Reckless Bravery ;;

RECKLESS BRAVERY ;; Hogwarts; it's the time to fly, to chase, to cause trouble, to have fun, to be brave, to be loyal, to trust, to charm, to love, to be foolish, to be free. J a m e s P o t t e r G R I F F I N D O R Seventh Year at Hogwarts. q u i d d i t c h ;; { captain and chaser }

[lily-evansxo]

Be Calm; Be Cool || Lily & James

[lily-evansxo]

While biting the inside of her cheek in slight concentration, her green eyes scanned across the boy’s face. Searching to see if their was any indication of him in any sort of pain at the moment, his brain was actually here or if he was feeling any better. From the looks of him, he didn’t look in too much pain. But this was James, and he might not feeling alright but keeping it in. A small frown crossed her face and her gaze met back up with his once again.

Without looking away from him one of her hands quietly put an indent at the top corner of the page in the book, and then shut it. Her lips pursing together at his wince from chuckling. “Yeah… well she had some other students to get to, and two fourth years go in a fight. So I just said I’d watch over you for a bit.. ” Lily said with a small shrug, trying to act as if it was no big deal really. Kind of dismissing him saying that seeing her was more of a pleasant surprise. Other things were on her mind instead. Glancing at the clock she made a mental note that he would have to take medicine in about ten more minutes. Maybe sooner if he was in more pain then she was observing from him.

Setting her book on the side table by the medicine, she pulled her feet off of his bed. Pulling her knees to her chest as she squinted her eyes at him a bit, speaking quietly as she spoke. “You.. fell pretty hard. Does your head hurt? Or anything hurt for that matter..” Lily asked him before quickly adding. “And you have to answer completely honest… otherwise i’ll..i’ll overdoes you on medicine. Madam Pomfrey left me practically in charge of you after all..” She said trailing off after the sentence with a small smirk on her lips.

[trustingstag]

James nodded at Lily's comment; he'd figured that was the case when he hadn't woken up to Madam Pomfrey, but still Lily explaining why while not entirely needed did make sense. "A fight?" He raised a brow slightly. "Seems like head girl just isn't setting a good enough example." He joked, and the humour in his tone was more than evident. "You wanted to watch over me?" It was like poking a bear with a stick and he knew it, still though it was rather humorous to say the words. And actually it was quite possibly the breeding ground of hope. 

James listened to her question before shaking his head just slightly. "Nah, I'm perfectly--" Lily wasn't finished; she continued by telling him to be honest and that certainly wasn't what he was about to do. "So if I'm not honest, you're going to overdose me on medicine?" He rose a brow. "Seems a little extreme." Still, James couldn't resist the opportunity -- not just because he didn't want to seem like he was in a lot of pain, especially in front of Lily, but because he was supposed to be completely honest.

"Honestly, I could probably climb up onto that broom and play another game no problem." His voice was quite serious when he spoke too, and he probably could have tried it -- not saying it would have been his best game or he would have stayed on the broom for the duration (though that seemed to be a problem with Lily in the crowd anyway), but he could attempt it. "I'm perfectly f--" As he moved to sit up more in the bed his sentence was cut short because the pain travelling down his left side just wasn't allowing such a ludicrous lie. "-- ine." He finished, as if nothing had happened at all, as if the sentence had flowed quite smoothly.

[excepttheeyes]

[trustingstag]

We were opposites at birth I was steady as a hammer No one worried ‘cause they knew just where I’d be And they said you were the crooked kind And that you would never have no worth But you were always gold to me

[lily-evansxo]

Be Calm; Be Cool || Lily & James

[lily-evansxo]

It didn’t take them long at all to get James up to the infirmary where all the women quickly set him on a bed and started to work. Lily stood quietly by a separater where she watched the ladies stripped off Jame’s shirt, and held his head still. Getting to work fast as each one started a different mission to accomplish on the boy; from wrapping bandage around some limb, pouring medicine for him, performing spells. Many things as they started to heal him.

Sure she wanted to be a healer maybe one day. Honestly Lily still had no idea what she wanted to do, where to go, what to be. The thought scared her on a daily basis, but she dealt with it. A plus of Potter getting hurt was that she got to see Healers doing work live? Not that that was really a plus. There was no plus in the boy damaged in the bed.

