It was only a month into the school year, and the Hogwarts seventh years found themselves contemplating dropping out of school entirely due to the amount of work that was assigned to them.

"It's just not worth it," Marlene grumbled one Friday afternoon, as she, Mary and Lily abandoned their homework to enjoy the warmth of the lawn near the lake. "Who needs NEWTs anyway? I'm sure there are a hundred jobs out there for under qualified half-blood dropouts who are lacking in the brains department…"

"You don't have to be pureblood to get a job," said Mary, with a quick look at Lily, who had pursed her lips.

"Well it helps, what with half the employers being pompous arseholes!" spat Lily.

"What's that Evans? Talking about Potter again?" called Regulus Black from behind them. Lily spun around.

"No, Black, I was not talking about Potter," she replied tightly. "And I would thank you to keep your nose out of our business." Regulus cocked an eyebrow.

"Pity I don't want your thanks then, isn't it? I thought you might be talking about Potter due to his recent, er, accident." Regulus's voice was heavy with implications, and his small eyes glowed with triumph at his success at dangling a tantalizing piece of information in front of the Head Girl.

"Black, what are you talking about?" Lily couldn't quite keep the panic out of her voice. It's because he's Head Boy. It's because he's Head Boy, she chanted to herself, but she knew that that wasn't really why she was worried.

"Oooh… how sweet are the unenlightened," Regulus trilled in his haughty voice and skipped away.

"Black! Black! Get back here! Black!" Lily shouted, but it was futile. The fool just pranced further away, and she couldn't hex him back (how could she even be considering it?) because she was Head Girl.

"Right," Lily said, and rolled her sleeves up, "I want to know what the hell's going on." She marched furiously up towards the castle. Mary and Marlene shared a suspicious glance before following her. She could barely see the end of the Entrance Hall for the crowd that had gathered there.

"Sorry! Could you let me through, please?" she said as she shuffled through the crowd, and they parted fairly quickly when they realized it was The Lily Evans – who also happened to be Head Girl. She headed towards an antechamber, where the crowd had been thickest, and loudest. Professor McGonagall and Professor Slughorn were giving five or six battered-looking Slytherins a good talking to.

"And finally, fifteen points from Slytherin – for each of you!" said Professor McGonagall shrilly. Lily glimpsed Severus glaring at Professor Slughorn as he rounded them up.

"Don't look at me like that, Mr Snape, I couldn't agree with Professor McGonagall's punishment any more," he snapped.

"Professor! Professor McGonagall!" Lily cried as she hurried up to the flustered professor. "What happened?" McGonagall's nostrils flared white.

"These six scoundrels thought it amusing to attempt to curse our Head Boy into a radish."

"What? Is he – is he alright? Where is he?"

"It seems they underestimated Mr Potter's skill at Defense Against the Dark Arts. He is, however, in the Hospital Wing at the moment to have some of his injuries tended to. I'm sure Madam Pomfrey will let you visit him once she had patched him up," McGonagall said kindly, eyeing Lily's white lips.

"Thank you, Professor." Forgetting Mary and Marlene for the moment, Lily rushed up to the Hospital Wing. A radish of all things, thought Lily furiously. Those cowards. Six on one?! She ranted in her head. And what nerve they had! She skidded into the Hospital Wing most ungracefully, craning her neck to see if she could see James. A figure clad in blue blocked her vision.

"I'm sorry Miss Evans, but you'll have to wait to see Mr Potter. I haven't finished dressing his wounds," said Madam Pomfrey. Lily groaned.

"Not even… to discuss the prefect patrols?" she tried desperately.

"No. I expect he'll be in here until tomorrow – I'm sure you can cope without him until then." And she shut the door firmly. Lily growled and stalked back to the Common Room.

"Honestly… it's prefect patrols," she kept muttering throughout the evening, and Mary and Marlene knew better than to disturb her.

* * *

Lily awoke before the sun had stretched above the horizon the next morning and knew she wouldn't get back to sleep. Pacing about a bit, she finally decided to go to the library in an attempt to finish her homework before lunch. She threw on her clothes, grabbed her quill and parchment and a handful of chocolate frogs and left the dormitory. The common room was empty bar one figure slouched on an armchair. Sirius looked so innocent in sleep. His handsome features were calm and his hair fell neatly over his eyes. Lily wondered if he had been allowed to stay with James, and had stayed until James fell asleep. The two were inseparable. Suddenly hit by the thought of James, she changed her course and headed for the Hospital Wing.

Madam Pomfrey, clad in a fluffy pink dressing gown, looked most disgruntled to have been awoken at such an early hour.

"Honestly, your prefect patrols can't be that important," she muttered, but led Lily to a bed right at the end of the room. James's mouth was slightly open as he slept. Lily tilted her head as she took in James's sleeping figure. If Sirius had looked innocent, James looked purely angelic. His hair was as messed up as ever, and he was almost in need of a shave, and Lily had never thought he looked more handsome. She snapped out of her reverie as that thought crossed her mind. This is Potter you're thinking about, a cynical voice said, but she found herself completely aware of that fact – and not at all annoyed by it.

"Erm, Potter? Potter? James?" He stirred slightly and lifted a bandaged hand from beneath the sheets to swat away the intrusive voice.

"I don't want any chops," he groaned. Lily laughed quietly. It was just like him to be dreaming of food.

"James? James, it's Lily." He opened his eyes a crack and groaned even louder.

"Evans, you're not allowed in my dormitory."

"But we're not in your dormitory." His eyes drowsily fluttered open.

"I knew there was a reason my arse is so sore," he mumbled and Lily chuckled. James slowly pushed himself into a sitting position and stretched.

"Ouch." He touched his side, which was heavily bandaged, and yawned.

"So, Evans, why the wake up call?" Lily blushed and thrust out the Chocolate Frogs.

"I, er, thought I'd bring you these. I owe you from the train, remember?" He quirked an eyebrow. "And I was worried about you. I mean, how was I to know, and Regulus is a right berk, and anyway, Slughorn never penalizes his own house and – ''

"Slughorn took points away from them? Excellent!" James crowed. He rubbed his hands together. "I hope Avery got suspended from the Quidditch team – or at least got detentions on Saturday mornings…" He grabbed a Frog and gestured to a chair. Lily sat down hastily.

"'Ave a Fwog," he swallowed, "they're excellent, thanks." Lily tore a packet open and nibbled on the Frog's eye.

"So what exactly happened yesterday?" Lily wondered if he would launch off on a story about his own heroics and almost considered taking back the question when James interrupted her qualms.

"Oh. I was going out to practice Quidditch a bit, when those idiots stopped me. Said something about Gryffindor losing the Cup this year because we've two new players who are Muggleborn – he spat the word out – and I told them to lay off. And suddenly they started hexing me, so I tried to stop them. Looks like I'm a bit rusty, though," he said thoughtfully, glancing at his bandages. Lily gaped. Those arseholes.

"I think you did bloody well. Six on one? Come on, James, that just pathetic of them!" James felt his chest expand slightly when she said his name.

"Yeah, but still. There's a war out there – I've got to know my stuff," he said modestly.

"I guess. I'm, um, I'm glad you're okay," she said softly. She looked up and James grinned widely at her. He threw her another Chocolate Frog.

"Thanks for visiting. It's nice to have a bit of cheer around here. I was dead bored… You know, it reminds of fourth year, when Davy Gudgeon hit that Blduger at me…"

And Lily sat and talked with him until he was dismissed from the Hospital Wing two hours later.