"Fucking hell, you look like shite, Potter."

An unwelcome taunt voiced from Lucas Flint, an obnoxious boy inside and out, echoes from the other side of the hall.

James looks over and lets a sinister grin grow. "Well, fuck... might as well die an old hag now if I'm not fanciable enough for you anymore," Potter shoots back to his quidditch rival, genuinely enjoying their verbal spats.

He and Remus were heading to lunch where Lucas and his gang had just come out from.

Lucas narrows his eyes at his comeback and sneers. "How pitiful, willing to abandon your miserable, pathetic team so easily? But, I can't say I blame you."

"If we're miserable and pathetic, I can't even dream of what your team must be," James gets the last word as he enters into the Great Hall, leaving Lucas Flint behind.

"Hell, just when it was getting fun," James mockingly regrets. Remus grins absently besides him, tugging his tie loose when they reach their table.

"Don't worry, you'll see him soon."

"Yeah," James messes with his already tousled hair at the back of his head. "You haven't said anything to Lily, right?"

"Hasn't come up," Remus reasons, though he couldn't tell if not telling her about their discreet outing tonight was a right decision or not. With a calm expression, he asks, "Though, why are you keeping it from her, 'fraid she'll stop you?"

"No, I'm afraid she'll want to join in," James frowns, lines appearing on his forehead. Initially, she'd try to stop them, but if she couldn't talk them out of it, he knew that Lily wouldn't relent until she forced him to bring her along.

"Ah, feeling protective are you..." Remus grins behind his glass of water.

"I'm always protective of her," he says adamantly.

"Which is truly admirable. But, don't forget Lily's been taking care of herself for 6 years."

"As if I was ever out of the picture," James practically scoffs.

"Sorry to be the barer of bad news, mate, but Lily's capable with or without you," Remus decides to knock him off his outstandingly high horse. "She probably has the same amount of courage all three of us have combined... Remember, she was friends with Snape for Lord's sake, and for how long before she grew out of it."

James grimaces. "C'mon, Lupin, she can't help but be soft on the troubled ones."

But, come to think of it, her good heart was sometimes too good for James' well being.

"Unfortunate for her, yet advantageous for you," Remus smirks unapologetically at him.

"I'm going to pretend that you didn't just categorize me and Snivellus together in the same blasted group," James scowls, pissed by even the mere thought of it.

"Simmer down, Prongs, don't want to turn into you inner green monster," Remus wasn't intimidated a bit, his grin only growing by the millisecond.

He knew part of James' astronomical amount of despise towards Snape was because he remained a close friend to Lily for years. And, he certainly knew Lily the longest. And, these well known acknowledgments only served to heighten tensions between the two house enemies.

"Merlin, what do I seem like to you?" James looks offended. "Some crazed, rabid animal?"

"Fleas aren't a joke, you know, and you especially should be concerned when you-" Remus takes a quick glance at their surroundings.

"So, you warn us every time," James, knowing what Remus was about to say, rolls his eyes to his warning with a grin of his own. "Don't trouble your valuable mind, me and my stag persona are old enough I would think to take care of ourselves."

"Explain Sirius' cursed persistent issue then."

"Explain my non-existent issue!" James throws back.

"A stupid stroke of luck?" Remus thinks aloud.

"Yeah, well you can take your luck and-" James finishes his grumble with an extremely less than comfortable metaphor while Remus ignores him with a purposeful oblivious face.

"So, when are you leaving?"

"What do you mean?" James looks up looking mildly puzzled. "You're not coming along with us?"

"Ideally, I would to keep you two out of trouble, but, no- I made plans to meet with Frank, Alice, and Lily to go over Herbology. Works out sort of well, doesn't it?"

James couldn't argue with him there. Still. With a brief hesitation, he goes with what he knows he should do and tells Remus that if Lily asks exactly where he and Sirius are, then he should tell her the truth. "...I already told her Sirius and I are meeting up later but didn't tell her the exact details." McGonagall was perfect enough to start class right then before Lily can get him to divulge any further.

