Chapter Four: Mixed Feelings
The next morning brought the first day of a new year of classes. The students ate anxiously, discussing their new schedules.
"We have to start the week off with Potions?" Sirius cried in disbelief. Peter's eyes widened with fear. Last year the Potions teacher had hated the Marauders so much that he would hex them whenever he got angry.
James was out of his depressed mood, and back to his charming self. He was talking to a smart, pretty Gryffindor girl, Kate Sruney, who was listening to him as if he were some sort of King.
"It's not that I don't like doing Potions homework, it's just that I get so busy with Quidditch and all." James said, flashing her a charming smile.
"Oh James, I understand completely! If you ever find that you don't have time to do your homework, I'd be more than happy to do it for you!" Kate said earnestly.
"Thanks Kate, you're amazing." James replied. Kate looked as if she could die from happiness.
"Got a head start this time, eh Prongs?" Sirius said in amusement. Peter looked at James in awe, while Remus shook his head disapprovingly.
"You should really do your Potions homework this year, James. We have to take the N.E.W.T.S. at the end of the year, and you want to be an Auror. You need a N.E.W.T. in Potions to become an Auror," he said. Lily, who was sitting only a few seats away, looked at James in surprise. She had no idea that he had wanted to be an Auror. She always assumed he wanted to be a professional Quidditch player and get all the fame and attention that his over inflated ego thrived on. 'But he wants to be an Auror . . . he wants to help people, and protect them from the bad. He wants to do something good, something totally unselfish. . .' Lily thought to herself.
"What?" James barked, noticing Lily staring at him. Sirius made a soft disapproving sound.
"N-nothing," Lily replied, quickly looking down at her breakfast. She glared at Bridget and Annabelle, who had started giggling. They stopped immediately, not wanting Lily to explode again like she had last night.
"Quidditch practice for the Gryffindor team tonight at seven!" James suddenly yelled for the entire table to hear. Several members of the team looked at him in disbelief.
"Er, Prongs, we just got back." Sirius pointed out.
"Yeah! And besides, you need to book the Quidditch field!" Kailyn argued. James shot her a look of extreme annoyance.
"I already did," he replied smugly.
"Are you mad? It's the first day of school!" Kailyn shouted. The Gryffindor table went quiet, eager to see yet another fight between James and Kailyn.
"Well judging from last year's final match, you could use a lot of brushing up." James said coolly. Kailyn stood up so fast that she knocked over her goblet of pumpkin juice.
"What is that supposed to mean?" she demanded.
"You let a Slytherin FIRST YEAR score two goals." James said in a slightly pained voice. Kailyn leaned over the table, glaring at James threateningly.
"Well I'm sorry, James Potter! I only wish I could be just as perfect as you, because God knows YOU'VE never made a mistake in your life!" she screamed. She gathered up her books, and stormed out of the Great Hall. Lily glared at James, before running after her best friend.
"Well that went well." James said sarcastically.
* * *
"Hey Prongs. . ." Sirius said quietly, glancing at the purple fumes coming out of the cauldron in front of him. He checked to make sure Professor Dooms, the Potions teacher, wasn't looking.
"What?" James said distractedly, his eyes focused on something in the front of the room.
"How many frog legs were we supposed to add?" Sirius asked calmly. James tore his gaze away from Lily and looked at the cauldron.
"Two. . ." he said slowly.
"And how many did you add?" Sirius asked. James looked at the bowl of frog legs in front of him.
"Five," he said in horror.
"FIVE! You idiot!" Sirius bellowed.
"Well you should've stopped me!" James said defensively.
"Well you shouldn't have been staring at Lily Evans the whole time!" Sirius snapped.
"I WAS NOT." James broke off when he saw the potion in the cauldron start to bubble furiously. Sirius looked at him in alarm as the cauldron began to shake.
"It's going to explode!" Sirius yelled. The entire class looked over in surprise.
