Disclaimer: I do not own anything in this story except the characters you don't recognize from the books and the plot.

IMPORTANT! If you don't know the game Zap, then read this first, otherwise, you may proceed to the story. In Zap someone writes a name on your palm, and then zap and a time (traditionally one hour, although sometimes people make it longer) on the back. If you look at the name before that time, then you have to ask out the person on your hand. If you don't look then nothing happens. Now, on to the story.

The Question

Lily Evans and her friends were thirteen year-old girls, and, like many thirteen year-olds, they often played strange games that only teenagers know. One of their favorites was Zap. They could never explain why they liked it; after all, it wasn't like they ever did much with it. On the rare occasions when someone looked at the name on his or her palm no one ever said yes.

It was on a Tuesday in early December when they started a game that would change Lily Evans' life. This is how her hatred of James Potter started, and that changed her life, and the wizarding world. After all, if they hadn't started out hating each other, maybe James and Lily would never have gotten married, and Harry Potter would never have been born. However, that is another story. It deals with futures and the present, while this story deals with the past. This is the story of how one of the greatest rivalries, and one of the greatest loves that Hogwarts has seen, or will ever see began.

Lily, Henrietta (called Henri by all her friends), Laura, Sarah, and Ruth were all sitting around one of the many tables in the Gryffindor common room when Laura exclaimed, "I think that we should play zap."

This may have seemed like a random idea to an outsider, but it was normal for the five girls. Each member had their own role in the little group. Lily was the popular, smart person. Henri was the practical bookworm. Laura was the makeup-obsessed gossip. Sarah was the gorgeous, popular, nice person and Ruth was her follower. Seriously, it was as though that was her purpose in life: to follow Sarah around.

The girls looked up at Laura from their various activities, Lily and Henri from their books, Sarah from her magazine, and Ruth from her homework. Lily and Sarah quickly agreed, although Ruth said that she had work to do. Henri refused on the grounds that it as a stupid game and bound to cause trouble. She was very sensible, and seemed to be the opposite of a teenage girl; she had no crushes, loved books, did all her work, and didn't care about her appearance. As such, no one had really thought that she would want to play Zap. Instead she turned to Ruth, and started helping her through a difficult problem.

"Fine, be that way," replied Sarah, grinning. All the girls knew that she was joking around, her face saying what her voice didn't.

After Sarah and Laura had had their hands written on they turned to Lily. She announced, "Just do one quick, I'm going to look at it. I want to just randomly ask someone out." This might seem foolhardy, but she was sure that whoever it was would refuse.

The other girls looked at each other, not sure what to write, then it was as if a light bulb appeared over Laura's head, and she bent over Lily's hand, writing something.

Lily sat there patiently, but wondered what name she was getting. She half hoped it would be the name of her crush, James Potter, but at the same time thought it would be awful to have to ask him out.

Laura finished writing and sat up, saying, "Okay, there you go."

Lily slowly turned over her hand to look at her palm. She read the name, nodded calmly, and stood up.

Lily walked over to where Remus Lupin, James Potter, Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew were sitting together. She turned to grin at her friends, then turned back to face the boy she was about to ask out. She tapped him politely on the shoulder, and then said, "Hey, James, my friends and I were playing Zap, and I got you. So, the exciting question: will you go out with me?"

James looked at her for a moment, a thoughtful expression on his face, then he suddenly seemed to make up his mind. Grinning at her, he said, "You know what? Just to put you on the spot, I'm going to say yes."

Lily stared at him in shock; she had assumed that he would say no. Suddenly her head was full of questions. Did he mean it? Why had he said yes? Was she happy that he had? She slowly turned away, and dazedly walked over to her friends. She sat down, thoughts still running through her mind. Her friends were all looking at her in surprise; none of them had expected a positive response either. Finally Henri said, practically, "Lets go up to the dorm and talk."

Author's note: There it is. I hope you liked it. This story should be four chapters long, I have it all planned out. I will probably be posting one or two chapters a week, although I might not be able to do any the week after next. Please give reviews: I will be delighted no matter what it is, one word, a really long one, or, best of all, constructive criticism. Also, I respond to all reviews.