A/N: Welcome! Before I begin, a few small side notes. I'll be trying to keep this simple and light, and almost entirely cannon. The exception to that rule will be my few O/C's, but I do hope you'll grow to like them, as they tend to be quite nice girls. I've enjoyed writing it, so I hope that you will enjoy reading it. I do sort of throw you right into the story. I let it write itself. There will be plenty of Lily/James fluff to be had, along with SB/OC. Anyway, I'll leave it at that, because I don't think anybody really reads A/N's anyway. Hah. Review? =]
Disclaimer: Why, no, I don't believe I'm a fabulously wealthy genius. Actually, I don't even seem to be British… What a shame.
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"I've got a million and one reasons why this won't work out
A million and one things we'll end up fighting about.
Like, you've got baggage enough to fill a small ship
Like, your past is your present and I don't think you'll get over it.
But in spite of it all, I think I'm still in love with you.
In spite of it all, I sleep to dream of you."
-Lesley Pike
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A Million and One
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Reason One: We have bad history, and so do our friends.
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Finding a compartment on the train is impossible. A pale girl with long, wavy, chocolate brown hair trudges along, dragging a cherry wood trunk, and peeking into each window looking for space. She sighs, and the exhale of breath causes her long bangs to flutter out of her face for a moment. Undaunted, they flop back over her honey eyes, obscuring her vision. Sighing again, she releases her trunk once more, using her freed hand to swipe them off to the side. Picking up her trunk, she moves along. Suddenly, the brass door of the compartment she's about to pass slides open with a snap. Startled, she emits a small shriek, and jumps back.
"Scared, were you, Levesque?" chortles a dark haired boy.
"Screw off, Sirius." she snarled.
"Oh, c'mon Kim." The boy said, his grey eyes softening. "I didn't mean anything by it."
The girl rolled her eyes. "What do you want anyway? I assume you weren't standing by the window just waiting to scare the shit out of me." she said. "Not that I would put it past you…" she muttered as an afterthought.
"Mouthy, Levesque. Actually, I was here to let you know all the compartments are full. You and Tiger-Lily will have to sit here. " This seemed to greatly amuse Sirius. His dark eyes twinkled as a slightly crooked and extremely charming smile stretched across his face.
Kim groaned. Lily would not be pleased.
"Harker's already here." Sirius added as an afterthought. Kim's face immediately brightened at the mention of her friend, and she took a step forward. However, Sirius appeared to have other ideas. He too stepped forward, blocking her path. Startled once again, Kim found she was extremely close to the muscular boy. Being fairly tall, her eyes leveled with his chin. She looked up at his face, her eyes flashing dangerously.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" she hissed.
Grinning, he ran his hand down her back. Reaching her waist, he yanked her up against him. Her breath hitched as she pressed against him, his hand warm on her lower back.
"The way I see it, Kitten, I'm giving you a hand here." He purred. "You have nowhere else to sit, and I'm offering you and your little friends a place. I wouldn't mind a little something in return." His breath washed across her face. His eyes softened once again, and the suave smile dropped off his face. "That," he stated, gently running a thumb along the side of her face, "and I've missed you terribly." His voice was sincere, and somehow sad, as he looked into her eyes, his hand cupping the side of her face gently.
Kim closed her eyes, breathing in. She let her head lean against his large hand. She couldn't deny that she had missed this, being wrapped up in his arms, his charming asides, and even that stupid pet name. She sighed, resolute. Her eyes opened slowly, and they quickly found his searching ones.
"I'm sorry Sirius. I can't do this again." She choked out. His eyes made it all the harder, just as they always had.
She wriggled out of his grasp and stepped back, retrieving her trunk. Meanwhile, he straightened. Never too disheartened, he gave a small smile.
"I'm stubborn." He stated simply. Kim didn't miss the implication.
She groaned once more, and pushed past him into the compartment.
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Lily Evans was livid. It would figure, she noted, that something like this would happen to her. She stormed down the corridor, violent auburn locks streaming behind her. She was beside herself.
"Lily! C'mon, Lily, this isn't my fault! Please, Evans, talk to me!"
He was bloody begging her to speak with him. Begging. James Potter was sodding begging her to speak to him. She sighed in frustration, and abruptly turned on her heel. Her features softened momentarily, as she took note of how completely distraught he looked. Mentally slapping herself, she re-arranged her features.
