"Hey Ev- Lily. Could I maybe talk to you for a second?
It was exactly two weeks since we had returned to Hogwarts: September 15th. I had been on my way out of the Great Hall, headed for the grounds where my friends and I were going to relax. Well, they were going to relax. I really needed to get ahead on that transfiguration essay. A foot of parchment? We only just got back! I swear, McGonagall- wait, not my point.
Anyway, we were leaving the Great Hall when James walked up to me. Yes, James Potter. The newly appointed Quidditch captain. The infamous trouble-maker with the round glasses, hazel eyes, and jet-black hair that never lies flat. The boy who had asked me out every day without fail for the last four years and no doubt dreamed of it for the two before that. (Except that one time during fourth year when he and his friends got themselves knocked out by the Whomping Willow and were in the hospital wing for three days. They really are thick sometimes. Or all the time.) Despite this habit, seeing him come up to me was kind of startling. He hadn't talked to me a single time since I arrived at Platform 9 ¾ and walked past him on the way to the Heads' compartment. And then it had only been a small wave and a simple "Hey Evans." I figured this meant he had transferred his insane affections to a new girl; maybe a Hufflepuff I didn't know or some girl he met over the summer.
But now I was taken aback by his tone. He sounded almost… nervous. Not used to his new demeanor, I wasn't sure what to say.
"Er… sure?" I responded, walking with him a few paces away from my friends.
We stood there in awkward silence for a few moments. He scratched the back of his neck absently, switching his gaze from me to the floor by our feet while his hand slowly drifted upwards to ruffle his hair.
"So, er, next weekend is a, is a Hogsmeade weekend, and I was, er, wondering if you, er, you want to go with me?"
I snickered. "You know, it's been two whole weeks. I thought maybe I could get through one last year without this constant irritation! No, Potter, I will most definitely NOT go to Hogsmeade with you."
As I stalked across the Great Hall back to my friends, I felt a hand on my shoulder. I paused, but did not turn around.
"Lily…"
I jerked away from his grasp and continued my trek toward the Grand Staircase. Suddenly, relaxation on the grounds didn't seem like such a good idea. I needed to be in my dormitory, past the testosterone-blocking staircase, with the curtains of my four-poster drawn around me.