Summary: This is yet another list I picked up from a MySpace bulletin. I don't plan on editing these, because they really are so sweet. I don't know how many good guys are left out there, but I know of a few myself. I think we forget to thank them like we should. So this is dedicated to them. Basically, I present to you first a James that is still ignored by his lady love (but no hate and anger here, just apathy). Of course, happy ending. If you've read "Ten Things Girls Want Guys To Do", this is a similar story but entirely separate. Little snippets of their interaction. Fluffy. Again. Very fluffy.
Disclaimer: (*rolls eyes*) Ok. I didn't make up the list, and I don't know who did. I'm sorry, but that's how it goes on MySpace. If you want credit and happen to come across your very own list, let me know and I'll insert it. But I have never claimed any ownership of The List. I own the story. I do not own the characters that you recognize from the Harry Potter books by J.K. Rowling. I'm writing this because it's before 8 a.m. my time, I don't have school, and I slept 12 hours. In other words, I'm bored.
Dedication: To Amanda, my evil Cali twin. Girl, you know which part in here was for you. Thanks for inspiring it. I know I said I'd use it in White Houses, but it's just so natural here. Hope it all goes well, and you'll always be the girl who's me in a parallel universe. Love for always.
To Every Guy
By Natali K. A.
To every guy that says `I love you'.
To every guy that opens doors.
To every guy that walks on the outside of a sidewalk so he can be the first to get hit by a car
that careens off the road and push her out of the way.
*~*
"Go, you can barely keep yourselves in your desks," Minerva McGonagall smiled. "Happy Christmas to you all and try not to kill yourselves in those corridors!" she yelled after them as the Seventh Years all jumped off their seats and exited.
James Potter was one of the first among them. His hair was messier than usual today-to his immense frustration. Within five seconds, he'd already loosened his tie, untucked his shirt, and rolled up his sleeves.
"Where is she?" he muttered to his best mate Sirius Black.
Sirius arched one of his strong, masculine eyebrows and gave James a disgusted yet fond look. "Prongs, just give it up."
"Where is she?" James asked Remus Lupin on his other side.
Remus sighed. "I saw her head for the courtyard. James, don't-"
"See you lot later," James grinned, breaking into a run in spite of the overly crowded corridor. He managed to catch up with her before she'd walked outside. With a few extra sprints, he reached the door before her.
He grabbed the heavy wooden door and opened it, holding it for her and her friends.
Lily Evans looked into his eyes as she passed. "Thanks."
He felt his insides warm up just a slight bit and almost forgot that he wanted to talk to her.
"Evans, I wanted to talk to you!" he called after her. But either she ignored him or couldn't hear him.
Rejection hit him full blast with his defenses down like they were, but he didn't let it show on his face. He was stronger than that.
"She didn't hear you, mate." A hand clapped onto his shoulder. James turned to look at Sirius and Remus. It was Sirius who had spoken.
"You'll get another chance," Remus said comfortingly.
"What's the bloody point?" James scorned. "She doesn't give a Fanged Frisbee whether I fall off the face of the earth or not." He shrugged Sirius' hand off him and headed for a place to brood.
"Lily, I think someone was calling you," Felicia told her.
Lily turned around. "Who?" She scanned the crowd. No one seemed to be trying to get her attention.
"I think it was Potter."
Lily spotted Sirius and Remus, but there was no James to be found.
"I don't see him anywhere. I'll ask him about it before we leave on holiday," Lily shrugged.
But she never remembered to.
*~*
To every guy that holds hands with her.
To every guy that kisses her with meaning.
To every guy that cried in front of her.
To every guy that she cried in front of.
*~*
Back from winter holiday, Lily lay on her bed unable to sleep. She could see the blinding white snow falling outside and she was cold but couldn't summon up the energy to crawl under the covers.
Words from her visit home washed over her for what felt like the millionth time.
"Lily, you need to know what you want to do after school. You have to be prepared to go to university."
"Mum, witches don't go to university. I'm taking a job in wizard society."
"And just what would that be?"
"Dad, don't get upset at me! I'm still young. I don't have to decide just yet."
"When you come back for Easter, Lily, I want to know what you're going to do for the rest of your life. If you don't know, then don't come."
Lily shut her eyes against the tears. She shouldn't have said what she did. She'd always had trouble thinking before she spoke.
Maybe I won't come one way or the other.
An hour later, Lily's eyes felt so swollen she could barely open them and she decided she wanted to read something to get her mind off of her fight with her parents. She picked up her favorite book-a fairy tale, a perfect guy trying to get his perfect girl so they could live their perfect life together, happily ever after.
