To James's dismay, Carina was separated from them the following period. She went off to Herbology with Lily while James, Remus, and Sirius were scheduled for a free period. No longer needing the subject for their qualifications for Auror training, they'd decided to drop it. But Lily, with her interest in healing, and Carina with her penchant for potions, never thought twice about continuing with it.

James watched as Lily waited for Carina so they could head out together. So far, she seemed oblivious of her friend's earlier incident. Yet he couldn't help but notice the tired step in Carina's stride, his brows furrowing in concern.

"What happened?" Remus asked him immediately, catching his friend watching the departing girls from outside the classroom.

'Not here," he mumbled. "Let's go to the shack."

"What?" Sirius asked in surprise as he approached them. They rarely went to the Shrieking Shack outside the full moons. It wasn't somewhere Remus liked to be, and they only went when they needed the utmost privacy.

"Remus, tell Peter to meet us?" James asked, unfazed.

"Sure," Remus nodded, not entirely understanding, but sensing the urgency.

That's where they were, nearly an hour later, after James filled them in on the morning's events. The boys were all lost in their own grim pondering. Sirius appeared sympathetic, as he himself understood what it was like to not have dependable family. He himself started living with the Potters not more than a year ago. Remus and Peter both seemed guilt-ridden, feeling terrible about not having known earlier since they'd been friends with Carina the longest out of the four of them.

"What do we do?" Peter asked uncertainly.

"Well she certainly doesn't want us treating her differently," James laughed dryly. "She went through quite the lengths to ensure that."

"But she'd never tell us if something was wrong, anyway," Sirius shook his head wryly.

"Exactly. We just have to keep a closer eye, make more of an effort," James confirmed.

"Well it's almost lunch," Peter reminded them. "We can probably catch her in the Great Hall soon."

"You all go ahead," James said.

"Where are you going?" Sirius demanded.

"To go find Carina. She still looked rather drained, and it's a long walk back to the castle from the greenhouse."

Without waiting for a response, James started on the trek down the mountain, leaving his three friends staring after him with their jaws dropped.

"Do you suppose this is just his guilt, or do you think he's got it bad?" Sirius asked them genuinely.

"For her sake, I almost hope it's guilt," Peter said resolutely.

"Why?" Remus asked in surprise. "Carina would be so good for him."

"No doubt about that," he agreed. "But James has been fawning over Lily for years. If it came down to it in the next few months, who do you think he'd pick?"

Remus and Sirius went silent. As much as they wanted to disagree, they didn't have the confidence to.

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Carina went through her last two classes in a bit of a daze, feeling unanchored in the reality she'd finally spoken aloud. To her immense relief, Lily was surprisingly quiet about how James walked her into the classroom. She didn't know if she could handle trying to explain that right now.

They worked through Herbology in relative silence, Carina lost in her own memories. Lily would glance at her every now and then, wanting to speak to her, but not liking the nature of each question her mind thought up.

Why were you holding hands with Potter?

Do you really like him?

Does he really like you?

Does that mean he's really moved on from me?

Lily remained tight-lipped, the questions racing through her head making her more concerned for her own sanity. Part of her insisted to herself that she was merely worried about Potter rebounding with one of her closest friends. She didn't want Carina caught up in that- she genuinely didn't. Yet somewhere deep down, there was a nagging sensation that made her inherently reject the idea of her best friend with Potter.

When the distant sounds of the bell finally reached them, they packed away their supplies. Lily finally noticed the fatigue in Carina's movements when she grimaced as she picked up her bag.

"You alright?" She asked curiously.

"Fine," Carina shrugged off. "My muscles just get achy when I'm tired."

"Oh, okay."

When they left the greenhouse, Lily halted in her tracks at the sight of James Potter waiting out front. He caught sight of them, immediately walking their way.

Her typical taunt of 'what is it now, Potter?' stopped cold on her lips. The last few times she'd talked to him, all he'd wanted from her was information about Carina. The thought made her stomach churn uncomfortably.

"Carina," he called out with a gentle smile, confirming the Lily's thoughts.

She'd never seen him behave so gently with a girl. Even in the past days James had still been his normal showy self- he practically made a spectacle of Carina in the common room, for Merlin's sake!

"James!"

"Heading to lunch?" He asked, as he effortlessly reached around her, sliding her bag away from her and onto his own shoulder.

"Oh, actually I might head back to the tower. I have my free period after lunch anyway, I think I just want to lay down for a bit," she admitted sheepishly, trying to take her bag back.

"That's alright," he moved out of her reach. "I'll walk you."

"James, it's alright, just go to lunch," she told him in pleased amusement.

James ignored her, merely looking to Lily, who seemed to awkwardly trail after them. "What about you Evans? Going to lunch?"

"I-" Lily stopped short. She'd been about to reply in one of her typical punchy responses that she saved for him, yet he seemed so calm and relaxed that it would only make her seem unnecessarily aggressive. So she settled for a simple, "yeah."

"Remus and the others should already be there," he offered cordially, knowing Lily would lose her friend for the next hour.

