Petals Upon a Flower

There it was again; her dreaded voice in his ears. It was so lovely, yet so haunting to him at the same time. He dreamt of her incessantly; although he hated to admit it, he was in love with her. James Potter, in love with the most nefarious bookworm of Hogwarts, Lily Evans. It was unheard of! Impossible, one would say, if told. That's nonsense; surely he loves one of the more "popular" girls. He was handsome; of course he could get any girl (and, if he were to swing that way, boy) he wanted. Except this one girl... she baffled him beyond belief. One minute, he was Potter to her. The next, he was James. Oh, how it tortured him to hear his name on her lips, so full, and pink... in her hauntingly beautiful voice... One might go as far to say that he was obsessed with her. He longed dearly to hear his name from her lips, gasped, in a secret place where the two of them could share their wondrous feelings for one another. He didn't want her for a nice song, perhaps a shag -- no, on the contrary, she was too special to him for that! He didn't want to remember her as a one-night stand... He wanted her by his side forever. He loved her, for Christ's sake! Deep in thought (about Lily, of course), he didn't realize she was talking to him. As he was about to drift off, her voice shattered his reverie, bringing him back to earth.

"James?" Her emerald hues focused on his hazel ones, and he blinked stupidly at her.

"What?" He felt as if he had sounded absolutely, tremendously stupid, and a faint flush rose to his cheeks.

"Did you hear a word of what I just said?" She crossed her arms over her chest, voice and eyes tinged with annoyance.

"Sorry, no," he replied, blinking a bit more before wondering exactly what she had said. This wondering made him acquire a most perplexed look upon his façade, thus making her laugh. He was a bit insulted. "Here, what are you sniggering at?"

"I've neve took the time to stop and watch you think before. It's quite funny, actually... your eyebrows scoot together and your nose scrunches up, and your eyes look to the left. That's what I'm sniggering at." She grinned. "Anyway, back to what I was saying before I had to interrupt myself to wake you up..." She took a deep breath. "Whew. That was a mouthful. McGonagall says I'm to tutor you in Charms, as whenever you attempt to do a spell you either make what you're charming explode, catch it on fire, or send it flying halfway across the room to hit Flitwick..." Before he could open his mouth to protest, she went on. "And you're to tutor me in Transfiguration..." She mumbled some inaudible words, and he caught: considering, bad, and it.

"What was that?" He grinned wickedly, trying to force her to repeat herself.

"Considering I'm bad at it," said Lily, looking rather grumpy at this revelation. "Hush up." He had been about to laugh, but refrained.

"When do we start?"

"How's Thursday?" She rubbed her temples. "Damn headache. At eight?"

"Say what?"

"Do you want to meet in the Library at eight on Thursday evening?"

"Can do. I'll be there."

"You're on."

He stood up from his place at the Gryffindor table, eyes fixated on Lily as she began to walk away. Probably to start her homework, no doubt. This meant that he was quite startled when she turned around to face him.

"Potter!" she called; she was halfway out the doors into the Entrance Hall.

"What, Evans?" he retorted, ruffling his hair up.

"Don't be late, alright?"

"I'll try not to!" said James, hazel orbs twinkling from behind black-rimmed glasses.

"Don't try, be there!"

And with that, she let the doors close behind her.

"What's that all about, Prongs?" Sirius asked, his mouth full of food - so it sounded more like 'whass tha al abrot, Prngs?'

"Damn, she's sexy." He adjusted his glasses on his nose and took his seat at the table, picking up his fork. "Don't worry, Padfoot... just... Don't worry about it." He grinned.