A/N: I always seem to come up with sad stories in honor of James and Lily's death, so I decided to do a happy one this year :)

Lily checked her watch for the fifth time that afternoon, sighing as she noted that he was now nearly an hour late. She felt angry and humiliated all at once, sure that others in the Three Broomsticks had noticed how her head snapped up every time the door opened, sure they were eyeing her with pity knowing she'd been stood up.

Still, she reflexively looked over when the door swung in once more, though of course it wasn't him. Instead, James Potter began to wind his way around the tables, catching her eye and giving her a little wave before settling alone at an empty booth across the room. This only served to make Lily feel more self-conscious, although she knew James wouldn't react cruelly if he knew her situation. He'd tease her, certainly, but he'd find a way to make her laugh about the whole thing in the end. She'd been surprised at how swiftly she'd come to appreciate this about him in the last year, after they'd stopped arguing so much and actually become friends. It had been convenient timing, too, as they'd been made Head Boy and Girl for the current year, a job that had been infinitely easier to manage now that they got along.

Lily almost considered joining James in his booth, if only to have someone to vent to, and was halfway out of her seat before she realized that, of course, he was probably waiting to meet a date here as well.

She hesitated for a moment and was on the verge of leaving the pub before deciding that pretending she'd intended to come in alone was preferable. Ordering a butterbeer at the bar, she carried it back to her table and pulled a book out of her purse. It quickly afforded the escape reading always did, leaving her so oblivious to the outside world that she jumped when someone spoke very nearby.

"Evans, I think I've been stood up," James Potter announced as he slid onto the bench across from her.

He looked so stunned by the fact that Lily had to smile as she stowed her book back in her bag. "Even the mighty must fall, Potter," she informed him solemnly.

He sighed. "Yeah, I s'pose I shouldn't have expected pity from you. Still, it's a bit rude, isn't it?"

"That I'm not pitying you? Trust me, pity is not a pleasant thing to receive."

"No," James waved this suggestion away, "I meant it's rude she didn't just tell me she didn't think I was worth her time." He grinned. "You've done it—it's not that difficult, is it?"

Lily chose not to answer this. "Well, you don't know for sure she meant to stand you up. Maybe she just forgot."

James wrinkled his nose. "That's hardly better."

"Maybe she's in the Hospital Wing."

"Bit extreme for getting out of a date. Although I'll admit I've done it."

Lily rolled her eyes. "Well, then, maybe this is karma."

"I always thought I existed above the laws of karma."

"There's your problem. Although if it makes you feel any better, I'm in the same situation."

James's brows knit briefly, and then his eyes widened with realization. "You've been stood up as well?" Lily nodded. "I thought maybe you really had just come to read alone. Seems like something you'd do."

Lily flushed and glanced away, sure he was mocking her.

Noting her blush, James assured her, "That wasn't a judgment, Evans, just a simple statement of fact." When Lily didn't reply, James ducked his head in an attempt to meet her eye. "Isn't it something you would do? Especially considering you were, in fact, just doing it?"

Finding it difficult to argue with this, Lily met James's gaze with a little shrug. "All right, yes, I do sometimes come to Hogsmeade only to sit in here or Honeydukes with a book. But it's not a useless pastime, you know. A lot can be gained by reading books."

James seemed amused at her defensive tone. "I'm not disagreeing with you, Evans. In fact, I spend most holidays going through the books in my father's library. Well, the interesting ones, at least."

"You do?" Lily had to admit to some surprise. She'd hardly seen James with a school book, let alone reading for pleasure.

He nodded. "Or did, before Sirius moved in with us. Now my time's mostly taken up with damage control." Lily knew better than to think he said this out of resentment. Sirius and James had been inseparable since first year; she often found herself envying the closeness of their friendship.

"But I don't think reading's going to cure anything today," James continued. "You know what will? Drinking." He nodded at her empty mug. "Can I get you another?"

After just a moment's hesitation, Lily shrugged. "Yeah, why not?"

Rapping his knuckles twice on the table, James stood and made his way to the bar. There was a sizeable crowd gathered around it, and Lily pulled out her book again while she waited for him to return. He was back much quicker than she expected, however, and inexplicably, his hands were empty.

"Merlin, that must be a good book," James commented as he sat back down.

"I thought—" Lily started, perplexed.

"No, I've got a better idea," James interrupted, leaning his elbows on the table and fixing her with a look she found worryingly devious. "We both came here with the intention of having a perfectly lovely afternoon, only to have it ruined by the inconsiderate persons whom we had the misfortune of asking out. But why should we let the day be spoiled? I say we take matters into our own hands." Here, he leaned back and eyed Lily significantly.

