Best Attempts {James}

[Lily Evans]

She says you're a masochist for falling for me,
So roll up your sleeves

<.><.><.><.><.><.><.><.><.><.><.><.><.><.><.><.><.><.>

The efforts she had taken in avoiding this very thing...didn't it seem like sometimes the more you tried to avoid something, the easier it seemed to find you? It had gotten so desperate that she had even abandoned the pretense of trying to be discreet about it. But it had come down to either her pride or her responsibilities...and sometimes pride had to be dropped.

She was sure, however, that this was on purpose. She highly doubted that Lucius Malfoy was in the hospital wing puking out his guts, especially since the first year who had told her that he was skirting around his duties tonight couldn't seem to look her properly in the eye. And, of course, every other prefect managed to make every excuse possible not to cover his shift--even the fifth year hufflepuff prefect boy who had to take the terrible saturday night shift. She highly doubted it was possible that they were all busy. How was it possible that they were all busy?

So it was either do it herself, or have the task uncompleted, and the latter was simply not an option for Lily Evans. She'd have to eat her pride, chew it exactly thirty three times, and try to digest it in her already queasy stomach. Being the one who gets to schedule all of the Round schedule was sometimes a blessing, and it wasn't until right this moment that she realized it was also a curse.

Leaning against the banister of a staircase, Lily nipped softly at the inside of her cheek and played idly with the bottom of her shirt. The urge to check her watch again was strong, but it would only tell her the same thing it had told her five minutes earlier: late. She had had a plan, but her plan was starting out horribly before it even started. Be civil. She had to get through a whole night without gouging her eyes out, so the least she could do was try to make this night somewhat pleasant. But her dormant anger was awakening, growing from where it hid at the times of her toes and spreading into her fingertips, cramping with the urge to wrap themselves around his throat. But no, she'd be civil. She had to get through a whole year of this, and tonight would be good practice, right? Right.

She gave in and checked her watch. Just what it had said five minutes before: Late. Except now it was fifteen minutes late, and not just ten. Her foot began to tap impatiently and she grumbled into the silence around her, miserably waiting for the moment her torture would strike. Patrolling with James Potter...what worse punishment could she get?

<.><.><.><.><.><.><.><.><.><.><.><.><.><.><.><.><.><.>

And I think that I like her,
'cuz she tells me things I don't want to hear,
Medicinal tongue in my ear

[James Potter]

.
Presence requested by Lily Evans.
Time: Nighttime.
Plot: Patrolling.

[/size]

Saturday night patrols. Why did they even exist? They were the most dreadful thing that the Hogwarts administration could have ever come up with, aside from putting the school right beside a tempting forest and making it forbidden. This school was just full of so many goddamn surprises that weren't really surprises at all. They were more so terrible gifts since James knew about each one ahead of time, but it didn't make any of them any easier to stomach. He grimaced at the thought of a late night patrol with Lucius Malfoy. What a lousy way to end a Saturday, really. He and the Marauders could have figured up something much better than a sleepless and boring night with a dull Slytherin. It really was going to be horrible.

The time, what was the time? He checked the clock as he sat in Slughorn's office. They had been working on some extra credit, two words that separate meant nothing, but when used together were an absolutely disgusting combination. It wasn't something James prided himself on doing often, but when his Potions grade started to sink a little below the line of average, he decided it might be time for some reevaluation. He certainly wasn't the favourite student in the class, nor was he the best. Lily Evans and Lucius Malfoy were pretty high up on the list, and unfortunately neither had anything nice to say about the infamous James Potter. That didn't help his disability in the god forsaken class.

9:09, said the face of the large grandfather clock, and James' face grew pale. If he was late, which he already was, Lucius would have his head. Not because he really cared about the well-being of the school, but because he didn't want to roam those corridors at all, let alone by himself. Then there was the simple fact that James was Head Boy and Lucius was a Slytherin git who had nothing better to do than to tell on him. And the reaction Lily would have, as she went through the troubles of scheduling him... the nerve of him to try and improve his grade in a class for once! He could hear it now. She would hound him and hound him until Slughorn told her that he was telling the truth, and even then she would probably never let him live it down.

