A.N. Just to warn you, the POV wavers between Lily and James and, towards the end, Severus. Enjoy!
"Oof," Lily grunted, dumping her bag on the table in the Heads' common room. She had just returned from a tutoring session. "Why do Charms textbooks have to be so heavy?"
"You should try the Transfiguration one," James said, patting his copy. "I almost dislocated my shoulder this afternoon because my bag was so heavy."
"Oh, what a terrible blow to the Gryffindor Quidditch team that would be," Lily teased as she sat opposite him and scanned the table for a quill. "Their star Chaser in the Hospital Wing with a preventable injury for, what, two minutes?"
If you had told Lily Evans two years ago that one day she would be friends with James Potter, she would have told you that addictive drugs are bad for your health, especially the hallucinative ones. Now, however, that he had deflated his head from the arrogant berk he had been, James was a charming young man and, Lily was glad to say, a valued and excellent friend. The only things about it that puzzled her was that he'd made the transformation at all, and that it had only taken a short while. The two of them now had a comfortable platonic relationship that even allowed teasing. Not quite to the extent that the Marauders did amongst themselves, but still a fair bit.
"Oh, and Slughorn mentioned he was planning a big Christmas party," she added, now rummaging through her bag for her ink. "Big whoop. I'd only want to go if Celestina Warbeck was going, and he didn't say anything about her. He did say he wanted us to have partners, though."
Clunk. James had knocked over his ink bottle. "What?" he exclaimed, as he reached for his wand to clean the mess up. "Sirius didn't say anything about partners at dinner."
"Where am I going to get a partner?" Lily wailed. "Severus and I had this agreement that we'd take each other if the need arose, but that crumbled into dust years ago – and anyway I wouldn't want to go with him anymore – what am I going to do?"
James's eyebrows were in danger of disappearing into the jet black mess he called his hair. "Surely you aren't that insecure?" he said in disbelief. "Lily, almost every bloke in the year would snap up the opportunity to be your handbag – I thought you knew that."
Was that … bitterness in his voice? "Well, I didn't," she said, slightly embarrassed. Their friendship wasn't quite at the stage where they could talk comfortably about romance; James had only stopped … well, pursuing her was the only way to put it … after the Defence OWL.
"I suppose you could always go with Sirius," he suggested, inking his quill. "Padfoot wouldn't have a clue who to take, either."
"Are you kidding me?" Lily demanded. "Most girls in the year – no, the school – fight tooth and nail over who in their group he actually looked at! They'd all love to go to a Slug Club party with him."
"I know that," James said patiently, "but Sirius doesn't. And he doesn't believe you when you tell him. Trust me, Remus has tried."
Lily raised her left eyebrow and knuckled down to her Potions homework.
"Go, go, Gryffindor!" Lily, Remus and Peter chanted from the stands. "Go, go, Gryffindor!"
James threw the Quaffle through the left Slytherin hoop as Dirk Cresswell's fingers closed over the Snitch.
Go, go, Gryffindor! Go, go, Gryffindor! Go, go, Gryffindor! Go, go, Gryffindor! chanted the crowd.
"And that's the end of the match, folks," called Lewis Jordan. "Gryffindor wins 220 to 140. Now what are the Slytherin Beaters doing?"
For, apparently having not heard Madam Hooch's whistle to end the game, the Slytherin Beaters were continuing their volley of hitting one of the Bludgers across the pitch. One of them mishit it, and it shot along the pitch to James. Sirius pelted from half-way towards him to try to deflect it, but too late; the Bludger hit James in the jaw and he almost fell off his broom as he spiralled haphazardly to the ground.
"James!" Lily shrieked and was halfway to the pitch before anyone else had moved from their seats.
Supported by Sirius and Madam Hooch, and spitting blood, James made his way off the pitch, still elated that Gryffindor had won the match through the agony of his broken jaw.
Madam Pomfrey replaced Madam Hooch at James's left elbow as they made their way up to the castle, Lily and the other Marauders hurrying along around them.
"Episkey," Madam Pomfrey said, once she'd lain James down on a bed in the hospital wing, pointing her wand at his jaw. "Tergeo," she added, siphoning the blood off.
