Chapter 1

James POV

"Gryffindor!" the sorting hat shouted as soon as it touched my messy black hair. I jumped off the stool and did a little fist pump I was so excited to be in the same house as my dad. The older students laughed, and I quickly got off the stage, embarrassed.

As I went to sit down at the table of cheering Gryffindors, I looked over the other first years. Sirius Black, the ironically black haired boy I met on the Hogwarts Express, was standing on his seat doing a ridiculous dance while loudly announcing how we would be best friends to anyone who would listen. I was okay with that!

Next to him, looking quite displeased was the red headed girl from the train. I think her name was some sort of flower. Who really cares?

A scrawny boy with sandy hair sat on Sirius' other side. He looked very uncomfortable and kept looking nervously up at the starry ceiling. I could tell he needed a good meal and a good night's sleep.

On flower girl's right was a short and chubby boy who looked mysteriously like a rat. He was nervously chewing his nails while his eyes darted around, perhaps looking for escape routes.

I headed toward Sirius who had shoved the scrawny boy over to make room for me. While I was trying to catch the boy's eye to apologize for Sirius, I saw a green glimmer in my peripheral vision. I turned and saw the most brilliant emerald eyes watching my every step in a calculating manner. It was flower girl. I must have been too distracted by Snivellus to pay her much attention, but now I realized how breathtakingly beautiful she was.

Pushing Sirius to be by the scrawny boy, I sat down next to him, ignoring his congratulations and turning instead to the flower girl. Holding out my hand, I flashed my most winning smile. "Hi, I'm James Potter."

Eyeing me cautiously, she shook my hand surprisingly firmly before turning away to talk to some other girl.

Not wanting to be brushed off so easily, I tapped her shoulder gently. She turned to me with irritation written all over her face. Smiling apologetically this time, I said smoothly, "I didn't catch your name."

"Lily Evans," she said curtly before turning and whipping me with her long red hair.

I held my throbbing cheek and stared at her back with wide eyes and a dropped jaw. That was not a name I'd be forgetting any time soon.

It was our first Hogsmeade trip ever, and I could not wait. Of course, the Marauders were no strangers in Hogsmeade; we had quite a reputation there just as we did everywhere else. This trip was different, though. This time, all the other third years could go. That included Lily Evans. If everything went as planned, by the end of the day, I would finally have the one girl I wanted.

"Mate, let's think about this," Sirius begged. His prediction had come true more than we could ever have hoped for. By now, we were more like brothers than best friends. "She hates you. Probably has since our first train ride here! What makes you think she'd want to go to Hogsmeade with you?"

"Because I clean up nice, and I got her some flowers that correspond with her name," I said confidently as I was shaking with nerves inside.

"I think Sirius is right, James," Remus Lupin commented as he strode along beside us. "Unlike the rest of you, I get along with Lily, and I'm sorry to report that I have never heard her say a complimentary thing about you." The scrawny boy who Sirius shoved around on the first day turned out to be extremely intelligent and one of the Marauders. I guess people were right when they said, "Don't judge a potion by its bottle."

Then again, there's always an exception. That was Peter Pettigrew. Just as nervous and slippery as I thought him to be at first sight, he always finagled his way out of taking responsibility for things. Gasping for breath with his cheeks bouncing awkwardly as he tried to catch up to us, Pete didn't look like a cool kid. Hell, he never did! I guess you could say we took him under our wing. "I… think if… Sirius and… Remus are… agreeing," he wheezed when he finally caught up, "that you should… listen."

That was true. Those two agreeing is about as likely as the Crumple Horned Snorkack being real. I was close to backing down when a little voice in my head said, "Gryffindor, where dwell the brave at heart." What kind of Gryffindor would I be if I didn't do this? Not a worthy one. Not one to make my dad proud. Hiding my fears in the back of my mind, I squared my shoulders and said, "I'm doing this, and you guys can't stop me."

"But…" Sirius began.

Remus put a hand on his arm, silencing him. The three of them stopped as I strode toward the Entrance Hall where I knew Lily would be waiting.

Holding the lilies firmly behind my back, I walked slowly towards her. She was standing at the opposite side of the hall, chattering with her best friends Marlene McKinnon and Alice Fortesque.

"Hey, Lils," Marlene said with a devilish grin. "I heard Potter was going to ask you to Hogsmeade."

How fast does news travel around here? It's ridiculous! Although I was irritated my plan to sweep her off her feet wouldn't be as surprising as I hoped, I listened closely to hear what Lily would say.

She rolled her eyes and Alice laughed lightly.

"Well?" Marlene prompted. "If he did, what would you say?" she asked eagerly. Alice was leaning forward in anticipation.

By now, I was hiding behind a suit of armor. At least if I was rejected this way, my reputation wouldn't be ruined with my self esteem. I would have put my invisibility cloak on and snuck closer, but by now there were too many students milling around. I would surely run into someone and that always led to awkward questions.

