The Love of Patronus | JILY

Evans

Exactly one month had passed since Lily Evans' first night at Hogwarts and she was completely swamped with her N.E.W.T.s. However, unlike some, she had a unique talent of successful time management which meant that she had a successful social life as well as being top in every class.

At this very moment, Lily was on her way to Transfiguration with Marlene. The familiar cat with square spectacle markings around the eyes was sitting calmly on McGonagall's desk, tail flicking absent-mindedly. She and Marlene sat down at their joint desk in the front of the room. The familiar ruffled dark-haired boy sat down at the desk to Lily's right along with Sirius.

James Potter winked at her as she glanced over, but Lily just scoffed quietly and shook her head ever so slightly, but she saw his snarky smile out of the corner of her eye. She set up her parchment and quills in front of her, and not a moment after she looked up from her preparation did the cat on McGonagall's desk leap upwards and fluidly become the Professor herself.

"Today will be just me speaking, about the more advanced uses for Transfiguration in life after Hogwarts, a reality some of you may not be so ready to face.." She narrowed her eyes at a Slytherin in the back and a ripple of laughter disrupted the otherwise quiet room.

Lily's eyes were focused solely on either McGonagall or her parchment, nowhere else. That is until there was a crash from the desk on her right. James' ink bottle had fallen in between his and Lily's desk and shattered loudly, sending ink flying onto both his and Lily's ankles.

"Merlin's beard!" James had leaped upwards in complete shock and immediately began rummaging in his robes for his wand. Lily immediately raised her own and within seconds then ink bottle slid together and landed on his desk with a clink quickly followed by the thread of ink which gracefully slid in through the open top. She could clean her ankle later.

James finally surfaced with his wand to see everything restored and looked up at Lily in wonder. She bit her lip to prevent a smirk and rolled her eyes before turning back to McGonagall.

"Ah, Mr. Potter, seeing as you have been paying such good attention, I'm sure you would be more than willing to tell us all the importance of focus in the subtle art of transfiguration?"

James took a deep breath and glanced at Lily before proceeding:

"When it comes to transfiguration, the qualities needed to succeed are very similar to those needed in ones every day. Specifically, focus and understanding the importance of understanding surroundings. Someone told me in my fourth year, that if I stopped being such an arrogant prat, more opportunities might open up for me." Sirius snorted beside him and received a hard elbow to the throat.

Lily felt a slight twinge of humor in her stomach. It had been her who told him that right after he had asked her out for the millionth time. Unfortunately, moments before he had hexed Severus Snape, her then best friend, badly enough to be sent to the hospital wing.

She chuckled silently as she remembered his face when she spat at him. He nodded silently to her, that same smirk occupying his face as he ruffled his hair again.

---

"... and I really think we should be doing more hands-on work in Transfiguration, you know?" Marlene was saying as they headed out to Lily's free hour.

"Evans! Oi, Evans!" Lily turned to see James jogging to catch up to her through the throng of students making their way between classes. Marlene smirked and kept walking, leaving Lily alone with James. As he caught up with her, they walked together out onto the grounds.

"I just wanted to thank you for my ink today, and I'm sorry about it spilling all over you." He spoke casually, pulling out his trusty snitch from his pocket and fiddling with it in the air.

"Don't mention it, it was nothing." She replied, and he nodded before jogging off to meet Sirius, Remus and Peter under a tall willow tree. Lily herself walked over to Emmeline, Alice, Mary, and Marlene who all eagerly asked what he wanted.

"He just thanked me for this morning." She said, simply.

"He's changed, he has." Alice was nodding towards him. They all turned to look at him. He was casually leaning against the tree and laughing carelessly at something Sirius was saying.

"You think so?" Lily asked, still watching him but deep in thought.

"Oh, don't pretend you haven't noticed, Lily. We all have. Sure, he laughs at his friends' pranks, but he's hardly involved in them anymore. And we've all seen him opening doors and helping first years through the portrait hole. It's the small things, Lils."

Lily considered this. It was true, James had been showing much more respect to his surroundings since last year and was a genuine gentleman compared to his behavior throughout the years.

"I know you've noticed Lily. You would be fighting us tooth and nail right now if you hadn't." Mary piped up.

"I just don't know how real it is, you know? If it's just another scheme to get something out of people." She responded.

"Look again, Lils. Look at every little detail. He stands straighter, he talks better, he focuses more. Today in class he didn't miss a beat in answering McGonagall's question after he'd been gawking at you the entire lesson." Marlene murmured.

Lily rolled her eyes now. "He was not gawking, Marlene."

"Of course you wouldn't see it, Ms. Every-Detail-Will-Be-On-Our-Exams-So-I-Can't-Miss-A-Single-Word." Lily smiled slightly as Alice, Mary and Emmeline all laughed. "He's really changing, and whether or not you've noticed it, Lils, you like it. And one of these days you're going to like him and things are going to get interesting for a change."

Lily shook her head and laughed airily as her friends headed off to their next lessons, but nevertheless, she looked over her shoulder to look at James one more time and this time he was looking back at her.

He thrust a hand into his hair, caught his snitch, and grinned goofily at her. She laughed in return and continued to shake her head as she made her way down to the edge of the Lake and set down her bag to read and relax.