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chapter two; surprise at the order meeting
James joined the Order as soon as he left Hogwarts. His parents were a part of it, fighting for the good in the world and against the darkness of You-Know-Who, and it was only logical that he followed in their footsteps.
He'd realized he wouldn't stand on the sidelines of the war since Lily's parents had been attacked in their own home and left their daughters orphaned. He remembered the devasted look on her face, the anger she was trying to hide.
They'd all tried to help, but there wasn't anything they could do. Until Dumbledore offered them a place in the Order. James hadn't hesitated to accept, just like most of his friends—he needed to have a role in the war, he needed to do something, otherwise, he would regret it.
The Order of the Phoenix Headquarters was given by the Longbottom family for the war. Longbottom Hall was a big house, verging on a manor with sufficient space for every going-on of their operation.
At that moment James stood with his friends by the wall of the dining room as they all waited for Dumbledore to arrive. Most of the older members of the Order sat at the dining table—his parents (who were one of the last to join the meeting), Moody, and McGonagall amongst them. It was one of his first meetings for the order and James and his friends were all anxiously waiting to be assigned their first mission outside of "keeping an eye out".
No one knew why this particular meeting had been called so suddenly. Still, James had an inkling it had to do with the fact his parents were summoned to Hogwarts in the middle of Sunday breakfast—a day when the marauders all came to his house and spent the day. However, Sirius was the only one who was obliged to seeing as James was sure his mother would floo to Padfoot's apartment and drag him by the ear should he not show up.
He spotted Lily from across the hall, talking with Marlene and Alice, and he couldn't even muster a smile. He'd given himself till the end of Hogwarts to finally end up with her, he'd cleaned up his act, became Head Boy, and tried doing everything she said he wasn't and even that wasn't enough.
He was starting to wonder whether he even liked her—or if it was just the challenge of getting her to go on a date with him that thrilled him anymore.
He remembered a time when his heart would fly out of his chest every time she smiled at him, or even scowled at him, and to be fair even when she glared his heart raced.
And he remembered a time when she was just utter perfection and could do no wrong—he wasn't sure he felt the same anymore. Along the way, and after realizing who he wanted to be, Lily Evans stopped being Godlike and became more human.
He enjoyed her more now, being able to talk to her like they were friends and joke around, but he couldn't help but notice that despite her still being beautiful, he didn't dream about her auburn hair and green eyes, he didn't wait until the next Order Meeting to see her. They'd become friends and James was starting to realize there wasn't anything else there, honestly, both of them had realized that a long time ago—though maybe it was his resignation speaking. He didn't know.
