Lily Evans was not in a good mood.

The redhead had woken up with a throbbing headache, a gift from her late night study sessions, and after suffering through a brutal day of classes, she was just about done with everything that wasn't food. Unfortunately, exams were mere days away and if she wanted to remain valedictorian, she would have to drag her exhausted self down to the library. Never mind the fact that her friends were probably lounging in the Gryffindor Common Room at this very moment, flirting with the Marauders or catching up on sleep. Which is what she would be doing, Lily thought grimly, if she had any sense at all.

Gritting her teeth together, Lily marched into the library, a soldier reporting for duty. Ignoring the pounding behind her eyes, she took her usual seat in the back of the library, farthest away from the door and any distractions of students entering or leaving. She heaved her tattered book bag onto the wide table, and began pulling out a veritable avalanche of supplies. Notebooks, parchment, quills, ink pots, highlighters (Lily didn't care what the Purebloods said, they were useful), pens (ditto), and textbooks littered almost every square inch of the table, leaving her barely enough room to crack open a book and begin to read, taking the occasional note in her notebook.

Hours passed, and Lily merely changed books, her consistent studying only ceasing when, after a solid three hours in the library, she heard footsteps directly in front of her.

Frowning, she placed her book in her lap and looked up, hoping to hastily dismiss her intruder. Except as soon as she saw who it was, her entire demeanor changed from mildly annoyed to downright venomous.

"What do you want, Potter?"

"You have a funny way of saying hello," he said by way of greeting. He took a seat next her and pretended not to notice the dangerous narrowing to her eyes.

"I hope you don't make yourself too comfortable yet, because you are not going to be staying."

James shook his head pityingly. "Oh, Lily. How long have you been in here?"

"None of your business. I'm getting work done."

"The exams are six days away. And you're top in almost everything."

"Almost." She glowered at him. "That's my problem! If I was top in everything, do you think I would be spending time in here when I could be having dinner?"

"Yes." James smiled gently at her. "You work too hard and forget that even dynamos like you need to eat, Lily."

She let out a soft groan and buried her face in her hands. "I am so tired."

"I know you are," he chuckled. Reaching into his bag and taking a quick scan of the library to make sure Madame Pince was far away, he pressed a chocolate truffle into her hand.

Glancing down at it, Lily's eyes widened. "Is this ninety percent cacao?"

"Yup. Vile stuff, but then, it's for you not me," James shrugged. "Got it from the kitchens."

Lily stared suspiciously at him. "Why are you being so nice to me?"

"Don't question it."

When she merely raised an eyebrow, he sighed. "Because you're miserable, Lily. I miss my little spitfire. And to be honest, you're not much of one when you're trapping yourself in the library for hours on end and forgetting to feed yourself."

"I didn't forget-"

"It's past seven," he interrupted. "When were you planning on eating, if ever?"

She fell silent for a few seconds. Then she crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him. "So I'm supposed to believe that you miss me yelling at you. And that's why you're here, bringing me food?"

"Restoring your sanity," James corrected. "Valedictorian isn't synonymous with suicidal."

"Haha."

"I mean it, Lily. You have to take care of yourself."

Annoyed that he was telling her off, and further annoyed by the fact that he was right, Lily glowered at her textbook. "You're stopping me from getting anything done."

"Good," James replied shortly. "I hope now you'll stop your self-destructive behavior and come have dinner."

"I can't," Lily wailed, earning a glare from a nearby student. Lowering her voice, she continued, "I'm still hopeless at Transfiguration."

James grinned at her. "My best subject."

"Don't," Lily groaned.

His gaze softened at her frustration. "I'll make a deal with you. If I can teach you these transfigurations, you'll spend the next Hogsmeade visit with me. As my date. Deal?"

For a moment, she just stared at him, exhaustion etched plainly in every line of her face. Then she laughed, her shoulders shaking with amusement.

"What's so funny?" James asked, annoyed.

"I should have known," Lily snorted inelegantly. "I should have known that you wouldn't have done all of this out of the sheer goodness of your heart."

He shot her an irritated expression. "Well? Do you accept the deal or not?"

"To hell with it," Lily decided recklessly. "Sure, why not? It isn't like anyone else can teach me these stupid transfigurations, so why not have a go?"

After all, she reasoned, he had brought her chocolate. It would be cruel of her to turn him away now. Especially since he had been so kind to her. Not because she wanted to him to stay or anything, Lily quickly justified to herself. Because that would be too ridiculous to even consider.

Still, the notion returned to her over the next half an hour as James patiently explained to her what she was doing wrong- much better, Lily had to admit, than Professor McGonagall had.

"I think I understand," Lily said finally. "Still, only one way to be sure."

"Yeah? What's that?"

Lily smiled at him as she began packing her things back into her bag. "I'll tell you my grade on Thursday, after I've gotten my exam back. Then we'll see if you really did a good job of explaining the transfigurations. And if you did..."

Her sentence faltered, partly because she was suddenly afraid that the future, and the possible date it contained, was much more concrete than she had imagined, and partly because of her own sudden insecurity.

James grinned at her again and winked. "I have absolute confidence in you, Lily."

And then he left, leaving her to contemplate an empty chocolate wrapper and some new Transfiguration notes.

A/N: Hi there! I thought it would be fun to write some playful Lily/James, and I hope it was fun for you to read as well. Thanks for reading and please leave a review.