~Tentatively James knocked. It was over a minute before the door opened. Lily seemed to think that she was dreaming. She rubbed her eyes and did a double take. Finally she seemed to realize that the boy in front of her was real.

"James?" She was shocked.

"Lily," he said boldly. "This is a booty call."~

Lily gasped, seemingly indignant. James ran his hand through his hair nervously, trying to stand still. The redhead's face was unreadable; she bit her lip in indecision and backed up against the wall.

"Booty call?" She whispered. James had to strain to hear her. "James, this is a muggle studies project. I never planned on it getting so serious--"

James quickly cut her off as he leaned in and kissed her gently. Her hands flew to his chest, pushing him softly away. He cleared his throat.

"I'm sorry Lily," he pleaded, looking intensely into her eyes. "I swear, the whole Taylor thing was just a plan that Sirius had to get my mind off of you. Because for me, it's always been you, Lily." He placed his hand on her arm desperately, the expression adorning his face sincere. She backed into her room.

"I--I have to think about this, James," Lily stammered. His hand slid off her. "I'll talk to you tomorrow."

James stood limply where he was as Lily closed the door. He heard a murmur of voices inside, demanding to know how and why James Potter had been standing outside their room. Lily's firm reply silenced her year mates.

Slowly James turned and headed to the stairs. Deep in thought, he stepped off of the landing and onto the first step. With a grinding the stone stairs flattened and James lost his footing. As he twisted in midair, trying to regain his balance, his broom dropped out of his hand and slid to the bottom. In that second, James fell hard onto his right shoulder, sliding backwards down what used to be the staircase, and crashed into a wooden table at the bottom with a sickening crunch.

Though James hadn't opened his mouth at all through this whole ordeal, his fall and landing had made quite a bit of noise. Doors from both the boys' and girls' dorms flew open as the stairway resumed its usual shape. James groaned.

Lily and her friends were the first to make it down the stairs to where James was. Sirius, Remus, and Peter came soon after that. They hovered over James nervously as he clutched his arm, trying hard not to show how much pain he was in. Lily crouched down next to him and brushed his messy black hair away from his face.

"I've thought about it James," she said teasingly, hiding the concern in her smooth voice. "And I accept your…booty call."

Remus looked quizzically from James to Lily, then knelt next to his friend. Deftly he ran his hands over James's shoulder. He grimaced.

"We have to get you to the hospital wing, James," Lupin said seriously. "I think that your shoulder is dislocated.

Sirius made a noise of blatant disappointment. James was right-handed, and now he probably couldn't play quidditch. The large group congregated in the Common Room sent Peter to fetch Madame Pomfrey. Soon she arrived and brought James to the Hospital Wing. The Gryffindors slowly dispersed, worry evident on their faces. If James's shoulder was badly injured, then the Gryffindor team had little chance of beating Slytherin. Finally, only Remus, Sirius, and Lily were left by the fire. Remus caught Sirius sending him significant looks, and turned to leave. Firmly he stopped himself. Whatever was going on between Sirius, James, and Lily, he thought he had the right to know.

Sirius sighed in defeat when his friend settled himself onto a couch, but decided to confront Lily anyway.

"I think I rate him," she said before Sirius even asked. Sirius smirked. Remus gaped at her.

"You fancy James?" He demanded, in disbelief. Lily smiled mysteriously. Sirius shoved Remus in a joking manner, but the couch the he was on was very old. It toppled over backwards, and Remus lay sprawled against the stone fireplace.

Sirius took this as an advantage and quickly leaned over to whisper in Lily's ear. She laughed.

"If you say so, Sirius."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

James lay broodingly on his bed in the hospital wing, plucking at a stray thread on his sheets. Poppy had healed his shoulder to an extent, but she had still told him that he would be in the hospital wing for a while, and quidditch was out of the question for at least three months.

Quietly the door to the ward opened. It was dark, and James couldn't see who had entered.

"Who's there?" He asked hoarsely. There was a light sound of footsteps.

"Just your wife," Lily responded. James smiled as Lily pulled up a bed next to his and got in. "If anyone asks, I came because you have to help me with Hairy."

She placed their 'son' at the foot of his bed. Hairy immediately proceeded to chase James's toes around under the covers. James laughed and caught Lily's hand as she got under her blankets.

"So you can forgive me?" He asked solemnly.

She smiled, though he couldn't see it in the dark. "Maybe, but only if you're very, very good."

His grip on her hand tightened. "What if I'm very, very bad?"

"That works too."

(A/n: Yes, you might catch some O.C. and Tamora Pierce lines in there. Review!)