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‘Morning.’
It was breakfast time in the Great Hall. James was seated across from Sirius, watching his best mate sniff at his buttered toast while Remus yawned widely beside him. Peter had installed himself to James’s left, where he was currently scarfing down a plate of drop scones with his cheeks stuffed full to bursting.
Lily Evans plopped down to his right.
‘Evans,’ James greeted after a swallow. ‘Wake up late? The front end of the table ran out of spots?’
‘Rubbish,’ Lily wrinkled her nose. ‘I can sit wherever I bloody feel like. Now pass the eggs, would you?’
James blinked at her. Had someone confounded him in his sleep? It was a little early in the morning for mischief, not that the time of day had ever got in the Marauders’ way before.
‘Here, Evans.’ Moony, ever the gentleman, reached over the table with a plateful.
‘Ta, Lupin,’ Lily thanked him cheerfully, taking the dish with both hands. Remus graced James with a questioning glance, to which James shrugged. Clearly this wasn’t Moony’s doing. As Remus opened his mouth — presumably to voice his confusion — he was quickly thwarted by Sirius, who wrapped an arm around his shoulder and pulled him aside to whisper intimately in his ear. Eurgh. They’d been together for months already, but their cloying public displays of affection were still at the sickening stages. As happy as he was to see them together, if only they’d tone it down some… at least until his heart’s desire fancied him back. Then, watching their caring gestures wouldn’t feel like a stinging hex hitting him in the chest.
‘Have you finished your Transfiguration readings yet?’ Lily asked, still strangely chipper despite finding herself next to James first thing in the morning. James watched Lily toss her hair over her shoulder as she inclined her head above her plate to begin enjoying her eggs. He inadvertently leant closer in order to take in the tantalising scent the gesture had brought his way. His sense of smell had developed impressively ever since the Animagus transformation he’d undergone last year.
‘Me?’
‘Yes, you, James Potter. Who else would I be talking to?’
It was inconceivable that Lily Evans had any concern for the state of his homework. Either somebody had put her up to it, or this was all a magically-induced delusion. Perhaps someone had spiked his tea while he’d been distracted by the sheer size of Wormtail’s full cheeks as he downed his mountain of drop scones. Maybe it had been Evans herself; after all, she was remarkably skilled at brewing potions.
‘You’re in rather high spirits today, aren’t you,’ James attempted to divert the conversation — anything to buy him more space to think. ‘Something going on?’
Lily sniffed. ‘Excuse you. There’s nothing unusual about me today.’
‘Sure about that, are you, Evans?’ Sirius hollered from across the table. ‘’S the first time I’ve seen your hair tied up like-’
‘You’re being rude, Black! Shove off, please, would you?’ Lily shot Sirius a glare. She was definitely in a mood this morning, James could comprehend as much, though what that had to do with her presence at his end of the table was beyond him. She’d done her utmost to avoid him all year, with resounding success.
‘Sirius,’ Remus hissed. ‘Here. Bread, for you.’ And he proceeded to shove a half loaf into Sirius’s open mouth. Sirius choked it down as he faced Remus, confusion swimming in his eyes.
‘So,’ Lily turned back to James. ‘Homework.’
‘Er,’ James offered eloquently. He reached up to muss his hair. ‘Right, Transfiguration readings. Have I done them. Maybe? I can’t recall. Still have a ton of Charms to get through, though.’
‘Charms,’ Lily nodded. ‘I see. Professor Flitwick certainly assigned us a long chapter to get through this week, didn’t he! I think we’ll be starting the ascendio charm soon — isn’t it exciting? We’re going to be ahead of th…’
Lily rambled on about their shared subjects, from Charms all the way to Transfiguration, without a single jab towards his person thrown in. He’d nearly tuned her out at first from the sheer shock of Lily selecting him as her conversation partner for their meal, following ages of her giving him the cold shoulder.
