Someday Soon
The next morning I left for the Great Hall considerably earlier than usual. That was where I’d ask Evans out, and stage one of the plan would be well on its way. She was sitting in the same spot as the day before. Her dark red hair, which was a few inches down her shoulder, was parted to the side, half pulled back by a small clip. She was reading the paper once again. I didn’t understand why she would be reading the paper while surrounded by her friends; it didn’t make sense.
At the urging of Padfoot, I strolled over to her and sat across from her. I had taken extra care to make sure my hair wasn’t messier than usual -- I didn’t need another one of her comments. She didn’t look up this time, but flipped the page of her newspaper and idly nibbled on a piece of toast.
I took a few strips of bacon and a scoop of scrambled eggs. It was strange to be at breakfast early enough to actually take my time and eat.
I wasn’t exactly sure what to say. She looked almost peaceful. For a second, I could almost forget that she was an evil, cunning, cold-hearted monster, but only for a moment.
After a few bites of food and looks from Sirius, clearly saying “Go on with it,” I went for it. Now or never, I thought. The sooner I asked, the sooner she would accept and the sooner we could plan for stage two. I cleared my throat, hoping to get her attention. Nothing.
“Excuse me, Lily Evans?” I had no idea what to call her. Lily sounded much too friendly to call the girl I loathed. But Evans was too formal, and Lock Ness was a bit inappropriate for the situation. She looked up at me, as did half the table. They were hungry for another fight, another laugh, really.
“What do you want now?” she asked somewhat impatiently. I have to say; she did not look kind. I was intimidated. Once again, how anyone could even like her baffled me.
“Well,” I started, gaining a bit of confidence by the task at hand. Everyone loved me. “How would you like to accompany me to the next Hogsmeade trip?” I gave her my winning grin.
She looked at me blankly for a moment, unable to comprehend what I was asking.
“Are you serious?” she asked, her eyes unreadable. The girl sitting next to Lily Evans, Aletta Carson, was watching with interest, as were many other people. I could see Norah from the corner of my eye. She didn’t look too pleased, and that made me a bit happier.
“Yes, I am. You’re a lucky lady.” So Lily Evans wasn’t so unlike the other girls.
“Lucky lady?” she asked, disbelieving. That was when she began to chuckle. Her laugh might have been nice, had it not been so maniacal. “Are you on drugs, Potter?” she asked between laughs.
“Umm. No. I don’t think so, unless Padfoot…. What’s so funny?” I could feel it. She was going to publicly humiliate me again. After a few moments, she straightened up, her laughter subsiding.
“Honestly, Potter, what made you think that I would go on a date with you?” I frowned slightly.
“Everyone wants to date James Potter,” I answered, never doubting that statement for an instant. I looked down for a moment and then back up at Evans. She didn’t look as hateful as she did in the past, but rather curious. “James Potter is smart and charming and funny…”
“And referring to himself in third person,” finished Lily. A few people laughed. “Sorry, James Potter, but I don’t think you are any of those things. Besides, why would you even want to go out with me? You hate me.” So Lily Evans was a bit quicker than I thought. She knew I didn’t like her. Well, maybe I wasn’t so discrete…
Not many people were watching, because Lily and I were simply conversing. She wasn’t yelling and neither was I. We were just speaking.
“No I don’t,” I lied through my teeth. Of course I did, she was a she-devil.
“Right,” she said doubtfully. “I won’t go out with you, James Potter. You’re an immature, conceited jerk,” Lily said softly. I couldn’t read her. She didn’t seem firm or angry. But I was. For the millionth time in my life, I wanted to yell at her. I wanted to tell her that I didn’t even want to go out with her, that it was supposed to be her downfall. How could she reject me? She wasn’t so great. If anyone lived on a high horse, it was definitely her.
I didn’t even get the last word. Lily and Aletta Carson were gone by the time I could think of a stinging retort. I knew one thing, I would get Lily Evans to date me if it were the last thing I ever did.
I knew that it was all part of her arrogance. She didn’t think I was good enough for her. And the worst part was that she considered herself too good for me. I would show her. I was more insulted that she didn’t want to date me than I was at her calling me a conceited jerk. She would be begging me to date her. It would just take some time … and observation.
