Name: Of Lily And James
Rating: PG-13
Author: Timelady-from-Gallifrey, a.k.a Rose, founder of the We-Hate-The-Constant-Stereotype-That-Lily-Evans-We ars-Green-And-Only-Green-To-Formal-Events-Or-Any-O ther-Event-I-Mean-Honestly-She's-Ginger-Not-Handic apped society. Or WHTCSTLEWGAOGTFEOAOEIMHSGNH. Our acronym isn't very popular. Neither are we, actually.
Disclaimer: Characters in this story (other than any obvious character that I make up myself) belong to J.K Rowling, Bloomsbury, and Warner Bros. Mostly J.K Rowling, though. My deepest apologies to none other that Miss Rowling, for I have an awful tendency to hijack some of her wonderful characters and throw them into a TARDIS and desert them in the wrong time period for my own selfish needs. Also, Doctor Who will be mentioned at various points in this story, so DW belongs to the BBC. Also, I'm trying to incorporate as much Amy Pond as I can into Lily, I don't really know why, I suppose I just really like the idea. Amelia Pond belongs to DW, DW to BBC, BBC to the Queen, and so on.
Recap: James tried to woo Lily with the maturity act, fails and gives up. They (surprise!) fight, and the next day they're on somewhat decent terms. Sirius (somehow) lands himself and Lily detention.
"Guys always think tears are a sign of weakness. They're a sign of FRUSTRATION. She's only crying so she won't cut your throat in your sleep. So make nice and be grateful."
― Donna Barr
"-It's like you're a bloody muggle-!"
"Sorry! I'm-"
"You could've used your wand to conjure some bleeding water!"
"-so sorry! I didn't mean-"
"Why you felt it necessary to pour a potion on my head is beside me!"
"Sorry! I'm so, so sorry, Evans!"
"In all honesty, Lily, you do look better with your hair shorter."
"Yeah, I'm with Moony on this one. I thought you needed a little trim, but I didn't wanna say anything-"
"Shut up, Sirius."
It was –surprise, surprise- a lousy day for both Lily and James, so far. It started rather alright, right up and till they were paired together for Potions class.
"But professor!" Lily had complained to her rather large, round teacher, Professor Slughorn, who, usually, never refused anything when it came to Lily.
"You can't pair us together, please!"
"I'm sorry, Lily," Slughorn said, looking like he meant it. "But I can't have him with Mr. Black, or else they'll blow up the class. It's a very delicate potion, you see."
Lily grumbled and reluctantly turned to her partner, who was smirking innocently at her.
"Wipe that smile off your face." She ordered (although, it was a very nice smile, indeed, even she had to admit it.) "And step aside."
This immediately did the job with disposing of his not-really-but-actually-very-nice-smile.
"What?" He said hoarsely.
"You heard me. I'll do the potion, and you sit aside."
"But I want to help!" He said indignantly.
Goddamned James Potter always had to have his say in something. Thinking people will always mess up unless his majesty is involved. Sod him.
"I can handle it." She said pointedly, rolling green eyes, and tucking a thick strand of her dark red hair behind her ear.
"I know you can," he had said hurriedly. "But I want to help."
Again, she rolled her eyes, which she seemed to do a lot in the presence of Potter.
"Fine. Set the fire on high."
"That's all?" Potter said irritably, "That's all I have to do?"
"Just do it, Potter." Lily snapped, throwing her arms up exasperatedly.
"Fine, fine." He muttered, following her instructions.
Lily studied the board, which read 'Draught Of Living Death' in Slughorn's wobbly handwriting, and on the side, were the ingredients.
Lily couldn't quite see the ingredients listed, though, for they were in rather small writing, so she dug her Potions book out of her bag and flipped it open to page 378.
She then followed the instructions, 'Stir clockwise fourteen times, then anti-clockwise seven times, and let it simmer for ten minutes.' She did just as was said, stirring it fourteen times (Oh, how her arm wanted to just fall off. She felt too proud to ask Potter to stir it for her, so she sad to keep going) and proceeded to finish off the last seven needed stirs.
