The grumbling of sixth year students made conversation in the Transfiguration classroom nearly impossible as students hurriedly gathered their belongings. Most took extra care to hide the special corrective ink covering their essays, but Lily simply stared at her own length of parchment in stunned silence. Across the room she could distantly hear James Potter and his little band slapping hands and whooping. As Professor McGonagall tutted her disapproval, Lily noticed that her friends had left. It was for the best, she considered. Marlene and Alana were used to her foul moods after unexpectedly low marks by now and made sure to give the redhead wide berth. As if the fates had conspired to darken her day further, Lily found James Potter waiting for her as she exited.

"What did I tell you, Evans? Outstanding!" he exclaimed. "Did you see the rest of those sops? Staring at McGonagall's ink just getting more and more irritated?"

"I saw," Lily snapped.

"No need to get short," he answered quickly. "McKinnon not fare so well?"

"Marlene did just fine," she replied tersely. "I just don't appreciate you and your friends' need to gloat over every little victory."

James frowned. "I'm hardly gloating. We waited until everyone else was gone to let loose. Besides, now it's just the two of us."

Lily grimaced. "It's still in poor taste," she muttered sourly. "Did you need anything else?"

"I don't suppose…" The raven-haired wizard's shoulder slumped into a half-shrug. "Congratulations anyway Evans," he said sincerely before looking away briefly.

Glad to be rid of the interruption so she could go stew herself, Lily abruptly walked away, leaving Potter in her wake. As she stalked down the now-empty hallway, her red-soaked parchment angrily crumpled in her robes, she rued submitting a revision at all now. She cursed McGonagall's policy. What professor honestly gave lower marks on revisions? Making her way to an empty classroom, she sat down and unfurled the assignment again, each criticism hitting her like a physical blow. Incorrect. Common misconception. Pedestrian analysis. The words disgusted her. Still worse was the note that accompanied the mark.

Miss Evans

I am not certain what distracted you from the task at hand, but I can assure you that while this type of fixation on the known and wholly unoriginal approach to non-textual problem-solving may suffice to earn you a passing grade on N.E.W.T.-level examinations, it is far from your best. Furthermore, it is far from what I would consider truthfully acceptable for a student aspiring to be admitted to Ministry's Academy of Magical Development and Research. Regrettably, this revision is also far more meandering and lacking in substance than even your original submission and accordingly, I have exercised my reserved discretion to downgrade your mark.

ACCEPTABLE

Furious, she balled it up once more, throwing it across the room. She thought back to Potter's smug, self-satisfied expression as she had exited. Marlene's words echoed in her head simultaneously. Was it possible? Could Potter really catch her at the top of the class? He had always bettered her in Defense and Transfiguration, but the margins were normally so infinitesimally small that her dominance in Charms and Potions, coupled with her more focused approach to schoolwork generally allowed her to surpass him, even if only just. Of course, things were still too close for her liking. And the prat would be positively insufferable if he finished the year top of the class. Lily's nostrils flared as her mind ran over the possibilities like a runaway train. He was unbelievable really. Somehow the Professors, aside from Slughorn, all liked him in spite of his penchant for rule-breaking. Even Headmaster Dumbledore got a twinkle in his eye. In the student body almost everyone aside from the Slytherins seemed to be under his spell. And if he finished top of the class…captained Gryffindor to the Quidditch Cup…continued his little public fairytale with Katie Wallenby…it was infuriating to consider.

"I'll just have to work harder," she huffed to herself. "Much harder."

The red-haired witch sat down, grabbed the necessary implements and immediately began whipping up an improved study schedule for the remainder of the year. She could study during Quidditch practices instead of being drawn into gossip with her roommates. That would afford her a serious advantage. And if she could get out of attending the game, that could be hours of extra time. Her friends would understand. She always worked hard, this year it would just be a bit more.

After carefully scripting out her new schedule, Lily set off to find Alana and Marlene, finally happening upon them amongst the many students pretending to study in the courtyard.

"Hello, Lily…" Alana greeted her cautiously.

"All better now?" Marlene asked.

"Much. I've got a more rigorous schedule set up and I don't think I'll have anything to worry about."

Alana laughed. "You never have anything to worry about Lily…"

"I assume we'll be seeing even less of you than usual," Marlene inquired.