Staring at him made her insides start to fill with guilt, and even concern. She could still imagine the moment when their eyes met, that smile that play across his face when he saw her. Those hazel eyes as the bludger made contact with his hand, and he flew off. Lily bit her lip, closing her eyes as she looked down. She had never meant for this to happen. If anything she expected when he saw her, if he saw her, it would maybe be a small frown in disappointment and move on. Not him laying her - not his team out there trying to play without him - not this. Sure sometimes he drives her crazy, but that doesn’t mean she wants him dead or hurt.

Lily’s head snapped up at the sound of one of the nurses asking if she was staying at all. Nodding her head and wiping her cheek quickly Lily followed the nurse slowly over to the bed. Where the nurse then explained that she could stay in the char beside his bed. Watch to make sure he doesn’t stop breathing, and when he should take medicine. The other nurses one by one left the bed as they went to go work on other patients.

Sitting by his bed, after a little while of staring at him and thinking Lily conquered up some books for her to read. Glancing at him ever so often to see if he had awoken. Every hour she was to slip some potion down his throat that helped ease the pain - which was to say the least a bit awkward. After awhile propping her feet up on his bed a little bit. Looking up at the clock Lily bit her lip. Four hours and forty-two minutes asleep. Her eyes gazed back down at her book as she flipped the page, reading about a story that really wasn’t too interesting. 200 pages in, she heard her name.

Freezing in place Lily stared down at her book. She had only heard him say her name a million times, but this time it made her freeze. Slowly her head turned from the book to look at the boy at her side. “…Potter.” Lily said quietly, almost as a whisper, which she really didn’t mean for it to come out that way.

[trustingstag]

The way she said his name was quite different to usual; the name wasn't said in annoyance, nor did it have a hint of anger, or that slight bit of sarcasm that was sometimes underlying the words. Actually it didn't reflect the usual tone in the slightest -- a quiet whisper was what he heard. Still, that wasn't the most surprising, it was actually just the fact that she was sitting there by his bed. Maybe she was here to give him a lecture? Merlin, he knew he was going to have one off of the Gryffindor team, regardless of the fact he was the captain. 

His hazel orbs flickered to the book she had in her hands, before meeting her gaze once again. She must have been here for a while, or at least she had expected to. She had seemed fairly into the book when he'd first seen her, it was actually quite nice to watch but still curiosity had gotten the best of James and he'd needed to break the silence.

The head boy cocked his head to the side, which actually wasn't the most comfortable of movements. He racked his thoughts for something to say; which of the things that was running through his head would be most appropriate for the moment? 

"I was actually expecting to wake up to Madam Pomfrey." The words came with a small chuckle, that caused James to wince just a little. While he was in pain, he imagined they'd already stuffed him full of medicine and all other healer synonymous things, and if they hadn't he'd probably be in a whole lot more pain. "This is a pleasant surprise." The smile on his lips, while resembling his usual smirk, was in fact genuine -- he was both happy and surprised to see her.

[lily-evansxo]

Be Calm; Be Cool || Lily & James

[lily-evansxo]

Lily wasn’t sure how long they had been staring at each other. Had it been seconds, minutes, hours even. It felt like hours. Trapped in the hazel abyss of James Potter’s eyes. It was then, out of the corner of her eye she saw it. A bludger coming straight towards him. Sirius and the other beater no where near to hit it away.

It happened slowly. As if it was all moving in slow motion. The smile that slowly seemed to etch across his face. Completely oblivious and unaware of the danger heading his way. The bludger that seemed to move ever so slowly towards the black haired boy. Her eyes widened as they met his again. She couldn’t do anything. Nothing. All she could do was watch. Watch as it all unraveled in front of her eyes.

The bludger hit him straight in the back of his head. Knocking him forward off of his broom. Heading straight towards the cold hard ground. Her mouth opened slightly as she gaped at the boy. Her hands moving along the railing as she moved down along it towards the stairs. “Move.. move..” She muttered as she moved along. It get getting louder each time she says it and gets father down. “I’m… i’m the Head Girl! Move!” Came out her mouth as she yelled, clear anger in her voice.

"Potter!" Lily yelled. Completely oblivious to the people around her, all feelings and thoughts about what she was doing out of her mind. Her eyes staying focused on the falling, limp looking body of James. Even as he fell he seemed to be moving almost gracefully.

