Author's Note:

Beater 2 prompts for Final Round of the QLFC - A Sign of Respect

3: (word) iridescent

13: (occasion) first date

OTP For Beater 2 of the Magpies: James/Lily

Word Count without Author's Note: 2990

A Thousand and One First Dates

"Fancy meeting you here, Evans. I knew it was only a matter of time before you took me up on that first date offer."

Lily looked up and groaned with exasperation.

"Potter. I should have known. Where are your little cronies? Did they get lost on the way, or are they too busy ganging up on kids from other Houses for looking at them funny?" Lily narrowed her eyes and huffed loudly at the stupid grin on James Potter's face.

"Aw, c'mon, Evans, don't be like that. You know that Remus is sick. Pad-er, I mean Sirius is taking care of him, and you know Peter. He's doing remedial Potions." James Potter leaned against a stack of books trying to look nonchalant, but failed miserably as a thick book flew from the shelf, knocking the wind out of him.

"As much as I wanted to spend my evening hearing about your friends and their busy social calendars, I need to study for the Transfiguration exam on Monday," Lily replied disparagingly. "The sooner you leave, the sooner I can get back to working towards raising my grade."

"I was looking for you, though," James whined as he caught his breath, sounding hurt.

"Bully for you," Lily said, unimpressed. "You've found me. Now, if that's all you needed, I suggest you leave before Ms. Pince stops by with a detention slip pre-filled out in your name."

"Just one date, Evans. I promise you'll beg for more," James said, wiggling his eyebrows in a manner that was obviously supposed to be alluring but looked goofy instead.

"If by more, you mean Stomachache Remedy, then you're probably right," Lily replied tersely without looking up from her notes. "Go away, Potter, or I'll transfigure you into a newt."

James opened his mouth again, but before he could say anything, Irma Pince appeared out of nowhere and handed him a detention slip while Lily attempted to hide her smirk from behind a book.

"Well, then, my lady, I shall bid you adieu!" he said loudly, smiling and bowing at the waist with a flourish of his arm.

"Out!" Ms. Pince hissed from between her long, thin teeth.

James shrugged and then turned to walk back the way he'd come.

Lily told herself that the only reason she watched him go was because she wanted to be sure he was actually leaving, but a part of her felt a slightly different twinge than before. She snorted to herself at how silly she was being.

'Fancy Potter? Never!' she thought to herself, but later, when she was trying to fall asleep, she couldn't seem to get that dorky smile out of her head.

"Studying by the lake? Or waiting for our first date? You decide!" James seemed to appear from nowhere and was standing on the other side of Lily's book.

"That's easy, Potter. I'd rather kiss the giant squid than have a single date with you," Lily replied, smirking behind her book. "Besides, the days are finally growing longer, and it's getting nice outside. You would have noticed if you stopped looking in the mirror for one minute straight."

Over the past few months, they'd developed a strange, flirtatious, verbal sparring ritual where he'd ask her if their meeting could be counted as their first date, and then she'd shoot him down almost immediately afterwards. It made Lily wonder if she was secretly a sadist, because it gave her a strange thrill to tear James Potter, Quidditch star and fat-headed troublemaker, down a couple pegs. He couldn't seem to take a hint, even when she was horrifically blunt with him, which also made her wonder if Potter was some sort of masochist.

He'd already humiliated himself by singing a ballad to her in the Great Hall on Valentine's Day. Someone, (Lily had her suspicions as to who it was), had hexed James mid-song, sticking his tongue to the roof of his mouth. He was forced to gesture wildly and use hand-written signs on parchment until it wore off. She was left with a sense of quiet awe as she watched his antics, wondering why he so doggedly refused to give up on her.

A growing part of her hoped that he never would.

"What are you talking about, Evans? I only have eyes for you," James replied with a hopeful grin, staring right at her so that when she glanced up at him, he held her gaze for a long moment.

Lily was stunned into silence. She could feel that strange twinge in her chest once again. She had to shake her head and look away from him to stop it from spreading up to her face. She resolved not to blush. Not in front of...him.

"It used to be a beautiful day," she snipped at him, "but now a giant cloud in the shape of your inflated ego seems to have blocked the sun."

"Next time then, Evans!" James said brightly, turning and walking away, leaving Lily blinking in surprise.

He'd never left so easily before.

That evening in the common room, Lily sought James out. He was playing a game of Wizard's Chess with a sickly-looking Remus Lupin.

"Argh! You're wiping the floor with me, mate!" James moaned with frustration, running his hand through his wild, black hair.

"Evening Remus. Potter," Lily said, walking over with her arms crossed.

"Hi, Lily," Lupin replied softly.

James waved nonchalantly without turning his head, so Lily walked over to Remus' side of the table and began chatting with him, bending down slightly so that she knew James would get an eyeful of her modest cleavage.

That would show the prat.