"I'm afraid I'm not following," she admitted.

"We should go out. I mean, not actually, but on a . . . a sort of make-up date. Better than just going back to the castle, don't you think?"

Lily considered this. She had wished earlier that James was around to cheer her up, which was essentially what he was offering now. "All right," she said at last, though she raised an eyebrow when James grinned. "But if we're going to do this, you'd better start it off properly."

Nodding, James rearranged his features into an earnest expression. "Lily Evans, will you pretend to go out with me?"

"Why, James Potter, I would be artificially honored."

James beamed again, standing. "Right then, let's get started."

Lily remained where she was. "We're not just going to—" she began uncertainly, gesturing at the pub around them.

Rolling his eyes, James pulled her out of the booth and began leading her to the door. "You don't have a date in the Three Broomsticks, Evans," he informed her. "It's cliché."

"Maybe that's why he stood me up," Lily muttered quietly as they emerged into the crisp fall air. "I'm only capable of boring date ideas."

" 'Course you're not boring, this mystery bloke is obviously a prick."

"Colin Gregory," Lily supplied in answer to the implied question, and James nodded decisively, as though learning the young man's identity only confirmed his suspicions. "And wait a minute, weren't you meeting your date in the Three Broomsticks?"

"Meeting, yes," James agreed. "It's an easy meeting spot. But the remainder of the date was to occur elsewhere."

They walked a bit further in silence, before Lily asked, "I told you that I switched our patrol to Thursday, yes?"

"You did," James confirmed. "But can I make a request? No Head business today. Doesn't exactly make for pleasant banter."

"Of course, sorry," Lily said, embarrassed that she couldn't even manage to act normally on a pretend date.

Soon, they reached the edge of the village, and Lily stopped when James turned off on a grassy path to the left. "Are we going to the Shrieking Shack?"

"Yep," James verified breezily.

"Speaking of things that are unfitting for a date . . ."

"Don't worry, we're only making a quick stop there."

This didn't quite reassure Lily, but she offered no further protest. In truth, she was curious to see where this was going. At last, the grey, dilapidated Shack came into view, lonely on its hill. "Give me two minutes," James said. And he trudged up the short path into the old house.

Lily waited anxiously outside, sure that the abandoned building was about to cave in on James at any moment. He reappeared shortly, however, and the object clutched in his hand distracted her completely from thoughts of shoddy construction work. She couldn't be sure, but it looked very much like . . .

"Is that a picnic basket?" Lily asked in disbelief as James reached her.

"It is," he said, seeming amused by her shocked expression.

"Do you routinely store food in there?" Lily inquired once she'd recovered, pointing back towards the Shrieking Shack, which was creaking ominously in the light wind swirling over the hilltop.

"Only when I have a date," James quipped. "It's easier to sneak stuff in there than anywhere else in the village," he continued matter-of-factly, "since it's always so deserted around here. But obviously it's a bit depressing to eat next to, so . . ." He nodded further down the path they were standing on.

"I've never been this far beyond the village," Lily admitted as the sounds of cheery Hogsmeade faded completely behind them.

"Well, you haven't missed much," James said. "There is, however," he paused until they'd passed through a thin stand of trees, "this little clearing, which I thought was perfect for a picnic."

Lily couldn't help but laugh, although he was right. The meadow was encircled by trees and gave the impression that they were much farther from civilization than a few hundred yards. "I find it difficult to imagine you spending your free time scouting around for prime picnic locations," she teased as she helped James spread out the blanket that had lined the basket of food. On it, James arranged several wrapped dishes and two bottles of pumpkin juice.

"When I plan a date, I like to do it right," James said simply.

Lily had a feeling this was not strictly the case, and that this particular date had been a special exception. She experienced a sudden flash of anger at whoever was supposed to be on it. James was clearly fond of this girl, and she either didn't care or hadn't noticed. Immediately, a small inner voice insisted that the same might once have been said about Lily herself, but she shoved the thought away.

Unwrapping two of the dishes, James set what looked to be shepherd's pie in front of Lily before taking the other for himself. As he tapped each with his wand, steam began to rise from the pies. "Bon appetite," he said, lifting a forkful of pie and nodding at Lily before shoveling the bite into his mouth.

But Lily only looked skeptically from the food to James. "Is this safe?"