"Only a little! I just tweaked things to add studying during Quidditch times."

Marlene rolled her eyes.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"What?"

"It's just funny. You were so confident a month ago, and now you're actually scared James Potter might catch you."

Lily harrumphed. "Hardly. I just want to make up for today's assignment."

Marlene shot her best friend a knowing stare.

"I'd be more worried about beating him in Osorio's tournament than at exams. Obviously you'll do better than him on most of the formal stuff."

"I'm not worried about the tournament. I've learned plenty of new tricks to throw at him from the library since our last duel."

"And if you think he doesn't already know those 'new' tricks," Marlene warned, "you're fooling yourself."

"I suppose we'll see…" Alana offered diplomatically.

"I'm more interested in my seed," remarked Marlene. "I can't believe he's doing that. I mean, I feel decently, but some others…to just be openly labeled like that…worst in the class at dueling?"

"I think it's refreshing," Lily said, shrugging. "There's no sense in people laboring under delusions. Especially in these times. Besides, they already know who they are. And being bottom of our N.E.W.T. Defense class is hardly an indictment of their ability."

"When is he posting the list?" Alana chirped up

"A few hours," her two friends replied in unison.

Alana shook her head. "You two are far too excited about this."

The most exuberant members of the small throng of students that gathered around the parchment before heading to the Great Hall for dinner were easily the Marauders.

"Brilliant!" Sirius exclaimed. "Almost a clean sweep!"

Peter frowned at the number three scrawled in parentheses next to his name.

"Cheer up Wormtail!" James said brightly, clapping his friend on the back. "Osorio just had to throw the Slytherins a bone. We all know you're more talented than Snivellus."

"Excuse me?" Lily asked hotly.

"Oh for the love of–" James muttered under his breath before being interrupted.

"You've just been full of insults today, haven't you Potter?"

"Evans…"

"You were mighty full of yourself after Transfiguration too."

James looked down, shaking his head as he noticed the blob of students begin forming a semi-circle around them. He could hardly blame them. Though things had been calmer this year, fireworks were still expected between he and his red-haired housemate amongst the student body. With the dark mood Evans had been in earlier, it didn't seem likely they would be disappointed. Still, if it was a row she wanted…

"I congratulated you. And what do you care about Snivellus?" he continued, emphasizing the demeaning nickname. "He's not around is he? Now that the pair of you aren't attached at the hip?"

"We were never attached at the hip," she spat. "And I care because no one deserves the mistreatment you dole out from your little self-made throne."

"At least you recognize it is self-made," James shot back boldly.

"Nice!" encouraged Peter, high-fiving Sirius in the background.

"You're insufferable!"

James chuckled, flashing the crowd his trademark smirk. The Gryffindors among them readily added their laughter to his. It was a rare moment these days when he had such thoughts, but he was pleased Katie had begged off joining them. It would really allow him to go full tilt. "The only one I see suffering is you. I'm not sure what's driven you to such a foul mood, but you really ought to have it looked at."

"The only thing that needs examination is your superiority complex."

"Mine?" James inquired, mouth agape. "I'm not the one running about correcting people whose conversations I overhear in class in between polishing my prefect badge."

"I don't polish it! But what would you know? As if you'd ever have one!"

"Forgive me," the raven-haired wizard said sarcastically. "I think we will all note though how easily you've admitted to the eavesdropping and constant corrections."

Her face flaming and twisted in anger, Lily lost control.

"SHUT UP POTTER!" she roared, brandishing her wand.

Gasps of surprise rang out amongst the students still assembled. Lily Evans had been known to lose her temper, especially where James Potter was involved, but drawing her wand aggressively was certainly new territory.

"I think you should save your strength for tomorrow…" James sniggered.

"What's the point of waiting when I can wipe that smirk off your face now?"

James's face hardened. "Put it away Evans," he warned.

"I told you to shut up!" she barked, thrusting the enchanted stick forward menancingly.

"And I told you to put it away," he replied coolly, his hand inching toward his back pocket.

"Don't think about it Potter!"

"Stop. Now," James said firmly. "You wouldn't want to do something you'll regret."