"Don't be stupid. . ." James began. But before he could say another word, the cauldron burst, spilling the heated potion all over James and Sirius. Several girls shrieked and screamed, running over to James and Sirius with wet towels in their hands.
"There goes the Marauders' fan club." Lily muttered to Kailyn in disgust. She threw a threatening look at Bridget and Annabelle, who looked very tempted to join the other girls. Lily laughed at the sight of James wincing in pain, unable to help thinking how cute and helpless he looked.
Remus and Peter bustled through the crowd of girls surrounding James and Sirius, who were covered in purple slime.
"James! Are you okay?" Peter cried, clutching James's arm in worry. Sirius groaned impatiently, rubbing his arm in pain.
"Don't have a fit, Wormtail, he's fine. If His Highness hadn't been dreaming about - OW!" Sirius cast a furious look at James, who had just elbowed him hard in the ribs.
By this time the Slytherins, who shared Potions class with the Gryffindors, were laughing hysterically.
"That look really suits you, Potter." Lucius Malfoy sneered.
"I don't expect there's any look that suits you, Malfoy!" James snapped. Malfoy glared at him with a loathing face. Professor Dooms looked at the mess in disgust.
"Twenty points from Gryffindor for your lack of following directions and pure stupidity," he growled.
"Professor, surely they should go to the hospital wing!" Desiray McKann cried, patting Sirius's arm sympathetically.
"No, we're okay." Sirius said, inspecting the large bumps on his hand. Small bumps had appeared on the boys' faces as well.
"I hope Madam Pomfrey can get rid of those bumps!" Bridget whispered.
"Poor guys," Annabelle murmured. Lily and Kailyn exchanged annoyed glances. The bell rang for the end of class, and a herd of girls escorted James and Sirius to the hospital wing.
"He's enjoying this!" Lily said in outrage, watching James smile haughtily as Melissa Marandon stroked his face.
* * *
Ten minutes into Transfiguration class, James and Sirius walked in. They were cleaned up, and the bumps on their faces were completely gone. Professor McGonagall stopped abruptly in her lecture, and watched them take their seats.
"Well I suppose some things will never change," she said irritably.
"But Professor, we were. . ."
"I know where you were, Mr. Potter. Several young ladies were kind enough to inform me of the entire story in detail." Professor McGonagall interrupted. "Anyway, as I was saying, you are now in your final year of Transfiguration. As you know, this is no easy course. This year, we will be looking at Human Transfiguration. As you can imagine, this is an extremely difficult and complicated procedure. . ."
"No it isn't." Sirius laughed. James and Remus shot him warning looks. Lily observed this, and looked at them curiously.
"What did you say, Mr. Black?" Professor McGonagall asked sharply, annoyed at this interruption.
"Nothing, Professor." Sirius replied.
"Now for the first few lessons, we will be working on transfiguring frogs into different animals." Professor McGonagall droned on as she made a frog appear on each desk.
"Next time McGonagall yells at us, I say we turn into Animagi and give her a good shock." Sirius whispered. The Marauders laughed, causing Professor McGonagall to glare at them.
The rest of the day passed slowly with double Herbology class. After dinner, Sirius walked onto the Quidditch field, where James was flying high on his broom.
"Oy, Captain! Get down here!" Sirius shouted with a grin. He didn't know anyone at Hogwarts who loved playing Quidditch as much as James did. By this time most of the team had gathered on the field, watching James.
"Show-off," Kailyn muttered, still angry at what had happened at breakfast.
"But the very best show-off," Sirius grinned. Kailyn turned around and gasped.
"Sirius! I didn't see you," she said.
""Don't be mad at James, Kaily. You know how he can get. But he thinks you're a really great Keeper, and he's really proud of you." Sirius said seriously. Kailyn looked at him and smiled.
"Thanks, Sirius. I've always looked up to James, but he really needs to get a hold of himself sometimes. I was talking to Lily, and even she said that if he just toned down his ego and temper a bit, James would be a really great guy," she said.
