"Ahh, Valentines day, favourite day of the year, well, almost, my birthday probably wins by about… this much" James made a gesture to suggest a small amount and flashed a cocky grin to his friends.
"so what's your plan this year then Prongsie? As your ridiculous singing chocolates embarrassed her so much she wouldn't even speak to Remus because she assumed he was involved. And the white doves were a bit much too"
"- and the heart shaped toast, now that was funny"
"no it wasn't it was good! Come on, you have to admit it was clever? Although she got a bit annoyed when I couldn't get the counter charm to work and all of her meals became heart shaped for a week" James reminisced. His friends laughed, "well this year, I have a great plan, she will be waking up any moment now and she will have a huge bouquet of roses by her bed, and this time I know yellow roses are definitely her favourite, not pink. Then there will be a card that is underneath the roses, well at least it will be if Chico did it properly. Then all through the day I'll smile at her and wink and all the rest of it, maybe chat her up and charm her socks off a bit, depending on how she is. Then the best part, I bought some of that magic star dust stuff from Zonkos, and I'm going to fly up on my broom and write in the sky with the star dust asking her on a date. Good huh?" he explained to his friends. He flopped back onto his scarlet rich bed and sighed, "How could she ever resist me after that?" Sirius, Remus and Peter all burst out laughing,
"quite easily I imagine James, I mean, has she ever said yes?" Sirius pointed out to his friend. "and how many times have you begged her to date you? I lost count after the eighteenth time, and that was in fourth year, a week after you started obsessing over her! Considering its now our seventh year and has never agreed on a date with you, I'd say she isn't too bothered mate" Sirius finished, tucking into a box of chocolates that were no doubt from an admirer. James glared at his friend,
"shut up Sirius, she will say yes one day, some day soon, I know it, she's warming up to me" he retorted. Remus chuckled,
"James the last time you asked her out was two days ago and she laughed at you and slammed the portrait closed on your foot. Warming up to you eh?" Remus reminded his arrogant friend.
"obviously she's playing hard to get" James decided aloud.
"people don't do that for three years James. What about that Miranda girl? She's alright, and she fancies the pants off you" Sirius added in between mouthfuls of chocolates,
"nah, its not the same, she's all looks, no fun" James sulked,
"so that's all you want is it? Fun?"
"No! I want a proper relationship, you know, what mature people do, Sirius! I just don't want it to be with Miranda Hamilton. I can think of someone much more perfect for the girlfriend role. Gorgeous, funny, clever, sexy, amazing legs, and you know, she can be really caring too" James reeled off, he looked the mirror beside his bed and attempted to flatten his messy black hair.
" when has she ever been caring towards you?" Remus wondered aloud. James grinned,
"I think you are forgetting my dear friend, she used to fancy me in first year, she even sent me a Valentines card and chatted to me loads then"
"that was then, this is now. Imagine you had dated her in first year, when she would have probably said yes, do you reckon you would have lasted long?"
"yeah course, we are made for each other, it's obvious, how many other girls can turn me down that easily? None. She's the one Sirius, I'm telling you! Merlin I wish I saw then what I see now"
"yeah yeah, breakfast anyone?" Sirius asked hopefully, chocolate decorating parts of his lips and a smudge on his nose.
The great hall was appropriately themed with pink and red table cloths and red drapes suspending from the never ending ceiling. James sat down and noticed his napkin read 'Happy Valentines Day'. He hastily piled sausages onto his plate and glanced down the table. Remus was munched on a piece of toast as he rolled his eyes at James' antics.
"So did any of you send a card to anyone?" James finally tore his eyes away from the entrance hall. Remus shook his head,
"Wish I could, but there's no one I particularly like at the moment" he replied, looking up as the owls soared through the windows and onto the tables of the students. There were twice as many owls as usual today, and the giggles from girls were never ending.
"Merlin would they ever shut up?" James muttered, her eyes peering down the other end of the table.
