[OS] Not Just Puppy Love

"Honey, the new neighbours are moving in!" A woman said as she pulled away from the window to walk back into the kitchen where her husband was slaving away at making lunch.

"You're so nosy," he said while chopping a carrot, "Muggles?"

"Who's nosy now?" she smirked back at him, "Well, dearest, considering this is a dominantly muggle neighbourhood, I would assume they were muggles."

"Ah, but you could be wrong!" He reminded gently as he slid the slices of carrot into a pot,

"But you can't be anything but annoying," She smiled, "Should we welcome them to the city? That's what happened when we moved here five years ago."

"Hmm... they could be dark wizards and instantly kill us at the first moment!" He laughed at the absurdity of the thought, "Should play it safe and send a spy to bring down their defenses!"

"Are you talking about sending our son over there?" She inquired, although already knowing the answer,

"Of course! He's too cute! They won't have the heart to hex such a kid," He winked as he began skinning a potato.

"Very well," his wife laughed as she headed out the kitchen, "By the way, have you any idea what you're cooking?"

"Not the slightest," he called after her.

Standing at the bottom of the steps, she inhaled deeply before calling loudly up the stairs for her one and only son. Seconds later, a small boy at the age of six, came around the corner at the top of the steps and plopped himself at the top landing. Dressed in his usual play clothes of a red t-shirt and jean shorts, he scrunched his nose irritably at his mother,

"I was playing!" He whined,

"I can see that, you're hair's a complete mess!" She admonished at her son,

"Aw mum, y'know my hair's always like this," he said exasperatedly, wishing this business be done so he could go back to his room and play with his wizard's chess set. When she was silent for a second longer than he liked, he began to pick at a bandaid he had on the bridge of his nose.

"You stop that! You know it won't get better if you do that," his mother scolded, "Your father and I had a special wizard mission for you, but if you would rather go back to your room, that's fine by me." She pretended to head back to the kitchen only for a few seconds, for her predictable son ran the rest of the way down the stairs and pulled at her long skirt to stop her,

"No mum! I can do the mission! Please!" He looked up at her with wide eyes, fired by excitement,

His mother pretended hesitance before sighing heavily and giving in, "Very well. We have new neighbours moving in next door. Your father wants you to go over there and welcome them."

"This doesn't sound like a special wizard mission," he pouted, letting go of her skirt,

"Oh, but it is son! Your father suspects they might be dark wizards!" Immediately, the little boy's eyes lit up again and before she could stop him, he was out the front door.

---

The little boy peered around the white picket fence which separated the two properties. He watched as large men moved furniture from a large truck in the drive-way into the house.

Must be muggles! The boy thought, Unless they're pretending!

His eyes wandered towards the two-storey house which had been empty for a few weeks now. He remembered the people who used to live there - A muggle, married couple who moved closer to London. Finally, his gaze fell upon the family moving in. A man who looked close to the age of his father, stood by the front door, instructing the movers where to place the furniture within the house. Off to the side stood a woman who looked close to his mother's age. She had a prominent belly, the boy noted, but then realized she had her hand grasped onto the hand of a small girl's. Suddenly, the woman looked down at the girl and they exchanged words. As the boy watched, he was startled when they both looked over at him. They looked back at each other and the woman let go of the girl's hand.

Wanting to be brave, the boy stood by the fence post as the girl skipped over. He was fascinated with the colour of her hair, he'd never seen anyone with hair that shade of red, or eyes that colour of green.

"Hi, I'm Lily Evans," she greeted once she reached him, "and I want to know why you're standing beside my fence!"

"It was my fence first!" He defended, "And I'm standing beside here because I'm on a special mission!" He puffed his little chest out proudly.

"What kind of mission?" She asked curiously,

Overjoyed to find someone to brag to, he whispered to her in a conspiratorial tone, "I have to welcome you to the neighbourhood!"

She pouted, hands on her hips, "That's not a mission!"

"Is so!" He replied, "You could be a dark wizard!"

"A dark wizard? Magic doesn't exist!" Lily argued,

"It does so!" The boy exclaimed,

"How do you know?" Lily challenged,

"Because I'm older than you and I know more than you!" He insisted,

"You don't even know how old I am!" She reminded him in an exasperated tone,

"Well, how old are you then?" He asked, running a hand through his hair absent-mindedly.

"I'm five," she answered.

"HA! I'm six," he said proudly, "So there! Magic does exist!"

"Fine!" She pouted angrily, "But I'll be six soon too!"

"LILY! COME EAT LUNCH!"

