James Potter was not a very happy young man.

If he were to have written down the reasons why he was not a very happy young man, he would have compiled a small list.

It would read:

I, James Potter, am not a very happy young man, for the following reasons:
1. In the past five minutes, I have showed off in many ways possible, only to gain positive attention from people I don't give a damn about gaining positive attention from.
a. I give a damn about gaining positive attention from the following people, in order:
i. Lily Evans,
ii. Sirius Black, (but I don't care if I gain bad attention from him, either)
iii. And Remus Lupin (see above comment)
iv. (In some cases, professors, headmasters, and family are cared about as far as attention receiving goes. Also, at times I also want the attention of others not on this list.)
2. Severus Snape called Lily Evans a Mudblood.
a. This angers me because Lily Evans, even after jhaving been called this atrocious name after trying to help Severus Snape, still hates me more than said grease ball.
3. I really do not wish to take off any of Severus Snape's clothing; I'm just trying to appear like I haven't lost my cool.
a. I don't think anyone is on to this, for the most part.
i. Except for Remus…
ii. And maybe Sirius…
iii. And maybe even said female in sections 1ai, 2, and 2a.
4. I've lost my cool.

He was pretty sure that at least one person wanted him to remove certain garments from Snivellus (he wasn't sure why, though), but all of the sudden, a wave of realization came across him, and he sort of left Snape there, dangling, before turning and stalking off in the direction of Lily Evans, who, herself, was not a very happy young woman.

James heard a thud and some laughing. Snape was probably on the ground again. He thought he heard Sirius say something about…something. And maybe Remus sigh, but he was too far away to hear sighing, so it was probably just his imagination.

Lily Evans was now heading towards the castle.

Her back was to him, and her shoulders were hunched forward. Was she crying? James sprinted ahead so he was close enough to hear her. Yes, she was. He sprinted some more, and came to a halt at her side.

"You okay, Evans?" he asked, his voice surprisingly quiet. And he wasn't even thinking about making himself sound more mature. Oops.

"I was," Lily growled. "Then you showed up. Go away."

She hunched over a bit more. James tried to look at her face (she had a very pretty face…and amazing eyes…) but a curtain of red hair was blocking it. "Not until you tell me what's really wrong. Because if I've made you upset, then I'll feel really horrible about myself."

"Serves you right, you big-headed git," she spat. James frowned, but it wasn't long before he heard her sniff again. "But, no, I'm not crying because of you. That shows just how big your head is, that you'd think that."

James' frown turned into a smirk. Now, this was the Lily Evans he knew. She swung her hair back behind her, and looked up at him, square in the face. She was crying, and James was surprised to see that she did indeed wear makeup, which was now running a bit down her face. He wanted to wipe it away, but he was afraid that Lily would rip his fingers off if he did so. "Then are you crying because of what Snape called you? Because, then you see, he deserved that treatment we were giving him-."

"HE DID NOT!" Lily yelled, turning to completely face James, fists clenched, head thrust forward. "Okay, so he's a worthless piece of greasy slime, you're right, but he has never called you any sort of name, and frankly, if you were doing that for my sake, he's never even spoken to me since before then, anyway! Today is the first time he did anything to either of us, and he gave you that gash on your face for a reason!" Her teeth were bared. She looked the picture of ferocity.

But she looked the picture of pretty ferocity, sort of like a wolf.

Come to think of it, James liked wolves, unless they were growling at him or the like. Actually, when they were growling, wolves scared James…a lot. Lily was definitely growling.

James hadn't really written that list earlier, but if he had, even mentally, he would have been referring to sections 3 and 4 at this moment. He really didn't want to appear as if he had lost his cool. And even though a million different scenarios were playing in his head of what to do or say now, he said the same idiotic thing he always did.

He liked the scenarios, really. In Scenario One, he would suddenly become down-to-earth. All of the sudden, James would appear worthy to Lily Evans. Maybe he'd even shed a tear of remorse. This scenario could end in two ways, a friendship or making out.

Scenario Two was in which James sort of just kissed Lily right there. He liked that one, but it had too many possible endings, most of which he came away severely injured in.

Scenario Three was in which…

He had a million scenarios, at least, but he couldn't really think of them before his idiotic mantra that Evans always rolled her eyes at flew out of his mouth.

"Evans, I'll promise you this…next time I see Snivellus, I'll leave him alone, so long as you go out with me."

And with that, Lily's growl turned to a smile that said "as-if", and he was about ready to watch her turn on her heel and trot away, but…no.

"I told you five minutes ago, Potter, I'd date the giant squid years before I'd date you." But she brought her hand up to his face, anyway, and ran her fingers down his still damp cut. "You better go get this checked out before it gets infected. If you don't want to get a detention when you explain how you got it, you know what Professor Slughorn always says about me and potions."

And that was when she really did turn on her heel and trot away.

James wasn't sure if he was blushing. He definitely had lost his cool, which was for sure. He turned around then, to see Sirius in the distance, and Snape once more dangling in the air.

"Oi! Sirius!" James yelled, walking over, a grin on his face. "Let Snivellus down before…" James stammered, and he brought his hand to his cut, feeling it. Lily was right. It was deep, and it would probably become infected. Hopefully it wouldn't scar. But Lily was good with potions.

Let him down before what?