"Thanks..." Lily answered, unable to keep the uncertainty out of her voice. They were never simply cordial.

"You feeling better?" James asked Carina in a quieter tone as he noticed she slowed down a bit. "Because I can snag you a pain potion if you need."

Lily's eyebrows shot to her hairline. Potter was actually being attentive and sensitive. This had to be some sort of joke.

"You're Head Boy," Carina chuckled weakly. "You can't just go raid Pomfrey's potions stock."

"She'll just assume it's for another Quidditch injury," he rolled his eyes with an amused smile.

The sunlight backlighted his entire profile making him look like he was glowing, and that on top of the carefree smile made Carina warm in affection. He really was a catch. When he turned to the girls, his eyes caught the attention of more than just one witch.

"You coming Evans?" James asked curiously when he noticed Lily had abruptly stopped a few strides behind them.

"Uh..." Lily blanked in her response, snapping out of her thoughts. Her errantly dangerous thoughts. "Fine, you two go ahead."

Carina looked at her in askance but James merely shrugged, nudging his shoulder against Carina, prompting her to turn and keep walking further into the main courtyard.

Lily shook her head in denial as she watched them go. This was everything she'd wanted, and the very thing she'd been moaning would never happen. James Potter was finally leaving her alone. He was cordial, and mature, and just plain out of her path. Yet why did that make her feel like a stone dropped on her chest? She didn't want to know.

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"I thought you were going to lay down?" James asked curiously when they finally reached the Gryffindor common room.

"I was," Carina sighed. "But Lily and Alice are going to come back and grill me about what happened, and as much as I want my own bed, I'd rather not talk right now."

"What are you going to do?"

"Not sure," she shrugged. "Maybe lock myself in the Prefect's bathroom."

James studied her pensively for a brief moment before he caught hold of her hand.

"Okay, come on," he led her up the stairs, past the 7th year girls' dormitory.

"James- I can't sleep in the boys' dormitory," Carina insisted tiredly.

"You're not. You're going to sleep in my quarters."

The Heads both had their own personal quarters. While Lily slept in her own room as well, she spent much of her time awake visiting the other 7th years in their room.

"But-"

"It's fine, Carina," James insisted. "I'll be gone to class so you can rest as long as you want. Besides no one but me has the password- not Lily, not the boys. You can rest in peace."

Carina stopped outside his door, biting her lip in indecision. She really didn't want to put him out of his room. She hated inconveniencing people. "You really don't have to," she said softly.

"Carina," he rolled his eyes exasperatedly. "I'd feel more at ease knowing you're here and safe. I don't want you letting your guard down in the castle when those Slytherins are still around."

He did have a point there.

He murmured his password, pushing the door open invitingly. The entire room was nothing she'd expect from James. It was tidily made, the entire room a soft cream color with light translucent curtains on the windows. He had his own fireplace, and he'd decorated the area with chairs, a small sofa, and a coffee table. The tabletop was littered with open textbooks and notes, contradicting his infamous reputation for not studying or working. The huge four-poster bed at the center of the grand room was neatly made with deep red sheets, darker than blood itself.

"I know what you're thinking," he smirked as he caught her looking at the bed.

"What?" She choked at his observance.

"It's not red for Gryffindor colors," he gestured to the bed. "The Potter family colors are actually red too, but it's a deeper shade than the bright red our house uses."

"Oh," she said, a slight blush creeping up her neck. That was what she'd been curious about but his smirk had filled her head with wholly different nature of thoughts. Foolish.

James pulled out his wand, pulling back the thick blankets from the bed so she could easily climb in. Carina toed off her shoes, her fingers drifting over the soft satin sheets. James began switching out his books for class as she eventually climbed into the bed, cocooning herself into a small ball, sighing at the comfort of the big blanket.

When James finally latched his bag closed, he turned to look at her but burst out laughing at the sight.

"What?" She mumbled from her cocoon.

He walked over to her, still chuckling in amusement. The bed sunk as he leaned over her, his hands resting on the edge.

"You're so small," he observed. "You barely take up a quarter of the bed."

"Not my fault you have a bed that could fit six people," she grumbled, cuddling deeper into the blanket.

He smiled at her, gently reaching over to push some stray hair out of her face. "Sleep as long as you want, don't worry about your classes."

"But-"

"The Professors will know by the end of the day what happened anyway since I took so many points and gave those arseholes detention."

"But-"

"I can have Remus get you your notes for the rest of your classes today, I'm sure he'd be happy to return the favor after 7 years," he assured her, already anticipating her protests.

"Thank you..." She watched him seriously.

"If you wake up with any pain, or can't get to sleep," he said, reaching into the drawers beside his bed to pull out a vial. "Just take the pain potion, I can easily get more."

"Thank you." Her eyes glimmered from a sheen of tears both from her earlier exhaustion, all the emotional baggage catching up to her, and her gratefulness that she had someone right now being so attentive to her needs.

"Anytime, love," James smiled gently before his face morphed into something more stern. "Now you let me know if you need anything, okay? Anything at all."

"I will."

For the first time, James truly believed she would. And for the first time, Carina actually meant it.