Written for tumblr's jilyweek

Dates

"What about Bertram Aubrey and Grace Clearwater?" Lily pointed to the pair sitting in the corner booth farthest from the bar.

James stared at them for a few moments, wracking his brain for any morsel of information he could remember about the couple. He could admit that he really didn't know much, but the noisy atmosphere in the Three Broomsticks wasn't helping his thinking process either.

"Come on, hurry up now. We haven't got all day." Lily nudged his foot from underneath the table.

James frowned and nudged her foot back before realizing what he had just done. He grew pink in the cheeks. This was feeling too much like playing footsie. Lily mistook his blush as an admittance of defeat.

"Not so high and mighty anymore Potter, huh? Never underestimate the power of having Mary McDonald as a dorm-mate. The marauders' information database has got nothing on her abilities to gossip." Lily leaned back in her chair triumphantly, as if she had already won. She was sadly mistaken if she thought he wasn't going down without a fight though.

"Hold on now Evans, I've got some stuff." He glanced at the couple again, who were giggling over a shared hot chocolate. He turned to Lily and spoke in a clipped, business-like tone. "Bertram and Grace: both sixth year Ravenclaws, been going out for approximately seven months. Were good friends through fourth year, but had a falling out at the beginning of fifth when Grace started going out with that Stevens bloke from Slytherin. Aubrey finally gained the courage to ask her out after Stevens and Clearwater broke it off in-,"

"Ha! Wrong!" Lily interrupted him, slapping the table and causing their empty butterbeer bottles to jiggle violently. "Impressive start, but ultimately wrong. Bertram asked Grace out before she broke it off with her boyfriend. The reason she and Davey Stevens split up was because she said yes to Bertram."

"Damn," James swore under his breath. "I didn't remember that part."

Lily leaned back in her chair, put her hands behind her head and shut her eyes. "I knew you wouldn't. Think twice next time before you bet you know more gossip than Mary McDonald's friend. Now go buy the butterbeers, loser."

James rolled his eyes and fetched two butterbeers from the bar. When he came back, Lily was sitting up tracing designs in the dust which sat on the table. James slid into his chair and placed her drink in front of her. "I've got a new game," he said. He motioned back to Aubrey and Clearwater. "What do you think they're talking about?"

Lily replied with a bored expression. "Aubrey's probably just whispering in Grace's ear that she looks pretty. Its pathetic. What happened to stimulating conversation?"

"I think we're pretty pathetic. All our other friends are off with dates," James mumbled.

"What?"

"Nothing." He pointed to Elaine Chen and Ricky O'Brien, who were all but sitting on top of each other in their booth. "What about them?"

Lily wrinkled her nose in distaste. "Merlin, Potter, they're not even on a proper date!"

James raised his eyebrows in amusement. "What is a proper date, then?"

She raised a finger. "First off, your date is supposed to ask you out at least the day before, not the day of. I heard Ricky and Elaine just found each other in Hogsmeade this morning, and now look at them."

James looked towards the couple in question and thought about how he had approached Lily yesterday about spending the day in Hogsmeade together. When they had found out that all their friends were busy with actual dates, it was just logical that the two of them keep each other company.

Lily raised another finger. "Second, you have to dress properly on a date. Those two look like they just rolled out of bed." James looked down at himself. He had tried to dress nicely today, simply for the sake that he didn't want Lily to think that her friend was a slob. Lily looked nice today too, but then again, in James's eyes she always looked fantastic.

"Third," Lily held out another finger, "you have to talk on a proper date. Just snogging around isn't enough, and frankly, not at all classy. I mean, just look at the two of them. Do they have any self respect at all?" He and Lily, James thought, had been talking all morning long. And he was having fun as well. He couldn't remember the last time he had smiled that much.

"And lastly," a fourth finger joined the others. "You have to eat, or at least drink something on a date. And I'm not saying I promote the tradition or anything, but if you really want to be old-fashioned, the bloke should pay, just like you bought drinks for the two of us…" Lily trailed off as she realized what she was saying, and a violent blush spread down from her cheeks to her neck.

James flashed her a small smile. "I guess we're pretty good at this date business then, aren't we Evans?"

"Hmm," she agreed, "but there's still one thing missing."

"What's that?" James asked, confused.

For a few moments Lily didn't say anything, but when she did, she sent him the most brilliant smile he had ever seen. "Go out with me, Potter?"