A/N: Here in Texas, the weather is taking a bit of time to realize that it's late September and not July, but this morning was rainy and even the slightest bit of crisp!Add a nice cup of tea and it was the perfect ambiance to get me in a happy writing groove. :) This one is sometime during third year!

*Disclaimer: I do not, nor do I wish to ever, own the rights to the magical world of Harry Potter that J.K. Rowling has so graciously welcomed us into.

Sirius Black elbowed the shorter boy next to him. "Go on, mate. Ask her."

The redheaded third year looked suspiciously at the boys lined up in front of her. Two minutes ago, all four had stumbled from the stairs that led to the third-year boys' dorm. They had marched straight across the common room to where Lily Evans was laboring over a Potions assignment. She looked up, startled, when the four boys stopped directly in front of her desk and stared at her. Nothing good ever came from the coalescence of these particular four Gryffindors and she really didn't have time for their shenanigans. After Sirius prompted James to speak, Lily narrowed her eyes. "To what do I owe the displeasure?"

James grinned, albeit a bit shakily, reaching his hand up to nervously lace through his hair. "Well, Evans, the boys here and I were talking and we reached a disagreement about something, so we need someone to break the tie."

Lily stared at the messy-haired boy with a mix of undisguised distaste and confusion. "You're telling me that out of every Gryffindor, you couldn't find any individual more willing to help you than me?" She raised an eyebrow in continued suspicion. "I find that hard to believe considering I head the efforts that have been ongoing of the past three years to get you lot expelled." She cast a quick glance to Remus, adding, "Sorry, Remus, but you need better friends."

The lanky boy's eyes danced with humor. "That's quite alright, Lily. I've been saying the same thing since first year."

Sirius slugged him, provoking an irritated "Oof!," before turning back to James Potter. "James, mate. Ask Evans your question. About our disagreement."

Lily crossed her arms and fixed them with a hardened glare of curiosity. "Go on."

James stepped forward a bit. "What do you know about…" He leaned in to Lily, lowering his voice. "…lycanthropy?"

She looked surprised. "Like werewolves?"

Remus aggressively shushed her, eyes quickly darting around. "Not so loud, Lily!"

The red-head complied in lowering her voice, speaking slowly, confusion evident in her voice. "I don't know much about them, honestly. We don't get to dark creatures until next year, at least." She noticed Remus shutter.

He turned to the other boys. "See? I told y'all. Dark creatures. She doesn't know anything. Let's go to bed." He spun on his heels and trudged toward the stairs.

Sirius watched him walk away a bit in silence before turning to James. "I'm going to go with him. You'll be up in a bit?"

James absentmindedly, nodded, staring after Remus with a frown. "Yeah, sure. Pete, you can go ahead and go with Sirius. I won't be long." Peter nodded and left with Sirius.

James moved to sit in the other chair at the desk. Lily looked at him, expectantly, waiting for him to say more, but he just stared, contemplatively, at the stairs to the third-year boys' dorm. Lily blinked and returned to her work.

After a few minutes, the bespectacled boy said, "Whatcha working on?"

Lily didn't look up from the textbook. "Potions."

"Oh. Me, too." He hummed. Lily looked over at him with a raised eyebrow. He was sitting, still blankly looking toward the boys' dorm, with nothing in front of him. Certainly no Potions book.

She decided to ignore her curiosity and return to her work. She was supposed to have a report on the basics of draughts completed by tomorrow morning and she was nowhere near complete, thanks to the distraction by the third-year boys.

"There's a Quidditch game this weekend," he said, suddenly. Is he even conscious?

She set down her textbook, sighing in defeat. "What?!"

"Quidditch. This Saturday. I'm a chaser, you know." He hadn't taken his eyes away from the stairs.

"Yes, Potter. I, along with every other student who possesses functioning ears and eyes, knows you are the saving grace of the Gryffindor Quidditch team." She rolled her eyes. It was not as if he made it very easy to forget.

He finally looked away from the stairs and focused on the red-head sitting in front of him, looking as though he were seeing her for the first time.

"You really don't know anything about werewolves?" He pushed his glasses up his nose, staring intensely at her.

"I mean…I've read a bit about them. Why are you in such need of information?" He was all over the place tonight and she was certainly not following him.

He answered, quickly. "I told you. The boys and I need a tiebreaker." With as much trouble as he caused, James Potter really was a rubbish liar. "So, hypothetically—for the sake of tiebreaking—werewolves and animals. What is their relationship like?"

