Here's another short chapter guys! :D Enjoy and please review!

***Disclaimer***I own nothing. The Harry Potter world and it's characters belong to J.K. Rowling and Warner Bros, etc.

"I hate it when you cry." James whispered into Lily's hair.

Lily laughed through her tears, "But you've never seen my cry before…"

"Not true!" James protested. "Remember that time in third year…when you completely freaked out right before the Defense Against the Dark Arts class? You were so stressed out about that exam on werewolves and countercurses-you just burst into tears while waiting your turn to take the practical."

Lily paused, racking her brain for some memory of the occurence. Suddenly, a vague shadow of a memory scrolled through her brain. It matched the description that James had given her perfectly.

"T-that's right…now I remember…" Lily smiled as James tucked a few loose strands of her hair behind her ears.

He smoothed is hand over her shoulders and whispered, "Do you remember what I said to you as you were crying?"

It took Lily a second to recall the memory…that had been years ago! But, then again, it was probably one of the first genuinely nice things that James Potter had said to Lily during their time at Hogwarts.

"Yes." She said, a bit breathless.

"And what did I say?" James asked, holding her at arms length so that he could see her expression.

Third Year.

Lily Evans had been studying for weeks-but there was just something about werewolves that confused her. She could tell the difference between a werewolf and a normal human, she could read the moon cycles like a pro, but she was unable to perform any of the protection spells that their teacher had taught her.

"If confronting a werewolf," Professor Maywidge had said, "Always aim for the eyes, mouth or belly. These are the most sensitive places of the wolf. I recommend a nice blasting curse or a fire-throwing charm."

And so, Lily had practiced the two spells, among others, for weeks….and could not perform a single one.

She knew all the theories, but in practice-she was an absolute failure. She hung her head over her books miserably as she stood outside the Defense Against the Dark Art's classroom door, awaiting her turn to take the practical portion of Professor Maywidge's werewolf exam.

She was one of the last to take the exam on the sign-up list (she had wanted to give herself as much time as possible to study), and there was only one student taking the exam after her…James. Freaking. Potter.

As if waiting to take the test wasn't worse enough, she was going to have to endure five minutes of Potter's ridiculous antics when she could be studying.

Lily slumped down against the classroom door, hoping to get a few more moments of studying in before Potter showed up.

She turned to one of the first pages of her study guide-the one on fire curses.

At this point, Lily was so overly-tired and stressed that she just burst into tears as soon as she read the word "fire."

She covered her eyes with her hands how was she going to pass the practical!? What if she became a failure-what would her mother think!? What would her future employer thing of her!?

And so, Lily Evans cried even harder-so hard that she did not even here the footsteps coming slowly towards her.

"Alright, Evans?" Said James Potter, his voice filled with genuine concern.

"Bugger off, Potter." Lily choked out through her tears.

"Gosh, Lily, I just wanted to make sure that you're okay…you're not hurt, are you?" He quickly scanned over her with his eyes-looking for evidence of cuts or bruises or spells gone wrong.

"I-it's just stress…" Lily managed to get out out, attempting to re-gain her composure. Why was he being so nice?

"Oh, Lily…" James Potter sat down next to her, arms resting on his knees. Unlike Lily, he had not a book on him. His hair was disheveled and standing on-end (as usual), and his glasses were hanging off of the tip of his nose. He looked so gangly that Lily almost wanted to giggle. She settled for a half-hearted sigh instead.

"Lily…you're going to rock this test. I know you-you're strong and smart. You'll get through this practical without any effort, I'll bet." He said the words confidently, grinning his trademark jack-o-lantern grin. "And for what it's worth…you're even pretty when you cry-"

"Miss Evans!" The overly polite voice of Professor Maywidge cut off James from the other side of the door. "It is your turn! Enter, if you please!"

Lily stared at James for a few moments, startled at the teasing boy's unnaturally well-meaning behavior, yet comforted by the warmth of his words.

"Thank you." Lily said in a sort-of-strangled voice, wiping off her face and striding confidently forward into the dim Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom.

Lily repeated what James had said to her all those years ago.

"I had almost forgotten about that…" Lily said as James pulled her into a hug once again. "I passed the exam, you know." She smiled.

"Of course you did, Lily. I never had a doubt in my mind about you."

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