"Evans!" James declared sitting next to her at breakfast Saturday morning.
"Yes James?" she said absentmindedly, flipping through the daily prophet.
He stared at her for a moment, watching her long hair fall in her face, and studied her concentration. She had a way of getting lost in what she was reading. He plucked the paper from her hands.
"Hey!" she cried out trying to reach for the paper before he stuffed it down the back of his trousers.
"I need your full attention." James informed her and she begrudgingly gave it to him. "Did you agree to go to the village today with Amos Diggory?"
"So what if I did." Lily grumbled but James noticed she went a bit pink in the face.
"Just last week at patrols you agreed he was a slimy git who was making his way through the seventh year girls." James reminded her.
At this her face was positively on fire and she tried to turn away from his knowing glance. She began to mumble and James, with less tact than Sirius around his mother, told her to speak up.
"Well no one else asked me, did they Potter?" she said angrily. "Now please give me my paper back so I can go get ready."
He noticed she had angry tears forming in her eyes and couldn't look him in the face. He slowly pulled the paper out and when she snatched it he caught her wrist. She was attempting to walk away when he tightened his grip.
"Who did you want to go with?" James asked her and forced her to make eye contact.
"No one. I was merely suggesting that he was the only one who thought to ask me. I've heard rumors someone is threating boys interested in me." Lily said with venom in her voice.
He didn't even look abashed at this but merely even more confident.
"If you can name ONE person who you would have more fun with I'll let you go and tell every boy at Hogwarts to have a go at you." James said to her, as serious as she had ever seen him.
"Sirius, Sirius Black." Lily shot back.
James let go, stared at her, and stood up.
"Oi! Padfoot! Come here!" he called to his best friend.
"James, shut it." Lily hissed when she realized what he was doing. "I take it back."
"You called?" Sirius said, looking between the pair of them.
"Lily wanted to know if you had a date to the village today, she's interested." James deadpanned.
"Evans, I'm flattered! I knew you would come around." Sirius winked.
"If I can't have her you might as well." James agreed.
"Fine! There is no one else I would rather go with but seeing as you didn't ask me I said yes to the next person who did!" Lily screamed then covered her mouth.
Sirius looked pleased and clapped a beaming James on the back.
"About time Prongs!" he roared happily.
"I'll meet you downstairs in a hour." James grinned as happily as Lily had ever seen him.
She was too happy to be mad at him.