Lily inhaled deeply as his words sank in. She paused, nostrils flaring angrily as her breaths came quickly. Straightening herself, she pocketed her wand. "I'm done with you," she said icily, straightening her robes before striding off toward the Great Hall with Marlene in tow.

"See you tomorrow, Evans!" James called out tauntingly after her.

Taking his position at the front of the classroom, Federico Osorio swiftly silenced the massed students with a well-timed clearing of the throat and his normal penetrating gaze. Before speaking, he smiled paternalistically over the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, which he had carefully arranged into four separate dueling areas.

"Welcome all of you to the de facto practical portion of your examination. For those who do not remember and those who prefer to forget, I will remind you now that how you perform today will represent a full fifty percent of your final mark in my classroom. Rest assured that those who are knocked out early will have their opportunity for redemption, but also know this – those who underachieve will be judged. Those who overachieve will be rewarded."

As the Italian's words sank in, many of the students exchanged nervous glances. Practical examinations were already relatively unheard of at Hogwarts, even in the Defense classroom, but the professor's words carried added weight. The fours and fives who had been seeded in the middle of the group were among those who appeared particularly uncomfortable.

"We will begin our duels with the imbalanced pairings," Osorio continued. "In the upper-left, Mr. Potter will face Ms. Danforth. In the upper-right, Mr. Black will be challenged by Mr. Baird. In the lower-right, Mr. Lupin will duel Ms. Wallenby, while in the final area, Mr. Snape will oppose Mr. Wilkes."

For the first half of class, the initial round was almost entirely unremarkable, the only upset coming when the sixth-seeded Maggie Brinkley upstaged fourth-seed Xander Flint. Sadly for those few cheering for her to make more noise, James swiftly dispatched her in the next round. Sirius was the next to earn a place in the semi-finals handily disposing of the challenge posed by Marlene. Though it was a closer fight, Remus also progressed quickly, using a breaktaking dodge and return salvo of hexes to defeat Peter.

The other quarterfinal duel however, was to prove far more intriguing. The long-haired wizard bowed deeply to the muggle-born witch across from him and their contest began. From the beginning, Severus Snape surprised many with his inventive variations on commonplace spellwork, but Lily Evans's form-based approach served her well. Maintaining tight lines and precise movements, her charms successfully ended his, her ready counters proving stubbornly resistant to his hexes.

As the battle wore on, Severus despised the position he was in. Certainly in a classroom setting there was nothing he could do to truly harm Lily, but something felt unnatural about using offensive spells against her. His movements were too rapid, his adjustments too swift for her to do anything but play defensively early and yet his magic failed him. Where was the strength he knew his stunning spells possessed? Lily dodged his latest attack perfectly, sliding into position to finally launch one of her own.

Suddenly, the young Slytherin found himself facing a deluge of offensive magic. Making no attempt to hide it, she was boosting her spells as Potter had against her with her extra little flicks. None were too clever for Severus to repel, but she was wearing him down slowly with the sheer volume and swiftness of the onslaught. He tripled his shield as she doubled her flipendo sending the spell flying rapidly back at his wide-eyed former friend. Severus smiled. She would not be hurt badly by this turn of events, but still, she would remember he had always been superior in at least this area.

Unbelievably however, the reflected spell never struck home. Lily had produced a bizarre circular motion with her wand tip, seeming to catch the spell mid-air and re-direct it into the stone floor. With Severus's wand and body over-extended in anticipation of his triumph, it proved only to easy for her to suddenly disarm him, ending their duel. She smiled confidently, tossing his wand back to him before turning or her heel to bask in her housemates' adulation. Severus hung his head low, trudging back toward an equally dejected Avery and Mulciber. Had it been anyone else, he was sure he would have been filled with rage, but for Lily only overwhelming dissatisfaction claimed him. This is the one thing he had always had. The one way he always knew he remained worthy of her brilliance. How fitting that it had been she who had taken it from him.

As Potter ended Remus's run with a bold charge forward and swift attacks that fatigued and then felled him, Lily waited expectantly. Having been paired with him frequently enough since Osorio's little switch she knew to expect the unexpected, but still, the talented Gryffindor found herself disconcerted by the ease with which he had prevailed and the total lack of consistency in his strategy. In three rounds he had succeeded using three approaches – first patience, second power, and finally speed. Lily knew all too well from their first confrontation that Potter also counted guile, elusiveness, and combinations in his repertoire. Yet she remained confident. After all, her new moves had knocked off Severus, and though there had been an element of luck to it, she had even prevailed against Sirius Black. She smiled at the memory of wiping his typical smug, self-satisfied expression off that stubble-ridden face he was so proud of.

