...And in the Beginning There Was James and Lily

It was another cold, dreary day on the Hogwarts grounds when Lily Evans awoke heavily, stifling a yawn with her hand. Though it was snowing fiercely outside, nothing could stint the flow of excitement that was making its way through the young amber-headed girl's thoughts, as she realized what events were going to take place that day.

She slowly rose and pulled open the hangings on the bed. She looked to her right and grinned. "Rose? Rose...Rosemary May!"

A slow tumble of blankets was heard as the girl called Rose drew back the hangings of her four-poster, staring bleary-eyed at Lily, waiting for her to say something.

"Well, it's about time you woke! Happy Christmas!" said Lily, grinning at Rose's sleepy expression and tangled mass of brunette hair. "Wow, if I'd looked like you do right now, boys from all over would have been begging me to the Yule ball months ago!"

"Yeah, well, some gals have all the luck, right?" Rose said, stretching. "Lucky Potter fancies you, eh? Even if he is the world's biggest showoff..."

"Oh you're just jealous that he didn't ask you first... otherwise you wouldn't be stuck with that kid from Hufflepuff...what's his name again?"

Rose gave her a slightly reproachful look. "Ben, Ben Drummond," she said flatly.

"Well, it could have been worse," sighed Lily. "You could have had Pettigrew as a last resort--would've been a great dance partner, he would."

Rose snorted a laugh and said, "I'd rather be transfigured into a roach than go with him."

Lily smiled and began to open the presents at the end of her bed. After the girls finished looking at what they got, Lily suggested that they both get dressed and go down to breakfast. Lily pointed out that they'd need time to go to Hogsmeade for some last-minute finishing touches on their outfits for the evening.

Lily and Rose ate breakfast with their two other best friends, Jade Brooks and Arianna Goldfinch. Rose asked the girls why they didn't bother waking Lily and her up. Jade smirked and said, "Because I wouldn't want to ruin my Christmas morning trying to wrestle you out of bed!" Jade by far was one of the prettiest girls at Hogwarts. She had long silky, jet-black hair and starry aqua-colored eyes. Because of that and the fact that she was very nice, Jade was invited to the Yule Ball by one of the foreign champions of the Tri-wizard Tournament. The champion's name was Alejandro Martinez, and every time he spoke to Jade in public, all the girls within a twenty-foot radius would shoot her very jealous looks. Arianna was attending the ball with her boyfriend Fredrick, who was in his seventh year and who was also a beater for the Ravenclaw Quidditch team. Arianna herself was a wealthy blonde-haired girl, whose mom and dad were both very high up in the Ministry of Magic.

As breakfast ended, the four girls lined up in the entrance hall waiting to be checked by the caretaker, Mr. Grinslow (a very cranky old wizard in his early seventies). Once checked off the Hogsmeade list and inside the all-wizarding village, the girls made their way to several different shops. Mostly, they were looking for accessories and hair products to assist them in getting ready for the upcoming ball that Christmas evening. However, they made a stop at the Post office to send some goodies that they bought at Honeydukes Sweets Shop to their families and siblings for the holidays.

At noon, the girls nipped into The Three Broomsticks for a bit of lunch and a warm butterbeer, before setting off again into the brisk winter air. After they finished shopping, the four girls decided to stroll around Hogsmeade for a bit longer to walk off their full stomachs. Arianna peered inside Zonko's Magic Shop's snow-filled window and convinced the others to go inside the shop with her, saying that she needed to replenish her stock of Dungbombs. They were grateful to get out of the biting cold and into the warm, packed little shop.

Once inside, the girls separated, taking in all of the mischief-provoking items lining the shelves. Lily spotted an interesting tin upon a high shelf and reached up on tiptoes to grab it, but as she did, someone's hand reached over from behind her and snatched the item first. She turned quickly; meeting face to face with a somewhat tall, thin boy with untidy tousled dark black hair and hazel eyes. He was wearing a pair of round, black-rimmed glasses.

