Standard and at this point boring disclaimer: I am clearly not JKR. I've borrowed her characters for a bit of fun, well more than a bit, actually. Information in here is current with Half-Blood Prince and follows information in the Mugglnet & TLC interview with JKR. But there is still plenty to play with. Original characters are, obviously, mine. This story is not to be sold, passed off as your own, etc. Thank you.
Note: In Philosopher's Stone, Hagrid says that James was Head Boy, yet in OotP, it was Remus who was made prefect. I doubt that anyone in their right mind would make James Head Boy, so I have not. It was either Hagrid making James sound better to Harry, or Rowling's mistake. I cannot find, and others are having trouble finding, a direct quotation from JKR regards this. Please do not tell me JKR said it unless you have seen the quotation yourself and have a link to it, not a fandom theory or a good theory off HP Lexicon. I've done my homework on this one. :) Sirius NEVER said that James and Lily got together because they were Heads together. This is a fandom theory and is not in the books.
Exortum Bellum Propter Amor
By C.K. Talons
Chapter One: Lily Evans
Though a magical war raged outside these walls, life went on as if fighting was only an illusion. Hogwarts was safe. Secret and ancient charms and spells had been placed on the castle centuries ago. The greatest wizard of all time, Albus Dumbledore, was more like the sentry to the legendary castle rather than a headmaster. Many students cared little for the activities hundreds of miles away. No harm could befall them here, not now, not at Hogwarts.
Therefore the newest term dawned like many others. Schedules passed down the house tables, new hair cuts were discussed, taunted, and admired. Girls were puffing out their newly grown chests, and the young boys were looking not so inconspicuously at them. Already there were new romances budding and ending. Tears were flowing, laughter echoing, and lips smacking other lips.
And, just when routine had become too boring, an explosion ripped through the Great Hall. Not a violent explosion of fire and smoke, but an explosion of éclairs, custards, pies, and chocolates. The owls flew in with the post, but were dyed red and gold. All of the teacher's hats were replaced with fruit, the ghosts seemed momentarily pink, and two boys sitting at the Gryffindor table pretended to ignore it all.
The first, a tall, handsome young man with thick black hair and grey eyes, simply looked on the festivities through the sides of his eyes. He allowed himself a tiny smirk, then continued to not eat his porridge. He had before him a newspaper which he was pretending to read, and underneath it was a magazine displaying scantily clad witches sitting on broomsticks.
The second was also a tall youth, but lanky and a bit geeky. He was not trying ignore the goings on of the Great Hall. Occasionally he allowed his hazel eyes to scan along the table in hopes of catching Lily's enchanting gaze. He picked up a spoon, checked his messy hair (yep, still messy) then craned his neck in search of her. Lily was laughing as a rather gooey confection landed on her friend's face. James grinned.
"We're so good," he said as he deftly caught a chocolate éclair from the air.
Sirius looked up momentarily from his questionable magazine. Across the Hall a jam pastry fell on his brother's head. "So good," he agreed.
Remus Lupin sat himself opposite the two and smirked despite himself. "I appreciate that you two heeded my warning about maturity." Remus, though he did not appear as flashy as James or Sirius, held his own. He had sandy hair, light eyes, and a crooked grin.
"Maturity is over-rated," James said, looking down the table again. Lily had her back turned as she conversed with a friend.
Sirius snorted his agreement then pulled out the flap of the magazine and turned it to the side, his mouth dropping.
"Sirius," Remus said, closing his eyes as if praying for patience.
"Huh?" Sirius half-replied.
"Don't look at that here."
"Why not?"
"It's disgusting." Remus pulled a plate of toast toward him and spread jam on the slices. "Have some decency and try to use some discretion."
"Why?" Sirius asked, turning the page, his eyes bulging. "Wow," he mouthed, looking down at the page.
Remus shook his head and looked at James with a plea in his eyes.
James snatched the magazine away from Sirius and stuffed it in his bag.
"Thank you," Remus said.
Sirius turned the page of the paper as McGonagall, nostrils flaring and eyes burning, briskly marched toward them and flung her stack of schedules at James's face.
"Detention, Potter! Black!" she said. "Absolutely disgraceful! Red owls! Exploding snacks! And I found a group of third year Slytherins locked in a broom closet just five minutes ago!"
James took a bite out of his éclair then frowned. "Wait," he said, looking confused. "We didn't lock up any Slytherins."