James rolled his eyes as he swallowed. "Of course it's safe, Evans, the Shack's not really—"

"Not really haunted by violent spirits, no, I know that," Lily said impatiently. "Obviously that's just some cover the teachers put about because the place is clearly about to collapse and it wouldn't be smart to let students wander around in there. What I meant was, is it a good idea to store food in it? Isn't it, well, dirty?"

James shrugged. "I didn't rub everything on the floor before I put it in the basket, if that's what you mean. And the place is actually fairly sound, architecturally speaking. It has to be." Immediately, James's eyes widened slightly and he glanced away, as though he hadn't meant to say any of that and was now regretting it.

Crossing her arms, Lily asked, "All right then, Mr. Expert, why do they keep it forbidden to students?"

Seeming to regain some of his composure, James smirked at her. "I'd tell you, but then I'd have to kiss you."

Lily blinked at him. "Sorry?"

"Surely you've heard that expression."

"You meant kill, right?"

"What?"

"You'd tell me, but then you'd have to kill me?"

James frowned. "That's what I said."

Lily shook her head. "You said 'kiss.' "

"What?" James repeated, laughing, though Lily could swear there was a hint of pink in his cheeks that had not been there just before.

"I know what I heard."

But James recovered from this quickly as well. "I suppose, since this is a date—"

"A mock date," Lily interjected.

"Ah, so I'll have to pretend to kiss you at the end of it, I see where the confusion arose."

Fleetingly, it occurred to Lily that it was very likely she was flirting with James Potter, but she pushed the idea out of mind as she answered, "You'd hate for me to get the incorrect wrong idea, after all."

"That would be a grave mistake indeed," James agreed seriously.

Deciding her only choice was to trust his food or starve, Lily picked up the other shepherd's pie and dug in. To her relief, it tasted relatively normal. Almost familiar, in fact. "Did you get all this from the Hogwarts kitchens?" she asked around bites.

"Mmhm," James said. "I'm really going to miss the house elves' cooking after this year." An uncontrollable shiver went through Lily. "Are you cold?" James asked, starting to shrug out of his jacket.

"No," Lily said. "No, I was just thinking about . . . Are you scared?" James blinked at the unexpected question. "About leaving Hogwarts, I mean?"

"I'm terrified I'll starve to death, yeah," James tried to joke, but when Lily didn't smile, he sighed softly and set down his fork. "Not really. And not for the same reasons you are, I'd imagine."

He met Lily's eye as he said this, and the worry in his expression made her throat tighten.

"Sorry," James said hurriedly, stomach dropping at the sight of tears sparkling in her eyes. "I shouldn't have said—I've just made it worse, haven't I?"

"It's true, though, isn't it?" Lily swiped hastily at her eyes. "Muggleborns—we're the targets. And you're . . ."

"The shield," James said. He laughed briefly, shaking his head. "Sorry, that sounded stupid. But you've heard Dumbledore's forming some sort of a—a resistance group?"

Lily nodded. It was all most of the older students had been talking about lately. Many of them had siblings or parents who'd already joined, and like most teenagers with easily inflamed passion and an underdeveloped sense of their own mortality, they were eager to follow in their relatives' footsteps.

"You're joining? I thought—didn't you make the Puddlemere United Quidditch team?" It wasn't a question to which she really required an answer. She wasn't likely to forget the moment James had descended, whooping, into the common room to tell Sirius the news.

But now, he only shrugged, as though indifferent about being one of the youngest players to ever make the team. "They'll hold my spot for a year, maybe two. And if the war's not over by then . . ." He lifted his shoulders again. "I can always try out another time."

He'd done a decent job of saying all this with a casual air, but Lily knew him well enough to understand what a difficult decision it must have been. "And that doesn't frighten you? Fighting?"

"Not as much as the thought of doing nothing," James said quietly.

Lily watched him for a long moment; he met her gaze steadily. Then she nodded. "Yes, that's what I thought, too."

James didn't seem surprised by her admission, though the smile he offered her was a sad one. Feeling the prick of tears behind her eyes again, Lily looked away, forcing a laugh. "Good thing this isn't a real date, hmm? We're doing a rubbish job of it."

"Still not the worst date I've been on, though."

Lily raised her eyebrows. "Do I even want to know?"

Grinning, James launched into the story of his ill-fated date fourth year with Edith Barbary, during which he'd been so nervous that he'd accidentally spilled pumpkin juice down her shirt, turned the garment see-through when he tried to clean it with a spell, and had his hair vanished by his angry date before she stormed away.

"Took me three days to figure out how to reverse it," James finished, joining Lily in laughter at his plight.

