James checked his pocket watch. 8:52 PM. He'd spent nearly the last hour dodging Sirius and Peter's attempts at small-talk as he stared out the window of their dormitory waiting for curfew. Eventually the pair had begun playing Wizard's Chess, with Peter drawing black. The glances he stole out of his periphery suggested there had been precious little playing going on. James had twice caught Sirius staring at him from his periphery. As if he didn't know his friends. Peter was far too talkative for Sirius to have been truly engaged in the contest. Remus had vanished almost immediately upon their return to Gryffindor Tower, claiming he'd promised someone a conversation. Probably Britt Lawson the raven-haired wizard thought ruefully. Why his friend kept barking up that tree was a mystery. As far as James was concerned, Lawson was pretentious and uninteresting and her lack of outward emotion was rivalled only by her nearly comprehensive ineptitude at spellwork. Why Remus had taken an interest in the brown-haired bumbler was beyond him. Likely it was another manifestation of his friend's self-hatred. Merlin knew if things took a turn toward anything serious…well, James would have to set him unequivocally straight. He deserved better. At least he'd come back with the stuff he'd asked for. It was in the bloody nick of time.
Just as he was about to flip the golden timepiece open once again, Lily Evans emerged from the common room. Though he'd mentally prepared himself for a professorial-style lecture, actually enduring it would be another matter. She'd shown already that she didn't intend to take his ideas or outlook to heart, though he supposed that shouldn't have surprised him. In a way he couldn't blame her. It should be Remus here, not him, Dumbledore's opinion on it be damned. It was probably prejudice that had deprived Remus of the role anyway. Disgusting. Slowly he pushed off of the wall and sauntered over to where Evans was waiting. He sighed. Three hours of fun.
Unremarkably, their coverage of the Seventh Floor passed in almost total silence. The obligatory pleasantries having been exchanged, James largely contented himself to follow slightly behind, counting his steps as they went. 228. 229. 230. 231. 23– Suddenly her footfalls stopped. James jerked his eyes upward.
"You know this is bound to be awfully boring if we don't even talk," she said evenly.
James rolled his eyes. "Yeah…and I've noticed you making a real effort."
She put a hand to her forehead before beginning to walk once again.
That was better. They were headed for the stairs now. Perhaps he could propose splitting up. There was hardly going to be a raft of students eager to break curfew tonight of all nights. 252. 253. 254. They passed an empty portrait of some non-descript English countryside. James cursed himself for even entertaining the thought. After everything that had happened. The deaths. Katie. The attack on the first years.
His mind jerked back. Katie. He closed his eyes hardening his mind against it. Pinching his lids shut tightly he tried to direct his thoughts elsewhere, finally settling for the sensation his hard squinting caused on the bridge of his nose where his glasses rested. His back felt hot.
"Potter?"
Evans. He opened his eyes. She was halfway down the bloody staircase. Back to zero.
"What are you doing?" she asked, if he wasn't mistaken, with a hint of concern entering her voice.
"Nothing. Thinking."
He hurried to catch up. This was the last thing he needed. If there was one person who knew how to pry it was Evans. She'd already wanted something at dinner. Merlin knew what. He'd thanked the stars that Remus had interceded given his mood. Keeping up appearances on the train had been enough, but with the cacophony around him, knowing what they were all surely discussing. It would hardly have been a good image for first years seeing the Head Boy and Head Girl fight on their first night at Hogwarts. And he would've disappointed Dumbledore. Even if the man was mental for handing him the Head Boy badge – their conversation, his expectations, his belief – it all made James want to repay the faith he'd been shown. He owed the Headmaster that much. And if he could stay out of his own head long enough he might just be able to do it.
Her footfalls had stopped again.
"Alright," she started sharply before covering her mouth with her hands as if in prayer. She bit her lip slightly, twisting a foot on the floor awkwardly as she avoided eye contact for a moment. Suddenly she straightened and brightened her features significantly. "I can't do this. Let's talk about something."
"How about whatever that just was," James offered.
He had seen that bright look that overtook her face too many times to count. It was almost always a reference point when people spoke about how kind and helpful she was. But what had come before it…well, he'd never seen that be part of her display.
"What are you talking about?"
"That…whatever it was. Where you suddenly got all…pleasant. You wanted to say something else. And then you didn't."
"Maybe we should talk about the rounds schedule," she quickly volunteered.
