CALL ME JAMES

Lily was determined to sleep in the next morning, because classes started the day after. Of course, she was woken by a heaving pounding at the crack of dawn. She pulled on a robe as she stumbled down the stairs, looking for the source of the noise.

"James.. what are you doing?!" James was sitting at the mahogany table in the middle of the common room, wearing only pajama pants, pounding his fists on the wood. "James!" Lily ran over to him and put a hand on his shoulder. He turned at her touch. Tears were running down his face. "James?"

"Lily..."

"What's happening, James?"

"My parents.. They're dead." Lily just stared. She sat down in the chair next to him, keeping her hand on him. He sniffed.

"How-"

"You-Know-Who." He gripped the edge of the table so hard his knuckles were white. "Murdered. He murdered them. They were Aurors."

"James-"

"My owl came to my window this morning." His voice was wobbly.

"I'm sorry, James." She looked over just as he gazed at her.

"You never called me James." He said this matter-of-factly.

"I- I know."

"Why don't you ever call me James?"

"I don't-" She sighed. "To call you James would be admitting something to myself."

"What?"

"That I don't hate you." He smiled slightly, then stood up.

"Lily Evans not hating me." He started pacing. "There have been two drastic changes in my life today." There was a knock on the portrait hole before Lily could reply. She was in shock. She had not known James's parents, but she felt sorrow none the less. He walked over to the portrait hole, but hesitated before it. "It's probably Remus." He said quietly.

"James, if you don't want to see anyone right now, I can tell him to go." Lily had walked up behind James. He turned to face her. They were standing less than a foot apart. "James.." His hazel eyes were mournful. He sighed.

"I don't know..." Then he abruptly grabbed Lily's shoulders and pulled her into a tight hug. Her hands were around his middle and his hands subconsciously toyed with her hair. Lily let go of a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding. They stood there like that, hugging, until a louder knock broke them apart.

"James?" It was Remus. James reached out and opened the door, Remus entering. He looked just as sad as James. His mousy hair stuck up all around his head. "James, I heard... Are you okay?" James walked over and sat on the couch, exhaling. Remus looked at Lily before walking over and sitting down next to James, the fire reflecting off both their grim faces.

"I'd rather not talk, Moony." Remus nodded. Lily sat on the other side of James, took hold of his hand, and for a while the three just sat there.

"James, you need to eat." Lily stood at the foot of James's bed, him sitting on the edge in his Gryffindor striped pajama pants. He shook his head. It was 3 days after the owl had pecked at James's window. Lily had begun to go to classes, but James had stayed in his dorm for almost two days. Dumbledore had sadly excused him.

"James.." Lily thought for a moment. "Listen. You are James Potter. You are Head Boy and Quidditch Captain. You are witty, smart, funny, and handsome. You don't have parents anymore, but you have what they taught you. You have memories of them. And I sure as heck don't think they'd want you loafing around. You have a life to live. This is 7th year, for heavens sakes. Plus, you haven't showered in 2 days, and it is about time you actually be the Quidditch Captain. You have a team to coach, the match against Ravenclaw is in a week, and I doubt you want your team to play like rubbish. Now, you can either sit here and wallow in misery, or you can get up, eat some darn food, and come and plan a Halloween Ball with me." Lily gave him a stony look. He had slipped into mourning and she was sick of it. He simply looked at her, and odd expression splayed across his face.

"Evans, though that was very insensitive, it was exactly what I needed to hear." James jumped up, and grabbed the tray of food from her. He flashed a quick grin, and before she had a chance to react, James kissed Lily quickly on the cheek. He had already rushed down to the common room as Lily put her hand and up and gently touched the spot where he had kissed her. She was blushing scarlet.

Lily felt as though she hadn't seen Marlene or Sirius in forever. The two were constantly sneaking off together. They sat with Lily, James, Remus, and Peter in the Great Hall, but they mostly talked to each other, or simply snogged. This particular evening, Marlene and Sirius were absent from the Gryffindor table. Lily looked to James.