"Merlin, I remember that," Lily said, now wiping tears of mirth from her eyes instead. "I had no idea it was the consequence of a failed date, though. That makes a much better story. Thank you," she added, her smile turning a little shy, "you always know how to cheer me up."

James shrugged off her thanks, though he was secretly pleased. "I just know how much you enjoy laughing at me," he said, offering her his hand and helping her to her feet. They packed the empty wrappings and juice bottles away in the basket, covering it all once more with the blanket.

"What's next?" Lily asked.

"What would you like to do?"

"Oh," Lily said, somewhat thrown by the question. "I thought you had it all planned out, you know, for your original date and everything."

"This is part of the plan, Evans. Both parties should have equal say in the date activities, wouldn't you agree?"

"Yes, you're quite right. Okay, let me think." A moment later, she glanced sideways at James sheepishly. "Would you hate it terribly if we did go for butterbeers? It's just . . . well I do enjoy them quite a lot, and when you were talking about missing Hogwarts' food it reminded me I only have a limited time left to visit Hogsmeade . . ."

Sighing dramatically, James declared, "Merlin, you're boring." He laughed as Lily shoved his shoulder. "But of course, whatever my lady desires. You know," he added as the village came back into view, "you are allowed to visit Hogsmeade even when you're no longer a student."

"Yes, but it just won't be the same."

James chuckled again. "You're odd, Evans."

"You knew that when you agreed to pretend to date me," Lily pointed out.

"True. My apologies."

Once inside the still-crowded pub, Lily squeezed her way up to the bar while James scouted out an empty booth. Joining him moments later, Lily set a steaming mug of butterbeer in front of him.

"Cheers," he said.

Lily nodded, momentarily warming her hands around her own mug before taking a sip. Setting the mug back on the table, she stirred the foam on top with her finger, thoughts wandering once again to the girl who was meant to be sitting here in her place.

"What's on your mind, Evans?" James asked after a long stretch of silence.

Lily looked up to find him observing her curiously. "Oh, nothing. I was just thinking . . . you went to all the trouble of planning this date, and—well, I suppose I was just wondering—it seems like you care about this girl quite a bit." James glanced away, and Lily noticed red patches had appeared on his cheeks. "Sorry," she said hurriedly, "I'm prying."

"Nah, you're not," James said, meeting her eye again with a smile. "And I don't. I mean, I like her, certainly, but not in the way you seem to be implying." He laughed, seeming flustered again. "That probably sounds strange, doesn't it? Why bother asking her out at all, then? I s'pose what I'm trying to say is that the day didn't end up being a complete waste." Lily frowned, and James winced. "No, that came out wrong. I meant—well, I'll just save you the time and throw this butterbeer on myself, shall I?"

That drew a reluctant smile from Lily. "I know what you meant."

But she couldn't shake a lingering feeling of despondency as they finished up their drinks. Because she was—strangely and unbelievably—beginning to wish that this had been a real date, that she'd been the one who James had asked out.

"Where to now?" James inquired as they left the Three Broomsticks for the second time that day.

"Actually," Lily began apologetically, though privately glad for an excuse to get away from James and her confusing feelings about him, "it's Dorcas's birthday today, and a few of us are throwing her a little party back at the castle."

"Ah. Well, in that case, thanks for the not date, and wish Meadowes a good one from me." Lily said that she would, but James stopped her with a hand on her arm before she could start towards the line of carriages waiting to ferry students back to Hogwarts. "Hang on, Evans, you're not trying to get away without your fake kiss, are you?"

Lily laughed. "Of course, how rude of me. Although . . . how exactly does one fake a kiss?"

"I have no earthly idea," James admitted.

But his hand was still on her arm, his hazel eyes locked intently on her green ones. Her heart began to beat faster; she was sure his lips were closer to hers than they had been moments before. Her eyes fluttered shut . . .

And opened almost immediately as someone shouted, "James!"

He practically leapt away from Lily, turning so rapidly on the spot that he briefly lost his balance. After regaining it, he could only stare as Helen Atwater approached him at a brisk walk, jogging the last few paces until she was standing before him.

"I'm so sorry," she exclaimed, sounding out of breath. "You wouldn't believe the morning I've had—we were leaving breakfast when Nat just vomited all over the floor—it was all we could do to get her to the hospital wing, she just kept yacking everywhere; it was so disgusting, and also quite scary, took Madame Creery forever to figure out what was wrong, though luckily she thinks Nat'll be okay by tonight. Anyway, then I had to shower and change again because I had puke all over me . . ." She stopped to catch her breath. "Merlin, you must have thought I just stood you up, but I swear I didn't—let me buy you a drink to make up for it, or maybe an early dinner . . ."