"Well…" Lily shifted in her seat, pushing her book back. "When someone is under the influence of their lycanthropy, they basically are an animal."

James looked, thoughtful. "So if a werewolf were to bite an animal, what would happen?"

"I guess nothing. Lycanthropy doesn't affect animals. They can't become werewolves." James chewed over her words for a bit. "Does that break the tie?" She sighed, picking her book back up.

He quickly pushed the book back down. "Not quite." She blew hair out of her eye in frustration. "What if an Animagus was involved?"

Lily shook her head. "Werewolves aren't animagi. They're humans who have-"

"I know. I mean, an animagus with a werewolf. What would that look like?" He scooted his chair a bit closer, still using hushed tones and sending furtive glances around the common room every few seconds.

Lily thought for a second, before reaching under the table for her book bag. James huffed in irritation. "Please don't ignore me for a book just this once, Evans."

The redhead popped back up, holding a textbook above her head. "I'll have you know, Potter, that there is not enough interesting information about you to fill even one chapter of this book." The bespectacled boy opened his mouth to argue, but Lily silenced him with her hand. "This is the Defense Against the Dark Arts textbook for next year."

James's eyes widened. "For next year? But that's in the-"

"If you spend more time listening to professors than disrespecting them, you gain useful resources, Potter." She set the book down, caressing the cover. "But then I guess I couldn't expect you to understand."

"What with Quidditch and a social life, I don't really have as much time to snog professors as you apparently do."

"Chapter fourteen happens to contain a great deal on werewolves." She scanned the table of contents before flipping toward the back. "There." She slid the book toward James.

He looked at her, his mouth twitching with the tiniest bit of apology and regret, before looking at the pages set before him. He scanned quickly, using his finger to follow along. After a few minutes, he pointed to a paragraph and looked to Lily for help. "Read this and tell me what you gather from it." She looked at him with raised eyebrows in anticipation. "Please." He added, sticking his tongue out.

She gave a smile of victory and shifted her gaze back toward the textbook, reading aloud. "Werewolves' senses are heightened at-"

"No, further down." He pointed, before folding his hands together in his lap.

"Werewolves and animagi." Lily readthe title of the section, before proceeding to follow along the rest of the page silently. After a bit, she looked up at James. He was staring toward the stairs again, folding and unfolding his hands over and over again. She studied him for a bit, wondering what had him in such a state of nervousness. "Potter?"

He blinked and quickly snapped his head back to her. "What do you think?"

"I think that humans in Animagi forms are perfectly safe from werewolves."

James took a breath, slumping his shoulders a bit in obvious relief. "Really?"

"I think so. You should ask Professor McGonagall to be sure, because-"

"No, no, I can't ask her." His eyes shifted toward his hands, which were still twisting round and round each other.

"Potter."

"Evans." He didn't look away.

She paused for a second, before slowly proceeding. "This isn't just about some bet with the other boys, is it?"

James' mouth twitched a bit before he threw on a trademark smirk. "Of course it is, Evans. And you just helped prove that I'm right! Thanks for that. Maybe I'll let you in on the reward." He sent her a wink.

She was unfazed. "Can you promise me that no one is going to get hurt? This isn't another stupid prank, ri-"

"Evans." His hands went still. "This isn't like that. Trust me."

"Okay." She had known Potter well enough to recognize his antics and this was something different. She decided not to press for details, but there was something serious underlying.

He looked back toward the book. "Erm—do you think I could maybe look at that book sometime?" He picked it back up, flipping through chapter fourteen. "Not to actually read it for anything in particular, but just to, ya know…look smart."

To look smart. Right. "You can take it with you. I don't need it for anything. It was just for recreation."

His eyes lit up. "Really? Could I take it now?"

Lily couldn't help but smile at his excitement. "Sure. Just don't lose it, okay? It's on loan."

"I'll take excellent care of it, swear to Merlin. Thanks, Evans, contrary to what Sirius and the rest of the student population of Hogwarts says…maybe you're not as boring as—"

"Potter. Don't make me regret this."

He hopped up from his seat, grabbing the book. "If this is your idea of recreation, we need to find you a hobby. Have you looked into underwater basket weaving? Or perhaps cross-stitch is more your speed?" He grinned towards Lily, who was shooting him a dangerous glare. "Well, g'night, Evans. Sleep tight," then in a lowered voice, "don't let the werewolves bite." With a wink, he was gone, racing up the stairs to his friends.