"Thinking of using this as a diversion to miss the ball tonight, eh Evans?" the boy jeered, holding the item just out of her reach. "Ah, Magonie's All-Purpose Smoke Screen Pellets: "The Screen That Helps You Avoid a Scene," he read aloud. "Really don't think you could get away from me that easily, did you Evans?"

"Well James, for starters my first name is Lily, so that's what you can call me from now on. And secondly, if I decided I didn't want to go with you tonight, I wouldn't have to use a smoke screen--I'd just tell you to bugger off."

Lily snatched the tin out of the boy's hands and set it back on the shelf. He stood there grinning at her for a second, before his good-looking friend walked over and clasped him on the shoulder. "Ah, Prongs, my dear boy. I see that you have run into one of the lovely--yet devilishly headstrong--ladies of Gryffindor. And how are we on this chilly Christmas afternoon, Miss Evans?"

"Excellent, Sirius, just having a word with my so-called date for the evening," Lily said airily, indicating James with her eyes.

"Ooo...are you really going to take that rubbish, mate--and from your girlfriend, no less?" said the good-looking boy to James, looking at him seriously.

James had a quick look at Sirius, and then Lily, and stood there for a moment, hesitating. Both were standing there eyeing him expectantly. The smallest flicker of a smile passed over his face, as he quickly glanced sideways at his friend.

"For your information, Evans, I will be the one, if anyone, who says to 'bugger off'," said James, in a state of mock-dignity.

"Oh really?" said Lily, with a bit of anger in her voice.

"Yes," James said, seeing Sirius smiling approvingly, "and furthermore, I don't even know if I still want to go with you."

"Is that so?" Lily said through clenched teeth, crossing her arms stiffly.

"Yes," spoke James, also mimicking crossing his arms, glancing at his friend's silent fits of laughter. "And also, you're NOT my girlfriend"

"Ouch," Sirius said, now trying to hold a straight face.

"Fine. Just splendid for you and Sirius," she said, coldly nodding towards Sirius. Trying to assume a state of forced-cool she said, "I guess you can go and find another date--and another 'girlfriend'. Good-bye." With that she stormed off, signaling to her friends as she reached the door, all of them looking at what the emergency was, seeing James and Sirius at the shelf, and hurrying off after her.

The girls reached the castle in minutes, at which point Lily had told them all the story of what just happened back at Zonko's.

"Stuck-up little git," snarled Arianna, the shopping bags on her arm swinging violently. "That boy always feels the need to show off in front of people, especially his stupid little friends."

"Well, he can do whatever he wants, so long as I'm not included. I've thought about it and decided... I'm not going to go tonight." Lily stated this, leading the way into the entrance hall and up the staircase towards Gryffindor tower.

Rose looked horror-struck. "No Lily, you have to go! We've already picked out everything: that pretty sachet I gave you, the jewelry your mum sent you, and the new perfume you just bought... you can't not go! Come on, you don't have to go with James. Just come alone--it's not like you can get sent to Azkaban, just for arriving to the ball single!"

Lily stopped in front of the portrait of the fat lady and sighed. "Ice Pops" she said gloomily, allowing the portrait to swing open.

Once inside the common room, Jade stopped her and looked into her eyes. "Come on Lily, its only 3 o'clock. I'm sure we can find you another date before eight. Alejandro's got tons of friends that wouldn't mind taking you--I mean; sure they don't speak much English, but hey! Who says you have to be on speaking terms to dance and have fun, eh?"

Lily half-smiled and said "Fine, fine, I'll go--but alone, mind you. I don't know what I would do, if I had to try to sign

'Please-stop-stepping-on-my-feet' all night to some foreign boy." With that, the group giggled and made their way into the girl's dormitory for a nap, in preparation for the late night ahead of them.

~*~

The evening approached quickly, as the four ladies bestirred themselves from the nap, Lily waking abruptly from a dream about being at a Quidditch match where James Potter was being repeatedly smacked in the head with a Bludger.

The girls laid their dress robes out on their beds and went to the lavatory to wash up and get ready. By seven-thirty that evening, they were completely dressed and ready to head down to the entrance hall to await the opening of the doors to the Great Hall, initiating the start of the highly anticipated Yule Ball. They made some finishing touches to their outfits, while throwing Jade come dangerous looks, who was repeatedly saying, "Come on you three! We're going to be late! I have to be there on time, I'm going with one of the champions! Hurry up!"

