Inevitable

Chapter One
"I Hate James Potter"
What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say - Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Evans! Hey, Lily! Wait up!"

Lily turned around slowly, not wanting to talk to who she knew was calling her. She had been successfully avoiding James Potter for the past six years, except to yell at him or be sarcastic. She was rather proud of herself; avoiding someone you share a common room with is no mean feat.

"What do you want?" she said tonelessly.

"I- I, um..." He seemed at a loss for words, something that had not often happened in the time she had known him. "Could you help me with this Charms stuff? I don't understand it at all."

"Bull," she replied. "You understand everything. What do you really want?" Lily was getting impatient - she was going to be late for Transfiguration, and Potter never ceased to annoy her. After six years you'd think he would have gotten the message by now.

"Okay, you got me." He smiled at her as though she should be proud of herself that she had caught him lying. "Do you want to get a Butterbeer with me next weekend?"

Potter had been asking her this every few Hogsmeade weekends since their fourth year. Now, in October of their seventh, Lily wasn't going to change her mind.

"No, I don't," she said shortly, before spinning on her heel and continuing on her way to Transfiguration.

He followed closely behind her. Lily pondered telling him to leave, but as he was going to the same place she was he had every right to be directly behind her. He began stepping in time with her, so after a while she felt tempted to turn around and see if he was still there, but knew that would be giving in.

Lilly didn't really know why she hated James Potter so much. Everyone else loved him, and there wasn't one other girl in the school (Slytherins included) that wouldn't die to go out with him, yet she rejected the chance at least once a month. He was persistent, she had to give him that. She didn't understand it, she liked the rest of his group of friends. Remus, Sirius and Peter were funny. She had even dated Remus briefly in their fifth year and remained friends with him, so what was her problem with Potter? She had to admit that he was a good Quidditch player - he hadn't been lying to her before the Sorting, when he'd told her he was the best.

He was good looking, and had this strange way of making you feel important. There was just something about him that made her hate him. When they were younger she had had an excuse, but lately he had almost completely changed and Lily's opinion hadn't. At times she felt that he only paid her so much attention because she was unattainable. No matter how hard he tried, she wouldn't have anything to do with him. It wasn't as if he had never dated anyone else- he must have had dozens of ex's in the school, including Lily's best friend Marlene, but he always managed to ask Lily to go to Hogsmeade.

Lily herself had blossomed out since her arrival at Hogwarts. She was no longer the shy, gangly girl she had been at eleven. She had gained confidence, which had led her to be appointed Head Girl. She had grown, and had learned how to control her curly hair. As she had grown older, her appearance had become more exotic as opposed to the odd look she had had as a child. She had gotten to know a vast majority of the school, and although still quiet, she was one of those people who never has anything bad said about them.

They arrived at Transfiguration right on time, just as Professor McGonagall was beginning to close the door. Lily walked up to her usual seat at the front, while Potter slid in the back beside his best friend, Sirius Black. Lily was disappointed to remember that her friend Marlene, with whom she always sat, was in the hospital wing with a strange green bump on her head. She focussed her mind on the charts on the board, attempting to block out the disruption at the back of the class.

"Mr. Potter, Mr. Black, Mr. Lupin, Mr. Pettigrew, if you would kindly cease that racket for thirty seconds I will begin my class."

Professor McGonagall had began almost every class for the past six years with that line.

"Today we will be moving on from Transfiguring ourselves to Transfiguring others. You will all be getting into pairs and - Mr. Black, STOP that - and turning your partner safely into a kitten and then back. The incantation is as follows - Mr. Potter, you seem to want attention, come up here. You swish and flick, much the same as levitating, but you will say Firriona. I will demonstrate - Mr. Pettigrew I can SEE you, I'm not blind - Firriona. Now, as you can all see, Mr. Potter is now a harmless kitten. If it were legal I would leave him as such, but unfortunately that would mean sacrificing my job. Afirriona. Potter sit down." She paused to look around at the rest of the class. "Any questions?"

Remus Lupin raised his hand.

"Do we have to use kittens? Dragons would be so much more interesting."

There was a mumble of agreement from the rest of the group in the back.

"Mr. Lupin, if I wanted you to Transfigure your partner into a dragon we would be out in the yard and I would have demonstrated with a dragon. Did I use a dragon? I do not have a failing memory, I demonstrated using a kitten," McGonagall said sarcastically. "Everyone get into pairs!"