With a wave of his wand, Professor Osorio eliminated the barriers that had separated the dueling areas, causing those students who had been resting on them to jump up in surprise or simply fall bewildered to the ground. The Italian chuckled. "There is no substitute for alertness," he tutted, shaking his head. "To the sides of the room, all of you," he ordered. As the students parted to opposite walls, he wordlessly directed James and Lily to the center of the room.

Lily moved immediately toward him, re-securing her stray hairs into a new ponytail.

James lagged behind.

"I'm expecting to be avenged out there, Prongs," Sirius said bitterly.

"You can count on it."

Sirius grabbed his best friend by the robe, pulling him back. "Prongs," he began, fixing James with a steely stare, "you have to win. There's no other option."

James smirked. "Don't you think I know that?"

Finally meeting Osorio and Lily in the middle of the classroom, he was greeted with a pair of disapproving glares.

"Kind of you to join us, Mr. Potter," the professor said grimly. "Now. Attention both of you. This is the final round of competition. Some rules remain in place, Mr. Potter. No salvos of greater than five hexes. No unblockable magic. You of course, remain free to cast non-verbally. However, in the event that either of you are capable of it, you are free to manipulate objects in this classroom and you are equally free to perform wandless magic."

"Professor–" Lily started.

"The rules will be as I have stated Ms. Evans. Which of course leads to one important change. Disarming your opponent is insufficient to secure victory. You must knock down or disable."

Both students nodded their assent.

"Very well," Osorio stated, directing each of them to a different end of the classroom before raising his voice. "Now, those of you who are not participating…I expect you to give this final exercise your full attention. There are twelve minutes remaining in this period. By that time, we will have a winner." Silently, Osorio raised his wand, bidding the two opponents to bow. Lowering it and causing a loud crack to ring through the air, the battle began.

Lily moved quickly to put her opponent on the defensive, scattering three stunners in his direction. She was prepared with a Shield Charm when he deflected two before re-directing the other at her. As the spell fizzled, Potter sent a flurry of different spells toward her including, she noted, an amplified Knockback Jinx. She had almost missed the subtle movement amidst the dark-haired wizard's slick wand movements, and was forced simply to dodge it by sliding right. The important thing was seeing it she reminded herself before deflecting his next spell easily.

James realized upon Osorio's announcement that time would clearly be a factor. A patient approach would be risky, but could pay dividends given his housemates temper and all how heavily she seemed to be invested in the contest. After repelling her most recent measured sequence of spells, he strode forward briskly closing the distance. One. Two. Three-four-five. The moment she repelled the first, he sent another, and likewise with the second. He watched carefully as she dove to the right. His spells fizzled harmlessly into the wall behind her, but as she rose, James overpowered a stunner, sending it hurtling toward her still rising form. Had she seen it?

Out of the corner of her eye, Lily had. Hastily making the precise circular motion she needed with her wand, she rose and flourished it in time to send it flying back toward its caster. Potter duck swiftly to avoid it before jumping high to dodge her Jelly-Legs Jinx. Surely as close as he was now, she could finish him though. Caught mid-air there was no way he could avoid this…

James's eyes widened as his red-headed classmate fired a pair of stunners in his direction, the second of which she had cleverly doubled. As he fell directly toward their path, he recalled Osorio's words. "Accio desk!" James shouted, flinging a table between them and narrowly landing on his feet as it splintered before him, a shard slicing his face while the other caught his off arm, gashing him. Still he strode forward, arm behind his back as he sent a well-timed deluge of spells at his housemate.

Lily's face hardened at his clever block, even if the effort had enabled her to deal an unexpectedly literal blow to Potter's arrogant face. He was an idiot, striding forward when she clearly held the advantage thanks to his injury.

James aimed a series of curses at Evans's feet, failing to threaten her but slowly and subtly increasing the distance between them. Carefully, he measured his own steps back, casting his eyes toward the clock. Six minutes remained. He flicked his wand in its direction.

