Now that this story is finished, I'm going to condense everything into one author's note here, so the others are bold-print free. :)
Disclaimer: Harry Potter, Hogwarts, the characters = Not mine. Plot is mine, for the most part, but that brings me to my second note.
Though the end of chapter two marks the end of her influence, I owe a huge thank you to Hiei'sRedRose. She played an important role in the creation of this story. The idea for this story came from a writing game we were playing and was a mixture of our minds. I have changed it a great deal, and it is all in my own writing, but it started with our role play and certain parts remain very much like what we started with. I need to give credit where credit is due, so thank you, Krissery for your part in the creation of this story and for allowing me to write it and make it my own. Now, onto the story.
Also a HUGE thanks to Neonorne and Nessa, who reviewed and edited bits of this story (and pushed me to rewrite a chapter or two, which I did). They helped me make it what it is, which is something I am proud of and thankful for. Thanks guys.
Finally: REVIEW! :) Thanks.
Dawn peaked early in the Gryffindor common room, though it seemed only one pair of startlingly emerald eyes was awake to enjoy it. Lily Evans perched contentedly on the arm of her favorite chair, the one nearest the blazing fire. Her warmly-socked feet rested in what was usually the seat, and a partially written essay lay strewn across her lap.
"Protean charms, protean charms," the red-head murmured to herself, flipping quickly through her Charms textbook and finally settling on a page towards the end of the text. "Ah! Protean- what are you lot doing up so early, Potter?"
Through the porthole, three muddy young men entered the common room, each looking thoroughly exhausted. The leader of these, however, had a smug grin on his face, which dimmed slightly as the Head Girl snapped at him.
"Just out for a morning stroll, Evans," the Head Boy replied, his grin returning as he ran his hand through his already messy black hair. "We're allowed, you know."
She rolled her eyes, but in seconds, she realized exactly what he had to be seeing. She was shoeless and scattered, and her hair was pulled into the messy bun she wore only when she was sure no one was around. And hadn't Potter been there last week when she'd lectured the third year for sitting exactly as she was now? Oh, of course he had. He'd been setting her back two steps for every one she made that day, from encouraging the girl to stay as she was to teaching her equally unfit ways to sit in a chair while her butt remained in the seat.
Frowning, she slipped off the chair and stood, staring him straight in the eyes. "I've been here for an hour, Potter. You never left. Don't you realize you're Head Boy now? You're supposed to be enforcing the rules, for Merlin's sake! You can't take off for the grounds at night and just- Potter? Potter! Are you listening at all?"
He muttered a far off, "What? Oh yeah, sure," and his best friend, Sirius, started laughing behind him.
"Just go to breakfast, Potter," she muttered with a frustrated sigh, looking back to the Charms text. "Or more likely to bed, as I'm guessing you haven't been yet."
"I'd rather stay right here, Evans," Potter answered lazily, plopping haphazardly in the chair next to hers and sending her spare quill messily to the floor. His friends, however, retreated up the stairs to the boys' dormitory, and she found herself wishing he'd join them.
Still, Lily didn't- and wouldn't, for fear of giving him satisfaction- bother to look up from the paragraph she was reading, though it probably meant reading these same words six or seven times. "Oh you would, would you?"
"Yep." James craned his neck to catch a glimpse of the parchment she was now scribbling furiously on, but because of her resumed armchair perch, he apparently couldn't make out the writing. "What are you working on?"
"Professor Flitwick's essay on Protean Charms." She fought the instinct to look up at him as she spoke and instead continued to copy a quote from the text.
"Essay?" James froze, looking confused as he tried to remember the assignment. "I don't remember there being an essay."
"Of course you don't." Lily frowned, finally granting him the slightest reproachful glare. The boy never listened. He was rude and arrogant, and he caused nearly all the trouble she had spent her last three years trying to prevent. The James Potter in front of her, the cocky jerk, was the same boy she had detested for nearly as long as she remembered. But much to her dismay, this was not the only side of James Potter, and while she hated this persona, she had grown almost overly-fond of his other fronts, the ones she saw when he didn't know she was looking. The loyal friend who somehow managed to coax the less-talented Peter through his lessons as well as completing his own; the brilliant wizard whose talents had only expanded as they aged; and the generally kinder person who actually helped in his duties- sometimes- that had come out in the last year were beginning to captivate her, but she didn't allow herself to know them. He didn't allow her to know them.
The only side of James Potter he revealed around her was the arrogant teen who had never worked to achieve half of what he had. His appearance, his talents, and even his class work always seemed to fall together without so much as a thought from him. She never saw him frantically pulling together an essay, but she always saw the perfect O result on his finished project. And that wizard, the one who had never put in a day's work in his life, was unbearable to be around. If she had the chance to meet the other James Potter, the one only his friends seemed to have found, she might have done exactly what he'd wanted; she might have fallen for him. But as it was, he made it very easy to prevent that.
"He assigned it last class. It's due on Monday."
"You mean Monday, as in two days from now?" the stunned-looking teen asked, small amounts of worry etching it's way onto his face. "I don't remember him saying anything. With Remus being, erm, ill, I was thinking about a few other things." Then, as soon as the worry came, it seemed to evaporate. "Oh well. I'll get it done. Nothing to panic about."
Lily found herself feeling almost sorry for him, a fact she blamed on the appearance of his 'loyal friend' side she'd grown rather attached to in the last year And though she knew he could probably do it on his own, she also knew that with her help it might be faster. "Do you want help on your essay, Potter?"
"Help? From you?" He raised his eyebrow at her. "You'd help me?"
"Only if you keep your cheek to yourself," she snapped, her usual irritation returning. "An hour before dinner, alright? Meet me in the library."
"Library, an hour before dinner. Got it." James offered her a bright grin. "I'm going to go to bed then, Evans. Good night." His face still glowing, he retreated to the top of the stairs before her voice stopped him in his tracks.
"Do not make me regret this Potter. Understood?"
He paused for a moment, and as he ducked into the seventh years' dormitory, he gave a very direct reply:
"Understood."