In my humble opinion, the world has gone mad...

Location: The Owlry
Date: 22nd September 1975
Status: Private
Complete.

It was a cool morning, the brisk feeling of the cold finally beginning to descend and make its way through James' robe and his faded Gryffindor scarf as he glanced around for his owl. All around him, birds were arriving back from their night's hunts, beginning to doze off or finishing their captive meals, a soft cacophony of rustling feathers and clicking beaks accompanying low, gentle hoots. He had two letters clutched between his fingers, one a letter home, updating them on his progress at school and simply keeping in touch. The other...well...that was something different.

Before they'd gone to help Remus deal with his furry little problem last night, Sirius had decided to embark upon a crusade of merciless teasing that would have made even McGonagall blush (James still wasn't convinced that she could do anything but frown disapprovingly - he was sure it was the ginger newts). Apparently the boy had decided that James was acting all-too responsible these days, what with his rounds and his rotas and, as he'd put it, "the amount of time you've wasted with that Evans girl that could have been spent on more worthwhile endeavours". Of course, much to the boy's chagrin, any time he'd had with the girl recently hadn't been used for the usual one-sided (although he liked to convince himself that it went both ways) flirting, but for dealing with student problems, sorting out prefects, liaising with the staff and a whole host of other issues.

And the homework, oh Merlin, the homework. He would have thought that they'd be cut a little slack in their final year, but no. Apparently, the real world had other ideas, and they were called NEWTs. NEWTs, you see, were not fun, they were hard and gruelling and all those other adjectives James disliked. He'd been spoiled, he supposed, things had always come so naturally to him, so easily that he'd rarely had to truly apply himself. Even the OWLs, which were by far the most intensive periods of schooling he'd had in terms of study, had been completed with a modicum of ease in comparison to the others in his year. He excelled at subjects that most found difficult - Transfiguration being the obvious one. He smiled tiredly as he thought of the night before, three of the Marauders keeping the Wolf company in their animagus forms - their own, private secret and experience that bound them together more surely than any other tie of friendship could, than any bond of camraderie could glue.

Of course that companionship could backfire, especially amongst men, since he tended to actually listen to what his friends said (as opposed to most others), which was why Sirius had managed to hit a nerve with pinpoint precision, cutting through the haze of "Head James" as he was now known amongst the Marauders (well, by Sirius, and by proxy Peter) and making him send off an order to Zonko's for one of their deluxe troublemaker hampers. Guaranteed to send any teacher (or Slytherin upstart) into an early grave. He smiled again as he finally spied his owl, beckoning to her as he yawned. Over the years, he'd become used to these nights of no sleep after a full moon, but usually he took the time to get a couple of hours kip after making sure Madam Pomfrey collected Remus from the Shrieking Shack. Now, though, he was in the Owlry at a stupid time in the morning...and he couldn't help but wonder whose footsteps were echoing up the stairs...

As much as he liked the fiery redhead, he didn't have the patience to retort wittily right now, and his shoulder was beginning to ache from where he was sure that Remus had thrown it out of joint a few hours ago when he'd been Prongs, wrestling with him in the Forest.

"Mmm," He grunted noncommitally as he palmed the Zonko's envelope with a quick flick of his wrist. It wouldn't do to have any witnesses to his little purchases right now, let alone Evans of all people. "I'm not. Morning, Lily." He replied, his voice deep and raspy from the lack of sleep he'd had recently. His owl landed on his forearm, waiting patiently as James tucked the letter to his parents into its messenger bag before he turned away from her. "What brings you here so early, thought you were on the night shift last night?"

He fished around in his pockets for the small bag of owl treats he'd bought with him, feeding one to the creature almost absently as he looked at her through ringed eyes. "I take it Sirius hasn't been pulling his weight with the Potions work?" He continued almost rhetorically, yawning again and hissing angrily at his owl as she nipped at his fingers, waiting for another treat. "Speaking of which, do you know what the class assignment is yet for today? I haven't had a chance to look over my notes, this Charms work has been kicking my arse."

James slipped the letter to Zonkos into his owl's messenger pouch while Lily was preoccupied with summoning her own, giving the creature one last treat and an affectionate kiss on the forehead before throwing his arm up, sending the bird soaring upwards and out of the structure. He watched its progress out through the large escape hole in the roof, still listening to Lily speak.

