Life in the mind of a Gryffindor

[dog8mihomwork]

What was he thinking? James Potter slumped down into the comfy coach that laid before the burning flames of the fireplace. Roughly he tossed in a few parchment balls, crumpled up into rather vague shapes. Clearly, this had been the dumbest idea Potter had had his whole life. Angrily he tossed in another scrap of parchment. His eyes slowly glided over his hands. The last one, he sighed in realization. Then lazily he leaned over, looming above the coach to pick up more ’ammo’ that was neatly piled next to his rather large dress shoes. The fire crackled smugly, his lips furrowed into a comfortable frown.

Slowly he anchored himself back into place. James slumped incredibly low, his neck bending on the comfortably knit cushions. With undeniable precision he tossed another parchment ball into the ambers of the fireplace. What else was there to do, he thought to himself. It was awful hard being somewhat good at least to Potter. Perhaps, this time he got too ambitious, too bloody ambitious. He licked his dry lips and carelessly tossed another scrap into the flames. He gave everything up. This thought nearly chilled him. Everything? Blasted. How on earth did he manage that?

A vision sharpened in his mind: a nice bag, pitch black laying on his freshly made bed at home. He had left it there purposefully, though he now felt the full wrath of regret. Everything was in it. His dung bombs, fireworks, candy, anything that could possibly entertain him in this dull castle. “Hmm.” He hummed bitterly. Well, that is everything save for his most prized trinket. At that thought, Potter panicked and felt the outside of his black pant’s pocket for its all too familiar round shape. Alas, the snitch still lay cozily there. He hadn’t the heart to leave that item behind. Bending down once more he formed another batch (3 for his rate) of parchment balls. And he had once again tossed in another ball with great aim into the fireplace for nearly the millionth time. Potter was clearly a stranger to boredom.

[Lily Evans]

There was no doubt in Lily's mind that the Library was absolutely one of the most boring places to be in the entire castle. So why, you might ask, was she sitting at one of the tables with a stack of books on a night she didn't even have homework? Well, Lily wasn't doing schoolwork. In fact, if one were to look at the selection of books she had chosen, they would be quite confused and probably quite surprised. One of the books was titled Wizarding History and Recurrences. Another was called Grindelwald, And His Doings. There was another book that was all about Salazar Slytherin. Many would be simply appalled at the books that Head Girl Lily Evans was looking through, but she didn't care. She had a reason.

That reason was for research. What kind of research? Well, Lily wasn't even sure of it herself. Her eyes narrowed, she stared down at the pages of one of the books, reading swiftly. She wanted to know what was going on, and as everybody said, history repeats itself, right? It was worth a shot, so she had gone and found every book she could on Dark Wizards, Dark Magic, curses, and more. Many of the books she wanted were in the Restricted Section, but she was formulating a plan on just how to get them. Stifling a yawn, Lily closed a book with a sharp snap, deciding she should probably leave the library and continue this in her dormitory, or the common room if it was empty enough. A large amount of dust puffed up and then settled back down on the cover of the book.

Glancing around cautiously, Lily gathered up all the books and put them in her book bag, hoping the librarian wouldn't happen to look over and find that the Head Girl was suddenly obsessed with Dark Magic. The redhead sped out of the library as quickly as possible, her bag bulging with books. She relaxed once she was out in the corridor. It wasn't as if somebody was about to search her bag, and even if they did, who cared? She wasn't doing anything wrong or breaking any rules. It just might be considered a bit odd. Lily climbed through the portrait hole, hoping that the common room would be deserted. At first glance, she thought that it was, but then she saw that it wasn't quite empty. One person sat by the fire, slumped low in the chair, but not low enough that she couldn't catch a glimpse of messy, jet-black hair. Damn. It was James Potter. Just the person she didn't want to see at the moment.