Lily and Remus had become friends of sorts in Potions class after she and Sev had stopped being friends. There was something so wary and grateful about how Remus Lupin acted when she spoke to him that it had immediately endeared him to her. She was pretty sure she knew his little secret—the one he was afraid of others knowing. She didn't care that he liked other blokes like that, but she did wish he had a better taste in men than Sirius Black. Lily couldn't understand what he saw in the blighter. If anything, Black was even worse than Potter. Peter's nasty little leers and simpering laughter when Black and Potter were up to no good didn't help, either. She idly wondered where the other two so-called "Marauders" were hiding.

"Peter's off at another study hall, and Sirius is in detention," James said lazily, as though reading her thoughts.

Lily blushed and wondered if he knew some sort of ancient wizard mind reading spell. She hoped not. Which, of course, caused her to start thinking about that dream she'd been having more and more often, the one that involved James Potter in a very wet and very see-through set of Quidditch robes.

She shook her head to clear her mind of that annoying smirk coupled with those defiant blue, sexy…

"No!" she exclaimed aloud and both boys looked at her in confusion.

"Penny for your thoughts, love?" Potter said, staring into her eyes instead of at her chest, as she'd expected him to do.

Lily looked away, her face redder than ever.

"It's… none of your business!" she huffed. "See you later, Remus!"

As she fled towards the stairs to the girls' dormitory, she heard Potter call out to her, "Let's do this again sometime! Sweet dreams, Lily!"

She could not bring herself to reply, even though she should have given him hell for using her first name so casually. Visions of James in various states of undress filled her head unbidden. She bit her lower lip so fiercely that she tasted blood.

That night, her dreams left her flushed and filled with a frantic need. She was having a harder and harder time denying the truth and it scared the hell out of her.

She washed her face the next morning, looking at the bags under her eyes in the mirror.

"I am NOT falling for James Potter!" she hissed at her reflection, but she could see the disbelief in her green eyes even as her lips formed the words.

"Good morning, Lily," James Potter said, smiling as he came to sit across from her at the Great Hall and leaned forward over the breakfast biscuits.

"Good morning," Lily said, trying not to look at him. She had to bite the inside of her cheek to stop her face from turning pink under his eager gaze.

"I was wondering, well, as you know… um… there's the dance next Friday and… erm… I was wondering…" He grabbed a biscuit and began to pick at it nervously with a butter knife.

"You already said that, James," Lily said, trying to keep her voice even.

"W… what?" James blushed as he heard her call him by his first name, his eyes widening as he glanced down to the end of the table.

Lily glanced as well and saw Sirius Black giving James two very big thumbs up while Peter made a rude gesture from behind him, ducking under the table with a squeak when he realized that Lily was looking. Remus sat with his head buried in the Daily Prophet as though trying to ignore what was going on right next to him.

"You said that you were wondering. Twice." she said shortly, her eyes narrowing. Inside, she was panicking. She couldn't let everyone see her accepting James' invitation, even though it was quite a lot more subdued than his Valentine's stunt. Even though she'd finally admitted that perhaps she had developed a little crush on James Potter, she would be damned to hell and back before she allowed anyone to think that he'd somehow won their little feud, especially not in front of his obnoxious friends.

"Come to the dance with me, Lily," James purred, reaching across the table and placing his hand over hers.

Lily dropped the cup of tea she was holding in her other hand.

Luckily, Alice swooped in next to her and froze the cup in midair so that it didn't spill.

"Merlin's hat, Potter, will you ever stop?!" Marlene growled harshly from over Lily's shoulder. "Lily doesn't like you! She's never liked you! She'll never like you! So shove off already!"

"Lily…" James stared at Lily, his eyes pleading with her. "Is this...true?"

Lily became aware that the Great Hall had become rather silent. Everyone's eyes seemed to be on her. In particular, she could sense the gaze of a pair of dark, angry, sad eyes that bored into her from behind her back at the Slytherin table.

"Go away, Potter," Lily said sharply, pulling her hand away abruptly.

His face was so painful to look at that Lily lost her appetite. She ran from the Great Hall, leaving him sitting at the table staring at the biscuit with a lost, wide-eyed expression.

She skipped her morning classes and hid in the girl's bathroom on the second floor feeling like a coward. It was the first time she'd ever cut classes, but she couldn't bear to see that horrible lost look on James Potter's face—the one that she'd put there with her rejection. Sure, she'd already rejected him over a thousand times, but this one felt different. This time, he'd actually behaved respectfully, even if his friends were still a bunch of idiots.

"Ugh," Lily told her reflection, "Well, at least it can't get any worse."

She was, of course, completely wrong.

"Come on, Marlene, I'll do your hair up if you do mine!" Lily tittered excitedly as she slipped the silky green dress onto her body.

"I'm glad I wear mine short," Alice said. "Frank likes it, but even if he didn't, I'd still like it this way."

"You look beautiful, Alice," Lily said, hugging her friend, "but you'll look even better with these."

She handed a pair of sapphire earrings to her friend and Alice's eyes widened with excitement.

