Listen To Your Heart by HiJane_2

Disclaimer: I own nothing that comes directly from J. K. Rowling's published works, nor do I get any benefit besides the occational review (hint hint)!

A/N: Edited 2/13/08. Errors fixed. Flashback completely changed. Not as cheesy (hopefully!).

Chapter 1: Summer’s End August 1976

James Potter was quietly sitting on his bed, thinking, thinking hard. James gave a great sigh thinking of his dilemma with getting a date with Lily. How could he accomplish this unattainable goal, he’d tried for two whole years to get her to notice him rather than his ego, that was the size of Russia, as she had so eloquently put it.

He’d put up with insults if only she would agree to go out with him just once in his life, yes he’d been wanting to take her out on a date for two years, but in truth he’d been in love with her for over four years. For reasons unknown, the fates decided that he would fall in love with the only girl that wouldn’t give him the light of day or dark of night.

He signed moodily and stretched out down on his bed with his head resting on top of his arms. He was contemplating so hard that he didn’t take note to the trouble coming in the form of his best friend Sirius Black.

"Hey Prongs STOP sulking and come play some Quidditch with me!" Sirius bellowed in his ear.

"Ouch Padfoot… are you trying to make me go deaf!" James spat crumpling up his face and giving him a very dark look.

"Oh is Prongs in an irritable mood? Do you need you a lie-down?"

"No, I’m in a very good mood!" his words reflecting the opposite to his sharp tone of voice.

"Then it must be that Jamie is in Lily Land and doesn’t want to be brought back to the real world." Sirius said teasingly.

James trying to cover-up his slight blush said waspishly. "Don’t call me Jamie," he growled "And no Sirius, I was just… just," James’s voice trailing off lamely.

"Just thinking how nice it would be to snog Evans senseless?" Sirius stated mischievously with a lopsided smirk.

"No… I… I," James muttered as he glanced about the room looking for a distraction to catch Sirius‘s attention. "Was just thinking how nice it would be if… we… could go outside and play Quidditch!"

Sirius just rolled his eyes and then good-naturedly agreed to go play a rousing game of Quidditch.

"So Padfoot when are you going back home?" James asked while they were walking back to the Manor.

"Oh well Prongs, I don’t think I’m ever going back truthfully." Sirius answered.

"What? You're running away and never going back?" asked James half surprised, half in disbelief.

"Well yeah, I’ve had enough of all their crap they give me."

"I think my parents will love that you’re staying here ‘til you get settled in somewhere else." James said.

"Hey Prongs, I’m going to the kitchens to get me a snack. Do you want something?" asked Sirius heading in the direction of the said room after they had reached the back terrace.

"Umm no. I don’t think I will actually. I need to go in my room and write a letter to…. to… my… er…"

"How about I’ll get myself a snack while you go and write a poem to your oh so secret crush." Sirius snickered sarcastically.

"I am certainly NOT writing any love poems for your information," James said while heading up the stairs.

"But it might be about a certain person who could do with a little prodding in the right direction though." he said quietly to himself as he continued to his bedroom and shut the door with an inaudible click.

-&-&--&-

"Lily, come downstairs please. I need to take your measurements for your bridesmaid’s dress!" Carrie Evans called up to her daughter. Lily was sitting on her windowsill looking away from the window to her door and trying her hardest to pretend she couldn’t hear her mother’s summons.

"Now Lily, I don’t have all day, I still have to sew three other dresses for Petunia’s wedding!" said Carrie trying to coax Lily downstairs.

"Fine. I’m coming Mum, just let me have one more second before I have to even think of that darn wedding coming up!" Lily yelled a she tried to stall the moment she had to go down to help with the wedding.

"Now Lily Elisabeth Evans!" Carrie finished as she left the stairway and going to the living room to join her other older daughter Petunia Evans, soon to be Petunia Dursley.

Lily finally complied with her mother’s call, tromping loudly down the stairs to the living room also joining the wedding preparations.

"I’m here now… let’s just get this over with." Lily said with a slight edge in her voice.