After she was finished, she snuck a glance at Potter, who was, typically, making paper birds and setting free to soar through the classroom. Slughorn didn't seem to notice, or perhaps he did, and opted to ignore them.
With further inspection, it was revealed that he had apparently made a whole miniature animated farm with paper. Paper animals were chasing paper animals, paper farmers milking paper goats and cows, and so on.
Who the bloody hell knew how to make origami, anyway?
Show off.
Lily spun her head to look at her mates; Marlene had been paired with Reg Cattermole, whom Mary fancied, and sure enough, the tiny brunette in question was throwing rueful glances across the room to the not very handsome Hufflepuff.
It always struck Lily this one little fact about Mary. Mary was just about the most attractive girl in school, even with her large brown eyes and her beautiful brown hair, her cute elfish face was not a forgettable one. Granted, she wasn't very tall, but everything else made up for it.
In short (no pun intended), Mary could have any bloke in the school, and yet she fancies Reg Cattermole, of all people. Beak-nosed Reg. Scrawny Reg. Awkward Reg. Plan old Reg.
Lily supposed it was pretty romantic, and found herself sighing wistfully for a relationship half as romantic as Mary and Reg's sort-of relationship.
Suddenly, the smell of her brewing potion snapped her back into reality.
No, wait. That wasn't the smell of her potion.
She sniffed the air suspiciously.
Smoke?
Lily glanced down and, to her horror, found the mother-of-all-flames that Potter himself had lit, licking her hair.
She let out a strangled yelp, catching Potter's attention. His head snapped up immediately and cried, "What did you do?"
"Make it stop!" She screeched, flapping her arms at her sides. "Make it stop, you idiot!"
People were soon staring, gaping, even Slughorn himself, and yet none of them had the common sense to use their wands.
"YOUR WAND!" Lily cried to Potter, desperately trying to pat the fire off her hair, too panicked to use her own wand. "USE YOUR WAND, YOU BLEEDING IDIOT."
Potter finally caught her drift, and whipped out his wand, but unfortunately, the paper monkey (Monkeys! Who can make origami monkeys?) had climbed to his shoulder, giving him a start, and as he dropped his wand, it rolled under the table.
"MAKE IT STOP!"
In a hurried panic, Potter seized the cauldron containing their potion and poured the concoction over Lily's head.
She stood their, frozen, with her mouth wide open and her wet hair all over her face like a curtain.
"Evans," James said in a terrified, hushed voice, "I didn't mean-"
"Shut up." She said in a quiet voice. "And take me to the Hospital wing."
"And now," Lily concluded. "I'm stuck in here for several more hours."
"It's not like you have somewhere to be." James snorted, plopping himself down on the chair next to Lily's bedside.
She glared daggers at him and said, "Actually, I do."
"You do?" He mused, not even paying her attention, instead deciding to pick the lint off his trousers.
"Yes. A date." This seemed to have caught his attention, as his head snapped up and he sat bolt upright.
"You do?" He repeated forcefully. "With who?"
"Robert Wood." The redhead said as-a-matter-of-factly, crossing her arms over her chest.
"And when, exactly, will this date be taking place?"
"Two hours."
"Very well."
His calm response bothered Lily greatly. "That's it? I'm going on a date with your Beater and you're not even going to comment on that?"
Potter shrugged. "None of my business."
Lily was still bothered, but chose to forget the subject and said, "Where did my mates go?"
Not five minutes ago had Marlene, Mary, and Alice been huddled next to Lily's bed, relaxing her with calming news such as, 'You made a right fool of yourself back there, Lil.' Or 'Everyone's heard of it by now. If you thought people calling you Fire Head for your hair colour was bad before, it's going to get really bad now.'
"They got hauled off to class." Sirius answered, setting the spider he had crafted out of paper to roam around the floor. "You were in the bathroom."
"That's creepy." Lily squirmed, eyeing the spider resentfully. "Step on it, or something."
"It's not real, Evans. That won't work."
"Light it on fire, then."
"It's not you, Evans."
"Oh, har har har."
"It's funny, don't deny it."