"She said that, did she?" Sirius grinned slyly.
"Yeah, why?" Kailyn asked suspiciously. Sirius laughed and looked at James, who had just gotten off his broom.
"We Marauders always get what we want," he replied simply. Kailyn looked at him in confusion. She felt a bit weak as she watched how his long dark hair fell over his warm brown eyes. She continued to gaze at him, wondering why she suddenly found him so fascinating.
"Once Sirius and Kailyn are finished staring at each another, we can begin practice!" James said loudly. Kailyn jumped and quickly looked away, blushing furiously. Sirius turned and grinned at James, showing no embarrassment whatsoever.
* * *
"Prongs. . .I think. . .you've gone mad." Sirius said exhaustedly, throwing himself onto the ground after Quidditch practice.
"Well Padfoot, this is my last year as captain, so we got to do our best. We'll be remembered as the best Quidditch team the school has ever had!" James smiled. He picked up the crate of Quidditch balls, and started to head inside, with Sirius behind him.
"So what should we do now?" Sirius asked with a yawn.
"I suppose we better start our Potions homework." James said in disgust. Sirius laughed loudly.
"Or we could go check out your new private common room!" he suggested. James followed Sirius down a narrow corridor, stopping in front of a portrait hole.
"If I remember correctly, this is it. Unless they've changed it since Gabrielle Hacht was Head Girl." Sirius smiled reminiscently.
"Er," James racked his brain frantically, trying to remember the password Professor Dumbledore had given him. "Twinkle beans!" he finally remembered.
"Twinkle beans?" Sirius grimaced, as the portrait hole swung open. They peered inside, and saw Lily reading a book on the couch in front of the fireplace. James quickly moved out of sight, pulling Sirius with him.
"I think we better go to the Gryffindor common room," he whispered.
"How about I go to the Gryffindor common room, while you stay here and talk to Lily?" Sirius whispered back.
"What would I want to do that for?" James snapped. Sirius sighed.
"Now be nice, control your temper, and don't act like you're the Prince of Wales!" he said, pushing James forward. Then he quietly slipped out of the room. James slowly walked towards Lily, and stood behind the couch.
"What are you doing, Evans?" he asked, unconsciously rumpling his already untidy hair. Lily jumped up in surprise and spun around. She groaned when she saw James.
"Alright, I'll leave!" she said, starting to walk past James.
"Why are you leaving?" James asked, grabbing her arm. Lily looked up at him in surprise.
"Well I can't study with you around, now can I?" she replied. James let go of her arm, and turned the other way.
"I try to be nice to you, and this is what I get," he muttered, dropping onto the couch. Lily looked startled to see that James had not said anything mean, or yelled at her. She walked over to the couch and sat next to James.
"Are you okay?" she asked tentatively, "Did you lose one of your fans or something?" Lily was so used to having verbal wars with James that she couldn't stop herself. James closed his eyes, almost praying for the strength to not explode.
'Why do you always have to be so difficult?" he asked as nicely as he could. Lily tried not to laugh as she watched James struggle to control his anger. The room filled with a strange silence while Lily debated whether she should answer civilly or not. She felt a twinge of guilt when she saw the tired look on James's face.
"You're right, James. We should put our differences aside and try to get along. After all, we are going to have to work together as Head Boy and Girl." Lily finally said. She searched James's face for any trace of that arrogant look that suited him so well. But James continued to look weary.
"James, are you okay?" Lily asked, beginning to feel alarmed that James wasn't talking much. She knew James loved to talk, and she had never seen him this quiet before.
"Quidditch practice was exhausting." James replied, resting his head on one of the cushions.
"Oh, right - I ran into Kailyn before I came here, and all she said was something about you being completely off your head, and that she was straight to bed." Lily laughed. She felt a fluttering sensation in her stomach as James smiled at her. It wasn't his usual cocky smile, but a friendly, adorable one. Forcing herself to tear her gaze away from his eyes, she looked down at his arm, which was still a little red from where the bumps had been.
