The Interaction

When Lily woke up at seven the next morning, she felt oddly refreshed. The rejuvenation took her by surprise because she had gone to bed very late the previous night after patrolling with James and then spent a great deal of time reliving the minutes trapped underneath his invisibility cloak. It still left her breathless. It had made her feel far too restless to go to bed. Yet, it was the best night's sleep she had received in nearly a year; it was devoid of all nightmares that would leave her screaming and even worse, the unfathomable dreams. She had slept peacefully without even the slightest bit of imagination. It was wonderful.

She lay in bed and sniffed her soft yellow sheets. They smelled like fresh laundry. Lily sighed deeply and looked around her room. It was decorated very much to her taste. The walls were painted a pale gold and there were pastel green furniture pieces that gave her enough space to store her things but did not clutter the room. It was very spacious, and Lily appreciated the open feeling the room gave her. Reveling in the heaven of fabric softener one last time, she got out of bed.

Lily smiled as she prepared herself for the first day of classes. She showered, brushed her teeth, got dressed, styled her hair, and even applied a touch of makeup. Lily examined herself in the mirror as she adjusted the gold "Head Girl" badge pinned to her robes. After spritzing a bit of her favorite vanilla perfume onto her neck, Lily flounced out of her room and walked to the Great Hall to eat some breakfast.

It was fairly uncrowded when Lily arrived at the Gryffindor table. She knew the morning rush would not begin until about five minutes before classes began. Many of her fellow students, especially the seventh years, had difficulty dragging themselves from their cozy beds in the wee hours of the morning. It did not help that their only incentive was to go to school after the blissful three months of summer.

Lily sat down and began to pile food onto her plate. The sausages looked extremely tasty, and she had always been partial to waffles. With a bit of pumpkin juice, Lily tucked into her delectable breakfast. Eating silently but heartily, Lily concentrated on the marvelous food as she enjoyed every bite of her breakfast by herself as more and more students entered the Great Hall with various states of scruffiness.

When one particularly disheveled head entered, Lily choked a little on her pumpkin juice. She coughed quietly and hoped that no one around her noticed how red her face felt. James walked in with the rest of his friends at his side. Sirius was laughing loudly at some joke he had probably told, and Peter was chuckling appreciatively beside him. Remus was talking to James, who seemed to be scanning the room for someone. His eyes brushed by Lily, but she quickly became too interested in her breakfast to decipher his piercing eyes.

She was determinedly thinking about magical ovens when she heard a strict voice call her name. Lily pivoted in her seat to see Professor McGonagall looking a tad frustrated as she called out, "Miss Evans!"

Lily abandoned her breakfast and hurried over to her. "Good morning, Professor," Lily greeted her.

"Yes, yes," McGonagall replied, seeming a tad harried. She sifted through an enormous stack of parchment. "Students seem to think that coming down for breakfast at the last possible minute will help them begin the term successfully. Promptness is essential to learning, Miss Evans. Without the proper discipline and time management skills, this generation will fail to meet the standards required by the O.W.L.s and the N.E.W.T.s."

"I imagine that's so, Professor," Lily stated cautiously, eyeing McGonagall with hesitation. "Is everything quite all right with you?"

"Everything's fine, Miss Evans. Why do you ask?" McGonagall answered stiffly.

"No reason," Lily replied quickly.

"Your course schedule, Miss Evans," McGonagall said as she ended her a piece of parchment.

"Thank you, Professor."

"Yes, well, I must be going. Remember to keep up with your Head duties."

"Of course, Professor," Lily replied assuredly before she returned to her seat.

Lily perused his schedule with interest. She was taking all the necessary courses required for any prestigious job to keep her options open. Although she knew she would have little trouble with Advanced Potions and Charms, N.E.W.T. level Divination wearied her, for she had little patience with the subjectivity of the Sight. Nevertheless, it was necessary for top-ranking ministry officials to take the course, much to her chagrin. If any politicians actually knew what the future had in store, judging from the last few Ministers, Lily felt they needed to have their crystal balls checked. She smiled silently at her joke before taking one last sip of her pumpkin juice and leaving the Gryffindor Table.

Walking back to her new dorm, Lily planned what books she needed for the day and what would be the optimum routes for her to take. Today she had Defense Against the Dark Arts first, Divination, a free period, and then Double Arithmancy. Lily groaned as she glanced at her schedule once more. Tomorrow morning she began her day with Double Potions. No day should have to begin with a discussion of the "Slug Club."