“So, what are you going to do now?” asked Moony, as we walked to Transfigurations. We were about five minutes late, so no one was in the hallway. He sounded a bit relieved that the plan didn’t work. Oh, it would though….
The only thing was, I didn’t want to tell anyone about my secret desire to get Lily Evans to fall for me. I had never felt so strongly about something. I wasn’t sure where it came from either. It was more than just wanting to prove her wrong. I wanted her to want me. It wasn’t just my revenge; I needed her to want to be with me. So I was going to observe. I started the whole thing off knowing nothing about Lily, but that wouldn’t be for long.
Sirius shrugged. “What do you think, Prongs? I don’t think even you could get her to fall for you, mate.”
I nodded.
“Let’s just see if she does anything else to strip us of our manliness. Then we’ll act. I really don’t want to deal with Evans now.” Sirius must have thought me really disheartened by being rejected, because he didn’t push.
I’m not really sure why I didn’t tell my friends about my plan to win Evans’ love, only to dump her. It was just personal, I guess. I had to do it on my own. It was on a whole new level. It wasn’t Padfoot, Moony or Wormtail she rejected. It was me. And it was me who needed to get revenge.
We got detention in Transfigurations for being late, something Moony wasn’t too happy about. Then it was Potions. That was the first time I ever really noticed Lily Evans. I mean, before them, I never paid her any attention. She was working with a Ravenclaw boy named Joel Boras. I didn’t know him, but he had wavy brown hair and matching eyes. I found that somewhat odd, because Lily’s friend, Aletta, was in the class, yet they didn’t partner together. I really didn’t think much of it though, because I didn’t know anything about Lily or whom she regularly partnered with in Potions.
I knew Evans was good in Potions. Slughorn was practically in love with her. Honestly, I think if Lily were three years older, he would have asked her to have his children. Funny how those things turn out. Anyway, I was never one for Potions and usually tuned out when he started raving about her. He revered her and hearing how Lily was such a natural and how he “couldn’t have done better himself” never really appealed to me. But I could almost see why he went on about her.
She knew exactly what she was doing and could spot a wrong ingredient or step ten yards away. She would just stop what she was doing and call across the room. “Not boomslang skin yet, wait until it begins to bubble,” or “Two stirs counterclockwise, but after it turns lavender.” It was crazy! I could hardly focus on my own potion, let alone everyone’s in the room.
She even helped Peter, and it didn’t seem like the first time. He really didn’t have the attention span for Potions, but neither did I, not in class at least. I noticed Peter looked to her for instruction and help. She smiled easily and graciously helped him. I guess it was really just Padfoot and me that she hated, because she seemed to get on well with Remus and Peter.
Then I watched her at lunch. It wasn’t a prolonged event; I stole glances at her throughout the meal. I guess I figured I could pick up a part of her by her facial expression. That I could somehow find a way to win her affection by her movement and bits of conversation she shared with her peers.
I noticed that she laughed a lot at lunch. Breakfast seemed to be reserved for the newspaper and I later observed that dinner was spent reflecting on her day and sometimes doing homework. But at lunch, she talked and smiled, gossiped and enjoyed her meal.
“Are you paying attention, Prongs?” asked Peter. I snapped back to focus.
“Yep,” I lied.
“Someone is talking to you.” I looked up. Indeed, someone was speaking to me. It was a fourth year, I thought, but wasn’t completely sure. She was short and thin with blonde hair. She was the sort of girl who moved along with a throng of girls and giggled a lot.
“Hi James,” she said and smiled sweetly.
“Hi,” I answered briskly, unsure why she was wasting my time.
“I was wondering if you’d like to go on the next Hogsmeade trip with me.”
I looked her over. She wasn’t bad. But I didn’t really think that I would be single when the next Hogsmeade trip rolled around. I was sure Norah and I would be reunited by then. But I agreed anyway. I didn’t have any other prospects, so I went for it. I learned that the girl’s name was Leah Churchill.
One thing I did realize on my first day of observation was that Lily Evans was easier to watch than I expected. I could stand her when she was making a potion or talking with friends. Still, when she looked at me with her bright green eyes, white hot something ran through my veins. I’m just not sure it was always anger.
Light Up My Life by KASK
Chapter Notes: Thank you, Preethi! :]
The chapter is the song How Bizarre by OMC.
James doesn't expect this...