"What? Aren’t you happy that you won’t have to deal with me anymore? Oh, of course, you’re just upset because for this short period you’re not the center of attention." Petunia sneered.

"Now Petunia, you be nice to your sister," chastened her mother.

"Don’t worry mother she talks to me this way all the time, I’m used to it by now," replied Lily. Petunia only whipped away from Lily and tried to ignore her completely.

"Dash it all. Will you two at least try to act civil around each other for one moment please? It would help us just a little with the tension that’s being brought on by all of the stress of the wedding," their mother said trying to settle the uncomfortable moment brought by her two quarreling daughters.

"Okay Mum. I’ll be compliant for you." Lily answered sweetly giving her most innocent look.

"Yeah that’s right Lily, kiss up to Mum and look all sweet and innocent even though we all know that‘s not true." Petunia put in.

"Girls please, I must insist that you stop all this nonsense right now." Carrie said. "I can‘t take much more and Petunia you‘ll need to check the guest list is right."

"Can you take my measurements now Mum," Lily said looking out the window. "I want to go outside soon. It looks inviting and nobody has a great dislike for me there."

"Oh Lily please, your not that disliked, we both love you to pieces even if we show it differently." Mrs. Evans said trying to console her daughter.

"Speak for yourself." Petunia murmured under her breath, fortunately for Petunia her mother didn’t hear her.

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"Gosh… finally I can be alone with myself, thinking my own thoughts in peace!" Lily sighed to herself trying to calm down a bit.

"What are you doing outside Lily? Shouldn’t you be inside helping?" said a quiet voice behind Lily.

"AAHHH! Dad you scared me half to death. Don’t do that!" Lily said with her fast-hammering heart.

"What are you doing outside anyway, Dad?" Lily asked Matthew Evans as she regained her composure.

"I just got home from work, and I wanted to see you before I went in to the mad house, but don’t let your mother hear me say that." He whispered conspiratorially.

Lily giggled. Her father soon joined in and they both enjoyed a carefree moment from all the stress endured because of the quick-approaching wedding. Lily and her father chatted together sitting on the front porch like when she was younger until a shrill voice interrupted them.

"Lily you need to come in and help me with some more projects NOW!" cried Petunia loudly.

"Alright keep your hairnet on I’m coming… man can’t a girl have any peace in this place." Lily took her dad’s hand and they both walked in the house as Lily prepared for more insults from Petunia.

-&-&--&-

The Plan

First thing to do: Capture Lily’s heart. But if that gets to be too hard, just accept the fact that she might not feel the way I feel. Try to just be her friend first and see how that works out before expecting more.

Second: Stop cursing Snape - Lily’s really hates that and you can’t forget why you’re doing all this for. Catch Lily and don’t let her go. If I can get her then it’ll be a miracle!

"Prongs? What are you doing up here you’ve been gone forever it seems!" Sirius roared in James ear just to annoy him.

"I’m doing nothing that concerns you, that’s for sure." James said while trying but failing to hide the list from Sirius.

"Hey what do you have there Prongs? Oh no… not a letter to Evans that you’ll never get the courage to send her, right?" Sirius asked with a look full of disbelief.

"No I’m not writing anything like that for your information." James retorted.

"Yeah right mate, you’re more tense than Peter before a full moon!" Sirius said with a laugh thinking of full moons and their other two friends, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew.

"Well let me see it at any rate, it would give me a laugh and you know how much I love to laugh." Sirius said.

"No way Padfoot, this is personal, besides you couldn’t catch me anyway." James said with a grin.

"Is that a challenge?" he asked.

"I guess it is…" with that James ran down the hallway and past several unused guest rooms and raced down the spiral staircase and he threw open the front doors and flew down the path that led to the backyard.

"I’ll get it from you Prongs, whatever it is…" the latter yelled to James, as he quickly caught up to his friend.

James not knowing Sirius was so close he slowed down a small degree, whilst Sirius took a running jump and tackled James to the ground that was near the edge of the wooded area that the Potter’s owned while he forcibly took the letter from James.

