*    *    *

"No! No, no, no, no, and no. With a strong side order of no and a dash of bloody hell no!" James yelled staring to Lily’s watery green eyes.

"Please Jim? It won’t be that bad, I promise." She pleaded, her lower lip sticking out in a pout.

"Lily, luv, what part of ‘no’ don’t you understand?" James asked, patting her head as if she were a small child.

"The part where you say it to me. Come on James; don’t you trust me?" A soft laugh drifted over from one of the couches where Remus sat watching the display.

"Honestly?"

Lily nodded.

"Hell no. I don’t trust you any farther than I can throw you."

Lily stomped her foot on the floor of the common room. James grinned; her maturity level decreased dramatically when she didn’t get what she wanted from any one of the Marauders, not that James or any of them ever did turn her down.

"You can throw me pretty far James. I’m small and you’re really strong." She said with a flirty smile.

James reached out lightening fast and pinched her side. "Not that small. You’ve been shoveling it down in the Great Hall lately. Must have put on a good ten pounds since the start of the term and we just celebrated Halloween. Getting a little chunky are we Lils?"

James’s head snapped and his glasses went flying of his face as Lily slapped him.

"Never call a woman fat James," Remus called from his spot on the couch. "One of the top five worst things you can say; it’s up there with calling her ugly."

"Just for that you are going to let Severus tutor you in Defense Against the Dark Arts. I will not take no for an answer. You’re going to pass this year whether you want to or not James Potter," Lily declared in a serious voice, her hands planted on her hips.

James leaned over to pick up his glasses and sighed. The red-headed brat could be insufferable sometimes, and unmoving when she made a decision. And apparently she had made the decision that her Slytherin friend Snape was going to save James’s grade in DADA simply because she said so. But he wasn’t going to let her boss him around this time.

James adjusted his round glasses on his nose and said, calmly and clearly, "No."

~*~*~

"Dammit Lily, how do I let you talk me into these things?"

Lily slapped him upside the head and shushed him. "Because I’m smarter than you are. Now," She said from where they stood outside the library, "go in there and play nice. I mean it. If anything happens to Severus you’ll be looking for your most important pieces tomorrow morning."

James’s hand shot down to cover his groin protectively. "Fine. Whatever you say."

Lily beamed at him. "He really is brilliant Jamie. Just let him help you and don’t be a total prat," She said giving him a quick kiss on the cheek. "Be good and I’ll pick you up in 2 hours."

And with that, she was gone.

James sighed and shook his head. She and Sirius both had more energy than he could imagine possessing sometimes. He wondered if they plugged into a muggle electrical socket when they slept or something.

With thoughts of his friends to steady him, James went into the library with his books under his arm and his head held high. He could handle a few hours with Snape. No problem.

The sallow skinned boy was seated at one of the back tables, bent over a thick tome. His The greasy black hair that curtained his face and was so long it brushed the pages of the book.

James grinned and tiptoed silently up to Snape. Then he dropped his books on the wooden table with a loud bang.

Snape jerked up and tensed. Then he saw James and a scowl fixed itself on his face and his body relaxed from the surprise into a state that wasn‘t really relaxed at all.

"Potter."

"Snape. Still not washing your hair I see. Does it glow in the dark from all the shit in there?" James asked cheerfully, pulling out a chair, turning it around and straddling it.

Snape fixed James in a cold stare. The blue-eyed chaser was one of the most annoying people in the school next to the chaser’s irritating sidekick Black. Severus himself was still trying to figure out why he'd let Lily talk him into this. Oh, he remembered now. It was because the woman could get anything she wanted from any man, gay or straight.

He sighed. "I see you are still wasting what few brain cells you possess on quidditch instead of the classes that will get you out of Hogwarts in one piece. Your stupidity amazes me sometimes."

James just shrugged. "Its not my fault that I wasn't raised by a dark wizard who spoon fed me curses when I was younger, Snape. Please, let me apologize for having a semi-normal family with semi-normal personalities."

Severus rolled his eyes. "Tell me, Potter, what is so fantastic about being normal. Mediocrity is obviously working for you but some of us aspire to things beyond driving on the Knight Bus."

"You are unbelievably annoying you know that?"

"Better an annoying Slytherin with brains than a empty-headed, shallow, vapid, obnoxious, cruel, weak Gryffindor charmer," Severus snarled.

"Empty-headed? Vapid? Shallow? Cruel? Weak? Who the hell do you think you are Snape?" James demanded. The little prick was already infuriating him and they hadn’t even gotten started working yet. Although he really couldn't dispute the obnoxious comment. That one was on target.

"Ooh, did I hurt your feelings Potter? I never knew you were so sensitive. No wonder all the girls love you," Snape drawled sarcastically.

"At least I can get someone, Snape. You wouldn’t touch a girl with a ten-foot wand and no decent or even indecent guy to would think of touching you. You’re a disgusting, ugly git, Snape, and you’ll probably die all alone." James said calmly and coolly.

Severus took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Potter’s last remark had actually been painful. That was mostly due to the accuracy of the Gryffindor’s words. But still, it was odd that one of the Fantastic Four’s comments scratched below the surface.

James watched as a pained expression crossed Snape’s face for a second before the Slytherin’s typical emotionless mask slipped back into place. Had he hurt the other boy’s feelings?

James didn’t think it was possible but that expression had been real and Snape was saying nothing in retaliation. Not a snide comment, not even a nasty look...nothing.

"Snape?"

"Shut up, Potter. Get out your damn DADA book and lets get started. I’m not here to bicker with you. I’m here to teach you. I don’t have the time or the energy to waste throwing insults at you." Severus said with a tired sigh and a shake of his dark head.

James shuffled through his books, he’d grabbed them all in his hurry to get Lily off his back, and pulled out his Defense Against the Dark Arts text. He shot Snape a sideways glance and tried again.

"Look, Snape I’m-"

Severus cut him off. "Potter, what did I just say? Shut your fucking mouth and turn to the section in the book on offensive incendiary curses."

James turned to that section of his book quickly but tried a final time. "Severus, I’m sorry."

Snape gaped at him. His black eyes were wide and his jaw dropped slightly. "Wha-what?"

James pushed his round glasses up the bridge of his nose and scratched his head awkwardly. "For the thing I said earlier, about you dying alone. That was way out of line and I take it back."

Severus Snape’s black eyes were staring hard at James Potter as if he were some kind of rare insect. He shook his head and stared again.

"Did you just apologize to me?" Snape asked quietly. His face had slipped back into its stony mask, except for his eyes, which were still as wide as saucers.

James chuckled, his blue eyes sparkling in a way that reminded Snape of Dumbledore. "Yeah. But it’s just this once. So don’t get used to it."

Snape swallowed hard and nodded. Neither of them said anything but an unspoken truce was formed from that apology. And when Lily came to make check on them, the two boys were immersed in a textbook on countering mutative hexes.

Lily watched them talking, not yelling, not bickering, not arguing, but talking; and smiled. She licked the tip of her finger and made a little score mark in the air. Damn, Lily thought to herself, she was so good she surprised herself some times.

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