Lily Evans skipped through the library corridor, in a good mood. She'd done her homework and finished revising a potions essay. Now, all she needed was a novel. A good one.

She liked the old novels in the Hogwarts library. She ran her fingers over their leather spines and read the titles all over again. There were Muggle titles mixed in with novels by wizards, about wizards. Jane Eyre. Greensfield Manor. Pride and Prejudice. The Inconvenient Curse. Lily picked up the last one—it was by Lorrietta Graham, a famous witch and author from the 1930's. Bellatrix had recommended it. It was about a forbidden love between a young witch and a Muggle boy, whose families banded together to split them apart and ended up finding they got along. Bella's family had forbidden her and her sisters to read anything by Graham, so naturally, all three of the Black sisters had read it by now. Bella hadn't shut up about it for a week when she did. Lily figured it was time she gave it a read.

She couldn't resist and pressed her nose lightly against the pages. Old books had that musty, ancient scent that was only earned by sitting on a shelf for years.

Lily couldn't tell what time it was. The library had only a few windows and was mostly lit with the yellowed hue of the overhead torches. Lily figured she'd go sit by someone else, preferably someone who had a watch, so she wouldn't miss dinner. Again.

She caught sight of James Potter bent over a textbook, brows furrowed.

"James Potter, reading a book?" She raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure you're feeling well?"

"Evans." He looked up. "Charming as always."

He always responded with that crooked half grin. That was part of the fun of teasing him.

"I'm studying for the Transfiguration exam, anyway," he continued. "All these bloody steps I have to memorize to know what to do. Why can't transfiguration be like Charms, or DADA? One incantation, and I'm done."

Lily knew what he meant. Transfiguration required a lot of focus, because you had to ease one object into another form over a multitude of stages. The more intricate the desired object, the longer you had to train your mind on the little alterations. Normal spells just needed you to aim well and have the goal of the single spell in mind. You could pass a Charms test on four hours of sleep and little caffeine. Try that with Transfiguration and, well…don't expect flying colors.

"Do you remember the acronym that McGonagall taught?" Lily asked him.

"Of course, I do," said James. He stared into space for a few seconds. "Remind me?"

"It was AIM: Assess, Imagine, Manifest," said Lily.

"Thanks!" He went back to his notes and jotted that down.

"Well, I'll leave you to your studying." Lily turned away.

"Don't go," James blurt.

She stopped.

"Er, I mean, could you help me? Since you know what you're doing?"

Lily realized that she'd been wanting him to ask. Because she liked his crooked grin. Because she liked him.

"I suppose I could spare a few minutes," she teased.

"Oh, thank you. I'm sure you lead an unbearably busy life."

"Don't make me change my mind." She pulled up a chair next to him. "What are we transfiguring."

"A rock into a music box." He held up the rock, along with the desired music box.

Lily examined the box, opening it up to look at the little gears.

"What melody does it play?"

"Hava Nagila."

"Do you have the placement of the gears memorized?"

"Yes, I know where every dot on the cylinder goes. I just can't seem to get the rock to do what I want it to."

"Well, the first step is to assess. You already know the measurements of the music box. You just need to scan the rock visually."

"I'm doing that. What comes next?"

"Imagine. You aim your wand at the rock," she put her hand lightly on his as he aimed at the rock, "and see in your mind what has to change inside the rock to match the gears, and what has to change on the outside. The third step is to manifest. You make it happen, bit by bit."

James didn't get it on the first try, or the second. But eventually, there were two identical music boxes sitting in front of him, and both played Hava Nagila just right.

"Good job, Potter." Lily stood up. "Now get a good score on the exam, or I will hex you for wasting my time."

"And then I'll hex you back for not teaching me properly."

They both laughed, then walked in silence out of the library.

"Hey, Evans, do you want to do this again sometime? Studying?"

She looked at him and smiled. "I'd like that."

"Excellent. It's a date," he said, smirking.

She'd been trapped.

"Hey! I never said anything—"

But he was already running away. "What did you say, Evans? Oh, I'm excited, too. I can't wait to tell all of Gryffindor that you agreed to go out with me."

She chased after him, calling out threats she didn't mean. Because, in the end, she'd been wanting him to say that. Sometimes there was no way to hold back the river.