Jily Oneshots (pt2)

Your Blood is No Purer

'Where'd you get the name?'

'It was the last name of my favorite wizard detective. I decided I wanted to be more like her and less like a Black.'

'And Regulus?'

'Reg likes the family name and all the connotations attached to it.'

'Ah.'

They were quiet for a moment and she fiddled with her wand. 'James, what happened the other day, that can't happen again. You know that, right?'

'Apparently not.'

'My brothers would kill you. I promise, that's the only thing they would agree on.'

'Protective much?'

'Not that I necessarily need them to be all protective, but I can't change it. Have you met Sirius? He's quite like a dog in that respect.'

Wha—'Yeah,' James said slowly, 'he's my best mate.'

Lily frowned again, the expression not unfamiliar. 'That's another thing. Sirius is your best friend and I'm not going to get between you two.'

'You didn't think that six months ago.'

'Yeah, well, I was immature then. Wrong. I'm not going to be the reason you two aren't friends anymore.'

'Fine,' he said and his frown mimicked hers. 'We'll not kiss again and pretend like it never happened.'

'Thank you.'

'But that kiss was a pleasure.'

'Don't, James. Just don't.'

As separations often do, avoiding Lily made him mopey and a little less bubbly. He supposed it was nonsense to even think of it as a breakup, since they hadn't actually been together in the first place, but still an ache prevailed in his heart.

'Mate, you alright?' Sirius asked one day.

'Yeah, why?'

'You seem down.'

'It's just been a bad week,' James said unhelpfully. When he noticed Sirius' doubtful look, he sighed. 'I got a bad mark on a Transfiguration quiz.'

'Is that all?' Sirius chortled. 'I thought it was something serious. Don't worry, marks don't mean everything. With a detention record like yours, you would think that you wouldn't care so much. '

'It's Transfiguration.'

'So of course that means the end of the world.' He grinned and continued. 'No, what you really need to take your mind off of that is a girlfriend.'

'I don't need a girlfriend.'

'Do you want one?'

'No!'

'Well, just remember,' Sirius said as he stood to leave, 'on lonely nights, Transfiguration won't keep you warm.'

'Charms will!' James shouted and he could hear Sirius' laugh echoing down the stairs.

After six years, he was used to the taunts that followed him around. He was used to the whispers when he answered a question or the sneers when he got a spell wrong.

'Correct, Potter. Five points to Gryffindor.'

Snotty know-it-all. I bet he's cheating; no one of his status could know all that.

'Pardon, Mr. Potter, that is wrong.'

Filthy mudblood thinks he's so smart. He doesn't know anything, does he?

The jinxes were new, though. Those had started about the middle of last year. Little things, ones that wouldn't hurt him. His bag would split in the hallways, or a Tripping Jinx would appear in his path. He took secret passageways to avoid crowds.