A/N: Hello! Sorry for the bit of the wait. First off, I added a few things in the very beginning of chapter 1 that I forgot to put in for some idiotic reason. So if you want to go back and reread the first page or so, go right ahead. If not, here's the gist in short: James's dad is an auror, his mum's a healer. His dad got hurt on the job over the summer and his mum was only able to stay at home to help for a bit, so James spent majority of his summer helping his Dad get better, which helped him mature and kind of gave him a huge wake up call. So whatever maturing started in 6th year had really kicked in after everything over the summer before 7th year.
Secondly, I really hope you guys like this chapter. If you're reading it, thank you very much. It means a lot. This one's in James's POV.
And Last but not least, IF YOU GAVE ME A REVIEW I WOULD LOVE YOU UNTIL THE LAST STAR IN THE SKY BURNT OUT. :') But no pressure. ENJOY! :D
(JAMES'S P.O.V.)
Optimism. It's complex.
People say, "look at the glass half full." Okay, so let's do that. The glass half full. Well, what's it filled with? Looks, obviously. Smarts? I guess. Humor? Not even a question. Charm? Suaveness? Yep. Good heart? Sure. But if the glass is a metaphor for life then that means my life is only half full. Which also means it's half empty. Sometimes, it's impossible to avoid the inevitability of pessimism. Especially when you've been pining after a bird for so long who won't even look at you twice.
Like I said, it's complicated.
The first 2 weeks of school have been all right, I suppose. Nothing special or out of the norm, except I've really only pulled one prank with the mates and they took the blame for me. So I've been on my best behavior.
And the full moon was last week. Sirius and I only got a few scratches from that one, and Remus remembered to take his potion, and Peter did not get lost this time. So all in all it was a success.
I've already had rounds twice with Lily. They're actually not too horrible. They're actually great for me, because Lily and I actually get time to talk. We just sit or stand around spots in the castle and try to catch people being stupid. It's fairly easy, especially since I bring the map.
"You're going to use that thing?" she asked on our first time doing rounds together.
"This thing is pure genius, Lily Evans, and instead of having to look at every corner and pace up and down like we're insane we can just look at the map."
"But let's say it doesn't show everybody. There must be-"
"Lily," I said. "The map shows everybody. The map never lies. It's always right and shows everyone and everything all the time everywhere at every second of every day."
"That was a heap full of 'every's."
"Well, except if they're in the Room of Requirement. Then they disappear off the map."
"Ah, a flaw in your genius, I see," she laughed.
"Superman's one and only downfall," I replied.
She grinned. "Well, it's not necessarily a downfall, just a minor imperfection."
She was too cute. And as much as I wanted to keep the playful banter going, I wanted to impress her more with the map again.
"So, let me show you how accurate this thing is."
"Let's see, then," she said smugly, walking over to me. She stood extremely close and our bodies were practically touching.
"Well," I started. "See there," I pointed to the Astronomy tower. "Your mate Delia and her boyfriend Michael Nodan are practically on top of each other. Let's hope they don't get too rough and fall off."
"Guess they're back together then," she sighed.
"When did they break things off?"
"Yesterday."
"Yesterday?"
She chuckled. "It's an ongoing thing with them," and then she looked back down at the map. "Oh my God," she said, and pointed to a broom shed on the fourth floor. I looked at it and saw her other best mate's name, June, and Noel Johnson's name, also practically on top of each other. "Finally!" she exclaimed.
"They're together?" I asked.
"I guess so. Thank Merlin. Poor Noel has been practically begging her for this for months."
Oh yeah. Poor Noel. What a shame. Months. Try years, mate. Try three bloody years of failure.
"For someone who's so keen on following rules, your mates have a knack of breaking them," I said.
She shrugged. "It's a Gryffindor thing, I suppose."
I smiled. "Yeah, look, there's Sirius snogging Carly Manning in the 7th floor corridors."
She rolled her eyes. "Our friends are so classy," she laughed.
"I'm not ratting out Sirius," I said.
"I'm not ratting out June or Delia."
I gasped. "Miss always-follow-the-rules is going to let one, well, actually, six slide?"
She made a face and then chuckled. "Looks like Wonder Woman and Superman are both suffering from a downfall."
