Tales > Just Friends

It was Christmastime in Hogwarts and the Marauders were about to pull their greatest prank ever. Well, maybe not their greatest prank, but certainly a good one. The Christmas trees were almost finished, and the last decorations were being put up. Peter Pettigrew huddled behind a huge tree, watching as Professor Flitwick, the Charms teacher, levitated the last ornament onto the last tree. Peter was a short, round boy with watery gray-blue eyes and limp, straw hair. He was the tag-a-long of his little group; the Marauders. Once Professor Flitwick and the other teachers finally departed, Peter squeaked a bit into a little piece of parchment that lay on the floor beside him.

Immediately, three boys came into the Great Hall from an antechamber off to the side of the staff table. All of them were rubbing their ears and frowning. Peter winced and morphed back into a human, leaving his rat shape behind. One of the boys broke into a run when he saw him. Peter cowered against the tree, knowing what was about to explode. Sirius Black was famed throughout the school for his temper.

"Wormtail! What was that bloody all about? I told you, you don't need to be bloody loud! My Up-Close-and-Personals are bloody sensitive!" The boy hissed, sweeping his black hair out of his face. This was another thing Sirius was famous for; his hair. He had been voted best-looking by all the girls in school many a time. And with elegant black hair, coal black eyes, and an easy smile; who could blame them? Peter muttered sullenly about not knowing they were so sensitive, and he thought he was being quiet anyways. Sirius opened his mouth about to say more, but the other two boys had reached them by now, and Remus Lupin put a hand on Sirius' arm.

"Calm down, Padfoot. It's not the end of the world," He said, grinning slightly. Sirius always over-reacted.

"He bloody well blew my bloody eardrums out!" Sirius whisper-shouted. Lately, he had become obsessed with the word 'bloody,' therefore trying to use it as many times as possible in one sentence. Of course, it had immediately become a fad throughout the school, which was now filled with the words "bloody" at any given time. Remus rolled his eyes at the final boy; one with "bloody messy" black hair that would "never bloody lie flat," according to Sirius. James Potter's hazel eyes were gleaming, and he seemed to be trying very hard not to laugh.

He gasped out, "Padfoot, drop it. It really doesn't matter."

"Prongs, are you feeling alright?" moony asked in mock-concern, grinning broadly, "You don't look well at all. Maybe we should cancel this and get you up to the Hospital Wing. You look like you're about to explode."

This served to get Sirius' attention away from Peter, who was now as close to the tree as he could get, and had closed his eyes in anticipation of the blow to come. Sirius took one look at James, rolled his eyes skyward, and finally got down to business. He drew them all into a huddle, something he always found amusing, and said, "Alright men. We know what we're bloody here to do. This may be the bloody greatest undertaking of our bloody lives. Some of us may bloody not come back. If anyone goes down, leave 'em bloody there and bloody run. Even if it's me. I know that if I go, you will have a bloody hard time running from me in my time of bloody greatest need, but do so anyway, it's for the bloody best. Right, everyone bloody ready? Gah, I love that bloody word.bloody. Sound so-"

"Padfoot, shut up," Remus said. Sirius grinned at him. Sighing, Remus continued, "What he's trying to say is that we scout around and figure out the best place to put it. But we do nothing until the day of the Christmas ball, understood?"

"You'll do absolutely nothing at all, no matter what time! Potter, you are head Boy! You should know better than this!" A voice rang out across the hall. James blanched; that was probably the voice he hated, and loved, most. Slowly, the boys turned around to face Lily Evans, the Head Girl, and James' obsession. She had dark red hair that she had been growing down to shoulder-blade length, and startlingly green eyes. At the moment, they looked furious. James stepped forward, grinning in what he hoped was a casual way.

"Hey, Evans. We were just talking about the best place to put the new- ahem-decorations we've made. You know, to add to the 'holiday spirit.'"

Behind him, Sirius was in a fit of giggles and making impersonations of James fawning over Lily. Lily herself was finding it very hard to stop from laughing and keep her rigid appearance. She said sharply, "Potter, I do not want you playing any pranks for the Christmas ball! I forbid it! You are Head Boy, and you do not need to be behaving so immaturely!"

"Oh, but don't you see, Evans?" Sirius asked innocently, "That's the only bloody thing James can be around you! You give him the bloody heebeegeebees! He starts bloody drooling with anxiety every time you're bloody mentioned!"

"Shut up, Si," James said, laughing easily. Lily glared at them, then marched over and grabbed James by the arm. Sirius whistled.

Ignoring him, Lily snapped, "Come on Potter, we need to go and plan the ball, without pranks! Now move! The less time with you, the better!"

She marched him out of the hall, but James paused just long enough to look back at his fellow Marauders and smirk. Sirius gave him the thumbs up and Remus nodded encouragingly. Peter still had his eyes closed, but for an entirely different reason. Once Lily had gotten mad at him for something, and had shot a spell at him that turned his eyes a bright pink. Now he tended to shut them whenever she was around.

Once they had reached the Head Boy/ Girl quarters, in which James refused to stay as his mates couldn't either, Lily sat him down in a chair and immediately started pacing, rambling off ideas for the ball. James broke in, "Hey, Evans, can I ask you something?"

"What Potter?" She said impatiently.

"Why do you hate me so much? I've been much better this year. I mean, I don't really hex people anymore, and I haven't asked you out once. I've been pretty damn polite, to tell the truth. But you still treat me like scum."

