James decided to confront her head-on. Grab the bull by its horns. He just couldn't decide whether he wanted to do it before dinner or after.
"Hey, Evans, wait!"
It was more of a "now" situation.
She stopped at his voice, which James considered progress, until she turned to face him. Her expression said nothing, but her eyes spoke volumes. James nearly backed away until he remembered who and where he was.
James Potter backed down from (nearly) nothing.
"Evans, I have to talk to you."
She continued to glare at him. James swallowed and tried to clear his suddenly dry throat.
He rarely got so close to Lily Evans.
"So, I was--"
"You wrote," she began, "your potions essay," speaking in fragments, "about me?"
She was shaking and James could only assume it was from rage. He couldn't decide whether to stay or flee.
"Er-- I-- well--I--I--"
Stay it was.
"Is there anything you would like to tell me about your essay, Potter?" Her tone was ice poured straight down his back. He was having trouble talking, breathing, living. He wasn't sure if he was simply intimidated or aroused.
Both?
"What's wrong with you?"
There. He said it. James was almost proud of himself, but he didn't have much time to bask in the glory of his moment.
"What's wrong with me? What's wrong with me? I have some personal issues in my life right now, Potter, and besides having to deal with that, and most of the school fucking knowing, I have to deal with people like you, who are busy writing essays about my hair and wondering how to resolve my problems."
There was someone else writing essays about her? Who else was trying to fix her problems? Damn, he was behind.
"Newsflash, Potter! I don't need saving. The world needs saving. I'm only Lily Evans. No one saves Lily Evans."
"What's wrong with you?" He realized how it sounded once it came out, and quickly tried to backtrack, save the situation. "No--wait--what's wrong with... you?" The same words, different tone. From Lily's glare, he guessed it didn't help much.
"It's not just about me, Potter. It's about life. Sometimes problems are much bigger than you."
With that, she broke off of the conversation, nearly running down the hall, not bothering to apologize to the first year she nearly knocked to the ground.
James shook his head. What the hell happened?