"Stay careful, Prongs," Remus lightly warns him now in case he won't catch them later. "Don't want to get them on your back either."

"And, what do I have to hide?" James had also told Remus about what they had seen at the library with Sirius' brother the other day, which only established his point that it was proper time to see what they can find out from that house. "They can follow me all they want, I'm not the one harboring a pathetic desire to become a flipping death eater."

"It's dangerous times. We think we're invincible and all, but outside the castle, we won't have Dumbledore always with us and we're left on our own."

James shakes his head solemnly. "Never alone, mate. Never alone." He then grins suspiciously, only making Remus confused. "And, you're wrong about Dumbledore. We still have him. In fact, I have a feeling we'll see him as much as we do now."

Remus holds his spoon in the air, mouth slightly ajar before closing it. "Hold on, what are you talking about?"

"Remus. Our world is tearing itself apart..." James' happy demeanor evolves to caution to the ominous future. Filled with too many thoughts and potential plans, he raked his fork within his mashed potatoes. "And, I have a feeling the worse is yet to come. We need to be ready."

"How do you propose we do so?" Remus was solemn, his words signaling acknowledgment of what's to come with unfortunate dread looming over them.

James sets his gaze on a window on the wall behind Remus' shoulder and lowers his voice. "My dad told me there are rumors going around surrounding Dumbledore. He thinks that Dumbledore's up to something, that Dumbledore's actually building up a sort of league to fight Voldemort and his deranged followers."

"Do you really think so? Like his own task force?"

"I bloody hope so," James says with serious intensity, lowering his fork. "If not, I'll bloody start one and recruit him as the leader myself."

"James..." Remus was beginning to see and connect the points. "This wouldn't be the catalyst for your heightened suspicion and determined shadowing on the Slytherins, would it? Because... if it is... Dumbledore creating this secret society isn't reason enough for you to act like you're already part of it- or even as an act to earn your place in it."

"Oh, c'mon, you act as if we haven't done it before. How many times have we trailed after Slytherins and messed their heads around?"

"Prongs, these are two completely different circumstances. They're not games anymore, we're talking about a potential actual war."

"You know if you think about it," James' lighter mood slowly makes its inevitable way back. "You can see it as if we were training our whole lives to mess with them when we got older and out into the world, can't you?"

"Almost as if it's fate."

Last April,

Footsteps were frantic, rushing on top of soggy fallen leaves laying on soaking wet dirt. Various yells and outbursts from guys and girls would pop out randomly as they all rushed towards shelter, all to escape the heavy rainfall that was drenching everyone without selectiveness.

There was one lone student, however, marching not frantically, but with deep emotion. Head bent down, looking defeated, heavy black hair carelessly pushed back with rainwater, his glasses the only dry item on his person, James Potter's storm inside of him seemed to have materialized itself out of his body and threaten to ruin everyone else's day.

Pushy?

Pushy? How can she dare call him pushy when he had just saved him from that idiot who was actually physically pushing her?

His hands shoved harshly into his pockets as he tried to force himself to calm down. The overwhelming desire to go back and finish the business properly with her was tempting, oh so tempting, but facing her was also heart-twistingly dreadful.

He was doing so well in leaving her alone as she demanded, but did she really rather he ignore her than stop that goon that was bothering her?

"James!"

The shout was faint and half drowned out and half ignored by him, thanks to finalizing it as a mind conjured shout combined with ignorance due to his own stubborness.

"James!"

Closer and louder, James barely turns his head to look behind him.

And, there she was, the only one who makes him insanely mad, and as fate would put it the only one who can make him infinitely happy.

Running after him, her dress soggy yet sticking like paste to her, her black boots all muddied, Lily looked miserable and pale, yet temper and emotion radiated from her face.

"What, come to yell at me some more?" He doesn't even face her and walks off again before she can even really catch up. "I've met my quota for the week unfortunately, so if you don't bloody mind..."

"Would you stop walking away from me?" She demands, scrubbing raindrops from her eyes as the rain falls even harder.