Still taken aback by the exquisiteness of her new lodgings, Lily entered her room and rummaged through her trunk as she placed the necessary books and supplies into her bag. She left her room and then swiftly walked out of the Common Room to head towards the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. She could not stop her eyes from lingering on the doorway to James's room. Lily pretended it was just because she was grateful for what he had done last night. It was not.

Lily walked rather quickly to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. Last year's teacher was just substituting for the one the year before, and so Lily had another new teacher this year. Come to think of it, Lily had a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher pretty much every year. She shrugged it off, not wanting to make a big deal out of nothing as Alice always told her she was prone to doing. This year's teacher was a woman named Professor Grace Lawrence. Having had only male DADA teachers before, Lily was very interested to learn the subject from a woman's perspective.

One of the first people to arrive in the classroom, Lily picked a seat in the middle of the desks. Her reasoning, for Lily needed a reason for everything, was that she could easily be called upon for answering questions without seeming too eager. Plus, she would have a good view of anyone who might be taking the class with her. Professor Lawrence nowhere in sight, Lily fished her textbook out of her bag and flipped through its pages as she waited for class to begin as students, some of whom looked eager and some of whom looked as if they were planning their escape, shuffled into the classroom.

Lily saw the Marauders enter from the corner of her eye. She feigned reading as her eyes swept over them with intrigue. Despite all the little rafts and squabbles that happened between them, there was always an inviting sense of camaraderie around them that Lily desperately felt she wanted in her own life. She was about to dare to fully cast her gaze on them without the guise of her book when Professor Lawrence made her entrance.

"Welcome, class," she greeted them warmly as she walked down the stairs from her office. Lily admired her beauty as she moved. She had very pretty blonde hair that curled right along her elbows and white teeth that glistened as she addressed the class. Lily guessed she was only in her early twenties.

"You are my N.E.W.T. level Defense Against the Dark Arts class. As is such, I will expect more from you than any of my other classes. I fear times are growing dark, and we must all learn how to defend ourselves to stay alive."

She talked briskly, but there was a compelling edge to her words. Lily became almost entranced by them.

"Much of your past studies have been on a very direct and upfront approach to defense. Although it is necessary to learn for basic training, the enemy nearly never attacks you straightforwardly unless you find yourself in a proper Wizard's Duel. And who wants to end up in that situation, right?"

The joke earned a few chuckles and grins from the class. It broke the spell her words had on Lily, who was feeling slightly enamored by the newest faculty member. Taking a look around, most of the males were, too. Lily highly doubted it was for the same reasons as she caught Gerald Berrigan eyeing her rather long legs. Lily held back a snicker when she saw his girlfriend, who had noticed, as well, elbow him in the gut.

"I am going to teach you all more subtle ways to dodge and attack. So much of today's world is based on lies and manipulations. You almost never know who you can trust or who is just using you for their own agenda. True heroics have almost been abolished by greed and revenge. It is a frightening world, and I want you all to learn how to protect yourselves from it. Too many noble people have suffered because of their naïveté…" Professor Lawrence drifted off, and Lily sensed she was thinking of her own examples. An electric pause of tension entered the room that was only dispelled when Professor Lawrence emitted a high-pitched laugh.

"I'm sorry about that, everyone. There's no need to get too philosophical on your first day back. I imagine many of your brains are still off in your own beds."

Lily looked around. Every face was focusing on the teacher with the same rapt attention.

"Today we will be learning about Patronuses." Suddenly, she whipped out her wand, made a thrusting movement with it, and bellowed, "Expecto Patronum!" An enormous silver swan emerged from her wand.

She smiled at it before turning to address the class. "As you can see, they are not exactly subtle," she laughed, gesturing towards the brightness of the creature. "However, they will protect you from an attack at any angle. It is imperative to have a bright source to keep you safe from any malevolence, especially Dementors." Professor Lawrence shuddered a bit at the thought. Lily wondered when she had met one. "Now, if you would be so kind, I ask you to go ahead and practice the incantation on your own. Remember to concentrate very hard on your most blissful memory because only truly happy thoughts can produce a corporeal Patronus."

She stopped talking and smiled at them to begin. No one moved. "Go on," she urged. "Think happy thoughts."