James massaged his jaw gingerly. "Thanks," he said, relieved to find that to speak wasn't total agony as it had been mere moments before when he had tried to whimper.
"I want you to stay here for a while," Madam Pomfrey said sternly. "You've been in shock and there's no magic to counteract that but what your body can do. I don't want you fainting in the middle of your House party and getting trampled on." She bustled off to treat other patients who had had to miss the spectacular match, only hearing Lewis Jordan's commentary.
"I guess it's up to just the three of us to get the supplies, then," Sirius said, winking. "Wicked match, Prongs. See you later."
James and Lily waved the other Marauder out.
"How are you feeling?" Lily asked at once.
"A little shaky," James admitted. "It's probably a good thing I'm lying down. I don't want to faint and be a nancy boy."
"Oh, of course you have to preserve your masculinity," Lily giggled. "I've heard you singing in the shower, James. For an alto, you've got a huge range."
They poked their tongues out at each other, like the mature seventeen-year-olds they were.
"How are you feeling?" James countered.
"I have an enormous stitch from running down to the pitch to the stands," Lily admitted. "I don't have binoculars like Remus, I thought your skull had been hit. It was obvious that you were in pain."
"I'm so touched," James said lightly. Even so, he really meant it.
"What are friends for?" Lily reminded him.
"You're not telling me that neither of them have asked anyone to Slughorn's Christmas party?" Remus exclaimed as he and James found themselves the only ones in the room after a Prefect meeting in early December.
James pulled an 'I told you so' face. "Unfortunately, I am," he sighed.
"You still want Lily to ask you, though, right?" Remus asked shrewdly.
James nodded resignedly. "All she's done lately is to cement us firmly in 'just friends.' She even asked me who I'd recommend her going with!"
"Ouch," Remus commented. "Who did you say?"
"I told her that I wasn't really comfortable telling her who she should date," James answered, "and she left it at that. Thank Merlin."
Remus spread his hands in an I-wish-I-could-help-but-I-can't gesture. "So what are we going to do about Sirius?"
"Get him to take Lily, I suppose," James answered dully. "And hope he doesn't hit on her."
"I would not," Sirius said, poking his head through the door. Um, the space that the door would block when closed, that is, not through the door itself. Sirius wasn't a ghost. "Look, can't you guys just accept that I don't want to take a partner?"
"Sorry," James and Remus apologised sheepishly.
"Besides, why would I hit on a girl that Prongsy is head over heels for? That's not what friends do," Sirius pointed out.
Lily was getting worried. With a week to go Christmas, she still didn't have a date. She looked up from her Charms homework as James staggered through the portrait hole into the Heads' common room on the full moon. The firelight caught on his glasses and his hair, making them glint. Lily tilted her head to one side and sucked her quill thoughtfully. What if – no. Wouldn't that ruin their friendship? She could always tell him that she just wanted to go as friends, but …
She had been so surprised on the train to Hogwarts this year to find that James Potter had been made Head Boy. He had become steadily more tolerable as a housemate over sixth year (which might have had something to do with the fact that they shared only Herbology, Ancient Runes and Care of Magical Creatures classes) and by the end of the year Lily counted him and the other Marauders as her friends. (Not that Remus hadn't been a friend since fifth-year, when they had been forced to spend time as Prefects). Now that Lily and 'Prongs' shared the Heads' Suite they had spent a lot more time together, time in which Lily had begun to suspect that James still liked her as more than a friend.
It had been strange to discover that she was not as averse to this idea as she had been a few years previously. Maybe it was because Severus wasn't constantly denouncing him in her ear every Potions and Astronomy lesson, but Lily had found, to her surprise and pleasure, that James Potter did indeed possess a nice side. The pleasure came from the startling revelation that she liked this nice side.
However, it had not been pleasurable for Lily to realise that she more than liked this new James. How could she like him like that? He had been so awful only a few short years ago, Severus had always said so … perhaps Lily had been blinkered by Severus's views … perhaps she could act on these strange new feelings, she was a Gryffindor after all …
"Evening, James," she greeted him.
The addressee sank into one of the armchairs – the common room contained a sofa, two arm chairs, two desks, a large table and about ten chairs. "Evening, Lily," he replied, rubbing his face.