"Sirius put too many frog legs in the potion." James lied. Lily laughed softly, and traced her finger up and down his arm. As a shiver went up his spine, James silently prayed that Lily couldn't feel him shaking. Lily looked into his eyes, briefly remembering all the bad names she had ever called him, and all the times she wanted nothing more than to strangle him. All these years, his arrogance and enormous ego had disgusted her, yet a part of her always fell for his charm. But she had become so good at hiding this part that soon she decided it was nothing more than a side effect of hanging out with Bridget and Annabelle too much.
"I should go to bed now." Lily said suddenly. She knew James was just luring her into a trap, and if she stayed any longer she would fall right into it.
"You should. . . " James said solemnly, "but you don't want to. . ." His usual cocky smile returned to his face. Lily smiled to herself. She knew his arrogance couldn't have disappeared that easily.
"Actually," she said crisply, "I do want to." She stood up and started to head towards the door, when she realized that James was still lying on the couch. Against her will, she turned around and said, "Aren't you going to bed?"
"No, I'm too tired to move. I'm just going to sleep here tonight," he answered. Lily walked back to the couch and looked at him.
"Are you sure? You might get cold," she said.
"You can make sure that doesn't happen," James grinned slyly. Lily laughed and walked over to the fireplace.
"You're right, I can," she said, as she made big orange flames arise with the flick of her wand. Then she picked up a woolen blanket from a basket next to the fireplace, and draped it over James.
"Not what I had in mind, but thank you." James said with a soft smile. Lily looked surprised at his sudden kindness. She waited for him to say something cocky again. But he had closed his eyes and was breathing softly. Before she could stop herself, Lily gently took off his glasses and brushed a few stray strands of hair out of James's face. She looked at him for a few moments before turning and walking out of the room, not seeing the wide grin stretching across James's face.
The next morning brought the first day of a new year of classes. The students ate anxiously, discussing their new schedules.
"We have to start the week off with Potions?" Sirius cried in disbelief. Peter's eyes widened with fear. Last year the Potions teacher had hated the Marauders so much that he would hex them whenever he got angry.
James was out of his depressed mood, and back to his charming self. He was talking to a smart, pretty Gryffindor girl, Kate Sruney, who was listening to him as if he were some sort of King.
"It's not that I don't like doing Potions homework, it's just that I get so busy with Quidditch and all." James said, flashing her a charming smile.
"Oh James, I understand completely! If you ever find that you don't have time to do your homework, I'd be more than happy to do it for you!" Kate said earnestly.
"Thanks Kate, you're amazing." James replied. Kate looked as if she could die from happiness.
"Got a head start this time, eh Prongs?" Sirius said in amusement. Peter looked at James in awe, while Remus shook his head disapprovingly.
"You should really do your Potions homework this year, James. We have to take the N.E.W.T.S. at the end of the year, and you want to be an Auror. You need a N.E.W.T. in Potions to become an Auror," he said. Lily, who was sitting only a few seats away, looked at James in surprise. She had no idea that he had wanted to be an Auror. She always assumed he wanted to be a professional Quidditch player and get all the fame and attention that his over inflated ego thrived on. 'But he wants to be an Auror . . . he wants to help people, and protect them from the bad. He wants to do something good, something totally unselfish. . .' Lily thought to herself.
"What?" James barked, noticing Lily staring at him. Sirius made a soft disapproving sound.
"N-nothing," Lily replied, quickly looking down at her breakfast. She glared at Bridget and Annabelle, who had started giggling. They stopped immediately, not wanting Lily to explode again like she had last night.
"Quidditch practice for the Gryffindor team tonight at seven!" James suddenly yelled for the entire table to hear. Several members of the team looked at him in disbelief.
