Disclaimer: see previous chapter.

I decided to do a James version. Let me know if you want a James version of the other ones.

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James stared at himself in the mirror. That pesky tuft of hair was sticking up in the back again, and he hadn't even messed it up on purpose. He sighed and tried to make it lie flat, but doing it the old fashioned way was getting him nowhere. He honestly didn't know why he was bothering. It wasn't as if Lily would notice anyways. He grabbed his wand, performed a hair charm, and went downstairs to meet Lily for rounds.

When James reached the corridor outside the Heads' dorms, he was surprised to find that Lily wasn't waiting for him. He grinned as he thought about how fun it would be to tease her for being late, but quickly caught himself. That was dangerous territory.

He promised he'd stop. He didn't really have any legitimate reason to feel this way. No, he had no reason to feel the way he used to feel. Because he'd stopped.

James snorted out loud. He couldn't even make himself believe he stopped. Not even after the, ahem, conversation with Lily three months ago.

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God, James. It's always the same with you!

Like you've changed at all, Evans! I used to think it was me, but you've just always been this blind.

Don't turn this around on me, Potter! I'm not the one who—

Damnit Lily! I'm just tired! . . .

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He had lost his cool that night, and had regretted it ever since. Still, he wasn't lying when he told her he was tired. Trying to stop loving Lily was the hardest thing James had ever done, though. It was almost as painful as loving her. And lately, she had been acting a little weird.

Before James could further ponder the strange behavior of Lily, she emerged from the portrait hole, touched her hair with her hands, as if trying to fix something, and then turned to him.

They began the rounds. But James was feeling a little uncomfortable because Lily kept glancing at him, giving him the oddest little looks. Mortified, he briefly wondered if hair was sticking up again, until he noticed Lily's hair.

Biting back a smile at the irony of it and at how cute it was, unruly knot and all, he looked ahead again. He reminded himself that he did not, in fact, find her attractive anymore. They walked in silence.

After some time, James felt a little guilty about inwardly laughing at her hair. He felt he should at least let her know about it if he was going to enjoy it. It took James ten minutes to work up the nerve to open his mouth. After all, he had barely said a word to her in the last three months, and as great as she looked when she was angry, he didn't want to set her off. She had been provoking him all week, and he wasn't going to fall victim to her games.

So when he finally thought of what to say, he was disappointed when his first word was drowned out by the clanging of a suit of armor. Immediately, Lily drew her wand and berated both Sirius and some Ravenclaw as James watched.

Merlin, that girl was going to kill him. All Sirius was doing was minding his own business with his own girl, and Lily's temper had flared gloriously. He couldn't imagine what was in store for him. Still, he was going to try. He missed talking to her.

"Evans? I mean, Lily?" he ventured.

"What is it, Potter?" Lily snapped, right on cue.

He looked down. It wasn't worth it. Nothing was worth another fight.

"Nothing." He sighed bitterly at the thought of what she had done to him and walked briskly past her. Three months ago, James would have openly mocked the disheveled state in which he had caught Lily. But backing down stopped feeling strange after the first few times.

Lily caught up to him around the corner. He took a glance at her and prepared to continue walking until he heard her speak.

"James? . . . um. Did you want to say something?"

He stopped in his tracks. Her voice was so close to a whisper, and her face had lost all trace of irritation. Well this was new. He stared at her . . . hard . . . trying to figure out what had just happened until he realized she was waiting for an answer.

"yeah," he replied almost as quietly as she had spoken. Only he couldn't remember what it was he wanted to say. His eyes roamed her face as he thought, distractedly, of what to tell her. The lump of hair caught his line of vision and James suddenly remembered.

" . . . yes. um, you . . . you look—I mean, your hair—I, uh. . ."

Oh Merlin, he couldn't do it. Lily was standing there, waiting as if he was going to say something grave, or of great importance. She was even holding her breath.

He shook his head and said "never mind," preparing, once again, to continue their way down the hallway.

"Tell me, James," he heard her whisper in a voice that was just so new to him that he couldn't help himself. She looked so fresh with all of her hair out of her face. He just had to have an excuse to touch her.

Cautiously, for fear of Lily's wrath, he reached his hand to her head and touched the bit of hair that was sticking out. It was ironic, really. He was just about to tell Lily this, until he registered how close they were and took a step back, taking his hand with him.

She looked a little confused at his move. He explained in a rushed voice about her lumpy hair so that she wouldn't get mad at him for touching her.

"Well, you see, you had a lump of hair on the back of head and the elastic looked a bit funny because it was sticking straight up out of it, so I just thought that I should, um, you know…"

Okay, so that's what he meant to say. It wasn't his fault that it came out as a low mumble.

Completely unprepared for her reaction, James watched bewildered as Lily let out a single sob. Without a second thought, he took her up in his arms. So what if she would likely yell at him for holding her. It would be worth it, he finally decided. Especially because she was sad. However, James couldn't help but wonder about her odd behavior all night and even all month.

So when he felt Lily try to pull away, he held her by the shoulders and took a good look at her face to determine the cause of her change in attitude. He saw her tears and leaned a little closer to wipe them away.

When she closed her eyes, he closed his own and he reveled in the moment. Even though Lily was wonderfully fiery when furious, she was just as beautiful when she was looking a bit forlorn.

Eyes stilled closed, he leaned in all the way to kiss her cheek.

It wasn't enough.

He leaned in to kiss her other cheek, mildly registering that his resolve to stop was already crumbling.

To James surprise, though, instead of her other cheek, he felt her lips. He stilled, but didn't dare to move for fear that this was the only time he'd get to feel this way. He was even more surprised to feel her lips move a little against his.

James' resolve broke completely as he grabbed a hold of Lily's waist and kissed her more thoroughly again, and again, and again on her neck. When Lily clung to his shoulders, returning his kisses, he dove a hand into her already messy hair and finally acknowledged the fact that it had never been in his power to stop loving Lily Evans.