Amnesty & Adjustment - Prefect's Lounge(Oct. 6){James}

[Lily Potter]

The scrapping of the chair as she dragged it into place was loud in the otherwise quite room. It was getting late and the school was mostly to bed but the Head Boy and Girl were still at their jobs. Lily stood back to observe her work, swiping off her hands against each other and giving a satisfied smile. She liked doing things the manual way every now and again. “There, this will be a conducive discussion environment for tomorrow's meeting.” she said to her counterpart, gesturing to the newly formed semi-circle of chairs. Lily glanced over her shoulder, looking for approval.  

 

James, also known as Potter, was over by the papers she had carefully laid out for the gathering of the prefects tomorrow. She took a moment to observe him, which, she had admittedly been doing a lot of lately. Well, ever since Remus had told her what he had done in fourth year, how he had saved Severus and Remus from horrible fates. Since then, she had been paying closer attention. And what she found was...unexpected. James wasn't a complete toerag it turned out. In fact, he happened to be an excellent friend, she had learned, and a hard worker to boot. She had been apprehensive about him being Head Boy -Remus had been her first choice, Potter hadn't even been on the list, honestly- but he had proved her worrying invalid. She felt badly about her lack of faith now but she was happy to accept this new James she was getting to know, glad to not have to work with a dolt. He was still a little arrogant, but she found that more endearing than annoying sometimes as he had a way of making it jesting. Overall, it could be much worse. It could be Wilkes. 

Lily tugged her hair free of the elastic band -having pulled it back to re-arrange the prefects lounge- stored the band in her bag and then went over to James. She pulled a new patrol schedule from the top of the stack, glancing over it and thinking about how the meeting would be tomorrow. They were already going into their second month of school and Lily still wasn't over the joy of being Head Girl and all that it entailed. Organizing these meeting was fun really, but they took a lot of forethought and planning, that part was not lost on her.  

Still, Lily wanted the meeting to be grand, and she want to show the boy man next to her she trusted him as well. “I think I should stand at the door and hand these out as people come in so they can look them over before the meeting.” She put the paper back in its stack and her green eyes lit on James. She smiled encouragingly. “I think you should head up the open floor and I'll take the minutes. What do you think Potter, up for it?” Being Quidditch Captain, Lily was sure he would do well in that environment, but she couldn't help the little challenge in her voice. James was nothing if not up for a challenge.

[James Potter]

Smiling fondly, James looked up to meet her eye as Lily glanced back at him. From his stand at the growing pile of schedules, he saw she'd finally arranged the chairs in the way she saw fit. She'd been tugging them back and forth, happy to work with her own strength instead of magic, while he took to his delegated task of copying the new calendar for the prefects, and seemed proud of the declared final result. "Looks great, Evans." He set down his wand, stopping the charm, and rifled through the stack. "Think I'm all done here, too," he commented; the bloke caught a whiff of some amazing botanical scent and looked over to see her long hair newly freed, swaying for a moment before settling as she came to a stop next to him to investigate the work. As always, the lioness shortly had a plan of action for them; while James knew she hadn't been thrilled by his appointment, she'd been ensuring their mutual success as best as she could. He was grateful for the help, honestly, not having had a clue on what being Head Boy really entailed until recently. It was more responsibility than he'd anticipated; last week the pair of them had had to sit before the Hogwarts Board of Management and, among other topics of discussion, defend every action they or a prefect had made up to that point! But Lily's plan for tomorrow was surprisingly different than those for previous meetings.

"What do I think? I think you're just trying to get out of a night's work, letting me wrangle the pixies," James teased quickly to cover up the uncomfortable tingle of nerves that sprang down his spine at her suggestion. Him? Host the open floor? Since she was the one with experience - having been attending these meetings since fifth year and all - Lily was taking lead on most public things. The weekly - or more often, depending - meeting topics were outlined for them, thankfully, but this was the first "open floor" they were responsible for. James assumed that this was a time for the prefects to be heard: what was going well, what wasn't, in their opinions. And while he would've embraced something like this with open arms if it was his Quidditch team - even if it meant getting into another heated argument with Wood - James knew that this group of students wasn't his team. Not yet.