Almost tip-toeing across the scarlet-and-gold carpet, Lily went over to a table in the corner of the room, hoping Potter just simply wouldn't notice her. She would really rather continue her reading out in the common room rather than in her bed, since obviously now all the girls were already up there. Staying up late wasn't a concern tonight. Lily could stand being tired the next day, and she really wanted to keep reading. Quietly setting all her books out, Lily tucked a strand of fiery red hair behind her ear. She was just opening to the page she had been on when she heard something that made her look up.

[Wow... I almost forgot that I wasn't posting at the library. Sorry for the ranting about nothing. I'm really good at that. Haha.]

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[dog8mihomwork]

"Clever sneaking." James commented as he threw in another parchment ball into the greatful flames. He was unphased by Lily Evans entering the commonroom. She was a smart girl, but not even close to talented in the arts of 'sneaking around.' On a normal occasion it may have saddened him that she'd go to such great lengths to avoid him, but at the moment he could care less. It all seemed terribly normal to him. Everything in this bloody boring castle seemed terribly normal to the young James Potter.

He heaved a sigh before straightening his stature and turning around to look at the studious red head. "Studying already? What in the name of Merlin could you be studying for this early in the game?" He questioned with a steady yawn. Though as he glanced at Lily, a warm feeling came over him and his cheeks flushed. This had to be one of the few times he had talked to her thus far. In fact, she had managed to avoid him for nearly the whole day. And for once James didn't persist, or throw himself upon her ,not once.

James hung his hands off the coach, his chin nestled comfortably into it. Control. He was practicing that strange thing he had always neglected: self-control. So patiently he sat waiting for her clever retort, or clear statement of pure resentment.

[Lily Evans]

Lily heaved a sigh when her cover was blown. Damn. She should've known she wouldn't be able to avoid Potter for long. Ignoring his first comment, Lily turned another page in her book. "Yes, I'm studying," Lily said shortly, only glancing at James. "It's something some people do so they can graduate from Hogwarts and live some kind of successful life." It was rather a hurtful thing to say, but Lily pushed her feelings of guilt aside. After all, Potter had said worse things to her, hadn't he? And it wouldn't hurt him to think about trying to do well in school, even if she wasn't actually studying at the moment.

Trying to ignore him, Lily started to read again, but her previous feeling of guilt surfaced again, and she looked back up at Potter. She felt quite mean saying what she had said, especially since he actually hadn't said anything nasty yet. Maybe she shouldn't have been so short with him. Yeah right, said a voice in her head. It'll right be when you start feeling sorry for him that he'll come around and remind you that he really is just an arrogant, pig-headed arse. Oh well. Trying to make her voice light, Lily said a little stiffly, "So did you have a good summer vacation?"

In a way she was testing him, but she didn't really know it herself. Part of her was fully expecting a sarcastic and spiteful reply, but another part of her was hoping that maybe she wouldn't get that. Ha! said the little voice in her head, but she just continued to flip through her book. She didn't realize that she wasn't really concentrating on the pages anymore. A small irritating strand of hair fell over her bright green eyes, and she brushed it away, wishing she had something to tie it back with. The redhead glanced over at Potter, her face expressionless, waiting for his response.

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[dog8mihomwork]

It hurt, though truth be told most everything Evans had said to him for these past few years had retained the same measurement of pain. He attempted to be unphased as he made another batch of parchment balls, tossing more in. That is until she asked an age old question. A question every single Hogwarts student was plagued with ,times a thousand every single year.

Summer vacation? Potter snorted, wondering when she'd ask him. 'It was great,' he recalled lying. In reality it was somewhat mediocre, mundane. Yet why did he lie to all those people? A somewhat fake smile glided across his lips, he lied because it was easy to. Why go into detail about how your summer was tasteless and uneventful? Why go into the extreme detail and consume so much time to simply explain something so insignificant? Why tell them the reason one would deem it so plain, why it was so empty? Lying was easier, it was always easier for James Potter.

"It was bloody fantastic. And what about you Lily, how was your summer?" His question was rather sincere. His head was propped by his hand, elbow hooked tightly into the coach. He wanted to know, in fact he had been wondering for quite sometime now. As eager as he was, James tried to maintain an air of casual curiosity.