"She's at the Ravenclaw table if you were wondering James" Peter, a small but tubby looking boy told his friend. James' head darted around, there she was, sitting next to a dark haired boy with a handsome face. She blushed as he pushed back her auburn hair and whispered something in her ear. James' face was full of hurt,
"what? How could she? Edward Wunding? But, he's my rival seeker! And I'm better looking than him!" he couldn't take his eyes off her, Sirius slumped down into the seat beside James,
"hey mate" he glanced at James as he went to take a rather plump sausage off his plate, he had to look twice when usually happy best friend was scowling with an angry expression. "what's the matter with you?" he questioned with raised eyebrows, James turned to Sirius with another scowl,
"She's all over him!" he blurted it out like it pained him to say it. Sirius stood up and glanced over the heads of the other students to find the redheaded girl in question.
"Ahh, so she is, don't worry mate, Wunding is a prat, and she'll realise that at least before lunch" Sirius said casually, James sighed,
"and I really tried to be subtle this year, should I still do the star dust thing?"
"well its hardly subtle, but see how she is over the day" Remus chuckled as a patchy white and brown owl swooped onto the table knocking a jug of pumpkin juice onto Peter,
"Hey! Stupid owl!"
"Oi! Shut up about Hercules!" James said angrily as he fed the owl some buttery toast. Hercules nibbled the soggy bread happily and held out her clawed foot, "oo, a letter! Ahh! No, two letters! Thanks Herc" James untied the letters and ripped the gold envelope off the first letter, he pulled out the familiar parchment, he recognised the hand writing immediately, he skimmed through the letter,
Dear James,
Hope you are well and not getting into too much trouble. As you know, there will be the Annual Potter Ball in your Easter Holidays. This year it will be held at Aunty Maria and Uncle John's castle in Rome. As usual you have the option to bring a date or a dance partner (not Sirius). Also, Isabel would like me to tell you that she can now eat four chocolate frogs at once, oh and that she has broken your old broomstick by accident when she flew into the shed.
Please reply soon so we know Hercules got this to you alright,
Lots of love,
Mum
"she broke my broomstick!" James huffed,
"who did?" Remus asked, finishing his third piece of toast. James shoved the letter in his pocket,
"Isabel did, she flew it into the shed. I told dad not to let her fly it because I hadn't shown her how to break yet" Sirius laughed,
"its only your old one, you never use it, in fact, I vaguely remember you donating it to Isabel" he said thoughtfully, picking up the other letter James had yet to read,
"how old is she now James?" Remus wondered aloud,
"nine, going on fifteen" James answered, Remus snorted as he laughed into his pumpkin juice, "hey! Sirius, give me that" James snatched the letter off Sirius. He tore it open to reveal a pink card with heart confetti and glittery wording on the front,
"what it is?" Sirius asked curiously,
"just a valentines card from Miranda" he opened the inside and more heart shaped confetti fell on his lap, he cringed and closed the card,
"why the face?" Remus questioned, James passed the card to Remus who enquiringly opened it. He laughed loudly, "Sirius you gotta look at this!" James rolled his eyes as the card was passed around.
"Only Miranda Hamilton would put a picture of herself in a card" Sirius joked as he passed the card back to James.
"Yeah yeah, let's go to charms" James decided for the rest of the group. As they were walking out of the hall, James pretended not to notice Miranda's sickening babyish waving at him.
"Now does anybody know the properties of the patronus charm?" Professor Flitwick asked the class, standing on his desk, wand in hand, his expectant expression looking at the usual suspects. "ahh, yes, Miss Evans"
"the patronus charm is a repelling charm, it creates a shield between the caster and their attacker, each patronus is unique to its caster" Lily replied with confidence. Flitwick beamed at her, James turned to look at her from across the classroom, he caught her eye, she looked away immediately. James could never quite understand why Lily wouldn't give him a chance, he hadn't done anything wrong, had he? Infact, in James' opinion he was incredibly charming to her. What other girl got all this special treatment?