He knew that some had vehemently protested his appointment. Hell, he'd had to have it out with one of his best friends in order for them both to accept that the role was his. And giving them the floor would allow them to say exactly what they weren't pleased with...about him. Not that he'd been doing terribly, in his opinion (and Lily's, if she was willing to give him this shot), but the nit-pickers in the bunch could find flaws he didn't realize he had. And James could take critique, but the situation wasn't ideal for it.

You just don't want Lily to hear, man up.

But just like in the locker room, James did have people among this group who had his back. Some were more recent converts, it was true, but...

You're being too narcissistic. Probably won't even come up. It'll be fine.
    And she wants you to try this, so...

He gave the redhead a nudge with his elbow, grinning down at her. "Kidding. It's a plan, about time I take point on one of these. Anything I should be sure we discuss? Besides who's willing to volunteer for the Masquerade - and we get to pick the finalists, right? No downers allowed in planning festivities." Nothing killed a party faster than somebody with a bad vibe. And if he got to be sort of in charge of a party like the Masquerade? He was not about to let it be anything less than incredible. Some perks to this gig, after all. The one he'd been trying not to perseverate on was the biggest perk, truly; being appointed with Evans meant that they had to spend time together, and that, for their sanities, they had to get along for the most part. And, if James wasn't entirely mistaken...they were on their way towards something. Maybe she would never return his interest, not that he'd admit his doubt, but she'd lately warmed to being an actual friend. That in itself was something to be grateful for.

[Lily Potter]

Lily gave James a sidelong glance, her mouth curved in amusement. "You've caught me Potter. I just cannot be bothered with such things now. I've decided to let you handle the little things from now on." The redhead shot back, knowing full well it was not a little thing she was asking. Really, inside she was slightly worried she had pushed too hard, that James wasn't ready just yet to take the lead at such a big meeting. It didn't seem like him though, to not do something just because it seemed difficult. Maybe he was only joking but Lily felt there was more. 

There was no way of telling, she only had to trust what James said. Luckily, he said he was only having a go at her, and Lily felt a fraction of relief, glad he wasn't intimidated too much by her suggestion to say no. The Head Girl let the moment pass as what it was, only a moment in time. "Good!" she said with a wicked grin, laying her hand on his shoulder and giving a playful squeeze. "How embarrassing it would be for you, to be bested by a group of prefects. The great James Potter meeting his match at last." She gave him a wink, happy to have that settled, then went around her counterpart and took a seat at the table. It was strange how easy being friendly with James was, given how easy disliking him had been. They had both definitely grown as humans, she couldn't deny that. 

"Alright." She said, back to being business-like. Lily pulled the new patrol schedules and several other itinerary sheets to her, taking up her quill and tucked a fresh piece of parchment under her elbow for note taking. "Other than what's planned, I say after the open floor we do a spot check to make sure everyone is keeping up with tutoring the younger ones. And this," Lily pulled a blank chart with dates and time slots from her stack of parchments. She glanced up at James, unable to help but smile when she met his warm gaze.


She was not finding him handsome, she was not! Having a good work relationship, being friends, that was one thing... Lily plowed on, locking that thought away for later, and returning her eyes to the page she was referencing. "This is a sheet for the fifth years to set up a time to meet with us. We have to have a meeting with them all individually before the fifteenth. I'll need your availability and then we can  start scheduling." Lily looked up again to hand him the page, holding his gaze this time. "I think that's all I have, I'll let you know if I think of something before the meeting. Is there anything you would like to add? Comments, concerns?"

[James Potter]

James didn't know when, if ever, he'd get used to how easily he got her smiling these days. It was always a treat, and with her being more willing to be playful with him? He didn't want to resist any sort of tease that came to mind! Well - he didn't want to, but sometimes he felt he had to. Evans, you know I met my match on the trainride to Hogwarts, first year, he wanted to tell her as she went to sit. Red hair, freckles, no sense of humor. Instead, the bloke cleared his throat, chuckling as he took the seat opposite her. "The great James Potter, am I?" he settled for instead, giving her a swift raise of his brows. "I'm not forgetting that one." With any luck the meeting would go off without a hitch, and would leave both himself and his partner feeling better about his place here. He watched her movements as she returned to business; listening, of course, and showing he was by meeting her eye whenever she looked up. He wasn't entirely sure what had changed to get them to being on a more relaxed give-and-take, but he wasn't shy in returning her smile with one of his own. She was rather softening the blow of more duties being added to his mental list.