Lily spent nearly an hour trying to produce a Patronus, but she only got wisps of white smoke. It frustrated Lily because she was usually the first to accomplish anything in class. Plus, all of the Marauders had already conjured odd animals as their Patronuses. Lily liked James's. It looked like a deer, but she knew it was something a little less common. It seemed proud, dependable, and protective. Remus had a wolf for reasons Lily could not fathom, and Peter, oddly enough, had a rat. Sirius's, of course, was a dog, man's best friend and something that barked at anyone as it pushed its nose into someone's crotch.

Lily did not have any more time to practice her Patronus because the class ended and she needed to head towards the complete other side of the castle for Divination. Lily quickly grabbed her schoolbag, but in her haste it spilled onto the floor. Lily hurriedly stuffed its contents back into her bag as her fellow students left the room. Lily was the last one to leave the classroom.

"So long, Miss Evans," Professor Lawrence, smiling enigmatically, said to her as she walked towards the door.

"Bye, Professor," Lily replied before closing the door behind her.

Lily was quite startled when she was confronted not by a corridor but by Sirius Black's face.

"Oh, Sirius!" Lily breathed, clutching a hand to her heart. "Merlin, you gave me a fright." Judging from the wicked glint that formed in his gray eyes, Lily doubted he was saddened by this news.

"Evans," he replied with a curt nod. "Interesting lesson today."

The comment surprised Lily. He said it so nonchalantly like this was an everyday occurrence between them.

"Yes, it was," Lily answered him hesitantly.

"Not many people had happy enough memories," Sirius said with the same light tone. His eyes, however, revealed the true depth of his meaning.

"No," Lily admitted. "No, they didn't."

"Seems odd that so many people live unhappily."

"It's a shame."

"A right shame," he agreed.

"Or a wrong one," Lily said thoughtfully.

"Indeed." He stopped talking and Lily waited for him to say something else. "Look, Evans, James Potter is my best friend," he announced abruptly.

"I know," Lily replied, not quite sure what he was getting at.

"He deserves more happy memories than anyone in this entire universe."

"Yes, I daresay he does," she said solemnly.

"I need to know that you won't cause him any more pain this year, Evans. You broke him last time, and I don't think he can handle being broken again."

"Sirius," Lily said, earnestly trying to gain trust in his steely eyes. "I would never---"

"But you did," Sirius cut her off. "You did before, and I need to know that you won't do it again."

"That's not what I want," Lily stammered. He was standing very close to her. It made her nervous.

"That's right. You got what you wanted already." His voice was cold, and his words were stones.

"I take it back," Lily said. Tears formed in her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. "It's not what I want anymore."

"Then what do you want?"

"I just want to try to make amends. I want him to have happy memories, too, Sirius."

"No funny business?"

"Never again," Lily promised in a whisper.

"You like him, don't you?" Lily could hear the grin in his voice.

"Sure, you said yourself he deserves the best." Lily shrugged as she tried to exude the same casualness Sirius seemed to have effortlessly.

"No, I mean you really like him, as in romantically," he goaded.

Looking down at her shoes, Lily sighed. "Yes," she admitted softly.

"I had an inkling," Sirius replied, grinning.

"Please don't tell him. I'm not ready for him to know yet."

"I won't. I reckon he's not ready to know, either."

"Thanks," Lily said gratefully.

"You're welcome," he replied. Lily was a bit surprised to hear him say it. That was not how she had expected this to go. "I just want him to be happy."

Lily frowned at that. She was not quite sure what he meant by that. She opened her mouth to ask him about it, but he interrupted her.

"It's good to know that we are on the same page, Evans. I'm glad we had this little chat." He glanced down at Lily's watch. "Better get going. Next class starts in about a minute. You wouldn't want to be late." He smirked at her before walking down the corridor.

"Sirius!" Lily called out to him.

He halted but did not turn around.

"I just want you to know that I am so s—"

He turned around and held up a hand to silence her.

"I'm not the one who needs to hear that, Evans." He held her gaze for what seemed like an immeasurable amount of time before he pivoted around and walked away.

Lily stared at his former spot in a daze before remembering she was already four minutes late to Divination. Frantically, she practically ran to the North Tower for class. When she finally reached the classroom, Professor Mirar was already explaining the curriculum for the year.

"Ahh, Miss Evans, glad you could make it. I foresaw that something would hinder your arrival to this class."