"James, I've been wondering-" Lily began, but James interrupted her.
"I'm not going to tell you where I've been, Lily, I've told you before that I can't."
"I wasn't going to ask that," Lily sighed. "Actually, I've just come across an interesting scenario. There's this girl, and a guy. Now, the guy used to like the girl, but the girl … rejected his advances, so to speak. Now they're just friends, but the girl recently found out that she likes the guy now. And it's entirely possible that the guy still likes the girl, but it's kind of hard to tell. Now, you're a bloke, James -"
"Thanks for noticing," he cut in dryly.
"Any advice?"
James was silent. Who was she talking about? "I dunno," he said truthfully. "Don't girls have tests to show if a bloke likes them?"
"This girl's more into Challenges in Charming than Witch Weekly," Lily told him, wondering how much more obvious she could make it.
"Oh, OK," James said, now utterly confused. It sounded like Lily was describing herself – what other girl did he know that was more into Challenges in Charming than Witch Weekly? – but why in the name of Merlin's most baggy Y-fronts would she be? "Um, shouldn't you be talking to Remus about this?"
Lily shrugged and continued to suck on her quill. "I'm asking you," she reminded him.
"I really don't know," James told her. "Maybe she should ask him out-"
"But what if it doesn't work out and it jeopardises their friendship?" Lily demanded almost frantically.
"Well," James said hesitantly, "at least they'll have the memories?"
"Good point," Lily conceded. She packed up rather quickly, hiding her smiling face in her long dark red hair, before hurrying up the stairs to her room. She paused at the landing and turned. "Sleep well, James."
"And you," James called up the stairs from his armchair. With a swish of her hair, Lily disappeared into her room, whereupon she and James, in the absence of each other, immediately began to dissect and analyse what had just transpired. James reached no conclusion at all, and resolved to ask Remus about it in the morning, if Remus was up and about.
Lily rather thought that James did still like her – he never was very comfortable talking to her about romance.
That, or he was gay. Which she rather doubted.
Just ask him! Mary's voice screeched in her ear. In the morning, Lily told herself. She'd ask him … in the morning …
She was asleep before her head hit the pillow. It was extremely late and today had been physically exhausting as well. To look at the diet of Hogwartians, one would think them all to be enormously obese. That is, if one didn't count the many staircases that the castle contained.
"Why didn't you ask him?" Mary screeched at breakfast. Lily winced. "He would have been right there!"
"He was so tired," Lily said lamely. "And I don't want to-"
"-to jeopardise the friendship, yeah, yeah, yeah," Mary muttered. "Oh look, here come the Marauders now. My, don't they look exhausted."
"Good morning, Lily," James said brightly, and then yawned. Mary shot a significant glance at Lily, who rolled her eyes.
"Come on, Lily," Mary wheedled at dinner that night. "Time's running out."
"I know!" Lily hissed.
'Time for what?" James called down the table across two or three people.
"Lily wants to ask someone to Slughorn's party but she hasn't worked up her Gryffindor courage to ask him yet," Mary called back, relishing in Lily's blushing like the setting sun. It was one of the few truly bad things about being a redhead.
But perhaps it wasn't all bad. James choked on his baked potato at Mary's revelation.
Finally, as they worked on their Herbology homework that night, Lily finally plucked up the courage to ask James to Slughorn's Christmas party.
James sat across from her at the common table, and gaped.
Lily blushed.
"Um," James said, intelligently. "Sure."
Lily's entire body relaxed. "Thanks," she replied, smiling shyly.
Everything will change.
"Oh, Lily," Mary sighed. "I know you're a shy bookworm and everything, but we need to do something about your robes."
Lily sat in a button-up blouse and panties on the edge of her bed. When Mary had found out that Lily and James were going on an official date, she had made Lily promise that she could help her get ready, and then dashed along the Gryffindor house table, collecting Sickles and Knuts. Now, Mary had done something strange to Lily's hair (it was curly) and applied make-up like Lily could hardly believe. It had taken hours.
Mary pulled Lily's dress robes out of her wardrobe. "Pea green, Lily?" She whipped out her wand and cast a Colour-Change spell so that the robes became a softer, paler green, like a peppermint.
"Just don't make me look like a candy-cane," Lily pleaded, eyeing Mary's wand warily.
