Lily shook her head, feeling that she had met a lost cause. "I don't think the answer really matters to you. You just want an excuse."
"Doesn't everybody need an excuse for something or another?"
"No, James, not everybody does."
*~*~*
The next time Lily walked into the library, she didn't sit with James as had become habit, instead chose an empty table. She ignored his penetrating stare as she drew books from her rucksack. The reason for her solitary seating was soon discovered as Barty Crouch bounced in with a smile on his face. "Guess what, Lils!"
"What?" Lily asked the same time as Madame Pince shrilly said, "Keep the noise down!"
"My dad promised to take me to a game of the Bats and the Falcons!"
"Ummm, brill?" She tried, hoping for the right level of excitement.
"More than just brill, this is totally ace! The Falcons ALWAYS get into a fight with the other team, you can ask for a bloodier game. They've taken out more than one Seeker."
"Why would anyone want to see that?"
"Don't you love to see a Seeker debroomed?"
"Not really."
"You really need to relax. You won't get anywhere in the wizarding world if you don't at least pretend to like a good game of Quidditch."
Lily glared at him in a remarkably menacing manner. "Excuse me?"
"In the top jobs, your boss will take you to discuss business at a game. It's obligatory to cheer and know a few plays."
"For you maybe."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
Lily raised her eyebrows in the look of classic female sassiness. "It means that bum-kissing might be the standard in wizarding politics, but I'm going to be an Auror, and we do the bum-kicking."
"Until you become the kicked instead of the kickee."
"There's no such word as kickee, Barty."
"So?"
"I'm saying kickee makes you sound like an uneducated idiot. Can we just drop this anyway, it's stupid."
"Sure, sure. Do you have notes from the last Prefects' meeting?"
"Yes. Did you forget AGAIN?"
"Yeah. I'm sorry! Don't look at me like that, I'm not quite as punctual as you."
"No, I suppose not. So do you want to meet me at The Three Broomsticks next weekend for the Hogsmeade trip?"
"You know I do." Barty answered with a grin, accepting her hastily written notes.
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