Hiya folks! As you're probably already aware, I own nothing but the plot =]

It all began when Lily had approached, no, stomped up to him in the library. She seemed to be in a particularly unpleasant mood, but James had still been glad to see her…

"Hiya Evans! What brings you here on this lovely fall afternoon?"

And it was a lovely afternoon too, even inside the quiet old library. The light chill that had fallen over the grounds was undetectable indoors, but sunlight streamed in through the windows. From where James was sitting, this warm afternoon sunlight caught Lily's hair beautifully: she was positively glowing. She was looking so lovely in fact, that James wasn't overly upset when she replied, "I could very well ask you the same question, Potter – I can't recall the last time I saw you in the library. It's one of the reasons I come here so often."

Lily narrowed her eyes at the sight before her as she spoke: Between his tangle of unruly black hair, un-tucked shirt, pushed up sleeves and the pile of colourful Bertie Botts Every Flavored Beans spilled out on his desk, James looked more out of place amongst the ancient shelves than a fish in a tree.

"Well, that uncalled for," James replied with good natured grin, "Especially as I'm nothing but perfectly delightful when you're around!"

She shot him a look, "Delightful my arse. Now Potter, I –"

"I completely agree Evans!" James cut in, happily popping a bright blue bean into his mouth, "Your arse is delightful! Eugh, ocean water…."

"Look Potter," Lily interjected, "I really don't have time for this right now. I need to study for Charms and you're in my spot."

James blinked. He blinked again but seemed unable to register her words. Finally, "Er… pardon?"

Lily let out a little sigh, but elaborated, "Not that it's any of your business, but I've been studying at the same corner desk at the library ever since first year. For every test, and every exam… I learned it all while sitting right there." She gazed at the worn wooden desktop with a reminiscent fondness. James stifled a snort.

"Really?" he asked, covering amusement with feigned interest. Lily glared as James proceeded to straighten up in his seat and ran his hands up and down the worn wooden desk with mock reverence. Then something seemed to occur to him, and he looked down at his chair with wide hazel eyes, "Hang on… does that mean that your delightful arse has been gracing this very seat for nearly a decade now?"

"Enough with the delightful arse thing already!" Lily broke in, with her hands balled so tightly that her knuckles were going white, "Potter, I need to study."

"So?" James looked up at the irked redhead unconcernedly, "Study then."

"But… you're in my spot!"

Now, Lily realized that she sounded a little ridiculous, but she couldn't help it. She honestly felt loads more confident writing tests when she prepared for them from the security of her little corner desk. The little boost of routine and normalcy she got from sitting in the same spot as usual gave her the confidence she needed to march into exam rooms unafraid. And to lose that nice confidence on account of James bleeding Potter was simply unacceptable. Unacceptable!

James, for his part, realized that Lily looked more than just a little irritated – she looked completely dismayed. So, despite that little voice in his head that was pleading with him to crack a terrible joke about her having a wand stuck up her, erm… delightful bits, he shrugged. "Alright Evans. If it means that much to you, I'll move."

And with that he flicked his wand over his parchment twice, muttering softly. The effect was immediate: all of his quills, parchment and ink stood up and began to shuffle about until they had formed a neat pile. Stuffing the lot of them into his book bag, and enchanting his Bertie Botts beans to float in a little cloud above his head, James offered the bemused Head girl a parting smile, and began searching for a new place to study.

The next morning during breakfast, Lily woke up much later than usual, on account of having to completely redo a Transfiguration project the night before. Lily had made a fatal error in one of her earlier calculations and had to discount all of the work she had completed from that point and start again – a mind numbingly monotonous task that had taken her until five in the morning. In fact, she was awake even longer than the Marauders, who finally left the corner of the common room that was unofficially reserved for them at one in the morning.

So, naturally, Lily wasn't exactly bright eyed and bushy tailed when she dragged herself out of bed. To make things worse, by the time she got downstairs the breakfast spread had been cleared away and it was time for first period. As she hurried to get to Potions class on time, Lily began to very seriously consider placing a Cheering charm on herself, if only to spare her classmates from having to deal with a royal grump. Oh, this was going to be a long morning, she could already tell.

She slipped into to class just five minutes late, and was horrified to discover that all of her friends had already paired up for the day's brewing assignment. Slughorn was in the back storage room for the moment, allowing her some time to settle in without him noticing. Accordingly, Lily hurried to find a potions partner for the day.

"Sorry, we thought you were out of service for the morning," her friend Mary said with an apologetic smile as Lily tiptoed over, "I guess I should have known that you'd never miss a class, Lils."

Lily, who had resigned herself to the inevitability of having a miserable day, sighed, "It's alright. But we have an even number of students in this class, so d'you know who the other –"

But she was cut off by a deep, familiar voice calling her from one of the desks at the back of the room, "Oi Evans! Come here: I don't have a partner yet either."

Holding in a cringe, Lily turned to face her addresser, "Thanks, Potter, for the offer, but I – "

However she was once again cut off. This time, it was by Slughorn who re-emerged from the storage room with his arms full of what looked like a tremendously long snakeskin. "Oh, hello there Miss Evans!" he greeted her happily as he placed the skin on his desk, "I'm so glad you're here, because I just knew that you'd hate to miss a chance to brew Fever Tonics!"

"Wouldn't dream of it, professor." Lily muttered.

He had noticed her absence. Blast.

"Oh, I see that you'll have to be partners with young Mr. Potter," Slughorn continued, appraising the situation before him with what looked to Lily, like a sadistic smile, "Should be interesting – I can't recall the last time that you two collaborated."

"That's just because I'm rubbish at Potions," James said, grinning good naturedly at their professor as Lily trudged over to slump into the seat next to his. To Lily, he said, "I've already gathered all the ingredients. So, er… shall we?"

He looked at her earnestly, and Lily decided that the thing to do was to ignore her troubles and focus on brewing the potion. Her stomach growled in protest.

"Alright, let's get started," she complied. Yes, this was going to be a very long morning indeed.

And so it begins... Thanks for reading, and hope ya liked it =]

Also, the cover art belongs to the wonderful Anxious Pineapples on deviantart - check her out!