“Hey, Remus.”

Even though it wasn’t my name, I turned to stare at the owner of a sweet voice calling the name of my friend. My breath left the confinement of my chest with a speed that could match the train we were about to board. I hadn’t seen this girl since the ending of last year, our fourth year, and the last time I saw her she was awkward and unattractive. How could someone change so quickly over the summer?

Lily Evans’ eyes were as beautiful as ever. I admit that they had always been attractive to me, but they were her only quality that had been beautiful from the beginning in my view of things. Was it just me or was her hair longer? Her beautiful mass of red hair could compete with mine with its lack of taming. I was shocked when I felt my fingers dying to plunge into its depths. Softer looking than I remembered, her hair was long enough to tickle her waist when she sat down. More attractive than her hair, her lips were curved in a shy smile as she watched my best friend. Heat flooded my veins and face as I watched her lips and felt the strongest desire to touch them with mine.

Since when did I like Lily Evans? Since when was I attracted to her? Lily Evans had always been the book-loving dork who had a crush on one of my best friends, Remus Lupin. The feelings had never been returned, but that didn’t stop her pursuing him. What was this sudden urge of jealousy I felt? The only feelings I had ever shown towards this budding woman was playfulness, if that can be counted as a feeling. Teasing her lack of height compared to mine had been as much fun as imitating her face as she studied. When Lily was concentrating on a subject, she put her hair in a pony-tail to the left side of her head, pursed her lips, wore seemingly-unnecessary reading glasses that always slipped to the end of her nose, and kept her right palm on her forehead for she was left-handed. Before the position seemed wholly comical. Now, the only word I could come up with was ‘cute,’ and even that couldn’t suffice. I tried to mentally find it funny, but I could only wish I’d catch her doing it again this year.

Her lips, which I had been watching with rapt attention, began moving again as she answered a question Remus must have asked her. Remus had always been nice to the small Gryffindor in our year even if she watched him at the weirdest times. She had admitted in second year that she liked him, not that it wasn’t already completely obvious, and Remus had regretfully informed her he couldn’t say he felt the same way. That changed nothing. She still smiled at him shyly whenever they crossed paths and looked to him for help when Sirius, Peter, and I teased her, but he found it hard to stop us when we had so much fun.

However, Remus hadn’t seen that rare glimpse of who she really was like I had. When around Remus she was timid and shy, but when was alone she was a real ‘spit-fire.’ Her temper was a short as Sirius’, and she could beat me in any verbal fight. We weren’t exactly friends. We had both shared some ugly words and on one rare occasion I mistakenly mouthed “PMS,” when she was having a bad day, and I was almost taken to the hospital. Of course, throughout that ordeal Remus was absent or else she wouldn’t have dreamt of it.

Why this sudden desire for the target of my mockery over the past few years? Why the need to hold her? Why the want to hit my own friend for being the un-wanting receiver of her feelings? Maybe, it was a stage I was going through. Perhaps, I didn’t really like this girl. What if my hormones had caught up to me with full force and the effect was feeling this way around all girls, not just this one? If I looked around at my other female acquaintances, I would surely feel the same charge. No, I had already past the feminine beauties of Hogwarts and not one gave me the feeling walking on air like Lily did.

In a split second, I made up my mind. I was going to have her. I, James Potter, always got what I want. All these years I had teased this poor girl, but now I would turn on my charming side. I’d have to make up for all the mocking insults I’d thrown her way so it would take at the most a month for her to warm up to me. She would though. I didn’t know why I wanted her so bad, but I knew I’d get her.

I decided to start. “So, Evans, you have nice a summer?”

She jumped slightly and looked from Remus to me with a hint of shock in her eyes. I had never openly acknowledged her before without some insult added into my first sentence. I watched her recover from the semi-shock and build up a wall of defenses, for she surely thought my next comment would be rude.

“I had a nice summer, yes.”

Her thin voice floated smoothly over the air to my ears, and my heart sang at hearing it. I sighed and tried to encourage her speak more so I might hear my name on her mouth.

“Did you travel at all?”

Her eyes narrowed in suspicion as I felt odd glances laid on me by my fellow Marauders.

“No, I stayed home all summer. Why?”

She still hadn’t said my name. I pressed further. “Just curious, Evans. I thought it would be polite and all to ask.”

She scoffed. “You? James Potter trying to be polite to me?” She rubbed her shoulders. “Is it cold in here? It feels like hell just froze over.”

Peter chuckled behind me, and I fought the urge to scowl. This was her obvious reaction. What did I expect? An immediate pardon of my past sins without asking for it? No, I had to earn it.

“Look, Evans. It shouldn’t be necessary to call a national holiday if I want to be nice. I’m nice all the time.”

She smirked. “To who?” Remus bit his lip to keep from chuckling, and I saw her smile that she had said something that fit into Remus’ humor. I didn’t find it funny in the slightest.

“My friends,” came the blatant answer.

She feigned hurt. “I’m not your friend?”

I smiled the smile that had been dubbed ‘charming.’ “You could be.”

She frowned. “Why would I want to be?”

The unexpected response caused me to hesitate a moment. This hadn’t been planned. She was supposed to want to be my friend. I thought everybody did, secretly. Even Snivellus. Surely, she was just pretending.

“Because being a friend of James Potter is an honor.” It was the truth even though Sirius started laughing behind me. “Because being a friend of James Potter would bring you more fun. Because everybody wants to be my friend.” Remus’ bit lip started quivering in mirth, but he knew I wasn’t lying. Everybody loved me.

Lily’s head leaned towards mine like she was going to kiss me. A sudden sense of excitement stole through me, and I forgot that Lily Evans would never kiss James Potter in public. I forgot my friend’s were watching. I forgot I was supposed to be teasing this brilliant Muggle-born. I just watched her mouth as it moved closer mine. In a growl, she responded, “Except me.”

Before I realized it, she turned her body from mine, grabbed her trunk, and hoisted both onto the train. My ‘friends’ released the laughter that had been bubbling inside them and giggled like the idiotic girls I had dated last year. I scowled at all of them and jumped onto the train after Lily. I watched her red hair whip speedily into a compartment and sighed.

This wasn’t going as planned.