The extra credit assignment had actually been completed already and Slughorn was just going on and on about the Slug Club, a silly Potions club he had come up with that James had no cares for. It was all about his favourites anyway. He let out a long breath before finally interrupting. "Professor? I hate to cut you short, but I really need to get to patrolling the corridors. It's my night to do so and I'm already ten minutes late now." When necessary, James could pull off very convincing manners. Maybe that was why the professors let him get away with so much. The professor looked at his clock behind him and shooed James out the door, telling him to come back sometime if he was interested in joining the Slug Club. James politely told him he might return, not really considering the idea at all.

Excuses, excuses, there was always some sort of excuse for everything! And fortunately for him, this time he had one. Lily and Lucius could take that for all he cared, but he still needed to hurry on up to where he was to meet his "pal" for the night. It was a little ridiculous to have patrol with someone else in his mind. Wouldn't it be more beneficial if both split up and patrolled different parts of the school in hopes of successfully finding more miscreants? He thought so, and so did most of the Prefects when he mentioned it. Of course, Lily, fuming during his speech on why this was bad scheduling, immediately shot it down, claiming that too many would take advantage of not having the buddy system and sleep in the corners. She had shot James an accusing look, as he was the one caught sleeping on duty. He would have blushed had he cared enough.

He was near the staircase where they were set to meet at about 9:17 when he saw her, fiery red hair and emerald green eyes. Lily Evans was waiting for him where he had expected Lucius Malfoy to be. He was actually more concerned with her reaction to his being late than he was that bumbling Slytherin, and as he approached, he instinctively threw a hand in his hair and roughed it up a bit. He had a crooked smile on his face as he wondered how she was going to react to his poor timing. Why was she here in Lucius' place anyway? It wasn't exactly unusual for the guy to play hookie from his duty, which made James wonder why he was a Prefect in the first place, but then again, he had no room to talk as Head Boy. He cleared his throat to announce his appearance.

"Lily? What are you doing here?" The words seemed almost rehearsed. They hadn't done much talking since their last run-in by the Forbidden Forest, and in fact, he had spotted her a few times, but just as soon as he had seen her, she had disappeared again. The only times he really saw her for any length of time were in the classes they had together, and then she wouldn't so much as glance in his direction. What did she have to be angry about? She was the one throwing around insults that she had procured out of thin air. He was the one who had every right to be unhappy and even offended, but she had been the one avoiding. If her presence here tonight meant that they would be patrolling together, it was going to make the night that much more awkward.

She looked calm, aside from a few things that were dead giveaways as to the real emotions she was hiding. Tapping her foot, biting her cheek, these were some of Lily's early stages of irritation. At least she hadn't started the pacing yet. James considered his words more carefully than normal for once as he continued to approach her at a slow pace, trying to remain at a safe distance. "I'm sorry I was late... I didn't realise the time." He wondered how insane these next words were going to sound coming out of his mouth. "Professor Slughorn was bragging to me about the Slug Club after... completing an extra credit assignment." There was a bitter taste in his mouth that left it hard to swallow. He kept from flinching at the words, expecting to have quite a few more reasons to do so when Lily had come up with a proper response to this madness.

[/blockquote]

[Lily Evans]

She says you're a masochist for falling for me,
So roll up your sleeves

<.><.><.><.><.><.><.><.><.><.><.><.><.><.><.><.><.><.>

With each passing second, her fingers twitched all the more. She could feel the tip of her wand jabbing into her outer thigh, feeling as though it was cutting into her flesh and just begging her to move it. But she knew that if her fingers closed around her wand for a second, that would be the end of James Potter. And that's not what today was all about. Today she would be civil. Today she would try to make this work. Today she would test Potter, but more importantly, she'd be giving herself the ultimate test. If she could tolerate Potter and keep her patience level, she could tolerate the world. She could deal with anyone. And that was a great skill to have in life.

But oh, the trials it would take. If she could last fifteen minutes, she knew anyone in this entire school would drop dead at the news. The pair of them were well known for two reasons, one each respectively and one together: Lily was known for her uptight, rigid rules; Potter was known for his little posse and the idiotic jokes they could not contain; the pair of them were known for attacking each other at first glance, no matter the situation. It would be especially hard because she would be alone with him--again. How many times had she had to avoid being alone in the same room with Potter? She'd always done everything in her power to either flee, drag someone else into the vicinity, or yell at him enough to not let him get a word in before storming off angrily. And now she had to spend lots of quality time with him? Willingly, even? Well....it would never be willingly, it was still forced, but she wasn't trying to find an escape this time, and that was about as "willing" as she was ever going to get...

