Before you read, just so no one’s annoyed, he is not a Gary-Stu ;o)
Lily laughed and put her hand on his arm.
"Whoa, Prongs, mate, take it easy!" Sirius was looking at his friend worriedly, but James wasn’t paying him any attention; he was instead focused on Lily’s hand, now resting on Cliff’s arm. He glared at Cliff, his knuckles shockingly white from the fists they were balled into.
Cliff said something else witty and Lily laughed again. He leaned in and whispered in her ear and blushing, she nodded her head in agreement. That was too much for James and he got up, without having touched any of the food in front of him, and left the Great Hall too confused to stay, too upset to explain, and too furious to control his temper…
Cliff Conaway was of course the handsome, blonde Ravenclaw Keeper. His wavy blonde hair was always in place, his shocking blue eyes, startling, and his Quidditch abilities, well, they reflected those of his father, the famous Chudley Cannons’ Keeper, Steve Conaway. He had everything: grades, looks, friends, money, a fan club of girls rivaling that of Sirius and James, and now…the girl. James kicked a tree angrily, and then growled in frustration. He groaned and clutched his throbbing foot; then, angrily remembering her eyes sparkling with laughter, sank down against the tree desolately.
He tried to make her laugh, every day, to see those emerald orbs glow; everyone else did but she only sighed and cast him exasperated looks. He tried to impress her, showing his talent in and out of class, and taking care of greasy gits like Snivellus, but instead of becoming exasperated, she became angry. And he tried to ask her out, always praying for a yes, but only ever receiving an exasperated, angry, and/or mocking rejection.
He irritably banged his head against the tree behind him, and then shaking his head in fury, absentmindedly began to violently rip the grass out of the ground, forming a mound rivaling his despair. He closed his eyes, seeing the only image he ever saw: Lily. Over and over the vision of her laughing amiably with Cliff passed through his mind and with a painful ache in his heart he thought, I’m not good enough for her, she deserves better, someone who can make her laugh...but not him…
James had seen him with many girls, too many. He was a bit like Sirius had been before Kate: he moved from girl to girl, finding more fun in the chase than the prize, and often losing interest about a week after his conquest. He had seen more than one girl crushed by the "mighty Cliff", and James refused to let that happen to her.
Lily was no ordinary, swooning girl, as James had discovered himself, but Cliff had told her she was amazing, he cared for her more than he’d ever felt before, that she was different than the others. James had realized she was different at the age of eleven; he had known it since she turned him down on the very first day of school; he didn’t know how long he’d loved her, but it didn’t matter…James had the true heart, and Cliff the true words. Lily had chosen wrongly.
* * *
The new couple went to Hogsmeade the following weekend, and James scowled as they sat a few tables away at the Three Broomsticks. Sirius was talking and he nodded randomly mm-hming and yeah-ing here and there, trying to ignore the distraction.
"Prongs…Potter…hey -- look at me!"
"What?" he asked irritably.
"I asked if you wanted to join Snivellus in a romantic evening of toasting marshmallows…and you said yeah…"
Prongs rolled his eyes at his smirking friend. "Okay, sorry, I wasn’t listening. You caught me…congratulations." He turned back to glare at Cliff who was now holding Lily’s hand.
Sirius looked at his friend quietly, a look of concern erasing the smirk. "Why can’t you just give up on her?"
James kept his eyes glued on the pair. "Because."
"Because why?" Sirius persisted.
"Just because! I can’t explain why, Padfoot."
Sirius sighed. "Prongs, mate, nearly half the females in this school would go out with you in a heartbeat. The other, slightly larger half, are in love with me of course." He chuckled, but stopped when he didn’t get any reaction. "Only you would pick the one girl that can’t stand you."
James turned suddenly and looked at his friend. "But I didn’t…really…it’s not like I picked her, Sirius, so much as she was picked for me." His friend froze upon hearing his real name; this was no joke. "She’s different than the rest, she’s…so much more; it’s like she was made just for me, like I was meant to find her…like we were destined to be…" The two sat in silence for a while, James watching Lily unblinkingly and Sirius casting worried looks between the two.
Trying to cheer his friend up, Sirius began dreaming up ways they could…eliminate…Cliff from the picture. Soon enough, enjoying the bantering of possible hexes, traps, and torment they could induce upon the unsuspecting boy, James was laughing with his friend, thankfully oblivious to the beautiful red head now kissing the boy next to her.
James was sprinting through the tunnel towards the castle. He was out of breath and sweaty, but he had to find her, he had to tell her!
When he finally got to the common room, he located her by the fire reading pleasantly, completely unwary of the distraction coming.
"Evans…" he gasped, out of breath.
She looked up at him in surprise. "What?"
He breathed heavily composing himself, "I have…to tell you something…about Cliff."
She rolled her eyes. "Not again Potter. Would you give it up already!"
"No, wait!" he said urgently as she turned back to her book. "Evans, I have something to tell you, for real this time!"
Exasperated she looked up; she had had about enough. "Potter, this is not funny anymore. Stop."
"No, you don’t understand! I was at Hogsmeade and I saw him –"
She cut him off. "Well now I know for sure you’re lying, because he wasn’t at Hogsmeade today, he was studying in his common room. He told me himself!"
"He was there, Evans! I saw him wi—"
"Shut up, Potter!"
"But…"
"NO!"
"Evans, you have to listen to me, this is imp-"
"James Potter, I am not going to listen to another word you say." She stood up, pushing him out of her way. "I’m going to my room. Please just try to follow me."
"EVANS!" he called in one last attempt, but she ignored him and slammed her door. He collapsed on the chair in disbelief.
Well…if she wasn’t going to listen to him, he’d just have to take care of it himself…
A bit of a cliffie…ok. I said things were gonna heat up a bit in year 5? This ain’t nothing compared to year six…love, hate, confessions, anger, screaming, tears, confusion…what doesn’t happen in year six?
Of course, I gotta ask you to plz leave me a review!
For update notices, email me at themarauderfanfics@yahoo.com
Thanks to my wonderful beta Daniela!
Hey guys, see what happened is...for the second time in this story my beta has left. First time he was moving and lost access to a computer and my second has decided to take time off for school, so i've been trying to get a new one! I had one say she wanted to but now i'm waiting for her to send me her email. I'm so sorry i was just realizing its been ages since i've updated but the truth is the story is completed! I know - frustrating. So if she doesnt get back to me by tomorrow i'll try yet again for a response, and if not maybe i'll just go ahead and post without it being beta-ed? Again I feel bad but i'm doing my best! Just a run of bad luck :o( oh well....in h/g love i'll get it as quick as i can!