In response to her polite attempts at small talk, James did his best to act the part of the perfect conversation partner in response, desperately resisting the mounting impulse to flirt or ask her on a date. By the end of it, he’d managed to last an entire meal without scaring her off. Maybe he hadn’t made her laugh, but that could wait for another day.
Lily left for her N.E.W.T. level Arithmancy class with an adorable little wave his way. James stared and stared after her, until Sirius swung an arm around his shoulder to drag him off to Divination.
‘Did you see that? One whole meal without a single fight. I think I’ve done it, Padfoot. I think we’re on good terms, at last.’ He let out a loud whoop, disrupting their fellow students populating the corridor. An unfortunate first-year backed straight into a nearby ghost. ‘I’ve done it! Padfoot, Moony, Wormtail — I’ve made friends with Evans!’
Sirius let out a heavy sigh, while Remus, on his other side, shook his head regretfully. Peter was nowhere to be seen.
‘Prongs, mate, I’ll be the one to break it to you since your head is so far up in the clouds, your glasses’ve gone foggy, but Evans is throwing herself-’
‘Padfoot,’ Remus bit out. ‘Watch your phrasing.’
‘Fine, Moony, if you insist. Evans was chatting yo-’
‘Padfoot, you wanker—’ James interrupted. ‘After years, Evans is finally looking my way. Show some respect and stop taking the piss, would you? That was a conversation between friends, and a damned good one at that. I didn’t ask her out a single time, and I swear I shan’t until she’s sufficiently impressed with my newfound maturity.’ He puffed out his chest proudly.
‘D’you expect this to last?’ Remus rebuffed, exasperated.
Traitors, the both of them. James looked away to stare at where he’d last seen Lily.
Sirius snorted at him. ‘Sod off, then. If you blow your chance, it’s not on my head.’ He shoved James aside, turning to his other favourite bloke and taking his arm. ‘Come, Moony, let’s head off first. Leave Wormtail to his plate, he’s practically snogging it as is.’
Peter’s stomach spent the next while reaping the aftermath of his overindulgence at breakfast (‘But don’t you know, Moony, those scones are only served once a week! Once! A week!’), and by fourth-period Potions, he’d been sent to the Hospital Wing to ride out what remained of the pangs of protest.
That was why James found himself seated next to one Lily Evans, as Slughorn droned away at the front of the room. Sirius kept winking at him from the desk over, and even Remus — restrained, well-behaved Remus — snuck several overt peeks at them around Sirius’s shoulder.
‘Won’t you tell your friends to act more discreetly, Ja- Potter?’ Lily grumbled.
‘Sorry, Evans,’ James shrugged apologetically. ‘If I’m not careful today, Slughorn’ll surely have me scrubbing cauldrons all weekend. Can’t afford to miss Quidditch practice before the big game next week, you see.’
‘That’s nice, but are you a wizard or not?!’ Lily hissed at him under her breath, an arm already headed for her sleeve where she’d stowed her wand at the start of the lesson. As Slughorn’s eyes began to drift along to their side of the room, she quickly returned her hand to their shared desk, picking up her quill to dash off a line of unnecessary notes.
‘Can’t risk it,’ James muttered back, moving his lips as little as he could. Secretly, he had his own wand in hand already, tucked carefully into the folds of his robes. He really would do anything for her, including sending a rude note flying at Padfoot’s head in plain sight, even if it meant weathering the ire of Gryffindor’s captain should he land yet another Saturday evening detention scrubbing cauldrons. It was always harder to sneak out of the dungeons than it was McGonagall’s classroom.
Luckily, Slughorn turned around soon enough, and one inappropriate hand gesture later, Sirius was back to ignoring them in favour of feeling up Moony under the table. Couldn’t they save it for the dorms, or at least someplace he wasn’t around?
‘Your potion isn’t doing so great,’ Lily observed sometime later, when they’d been brewing their potions for a good half hour. She tapped at the side of his cauldron with her wand. ‘Here, let me lower the heat a tad. That should stop your knotgrass from disintegrating too quickly.’
