Limerence | A James & Lily Story

Anything

     "Will somebody please tell me what the bloody hell is going on?" Marlene demands throwing her hands down on the table with a loud bang echoing through the Great Hall. I don't look up from my food, and I refuse to look at Lily. 

     "James Potter doing work and not talking? Has hell frozen over?" I pull my eyes away from  Jenna Lauding, a fellow, flirty Gryffindor, an uneasy feeling bubbling in my stomach. Lily stands slightly rigid with her eyebrows raised in defiance.

     "Not with her," I answer Lily simply, readjusting my wand ready too move on from this conversation.

     "Really? I figured she was your kind of girl," she says her voice taking on a sugary sweet quality, that should never be confused for anything but malice. "Easy." She says the last word as if it's made of fire, spitting it from her mouth and making a disgusted face as soon as the word has left her lips.

     Ice runs through my veins, and my spine automatically straightens. I look down at the fiery red head and feel hurt gnawing at my insides. "Exactly what is that supposed to mean?"

     "You know, you don't exactly date girls that, how do I put this delicately, you would bring home to your mummy."  Her bright green eyes burn with an emotion I can't identify. She raises her chin stubbornly and crosses her arms across her chest.

     "And what about the guys you've dated, huh?"  I demand, anger building in my chest.

     "What about them?"  She takes a step towards me.

     "They're not exactly, geniuses, Evans. Did you even like them? Or was it just so you weren't alone? Always making sure you had someone to snog?" Her cheeks flush. A feeling of guilt swells inside of me, but I push it down wanting to hold onto my anger for a little longer.

      I shake the memory from my head. I only dated girls I could song to get her out of my head, not that it ever worked. Besides, why should she care who I am dating? What business of it is her's? She doesn't feel that way about me, and obviously, she doesn't think very much of me.

     "Well," Sirius says. "They've obviously paid very close attention to each other's dating lives." I look up to glare at Sirius, and I see Lily do the same. Sirius raises his eyebrows at me, daring me to contradict him.

     I push my plate of food away from me, disgusted, and throw my legs over the bench. My eyes land on Jenna towards the end of the table. She seemed to show some interest in me earlier in class. Hell, if Lily doesn't feel that way about me, why should I waste my time with her? I've been waiting seven years; It's obviously not going to happen. I make my way to the other end of the Gryffindor table, to the girl who does want me.

     "Can I sit here?" I ask. Jenna's eyes light up when she looks up to see me. She quickly scoots over, making room for me on the bench. I sit next to her and join in on whatever she and her friends were discussing before I got here. A streak red blur by the other side of the table catches my eye.

      I look up to see Lily walking, chin held high and refusing to look my way, from the Great Hall. I force myself to stay seated and not go after her. James, snap out of it. She doesn't want you. I turn back to Jenna and her friends, playing my part well. I laugh when something funny is said. I smirk when I'm complimented. But, the only thoughts pounding through my brain deal with the girl who walked away.

      Towards the end of the lunch period, Sirius pulls me away. "What the hell are you doing?" he demands, as we make our way outside to the green houses. 

     "What?" I ask.

     "What are you doing with Jenna?" He demands, pulling his hair out of his face and into a sloppy bun.