"Er," James glanced around at Lily, only to discover that she was already halfway up the main road. He watched her disappear into a carriage before turning back to Helen, who was surveying him anxiously. Forcing a smile, James nodded. "Sounds great."

"You realize you could just talk to him about it rather than me and Dorcas," Marlene pointed out as she and Lily left the Great Hall after dinner the following evening.

"No I couldn't, you know I couldn't, Marlene. It wasn't a real date, remember? If everything's turned out all right with him and Helen, then I have no place in saying anything at all."

"He tried to kiss you."

"Might have. He might have tried to kiss me."

Marlene made a frustrated sound in the back of her throat. "The pair of you are exhausting," she muttered. "Good luck getting through your meeting."

"I won't need it, because the events of yesterday are not going to come up," Lily said. Her friend shot her a disbelieving look in parting.

If she was being truthful, Lily was a little nervous about facing James in their weekly Head meeting. But she ignored the feeling as she organized the prefect patrol sheets, waiting for him to arrive. Five minutes after their scheduled meeting time—she'd given up on getting him to show on time long ago—James walked into the room. Lily continued shuffling papers unnecessarily as an excuse not to meet his eye.

"Sorry I'm late."

"You're always late," Lily pointed out, looking up at last. She wished she hadn't, as James's answering grin made her cheeks feel unusually warm. Turning away again, she pretended to search for a quill on the teacher's desk behind her.

James hopped up on a second desk a few feet away. "How was the birthday do?"

"Fine," Lily said, handing James a stack of detention slips and a quill. He waited a moment for her to add more, and when she didn't, turned his attention to signing off on that week's detentions.

Lily began to do the same, acutely aware of the silence between them as they worked. Normally, they chatted idly about classes or Quidditch, but not tonight. Finally, she voiced the only question she could think of. "How was . . . your actual date?" She winced, quite glad Marlene was not there to offer a smug "I told you so."

James seemed suddenly uncomfortable. "We didn't exactly . . ."

He trailed off, and Lily felt guilty, misunderstanding his hesitation. "Was she angry that you'd done everything you'd planned with me instead?"

"I didn't."

Lily frowned. "You didn't tell her?"

James laughed, but the sound had a slightly hysterical quality to it that made Lily stare at him in concern. "No, you don't understand, Evans. Everything you and I did—I was never going to take Helen on that date. The food I got from the Shrieking Shack was meant for Sirius and me—he was rather cross when I told him what had happened to it—we were doing a stake-out that night to plan for a prank." He added quickly, "A prank which I was obviously never going to be a part of, as Head Boy." But there was a hint of a smirk playing about his lips which suggested otherwise.

Lily waved this away, much more interested in the first thing he'd said. "Well then, what were you and Helen going to do?"

James's crooked smile emerged fully. "Have a drink at the Three Broomsticks."

"So," Lily said slowly, eyes narrowed, "once you realized you'd be spending the day with me, that suddenly became cliché and you felt the need to improvise something else?"

"Exactly."

After a brief pause, Lily said, "That was actually remarkably quick thinking on your part."

"I know, I even impressed myself. And for the record," he pushed himself off of the desk and started towards her, "I do care about the girl I did it for. Quite a lot, actually. Just wanted to clear that up."

"Oh," was all Lily could manage around her suddenly dry throat.

The corner of James's mouth lifted again. "I explained everything to Helen, and she said I was an idiot, that I should have just done it."

"Should have done what?" Lily asked, sure the words were drowned out by the loud pounding of her heart.

"Kissed you." He stopped directly in front of her, taking the papers and quill from her slack grasp and setting them on the desk beside her. "I'm fairly certain she was right."

And then his lips were on hers, she felt herself being lifted off of the desk, and it was a good thing he was holding her so tightly because her toes barely skimmed the floor. Her hands gripped the back of his robes, although it was hardly possible for her to pull him closer than he already was. She could taste a hint of chocolate on his breath, and vaguely wondered if he'd nicked some from Remus again—the two had been waging a chocolate war for almost as long as she'd known them. Her tongue skimmed experimentally along James's lower lip; his soft moan was swallowed up in their kiss.

After several wonderful minutes, James set her gently back on the desk, and Lily's mouth broke reluctantly from his. She opened her eyes to see him straightening his spectacles, a wide grin on his face.

"So, what d'you say, Evans? Fancy going on an actual date with me?"

"Absolutely."

Happy Halloween everyone! ~WW