Lily Evans [Potter] (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
liliales) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
noondayclock2012-07-18 01:53 am
liliales) wrote in noondayclock2012-07-18 01:53 am
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[Hogsmeade is something she usually finds herself looking forward to. Something she links arms with her friends with and spends long hours dragging each other across shops, taking long drinks of butterbeer and talking about classes and other classmates, about purchases. It's a tradition she's had ever since third year with them.
And yet...This one particular occasion is a little different. After half an hour, she's waved them off. She couldn't focus on the conversation, and while this wasn't entirely unsual, it had nothing to do with her school work or her Head Girl duties. Which generally was. She'd been so...Put out ever since she'd discovered James Potter had been Head Boy with her, and she'd have to work with him for the entire school year.
He was as insufferable as he'd always been, arrogance oozing from his every pore and incapable of taking anything she said seriously without adding some sort of come on to it. Except...For one very noticeable difference. But one she couldn't quite put her finger on. Inexplicably he seemed less like the boy she'd known, and more...Well, he'd seemed a little older.
So consumed is she with pondering this out, that she doesn't even really realize she's bumped chest first into the arm of the boy in question. She backs up a step, embarressed and ready to apologize, until his identity registers. Then her eyebrows furrow slightly in irritation]
Sorry, Potter.
And yet...This one particular occasion is a little different. After half an hour, she's waved them off. She couldn't focus on the conversation, and while this wasn't entirely unsual, it had nothing to do with her school work or her Head Girl duties. Which generally was. She'd been so...Put out ever since she'd discovered James Potter had been Head Boy with her, and she'd have to work with him for the entire school year.
He was as insufferable as he'd always been, arrogance oozing from his every pore and incapable of taking anything she said seriously without adding some sort of come on to it. Except...For one very noticeable difference. But one she couldn't quite put her finger on. Inexplicably he seemed less like the boy she'd known, and more...Well, he'd seemed a little older.
So consumed is she with pondering this out, that she doesn't even really realize she's bumped chest first into the arm of the boy in question. She backs up a step, embarressed and ready to apologize, until his identity registers. Then her eyebrows furrow slightly in irritation]
Sorry, Potter.
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Oh, I'm sorry, are those not the kind of changes we're talking about? Oh... Oh you mean those changes. The ones where James "bully" Potter realized that was not a nickname he wanted to have. Not that he actually changed his mind suddenly from some sort of major epiphany that he had been doing wrong all his life and needed to stop, but when a joke from a friend turned deadly.
Well... even James had his limits on jokes. And if there was one thing James adored, it was his friends. The fact that any of them would be foolhardy enough to play a potentially deadly prank on another student, no matter how oily and unsavory they might be was a problem. He refused to believed that Sirius would ever really want to kill Snape, but he'd realized something important.
The whole lot of them needed to clean up their acts. Himself included in a big way.
So while the arrogance hadn't disappeared, and he still got into more than his fair share of benign mischief making he'd cut out the jinxing, the random hexing, and all the malicious teasing.
To put it simply he was still a massive nitwit, but at least he wasn't a bullying arse on top of it all.
... She's not wrong about the obnoxious flirting and come-ons though. The moment he sees her he's giving her his most "charming" smirk. ]
All right, Evans?
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[It's rather short, but likely more telling than anything else, she isn't immediately storming past him. He looks no worse for wear, for her little bumping into him, so she doesn't return the question either. She turns the bottom edges of her sweater over in her hands, for a distraction.
It's easier to be confused by him, she's noting, when she's confronted with him in person. She'd heard about- Well, that whole thing, which she can admit to herself was likely a stupidly bias account by Snape. She didn't think...Well, she might not have thought better about Potter at the time, than she did about Snape even if she doubted he'd ever call her that foul name.
But everything he's done this year...She's sure she can pin point the start, but she's still not sure she knows why. Or even how sincere it is. He could just have been being a decent human being, for the occasion. Not wanting someone dead wasn't the same as not being a giant prick. If she waited long enough, Lily was certain he'd fall back into bad habits.
Only, it's been months already and he hasn't done a thing. Well, that wasn't true, he'd done pranks. Realizing exactly how long she's been standing there, staring at his stupid [not at all charming] smirk, she turns a bit pink around the ears]
You shouldn't stand about- [In a completely, harmless out of the way spot against a building waiting for your friends] Honestly, Potter, you're a menace!
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She might catch onto a little rule breaking he still had a bad habit of getting into from time to time, but for all intents and purposes he was the picture of the perfect student now, and for the most part it was completely genuine.