She could feel the waves of her temper rising and falling in her chest, crashing up high into her thoughts before receding carefully for a moment at the thought of her task for the night, but really only to prepare for a more powerful strike with the next wave. Her stomach tightened, her fingers rubbed all the more fiercely at her temples, and her posture became more tense as she leaned against the banister. Another second and she wasn't sure how much she'd be able to contain her anger...

"Lily? What are you doing here?"

[/color] she looked up startled at the sound of her name, the voice she had been waiting for all along...although the knowledge that it was coming didn't lessen the habitual internal groan she had to struggle to suppress. About time. James Potter was here, at his finest, Lily did not hasten to add in her head. His hand was--as usual, caught up in his hair, and he had that stupid look on his face he usually got whenever she was in the vicinity. Oh good, he must be thinking, instead of picking fights all night long with Malfoy, I can just bother the piss out of Lily and give myself a bit of a laugh as I watch her moan about it.

Lily had to be quick to wipe off the scowl on her face, but nothing could mask the exasperation in her sigh. She had to close her eyes for a second, take a deep breath, and do her best to keep her voice from quivering with frustration.

"You're late," [/color] she told him tiredly,simply. She pushed herself off from the banister and stretching her arms above her head, fingers interlaced. She wasn't sure whether it was the anger in her bones or the stiffness with which she had been sitting against the banister, but she felt very tense and felt an odd urge to stretch her bones a little.

She knew it was coming, it was like word vomit, and she wasn't let down. "Professor Slughorn was bragging to me about the Slug Club after... completing an extra credit assignment."

She chuckled darkly, not sure whether she was laughing at the idea of James Potter in the Slug Club (it would be quite amusing to see Slughorn try to add Potter to his collection, but then again it might just feed Potter's already enormous appetite of attention) or whether it was at his feeble attempt for an excuse. James Potter? Extra credit? It was a miracle if he even did the work he was supposed to do. She choked back a retort and sufficed with simply pushing past him, her shoulder brushing gently against his as she passed. She was going to begin to patrolling whether he decided to come along or not (preferrably not, because now that she was here she was starting to regret this whole situation entirely). It would be easier to be civil to him if she didn't even have to open her mouth, which she figured was cheating but at least it would be a step forward.

Cheating was not in Lily's vocabulary, and she had to stomach every bit of angst in her words as she called back over her shoulder, "Let's start this way. We'll end down at the dungeons, I suppose. " Whether he caught up with her or decided it would be best for him to keep his distance, she didn't really care, but she just prayed beyond all hope that he'd let her walk in silence and not attempt a horrible and meant-to-go-horribly wrong conversation with her, small talk or blatant torture, though since James Potter was in the picture, Lily figured they were one in the same.

But when did Lily ever get what she wanted when it came to James Potter? Never, thats when.



[/size][/blockquote]

<.><.><.><.><.><.><.><.><.><.><.><.><.><.><.><.><.><.>

And I think that I like her,
'cuz she tells me things I don't want to hear,
Medicinal tongue in my ear

[James Potter]

.
Presence requested by Lily Evans.
Time: Nighttime.
Plot: Patrolling.

[/size]

James stayed away back from Lily, though he wanted nothing more than to be as close as humanly possible to her. He could smell her all the way at the distance he was from her, which had to have been at least ten feet, though he was never very good at assessing distance. He rubbed the back of his neck, being reaffirmed that she was still angry with him for the night in the Forbidden Forest. He grimaced at the first two words she had spoken, so coldly, even more so than usual, but he tried to hold back any more reaction than his face just could not hold back. He lowered his eyes to stare at her feet so that he didn't have to suffer her piercing and outraged eyes. Being late certainly didn't help his cause in the least, and he wanted to smack himself over the head for not stopping Slughorn earlier. Had he known he would be spending the night with Lily Evans... if only.

His eyes darted back up to her face to judge her reaction to his doing extra credit. There wasn't much of one, and he assumed she was trying to figure out if he was being sarcastic or if he was really serious. Of course she couldn't believe he was being serious. James Potter and extra credit weren't exactly the best of friends, and they rarely, if ever, came into the same vicinity as one another. The thing that Lily had yet to realise was that he was making his best attempts at improving himself. It wasn't just for her (though there was a good part of him that said it might win her over), but it was for him, too. And for his parents, who he had caused enough stress to for his crazy antics with Sirius Black and the rest of the Marauders. There had been too many letters to them about trips to the Hospital Wing and the Headmaster's Office. He knew he was disappointing them, no matter how little they would admit it.