"Just one," James said, fingers brushing hers as he took the schedule. "D'you think we'll get to sleep anytime this year?" Without another note of complaint, James gestured for her quill and, once he had it, sighed and stretched his shoulders. He bent over the schedule, falling fringe held out of the way by his free hand, to start inking in his Quidditch schedule. Monday mornings before breakfast, Tuesday evenings, Friday morning the first week of the month, Friday evening third week, Sunday morning second week...and Arrows, shite. Thursday night before Astronomy. Besides the fanclub he ran, James didn't think he'd be making any club meetings in the coming week. He'd hardly had any time to himself, or for his friends, with the rate things had been going. But meeting with every fifth year prefect one-on-one...as he finished crossing out times he was in class, he realized just how much the next week was going to be shite. He did have a decent sized block of time reserved on Thursday afternoon for Head Boy duties, but wouldn't the kids be in class then?

For a responsibility he'd never wanted, Head Boyship was rapidly consuming his life. He knew that Lily was busy as well, but wondered if she was managing all of these extras better than he was. But as the last time he'd asked someone for advice about Head business had gone so well, James was none too eager to risk starting another fight. Lily's not Remus. After a little more thought on it, though, he realized...you just need something fun to look forward to. As it was, the schedule of to-do's for the week was overwhelming. But knowing something good was coming up? You're pushing too far, she's not going to agree... Nevertheless, hazel eyes flicking up to find hers as the idea struck him, a slow grin spread over his face and he brought the nearly completed schedule to his chest. "Have one more thing to schedule in, but I need your availability," he said conspiratorially. "We're playing hooky - just a few hours! hide out in the kitchens? - one of these nights. They're not getting every spare minute of our week." You must need time off as much as I do. Don't you?

[Lily Potter]

“The Great and late James Potter, if you let the prefects get the best of you. Don't forget that.” For a moment, she felt serious, but it seemed a mean thing to say. She hadn't intended it that way at all. She only meant...”Look, really, don't let them bait you. We both know some of them question your appointment, they will try to draw you into defending yourself. Don't. Stick to the points of the meeting.” On instinct she reached out a held onto his hand. “You're going to do great. I'll be here and I'm on your side, don't forget that either.” Lily withdrew her hand, balled it into a fist and shoved it into her lap. She had always been an affectionate person where her friends were concerned, but she and James had only just become friends. How could you not be friends in their circumstances?

Still, not wanting it to get weird, Lily moved onto their work, liking the comfortable feeling she got when taking care of business. “Sleep is for the weak.” she joked, personally loving sleep more than most and missing it dearly. It was a necessary sacrifice. James took the page from her to do exactly as she asked him anyway and Lily found that now both her hands were in her lap. She was sure he hadn't meant it, to caress touch her hand, she was just overly aware of how touchy-feely she was in general. She took a moment, watching James ruminate over the schedule, starting to scratch through timetables, before turning to other things.

Like the itinerary for the Halloween Ball. Food and drinks. Always top of the list. Music. Lily had something up her sleeve for that. Maybe. Decorations. Ah, she wasn't the best with that stuff. Maybe one of the younger girls could help with that. And they would need volunteers to patrol the dance. The list seemed endless. Lily wondered how she was going to outfit the entire Great Hall for this shindig. It was a daunting task. After only scribbling a few ideas and notes, Lily sat her quill down in tandem with her partner and smile spread her face. Funny coincidences always entertained her. 

“James.” Lily said immediately, a hint of exasperation in her voice at James words. She looked down, unable to meet his eye and not grin, even though she didn't want to grin. She wanted to tell him that they absolutely could take every second of every day from them, that's what it was to be on the very tippy top of the entire student body. With great power comes great responsibility. “I'll think about it.” she said instead, meeting his eye. And there it was, that stupid smile again. Lily reached out and plucked the paper from him, momentarily narrowing her eyes and shaking her head. “You are a bad influence James Potter.” She looked away, it was still strange to reconcile this James before her with the boy she had not so affectionately called toerag. The James she disliked so much was not such a good person, or so intelligent, or so attentive. Lily pointed to the page James had liberally struck through, happily distracted from her thoughts by work. “We may have to do these on a Saturday. This isn't going to work at all."

