Chapter One

Summary: When James is stuck in a wheelchair for a month , who is assigned his helper? And why does he hate her so much? L/J

Lily raced down the hallway , her heart beating fast in her chest. Professor McGonagall had called her down for an urgent message...but what could it be?

Lily ran down the hallway , quickly , for McGonagall had seemed quite urgent in her message. Lily's black Hogwarts robes billowed behind her as she avoided students in her race down the passageway.

Finally , she arrived at the gargoyle , which protected Dumbledore's office.

" Gummy Frogs," Lily panted out and the gargoyle slowly opened. She raced up the stairs and burst into Dumbledore's office.

What met her eyes shocked her even more than anything could.

" James?" Lily whispered.

James Potter , the legendary marauder was confined in a wheelchair. His head was down and a sorrow McGonagall stood beside him. Lily slowly walked into the room , apprehension growing in her bones.

" Is-Is something wrong?" Lily asked , her voice trembling in the room.

Dumbledore smiled at her from behind his desk.

" Oh , hello Lily! How nice to see you again! Even if now it is on a somewhat sombre note , its still nice to see your face again!"

Lily stared at James as she settled into one of the comfy seats. Dumbledore smiled at her , eyes twinkling.

" I know your wondering what your doing here , Miss. Evans," McGonagall said , her voice cutting and sharp. " We are here to request something of you."

Lily nodded , a bit meekly.

" Wh-What happened?" Lily asked , her voice quiet.

McGonagall lowered her head. " James Potter is quite the....mischievous kid. On the train ride here , this boy was engaged in a duel with...Lucius Malfoy , I presume?"

James nodded , raising his head finally. His eyes were glazed over , but it was still sharp and witty as they always had been.

" While in this duel , Lucius had performed a rather complex spell to James's legs. While we are concocting the potion to cure James here....he is to be in a wheelchair for thirty days..."

Lily gasped. " A whole month!"

McGonagall nodded. " That is where you come in."

Lily stared at James , who narrowed his eyes slightly at her.

" Wh-Where do I come in?" Lily stuttered out.

McGonagall smiled. " You'll be his official helper."

Lily blinked , taken aback. " Helper?"

McGonagall nodded. " You'll be by his side for these two months , helping him around Hogwarts , in his studies and in the Great Hall and getting ready for bed.....we've accommodated much for you two , so you can get out of class five minutes early so you can go down the hallways with ease and you'll have special privileges to be in the boy's dorm...."

McGonagall continued with all the accommodations , but Lily was in shock. She was supposed to help the most popular boy in the whole school....how could this have happened? Just minutes before , she was the most unpopular girl in the school, noticed by no one...and here she was , in Dumbledore's office , about to be stuck by JAMES POTTER!

Lily took a deep breath and realised everyone was looking at her.

" Pardon?" Lily asked, trembling.

" I asked whether you were willing to do this all. You are the most trustworthy person for this job....will you take it?" Dumbledore asked , his eyes on hers.

Lily stared at him and then her eyes turned to McGonagall , who nodded slightly. She then turned to James who glared at her angrily.

She turned back to Dumbledore and took a deep breath. " I'll do it."

~~~~~****~~~~

Lilly always had been a shy , quiet girl. She had a fiery temper , but always forced herself to keep all those biting remarks inside. She had a petite build , emerald eyes and shoulder length red hair , but she still strived to keep herself unnoticed.

She didn't try to stand out , ever since first year , when Lucius had called her a mudblood and cursed her with a curse that had stuck her to the hospital bed for two weeks which was the hottest news at the school for three weeks.

She had made some friends....Arabella Figg for one and the other was Gwen Teliander. Both of them helped her throughout the years at Hogwarts.

Lily was smart , one of the smartest in the school. It was their sixth year at Hogwarts, and the Marauders were set out to make it the most remembered. It annoyed Lily to no end how they taunted the staff and the students with their pranks, but deep inside Lily admired them. They had the guts to stand apart , and the whole school was with them.

" How about I leave you two to get to know each other , and I'll be back in five to ten minutes , alright?" Dumbledore said cheerfully , as he left the room. The room went silent, so silent you could hear a pin drop.

Lily coughed and turned to James. He was staring at her , his eyes dark and stormy.

" So....I guess you already know my name...it's Lily Evans by the way , and I'm a sixth year like you and I'm in Gryffindor...well , you probably already figured that out but I am-" Lily started , her voices trembling.

James glared at Lily. " Shut up."

Lily blinked. "Uh....Excuse me?"

James repeated , " Shut up! I don't need you , nor do I need anyone else to help me. I don't even know why they assigned me a helper." He said the last word in a scornful tone and Lily jumped , startled.

Lily never felt more uncomfortable in her life. " Well , I know you must be sad , according to the fact that your a marauder and one of the star Quidditch players and being in a wheel chair will definitely be a drawback-"

James let out his breath , exasperated. He grabbed the wheels of his chair and twisted around , away from her.

" Just leave me alone and don't try to talk to me , alright? I really don't want to hear your annoying voice. Just go away! I'll tell Dumbledore you quit and then we can both be happy."

Lily felt anger bubbling deep in her chest. " I'm not quitting, James Potter! I don't know how you got that idea in your fanciful imagination , but let me tell you one thing! If you have to be stuck to a wheelchair for a whole month, you'd better shut up and let me help , or suffer miserably!"

James was clearly taken aback, but so was Lily. She had never spoke out like that , not once! And to the most popular boy in the school! Lily felt dread fill her chest but James was already retorting back.

" I don't need you telling me what to do! I am the richest and most popular boy in the school , so why don't you go crawl back to where you came from!"

Lily shouted, " I'm not going anywhere , you self cantered , pig headed-"

" What did you call me?"

" Did you not hear? Of course you couldn't , your brain still rattling around like a ping pong ball in that empty head of yours!"

" I may not know what the hell ping pong is , but I know an insult when I hear one! Be prepared to-"

" I hope you two are getting along..." Dumbledore interrupted , standing at the doorway. Lily and James whipped around to meet the twinkling eyes of their headmaster.

" Oh , hello , Professor Dumbledore , we are getting along quite nicely..." Lily trailed off.

Dumbledore smiled , knowingly. " I'm sure you are! Here's a list of instructions , Lily and you may go."

Lily and James nodded , and Lily took the handles of James's wheelchair and wheeled him out of Dumbledore's office. As soon as they were out , James wrenched himself out of Lily's hold.

" Don't try to push me around , Evans! Just stay out of my way!" James retorted , wheeling away.

Lily stared after him , and groaned. What was she going to do?

a/n: Hope you all like my new story , never really wrote in L/J before , tell me what I did wrong , aight?

Nuff Luv,

**~~sinceritea~~**