Chapter Two - Classes and Conundrums

The month of September came and went, with an abundance of classes, homework, and lectures reminiscent of O.W.L. year, reminding the seventh years of the impending tests that affected their whole lives. James became so busy that he rarely antagonized Lily anymore, which came as a relief, since her schedule was no picnic either. She barely had time for lunch anymore, and it was only halfway through October.

Not to mention, as Halloween approached, the whole school buzzed with chatter about the Triwizard Tournament. The foreign guests had not yet arrived, but rumors were rampant about them already. Any Hogwarts student who had met these people was graduated, as it had been five years. Any time Lily entered a new class, at least one speculative conversation could be heard. Finally, that Thursday, the eve of Halloween, Dumbledore announced that the other schools would be arriving the next day. The selections for school champions would commence Sunday evening.

The morning of Halloween dawned a crisp fall day. The grounds were coated in a layer of fallen leaves, the distant mountains painted in array of reds and oranges. A thin layer of ice had begun to creep around the edge of the Black Lake, and the Head students were already awake, charged with decorating the Great Hall. Lily was especially nervous, as she felt that they, especially as Heads, had to give a good first impression. James did not much care. He had accidentally smashed three pumpkins in the twenty five minutes they had been decorating. One had landed suspiciously close to Lily when she began to yell at him for slacking.

Two hours, sixteen smashed pumpkins and three Leg-Locker Curses on James later, the Great Hall was nearly complete. Glowing enchanted pumpkins floated near the ceiling with candles of various sizes. The walls, save for house banners, were draped in fake spiderwebs. Yet James had somehow managed to entangle Lily in web from the waist down. She hadn't even noticed. And then she tried to walk. It took fifteen minutes to vanish it all from her robes. By this time, classes had started already, and the two were late for Potions.

¨Miss Evans, Mr Potter, you two are very late!¨ Slughorn chided upon the Head´s entering the dungeon. ¨I hope you have good reason!¨

¨James and I were decorating the Great Hall, Professor,¨

¨Ah, well you two will be working together. Find a desk please, and as I was saying, for the next month, we will be working on making Skele-gro. It is a very complicated potion, and i hope you are all prepared for a challenge. This is a NEWT-level class, after all.¨ Slughorn proceeded to illustrate the finer points of making the potion while the class took notes.

James was shocked. Not once had he walked into Potions late and received such a passive response. He also got to work with Lily for an entire month. Clearly his luck was improving, if Lily hadn't even objected to being partners with him.

¨Potter?¨ A light pressure on James´s arm jerked him out of his reverie. ¨James?¨

¨Huh?¨

Lily giggled. James decided it was a nice sound, but didn't think he'd heard it much before. ¨Potter, class is over. We have to go to Transfiguration, and you of all people know how annoyed McGonagall will be.¨

Sighing, he quickly gathered his things and walked out, Lily trailing him. ¨So back to last names, huh?¨

¨What?¨

¨You just called me James. Twice.¨

¨I called you James to Professor Slughorn twenty five minutes ago. What in the name of Merlin were you doing all class?¨

He stopped walking, stunned. ¨That was nearly a half hour ago? I thought we missed all but the last ten minutes.¨

They had made their way through the crowded halls and were outside of Transfiguration, but Lily made no move to enter. ¨Alright Potter, are you doing okay? Dumbledore told us all classes were shortened today. Are you nervous about putting your name in for the Triwizard or something? This isn't like you.¨

James felt suddenly cross with her and her bloody concern. ¨How would you know if this is like me? For all you know that's how I am. Zoning out all class and making stupid forgetful mistakes.¨ He stormed into Transfiguration, leaving Lily staring after him, taken aback.

¨What the hell?¨

James left in a hurry after the particularly confusing lesson on human transfiguration. Lily slowly made her way back to the common room for her break period. She was so confused. James had never been like this to her. Even when she rejected him. Spotting Remus at the end of the hall, Lily hurried to catch up.

¨Remus!¨

He turned at the sound of her voice, looking surprised. ¨Lily? Is something wrong?¨

¨Er, sort of? I think?¨

Remus let out a bark of a laugh that drew several stares. ¨Did something happen with James? I know you two had to decorate the Great Hall together. Something was bound to go wrong.¨

¨Well, he was acting strangely, he completely zoned out and didn't take a single note in Potions class, and then blew up when I asked him if it was because of the Tournament.¨

¨Oh, Lily,¨ Remus sighed, ¨Of course it's because of the Triwizard!¨

This only succeeded in confusing Lily more.¨What?¨

¨He's scared. He doesn't really want to do it, but he thinks he should. You told him you were putting your name in right?¨

¨He's scared for me.¨

¨Yes.¨