"Today's the day."
"James, stop," Remus groaned, resting the parchment he had been reading on his knee and turning to look at his best friend. "Not again."
"No, seriously," James said confidently. "Today's the day I ask Lily Evans out and she says yes. I can-"
"Feel it in my bones," Remus, Sirius and Peter chorused dully, finishing the sentence James had been saying almost every week since their fourth year. The three boys shared pitying looks between them as their deluded friend raked his fingers through his too-long hair and grinned.
The four marauders were in relaxing in the usually warm September sun around the old willow tree by the lake. Though they had only been back at Hogwarts for three and a half weeks (but who was counting), their professors were piling on the pressure due to their ever-approaching N.E.W.T examinations, and any time that could be used to unwind was gratefully accepted.
Remus sat leaning against the trunk of the tree, his school jumper folded neatly beside him, editing the Transfiguration homework for Professor McGonagall he had completed the night before. Every so often a crease would form as he found an error, and remained there until he had corrected it. Sirius reclined on the grass, looking up to the sky with his eyes closed, enjoying the rays of sunlight on his skin. He had taken considerably less care for his appearance than Remus, whose shirt was ironed and had all the buttons closed – Sirius' shirt in contrast was wrinkled and the top two buttons were undone, showing the glint of a thin gold chain around his neck. His shirt sleeves were rolled up to above his elbows, the cuffs stained with grass marks and spots of pumpkin juice from breakfast.
James seemed to benefit from the mix of their two influences, looking easy-going with his sleeves up, but still decent with a clean shirt. He lay on his back in the shade of the drooping willow branches, lazily toying with the snitch he so enjoyed to nick from the Quidditch chest; while Peter, trouser legs hitched up to his knees, sat on the bank of the lake with his feet in the water, twitching them ever so often to dispel the minnows that gathered to nibble on his toes.
It was peaceful; the clumps of other Hogwarts students who had also emerged from the vast castle were talking quietly amongst themselves and James was reminded of how much he loved Hogwarts, his home away from home with his best mates. But there was one thing missing, and she had red hair and was nowhere to be seen.
"Where is Evans, anyway?" James asked Remus, sitting up quickly and ignoring his friend's small sigh. He was well aware of the group's feelings about his 'crush', as they called it, and it made him all the more determined to succeed in his pursuit of the fiery girl that he had fancied since he was fourteen.
James didn't really understand why out of all the girls in Hogwarts it was Lily who had his affection. If you asked him, depending on who you were he could answer anything in the range of 'for her killer legs' to 'I don't know; she's just something special'. He knew that any other girl would have lost his attention by now, whereas Lily Evans had been making his heart convulse uncomfortably in his chest whenever she looked at him for the last three years and showed no signs of stopping.
He didn't even think he would know what to do if they actually did go out on a date. Of course he fantasised about kissing her, about being a couple and doing what couples did –like holding hands in public and other things that were definitely not to be done in public – but after three straight years of rejection, the thing James wanted most in the world was a yes. He hadn't even thought about what he would do if he got one.
"Probably doing some studying before the charms test tomorrow, you know it's her favourite subject and she likes to do well. She was up late last night helping Fenwick with his Potions homework."
The mention of the Ravenclaw prefect dampened James' mood a bit and he scowled. "What's he need help for? He's good at Potions,"
"Rosier hit him with a horn-growing hex and put him in the hospital wing for two days; he missed the Draught of Peace," Remus answered absentmindedly, paying no attention to James who had started to tear pieces of grasses from the ground in a petulant manner. "We need to know it for N.E.W.T.S."
"Merlin, Moony, we know. Put the homework down for a bloody minute and enjoy the sunshine. You've done nothing but study since term started." Sirius groaned, rolling his eyes. "You and half the year seem to thing the exams are tomorrow or something."
"Some of us want to do well, Sirius, so we can get good jobs and make money," Remus said pointedly. "Not everyone has a fortune waiting for them in Gringotts."
"What?" James interrupted, mostly talking to himself as he processed the information he had just received. "What's Rosier doing, hexing people for the hell of it? He has terrible aim, someone could had gotten hurt–"
"True enough," Sirius grinned at Remus, though it didn't quite reach his eyes. He hated anything that reminded him of his family and their obsession with blood purity. Other than the run-ins he had with his cousins, and encounters of his brother around the castle, he hadn't seen his family in years. "Besides, I thought it was the Order for us, eh? Right, Peter?" Sirius called over his shoulder.
Peter lifted his legs out of the water; with his trousers still bunched up around his knees he came to sit by the other three boys. "I don't know;" He said worriedly. "I'm not as good at duelling as you three."
"Hey, you could always be a spy, find out what the enemy are planning," Sirius' eyes lit up. "Just imagine it! Wormtail hiding under Voldemort's robes, listening to his plans and nibbling his toes!" He and Remus laughed at the thought, and Peter let out a sheepish smile, reassured.
"Yeah, I guess…"
"Even the Order of the Phoenix won't accept you if you fail all your N.E.W.T.S," Remus pointed out to Sirius, sobering up. "Then you'll be sorry when James, Peter and I are off hunting Death Eaters and you have to stay at home and play mother."
"He has the hair for it," Peter joined in on the jibe. "You could probably tie it up in a bun now; it's so long, Padfoot."
"Piss off, I like it. And so do the ladies," Sirius winked. "Gives them something to tug on. James, what–"
"Not now, Sirius, I have to go check up on Benjy," James had gotten to his feet and was brushing down the seat of his trousers.
"What? You're not worried he's putting the moves on Evans while you're not there, are you?"
"To be honest, I think James should be more worried about Benjy hitting on him," Remus revealed.
"No, of course not," James said, colouring a bit. "I want to make sure he's ok, look out for the populace, that kind of thing. I am Head Boy, you know," He smirked, making sure to puff his chest out so the badge would shine in the sunlight, picking the topic he knew would make his three friends groan in disgust. On receiving his Head Boy badge with his book list earlier in the summer, he had become very pompous until his father and Sirius had poured a bucket of water over his head. The fact that Lily was his Head Girl – his partner – had just made things worse.
"Go away by all means, Prongs, if you're going to start that again." Sirius begged, not wanting to relive the two most infuriating weeks of his summer. "Or it'll be a bucket of Flobberworm mucus next time."
James grinned. "I'll see you later then; don't forget we've got patrolling later, Moony."
"James Potter reminding me I have prefect duties. I never thought I'd see the day." Remus muttered dryly, picking back up his Transfiguration essay once more to recheck as James left them.