"Yes we did," Sirius said lazily, examining the crossword.
"No," James said, scratching his head.
"Yeah. We did it just before breakfast. Or…" he paused as he looked up at McGonagall's enraged face. "No, James's is right. I locked up the Slytherins. James was still in the bathroom checking his hair. Sorry, Professor."
She seemed too angry to speak, but managed it. "Double detention, this Saturday, my office."
"Kay," Sirius said, then looked back down at the newspaper as she stormed off. "Hey, what's a six letter word for 'horse'?"
"Equine. I thought you weren't going to bully this year. Wasn't that your new years resolution?" Remus asked. He took a bite of his toast, then licked the excess jam off his fingers.
"It sounds vaguely familiar," Sirius said, writing in the small boxes of the crossword. "But my memory's shot. Besides, I'm not one for long term goals. I like to live for each day. All this planning nonsense irritates me."
James laughed then tried to hide it as a short, squat boy with frosting on his head, sat down next to Remus. He was not smiling or laughing.
"Decided to go chocolate covered, did you Petie?" James asked, sniggering.
"It's not funny."
"It is," James said, nodding and laughing at him.
"This is all your fault," Peter said.
"Guilty."
"How could you do this?"
"Habit."
"Why did you do it?" Peter asked.
"Forced to." But he suddenly broke off as he noticed, in his peripheral vision, Lily push away from the table and walk out of the Great Hall. James pushed away too, swung his bag over his shoulder, and followed her.
"Isn't it a bit early in the morning for humiliation?" Sirius taunted him as James left the Hall. James gave him the middle finger then rumpled his hair with his right hand.
Lily was walking down a corridor, all alone, her hair bouncing and shining. James rushed to catch up to her.
"Good Morning, Lily," He said cheerfully as he walked beside her.
She looked at him, looked away and said, "Hello."
Lily had a low voice, lower than most girls. But she did not sound like a male. Her deep voice was rather sexy, at least James thought so.
"Have a nice summer?" he asked, still smiling at her.
Lily nodded. "Mmm," she mumbled. She trotted up some stairs and continued to not look at him.
"Do anything special?" James asked.
Lily pulled her bag strap up her shoulder then shook her head as she said, "No."
"Yeah, me neither. Well, I had to help Sirius pack and move out, but that wasn't special."
Lily said nothing. James wasn't exactly sure where she was going this early in the morning, but he didn't give it too much thought. Eventually he'd find a subject she'd be interested in, and perhaps she'd open up.
"You're beautiful," James said, trying not to blush as he said it. Lily smirked and looked over at him. Her bangs were getting a bit long so that they fell into her eyes.
"I'm not going out with you," she said, still smirking.
"I haven't asked," James said. "But I can see it's on your mind," he replied grinning at her.
Lily sniggered to herself, pushed open a door and walked through it. James followed.
"I've always believed in being friends before dating. Don't you agree?" he asked.
"Sure," Lily said, still smirking for some reason. She walked around a tiled corner then disappeared into a toilet stall. She beamed at him as she closed the door.
Something wasn't right… James looked around the room. There were a few girls scattered by the mirror and sinks, all staring at him, ready to laugh. He'd walked into the girl's toilets.
"So, I'll wait for you outside then, Evans!" James said, trying to remain cool and collected. He waved to a few of the giggling girls then skipped back outside. Luckily only a few boys noticed James coming out of the girl's loo. They were kind enough to wait until they passed to laugh at him.
"Anyone could've made that mistake!" he called after them. They burst out laughing and rushed down the corridor. "Bastards," James mumbled.
Lily came out of the loos looking more than pleased. She couldn't stop smirking and James suspected she wasn't trying to stop. She continued to walk down her corridor as if nothing had happened.
"You think that was funny?" James asked, walking beside her again.
"Absolutely," she said with a laugh. "Best watch where you're going, eh Potter?" she said. James snorted then noticed he was on a collision coarse with a wall. He jumped out of the way and chased after Lily, who was running up another set of stairs.
"Where're you going, anyway?" he asked.
"I was asked to aid first period," she said.
"For who?" he asked. "Slow down, would you?"
"Flitwick. Don't you have class right now?" she asked.
"Nah," he said dismissively, though he still hadn't checked the schedule McGonagall had chucked at his face. He rummaged in his bag for it, a few things falling out of his bag and spilling on the floor, then pulled it out to check. Good. No class this hour.
