19 October 1976, Hogwarts Library

[lilium_evansiae]

There's another faint burst of giggling from the stacks to her left, and Lily looks up from her essay (two rolls of parchment on the effect of the stage of the moon on medicinal potions), again, annoyed.

People are trying to work here.

And yes, there's a time-honored Hogwarts tradition of flirting and even stealing a kiss or two in the library, but Black and Perdita are taking it to ridiculous extremes.

But then, that's been the theme of their whole relationship, hasn't it? Ridiculous extremes.

Lily takes a breath, counts to ten and turns her attention back to her essay.

The new moon frequently has a beneficial effect on ...

More giggling, the thud of a book hitting the floor, and a 'whoops.'

Lily takes another breath, and tries to resist the temptation to go hex them both into some time next month.

Comments

[alotofgood]

"I wouldn't be surprised if Cliona got to see at least some of the show," James says, nodding.

To think that Sirius and Perdita would just leave it at that after getting scolded by Madam Pince seems terribly unlikely.

"And we'll certainly be seeing the residual effects of it for the next few days, I reckon. Which — yeah, is the peril of dating someone from your own House." James frowns. "Actually, it brings back some pretty horrible memories of the beginning of Fifth Year.

"Coco Burwell. D'you remember?"

[lilium_evansiae]

"D'you mean the week she burst into tears every time you walked into the Common Room?

"Or a classroom?

"Or the Great Hall?"

Lily shakes her head.

"No. Don't remember a thing about it," she says.

Previous evidence to the contrary notwithstanding, of course.

[alotofgood]

James nods, looking a little helpless.

"It was a bit of a nightmare," he says. "She was so — angry with me, and then she got like that.

"And then she started to pretend like I didn't even exist."

He looks thoughtful. "I reckon she's still at that stage now, actually."

He hadn't really felt bad about it until recently. And she really was his only actual girlfriend.

(Snogging random girls every once in a while hardly counts as a relationship, does it?)

[lilium_evansiae]

(It doesn't count at all, really.)

"Don't look quite so tragic, James.

"Coco Burwell is far from still hung up on you or anything like that.

"It's not really that she's pretending you don't exist. It's just that you're not all that relevent to her day-to-day life any more.

"I mean, you did break up more than a year ago."

[alotofgood]

"Yeah."

James shrugs, his expression turning back to its usual, easy good-naturedness.

"Well, anyway — it'll be different with Sirius and Perdita. Coco and I hardly had to see each other, but Sirius is my best mate, and Perdita is one of yours, yeah?"

[lilium_evansiae]

"Yeah, but the only person they really have in common is Cliona, sort of, yeah?

"And it's not like the whole group of us spend time together, is it?

"It'll be fine. I can't imagine either of them is exactly heartbroken. They'll ignore each other, we'll all get on with our lives."

[alotofgood]

"No, definitely not heartbroken," James agrees. "In fact, once they get over the fighting bit, they'll realize how relieved they actually are."

There won't be anymore need to pretend for anyone's sake.

[lilium_evansiae]

"Right.

"So all we really have to do is weather the week of wounded pride."

On both sides.

Lily starts to grin.

"I can't believe he let her call him 'Sirikins' as long as he did."

[alotofgood]

"Me either," James says, snorting.

And after giving him grief over 'Jamesy'.

Yeah, he's going to have fun with that one in the coming days.

"There's a lot that bloke will do to save face."

[lilium_evansiae]

"A condition hardly limited to Black," Lily says, tone a little dry.

"So can I ask you something? On the subject of nicknames?

"Why do your friends call you 'Prongs'?"

It's not any nickname for 'James' that she's ever heard.

[alotofgood]

James doesn't answer at first.

Honestly, he's a little taken aback by the question.

Strange, too. Because no one's ever really thought to ask the Marauders why they call each other Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs, and he never realized that until now.

"— it's nothing, really," he says, waving a hand.

