Chapter Text
Another year was coming to an end at Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. All the students had passed their exams and they were all excited to come back home for the summer holidays under July and August's sun. But Lily Evans didn't share the euphoria that flew all around Hogwarts.
"Filthy Mudblood"... These words, said by her best friend, were stuck in her head. She was unable to just forget and get over it. After all, he'd been her best friend yet he said those words and didn't even bother to apologize correctly. She was angry of course, but the sadness and disappointment were eating her from the inside.
And everyone could see it. Even if they didn't know the reason, students and professors just saw that something wasn't right with Lily Evans, Severus Snape, and surprisingly enough James Potter. He knew everything and didn't know what to do. James could not dare to go and bother her like he would do every day, and he wasn't close enough to Lily just to go, hug her and tell her everything would be okay.
When he was looking at Snape, you could just see pure Hatred. So many times Remus and Sirius thought James was going to jump on Snape and strangle the Slytherin. Luckily it didn't happen, for the moment...
Still, it was tiring for everyone close to the group, especially the Marauders. James wouldn't do any pranks, and he just talked about Lily and how he hated Snape, all day long.
That's why, during dinner one day, when most of the students were getting back to their common rooms, Sirius exploded after watching once again, James looking at Lily who was leaving the Great Hall.
"-For the love of god Prongs Just go talk to her! Do something and take off that look from your face or I swear I'll take you to practice an exorcism and kill the evil thing that keeps my best friend!"
Peter Jumped and his spoon fell off his hands. Some people turned around to look, but soon got back to their dessert, it was only the Marauders making noise as usual.
Remus sighed, mixed up between exasperation and amusement. A little grin appeared on his face. Sirius had always been a Drama Queen after all.
Even with the exaggerated method of Padfoot, Prongs seemed to wake up.
"-Yeah you're right Padfoot, I gotta do something" He finally said after a moment lost in thoughts.
The following days, James Potter turned out to be weirdly silent. Not a single prank had been realized during an entire week, not by him or by any Marauder. People started to get concerned, first were the Gryffindors, then all the houses knew. They feared that the end of the world had arrived.
"I'm sure they found a prank idea that will blow up the entire school"
Heard Remus, when he was going to an herbology class one day. When Remus told him that, Sirius laughed so hard that he fell off his chair.
But there wasn't a single theory that was close to reality. James really spent the week trying to find something that will give Lily her smile back.
One evening, during the meal, James went to see Lily sitting with Marlene Mckinnon, her best friend. Lily didn't give James attention, so He just stood there for a moment, mesmerized by her beauty. But he soon came back to his senses when he caught Marlene's gaze on him. He sat down next to Lily.
"Hum... Evans ?" He said in a low voice making sure she was the only one hearing him. She looked up to him waiting for his next words.
"-Could you come with me after dinner ?"
"-Why...?" She asked suspiciously.
"-I just want to show you something... It's a surprise though, and don't worry it's nothing that will get you in detention" He added when he saw that Lily was going to talk back.
Lily sighed and looked at James, She needed to go against the school rules, which wasn't surprising coming from James Potter, and she didn't like that much. But she was curious. She first wanted to decline. After a moment she just nodded, and a bright smile appeared on James' Face.
"-Then I'll see you after dinner." He said happily. He stood up and got back with his friends.
They immediately knew that she agreed. Sirius dramatically applauded his best friend, Remus congratulated James and Peter did nothing too busy eating his meal.
Sometimes Lily looked at James. He Looked like the happiest man in Hogwarts, he was practically shining, which made the redHead smile. She liked how he appreciated every little good thing in his life. It was maybe childish for some, but it just showed that he was passionate. Of course, she didn't know that most of these smiles were because of her.
Lily's smile faded when she saw Snape looking at her. He apparently saw the exchange between the two Gryffindors. He looked angry. At first, Lily felt guilty, but she realized she did nothing wrong. If before, Potter was just a Bad guy, a bully that was insufferable with her best friend, it wasn't the case anymore.
Then she felt better, she turned to Marlene who was eating, and she smiled again.
She started eating, sometimes feeling James gaze on her.