After a long, hard day of classes, Lily returned to the common room, too stressed and exhausted. She had several exams to study for and piles of homework left to do. McGonagall had assigned a fifteen-inch essay on Untransfiguration which she especially did not understand. Scanning the common room, Lily looked for Andy. He had a much better grasp of Transfiguration than Lily did and he was always willing to help her.
There by the fireplace, she spotted Andy sitting on the couch with his arm wrapped around Kelly. Lily began towards them until Andy leaned towards Kelly and kissed her on the mouth. Sighing with frustration, she turned around and headed to the library. This had been happening frequently ever since Kelly and Andy had become a couple. She felt as if she barely had any time to spend with her friends anymore.
“Lily! Over here,” a voice called as Lily entered the library.
Lily looked around the room for the source of the voice and was very surprised to find Meredith sitting at a table stacked high with books with James Potter.
“What are you two doing here?” Lily exclaimed.
“Shh!” reprimanded the librarian from her desk.
“We’re studying together!” whispered Meredith excitedly. “James is really good at Transfiguration and he’s helping me with McGonagall’s essay.”
“And she’s helping me with Potions,” added Potter. “But it seems like you understand enough to finish the essay, Mary. Oh, and thanks a ton for the help on Slughorn’s homework.”
“My name’s Meredith,”
“Right. Well, I’m getting pretty tired.” He faked a yawn. “Why don’t you head back up to the common room? I’ll catch up with you later; I just need to look up one more thing.”
“Are you sure you don’t need help?” Meredith offered.
“I think I’ll be okay,” Potter said, a little impatiently.
Looking a little upset at being kicked out, Meredith gathered up her books and left the library.
Lily set her book bag down on a nearby table and opened her Guide to Advanced Transfiguration to start her homework. As she tried to comprehend the passage she was reading, Lily glanced over at Potter. He appeared to have finished the essay and was reading a thick book about Quidditch. Rolling her eyes, Lily turned back to the textbook.
After about fifteen minutes, Potter rose from his chair and began to gather up his books. Panic filled Lily as he began to walk towards the door. Her Transfiguration essay was due tomorrow and she had barely understood the material. She couldn’t possibly write it before class tomorrow by herself. In her six years at Hogwarts, Lily had never missed a deadline. She was always prepared and always did her homework. How could she face McGonagall without her essay?
“Potter, wait,” Lily called.
The bespectacled boy turned around at her voice.
“What’s up, Evans?”
“It’s the essay. I…I don’t understand it. Could you help me?”
“That’s all? Sure, I can help you,” Potter said.
For the next two hours, Potter patiently explained the Transfiguration homework to Lily and helped her complete her essay. Even though she was near the top of the class, Transfiguration was not Lily’s best subject and Potter ended up scratching out and rewriting a great deal of the pitiful essay she had written. As Lily watched him work, she felt a new sense of appreciation for the boy. Even though she had hated him since their first day on the Hogwarts Express, Potter was still willing to spend the time helping her with her homework.
“There. I think you’re finally done,” Potter said with a sigh of relief.
“Thank you so much,” Lily said, sincerely. “I don’t know what I would have done without your help.”
“I know. You’re Lily Evans. You always turn everything in on time,” he replied with a chuckle.
At that point, Madam Pince, the librarian, ushered them out into the corridor as she closed the library. Pulling their book bags over their shoulders, James and Lily began the long walk towards Gryffindor Tower.
“So…,” Lily started, thinking of something to say. “how did Meredith manage to form a study group with you?”
Potter sighed. “I have no idea. I was doing homework and your friend plopped down next to me out of the blue and started chattering away. I think she mentioned something about tutoring her and…,” he stopped and shook his head, “after that, I lost her.”
Lily laughed. “She can be a little crazy sometimes, but she’s not all that bad.”
“I’m sure you would know; you’ve been friends with her for six years.”
Lily nodded and looked at the portraits lining the walls. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw that Potter had taken an interest in the grounds visible from the windows, lining the other side of the corridor. After several minutes of awkward silence, they turned down the hall which ended at the Fat Lady’s Portrait.
“James…,” Lily started uneasily.
Potter raised his eyebrows at this change.
“Are you sick, Evans?” he asked.
“No, I’m fine. I just want to tell you again how grateful I am that you took the time to help me with my essay tonight. I’ve also been thinking…now that we’re both Heads, it would probably make more sense for me to call you ‘James.’ After six years of animosity, you probably deserve to be called by your first name.”
“Thanks,” he said with a nod.
“I also give you permission to call me ‘Lily.’”
James smiled at this remark. “That’s good. I was going to ask you about that. After last year, you had made it clear that I was to never call you anything except ‘Evans’ unless you said otherwise. And then according to you, you would have completely lost your mind.”
Lily blushed at the memory. In past years, she had never gotten along with him very well. In fact, most of their conversations ended with her yelling at him.
“Just remember, though, that if you get cocky about it”” Lily said.
