She really did wish life could be easy and changeless and that her bloody pride would take an eternal vacation (to Greenland) and that the butterflies in her stomach could maybe tag along with her pride too (also to Greenland)...
...And that maybe Transfiguration could go die in a hole (why not in Greenland?).
Lily cursed under her breath as Professor McGonagall preached about the semantics of Transfiguration spells.
Although she knew that the blasted subject was something she needed desperately to be good at in order to become an Auror, she couldn't care less if Transfiguration went to hell at this point. Really, she couldn't. She huffed angrily.
And then her eyes caught on the back of his head.
After some thought (and staring), she decided that perhaps she didn't want Transfiguration to die as it was a very nice class during which she could take good notes on… Transfiguration – on Animagi and how to change a rat into a shoe rack and what stupid mistakes some idiots had made in the past, like transfiguring parts of their own body into teapots and ending up with a spout instead of a nose… Guiltily, she looked down at her notebook.
She was really taking notes in Transfiguration about James Potter instead of that Merlin-forsaken subject. Now that she thought about it, (she actually thought about it every day now) she took notes about him in every class. In Charms especially. (Because she could happily devote her studying to him since she knew Charms inside out) Notes that were becoming more and more like doodling. Notes about snitches (the winged little golden rascals that James liked tossing around) and his initials (JP JP JP JP JP JP JP) and Quidditch (The longest game ever was actually 5 months long, but it didn't make it to the official record since a referee got hit by a bludger and passed out) and his hair (ebony and handsomely messy) and his tie (loosely hung around his neck) and his scent (like that of a sunny day... mmmmm…) and -
"Lily?" Her eyes snapped to her left where he was standing now as she woke up from her reverie and realized she had been staring at where he had been moments ago. The people around her were picking up their bags and making to leave the classroom, throwing her a few curious looks. Oh dear.
"Admiring my charming looks, I see..." James wiggled his eyebrows and grinned.
She laughed at his antics. "I am, actually. What nice elfish ears you have." (she could act natural).
"Why, thank you! Be a dear and hand me yesterday's Charms notes, won't you, and I'll hand you my Transfiguration essay." He winked at her and held out his essay. She shook her head in mock exasperation and sighed, and was about to oblige when she realized that she hadn't taken any notes on Charms. Rather on… She froze.
"Erm… there's a bit of a problem though…" she started.
"Red, your notes are probably much better than mine. No need for perfection."
She cracked a strained smile. "Thanks, but… erm… I didn't take any notes in Charms…"
James raised an eyebrow. "What were you taking notes on, then?"
Sweet Merlin. "I wasn't taking notes…" she said hesitantly.
"Lying is certainly not becoming, Lily," He tutted at her, crossing his arms and shaking his head. "You were taking notes and I saw you. In fact, you were scribbling so hard, the entire class could hear you. Hand 'em over."
She wet her lips anxiously, "The whole class…?"
"Even Flitwick."
"Flitwick too?" She panicked. "Dear Merlin's pants, James… er… you have to believe me… I didn't take any notes."
"'Dear Merlin's pants?' I thought it was his beard that was supposed to be dear?" James asked her amusedly, a smirk playing at his lips.
She closed her eyes. "Did I really just…" A bit of red started to stain her cheeks. "Yes. I figured his pants must be just as dear as his beard. Must've needed lucky pants to be a wizard like that, right?"
"Think you can make these pants lucky like Merlin's and help me with Charms then?"
Damn. She had hoped she distracted him. "I really didn't take any notes though…"
"Prove it."
She dove into her bag for her Charms notebook to show James. Pulling it out triumphantly, she froze again, realizing exactly what she was doing. Impulsively shoving it back into her bag along with the Transfiguration homework she was struggling with, mortified at what she had almost done.
"Oh, just believe me," She snapped at James. "If you'd like, I'll help you later. I was supposed to meet up with Marlene at the library about now and I need to run. See you later!" She was about to reach for her bag when he snatched it away.
"What are you doing?" she hissed, making a wild grab at him (Merlin's unluckiest pants, she could still hate him sometimes).
He said nothing, instead digging through her bag for her Charms notebook. After several more wild (and desperate) attempts at seizing it back, Lily gave up. And James found her notebook.
Lily's eyes widened.
He flipped through the pages, uninterestedly at first, and slowly gained interest as he progressed through them. Lily moaned. He saw her doodles. He saw them. He grinned.
"Lily…are these notes on me?"
Lily covered her face with her arms as he started to read and flip through the pages with more care.
"Ebony and handsomely messy…eloquently put, Lily….. Hold on, I smell like a sunny day? Do I really? Maybe you should write a poem…" James perused her notebook. "You've even studied Quidditch for me! I'm touched."
"Are you done?" came Lily's voice, muffled beneath her arms.
"Why Lily, love, I haven't even started." James laughed in mirth. "Do you know how long I've waited for this day?"
Lily groaned and he suddenly burst out laughing.
"Looks like you were very delighted you caught me in the prefects' bathroom that one time!" She did. It was true. (And he looked very nice.) "Wasn't that when you hated me?" His eyes were laughing too.
"Oh wait…says right here that you did think I'm an arrogant toerag. Just a very attractive and lovable one." He was having too much fun with this. "Can toerags be arrogant or attractive in the first place? Or even lovable?"
With her face a flushed red, she stood up crossly. "You know what? I think I still hate you. I must have had a momentary lapse of sanity when I wrote that."
Her statement had no diminishing effect on James' grin; it grew wider. He reached out for her waist when she attempted to snatch her notebook back and walk past him. "Aww, Lily, don't be like that…"
He pulled her close to him, with her back flush up against his chest and murmured softly into her ear. Lily's eyes widened again and she stumbled, unsure of how she should react. Her heart pounded. James wrapped his other arm around her waist too. "I think you smell like a rainy day," he whispered into her ear. She snorted. "A very rainy day. With all the misty freshness in the air combined with the wonderful smell of new mud." A small smile started to grow on Lily's face. "And don't take it the wrong way, because I love mud. And you know, your hair is beautiful and red and gold. Very Gryffindorly." Her smile was wider now. "And I think since I'm an attractive toerag, you're a very pretty cow. The loveliest cow I've ever seen. Except you don't have black spots. And you're more violent anyway."
Lily turned around while James' arms were still around her and met his eyes. She could tell by the way he was biting his lip to keep from laughing that he was trying hard to sound serious. But her grin set them both off and they burst out laughing. She threw her arms around his neck buried her face into his shoulder and let the laughter rack her body.
"I feel so flattered."
"Don't you?"
"Yes. I never knew I was wonderful like cows and mud."
"Well, I never knew I had wonderful merits like sunny days and elfish ears and handsome toerags…"
"Oh shut up."
"We make an excellent pair, don't we? A cow and a toeragged elf?"
"A pretty cow and a toeragged elf. Yes, we do."
They settled into a comfortable silence before James interrupted.
"Is this why you've been failing Transfiguration? Been busy taking poetic notes?"
She smacked the back of his head.
AN: First fanfic, so probably could use some help. Didn't turn out exactly like it was supposed to... Eh oh well. Review and tell me about it, won't you? Like really. Review. It makes my day.