He hit the ground hard. Hitting the ground with a thump that where she was at the stairs. Madam Barnes the referee already making her way out towards the boy along with some medical people. Making their way out quickly to him. Lily fell to her knees next to him as the others rushed to him. His angelic, as Doug would call it, features looking lifeless. “Holy shit.. oh my.. Potter. Hey, come on.” She said lightly as she started to lightly hit his cheek for him to open his eyes - wake up - something that gave her hope that he wasn’t as injured as she was imaging. “All up at once now.” One of the ladies said as they lifted him up a bit and lifted him onto a cot. Carrying him carefully to the infirmary.

[trustingstag]

It was taking a fair bit of James' effort to keep his eyes open and it was still only doomed to failure. He was picking up on the scuttling of feet on the grass and the mumbles in the distance, both were getting closer as his vision became all the worse. The head boy could have sworn that one of those voices however, was a voice he was very familiar with. Though rather than being plagued with concern it usually contained great annoyance. Of course James was in no condition to question anything because sure enough the black consumed his vision and he was out of it in no time. Missing a quidditch game surely wouldn't be something James would be happy about when he woke up.

Stirring in the hospital bed, James finally found himself opening his eyes. He'd not really expected his hazel hues to open and gaze upon the infirmary -- in fact as he was awakening he'd almost completely forgotten about the fall that had gotten him in the infirmary in the first place. Of course that didn't last long because as soon as he moved to adjust himself in the bed not only was there a sharp pain coursing through the left side of his body, but the pounding in his head was excruciating too. 

It didn't take long for James to forget about the pain though, even if it was just momentarily, when his hazel orbs landed upon the gorgeous redhead who had arguably landed him in the infirmary in the first place. The head boy didn't exactly have much time to really piece the whole scenario together all too well. Obviously though, as opposed to worrying about how serious his injuries were, he was more concerned about why Lily Evans was at his bedside, and how long she had been there -- and actually come to think of it, how long he had been there himself.

His lips pulled up into a small smile almost absent-mindedly, as they would almost every single time he caught a glimpse of the head girl. It was an action they had very much become accustomed to over the years and quite rightly, his lips hadn't shaken the custom either -- never letting Lily down with that initial smile. Not that he supposed she'd caught onto it, or that it was really for her as much as it was because of her. 

"Evans." While the tone the name came out with still held some of that genuine Potter confidence, it still came out a little rough and also with a little hesitation. Nevertheless, the words accompanied the smile on his lips perfectly as he looked into her emerald hues, studying their utter perfection -- though James' thoughts still weren't exactly in line with one another thanks to the thumping in his head, so who was to say how long they'd managed to stay locked up there.

[lily-evansxo]

Be Calm; Be Cool || Lily & James

[lily-evansxo]

Lily would be lying if she said she didn’t enjoy watching Quidditch. It was fun to watch. It reminded her of muggle sports a lot. Bringing back memories of when her farther would bring her to some muggle games, seeing all the players run across the field or court. Although if someone were to ask her, she probably wouldn’t admit to liking it that much. It was just Quidditch after all. Yet for the sake of her best friend, Doug, she started reading up on Quidditch more, so when she went to the game she wouldn’t be confused. The reading was interesting to say the least, especially the Quidditch through the Ages book.

Her eyes scanned the field, watching all the players fly and zoom across the field. The sound of the crowd yelling, screaming and cheering. A mixture of all emotions coming from voices, but most importantly excitement. Finally her eyes landed on the messy haired boy. She couldn’t help but keep her eyes fixed on him. Watching him fly across the field in such concentration and focus. Passing the quaffle along with his team mates in such sync. It was hympnatizing to watch. They scored. And again. And again. Lily clapped her hands together lightly, trying not to look too impressed. As her friend Marlene scored she smiled, clapping her hands together louder and letting out a small cheer for her friend.

Then it happened. Her eyes once again drifted over to Potter. Only this time he was looking back. The smile on his face, the glisten in his eyes, the clear excitement all over his face. Quickly it seemed to fade little by little, as a frown made it’s way to his face. Lily’s smile fell slightly as she didn’t look away. To caught in his gaze to even look away. Everything else around her almost forgotten as she squinted her eyes at him a bit. tilting her head to the side.