"Hi."
James Potter was in the common room, in his pajamas-plaid boxers and a muscle shirt. She wondered if he wasn't cold, as the room was overly cool. She pulled her robe closer to her.
"Hi. Can't sleep?"
"Nope. You?"
"Nope."
"Good holiday?"
Lily frowned. "It was until this morning. My parents and I had a fight. Do your parents ever pressure you to figure out what you want to do for the rest of your life?"
James sighed. "No. My parents have always tried to get me to be independent. Ever since I left for Hogwarts, anyway. They love spoiling me-I was their miracle baby-but they hate to suffocate me."
"That's nice."
"I ask for their opinion and they say they'll be happy with whatever I choose to do." James looked at her closely. "Were you crying?"
Lily shrugged. "Big fight," she muttered. "Whenever I'm mad, I tend to say things that I don't mean."
He seemed to understand and he nodded sagely. "You didn't tell them you hated them, did you? That's always the worst-not that I've ever done it."
For some reason, Lily laughed. "No, I didn't say that I hated them." She toyed with the edge of her robe, her book thrown onto the couch beside her, forgotten. "They told me not to come back home until I knew what I want to do. I think that they're unsure whether I'm taking life seriously. They don't understand that there isn't a university for witches-that's just the way it is. And they're pissed about the fact that I have no idea in which direction I want my life to go."
"To which you said…?"
"That I might not come back either way."
"Ah." He visibly winced. "Your parents are as bad-tempered as you?"
"I do not have a bad temper," she denied.
James grinned at her. "Evans, you have a bad temper. Not often, and not for little things, but you're definitely not someone I'd want to cross."
She snorted. "You did it often enough last year and the year before."
He stretched out, yawning. "I liked to see you get riled up. You'd bottle up your anger and that just couldn't have been healthy for you." He turned to her with a perfectly serious face and said somberly, "It's been proven that your head can explode if you do that. I was merely concerned about your safety."
Lily burst out into giggles. "Shut up, Potter." After a few seconds, however, she sobered. "I want to apologize because I really hurt them-especially Mum-but I don't think I did anything wrong. It's my life and I'm of age already."
James listened to her and didn't interrupt her to tell her what he thought or to apologize. He listened, something her friends hardly ever did. It wasn't because they didn't care, only they were just too quick to assume that Lily wanted their opinions on a matter.
She finished recounting the events of earlier that morning crying and felt terribly embarrassed. They weren't enemies but they weren't friends either. Besides, no guy liked to see a girl cry.
"I'm sorry," she apologized. "I just can't seem to help it." She broke out into longer sobs, hiding her face in her knees, hugging her legs to her.
She felt the couch dip with his weight, his arms circle her shoulders and bring her against his chest. She released her legs and sobbed into his shirt, hiding her face because of her shame.
"What's the real problem?"
"My parents are completely right in saying that I'm unsure of where I'm going. I don't know what I want to do after Hogwarts!"
"Do you want my opinion?"
"Yes."
"I think that you don't need to worry about it just yet. You're young and gorgeous-you've still got to party and live the wild life for awhile. It's not as if you're an old maid or anything. It's not that you should ignore thinking about the future, just don't let yourself worry. Everything works out."
Lily nodded, still too self-conscious to look at him. She must look frightening with her hair unbrushed and her face as bright as an apple.
James just held her, and tried not to let himself get carried away. He wanted to kiss her badly-well hell, he wanted to do much more than just kiss, but he wanted to kiss her most of all because he'd spent so much time trying to think of what it would be like.
But he knew it'd be great.
He couldn't take advantage of her now, though. He wasn't an idiot. She was genuinely hurting and worried and-best of all-she'd confided in him. It was unintentional, true, but she'd done it nonetheless.
"Hey, I forgot to ask you before holiday," Lily said suddenly. "On the last day after classes in the courtyard, did you call my name? I wasn't sure and when I looked I didn't see you."
She didn't reject me, he thought. I was just stupid and left.
"Yeah. But it was nothing."
He would ask her later. It just didn't feel right at the moment.
"Alright."
*~*
To every guy that cooks dinner for her.
To every guy that said, "Sex can wait."
To every guy that said, "You're beautiful."
To every guy that was never too busy to drive-or apparate-across town to see her.
To every guy that gives flowers and a card when she is sick (and even a stuffed animal perhaps).
*~*
"How are you feeling?" James asked, popping his head into Lily's room. "You didn't come to the door so I just let myself in, hope you don't mind."
