"Hey," Del greeted as she entered the infirmary where James was, stopping at the foot of his bed. "How are you?"

"I'm supposed to take it easy the next few days but other than that I'm fine," he answered. "She just wanted me to stay here for a few hours just in case."

"Think about it this way, at least you don't need crutches," she joked and his face dropped. "It's a joke, you're supposed to laugh or smile. You're not supposed to look like I just killed your puppy."

His frown deepened as he pushed himself into a sitting position, "It's just...I'm the reason you're stuck with them. The reason you can't walk."

"Geez, I knew you could be self absorbed but not everything is about you," she informed him and he narrowed his eyes. She rocked back and forth on her crutches for a moment, "My mother did this to me. She just used you to do it. If it wasn't you, it would have been someone else."

"But-"

"No more arguing about," she informed him, "Let's just move on from it."

He nodded, albeit reluctantly, and she let out a breath of relief. "Now that we're past the whole you feeling bad thing, I need a favor," Del informed him. She moved around his bed and took a seat in the chair next to it, leaning her crutches against the edge of the bed.

"Okay..." he trailed off, eyeing the girl. He couldn't think of anything she would need his help with that wouldn't end horribly.

"I need you to tutor me in Transfiguration."

He was taken aback by this, "You're the top of the entire seventh year, academically speaking. Why would you possibly need my help?"

"Because you're top in Transfiguration and I need to pass the practical portion of the test," she explained. "As much as I wish they could, books can't teach you everything. McGonagall suggested I ask you for help."

He raised an eyebrow at this, "She did?"

She narrowed her eyes, "You seem surprised."

"She's not usually prone to suggest me to help with anything," he explained simply although Del sensed that there was more to it. "I tend to be destructive."

"I'm aware," she replied and he shot the girl a glare. "So? Will you do it?"

"Are you sure it's a good idea?" he asked warily. "Your mother has made it clear where she stands in regards to me and I don't want to make anything worse."

"My mother is going to find a reason to be mad at me no matter what I do," Del pointed out with a shrug. "Besides, she's the one adamant about me passing all my tests with flying colors. I need you to help me do that."

He seemed reluctant and she rolled her eyes, "Come on, Potter. If it'll make you feel better, nobody has to know you're helping me."

"And how would we do that?"

She shrugged, "Just come to my room after curfew using the map."

"Alright, fine," he agreed.

"Perfect," she grinned. "We can start whenever you're up for it."

"Tonight."

"We can wait a few days."

He shook his head, "No, tonight is fine." He paused for a moment, "Unless you don't want to start tonight."

"Tonight works for me," she nodded before placing her palms on the edge of his bed and pushing herself up. She slipped her arms into the crutches and faced him for a moment, "I'll see you tonight then?"

That evening she laid in her bed staring at the ceiling of her room as she waited for James to arrive. She wasn't even sure why she asked him to help her. She was certain that it wouldn't end well and were anyone to find out, she'd be in a lot of trouble.

Del wasn't even sure what surprised her more, the fact that she asked or the fact that he agreed. Granted, he had been reluctant and she had pushed him to agree. Maybe she should have just let it drop. As the night went on, she was convinced he wasn't going to show until there was a knock on the door.

She quickly got up and opened the door a crack to see that it was James with the map in hand. She opened it more and he slipped in before she shut the door and locked it.

He stopped where he stood and as she turned to walk back into her room, she ran into his back. She stumbled slightly but managed to steady herself on her crutches before she fell. James turned around quickly, "Merlin, I'm sorry, I-"

"It's alright, Potter," she informed him with a wave of her hand. "Next time just walk completely into a room before stopping."

"Right," he mumbled. "Sorry."

"I have my stuff set up at the desk over there," she explained and he turned to where she had gestured. She didn't need the extra dresser, as she had originally suspected, and she asked Dumbledore if he could exchange it for a desk so she wouldn't have to go all the way to the library to do homework. That night when she returned to her room it had become a desk.

He nodded before walking over. He placed the map on the bed and then took a seat at the desk. After a moment, she joined him in the chair next to him, resting her crutches against the wall.

"So where do you want to start?" he asked as he opened the textbook.

"I'm sort of bad at everything," she explained with a frown. "I understand the logistics of it all, I'm just not so good at execution."

"Okay then," he nodded slowly, "Let's get started."

As the night went on and the two studied, James pulled out what Del realized after a short time was a Snitch and began to play with it. He released it and it would flutter a distance away and before he caught it and repeated the action.

"Let me see that," she requested and he reluctantly handed the Snitch over to the girl. She turned it over in her hand before releasing it and catching it once it flew a foot or so away.

"You were the Seeker for Slytherin," he seemed to recall. "Why'd you quit? You were good."