James eyed her suspiciously. That definitely wasn't it. Still, he was in no mood to fight. And even if she wasn't being honest, they needed to make this work and having a row after curfew wouldn't help that. At least if they rowed about the schedule it would be related to the job. A professional as opposed to personal disagreement would almost be progress.
The dark-haired wizard sighed before he started walking again, catching up to her once more. "Fine."
He sighed. Maybe this could be a good thing – a distraction at least.
"Well…you said you had ideas about good pairs?"
"Yeah…tentatively anyway. You might know them better," he conceded, "but I think it's worth a shot."
She offered only silence, which James took as the only sign of encouragement he was bound to get.
"Well, when Dumbledore told me he was making me Head Boy he said it was because Hogwarts needed unity and protection. And I know we've always done patrols in houses because it's easier and all with everyone's schedules, but with a little extra effort maybe we could come up with patrols that crossed lines. I figure if we start building bridges with the prefects, maybe it'll rub off."
He saw the redhead hesitate, tilting her head slightly to one side. "It's an…interesting idea. I just don't know…there are all the politics…and then the schedules…"
"I have the schedules covered," James said, shoving a fistful of parchment toward her as she paused in visible shock before the staircase they would take down to the fifth floor.
"You what?! But…we weren't collecting them until tomorrow. And you never–"
He shrugged. "I have my ways. Anyway, most of them line up with what I was hoping for. There are issues with the sixth years…new N.E.W.T. lessons and all."
"Potter, where did you get these?" she insisted.
James groaned. Why she had to be so dramatic about good news was beyond him. Strictly speaking it had required rule-breaking, but it was all in service of the school.
"Did you steal them? You could be expelled! And you're Head Boy! You can't do things like–"
The raven-haired wizard shook his head and snorted. "Like you were saying, Evans, I never left the Tower. Obviously, I didn't do anything. At least not personally…"
"Unbelievable!"
"Can we just talk about the actual subject at hand? I'm not going to tell you how I got them. And it doesn't matter. They'd be public knowledge in…" James paused to look at his watch "…eight hours anyway."
James chuckled inwardly as Evans marched on, muttering to herself. He couldn't understand a word she was saying, but he could see the lingering tinge of red to her cheeks from her last outburst. Peering around slightly, he could see that she was also chewing feverishly on her lower lip.
"Anyway…for the seventh years I figured Maggie and David Weatherby from Hufflepuff are a good match. David and Claire can hardly patrol together anyway since they broke up. Remus can reign in Hemsworth. Bloke's been scared of him since they dueled in Defense fifth-year. Claire's a good fit with Jacqueline Smythe from Ravenclaw…she'll let her have her way of doing things and won't rock the boat. And then we neutralize Bamford and Burke by putting them together. I'm sure they can commiserate for hours over how we robbed them of their rightful places."
He watched carefully as Evans scrutinized the schedules.
"That all matches up," she said, surprised. "And I don't see any conflicts…at least not yet. I don't know that I'm comfortable completely abandoning the old system. And we hardly know the fifth years…unless you do," Lily finished, turning her head to look at him.
"Then they run into the same problems we're having next year."
"Well…" Lily ventured. "Maybe that's a sign that we ought to keep things the same. It's safer and simpler that way."
James frowned. "Safer? In this climate? I'm not keen on leaving Slytherins to their own devices for hours at a time. There's no telling what they'd get up to. Plotting..." he said darkly.
Lily stopped, placing her hands on her hips. "We can't have the best of both worlds. We have to do something workable."
"I know that well enough," he huffed.
"What if we compromise?" Lily offered, breaking the silence. "We do what you suggested with our year and the sixth years. The N.E.W.T. issue will mean getting creative anyway. And for the fifth years, we can keep it by house. That way we're not throwing them into the fire with no support."
James scratched his head before grabbing a fistful of hair.
"I think that's reasonable…" Lily pressed.
"Yeah, okay."
The two resumed walking, Lily poring over the sixth year schedules while James started scrawling out the seventh and fifth year pairings on a piece of parchment.
"How'd you come up with that for our year anyway?" Lily broke in suddenly.
James shrugged. "It's just knowing people. Being Quidditch Captain since fourth year was hardly a picnic, but I learned a thing or two about handling personalities along the way."
"I thought you loved being Captain. You were always so vocal about it…"
"I do. But it's not all fun and games. It's easier for the professional managers. Player-managers are dying out so they can just do what they want with the team – they don't have to play with them. We have to walk a fine line."