"Jade, if you don't shut up, I'm going to put a hex on you so that when we do get down there, your face breaks out in boils!" said Rosemary irritably, puckering her lips in a mirror to make sure that her lipstick was on right. Jade shot her a don't-you-dare look, while the other girls giggled.

Finally, the group began to make their way into the entrance hall. Each girl looked positively stunning. Arianna was wearing pale blue dress robes, flecked with little dark-blue glittering stars around the hems and cuffs. Her long blond hair was half-down and straight, with pieces of it pulled on top of her head so that tendrils hung down around her cheeks. Rosemary's hair was down and curly, with a hairpiece clipped in it that looked like a purple orchid. Her dress robes seemed to change from deep turquoise to striking purple in different lights. Jade had on dress robes that were a luminescent aqua color to match her eyes, her hair pulled up into an elegant bun. Lily's hair was draped and clipped on top of her crown, creating sloping curls that hung down around her head and face. She was wearing dress robes of deep forest green, with small patterns of silver embroidery along the neck, hems, and cuff-lines. Around her neck she wore the platinum-and-emerald necklace and matching earrings that her mum had sent to her for the event.

In the entrance hall Jade, Rose, and Arianna broke off to find their dates, leaving Lily standing alone at the back of the crowd. She was looking around at all of the pretty outfits and glowing faces, her insides feeling empty when she realized she was probably the only person there without a date.

After about two minutes of standing there, she spotted James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter ambling down the staircase. James and Sirius were puffing out their chests and waving to people importantly as they passed. Sirius had a pretty Ravenclaw 5th year girl on his arm, and at Remus' side was another girl--a third year from Gryffindor. Peter, of course, was single. Lily looked down, pretending as if there were something interesting about the stone floor, thinking that James would walk up and say something to her. She couldn't have been more wrong.

James strutted by, completely ignoring the fact that Lily was standing there. As he passed, Peter tugged James' sleeve and nodded his head towards Lily.

James shook his head and said loud enough for Lily to hear, "Oh no, I've got a couple of girlfriends that I'm coming with tonight, they're waiting for me up here."

James and his group made their way up to the doors of the Great Hall. Lily brought up the rear of all of the students, as they were all finally let into the hall, privately fuming at what she had just heard.

The crowd poured in to the hall, where elegantly decorated tables were lined up. The ceiling was bewitched to look like the sky outside, which was a bit overcast, allowing the moon and stars to peep through the clouds as they moved slowly with the atmosphere. Lily, wishing beyond all wishes that she were somewhere else, seated herself alone at a table very close to the exit. She was trying to look like she was enjoying herself, but on the inside she was crumbling.

She started wondering why she had even given James the benefit of the doubt, and agreed to go with him in the first place. She knew it was going to end up like this, how could it not--James Potter being the attention fiend that he was. The feast began, Lily feeling miserable and hardly touching the food, which had appeared in the large bowls next to her plate.

After a half hour of feasting, all of the plates and bowls were magically emptied and cleaned, as they had been before the eating had begun. Everybody rose, as the tables were magically swept aside with the swish of one of the professor's wands. This allowed room for a dance floor.

As the band on the platform near the wall began to play a soft, slow song, the three champions and their dates moved to the middle of the floor to begin the dance, eventually inviting the rest of the school to join in. Lily sat there, trying not to show how hurt and upset she was, as different couples danced past. Jade smiled and waved from over the shoulder of Alejandro as they swayed beside her, Lily faking a smile and weakly waving back.

Sitting there, Lily could see a table, through the pairs of slowly waltzing students, where James and Peter were seated. She stared hard at the boys as James smiled and waved and joked with all of the passers-by--most of whom were giggling girls. Lily could tell that he was purposely avoiding her gaze, which made her glare all the more determined at him. Finally, Peter noticed Lily staring and nudged James once again, pointing directly over at her and nodding him to go over there. James, pretending to be thoroughly disinterested at what Peter was pointing at, made a face like he'd rather go and tango with Mr. Grinslow, the caretaker, than so much as glance at Lily. This was too much for Lily, who got up and broke almost into a run for the doors. She looked back only once at James, who seemed not even to notice or care.