"So Prongs, who are you taking to your ball thingy then?" Peter asked him, desperate to become closer friends with James. James looked at Peter like he was mad,
"Evans! Duh?" he shook his head and began to take notes from Flitwick's lecture,
"But, Evans hates you Prongs, what if she doesn't want to go with you? Can you take me instead?" he asked hopefully, James chuckled,
"She will go with me, this is the year Wormtail, anyway, even if she didn't, I'm not turning up with you and looking like a queer" he replied. He had given up after jotting down a few key words about patronus's and had idly begun doodling the letters 'J.P' in a heart beside the initials 'L.E'.
"But Sirius went with you once! And I bet you ten galleons that Evans won't go with you"
"got yourself a deal there bud. And Sirius only went with me when we were twelve, when I didn't have to ballroom dance with my partner!"
"oh, well, who did you take last year?"
"Maria Donachello, my mums friend's daughter. I only took her because mum made me, but she wouldn't give me a break all night, wanted to dance all the time and kept asking if I would take her out some time after the ball."
"what was wrong with her?" Remus butted in,
"nothing, she just isn't what I look for in a girl" James replied simply, as he traced the letters over again.
"You mean she didn't have red hair, green eyes and a fiery temper? Oh yeah, and her name isn't Lily Evans" Remus finished for him, James gave a coy smile at his friend and shrugged,
"hit the nail on the head Moony" Sirius chipped in with a wink. Remus chuckled,
"you are really crazy about her Prongs aren't you?" Peter leaned into the conversation. Sirius laughed and punched James' arm playfully,
"yeah snap out of it mate, I think you've wasted plenty of years trying to win her over. Think how many brilliant pranks we could have pulled on Snivellous by now if you hadn't been too busy trying to get a date?" James scowled and punched Sirius back in the same manner.
"yeah well think how many detentions we would have got if we had?" James retorted,
"oh stop being such a suck arse James, like a few detentions would matter, Evans isn't even that great" Sirius tried to be diplomatic, but only earned himself a huge glare from James, who slammed his fist on the table, ignoring the tut from Professor Flitwick.
"Sirius, how can you say that? She's perfect. What's not great about her?" he argued, Sirius sighed,
"Well, for starters, she's always stressy, especially with you, she's a goody two shoes, she sticks up for Snivels, she's a bit prissy -"
"She is not prissy! She's elegant!"
"POTTER! Right, leave the room until you can control yourself" Flitwick ordered, shouting for a change. James made a face and slid off his stool. He heard sniggering from behind and whipped around to see the smirking face of Narcissa Black, Sirius' reluctant cousin.
"Problem Black?" James challenged her, she laughed with a harsh tone to her voice.
"control yourself Potter, wouldn't want to hurt anyone would you?" she raised an eyebrow and sneered at him. James threw her a hard look,
"No, I wouldn't, unlike some. Only the weak enjoy causing hurt" he retorted, slinging his bag over his shoulder and leaving the room with fifteen pairs of eyes on him. He slumped against the stony wall outside the classroom, silently cursing Flitwick for sending him out. James found it bizarre that Sirius and Narcissa were related, Sirius who played the joker, the playful prankster without a disloyal bone in his body. Narcissa with her sly ways and her devotion to the dark arts. He sighed and wondered how he could get Lily to travel all the way to Italy with him to go to his family ball. He knew at the back of his mind it would be near impossible, but there was no way that James Potter was going to take anyone else. The door beside him opened to reveal a short man with a frown upon his middle aged face.
"right Mr Potter, now do you promise to behave in my class?" he asked, James nodded, eager to get back into the lesson to think up a plan to get Lily. He entered the classroom again, catching Lily's eye as he coolly walked back to his seat, she quickly looked away. James slumped onto his wooden stool, lazily taking notes and gazing at Lily for the rest of the lesson.
