Petals Upon a Flower

The clock on the wall said 8:30. 30 minutes till curfew, Lily thought. I do hope he gets here soon... stupid prat...

Lily had been waiting for James to arrive since 7:50 that Thursday evening. She had possessed maybe an ounce of faith that he might arrive early. But, of course, he didn't show up. And here it was, 8:30, and he still wasn't there. Knowing him, she thought, he might not even show up at all.

"That's just like a man," she hissed, getting a scornful glance from a Ravenclaw in her year called Nathaniel Corner - he was sitting nearby, and heard her comment. "Oh, sod off, Corner, I wasn't talking about you." He blushed and looked away.

Lily felt rather resigned to the fact that James wasn't going to show up. Therefore, she sat down at a table and pulled from her bag a roll of parchment, two textbooks, a quill, and a bottle of ink - scarlet, her chosen color of ink. "Best thing to do while I'm in here, and waiting," she sighed, eyeing the books on Advanced Arithmancy. Her eyes darted to the clock: 8:40.

*

Fifteen minutes later, James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter were walking towards Hogwarts from Hogsmeade, all clutching butterbeers along with their sides.

"Did you see the look on that man's face?!" howled Sirius, laughing so hard he had tears streaming down his cheeks.

"I know, 'specially--'specially when we told him what was in the firewhisky!" Remus chortled, trying to calm down enough to where he could take a swig of his butterbeer.

"Looks almost like Snivellus's face did when we hexed earthworms into his knickers during Charms last year!" said James, laughing for all of about two seconds - when he froze, eyes going wide as he remembered.

"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!"

"Oh, hell," said James, smacking his forehead. "Hell and damnation!"

At his sudden outburst, Remus stopped laughing, nudging Sirius to do the same. Who, in turn, nudged Peter to do the same.

"What's up, Prongsie?" said Sirius, still trying to catch his breath.

"I was supposed to meet Lily in the library at eight! I'll see you guys later!" He bolted.

*

Lily was packing her things up in the library. Madam Pince had just come around, telling them to leave the library - and not in a nice, polite manner, either. It was only 9:05, Lily had protested. She was studying for her N.E.W.T.s, could she not stay for a bit longer?

Only to receive a snide 'no' and an angry glare, once again telling the redhead to leave the library.

She was just about to leave when James burst through the doors - much to Pince's objections - breathing rather heavily and looking as if he had just been running for his life from some three-headed dog. (a/n: hee. Couldn't resist.) His tie was partially undone, his robes and glasses askew, and, to top it al off, he was carrying an empty bottle with a butterbeer label on it. But what really set her off was that he tried to hide it, even though he knew she had seen it.

Her blood boiled.

"Thanks for showing up on time, Potter," she said, throwing on a cheerful-sounding voice - yet it was dripping with sarcasm. Her emerald orbs were quite the opposite from the sarcastic smile upon her lips; they were shooting swords at the immature little marauder in front of her.

"I take it I'm late?" he asked, realizing all too soon that he had made a mistake in saying that.

"You're bloody right you're late!" she snapped, dropping the feigned cheery façade - also, she completely forgot to keep her voice down. Pince glared at her. She ignored Pince. "An hour late, you effing git! You stupid, little, insufferable git! I don't know why I even bothered to hope you would show up, let alone on time!"

"At least I showed up!" he retorted, rather miserably.

"That's not the bloody point!" she replied, glaring at him. "Learn Charms from someone else. I give up on you," said Lily, and stormed from the library.

"Lily! Lily, wait..." he called, realizing it was too late. He seemed to have a knack for being late that evening.

"Get out, you horrible boy! Get out!" He was brought back to earth from the hell that he had been in during the argument by Madam Pince. She seemed to rather enjoy pushing him from the library, and he didn't stop her.

Brilliant, James, just brilliant, he thought, scowling, as he made his way to the Gryffindor Tower. Lose any chance of being with her before you get it in the first place! Nice going, mate.

Oh, shut it, you, he thought back, and frowned, realizing he was arguing with a voice inside his head.

"Oh, wonderful! Now I'm going mad, on top of every other damn thing!" he snapped, running his hands through messy black strands.

"That's the spirit, dear," said the portrait he was passing - it was half-dozing and didn't seem to notice what exactly James was saying.

"Sod off," he muttered, and stalked towards the seventh floor.

*

James woke up the next morning, staring blankly at the canopy of his four-poster. He vaguely wondered why he still had his robes from yesterday on, and then it hit him: the library. Lily.