Lily sat in her seat, looking around for someone to pair with. Marlene wasn't there, and they were always partners. She tried to make eye contact with someone, but everyone seemed to be paired up already.

"Potter!" Professor McGonagall was yelling at the back of the class. "Will you please contain your energy until the end of class? You cannot be so sufficient at this that you can afford to disregard what I'm saying. Who is your partner, Potter?"

"Lily Evans, Professor," he replied cheerfully.

Lily sunk in her seat, she had no partner, so she couldn't escape this. She heard Potter yelp in the back - Sirius Black had punched him.

They were partners. Why did he leave his best friend to partner with me?

He followed McGonagall's pointing finger and slid into the seat beside Lily, saying, "Hello again, Evans."

"Why," she moaned.

"Simple. You need a partner, I need you to talk to me. And Sirius needs to be brought down a notch or two," he said laughing.

He really does have a nice laugh, Lily thought. Realizing what had just gone through her mind, she bit her tongue hard.

"Begin!" McGonagall's voice rang through the air.

"Would you like to go first? Or should I?" he asked, and Lily realized he was trying to act courteous.

"I'll go," she replied coolly. "Firriona."

As she swished her wand Potter became a kitten once again. Only Lily's wasn't a nice little kitten like McGonagall's had been. Potter was a kitten, yes, but he had retained some of his size. Lily now had a nearly four-foot kitten to deal with.

"Meow." He swatted his newly acquired tail.

"Afirriona," Lily cried, hoping.

His body returned to its original form. He stood up, laughing at Lily's attempt at the spell and dusting off his hands.

"You know what would be much more interesting than practicing this?" he asked mischievously.

"I don't want to know." Lily was feeling very sorry for herself.

"We could turn McGonagall's hair purple. You're good at Charms, come on Lily!" he whispered excitedly.

"Are you out of your mind?" Lily hissed.

"Pleeeaaase?" Potter put on a puppy-dog face.

"No," Lily said firmly.

"Come on Lily, she never punishes me, and she loves you. You're Lily Evans for goodness' sake. Perfect Prefect Lily, don't you want to have some fun?" He tilted his head to the side convincingly.

"We'll be in detention for the rest of the year."

She tried to make her case, knowing already that she would give in.

"I'll distract her, when I wave, do it." With that said, he was off. "Professor! Professor I think that Black is breaking a very important rule, you should take a look."

"What are you going on about Potter?" Professor McGonagall looked up from where she was helping Patricia Moon, clearly annoyed. "The day that you take rules seriously will be the day that -"

She never got to finish her sentence. With a loud POP, Potter's messy hair turned a brilliant shade of violet. The class burst out laughing, and Lily slouched, biting her lip to stop herself from laughing as well.

With a look of surprise, Potter stood up and bowed to the class, making it appear that it was supposed to happen.

"EVANS! POTTER!" Professor McGonagall roared. "Detention tonight, both of you! Fifteen points from Gryffindor! Potter that was a shameless act to get attention; Evans, I expect better from you than to give in to actions like that."

"You missed," Potter said, almost angrily. "My hair is purple because of your bad aim."

"I didn't miss. Although it isn't quite as bright as I had hoped."

Half an hour later, Lily walked out of Transfiguration with Patricia. She made sure to be walking at a quick pace, because she didn't want to have to listen to any more of James Potter. She walked so fast, in fact, that Patricia was having difficulty keeping up.

"Oh, Lily," Patricia said, "you can't be mad at him. You just can't! He's been trying forever to get your attention, the least you could do is forgive him."

Forgive him for landing me in detention tonight? Ha, that's a good one.

"Pat, I need to be studying tonight! We've got NEWTS at the end of the year, and I'm already behind because of that Ravenclaw party last night."

"And the Hufflepuff party the night before, and our party last weekend, and the Slytherin bash we crashed the weekend before..." Patricia trailed off.

"Exactly! If he really wanted my attention he wouldn't force me to work with him, then get me detention!" Lily exclaimed.

Patricia glanced over her shoulder, checking that he was far enough back. "Lily, he likes you. I would do almost anything to get the attention he gives you from Sirius. He's just never had to work to get someone to like him before. He wasn't trying to get you in trouble. He just wanted to have fun - with you. Besides, you can do your homework on the weekend."