This was his final year. It might even be the last year he had to win the heart of Lily, and he was bound and determined to do it. He had tried so many things, and failed, in wooing this feisty lady. Anything from changing his appearance to look a little more clean cut to hexing the kids who picked on her. Not to mention yelling at Severus Snape for calling her that foul name he couldn't repeat if he tried. And yet nothing had helped. James was still, and seemed to always be, friend-zoned. No, even that gave him too much credit. He probably wasn't even put on a list of her friends. He felt like more of an enemy, especially this year. Even as Head Boy, he remained on her shit list. If someone like Amos Diggory had received the title, she would have been more than pleased to do a few late night watches with him. The two had dated in their earlier years, after all, and although James was somewhat friends with the boy, it bothered him to this day.

By this point, Lily was already moving. Her pace was fast, and James had to do a jog to catch up with her. He cleared his throat again and rubbed the back of his neck. Her scent was stronger, and it made him want to inhale all of it in. He wanted nothing more than to wrap his arm around her and patrol the corridors all night long with her, but that was a big dream. Her red hair was lying on her shoulders perfectly, as always, and her pale face stared straight ahead, not daring to look at his. She had to be able to see him staring at her intently, and he didn't care in the least. She knew his feelings for her, even if she liked to play them off as nothing more than an interest in sleeping with her. Of course he wanted to do that, but there was so much more. He wanted to hold her, call her his, show her off, take her on magical dates, maybe show her a good time on his broom -

He let out a grunt as he hit one of the columns side-of-the-head first. He stumbled backward and cursed under his breath as he rubbed his head where he had slammed into the damn thing - why was there even one here? He didn't want to look at Lily, knowing he looked like a complete idiot now. Served him right, really. Or at least that was what she was most likely to say. If she didn't say it, he knew she would be thinking it. Smooth, James, really smooth, he told himself, still rubbing the sore spot on his head. His eyes were squinted shut and he dared not to open them and see some happy little smirk on Lily's face. "Lily, wait one second, please... I need a moment," he announced, hoping she might actually take his words into consideration and let him recuperate.

He leaned against the column he had just run into and sighed loudly, still holding his eyes shut tightly. His head was already throbbing from the impact and he didn't want to move at all for another couple of minutes, or at least until he felt like he could get over the pounding in his brain. As he continued to massage where he had hit, he felt a knot beginning to develop, and he found himself cursing again. It was a damn good thing he had longer hair to cover the appearance of it up or he would be angrier still. "Sorry, Lils, I'm having a bad week. I don't know what's been going on lately." At this point he opened his eyes, hoping he wouldn't see anything close to a smile or even a grin on her face.

[/font][/blockquote]

[Lily Evans]

She says you're a masochist for falling for me,
So roll up your sleeves

<.><.><.><.><.><.><.><.><.><.><.><.><.><.><.><.><.><.>

She was stressed, what other way was there to put it? She loved--absolutely adored--her job, but there was no denying that it was stressing her out. To the average person, she looked like your ordinary Lily Evans: put together, refined, chin up high, attitude that would sizzle the skin off your nose at contact. But there were little details that one wouldn't notice that would tell you how she was really feeling: her fingernails were shorter, her skirt had a wrinkle in the right corner, bags were beginning to bloom under the cover up she had applied too many hours ago. She hadn't really gotten the chance to enjoy her seventh year yet. There were always too many kids breaking the rules and too many things to organize, things to attend, homework to do, authority to assert, schedules to plan. And on top of that, her friends seemed to be having mental break downs as well. She couldn't even remember the last time she had just had a uninterrupted moment to sit and try and compose herself.

So being placed with Potter on patrols? This was kind of the final straw. She felt in control right now, but give it a few hours and she'd be gone, gone, gone. It'd be nice though, to reach that breaking point. And at least she'd snap at night, when no one would be around to witness. Well, Potter would be, but she hardly cared about that, especially since the snapping would probably be in his direction. Though, at a second thought, she really hoped she didn't do anything embarrassing like cry. He'd never let her live that one down.