"What's this?" Lily asked, bending down to pick up Sirius's magazine.
James looked to see then flushed red with embarrassment and anger. "That's not mine!"
Lily looked mildly amused. "Of course it isn't," she said, flipping through the pages as James tried to snatch it away from her. She held it above her head and smiled.
"It's Sirius's! Remus made me take it from him, I swear," James said, as Lily pulled open the flap to look at a black-haired witch in a leather bikini, sitting on a broomstick with a suggestive look on her face.
"She's rather pretty, don't you think Potter?" Lily asked as she closed the magazine and tossed it at him, still smiling.
"I don't look at rubbish like that," James said.
"No, of course not," Lily said.
"I'm telling you the truth!"
"Right, I'm so sure," Lily said. She was nearing Flitwick's classroom but seemed to slow down. "Time to go." She put her hand on the door knob and turned to face him. "Bye, now," she said.
"Lily, wait," he said, grabbing her wrist before she could escape. Lily looked down at his hand, then back at his face. James removed his hand.
"Maybe we could, you know… do something," he suggested.
"I don't think so, no," she said.
"You're not going to give me a chance?"
"Right. See you in Potions," and she disappeared into the classroom.
Remus would've told him not to follow. He'd say something about stalking her. Sirius would encourage him to go inside, then watch Lily humiliate him. Peter would shrug, looking between Remus's reason and Sirius's gung-ho response. James decided that Sirius made more sense—he followed Lily inside.
"Ah, Potter!" Flitwick squeaked, as he rummaged through a large pile of heavy books.
"Morning, Professor," he said, then walked over to Lily. She was setting books on the desks and trying to ignore James. "Listen, Evans," James said, "I'm a changed man."
"Umhm," Lily mumbled.
"I'm serious. I really want you to give me a chance. Let's be friendly."
Lily put the last book on the desk then looked up at him. "Okay," she said.
James did a double take. "Yes?"
"Sure. So be a good friend and bugger off." She turned to Flitwick. "I'll be in at the end of the week to help with papers."
"Thank you, Miss Evans," he said with a bubbly smile.
Lily strolled out of the room and proceeded outside.
"I was thinking more of doing something together. As friends."
"Pray continue," Lily drawled, trotting down the steps.
"I thought we could go to Hogsmeade together. Look around the shops, or have a drink. What do you think?" James asked.
Lily stopped suddenly and spun around to face him. "I'll think about it."
James smiled to himself and rumpled his hair. Lily frowned pensively then continued walking.
"Wait, this weekend isn't a Hogsmeade weekend. So I'll have to say no. I'm not up to breaking the rules and getting a detention the first week of school, unlike some of us," she said.
"You don't want a detention the first week? Okay, how about next weekend?"
"No," Lily said, smirking again. She tossed her hair and skipped down the stairs that lead to the grounds, James at her heals.
"Week after next?"
Lily smiled. "No."
"How about the permitted Hogsmeade weekend?" James asked.
"Do you never give up?" she asked. "I've turned you down for years, James. Get a clue."
"I know you have. But I like you," he said. "I fancy you, Lily Evans. You just never give me a chance, that's all. Maybe if you got to know me, you'd like me back."
Lily bit her lip as she walked towards her friends who were sitting underneath a tree. "I do know you, that's my problem."
James stopped walking and couldn't help but frown. Lily, noticing his absence, turned around to see him. The expression on her face was hard to read. She was still biting her lip, but there was a brightness to her eyes. "I've got to go. Bye," she said, then turned back around and left him standing there.
It was as if all the air deflated from his body, and he was on the ground, a flat, empty, shell of a man. He felt like chasing after her and shaking sense into her, trying to tell her how much she meant to him. The other part of him wanted to jump in the lake and drown so he'd never see her pretty face again. He compromised and walked to the lake and stared at the surface so he could see his reflection.
It's not like he planned on this. He didn't want to like her. He just did. He just liked her. He knew it wasn't logical and that it was really quite stupid, but he couldn't help it.
He looked over at Lily's gaggle of girls. She was sitting under the tree, her back to the trunk. Her friends were laughing and having a good time, but Lily seemed removed from them. She had a book open but she wasn't reading it. She seemed to notice him staring and looked up at him. James looked away and walked back to the castle.