"Er, Prongs, we just got back." Sirius pointed out.
"Yeah! And besides, you need to book the Quidditch field!" Kailyn argued. James shot her a look of extreme annoyance.
"I already did," he replied smugly.
"Are you mad? It's the first day of school!" Kailyn shouted. The Gryffindor table went quiet, eager to see yet another fight between James and Kailyn.
"Well judging from last year's final match, you could use a lot of brushing up." James said coolly. Kailyn stood up so fast that she knocked over her goblet of pumpkin juice.
"What is that supposed to mean?" she demanded.
"You let a Slytherin FIRST YEAR score two goals." James said in a slightly pained voice. Kailyn leaned over the table, glaring at James threateningly.
"Well I'm sorry, James Potter! I only wish I could be just as perfect as you, because God knows YOU'VE never made a mistake in your life!" she screamed. She gathered up her books, and stormed out of the Great Hall. Lily glared at James, before running after her best friend.
"Well that went well." James said sarcastically.
* * *
"Hey Prongs. . ." Sirius said quietly, glancing at the purple fumes coming out of the cauldron in front of him. He checked to make sure Professor Dooms, the Potions teacher, wasn't looking.
"What?" James said distractedly, his eyes focused on something in the front of the room.
"How many frog legs were we supposed to add?" Sirius asked calmly. James tore his gaze away from Lily and looked at the cauldron.
"Two. . ." he said slowly.
"And how many did you add?" Sirius asked. James looked at the bowl of frog legs in front of him.
"Five," he said in horror.
"FIVE! You idiot!" Sirius bellowed.
"Well you should've stopped me!" James said defensively.
"Well you shouldn't have been staring at Lily Evans the whole time!" Sirius snapped.
"I WAS NOT." James broke off when he saw the potion in the cauldron start to bubble furiously. Sirius looked at him in alarm as the cauldron began to shake.
"It's going to explode!" Sirius yelled. The entire class looked over in surprise.
"Don't be stupid. . ." James began. But before he could say another word, the cauldron burst, spilling the heated potion all over James and Sirius. Several girls shrieked and screamed, running over to James and Sirius with wet towels in their hands.
"There goes the Marauders' fan club." Lily muttered to Kailyn in disgust. She threw a threatening look at Bridget and Annabelle, who looked very tempted to join the other girls. Lily laughed at the sight of James wincing in pain, unable to help thinking how cute and helpless he looked.
Remus and Peter bustled through the crowd of girls surrounding James and Sirius, who were covered in purple slime.
"James! Are you okay?" Peter cried, clutching James's arm in worry. Sirius groaned impatiently, rubbing his arm in pain.
"Don't have a fit, Wormtail, he's fine. If His Highness hadn't been dreaming about - OW!" Sirius cast a furious look at James, who had just elbowed him hard in the ribs.
By this time the Slytherins, who shared Potions class with the Gryffindors, were laughing hysterically.
"That look really suits you, Potter." Lucius Malfoy sneered.
"I don't expect there's any look that suits you, Malfoy!" James snapped. Malfoy glared at him with a loathing face. Professor Dooms looked at the mess in disgust.
"Twenty points from Gryffindor for your lack of following directions and pure stupidity," he growled.
"Professor, surely they should go to the hospital wing!" Desiray McKann cried, patting Sirius's arm sympathetically.
"No, we're okay." Sirius said, inspecting the large bumps on his hand. Small bumps had appeared on the boys' faces as well.
"I hope Madam Pomfrey can get rid of those bumps!" Bridget whispered.
"Poor guys," Annabelle murmured. Lily and Kailyn exchanged annoyed glances. The bell rang for the end of class, and a herd of girls escorted James and Sirius to the hospital wing.
"He's enjoying this!" Lily said in outrage, watching James smile haughtily as Melissa Marandon stroked his face.
