Author's note: Starting a new fic while I have writer's block on another. Yes, this is a Lily/James fic, and I'm going to try to avoid any OOC ness. If you see something you think is OOC, let me know in a review. So please R&R and check out my other fic, "The New Kids." By the way, I welcome ALL reviews, even flames. Thanks!

Disclaimer: If I owned Harry Potter and all related characters, etc, there would be no one named Albus Potter. That name sounds terrible. Anyway, please don't sue me.

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James Potter was a hugely popular Quidditch star. That combined with his good looks had many girls swooning at his feet and heavy scowls crossing the lips of the males in the vicinity wherever he went. To be seen talking to James Potter was to be seen. He was often the center of attention in the Gryffindor common room, at least amongst those in his year and below. He was a bit of a trouble-maker, but that made him all the more endearing to his peers. He was the ringleader of The Marauders, which is what he and his three best friends, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew called themselves. He came from a rich, pureblood family and everyone knew it.

Lily Evans was a pretty girl, very smart, often found in the library with her nose buried in a book. She was that front-row-sitting, top-marks-recieving, bookish kind of girl. Her best subject was potions, Professor Slughorn simply adored her. She was Muggle born, but unashamed. She wasn't unpopular, she just didn't care to be the center of attention. Her startlingly green eyes often earned her lots of attention from people, particularly ones she just met. All in all, she was a rather simple person. She enjoyed school and was very ambitious. In fifth year, she was selected to be a Prefect, and she did the job well.

It was common knowledge amongst the students at Hogwarts that James was more or less head over heels about Lily, and that Lily was none too fond of James. In their third year, rumours started flying that James liked Lily, but those were merely thirteen-year-old-giggly-type rumours. Sirius, Remus, and Peter always remained steadfastly loyal to James and refused to confirm that he did, in fact, like Lily. Over the years, the talking died down, but it became certain that James was basically in love with Lily. Lily herself didn't particularly like to believe this, since she thought James was a bit of a big-headed idiot, so she convinced herself that it was merely her peers being stupid and inventing stories for the sake of it.

James wasn't certain exactly when he fell in love with Lily or why. All he knew was that she was beautiful and witty and absolutely perfect. Whenever she walked into a room, his stomach did a back flip. Whenever she laughed and those amazing eyes lit up, he longed to be the one making her laugh. And whenever she was angry or upset, he wanted to be the one sitting there with his arm around her, making everything better. Of course, no one knew quite the extent of his feelings for her. Yes, he'd told the other three Marauders that he liked Lily, but never exactly how she made him feel. He knew Peter would smirk, Remus would try to pretend he understood completely but would really be fighting back the urge to laugh, and Sirius would fall out of his chair, clutching his sides with laughter and once he recovered, tell James that he was going soft.

How the rest of the school found out that he was in love with Lily he would never know, since he was certain none of the Marauders told anyone. But alas, the dormitories weren't completely soundproof and someone may have overheard him telling the others. Or perhaps someone had correctly deduced the reason he was always glancing around the room or staring into the corner where Lily sat with her friends. Or perhaps he shared a common room with a skilled Legilimens, though he doubted the last one. That was much more the type of thing Snivellous would be interested in learning than any Gryffindor. Well, however it got out, he didn't much care as long as he could go on believing that Lily didn't know. Deep down, he was sure that Lily had heard something. But he preferred to convince himself that she hadn't, or that perhaps she didn't believe what everyone said.

And here it was, fifth year, and he'd been in love with Lily for quite some time. He'd never done anything about it, despite the thought crossing his mind multiple times. He was probably waiting for some kind of indication that the feeling was mutual, but he never received anything of the sort. Sometimes he thought he might as well get on with it and let her know how he felt. But that thought was always countered when he reminded himself that there was a (rather high) chance of rejection, and that once he told her, there was no taking it back. He'd either have to persist or give up and he was entirely uncertain which course he would choose. So for now he'd sit back and wait. For what, he didn't know. That was something he'd need to figure out, and soon.

