The Marauders: Year Three | #Wattys2016

Evvvvvvaaaaans

Lily stared at him, emotionless.

"So I fought him with my bare hands, and he surrendered to me, just like that," James snapped his fingers.

Lily sighed. "What did you want before, James?"

"Wow, you're calling me James, even?" he asked looking up, "You really do feel like rubbish for calling me a monster, don't you, Evans?"

She stared at him.

He stared at her.

"Potter."

"Evans?"

Lily shook her head, "Why in bloody hell do you have to be such a pill?" she exhaled the words in one long stream. James smiled - Lily wanted to holler at him. She swallowed back the irritation and raised her eyebrows, "What did you want." She stared, waiting for an answer.

Finally, he said, "I have decided that you should be my Valentine."

Lily rolled her eyes. "Stop being a prat. You know I'm seeing Severus." She turned to look at her book.

"Yeah but Snape's boring," James replied, "When has he ever come back from the dead?"

Lily said, "You didn't come back from the dead. There was a rumor that you were dead, and some people believed it --"

"-- by that you mean you --"

"-- but you weren't actually dead."

"I could've been," James answered, "I very nearly was. The werewolf and all. I swear, he was right here in my face, breathing, about to bite my neck, Evans. I could smell his horrible breath."

She just stared at him.

"You don't believe me, but it's bloody true."

Lily turned back to her textbook, thinking it might be easier to completely ignore him than it would be to try and argue with him. She ran her finger over the page, tracing the words, trying to find her place.

James leaned over so he was looking up at her. "You didn't answer."

"I did, but you didn't like that answer so you chose to pretend I didn't."

James didn't like that one either. "Evans," he said, "Don't you want to go out with a hero?"

Lily said, "You want me to go out with Peter Pettigrew now? I hear you say he saved your life."

"Well, yes... he did... but that's not the hero I meant. I meant me, you know."

"I had the feeling that's what you were getting at," Lily said dryly sarcastic.

James smirked, "Evans. Why won't you go out with me?"

"Because I'm with Severus Snape!" she said. "And besides. You're James Potter." She made a face and turned back to her book to end the subject.

James leaned back on his cushion and watched her read. Ever since that moment in the cave, when Greyback's breath had been so hot and rancid against his skin, he'd been unable to stop thinking of her. When she'd burst into the hospital wing that morning - all breathless and staring at him - his heart had leaped with hoping that maybe somehow his dreams had come true and she'd realized she liked him and come to tell him so. But of course she hadn't, she'd just stood there, staring at him for a moment, then at Remus, and she'd run off.

"Why'd you come to the hospital wing for, Evans?" he asked.

"I told you, I was worried about Remus," she replied.

James said, "See, that's what you say - that's what Sirius said, too, but if that's so then why did you look at me when you were there?"

"I didn't look at you."

"You did look at me. You came in and you looked right at me," he persisted. Lily looked right at him now. There was fire in her eyes. It was the closest to their usual emerald green as they'd been in some time and James smiled brightly. "I'm sorry, does it make you angry that I know you give a damn about me, Evans?"

"I don't give a damn about you, Potter," she replied, but her tone wasn't as full of conviction as she would've liked, so she turned away.

"Are you blushing?" he asked.

"No," Lily replied.

James laughed.

At the front of the Divination classroom, Cassandra Vablatsky - who was sitting at her desk, still in the process of recovering from her incident with the Banesberry Tea weeks before - announced that the class was over, assigning them all an essay that would be due the next session. Everyone jumped up from their cushions. James stood, carefully, though, because the bandages were still 'round his torso and beneath that his ribs were still sore from the fall in the woods. Lily collected her books faster than he did, shoving them in her bag.

"One day, you'll give me a chance, Evans, and it'll be brilliant," James said.

Lily turned without saying anything else, hurrying across the Divination classroom, right past Severus Snape, who was just standing up - he'd been alone again at his table, since Remus's wounds were still open and he'd had to stay in the hospital wing a bit longer.

"Hey," he said, catching her by the arm before she could get too far, "Wait for me."

"Oh, sorry Sev," she said, shaking her head to clear her mind. "I forgot --"

He looked concerned. "Did you like the raspberry soda I gave you the other day?"

Lily looked up at him - what a curious question! - "I... I haven't drank it yet. I was saving it." She blinked at him, "What's that got to do with anything?"

"Nothing," he answered, frowning. "C'mon, let's go to lunch together." Lily followed Severus out of the Divination classroom.

They were only a little ways down the hall when Peter, Sirius, and James pushed past them, and James was talking loudly about how he was going to ask Annalee McKinnon to be his Valentine next time he saw her, glancing over his shoulder to see Lily's face when she heard the news.

As though she gave a damn who he asked!