"How come you guys didn't get sent to class?" The witch grumbled bitterly staring at the four Marauders in front of her. She was wondering what exactly they were doing here, anyway. It's not they're mates. She and Remus were, that's excused, but the other three? She supposed she and Sirius were on somewhat good terms, and she didn't exactly dislike Peter, nor did she like him. But Potter? Not really. Maybe he just felt like lighting her hair on fire wasn't enough. Like he needed to inflict more pain on her with his mere presence.
"Free period."
"Actually, Padfoot. It's just me who has a free period."
"Thanks for the intel, Prongs. Alright, I can take a hint. Let's go."
"I'll gather your homework for you, Lily." Remus promised her as he passed by.
"Thanks." She said gratefully.
In less then one minute, she and Potter were all on their own.
"Um," He said, fidgeting in his seat. "Can I, uh, get you anything?"
"Why are you trying to be nice?" Lily questioned shamelessly.
"I suppose it is somewhat my fault," he smirked, running his hand through his hair, filling Lily with the urge to slap his hand away. "That your hair caught on fire, I mean."
"Somewhat?"
"Only a little, though."
"Ah, yes, I see. I shouldn't have been so stupid as to entrust you with staring a fire; far too advanced for your mind."
"You said to set it on high!" He said indignantly.
"High," She repeated, narrowing her eyes, "Not supernova."
Silence filled the room.
Then, "My book."
"What?" Potter said with a start.
"I was reading a book, and I left it on my bed this morning."
"So?"
"Go get it for me."
"It's in the girl's dorm, Red."
"So?"
"What makes you think I can get in there?"
"Please." She scoffed. "I may not know all your tricks, but I'm not stupid."
His smirk returned to his face, "You know me so well, Red."
"Unfortunately."
"Naturally."
"Unluckily."
"Positively."
"Why do you have to have the last word in everything?" Lily said irritably. "It drives me mad."
"Mad? Exactly how mad to I drive you, Red?"
"Jerk."
"Whore."
"Bastard."
"Brat."
"Ugh!" She clutched her head. "Stop doing that!"
Again, he smirked, "Alright, I'll get you your book."
Moments later, he went and returned with her romance novel, Not His Type of Spell.
"I read this on the way. It's rubbish." He said, flipping through the pages.
"Are you joking?" She demanded, snatching the book with her pale hands. "It's heart breaking!"
"If by heart breaking, you mean absolutely terrible, then yes. Heart shattering, even."
"It's cute!" Lily insisted. "Like, the heroine, John Everhart, he calls his girlfriend –get this- His forEverhart!"
"Big whoop. Twelve year old girls can think of better nicknames."
"James Potter, if that isn't the cutest thing you've ever heard, then you don't read many romance novels!"
"I don't read any romance novels." He corrected.
She clutched the book to her chest and gave a long sigh, "I just wish one day, my significant other will give me a cute nickname."
"I call you a cute nickname." Potter teased.
"Red is neither cute nor romantic."
"Picking your own nickname for your significant other to call you isn't cute orromantic."
"You aren't my significant other."
"Touché." James allowed. "Alright, tell me more about this stupid book."
Immediately, Lily's eyes lit up, "Well, by the end of the book, John wants to ask out Marie –his forEverhart- but he doesn't know how, and then he remembers once, she told him that her dream is for a bloke to woo her by chucking rocks at her window at midnight and asking her out. And in the end-!"
"He chucks rocks at her window at midnight and asks her out." He finished dryly.
"Did you-?" She seemed genuinely confused, "Did you read the entire book on the way?"
James merely shook his head and got up from his seat, "I have to get going. Pomfrey wants to speak to me. Then I have some homework."
"Oh, okay." Lily frowns, "I'll be getting out any minute now, actually. For my date."
"You do that, Red." He collected his bag and strode to the back of the room.
Lily adjusted herself to a comfortable position, preparing herself for a nice, sound sleep.
So of course, James Potter had to stroll right back to her.
"Pomfrey's told me to ask you," he began distractedly. "How have you been feeling?"
"Fine." Lily shrugged.
Potter strutted his red, worn out trainers to the back of the Hospital Wing, had a hurried conversation, came back and said, "She says you'll have to stay for another five hours."
