James could not help but think about Lily that evening, or especially the next, when he was on his way to McGonagall's office for his first detention of the year. Thinking back to his conversation with Sirius just ten minutes ago, he grinned.

"James, how could you?" Sirius wailed, his eyes watering with mock tears. Sirius was good at making himself appear to be crying.

"I'm sorry, Paddy, I didn't do it intentionally. I really did lose track of time."

"We always have the first detention of the year together. What were you thinking?"

"Perhaps it was the absence of thought," Remus said from behind his book, a few feet away. Sirius sniffled. Peter looked over curiously. Sirius smacked Peter in the head. Peter grinned apologetically and turned back around, focusing on his Charms homework once again.

"Proooooongs," Sirius wailed.

"Calm down. I promise I won't cause any mischief. Strictly speaking, I'll treat it as a real punishment. Next time we can get in trouble together, and then we can have fun. Okay?"

"Really?" Sirius looked up at James gratefully.

"Really."

"Okay."

James returned to the now, suddenly aware that he was much too close to McGonagall's office. He didn't want to get there early, and yet he thought maybe he should. For Sirius' sake.

James sped up a bit. As much as he wanted to keep his promise to Sirius, he couldn't help but think what kind of snooping around he could do before Professor McGonagall got into the room. He was nearly sprinting down the hallway and, not even thinking about the possibility that someone was in the room, slammed into a person who was standing in the doorway.

James' quick reflexes caused him to reach out and grab the robes of the person he had run into, preventing them from a most painful visit to the floor. His momentum, however, caused him to fly toward the floor at an alarming rate. The only thing he could do to prevent hurting his victim was to spin around, hoping that they would crash onto him instead of the marble floor.

Luckily for James, this person happened to be none other than Lily Evans. Lucky, for two reasons; one, it was Lily, and two, it was not McGonagall.

Lily, shocked and confused, had to take several moments to calm down and assess what had just happened. During this time, James reached up, tucking a stray strand of her hair behind her ear.

He had never seen her like this before. He tried to take in her wild beauty in one glance. The effect was overpowering. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes held a sort of excitement he had never seen before. Her hair was still fluttering about, and her breathing was quick. James could feel her body pressed against his …

But no! He knew he must tear away his gaze and pick her up before she realized what was happening. He had to make up for his mistake as best as possible. Sliding out from under her and standing up in one graceful motion, he took Lily by the waist and helped her to stand, then set her down in one of the seats.

From the moment he had turned the corner and crashed into Lily, all of these actions had taken only a few seconds. Finally, Lily's face reddened with embarrassment, which she tried to hide with an anger that James knew didn't really exist.

"JAMES POTTER!" she shrieked, "What do you think you were doing!?"

James leaned against the desk she was sitting in and replied calmly, "You seem to be asking that question a lot, Miss Evans."

Lily snorted and turned her head, her nose in the air. "I wouldn't ask it if I didn't need to," she said coolly.

Suddenly, James smirked. "Why are you in detention?"

Lily jumped, suddenly letting the situation sink in. This wasn't supposed to happen! No! "Who said I was? What if I just had to ask Professor McGonagall something?" Her eyes were darting around the room, looking for an escape. James smiled, sitting on the desk now.

"I guess that explains the other night, then?"

"What are you talking about?" Lily demanded, glaring at James, as if trying to turn him to stone.

"When you caught me and Sirius out at night. But, now that I think of it, why were you wandering the halls at night, hmm?"

Lily could see this conversation going very terrible places. How did he know exactly what to ask, exactly how to pressure her? Wiping a strand of hair out of her eyes, Lily countered, "What if I was doing Prefect duty?" She knew it was lame. He'd catch her.

"I know better than you that only teachers patrol the halls at night." Yup, he caught her.

"Just leave me alone," she suddenly spat. Why had she even been talking to him in the first place? Wasn't she supposed to be angry with him for nearly killing her just a few moments ago?

"Whatever you say, Princess." There was a tone in James' voice that she didn't like. It was as if he had won some unspoken argument they had been having. She turned away from him, pouting, but watched him out of the corner of her eye. He had sauntered over to McGonagall's desk, sat down in her chair, and was just about to open one of the drawers when the professor walked in.

'Hmph, serves him right,' she thought.

"Mr. Potter! What are you doing?" McGonagall's voice rang out from the doorway, where she had momentarily paused. She was now making her way over to the raven-haired boy.

"Nothing, Professor," he said, giving the teacher an innocent grin, "I just thought maybe your chair would be a bit more comfortable than those old things," he finished, pointing out to the sea of desks that the students used.

"It most certainly is, and a well deserved luxury at that. Now scoot," she said, motioning for James to sit down in the front row. James stood up, bowed deeply, and took the seat next to Lily. Lily resisted the childish urge to get up and move; instead she scooted to the opposite edge of her chair. James laughed.

"Your duties will be to clean out my classroom. That includes scrubbing the floor, windows and cabinets and disinfecting the Transfiguration objects. Nothing in my office is to be touched."

Lily grinned, pulling out her wand. This would be a piece of cake. She could be back in her dorm in less than ten minutes.

James laughed, louder this time, and winked at McGonagall. "This your first detention, Evans?"

"Of course it is. I do not find rule breaking entertaining, unlike other people."

"Well then, I'd like to note," James continued while pushing up his sleeves, "that all detentions are meant as punishments. This means that cleaning, as well as everything else, is done the Muggle way."

Lily's face paled several shades. James grinned. He walked over to the sink and opened the cabinet under it. He pulled out a large white pail, some soapy stuff, and a few rags, one of which he tossed at Lily. James was surprised when she caught it.

"I'll be back in a few hours. I expect to find this room spotless, Mr. Potter."

"What?" Lily shrieked indignantly, "You're not leaving me in here alone with him?"

McGonagall smiled at James. "Please be a gentleman, Mr. Potter, or there may be fatal consequences."

"Fatal consequences indeed," James replied. He added with a grin, "Don't worry, I'll be most kind."

With that Professor McGonagall left the room. Lily stood petrified, unbelieving, at the door. James had already filled the bucket with soapy water, and was now kneeling in the middle of the room, a rag in hand, scrubbing the floor, humming a catchy little jingle.

"Fatal consequences," he muttered to himself. Lily didn't hear him. "We'll see."