A throbbing began in the center of her temples, inching slowly towards the edges before tipping dangerously, skidding and scratching down her jawline as she pressed her teeth together in the hopes of keeping herself together. It was no use; with a rumbling landslide off the point of her chin, all hope was lost. The exhaustion exploded with one movement to her fingertips, her elbows, her eyelids, her ankles, her smallest toes. Everything felt about ten times heavier than it had before, and breathing felt like a chore. She'd be alarmed by this feeling if it didn't happen so often, but by now she was just too used to it. She knew she had to keep going, so she did.

It'd be nice to laugh though. There were sometimes that she got into this selfish mood, where she just wanted to stop and enjoy herself. She knew it was selfish; she knew she had to keep going because she took on this responsibility and this honor and someone needed to do it, but sometimes she got selfish too. She always tried to beat it down in these cases, but she'd give anything to curl up with a good transfiguration book right now and not think about the rest of the world.

So really, the laughter was unexpected. She wasn't even really sure where it came from. But she heard the smack, cocked an eyebrow and had turned around to find a bright faced James Potter with an unsightly bump beginning to blossom on the top of her head. His facial expression was her downfall really, but it all went downhill from there.

"I'm sorry, I'm really sorry. I shouldn't be laughing,"

[/color] It was only too bad that as she said this, she burst into another small fit of giggles. At least it was a good natured laugh, or at least she hoped it was. She did feel slightly bad as Potter leaned against a pillar in pain, eyes closed and fingers rubbing fruitlessly at the aching. But he really did look ridiculous, and she couldn't help it if she tried.

Feeling incredibly guilty about laughing at his pain, she decided the least she could do was go over and pretend to help him. She didn't have to be nice to him persay, but it would be beneath her to just let him sit there in pain and not offer and sort of assistance. She'd do it for anyone, so this didn't count as being nice. No, not at all.

She walked over to better examine the bump. She wasn't sure what on earth he had done, but that was quite some bump. He'd be feeling that pain for at least a few hours, and she could imagine the headache would be terrible. Her face crinkled a little in sympathy, imagining if it had been her in his place, and just thanking her lucky stars that it hadn't been her.

"Sorry, Lils, I'm having a bad week. I don't know what's been going on lately."

The smile slid of her face, just the littlest bit. As much of a jerk and a prick James Potter was 90% of the time, she had forgotten that he'd been experiencing the same thing she had this week. But the difference had been that she had asked for it; he had not. He hadn't entirely been living up to the job, but he had enough that he must be just as tired as she was. It was a nauseating thought, but she didn't let it get to her that much. This was still James Potter she was talking about.

She pushed a bit of hair out of the way to better examine the area. The bump was really big. For a second, she reached over to touch the bump on his head softly, but at that moment his eyes opened and she noticed that they were pretty close. She pulled her hand back quickly and pushed it through her hair, trying to make it look like that was her original intent. She also quickly took a giant step back before he could notice that she had been that close to him. Raising an eyebrow at him, another trademark of hers, she gave him a slightly mocking smile.

"Nice move, ding dong. You probably need some ice for that or you're going to look like your head swelled about ten sizes its normal size. Though its pretty big already, so I don't know how possible that is."[/color]

With any other person on this earth, she'd easily be able to make sure they weren't hurt. But with Potter? He'd see it as an act of the deepest passion or something. She'd have to be careful, before he started getting ideas again, because she could never just be nice without it meaning something. Too impossible with that boy. Too impossible.

[/size][/blockquote]

<.><.><.><.><.><.><.><.><.><.><.><.><.><.><.><.><.><.>

And I think that I like her,
'cuz she tells me things I don't want to hear,
Medicinal tongue in my ear

[James Potter]

.
Presence requested by Lily Evans.
Time: Nighttime.
Plot: Patrolling.

[/size]

If wasn't one thing, it really was another. This week especially. Hell, the whole month had been full of ups and downs. Although James was Head Boy, it was hard to give up his mischievous side, especially still being friends with the Marauders. They had egged him on to perform quite a few pranks since he had gained his title. He certainly wasn't going to give up his friends for a stupid title. He wouldn't even do something like that for a girl - even Lily couldn't compete with the friends he had. The only problem was all of them, save Remus, were in a constant state of trouble. Sirius especially, and he was always dragging James right along with him. Not to say that James was at all bothered by causing a mishap here and there from time to time, but it certainly wasn't helping in his stress department. He was getting ready to lay everything down for Sirius, actually, and it wouldn't be long before he snapped over it if he didn't. Games were fine, but hexes and pranks would need to go, especially if they were outlandish and led back to him.

