Trouble in Paradise

Trouble in Paradise

Chapter 1: Paradise

“Oy, James!” Sirius shouted to his best friend. “Come here—this kid wants to propose!”

As James laughed and began walking over to Sirius, the first year that was standing next to him turned scarlet and practically sprinted back to the castle.

“You should have heard him, mate! That boy worships you. The whole lot of them do. Oh, James is the greatest Quidditch player ever! He's just incredible! I wonder if he'd give me his autograph!”

James shoved Sirius and laughed. “Oh, come on, Padfoot. You know you agree with him!”

“Oh, I don't know about that. But I do know that if those first years don't stop flattering you, your head will be bigger than all of Hogwarts!”

James laughed, and the two of them sat down next to the lake, where Remus and Peter sat with half a dozen textbooks. “What are you two up to?” he asked them.

“What does it look like?” Peter replied grumpily. “We're studying.”

Remus laughed. “Yea, you know, that thing you never do?”

“Well I would, but I just don't need to,” James said, lying down on the grass.

“Yea,” Sirius agreed. “We know all that stuff already. And everything else there is to know as well.”

“So what's going on with you two?” Remus asked, looking up from his book. “Done anything interesting this morning?”

“Well, that depends on what you'd call interesting,” James said.

Sirius looked at him and laughed. “James dumped Louisa this morning.”

“Really?” Remus asked incredulously. “Why?”

James simply shrugged.

Sirius laughed. “So who's next? How about that new girl—Christine Thomas?”

James shook his head slowly.

“What about Emma Miller, from Ravenclaw?” Remus asked. “She's really pretty.”

“Then you go out with her,” James said, closing his eyes.

“Oh, and I hear Lily Evans is single again,” Sirius said suddenly. “And if you don't go for her, I definitely will. That girl is really something.”

James looked up. “Who?”

“Lily Evans,” Remus said slowly. “For someone who gets such good grades, you're not so quick.”

James laughed. “Lily Evans? Sounds familiar, but I can't think who she is.”

Sirius looked at him blankly. “She's in our year, and she's in our house, and she's in quite a few of our classes.”

James looked puzzled. “I think I know who she is, but I've never spoken to her before. That's odd. Oh well, she must not be very memorable, that's all.”

“She definitely is,” Sirius said. “She's pretty much the only one that could rival you in memorableness.”

“Memorableness isn't a word,” Remus said without looking up.

“It is now,” Sirius said quickly. “So seriously, James, I think you should talk to her. She's really great. You won't regret it.”

~

“Lily Evans, can I see you for a moment?”

Lily stood up and walked to Professor Vector's desk. “Yes sir?”

Professor Vector smiled. “I just wanted to inform you that you earned a perfect score on the last exam. That was a very difficult exam, and a perfect score is unprecedented. You are an amazing student, and I am very proud to be teaching you. Congratulations, Miss Evans.”

Lily smiled widely. “Thank you very much, Professor.”

“What was that about? Are you in trouble?” asked Emily Hammond, Lily's best friend, as she left the classroom. She laughed. “No, what am I saying? You're never in trouble!”

Lily laughed with her. “Professor Vector just wanted to congratulate me on my perfect score on the last exam.”

Emily stopped laughing. “The last exam? You mean the one that was so hard that Tim Walden started crying right in the middle of it? The exam that was so impossible that half the class handed back blank papers? The exam that was responsible for ruining the grades of generations of amazing students?”

Lily nodded slowly.

“You know, you're really incredible. I don't know how you do it. It's not even that you're just good in school, either. You're virtually perfect in every way!”

Lily laughed. “I'm not perfect. I suppose I'm just lucky!”

Emily laughed with her. “Well I'm just hoping some of that luck rubs off on me!”

The two girls walked down the steps of the castle, laughing all the way. When they reached the courtyard, they were joined by Christine Thomas.

“You'll never guess what I just heard!” She shrieked, making them jump. Without giving them time to answer, she went on. “I hear James Potter just split up with Louisa Winters! She's devastated!”

“You seem a bit happy,” Lily said, frowning.

“Well, it's great!”

“I fail to see what part of that is good,” Emily said slowly.

“He's SINGLE!” she shouted, jumping up and down.

Lily looked puzzled. “James Potter… is that the boy who sits in the back of Transfiguration and throws things at people?”

Emily and Christine both looked at Lily strangely.

“You're joking right?” Christine said quietly. “That's Roger Simlan. James Potter is nothing like him at all. James Potter is only the most wonderful guy to ever walk the halls of Hogwarts. How can you not know exactly who he is?”

Emily agreed with her for once. “I can't imagine how you could mix James Potter up with anybody. I thought everyone knew him!”

Lily shrugged. “Well I'd probably recognize him if you pointed him out, but I've never spoken to him or anything.”

Christine grabbed her arm and started dragging her toward the lake.

“What are you doing?” Lily gasped as she stumbled after her.

“Everyone should know James Potter. I'm just helping you out,” she replied.

As they got closer to the lake, Lily saw who they were heading for. He was tall, with dark scruffy hair, and Lily was sure she had never seen anyone so gorgeous in her entire life. He looked up as they got closer, looking puzzled, but slightly amused.

~

“That's her, isn't it?” James whispered to Sirius as the two girls got closer. “That's Lily Evans.”

“Oh yea, that's her.” Sirius said, sounding uninterested.

“She's beautiful,” James said, smiling.

“Yea,” said Remus and Sirius together.

James stood up slowly as the girls reached them.

“Hi James,” Christine said flirtatiously. “I hear you're single again.”

“Uh, yea, I guess so,” he said, not taking his eyes off of Lily. “Hey, I'm James Potter.”

“Lily Evans,” she replied, smiling.