‘… It’s appreciated, Evans.’ James gulped. Her answering smile was electrifying as she returned to her work, her own potion achieving a perfect shade of emerald as she stirred it four times clockwise. Her eyes were far more stunning, however. ‘… You’ve got to teach me to chop the fluxweed like you do some day.’
‘Chop the fluxweed?’ Lily echoed, raising an eyebrow. ‘Why, it’s simple! I suppose a well-to-do boy like you— er, I meant, someone raised with house elves around probably doesn’t ever get the chance to learn to cook for themselves, really…’
‘R-Right…’ James was sweating by now. Perhaps Lily had been the one to imbibe a nasty draught this morning…?
‘Um, if you’d like…why don’t I demonstrate with your remaining ingredients, then? If you can get your proportions right, your potion might still be salvageable.’
As it stood, the liquid in his cauldron was currently a hideous shade of puce. James couldn’t help but reach back to ruffle his hair.
‘Eh, why not?’
Upon receiving his assent, Lily set her wand down, making for James’s side of the desk in a hurry. ‘Is this all you’ve got left?’
James nodded hesitantly. Lily was so close to him, the sleeves of her robe were draping themselves onto his arms.
‘Come on, let’s get to it. Give me your hands, please.’
And then Lily moved her soft fingers around his, guiding them around the chopping knife. Oh. James trembled beneath her.
‘You do it like this.’ Lily manipulated the knife with deft motions, making quick work of his weeds. She was probably biting her lip, and James wanted to look at her face ever so badly. ‘Curl your fingers inward, and allow the knife to rest against your knuckles. Slowly, now.’
James sucked in a breath. His hands twitched, against his will.
‘J-James?!’
James was so mesmerised by the sensation of Lily touching him that he missed the blade nicking into his flesh.
‘Mr. Potter! Your hand!’
He was shaken out of his daze by Lily’s firm grip on his wrist — only to see that his hand was bleeding all over the now-shredded fluxweed.
‘Alright there, Prongs?’
Sirius and Remus peered at him from the neighbouring table.
‘To the Hospital Wing, Mr. Potter,’ Slughorn intoned grimly. With a wave of his wand, the poor bloodied fluxweed on the desk vanished.
‘I’ll take him,’ Lily volunteered. ‘My potion’s already finished, Professor.’
‘Excellent,’ Slughorn beamed. ‘I wouldn’t expect anything less from you, Miss Evans!’
James nearly fainted on the spot.
‘What’s got into her,’ James griped, the umpteenth instance of which since he’d started at Hogwarts all those years ago.
He was lying on Padfoot’s four-poster, holding his newly-healed hand in the air and examining it vacantly. Sirius was occupying Remus’s bed, lounging into his pillow, while Remus himself sat next to Peter, fussing.
Wormtail was sprawled under his covers, moaning pathetically and clutching at his abdomen throughout. He’d been at it all evening, ever since James had brought him back following Pomfrey’s treatment. Remus handed him a cup of water, half of which ended up spilling onto his duvet once Wormtail attempted to drink it while lying down.
‘Prongs, if you start mooning over Evans one more time-’
‘Padfoot,’ Remus interrupted, finally leaving Wormtail to his own devices and reclaiming a corner of his mattress. ‘Let him speak.’
Sirius groaned. He yanked Remus’s pillow out from behind his head, smacking it down atop his face. ‘I’m not interested. I don’t want to hear another word.’
‘Surely you’ll listen to me, won’t you, Moony?’ James begged. Remus acceded, gesturing for James to go on.
‘She called me by my name! Evans did! Can you imagine?’
‘I don’t have to imagine it since I heard it with my own ears,’ Sirius moaned in a muffled tone, his head still covered by Remus’s pillow.
‘Bugger off, Padfoot,’ James groused, well and truly agonised after the long day he’d had. ‘Stop trampling all over my good fortune, I’ve had enough of your bellyaching. Who was the one who insisted they weren’t planning on listening?’