"Hey give that back NOW! That’s mine you little…" Sirius ignoring James scanned the parchment before him.

"So there Prongs I caught ya… you. What is this all about! Whoa! What do you mean you just want to be -- what was it --- just a friend? I don’t believe I’ve ever heard you say anything like that. Especially if you’re talking about Lily!" Sirius said incredulously.

"What! You don’t believe I can do that? Just being friends?" asked James giving Sirius a look of determination. "I can and will do it! Even if I feel more than she does!"

"It’s not that I believe you can’t do it. It’s just I don’t think I’ve ever heard you talk this way before."

"Can I PLEASE have it back now!" James yelled to Sirius with an impatient hand.

"Are you really going to try and not pick on Snape either?"

"Yes as a matter of fact I am! Now can I have my plan thingy." James demanded.

"Wow. I never thought that my little Jamie would ever grow up so soon." Sirius drawled out the last word and then wiped away pretend tears and handed James his parchment back.

"Oh just shut up if you want a snack from the kitchens."

"Did you say snack? I’ll beat you to the kitchen!" Sirius interrupted James and had stopped acting as if he was crying and ran in the direction of the mansion whilst laughing uncontrollably.

James just rolled his eyes and slowly walked to the kitchen thinking of his new plans and what reason could possibly answer the question why Sirius could never be serious when his name WAS Sirius.

-&-&--&-

"Good night mum, dad, Petunia. I’m going to bed, I‘m tired." Lily called to her family. "Now that we’re all done with the wedding arrangements for today, anyway." She then shut her bedroom door and changed into her pajamas and climbed into her bed.

Looking up through her bedroom window into the clear night sky, Lily started to think about what a boring summer she’s had, with only the wedding planning to keep her busy.

Lily wanted something else to occupy her vacation time; anything would do really, just nothing that had to do with weddings that is. Wishing she could owl some of her own friends and vent all of her frustrated feelings about only doing the little boring details and having to sit through all the endless discussions of the wedding, and wishing upon wishing that she had a best friend to confide everything to who lived in close proximity to her.

She wanted to be anywhere but here, having to deal with her mean sister and the nonstop talk of the upcoming marriage ceremony that was to happen at the end of August.

The end of August. Now that’s the only thing that Lily had been looking forward to all summer. Usually every summer vacation was spent in a new and exciting location where she could learn new and enlightening things, but this year she’d had to stay in her own house and learn the tedious details of putting a wedding together.

But going on the Hogwarts Express via Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was to be the best event since getting home. Then she’d be able to be back with all her friends, schoolwork and heck even annoying persistent Potter would do for a good distraction. Potter now that’s something she hadn’t had enough energy to think about in awhile.

‘Why does he have to be so annoying about going out with me,’ Lily thought to herself. ‘I mean why would he be that desperate? I’m not even half as popular as he is with all his "fan clubs" and other such things…

'He’d just dump me once we went out after a week or something awful like that….’

"Oh snap out of it Lily stop thinking about Jam… Oh No I did not just almost call Potter… JAMES!" Lily thought anxiously.

"Oh my what has gotten in to me, I can’t start getting comfy with Potter. He’s my sworn enemy!" Lily whispered to herself.

It was well known at Hogwarts that Lily and James didn’t get along in the slightest, especially after the incident in their 5th year by the lake. ‘Humph that stupid Potter, and to think that Severus did nothing to deserve all that humiliation and embarrassment.’ Lily thought bake to the end of last year after she had taken her O.W.L.s.

Flashback

Lily and her best friends: Tory, Kathleen and Nicole were sitting and chatting about anything and nothing with each other after taking their Defense Against the Dark Arts exam on the lake edge with their feet dipped in the refreshingly cool water. It was relaxing to get a break from the stress of exams. But the quiet was broken when they heard yelling from behind them in the distance.

"What was that?" Tory asked looking around to the source of the noise. Across the lawn people were circled round a group of boys and a guy with jet-black hair who stood out the most.