"Oh, bloody hell. I'm screwed over," he said aloud.

"Whassat, Prongs?" said Sirius groggily from the bed to his right.

"Nothing, Paddy," James said wearily, sighing. He threw his legs over the side of the bed and stood up, glaring out the window. The sun was entirely too bright for how early it was. And what mood he was in. "Second Friday of the term. Means we've still got a ways to go before we leave this place. Gotta love it, though," he added as an afterthought, staring out towards the Quidditch Pitch. He couldn't wait for the season to start! He was captain this year, and they had one of the best teams ever, in his opinion.

Stretching, he made his way over to his wardrobe and began pulling out his robes. "Ugh, I've just remembered. We've got Potions first."

He was answered by a long, loud snore from Sirius.

*

"Hey, Lily, here comes the man of the... shall we say, hour," sneered Lily's best friend, Katherine Wood - Thomas Wood's little sister. Thomas had been the captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch Team a few years back. James could hear her even as he walked up.

"What does he want now?" Lily said, frowning.

"He wants to ask you if Your Highness will forgive her most humble servant," said James, with only a bit of sarcasm - so little, in fact, Lily didn't notice.

"Humble? Since when has James Potter been humble?"

"Since two seconds before I asked for your forgiveness."

"I haven't heard any apologies."

"WHAT?! Oh, nevermind then, it's obvious that someone can't recognize an apology when they're given one!" huffed James.

"Prongs," drawled Sirius, "I think all she wants you to say is 'I'm sorry'."

"Well, I don't know if I want to give her the satisfaction," he replied, while his mind raged at him.

Of COURSE you want to give her the bloody satisfaction, you stupid twit! Or have you forgotten that you worship the ground she walks on, practically? If you want her to ever speak to you again, you should tell her you're sorry. He hated it when his inner voice was right.

"Hey, Lily, I'--" but she was walking away. "I'm... sorry," he trailed off, plopping down on the bench. How would he get her to talk to him?

Just then, a thought hit him. He knew that their Potions Master was assigning Cheering Potions - much like the charm of the same name, only extremely advanced; it was used on people who got too hysterical after a family member/loved one/friend passed on - and they were working in pairs.

Hey, maybe Professor Loire ( a/n: *loves ffviii* ) will pair us together, he thought.

"I'll see you guys in Potions!" he said, and ran off towards the dungeons.

"What's he up to now?" Remus said to Sirius, looking highly suspicious of their bespectacled friend.

"Don't know, for once," was the reply.

*

"I can't believe him! He's got some nerve..." Lily said angrily, looking at Katherine as they walked towards their dungeon classroom.

"He's a man, Lil'," said Kat, "and all men are like... well, they're pigs."

"Yeah, well, he must be Head Swine instead of Head B--" she froze as a blur of black, red, and yellow went by. "--oy. Was that him?"

"Think so, yep. Wonder what's got him so anxious for Potions..."

"Probably fetching a birth control potion for one of his one-night-stands," Lily said, a trace of bitterness in her voice. It tugged on her heartstrings when she said that.

*

James burst into the classroom, glasses jauntily askew upon his nose. "Professor," he gasped, looking at the brown-haired woman.

"How may I help you, Mister Potter?" she asked. She didn't know what it was, but she had always had a soft spot for the Marauders - even though she was the head of the Slytherin household.

"Can you make sure that I'm paired up with Lily today? I royally buggered this up and I need to apologize."

"I'll do my best, James," she said, a soft smile upon her face. She looked up as Lily and Katherine entered. "Hello, ladies. I hope you are all ready for today's potion."

"What do you mean by that, Professor Loire?" asked Lily, raising her eyebrows.

"It's... not the potion you were expecting," she hesitated, and then continued with a smile, "Oh, you'll see."

**

A/N: Hope you all enjoyed what I've got so far. Here's a bit of what's coming up next chapter!

"Now, those of you whose potions turned out right, only drink about four ounces. It'll wear off in fifteen minutes." Professor Loire smiled at all the students, who were staring at their potions warily. They didn't particularly want to test them; not with their partners, anyway.

Lily looked to James, who was looking at her, waiting for her to drink it.

"You first," she said, handing her sample over.

"At the same time," said James, giving her his sample. "On one... two... three!"

They downed the rosy liquid, a lighthearted, happy expression on their faces when they opened their eyes.

**