Lily made her way out of the castle, and into the maze of gardens and fountains. The chill air was filled with twinkling fairies fluttering about, which Lily occasionally had to swat out of her way as she walked. She wound her way around the path to a bench that stood at the edge of the garden, looking out on the Hogwarts grounds and the lake for miles and miles. There she sat herself down abruptly, a patch of moonlight falling over her face, and illuminating the streaking tears that were rolling down her cheeks.

"This is so stupid!" she thought to herself, wiping her face with her hands, and trying to stare up at the stars to keep more tears from flowing.

Minutes passed, as did many couples clinging closely together, hand in hand. Every single pair that passed made Lily even more bitter and angry than before. She tried to keep her weeping silent as to prevent anyone from noticing that she was upset. This was hard, however, because she was now shivering very violently. A few of her friends passed by and said a quick "Hello" before continuing on, Lily just forcing a smile, and telling them how nice they looked. After awhile, people stopped passing and she was left for some time to quietly sob and shake. She was confused about so many things that it seemed that her heart and mind could not connect.

"Handkerchief, Evans?"

Lily jumped so abruptly that she nearly fell off of the side of the bench. She looked up and saw a lean, handsome boy with messy black hair, and glasses that half-concealed his hazel eyes. He was holding out a clean white hankie.

"Go away, Potter." she said in one shiver.

James looked down at her and then said, "How about an extra cloak instead?" With that, he undid his cloak, and draped it around her shoulders. She immediately pulled the cloak up around her frozen ears, so that now only her brilliant green eyes and amber curls could be seen over it.

"Thanks," she said coldly, "but don't you have about three other dates to attend to? Better get a move on, before they start to get anxious."

"I don't have any other dates," he said seriously, sitting on the bench beside her. "Unless, of course, you count Wormtail." He smiled and looked over at her, but his face fell when he saw that she wasn't smiling back.

"James, why did you pretend to like me, if you were just going to turn around and do this?" She looked hard at him. Quite the opposite of his usual jocular manner, James was staring at the ground, looking as though something had suddenly gotten stuck in his throat.

"Because I--" he began hoarsely. "People--people look at me and see this popular Quidditch player, who has cool friends and a lot of fans... and when I dated girls in the past, it was so easy. I was on top of things, and they always seemed to know that, but with you... it's different. When I'm around you, I feel like...like I'm not on top of things--like I no longer want to be. I suddenly want to do what you want to do. It's hard to feel like that, especially when you have friends all teasing you about being a pansy or--or less of a man because of it."

After he finished speaking, he continued to stare at the ground, now looking thoroughly uncomfortable. Lily began to feel pity for him, but then remembered how he had treated her all that day. Slowly, a small stream of tears began flowing down her face again.

Lily looked at James, stuttering through her tears as she spoke. "Y--you know, I can s--see what you mean... b--but you can't just keep treating me like this j--just because your friends are there w--without expecting me to--"

"I know." James said blankly, looking directly into her shining green eyes. "I won't..." He turned his body to her, and took her icy hands into his. "...ever again."

Lily looked down at her hands in his, a tear trickling down her cheek. She looked back up into his face, and into his gentle eyes. For the first time since she had known James, she could see his pureness of heart, and she knew that this was real, that it was not a game.

"I--I believe you," she whispered croakily, looking into his eyes, "I believe you."

James reached up, and wiped the tear from Lily's face, and slowly leaned in and gently kissed her soft lips.

After he pulled away again, Lily looked into James' eyes once more, the faintest smile appearing on her wet face. They cuddled up with James' cloak wrapped tightly around both of them, and watched the stars twinkling in the night sky. The two remained huddled together on the bench until the early morning twilight, seeing past the sunrise, and into the newfound destiny awaiting them.

~THE * END~