James Potter was used to hearing "no."
He'd heard it from his parents as a child, when he would try to execute tricks on his toy broom or beg for more dessert after already finishing a whole sundae.
He'd heard it from Remus when he and Sirius came up with a particularly ludicrous prank to pull on the Hogwarts population-and he'd heard it from McGonagall when he and his mates were asking if she couldn't overlook their transgressions just this once after they'd disregarded Remus's warnings and gone ahead with said prank anyway.
He'd heard it from Rosmerta every Hogsmeade weekend when the Marauders would try to order Firewhiskey instead of butterbeer.
He'd heard it from the Slytherins when he loudly proclaimed that Gryffindor would finally beat them for the House Cup (and had cheered the loudest when it actually came to pass)
He'd heard it from Dumbledore when he'd sent that owl the summer before seventh year asking if perhaps making him Head Boy wasn't the best decision.
James Potter was very used to hearing "no."
So when he asked Lily Evans for what must have been the 117th time if she'd go out with him, he wasn't expecting for her to say yes.
And imagine his surprise when she did.