Sirius laughed quietly at the disappointed look on Christine's face. “Why don't you come over here, Christine?” he asked gently.

“Oh, fine,” she replied moodily. “I'll just go, and let these two get on with it.” She stomped off, but Lily and James didn't seem to notice.

Hope you liked it! I totally understand if you didn't though… This chapter is just leading up to the rest of it. It'll start getting good soon!

Anyway, review!

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Thanks for all the reviews! They were great! Here's the next chapter:

Chapter 2: Just a Bad Day

“I don't mean to be rude,” James started cautiously, “but I don't really remember you.”

Lily smiled. “Actually, before today, I didn't really know who you were either. It's really strange, though, because you'd think after being in the same house for seven years, we'd remember each other!”

“Yea, it's weird. I mean, you'd think I'd remember someone as beautiful as you.”

Lily laughed. “Very smooth,” she said sarcastically. “I'm practically weak at the knees!”

James laughed back. “Ok, ok. I know that wasn't the greatest line. Give me a break.” He sat down by the edge of the lake, and Lily sat down next to him. “Well anyway, there's only one thing we can do now.”

“And what's that?”

James smiled. “We'll have to get to know each other extra well right now to make up for all that time we missed.”

~

Lily and James sat and talked and laughed by the lake for 5 hours before they noticed that they were getting quite hungry, and relocated to the Great Hall for dinner. Lily glanced over at her friends, and they smiled and waved at her. Emily winked.

“Well, your friends are supportive,” James joked.

Lily laughed. “Well what about your friends? Where are they?”

James lost a bit of color in his face. “Oh, well… I think Remus is coming down with something. So Sirius and Peter were hanging with him in his room…to make sure he's alright.”

“Oh no! He's sick? Should you be with him too?”

“Well, actually, I spoke to him, and he thinks they can do without me this time.”

Lily looked puzzled. “This time?”

“I mean… well he's gonna be sick for a couple days… I'll stay with him another time.”

Lily narrowed her eyes, but said nothing.

James laughed uneasily. “So, anyway…” he said slowly. “I've had a lot of fun today. It's a shame I never knew you before.”

“Yea, this has been really great,” she replied, smiling.

“You know, there's a Hogsmeade trip this weekend. Do you wanna go with me?”

She smiled again. “I'd love to.”

They spent as much time as they could together, but eventually, it was time to go to bed. The two of them said goodnight, and as Lily got into bed, she felt she had never had a better day.

~

The next morning, Emily was terribly curious as to what had happened, as was Catherine, who quickly joined them walking down to breakfast. She was always very excited, but after Lily had told the two of them that James had asked her out, Catherine wasn't nearly so perky.

Lily was still feeling giddy about the previous night. She reached out for the last piece of bacon, but someone snatched it up before she could grab it. Emily was giving her a funny look, but she ignored it.

She stood up and reached over to the toast, but in an instant, three other people grabbed all the toast on the plate.

“What's going on here?” she said to Catherine. “Can't I get any breakfast?”

Emily reached out and put some scrambled eggs on Lily's plate. “There you go,” she laughed.

Lily smiled. “Thanks, Emily.” She reached for her fork, but before she could get any eggs, a first year, Roger, sat down at the other side of Lily, and knocked the plate onto the floor.

“Hey, watch it!” he said, turning away.

Lily was in shock. “This is ridiculous!” she said to Emily. “Maybe I'll just skip breakfast. I'm not so hungry anyway.” She stood up, grabbing her bag, but it caught on her chair and ripped open, sending books and papers flying everywhere.

Emily looked at Lily. “Wow. Someone's having a bad day.”

~

James rolled out of bed, and got dressed as quickly as he could. If he hurried, he might catch Lily at breakfast.

Sirius and Peter were still sleeping, which was understandable, considering they had been out all night. Full moons always tired them all out.

James took a quick look in the mirror, and then rushed down to breakfast. He didn't make it very far, though, because right outside the door, Benjamin Bralin, a fourth year, was standing with a jar of some thick, black liquid for a potion. James barreled out of the door, knocking into Benjamin, and sending his jar flying in the air.

It seemed to happen in slow motion. James and Benjamin were on the floor, and the black liquid was in the air. Then the thick, black liquid (which also smelled worse than anything James had ever come into contact with) spilled all over James, who lay there in complete shock.

“Watch where you're going Potter!” Benjamin shouted, picking up the broken pieces of the jar. “I don't know how I'm gonna brew that stupid potion now.” He walked away, leaving James lying there in shock as the vile liquid ran down him.

Unfortunately, Lily could not have picked a worse time to enter the common room.

“Wow. That's pretty gross,” she laughed as she walked over. But halfway there, she stopped laughing and covered her nose. “Wow! That really is gross! What is it?”

“No clue,” James said, pushing himself up.

Lily offered her hand, and he grabbed it, attempting to get up. Instead he slipped on a puddle of whatever it was, and fell back down, pulling Lily down with him. Now they were both covered in it.

“You've gotta be kidding,” Lily said slowly. “This is disgusting.”

“Tell me about it,” James said slowly. He started laughing, and Lily looked at him like he was crazy. “Oh, come on. You have to see the humor in this!”

Lily smiled, but didn't laugh. “I'm not having the best day.”

James looked sympathetic. “And it's not even close to being over. But at least you'll have lots of time to make up for it.”

“I suppose so,” she said, smiling. “It could get better.”

Just then, in a nearly unprecedented visit to the Gryffindor common room, Professor McGonagoll entered though the portrait hole.

She looked as if she might make an announcement, but then she saw Lily and James lying on the floor covered in something, and suddenly started shouting. “What are you two doing? And what is that smell? I would never have expected something like this from either of you! Detention!”

She stormed out, leaving them in shock.

Lily frowned. “Well, I don't think today will be getting any better.”

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