Redsoxfan90210: Thank you reviewing. I hope you enjoy this.
Love is in the Air, Right?Lily Evans couldn't stop thinking about it. How was she ever going to work well with James Potter? Even if she didn't hate the guy, he was just so annoying.
'But Dumbledore is the smartest wizard ever. He knows what he's doing'. She kept thinking over and over again. She hated that the beginning of her last school year was going on like this. Was she being unfair? Did James Potter really deserve a chance to prove her wrong? 'Oh, he would love that'. Maybe she should give it a chance. No grudges. Just to see what happens. Yes… she would do that. She smiled, content with herself. After all, she was a fair woman. She hated to be discriminated for being muggle born, so she shouldn't do the same to Potter. No… she would give him a chance. Only one chance.
"Golden Snitch", she said to the painting guarding the entrance of her new chambers. It was a painting of the Hogwarts Quidditch Pit. The scene unfolding in it was pretty amazing. The four teams of the four houses were flying around in circles. Red, gold, silver, green, blue. All the colors swirled around while the rest of the school cheered. Lily thought the picture was probably from a long time ago, since nowadays it would be almost impossible to have the Slytherins and the Gryffindors like that without trying to kill each other. Having said the password, one of the players, a blond girl wearing the Ravenclaw colors, looked at her for a moment. Probably hating that she interrupted whatever it was they were doing. But after a moment she smiled and the painting swung open.
Oh yeah! And as if sharing the job with James Potter wasn't bad enough. To top it all, she would be sharing a common room with him, both having individuals bedrooms and bathrooms. But it wasn't that bad. It actually had it's up side. One of the perks of having the job was having more privacy. A nice change after sharing a room with four other students and a common room with a few hundreds.
It was custom that the Heads shared a living space. It made the job easier since not always did both students come from the same house. This way they could work in a common ground without having to spend long hours in an empty classroom or the library.
Her new quarters were fairly close to the Gryffindor common room, which made her happy. She would be able to blow some steam concerning certain black haired chaser with both her friends without having to wander too far.
She admired her surroundings. The common room was smaller than the Gryffindor's but it was just as cozy. The fire burned strongly. In front of it there was a big scarlet couch and a couple of sofas. A big table surrounded by chairs was facing the door at the other side of the room. There was a passage in the left corner and a staircase in the right one. Just when she was about to start climbing the steps someone cleared his throat behind her.
"Evans. I see you are finally here", James Potter told her as he sat in the big old scarlet couch.
"And I see you are already here. Where exactly did you come from Potter?", asked Lily while walking towards him. She stood in front of the fire facing him. He motioned towards the passage on the left with a head movement.
"That passage leads to my room. The staircase leads to yours. I figured as much when I started looking around. I was in the third step when it turned into a slide, just like the one in our ex-common room". James grinned and got a faraway look on his face, as if remembering something with fondness. His hair was messier than usual and he had the top button of his chemise undone. He had taken off his robe and his sleeves where up to his elbows. She didn't know if it was the look on his face or everything combined, but she had to admit he looked quite handsome.
"I see", she said while stepping out of her own shoes. She sat on one of the sofas and lifted her feet towards the fire, looking for warmth. "It's very nice… our new common room". He said nothing. An awkward silence filled the room.
"It is". James stole a couple of sideways glances at Lily before adding. "Look", he sat up straight, "I have a proposition for you". She looked at him warily, he grinned again, almost annoyed. "Don't look at me like that. It's completely innocent, I swear. Listen, since we are going to be working together now, I propose to you that from now on we refer to each other by our first names. Lily". She gazed at him. Something close to relief covering her face.
"Oh that. Of course. I think it's how it should be... James", she smiled.
"Perfect!", he said standing up. He looked at her for a moment before turning around. He started to walk back to his room but stopped suddenly. "I think you hair looks wonderful like that, Lily". He didn't turn. He just kept walking until he disappeared into the passage.
She blushed. She didn't know why but she definitely did. She was used to get plenty of compliments form classmates. She was aware that she was considered to be pretty and 'quite the catch'. But still. Something about James' compliment turned her cheeks pink. She ran a hand trough her now longer hair and sighed. Maybe she wouldn't cut it just yet like she had planned. After all, it had been a while since she wore it long.
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Remus Lupin rested his head on his pillow and sighed trying to shut down Sirius' voice, who was going on and on about how crazy it was that James had been made Head Boy.
"I mean, honestly Moony. I had expected a little more sympathy on your side. The job should have been yours in the first place. Dumbledore shouldn't try to reform James through this kind of…", he searched for the right word, "scam".
"Mate, you know I would have never been able to fulfill the Head Boy job properly. Not with my condition. What would have happened every month with me disappearing for three days? It was too risky, and not just for Dumbledore. I didn't want whoever was picked Head Girl to start wondering about my disappearances", Remus said staring at the ceiling. Truth was he would have loved to be Head Boy, but once more him being a werewolf had put a stop to his dreams. This was one of the many things that he would have to sacrifice. He could think of another one and it just made his heart ache. Light brown hair and blue eyes came to his mind for a moment. He sighed again. "Anyhow, I'm happy that James got the job. I prefer him over any other fellow. And Sirius", he looked pointedly at his friend, "I don't think Dumbledore is trying to scam anybody".