[James Potter]

James' buzz was altogether rattled as she started to let him have it rather sharply. Just teasing, Merlin's beard. His face fell quickly, leading perhaps to Lily's mollifying - and blunt, all at once - continuation. His eyes shot to hers as she took his hand spontaneously, an unexpected show of support coming from her lips. Clearing his throat - She's trying to help. Relax. - James gave a short nod, chancing a small smile back. "I won't forget. Thanks, Evans." He...wasn't entirely sure what to make of this change of heart Lily was having right in front of him. In all of their years of knowing each other, she'd never been - er - supportive. At least, not outwardly. She'd cheer for the Gryffindor Quidditch team, obviously, but their wins weren't James' accomplishments himself - she had loads of friends on the team, so why would any of her cheers be for him in particular? It was...confusing.

Just as much so, it seemed, to his partner.

She'd taken her hand back quickly, but not too quickly, giving him more to think about as he inked in his conflicts on the schedule. After wanting to be with her for eons, was he reading too much into every little kindness she granted him? Or could she be...? Just because she doesn't hate you anymore doesn't mean she likes you. Still, his newfound comfort with her allowed much more teasing than in the past, for which he was grateful.

But at her tired drawling of his name, James did nothing but grin back at her. Try not to smile. Dare you. His grin warmed as his partner agreed to consider the idea, and he let her snatch the schedule back. James let out a laugh at her halfhearted insistence on his "influence," leaping on the opportunity to correct her. "No - no, I've been thinking on it. I think this might be exactly why I got the gig. To keep you from driving yourself completely bananas with doing this - this - more than perfectly. You've got to cut yourself some slack, for your own good, and ours. No use to anybody if you're burned out, eh?" You know we balance each other out. He had hardly a moment to enjoy the victory of she-didn't-say-no before Lily was suggesting...Saturday. Saturdays were for sleeping in, having brunch, doing a bit of work, catching some time on the pitch, and relaxing with his mates. It was not for coddling the anxious fifth year prefects.

"I get it," James mock-lamented, hiding a yawn in his elbow, tiredly ruffling his hair after. "You hate my idea so much that this is what I get for it. If you think this will deter me from my important task of keeping you sane, you've forgotten how very persistent I can be. We're not giving up the whole of our weekends either. Why don't we pull them out of their study time? Good students, the lot of them - and these interviews can't take that long, can they? Just like, what, making sure they've not lost their heads?"

[Lily Potter]

She and James had had very few of these intimate moments they were sharing and it was clearly still awkward for them both. But Lily was glad none-the-less that they were making progress toward becoming good friends. They would make an even better team when they were closer. 'How close are you thinking?' Her mind inquired at once, sounding oddly like someone she never wanted to speak to again. 'I don't know.' She answered anyway -it wasn't really him, after all. 'However close we are both comfortable with.' For now, they were just becoming friends, she had only begun learning this James...the real James. She wasn't ready to  even contemplate anything beyond that.

It was nice returning to their normal banter, however good she felt during the small moments between them where if felt like the last six years were a hundred years ago. She shook her head as he jumped on her statement, finding herself both exasperated and...swayed. No! She would not let him convince her, she would think about it and make up her mind on her own. "You are a bad influence." she insisted, waving off the rest of his words. "And you were not made Head Boy to be my keeper. You were appointed because you deserve it, not to watch over me." Lily's face scrunched up in displeasure, she hoped that wasn't true. She didn't know what  was out of Dumbledore's realm anymore. "Besides, I took a day off at the end of last month. And I plan to take another at the end of this one. So, you can actually thank Remus for me not burning out." 

She went on to more important things, like their meetings with the fifth years, but James managed to make that too into an attempt to make her...loosen up? She was fun, she wasn't going to go crazy, she wasn't! "James..." she said again in slight frustration, looking up in time to catch him yawn adorably and mess up his hair -which she had to resist the urge to reach out and fix. Lily sighed, all the hot annoyance draining out of her, especially as he went on.



