Confusion

Heyyyyy guys. I'm happy with how the last chapter turned out. I hope you like this one.

LilyLily didn't understand why James was acting shy all of a sudden. One moment he was so happy to show off his patronus, the next he was embarrassed to. Had she done something wrong? She had thought her patronus was amazing!

Then, he had asked her if it was okay for him to try! What did she care? Why would it matter to her?

Lily watched as James gave her one last look and lifted his wand with a shaky hand.

"Expecto Patronum," he said. His voice was barely over a whisper, and he practically winced at the words. The end of his wand erupted and a powerful stag emerged. It pranced around the class to more applause than any of the others. Its prongs on its head stood high and proud. Prongs. Is that where the name comes from?

Lily took a glance at James who had his eyes on the floor. His cheeks were plastered a bright red and he was biting his bottom lip. Lily didn't understand his shyness until she watched her doe patronus prance over to his stag.

A stag and a doe. They fit together.

The thought hit Lily. She suddenly understood Sirius' laughter and the look on Remus' face that looked shocked. Although she finally understood, she still didn't know why James was acting so shy about it. The old James would have been so cocky and confident about the fact that he shared a similar patronus with her. He would have bragged and told her it was fate, but he didn't do that now.

Instead, he had asked her if it was okay. He didn't want to embarrass her. More confusion had flooded through her. When had Potter changed so much?

"James," she said quietly. He looked up, and the worried look in his eyes caught her off guard, "your patronus is beautiful."

James lifted his eyebrows from behind his glasses. He seemed a little less tense, but he looked just as confused as she felt.

"You're not embarrassed, Evans?" he asked.

"No," she said slowly. Sirius snickered and she glared at him. He held up his hands as if in surrender and then turned to whisper with Peter. Lily turned back to James. "It's just a patronus, right? And besides, I should be honored to have a matching patronus with the oh so perfect James Potter."

Her last line was made to mock every other girl in their grade. She put her hand on her forehead as of she were going to faint and made a loud sigh.

"Shut up, Evans," he laughed, but she could still tell he was thinking about the whole situation.

"James," Lily said seriously again. She looked up at him and she practically could see the wheels turning in his head. When their eyes met, his hazel on her green, she saw that he really cared. "It's really okay. I don't know why, but it doesn't surprise me. It seems...right I guess."

James' eyes widened and Sirius whistled.

"Oh, no!" Lily said quickly. "It doesn't have to be like that." Her face felt hot and matched her hair in shades of red.

"Of course, of course," James said quickly, but Sirius rolled his eyes behind them.

"Well," Lily said in desperate need of a change of subject. "I'm going to go show Mary and Mar my patronus and see how they are doing. I'll see you later I guess."

Lily turned on her heel and quickly walked over to her friends who were looking at her in shock.

"Is your patronus... and James... doe and stag... what if... ugh," Mary sputtered out. All Marlene could do was nod along.

"Shhh guys. I mean it doesn't have to be that big of a deal," Lily tried. The two girls just shock their heads.

Marlene said, "I think they look perfect together. Just like you two could."

"Ugh Mar! You know I don't like him!" Lily cried out. She put her face in her palm.

"I don't know, Lil," Mary added. "We see how you've changed towards him."

At that moment the bell rang, and Lily was thrilled for any chance  to get out of the class. "See you two later!" she cried as she bolted out the door.

JamesJames couldn't keep the grin off of his face. He was actually getting somewhere with Evans.

Potions that afternoon had started out very awkward between the two of them. The idea of friendship was still quite new. Lily tried to give him friendly smiles and he tried to keep his mouth shut. After a few moments of awkward silence, James burst out laughing. Lily joined in, and before they knew it, they were chatting away like any friends would.

Any fears that James had had this morning about the patronus incident was gone. Lily wasn't avoiding him or embarrassed to be seen with him. In fact, it seemed to have opened her up to him in a way that he'd been trying to do for years.

Lily finished stirring the potion in the cauldron in front of them. James knew he didn't need to check it for her; it would be perfect. Instead, they started to discuss Head Boy and Girl duties.

"How about a meeting with the prefects next Monday?" Lily suggested.

"No can do," James said. "Quidditch tryouts are then."

"Oh, right!" Lily recalled. "When will your practices be? Just so I know in advance."

"Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday," James informed her. Lily jotted down this in a notebook she kept for Head Girl duty. From this information, she wrote down the next meetings with the prefects and a schedule for patrol duties.

"Our next patrol is next Thursday night, okay," Lily informed James. "Don't forget."

"Alright," James said with a nod.

"Now," Lily said as she flipped through her notebook and recipes her quill. "We need to pick Hogsmeade dates."

"How about Halloween?" James asked. "That way kids can have off for the holiday and buy some sweets."

"Not a bad idea, Potter," Lily said with a smirk. "Oh, and I think we should plan something else for the Seventh Years. May be a little something towards Christmas time? I don't know what, though. Do you have any ideas?"

"Hmmm," James thought. He tapped his fingers against the desk as he thought. The an idea hit him. "How about a ball?"

Lily looked at him confused. "A ball?"

James blushed. "Like a dance," he clarified.

Lily finally understood and a smile spread across her face. "Oh that would be perfect!" she squealed. "We could have a Christmas ball with music and dancing."

Lily's quill raced across her parchment and she jotted down the idea. James felt pleased that he had contributed to her plans. When Lily was done writing her notes, she stopped to look at James for a minute. Her eyebrows furrowed slight, creating a tiny crease between them. James would have given anything to read her mind at that moment.

"You know, James," Lily started, "you're really not a bad Head Boy." When he smiled she made sure to add, "Even though you drive me insane."

Lily turned in a vial of their potion to Professor Slughorn. The bell rang a moment later and Lily began to pick up her books. When she turned back to look at James, he winked at her. Lily rolled her eyes and mumbled something that sounded like "ugh typical Potter" before she walked out of the room.

James couldn't help but to grin at that.