(A/N): Hey Guys! Started as a challenge from Writeworld on Tumblr, with the sentence, 'Don't flatter yourself.' And it just reminded me of Jily, so...Here you go.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.


"Don't flatter yourself, Potter!" Lily Evans cried as she stormed out of the Three Broomsticks into the thick snow, eyes glaring, panties in a twist.

"You know Evans, I don't really think of it as flattery if it's true." He smirked playfully as he followed her, keeping up easily on his long legs. "And you definitely fancy me." She snarled loudly, stomping a foot before trying to speed up further, though she was on the edge of running as it was.

"I do not, you toad!" It was a lot softer than some of her previous insults, but it still stung a little.

"Come on Evans, don't be that way!" He pleaded, changing his personality so quickly it made her head spin, and the desperation in that soft as velvet voice of his almost made her swoon.

"Act your age, not your wand size!" She snapped, arms crossed over her chest now in an attempt to keep in some of the warmth the blizzard had leached from her skin.

"Well, you know I could always act my other wand size and-" She cut him off with a sharp glare.

"And then you'd be even younger!" He placed a hand against his chest, above where his heart would be, pretending to act hurt.

"Evans….." He began with a smile, a genuine smile that threatened to make her insides melt. "Just admit it, and let me take you out on the next Hogsmeade visit. Or, we could always sneak out here tomorrow…" He suggested, grinning now, and her lips twitched up slightly before she forced them down again.

"Forget it Potter, go with your friends. But not Remus!" She exclaimed quickly, making him raise an eyebrow. "I need him for patrol, remember?" James shook his head, a little exasperated that she was still thinking of prefect duty at a time like this.

"Don't worry about it, Moony's much too smart to get caught up in our shenanigans." James pointed out, which she knew was very much true.

"'Shenanigans'? So you do admit to them being….well, shenanigans?" He shrugged, smiling widely.

"They're just harmless pranks Pond-lily." She shook her head at the stupid, nonsensical nicknames he had picked out for her, before his response made her think of Severus.

"Not all harmless." She growled, and he held both hands up in surrender.

"Look, Lily," He surprised her by using her really name. "I apologised for what I did to Snivil- I mean, Snape. No matter how much he deserved it….." He trailed off, his jaw clenching as his hands fisted into balls.

"Whatever Potter, the answers still no." She said, changing the subject back to a- slightly- less awkward one. She didn't hate Potter or his friends any more, but her denial of his invitations was more a matter of principle than her feelings towards him now anyway. If she said yes, the balance of the whole universe could be set off!

"Well, that's fine then." He shocked her by saying, actually leaving her speechless, and spluttering.

"What?" She croaked incredulously, but he only smiled and shrugged in her direction.

"Well, you said no. You're allowed to say no." It showed just how much he had changed over the summer. Last year, he would have just begged and pleaded some more, but now…now he actually respected her right to deny him a date.

She stared at him for literally a few minutes, gaping and dumbstruck.

"I- what?" She asked again, tilted her head towards him as if it would help her hear better.

"You're allowed to say no…..?" He dragged it out, looking more than slightly confused at her reaction and query.

"I-" She cut herself off, staring at the ground intensely as she tried to figure out what to do, or say next, and just how she felt about James Potter. "Yes. Yes, I'll go with you to Hogsmeade tomorrow." She glanced up at him, nervous now that, after all these years of hunting after her, that he wouldn't want her after all.

"I- I uh- you-?" He choked out before staring at her intently, as if expecting it to be a joke, and that she were about to laugh at him, but she only smiled, somewhat shyly. "Yes?" He breathed quietly, still staring at her. "Yes! Yes, she said yes! Yes, yes, Merlin's saggy left testicle, she said yes!" He screamed at the top of his lungs, causing Lily to turn quite pink, and burst out laughing at his reaction.

"You- You magnificent woman!" He cried, swooping her up and spinning her in a circle before placing her back on the ground. "I'll pick you up tomorrow, okay?" She barely had time to nod before he was off down the street, still blabbering loudly about her finally saying yes.


James burst back into the Three Broomsticks, walked right up to his friends booth and-

"SHE SAID YES!" He screeched, causing the entire pub to turn and look at him in alarm. "You're a genius mate!" He cried, quickly embracing Sirius tightly. "How'd you know it would work, though?" Sirius shrugged, pretending to look smug, and secretive.

"Well, Lily kept saying no, and you kept bugging her. If she says no, and you stop bugging her, she's going to say yes." James stared at him in surprise.

"Because now you aren't annoying the pants off her." Remus muttered into his butter beer, and James smirked.

"No, now I'm charming them off."


(A/N): I hope you liked it!