Ha, I told you all I'd get my act together! I am feeling infinitely better, and I hope to actually edit this draft, not send out the spitfire mess I gave you lot last time. I mean, I was just trying to get something out so you wouldn't start throwing eggs at my house in the dead of night or something.

I'm a sucker for the fake dating AU, and I've been planning it for a little while, but what do you guys think? Please tell me what you think about where this is going and if you have any suggestions of criticism I'd be so happy to hear it! Thank you all for sticking around for my little tale!

When Bertha finally got towed to town, the mechanic wasn't in. The trio could not find rooms at four in the morning, which was how the three of them ended up in a snoring pile on a cold mechanic's bench. James was barely awake, with Sirius snoring on his shoulder, mouth agape and drooling on the collar of James's aviator jacket. Lily was stretched out over the two of them, her legs draped unceremoniously across Sirius's lap and her head on James's knee.

He smiled down at her. She exhaled in little puffs from her nose, the cold air making her breath visible in the night air. He could count every freckle on her pale nose (there were twenty-six), and her mouth crooked up into a half-smile, the kind she used when she had beat him in a psych test.

His favorite thing about her, though, was that she was still wearing his scarf.

XXXXXX

"Who the bloody hell are you lot?"

Lily tranquilly rubbed her eyes and stretched her arms out, only to be thrown unceremoniously from her spot on the bench.

"What the-"

Lily picked herself up of the floor, trying to figure out what had pushed her off the bench. Her eyes found Sirius, who was also on the floor, but he was laughing his head off. Couldn't have been him, then… She turned to see James on the bench, eyeing her warily, but eyes sparkling with laughter.

"You son of a-"

"I didn't mean to! One minute I was sleeping, then this guy was just looming over me and he yelled and I jumped, and now you two are sort of on the floor."

"I wouldn't call this sort of on the floor, since my sore ass is on the literal floor!"

"Look, I don't give a damn about how you three got dumped off the bench, I care about how you got there in the first place!"

The three students looked at each other, then at the mechanic. James spoke first.

"Our van broke down on the highway last night, and we didn't get pulled into the city until around four. We couldn't get a motel, so the guy with the tow truck said you probably wouldn't mind if we slept on your bench. I suppose he was wrong, so we're awfully sorry to have slept here without asking you."

He eyed them suspiciously. "Why were you kids out driving so late?"

"We're college students heading home for the holidays."

He chuckled. "Cutting it kind of close, aren't you?"

"It's only the twenty-second."

"Still." He stuck out his hand. "Name's Stebbins. I'll fix your van." He looked in Bertha's hood. "Has your van been smoking?"

"Yes, sir."

"This should be a fairly quick fix, then. Scoot off, kiddos, and come back around eleven. She'll be done by then."

"Will do."

XXXXXX

The three stepped out into the blinding sunlight, shielding their eyes and squinting at the sun. Sirius slapped James on the back.

"See you, mate, I'm going to find somewhere with free Wi-Fi, Remus is supposed to videochat me today."

Lily frowned as Sirius scampered off. "Where is Remus? I haven't seen him for a couple of weeks."

Lily saw wrinkle lines appear on James's forehead. "He's in Australia. I'll tell you why another time." He looked at her and smiled a little, the worry lines disappearing from his face. "Now, come along, love, we have work to do."

Lily blushed as James took her hand and began to drag her down the street. "What are you talking about?"

He turned to her and smiled. "We have to iron out a few details if we're actually going to fool your sister into believing we're dating."

Lily recalled her impression of James at the beginning of the trip. Potter does nothing halfway. Her lips curled up one side of her mouth as she remembered. James smiled back at her, then returned to tugging her down the street.

"Come on, Evans, I'll buy you a milkshake."

XXXXXX

It had become warm enough to stay outside, so after James and Lily had found a shop that sold caramel milkshakes (it took four tries, thank goodness Birmingham had no shortage of ice cream shops), they moved to a small park with a snowy field. They laid on a bench in opposite directions, heads together, looking at the clouds and asking questions about each other.

"Favorite song, Evans?"

"Persichetti's Parable. Look, James, that cloud looks like Professor Slughorn's nose."

"Damn, it does."

"What about you?"

"Anything Van Halen."

"I should have guessed."

"Was it my spirited rendition of Top of the World in the commons that gave it away? Or the time Sirius and I started to sing Hot for Teacher when McGonagall was trying to give us a pop quiz?"

"Though those were both very good indicators, I was thinking more of the time I came to pick Remus up in the music wing and the four of you were playing Jump."

"That would be a sign." James propped himself up on his elbow and threw his finished strawberry milkshake into a nearby trash can. "There's one more thing that will completely convince Petunia that you haven't paid me to come to her wedding." He rummaged about in his rucksack, and pulled out a rather beat up brown box. He handed it to Lily. "Open it."

Lily looked at him suspiciously. "This isn't like when you gave me a box of cockroaches when we were freshmen, is it?"

James laughed. "Bloody hell, I'd forgotten about that. No, it's not. It's... well, open it, and you'll see."

Lily opened it. Inside was a delicate chain with three small, silver stars on it. She gasped. "James, where did you get this?"

He rocked back on his feet. "The night you ran after Sirius, I was stuck with two heavy suitcases, right? So I was just sort to ambling along, and I saw it in a store window. It reminded me of you, so I bought it. And," he said, looking smugly self-satisfied, "it just saved both of our arses, so I think I deserve a 'thank you, James'."

She laughed and hugged him, launching herself at him so that the two of them toppled into the snow. Chuckling merrily, James flipped the two of them over so he was laying above her, and reached over to get the box from beside her.

"Well, I think it's fair that your boyfriend should get to put a pretty necklace on his girlfriend." Lily nodded in agreement, still laughing from James's antics.

He brushed her scarlet curls aside and unlooped the scarf from around her neck, putting his hands behind her pale neck to fasten the clasp of the necklace. Suddenly, his hands seemed to turn to butter, unable to grasp the catch.

"Honestly, Potter, haven't you ever put a necklace on a lady before?" Lily teased, reaching behind her to do it herself. Their hands met in the middle, and for a moment, neither of them moved. Lily could feel his warm breath on her face, and she was suddenly very aware that she probably looked-and smelled- like she had slept on a bench last night- which, of course, she had. She rolled away, and whispered, "Thank you, James."

He smiled and whispered back, "Of course, Lily."

She stood up, put on her bomber jacket, and tossed his leather aviator's jacket back to him. "We'd better get going, it's nearly eleven." She picked up James's scarlet and gold scarf and put it on.

"Hey, that's my scarf," James teased.

"If you want it, you'll have to come and get it," Lily taunted, then tore towards the park gate.

James smiled, then ran after her, ready for the rest of the ride home with the most interesting girl in the world.