"No, don't come in!" Lily exclaimed, hiding under the covers. "I look like a million bees stung me. You'll never want to kiss me again if you see me like this."
James grinned, stepping further into the room anyway. "Don't be silly. So long as you don't have a bogey running down your face, I'll kiss you. But there's just this line I've got to draw, and that's bogeys."
"I'm bogey free," Lily laughed.
"Good. I've got something for you."
"Presents!" Lily squealed, sitting up in bed. "Let me see. Make a single comment about my hair and you're never allowed in my room again."
His eyes briefly took in the sight of her. Her hair was all over the place and she had little red spots everywhere. Her face also looked a little swollen.
He'd never say a word.
"You look fine, as a sick person should."
"Good answer."
He took his hands out from behind his back and came up with a single red rose and a card. He handed them to her then said, "Hang on, I've got to go get the other thing." He ran outside and came back in with a white teddy bear covered in red spots that looked as if James had placed them there magically. "He looks like you!"
Lily laughed, accepting the gifts gleefully. "Thank you. Does his nose run too?"
"No, I didn't have time to figure out how to do that."
"Good. I've got enough to do with wiping my own nose." She slit open the envelope and read the card, blushing as she read the words. "Thanks, James. It's a really sweet gesture."
He sat down on the edge of her bed, leaning forward for a kiss.
"I'm going to get you sick!"
"But I've already had chicken pox," he whined.
"I've got a cold too."
"Well I don't bloody care, kiss me!"
She gave in, kissing him for as long as she could until she couldn't hold her breath anymore (not being able to breathe through her nose, and all).
"I'll sleep with him every night," she promised, hugging the bear to her. "And I'll think of you."
"Had I known the bear would get better treatment than me, I'd've never given him to you," James sniffed, pretending to be affronted. He broke out into a spontaneous grin. "I'm glad you liked it. I missed you today. I kept thinking about you here, dying and suffering all on your own."
"Oh, Felicia dropped by with lunch. That was nice."
"Yes," he whispered, leaning closer. "But I can satisfy you in a way Felicia never could."
"Ah. Point taken."
*~*
To every guy who has given her flowers just because she is feeling a bit depressed.
To every guy that said he would die for her.
To every guy that really would.
*~*
"You know that I love you, right?" James asked, lying back and keeping his eyes trained on the sky. Lily, on the other hand, was watching him closely. It had always been sort of assumed, never really spoke out loud. It didn't need to be. She knew he loved her.
She didn't reply, however, allowing him to get whatever it was that bothered him off his chest.
"I would die for you."
Lily's eyebrows rose in alarm. "But you don't plan on dying anytime soon, do you? Is there something you're not telling me?"
He turned his head and looked into her eyes. "No, my love, there isn't. I just wanted you to know that. With this lunatic running around, killing people, I just… I'm going to protect you, Lily. I'd never let anything happen to you. They'd have to kill me first." His hand reached out and stroked her cheek, now wet with the tears of fright that had escaped her eyes. "Even then, I know you'll make it. You're so strong."
"James, I don't want to talk about this," Lily whispered, shutting her eyes and cuddling close to him. "I trust you and that's all I ever need to know. Please leave it at that. It scares me to think about anything else."
He hugged her close, and even though he didn't mention it again that night, it was on his mind.
He felt like one day he would die for her. He worried about what would happen to her after he left.
*~*
To every guy that did what she wanted to do.
To every guy that calls to make sure she got home safe.
To every guy that would sit and wait for her for hours just to be able to see her for ten
minutes.
To every guy that treated her like a princess.
*~*
"Hi," Lily said timidly.
"Hi. Ready to go?" James asked, offering his arm.
"Yeah."
They went down to the Great Hall, which had been transformed into a banquet hall. Dumbledore had come up with the idea to invite Beauxbaton and Durmstrang for a dance.
Lily had thought it was utterly ridiculous and pointless, and a waste of good money.
Until James Potter had asked her to accompany him five days before.
She didn't exactly think she liked him, but it made it easier to attend a "couples event" with an actual date. She had considered not going, but as Head Girl she was expected to attend and make the visitors feel at home.
She had held a sore spot with Dumbledore ever since mid-January for proposing the idea and now it was the first Saturday in March. But when James had asked her, she felt perfectly in love with the Headmaster and would've hugged him had he been there.
"We should go talk to the Heads from both schools," James muttered. "Then we can relax."
"Sounds great. Oh, let me go tell one of the Hufflepuff prefects that I need them to do something."
"Would you like me to get you a drink?"
"Water would be great," Lily smiled. He nodded and walked off in the opposite direction.
"I'll find you," he said over his shoulder.