So Lily and I have been on pretty good terms. And she's still all I ever bloody think about.
The work has been kind of annoying. All the teachers yapping on about N.E.W.T.s. I mean, I get it. We took the O.W.L.s already, so we know about the pressure and all that. Yet, they don't shut up about it.
And to top it all off, today is Quidditch tryouts.
Now, Quidditch tryouts is probably one of the most stressful things for anyone to have to deal with, especially when you're captain. First of all, there are really only a few great players on each team. But that's the thing; you want everyone to be great. But that's impossible. Though I do happen to fall under the category of one of the best players Gryffindor has ever had the privilege to have, some others, well, aren't as fantastic as me, to put it nicely.
I mean, Sirius is a pretty good beater. Even if he weren't my best mate I'd still think so. June is actually pretty brilliant at being a chaser. She usually scores the second most amount of points, after me scoring the most of all, of course. Our third chaser is pretty untalented, in all honesty. His name is Henry Thorne, a fifth year who's been dating June's little sister, Emily, a fourth year, since last year, and treats her like crap. Needless to say, June and Henry don't get along.
Our Seeker joined the team last year. Her name's Briana Robbins, a fourth year who can fly faster than almost everyone, so she's a great advantage.
Our biggest problem were the seventh years on the team last year, the keeper and the other beater. The keeper played as if he were confounded all the time and the other Beater never showed up for practice and when ever we played he wasn't even paying attention. Still beating myself up over even letting them on the team. But, we did manage to win it last year, but it was pretty lucky.
"Hey, Prongs," said Sirius, walking over to me. "Look at this turnout," he said.
"Oh yeah. It's just great. People are lining up out the door!" I said sarcastically.
"Well, look at it this way. The less people, the less time we have to waste on this."
"It's not time wasted, Padfoot. It's valuable time being used to its full value."
"We're not gonna find anyone decent."
In attempt to try to be optimistic, though I knew deep down Sirius was probably right, I said, "You're wrong. This year's going to be the best. I can feel it."
"Oh, great Seer Potter, so superior to even our divination teacher that you are exempt from the class, tell me what you see," Sirius mocked.
I shoved him and chuckled and then we walked to where the people trying out were waiting. There were only around six people there. One girl, five blokes. The one girl was Carly Manning, who was staring at Sirius lovingly, but he was looking at the ground.
"If you're sitting here right now, you're either here to try out for Beater or Keeper. Beaters, stand near Sirius. Keepers, stand near me."
They all got up slowly (take your time I mean we have all day!) and walked over to either me or Sirius. It was split in half. Three for Keeper, three for Beater. Carly stood right next to Sirius as he avoided her gaze. Hm.
"Okay. Keeper tryouts are first. Everyone else sit down, I guess," I said tiredly. Here we go. "Bryant, you're up first."
Wes Bryant was the first to try out for keeper. He's a sixth year. He was...very slightly above average, I guess. He saved 4 out of 6, which is good. Dylan Davis was horrid. He only saved 2, and that was because the last one I went easy on him just out of pity. The first one he caught had to be just luck. Last was Ben Gamp, who saved 3.
I dismissed them though Wes stayed to watch the Beater tryouts. Sirius had to work with them during the tryouts. I don't know whether it was he worked best with Carly or she was just really bloody good. Anyway, she was surprisingly the best one.
I thanked them and told them they'll know by tomorrow morning. Carly left looking rather angry for some reason.
"Well, I think it's pretty obvious who we're putting on the team, eh?" Sirius said to me when they left.
"Yeah. Bryant and-"
"Terrance," Sirius said.
"Terrance?" I asked. "He was rubbish!"
"No he wasn't. He was way better than the other bloke."
"But Carly was the best out of all three of them."
Sirius rolled his eyes. "You said I get say in who's beater."
"I said you can help, which you did. But Carly was clearly the better-"
"No she wasn't-"
"Yes she was. Why are you so against her joining the team? You guys are still snogging, aren't you?"
Sirius rubbed his neck. "Er...well...yeah..."
"So what's the problem?"
"I just don't want her on the team."
"Why not? Afraid she'll outshine you?"