"What?" Lily yelped. "But I'll miss my date! And besides, I'm perfectly fine!"
No. This was not happening. This couldn't be happening. She's spent years pinning over Robert Wood, and now, Six years later, they finally have a date and she's going to miss it because bloody James Potter set her hair on fire? No thank you.
"Sorry, Red." He held up this palms. "It's out of my hands. Something about your lungs. But hey," He perked up. "You'll be let out just in time for detention with me and Sirius."
Lily let out a groan. "Both of you? One of you was bad enough!"
"You flatter me."
"Do I even want to know what you did?"
"Not really, no."
"Leave me to die." She whined, covering her face with her pillow.
"What's wrong now, Evans?" James sighed.
"I can't miss my date. I just can't." Her voice came out a bit muffled from underneath her pillow.
"Unless you want to invite him to help us polish trophies, an idea of which I am not opposed to, there's nothing I can do. Can't you just reschedule?"
"Reschedule? Ha!" She cried miserably. "You know Robert. He's so emotional. He'll think I don't fancy him. It'll ruin everything that I have spent six years working on!"
"That's too bad, Red."
Lily grumbled, but tried to look on the bright side. "Well, we can't have that many trophies, can we?"
Five Hours Later
"Oh. My. Merlin."
Lily Evans was fairly tall (a whole five feet and ten whooping inches) but even she felt puny with the massive trophy case towering over her.
It seemed ridiculous, but there was a trophy for everything. Best Seeker, Best Keeper, Best Chaser, Best Beater, Most Creative Artist (One trophy for each house for the stupid art categories.) Most Original Artist, Most Creative Artist, Most Talented Charmer (As in, for Charms Club), Most Charming Witch (That was actually, truly, a thing! It wasn't even associated with Charms Club! The students themselves made this up and due to high demand, the trophy they made was to be put on display!) This went to –hmph- Diane Bleeding Tullet.
Mary twice as cute, Lily thought bitterly.
Lily never really knew why she had this rather childish hate towards Diane. Diane herself never really did anything particularly mean to Lily, as far as she knew. I could've been that one time Lily's boyfriend dumped her for Diane, in third year.
And fourth.
And fifth.
Twice, in fifth, even.
It seemed like something a twittering fifth year would have felt. Lily tried to like Diane, she really did. She rather felt like a hypocrite, all those times she told Potter to mature up, and here she was; hating on an innocent girl simply for her allure to the opposite sex.
Even Lily had to admit, if she were a bloke, she'd be on Diane so fast she'd-
Wait.
Wasn't she supposed to be with two certain Marauders?
She spun around for a quick scan around the room, and Potter and Black were still nowhere to be seen.
Bloody hell, was she really going to polish these all by herself?
She'd sooner jump off the Astronomy Tower.
What were those bloody wankers doing?
Suck it up, she told herself, hitch your skirt up, pick up a cloth and start cleaning.
She eyed the pile of cleaning materials that had been left earlier by the esteemed Caretaker, snatched the one on top (They really did smell awful.), flung the cabinet open and began polishing.
In the dim lit corridor, Lily could barely see to whom the trophies belonged, but when she observed close enough, she saw that most of the Quidditch related ones (Like, a good 81% of them. Merlin) belonged to James.
Is there anything he can't do?
In, give or take, two hours after Lily finished cleaning the godforsaken trophies (by herself, no less. Agrippa, were her arms sore.), she was approached by a grunting Filch.
"Where are the other two?" He asked aggressively.
She didn't really know whether to rat them out or not, so she decided to simply say maybe they went bathroom, and then choose later on if she should tell or not.
"I think they went to the loo." She said idly.
"You think?" He growled.
"I think."
He seemed to be at war with himself –Lily really did pity the man sometimes- and reluctantly dismissed her, saying that he'll deal with her tomorrow.
She was going to do it.
She was going to rat on those little maggots.
Today, on their way to lunch, they passed Lily several times, and not once did they even throw a little, Hey, Lily! Thanks for not selling us out yesterday! Or an, I really appreciate all the work you did; may I carry your bag? Also, I like your perfume.
She'd spent twenty bloody galleons on the damn thing.