For the rest of the day Lily was in a fog. Her eyes were clouded over with a red mist, and when that cleared she repeated what Patricia had said over and over. He doesn't like me. He just likes making my life miserable. He's a conceited, self-absorbed, rebel-without-a-cause, Quidditch playing, good looking... STOP IT LILY! I hate him, I hate him, I hate him. She trudged from class to class, barely aware of what was going on around her. She didn't even retaliate when she bumped into Severus Snape and he called her a Mudblood.

*

After dinner Lily found herself slowly walking up to the Transfiguration classroom, alone. She could have waited for Potter, but she didn't think she could even look at him right now. Lily was furious. She had only gotten four detentions in all the time she had been at Hogwarts. She was Head Girl, she didn't get detentions! She had also gotten an unusually large amount of homework: a two foot essay in Transfiguration, four translations in Ancient Runes, four feet in Charms, a lot of research for Potions, sketches for Herbology, a foot in Arithmancy and all of the Defence Against the Dark Arts that she had been putting off all week.

"Miss Evans," Professor McGonagall said briskly.

"Hello, Professor," Lily mumbled.

She looked around the room and found there was another student present, Severus Snape. Severus, or Snivellus, was possibly the most unpopular, cruel person in the entire school. He was a Slytherin with very few friends. Lily pitied him, she remembered what it was like to be unpopular from when she was young, and hadn't had to experience anything like that since she came to Hogwarts. She tried to stand up for him when someone was doing anything particularly cruel to him, but knew that he would never actually thank her for it.

"Hello, Severus," she said quietly.

"Leave me alone, Mudblood," he hissed out of the corner of his mouth.

"You two," Professor McGonagall began, "can start while we wait for Potter to get here. You will be cleaning the entire classroom. There will be no graffiti, gum, scorch marks, dirt, or anything else that shouldn't be here. Give me your wands."

They handed her their wands silently. Lily was just dipping her sponge into a bucket of soapy water when Potter rushed in. His hair was everywhere and his glasses askew. He gasped to catch his breath, and managed one sneer at Snape before going over to McGonagall.

"Potter, you're late," said Professor McGonagall.

"Sorry, Professor," he said smiling. "You see, I was coming early, so I could get a head start on whatever delightful activity you had planned for my friend Lily and I. Unfortunately, along the way I came across an injured Hufflepuff. She had been attacked by someone, and I had to rush her up to the Hospital wing. After I made sure that Madam Pomfrey was looking after her properly I continued coming here, going full speed because I knew I was running behind. As I hurtled around a corner, I crashed right into Sirius Black. Well, of course, Black wasn't going to let me go immediately. First we had to sort out who crashed into who and gather all of the library books he had dropped. After we'd made sure that all of the books were in perfect condition I -"

"Potter, I don't want to hear any of your ridiculous excuses," said Professor McGonagall, although it was easy to see that she was amused by his list. "Get started on cleaning the classroom, hand your wand in here."

"What were you really doing?" asked Lily quietly as he crouched down to get a sponge.

His eyes widened comically as he whispered, "You didn't believe me? Can't get anything past you can I? We were out on the Quidditch pitch. You should come with us sometime."

He stood up and started wiping the board.

"I'd rather not. You can't stay off that pitch for more than a day, can you? You must have some other talent. You shouldn't have to do the same thing every day to keep your status in the school," Lily said sarcastically. She was taking out her anger at him.

"I'll make you a deal, Evans," he replied cheerfully. "I stay off the pitch for, let's say, two days, and you go out with me."

"No."

"A week."

"You can't do it."

"So you'll have nothing to lose, and you'll get to watch me suffer while I try."

"You wouldn't last a day."

"I'll have very motivating motivation."

"Fine. You stay off the pitch - away from everything Quidditch - for a week."

"And if I do you'll go to Hogsmeade with me."

"And what if you can't?"

"Then I'll leave Snivellus alone for a month." His eyes flashed across the room to where Snape was trying to get a very rude word off one of the desks.

"From now till next Friday, you can't get on a broom, play with a Quaffle or Snitch, go to a practice or do anything else that's related to Quidditch or flying."

Lily smiled to herself at the thought of him gazing longingly out a window.

"Alright, then on Saturday after I complete, you'll watch me in the match against Ravenclaw in the morning, and go to Hogsmeade with me after to celebrate."

