Hello…so this was written to make up for the very first fic I ever put on here…Because that one needed to be burnt. So, this one is ten times better, has about the same story plot, but is actually well written. (I hope…)

The Betting Game

Chapter the First

James Potter's seventh year at school had successfully started off with a bang. Three bangs, to be exact.

"Whoa!" Sirius Black exclaimed, jumping back in the uncomfortably crowded train compartment. Sparks of all colors shot up from the floor, making Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew move their feet almost instantly. Several seconds later four champagne glasses filled with a clear liquid appeared where the sparks previously had been. James gave Sirius a look.

"You could have done it without the sparks, you know." James told him, taking the glass that Sirius offered to him and the others.

Sirius laughed, giving Peter the last glass. "Yes, but we needed to start our last year out with a bang!" He explained, sitting in the empty seat next to James.

Remus peered at him over his inspection of the wine. Wine…of course…He thought. To Sirius he said, "And why exactly are we starting the year out with potentially lethal sparks?" Sirius rolled his eyes as Peter worried aloud.

"They were lethal?" Peter asked, a little crease showing up between his eyes. James shook his head at him as Remus and Sirius ignored him.

Sirius stood up, raising his glass in a toast. "To James finally making Lily fall in love with him!" He cried, drowning half the glass. Peter and Remus drank to it, laughing a little, but James spit most of the wine out, splattering Peter with his combination of spit and drink.

"Are you doing that thing where you don't think before you speak again?" Remus asked Sirius as James tried to dry Peter off. Sirius seemed slightly annoyed.

"No, I'm actually being quite serious," He said, gulping the rest of the wine down. He stopped for a moment and then grinned at his own little pun. James rolled his eyes as Peter began to laugh. Sirius sat back down, removing all their glasses with a flick of his wand. "I really think this is going to be the year when Lily falls for James."

"Never mind that it's our last year at Hogwarts and it's now or never…" Remus muttered under his breath. Sirius glared at him.

James looked at Sirius incredulously, having not heard what Remus had just said. "Right. And later on we'll get married, have a son, and grow old together."

"You'd have rather cute kids together," Remus sighed, receiving a look from James. "Just saying." He responded. James instead sighed and slid down in his seat a little.

"I mean, it's not like I don't spend every waking moment thinking about it…" he admitted, staring up at the ceiling.

"The marriage or the sex?" Peter asked, a wide-eyed look on his face, as if it wouldn't matter either way.

There was an awkward silence as James' mouth hung open with shock that Peter could even utter the word 'sex.' Remus finally broke the silence.

"I think he meant the marriage, Wormtail." Peter shrugged and lost his wide-eyed look and James closed his mouth.

There was another long pause. James sat up, but continued looking up at the stain on the ceiling.

"I wonder where that stain came from?" he asked to no one in particular. Sirius opened his mouth to retort, but before he could there was a knock on the door. No one stood to answer it. The knock came again, louder.

"How long are we going to ignore that?" Remus asked. James and Sirius shrugged simultaneously. Remus sighed and stood to answer the door. Standing in the doorway was the very lovely and the very ticked off Lily Evans.

Her face was completely red, her nostrils flared, and, unfortunately, the anger was directed at James.

"Erm…Hello, Lily." James said halfheartedly, shrinking back from her gaze. She didn't say anything, which frightened James more.

At this point, Sirius turned to James exasperated, and asked, "What in Merlin's name have you done now!"

Before James had a chance to defend himself, however, Lily spoke. "James Whatever-your-middle-name-is Potter!" James gulped. "Why weren't you at the Prefects meeting this morning?"

James frowned, actually giving it some thought. "Oh, wait…that was this morning?" Lily narrowed her eyes a bit more.

"Yes it was this morning! And what exactly did I have to say about the head boy not being there! Nothing good, I can tell you that!"

"Sounds like a personal problem to me," Sirius laughed, smirking the tiniest bit. Then Lily turned her gaze on him and he instantly dropped it.

"I'm sorry, was I talking to you, Sirius Black?" Sirius mumbled a 'oh god, I hope not,' and turned to stare out the window.

James began to appeal to her before she could chew him out even more. "How can I make this up to you?" Hopefully something easy…He thought.

"Interesting you should say that," Lily smiled, which made her even more intimidating. "because I have something for you when we get to the castle." James' eyes widened.

"And that would be…?"

"Oh, you'll see," She said, winking at him. Then she promptly turned, closed the door, and headed back to her own compartment.

James froze, not knowing what to do now. "What exactly did she mean by that?" he looked at Remus, who shrugged.

"I don't think I want to know." Sirius stated, still looking out the window. "But you have about ten minutes to figure it out." He pointed at a dark shadow that was the school, now becoming clearly visible.

James groaned. "I knew nothing good would come of me being head boy…I should have just made bad grades when I was younger."

"True," Remus agreed, smiling. "But then again, you were too busy trying to impress Lily with your grades to have figured out that you would mess it up somewhere down the line."

James glared at him vehemently. "You're too smart for your own good, you know that, right?"

Remus just smiled.

Ok, that's it. Hope you liked it better than the last one… :D

Just be sure to tell me what you thought in a review, ok? Ok…

Emmablk1