He really was just trying to be a friend to her and he did have some good points; she also  didn't miss his compliment or the way it made her grin. She also didn't want to give up her weekend's, not really. "Maybe we can pick a day and give up our lunch hour and study block? That should be enough time to get everyone in." She looked back to James, nibbling on her lip as she mulled things over."Give up your lunch hour to the cause, and i'll seriously consider taking a night off. With you." 'That wouldn't be a date, right? Right, not a date.'

[James Potter]

The blokes won't ever believe you.

Not so much on the you're a bad influence, Potter side of things, but on the you deserve this side. It was something the young man was still trying to accept himself, and to hear Lily say it...meant more than James could admit. Even if it was said with the girl giving him a face showing just how much it irked her to admit it all. Regardless - no taking that back, Evans. Before he could argue, Lily was nearly bragging about taking time off, and he sat back in his chair with a grin, wholly entertained. "I'm very proud of you," he said, eyeing her with mischief. "And now I know who's been messing with my best mate's sleeping schedule. Good to know, good to know." Remus had offered, once they'd cleared the air between them, to help him out with Head Boy duties; why hadn't James figured he'd do the same for her? Pay you back for all this one day, Moony.

Not ever one to give up easily, even if he was ready to retire for the night, James was ready to for her to fire back reason after reason of why he should just stop trying to find loopholes and let her schedule the fifth years for Saturday. It felt like that was where this was going, anyway, with the hint of James, honestly, you're driving me mad in her voice as she spoke his name. But...something changed. By the time he met her eye, their emerald was softer than he'd anticipated, and she was ready to...compromise.

He truly did his best not to focus on her mouth, but she was nibbling on her lip and it took quite a lot of will to hold his eyes to hers. It was worth it, though. James was beaming before she'd finished speaking. Quite suddenly re-energized - You've got to find something fun to do! - he got to his feet. "Monday," he declared, holding out his hand for her to shake. "We'll get it all out of the way on Monday."

[Lily Potter]

When had the narrowing of her eyes become playful? It was hard to be serious when James was being so teasing; and he had said he was proud of her for taking time to herself, which felt better than it should have coming from him. She felt foolish for wanting to say 'thank you' so she refrained. "Remus is a big boy." she said instead, giving her partner a pointed look. Though, now she was feeling slightly guilty. She had never meant for Remus to lose out on sleep because of her anxiety. She resolved to make it up to him and moved back to the task at hand. 

~*~ 

"Monday?" Lily questioned, reeling from the sudden change in their conversation. Not two minutes prior she was almost certain James was going to fall asleep, now he seemed energized, excited even. It caused a stirring of similar feelings within her and she smiled. She was learning that James could be rather contagious. For years she had been immune to it, so clouded she was by her dislike of him; now seemed to be different, now she was giggling at his antics. Lily gave an outright laugh when she could contain herself no longer, trying to cover it with a shaky hand. 

It took her moment, but she did compose herself and when she did she gave her partner a rueful smile. "What am I going to do with you?" she asked rhetorically, giving her head a shake. She looked away from him, standing there with his hand out, his face so open and hopeful. Something was tight in her chest but for some reason, that didn't scare her; on the contrary, it felt right somehow. The moment and the atmosphere seemed to call for it. Lily met Jame's eye again, getting up from her seat, adjusting her shirt, and meeting his hand in a shake. "Alright. It's a deal then." she gave a cheeky smile, squeezing his hand just a little tighter. "You can tell the others tomorrow at the meeting, since it's you're show and all."

[James Potter]

Lily was giggling.

I didn't know I could get you to do that. He sported a bemused smile in response as the beauty seemed at a loss for how to respond to him. Was it really so strange or extraordinary that he wanted to get these meetings done as soon as they could? James' smile widened as Lily laughed. It was mainly during moments like these that the Head Boy needed to put in some effort to keep romantic declarations actions thoughts at bay. They were coworkers, and he was trying to respect that. But she...she knew, didn't she? The effect that she had on him? How, if she'd let him, he'd be content with a day spent only with her, hearing her laugh, watching her smile, making her happy...