"Marlene and Sirius can't seem to get enough of each other." Her voice was flat as she pushed her food around on her plate.

"You can't blame them." He said it with a small smile.

"I know, it just feels like I haven't seen Marls in forever."

"They'll get sick of each other soon enough." Remus interjected from across the table. He wasn't eating, but he held a book in front of him. This was a fairly normal sight, and Lily smiled.

"I know, Rem."

The next morning during potions, Professor Slughorn had the audacity to place Lily next to James. Lily smiled to herself, but kept a sneer on her face for her own satisfaction.

"Potter."

"Evans."

"Class," Slughorn said, "Today we will be making an Amortentia potion. Anyone know what this is?" Lily's hand shot up.

"A love potion. The most powerful love potion."

"Correct. I have written the ingredients on the board. You may begin." Lily immediately got to work, James struggling to catch up with her advanced potion skills. After a half an hour of potion-making, the class had finished. Lily's potion had turned a brilliant sparkling gold. James's had changed into a deep shade of lavender.

"Okay. Most of you have achieved the correct potion." Slughorn looked around. "The smell, as some of you may have noticed, is changed to your liking. Usually, this resembles your love." He paused. "The shade, the same. Potter, yours has turned a lavender color. What does it smell like to you?" James thought for a moment.

"Honey, the pages of a book, and lavender flowers." Lily refused to acknowledge the fact that her favorite color was, by complete coincidence, lavender.

"Wonderful. Evans, with the bright gold?" Slughorn looked to her.

"A burnt sugar, fresh grass, and the dusty sweet smell of the broom shed."

"Interesting. Snape?" His face went red.

"Um.. h-honey.. uh.. a b-book-" Just then the bell sounded, signaling the end of class.

"Alright class, make sure and dump all your contents of the potion. I want none of it leaving this room." The class packed up quickly. Lily wondered why Severus's Amortentia was just about the same as James's.. but she didn't dwell on the thought. She rushed through her classes, eager to get to the end of the day, when her and James would attempt to start planning the ball. After turning her homework in to Professor Sprout, Lily trod up the stairs to the Head Common room.

When she said the password and stepped inside, James was already there. He sat on a couch facing the fire, staring into the flames. When Lily entered, he looked up.

"Hello Lily."

"Hey, James."

"I like it when you call me James."

"Maybe I should stop."

"Why?"

"Don't wanna give you any ideas."

"Too late." He grinned. "You ready to plan a ball?"

"Absolutely." She smiled and sat down on the couch beside him. "I have a few ideas for theme. Obviously, its going to be costume. What if we had a pairing rule? Whatever date you bring, you gotta have matching costumes?"

"Sounds good, but what if someone doesn't bring a date?"

"Good point." She crossed her legs and ran a hand through her hair. "Oh I know! What about a masquerade?" She looked at James, who was grinning.

"Sounds perfect." They held each other's gaze a little longer than necessary. Lily cleared her throat.

"So.. masquerade. That way we won't be separated by houses. We'd possibly get along. I think we should color and decorate with all the house themes, including Durmstrang's colors. A bit for everyone." She was grinning. The whole thing was exciting, even if it was a month away. The Durmstrang students would arrive a week before the ball, so both the schools would have time to ask for dates and mingle beforehand.

"You're really good at this, Lils." James had a small smile on his face.

"Thank you, James." She smiled at him. "How's Quidditch going?"

"It's great. I'm pretty optimistic for the game tomorrow. Ravenclaw won't be hard to beat."

"Over-confident, that's what I say. Are you willing to bet?"

"Of course, I could never turn down one. I wager.. a kiss."

"A kiss if Gryffindor wins the match. I dunno, James.."

"C'mon Lils, you're not scared, are you?" He had a teasing smile on his face.

"'Course not. You're on, Potter." With that she stood up, and swept up to her dorm.