A/N: This chapter seems a little more... melodic, I think, is a good word. Hmm... what do you guys say?

Seven Offenses

Alice let her head hit the table. "Lily," she moaned. Lily leaned over to comfort her friend – and just in time. A piece of turkey flew over her, inches away from where her face had just been.

"Sirius Black…" Lily growled, glaring at him. He winked at her and turned to Remus, who sighed and shook his head.

It had to have been the stupidest idea Lily had ever had, sitting here. The kind of thing she would have hit Alice over the head with for suggesting.

"Where's James?" asked Peter. Lily had been wondering the same thing herself.

"Probably fulfilling his Prefect duties," Sirius sneered on the word, stabbing his potatoes.

"Oh, I thought you'd like that, you guys could get away with – wait, James is a Prefect?"

"Yes." answered Lupin, sending Sirius a dirty look.

Lily snorted.

"Ehh, Lily. That's repulsive." Sirius commented, stuffing a fist-sized chicken breast into his mouth.

Alice looked weary.

"Lily, why are we sitting here?"

"I have no idea," Lily lied.

"Oh, I think I know the reason," said Alice, and she glared pointedly at the tall, bespectacled figure of James Potter walking toward them.

"Hey, Lily. Hi, guys. Peter what are you doi – Lily?"

"Hello James."

"What are –?"

"James, I'm a Gryffindor. This is the Gryffindor table – I can sit wherever I like."

"I didn't mean – I just meant – ," James stuttered, resignedly sitting down on Lily's left.

He ran a tired hand through his hair.

"Any news?" Remus inquired; he was training his eves on a copy of the Evening Prophet.

"New caretaker. Filch, funny name, right? He has a knack for punishment, far as I can tell. Kind of useless in the Peeves department."

"But what happened to Gregors?" asked Alice, her brow furrowed.

"Quit, apparently. Must have been the whole prank back at the Hogsmeade station last year." At the mention of this particular incident, James, Peter, Remus, and Sirius grinned.

Lily raised an eyebrow and James cleared his throat. "Um, Peter, pass the potatoes please…"

"I hear you're a Prefect. How'd you manage that?" Lily asked, trying to sound nice and not skeptical.

James shrugged. "I have my ways. And," he looked around, his eyes finally landing on Lily, "this way we get to spend more time together."

He smiled, and Lily groaned. She had her suspicions about James's 'ways', but they were washed clear from her mind as she realized how much longer she'd have to deal with James this year. Of course they would end up patrolling together – James would find a way.

Brilliant. Just great. That was two hours, alone, in deserted corridors, with James Potter. This was going to be a great year.

Lily dared a glance up at James, and he still had that damn smile on his face. She turned to Alice, hoping for some kind of reassurance, but Alice had her lips pursed, looking thoughtful.

The rest of dinner passed slowly, but it was mostly entertaining. Peter fell out of his chair, twice; Sirius declared his werewolf fantasy; Remus shook his head and blushed a lot; and James… was James.

He was flattering, of course. Lily couldn't deny that. And he definitely was handsome, right down to the way his wrist bone jutted out. There was no point in saying he wasn't. James was funny, and sweet, and clueless to the extent it made Lily laugh.

But, Lily argued, he was annoying and conceited. He could be rude. He was immature. And he was amazingly stubborn, almost as stubborn as Lily herself. They were like two people pushing and pushing on different sides of a brick wall. And thick as this wall was – denying as it was – it was going to have to break sometime. That, or one of the people was going to walk away.

The pressure was like a time bomb, one with a set date that nobody knew about. Well Lily was going to keep pushing, she told herself.

"I'm going to be- the dormitories," said Peter as he chomped down the last of his sixth serving.

"Sure you are," mumbled Sirius, and Remus half-smiled at him.

"Lily, I believe we have some first years to tend to," said James, getting up. He held out his hand for her.

Lily stood up on her own. Alice seemed to take this as her queue and she was half across the table, at Frank's side, before Lily could so much as wave.

Sighing, Lily turned to James expectantly. He stopped drooling over her and started pointing at everyone short, telling them to come over.

"James," said Lily, rolling her eyes. He looked at her with an innocent expression, and she couldn't help but smile. "Okay," she shouted, stretching her hand in the air and wiggling her fingers, "first years over here!"

They waited until a group of about fifteen kids was surrounding them and started toward the common room. As they ascended the stairs to the second floor, Lily said, "This is the quickest route to the Gryffindor Common Room, so you'd be good to remember it."

"Yeah," James agreed, he was in full bravado stance. Lily tried not to giggle. James saw her and smiled, poking her in the side.

Before Lily could tell him off, a first year girl asked, "Are you two dating?" Her blue eyes were wide, and her hair was an extremely curly red.

"Why, ye –"

"No."

Lily looked at James in shock, and James returned the stare smugly. "We are not going out, James!"

"Well, I hadn't gotten around to asking you yet, but I was pretty sure you'd say yes, so –"

"I would not have said yes," Lily argued, shaking her head defiantly.

The little girl giggled, and Lily remembered she was listening, which was good, considering the stream of profanities Lily had been about to shout.

Instead, she glared at James, and found his expression mirrored hers – incredulous. Lily wanted to slap him. Of course she would have said no. Why in the world would she ever say yes? She'd said no the past fifty thousand times, why would James think this year was any different…?

Okay, even if it was a little different this year, she still wouldn't have said yes. She wouldn't have.

Maybe she would have. But she wouldn't anymore, next time he asked. Simply because he'd assumed she'd say yes this time. She wasn't some mule, and she certainly wasn't predictable.

Lily was aware that James was still staring at her, the whole time they led the first years to the common room. She'd just admitted she would have said yes, and she wasn't ready to look at him yet, because being James he would know. He just saw through her like that.

By the time they reached the common room, people were still chattering excitedly about the moving photos and staircases. Lily opened her mouth to tell them about the Fat Lady and the password, but James spoke first.

"This," he indicated the life-sized painting, "is the entrance to the common room. And this is the Fat Lady."

Lily stood, stunned, as the Fat Lady talked. She was surprised that James hadn't made any crack about being nice to her so she'd let you back in at four in the morning. James winked at her when he saw her gaping, and Lily closed her mouth quickly. The Fat Lady nodded, signifying she was done talking.

"This year's password is 'Offense.'"

" – is 'Offense'." James and Lily said the last part together, and he finally looked her in the eye. It only took him a few seconds, but his eyes became confused, and Lily looked away before she could see if they became anything more. The Fat Lady swung open, and the first years gathered in excitedly.

When James and Lily were the only ones left, James took Lily's face in his hand, studying her. She raised an eyebrow and he let it fall to his side.

"Um, strange password this year…" he said, trying to start some small talk. Lily knew exactly where this was leading.

"It isn't like I made it up," Lily said guiltily and, blushing, she followed a tiny boy into the common room before James got a chance to ask.

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