A/N: Happy birthday to my good friend, not really sane fairy! I kept it rather light and easy because I know you are not thrilled with the whole we're-just-mates in Sovereign Affairs right now!

"What are these?" James asked Remus, showing him a picture.

Remus glanced over from his bed. "Hydrangeas."

"How do you spell that?"

"Why?" asked Remus.

"I need to order them," James said matter-of-factly.

"Again, why?"

"Because they're blue," said James, as though this was the obvious answer.

Remus looked up from his Transfiguration essay. "And?"

"And it's winter and blue is a winter colour."

"So?"

"I'm taking Lily to Hogsmeade!" James said. "And Sirius says he reckons I should get her flowers, and I asked him what kind and he said he didn't care, and then I asked Hestia and she said blue. And then Sirius said, 'well, you're a Ravenclaw, everything's blue to you,' and she said, 'no, blue is a winter colour,' so I asked around for pictures of flowers, and these look nice, don't you think?"

Remus looked at the flowers more closely. "Yeah, they're... nice."

"Nice?" James repeated. "Just-nice? All the words in the English language to describe these hydrgangers-"

"Hydrangeas."

"-and you go with nice?" James rolled over onto his back, groaning. "I can't believe you."

The door opened, and the boys' dormmates came in. "Peter," said James. "What do you think of these?"

"Nice," said Peter, looking at the flowers.

James' face fell. "Are you kidding me?"

"No. They're nice. Why? Do you not like them? Sirius, do you like these?"

Sirius turned. "Yeah. What are those, hydrangeas?"

"Yeah, I think so."

"How come everyone knows about hydrangeas but me?" burst out James. "And how do you spell them?"

"One h, two as," said Peter.

"Also a y," added Sirius. "And an e."

"Sound it out," said Remus.

"When has that ever helped anyone?"

"What do you need with these hydrangeas, anyway?" Peter asked him.

"For Lily," said James miserably. "Sirius reckons I should get her some."

"Why?"

"It's our third date!" James said. "This is huge!"

"Calm down," said Peter. "It's Lily. She'll love whatever you do."

"You don't know that! What if this is it? The breaking point? Where she decides?"

"Have you proposed?" Remus asked.

"Not yet."

"Then this isn't it."

"You can't prove that!"

"Why don't you just ask Lily what kind of flowers she wants?" Peter suggested. "Then you'll get it right for sure."

"That'll tell her I'm insensitive," James said. "Like I never listen to her. Charlotte told me."

"Does she talk about her favourite types of flowers a lot?" Remus asked.

"No, not really."

"Then she won't."

"None of you are any help!" James said.

In the girls' dorm, a similar situation was going on.

"Okay," Lily said, breathing deeply. "I'm going to say this one-more-time. What. Colour. jumper. Should. I. Get. James."

Olivia Turpin looked up from her book. "I. Don't. Care."

Lily threw her catalog at her. "Why are none of you taking this seriously? James and I are going on our third date. Do you know what this means?"

"We'll get a few hours of quiet around here?" Mary MacDonald said under breath.

Lily ignored her. "It means I have to get him something! Sirius said that I have to!"

"Why are you listening to Sirius?"

"He knows James! He's, like, James'... he's like James. If James disappeared off the face of the planet, and Sirius took his place, who would know?"

"We all would," said Charlotte Jones. "Literally every single one of us would know, Lily. Be reasonable. They look nothing alike.

"Besides," said Mary. "If there's no difference, why are you dating Sirius instead of James?"

Lily waved her hands above her head and cried out, "Merlin, you know what I mean!"

"Just breathe, Lily," Olivia said. "Just breathe."

"I think I'm going to go with blue," Lily said in a worried tone. "Because I was talking to Hestia and she said blue would be good because it's a winter colour and all, and-she didn't say this-James looks really good in blue, you know? So I think blue. Yeah? Blue?"

"Blue's as good as any colour," Charlotte said.

"I don't want as good as any colour," Lily said. "I want the best colour. Honestly," Lily said, biting her lip, "I really like him."

"Oh, my God," Charlotte said. "We know."

"We've known for years, Lily."

"Yeah, everyone's known for years. You really didn't do a good job hiding it, you know."

"I did too!" said Lily. "And anyway, it doesn't matter. What matters is you lot helping me chose a jumper."

"When's he going to wear it? We've got a uniform. What are we, first years, with eighteen classes a week and all the time in the world to change clothes?" said Charlotte.

Lily chucked a pillow at her, fell back on her bed, and sighed dramatically.

"Still not helping," said Olivia.

The next night, Lily met James in the corridor by the Gryffindor tower. Lily was so nervous, she didn't even notice him playing with his hands, looking downwards.

"Hi, James," she said timidly.

James jumped. "Hi, Lily," he said, smiling as he always did when he saw her. Then his grin dropped. "Lily. I have something to tell you."

Oh, God. Here it is, she thought. "Me, too."

"I didn't get you flowers," James blurted out.

Lily nodded, not really paying attention to him. "I know how much it meant to you, James, because Sirius told me-"

"Lily?"

"No, let me finish. Sirius told me it was really important and a wizarding tradition, but I didn't get you a jumper."

"Wait, what?"

"I know," Lily said, holding up a hand. "It's not that I didn't try, James, honest. I really did. I just... I don't know your size, and I couldn't pick a colour, and I just-I'm sorry. But it's not too late, right? I mean..." Lily looked into his eyes. "This isn't our last date. Right?"

James stared at her incredulously. "Sirius told you what?"

"All about the tradition," Lily said. "And I-"

"Lily," James interrupted her. "That's not a tradition."

"Of course it is," Lily said. "Sirius even told me."

James slumped against the wall and grinned, feeling so relieved Lily wouldn't be offended. Of course bringing flowers on the third date wasn't a Muggle tradition... Sirius had taken as many Muggle Studies classes as he had... He didn't know why he had believed him...

Yes, he did. He never thought straight when it came to her.

"I didn't bring you flowers," Jame said, still grinning.

Lily looked at him funnily. "Of course you didn't. I'm allergic and it's winter. Where would you get flowers in the winter?"

James laughed out loud. "Let's never listen to Sirius again, love, all right?"

Lily narrowed her eyes, and then realisation dawned upon her face. "Of course he did. Prat. I was going insane."

"Me, too."

Lily grinned at him. "We're daft sometimes, aren't we?"

"We are," James said, staring at her pretty face, hoping she understood him.

Judging by the faint blush that rose to her cheeks, she did. "Hogsmeade, then?"

James gave a swooping bow. "After you."

"No, James," Lily said. "That's at doorways. You walk me to Hogsmeade."

James straightened. "That's right. We're covering courtesy next month. How's Ancient Ruins?" he asked her.

Lily and James chatted happily about school for the next twenty minutes, and then they switched to Quidditch, and then Charms club, and then the Slug Club, and then they talked about the Prefects, and then their mates, and their families, and their hopes, and their, fears, and their dreams, and so much more. When they arrived at midnight in the common room, they kept talking for two hours before they decided it was getting late, because that was how things were when you found your soulmate. It was a rather funny thing; they couldn't think straight when the other wasn't there, but when they were together... it was like a foggy window that had been wiped clean.

"Like flowers and warm jumpers," Lily would whisper to James.

And James would whisper back, "Like blue."

A/N: I'd love to hear your thoughts, if you've got the time.