It was late. Or rather, extremely early. The clock read 1:27 AM. But still he sat, fully dressed, thinking... about the dance with Lily. The pranks to pull. The idiot in his mind that couldn't go to sleep. James Potter ran a hand through his already-unruly hair. This was habit of his, to make it look wind blown, and as if he had just gotten off the Quidditch field. Just as he was drifting off to sleep, the clock rang, and he bolted out of bed, fumbling with the buttons on top. The alarm kept on ringing, rousing almost all of the other boys in the dormitory. Grouchy complaints were uttered, and loud curses were shouted across the room.
"What the bloody--"
"Turn it off!"
"Bloody Hell, Potter--"
James found the 'off' switch, as soon as all of the other boys had been woken. "James, I suggest you toss it out the window if you don't have any idea how to work it." Remus suggested, groggily. "But then again... with some bad luck, you'll hit someone and knock them out--"
Sirius agreed. "Prongs, do what Moony says. That bloody thing's been ringing for about an hour, now..." Peter had awaken at last. "Well, I suggest you crack it in half, and toss it down the toilet, so nobody finds it." he suggested, grumpy that he'd lost sleep over James stupidity. They all fell back to sleep soon enough, and the clock was forgotten. James slept the least, a mere three hours. His thoughts were clouded, once again, with thoughts about that gorgeous Lily Evans.
---
The clock rang again at 10:30 AM that same morning, and James' fist came crashing down onto the 'off' button. "Bloody clock." he grumbled, his voice muffled by the pillow. A hand found his blanket, and threw it off. Remus was watching him. "James, if you're going to stay up that late into the night, you might try to wake up on time." he said, softly. James lifted his head groggily from the pillow. "You don't even sleep when you're studying for a test, so--" he began. Remus frowned "I'm used to it. And I wake up on time." he replied, helping James out of bed. The other Marauders were already out of bed and fully clothed. James groaned, defeated, and stood up, only to fall back onto his bed. "A few more minutes?" he bargained. Remus raised an eyebrow. "Sure... I guess..." James closed his eyes, and was begging to fall asleep, when-- In due time, a hand shook James awake. James groaned, and got dressed, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.
Lily was already awake. She awoke around roughly the same time as Remus did: 8 AM. The Muggle-born closed the book she had been reading and walked out of the dormitory, making her way towards the Great Hall for breakfast. James, meanwhile, was tormenting Severus Snape, who had unluckily stumbled upon the four Marauders. James's wand was out, in his hand, and pointed at Snivelly what James and Sirius called Snape. A crowd had gathered, and the halls rang with peals of laughter. Snape was twirling in the air, his robes and cloak billowing in an embarassing manner, his underwear occasionally showing. His own wand lay on the floor a few feet away. Cursing, Lily strode up to James. "Put him down." she insisted. James turned. "Hullo, Lily," he said. "Tell me why I should, and I might."
"What has he ever done to you?" James grinned. "Well, it's more of the fact that he exists, if you know what I mean..." Lily groaned. "Put him down, now." James raised an eyebrow. "Go out with me, and maybe I will." he grinned. Lily shook her head. "I'm already going to the ball with you," she pointed out. "That should be enough." James sighed. "Alright, Evans." he replied, jerking his wand away, and letting Snape fall to the ground with a crash. "Have it your way."
---
Right then, as Snape stood up and shot the Marauders a dirty look, a boy sauntered up to Lily. "Hello," he said pleasantly to Lily, flashing an attractive smile. He was an older Half-Blood wizard in their Year, with dirty blond hair that fell in an irresistable way over the right side of his face. His left eye was unmasked. "Lily... doll. Are you going to the dan--"
"Matt--"
Lily began, quietly.
-"Yes, she is." James interjected
protectively, and Matthew finally spared him a glance.
--"Well,
you don't have to be so rude about it, Potter." Matthew Owens
frowned. He turned to Lily. "All right, chickie, but if you ever
want to d--"
-"She won't." James interjected again,
"Because she's going with me."
Matthew laughed. "All the more reason to want to go with me." he grinned, tipping the feathered cap that he liked to wear on occasion. "Later, then," he said, and bowed his way out.