Having been forced to dance away from his irritating string of weak spells, Lily gritted her teeth at the distance he had created again. He of course, remained nearly in the center of the room, having cleverly backed her nearer and nearer to the wall. Across from her, Potter wore an irritating smirk. His injured arm was raised near his head, the other holding his wand, standing vertically, but in the same position as if in mock surrender. Lily's eyes narrowed. It was a weak fighting position. Certainly he wasn't capable of attacking quickly from it. But something about it made her wary. Potter raised his eyebrows before winking, leaning his head in the direction of the clock before forcing her to throw up a shield to block two more weak hexes. Lily swiftly retaliated, sending a series of escalatingly dangerous spells in his direction. As he fended them off, Lily caught sight of said clock. The time was unbelievable! Only a few minutes remained. Had it really been that long?

James noticed the flash or surprise cross his quarry's face and slowly backed away, dodging her powered-up but more sluggish spellwork. Exactly as expected, she closed the distance between them, her face firm and marked by an intense glare.

Lily knew she would only get one chance at this. Potter was nearing the wall now and this was the moment. Circling her wand twice and drawing it toward her core, she cast the spell.

James's eyes widened. Surely she wouldn't…

But Lily had. A wave of blue blasted forth from her wand, accompanied by a loud crack. She smiled broadly at the expression on Potter's face. As the wave moved toward him, she could barely see his futile wand strokes behind it. Finally. This was her moment.

James furiously made gathering movements with his wand that no one seemed to understand. With no sign of magic coming, it seemed to all who looked on that he was out of ideas or resigned to his fate. Suddenly, as the wave nearly enveloped him, a pillar of green burst forth, pressing back the wave just enough to force the front of it around him. The raven-haired Gryffindor knew the spell Evans had used from his meticulous studies of the art of dueling, but its power still surprised him. Keeping his focus he brought his injured hand around, gripping the wrist that held his wand to support his defensive effort. If he could hold on for just a few more moments…

As the seconds ticked away without any sign of Potter having fallen beneath the wall of blue, Lily began to become slightly apprehensive. The clock was ticking and she was still slightly short of breath from the effort of casting the spell. Unbelievably she began to see a short rod-like mass of green about Potter's height piercing through the wave. She fired four more spells, but each was swallowed by the wall of magic she had sent, hissing uselessly. Summoning her strength once more, she waited. The wave thundered into the wall behind Potter and as the green rod faded, she struck, sending two stunners followed by a triple-strength flipendo.

Confidently, James re-directed the two stunners toward Lily before dodging her final cast. As she attacked again, he continued to easily avoid her jinxes, striding closer and closer.

They were no more than ten feet away now, and Lily sent a doubled-up stunner toward him. James feinted as if he was going to cast a shield charm, but instead rolled low, cleverly evading her next attack and bellowed.

"Expelliarmus!"

A stunned Lily's wand flew from her hand, falling to the ground. Desperately she tried what she had studied, focusing intently on the object as it spun away from her. She pressed her mind into a singular thought, bringing it back and to her great relief, it's progress away from her slowed and then halted.

But it was too late. With a triumphant finality, James Potter exclaimed, "Stupefy!" sending Lily Evans flying to the ground, her wondrous displays of magic outshone by the incomparable composure and clever tactics displayed by her long-time nemesis. As nearly the entire class roared in appreciation of another impressive Potter victory, Lily drug herself to a seated position, catching a glimpse of only pitying expressions from Lionel Baird and Severus Snape. The red-headed witch stared holes into the stone floor as the Marauders lifted James atop their shoulders. She had done everything this time. But even still it hadn't been enough.

Later that evening, after Lily had finished reliving every moment of the duel, trying to discern where she had gone wrong, she drug herself off her bed and down to the common room. It was late, so late her roommates had long since abandoned her for sleep. Still, Lily knew she needed to release these thoughts and there was only one place for that in Gryffindor Tower – her favorite window seat – where she could sit alone and stare out into the starry sky.