"Keep me, I reckon," he commented with a laugh of his own, his hand outstretched between them still. Not giving up on this, Evans. Making a production out of it, Lily found his eye and stood, straightening her shirt before shaking his hand. He squeezed her hand back in play as she did, chuckling. "Roger that." A notion striking him, James swiftly adjusted his hand from a shake to a hold. It was nearly time for Astronomy, and as he'd come here right from his Arrows club, he at least didn't have his materials for class. "Grab that calendar, Evans," he encouraged, giving her a light tug away from the table with him after she'd taken it. James summoned her bag, shouldering it as he walked them towards the door, trying not to think about how well their hands fit together, or how comfortable this actually did feel, now that he'd finally done it. "Come on then, we've done all we can here tonight. Unless you were planning on ditching Astronomy?" The seventh year hoped that his newfound energy would last through the midnight class - Absurd timing, how do they expect us to remember anything? - and, sure, maybe was trying to compound it by strategically not letting go of her hand...

[Lily Potter]

"Keep you? As if I could give you away, even if I wanted to. Which I don't anymore, by the way."

Lily simply shook her head at James antics, all of his antics. From his answer to her not-a-question, to his happily agreeing to tell the younger prefects they would be giving up what was essentially 'social time' for their duties; to his enthusiasm at getting her to agree to considering a night off with him. Belatedly she thought of Tommy, her boyfriend now of a couple pleasant months. Would he see the two Heads spending a night in the kitchens to unwind as a, sort of, date? He couldn't right, because it wasn't a date, or rather it wouldn't be. They were colleagues and sometimes people who worked together spent time with one another outside of work to de-stress a little. Suddenly, Lily felt like she was trying to justify herself, when really she hadn't even made a decision yet on if she was even going to say yes to this night off. If she did, it wouldn't be anytime soon anyway, she was pretty booked into November... 

Still, they shook on their word; James' hand was warmer and larger than her own and it was nice...and surprising when he transferring their hands into the 'holding' position. It wasn't that she didn't hold hands with her friends, she did that all the time, it was just that she had never held hands with James. It felt more than friendly. She didn't pull away though, she was too distracted with putting things into her bag one handed, including the calendar he had requested. "I've got it here." she said, before sliding it in with the others. Then her bag was gone from the chair and James was slinging it over his shoulder, talking about missing Astronomy. "Ditch a class, do you know who you are talking to?" she asked with a barely contained, and very inconvenient yawn just as she turned back to her counterpart.

She looked away, trying to shield her housemate from the gaping of her mouth, smiling as she looked back up into James eyes when she was done. "Sorry." she apologized, meanwhile wondering how she could have spent so many years rejecting his friendship, the warmth of his care. Lily rolled her inner eye at her musing, her thoughts were floating around, as was common when she was tired. It was late, she was growing weary from the long days work and James' hand in hers kept pulling her attention. Lily reached out and patted his hand, the one holding hers, and then pulled both of her hands away. "Thanks, but I'd rather." she said, stepping in and slipping her bag from his shoulder. She buckled up it up and placed it over her own shoulders, hooking her thumbs around the straps; why was she feeling so awkward all of a sudden? And why couldn't she think of something to say? "We should get going then I guess."

[James Potter]

Wonder if she's like this with Wood -

    Don't think about them. Don't.

But what if she's not?...

Around him, lately, Evans was happy. He could tell. It didn't really feel like she was simply humoring him anymore when she laughed at one of his jokes; it didn't really matter what it was they were doing, they could share a smile anywhere. It was getting easier for James to just be himself around her, only biting his tongue about his feelings, not his opinions. But was she this relaxed, happy, when she was with his Keeper?

James didn't understand why they were together, plain and simple.

You just don't like her with anyone else, jealous bastard.

Finding out that the unlikely pair was together had been the low point of the burgeoning school term.