"Sorry, Professor," Lily apologized. She forced herself to not roll her eyes at his "omnipotent" tone. "I had some unexpected Head duties."

"Sure," he replied with an eerily knowing smile. "Please grab a seat. I was just about to break you up into pairs. We will be easing our way back into the Sight today with some simple palm reading."

Lily complied a tad sheepishly and then listened as Professor Mirar listed off the pairs. She was supposed to be partners with Travis Early, but he was nowhere to be found. Unsure of what to do, Lily just sat in her desk.

"Miss Evans, is there a problem?" Professor Mirar asked.

"Yes, sir. I guess Travis isn't here. I don't have a partner."

"Oh, that's right," he realized. "Professor Dumbledore owled me this morning saying that he has transferred to Beauxbatons."

"Oh," Lily replied, feeling rather stupid because she had nothing else to say. "I guess I'll just work by myself, then," she muttered finally.

"You are in luck, Miss Evans. As it turns out, we had an odd number of students in this class. Now you can work with someone from that trio over there. Mr. Potter, if you could please come here."

Lily closed her eyes and attempted to collect herself. Of all the people he could have chosen it had to be him. Of course, with her luck, she should not have been surprised. Irony loved her.

James, looking rather confused, left his partners and walked towards the Professor.

"Mr. Potter, Miss Evans will now be your partner because Travis has changed schools."

James nodded but said nothing. Lily forced herself to not look up at his expression.

"Go on, you two," Professor Mirar urged them. "Predict the future!"

Lily followed James silently to an empty pair of cozy, chintz armchairs and plopped herself down onto the closest one. Unsure of what to say, she folded her hands in her lap and waited for him to begin. James, however, looked just as hesitant to speak.

"Let's go, everyone!" Professor Mirar, who noticed that none of his students had started yet, called. He sighed and looked heavenward. "Merlin, you can't have a boy and a girl hold hands without it turning into melodrama," he muttered to himself. "The person on the left will read his or her partner's palm first, and then we'll all switch in about ten minutes. Get going."

"Err, I guess I'll just read your future then," Lily said tentatively, silently cursing her laziness.

"Yeah," James murmured back. He looked at her expectantly and waited for her to begin.

"Umm, James," Lily said as her face got a little heated. "I kind of need your hands."

"Oh, right!" he said. His face now also had a pink tinge to it.

He quickly rolled up the sleeves to his uniform so that it rested around his elbow and placed his hands on the table between them.

Ducking her face behind her hair a little, Lily apprehensively inched one of her fingers toward his outstretched hands. She marveled at the contrast between her pale, feminine fingertips and his tan, sinewy hands. Her eyes brushed over his hands up to his forearms where the strong lines of tendons continued until they disappeared underneath his shirt. Blushing furiously at the thoughts now circulating in her head, Lily's skin finally made contact with his.

"Merlin!" James jumped a little in his chair. The jerk caused his hand to break free from her grasp.

"What?" Lily asked in shock.

"Nothing," he replied. "It's just that your hands are very cold."

"I know," Lily said. The blush crept back onto her face. "I have bad circulation."

"Oh, okay." James said. "Sorry about that. Here." He opened his hand for Lily to resume examining it.

"Right," Lily replied. She felt the calluses on his hand as she traced the lines of his palm with her fingertips. He shivered slightly at her touch. "Well, your heart line is long." She paused to flip through her Unfogging the Future textbook. "That means that you deeply feel emotion." Her eyes locked on James's for a fraction of a second before she rushed to the next line. "Your head line shows a sense of adventure because it's separated from the life line, which is, rather short."

"So I'm going to die young but in an exciting way?" James joked lightly. His voice sounded reserved, older. It made her miss the little boy who would tell inappropriate jokes and then laugh like a mad man at them.

She examined the text. "Well, yes," she replied with an apologetic smile. "However, it also means that you will exhibit strength."

"Oh, well, that doesn't sound so bad."

"No, it doesn't," Lily agreed.

"Well, that was about ten minutes. Reckon I should read your future now?"

"Okay."

James gently reached for Lily's hand and wrapped his much larger one around it. He tenderly stretched out her fingers almost as though he was caressing them, which, of course, would have been impossible. Lily's breath caught in her throat, and she had trouble thinking clearly. His thumb circled the contours of her hand with excruciating slowness. Lily raised her eyes to his face as she attempted to discern what he could possibly be thinking, but his eyes, completely focused on what he was doing, were looking downward.