* * *
Ten minutes into Transfiguration class, James and Sirius walked in. They were cleaned up, and the bumps on their faces were completely gone. Professor McGonagall stopped abruptly in her lecture, and watched them take their seats.
"Well I suppose some things will never change," she said irritably.
"But Professor, we were. . ."
"I know where you were, Mr. Potter. Several young ladies were kind enough to inform me of the entire story in detail." Professor McGonagall interrupted. "Anyway, as I was saying, you are now in your final year of Transfiguration. As you know, this is no easy course. This year, we will be looking at Human Transfiguration. As you can imagine, this is an extremely difficult and complicated procedure. . ."
"No it isn't." Sirius laughed. James and Remus shot him warning looks. Lily observed this, and looked at them curiously.
"What did you say, Mr. Black?" Professor McGonagall asked sharply, annoyed at this interruption.
"Nothing, Professor." Sirius replied.
"Now for the first few lessons, we will be working on transfiguring frogs into different animals." Professor McGonagall droned on as she made a frog appear on each desk.
"Next time McGonagall yells at us, I say we turn into Animagi and give her a good shock." Sirius whispered. The Marauders laughed, causing Professor McGonagall to glare at them.
The rest of the day passed slowly with double Herbology class. After dinner, Sirius walked onto the Quidditch field, where James was flying high on his broom.
"Oy, Captain! Get down here!" Sirius shouted with a grin. He didn't know anyone at Hogwarts who loved playing Quidditch as much as James did. By this time most of the team had gathered on the field, watching James.
"Show-off," Kailyn muttered, still angry at what had happened at breakfast.
"But the very best show-off," Sirius grinned. Kailyn turned around and gasped.
"Sirius! I didn't see you," she said.
""Don't be mad at James, Kaily. You know how he can get. But he thinks you're a really great Keeper, and he's really proud of you." Sirius said seriously. Kailyn looked at him and smiled.
"Thanks, Sirius. I've always looked up to James, but he really needs to get a hold of himself sometimes. I was talking to Lily, and even she said that if he just toned down his ego and temper a bit, James would be a really great guy," she said.
"She said that, did she?" Sirius grinned slyly.
"Yeah, why?" Kailyn asked suspiciously. Sirius laughed and looked at James, who had just gotten off his broom.
"We Marauders always get what we want," he replied simply. Kailyn looked at him in confusion. She felt a bit weak as she watched how his long dark hair fell over his warm brown eyes. She continued to gaze at him, wondering why she suddenly found him so fascinating.
"Once Sirius and Kailyn are finished staring at each another, we can begin practice!" James said loudly. Kailyn jumped and quickly looked away, blushing furiously. Sirius turned and grinned at James, showing no embarrassment whatsoever.
* * *
"Prongs. . .I think. . .you've gone mad." Sirius said exhaustedly, throwing himself onto the ground after Quidditch practice.
"Well Padfoot, this is my last year as captain, so we got to do our best. We'll be remembered as the best Quidditch team the school has ever had!" James smiled. He picked up the crate of Quidditch balls, and started to head inside, with Sirius behind him.
"So what should we do now?" Sirius asked with a yawn.
"I suppose we better start our Potions homework." James said in disgust. Sirius laughed loudly.
"Or we could go check out your new private common room!" he suggested. James followed Sirius down a narrow corridor, stopping in front of a portrait hole.
"If I remember correctly, this is it. Unless they've changed it since Gabrielle Hacht was Head Girl." Sirius smiled reminiscently.
"Er," James racked his brain frantically, trying to remember the password Professor Dumbledore had given him. "Twinkle beans!" he finally remembered.
"Twinkle beans?" Sirius grimaced, as the portrait hole swung open. They peered inside, and saw Lily reading a book on the couch in front of the fireplace. James quickly moved out of sight, pulling Sirius with him.
"I think we better go to the Gryffindor common room," he whispered.
"How about I go to the Gryffindor common room, while you stay here and talk to Lily?" Sirius whispered back.
