"I'll bet you two Sickles that the next person that walks by will have blue robes on."

I glance sideways at James. "Deal."

"And now," James says with a flourish, "we wait."

And wait we do. We are sitting in my drive, licking Acid Pops. It's the middle of July, and

anyone with sense is in their house, taking refuge from the stifling heat. Twenty minutes

crawl by…then thirty…then fifty. After an hour passes with not a single person strolling by,

I say, "How about I give you one Sickle and we go inside?"

"Oh, Lily, Lily, Lily," James says, tsking at me. "You should know by now that I never, ever, back

out on a bet."

It was true. He was always coming up with pointless contests like this: I'll give you a Knut if the

next witch I see has red hair. I'll eat three bananas if you can score three points on me in Quidditch.

For example, just four days earlier, he had challenged his best mate Sirius to a Bertie-Bott's-All-

Flavored-Beans-Eating-Contest.

"The object," he had said, "is simple. Whoever can eat the most beans in half an hour wins. And

you can't throw any out, no matter what flavor."

Of course, Sirius took him up on it. "You're going to be sorry when I show you up, Prongs,"

Sirius had said lazily.

Twenty minutes later, each of the boys were up to 243 beans apiece. James had gotten the worst

flavor yet: Gravel. As the seconds ticked by, James shoveled more and more into his mouth. I could hardly

keep good count.

"Five…four…three…two…one…stop!" I said.

Thirty minutes and many protests later, I determined that James had won with 467 beans. "And

there you have it, mate. Never challenge James Potter to an eating contest," he said.

"You're the one who challenged me," Sirius sighed. "And anyway, you only won because your

girlfriend was keeping count."

I am startled out of my reverie by James' poking my cheek and saying, "There's someone."

I strain my neck to look down the street. The wizard walking by has on kelly green robes.

"HA!" I say triumphantly. "I win, and you lose. Give me my two Sickles, please."

"How about," James says, nuzzling my neck, "I give you something else, instead?"

"Hmm," I say, barely breathing, "it depends on what it is."

"Well, I'll tell you this: it's a lot better than two Sickles." And then James kisses me.

My head is spinning, my heard is pounding, and I am in heaven. It sounds cliché, but

James makes me feel things I've never felt before, and I don't expect to feel with anyone else. I want

this summer to never end. We had spent virtually every day together, free from the burden of schoolwork

and N.E.W.T's.

Tenderly James pulls away. "Do you still want your two Sickles?" he asks with a slow smile.

"I think you've paid your debt," I whisper. "Do you want to go for a walk or something?"

As we walk hand-in-hand down the lane in my neighborhood, James asks, "Do you ever still

think about Snape?"

I don't want to answer truthfully, but James knows my answer before I say a word. "Why do you

still care about him so much? He's evil, Lil." James looks at me with his blue eyes, imploring me to let go

of my girlhood friend.

"I don't know, I'm just worried about him. This Death Eater stuff…it's not something you can play

around with." I look away as James shakes his head.

"You know he doesn't care about you, so why should you waste your life worrying about him?"

"I shouldn't. I deserve better," I say firmly, trying to convince myself that the words I am saying

are true.

"You do. He chose his path…and well, you chose me," James says, bringing my lips to his again.

"I chose you," I whisper. I just hope it was the right choice.