They'd been on the Hogwarts Express, just finished up greeting the prefects, doing introductions, his first public presence as Head Boy, when it happened. His teammate - in front of everyone - congratulated the Head Girl on a job well done and kissed her. James was pretty sure his heart had stopped once realizing that Lily wasn't hexing the kid. His initial confusion and hurt had only grown as the weeks progressed, and whatever he'd told Sirius, he knew in his heart of hearts that Lily wasn't falling victim to a Love Potion. No, she was too clever for that. So why was she giving Wood a chance? When she'd never given him one?

And so maybe James was being foolish, holding her hand. He could explain it away in a joke if he needed to, but she was acting like this wasn't a big deal, so...he summoned her bag, grinning over at her as Lily turned from him to yawn. Adorably. He didn't hide his smile when she turned back to him, meeting his eye with a look he couldn't read. Couldn't - or didn't want to? James corrected as she gently removed her hand from his, took her bag from his shoulder.

"Suit yourself," he said with impressive nonchalance, or so he felt. James grabbed his discarded school jumper from the back of a chair, pulling it on over his head before getting the door for her. He let it fall shut behind them, and took a few moments to pocket his wand, fix his jumper, and run his hand through his hair before jogging after her. "I've got to get my stuff from the Tower, are you headed that way?"

[Lily Potter]

"Yea, I think independence does suit me, don't you?" Lily leaned on her cheek sometimes when she was unsure, as she was right now. Did boys even know that these things they did were so...attractive? She could admit when one of her friends was attractive, and currently James was doing one of those ridiculously cute things boys did and didn't know it. She carefully avoided the bit of stomach that peeked out when he reached up to pull his sweater over his head and hid a smile at the way his hair fanned out about his head. Maybe she could see what Dorcas had seen in James. These were things that normally drove girls nuts, and Lily was glad she was currently taken, or she too may have been affected by it.  

She made quick work of walking with him to the door, thanking him as he held it open for her, and preceding him at a clipped pace. The Head Girl felt she really needed to get a grip. The late hour and new found friendship were making her too relaxed, she needed to make sure she took things at a nice steady pace. She and James had years of history to overcome, and if they were to ever truly be friends and well as partners this year, they needed to work through that. They had only began to scratch the surface. 

"Huh? Oh, yea, yea, I need my scope." Lily said without thinking, having been pulled suddenly from her thoughts as James appeared at her side. She glanced behind them, as if there would be more James's. There wasn't of course. "Merlin!" Lily exclaimed, stopping in her stride to yawn, again. "You started this." she accused, which was true, but she was mostly just teasing. She hadn't felt so tired in the prefects lounge, but now that she was thinking of yet another class...she felt exhausted. This will not do. An idea struck and she smiled a challenging smile, skipping ahead of James a few paces. "Last one to the tower has to patrol the next Hogsmead?"

[James Potter]

Oh, that's a trap -

    Gonna come back and bite your arse about Wood -

"It does," James returned simply upon emerging from his sweater, shooting his companion a quick look to try and tell just how much she'd been jesting. But Lily was hell bent on getting out of the lounge, her focus on the door as he hurried a few steps to get it for her.

Ponce.

    Nothing wrong with being polite.

That's what we're calling it?

So what if getting close again let him catch a whiff of that flowery scent that was uniquely Evans'? It was better than the smell of his roommates coming off of his jumper, now that he had it back on. Gotta talk to them about taking it easy with the cologne, Merlin's beard. After fixing himself up a bit, James caught up to a rather distracted Head Girl. Before he could ask what was on her mind - it was obviously working something out in between her ears - Lily was yawning. He grinned into one himself, semi-hiding it in an elbow, and chuckled as she loosed a smidgen of venom towards him that didn't even sting. "I don't make the schedules, Evans," he replied evenly, trying not to think too much about how cute the usually all-together girl was when she was stuck in a yawn.

She was suddenly skipping away from him, and he watched her rise in energy in amusement, hands in his pockets. James was returning her smile before he knew what the redhead was saying. She had one of those infectious grins, and he was no good at resisting them. But when he'd made sense of her words, the Head Boy laughed, hazel eyes sparkling with mirth. "You do know who you just challenged to a race, right?" Not only had James been on the Gryffindor Quidditch Team for nearly all of his living memory, which had given him the endurance he needed as Prongs to keep up with Moony, but he was one of the marauders. Who knew the in's and out's of the castle better than he and his brothers did? Even with the lateness of the hour, and his readiness to call it a night, he couldn't resist a challenge from her had the energy to win this. Especially given her terms. Let her and Wood be on patrol instead of a date. "I'll tell the Fat Lady you say hello," he taunted jokingly, shooting her a wink as he broke into a sprint.

