Location: Heads' Dorm Common Room

WEEK SIX of 7th YEAR

I love Quidditch.

It makes me happier than almost anything else in the world. I don't love it because of the cliches, like feeling the wind in my face, or winning the cup. Though, don't get me wrong, I do love that about the sport. But what I really love is the abandoning of my mind. I can concentrate solely on it, and it allows for a freedom of thought and mind that I cannot get anywhere else. Afterwards, I always feel so free of my problems. The empty canvas my mind becomes stays with me after my feet hit the earth, and it stays with me long after I finish games. With homework, Head duties, personal problems, friend problems, and the ever looming war, it always felt so damn good to just ignore it for a while.

This particular night I was finishing up an exceptional practice. I felt buoyant and confident, and was in an uncharacteristically (of late) good mood. When I walked into the head dorms, I caught sight of Lily working on what I assumed to be homework. She was softly humming, but she turned when she heard me come in. I smiled widely at her, and walked over to her table.

"Hey, James!" She greeted me. "How was practice?"

"Good. How has your night been?" I asked, sitting in an comfortable sofa seat parallel to her.

"It's been fine." She gave me an odd look, which I didn't really understand. "Since when is practice ever 'good'? Normally it's a twenty minute long speech about prospects, and chances, etc." I doubted she'd notice if I left out my usual rant. And even if she did, I didn't think she'd comment.

"Ah, I have been recently informed that girls' do not indeed care what my Quidditch team has been trying at a practice." Haley had snapped that to me the night before, along with a few other choice words I purposefully did not tell Lily. Haley despised Quidditch, and therefore all talk of it. "I will spare you." I already had my girlfriend bored to death of me, so there was no reason to torture my best girl friend as well.

"James, seriously, you can talk about it." I hadn't been expecting that.

"I don't want to bore you."

"James. Tell me about practice." She insisted.

"You're just being nice. It really isn't necessary." Lily was always sacrificing her own enjoyment for others.

"James, I want to know. It's important to you, and thus, it is important to me. Go. Talk." I couldn't help but smile at her insistence. While I knew she wasn't really interested, it meant a lot that she would pretend to.

"Thanks, Lily. Okay, so, Sirius came by and, instead of helping me, decided to accio all the snitches in the entire place. He, of course, caught as many as possible. They have a touch memory, you see, and so Sirius basically ruined a good 25 snitches. I yelled at him to clean it all up and get out, and by then, all of the team was already in the air. Then..." I continued on like this, narrating the entire practice, for far longer than I intended. I just couldn't seem to shut my mouth. That was always a problem where Lily was concerned, anyway. After about a half hour, I realized that she had a slightly glazed expression. I immediately shut my mouth and abruptly changed the subject. She was being nice to me; no need to torture her. "Anyway, what have you been up to?" I asked.

"I was just writing McGonagall's essay and listening to the radio." She said. "Nothing exciting, I assure you." Her slight frown at the mention of the essay reminded me of her trouble with writing. Lily had many talents, but bullshitting for a grade was not one of them.

"Do you want me to take a look at your essay?" I offered. It would've probably taken her the rest of the night, but for me, it'd be done in a solid twenty minutes. If I got it done for her, I could probably talk her into hanging out of the rest of the night.

"Yes, PLEASE." She said, enthusiasm radiating from her. I jumped up from my chair and leaned over her to read her essay. I ignored the slight turn in my stomach that came from being so physically close. There was no reason to dwell on the impossible. I started to read her essay, which was better than I anticipated. No matter how hard she struggled, Lily could not do subpar work. It wasn't in her nature. Despite this, I said to her, grimly

"Lily, you're going to have to start all over." I couldn't resist teasing her.

"What? Please, no." She said, frantically. I tried to keep a straight face, but I knew my eyes gave me away. I laughed as she lightly hit my shoulder.

"Idiot. You had me worried. I've worked on this for hours."

"Sorry, I couldn't resist. It's actually fine. You really just need a conclusion, which I'd be happy to write for you and transfigure into your handwriting." This was not my first time in bending the rules.

"You would do that?" She sounded so grateful; I couldn't help but smile.

"You listened to me talk about Quidditch for thirty minutes. I'd do anything for you." While true, I didn't really mean to say that last part. It seemed to go right over her head, though, as her next comment was about responsibility.

"As head students, we really shouldn't be cheating, you know."

"You don't want the help?"

"Did I say that?" I laughed and took the quill from her hand. She was a strict enforcer of the rules, unless they conflicted with what she wanted to do. While normally not a admirable trait, she had a flair that pulled it off. I suppose it was the same flair that got me only a slap on the wrist for all my wrongdoings over the years.

As I wrote the essay, I became aware that the radio was on. She had mentioned it, of course, but I had paid it no mind. But the band playing was my favorite. She couldn't like them, could she?

"Do you like this band?" I asked. Her head snapped back a little. I obviously had caught her lost in her thoughts. She took a second before replying.

"I have no idea. I've never heard them." Disappointing, but there was still a chance she liked them. I was determined to find a girl with good taste in music, and I'd be damned if Lily wasn't going to be the one.

"Well, what do you think of this song?" I pushed. She listened for a few seconds longer than my patience allowed, but she finally gave me the reply I was looking for.

"I like it a lot. Why?"

"It's my favorite band." And I had finally found someone who liked them. Sirius and Haley could sod off.

"Really? They're great! Have you ever seen them in person?" My smile left immediately, but I tried to hide it. Two years prior, I had planned on going when they were near my hometown. But that night, Sirius had shown up at my house, bloodied, battered, and ready to commit murder. I eventually talked him down from his anger, and got to the source of the problem. That was the first and last time I ever saw Sirius cry. The memory was not a pleasant one.

"Nah. I was going to, but Sirius needed me that day, so I had to skip it." I hoped she'd let it die, and I wasn't disappointed.

"I'm sure you'll get a chance to see them again. They must be popular." She began drumming on the table in beat with the tune, which made her ink splatter everywhere. She ignored it, which made me smile. Remus would have had a ministroke about the mess. I looked down at her essay, and noticed that ink had landed all over it, but she didn't seem to mind. Lily was nothing if not easy going.

"I'm glad you like them. Haley hates them. She's says they're too loud." She snorted, which made me look up from her paper. I arched an eyebrow at her.

"Seriously? It's not like they're screaming or anything. What does she like, love ballads?" The derision in her tone had me biting back a smile.

"Yeah. I sometimes seriously question why we're together." I quipped. Out loud, I laughed along with Lily. Inwardly, I was wondering how much I was truly joking.