Gone in a Flash by Goldenwood
Chapter Notes: Alrighty here is chapter 2, It took me longer than I hoped because I have all these ideas for later on in the story I just don't know how to get there, so I got stuck. Hopefully chapter 3 will be up sooner...
Thanks to everyone who reviewed the first chap.
Oh yea, by the way I didn't write Harry Potter, just this poser story...
Ch. 2
Maybe
James was not always such a smooth talker. In fact, there was one time in his life where he was rendered speechless by none other than Miss Lily Evans. Maybe someone had put a tongue-tying curse on him. Maybe he had tripped on his shoelace and was afraid Lily saw him do it. Or, maybe it was because he had never seen her before in that light. The light of someone he felt he could love.
Whatever the reason, after said fiasco, James Potter vowed he would never make a fool of himself in front of her again.
“Lily?” James called as he followed her down the stairs.
She was too far ahead and hadn’t heard him, he quickened his pace and, once again, louder this time, “LILY!”
Lily turned to see who called her name, when her eyes rested on James Potter.
“Yes, Potter?”
“You…uh…” James panted. “You left your quill.”
“Oh! Thanks,” she replied.
For some odd reason, James couldn’t move, he wanted to act all cool about it and say “No problem,” or something, walk away, and then all would be done, just another good samaritan chasing someone down because they left a quill in class. This sort of thing happens all the time…right?
But, alas, James stood there, eerily transfixed, taking in the fact that he suddenly noticed how pretty Lily really was.
“Potter?”
“Yes?!” James snapped back into reality.
“I said ‘thanks’…”
“Well...no prob-…I mean...it was…” he stuttered, all elements of coolness eluding him. “Yea…” he finished lamely as he began to stare at his feet.
“See you later then I suppose.”
“Yea...”
As Lily hurried off to her next class, she attempted to shove the quill back into her bag. Only, when she looked at it, she realized that it wasn’t even hers.
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Lily awoke abruptly to one loud snore from James. They had fallen asleep on the couch, each consumed in their own thoughts.
Something didn’t feel right. There was some feeling lurking on the edge of her soul that told her something was out of place, something neither she nor James could help. The night was too still, the air too silent, it just didn’t feel right.
Lily untangled herself from James and went to check on Harry.
The dark-haired infant was sleeping soundly in his crib without a care in the world. Lily desperately wanted to hold him, but a more convincing part of her reasoned that he was sleeping, and shouldn’t be disturbed. So Lily simply watched him sleep. He had turned one year old the past July, and he was already perfect. It takes most people years to achieve perfection, but to his mother, Harry already was.
The child slowly began to awaken, opening his bright green eyes and fixing them upon another set of eyes just as brilliant.
“Hello there,” Lily whispered.
Harry smiled his best baby smile up at her.
“You’re too cute,” Lily laughed.
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Lily glared at James with an expression so intense she could have burned holes in his head.
“Stop following me,” Lily ordered.
“I will, if you say yes.”
James had found a new tactic in the quest to gain Lily’s attention, following her around aimlessly until she finally gave in and agreed to give him a chance. However, it was sort of having the opposite effect, Lily was beginning to loathe our hapless hero more and more by the second.
“No! For the hundredth and LAST time NO!”
“Well, if it’s the last time then if I ask you again you should say yes.”
“What if I just ignored you?”
James sort of half smiled at her, but the sight of the anger etched in her face slid the smile right off his. Why did he continue to dig himself into the same hole? What was wrong with him?
“Alright, Evans. You win.”
With an air of defeat, James turned and made his way to the Great Hall for dinner. Lily watched him walk away, his head which he usually held high as he strutted about hung low, watching his feet take him away from her.
Was that a touch of pity mingling with Lily’s usual feelings of utter loathing? Did she suddenly feel the tiniest bit for the dejected boy she had just told off?
Maybe.
Maybe she kind of saw him at that moment as a real person, not just that weird arrogant kid who was seemingly obsessed with her.
Maybe he wasn’t so bad. Maybe he deserved that chance.
No. This was James Potter. Lily suddenly grabbed a hold of herself and her thoughts.
There was no way James was ever going to win her heart.
A somewhat melancholy James sat down at his usual place at the Gryffindor table. The only other member of James’ inner circle, also known as the marauders, that was sitting at the table was Remus Lupin. Remus looking somewhat ill, as if he hadn’t gotten any sleep in a week. However, this was normal, the full moon was approaching and Remus, or “Moony” was indeed a werewolf.
“What’s wrong with you?” Remus asked his friend.
“I should ask you the same question.”
“Like you don’t already know.”
James pushed his dinner away and placed his head on the table.
“I think I should just give up,” came James’ muffled voice.
“On what?” Remus inquired innocently.
James lifted his head to look at Remus with an unreadable look on his face.
“Like you don’t already know.”
“Oh, her,” Remus answered as he looked away.
James stared at him, hoping for an answer that would change everything.
“Maybe,” Remus finally said.
That was not the answer James was looking for.
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James awoke at 10:07 PM to find that Lily was no longer on the couch with him. At first, he jumped up; afraid something had happened to her, when he heard footsteps up stairs in the baby’s room. He relaxed, realizing she was only tending to Harry.
But, you can never be too careful, so James crept up the stairs and into his son’s room.
There was Lily, crooning over Harry and his silly baby talk. He was starting to figure out some words, but for James’ life he could not understand them. Lily acted as a sort of interpreter, for whenever Harry said something sounding like “Doo pag” Lily swore he had said “Da da.”
“Hey,” James whispered.
Lily smiled at him in response.
“Feeling better?”
“A little.”
In the back of her mind though, Lily still wasn’t sure.