"Oh?" He asked, his eyes still trained on where Hermes had left, lingering for a few, final moments before returning his gaze to hers. "Is everything alright?" He couldn't help the small smile that crossed his tired features as he watched her interact with the small bird, the early morning sunlight that streamed in through the rafters making her outline glow against its luminescence, framing the two in a sort of halo that was both ethereal and beautiful.

"Hmm. Believe me, if he doesn't want to be found then he won't be." He rubbed his eyes and groaned as she related the assignment.

"Shit," He muttered under his breath. His potions work had been slipping over the last week, not least because of Moony's furry little problem, but also because of the increasing duties of being Head Boy, of the advent of the Quidditch season, of his attempts to balance both his responsibilities, his ever-frequent meetings with Dumbledore and his need to spend time with his friends. And his red-haired paramour, of course. He sighed lengthily, pinching the bridge of his nose with one hand rested on his hips. "Okay, looks like I'll be skipping breakfast again." He murmured, before glancing back up at her. "Thanks. How's your project coming along?"

"Your sister's getting married, huh? I'd say congratulations, but you don't sound very happy about it. Come to think of it, I didn't know you even had a sister." He half-listened to her speak before her words suddenly clicked in his mind. Lily, offering to let him look at her notes?

Like, consentually?

He couldn't help the quirk of his eyebrow as it lifted in response, nor could he help the slight, almost-shy smile that flickered briefly as his hazel eyes locked with her own, bright green ones.

"I'd appreciate that, thank you." He said, his hands automatically going to his pockets. "I don't know how many more meals I can skip, in all honesty." He folded the bag of owl treats up neatly, placing them back inside the folds of his robes. Not for the first time, he thought on how utterly bizarre this situation was. It wasn't that he didn't enjoy getting on with Lily, far from it in fact, but he was used to the pattern they'd developed. He'd make some outlandish gesture towards asking her out, she'd threaten his life, and they'd repeat ad nauseum. This new habit they had of talking and getting along was slightly unsettling, but he found himself liking it more and more. The fact of the matter was, that despite his feelings for her he'd never actually tried to get to know her. Oh he'd offered to spend time with her, yes, but he'd never had the chance to just chat with her idly, not really talking about anything, but everything. He'd found over this past month, and with all the time he'd spent with her, that she was actually a very easy person to get along with, and despite not knowing her immensely well he was opening up more and more, dropping that act that he felt that he had to put on around her and others and simply being...James Potter.

Inwardly he shrugged. Sirius would kill him if he could hear his thought process.

"Mine's pretty much done, really." He said in a slightly bored affliction. "The content wasn't that challenging, and Black's a hard worker when she wants to be. We pretty much just got our separate parts done and we're combining them in class, shouldn't take much longer."

James nodded before deigning to pursue the topic of her sister any further. She obviously didn't want to talk about it, and in all honesty, he had no right to pry.

"Of course," He said, and then, as if reading her mind and with a slightly roguish grin. "I'm not Sirius." He yawned then, closing his eyes and placing his hand over his mouth as he did so. God, wasn't he tired. He'd have to have a word with Moony about his monthly jaunts out and about, perhaps try to do them at a more sociable hour. "That would be great, I'll walk back with you if you like?" He said, not really thinking about what he was saying.

"Um, I mean, just to keep you company. Not to come in your room or anything." He lamely tried to backtrack, but in all honesty, he was so exhausted that he couldn't find it in him to care about what he'd said. He shook his head, as if to clear the cobwebs before a thought suddenly struck him. "Oh, damn, I've got to go to the Hospital Wing before breakfast, could I meet you there or something?"

All this thinking about Remus and he'd forgotten their ritual of going to his bed before breakfast after the full moon. He didn't bang himself up nearly half as bad as he used to now he ran with Padfoot, Wormtail and Prongs, but there were still cuts and scrapes, there had to be. They were unregistered animagi after all, and it wouldn't do for Madam Pomfrey to click onto why Remus miraculously went through placid transformations now, after years of abuse.

"Okay, sounds good." James replied, making a move to leave the Owlry. As pleasant as the company was, one could only stand around in bird droppings for so long without becoming nauseous. "I'll see you soon then." His eyes met hers for a brief, lingering moment before he smiled and made his way to the door.

"Oh and Lily?" He said, turning back as if he forgot something. "I really do appreciate it, thank you." He gave her a friendly wink, before setting off out of the door. Good hands, huh? He grinned to himself as he made his way down the long stone staircase, headed towards the Hospital Wing. Seems this day wouldn't be so bad after all.