‘I‘d know that head of hair anywhere,’ Lily thought, disgusted with the person she knew to be a bully, and seeing with grim satisfaction that she was right about being a bully. Right in front of the girl’s eyes they saw that the boys were picking on Severus Snape a fellow 5th year, but who was in Slytherin, with James and Sirius looking very smug, and James's wand was pointed at Severus.

'Oh I'm so sick of Potter and his stupid stunts he tries to pull, and attacking Severus for no reason most likely. Is he going to get the idea that no one should like that?' she growled soundlessly and then indicated to her friends that they should see what was happening and then she and her friends pushed their way up to the front of the group that was gathering around Snape, James and his friends.

Lily noticed that Remus wasn’t participating, but neither was he helping. Pettigrew wasn’t standing up like Black and Potter were, but he was laughing along with Black as they continued to humiliate Snape, and by the looks of it, Snape had been hit with the Impediment jinx.

As Lily marched closer to the boys, she heard Potter tell Snape to clean his mouth and then she heard him cast the cleaning charm at Snape, making him choke on the foaming bubbles flooding out of his mouth.

Lily saw red, nothing could stand in her way from helping the poor boy that was helpless to defend himself, she was so upset that she couldn‘t stay silent anymore because of the harassment being given. The words flowed out of her mouth like water from a fount.

"Leave him ALONE!" she thundered. Both Potter and Black twisted around to see her in a towering rage, and she was annoyed to see that Potter had raised his hand up and ran it through his hair to make it look messier than before.

Potter tried to talk with her, but she wasn’t to be deterred from what she had come to do, and that was to help Severus. She again demanded Potter to release Severus but Potter only asked her on a date for what seemed like the hundred thousandth time.

As she told him that she would rather date the giant squid she saw that Snape had retrieved his wand, but before he could do anything unnoticed Black alerted Potter of the fact and as he whipped around his cheek was hit by a spell she didn’t hear what it was. Quicker than she could blink Severus was upside-down hanging by his ankle and the area was filled with cheering from the people gathered and the bullies were roaring with laughter.

Lily was irritated with herself as an involuntary smile tried to slide up on her face. To keep herself from smiling she shouted again to let Severus be, and Potter finally listened to her, but it wasn’t as smoothly as she had imagined for Potter jerked his wand and Snape tumbled down in an undignified manner.

As Snape righted himself and half raised his wand but Black quickly cast a full-body bind on him and his limbs snapped together and fell flat on his face.

Yet again she yelled for them to leave him alone, and though he argued with her he finally let him go and said, "There you go you’re lucky Evans was here, Snivellus—"

But before he could finish, he was interrupted by Snape.

"I don’t need help from filthy little Mudbloods like her!"

She was shocked, hadn’t she just tried to defend him? Hadn’t she just spent the last twenty minutes fighting with Potter to let him free? Was it all for nothing?

Potter then tried to get Snape to apologize to her, but she’d had enough. Didn’t he understand the arrogance that radiated from him a mile away? Didn’t he understand that bullying the innocent was just as bad?

After telling him exactly what she thought of him and pointed out the things that frustrated her the most she then twisted around and hurried off back to the castle with her friends in toe. ‘Stupid Potter! He just doesn't get it ever does he! Well I'll just ignore him from now on...'

She heard him yell her name but Lily took no notice of him and waited for her friends to catch up with her as she neared the castle. She thought back to the promise she needed to keep if she wanted her sanity to stay in check. But that would be easy; and that was to keep ignoring him, and not just as he screamed for her to go back to where he was.

End Flashback

Lily slowly fell into a fitful sleep thinking of all the times that Potter had left her tossing and turning in her sleep and kept her wondering whether he’d ever change from a bully to a gentlemen. She pledged to herself that in order to keep herself together she was to avoid Potter like the plague.

A/N: The bolded dialogue and the whole scene in the flashback was from J.K. Rowling’s Order of the Phoenix, chapter 28, Snape‘s Worst Memory U.S. edition pages 646-648. I didn’t write the memory, I’m just changing it to fit my story, for they are J. K. Rowling’s, I’m just giving credit where credit is due. So every person and circumstance that you recognize in this story belongs to J.K. Rowling, not me!