"What would I want to do that for?" James snapped. Sirius sighed.
"Now be nice, control your temper, and don't act like you're the Prince of Wales!" he said, pushing James forward. Then he quietly slipped out of the room. James slowly walked towards Lily, and stood behind the couch.
"What are you doing, Evans?" he asked, unconsciously rumpling his already untidy hair. Lily jumped up in surprise and spun around. She groaned when she saw James.
"Alright, I'll leave!" she said, starting to walk past James.
"Why are you leaving?" James asked, grabbing her arm. Lily looked up at him in surprise.
"Well I can't study with you around, now can I?" she replied. James let go of her arm, and turned the other way.
"I try to be nice to you, and this is what I get," he muttered, dropping onto the couch. Lily looked startled to see that James had not said anything mean, or yelled at her. She walked over to the couch and sat next to James.
"Are you okay?" she asked tentatively, "Did you lose one of your fans or something?" Lily was so used to having verbal wars with James that she couldn't stop herself. James closed his eyes, almost praying for the strength to not explode.
'Why do you always have to be so difficult?" he asked as nicely as he could. Lily tried not to laugh as she watched James struggle to control his anger. The room filled with a strange silence while Lily debated whether she should answer civilly or not. She felt a twinge of guilt when she saw the tired look on James's face.
"You're right, James. We should put our differences aside and try to get along. After all, we are going to have to work together as Head Boy and Girl." Lily finally said. She searched James's face for any trace of that arrogant look that suited him so well. But James continued to look weary.
"James, are you okay?" Lily asked, beginning to feel alarmed that James wasn't talking much. She knew James loved to talk, and she had never seen him this quiet before.
"Quidditch practice was exhausting." James replied, resting his head on one of the cushions.
"Oh, right - I ran into Kailyn before I came here, and all she said was something about you being completely off your head, and that she was straight to bed." Lily laughed. She felt a fluttering sensation in her stomach as James smiled at her. It wasn't his usual cocky smile, but a friendly, adorable one. Forcing herself to tear her gaze away from his eyes, she looked down at his arm, which was still a little red from where the bumps had been.
"Sirius put too many frog legs in the potion." James lied. Lily laughed softly, and traced her finger up and down his arm. As a shiver went up his spine, James silently prayed that Lily couldn't feel him shaking. Lily looked into his eyes, briefly remembering all the bad names she had ever called him, and all the times she wanted nothing more than to strangle him. All these years, his arrogance and enormous ego had disgusted her, yet a part of her always fell for his charm. But she had become so good at hiding this part that soon she decided it was nothing more than a side effect of hanging out with Bridget and Annabelle too much.
"I should go to bed now." Lily said suddenly. She knew James was just luring her into a trap, and if she stayed any longer she would fall right into it.
"You should. . . " James said solemnly, "but you don't want to. . ." His usual cocky smile returned to his face. Lily smiled to herself. She knew his arrogance couldn't have disappeared that easily.
"Actually," she said crisply, "I do want to." She stood up and started to head towards the door, when she realized that James was still lying on the couch. Against her will, she turned around and said, "Aren't you going to bed?"
"No, I'm too tired to move. I'm just going to sleep here tonight," he answered. Lily walked back to the couch and looked at him.
"Are you sure? You might get cold," she said.
"You can make sure that doesn't happen," James grinned slyly. Lily laughed and walked over to the fireplace.
"You're right, I can," she said, as she made big orange flames arise with the flick of her wand. Then she picked up a woolen blanket from a basket next to the fireplace, and draped it over James.
"Not what I had in mind, but thank you." James said with a soft smile. Lily looked surprised at his sudden kindness. She waited for him to say something cocky again. But he had closed his eyes and was breathing softly. Before she could stop herself, Lily gently took off his glasses and brushed a few stray strands of hair out of James's face. She looked at him for a few moments before turning and walking out of the room, not seeing the wide grin stretching across James's face.