"Piss off," Sirius said.
"What in sodding hell is up your arse this morning, sunshine?"
"You, you git," Sirius said angrily.
Sheesh. Someone's testy. "Fine. But Carly's on the team, whether you like it or not."
"Fine," Sirius spat, and stomped away.
What's up with him? He's my best mate, but I really don't get him at all sometimes. And he's been acting all shady and moody all week, which quite honestly has been pissing me off and throwing off my good moods. I wasn't in the mood to psycho-analyze Sirius's prat like behavior, so instead I just spaced out as I headed back towards the castle. Our dorm room was empty when I got there, so I threw of my Quidditch gear, took a cold shower, and passed out on the bed. I must've been out for a while because I woke up right around sunset and Remus saying my name really loudly right in my face.
"Oi," I groaned and turned the other way. "Let me sleep."
"We have a meeting. Prefects and the Head Boy and Girl. In five minutes."
"I'm not going."
"Yes you are."
"Nope."
Remus sighed. "Lily will kill you if you don't."
"Then let her."
"She'll love you if you come."
"No she won't."
"I'll slip her Amortentia."
I turned back to him. He was joking, obviously, but it was still a tempting offer. "Fine. But I need to get dressed."
"You can wear whatever you want."
"Brilliant," I sighed, getting out of bed. I threw on a t-shirt and pajama pants.
"That's a dashing look for you, James," said Remus, chuckling.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," I said, and I let him lead the way to this meeting. It was in our Defense classroom. I went to stand next to Lily and not just because I wanted to but I sort of had to. You know, Head boy and Head girl. I'm supposed to be in charge with her, I think.
I walked over to her and she started laughing. "Pajamas? Really? It's not even six yet," she responded.
I shrugged. "It's comfortable. And it's Saturday. And I'm dead tired."
"Tired? From what?"
"Quidditch tryouts."
"Oi, how did those go?"
I shrugged again. "Not terribly. But I'd rather not talk about them."
Boy, am I daft. Lily's actually stirring a conversation with me and I'm telling her I don't want to talk. Merlin.
"Oh…okay," Lily said hesitantly. There was silence between us as we waited for the rest of the prefects to show up until she broke it. "Is something bothering you?" she asked.
"Just…Sirius. I don't know, he's acting kind of strange lately. And he won't tell me what's going on. But it's fine. He'll come around."
She gave me a small hopeful smile and said, "He will."
I knew the conversation couldn't continue 'cause everyone was waiting for us to start. Lily spoke most of the time. It was nothing important really. Just about rounds and reinforcement of the deducting points rule. The usual dose of blah. But when Lily was the one saying it I was able to pay a bit more attention.
When the meeting ended we all started to walk back to either our Common Rooms or the Great Hall or whatever. Lily was suddenly walking right next to me and she tapped me on the shoulder.
"Do you want to talk?"
Huh?
I didn't even have to say 'huh' out loud for her to know. "About Sirius."
Oh. I wasn't sure. I mean, I kind of did want to talk about it, but at the same time I haven't really been thinking much about it either. I've just not been thinking at all. I mean, he has been acting a bit strange lately. Something have had to happen with him and Carly that he's just not telling me about. I saw the differences between their faces at tryouts. And I know Sirius well enough to usually be able to decode all of his behavior. But I'm stumped.
"I mean, it's kind of hard to explain."
"So don't explain. Just speak. And we'll figure out how to explain it together," she smiled. God, she kills me.
"Fine. You know how Sirius is snogging Carly Manning?"
"I am aware, correct," she responded.
So I told her what happened at tryouts, and Sirius and I's conversation. And she answered, "Did he talk to her at all?"
"Very little. I think it was mostly her talking to him."
She nodded, and then said, "Give me a minute."
Okay? What does that even mean? But I gave her a minute. Not even. It was probably thirty seconds when she said, "Got it."
"Got what?"
"Either Sirius is uninterested in her now, or something happened and he's afraid of his feelings for her and that he'll end up hurting her."
What? "I don't understand?"
She laughed. "You said he barely even looked at her. Right?"
"I don't get where you're going with this Lily-"
"When is a bloke barely able to look at a girl?" she asked.