"Oh, now you want me near you?" He thankfully stops though, turning around completely to show her how irritated she made him. "Do you have any idea how much you infuriate me?"

Lily stops just a step away from him when he goes off. "First you fight with me over something so fucking stupid you were willing to ruin our entire friendship over it, and then right there-," he stabs his finger towards town where they just came from, "-you actually defend, defend, protect that fucking bastard from me? Have you lost all your senses?"

"James, you completely went too far!" she cried out in defense and anger. "Petrifying him is one thing but having him nearly drown in the lake is insanity!"

James takes a loud step forward, crumbling the leaves under his oxfords. "You really think that low of me to think that I would actually let him fall in it?" He felt his chest tighten at the realization that she may actually think of him being capable of doing so. "You really thought I would purposely risk his life like that?"

"You shouldn't have done anything! It wasn't your place."

"Wasn't my place? You really expect me to just watch you being man-handled and pushed around-,"

"If you were just two seconds farther, you would have seen me take care of him properly and deservingly and then you wouldn't have involved yourself and make this into a much bigger catastrophe."

"I'm not going to just stand there and let that happen to you, I don't care if I made this worse, he got what he initially deserved."

Lily sagged her shoulders as she tilted her face higher to stare at him.

"You don't understand, there was more- you just saw what you did and pushed yourself into the situation-," The rain was relentless, making her words sound more faint than they are.

James rolled his eyes and dragged his head back, pushing his hair back frustratingly from his forehead with both hands."Oh bloody hell, here we damn go again with the pushing-"

She felt it, she felt her heavy emotions that were building from the last two weeks added on with today finally push through her weak inner obstacles to burst through and release. Her eyes immediately blur from tears welling and she just weakens.

"I can't, I can't stand it," she outbursts with powerful sobs.

"I can't- do, it, anymore," she wails out.

Stiff from shock for a brief second, he ditches his anger in the next, pulling her to his chest and hugging her so tightly against him. What have you bloody fucking done, he harshly reprimands himself mentally as he attempts to soothe her with quiet noises and pleads, while both also getting more cold and wet now that they were plastered on to each other. The rain was finally letting off though.

"I know, dear God, I'm sorry, I'm so fucking sorry, it's all right, please don't cry."

"I can't stand-," she speaks when she can catch her breath again, burying her face into his grossly damp blue jumper.. "-not, having my best friend, to talk to," she lets out brokenly before she cries even harder, giving up speaking until it goes down.

Tightening his arms around her, he lowers his head and rests his cheek on top of her head, patiently waiting for her while he felt himself loosening from his inner distress and disheartenment he'd been harboring for long days.

"I'm your best friend?" James carefully teases her when he feels her calm down more, breathing more evenly.

"Yes, God save me, but yes, I need you the most, you're the most important," she says pathetically against his chest, still hiding her face.

"Good, because I would have killed someone if I wasn't."

Lily wipes her tears from her cheeks, only to get raindrops splash on her face again when she looked up.

"It's utter hell, James, it's been such a miserable shite," she wipes under her eye. "Why did I ever decide to become friends with you? This could have been all prevented if we weren't. I miss talking to you and I don't like not being able to."

"Christ, Evans, you were the one to tell me to stay away from you," he says in a light sarcastic tone, though it was the exact sentence she threatened him with before walking away from him from their monumental fight the other week. But, he becomes more solemn when he drags her back to him. "I'm sorry, Lily. I'm so sorry I'm such a horrid fucking brainless-"

Lily hits his shoulder with her palm. "Stop it, how many times do I have to blooming tell you name calling does nothing," she lectures him, impatiently. "Just, swear that we won't block each other out again, that last week won't ever happen again between us, okay?"

His tighter hug signified his swear to her. "It was the worst, Lily," he mumbles grimly at the top of her head.

Her ignoring him and being worse than before she considered him a friend had killed him every single day.

Yet, now knowing it did the same to her made him realize how bigger than they thought this connection of theirs really is. "Until I'm dead, you're bloody stuck with me through and through."