VIII.

Lily

Lily hovered anxiously outside the Great Hall. She could see Potter and his mates laughing, eating sandwiches. She could also see her friends sitting a little bit down from the guys. She hadn't told them she was going to be sitting with Potter. Part of her hoped he had forgotten their meeting, but just then he caught sight of her and waved excitedly. Lily took a deep breath and walked into the Hall. She stopped when she reached them, nodding politely at his friends.

"Evans!" Potter smiled widely. A few people glanced over at him, no doubt wondering if this would be the beginning of a fight. She caught Marlene's eye, but just sighed.

"Potter...Lupin, Black. Where's Pettigrew?"

"He just took off- had to meet with Sprout about an essay of something." Black shrugged, not really looking at her.

"We'd better be off as well." Lupin said suddenly, hauling Black to his feet. Black made a noise of protest but otherwise complied. "See you later Prongs."

Lily watched after them before finally taking a seat across from Potter. The plate in front of her was suddenly spotless, ready for her to fill. She grabbed a turkey sandwich and cautiously took a bite.

"So," she said, glancing up at him.

"So."

Lily studied him for a moment. He was in his uniform, though the sleeves were rolled up and his tie was loose. He wasn't wearing his black robe. His hair was stuck up at all angles as always, perpetually messy. Lily had no idea if it was naturally that way or not, but it hardly mattered considering how often he rumpled it up. She spotted a quidditch book stick out of the bag beside him, several pages earmarked.

"You can help make the prefect schedule." Lily said. "And, it would be good if you reminded them they have to fill out two slips when they give out detentions. One for the individual and one for us."

"I can do that."

"Okay," Lily nodded. "I'm going to send out a note to all the prefects as well, with a schedule of our meetings for the rest of term. They've already got their round assignments for the next few weeks so we can wait until then to give out new schedules."

She watched as he took out a quill and a crumpled scrap of parchment. Potter wrote a few notes in his messy script. "Is that all?"

"Well," she picked at the crust of her sandwich. "Right now our patrols are scheduled separately. We could...do them together."

His mouth dropped open slightly.

"Is that alright with you? Potter?"

"What? Yes! Yes, of course! Patrols together!"

Lily rolled her eyes, before letting her gaze wander back to the book in his bag. "How's the quidditch team?"

Potter's face lit up like Christmas. "Do you like quidditch?"

She shrugged in a noncommittal way rather than responding.

"I think we've got a strong team this year. We lost some good players, but you should see the new line up."

"Yeah?"

"Definitely. You know Meadowes' brother? He tried out and I've got to say he is the fiercest second year I've ever met. Honestly, the kid is wicked with a bludger." Potter took a breath, about to go on, but he hesitated. "I'm sure you don't want to hear about that though."

"Oh…" Lily blinked in surprise. She was definitely a quidditch fan. She wished she was better at flying, but she never could quite get the hang of it. On some level she knew that Severus had bad mouthed Potter so often because he was worried she wouldn't be able to ignore how skilled he was on the quidditch pitch, but honestly, there was more to liking someone than how well they threw a quaffle. "Right, well...it's almost time for Charms."

"Right, right!" His legs were bouncing.

"Are you alright?"

"Why'd you ask?"

"You seem incapable of sitting still."

He laughed loudly, "it's all the pent up energy of trying to stop myself from irritating you."

"I thought you enjoyed irritating me." Lily rested her chin on her hand. She couldn't help the way her stomach flipped when he leaned in slightly, his eyes twinkling.

"Only sometimes." He said, his voice just slightly deeper.

"Well lucky for you, you're very good at it." She leaned back and got to her feet. She shouldered her bag and looked at him expectantly. "Well? Are you coming or not?"

Potter jumped up eagerly and jogged over to her. He ruffled his hair again. "Who would've ever thought I'd be walking Lily Evan to class."

"Certainly not me." Lily said. "And you're not walking me to class, you're walking with me."

"What, this isn't your fantasy come true?" He smiled at her warmly.

She pursed her lips. "Don't push your luck Potter."

"Aye, Aye, Captain." He saluted her and began to march.

"Would you knock it off?" She asked, exasperated, but even then she couldn't keep the humor from her voice. He was just acting so...silly. "Just because I'm Head Girl doesn't mean I won't hex you for being a prat."

"Oh, I'm sure."

They arrived outside the Charms room and Lily became distinctly aware of the surprised looks she was getting. She ducked her head and quickly joined her friends.

"Was that Potter you were just with?" Dorcas asked incredulously.

"We were dealing with some prefect issues." Lily shrugged, feeling very shy about the whole thing. Now that she was distanced from him, she was positive she had been flirting with James Potter. "Honestly, I think I'm losing it.

"Why, because you had a civil conversation with him?" Mary MacDonald chuckled.

"Probably because she liked it." Dorcas said, her eyes widening instantly. "Good Godric, you did!"

Lily's face flushed. "No-"

"Oh my God!" Mary exclaimed, letting out a giggle. Before Lil could deny it, Marlene and Alice rounded the corner and joined their fellow Gryffindors, oblivious to their discussion.

"Honestly Alice, it's really not that big a deal." Marlene was saying. She turned to get confirmation from the others when she paused, her brow furrowing.

"What's going on?" Alice asked, looking between the three girls.

"Nothing-"

"Lily likes Potter!" Mary interrupted quickly.

"That is not what happened!" Lily exclaimed, her face only growing more read.

"I mean, I know I told you to give him a shot, but that was only last night!" Alice laughed, her bright eyes alight with joy.

"No-that's not-honestly we were just talking about rounds!" Lily covered her face with her hands.

"Alright, alright. Leave Lily alone," Marlene said, though she was smiling. "Her feelings are all very new to her." The rest of the girls laughed, clearly enjoying Lily's suffering.

Still smiling, Dorcas took pity on her and changed the subject. "What were you and Marlene talking about when you came over?

"Oh, we don't really need to get into that." Alice's cheeks were tinged with pink. Part of Lily wanted to help her out, but having just been thoroughly embarrassed, she was relieved not to be the center of attention.

"Our lovely, delicate, little Alice here is thinking about finally losing her virginity." Marlene said, grinning wickedly.

"What, really?" Mary asked, her blue eyes wider than before.

"Well," Alice tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Frank and I have been together for a while now."

"About a year right?"

Alice nodded. "I love him and since I'm going to see him on the Hogsmeade trip in October…"

"Do you want to...ya know?" Mary raised her eyebrows suggestively.

Alice's cheeks grew significantly more pink and her voice was soft, "yes."

"Like I said," Marlene leaned against the wall, shaking her hair back. "It's no big deal."

"It can be." Lily said. "If you want it to be."

"Well, I want it to be special." Alice said.

"It wasn't a big deal for me." Marlene said nonchalantly. "Well, it was big, if ya know what I mean.

Lily felt her mouth drop and heard her friend laughing. "Marlene!"

Marlene just shrugged her shoulders with a small grin. Before they could say anymore, Professor Flitwick opened the doors and class began.