Lily Evans normally considered herself fairly even-keeled. She was level-headed, logical, and most of the time, didn't let much get under skin. Except James Potter. He had seemingly burrowed right in and set up shop. She knew the best thing to do in these sorts of situations was just to try and ignore the perpetrator, and that was the course she set to at first, but James was nothing if not notoriously persistent. And she was unable to further ignore and tolerate his immature antics. Which is was why as soon as Professor McGonagall dismissed them from transfiguration, Lily grabbed her books and sprinted from the classroom to confront him.
"You are unreal!"
James felt the sharp finger poking him in the back before he realized he was being accused or even who his accuser was. "What?" he asked confused as he turned around. "Ah, Evans."
"You know what!" Lily continued, so flustered that her normally lighter-toned cheeks flushed bright red.
James scrunched his face in a way that made a show of his attempt to recall whatever event had Lily Evans so flustered, "No, I'm afraid I don't. So much trouble to cause in a day and all that. Enlighten me?"
Tightening her grip on the books, she sent him a blazing look. She was certain he knew the reason for her confrontation, but if he wanted to act the fool she would let him. The best compliment she could give him was that he did so rather well. "You told Charlie Hughes not to bother asking me to the Yule Ball because apparently, I'm going with you."
"Ah, yes," he nodded as he ran his free hand through his already tousled hair. "Well I just didn't want the poor bloke to get his hopes up was all. Some would deem that rather noble of me."
"You are not noble," Lily clarified taking another step closer to him and trusting her finger into his (albeit well-defined) chest. "Why would I agree to go to the Yule Ball with you?" The disgust dripped off her tongue. It was nearly the last straw in a long line of pranks and ill-fated attempts at what James perceived as wooing and that Lily perceived as stupidity.
"Ah, hold these will you?" he asked as he stacked his text books on top of her own and proceeded to pull out a small notepad from the pocket of his robe. "Fear not, it's in here somewhere," he carried on as he made a show of flipping through the pages until he landed on the one he was he looking for. "Here it is! October 23rd at precisely 2:52 pm you said, and I quote, 'I'll go to the Yule Ball with you when pigs fly.'" He pushed the round glasses back up to the bridge of his nose and turned the notebook so Lily could see it.
As Lily looked over his chicken scratch writing, a satisfied smile appeared on her face. Honestly, it wasn't like James to leave loose ends untied like this, but perhaps he was getting sloppy in his arrogance. "Potter you've been hit one too many times with a Bludger. Let me explain the basics of a conditional statement to you. One can't happen without the other. In this case, I'm not going to the Yule Ball with you because -"
She paused momentarily due the sounds of distant chaos. First, a few shrieks and then the low rumble of laughter, which was steadily growing closer to them as the sounds of feet running started to fill the corridor.
She looked to James in a panic and instinct told her to push him out of the way of whatever was coming toward them, and she nearly did, until the crowd rounded the corner and she saw the cause of the commotion - a crew of three pigs floating and bobbling along who were protesting loudly as they bounced from ceiling to wall.
Her jaw dropped, and she was well aware that she was standing there, in the middle of the commotion looking quite foolish as swarms of her peers followed the procession of floating livestock. James stood looking quite smug as the comments from classmates passing by solidified his efforts.
"Should I meet you in the common room at 6:00 on Saturday then?" James asked, his self-satisfied grin enough to bring Lily out of her thoughts and rightly direct her anger once again.
"Over my dead body," she replied, refusing to back down and accept her defeat.
"Is that really a risk you want to take?" James asked. "I mean first the pigs - I'd hate anything to happen to you." He did his best to contain the cheeky grin on his face.
"We both know I'm not going with you. I'd sooner kiss the Giant Squid."
"Well then that would make you a liar," James accused knowing exactly which buttons to push. He couldn't help it; she was the most adorable when she was flustered.
Her knuckles were turning white with the intensity that she was using to grip her textbooks. She was certain that if she didn't have them, she would have punched him by now. "I am not a liar," was all she could manage.
"It would certainly appear that way," James shrugged. "Or do you need me to explain how conditional statements work?"
Lily couldn't speak. The blood in her ears was pounding and the amount of energy being expended on loathing James Potter left her with little else to work with.
"I'll see you at 6:00 then, Evans," James said as he turned to walk away. "Try not to be late."
It took every ounce of Lily's focus to stop the obscenities swarming around her brain to form a coherent thought, and once she had one, she shouted it out lest it be lost in the aftermath, "Detention!" she yelled as she ran after him.
"I'd expect nothing less," James continued coolly. "I assume it will be one of the more worthwhile ones I've served."
"Saturday night," Lily continued as she stopped walking. "At 6:00."
James stopped now as well and slowly turned to face her. Any novice in the study of James Potter's mannerisms would have said he seemed unphased by her threat, but Lily was a well-versed veteran. The slight twitching of his nose gave away the panic of a loophole he hadn't thought through.
"You can't," James protested.
"I can actually," Lily replied as she tapped the Prefect badge pinned to her sweater. "And doing unsupervised and potentially dangerous magic on school grounds, and on innocent animals nonetheless, is certainly worthy of such a punishment."
"But all the professors will be at ball Saturday night," James argued again, desperate to hide the panic in his voice.
"Then you'll serve it under my supervision," Lily replied evenly.
"You're going to miss the ball just to spite me?"
"Sounds like an evening well-spent," Lily smiled, satisfied as she turned to walk away. "See you at 6:00 Saturday, Potter. Try not to be late."
Hi, all! So I originally posted this chapter as a one-shot in my story Pensive, but I couldn't leave it at just that. This is the first story I've ever done that wasn't a collection of one-shots, so we'll see how it plays out! That being said, it's also my first time writing Marauder's Era fiction. That being said, I am looking for a beta. If you know someone or would be interested yourself please shoot me a message.
Thanks for taking the time to read, review, follow, or favorite!