AN: Ohmygosh. I'm sorry this took so long. I seriously had about two months there where I could have written about anything other than Lily. Serious writer's block, but only for this story. I was just sort of stuck. But, now this is here, so, enjoy. Not the most exciting/Time Lord-y chapter ever, but it's something. Again, I'm super sorry for the wait.

The rest of Lily's fourth year simply flew past, as the years before had a tendency to do. It was unsurprising, of course. In lieu of the childhood friend she had lost, she had gained the wonderful IDRIS. Not that she could take the IDRIS home with her, but it was nice knowing it would be there when she got back. As spring blossomed into summer, summer drifted into autumn, and Lily was back in the castle she adored so much, her quickly-growing TARDIS and tawny owl Omega in tow, ready for all that Hogwarts had to toss her way. Ready for her OWLS, ready to become a prefect, ready for the relief from Spinner's End.

Lily had not, however, readied herself for a certain mister James Potter. She hadn't expected much from him, as his general debauchery had bothered her less over the past year, and she had all but forgotten the incident with Remus wherein she'd learned James' true feelings. Perhaps more surprising was the fact that, as much as she hated to admit it, she found him fairly attractive. This was merely physical, of course, as Time Ladies had hormones and an instinct for preservation of species just like any other species, but the matter remained that he had a nice sort of look to him. He was an arse, to be sure, but he was a very cute arse.

Suffice it to be said that he didn't need to know that.

One particularly sunny October morning, she found herself down by the lake. Not quite as peaceful as she imagined Gallifrey would be, she admitted, but it was the best she could do for the time being. The air was just beginning to turn chilly, the wind rustled the browning leaves, and birds chirped incessantly from the tops of trees. For once, Lily thought, it was a pity that the TARDIS translation circuits were working well, as the birds' primitive form of communication was rather dull.

The book in her hands was, for once, not one of magic, but instead an old Gallifreyan tome she had swiped from her mother before she left this year. It was absolutely fascinating in every sense of the word, due in part, no doubt, to the fact that she knew no one else in the castle would be able to read it. Even if the TARDIS translation circuits extended to the other students, it wouldn't translate Gallifreyan, as she was a native speaker of the language.

She had just begun to relax in the still-green grass when James took the open seat next to her. Damn. His incessant chattering could be worse than that of the birds.

"Soooo…" he sighed as he stretched out on the grass next to her. Was that supposed to be an attractive move? Lily may have been growing at about the same rate as an average human teenager, but she hardly thought the same way. By Time Lord standards, perhaps she was filled with raging hormones, but, by human standards, she was about as bothered as a dead housefly. "Evans, what might bring you here on this lovely morning?"

Lily offered a sarcastic smile in return. "Well, I woke up today, and I thought to myself, 'I'd really love to be hit on today by an incompetent arsehole,' so here I am. Congratulations, James, you've successfully made my dreams come true." She resumed reading her book, but she could feel him shift closer to her.

"Hit on? Well, Lil, I'm offended. I would never even dream of that." As she looked up and raised an eyebrow at him, he flashed her a bright white smile. When her face returned to her book, he leaned over. At the very least, Lily thought to herself, he smelled nice. "How, exactly, can you read that? It's all just symbols. There aren't even any words."

"Funny," she replied, not looking up at him. "I'm fairly certain words are symbols. Besides which, I'm amazed you could read anything, with that pea in the middle of your head that you keep trying to pass off as a brain." When she noticed that he hadn't moved, she let out a sigh of feigned despair. "Would you please be ever so kind as to move your head out of the vicinity? I realize you're trying your absolute hardest to ruin my day, but I was rather trying to enjoy this book."

"Ruin your day? Tsk, tsk," he said as he shook his head. When Lily looked up again, a glare resting quite comfortably on her face, she could see that his mouth had grown into an enormous smile. "All these false accusations on your part really aren't doing you any favors, Lily. I realize you're trying your best to find cause to hate me, but I was rather trying to enjoy the lakeside." He laughed at what he believed was cleverness on his part. Pity that he genuinely thought he was funny.

"Haven't you got first-years to torment?" She arched an eyebrow at the shaggy-haired excuse for a boy sitting next to her.

"Haven't you got books to read? I like to think you take time out of your plans to make snarky comments for my benefit." James smirked as Lily rolled her eyes and resumed her book. The smirk was quickly wiped off of his face, however, when Lily gave him a good smack to the back of the head, never once taking her eyes off of the foreign tome. "Oi! Is that any way to treat a man who was about to ask you out?"

Lily snapped her head up at this. Despite her outward calm, her brain was doing flips. For once, was he going to be the one to bring this up, instead of one of his friends? That was certainly an improvement from two years before. "I thought you said you wouldn't even dream of hitting on me."

"Oh, I wouldn't." His smirk grew again. "But this doesn't qualify as hitting on you, does it? No, Lil, this is a genuine date proposal. Next weekend's a Hogsmeade weekend. I suggest Madame Puddifoot's." He looked very pleased with himself.

"Nice try," Lily said, laughing as his face fell a little bit. "I recommend brushing up your act a bit before trying again on anyone else. Not me, of course, because I'll tell you right now that I wouldn't go. But, generally, girls prefer not to be insulted on a regular basis by boys they go out with." She snapped her book shut with a satisfying clonk as she prepared to leave.

James grabbed her arm as she stood up to leave. "So you'll sit and talk to the rest of my friends, but you won't even give me the benefit of the doubt." He wouldn't be deterred for long, Lily knew, but this was quicker than she'd expected. "So, what's their secret, eh? What've they got that I don't?"

Lily laughed as she wrenched her arm from him, having no trouble preserving her resolve. "Well, for starters, unlike you, they've at least got some likeable qualities, like brains, bravery, or just knowing when to shut up." And, with that, Lily walked away, smugly knowing the disappointment she'd just left James in behind her.