Top rate, all-the-way-from-France, her arse.
She was going to punch someone if she didn't get a compliment soon-
WHAM.
Just like that, the creepy Mulciber sixth year from Slytherin slammed into a poor little Ravenclaw, no older than 11 or 12.
"S-s-sorry." She whimpered, looking at the ground.
"Sorry?" Mulciber growled, his fingers curling around his wand, the other rubbing his head. "Are you fucking blind?"
"I-I didn't mean-"
"Did you perhaps no see me? Was that the issue?"
"I-"
"You know," He said slimily, casually aiming his wand at the child, "If you want to make it up, I am a bit out of practice."
"W-what?"
"It's not like your worthless mudblood life is really significant in any-"
I was just about to speak up, when out of all people, James Potter had come to the rescue, looking extremely ticked off.
"Did you run out of first years to molest, Mulciber?"
"What do you want, Potter?" The haughty wizard glared. "This isn't your fight."
"Just get out of here, Willy," James narrowed his eyes, using the nickname that he very well knew William Mulciber despised. "I'm really not in the mood for this."
"Scared, Potter?" He licked his lips hungrily.
"Please," James snorted. "I'm more scared of the second year you were harassing."
"You don't know anything-"
"Oh, I know. Were you going to "sacrifice" her "unworthy blood" to the "dark overlord"?"
"I-"
"Did you run out of virgins to sacrifice? Because I'm pretty sure you could've sacrificed yourself."
All around, people were laughing, and Mulciber had gone rather red in the face.
"You'll-" He stuttered, outraged, "You'll pay for this, Potter."
The Slytherin retreated into the crowed, while James crouched down next to the little girl.
"You okay?" He said quietly, picking up her scattered books and handing them to her, all while she stared with her wide eyes.
"Yeah." She nodded her head furiously, trying to hide her flustered face.
James got up and offered her a hand, which she gladly took.
"Thanks." She blushed. She hurriedly threw her books in her bag and scuttled off, and at the exact moment, Sirius Black and the rest of his boyband members, a.k.a Peter and Remus, decided to join Potter, all patting him on the back and talking about some Quidditch Match (yawn.)
They turned around to vacate the premises, but nearly slammed into Professor McGonagall.
"Ah, yes." She said pointedly. "Just the two I wanted to see. Lupin, Pettigrew, get to class."
Without a moment's hesitation, both of the Marauders bolted to their upcoming classes (which weren't to start for another twenty minutes.)
"Miss Evans." The transfiguration teacher addressed Lily. Both Potter and Black spun their heads to look at her, as though realizing only now that she was here. "A word."
The redhead walked closer uncertainly, and hesitantly said, "Yes, professor?"
"Did you, or did you not, have detention to serve with Mr. Potter and Mr. Black yesterday night?"
Fuck.
Fuck.
She had forgotten all about that, after the whole Potter-Mulciber fiasco.
Lily glanced at the two remaining Marauders, who were sharing panicking looks.
"Um, yes."
"And were they present?"
"Um," She drew her breath, "Yes."
"The entire time?"
All eyes were now focused on her, and it seemed as the whole room was holding in it's breathe.
"Yes."
"What?" McGonagall, Potter, and Black all said simultaneously.
"Are you sure, Miss Evans?" McGonagall pressed on, furrowing her brow.
"I'm…" Lily trailed off. She managed to sneak a peak at the two boys; their jaws all but hit the floor. She was beginning to regret lying for them already. "I'm sure, Professor."
"Very… well. Off to class."
Lily ducked behind a tapestry of Rowena Ravenclaw and strode towards her upcoming Charms class. Sirius and Potter were hot on her trail.
"Um, Red?" James said, jogging up next to her. "Not that I want to sound ungrateful, but why'd you cover for us?"
"Yeah." Sirius made a face. "I've been telling him all day that Evans was bound to sell us out, what with her being the stuck up prude she is. No offense. Why didn't you? Sell us out, I mean."
"Jesus, Sirius." Lily breathed. "Do you act this why for comedic purposes, or are you genuinely that thick?"
"She's avoiding the question." He said to Potter.
"I'm not avoiding anything." Lily said, keeping her eyes focused in front of her.
