Author's note: In the name of very serious research for writing this fic, I have decided that the best cover of Lean on Me is by Imaginary Futures. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling owns the canon, world, and characters portrayed below and you can tell I'm not J.K. Rowling because #transrights

Hogwarts: Assignment 6, Healer Studies: Maledictus: Write about a fast-approaching deadline.

Beta: Aya, many thanks!

Content Warnings: Grief

Lean on Me

James made an executive decision that night when he came back from his detention and saw her staring at the flames. She was sitting so still and staring so hard it was difficult for him to imagine Lily Evans ever looking away.

He went upstairs and fetched a clean roll of parchment, his best and most in-shape quills, a bottle of emerald green ink Sirius had teased him for picking out, his stash of sweets, and the expandable tea set they used to smuggle tea into the infirmary. He announced to the other boys that he was stealing everyone's Ancient Runes textbooks. He left the Common Room before Remus could protest from under his pile of blankets, and marched back downstairs to the mostly empty Common Room.

He dragged one of the coffee tables in front of the sofa where Lily was curled up, legs tucked under her and red hair pulled back in a smart chignon. The navy sweater she'd crawled into was so big on her, it almost reached down to the top of her uniform skirt. She sighed when he began laying down his supplies.

"Potter, I'm not in the mood…" she said.

"I know, and I'm not here to tease you," James said. He hadn't since he'd seen her parents' names in The Prophet, on a list of Muggles who had died in a Death Eater attack. "But I know from Lupin that everyone's Ancient Runes term project is due tomorrow, and you haven't worked on it a lick."

Lily opened her mouth and then closed it.

"How could you possibly know that?" she asked.

"Because I'm always watching you or thinking about you like a damned labrador—but this isn't about that," James said. He crossed his arms in front of him. "When my dad died last year, I… I really let go of school and… well, everything, really. It's a miracle I got any of my OWLs. But nobody really cared because I'd never tried that hard and the only thing anyone wants from me is that I turn up at Quidditch and score some points. But you're different, Evans. You care about things. You're not just brilliant, you work hard. And if you want to spend the rest of your life studying charms at some elite academy, you're going to need to write that damn paper."

Lily looked down at her fingertips. She'd stopped painting them fun colours with that Muggle nail polish she brought to school, and she'd started chewing them since Christmas break. She picked at the cuticles all the time, too. Then she got up, as if she was going to leave, but instead just stood before him and took a deep breath.

"How did you know?" Lily asked. "About my wanting to go to the academy…"

"You mentioned it at one of the Slug Club meetings I went to before Slughorn came to his senses and revoked my invitation," James said simply. That had been a few years ago, because Slughorn was a quick learner if nothing else. But she'd worked like a demon in every single class and in every single way, so he'd assumed she was still working towards that.

He cleared his throat, hyperconscious of her eyes on him all of a sudden. "I'm sorry the Death Eaters took your parents, but they shouldn't be allowed to take that dream away from you, too. So I'm going to sit here with you. As long as it takes."

Lily looked like she might slap him, especially with the firelight casting shadows on her face and bringing out the reddest hues in her hair. But then she bit down on her lip and surprised James by wrapping her arms around his waist and burying her face in his sweater. For a second he was too shocked to move, but then he wrapped his arms around her. His right fingertips were brushing against her hair, which was wildly and obscenely soft.

"I haven't even started," Lily confessed quietly, her voice soft and afraid. "I just… I couldn't do it."

"That's alright," James said. "I can't read Ancient Runes, but I do have some experience in procrastination. We'll be okay if we start by making tea."

"Yeah?" Lily asked in a small voice, still not pulling away.

"Absolutely," James promised. He was going to explain to her that he had an invisibility cloak if she needed to be broken into the library (and an agreement with Peeves that would facilitate this endeavour), but Lily was so quiet as she rested with her cheek against his chest. So he was quiet too, and just let her be reminded that someone cared about her while she was having trouble caring about herself.

WC: 789