"Parents thought it was a waste of time," she explained as she watched the Snitch fly a foot or so away and she reached out and grabbed it. "They were probably right."

James opened his mouth to tell her they weren't but decided against it, shaking his head slightly. He reached over to grab it back from her but she moved her hand out of reach. "I'm keeping this," she informed him.

He raised an eyebrow, "What?"

"You can get yourself another," she reminded him as she tucked the Snitch into her jacket pocket. "I'm keeping this one."

He huffed but ultimately allowed it. Not that he had much of a choice in the matter. "Try to transform it again," he suggested.

She raised her wand, "Vera Verto."

"It's three taps," he stated and she turned to look at him.

"What?"

"The hand motion is three taps, not four," he explained before he demonstrated. "See?" He changed the goblet back into a lizard. "Try again."

She huffed before trying again and failing. "Here," he spoke up before placing his hand over hers. He paused for a moment as they both adjusted to the close proximity. Del had to shake her head and remind herself that he was just James Potter. It didn't matter that he was this close to her. Even if she really liked it.

"Right," he cleared his throat after a moment, "Like this." He demonstrated the movement again before quickly moving away. "Now you try."

She nodded slowly before trying again. The lizard transformed into a goblet. She threw her hands up into the air, "Aha!"

"See, told you," he smiled at the girl's enthusiasm. "That wasn't so bad now was it?"

"Thank you," she smiled, staring at the goblet for a moment before turning to look at him. "Really. Thank you."

He stared at the girl for a moment before shaking his head and turning it back to the goblet. "Turn it back."

"Right," she mumbled before turning it back successfully. She was quick to turn it back into a goblet before the lizard could scurry off the desk. "Call me an expert."

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," he suggested when noises could be heard from outside her room.

Del pulled out her pocket watch and checked the time, "No." She looked over at the boy, "We have a problem."

He seemed to register the issue, "What time is it?"

"Seven."

"Already?" he gaped.

"Apparently time flies," she replied. "You don't happen to have your invisibility cloak, do you?"

He shook his head, "Sirius has it. Something to do with McKinnon."

She huffed before forcing herself up. She didn't bother to grab her crutches as she walked the few steps, falling against her bed. She opened the map, "Too many people."

He stood up and joined her, "It's Saturday, maybe they'll be gone soon?"

"Maybe," she agreed. "I guess we just have to wait."

It had been three hours and the whole time there was at least one person out in the common room. There was no way of getting him out without getting caught.

They had chosen to work on their Defense Against the Dark Arts homework rather than sit around and be unproductive. Not that that would have been a bad thing.

"Stop doing that," she requested with her back resting against the headrest of her bed. He sat next to her and turned to face her with a raised eyebrow.

"Doing what?" he asked in confusion.

She reached up to his head and messed his hair up a little, "Just leave it."

They stared at each other for a moment. She cleared her throat and dropped her arms quickly, turning back to focus on her work. "Beauty fades," she informed the boy as she jotted down something for the homework. "Dumb is forever."

He scoffed, "Says the one who needs me to tutor them in Transfiguration."

She narrowed her eyes at the boy, "I'm still top of the seventh year class. I'd hardly constitute that as dumb." She placed her scroll on the nightstand and huffed, leaning back against her bed. "I'm bored."

"You and me both," he replied as he too placed his homework to the side. He picked up the map, "There are still people out there."

"We can always just throw a blanket over your head and you can make a run for it," she suggested but from the look on his face she could tell it was off the table. "Okay, nevermind then."

James' stomach grumbled and Del raised an eyebrow at him. "Hungry?"

He nodded, slightly embarrassed, and she carefully got off the bed and crouched down, grimacing slightly as she pulled the bucket out from under her bed and placing it on top before getting back up. James' eyes widened at the contents in the bin, "Merlin, you really do have a problem."

Del nodded in agreement, "I know." She picked up a chocolate bar and handed it to him, "I've gained like ten pounds and it doesn't help that I can't really burn it off. Granted, most of it has turned into muscle."

He seemed to grow amused at this, "Can I see?"

She raised an eyebrow, "See what exactly?"

He gestured toward her arms, "The muscle."

Her face dropped, "Remember the whole we're all entitled to our secrets thing? You can keep yours as long as I never have to flex my muscles for you."

He narrowed his eyes but nodded with a huff, "Fine. But I bet I could still beat you in an arm wrestling match."

"Yeah, okay," she agreed, "You can have that one."

"'You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than an hour of conversation,'" she recited and he turned to look at her. "Plato," she explained before he could ask, "In our case, hours." They laid on the bed that was now littered in candy wrappers.

"What have you come to find out about me?" James inquired.

"That you're an ass."