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
"She really said that?" Remus asked as they made their way to Potions. "You're sure you're not hearing things?"
James grit his teeth. "Yes, I dreamt it up. How could I have been so stupid not to tell the difference from a dream and reality."
Remus sighed heavily but said nothing else. Peter decided to join the conversation. "Maybe you're too pushy."
"You know what, I'm done with her. Done. It's final. We're over," James said.
Remus, Sirius, and Peter all nodded in unison.
"Sounds like a great plan, Prongs," Sirius said. "Perfect. It'll definitely work this time around. Just quit her cold turkey."
James gave Sirius a scathing look. "Piss off," he growled and he walked ahead of them, not even turning around to see them when he reached the dungeon.
Remus sighed again. "Well…"
"This is really getting boring," Sirius said, as they searched for a table. James had deliberately picked a table that was being used by a few other students, but Sirius walked over anyway.
"Piss off," James said, taking out his ingredients for the day.
"No. Grow up and stop acting like a sullen brat," Sirius said to him. "Get over it, James. Now," he said, taking out his wand and magically moving all of James's things to another table, "get a grip on yourself and come sit with us. No arguing."
James opened his mouth, presumably to argue, when Slughorn followed his stomach into the room, wand in his hand. Lily came in behind him, looking distracted. James closed his mouth and changed tables.
Slughorn looked pleasant this morning and began telling the students what would be done that morning. As he spoke, he walked around the class, watching the students prepare. But James didn't feel up to mixing potions.
"You're worse than a girl," Sirius mumbled so only James could here. "Get a grip on yourself. Be a man."
"Piss off."
Slughorn stopped in front of their table. "So, without further bloviating, start your potions!" then he turned and walked to his desk.
"As I was saying," Sirius started as he pulled out his ingredients.
"Piss off," James said, again, with disdain.
"Get a new phrase for the day. Try something a little more friendly and chipper," Sirius said with a smirk. "Like, 'Mooney has wolf ears,' or 'Little Peter Wormytail, hopping down the wormy trail, hippity, hoppity…'" he trailed off as Lily came up to their table, avoiding their eyes.
"James, do you have--?"
"No," James said.
Lily looked as if she'd been expecting this. She clenched her fists but then stuffed them in her pockets. She blew the bangs out of her eyes and shook her head. "I'm sorry for what I said," she whispered, now looking at him. "Once it was out I realized—I feel horrible. I'm sorry. And…and I'll think about…I'll think about, um…" She puffed herself up and took a deep breath. "Here's the thing--"
"Could you speak up?" Sirius said. "It's just that we can't hear you from over here. Use your inside voice, Evans."
Lily raised her eyebrows. "Piss off, Black."
Sirius laughed and elbowed James. "Birds of a feather."
"What's that supposed to mean?" she hissed. "Is that one of your little inside jokes, like those stupid animal nicknames you lot uses? Padfoot? What, do you mark your territory by pissing on the furniture?" she asked.
James snorted as he tried to conceal his laugh. Sirius was smirking and Remus was determinedly looking at his cauldron. Peter was chuckling.
"James, I thought you said you'd keep that quiet," Sirius said, grinning.
Lily stole a smile then looked back to James. "What I was saying before being rudely interrupted by dog-boy and the motley crew, I was thinking about what you said."
"Which bit?" James asked, forgetting his bitterness and anguish of only minutes ago.
"Don't play stupid." She shot Sirius a nasty face as he was making kissing noises. "I'm helping Flitwick this weekend. And I heard you got a detention for this morning's activity. But I'm…I'm not busy…" she trailed off.
"I'm listening," James said, trying not to smile.
"Well, only as friends. If you wanted to, you know…" she whispered.
"Inside voices, Evans. We can't hear you," Sirius said again.
A wide grin spread over Lily's face as she said quite loudly, "Oh my goodness, Sirius, you had another wet dream?"
The classroom burst out laughing as they turned around to look at him. Sirius blushed and shot her a violent look.
"As I was saying," Lily said, looking composed as she turned to James again. "Hogsmeade, next weekend, as friends only. Don't get any ideas." She smirked and waved at Sirius as she walked back to her table.
James gleefully cut up his slugs into nice pieces and tossed them into the cauldron with delicate ease. "You know," James said, grinning, "it really is a lovely day."
"Beautiful," Sirius muttered. Girls were still shooting him suspicious looks all through class. "Absolutely gorgeous. It makes me sick."