"Whatever. You get it out of her, Prongs." Sirius dismissed. "I'm getting to class."
He picked up his pace and gave Potter a thumbs up and a smirk over his shoulder.
Potter looked rather red in the face after that, but Lily said nothing.
"So." He said casually. "Why did you cover for us?
Lily stopped in her tracks, as did Potter. She looked over his shoulder to peer at her mates, who looked rightfully confused to see her walking with James Potter. She beckoned them to go on without her.
"Let's just say," She began, "It was a thank you for not being a complete git back there with the second year."
"What are you-? Oh, no." He groaned in agony as realization dawned on him. "Don't tell me you saw that."
Lily couldn't help but smile. "Are you actually embarrassed that I saw you do a good deed?"
"Yes."
"It brings out the best in you, you know. It was pretty mature how you handled it."
"See, that's why I'm embarrassed; maturity."
"You like to be viewed as a child?" Lily thought she heard him mumble 'always am' to himself.
"I just don't want to be viewed as a wuss." He said evenly.
"How long has this 'good deed doer' thing been going on?" She teased.
"Pretty much when you're not around." Potter smirked.
"So you're saying I bring out the worst in you?"
"Precisely."
"Were not doing it, you know."
"Doing what? Shagging?"
"No."
"What, then?"
"It."
"It sounds like shagging."
Lily whacked him on the arm, "No." She corrected. "That thing that we've been doing lately. That thing where we spit out a bunch of fancy words at each other and try to see who gets the last word."
"That'd be awfully boring, don't you think?" He said carefully.
No, she told herself, you are better than this. Show some will power. Don't give in to him.
Don't-
"Terribly."
"Atrociously."
"Preposterously."
"Undeniably. "
"Unbelievably."
"Unbearably."
"Unimaginably."
"Unacceptably."
"Unfathomably."
Potter froze after that, desperately trying to think of a new comeback.
"Ha!" Lily shot smugly. "I win!"
"Fair enough." He grumbled.
"And now," She said grandly, holding out her bag towards him. "You'll carry my bag to class."
"In your dreams, Red." He scoffed, pushing her arm away.
"May I remind you that, not only did you set my hair on fire, but I also just bested you in your own game?"
"No need to rub it in." He laughed, giving her a long look, a twinkle in his stupid hazel eyes, finally accepting her bag and slinging it over his right shoulder.
"You know, Potter." Lily said seriously. "I always thought you were heartless."
"Really?" He mused, walking with ease down the corridor.
"Extremely." Lily had regretted the word the moment she blurted it out.
"Un-"
"Don't start that again!" She punched him on the shoulder. "I'm still catching my breath."
"Okay, okay." He rubbed his assaulted area, "But, just to be clear, you aren't still made with me?"
To be honest, Lily never was that angry with him to begin with. Upset, yes. But not angry.
"Oh no, I'm still a steaming cauldron of anger." Lily decided to milk this as far as she could.
"Is that so?" He mused.
"I'm afraid it is." She nodded her head, trying to hold back a smirk. "And the only way I can be calmed down was if you did my Transfiguration homework for me."
James snorted in a very unattractive way, "It's not you couldn't do it yourself."
It was no Lily's turn to snort. "I wish."
"What?" The Quidditch captain looked momentarily stunned. "I though you were brilliant at Transfiguration?"
"Why would you say that?" She pursed her lips. Brilliant? Yeah, right. She was also the Minister of Magic. It's not like the bloke wasn't in every class she was. It's not like he wasn't there in fifth year when she was supposed to turn that fluffy cat into a snake, instead turning it into a cat with the fangs and nose slits of a snake, and where it's paws should have been were snake tails. With rattles.
Marlene says she still gets nightmares about it. Alice thought it was kind of cute, and wanted to keep it, whereas Mary proclaimed she would not hesitate to squish the thing to a pulp with her shoes if it ever entered her dorm, thus ensuing an argument over exactly whose dorm it was, resulting in them not talking to each other for three days.
"You're Lily Evans." He mumbled. "You're brilliant at all your classes."
She could just feel the redness creeping into her cheeks, and muttered back, "I'm really not."
