so long but I won't buy them because the cashier was my old classmate and I don't want to run into her!''
'' Every time someone asks if Sirius is my biological brother I have violent thoughts about them.''
''Fair enough. Sometimes I feel so lonely I want to disappear. ''
James felt his heart sink. He took her hand and gently stroked it.
''I've been in love. Once.''
And right there and then, sharing themselves, unraveling their minds, their thoughts, their secrets, he felt like it didn't really matter what he hated about her. Because every fault, every minor imperfection, every detail about her he found to love even more.
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Sooo, what did you think?
Is Jily becoming friends? Are they becoming something more? Will James ever get over her? Tell me in the comments!
Hopefully I'll be uploading soon and there's good stuff coming up! Until then,
Take care
xoxoxo