"We don't have anything to talk about, Potter" she hissed.
"Lily, you have to understand, I didn't ask for this. I didn't want–"
Lily let out a small, strangled scream, cutting him off. "I recognize that Potter, and that is exactly the problem. I have worked for this- worked so hard for this, and Dumbledore goes ahead and hands you all that I worked for on a silver platter. And you never even do anything! Arghh! You can't even keep yourself out of trouble for Merlin's sake! "
"C'mon Lil, give me a chance. I can't do that badly. Dumbledore must have put me here for some reason or another." A charming grin spread across his face.
"Potter, if you were wise, you would let it drop." Lily hissed, plowing on down the hall. Peering into a compartment, she groaned. Looking up to the heavens, she whispered a plaintive "Why me?" Sighing, she turned into the compartment, resigning herself to a long and tiresome train ride to Hogwarts.
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"What? I can't believe he did that!" Charlotte Harker looked outraged. She tossed a pale braid over her shoulder in irritation.
Kimberly Levesque, sandwiched between her two best friends, sighed and nodded. "Oh, he most certainly did. Wrapped me right up in his big strong arms, whispered that he missed me, called me Kitten, and then, tightly nailing the lid on my coffin, turned those devastating eyes on me." She looked morosely down at her golden plate, swirling mashed potatoes about. "I'm doomed, you realize. Don't you?" she implored, her head propped up on her hand. Lily quickly glanced at Charlotte, grimacing.
"I don't want to play this game with him anymore." Kim went on. "I'm so very sick of all of this. I just want it to be simple."
"Kim, you have to stay away from him" Lily said firmly. "He is absolutely no good for you. Look! Even now, he's got you all screwed up. You swore never to have anything to do with him again."
"I know Lily, I know." Kim groaned. "But I just can't! He's got me so fully in love with him I can barely stand it. There has to be a way to work this out."
"Honey, maybe you're just not meant for each other." Charlotte said softly, rubbing circles on Kim's back.
"No." Kim said stubbornly. "I can't even begin to describe it to you Charley. I know I'm supposed to be with him. We're just doing something wrong."
"Maybe," Lily began tentatively, "you need to talk about it with him."
"Aw Lil!" Kim cried. "You know how I hate 'talking about it'!"
"Well Kim, I don't know what to tell you." Lily said, exasperated. "We've had this conversation a million times. You have seriously bad communication skills. Either you love Sirius or you don't. If you love him, talk to him, and sort it out. If you don't, then stay away from him, because I don't know what else to tell you."
"Grump-y." Kim murmured under her breath. "What's got your knickers in a twist?"
"What do you think?"
"Ah, our dear Head Boy." Kim smirked. Lily threw her a look of pure acid, while Kim stretched over her plate to glance down Gryffindor table. Her eyes found James Potter with one arm slug around his best mate's shoulders. Sirius sat slumped in his seat, a small frown on his face as James whispered something in his ear. Out of nowhere, Sirius let out a bark of laughter at something James said. Grinning, James clapped his now smiling best mate on the back, and turned back to his plate.
Kim settled back into her seat. "I don't know Lily; I think Potter will do just fine."
Lily stared at her. "You're not serious."
"No Sirius is the man I'm in love with."
"Charlotte, why does she still think that that's funny?"
"She's never been quite right in the head." Charlotte murmured. "For example, falling in love with Sirius Black to begin with was probably not the brightest move ever made…"
"Oh har har." Kim said. "Anyway, Lily, you have to admit, James Potter has some serious leadership qualities. Just try and keep your man on a tight leash, will you?"
"One for her side." Charlotte murmured.
Lily looked offended. "Whose side are you on anyway?" she asked Charlotte.
Charlotte grinned. "I frequently change sides. Shake it up a bit, you know?"
"Neither of you are any help at all." The tiny redhead griped. "Kim has mood swings devastating enough to take out a small army, and Charley is so sarcastic it makes my teeth ache."
"Oh, quit the woe is me act, Lily." Charlotte said. "We get enough of that from Kim, never mind you doing it too."
"I don't think you're funny." Kim announced in a lofty tone of voice, flicking long dark curls over her shoulder.
"Her highness has spoken." Charlotte pronounced, her pale grey eyes dancing merrily.
Lily snorted into her pudding.
Choosing to ignore them, Kim peered down the table again.
"Get your eyes off him, Levesque." Lily commanded.
