"oh, i'm falling in love"
It had been an accident. She hadn't expected that to happen. She had been with Mary, and her favorite lesbian couple Marlene and Dorcas. They were all sitting in their usual spot, in one of Hogwarts many courtyards. She had been sitting on the ledge of the stone, her back to the pillar behind her, Mary was sat next to Marlene on the grass. Mary and her were reading the same book with their own copies, as they tend to do, as Dorcas was laid on top of Marlene, resting her eyes. Marlene the ever loving girlfriend had been watching her.
As her own legs were crossed underneath her, Lily had been glancing around for a moment as her eyes were getting all fuzzy from all her reading. She'd looked at her friends before glancing around in which she saw other students from different houses and different years doing their own things with their friends. It was the last day of their weekend before classes began again the following day, Lily is aware of the fact that it's her second to last year here. which has her taking in her surroundings lately.
Just as her mind had been spacing out, her eyes caught something in the distance. When she saw it, more like saw him, she saw the loose curls being brushed by the wind as Regulus Black sat reading his own book. His eyes taking in the words from the pages before him, she found herself transfixed, her breath caught in her throat like those telenovelas she loves watching so much when she goes home for the holidays. Her face had been starting to heat up, as the sun seemed to only be on him. Even though it wasn't, it had felt like it. Surrounding him was his other friends, Evan Rosier and his cousin Pandora Rosier. Barty Crouch jr. appeared to be trying to get Evans attention, Evan who was laying on the grass staring up at the sky, and Pandora well she was being Pandora as she was making friendship bracelets out of nature. Lily believes that she may have been making flower crowns but she's unsure as she was rather focused on Regulus, Regulus who suddenly seemed much more interesting.
She'd never given the younger black much attention until that moment, she knew he was the heir as Sirius ran away before the year had started. She never knew much about him except what her friends told her, she never tried to know more either. Wasn't that big of a fan of gossip, always rather focused on her studies and making sure she could be whatever she wanted to be as the time approached to choose. Rather stuck on all her options. But that day, had been the first day Lily Evans started to really notice Regulus Black.
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Regulus Black knew that his brother was going to leave eventually and when he did, he couldn't help but feel proud for him. Even though as his younger brother he had rather selfishly wanted him to stay by his side. As he became the heir there was a noticeable switch to him, he knew that but he couldn't help it as the walls he had built inside of himself that had been held up by his brother came crashing down. How was he to be protected by the harsh realities of his life if there was no one there helping keeping him safe? He didn't quite know.
His friends knew, they realized, they noticed as soon as they saw him again. Regulus was so grateful for them. He would never know how to thank them enough. They seemed to know just what to do so as Regulus had returned for his fifth year, he knew that he would be okay even with Sirius gone.
So bit by bit as weeks started to go by and Regulus started searching for another source of light in his life. As he rebuilt his walls of armor, as he practiced how to protect himself from his cruel parents. He found himself stumbling upon the light, a light so undeniably bright that he did not know what to do. He was rather smacked in the face in a rhetorical sense, when he had glanced over at the gryffindor table as commotion had been sounding from that direction to see James Potter making an utter foul of himself for his future beau, Lily Evans, the girl that everyone knows holds James' heart.
But what had occurred was that James was on top of the table as it was lunch, dancing with the brightest smile on his face as he conjured up flowers for a certain red head that was laughing and seemed a bit flustered. That was when Regulus realized that there was a star brighter than Sirius and it came in the form of the sun. So as his friends had helped him out of his depression, James had been his guiding light when they couldn't reach him ever since the moment Regulus saw the stars in the older boys eyes with his entrancing smile.
He didn't allow himself to look over at gryffindors table for the following week after that. He had been rather against the idea of liking a gryffindor at first but he knew that he could trust this gryffindor because of the fact that this one, saved his brother and if Sirius trusts him then there was no harm in him trusting him too, even if it's with his heart.
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James knows that he's a good person. That compared to others his life is rather one of the best. And he's so grateful for that, he really is, but sometimes to him it doesn't feel like enough. And he doesn't know if that makes him a good person, he doesn't think that it makes him a good person because he should simply just be grateful and not feel this way. It doesn't feel like enough when he sees his friends with someone they love, with the person they want to spend forever with and he doesn't have that. He simply wants that because just maybe then it would be enough. He believes that it would feel enough so in the meantime it doesn't feel like enough as he wants someone to hold and cherish until forever stops being.
So when third year James Potter saw Lily Evans in a different way, as a person that he could love forever. As a potential lover, with her blazing personality and naturally nice aura until wronged, let's say that he was motivated to show Lily that he's enough for her.
He did it in nice ways, first he had made sure to be a very good friend to her. Helping her out with anything that she needed, made sure him and his friends weren't too loud for when she was studying in the common room. James respects Lily and he hopes she knows that. She hasn't outright rejected him because he hasn't quite found the courage to well ask her out but hes building up his courage in doing so. However, there was a pause in his way to try to gain her affection when Sirius was having trouble with his family but he still made sure to make small gestures such as a bouquet of flowers for Lily, the ones he knows she loves. He got her treats just to see her smile at him because that had been enough. He would also help her carry her books after classes simply because he could tell that she was exhausted from all her studying.
Every time he had something wrong he could always count on his friends, all of them including Lily. Lily who gave him a lending ear to some of his deepest thoughts, thoughts he sometimes was too nervous to share with Sirius. Not because he doesn't love Sirius and trust them with his whole heart but because he overthinks.
There is the fact of his grand gestures, that he rarely does. Every time he does do a grand gesture, such as the one he did a few months back during lunch which was dancing in front of everyone for Lily. He had made sure to talk to her afterwards in private asking her how she felt about it. If she ever didn't like something that he did in his attempts to gain her affection, he'd stop. His most important thing that came to the people he cared about was to respect them. Something his mom would tell him. He especially understands that fact because of his bestest friend Sirius. James is in love with Lily Evans and he doesn't think he'll quite ever stop being so.