"I'm making you look gorgeous, love," Mary reminded her. "Well, more gorgeous than you are naturally."
Lily thought ruefully about an hour later that Mary had been right, as she blushed shyly under James's openly appreciative gaze.
James shook his head like a dog trying to rid its ears of water, and then proffered his arm gallantly. "Shall we, my lady?"
As they strolled over to Slughorn's office, neither of them spoke; each fearful of blurting out something they could not take back, and would change their comfortable friendship more so than their current situation, for Lily never specified if they were going just as friends or as something rather more.
For this, James was glad. If you had told him, two years ago, that he would actually truly be on a (sort of) date with Lily Evans, he would have told you that that addictive drugs are bad for your health, especially the hallucinative ones. Now, however, that Snape wasn't turning her against James and James had had a chance to show Lily that he actually was a nice bloke, things were more than slightly different. For Godric's sake, everything pointed to them being on an official date! Still, James could see where Lily had been coming from when she had been so nervous about taking their friendship to the next level. James quite liked their friendship, too.
"Ah, look everyone, it's the lovebirds!" Sirius called to the room at large, as Lily and James entered. Slughorn, already slightly tipsy, greeted them, toasted them, and sent them on their way to the small huddle of students. The party would be a brilliant networking opportunity for those who needed to further themselves, but right now the entire Slug Club plus invited guests was a little wary of approaching the scary adults who were not yet tipsy enough to not remember the Stupid Questions they might ask.
"Hey everyone," suggested Dirk Cresswell, "let's play Spin The Butterbeer Bottle." The teenagers, encouraged by the ample amounts of alcoholic drinks being imbibed, all got down to business.
When James spun the bottle, it landed on Sirius. The two friends stared at each other in horror.
"I like you, but not like that!" Sirius exclaimed.
"Thank Merlin," James replied, relieved.
Sirius looked around the smirking circle of students, and prodded the bottle with his wand to his right – to face Lily. Well, one of the Ravenclaw Beaters was on his other side, and James … well, this just made things much simpler, didn't it?
"Um," Lily said softly.
"Yeah," James agreed. They wriggled out of the circle and you can guess what happened next.
"Sorry I'm late, Professor," Severus panted, "I was finishing that assignment you set us and I lost track of the time."
"Sho shtudious," Shlughorn … er, Slughorn slurred, clapping Severus on the shoulder. "Why don't you go and join your peers?"
"Thanks, sir," Severus replied, and wandered over to the circle, before stopping dead at what he saw there.
Lily, gorgeous smart funny Lily, snogging Potter. (There was no other way to put it).
Had those damned Marauders put something in Severus's food? Surely he was hallucinating.
The pair broke apart. Black clapped Potter on the back – Potter, who looked like he had been hit on the back of the head by a Bludger. If only. Lily pushed her suddenly-wavy hair out of her face, looking as dazed as Severus felt.
Surely Severus and Black could not hallucinate the same apparition? But then – but then – it had truly happened. Lily and Potter had snogged.
Severus clamped his teeth together, almost biting his tongue to keep from crying out. How could Lily do this to him? She knew how he hated Potter. Severus stared at the two of them as they wriggled further out of the circle; his head swivelled to follow them as they ducked behind one of the festive hangings.
Festive … pah. What a mockery.
But Lily … Lily had looked happy, happier than Severus had ever seen her. And in that moment, Severus made his choice.
He cared more for Lily's happiness than his own, and if (shudder) Potter made her happy, then Severus would stay out of it, even if it drove him insane.
He turned on his heel and stalked out of the room, which seemed to have become rather airtight all of a sudden. His self-restraint was good, but not that good. He'd have to work on it.
Sirius and Dirk peered around the hanging behind which Lily and James lurked, and ducked back out again almost immediately, Sirius covering his eyes.
"I could have lived my life quite happily without seeing that," Dirk remarked as they made their way over to Slughorn.
"Professor?" Sirius said loudly.
"Yes, m'boy?"
"They're behind the curtain of mistletoe."
A.N: Amazingly, I wrote this in October. Eh. When I get around to writing my post-DH Marauders-at-Hogwarts-and-beyond fic, this is not part of it. Review, please!