"Aw, but Lily…" Kim whined, her honey eyes wide and pleading.
"No, Kim."
A slow smirk spread across Kim's face. "But he's so sexy." She murmured.
"I think she has a multiple personality disorder." Charlotte stated. "Or perhaps she's Bi-Polar. She goes from forlorn to teasing to whining to seductive at an alarming rate."
"I still don't think that you're funny."
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"She was magnificent, Padfoot. You'd have to have seen her." James explained excitedly. "She was absolutely hacked off, and her eyes were so green you wouldn't even believe it."
"Mmm." Sirius agreed, lounging on his four poster. "Tell me Prongs 'ol pal, how a girl being hacked off at you a good thing?"
James smirked. "Lily is extremely sexy when she's irritated. That magnificent hair of hers flies all over the place and she flushes something adorable. And, well, you know how small she is. She draws herself up to her full height and clenched her fists and stamps her feet. I've never seen a more appealing hacked off individual."
Sirius laughed. "Whatever you say mate."
"So," James began, taking a seat on his own bed. "What happened with Levesque today?"
Sirius glanced at him, startled. "Uh… nothing. Why would you ask that?"
Remus snorted, even as he rummaged through his trunk. He looked up at Sirius. "When it comes to that girl mate, you read like a book."
"Kimberly." Sirius corrected, wincing. "Not 'that girl'."
A smile spread across Remus' face, realizing the significance behind the correction, even if Sirius didn't. "Right. Well, when it comes Kimberly, you read like a book. Plus, James knows you better than that. And," Remus added, "She looked all upset at the feast."
Sirius snorted. "Kim would have looked all upset at the feast if the potatoes weren't seasoned correctly. She's excessively dramatic."
James laughed loudly. "Her tendency towards drama doesn't seem to turn you off her any."
"I find it rather endearing." Sirius murmured.
"Be that as it may, I don't think that Lily and Charlotte would have been quite so comforting about the potatoes." Remus stated. "Nor would they have been whispering about it for the entirety of the feast. And I would guess it wasn't the potatoes that caused Kim to go out of her way to stare at you."
"You're a very useful fellow, Moony." Sirius said. "I'm rather glad we keep you around."
Remus grinned, and, retrieving his toothbrush from his trunk, entered the bathroom just as Peter left it.
Peter plopped down on his bed. "James," he asked, "Can I borrow that Quidditch catalogue of yours? Anna's birthday is coming up, and I wanted to order her a new pair of Keeper's gloves. "
"Sure Pete." James said, fishing it out of his trunk. "However, if your girlfriend were on any other team than Hufflepuff's, I'd have to say no on moral grounds. But since we'll be thrashing Hufflepuff no matter what, I suppose it doesn't make much difference."
Peter laughed. "Thanks Prongs." He said simply, as James tossed him the catalogue.
Remus exited the bathroom, and settled onto his bed. Once Sirius had closed the door to the loo, he looked over at James.
"He's quite taken with her, isn't he?" Remus said; a sly grin on his face.
James was grinning. "Why you know Remus, I do believe he is."
"Did you take note of his little correction on her name?"
"Yes." James said, looking puzzled. "But why? I wouldn't have anyone calling Lily 'that girl' either."
"I know, but you and Sirius are two rather different people. We all know you're desperately in love with Lily, but the correction from Sirius means something slightly different. The correction is his subconscious way of proving that she's important to him."
"But we already knew that."
"Yes," Remus said, "But I like a little confirmation now and then."
James chuckled. "Moony, you are entirely too clever for your own good."
Remus laughed. "What do you plan to do about Lily this year?" he asked.
James sighed. "I don't know Remus. I just lose my head around her, you know? And I'm crazy about her. Absolutely nutters. I think that I'm just going to try and be good enough to deserve her. I'll be a good Head Boy, and a good friend." James said sincerely. Then he chuckled. "And I fully intend to thoroughly avoid pissing her off, no matter how charming it may make her look."
"You know James," Remus said, "I think that's a marvelous idea."
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A/N: If you were cool, you'd review. It's what all the cool kids are doing. (I'm going for peer pressure. Is it working?) Flames are silly- I wouldn't bother, if I were you. Constructive criticism, however, I will accept with good grace. Not only will I accept it, I'd absolutely LOVE to hear it. =]
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PS: Sigh. It looked better in word. Any suggestions for formatting?