'How can you take him seriously?' Lily asked, as she and James walked down the Transfiguration corridor. They were stuck on duty together for the next few hours, so she had decided to try to be cordial. Or at least not yell at him. She still felt guilty about the night before.

'You just don't know him,' James said defensively. His tone caught Lily's attention. She had never thought of James as loyal, though as she thought about it, it became quite obvious that he was.

'Then explain him.' Lily had learned early that she could tell a lot about a person from their friends. She didn't have to like James, but at least understanding him would be beneficial during their duty hours. She hoped it might make him easier to deal with.

'Explain Padfoot...' James shot her a quizzical look. She wondered whether he would tell her anything, after the way they had treated each other over the six years they had known each other. 'He's, well, he's like my brother. Ever since first year we've been friends. He's been unofficially living with me during holidays since second year, but last year, he moved in. He comes from a long line of Slytherins, so his parents weren't... happy about him being a Gryffindor.'

Lily already knew those things. Like her, Regulus Black was a member of 'The Slug Club', and often talked about family situations during meetings. In a way, he liked the spotlight as much as his older brother.

'What else. What about his personality?' James gave her a why-do-you-want-to-know-this look.

'With Sirius, what you see is what you get. That's all there is to it.'

'Okay... Where does the name 'Prongs' come from?' James stopped and looked at her.

'Why do you want to know about that?' Lily thought he sounded scared.

'Well I've already figured out 'Moony',' James froze, and went pale as one of the Hogwarts ghosts. 'It's from that prank, in third year, when... well... you know...' Colour returned to James' face.

'I suppose that one is fairly obvious. But I'm not telling you anything about my nickname, or Sirius' or Pete's.' Lily pouted.

'That's not fair, Potter. I'm making an effort to be nice to you, and get to know you, and all you do is turn me down! You haven't even tried to get to know me!'

'Evans, stop yelling.' Lily blushed. 'If you really wanted to get to know me, then maybe you should go out with me...' James took a step away from Lily, who was furious. 'No. Well that's all right,' he said cheerfully. 'As for me getting to know you, there's no point, because I already do.'

Lily's eyes narrowed, 'You don't know the first thing about me.' James looked offended, and Lily almost felt bad. Almost.

'You're full name is Lillian Faye Evans, your father is Harry Evans, your mother is Amelia Evans. You have a sister, Petunia, who you love, but do not get on well with. Your favourite subjects are Charms Potions and Transfiguration. You try to make up for your muggle-born status by doing well in all of you subjects.

'When you leave school, you want to become a healer, to save some of the lives that would otherwise be lost in the war. You're afraid of the unknown, which is why you follow a strict schedule, and also why you like to learn. Your best friend is Alice, and the person you detest most at Hogwarts is me.' Lily's eyes widened. Without another word, James turned and stalked off, leaving Lily gaping after him.