Needless to say, this headache was nothing compared to the migraines he had been accustomed to experiencing since school had started back up. Lily did nothing but make them worse, of course, being the little fiery redhead she was. After their run-in at the Forbidden Forest, she had really been causing trouble for him. It wasn't so much that she was telling on him (though she had), or that she was avoiding him (though she was), or even that he was crazy about her, it was - hell, it was all of those things put together. He just needed to find a way to get over her, but no other girl could make him feel the way he did. There may have been more attractive girls at Hogwarts, even, but when James saw Lily, his entire world collapsed and all he could think of was her. The hold she had on him was absolutely terrible, and he just could not shake her. If she wanted him even in the slightest, it would make this feeling a lot more reasonable, but she didn't.

And just then he heard her laughing. It broke through his headache as if the thing had never been there, though in reality it had only intensified it. He considered opening his eyes to flash her a mean glare, but he knew that either she would be even more tickled by it or he wouldn't have the heart to do it once he was ready. Though her laugh was bothersome in the fact that it was at his clumsy behaviour, it was still somehow soothing. And the fact that she was apologising for it made it even all the better. Truly, he had had a small headache for a while now, the bump to the head had just made it that much worse. He dropped his hand now and pursed his lips, inhaling deeply in order to get the words he wanted to say out. "No, no, don't be sorry... you know me, never paying attention. It's about time that it caught up with me and I run into something, right?"

He felt her breath on his face. It was warm and it smelled like dessert - not to sound inappropriate. It didn't figuratively smell like dessert, but literally did. They had served strawberry shortcake as a follow-up to dinner, and he could smell the strawberries on her breath. He had hesitated on opening his eyes for a moment at the realisation that she was so very close to him. She was barely going over the bump with her soft hand, and it somehow made the sore feel a lot better. His eyes fluttered open as if he had just woken up from a dream, and when they did, they also met hers. As shocking as it was, there was a sudden glint of fear in her eyes and she had taken a great step backward. James was surprised she had not accidentally tripped over and fallen on her back with how large the step was with her small body. A smile came across his face and he he found the strength to ignore his headache, at least for the time being.

Was Lily really being sweet? Considerate, even? The idea crossed his mind very slowly, as though his mind couldn't compute it. In all their years of school, she had never checked him for any of the injuries he had obtained. Was she starting to finally see a possibility of the two of them being anything more than reluctant acquaintances? Even if she wasn't, this was surely a step in the right direction, even though to the untrained eye, it was really just a step into a column. During their time knowing one another, James had chased Lily in every direction, but it had mainly been up a wall. Now, for once, here she was tending to his wounds as if he mattered? It was a little overwhelming, really. Thankfully, she snapped back to and turned the tables back on him again, or he really might have felt odd.

His eyebrows furrowed, causing a crinkle on his forehead, and also bringing the headache right back to where it had been. The Lily Evans was back to her sassy and serious self. There was no more coddling left in her voice as she made fun of him for running into the column, and he let out a short sigh. He wished he could turn back time and take advantage of the smidge of time that had existed just then when she was sweet. He couldn't imagine her being like that all the time, though, and it would probably completely turn him off from her. This was beside the point. "Good thing you turned that one around on me, Lily... I was beginning to think you might actually have a heart." His words were thick and sounded downtrodden, but he made sure to tack a chuckle onto the end of them.

He ignored the pounding in his brain and flicked his wrist, motioning them forward through the corridors. "Can we just get a move on already?" He usually tried not to take anything she said to him to heart, but with all the stresses he had been feeling throughout the month of his final year of school, he wasn't willing to deal with it tonight. Maybe it would be best to just get this stupid patrol over with quickly, rather than spend it doting on a girl who couldn't appreciate a compliment if it were from God Himself. Letting out another gush of hot air, James started to walk off without her, his feet clomping the ground like an irritated animal ready to charge. Excitement sure did take a turn for the worst tonight, eh? Thanks a lot, Lily. Thanks one hell of a lot, he thought, shaking his head in a way that shouldn't be noticed by anyone.