"Are you sure, Lily? They're awfully beautiful!"

"I'm sure," Lily replied. "After all, they won't match my outfit."

Lily spun in front of the full length mirror and watched the iridescent, partially see-through petticoat float over the green silk of the dress like something out of a fairytale.

"Sorry, Lils! I've got to go down and get my date!" Marlene called from the closet, where she was desperately trying to find her other shoe.

Lily felt a little irritated, but she grinned good-naturedly. "That's ok, I'll just wear my hair down. After all, it's not like I'm trying to impress anyone."

Lily walked down the stairs arm in arm with Alice, her long, red hair brushed to a satiny shine. Her smile faltered when she saw Marlene holding hands and laughing with her date.

"Good evening," James Potter said, his hair neatly brushed down in a way that Lily had not thought possible.

Lily didn't realize she was staring like an idiot until Alice nudged her to start walking. Marlene and James had already gone ahead through the Fat Lady's portrait.

Lily sat and watched everyone dancing with a lump of sadness growing in her heart. Marlene looked as though she was having a simply wonderful time as James twirled with her across the floor like a fairytale princess. Lily, on the other hand, had only been asked to dance once, and it had been by an obnoxiously self-centered Ravenclaw. Alice and Frank had sat with her for awhile, but Lily very quickly felt like a third wheel and had finally demanded they go dance. As she looked around, she noticed that none of the other Marauders appeared to be there, but she didn't want to dance with them anyway. Standing, she walked slowly towards the doors to the outside. She felt claustrophobic. Fresh air would be a welcome relief.

Looking up at the huge full moon in the warm spring sky, Lily felt a renewed sense of possibility as she leaned on the balcony railing. James Potter wasn't the only boy in the world. She'd find someone who she didn't have to reject a thousand and one times, someone who could truly make her happy.

She didn't hear the door open behind her.

"Hello, Lily."

LIly whirled around, her back to the balcony and gasped.

James Potter smiled shyly, his hands in the pockets of his dress robes. His eyes were hidden by the moon's glow on his thick-framed glasses.

"Where's… Marlene?" Lily asked, her cheeks beginning to burn when he smirked, and she knew she'd been caught.

"She was trying to make Sirius jealous by going with me. Little did she know that Sirius is caring for Remus while he's sick. Never fear, though, I left her with a pair of cute Hufflepuffs who were making her blush furiously."

"I… I'm sorry about earlier," Lily said, still mortified.

"I kinda guessed," James replied with a small laugh. "It must have been pretty bad for you not to go to class."

"Yeah," Lily replied, her anger rising again, "but you could have avoided the whole embarrassing-public-declaration-of-your-undying-love thing! You're basically ensuring that I'll reject you, James!"

"Why, Lily?" James asked softly. "I see the way that you've been staring at me. Even if you don't love me, you have to admit at some point that there's something between us."

Lily stood frozen, her eyes wide as she tried to think of something to say.

"I… it's not…"

"What? True? I'm not a mind-reader, Lily, but I know when someone's lying to me," James replied, coming to a stop only a foot away. "If you don't care about me at all, and I'm just being my usual fat-headed self, that's one thing, but if you actually feel something… please, Lily."

The way he said please made Lily's heart pound, and she bit down hard on her bottom lip.

"Stunned into silence, eh?" James said with a ghost of a smirk. "How about this? Let me kiss you once, on the lips, no tongue, no funny business, I swear. If you don't feel a thing, I'll give up and never bother you again. We're all alone, so if you regret it, you can escape with your social status intact."

Lily took a deep breath and frowned for a moment before nodding, her expression softening in the moonlight.

"Very well," she said. "I accept."

"Really?" James suddenly sounded nervous. His hand shook slightly as he brushed back a strand of her hair. Lily caught his scent, like sunshine and summer grasses, and her eyes widened.

"Don't tell me that you've never kissed anybody," Lily said, her voice tinged with disbelief.

James frowned and shook his head.

"Not even Marlene? Or Eliza Watkins? She's kissed everyone, even some of the girls!"

"I've only ever wanted you," James said plaintively, and Lily could tell that he was speaking the truth.

"That's pathetic," Lily said softly, her lips mere inches from his.

"I know," James breathed back. "I never said I wasn't."

"Then, I suppose I will have to do," Lily whispered, her eyes going half-lidded with desire.

"Oh, Merlin, yes." James closed the distance between their lips and pressed them firmly against hers.

One kiss turned into two, which of course snowballed until Lily realized that she was properly making out with James Potter, and she found that she didn't care.

Quite the opposite, actually.

Much later, when the moon was beginning to dip low in the sky, they sat together, their arms wrapped around one another as they processed the enormity of what they'd done together.

"Well, that was one hell of a first date," Lily said playfully. "I can't wait to see what you have in store for the next one."

The stunned expression on James Potter's face was so deliciously wonderful that Lily knew she would never, ever forget it for as long as she lived.