The seventh year's mind was working faster than his feet, and he pulled up a mental map of the school. Years of studying the Map paid off in moments like these. Because, you see, from where they were there were options on how to get to Gryffindor Tower. The most obvious was the Grand Staircase, of course - but as James darted left instead of right, he wondered what Lily would do. Battle the ever-changing main stairs, or follow him into the unknown? "C'mon, Evans!" he encouraged loudly, not at all caring if they were heard by prefects on patrol. This was the boost his spirit needed, and for the first time tonight it felt like they were just James and Lily. Not Head Students. Not people with too many negatives in their history to think realistically about a future. They were just...them.

James slowed as he rounded a corner, exclaiming in laughing frustration as a suit of armor groaned out of the way of the narrow tapestry they needed to get behind to go down to the fourth floor. But once the creaking, towering thing was out of the way, he swept the heavy cloth aside and darted into the thin steep staircase meant more for elves and first years than the likes of them, loving the sound of Lily's footsteps fast after his. Once it dropped them off on the fourth floor, however, it was a straight shot to the bookcase under Vindictus Viridian's portrait. Upon his approach, James moved the bookcase out of the way with a well placed charm, and it'd shifted enough for him to duck into the low arched entrance at a high clip. His heart beat approvingly fast at the surprise exercise, and he shot a grin to his competitor. The secret - unmoving - stairs let out right by the Fat Lady...they were so close...

You should let her win, show some chivalry -

    She wanted a race!

[Lily Potter]

Their exchanges of late had been filled with growth and kindness and fun, something she hadn't been expecting. This night was no different. Except maybe that their eyes were locked on each other as the spoke of her independence and Lily had to look away, feeling bad for the burgeoning feeling in her chest.

It's way too late for this, she was just so sleepy...Lily was quick to change tacts, knowing she needed to perk up. They still had a whole hour of class to make it through. So she ran after James at full speed when he accepted her challenge though she was not nearly as fast as Potter going full tilt. Lily took a moment to appreciate that; the way the physical seemed so easy to him like it was to Tommy and the tight form of his run that was nice too. She blushed as she slipped behind the tapestry after him, thinking those two were more alike than they knew and wanting to tease him with that knowledge but too out of breath at the moment to speak. 

"James!" she shouted only a few minutes later, more winded than before but unable to stop her warning. "James that isn't-" Lily's words died unexpectantly in her throat as her counterpart drew his wand in a flash and the bookcase before them slide smoothly out of the way. The red-head slowed, staring in amazement at the passage that lay behind it and the messy mop that had just disappeared behind it. She had found the first passage they had used a few years back by complete happenstance, but this one...was a mystery to her. 

She darted through just in time for the case to slide back into place. She stared at it for a split second before dashing off again. Potter was far enough ahead that she had to really push herself to catch up, he bookbag bouncing painfully on her lower back, and the spiral of the stairs almost making her dizzy. Thank Merlin it didn't move! The stairs deposited them suddenly and there it was, The Fat Lady. No. I can't lose. She thought desperately, her competitive nature coming into play, causing her feet to fly across the stone floor with more speed than she knew she possessed. And with even more strength than that she launched herself forward, tackling James to the ground. 

"I won't let you beat me." she declared, scrambling over his body and making a dash for the Fat Lady. She reached out, almost there... when she was bodily snatched back. Lily let out a groan of disappointment, quickly followed by an 'umph' as her bum hit the ground. She glared up at James, who had made it to the portrait before her, who had beaten her. Lily sighed, and her pout turning into a bright smile, enjoying the adrenaline that was still coursing through her, even if she had lost. Of course, he had beaten her, she had known as much when she issued the challenge. Shaking her head she popped up from the floor, not feeling tired in the least anymore. "Man, you are fast." she admitted, dusting off her skirt and coming to join him with a curious eye. "Do you know a lot of super secret passages or just the one?"