[/font][/blockquote]

[Lily Evans]

She says you're a masochist for falling for me,
So roll up your sleeves

<.><.><.><.><.><.><.><.><.><.><.><.><.><.><.><.><.><.>

There was something about Hogwarts that made it so much more different at night. Obviously there's a strong difference between the feel of day and the touch of night, but Hogwarts always seemed to have a way to accentuate this. It was such a blessing, and such a shame too; unless you were breaking the rules, so few individuals ever really got to feel the change of the castle at night.

In one way, it was a blessing. A night filled with grandeur was all the more captivating. A night could feel like you were in a dream, like it was never going to end, like you were the most wonderful person on earth. Something about being under the warm glow of the candles and the hugs of the mysterious and mystifying shadows just surrounded you with a warm glow.

In one way, it was a curse. A night filled with exhaust was all the more tiring. A night could feel like you were in a nightmare, like it was never going to end, like you were the most drained person on earth. Something about being under the dank glow of the candles and the clutch of the mysterious and muddled shadows just surrounded you with a cool hum.

And even nights where you weren't sure of how you felt, feelings were still toyed with, emotions still ran high. The halls were so vast and so trapping and so free, that it was almost impossible to stay in that in-between zone. It might take you a little while to find what was hidden in that cache, but there was something about the halls of Hogwarts that would extract that feeling and pull it to its highest extent.

Seeing the extra task she had taken on, seeing the company she held, seeing the mood she had already been in, Lily figured it was a no brainer which way the night would lead. She was sure to be dragging herself through the last of the corridors tonight, digging her nails in the steps to use her last bit of sanity to pull herself up into her bed. Or, at least, that was how she assumed the night would go. For a moment, she had thought that it would be..not a happy night, for no night she had to spend in the presence of James Potter could ever be considered happy...but a tolerable night. And she could really use a tolerable night.

But then she felt it in her bones that he had noticed her presence. Shit. What on earth had she been thinking? The good news was that he didn't seem to change much at all, and she said a silent thanks that he had hit his head and still seemed to be pretty moody. She could still luck out and have a silent and brooding James Potter for the night, which would be much better company than any other James Potter that could be provided. She might still get lucky though. He seemed generally calm on the whole idea. Was he not taking advantage of it? Was she really that lucky?

"Good thing you turned that one around on me, Lily... I was beginning to think you might actually have a heart."

Merlin, it looked like his head hurt too much! How much had she lucked out? She would not be able to have any more close calls, but she'd lucked out this time. Moody but silent James Potter, she'd take him now if she had to take him at all.

"Don't get cute with me, Potter. I was only checking to make sure I didn't have to drag your knocked out body to the side of the hall for someone to find you in the morning. Think of the unsuspecting first years who would have to trip over you in the morning. Not the best when they're already confused and lost enough. Plus, they'd have to see you drool all over yourself and thats probably enough to give anyone nightmares."

She watched him flick his wrists and request that they move onward and she laughed bitterly. "I'm not the one who can't handle walking properly. I'm not the one who made us stop,"

[/color] But she continued walking anyway, if only to do her best to try and finish this patrol as fast as possible. Maybe if they weren't held up by anything, she could get her transfigurations essay for next week finished up and she'd have one less thing to worry about.

Walking a touch in front of her, Potter looked absolutely miserable. Lily was caught between satisfaction and pity. She was happy that he finally felt what she had felt all this time, all those times he had mocked Remus and her for being prissy little prefects now coming back to bite him hard. But at the same time, he looked like a very irritable cat that had been kicked a good many times and was planning on trying to aim a kick itself, only it knew it wasn't allowed to. It was an odd sensation to see on Potter, and she wasn't sure quite how to take it. She figured awkward small talk was probably the best approach, especially if she could make it so that she still had the upper hand.

"Head Boy not quite what you expected it to be?"[/color] she kept her voice as still as humanly possible, trying neither to express her guilt or her smugness. Placid was the way to go. She could handle placid, because then she wouldn't have to feel any of the other emotions she was feeling. But the night was closing in on them even more, and only time would tell whether the Hogwarts Halls would lead them more towards anger and high tempers.

[/size][/blockquote]

<.><.><.><.><.><.><.><.><.><.><.><.><.><.><.><.><.><.>

And I think that I like her,
'cuz she tells me things I don't want to hear,
Medicinal tongue in my ear