He narrowed his eyes at the girl, "And I've learned that you're awful at Transfiguration. A first year is better than you."

She scoffed before kicking him in the abdomen gently. Seeing as he was on the edge, he lost balance and fell off with a thud. She laughed but quickly made her way to the edge and looked over, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," he groaned as he sat up. Something caught his eye and he grabbed it. "A Polaroid camera?"

He stood up and she saw that he was holding her camera. She nodded, "Sirius got it for me for Christmas years ago."

James turned it on and she put her hand up and covered her face, "What are you doing?"

"Taking a picture," he said pointedly, "What do you think I'm doing?"

"Being an idiot." He grinned at this before there was a click and the photo printed.

"Come on, Potter," she tried, reaching out for the Polaroid. "Give it to me. I look like a mess right now."

He smirked slightly as he shook the film slightly. He looked down at the picture, "I think you look cute."

"Potter!" she exclaimed as she moved across the bed to grab it from him. She laid across him as she reached for it in his outstretched hand. "Give it to me."

"Nope," he replied, popping the 'p' for effect. "I'm keeping it."

She turned to look at him and she ignored the feeling in her stomach due to their close proximity, "I'm going to kill you."

He leaned up so their faces were only inches apart, a smug expression on his face, "I'd like to see you try." Before she could come up with a response, there was a knock at her door. Her eyes widened and she quickly scrambled off of the boy.

"One second," she called out before turning to the boy. "Get under the bed."

His eyes widened, "What?"

"Under the bed," she repeated as she grabbed her crutches and slipped her arms through. "Quickly." He rolled off before sliding under the bed.

Del opened the door to find Cynthia and Angela standing outside her room. They both entered before she could protest and Del closed the door. She huffed, "Come on in."

Her eyes darted to under the bed for a moment before looking back up at her friends, "What are you doing here?"

"We were worried about you," Angela explained as she looked over at her bed which was covered in chocolate wrappers. "With good reason apparently." For two people, this was probably a semi-reasonable amount of chocolate. For one, not so much.

Cynthia frowned, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, just a headache," she explained. "I was hungry and didn't really care to go to the Great Hall to get food."

"We can get you food and we can come back and-"

"No!" Del exclaimed. "I mean, it's nothing against you, I promise. I just would like to be alone. I'm exhausted and didn't sleep well last night. We can hang out tomorrow. I swear."

"Yeah, alright," Angela frowned. "We'll send a house elf in with food."

"Oh, you don't have to do that," she shook her head.

"You need to eat something other than chocolate," Cynthia pointed out. "A large amount like that can't be good for you."

"Right..." she trailed off, "Thank you."

They both nodded before leaving the room and Del immediately locked the door behind them. There was thud from under the bed followed by a groan. James rolled out and Del made her way over to look down at the boy who was holding his head. She stifled a laugh, "I would help you but I don't see that ending well for either of us."

"I think I'm just going to stay down here," he informed the girl, his hand over his forehead. There was a cracking noise and Del turned to see two house elves carrying trays full of food.

Normally Del would have taken the trays from them but she was incapable at the moment, "Put them on the bed, please." They nodded, a look of confusion on both of their faces as they placed the food on the beds. "Thank you," Del smiled, confusing them further before they snapped their fingers and disappeared.

Del rested crutches against the wall and hopped up on the bed, "If you want to eat, you have to get up."

He groaned before sitting up, "Actual substance." He pushed himself off the floor before joining her on the bed, "Finally."

The two cleaned up the chocolate wrappers before moving the platters so they could eat. "I have not eaten this much food..." Del announced, falling onto her back, "Ever."

"Same," James agreed, falling back as well.

"Hey," Del spoke up after some time. "What animal do you turn into?"

"What?" he asked, shifting so he could look at her.

"Your Animagus. Is it a stag?" she asked curiously. "I figure it matches your patronus."

"It does," he agreed before looking back up at the ceiling.

"Can I see it?" Del requested.

"'It'?" he repeated in confusion.

"The Stag."

He sat up, contemplating it for a moment, "Yeah, alright."

He got off the bed and a moment later there was stag in her room. It trotted over to her and she sat with her legs dangling off the bed.

She reached out to touch the side of the stag's face, "This is awesome." The stag pressed it's head into her palm and she laughed. She caught sight of the map on her bed and dropped her hand, turning to look at it. "No one's in the common room."

Del turned back to look at the stag but it was now James in a crouched position. He took the map and stood up, "Perfect."

She stood up as well. "Next time bring the invisibility cloak," she suggested. "Just to be safe."

"Right," he nodded in agreement, "Next time."

She walked with him to the door after getting a hold of her crutches. He checked the map again, "See ya, Black."

She nodded, "Potter."