Lily blushed furiously (which looked gorgeous) and glared at Marlene with so much hate that her usually sparkling green eyes were flat and angry. "I've told you, McKinnon," Lily growled. "I will never ever let that… that toerag so much as walk next to me!" She began to storm towards my hiding sport, but I was frozen. I never thought words could hurt so much.

"Toerag?" Marlene giggled as she and Alice raced after Lily. "You just made that up, didn't you?"

"So what if I did?" Lily asked, cracking a smile. "It describes him perfectly!"

By now she was mere feet away. Shaking myself out of this stupor, I flung the lilies down and threw my invisibility cloak on. It was only thanks to my Quidditch reflexes that I managed to make it out without running into anyone. Still running at full tilt, I sprinted to the common room and up to our dormitory. Not even Zonko's could cheer me up today.

Without taking off my cloak, I sat heavily on my four poster bed. Rejection sucked. I was busy wallowing when the doorknob turned.

Sirius opened the door a crack, peering in. "Jamie?" he whispered, using my mom's nick name for me "What happened, mate?"

Not wanting to talk to anyone, I didn't answer, but Sirius, using some sixth sense, knew I was in there. Shutting the door softly behind him, he sat down on his own bed. "When you're ready to talk, I'm here."

Despite his bad boy reputation, Sirius had quite the sensitive side. Most people just didn't get to know him well enough to see it.

"Where're Pete and Remus?" I asked.

He turned to face my bed. "I told them to go on. I figured you'd be more comfortable if it was just me." He knew me so well.

"She hates me, Siri," I sighed, throwing off the cloak and looking at my best friend's concerned face. "She even made up a name for me to express how awful I am!"

"What was it?" he asked curiously.

"I dunno… Toerag or something," I mumbled.

Sirius snorted before clapping a hand over his mouth to keep himself from cracking up.

I chucked a pillow at his head, which he easily dodged, as he let his laughter loose. "I should have talked to Remus. You can only be serious for so long," I grumbled.

"I'm actually always Sirius!" he said in a matter of fact way as he held up one finger.

I rolled my eyes, but cracked a smile at my goofy friend and his overused pun.

"C'mon, James," Sirius said as he hopped out of bed. "Let's go snatch some food from the kitchens."

I stood up and followed him. Throwing an arm over my shoulder, he led me down the stairs. "Between you and me, Jamie," Sirius whispered confidentially, "I know you'll get her one day."

"Oy, Evans!" I called as I raced after her in the courtyard. She slowed, and I gratefully caught up to her. I figured now was my chance to make a move. Snape, my only competition, had just called her a… you know. I can't even think it it's so awful! She did yell at me by the lake, but I figured she was just venting some of her anger at Snivellus towards me, just like I vented my disappointment at her calling me a toerag towards Snivellus! This would be my last chance before summer holiday begins, and I don't want to mess it up.

"What do you want, Potter?" she asked in exasperation.

I took a deep breath before calmly asking, "Will you go out with me?"

Lily stopped walking and turned to look at me with her eyebrows raised. "Haven't you gotten the memo? I don't like you. Not even on a friendship level. Why would I go out with you?"

I blushed and ruffled my already messy hair nervously. "I just thought… Snape…"

"Don't," she snapped with her eyes blazing. "Don't you dare talk to me about him. I don't want to hear it." Turning sharply on her heel, she stormed off.

"He's evil, Evans!" I called after her retreating form. "Stop wasting your time on scum like him. You're better than that!"

Quicker than I knew she could move, Lily was back in my face. "Severus is ten times the man you'll ever be, Potter, and if you think he's scum, I'd suggest looking in the mirror. If you can manage to look past your big head, you might be surprised by what you see."

This time when she strode off, I let her. Maybe she was right, I thought as I walked dejectedly back to the school. I had all summer to find out.

I stood on Platform 9 ¾, my Head Boy badge gleaming unnaturally on my chest. This was my last year, my last chance to make an impression. I couldn't decide which one, though.

I know my mum wants me to be a good and respectable Head Boy, but that sounds awfully boring and not like me.

My father would have wanted me at to my best at pranking anything that moves. I had quite a stash of supplies left over from last year that would help me a lot. Sirius would love this path, and I wasn't opposed to it. I knew someone who was, though.

Lily Evans. What I want more than anything is to win her heart. In order to do that, pranking would definitely be out of the picture. Maybe Head Boy duties, too.

Shaking my head to clear it of these thoughts, I boarded the bright red Hogwarts Express. There would be plenty of time to make up my mind. First, I had to get through this train ride in the Heads compartment. As I went to open the door, I prayed that the Head Girl was not a Slytherin.

Cautiously, ready to bolt, I opened the door. A flash of red and green caught my eyes. The door slammed shut behind me. I stood, staring in shock, at the woman before me.

"Evans?" I gasped. Option number three is officially my priority. I just hope I can pull it off.