"Potter! Evans!" McGonagall's voice cut through their conversation. "Get back to cleaning."

Lily spent the next few hours cleaning in silence, thinking about the deal she had just made. He won't be able to do it. He can't even manage to look like he didn't just get off a broom. I can't lose, I'll find a way to get him on a broom. She smiled to herself as she scratched some notes off a desk. I can't lose. I can't go out with him, it would go against everything. I hate him.

At midnight McGonagall finally stood up and went around to inspect everything.

"Alright, you can go," she said, giving them back their wands.

Lily darted out the room, right behind Snape and with Potter at her heels. Darting around a corner, hoping to get back before everyone went to bed, she crashed into Snape, who had stopped suddenly. Lily was knocked backwards by the impact, hitting her head on the floor.

"You filthy Mudblood," Snape sneered, "watch where you're going."

Within a second Potter's wand was an inch from his face.

"Apologise," he said through his teeth.

"I'd put that down if I were you," Snape taunted. "You haven't got all your friends to back you up now."

"Apologize to Lily," Potter said again as she stood up, dazed. "Lily, are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she said quickly. "I don't need you to stand up for me."

Lily picked up her wand and walked away, ignoring Snape. She was even angrier with Potter. He was just trying to stick up for you, said a little voice in the back of her mind. No, said a much louder voice, he humiliated me. He doesn't think I can stand up for myself. I don't need 'the fabulous James Potter' to do anything for me. Lily stormed up the stairs, fighting herself internally.

"Blueberry muffin," she said as she came up to the portrait of the Fat Lady. The portrait swung forward, revealing the entrance to the Gryffindor common room. Lily went in, and was relieved to see that Pat and Marlene were sitting around the fire.

"Hello, what did I miss?" she said, joining them.

"Nothing much," Patricia replied. "Lene's an idiot and Peter caught fire again."

"What did you do?" Lily asked Marlene.

"Nothing worth reliving," Marlene replied while rolling her eyes at Patricia. "How was detention with The Hated One?"

"I don't get it. Why do I let him get to me like that?" Lily sighed.

"It's because you secretly love him," Patricia told her, as if it were a fact.

"Yeah right." Lily stuck her tongue out. "Honestly though, I fight with him all the time, but he always manages to talk me into stuff."

"Like what?" Marlene inquired.

"Somehow he got me to make a deal with him. If he can stay away from everything Quidditch for the next week, I'll go out with him," Lily said in a rush. She prepared for the teasing that would follow.

"You made a deal with him!" Lene exclaimed. "Honestly, I don't get you."

"She's just playing hard to get," Patricia laughed.

"Really, really hard to get," Marlene giggled. "Almost four years of hard to get. Don't let anyone else find out, half the school would jump at the chance to be in on this."

"Well," Lily said, "I plan on winning. So it doesn't matter what everyone else thinks. I will win this bet even if I have to bend over backwards and call in every favour that I'm owed."

"Good luck," Marlene said. "You know you won't try that hard though."

"Why wouldn't I?" Lily asked.

"Because," she said, grinning, "we both know that you're head-over-heels in love and you won't admit it."

Lily gaped, outraged at what Lene said.

"Count me in," said Patricia. "See if you can get Sirius to help, I need a reason to talk to him."

"You think I'm crazy," Lily laughed. "At least if I did like Potter -" she sneered at Marlene "- I wouldn't sit there for hours trying to find a good reason to say hi to him."

"Shut up," Patricia responded good-naturedly. "I'm going to bed, Muggle Studies Essay to do in the morning."

"G'night, Lene. I'm going up too."

Lily got up and followed Patricia to the staircase.

As she stepped on the bottom stair, she felt someone grab her arm. Turning around, she saw that it was Remus Lupin.

"Hi Remus," she said.

"Hey Lily," he said. "So, looking forward to finally going out with James? I must say this bet's a good way to save face by finally agreeing."

"What are you talking about?"

"The bet you have with James. Of course you'll go out with him whether he does it or not, but it's a good way for you to save face after saying no for so long."

"Is that what he told you?"

"Not exactly, but indirectly... If you read between the lines..."

"Ugh! I don't want to know what he told you, but I will kiss Snivellus before I go out with him! There's no way I'll lose now. I hate James Potter."