Staring out the window she had sought, sitting with her knees tucked to her chest and her hair falling loosely about her head, she carefully picked out what constellations she could. Slowly she picked out constellations she had learned along with Petunia at an astronomy camp they had taken in their youth. In the southeast sky were Libra…as if today had shown her any justice…and Virgo. Saturn shone prominently in the center, close to the horizon.

"Do you see it?" a familiar voice rang out.

Lily sighed. "See what?"

"Our constellation of course."

Her tired brain whirred. And she spotted it, resting in the West. "Right," she nodded. "Leo. The Lion. How do you know it?"

"Mum liked all those little legends. She was one of those who actually liked Divination…"

Lily snorted.

"I know. But she learned all about it. Even what Muggles thought about the stars. The Zodiac, right?"

"Yes," Lily said simply.

"What's the story with that anyway? Horrorscopes? Who would want that?"

Lily rolled her eyes. "Horoscopes. Made up nonsense really posing as Divination. Some people believe them I suppose. Like my Aunt Tabatha."

"Hmm."

"I'm tired," Lily groaned.

"You know they have these brilliant things called beds…" James joked.

She inhaled deeply, closing her eyes. "How did you do it today?"

"What?"

"How did you beat me?"

She watched as the raven-haired wizard ran a hand through his messy hair. Prat.

"Just let it go," he said tamely.

"Tried that."

"Why does it matter?"

"It just does."

"Why?"

Lily turned her head swiftly to glare at him. "Because I worked harder than I ever have to beat you. And I couldn't do it."

"Well, it's not because you weren't good enough."

"Of course it is. Otherwise I'd have won."

James shook his head. "You fought better than I did mostly," he shrugged. "Forcing me to use that desk to block you…hell, actually generating that wave like you did…it was brilliant."

"It doesn't matter," she said glumly. "I still lost."

"Because I understand how you fight."

"I fought every duel differently. Regimented, but different. Like you. I'm not stupid."

"I never said you were."

"Then what are you talking about?"

"You might use different styles. Different approaches. But you always fight the same. Whenever you duel, it's always with a chip on your shoulder. You're always angry. Especially when you duel me."

"So."

"So I used it. I frustrated you. You can't deny I forced you into that spell."

"I decided to cast it because I need to end it. There were barely three minutes left."

James looked downward. "There were six."

"There were three! I saw the clock."

"You saw it right after I changed it."

"What?"

"I changed it. I stopped your first great chance, but I paid for it. I was injured. I needed you to get frustrated enough to make a mistake. So I changed it. To pile on the pressure."

"But…Osorio would've…"

"Osorio knew. It's like he said. We could manipulate objects in the room."

"I…but that…you completely altered my plan!" she said angrily.

"Kind of the point…"

Lily opened her mouth to snipe at him, but thought better of it. It burned to know he had gotten the better of her even more than she knew, but on some level, she felt better.

"Look Evans…" James offered. "You were great. Hell, if I had to pick a fifth to fight with it'd be you for sure after today."

"Fifth. How reassuring."

"I can hardly ignore familiarity. I can fight beside Sirius, Remus, and Peter without thinking. If not for that…I'd say you'd be tied with Sirius."

Lily sighed again, re-directing her gaze out the window once more.

"Go to bed, Evans. You've got exams to whip me in."

For the first time since she had met James Potter, he had managed to make her chuckle.

A/N: First things first, thank you all again for reading! The amount of reads all of you have given this story is incredibly humbling, especially given the way I know I've given new meaning to the "slow" in "slow burn". Words can't really capture how humbling it is to have that kind of support for this, but just know that all of you are deeply appreciated.

As for the story itself, this chapter was lengthier and represented a return to some James/Lily interaction in a variety of settings. Believe it or not, we really are almost done with Sixth Year. I think we're officially a chapter away from summer now, where as I've said before, the story will see a major shift. I don't want to stake myself too heavily to a forecast, but for those wondering, I would expect to probably spend around eight chapters on summer before moving into Seventh Year. I'm excited to have gotten two chapters into the queue in the same week for the first time in awhile and am hopeful I can continue to write so steadily in the near future.

Thank you so much again for reading and for those of you who have left reviews. I have loved interacting with all of you throughout this journey, whether you've been singing my praises, asking intriguing questions, or giving me constructive criticism (which I think every author benefits from). You are all super! I'll start work tomorrow on getting you another update soon!