Hm. "When he's ashamed of something he did, I suppose?"
Lily nodded.
So…So Sirius did something he's ashamed of? Hm…Maybe a fight? Nah. Carly wouldn't have been so all love-dovey around him. Why was she that way around him anyway? Maybe…Maybe…
"Oh, bloody hell," I said as I figured it out.
Lily snickered. "Exactly," she smiled. "Just talk to him about it. Try to get it out of him without being too pushy. We both know Sirius can't keep things to himself for too long."
"You're amazing," I blurted out.
She actually blushed, and then she said, "Well, you're always giving me advice. I thought it was my turn to give some to you."
Impulsively, I wrapped my arms around her. After a few seconds, she hugged me back, which made everything a lot better. I let go, and saw she looked kind of embarrassed. Shit. But mates can hug, right? "Sorry," I mumbled.
"S'all right," she said and smiled.
We got to the Common Room and June and Delia were there, waiting for Lily, I supposed. June looked at me and said, "How were tryouts?"
"They were okay. You know Wes Bryant?"
"The sixth year? Blonde, pretty tall?" June asked.
"That's the one. He's our new keeper."
"Is he any good?"
"Eh, he isn't bad. Could use a bit work, but not bad." I noticed Lily walking out of the Common Room to her dormitory. Delia watched her leave but didn't say anything. I was about to say something when Delia intervened.
"What's going on with you two?" she asked.
What? With…with me and Lily? "Nothing…" I responded. I mean, it was true. Right?
"Oh, cut the rubbish," June said. "Something's up."
"Nothing's up!"
"Look, Potter," June said. "We know you've fancied her for all eternity-"
"And she hasn't exactly shown the same affection back towards you," Delia said.
"But you guys have been acting…strange around each other. What's the deal?"
What are they even talking about? Has she been talking about me or something? Bloody hell. Does she possibly fancy me now? What are they getting at? Maybe it's because we've been talking more? But I mean, that kind of started in the middle of last year.
"I really don't know what you two are talking about," I said.
June and Delia both glared at me.
"Did you not see her face when you two walked in here?" said June.
"Are you two snogging?" asked Delia.
"No-"
"Shagging?" she continued.
"No!"
"Then what?" June asked.
"Nothing," I stressed.
"We don't buy it," Delia said.
Merlin! What is it with birds being so goddamn nosey?
I sighed. "Look. First off, you two are rubbish detectives. Anyway, nothing is going on between me and Lily-"
"Do you still fancy her?" June inquired.
Obviously. Why were they making me do this? "Yes," I answered honestly. "But there's no way she feels the same way. We…we're just mates. I can't force Lily to fancy me. I've tried for long enough."
Delia shook her head. "Boys," she sighed.
"Listen, James," started June. "Delia and I aren't completely mental, despite what you may think. We know Lily, and…just give her a little more time. She'll come around. Don't just give up."
Yeah sodding right, she'll come around. Why would she? She won't. Forget optimism. There's a difference between being optimistic and realistic. And I wanted this conversation to end. As much as I think about Lily and being with her and all that, I hated talking about it. It made me realize how it'll probably never happen.
"Whatever," I sighed, and started walking away.
"The letters," Delia called out. "She reads them a lot."
What. "My letters?"
Delia nodded. "From the summer. She reads them like, all the time."
"And she doesn't think we notice," June almost laughed.
"But…but she barely answered any of them," I said.
"Well, she sure likes reading them," said June. "What do they say?"
"They really don't say much. It's just me, talking about the summer, stuff going on in the news…Yadda yadda. Nothing that interesting."
"She finds them interesting, apparently," said Delia.
What does she find interesting about my letters? More importantly, what in Merlin's name is she doing reading them now? It's September! Did she even read them over the summer? Why didn't she write back?
I shrugged. I didn't really know what to say, so I just said, "thanks," and left.
I got into the dorm and only Pete was there, but he was doing an essay. I took out one of Lily's letters from the summer.
