"James?"

"Yes Lily."

She can't quite believe still the calm in his voice that came with their newfound friendship. She felt less and less the urge to run in the other direction when she saw him. She still wasn't sure if this was actually a good development or a slipping in her sanity. She may never actually be positive on this, she'll have to wait and see.

"James." She flips a few hairs out of her face and looks at him across the table in the Gryffindor common room, now empty.

"Yeah, you said that." He doesn't look up from his parchment, almost half covered in his chicken scratch handwriting.

"It's because I want your attention, you fool."

"Lily, you have my attention. You always have my attention. My essay wants attention too- unlike you I didn't finish mine a week in advance. In fact I started it two hours ago and it's due in another six, so I would love to finish it."

There is no malice in his voice, just the hint of a smile as her rags her. It isn't that he's lost his fighting edge, it's that he doesn't always have to fight.

She can't help but smile at him as he absentmindedly sucks ink onto his lips from his pen. She reaches a hand across the table. He stops sucking on his quill long enough to draw a giant misshaped flower on her hand.

"Oh what the fuck's that?"

"Flower! A flower for my Lily. Now piss off."

She snaps her hand back, still staring. He doesn't look up. She stifles a laugh and packs her books up and heads for her staircase.

"Goodnight my flower!"

"Not your flower and I hope you fail."

He hears her open the door leading to the girls' dorms and hears it click neatly behind her. He smiles knowing that it won't be long. His essay may be rubbish and he's not actually sure he's written on the correct topic- but he's getting somewhere. He can get over any obstacle she puts in his path because he's not done with her yet, and he knows that somewhere inside her she knows she isn't done with him. She wouldn't have let him mar her hand with ink if she knew they were done. Sometimes he just knows when he isn't done. And he is far from done.