Lily

Lily roughly dried her hair with a towel as she exited the bathroom. It was still before curfew, but Marlene and Alice were both in the dormitory as well. The two sat on their respective beds, chatting over some article they'd read in a magazine. Lily dropped onto her bed, brushing her damp hair from her face as she stared at the ceiling. With an annoyed huff, she grabbed a book and began to read. Lily had been in a sour mood all day. Potter had spent their entire prefect meeting trying to interrupt and undermine her. Then, at dinner, she'd received a letter from her mum who tried to explain as delicately as possible that Petunia didn't want her at the wedding.

Overall, it had been a rubbish day.

She just couldn't focus. Potter was so infuriating. Everything he did drove her mental, from his stupid hair to his stupid grin and-

Lily slammed her book shut and tossed it on the floor. She got to her feet and began to pace. Marlene looked over at her quizzically before copping her expression. Marlene shifted slightly, so that she was facing Lily and providing her undivided attention.

"What is his problem?!" Lily exclaimed. Alice jumped, surprised by the outburst. "Why does he insist on ruining my life?"

"Who?" Alice asked.

"Potter!" Lily whipped her hair over her shoulder. "Why is he even Head Boy? It doesn't make any sense at all. He did nothing to earn it."

"Well," Alice said thoughtfully. "He gets good marks."

"He wasn't even a prefect! Head Boy and Girl are always prefects first! I checked."

"He's quidditch captain."

"How does that possibly qualify him to be Head Boy?!" Lily shook her head. "And don't even get me started on his stupid hair!"

"What about it?" Marlene asked innocently.

"Why is he always messing with it? Has he never used a comb before? God, it's like Potter thinks his hair looks good like that-always messing with when he flirts with every girl he sees."

"Why do you care?"

"I don't!"

Marlene chucked, "Right…"

"I just don't get it. He's always annoying me and asking me out."

"It's almost as if he likes you."

"Please! I know he's just trying to make me look like a fool." Lily felt her face flushing...but that was only out of anger.

"Lily, you've got to relax." Marlene said, leaning back casually. "I really don't think he is trying to make you look like a 'fool.'"

"Why don't you just give him a chance? I mean, honestly, what've you got to lose at this point?" Alice said nonchalantly, flipping a page in her magazine. Both Marlene and Lily looked at her, staring until she looked back at them.

"Are you having a laugh?"

"No," Alice said. "Potter seems to actually really like you."

"What-"

"I mean, why would any sane teenage boy continually ask out someone who has been rejecting him for two years straight?" Alice shrugged. "That's got to count for something."

"He's doing it for a laugh!" Lily exclaimed.

"Lil, Potter is a nice guy...underneath it all. You ought to give him a chance."

"How do you know?"

"Well Frank gets on well with Potter and his mates. He's a good judge of character." Alice shrugged.

"Yeah, but Alice, just because Frank thinks they're a laugh doesn't mean they aren't a bunch of maggots." Marlene laughed.

"You dated one of those maggots." Alice pointed out, "Several times, in fact."

"I'm going for a walk," Lily said as she put on her slippers and slipped her wand into her robe pocket.

The other two girls continued talking as Lily left, heading for the common room. Since there was still some time until curfew, the common room wasn't packed but there were several groups of people hanging out. Lily snuck through the portrait hole as discreetly as possible. Once out in the corridor, Lily headed to a quiet spot she'd found. It was a blank stretch of wall on the seventh floor. It was one of the few places in the entire castle not entirely covered in portraits and because of this, it was quiet.

Lily sat down opposite the bare wall, stretching out her legs. The stone floor was cool through her pajamas.

She needed time to think in general, but there were many things that demanded her attention. There was Petunia and school work and Head Girl duties and Potter...but at this moment she let her mind wander. Unfortunately it wandered in a direction she had little interest in exploring- Severus.

She knew he watched her. She'd caught him staring too many times to count. She knew all he wanted was to apologize and be her friend again, but she had been down that road before. She spent so long ignoring the truth about a lot of things, but especially about how Severus saw people like her.

Mudbloods.

Part of her blamed Potter for how their friendship ended. If only he hadn't picked on Severus, if he hadn't asked her out, if he had just...not been there. Maybe, they would still be friends. Maybe not. Severus made his choices and Lily made hers. She wanted to believe that he was good, that he was that same little boy who told her she was special.

Lily sniffed and wiped her face. She hadn't even realized she was crying. She got back on her feet and headed for the common room. It was a lot busier now then it had been when she left, but there was an open chair near the fireplace. She sat down and watched the flames. Her mind now shifted to Petunia, as it often did after thinking of Severus. As pointless as it was to blame the end of her friendship with Severus on Potter, she found herself thinking of how Severus had played a large part in the end of her relationship with her sister. They had been so close as children but Petunia couldn't forgive her for being different. Sometimes, Lily couldn't either.

"Evans, just the lady I wanted to talk too!" Potter's voice broke Lily's haze. She blinked and turned to look at him, suppressing the urge to roll her eyes. As soon as they made eye contact his hand jumped to his hair.

"What do you want Potter?"

He smiled widely, not paying attention to her please-leave-me-alone tone. He sat down on the arm of the sofa nearest to her.

"I've been thinking-"

"That must be new for you."

"-that we should get together."

Lily raised her eyebrows. He was still grinning, but after a moment his brain seemed to catch up. "Oh! Not like a date, Godric no-not that I would love to-I just meant, since we both Head Boy and Girl we ought to work some things out."

Lily hadn't been expecting that. "Work what things out?"

"I wanna pull my weight." He shrugged, "I've got the job, might as well do it."

"Are you serious?"

"No, I'm-"

"Don't say it!"

"-James! That never gets old."

"Yes it does," Lily could help but laugh at him.

"Nah," He waved a hand dismissively. "So, what do you say?"

"You really want to help?"

"Beats the alternative."

"Alright,"Lily said after a moment. He looked at her quickly with wide eyes, clearly not having expected her to go for it.

"Really? Cool, cool, cool." He ruffled his hair.

"We can meet at lunch tomorrow. " She got up and headed for the girls' dormitories.

"Yes!" He jumped to his feet as well. She shot him a look before going up the stairs. Once she was out of his view she smiled to herself, her face warm.