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Will someone please explain to me how he turns up every bloody place I go in this school? Lily thought exasperatedly as she pushed open the door to the Hospital Wing only to find Potter lying in the bed nearest the door. Wherever she went, whether it was class, the common room, the library, the Owlery, the grounds, and now apparently the Hospital Wing, somehow, Potter was there. She'd only come to ask Madame Pomfrey about antidotes to different common poisons. She would have gone to Professor Slughorn, but it was a Saturday morning and he wasn't likely to be up for a few hours, and she wanted to get her essay done early. But now she wished she'd just waited until after lunch to go see Slughorn. Although, she thought dully, knowing Potter, he'd have been in Slughorn's office by the time I got there for some reason or another. Probably a detention.

A quick glance around the ward showed no sign of Madame Pomfrey and Lily assumed she was in her office, so she reluctantly turned her attention to Potter, who was grinning up at her from where he lay on the bed a few feet away.

"Hey, Evans," he greeted her in an annoyingly cheerful way. "Come to visit my sickbed, I see."

"Hardly." Potter's face fell. "I've come to see Pomfrey."

"Now, why would you want to talk to her, when you could be talking to me?"

"I could name about eighty reasons off the top of my head."

"Oh yeah? Let's hear them."

Lily gave him a pitying look. "Like I'd waste my time. Where is Pomfrey, anyway?"

"Her office." Potter looked distinctly put out now, slumped against the pillows. For the first time, Lily noticed his arm was in a sling and guessed he'd been hit by a stray Bludger. She was on the point of asking just what had happened when Madame Pomfrey came bustling out of her office.

"Morning, Miss Evans. Come to visit Mr. Potter? How nice," she said distractedly before turning her attention to James. "How's your arm this morning? Feeling better?"

"Yes. Bit stiff, but usable."

After bending his arm in as many different directions as it would go, she seemed to decide it was back up to snuff.

She straightened up and said "Very well, then, Mr. Potter, after breakfast you may go. I'll bet you'd like some porridge, too, Miss Evans. Excellent, excellent."

"Actually, Madame Pomfrey, I just came to-" But it was no use. Madame Pomfrey was already trotting back to her office, mumbling about porridge.

Something of the grin James had worn when Lily had first entered the ward graced his face now. "Looks like we're dining together this fine morning!"

Lily merely sighed in response and took a seat next to Potter's bed, not knowing what else to do, since she couldn't very well walk out after Madame Pomfrey went to the trouble of making her breakfast. So when the matron brought out two bowls of porridge and two glasses of orange juice, she just accepted her tray with a quiet "Thanks," despite the fact that she'd already had a rather hearty breakfast in the Great Hall not too long ago. She sat there, picking at her porridge, lost in thought about her unfortunate situation until James broke the silence.

"Are you going to even look at me, or just pretend I'm not here?" Lily looked up. "That's better. Now, are you going to ask how I sustained this dreadfully unfortunate injury, and whether I'll be fit for this afternoon's Quidditch Match?"

"Well, I wasn't going to-"

"It was a Bludger. Annoying little buggers they can be, but due to the fact that I am exceedingly macho, I barely even felt it," He grinned in a self-satisfied way, then glanced at the sling that was currently hampering his eating. "Broke my arm, though... All is well, however, as I will be perfectly able to play today."

Lily was saved the trouble of responding by Sirius entering the ward. As soon as he layed eyes on the unlikely breakfast companions, a wicked grin creased his face.

"How come I wasn't invited to the party?" he inquired. "Or was it private? A date, perhaps?"

"Not at all, not at all," Lily replied, a smile on her face to match the one on Sirius'. She stood up and thrust the tray holding her barely-touched porridge into his chest. "In fact, I was just leaving. Ciao!"

And with a devilish smile in Potter's direction, she departed for Slughorn's office.

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Author's note: Review so I know whether to keep going! If you guys like the story, the next chapter will include the first few times James asks Lily out. :)