The next week or so passed in what seemed to be a blur in slow motion. Lily was aware that made almost no sense but it was the best way to describe it. Each moment seemed to take forever while she was in it, but as soon as it passed it seemed like it had just been a flash.
Lily was annoyed at herself because despite the fact that her father had died and she could barely cope with it, she had hardwired her brain over the last six years to keep to such a strict studying schedule that she still kept following it. It was unintentional most of the time, but when she tried to just let go and forget about it she was overcome by a strange sort of guilt and eventually just sauntered off to get her studying materials anyway.
It was friday night and lily was both glad and upset. She was glad because she had no homework or studying to do over the weekend and could just relax, but she was upset because that meant there would be nothing to distract her but her head duties, which only took place at night.
A couple days ago she had finally apologized to james for yelling at him… and throwing a book at his head. She hadn't actually intended to hit him, she had just wanted him to leave. She told him as much and he seemed to understand, but she still felt bad. She told herself not to because she had the right to be a bit of a bitch right now, but her conscience was still winning that fight.
Lily had just dropped off her bag in her dorm room and was now headed to meet james for their rounds, which she actually quite enjoyed. That was another thing. Lily's father had died only a week ago and lily was already enjoying things again. Was that normal? What would he think if he knew?
Lily's philosophical train of thought was halted when she saw james.
"Hey." she greeted, forcing a small smile onto her face. She was getting better at that.
"Hey." he smiled back "how was your day?" normally someone would probably get offended by the question, considering the timing and all, but lily was glad he was treating her like nothing was really wrong. It helped her forget and feel like her life could be normal again.
"Not the worst." she said. She had obviously still been off, but altogether it had been kind of nice. She gotten top marks on a potions test and none of the teachers had given out any homework.
"How did you do on that test slughorn gave out?" she asked him
"Not too bad. I got an E, at least."
"Hey that's good!" she congratulated him
"What did you get?"
"An O," she flipped her short hair dramatically "obviously." james laughed
"I don't know why i even asked."
"Don't let the confident demeanor, good looks, and impeccable vocabulary fool you, potter. I've gotten my fair share of A's over the years. Even a D one time."
"No." he gasped in mock horror
"Yes." she nodded "second year. Transfiguration test. I forgot we had it because a certain potter boy had kept pulling on my hair every time i went to write it down. So i never studied."
"My, my, evans didn't study for a test. I never thought i'd hear such a thing."
"You know technically, that wasn't even my fault."
"Now, don't go blaming others for your actions. How was i to resist? I mean, when the prettiest girl in all of hogwarts is sitting right in front of you and her hair just keeps smelling like peaches, what is a young boy to do?"
"I don't know. Maybe, not pull on her hair?" james rubbed his chin, faking thought for a moment
"No." he finally concluded "not possible. See," he gently grabbed her wrist so she stopped walking and faced him "those were back in the days before i could do this." james brought his lips down to hers for just a moment, running one hand through her hair as he did so. It felt odd when he ran it through her hair like he always did and the feeling stopped almost immediately because of her hair length.
"Well," lily chided playfully after they broke apart "maybe you just should have done that sooner." she began to walk off down the hall again
"Oi!" he called after her "if i had done that sooner you would have hexed me to look like a toad for a month!" he was right.
"That's fair." she conceded as he jogged to catch up with her. It only took a second. His legs were much longer than hers.
"So." she turned to him "how's quidditch going. I know the first match is only next weekend. Do you think the team is ready?"
"I think we stand a fair chance. The team is really getting much better. They kind of hate me because of all the drills i've been putting them through, but they don't really hate me because they all know they're paying off."
"Who do you think is the best on the team?"
"I can't tell you that! I'm the captain, i have to be completely impartial." he put his chin in the air dramatically, but the facade only lasted a second "definitely lisa flench. No question. Best beater we've had in years."
"How old is she? I don't think i know who that is." lily was fairly observant and at least knew the names of most of the students at hogwarts (except the first years) so she was confused to hear a name she didn't recognize.
"She's a third year, and she's bloody brilliant." james exclaimed and lily smiled. She loved to see him so happy
"Well, i'm excited to see her play then." lily looked over at james, who was looking at her with a big, goofy grin on his face.
"What?" she asked him. The grin remained
"I have the coolest girlfriend in the whole world."