"Easy for you to say, you are prefect so you'll still get to see him once in a while whereas I'll lose my prank partner to a cluster of rules and a bloody badge", Sirius moped.
Peter sat quietly in his bed looking from one of his friends to the other. Truth was, he wasn't happy about the situation either. James was in part the reason why he had been able to get to seventh year without flunking anything. Sirius was a really ill-tempered teacher, so he had stopped helping Peter after a big fight they had had in second year. He only did it when absolutely necessary. After that, Remus and James had taken over, but James had done most of the teaching after Remus had been made prefect. What was going to happen to him now that both his teachers had more important duties to carry on? Peter knew it was a selfish reason to feel annoyed compared to Sirius's who was just sad that his almost brother had been taken away from their dorm and from their crazy life. But he couldn't help thinking like that.
"Maybe you're judging the entire situation too soon, Padfoot", Remus said sitting up, "James won't change just because he now has a new badge next to his Quidditch Captain one".
"What do you think, Wormtail? You've been awfully quiet since we arrived from Hogsmade".
"I… Well we probably- I don't know. I think Remus has a point. We shouldn't judge James too soon. He's our friend".
"Figures!". Sirius said raising his voice. "I'm all alone on this one. I guess you're all turning soft now that we are growing older, uh?".
"We are not turning soft, Sirius. We are growing up, and you should do it too", Lupin said angrily and stood up to leave the room. "I know it's harder for you because you have a special bond with James, but this isn't the end of anything. You heard him in the Great Hall, things won't change that much", he left and went down to the common room. Ha sat in one of the sofas before noticing that Kali was there. Just his luck.
"Remus, hi!", she said timidly. He saw Adelaide roll her eyes and look the other way.
"Hello Kali. Adelaide. How are you?", he said politely.
"Oh, we are great!", Kali said cheerfully and giggled. 'Great, now he'll think I'm an airhead', she thought almost smacking herself. In the head. "How were your vacations?"
"They were good actually. I visited Germany with my parents and then I spent a week at James's house with Sirius and Peter". Remus responded. He didn't have to be impolite towards Kali, it wasn't her fault that he liked her and couldn't do anything about it. If friendly conversations were everything he could have then he was going to make the best of them. After all, it was their last year together and he would probably never see her again. "What about you?".
Kali blinked surprised before smiling. Remus hardly ever fell into conversation with her. In fact he virtually ran whenever he saw her near him. This was a surprising change. 'A nice one though', she thought. "Mine were good too. My sister, who lives in Australia with her husband and son came to visit all summer. It was good to see her again. And I missed my nephew so it was great, actually".
"You have a nephew? That's great. I'm an only child but I always wanted a brother or a sister so I could have nieces or nephews someday. So what's he like?".
"Well", Kali's eyes shone with excitement. Not only was she holding a conversation with Remus, she also got to talk about her favorite subject, her family. "He's two years old and has the cutest nose in the entire world. People actually say he looks a lot like me when I was little, with his blue eyes and light hair… Not that I think my nose is cute or anything… I mean…", she babbled. Remus smiled at her embarrassment and chuckled. She looked down for a moment before looking at him straight in the eyes. "Are you laughing at me Lupin?", Remus laughed harder.
"Oh, so I am Lupin now? Well I'm sorry, but you looked so cute trying to cover your embarrassment". Kali's back straightened and she looked at him trying to appear serious.
"I am not cute. Little girls are cute and I", she said standing up and pointing at herself, "am not a little girl". Her façade wavered for a moment when she saw the confusion on Remus' eyes. She smiled a moment before regaining her composure and she went back to glaring. She turned to leave but his voice stopped her.
"Look, Kali I didn't mean it like that. I don't think you are a little girl, but I do think you are cute", he stood up and walked towards the entrance of the Gryffindor common room, "and so is your nose". She heard him say before the portrait of the Fat Lady opened and then closed behind Remus Lupin's back. She blushed a deep red and Adelaide, who had been forgotten by the couple, rolled her eyes once more, but this time smiling. Maybe her friend did have a chance with the quiet marauder after all. She would have to make some inquiries concerning the matter.
"Did you hear Adie? He called me cute. Cute! What am I going to do?".
"What are you talking about? I think that you should be happy. He finds you good-looking. Wasn't that what you wanted all along?", Adelaide asked annoyed. Kali was so confusing at times.
"Well yes. I wanted him to call me beautiful, or maybe attractive but not cute. Cute is for babies", Kali said overreacting.
"Oh Jesus. Really, get over yourself and be happy. You actually had a conversation with the boy you have fancied for two years. You should be jumping up and down and driving me crazy analyzing every little detail of the encounter. Not wallowing. You are too weird sometimes, really". Kali pondered her friend's words for a moment before nodding.
"You're right. He talked to me. He even smiled at me. Oh Adie… didn't you hear the way he talked to me about himself? Isn't he handsome?".
"That's more like it", Adelaide said smiling before getting back to her book. Nodding once in a while to pretend that she was in fact listening Kali going on and on about her life long crush.