#haha[

      A week away from the castle had been both a blessing and a curse. The Quidditch tournament had been what he needed to gain some distance from the fight with Sirius and the fact that his father was still not improving, even in the hospital, and James felt refreshed when he returned in a way that nothing but flying could do for him. That being said, there were also some less than stellar consequences of being gone. For one, he hadn’t seen Lily since the night he joined her on patrols after their first (several) kisses. For another, work had piled up in his absence, and once again, James was scrambling to get caught up on homework he should have finished ages ago. And then, of course, there was this. An official complaint from a student, suggesting one of the Slytherin Prefects was unfairly assigning detentions to people she didn’t like -- namely, young witches and wizards who were not purebloods.

      James stared down at the parchment the complaint was written on, silently seething. Narcissa Black -- of course it was! Who else? Regulus was smarter than that, even if he hadn’t stepped back from the family prejudices, and Emma was far too smart to get caught, if she decided to act this way. But didn’t Narcissa realize what was going on outside the castle? People were dying because of this ridiculous prejudice, and she was perpetrating it at Hogwarts? How self-absorbed and foolish could one person be? 

       Admittedly, James was closer to this issue now than ever before. His family had been labelled ‘blood traitors’ long before he was born, thanks to his grandparents and their laid-back views on marriage and what made a good witch or wizard. The Potters had never believed blood had anything to do with it, a fact for which James was incredibly grateful. He had always stood up for halfblooded magical folk, and had always hated blind prejudice -- but it was different, now. He and Lily were, well, something, and he had seen, up close and personal, what she had to do to prove to others that she was worth something, just because her parents were muggles. It was absurd, unjust, and downright cruel, and James would be damned if he let a prefect under his purview continue to treat people that way. 

       Jaw clenched tightly, James pushed back from the desk he’d settled at in the library and forced himself to stride calmly, rather than storm, toward the third floor restrooms, where he knew Narcissa had been assigned to patrol that evening. There was more than enough for him to deal with at the moment; he wasn’t in the mood to deal with any Black, let alone one who wasn’t Sirius. Yet here he was, required to go have a serious conversation with Narcissa, one of the most self-involved, manipulative of the lot. 

        “Black!” James called down the hallway when he caught sight of the blonde girl about to disappear around a corner. “A word, if you don’t mind!” It was phrased as a request, but the tone spoke less of asking and more of demanding. James had learned that from Sirius, years ago -- his parents weren’t the sort of people to behave in such a way, but sometimes, James had learned, asking politely didn’t get one what he wanted. Sometimes, when dealing with people like this, one had to speak in language and tone that they’d understand. He moved a bit faster, in case she decided to try to avoid him, and used his longer legs to his advantage to overtake her. “I’ve just gotten back from the Quidditch tournament,” he said, carefully controlling the desire to start yelling and speaking conversationally, instead. “And I found an interesting piece of parchment waiting for me, with your name on it. Care to guess what it was?” 

at least it's a milder episode this time??? at least???