James,
I am so, so, SO sorry I haven't responded. I've been reading your letters, I swear. I've just been extremely busy with my family. We went on a trip to the States. New York. It was quite fascinating, really. It was a nice escape from all the mental rubbish going on here at home. We spent an entire day in Times Square. You know what that is, don't you? Anyway, it was really brilliant. We saw a show and sat in parks and even went to see the Statue of Liberty! It's all so fascinating for me. When I went to Muggle school growing up I always really loved learning about the States. But I don't even like history, I just find the landmarks incredibly beautiful. I don't even like History of Magic, even though I do fine in it. My favorite subject in school was always English. I loved reading the books and talking about them. I was always on a higher level than the other children. My teacher the year before I came to Hogwarts would always give me books to read. You've probably never heard of them, anyway.
Anyways, I'm rambling. The Prophet keeps giving me heart attacks. Every time I pick it up I feel like I'm going to pass out. What if one day it's someone I know? One of our friends? You probably know a few of the people, don't you? With your dad being an Auror and all?
Before I say anything I might regret, I just want to say that something you must know about me is that I want to fight. No matter how fragile all of this makes me. Even if it tears me up inside and breaks me completely. I want to fight and help the people who can't fend for themselves. I want to join the Order next year, after school. I can do it. And so can you. And your whole lot.
Now, to the things I might regret….I really appreciate your concern. It's endearing, really. But like I said, I can take care of myself. I'll be fine. I try to stay aware of everything. Even though I'm in the Muggle world.
But I don't really know what's more frightening. Being sheltered from everything, or being exposed to it. You know?
Anyway, I'm glad to hear you're having a good summer. Has anything changed since your last letter? How are you? And your parents? Sirius? Tell him I say hello, by the way.
Stay safe as well, James. I need someone to fight alongside after Hogwarts.
With Love,
Lily.
I read it a few times over and then rolled it back up and stuff it in the drawer. I took out my Arithmancy homework and did it. Once I started, Sirius and Remus both returned. Remus was eyeing me questioningly, jerking his head to Sirius when he wasn't looking. I shrugged. What else could I do?
Although, I mean, we could start an intervention.
Or an uprising.
Attack him when he least expects it.
When I finished all my other work, I laid down, staring at the canopy of my bed with my curtains half closed around me. And guess what I thought about.
Take a wild guess.
But seriously. Why the bleeding hell were Delia and June questioning me like that? They practically implied that Lily fancied me. Or, er, almost did anyway.
Lily does not fancy me. She doesn't. I would know. I would notice. She would be acting differently. But she isn't. All the same as last year, once we became proper mates, and all. Maybe we're a bit closer, but it's just mates. At least to her, anyway. But it murders me. Absolutely murders me. Every time she smiles….when she laughs. Fucking hell, that laugh. It never gets out of my damn head. It's always there. Always. Whenever she comes to mind (which is pretty much always), that's the first thing that sparks in my head. Her laugh. That beautiful laugh that makes my stupid, stupid heart thump against my chest like it's trying to break out. And when she looks at me with those eyes…Those damn eyes that pull you in a trance…
Stop thinking about her. Stop stop stop.
I needed air. A walk. It was eleven thirty. Remus was half asleep, Pete was out cold, and Sirius was in the shower. I grabbed the map just in case and went off.
"I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good," I declared while I started walking down the stairs. The map opened, and I glanced around it, seeing who was where and where I could get without being caught. Pretty much just as I arrived there, I noticed Lily's dot on the Common Room couch.
"Mischief managed," I whispered as the map folded back up. I put it in my pocket along with my wand.
I slowly walked from the last step into the empty Common Room. I walked towards the couch slowly. I saw her red hair, high up in a ponytail. She was sitting in the middle of the couch, alone.
"Lily?" I asked softly.
"Bloody hell," she whispered. "Sorry, sorry," she said quickly and very low. I walked in front of the couch and faced her. It looked like she had just been crying. I sat down next to her on the couch. "Lily-"
"Don't," she whispered, closing her eyes. "Just. Don't."
So I didn't, whatever she meant. I just sat there for a while. She kept her eyes closed, sitting there. I examined her face and I could see the not-quite-dried-tears on her cheeks. I put my hand on hers. She didn't even flinch. In fact, she seemed to relax. She opened her eyes after a few moments.
She turned slowly to look at me. "Sorry," she said again.