He grins a little winder, eyebrows slowly crawling up higher on his forehead and she floundered to find a way to insult him. She really had nothing on him, she wanted to keep giving him a hard time, but she couldn't. He had to admit, something about that fact was bizarrely satisfying, that even Evans herself had recognized the change.
And the fact that she was still trying to insult him? Call him a masochist, but it was weirdly endearing. ]
I'll try to stand better next time.
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Or they would be, if she had anything on him]
See that you do.
[She lingers for a long moment, unable to keep her gaze focused directly at his, because the last thing she wants, is for him to ever get the impression that while she has no choice but to recognize and acknowledge his changes...Or that he makes more than a decent head boy even if she'd rather avoid working with him, that her personal opinion is any different.
The more Potter thinks she still utterly dislikes him, the better. It certainly hasn't changed his attitude towards her any, but she can only imagine the slippery slope of increased fliration she's standing on, if she gives him just the slightest indication that she wouldn't hex him for doing it.
So instead of trying to fish around for conversation, or prolong her embarressment, she inclines her head stiffly and moves to go around him]
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One day, one day he'll manage to convince her to give him a second chance.
Like maybe today? There's no reason to let her march off in a huff like that. Well, there were lots of reasons to, but none that overrode his desire to spend time with her (even if she really didn't want to spend time with him.
So when she tries to walk away he decided to continue the conversation, whether she wants it to keep going or not. ]
Are you busy right now?
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She does stop immediately in her tracks when he decides to continue the conversation, instead of just pretending she hadn't heard him, or just waving him off with a yes and continuing on her way, like she might have before.
She turns slowly, on her heel to face him, and arches an eyebrow slowly. Clearly curious despite herself, maybe he wanted to talk about something important like rounds?]
...Not at the moment.
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He leans against the wall, and lifts a hand up towards his hair before he seems to think better of it and lowers it. One of the hardest habits he's been trying to break this past year.
He clears his throat, and forces himself to look more serious and less like he's about to ask her out... Even though he's about to ask her out. Again. ]
Good to hear. You've been working yourself absolutely ragged lately. Not that anyone could tell by looking at you, of course. You look perfect as always.
[ Laying it on a little thick there, James. ]
I could buy you a butterbeer. Sort of a thank you from the rest of us Gryffindors for your hard work.
[ The joking look was completely gone at this point, and he was speaking with what sounded like real sincerity. ]
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[It's immediately on her tongue before she even really processes what he's saying. Habit and a real desire not to stick around, not to do this dance that will end not other way, before she's oddly touched.
Being a prefect and then a Head Girl is often a thankless, resented job. The younger ones who doesn't understand why she has to be strict and enforce the rules, why she always takes the Marauders to task when the school thinks so highly of them, for giving them detentions.
To hear that someone recognizes her hard work, especially from someone who shares the burden, and is doing it as an appreciation? She can't help but be genuinely flattered. And he sounded so sincere. And James might be many things, but she'd never have accused him of being two-faced.
Slowly she smiles, it's not as wide as his, but not as warm, but her entire countenance radiates that she's pleased. And, she reasons logically, he asked to buy her a drink, he did not in any capacity ask her out. It was a gesture, a kind one. There was definitely no harm in accepting, so she moves back towards him with a nod]
On second thought, I'd like to accept.
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Mostly he wanted to spend time with her, whether it went anywhere or not he really liked Lily. He could ask her out until his face turned blue (and he had), but it didn't mean she was ever going to say yes. As much as he'd love for her to accept one of his many, many attempts to ask her he also respected her enough not to push when she said no.
He looks so pleased when Lily says yes though, his grin stretching as wide as it possibly can across his face. ]
The Three Broomsticks then?
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[Because while she's certainly not going to judge anyone for going into the Hogs Head, and maybe only a little bit for going into Madame Pudifoot's, the Three Broomsticks in general is just one of her favourite places in Hogsmeade.
She isn't even thinking about how it's true of most students, especially if it's cold out, and that they're very likely going to be seen sitting together and quite alone, without the other prefects or James' friends lurking about.
She may though, kick herself later when the rumour mill starts up. Still, his grin is a little infectious this time, and she can't help but answer it, just a bit, before she turns on her heel and starts to lead the way]
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One of the easiest places to find her? The Three Broomsticks.
Of course that doesn't necessarily mean it's her favorite place, but it's not an unreasonable assumption to make. She can't mind it if she goes there to grab a drink from time to time.
Either way, he'll be patting himself on the back for a job well done and taking a few big steps to catch up and walk alongside her. ]