Nah, She Didn't

~ Part 1 ~ PUT ME DOWN! ~

Carry On My Wayward Son - Kansas

"Oh for MERLIN'S SAKE! I'm not going to let you pick me up again!" Lily Evans shouted. She'd been shouting quite a lot ever since James Potter had taken a liking to running up from behind Lily, grabbing her, and running around corridors carrying her all the while. She had been late to class several times.

"Let's get one thing straight. No one lets me do anything. My actions are of my own accord," James responded, very matter-of-factly.

"Except for dear Minnie, of course. You must have a respect for her, as you always cringe under her scolding," Lily replied with a smirk.

"Well of course for dear Minnie," James responded, not skipping a beat at what Lily had thought was a pretty clever comment.

"Well, you couldn't catch me if you tried, you're a whole corridor behind me," Lily challenged. James said nothing in return, but in a few leaps of his long legs, he was close enough to touch her.

"I wouldn't be so sure," he quipped, grabbing her by the waist, and flinging her over his shoulder in such a fashion that would make you think Lily was light as a feather.

"POTTER!" Lily screeched in return. James raced down that corridor and the next, Lily hollering the whole way. No one stopped to think anything of this, as it was the usual type of thing you'd see in the hallway these days.

"PUT ME DOWN!" Lily yelled.

"Oh come on! It's the last day! You don't even have any classes to miss!" James replied in a whining manner, finding his way towards the courtyard.

"Come on Potter!" Lily grumbled.

"Well it's not my fault you're so small and fun to pick up," James replied, mock innocently.

"Well it's not my fault either that you're a tall, attention seeking jack-arse!" Lily replied angrily. James grinned ear to ear, and looked towards someone to his right. Lily noticed that James had stopped running, and a crowd had circled around the two.

-Lily POV-

Merlin. Now there were people surrounding us. Hold on; we aren't an us. No matter how much James Potter has changed over the past year or two, we will never be an us.

I suppose our relation has grown into one of which I can actually tolerate him, but it will never go further.

"Padfoot! Did you hear that? She called me tall!" James said with a grin. Sirius Black, James's best mate stood arms folded with an eyebrow raised, in a sort of twisted motherly way.

"Hate to burst your bubble, mate, but she also called you an attention seeking jack-arse, you arrogant bastard," Sirius said with a smirk.

"Alright! You've had your fun, Potter. Now, put. Me. Down." I said firmly, staring daggers at James back. I can't exactly see his face, as I was flung over his shoulder.

"Aw... but I won't see you til next year!" James pleaded, with wide puppy dog eyes. I couldn't see his face, but I could simply tell by the tone of his voice that his eyes were big as saucers, and his expression mirrored that of a pleading one.

"How about this," I begged. "If I promise you that we'll see each other over the summer... will you put me down?"

I tried to convince myself that I wasn't crazy for offering such a thing. Lily Evans promising James Potter they'd meet over the summer? I must be going absurd!

At least this didn't happen a couple years ago, when James was practically unbearable.

"Really?" James asked, eagerly. I nodded glumly against his back. "Well then, Lily dear, you've got yourself a deal." He grabbed tighter onto my waist, lifted me, then set me down. "Well? When will we be meeting up, my Lily flower?" James asked sweetly, with a smirk.

I sighed as I realized what I'd just done. "I supposed I'll owl you. And the 'Marauders' and my friends and us can meet up as well."

"Oh, lovely! We should do some muggle-type thing. Maybe we could even ride in a car!" James said, awe in his voice.

I giggled, then clamped my lips shut, scolding myself for doing such a thing. "Yes. We could even ride in a car," I replied, then with a nod to him, I rushed away.

Everyone made their way towards the Great Hall for Dumbledore's expected goodbye speech. I walked over towards me and my friend's normal spot at the Gryffindor table, which was ever so cleverly located right beside the Marauders usual spot.

The Marauders, of course, consisted of James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew. James, well... he was James. There really weren't any other words able to explain that boy. And Sirius Black. He was the pranking, troublemaking, ridiculous, charming nitwit; James' twin. They were 'brothers from another mother' as he always said. Remus Lupin, now, he I was quite fond of. He had been the other prefect this year, so we had spent some time together. I really don't know how he got himself caught up with this lot, but whatever. He was very smart, book and street, and him and I could always have a wonderful conversation about a book. Peter Pettigrew, who had been oddly quite absent from the group this year, was a clumsy yet lovable idiot who made puns almost as awful as Sirius's.

I sat down right next to my best friend Marlene, who attacked me with words immediately, as always.

"Why are you late? That awful McLaggen giving you trouble again? Merlin, he's a git," Marlene said as I took a seat. She was fierce, but always there when you needed her.

Alice and Mary came strolling into the Great Hall, joining Marlene and I.

"Lily! I heard about the thing with James! I didn't think you were ballsy enough to do such a thing! Spend time with him over the summer..." Alice said with a smirk. "I'll plan the wedding!"

"What thing with James? Oh, Lils, you best not have gotten yourself into another pickle with that boy," Mary warned. "You remember the Giant Squid incident? I had water in my ears for weeks!"

Alice Fortescue was always caught up with everything happening. She was quite the gossiper, but not in an annoying way. She's been trying to get me and James together since '72.

Mary McDonald, despite her quiet and reserved surface, had a fire within that only showed when she was with the people she most loved. An example of this fire would be when she jumped into the Black Lake in 5th year to save me from quite the catastrophic dare that had rooted from a challenge by none other than James Potter.

Dumbledore had finished his speech by the time my train of thought arrived at the station, and once we were all packed up, we got on the literal train to ride back to Kings Cross Station.

Before long, the class of 1978 would be going into their 7th year.

~ ~ ~
NOTES: X

-Amelia