"S'all right, Lily. Really," I replied, rubbing my thumb against her hand. I wondered why she hadn't pulled away yet.
"Look, I know you're sort of, er, chivalrous? Yeah, chivalrous and all and I know you're going to ask me what's wrong and try to comfort me and that's really sweet and I appreciate it but I'd rather not talk about it. But thank you in advance," she breathed.
I stared at her for a moment. I wanted to help. I wanted to. Now what could I do? Think. Think. "What?" she asked. "Oh, you weren't going to do that then?"
I chuckled. "Obviously not. I was actually just about to read off to you the list I wrote about all the horrible things about you. It's quite long though, so you might want to brace yourself." A joke, maybe.
She grinned slightly. "Probably nothing I haven't heard already."
"Oh, no. These are completely original. Copyright: James Potter. So you can't steal them. Got it?" I had an idea.
She giggled softly. "Whatever you say, boss. Go ahead."
"Hmm, lets see. Where should I start," I said. And I knew what I was about to say wasn't really a thumbs up to my mental state, but, I'm a prat. "Well, we could start with your facial expressions."
She laughed. "My what?"
"Facial expressions. They're quite…well, expressive. You always have the perfect face for any situation. Like right now! Your eyes are dangerously wide and you've got one eyebrow cocked up like it's trying to jump or something, and your mouth is slightly ajar, because you're confused at my madness-"
"James, what are you-"
"Sh. Listen, miss. There's another thing. You talk way too much. And you know what the worst part is? You never have anything bad to say! About anyone! Except your bloody self. I mean, really. When you're just blabbing on about how you're 'nothing special?' Nothing special, my arse."
I paused and studied her face. She was blushing. Blushing.
"And you're really, really emotional. In a good way. You look out for people who matter to you and you get upset when you can't help. Or they don't want your help. Or they just fail to see how brilliant you are, and miss out on everything… You're just… all out there. You don't have to pretend like you don't have feelings."
I knew I was getting ahead of myself. But I didn't stop. Yet. "And, lastly, you are way, way too kind. You never judge people. Ever. Even the ones who deserve to be judged! Hell, back in fifth year, even when you threw me those insults, you were still so bloody kind to me when I wasn't being a complete prat. And I never understood why. And you're probably the only Gryffindor of all eternity who tries to see good in Slytherins. And in everybody! I mean, it's mad. You're mad. Mental. Completely." I stopped for a moment, and there was something in her face that I couldn't quite catch.
I started once more. "So, there you have it; James Potter's list of reasons why Lily Evans is a horrible human being, because she's hardly even human. She's way better than all of us mere mortals. So, by default, you are just terrible. Talk about making other people feel inferior," I ended.
I looked at Lily. I couldn't tell what was going through her head at all. She looked…I don't even know. But then, quite suddenly, she jerked her hand out from under mine and threw both her arms around my neck, embracing me in a hug.
Mates hug. They do. Right? Of course they do. We hugged before. No big deal, right?
I wrapped my arms around her waist. She placed her face against my neck. I could smell her. Raspberries. I sighed and gripped her tighter.
"Thank you," she said against my neck. "That was…you are…" She stopped again. "Thank you," she repeated.
"I don't know why you're thanking me. I just told you why you're a horrible person," I muttered.
She laughed lightly. "Thank you," she repeated yet again, holding me tighter suddenly.
We sat there hugging for a few good minutes. Really. And it was nice. Incredibly nice, really. I still wondered why she was here in the first place and I wanted to know what was wrong, but I thought I was helping, at least a bit. I could feel her breathing against my neck, and I think I even felt a few tears trickle down from her face onto me. I rubbed her back gently, whispering that it was all going to be all right. Whatever it all was. After a while, I think she realized something.
That mates don't hug for this long.
Finally, she started to slowly ease out of our embrace. She wiped her eyes quickly, and then smiled at me. "I'm sorry I keep dragging you into my messes."
"You aren't," I responded automatically.
She opened her mouth to say something, but I guess she decided against it. A few moments later, she spoke again. "Why are you here?"
"I was going to go raise some havoc-"
"Alone?"
"Yes, alone. I don't need them. I'm the mastermind behind all of our genius anyway. They just play along," I answered.