Lily looked at him curiously. Slowly, she sank down into an armchair. She said, "Well, yes. I mean, I know you have. But still, you're just doing it because you want me to go out with you."

"I do," James admitted, "But I'm not gonna push you for it anymore. I'm being polite because I want to be. Ever think that maybe I grew up a bit? It's not entirely impossible, you know."

Lily laughed a bit, and quickly stopped. But she had laughed, the only time she had ever laughed at something he said. James grinned at her. He said hesitantly, "Um.Evans? Can I ask you something?"

"Sure, Potter."

"Well, will you go to the ball with me? Not as a date, but just a friends? That's all, I swear. And I won't tell anyone different."

Lily stared at him. Finally, she said, "I didn't know we were friends, Potter."

"We aren't," He said, "But I guess I want to change that. So will you?"

She sighed, "Fine, I'll go with you. But only as friends."

James grinned broadly, "Great, bloody great!"

"Please don't!" Lily laughed, covering her ears with her hands.


The day of the ball came up, and the girls locked themselves in their rooms getting ready. The guys all lounged around in the Common Room, waiting for them to come down. Well, almost all the guys. Two of them were up in their dormitories, getting ready also. Sirius was intent on brushing and combing his hair one-thousand times, while James was desperately trying to get his to lie flat. Finally, Sirius got fed up and flicked his wand in James' direction. Immediately, his hair became plastered to his head, completely flat. James glared at Sirius, who shrugged and continued brushing his well-groomed hair. James flicked his own wand, and Sirius' hair stood straight up. Sirius stopped brushing, and slowly raised a hand to his beautiful hair. He turned even more slowly to James, who shrugged and flicked his wand again to get his own hair back to how it was before. Sirius tried to do the same, but James had put a charm on the spell so that Sirius couldn't undo it. Sirius sprang up and lunged at James, who bolted out of the door. They thundered down the stairs and into the Common Room, whereupon there was an immediate uproar. Sirius lunged towards the girls' stairs and bellowed up them.

"Alice! Get down here right now!"

"What do you want now, Black?" A girl asked, descending down the stairs in a pink bathrobe with a lot of green stuff on her face. Sirius yelled in horror, but not nearly so much as the girl, upon catching sight of his hair. Then they both laughed, and Alice waved her wand idly, making Sirius' hair perfect again. Sirius sighed with relief and turned to James. If looks could kill, James would have been hung, drawn, quartered, whipped, boiled, and jumped upon until Sirius got blisters or thought of something more unpleasant {A/N: I'm not sure if anyone really got that, but it's a take from the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy}.

Finally, the girls were ready and they all trooped down the stairs to the waiting boys. It had taken all the boys, minus Sirius and James, five minutes flat to get ready, while the girl had been in their dorms almost the entire day. Imagine the differences between the results. James fidgeted nervously as one by one all the girls left with their dates. Frank Longbottom left with Alice, the girl Sirius had yelled down, while Sirius himself walked out the door with a pretty girl named Alyssa. Remus' date was a shy 6th year named Leah, and Peter left with them. Finally, James was the only guy left in the room. And then there she was. In James' opinion, she was perfect. Dressed fabulously in dark green robes, her hair was put up in a mass of loops and curls to fall gracefully down to her shoulders. She smiled faintly when she saw James, who offered her his arm, awed. As they walked down to the Great Hall, he said quietly.

"You look gorgeous, Evans, you know that?"

"Thanks you. You know, I have a name besides Evans, Potter," She replied. James smirked.

"And I have a name besides Potter. It's Dead-sexy."

"And mine's No-chance," She replied coolly. James laughed and walked into the ball with her. Everyone stared. This had to be the last couple anyone had ever expected, even the Professors were aghast. James just gave them a tiny wave, and walked over to his friends, all oh whom looked stunned. James knew why, too; he hadn't told them anything about going with Lily. Sirius looked ready to kill. Finally, he said.

"Alright, first, you completely screw up my hair, then you don't tell me you got a date with a) the second- hottest girl in school, and b) the only girl in the whole damn school who hates you! What is your problem, mate?"

"If she's the second hottest, then who's the first?" James asked quizzically.

"My date, of course," Sirius said, as though this was obvious. The girl in question, Alyssa, blushed furiously.

They spent a very happy evening, James even managing to get Lily to dance with him a few times. Near midnight, he dragged her away from the drinks table where she was happily chatting, and pulled her outside. He found a bench near the Forbidden Forest and sat her down. She stared at him.

"What's wrong, James?"

"I haven't been entirely honest with you, Lily," James said. She frowned, but he pushed on before she could say anything, "I kept my word, I didn't tell anyone we were dating; except for one person."

"Oh really?" She asked, eyes flashing, "And who was that?"

James took a deep breath, "Me."

"Come again?"

He sat down beside her, looking at his hands, "I sort of considered this a date, not a 'just friends' thing. And that's why I'm about to do this." He turned towards her and leaned in closer. Lily started breathing heavily. She knew what he was about to do, and, to her great surprise, found herself wondering what it was like. She found that she wanted him to kiss her; wanted him to hold her in his arms and caress her face. She leaned towards him too, and when their lips met, something clicked. They broke apart and stared in wonder at each other, as though seeing the other person in a new light, and liking- no, loving- it.

James whispered hoarsely, "I'm sorry Lily, I know we agreed to be just friends, but, I can't help it. I'll leave now."

"James Potter," Lily cried, "Don't you even think about leaving! And we'll never be 'just friends,' never!"

Slowly, a smile spread across James' face and he leaned in towards her again.