Chapter Two

The day dragged on slowly, but eventually classes finished and Lily was happy to return to the common room. She felt drained, although the lessons hadn't been particularly difficult. As soon as she entered – waving good bye to Severus from the portrait hole – she ran onto her favourite, comfy chair and greeted it like an old friend. It was her favourite spot, close to the fire so the heat off it radiated against her cheeks, with a small table so she could work easily on assignments from the professors. However, she had received no work for this evening, and so instead amused herself with writing a note to her parents.

The sounds of laughter and chatter were a welcome backdrop to her writing, and with swift curves of her quill the letter formed. She tried hard not to think about the last letter she had looked at, still trying to convince herself that the words were not real – or, if they were, that they were a stupid prank.

"Wait," she mumbled to herself, piquing no attention from any of her fellow Gryffindors, "a prank…" her eyes soon crossed the room, looking to the animated James Potter who was guffawing loudly with Sirius. His eyes blazed with the constant, irritating, amusement she had never grown used to in all his years of harassing her – it had to be him.

And she would not let him get away with it.

With a final swirl of ink she completed her note – adding all the details her parents needed to know of her safety – before sealing it in an envelope. Standing up swiftly, she stomped over to the group of boys, her eyes blazing as strongly as the common room fire.

"Potter – will you come with me, please?" she said, trying to make her voice sound as friendly as possible. The only way she could have a serious conversation with the boy is if he wasn't trying to impress his friends. "I need to talk to you. Alone." Sirius began to wolf whistle loudly, capturing the attention of the room, and Lily felt a blush blaze on her cheeks.

"I told you she'd eventually give in to my irresistible charms," James said smugly, rising out from the sofa he was sharing with Remus. With a mighty grin and raised eyebrows, he hooked Lily's arm with his own, bobbing his head to the side. "So, where are we going, darling?"

"The owlery – and don't call me that." Lily spat, but the other boys just laughed loudly at her protests. Quickly she stormed off for the portrait hole, removing her slender arm from his muscular one.

They walked up the west tower in surprising silence, and only when Lily moved to enter the owlery did James finally speak. He lounged lazily against a patch of wall which wasn't streaked with owl faeces, making sure that a section of his toned chest was showing as his T-shirt lifted up. "So, Lily, I know you wanted to be alone with me, but you really could have chosen a much more romantic location."

"Look, James, I'm not in a mood – what you did was a horrible, horrible prank." Lily started, setting her letter onto the leg of a Hogwarts owl as she spoke. She stroked its head without much conviction, and then helped it to the window where it soon flew off into the darkening night sky. She turned to look at the boy, whose eyebrows ere now furrowed and what she took for confusion. "The letter? The letter that was on my bed? I know you mentioned yourself in there so I wouldn't guess it was you, but please-"

"Look, Lily, I don't know what you're talking about." James said plainly, and for the first time Lily saw honesty and a serious calm painted over his face. Was this the real James? The one who didn't make a joke of everything and who actually cared about something? "What letter?"

"Someone left a disgusting letter on my bed. I just… I just assumed it was you." The hurt in his eyes came apparent, and immediately Lily felt a painful hole sprout in her heart. Although, really, why should she feel sorry? He was the one who constantly went out of his way to irritate and harm her. She turned around, to gaze out of the window and avoid the tension his watchful eyes sent into the air.

"Lily, I would never try to hurt you. Not really." He said, and Lily hung her head, trying to hide the guilt she was feeling. She couldn't show herself as weak, not to him – he who took weakness and used it against anyone who owned it. "Are you sure it's not Sniv- I mean, Snape?"

"What?"

"I mean, he is a suspicious character. And everyone knows he has the hots for you." James said plainly, as if this was common knowledge. Lily turned defiantly, regretting ever feeling sad for James, and pounded her feet towards him.

"He does not fancy me, James Potter! Can't you ever take anything seriously? I'm sorry I accused you, but can you please leave me alone now, since you evidently cannot take anything seriously." Lily wasn't aware of how close she was to him until her rage brought her speech to a stop and her eyes were directly beneath his. For a moment he just stared at her blankly, his eyes narrowed behind his crooked glasses, and then with a single upturned twitch of his lips, he whispered seductively quiet:

"You look rather beautiful when you're angry." Lily released a groan of defeat, and barged her way past him to the door. But, before she could walk out he had grabbed her wrist and pulled him back towards him – similar to his stunt the day before. She immediately was flung against his chest, and was held there, but his grip was less dominating. He stared down at her with wide eyes. "Look, let me help you. You may think I'm good for nothing, but if you let me read the letter than maybe I can find out who sent it. Oh, and don't be mad, I was lying."

"Lying about what?"

"That you look beautiful when you're angry," James said simply, a small, genuine smile on his lips, "you look beautiful all the time."

The common room was cleared of living souls by the time they returned. Everyone had returned to their dorms or was sneaking out after dark in the corridors, which left the pair to talk by the fire. James read the letter with a strange expression on his face – as if he couldn't decide whether to laugh or tear up the paper in a fit of rage. Eventually, he set the parchment down on the coffee table beside him, looking at the faint green residue that still clung to the paper here and there.

"Well, whoever wrote that seems like a very nice person." He said, sarcasm dripping from his tone. Quickly he patted the dust from his fingertips into the flickering flames, setting off small sparks of blue in front of his eyes. "I especially liked the part 'I'd line the walls with their blood' – that was a nice touch."

"James," Lily said, placing a hand against her temples as she said his name. The tone in her voice snapped him to attention, and he signed with groggy fatigue – the letter had drained him as equally as it had drained her.

"Look, I have no idea who this psycho is. But, hopefully this is a one off. I suggest that we both go to bed, and hope that your little friend doesn't contact you again – okay?"

"Okay." Lily rose to her feet, yawning as she made the way to the Girls' Dormitories. As she reached the door, she turned to look down at James who was watching her sullenly. "Aren't you going to sleep?"

"No, I'm just going to sit here for a little while." He smiled, and she shrugged. With a flicker of bright hair she disappeared into the room, leaving the boy alone by the fireside.

When she made her way to bed – freshening herself up in the mirror and slipping into a pair of pyjamas – the other girls were still up, talking loudly and giggling. The topic of Sirius Black's abs was never one that intrigued her, so she slipped under the covers without much addition to the conversation. She was just shutting the drapes of her bed, when a flimsy letter fell from the post and landed on her lap.

The same purple seal embellished the rim of the envelope.