"Now, now, Sirius," Remus said, "you deserved that for meddling. Don't be bitter just because she got the best of you."
But Sirius was still bitter even after class ended and people were still talking behind his back and whispering about him. "I'll get her back," he said, glaring at her as they made their way into Charms.
"You won't," James said, no trace of humor in his voice.
"There are other fish in the sea," Sirius said.
"She's brilliant," James said. "She's not a fish. And I'll kill you if you try anything with her. I swear it."
"Sure thing," Sirius replied and sat down next to him in the Charms classroom. "Look, though I love talking about the blossoming love life between you and the shrew, there are other things to discuss."
Remus pulled his book out of his bag and slammed it on his desk, not noticing he'd done it. He flipped through the pages and found the correct page and began reading before the teacher came inside.
"Yeah, I know. What's up with you, Moony?" James asked.
Remus looked over and shook his head. "Nothing. I'm just preoccupied. I have a lot on my mind…" and he waved his hand and continued reading, not talking to James or Sirius for the rest of the lesson.
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
Remus's strange behavior, though obvious, was ignored by James. He found himself practically bouncing down the halls, into the loos, up the stairs, and into the common room that evening. Lily Evans, the Lily Evans was going out with him to Hogsmeade next weekend. Why shouldn't he be happy? Technically speaking they weren't even allowed to go that weekend, but she was willing to break the rules to spend time with him alone. Just as friends, don't get any ideas. Of course not. Why would he have ideas? He was already trying to plan on what to wear and was trying to think of jokes to tell her. But he wasn't having ideas. It's not like he was strategizing how to hold her hand or how he'd get close enough to kiss her. Please. He was above such things ('Course, maybe she'd slip and he'd have to catch her before she fell…then she might kiss him swiftly in thanks…maybe. He hadn't really put much thought into it).
James threw himself into a chair and pulled out his Ancient Rune book for his homework. He tried reading it, but found his mind was too busy trying not to have ideas or thoughts about Lily and what she might wear that special day, or how she'd have her hair, what fragrance she'd spray herself with, or if she'd let him kiss her. So he put his book back in his bag and stared around the common room.
Remus was still acting rather weird. He sat in a corner with a table all to himself, his books spread over the entire surface. He looked incredibly busy for the first day back and was frowning as he wrote out his essay for Transfiguration. James already knew what he was going to write for the essay (it was his best subject), and told himself he'd do it on Sunday. But for now he'd have a chat with Moony.
"Nearly done, are you?" James asked as he sat across from him.
"Not quite. I have a few more paragraphs left and my conclusion. I'm rubbish at conclusions." He did not look at James but continued to scratch his quill across the faded parchment.
"You seem upset," James said. "Something bothering you?"
Now Remus looked up with an expression a two year old might wear when his mother caught him with a face full of chocolate. "Upset? No, why would I be?"
James shrugged. "That's why I asked. I'm not much of a mind-reader, you know."
Remus swallowed and looked as if he was considering telling James something, but changed his mind. His expression cleared and he smiled good naturedly and shook his head. "Nothing. There's nothing."
"You're sure? It's got nothing to do with your furry little problem? Is it something Sirius did? Shall I beat him for you?"
Remus gave his crooked grin and snickered. "No, it's nothing he did."
"I wouldn't mind slugging him for you, you know that?" James said. "I'm not sure what it is about him… He's probably never had a good punch, don't you think? I think it would do him good just to be punched once, dead in the face." James looked for Sirius. He was sitting in an armchair pretending to read a book, James suspected, but really gawking and half-naked women. Not far from him, a small group of fifth year girls were giggling and pointing at him. Sirius didn't notice.
"That's irritating. He's not even trying," James said.
"Like moths to a flame," Remus said, as he turned back to his essay.
"Aha," James said. "And that's probably why I want to punch him." A tall girl with long blonde hair had just gone up to Sirius to talk with him. Sirius flashed her a grin, hid his magazine, and picked up the conversation, even managed to make her laugh. "Bastard," James muttered.
He turned around to the table to perhaps join Remus in work, when Lily sat down next to Remus and pulled out her quill and parchment. "Don't mind, do you?" she said to Remus with a smile.
Remus looked at her, his mouth open a bit. He shook his head. "Not at all."
"Good. I promised myself I wouldn't procrastinate this year. I'm betting I'll do good this week but fall apart next week. I need the pressure. Why are you looking at me like that?"