‘Ignore him, Prongs,’ Remus urged. ‘He’s just in a temper since he expects you’ll start seeing Evans soon, leaving less time for him.’
‘Moony, you traitor!’ Sirius gasped. He sat up in a haste, Remus’s pillow tumbling to the floor. ‘I certainly never said that! Maybe I want you to start dating Evans, Prongs. That way you’ll quit rolling your eyes whenever I hold Moony’s hand, because you’ll be too busy snogging—’
James hurled his pillow at Sirius. He didn’t quite catch Sirius’s swift gesture soon enough, and hence the projectile was sent careening squarely into poor Moony’s face.
‘That’s enough of that, I think,’ Remus let out faintly, once he’d recovered from the blow. James shot him an apologetic glance, though it went ignored.
‘Yes, enough!’ Wormtail cried suddenly, squawking at them from his side of the dormitory. Once they’d all turned to face him, he raised his head sheepishly. ‘Would somebody mind getting me some tea? My tummy’s growling…’
‘Get it yourself, Wormtail,’ Sirius chided, throwing himself prone onto Remus’s bed. ‘Not you, Moony, you come over here. Let me make it up to you.’
That was all James needed to hear before he spelled his curtains shut, casting a charm to keep the noise out right after. Wankers, all of them, deserting him in his time of great need. She’d called him James today. He’d just have to celebrate that notable victory all on his own. Maybe he’d require a charm to keep the noise in as well… though this was Padfoot’s bed, the horror! At least it would make them even.
James gazed out the window, watching the countryside fly by as the Hogwarts Express sped along. He was roused from his daze by the sound of the compartment door sliding open. In came one Lily Evans, already dressed in her witches’ attire instead of the muggle dress she’d sported during her arrival at the platform today.
‘You’re here early,’ Lily appraised him, startled.
‘Miss Head Girl,’ James winked at her. ‘Congratulations, by the way. I thought I should tell you in person.’
‘Thank you very much.’ Lily smoothed out her robes as she sat down beside him. ‘And bravo to you too. Who would have expected James Potter to overcome his years of practical jokes to become Head Boy in his final year? What ever will your friends do without your influence?’
‘Ah, but you misunderstand,’ James retorted smoothly. ‘M- Remus has been keeping us under control since his Prefect days. You’ve been a good influence on him.‘
Lily may have rolled her eyes, but the cheer never left her face.
‘When’s the Prefect’s meeting?’ James wondered absently. His hand darted up to comb at his hair, but he resisted the impulse, pretending to pluck a piece of lint from his shoulder instead.
‘At half past,’ Lily frowned. ‘You came here without knowing that?’
‘I don’t suppose they’ll be arriving anytime soon, will they?’
‘Not really.’
They lapsed into a comfortable silence as the train chugged on.
‘Your hand healed alright?’ Lily was the one to eventually break the quiet.
‘Huh?’ James scratched at his cheek. What did his hand have to do with anything?
‘You know, from Potions. The fluxweed.’
‘The fluxweed,’ James echoed. ‘That was last year!’ he spluttered, once the realisation hit.
Lily reddened.
‘May I see, James?’ she requested quietly, lowering her head to avoid meeting his gaze. ‘Just to make sure?’
James eyed her, perplexed. Her hair had fallen over her cheeks, and the colours of both nearly matched. It was terribly endearing, he thought to himself.
‘Sure,’ James swallowed nervously. ‘If you insist.’
He discreetly rubbed his hand on his robes, hoping to Merlin that he wouldn’t start to sweat, and finally extended his left palm across his torso in Lily’s direction. She took it without looking at him, or looking at his arm at all, really.
And so they sat, hand-in-hand, James’s bouncing legs doing little to displace Lily’s tight grip on him every time the train hit a snag.
If Remus later walked in on them snogging, well, it was only payback for the months James had endured of wandering hands and poorly-cast Muffliato charms.