Lily looked over her shoulder to see her mother now calling from a window. She sighed and looked back at the boy, "I have to go. Can we play after?"

"I don't know, you're a girl and I heard girls have cooties," he said reluctantly,

"We do not!" Lily argued then paused, "What are cooties?"

"I don't know," he shrugged,

"Maybe they're like cookies!" She said enthusiastically, "Chocolate chip are the best!"

His face brightened immediately, "Yeah! Then we can play later!"

"Bye!" She smiled and turned to leave. After running a few steps, she turned back and ran back to him,

"Later means more than a few seconds," he told her,

"I know that!" She defended, "I just forgot to ask, what's your name?"

"Oh, it's James Potter. But don't call me Jamie because that's a baby name and I'm not a baby!" James warned seriously,

Lily laughed before leaving, "I know, you're six!"


---
Five months later ...
---


"But why!?" James demanded to Lily.

The sky above was gray and threatening to pour down on them. The wind was gathering strength as the day bore on.

"Dad says the baby is sick," Lily explained quietly, "We need to move to London, closer to a spe - spec... a really good doctor."

"Can't you stay behind?" James asked,

Lily shook her head, "Baby smiles more when I'm around. I can't leave now when she's sick."

"Will you come back?" James inquired hopefully,

"I- I don't know," Lily said, her voice dropping to a whisper as her lip trembled.

"I thought we were bestest friends!" James accused angrily, "You said we could play every day!" Lily dropped her gaze to the ground as James fought the urge to cry. He wouldn't cry, because wizards don't cry. "I wish you didn't have to go Lily."

"I wish I didn't have to go, too," she said solemnly.

"LILY! C'MON WE HAVE TO GO!" Her mother's familiar voice called from the car in the driveway. The movers had already come earlier that morning and had gone ahead to the new house.

Lily looked up anxiously at James, "I... I have to go now."

" 'kay." He replied in a defeated tone.

She lurched towards him, wrapping her arms around his neck and hugging him tightly. He found himself hugging her back as well.

"You're my bestest friend Lily!" He declared earnestly,

"I'll never forget you," Lily promised as she slowly let go of her first friend.

"Of course you won't," he put on a brave smile, "Because we'll meet again!"

"Really?" She smiled hopefully.

"Really!" He promised.

And within seconds, James watched his first and best friend leave as the clouds finally released their burdens. He heard his mother calling him and after watching Lily's car disappear around a corner, he turned and ran towards his house where his mother awaited within the door way. He ran straight towards her and hugged her legs as he decided wizards can cry sometimes.

---

Later that night, as James finally fell asleep, his father placed down the story book and quietly left his room. He encountered his wife waiting for him in the hallway,

"It's really hard on him. Took three books to put him to sleep," He said solemnly as he closed the door behind him. "He'll be happy once he finds someone else to play with," he insisted without confidence,

His wife sighed heavily, "It might take awhile, after all, I believe our little boy just had his first run in with puppy love."


---
Five years later...
---


"Aw mum, don't embarass me!"

"James, I am not embarassing you! Just because I'm a little emotional that my little boy is going off to Hogwarts," James' mother said, her voice cracking as she wrapped her arms around him again.

James looked pleadingly at his father, "Dear, the train's leaving soon, you have to let go of him."

"But I did!"

"You did not," James whined. She opened her tear-soaked eyes and realized that, in fact, she was still holding onto her son. She released him and nodded permission for him to leave. "I'll write mum, don't worry," he called over his shoulder as he ran into the train.

Once aboard, he walked down the corridor to find a compartment with room. He had to settle for a compartment near the end which already held an occupant. Sliding the door open, James confronted the young boy,

"S'alright I join you?" James asked,

The boy, who was lying across one side of the seats and his hands folded behind his head, opened an eye at James, "Are you in Slytherin?"

"NO! I never want to be sorted there!" James declared passionately. He had always heard of dark wizards belonging to Slytherin,

"Then you're more than welcome," the boy smiled as he moved a lock of his long black hair from his face, "First year, too, huh?"

James nodded as he sat across from the boy, "Name's James Potter and if you call me Jamie, I'm afraid I'll have to hurt you!"

"Well James it is then! I'm Sirius Black, but if anyone asks, I'm just Sirius, nothing about my last name!" The boy demanded and James agreed.

---

As the train continued on, they were soon joined by another first year student by the name of Remus Lupin. Soon, another knock came at the door and Sirius, now getting fed up with answering knocks at the compartment door, pretended sleep, so James answered. However, once Sirius heard it was the food cart, he miraculously awoke from his slumber so deep it didn't hear the knock in the first place.

