James sat on the stairs, rubbing his eyes. He knew there were a bunch of girls whispering about him, but he didn't care-why would he? None of them were Lily Evans... "James?" A voice said and he looked up, faking a cocky smile. "Hey Lily," he said, rubbing his eyes and trying to stifle a yawn. She looked at him suspicuosly. "No stupid pick-up lines or anything, Potter?" She asked. "Sorry about that, I'm...a bit tired," he replied. She nodded and walked quickly in the other direction. James sighed and went to look for his friends.
"Hurry up! Remus said, urging James up the ladder to transfiguration. He hated getting his friends in trouble, but they'd change every night if it would help him out. "Calm down, it's not like we haven't had detention before!" Sirius said, rolling his eyes. They all looked exhausted. James pushed open the door and climbed into the classroom as Lily rolled her eyes and looked away. "Sorry we're late, Miss!" James said, flashing a smile at the teacher. She looked annoyed, but just nodded and carried on with her speech on orbs. Lead by James, they sat at a round table next to Lily's. "Now," Miss Huckerby said, "go get an orb and see if you can see anything. Don't worry if you can't, not everyone has this gift."
"The biggest gift I'll get is being able to drop this bloody rubbish," Sirius said, laying his head on the table and trying to get to sleep. Peter laughed and Lily looked over, annoyed. James glanced across and saw her put her quill down and get up. "I'll get us some orbs," James said quickly. The others tried to thank him, but he was already rushing away. "Hey, Evans!" James said, running his hand through his hair while trying to stifle a yawn. "What do you want, Potter?" She asked, a little snappy. "You?" He said, smirking. "Oh, like you haven't tried that one before." She muttered, reaching for an orb. James' hand just so happened to reach for the same orb and he looked at her with a raised eyebrow, smirking as his hand gently stroked her hand. She blushed as bright as her hair, picked up the orb and stormed off to her table.. James groaned in frustration, picked up four orbs and walked back to his table, yawning. Unfortunately, he didn't notice the bag on the ground and tripped. The orbs flew out of his hand and clattered to the floor as Sirius burst out laughing and Miss Huckerby shrieked. When Sirius managed to control himself, he said "bet you didn't see that one did you, Miss?" Remus and Peter burst out laughing, and even Lily was shaking and trying not to laugh. James groaned and ruffled his hair, then stood up. "I'm so sorry!" The girl said, pulling her bag under the table and blushing. "It's fine," James mumbled, trudging back to his table and sitting down as the other marauders tried to control themselves. "Well that woke us up," Remus said. They all started laughing again. James risked a look at Lily, who was smiling down at the table. James smiled and looked back to his friends. He saw Sirius stare into the orb, looking shocked. "What is it, Sirius?" Peter asked, not knowing whether he was joking or being serious (no pun intended). "I-I see something!" He said loudly, putting on their teacher's mysterious voice. The whole classroom turned around to look. "I see...I see a bright future for you, James! You...you and Lily!" At this point, Remus couldn't contain himself-he burst out laughing. Lily turned red and looked at them angrily while James gave her an embarrassed smile, ruffling his hair.
About 15 minutes later, James came over to Lily and sat next to her. "I'm trying to study my orb," she said, bluntly. James smirked and laid his arms on the table, leaning forwards. "You know what, Evans? Sirius is a great fortune teller. I think he may be on to something; first we hold hands, then this." Lily's head snapped up and she looked at him, incredulous. Her friends flinched along with James, who soon regained his arrogant look. "We did not hold hands, we just went for the same orb!" James smiled at her. "See? Fate!" He looked at the sky, making a rainbow shape with his hands."The stars are aligned for us, Lily Evans!" He said, frowning when she burst out laughing. He glanced away as her friends looked at her impatiently. "Come on, Evans!" He said, trying to stay cool. "Why won't you give me a chance?" "Are you seriously asking me this?" James asked. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Sirius smirk at the mention of his name, and James noticed that all of the marauders were leaning towards them, listening in. "Well for one, you don't even try!" Lily said, so James turned back so he was looking at her. "We'll sit in class and you'll lean back in your chair, using a quill that automatically writes down the correct answers!" She exclaimed, sitting up straighter. "We've got our OWLs coming up!" "I get great marks!" He answered, feigning hurt. She gave him a blunt look. "Ok. But if I do well in my OWLs, then will you go out with me? Come on..." He said, giving her a slight puppy dog look. Lily looked offended; apparently, puppy dog eyes didn't work on her. "I don't want to start dating you just because you're smart!" She exclaimed. James looked uncomfortable for a second, but soon regained his old self. . "I didn't mean it like that! But, you know, if I did, and I worked really hard to get 6 OWLs or something, then would you?" She raised her eyebrows at him. "With a bit of work, you could get that. The maximum is 12. Why don't you go for 9?" She challenged, crossing her arms. James looked unsure of himself. He knew Lily was only saying that because James couldn't achieve nine OWLs. "And if I do, you'll go out with me? Definitely?" He asked, thinking. She looked him in the eyes. "Sure." She said confidently. Her friends grinned and one smaller girl let out a small squeal. "Shake on it!" Sirius shouted. James held out his hand. Lily hesitated, but shook it any way. He looked her in the eyes, grinning. James winked at her and swaggered away.