“Don’t worry, Lily, I won’t,” James replied.
By that time they had arrived at the common room.
“Good night, Lily,” James said as he started up the staircase to the boys’ dormitories.
“Good night, James.”
Lily watched him until he disappeared out of sight. James…James…James. That felt so much different to her than his surname”different but in a good way.
*****
Despite the fact that she had stayed up late with James, Lily woke up early the next morning. She had had fun studying and chatting with James the previous night. He hadn’t been annoying and cocky nor distant and stolid. Though they were not really friends, they had reached a sort of unspoken agreement to act kinder towards each other.
After the sun rose, Lily got out of bed, showered, dressed, and headed to the Great Hall for breakfast. Because it was fairly early and there were few people, Lily sat down at the Gryffindor table alone and began buttering a piece of toast.
Suddenly, someone came up from behind and covered her eyes. Lily turned around quickly to find Meredith standing, still in her lilac pajama bottoms with her hands on her hips.
“Hey, Meredith. I thought you were Kelly for a second,” said Lily with a smile. “At least you aren’t James.”
“Since when have you been calling him ‘James?’” Meredith replied, raising an eyebrow.
“Since last night,” answered Lily.
“Oh,” Meredith said coolly, rolling her eyes. “I bet you two had a lot of fun last night.”
“What? Why would you say that?” asked Lily, bewildered.
“James specifically kicked me out last night so he could spend time with you. First, Kelly and Andy and now you! Before I know it, you two will be snogging in the common room.” She stopped to take a deep breath, looking on the brink of tears. “You know how important he is to me, Lily!” she whispered vehemently.
“Meredith, what are you talking about?” said Lily, pulling Meredith onto the bench next to her. “James and I are barely even friends and nothing more. You are being unreasonable. I’m not standing in the way of you and your precious James. You’re doing that just fine by yourself!”
As soon as the words came out of her mouth, Lily regretted them. Tears began to run down Meredith’s shocked face and, as she left the table, she purposely ran into Lily with her shoulder.
Remorse flooded Lily as she watched her friend storm out of the Great Hall. Lily couldn’t believe what she had done. Over the past six years, she and Meredith had been best friends and seldom argued. She should have known that Meredith would be jealous and she shouldn’t have worsened things.
Out of the corner of her eye, Lily saw the Marauders enter the Great Hall. James gave her a wide grin and walked over to where she was sitting.
“No, I can’t sit with him,” Lily thought. “I can’t disregard Meredith’s feelings entirely.” She made to get up and leave the hall, but was intercepted by James.
“What’s wrong, Lily?” he asked with concern, noticing the hurt look on the redhead’s face.
Lily did not look at him. Already, tears began to form in her eyes from her argument with Meredith and she couldn’t stop them. “Not now,” she whispered to James before hurrying out of the Great Hall.
She could hear James calling her name as she left, but she chose to ignore them. Instead, she kept on running until she reached the Gryffindor common room and once there, she threw herself onto the couch and cried.
Moments later, Lily heard the portrait hole open and she looked up to see James.
“Go away,” she said with a sob.
“I’m not going to go away until you tell me what’s wrong, Lily.” He sat down in an armchair across from her and looked into her eyes. “I can’t remember seeing you this upset over something I didn’t do.”
She managed half of a smile. “Why should I tell you? It’s none of your business, anyways.”
“Lily,” James said, looking into her emerald eyes. “Maybe talking about it will make you feel better. Besides, I want to know if something is wrong with you. After all, I am your partner Head.”
“Fine,” Lily sighed. “It’s Meredith. She’s upset with me because…well, because of you. She likes you a lot.”
“Yeah. I’m aware of that. Don’t let her bother you,” replied James.
“She’s jealous that I spent time studying with you of all things…” Lily hesitated and stared at the floor. “She thinks we’re going to end up like Kelly and Andy and she’ll be left out,” Lily finished.
James’ eyes widened. “Oh. Well…I …uh…”
“I tried to explain to her that we’re barely even friends but she won’t listen,” Lily continued.
James nodded, staring at the floor.
She looked at James and gave him an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry that you have to deal with this.”
“Oh, that’s all right,” he said with a chuckle.
Lily glanced at the clock on the mantle and bent down to grab her bag.
“We should probably get going if we want to be on time to class,” she said, standing up.
“Lily, wait,” James said, rising from the armchair.
Lily turned around and looked at him. His eyes met hers and he gave her a small smile.
“Are you sure you’re going to be okay?” he asked, looking concerned.
“Yeah,” she said a smile playing on her lips.
“Well, if you ever need to talk about anything, you know I’m there for you.”
Lily hesitated, and then walked over to James and gave him a hug.
“That’s good to know.”
More than Meets the Eye by lilybobily7
Chapter Notes: Disclaimer: This world belongs to JKR.
Enjoy the chapter!
Chapter Endnotes: Hope you liked it! I would love to hear what you thought. =]