Loverboy

"You used to be a jerk."

"Hey, Evans," James said to the red-haired girl at the table beside him in Potions.

Lily looked up at him, as did her partner for the project, Mary. "What do you want, Potter?" she asked, her tone somewhere between disappointed and tired.

"Do you guys need the salamander blood? It was on the top shelf, and I already got it down, so-"

"Uh, yeah, thanks," Lily said, quicker than she meant to. "That's... Nice of you."

"Anytime," James replied, flashing one of his characteristic blinding smiles.

Lily smiled back, before returning her eyes to her work. "Your glasses are crooked, Potter. You really should fix them."

---

After Potions, Ollie and her boys ascended the stairs out of the dungeon. James hung back for a moment.

Lily caught up to James, carrying her textbooks. "Hey, Potter," she said.

"Hey, Evans," James said back, walking with her. "I'll carry your books, if you want."

"Wh- I'm fine, thanks."

"Okay."

The two climbed the stairs in an awkward silence.

"You're... different," Lily said, breaking their quiet.

"How so?" James asked, pushing his ever-crooked glasses up his nose.

"You... you used to be a jerk," Lily explained. "You were arrogant, snobbish, always acting like you were better than everyone because you're James Potter!"

"I never really tried to be a jerk," James said, his voice softer than Lily had ever heard it.

"And you always thought you were funny. But a lot of the time, you were just rude and obnoxious!"

"I'm not quite sure how to respond to that," James said slowly. "But okay."

"But you're not like that anymore!" Lily said, her voice raising ever so slightly. "You've been nothing but kind to everyone, you've stopped terrorizing Se- Snape, and you haven't asked me out once!"

"I figured you didn't like me constantly trying to get you to go out with me," James said, keeping his voice neutral.

"What happened that made you, um," Lily asked, pausing to find the word she wanted to use. "What made you so much more mature?"

This took James aback. "Well, you know how the Black family is all rich and pureblood and stuff?"

"So's your family, I thought."

"Yeah," James said with an awkward laugh. "But we don't really buy into all that blood supremacy BS. But the Blacks do."

"That figures," Lily said with a shrug. "What does that have to do with anything, though?"

"Sirius left," James said flatly. "His family wasn't doing a good job of being a family."

"Oh," Lily said quietly, her eyes widening. "I'm so sorry to hear that."

"He needed a brother, not just a best friend. So I had to be his brother," James said, meeting Lily's eyes for the first time in their conversation. "I couldn't leave him like that. Sirius is my best friend. He needed me, and so I needed to step up."

"That's- I'm really impressed," Lily said, taking in the somber air that now surrounded the two.

"That's a bonus, too," James tried to joke, but it fell flat.

Lily still smiled slightly. "You know, next week is a Hogsmeade weekend," she pointed out, changing the subject off of the uncomfortable topic.

"Yeah, it is," James said. "Ollie's going on another date with Pierre."

"He seems like a sweet guy," Lily said. "But if he hurts her, I'll hex him into next week."

"You're a really good friend, Evans," James said.

"So are you, Potter," Lily said. "Are you doing anything this weekend?"

"It's a Hogsmeade weekend," James said. "I'm going into the town. Aren't you?"

Lily resisted the urge to smack her forehead at his cluelessness. "I was thinking we could actually go together?"

"Oh," James said, seeming very surprised. "Really?"

"You know, as friends," Lily clarified. "Since you're not awful anymore and all that."

"Right," James said, smiling. "That sounds great. See you then."

"Yeah," Lily said. The two had walked all the way to the Great Hall, as it was their lunch period. "I'm going to go sit with Mary and Dorcas. See you, James."

"Bye, Evans," James said, waving as the two parted ways to sit with their groups. 

James was about to sit beside Ollie, but Sirius was on one side of her, and Pierre was on the other side. He simply slid into the seat on the other side of Sirius.

"We saw you and Lily walking here together," Remus said, leaning forward and looking inquisitorially at James. "What was that about?"

"She said I'm not awful anymore, and then she asked if I wanted to go to Hogsmeade with her."

"Wait really?" Ollie said, her eyes seeming to pop out of her skull. James noticed that Pierre had his arm around her waist.

"Yeah," James said proudly. "As friends, of course."

"Oh," Ollie said, taking a sip of her drink.

"She's still not into me, but at least she's willing to be friends with me!"

"Hey, it's better than nothing," Sirius said. "Remember in first year, when she kicked us out of the compartment on the train?"

"All because I said Snivellus's hair was greasy," James said, laughing. "And then we found these three." He pointed at Ollie, Remus, and Peter, who all laughed.

"Man, we shouldn't have let you sit with us," Remus joked. "Worst decision I ever made."

"Yeah, now we're stuck with you two," Ollie added, gently pushing Sirius.

"You still would've gotten stuck with us," Sirius teased back. "We share a dorm, Remus."

"Oh, the agony," Remus replied. "Don't even get me started on Peter's snoring."

"I swear, it's not that bad!" Peter protested. "You guys are exaggerating."

"We've shared a room with you for five years, Peter," James pointed out. "You absolutely snore."

"Well does Ollie's boyfriend need to know that?" Peter mumbled, seeming embarassed.

"Do you mean me?" Pierre asked, looking incredibly confused.

"Yeah?" Peter replied. "Aren't you guys together?"

"No?" Ollie said. "We're just friends."

"Oh," Peter said. "Nevermind, then."

Pierre didn't say it, but he was very confused as to why they were talking about Lily and James, and why her friends assumed Ollie and him were dating. Even Pierre could tell about the relationship she was in, how could Olivia's own friends not notice?

---

the deep conversation between James and Lily is so nice. I want them to bond more yk. also the boys just assume that Ollie and Pierre are together. they aren't. man pierre is so silly sometimes. i love him

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