The Doe & The Stag {James Potter & Lily Evans}

A Troublesome Situation

Lily couldn't see Severus's face all that clearly, as he was at the end of the corridor. She wondered what he was doing up near the Head dorms, but her focus was mainly on the emotions on his face. Shock, horror, anger, sadness. She felt stuck, hovering over Potter in a compromising position, like she could not possibly move if she tried.

Hollers sounded from the other end of the corridor, but Severus didn't seem to take notice. The other three Marauders popped into view, Black calling loudly; "Prongs? You still waiting? I found Wormy! He was trying to sneak food past the house elves and you would not believe what..." He trailed off upon seeing Severus, whom he glared at before his gaze fell to Lily and Potter on the floor. Potter stretched his arms out and rested his hands behind his head as if he was perfectly content to stay as he was with his favorite redhead less than a foot from his face. He gave Lily a wink, but she didn't notice. Her gaze was on Severus.

Apparently unsure of what to make of the situation, Black simply stared, an odd, slight frown upon his face. A similar expression was mirrored on the faces of Remus and Pettigrew.

Black began to flail his hand into open space, probably in search of Remus's shoulder, even as his eyes stayed on the couple on the floor and Severus. When he found Remus, he shoved him gently back where they'd come from.

"I think we interrupted something... Let's... Er... yeah." He said stupidly, still staring at the situation, while trying to shove Remus out of view. Peter, meanwhile, though his face was half-stuffed with food, muttered something to Sirius, to which he just nodded. With an apprehensive, dirty look to Severus, they were gone. As they left, Lily could hear Pettigrew's voice. "What is going on today?"

Lily wondered if she stayed where she was long enough, she might just vanish into thin air. Or, perhaps even better, Severus would just somehow manager not to see them.

She jumped when Potter cleared his throat and spoke loudly from under her. "Well, Evans, looks like we'd better get going before someone of consequence catches us snogging."

She turned to look at him with a glare right at his grinning face and flushed cheeks. "Oh, stick it, you insufferable git." She said angrily, before rolling away from him like she knew she should have done in the first place.

Upon reaching her feet, she realized that Severus had vanished without a sound.

And she was furious. She went silent, picking up the scattered supplies and shoving them back into the closet wordlessly. Potter was up and helping her, though she didn't so much as glance in his direction or thank him for the aid.

When they'd finished, she kept the silent tension between them and slammed the door to the broom closet shut, before taking off briskly to their shared dormitory. She rounded the corner and stopped in front of the door, jaw clenched as she stated; "Lily Evans speaking. I request for the password to be Puffskein Polyjuice." She told the tall, enchanted door. After a moment of silence from the door and James's hurried footsteps approaching the large, polished oak door, Dumbledore's voice spoke from the entrance. "Password accepted."

The door swung open, and Lily stormed in. Potter followed her, narrowly missing the door snapping shut on him, and he smacked into her from behind.

She stumbled forward and let out a hiss of annoyance, though she still didn't trust herself to speak. She knew if she opened her mouth, all manner of foul language would pour out.

"Sorry, Evans." Potter said.

However, Lily ignored him and instead chose to take in the commons around them. The theme was Gryffindor colors, the walls a dark gold that reflected the light coming from the fireplace on the left side of the room.  There was a single portrait above the fireplace of someone Lily didn't recognize, a cushy-looking rug in front of the fireplace, and a dark red loveseat in front of the fire. One arm chair resided on either side of the loveseat, angled toward the fire.

The other side of the room had a simple arrangement of large, wooden, dark oak book shelves built into the wall and two more lounge chairs. The walls on the right side of the room were adorned in small plaques, each holding names, presumably of previous Head Boys and Girls. On the far wall, there were two spiral staircases in either corner. Two plaques on the walls read "Head Girl" and "Head Boy".

Lily found the commons to be warm, inviting, somewhat calming, though she still wanted nothing more than to set off to her own room and leave Potter and the trouble he caused behind. But she knew she needed to be more mature than that. She took a breath and turned to him, arms crossed.

Potter was leaning against the wall beside the fireplace, ruffling his hair. She hated when he did that. Not only because it was obnoxious, but also because it just made her want to touch it. An urge she despised whenever it resurfaced.

"You said that we were snogging in front of Severus. We may not be friends anymore, but no one deserves that, Potter. It was cruel."

Potter opened his mouth in disbelief, eyes screaming defiance. "Lily! He called you a... a... you know! I can't even think such a foul word and he said it right to your face!"

"Oh, I'd quite forgotten that, thank you very much," she snapped. "He still doesn't deserve to have his hurts shoved right in his face, especially considering his, well... blatant feelings... even if he's friends with those- people. No matter what he's said or done, he isn't evil." Her chest was heaving with anger and she took a breath. "What happens if we lose our mercy towards others, even those we don't like, and try to cause them pain just for the sake of vengeance? We become just like You-Know-Who, Potter."

He scowled and was quiet for a long moment, as Lily worked on calming herself.

"You're right," he sighed, running a hand through already mussed hair. "But that doesn't mean that I have to like that ugly git. And I refuse to forgive him for calling you a you-know-what. That's just fucked."

Lily wasn't sure that she'd forgiven him either. She'd been working years towards it, but she wasn't sure she was there yet. She took a breath, tiredness falling over her. She'd spent so much time thinking about Severus and worrying about him, even after they separated, and she was sick of it. Sick of wishing for him to be good and sick of him continuing to be bad. "He's gone down a road that I will not go down," she said, though it was mostly to herself. "And I've had enough discussing him. I'm going to bed before another unsavory topic comes up. Like your eyegasms." She turned away and started up her spiral staircase.

She stopped just before she was out of view and glanced over her shoulder at him. "Goodnight, James."

James looked at her, hazel eyes suddenly gleaming from across the room. "You called me James."

"I did. Is that a problem?" She raised a brow at him.

"No, no. Of course not." He couldn't hide the grin from his voice, or his face. It was a goofy one, that lit up his features like she'd just told him his favorite Quidditch team would never lose again. It was an odd feeling, causing that reaction in someone.

"Well, alright then. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Lily."