"POTTER."

The black-haired boy looked up from Seeker Weekly to stare at the angry redhead.

"And to what do I owe your lovely presence today, Evans?" he replied with a cheeky smile.

"Why on bloody EARTH would you decide it's just perfectly peachy to patrol with me?" Lily yelled, her face turning the color of her hair. James sighed. These were regular occurrences in the Head dormitory. But she was SO attractive when she yelled.

"My dear Evans, you forget I have just as much power as you do in these matters." James preferred to keep his cool in these situations. He looked back down at his mag, simply to infuriate the girl in front of him even more.

"James!" Lily cried. "I refuse to do patrols with you tonight!"

Usually James handled these fights suavely, but tonight- the subject matter, mostly- made him touchy. "Evans," he snapped, looking her straight in her (lovely) green eyes. "We're doing it together. Enough."

Lily's cheeks flushed, embarrassed to be called out for acting childish. "B-but- I just- I don't understand why Remus can't do them!" she said, a bit more meekly this time. When James got angry- that always got to Lily.

He was tired of always doing this. Why couldn't she just mind her business for once in her bloody life?

Lily's cheeks got (if possible) even pinker, and James noticed her eyes got a bit watery. His brown ones got wide behind his thick glasses. "Shite- did I say that out loud?"

"W-whatever," Lily whispered. Oh, hell-

"Bugger, Evans, don't cry," James said, exasperated. He always said just the wrong thing, didn't he? Lily's lip started to tremble and she whirled around, running up the staircase to her room. She slammed the door, and James started hearing muffled sobs come from her room.

James felt like the biggest tosser in the entire bloody universe. He swore. It was his job to go after her, wasn't it?

Sighing, James ascended the stairs- loudly, so as to alert Evans of his presence. He walked into her room and stood awkwardly near the bed. Lily's head was buried in a pillow, and her hair cascaded around her like a beautiful spill of fire.

"Lily?" he started tentatively.

"Go away," came the muffled voice from inside the pillow.

"Listen- listen." James sat down at the foot of Lily's bed. The usual lie started to spill out of his mouth, smooth and believable as always- "This is a touchy thing, for Remus, okay? You see, his mum is often sick, and he has to go take care of her for a bit sometimes, and so he left today-"

Lily interrupted him, looking up from her pillow incredulously.

"Wait- honestly? You're covering for him? Oh, James, I'm so sorry!" Lily burst into tears once more, her eyes red-rimmed.

"Stop! Stop crying! Please! I don't know how to handle this!" James said, feeling very out of place. Lily tackled him into an enormous hug. James began awkwardly patting her on the back. Crying into his shoulder, she said "Oh- J-James, I'm so sorry- I feel like the biggest bloody plonker! Of course! I always forget about his transformations, and I just blamed you prematurely, and-"

"Wait," James said slowly. "Transformations, you said?"

Lily looked up at him, remaining in the hug. "Remus told me, last year. God, I'm so sorry!"

James laughed weakly. "Imagine that," he said. "You are something else, Evans."

Lily suddenly became aware she was holding on to James, quite tightly. She let go of him quickly and scooted away to the other end of the bed. "Thanks." she said stiffly.

"I think we just had a bonding moment!"

"I'll see you at nine sharp. Don't be late, Potter." Lily turned away from James, but he knew her well enough to know a blush was blooming on her cheeks. Well, at least that was enough with the emotional stuff.

"'Course, Evans!" James grinned amusedly, leaving the room. He couldn't help but look behind him as he walked down the staircase- she knew, all this time! And the emotional stuff- it was awkward, but she hugged him, for a minute at least!

Whistling softly, James stared blankly at Seeker Weekly, daydreaming of Lily. She really was something else, wasn't she? And maybe something else wasn't so bad after all...