He can't tell her the real truth. That would get into the how's and the why's and it's not his secret to tell.

"It's mostly to do with our Patronuses, you know? Mine's a stag."

[lilium_evansiae]

Lily frowns a little.

"Yeah, but we only learned those this year.

"You've been using those nicknames longer than that."

[alotofgood]

"You've been paying attention to the names my mates and I used since then?" James asks, an eyebrow raised.

His tone is easy and light, better not to betray the fact that he's starting to get a bit uncomfortable.

"Even when you thought I was completely unbearable and a toerag?"

From the other table, Amity Root looks as though she's about to come over and hex them.

"Excuse me," she hisses, "but would you two stop flirting in the library? Haven't we had enough of that nonsense earlier today?"

[lilium_evansiae]

Lily manages to simultaneously roll her eyes and flush slightly.

"Sorry, Amity," she says.

But they're hardly talking very loudly.

So Amity may just have to deal.

Lily turns back to James.

"Well, I don't know when you started, but you were definitely using them last year.

"And it's not like you've made any secret of them, really."

[alotofgood]

"No, I suppose not," James says, eying Amity, and then turning his attention back to Lily.

He shrugs, gathering his books and notes together and stuffing them into his bag.

"Look, they're just nicknames. And no one's really asked us about them because that's really all they are: silly nicknames. That's all."

[lilium_evansiae]

"Okay," she says.

"I'm sorry if I'm prying or something. I didn't mean to.

"Forget I asked."

[alotofgood]

James pauses, suddenly feeling ridiculous and a bit awful.

He lets out a breath and moves his hands away from his things.

"I — Lily," he says, "I wish I could tell you, but it's not my story to tell."

[lilium_evansiae]

"It's fine, James," she says.

"Really, forget I asked.

"It's not important."

Except she gets the feeling it is.

[alotofgood]

It is important.

Deathly important, actually.

Which is why it's imperative that James doesn't say a word.

He nods.

"Right," he says. So, that's the subject changed. "I could tell you other things, though, if you want. Though you've probably heard the best story I've got already."

[lilium_evansiae]

Right. Changed.

"Guess that depends on what you consider your best story," Lily says.

"Tell me the best one I haven't heard."

[alotofgood]

"All right," he says, offering her a (slightly tentative) smile. "Well, I could tell you about —"

He thinks.

Then he pushes the sleeve of his left arm up and turns it up so she can see a thin line of scar tissue on his inner forearm.

"— how I first realized flying was probably my favourite thing in the world to do. That's my second best story."

[lilium_evansiae]

"Let me guess."

Lily looks up from the scar to meet his eyes.

"You insisted you didn't need to go to hospital that time, too?" she asks, faintly amused.

"What happened?"

[alotofgood]

James laughs softly.

"Yeah, actually — that was part of it," he says. "I was six when my dad gave me my first broomstick. He'd never played for Gryffindor when he was at Hogwarts, but he did like to fly. He thought I might like to try it too."

He pushes his sleeve back down.

"And it was absolutely brilliant.

"Brilliant until I had a bit of a fall, anyway. Then it was just me on the ground, my parents in a panic, and a broken arm, some horrid cuts and bruises, that sort of thing."

[lilium_evansiae]

"They must have been horrid, if you've got the scar."

Healing usually doesn't leave them.

Not for something like a fall.

(Curses, yeah. Those leave scars. And if her eyes flick to the place where his cheek was cut last spring ... well, it's only for a second.)

[alotofgood]

(And if James notices, he doesn't make a point of it.)

"Well, I had most of it healed," he says, "Mum wouldn't have let me leave St Mungo's otherwise. But I wanted to keep this one."

He smiles a little.

"Because while I was up there in the air, before the fall, I thought about all the Quidditch games I'd seen with my parents so far and all those brilliant players flying about on the pitch — and I imagined myself, even though I was six, being one of them.

"I wanted a ... sort of token of that feeling."