Hate Is A Strong Word (A Jily Fanfic)//FINISHED!

Confusion

Heyyyyy guys. I'm happy with how the last chapter turned out. I hope you like this one.

Lily
Lily didn't understand why James was acting shy all of a sudden. One moment he was so happy to show off his patronus, the next he was embarrassed to. Had she done something wrong? She had thought her patronus was amazing!

Then, he had asked her if it was okay for him to try! What did she care? Why would it matter to her?

Lily watched as James gave her one last look and lifted his wand with a shaky hand.

"Expecto Patronum," he said. His voice was barely over a whisper, and he practically winced at the words. The end of his wand erupted and a powerful stag emerged. It pranced around the class to more applause than any of the others. Its prongs on its head stood high and proud. Prongs. Is that where the name comes from?

Lily took a glance at James who had his eyes on the floor. His cheeks were plastered a bright red and he was biting his bottom lip. Lily didn't understand his shyness until she watched her doe patronus prance over to his stag.

A stag and a doe. They fit together.

The thought hit Lily. She suddenly understood Sirius' laughter and the look on Remus' face that looked shocked. Although she finally understood, she still didn't know why James was acting so shy about it. The old James would have been so cocky and confident about the fact that he shared a similar patronus with her. He would have bragged and told her it was fate, but he didn't do that now.

Instead, he had asked her if it was okay. He didn't want to embarrass her. More confusion had flooded through her. When had Potter changed so much?

"James," she said quietly. He looked up, and the worried look in his eyes caught her off guard, "your patronus is beautiful."

James lifted his eyebrows from behind his glasses. He seemed a little less tense, but he looked just as confused as she felt.

"You're not embarrassed, Evans?" he asked.

"No," she said slowly. Sirius snickered and she glared at him. He held up his hands as if in surrender and then turned to whisper with Peter. Lily turned back to James. "It's just a patronus, right? And besides, I should be honored to have a matching patronus with the oh so perfect James Potter."

Her last line was made to mock every other girl in their grade. She put her hand on her forehead as of she were going to faint and made a loud sigh.

"Shut up, Evans," he laughed, but she could still tell he was thinking about the whole situation.

"James," Lily said seriously again. She looked up at him and she practically could see the wheels turning in his head. When their eyes met, his hazel on her green, she saw that he really cared. "It's really okay. I don't know why, but it doesn't surprise me. It seems...right I guess."

James' eyes widened and Sirius whistled.

"Oh, no!" Lily said quickly. "It doesn't have to be like that." Her face felt hot and matched her hair in shades of red.

"Of course, of course," James said quickly, but Sirius rolled his eyes behind them.

"Well," Lily said in desperate need of a change of subject. "I'm going to go show Mary and Mar my patronus and see how they are doing. I'll see you later I guess."