"So you want my help with your homework?" He pressed.
Lily felt so embarrassed of herself. They weren't even mates, and here she was, taking advantage of him.
"Well, er-"
"Because that wouldn't work."
"I wasn't asking-!" She began indignantly. Can't the bloody git tell the difference between a joke and-?
"You'd need full on tutoring."
What?
"What?" She sputtered. "Are you serious?"
"No, actually." He smirked mischievously. "I'm Ja-"
"I swear to Merlin," Lily narrowed her eyes. "If you make that joke, James Potter, I will snap your neck and spit on your corpse."
He than laughed his stupid laugh, and ran his stupid hand through his stupid hair.
"So," He resolved, "We on for tutoring?"
Lily decided to answer him with the satanic, cat-snake story, but he merely chuckled, shook his head, and said, "That's not an answer."
"Are you actually being serious about this?" Lily demanded. "Because I promise you this, it will not be easy. I am a lost case at Transfiguration. You'll probably have to work with me at it till dawn everyday just so I can get the basics. Are you sure you want to risk that?"
"I'm sure," He answered. "And by the looks of it, it seems like you need all the help you can get. So. Assuming that you've agreed, how about every Wednesday? Eight?"
Lily wanted to comment about how sudden and eager he was being, but instead opted for "Why Wednesday?"
"It's the only day I don't have Quidditch practice." He explained, shifting his weight on his other foot.
Lily nodded and said, "Alright. That sounds okay."
"Okay." He nodded back, breaking his stride next to Lily's classroom. "Here we are. I'll see you later, Red."
He held to his arm that was carrying Lily's bag, and she reluctantly took it.
Just as he was leaving, Lily cried out, "James, wait."
He turned around and faced her, a blank expression on his face.
She bit her lip.
She had to say something to the bloke, didn't she?
"Thank you."
He remained impassive for a minute, and Lily was afraid he was going to retaliate with, "Thank you? I drop my only free day of the week to sit in a stuffy library to teach a useless loon Transfiguration, and all I get is a thank you?"
Instead, his face broke into a grin, and he shot back a quick, "Don't mention it."
"Eight?" Lily asked, just to be sure.
"Eight." He promised back.
Lily knew it was all a train wreck before it even left the station, but still. She had to give the bloke some credit for his hope.
Merlin.
Merlin.
James Potter.
James Potter is a decent Transfiguration tutor.
James Potter actually taught Lily how to transfigure animals.
Very small animals, yes, but still.
It had started with Lily being sure that he'd be late, off doing something with his mates. She was rather surprised to find him patiently waiting for her in a table in the back of the library.
"Ready?" He'd said when he'd seen her. Lily scrapped up a chair on the opposite end of the table and plopped herself down, discarding her bag nearby.
"Ready." She'd confirmed.
"Alright." And then, honest to Merlin, he picked up his bag, and it was growling.
The bag itself seemed normal, it wasn't doing the growling itself or anything, it was more like he'd stuffed a small animal in there.
"What is that?" Lily had demanded, jumping up from her seat.
"It's a cat, Red." He said stupidly, plunging his hand down the bag and pulling it out from the back of its neck.
"Why's you shove it in your bag, you nutter?" The redhead shrieked.
"Because Madame Pince has a strict no-animal rule in the library." James replied slowly, as if talking to a child. "Duh."
"You smuggled a cat in a bag." She shook her head, easing back into her seat. "You cut off its oxygen, you bloody tosser. It could have died."
"Not important." He dismissed. He laid the cat on the middle of the table, where it hissed indignantly. "Transfigure that."
"What?"
"Turn that cat into a frog."
Was he serious?
Lily was going to strangle him.
Could you get sent to Azkaban for killing someone without magic?
"I can't, Potter!" Lily cried out exasperatedly. "What's wrong with you? I told you the only thing I can transfigure is rolled up socks! That doesn't even apply to all socks, like the ones with toes! Just normal socks!"
"Calm down, Red." He said alarmingly, holding his hands out. "Look, it's not as hard as it looks. You just have to do the right wand movements."
