A/N: Hey, there... Long time no see, eh? But since it's my birthday, I decided to post this just for the heck of it. It's short, kind of pointless, but it's also quite important, for reasons which I will state at the bottom. Ignore the first paragraph. I don't know what the hell I was thinking. So I hope you enjoy! Forgive me if not - I'm a little rusty.

Disclaimer: None of the characters or settings you see are mine.

Moments

In one moment, so much can happen. Lives can begin and lives can end. A laugh can turn into a sob and a sob into a laugh. Enemies can become friends, friends can become enemies. In one single moment, everything can change.

And in this one moment, our eyes locked intently on the only other thing that mattered in the room, I knew. I knew something was changing.

"Don't. Even. Think about it," I hissed between clenched teeth, assaulting him with death glares through narrowed eyes.

"Is that a threat, Evans?" he taunted, wiggling his eyebrows at me.

I just barely flicked my head from side to side. "Not a threat," I assured him kindly, "a promise."

He chuckled in a lighthearted sort of way, but I didn't miss the way the veins in his hand became a bit more prominent as his fist clenched tighter. "So violent…"

A tiny noise of outrage escaped my mouth, and he made my momentary distraction into opportunity: he lunged for that last slice of cherry pie.

"NO!"

I flung myself across the table, sending food and pumpkin juice flying in all directions, and tackled Potter to the cold, stone floors of the great hall. Laughter echoed around us as I pinned him to the ground. I could vaguely hear Alice's disapproving mutters and Sirius's suggestive remarks.

"Merlin, I love it when she gets all hot and bothered," Sirius sighed, looking up at the ceiling as if to praise the god of teenage hormones. "Could you perhaps bend over just a tad bit more, Lily dear? Oh, yes. That's just excellent."

"You are the most disgusting human being I have ever met," came my roommate Mary Macdonald's repulsed voice.

I could hear the smirk in Sirius's voice when he replied, "You don't even know the half of it, love."

"Ewww!" my other roommate Marlene McKinnon whined, childishly covering her ears.

I attempted to ignore them (though it was proving difficult to tune out the entire Great Hall's chant of "Fight, fight, fight!") and turned my gleeful smile on Potter. "Now that's quite enough. I reckon I'll eat my cherry pie in peace now, thank you very much."

I attempted to stand, struggling to disentangle our various limbs. I huffed as I got to my feet and looked down at James, completely prepared to gloat in his devastated, pathetic, glorious face. My breath caught in my throat, however, when I saw that magnificent face grinning up at me. Merlin's beard.

As if my ears were stuffed full of cotton, I could just barely hear him say, "I'm really sorry about this, Lily."

The dreamy expression was wiped off my face as James kicked his feet out and trapped one of my ankles. I tipped over, my scream coming out as a strangled cry. James hopped up, looking quite maniacal, and made a grab for the plate.

"NO—oh." The last word was nothing more than a squeak of fear.

"Minnie!" Sirius greeted the irate Professor McGonagall with his mouth stuffed with food and his arms wide open.

She pushed a stray strand of gray hair from her eyes and straightened her pointed hat. "Miss Evans," she huffed angrily, "I cannot even begin to comprehend the absurdity with which you have conducted yourself this evening. The Head Girl! Brawling! With the Head Boy!"

"Now, Professor," interjected James with a ridiculous laugh, "brawling really insinuates that I, the Head Boy, was fighting back. But that simply isn't—"

"And YOU!" shouted McGonagall, spinning rapidly to point her accusatory finger at him. "How dare you engage with Miss Evans in such a—in such debauchery! Never in my years at Hogwarts have I seen such antics!"

James didn't even have the decency to look the slightest bit ashamed. Instead, he winked at me and said, "Hear that, Evans? Debauchery. Sounds naughty."

My eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets as I watched McGonagall let out a shrill screech of anxiety. I tried to subtly reach for my wand, nervous with the way red sparks were shooting randomly from hers. A fallen napkin caught fire when one spark strayed from its original path.

"Shit!" yelped Sirius, pointing his wand at the flaming napkin with a cry of "augamenti!"

McGonagall didn't even berate Sirius for his language. "Fifty points will be taken from Gryffindor," she said, her voice shaking dangerously, and her eyes flashing.

"Fifty!" cried James and I in unison.

"Each!" There were several loud groans from the Gryffindor table, and both James and I exchanged a horrified look. "And," McGonagall continued, "I will be expecting both of you in my office each night for the next month to serve your detentions, God help me."

"A month!" cried James. "What about Quidditch?"

"What about our homework!" Every mouth in the Hall seemed to be gaping at me. "Nevermind…" I mumbled, embarrassed by my outburst.

"Shall we make it two months?" she asked, daring us to try her.

"No, ma'am," we intoned.

"Then have I made myself quite clear?"

James gulped, his lips twitching slightly. "Crystal." I had to slap my hands over my mouth to keep from bursting into laughter.

She leveled us each with a frightening glare before turning on her heel and striding briskly out into the Entrance Hall, snapping at gawking students on her way.

The Hall was eerily silent.

"So," James said loudly, clapping his hands together, "who wants this pie?"

I smacked him over the back of his head.

A/N: Eeeep! Surprise time! After - oh, I don't know- forever (give or take a few years), I have finally been struck again by an idea. And what you just read was a little sneak peek into what you can expect. Was that less exciting than I made it seem? Anyway, I'm not quite sure when you can begin to look for this new story -as I just came up with the idea last night and I need to work some things out- so the best way to make sure you know when it is published is to add me to your author alerts. Okay, so that was a rather desperate ploy for popularity. REVIEWS would be a great way to stimulate these fingers of mine, however! Have a lovely day!

Much Love,

Jessie (happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me!)