"Class dismissed, and I want that essay in for next Tuesday!" Flitwick told them, there was a noise scrape of chairs on the concreted floor. James slung his bag over his shoulder and meandered from the room at a fast pace, following a particular red head. She exited the door as she chatted with friends, James barged past some Slytherins and caught her up,
"Evans" he called, ignoring the thumping of his heart he attempted to sound cool and laid back. The redhead in question stiffened in her path at the sound of her name. "just a quick question" he added. She turned on her heel, one hand on her hip, she sighed and nodded,
"Yes Potter, and make it quick, we have transfiguration" she told him, James grinned goofily and rapidly ran a hand through his black already messy hair. Lily rolled her eyes.
"What are you doing over Easter?" he asked, losing his cool a bit, noticing people hanging about to watch. He instantly put on his arrogant macho act. Lily shrugged,
"It's only February Potter, Easter is in April, I've hardly thought ahead, and I'm not entirely sure why my Easter holidays concern you?" she replied questioningly with a frown. He grinned,
"well Evans, they most certainly could concern you, how does a brand new set of dress robes and a holiday in Italy sound?" he said cockily. Lily scowled and rolled her eyes once again.
"If it means being within fifty miles of you then it sounds like a nightmare" She replied coolly, turning her back and walking off with two girls. James noticed people sniggering at him, he glared at them, whipping out his wand as a threat. The small crowd moved on and left him with Sirius, Remus and Peter.
"so what shall I buy with my ten galleons?" Peter wondered aloud to James, who playfully smacked him round the head and glared.
"I have two months Wormtail, lets not start the shopping list just yet" James argued his case.
That afternoon during lunch, James sipped at his pumpkin juice as he stared down the table,
"Prongs! Would you just be normal for an hour or so?" Sirius said with a hint of jealousy. James perked up immediately and placed a large helping of Shepard's pie onto his plate. "So, we're going to get Snivells when he least expects it, I was thinking some time in-between classes?" he added, James nodded,
"yeah good idea, what are we going to do to him?"
"whatever we feel like. Trip him up and then hex him with something" Sirius answered. James shrugged, feeling his eyes wander back to the other end of the table. Lily got up and walked across the hall, James' eyes following her the whole way. She stopped at the Ravenclaw table right next to Edward Munding. He turned and grinned at her, she smiled in return and hugged him, she looked as if she were thanking him as she kissed his cheek. James' face was full of rage and fury. How come she never did things like that to him? She had known him longer, he had certainly given her many presents, (a lot of which had been given back to him) and he definitely gave her tons of attention, and for more than two years of his life, and the closest he ever got to a kiss on the cheek was a slap round the face. Lily and her friends stood to leave the great hall shortly after, passing James on the way. He whipped around,
"Evans!" he called, she sighed and faced him,
"What?" she asked impatiently, he smiled charmingly at her, she narrowed her eyes at him,
"What did Munding get you for Valentines day?" he asked with a playful wink, although it killed him that she liked someone else and that someone else liked her. She looked at him quizzically,
"A card and roses, why?" she replied, becoming intolerant and worked up that James was being nosey.
"Ahh, what type of roses?" he questioned, swinging back on his chair a little. She made an aggravated noise, and turned to walk away, "Evans! What type?" he called as she walked away. He jumped out of his seat and followed her. Leaving the boys to roll their eyes and Sirius to help himself to James' dinner.
"HEY! EVANS!" James called, pulling her arm back in the entrance hall. Her friends looked as put out and annoyed as she did. "A little privacy please?" James added snappily at her friends, who scowled and walked around the corner. Lily was giving a similar scowl to James at the moment, who towered over her intrusively, "what type?" he repeated.
"Red ones" she said with a sarcastic smile. James grinned,
"and what is your favourite type?" he asked, with a knowing expression, Lily sighed,
"Yellow" she said bluntly, glancing to see if her friends left her already, but truth be told, she didn't mind James when he was alone with her, it was when he was with other people that he had a magnetic attachment to showing off.
"And what did you find on your bed this morning?" he added with a genuine smile now, Lily smiled slightly back,
"yellow roses"
"and who were they from?"
"You Potter, Now is this going anywhere?" she asked him