Remus was still wide-eyed, but suddenly looked down at his essay. "Like what?"
"Do I have boogies crusted in my nostrils again?" Lily asked.
James smiled and laughed, and Remus hid his smile. "Well, Potter, do I?" she asked, looking to the ceiling so James could inspect her nose.
"You're all clear," James grinned.
"Excellent. Just the other day I was explaining something important to my neighbor, who I've never liked, and she kept giving me this funny look and sniffing. Finally I got home and realized I had a big fat green booger stuffed up my left nostril. How I didn't notice it, I don't know," she said, pulling out a book from her bag. "I think I've filled my quota for gross things to say today," she said as an afterthought.
"I was just thinking that," Remus said as he wrote rather quickly across his parchment.
"Were you? I have been a bit gross, then?"
"A bit," Remus said. "But it comes out funny."
"Right. Transfiguration," she said, flipping through the pages. "I'm so glad this is the last year. The teachers seem to hate us, piling on all this work on the first day."
James was beating his brain for something to say. Something really funny and witty. Make her laugh. She was sitting right there, with him and Remus, and so far he'd said all but three words to her. Say something you stupid moron!
"So Lily," James started, but froze. Ask her about her future. Ask her about how her classes are going. Ask her how she likes being Head Girl. Ask her something, idiot. Anything. Say anything. They're just words. Just say something. Words were not coming to him. He was hanging. He was hanging in the air, Lily looking at him, waiting for him to say something. And he still had nothing to say.
"Brain freeze?" Lily asked.
Luckily Sirius ended the conversation with the tall blonde girl and came over to have words with Lily.
"You think you're funny, do you?" Sirius asked her, sitting down next to James.
"I admit that, yes, I do think I'm funny," Lily said with a straight face and a nod. "It's all about timing and delivery."
Sirius frowned then sighed. "You watch yourself, Evans."
"See, you can be funny, too. It's all about delivery, Black. Only someone with a great sense of humor would threaten me. Next time, if you're smart, you'll mind your own business and keep your fat face out of my conversations."
"Maybe next time you can have your conversations privately," Sirius said. "I don't like being humiliated."
"No, I assumed as much," Lily said. "And next time you want to talk about your bedroom issues, I'll be sure to pull you aside for a quick word, rather than announcing it to the entire class."
Sirius turned scarlet. He leaned forward. "I was not talking about that. You…you, you brought it up to embarrass me."
"You just now figured that out, did you?" Lily asked, fiddling with her quill.
So now both Remus and Sirius had bantered with her, and James could think of nothing to say. He had never been so angry with himself. Why couldn't he talk to her? Why could he think of nothing interesting to say?
Lily had started writing her essay as Sirius continued his side of the argument. "It's on, now, Evans. I'll get you back."
Lily beamed as she looked up and mocked, "Oooooh, I quiver with fear!"
James laughed and Lily grinned at him. He blushed but grinned back.
"Oh, so you're siding with her now?" Sirius asked, but he was smirking. "I see where your loyalty lies in the end."
"Well you know me, Sirius. I like winners."
"She's not winning," Sirius said, pointing at her.
"Is to," James said. "She'd hex your ears off before you could think of something to do to her." James looked at Lily. "He's not too good with the Jelly Legs curse, you know. For future reference. He's really a horrible dancer."
"I'll take that under advisement," Lily whispered. "So Sirius, if you're dancing stupidly down the corridor, you'll know it was me who hexed you."
"Ha ha," he replied dryly. "I'd simply love to continue this, but I have other business."
"Wanking?" Lily asked.
James snorted laughter, as did Remus who wasn't bothering to hide it now.
"No," Sirius said, chuckling despite himself. "I have a date."
"Oh. Well then. Have a great time." Lily grinned and waved goodbye.
Sirius shook his head then socked James's shoulder, "I'll see you two losers later, then," he said, then marched out of the common room. Seconds later the tall blonde girl skipped out too.
"So you've also filled tomorrow's quota of gross things to say," James told Lily.
"It seems that way, doesn't it? Oh well. I must make a mental note to be a little more dignified in my speech. Have you decided not to do the essay, James?" she asked.
"Uh."
"Too good for it, are you?" she asked, smiling. "It's beneath you, eh?"
James then started the essay, occasionally exchanging looks with Lily.