After Sirius and Remus had gotten the sweets they wanted, James stood up to look over the selection. At that moment, another student came running up to the cart, standing on the other side,

"Excuse me ma'am, is it alright if I buy something? My friends and I weren't in our compartment earlier when you came by," the student, who turned out to be a girl, inquired,

"Of course dear," the food cart lady smiled.

The girl looked towards James, "Sorry, you go first."

James, startled at the familiarity of her green eyes, shook his head and she took it as a sign to buy first. As she handed over the proper amount of money to the lady, she looked back at James,

"Thanks for that, a second longer and my friends probably would have died," she smiled,

James returned the smile, "No problem. Oh, I don't want anything after all," James said to the lady and she pushed her cart away.

"I know you didn't want anything off the cart, but do you want one of the cookies I bought - as a thanks?" She offered,

"What kind?"

"The best - chocolate chip!"

James nodded. She handed him one then retreated back to her own compartment. When James closed the door and returned to his seat, Sirius and Remus were looking at him peculiarly,

"Something wrong mate? You know the girl?" Remus inquired,

"I think," James said as he sat down and looked at the cookie in his hand.

"He thinks what kind of answer is that?" Sirius questioned exasperatedly, "Leave it to a girl to cause a bloke's mind to malfunction."

"Well, if you think you know her, what's her name?" Remus asked,

James looked up, a wistful look playing across his face, "Lily."


---
Seven years later...
---


"And why not?" James demanded as the Head Girl walked away from him one October night while the rest of the castle had already retreated to their beds.

"Because ever since I met you, besides letting me buy from the food cart first, you've been nothing but an egotistical jerk!" Lily retorted as she entered the Head Boy's and Girl's common room.

"One that you like," James added,

"That doesn't mat - I mean, I do not!" Lily grew more frustrated as he gained a smug look as he followed her into the common room.

"Why do you keep saying no?" James asked as he sat down on a couch by the fireplace,

"Why do you keep asking?" Lily countered as she sat down across from him.

"Because all my life, I've never wanted to be with anyone else," James said simply,

"Well it couldn't have been all your life," Lily argued as she looked away, attempting to hide her blush.

"Oh, but I have, Lily," James argued, "All. My. Life."

Lily looked up at him. She stared at him and he stared back at her seriously.

"You do remember," Lily gasped quietly,

"Since the first day on the train," James admitted, his expression remaining calm.

"Why didn't you say anything!?" Lily demanded angrily, standing up and approaching him, hands on her hips.

"Who's to say you remembered too?" James inquired as he stood up, crossing his arms defensively,

"I'm to say!" Lily argued, "Damnit James, why do you think I gave you that bloody cookie? I thought if you remembered then you would've said something!" Then, she laughed, "I never would have thought all those years ago that my best friend would grow into such an ego-maniac."

"You couldn't tell from the first day we met?" James asked in mock surprise. "But if you knew this whole time, why were you so mean to me?"

"Besides you being a jerk? I was mad. Mad that you didn't remember," she smiled in spite of herself, "And to think, all this time you did remember."

"And so did you," James added quietly.

"Of course I did, I told you I wouldn't forget you," Lily admonished as she looked up into his eyes, "I never did..."

"You were my best friend," James said as he wiped a stray tear from her cheek, "You don't know how sad I was when you left. You don't know how happy I was when I saw you on the train going to Hogwarts."

"I guess your mission is complete, I'm not a dark wizard," Lily gave a small smile, "That's why I can't go on a date with you."

"Because you're not a dark wizard?" James questioned, eyebrows lifting in surprise,

"No," she laughed gently, "Because of our friendship. Sure we've grown apart since then, but I don't want to lose your friendship in the end, not again."

"And what if instead of losing friendship you gain more?" James whispered as his hand cupped the side of her neck, his thumb running across her jaw.

"And what if I do lose you?" She begged, closing her eyes in spite of herself.

"Then I wasn't that great of a friend to begin with," he answered as he tucked a loose strand of her hair behind her ear, "You should just listen to me."

"Why is that?" She muttered as she felt him leaning towards her,

"Because I'm older than you and know more than you," he explained softly as he finally pressed his lips against hers. After a second from the moment their lips touched, he pulled back slightly and leaned his forehead against hers, "And since I was six, I've been in love with you."

Eyes immediately opening, Lily found herself looking directly into James' eyes.

"Since you were six? How do you know it's not just puppy love then?" She asked seriously,

"Because no one's meant more to me than you," he answered,

"Really?" She smiled hopefully,

"Really!" He promised.