[trustingstag]

Part of James was happy that Lily was even at a game, another part was in awe at her beauty -- even when she wasn't wearing Gryffindor colours, or perhaps those Ravenclaw colours managed to amplify her true beauty all the most. While another part of the head boy was taken aback by her refusal to wear a Gryffindor jersey, perhaps even to spit him, though he wasn't going to assume something at least not consciously, James just couldn't help the small smile that found its way back onto his lips as all the negative emotions passed. Sure he could stay a little mad, and maybe he would but the smile won over. 

The small moment that the two of them were sharing could only last a short while however, as unbeknownst to James a persistent bludger was flying right towards him. Before James could even think about tearing his eyes away from the captivating beauty and focusing on the game once again, he felt a hard thump on the back of his head and soon enough he was off of his broom. His hand had reached for the broom, but given the fact his vision at that moment was by far worse than when he didn't have his glasses on -- he could see at least two of his brooms before him -- there wasn't much of a chance he was going to be able to grab onto it again.

The wind was cold when he was flying through it on his broom, even in a good few layers but falling through the air from such a height, the wind became all the more freezing. It would probably have stung his face if the pain in the back of his head hadn't been overwhelming it by a great amount. Of all the things that could have happened in a Quidditch game, James wouldn't have imagined he'd be falling off his broom courtesy of Lily Evans. Though even in the short fall he'd been confident he'd be back in the air.

He was wrong, however, as when the dark haired male eventually hit the floor, the pain in his head increased a great amount and everything was just about fading to black.

[lily-evansxo]

Be Calm; Be Cool || Lily & James

When was the last time she was at a Quidditch game? She couldn’t remember. Probably somewhere around Fourth or Fifth year. Maybe. Quidditch just really wasn’t her thing. She would much rather stay in the library and read the book she had been wanting to read. Yet today she wasn’t staying in the library to read, or find something else to do.

Pulling down the sleeves of the blue Ravenclaw jersey Lily made her way to the pitch, Sarah by her side talking about who knows what. She was too busy thinking about about other things to listen too closely. It was odd wearing another team’s jersey, but she was here to support her best friend. Also to do her Head Girl duties as watching over the student body. Or that’s what she told herself anyways. Deep down, a part of her knew she was doing it for another reason. To annoy Potter, to see his reaction. That she had actually came to a Quidditch game, and she wasn’t even there for him and was wearing the other teams jersey.

Shaking her head Lily nodded at Sarah. “Yes, mhm.” She said coming back from her thoughts and they found a spot along the railing to watch the game. Pulling the jersey close to herself as a chill from the wind ran down her spine. Bertha started announcing the players coming out, and Lily capped for all the players with her Gryffindor gloves and soon enough the game started.

[trustingstag]

This was the moment James had been waiting for; it was one thing being on the Quidditch pitch for training with his team, but being on the pitch for an actual game, that's what he'd needed for a fair few weeks, if not months. The moment the cool wind hit his face, James knew it would be a good game and was more than ready to destroy Ravenclaw -- in the kindest way possible. The head boy would never admit that any team was a real match for Gryffindor, not against his team, but Ravenclaw shouldn't have been too hard a match for Gryffindor regardless. Of course James, as the captain had ensured his team went through some arguably rigorous training over the past few months and so they were undoubtedly ready.

The beginning of the match proved that they were working towards exactly what James had suspected -- a win from Gryffindor -- and that wasn't just the young man being cocky about it either. It didn't take long for James to receive the quaffle and only moments later he was watching the ball pass the keeper and make its way through their opponents hoop. 'Ten points to Gryffindor' echoed onto the pitch and a smile found its way to his lips. Sure enough though, that wasn't going to be his only goal. Another quaffle passed through Ravenclaw's hoop, thanks to Gryffindor's obvious teamwork. Then another, and another -- all courtesy of James Potter. And once again the quaffle passed through the hoop almost effortlessly by Marlene McKinnon. It was a fast paced game so far but Gryffindor were barely letting Ravenclaw gain possession of the quaffle -- as far as James was concerned that deserved a little praise in itself.

On a roll again, James passed the quaffle to McKinnon just as his hazel hues caught sight of the beautiful redhead. She always managed to captivate him, but this time it was different. When he spotted her in the crowd, the initial smile on his face at her appearance -- finally -- in a quidditch game was replaced by a frown as he caught sight of the jersey she was in. The feeling in his stomach was almost unbearable and James was unable to pull his gaze away from the redheaded goddess.