She rolled her eyes. "Really, what are you doing here?"
I shrugged. "I needed a walk. To clear my mind. But I sort of got distracted."
"Sorr-"
"Quit apologizing, will you? Merlin. I'm adding that to the list. Apologizes all the sodding time because she doesn't want anyone else to feel guilty."
She laughed. "You think you're so clever. Git."
"I don't think. I know."
"You should've stopped at 'I don't think.'"
"Real original, Lily," I teased.
"It is very original, correct. Copyright: Lily Evans," she said, mocking me from before.
I nudged her. "I copyright the copyright thing."
"Nope, sorry, I'm taking it from you," she said proudly, grinning at me. And I grinned back like a complete loon.
Merlin, this bird was going to be the end of me.
"We can share it. The copyright for the copyright thing can be, Copyright: James Potter and Lily Evans. Sounds good?"
"Sounds great," she said.
There was an awkward silence for a moment or two, and then I had an idea, though my logical self was saying, okay, you helped her, now go back to your room, like I was my own bloody mother, I, being the rebellious teen wizard that I am, went against my better (or worse) judgment and said, "You know, you still owe me a game of wizard chess."
She sighed and smiled. "I do, don't I."
"Yes."
"Well then, unless you're too knackered to play, we could play a game now?"
I grinned. There was a set on the coffee table in the common room here. I went to the other side and sat on the ground. Lily got off the couch and sat on her side on the floor. We set up the pieces.
"All right, Potter," she said. "Prepared for defeat?"
I snorted. "Not likely, Evans."
"We'll just see about that," she said rather confidently. "Pawn to E4."
The game lasted about twenty minutes until I beat Lily. I couldn't help but boast when I beat her. Obviously, she was muttering things like, "stupid, arrogant, bloody toerag" while I did my little victory jig. She took out her wand and flicked it at the chessboard. They all went back to normal.
"Rematch," she declared. "Now."
I put a hand through my hair. "If you're sure…"
"I'm sure. You first," she said.
She beat me in ten minutes flat.
I let her gloat in my face because honestly it was the most adorable thing in the world. But I was surprised she beat me that quickly.
"Two out of three," I said.
"Fine, fine, fine. I'll go first."
She beat me again. This time in eight minutes.
"How," I started. "In the name of Merlin did you do that?"
She smiled proudly. "I'm very observant. I picked up on all your moves after you beat me the first time. Even though you did try to change it up this match, it was pretty obvious that you were planning to move out your queen by your third move. So I just attacked."
I rolled my eyes at her. "You're good."
"I know," she said, laughing.
"Good. Enough of this rubbish about you not being good enough," I said accidently.
She looked down at the floor. "Nah, that'll never end. I'm a girl," she said. "What else do you expect?"
"I don't know," I chuckled. "Some girls are a bit self-righteous, if you know what I mean."
She smirked. We both stood up from the floor. I moved closer to her. Then she spoke up again. "Did you ever talk to Sirius?"
"Nah. He wasn't really talking to any of us before. Peter hasn't said anything yet, but Remus sort of signaled his concern."
"Hmm…well, I hope you boys sort things out soon. I'm sure you will," she said, smiling.
I shrugged. "Thanks."
She shook her head, rolling her eyes and laughing. "I don't know why you're thanking me. You're always the one stopping me from crying."
"Well, I've got to. It's really terrible, Lily. The sight of you crying? It could break a poor bloke's heart."
She bit her lip. "Er, um, thanks, James. Really." Then, without warning, she stepped right in front of me and planted a small kiss on my cheek, though it was dangerously close to the corner of my mouth.
She stepped back, looking quite flushed. Before the fact that she just kissed my cheek hit me, I got a really good look at her. She was wearing a yellow jumper, blue sweatpants, and red slippers. She wasn't wearing any makeup at all. Her hair was a bit looser now in its up-do. Her eyes seemed a bit tired but they still managed to give me a bit of a heart attack.
Then, I realized what had just happened. Before it could even process through my daft head, she said, "Well, goodnight, James. Hope you learned your lesson about my wizard chess expertise. I'll see you at breakfast," and walked quickly to her dormitory.
Bloody hell.