Disclaimer: I wish I was a millionaire like Rowling. Or is it billionaire now?

A/N: So I haven't updated in 40,000 years! I owe you all an apology and a 90 page chapter! But I'm chillaxin' tomorrow so I would like to go to bed before 4 am, preferably.

-AS

The Next Day

Gryffindor Common Room

7:04 p.m.

Lily Potter was sitting in the common room, entranced by the fire. She watched as the flames danced around each other in a perfect, smooth harmony. She envied that.

She rolled her sleeve back to look at her watch. 7:04. Of course Potter would be late for their first patrol as Head Boy and Girl. She stood up, heading towards the door. If he couldn't make it on time, then she certainly wasn't going to wait.

"Lily! Wait up!" Lily turned to see James Potter running down the staircase, adjusting his robe as he did so.

She sneered. "Potter. Nice of you to sh-" She stopped abruptly as soon as she got a glance at his face. "Oh…my."

A large, red scar ran down the right side of his face. "What-what happened?" She stuttered. As she waited for a response she began to observe him more closely. His lip was cut, and his right eye seemed to be swollen. His arms were covered in little scratches all the way up to his elbow.

When he saw her looking, he rolled his sleeves down self-consciously. "It was nothing, really. Quidditch stuff. Caught up with my old friend Womping Willow." He chuckled nervously, seeming extremely out of character.

She eyed him apprehensively. "Is this why you weren't in class all day? What about Sirius and Remus? Peter didn't say anything about a Quidditch accident."

"Peter never says much anyway."

She glared. James watched anxiously as she crossed her arms and tapped her foot. "You didn't answer the question."

"Look, why do you care? If my broom crashed into a killer-tree I thought you would be more pleased. Easy solution to get rid of me."

Lily scoffed. "Well, excuse me for caring about your well-being."

James stared back, unfazed. "Drop the act, Lily. You don't fool anyone." He tried to move around her, but she moved her arm to block his exit to the door.

"What gives you the right to speak to me like that, Potter? I ask you, genuinely concerned, about your injuries and you attack me!?" She waited for him to flinch, but he didn't.

"You know what Lily? I've been waiting seven years for an ounce of concern. Even the slightest waver to your cold disposition. But you know what I've realized? That there's someone out there who actually cares about me. Someone who wants me around. Someone who doesn't walk all over me like I'm a bloody inconvenience! So I'm sorry if you came back this year expecting things to be the same!"

He took a deep, drawn out breath, trying to calm himself down. In his anger he had moved so close that he was only an inch from her face. "I've moved on, Lily. You've finally got what you wanted. Now let's just get this patrol over with."

He paused, staring intensely at her. Where had all this anger come from? She thought they were arguing about a Womping Willow, not James's unrequited love.

She searched desperately for some sign, any sign that he was joking about this. But his position didn't falter. He swiftly moved around her to the door. As she watched his retreating figure, she knew he was telling the truth, whether he had meant to or not.

She meandered towards the door slowly, her heart filling with dread. She turned to push the portrait closed on her way out. As she did, she noticed something that she hadn't before. In a chair, hidden from where James and her were earlier, was Harry Prewett, his eyes locking with hers as intensely as James's had.

Near the Hospital Wing

James and Lily walked in complete silence. James had been desperately hoping for some trouble. He really needed to take out some frustration on a wandering Slytherin. Unfortunately, the halls were empty.

He was glad that Lily chose to follow behind him. He needed his space. Everything that he had said to her tonight…he hadn't meant to say it. He was trying to forgot the long night before with Remus and Sirius, but of course Lily had to bring it up. In the heat of the moment things kept pouring out of his mouth that he hadn't meant to say.

He wasn't even sure what it meant. Had he really moved on? Was this his subconscious way of telling himself that his heart was ready to let go of Lily? His brains told him that he had one year left with her and that he had better move quick if he wanted her. But maybe, just maybe his heart was trying to tell him something, something he hadn't thought about before.

Lily's footsteps suddenly seemed incredibly loud behind him. Almost like they were taunting him. What did he even want anymore? When he looked at her, he felt weird. Half of him wanted her, half of him hated her to the very core.

Passing the door to the hospital wing, his thoughts were interrupted. He turned to face Lily, clearing his throat.

"I'll just be a minute," he muttered, pointing to the door. She nodded.

When he walked inside he was greeted by the happiest sound in the world-the lively chatter or Sirius and Remus. They didn't seem to notice him, so he hung back in the shadows.

"James could totally take Harry."

"Really?" Remus's voice sounded skeptical. "Harry certainly isn't small. He's practically his equal in size."

Sirius sighed. "James has a wicked left-hook."

"From what you told me about they way Harry took out Snape…"

"I forgot about that, mate! I would still bet money on James."

"A galleon?"

"That's a pathetically small bet, Moony."

"Well I don't exactly have galleons overflowing out of my back pocket, Padfoot."

James could hear Sirius seething. "Don't take that tone with me. You seem to forget that you're the one that pulled the claws on me. I'm never going to model if these scars are permanent."

"Now that…was a low-blow. You know I didn't mean to scratch you. And I'm sorry. I really am, Padfoot. You and Prongs didn't deserve that."

Sirius began to retract his former statements. "I was only joking, mate. I know that there's nothing you could've done."

"We're still cool?" Remus sounded a little unsure.

"Of course we are, mate. The Maurauders stick together. Forever." Sirius's voice was forceful, it was obvious he really meant what he said.

In the shadow, unseen, James smiled to himself before turning to rejoin Lily.