"James, it isn't your fault," Sirius began, jogging after James Potter as he stormed up the staircase towards the Gryffindor Common room. "It's not your fault Snivellus is a prick!"

"If we would've just left him alone, Lily wouldn't be up in her room upset!" James spat, running his fingers through his hair.

"Oh com'on, Prongs, we all knew that's how he's felt for a long time now!" Sirius was desperate now. He could see that this wasn't going to be something James got over easily. An unhappy James Potter meant a miserable time for Sirius Black.

James stopped walking up the stairs and turned to face his best friend. Sirius nearly ran straight into him, but managed to stop just in time. "Lily knew too," James said, in an eerily calm sort of way. "But it still must've hurt to hear it said aloud." He knew that Lily and Snape had grown up together. His betrayal would've been the equivalent of Sirius doing the same to him.

Despite James Potter's reputation for being an ass a majority of the time, he wasn't completely heartless. He realized that he was part of the reason why Lily Evans was upset. Plus, he was starting to realize that he didn't like her being upset. It bothered him, to put it bluntly. And it bothered him even more that it was his fault. He was part of the reason that Lily lost one of her best friends. Yes, it was probably for the better in the long run; and yes, James Potter still hated Severus Snape as much as he used to (and he made sure the prick was punished for calling Lily a mudblood). But that didn't mean that he enjoyed Lily hurting.

Sirius probably said something more, but James ignored him, storming the rest of the way up the stairs.

A few hours later, James was pacing the length of his dorm room. Sirius had given up a long time ago, and was currently practicing wandless magic by lighting a cigarette with a snap of his fingers. He didn't say anything, but held it out to James as he walked past.

James took it, and finally stopped pacing, leaning against the wall of the room and taking a drag. Sirius gave an internal cheer, "Success!" The pacing was driving him mad.

"I have to do something for her, Padfoot," James said, defeated.

Sirius shrugged, lighting his own cigarette. "Give her some flowers or something."

James shook his head. "No, too many other guys do that." It wasn't that he wanted to stand out from the other guys that gave her flowers, but he knew the flowers wouldn't mean as much to her. To her, flowers meant "you're beautiful." It was nice, yeah, but not what James was going for.

Sirius groaned loudly. "I dunno, man. But you've been at this for hours. Can't we just enjoy the fact that O.W.L.S are over?"

James didn't answer, because he didn't want to say what he was thinking: He wanted Lily to enjoy it too.

"Let's at least get some dinner," Sirius offered. James gave in, unhappily putting out his cigarette.

He spent most of his dinner in silence, which was unusual for James Potter. Remus was so stunned that he asked Sirius in a horrified whisper, "What's wrong with him?"

"He's upset because he thinks it's his fault Snivellus is a prick and upset Lily. He's been trying to figure out how to make her feel better all afternoon."

Remus frowned. James Potter was good at a lot of things, but Lily Evans was not one of them. Fortunately, Remus had gotten to know Lily quite a bit thanks to their prefect duties.

Lupin kicked James under the table to get his attention. "Books," he said, matter-of-factly. He didn't say anything more and watched as his face went from confusion to utter joy.

"MOONY, I COULD KISS YOU!" James screamed, promptly jumping up and running out of the Great Hall.

"Please don't," Remus muttered.

James settled on a muggle book called Gulliver's Travels. He took a chocolate bar from Moony's stash, and tore a piece of parchment from his desk. On it, he wrote this:

For Lily,

In case you need to travel for a while, since here isn't so great.

Sorry about everything.

With love,

Someone who cares

He left the book, the chocolate, and the note in front of her door.

James went to bed that night, still feeling like an ass. But he had at least made an effort to make her happy. He only hoped it worked.