Chapter Text
“I think if Lily actually got to know me, she wouldn't hate me, right…”
James looked at Peter with teary eyes, and Pete saw how much it must have hurt for James that Lily rarely gave him the attention he needed from her. Well, actually Pete already knew this, but he never realised that it hurt James this badly; that sweet, thoughtful, and always joyous James was so affected by the fact that Lily Evans wasn’t in love with him, or even considered him as a friend.
Peter focused on his friend in front of him again, and it hurt him to see James being so miserable about something that most people wouldn’t consider to be a big deal. So Pete, being the supportive friend he is, took both of James’ hands in his and smiled kindly. Then he spoke, in a soft and soothing tone, “James, no. You know that isn’t true, she doesn’t hate you. But she also doesn’t fancy you, yet. And that’s why you can still hope! Maybe you should start with not hitting on her, and stop trying to make her fancy you back. Just try to be her friend and see how it goes.
"Often, love blooms out of a strong friendship. And such a friendship takes time to develop. You need to give her time to adjust to you and let her have space to do so. So please, befriend her and let the ‘falling-in-love-with-you’ part behind for some time. You can come back to it, if she eventually decides to become your friend and if you notice signs that she starts to like you back, romantically. But only then, ‘cause you also have to respect her decision if she doesn’t like you in that way. Okay?”
“…okay. Thanks Pete, I love you.”
“Love you too, Prongs.”
☆☆☆
Lily, of course, left as soon as she saw James tear up, and swiftly walked back to the library, where she knew Mary and Marlene were still studying. When she saw James being emotional and wiping his tears, she couldn’t take it anymore.
Besides, she wasn’t hidden very well; she had already told the password to the fat lady, and the moment she wanted to walk into the common room she heard her name. She stood still immediately, and looked into the direction she heard the familiar voices. She saw James Potter and Peter Pettigrew sitting on the couch, close to the fireplace. She saw that they’d made themselves hot chocolate, ‘cause their cups stood at a small table next to the couch. Their backs faced the entrance of the common room and since they were deep into their conversation, they mustn’t have noticed her, or the portrait opening, fortunately. Otherwise it would’ve been pretty awkward.
She half sprinted past the girls toilets, and almost bumped into a Ravenclaw boy she didn’t know. Luckily, a lot of people had lessons at this time of the day, so she didn’t come across many people. “How can he still fancy me? Gosh, how can he fancy me at all?” she mumbled. “I’m almost at the library. Almost… Merlin, what should I do? I’m- I really need Panda. But first I need to go to the library; first I need to find Mary and Marlene.”
Once Lily arrived in the library she immediately ran towards the table where she, Mary and Marlene had sat less than five minutes ago. She had only gone away to get her potions book from their room, because she had forgotten to take it with her when she left in a hurry this morning.
“Wow, you’re back fast Lils,” Mary told her, not looking up and still engrossed in one of her Astronomy books, while taking notes of everything she read. Lily sat down, panting a little from the quick run to her friends. Marlene, on the other hand, did look up at Lily once she noticed she arrived, and gave her a questioning look. “Where are your books, and why do you look like that?” Marlene said. Lily seemed to be in a miserable state. She looked lost. “James. It’s James…” Lily mumbled. She couldn't bring herself to tell them more for a moment. Once she could breathe calmly again, she started explaining the situation to them. How, when she arrived at the common room, she had heard the conversation between the two boys. And that she had left as soon as she saw James being emotional about something she did; that was not something she could handle, so she fled. “Oh Lils,” Mary said. She’d already stopped reading and taking notes the moment Marlene asked Lily if she was alright, and focused on her, waiting for her to talk. Once Lily finished, Mary gently took Lily’s hand and looked her in the eyes with a caring but also serious look.
“All of this isn't something you did. It's not your fault Potter keeps flirting with you, when you clearly told him to stop with it. A dozen times, may I add.”
“Yeah babe, it’s not your problem that he can’t get the hint,” Marlene added. “And besides, you’re off the market. It’s actually quite insane that a guy is flirting with you while you’re in a relationship with a pretty, blond, ravenclaw girl.” Marlene grinned finishing her sentence. “Yeah, but that's not fair is it? Since James doesn't know, and I'm not out of the closet; he has no way of knowing it...” Lily protested sorrowfully.
“No Lily, that’s not fair to yourself. I mean, we both know about Panda.” Mary let her and Lily's intertwined hands go and pointed at Marlene, then herself and then placed her hand on Lily’s shoulder. “And we know because we befriended you, showed interest in you and properly loved you; like friends should. I’m not saying that James is not a good person or he’s not worth your time, because I know he’s really sweet and thoughtful. He's certainly an amazing supportive friend, but the way he treats you right now is just not what you deserve.
"You deserve a friend who isn't trying to impress you every time you two have a nice conversation. You deserve a friend who you can trust 一 and again, maybe that is James, but he first needs to stop flirting with you and actually show that he wants to be your friend and not just your boyfriend. We didn’t try to impress you, just like all your friends, or made you fall in love with us-”
“Yeah duh,” Lily interrupted. “Because you two don’t have a crush on me.”
“Mhm babe, believe what you want to believe,” Marlene said, smirking at Mary.
Mary had fancied Lily for some time, Marlene knew. Mary had been in love with Lily for the last half of sixth year, after she broke up with Sirius and realised that she also had a thing for girls (and at that time a specific red-haired one).
Mary blushed slightly and gave Marlene a little shove with her elbow. “Had,” she muttered to Marlene’s direction so that Lily couldn't hear it. Then she continued louder so that it was audible for Lily again, “Anyway, we mean that you felt comfortable enough with us to tell us that you're dating Pandora, and with James you haven't felt that safe, so he doesn’t know and doesn't have that right, yet. You don't owe him that information, Lils.”
“You never will, by the way, not to us too; you never owe anyone to know that sort of stuff about you. Never,” Marlene added, while smiling sweetly at her.
“...okay. Yeah, alright.” Lily smiled slightly.
Then her smile turned into a smirk. “About what you said before, Marlene, when Mary pushed you…” Marlene started grinning too, and looked at Mary. “Yeah Mary, tell us about your little crush,” Marlene said defiantly, still with a big grin on her face.
“Yes, I wanna know what this was about too. Did you actually fancy me? Oh please tell me, please!” Mary sighed, cheeks becoming a bit red again. “Alright, alright, I'll tell you. But if you tell this to anyone else but us, I'm going to hex you both. Got it?”
“Oohh, someone’s ashamed of a little crush. But we swear we won’t tell. Right, Lils?”
“Yes, of course, you can trust us. But come on, spill the tea, I wanna know everything!”