"Your life line is short, as well," he said finally in a soft voice. "The straight edge here means that you are cautious to form relationships," he indicated the spot with his fingertip as his eyes roamed his book. "Your fate line is very defined. That means your life is deeply rooted in external matters." He gazed up at her. "Apparently, you have quite a part to play, Lily."

Mesmerized by his eyes, Lily sat quite still in her chair.

"Do you think you can handle that?" he asked. His tone was placid, but his eyes were burning.

Lily let his question hang in the air for a bit as she pondered.

"Let everything come as it may," she answered finally.

"And what of love? What of your own happiness?"

"You tell me."

James's eyebrows shot up quizzically.

"I mean, my future," Lily restated as she waved her hands for emphasis.

"Oh, right," James said with a relieved sigh.

He took Lily's right hand and engulfed it with his own. Lily laughed at the way his nose was crinkling up in concentration from underneath his glasses. James looked up indignantly. "What?" he asked.

"It wasn't supposed to be a stumper," she teased with a warm smile.

He grinned back at her, and Lily suddenly became very conscious of the fact that he was still holding her hand.

"Time to get going to your next lesson! See you all on Wednesday!" announced Professor Mirar.

James let go of Lily's hand as though it had suddenly burst into flame. "See you later, Lily," he said before rushing out of the classroom. Confused, Lily sat in her chair as the heat from his touch left her hand.

Lily remained confused and absentminded for the rest of the day. During lunch she had accidentally put gravy on her corn instead of her potatoes. She had nearly tripped going down a flight of stairs on her way to Arithmancy, where she had stared off into space for the entire lesson.

Trying to snap out of whatever stupor she was currently in, Lily walked to dinner and sat in her usual spot by herself. She was just about to pour herself some pumpkin juice when someone tapped her shoulder.

"Sirius," Lily, startled, said as she put the juice down.

"Evans," he greeted her.

"Déjà vu," Lily replied lightly.

Sirius grinned. "Yes," he agreed. "So James mentioned that you're his new Divination partner."

"You sure know how to cut to the chase."

"Subtlety is only necessary when you have something to hide, as are distractions."

Lily gulped and then it all came bubbling out of her. "I'm sorry, Sirius. I know you asked me to be careful around James, but I didn't ask to be paired up with him. Professor Mirar did it. I would have worked alone if necessary. It's really all Travis's fault, he---"

Sirius laughed. "Relax, Evans. I didn't mean that as a bad thing."

"Oh, you didn't?"

Sirius shook his head.

"Oh," Lily said as her face started to heat up.

"Do you like sitting alone?" he asked, gesturing to the empty seats around her.

"Well, not really," Lily admitted. "I used to sit with Alice, but she graduated."

"I remember her. She was nice."

"Yes," Lily agreed sadly. "She's my best friend."

"So now you just sit by yourself."

"Yep."

"How about you come sit with us?" Sirius offered.

"You mean the Marauders?" she asked.

"Yeah," he said as he helped Lily out of her seat. He threw his arm around her shoulder. "It's okay. We don't bite, unless the situation calls for it," he amended with a grin.

Lily smiled back uneasily.

When they arrived at the end of the table where the Marauders sat, Lily was acknowledged by three sets of curious eyes. Lily felt as though she was being X-rayed. Vainly wishing Sirius had just let her be to rot in her own pathetic loneliness, Lily sat down next to Remus and murmured a "Hello."

"Hey, Lily," Remus welcomed her with a polite smile.

Lily looked up at him but stopped suddenly when her eyes locked on those of the boy sitting across from her. James gazed back intensely before turning to Sirius with a questioning expression.

"I asked Evans to sit with us if that's okay," Sirius announced as if he did this type of thing all the time.

"Sure," Remus said as Peter nodded with approval.

"That's fine," James agreed quietly.

"Good, because I wasn't about to take no for an answer," Sirius said.

"You never do," Remus commented wearily.

"That's why I'm such a delight for the professors of this school," Sirius replied cheekily. "Besides, I figured we could use a girl around. You all eat like such dogs. She might inspire some manners."

"You're one to talk, Sirius," Peter teased.

"Moi?" Sirius asked in a scandalized tone. "Why, I am the epitome of courtesy," he said as he gnawed on a chicken bone.

Lily suddenly felt like she belonged as she rolled her eyes with the rest of the boys.