"Hmm. I'd never really thought of that."
"Yeah. Nobody does. That's why Gryffindor has the best chemistry on the pitch."
"You take it more seriously than I expected. The behind the scenes I mean."
James scowled. "I want to be a manager. If I can't play that is. Just got my B Badge."
"You got a professional management badge?"
James shrugged again. "I mean, it's mostly rules and tactics for that. It's not that advanced."
"Do a lot of Captains do it then?"
"No," he laughed, his messy hair bouncing. "I'm the first actually."
"Well you shouldn't make light of it then," Lily scolded.
"I'm not," the dark-haired wizard sighed. "It's just. I don't know. I'm thinking about other things now."
An uncomfortable silence descended between them as Lily turned her gaze abruptly to the portraits lining the empty corridor.
"You know this seventh year schedule…" she started, "it leaves us–"
"On duty together?"
"Yes. And you think that's a good idea?"
"I haven't driven you mad yet have I?"
"It's only the first day. And I wouldn't say it's gone without incident…"
James allowed himself a smirk. "Well, last I checked I was only 'unbelievable' today. Correct me if I'm wrong, but that is a distinct improvement on insufferable, isn't it?"
Lily allowed herself a faint laugh. "You're still a prat," she warned.
"The more things change…"
The red-haired witch shook her head, the corner of her mouth tugging upward for a moment. "I suppose it would let us cut down on planning time…which would in turn streamline prefects' meetings…" She nodded. "Alright…let's start on the sixth years then. With a bit of luck we can wrap it up tonight."
As Lily lay in her four-poster trying to sleep, she stared at the ceiling. After a long night of rounds she should've been able to nod right off. That's how things had always been with Remus. But it was unavoidable. She'd dodged it tonight, even if it had almost slipped. Her sandy-haired friend's words echoed in her head. She couldn't let on that she knew.
But honestly, how was she supposed to avoid it? An entire week of rounds, uninterrupted and she was supposed to just ignore the elephant in the…corridor? It was against her nature. Even if it was Potter, the revelations Remus had shared tugged at her core. Left behind with a tiny scrap of parchment as the only measure of closure – and from what she'd been told it didn't offer much of that.
She rolled over, flipping her pillow in search of cool. She could always charm it, but then she hated that habit. There was something special about finding it naturally.Somehow it seemed more real. Marlene and Alana teased her to no end about her little preferences, but when it came to certain things, Lily felt that magic cheapened the experience.
Still, she could do with an artificial sleep aid at the moment. Why did her first day back have to be so vexing? Potter on the Express. Potter and Katie. Potter on patrol. She chuckled at the last one. If he hadn't managed to make Head Boy it would've made an amusing punchline.
Lily sat up in bed, rubbing her forehead. Transfiguration first thing in the morning was going to be a nightmare at this rate. And though her exam score had been fine she wasn't relishing the necessary conversation with Professor McGonagall. They hadn't met to discuss her progress toward the Academy since she'd ignored Potter's advice on the last essay before end of term. She'd never questioned the propriety or attainability of her dream before that moment. It had been so easy to imagine herself among advanced students, striving to push the boundaries of the fundamental fields in new directions. She'd relished the joy in Professor Slughorn's eyes after he received the gift she was sure would be a serious focus of her new studies. Triggering was a grossly underused property of spellwork in her opinion and the possibilities were endless. At the Academy no one would force her to confine her work to a particular potential application either.
She lay back down, yawning. Tomorrow morning could be a good thing after all. She could prove to Professor McGonagall that she had what it took. So what if the Academy hadn't received a favorable recommendation from her Head of House in a decade. Lily would earn one. Thankfully it would be a place where constant diligence would prevail over raw talent. She fell asleep smiling. At the Academy, she'd be right at home.
A/N: Not a particularly lengthy addition, I realize, but I don't want to get too expansive with James and Lily yet. I'm very interested in what you thought of their first round together. It was supposed to feel different. Did it? How did James's characterization play? Obviously he's still hurting, but I felt if pressed he would converse on another topic. I also wrestled with whether to even include the switch to Lily's POV at the end. Did you think it fit? Did you get the point? Do you want me to stop with the questions and just get writing Chapter 40?
Thanks, as always, for reading and reviewing! Your kind words and reassuring clicks continue to keep me going with this project when other ideas threaten to suck me in!