He did indeed find her, with perfect timing as well. They said goodbye to the prefect and went in search of the Heads of the other schools.
"There they are. Together and everything, how handy," Lily said.
They walked over together. As they did, James slipped his hand over hers which surprised her a bit. She laced her fingers with his and smiled at the floor, wondering if anyone noticed.
"Hello. We're so glad that we did this. It seems to have been a great idea," Lily said, nodding to the other Heads.
The Head Girl of Beauxbaton Academy sipped a drink. "It is. It vas a bit `ard to get all ze parents to let zer children come, but it vas definitely vorth ze effort."
The continued to chat, but eventually the music began. It was an old, slow song, one that probably all their parents had danced to.
"Would you dance with me, Lily?" James asked.
"I'd love to," she blushed. "Excuse us. If you need anything, just let us know."
James took her out to the dance floor and drew her close to him. Lily couldn't help but feel that all eyes were on them as they slowly turned to the song. It was a sweet song, in Gaelic. It told the story about a mermaid that had swam around the oceans looking for her long lost love and how she finally found him.
Lily didn't know Gaelic, but she knew what the song meant and what it wanted to make its listeners feel. She felt warm and giddy. So giddy.
"I know I haven't told you tonight, but you look beautiful," James whispered in her ear. "You took my breath away."
Her insides melted as she leaned her head against him. "Thank you."
James kissed her temple, unable to resist. It felt so perfect to have her in his arms and he was extremely pissed with the rest of the people in the room. They weren't supposed to be there, and didn't they know they were ruining a perfectly good moment?
His lips on her shoulders felt warm and smooth. For all she knew, they were the only ones in the room. It was true that she hadn't thought of him as a boyfriend-or not exactly, anyway-but she felt something. She definitely liked being treated like a princess, like she was the most special woman on earth.
Like she was the only one that mattered.
She could feel every part of him that was touching her. His lips occasionally touched her shoulder or her head where he kissed her. One of his arms was on her lower back, forming small, continuous circles. The other was holding one of her own hands, softly rubbing her thumb with his thumb. Their bodies would touch throughout the dance as they moved and it felt incredible.
At that moment, James would have done anything to have her alone. Or maybe he'd kiss her anyway-he definitely didn't care what anyone thought.
*~*
To every guy that would give his seat up.
To every guy that just wants to cuddle.
To every guy that will just sleep with her without expecting sex.
To every guy who would give their jacket up.
*~*
"Thank you, I had a really great time." It was nearly four in the morning, and they'd finally finished cleaning up after the banquet. "I'm glad I went with you."
James nodded, hands in his pockets. He looked so smart in his dress robes, so very handsome. Lily wondered if he'd try to kiss her.
She wondered if she'd let him.
"I'm glad I asked you. It was great fun poking fun at the funny looking guys from Durmstrang with you."
Lily laughed. "You're evil, James. Here, I'll give you your over-robe back." She had gotten cold late into the evening, and he had removed the outer layer of his robe for her without even asking a thing. She hadn't mentioned she was cold, she hadn't asked for it. He'd simply noticed and draped it over her shoulders.
"Keep it for now," he shrugged. "It'll give me a reason to talk to you tomorrow."
"You can talk to me whenever you'd like, James, and you don't need a reason."
He smiled slightly. "That's good to know." He blew out his breath suddenly. "Lily, I want to kiss you. Very badly."
"No," she shook her head, knowing that she was blushing. She could feel her cheeks heat up.
"Are you sure?" he asked, eyebrow raised.
"No, I'm not," she laughed softly. "You could probably persuade me."
He didn't ask her again, but instead leaned down and pressed his lips to hers. He would have kissed her harder, more urgently, probably would've shagged her right then and there-except that he didn't want to scare her.
"Good night, James." She turned and walked up the stairs into the dormitory.
*~*
To every guy that reassured her that she was beautiful no matter what (even if she got fat).
To every guy who told his secrets to her.
To every guy that tried to show how much he cared through every word and every breath.
To every guy that thought maybe this could be the one.
To every guy that believed in her dreams.
To every guy that would have done anything so she could achieve them.
To every guy that never laughed at her when she told him her dreams.
To every guy that wasn't just trying to get laid.
To every guy that actually cared.
Thanks.
*~*
A/N: Long, once again. But ok. I seriously liked this story. I started writing this way long ago, like two weeks. But I'd forgotten all about it. So, this is instead White Houses, which I just got writers' block for.
Review? Spanks. You know you love me. (That's from the Gossip Girl Series, innit?)
Much love,
Natali K. A.
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