Drabble written for the Alphabet Soup Drabble Competition, letter Z (Z is for Zealous), the As Strong as We Are United Competition (prompt: valentine), the Musical Terms challenge (Affrettando: hurrying, pressing onwards), the One-Shot a Day Competition and for Sylvia.

Word count: 207

Learning About The Ball

"Oh James, have you heard? There's going to be a Ball for Valentine's Day this year."

"What?!"

"You didn't know? Dumbledore thought it would be a good idea, you know, to promote 'communication between Houses', but we all know that no Gryffindor will invite a Slytherin."

"We have to invite a girl?"

"Where were you all these years, Prongs? Of course we have to!"

"Oh Merlin, I need a plan to invite Lily! What do I do?"

Sirius realized the moment James found his idea that he would probably hate it. James' plans were after all known to fail most dramatically.

"I need, I need flowers, dozens, no hundreds of flowers. No, flowers won't do. She'd think I'm trying to buy her with gifts. I have to find chocolate. Girls like chocolate. Sirius, what kind of chocolate does Lily like?"

"Hm… How would I know?"

"Padfoot, you're useless. I'm sure Moony would know. Perhaps I should try something else then… A dinner maybe. What do you think Sirius?"

"That you're being a tad overzealous with this."

"I'm not. It has to be perfect. I want her to remember that day for the rest of her life."

"I'm sure she will, James, don't worry."