[braveprongs-blog]

W I L D Y O U T H ; ; { l i s t e n }

i. young volcanoes - fall out boy | ii. the reckless and the brave - all time low | iii. everybody loves me - onerepublic | iv. kids - mikky ekko | v. youth - daughter | vi. kick ass - mika | vii. safe and sound - kurt schneider (cover) | viii. mad as rabbits - panic! at the disco | ix. james - allstar weekend | x. have faith in me (acoustic) - a day to remember | xi. charlie brown - coldplay | xii. young forever - jay-z ft. mr hudson | xiii. animal - neon trees | xiv. die young - ke$ha | xv. this is why we fight - the decemberists | xvi. how far we’ve come - matchbox twenty

[lily-evansxo]

..Well you isn’t plural so I got confused. That is true because people tend to do that, but it’s still replacing the thing. Everybody is a bit different. But — no technically you do though. That person may move down in the ranks, and someone else moves up but they’re replacing them in the best friend slot. The old one can’t even have the same title… you just.. [ She runs her hands over her face in frustration ] The old best friend may not be your best friend, and they’ll always have a certain kind of..value, and you can’t replace a person. But — the other person, the new best friend has in a way replaced them as the best friend in that slot. And don’t talk about my books.

[trustingstag]

It's both, really. I don't know if I would call it replacing exactly. Just a bit. They're taking the title of best friend, maybe even in the spot, but I wouldn't say it's necessarily a replacement. The old one's title is revoked, moved on. You have a new best friend, but they're not exactly replaced. What's wrong with talking about your books?

[lily-evansxo]

I am not being naive. I am simply saying my points. It’s true and not my fault you don’t see the logic of it. They can — but that’s sort of a totally different thing. Yeah you can. Have a friend.. and maybes lets say they got sour over the years and you end up replacing them with a new good friend. You still have all the memories with the last person, but they are no longer valuable to you, and are simply just a memory from your childhood when they were a true friend… but now replaced by someone…. from little things like books to friends…. life is a never ending cycle of replacement, Potter.

[trustingstag]

It was more of a plural 'you' -- people tend to be naive and attach sentimental value to things that look similar to the thing that was replaced, I guess. Or some people are just easier to please and less sentimental than others. Okay -- but you don't actually replace the friend, you move them down, sometimes a lot, in your books and the other friend moves higher in your books. You've got a new best friend but you haven't got a replacement of your old one -- they just receive the same title. I'll have disagree with you there, Evans.

[prufrocked]

[hufflehookum-deactivated2016062]

That’s good, young dumpling. Make mother proud.  

[trustingstag]

Will do.

[hufflehookum-deactivated2016062]

Personally, I hope you kick Ravenclaw’s ass.

[trustingstag]

It's what we're going for.

[lily-evansxo]

It could be though. Your parents could get you an identical blanket and love it all the same because it can be replaced.. but as you get older and things change and things become less valuable to you and you just replace them with new things. It’s like with people and friends. They might.. have a best friend all growing up and when they get older they get a new one and replace them.. not all the time but sometimes.

[trustingstag]

Or you're just being naive because you think it's the same thing, when in reality it isn't? Depends what things we're talking about -- things can also become more valuable as you get older. I don't think you can really replace friends -- not true friends. Sometimes, definitely. But for me, not.

[hufflehookum-deactivated2016062]

Screw house pride, Gryffindor is going to win this!!

[trustingstag]

That's what I like to hear!

[lily-evansxo]

Sometimes, but really not. Lets say you have a blanket that you always sleep with when you’re little. Protects you, keeps you warm, but as you get older it doesn’t mean as much to you anymore and you can a different blanket. Replaced. Happens all the time with friends, crushes, partners..

[trustingstag]

Okay, well the blanket could never be replaced because it held so much value to you as a child. But you could get another blanket that serves the same purpose but never brings the same heart-warming memories that take you to your childhood. Not all the time -- a fair bit of the time, but not always.  

[lily-evansxo]

What isn’t replaceable then.

[trustingstag]

Things that carry sentiment and meaning -- or I guess things that are too rare to replace.

[lily-evansxo]

I guess so.. everything is replaceable. 

[trustingstag]

Not everything -- not really.