And then he went on and on and on about wand movements, concentration, and a whole bunch of other stuff.
But what struck Lily was it had actually worked; she had successfully transformed her cat by the sixth try.
The frog let out a croak and remained in place.
"Not bad." James said. "I suppose I expected it to urn out a furry frog with paws and a tail. Not too shabby, Red."
"What are we supposed to do with it now?" Lily asked, leaning back on her seat. "Whose cat is it, anyway?"
"Matilda Stinson's." He answered. When Lily didn't show any sign of recognition, he said, "Muggle-born, fifth year, Gryffindor? Ring a bell?"
"Not really." She dismissed. "Am I supposed to turn that back now?" She gestured to the frog.
"Nah, I'll do it." He reached for the frog and threw him into his bag in one smooth motion. "I'll be easier to smuggle out, anyway."
Lily almost cracked a smile at that one. "Alright, so I guess your tutoring isn't complete rubbish."
"I'm offended at how offended at how surprised you sound."
They sat in an awkward silence for a minute.
It seemed like James wanted to ask her a question, but didn't know how to word it correctly. He kept opening and closing his mouth.
"Evans." He said slowly. "Did Wood ask you out again?"
The question caught her off guard. James looked like he was sharing an inside joke with himself.
"No."
"Sorry about that."
He sure didn't sound sorry. Lily didn't say that out loud, though.
"It's alright." She said briskly, bending to pick up her bag. "I'm off."
One day earlier, Hospital Wing
"I have to get going." James said distractedly. "Pomfrey wants to speak to me. Then I have some homework."
"Oh. Okay." Lily said slowly. "I'll be getting out any minute now, actually. For my date."
There she goes again, on and on about that stupid date of hers.
What's so great about Robert Wood? James thought bitterly.
"You do that, Red." He said, as if he weren't bothered.
Which he wasn't.
He was merely annoyed that his beater didn't tell him about his date.
What if they had Quidditch practice that night? So in the end, it was really rather selfish for Wood to go and ask out anybody.
James picked up his bag and went to the end of the wing, where Madame Pomfrey was tending to a fourth year Slytherin that had purple warts and a five foot long, bloated tongue.
"You wanted to speak to me?" The Quidditch captain said impatiently.
"Ah, yes." She said, adjusting her glasses. "Go and ask Miss Evans if she's feeling alright. I'd do it myself, but I'm a bit tied up at the moment." She gestured at the fourth year, who seemed on the verge of tears.
James unwillingly walked all the way to Lily's bedside and said, "Pomfrey's told me to ask you; how have you been feeling?"
"Fine." She shrugged.
He then made his way back to Pomfrey and reported that her Majesty was feeling fine.
"Well, I suppose she should be able to leave now."
James tensed.
So soon?
Didn't she want to check her? What if her lungs were seriously damaged and she didn't know it?
"Are you sure?" James said nervously.
"I'm sure." She raised her eyebrow. "Is there something wrong?"
"No." He said hurriedly.
If Robert Wood thinks he's got the last laugh, then he is sadly mistaken.
James ran back to Lily with a sort of maniac excitement.
"She says you'll have to stay for another five hours."
Ha.
James; 1, Robert; 0.
"What? "But I'll miss my date!"
It was for the sake of the Quidditch team, anyway.
He was obliged, being captain and all.
A/N: At long last! So, I just wanted to let you know I did a little fancast for this story, and the link is on my profile, so feel free to check it out. And, I know this is off topic, but, Doctor Who 50th Anniversary, anyone? I'm going to piss my pants because I just heard five seconds ago on my tumblr that Moffat revealed that the episode will answer the Doctor's greatest secret, which I'm assuming is his name? More importantly, DAVID TENNANT AND BILLIE PIPER.
I'm sorry, but it was necessary for my to inflict my opinion into the word.
You only live once, right?
This would be the part where I would reply to the reviewers. You know, if I had reviewers.
Please review.
This is an awkward situation for us both.
So then, don't forget to favorite, follow and review! Reviews (even negative ones, and especially helpful ones) are always welcome.
Seriously. Review.
YOLO,
Rose
P.S. I feel like I'm going to lose some followers for saying yolo.
