DISCLAIMER: I don't own Ron Weasley and the Spider of Doom… R.K. Jowling does. wait…

Note: I'll probably be switching POV a lot more now. Sorry if it's confusing! Also, as I might or might not have mentioned, I'll try to make this as un-angsty as possible. Sorry if you like that, but I find it stupid. ON the other hand, things might go kind of quickly. But maybe not…. Muahahaha.

James had asked Lily out countless times. But after a while, it just became second nature. It hadn't meant anything. But now, it was meaning something to James. He was thinking of trying his luck again.

"Give it a try, mate!" Sirius urged one day, as they lounged on their four-poster beds and studied.

"Maybe. I just… don't know why it's such a hard decision."

"So? Worst thing that happens is she says 'no'"

But Sirius didn't understand. This time, James was afraid of a 'no'. How could he ensure a 'yes'?

"By being mature" Remus told him when James asked for advice.

"Haven't I been?"

"Yes, but you need to ask her out maturely."

"Why wouldn't she say yes?" Wormtail piped up.

"I don't know how to do that!" James exclaimed.

"How did you ask Eleanor out?"

"I just said 'Eleanor, do you want to go to Hogsmead with me.' But that doesn't count. She would have said yes anyway, just because she wanted to get to Sirius."

"Like that would ever happen. Besides, you were only asking her to forget Lily."

"Like that would ever happen."

Lily was walking to the Library from Defense Against the Dark Arts. She wanted to look something up from the list of subjects to study for N.E.W.T.s that had been handed out in class.

She was just rounding the corner into the Library, when a wall confronted her. It wasn't a real wall, of course. It was Potter.

"Hello, Potter."

"Hi, Evans." Potter looked nervous.

"How are you?" Lily tried to be civil.

"Fine. Say, Evans. I was wondering… uh… if you wanted to go to Hogsmead with me this weekend?"

Lily was dumbstruck. Her heart thundered one deep note in her chest.

"Oh."

It looked like she'd been wrong about Potter being over her. She was just about to say 'no' when she stopped. She closed her mouth, and she stared up at him.

"I'll think about it." She heard herself saying.

She walked around him and went into the library. She found the bookshelf where the information she sought should be, but she just set her bag down and sat on the carpeted floor. Why had Potter done this? Why was she reacting this way? He was just trying to be annoying, as usual. Why was she considering saying yes? Only to be dumped within a week? To ruin the professional relationship they'd created? Or maybe... just maybe… did she like James Potter?

Lily hit herself on the forehead with a book. It made a dull thunking noise that rattled Lily's brain.

"Ow." She moaned, rubbing her head. The hard leather cover had given her a headache.

She heard Madam Pince prowling about in the next row over, so she quickly stood up and picked up her book. She was walking toward the tables by the time the librarian made it to her aisle.

"Ha! I knew you would!" Padfoot cheered.

He was reclining, hansom as ever, on his bed, his book on his chest. James Was on his stomach, mechanically turning the pages of a book he was supposed to be reading for charms.

"It's not like it's an uncommon occurrence." Remus murmured, not looking up from the book he was actually reading.

"Yeah, but he just dumped his girlfriend."

"I've had those before, too."

"But they weren't serious."

"This one wasn't exactly intense, honestly"

"But you only got into it to get Lily out of your head."

"Yeah. That worked well."

"Anyway, back to what you were saying. What did she say?" Remus diverted them back to the main subject.

"She said she'd think about it."

"She said WHAT?" Sirius sat up, his book falling off of his chest.

"She said she'd think about it."

"She said WHAT?"

"She said she'd think about it. Then she just walked away."

"She said WHAT?"

"I don't know what she meant…"

"I think she meant that the maturity thing's working." Remus commented.

"She said WHAT?"

"Really? Do you think so? James said hopefully, ignoring his best friend.

"Sure."

"But wait…" a thought occurred to James. "That means that she doesn't really like me. She just likes who I'm pretending to be."

Deviating from his old line of questioning, Sirius spoke up, "Who cares, mate? This is Evans. You would do anything to go out with her."

"Not if she only likes the guy she thinks I am."

"And the fact that you're concerned about that is the very reason why I think she likes you." Remus put in, as Sirius was too busy staring at James like a fish.

"Huh?"

"I mean, that's quite a mature thought to have." Moony shrugged, unable to explain what he was getting at.

But James though he'd caught on. "You mean you think I am mature?"

Remus nodded.

"Sure, mate." Sirius put in. "You're head boy, aren't you?"

James gaped at his friend. "So you mean that Lily might… actually like me?"

His friends nodded in affirmation, their faces serious, but on the brink of smiling.

"YES!" roared James, standing up and punching the air with his fist before falling back on his bed.

Now his friends were really smiling. And James was smiling widest at the ceiling. His glasses were knocked askew from his antics.

It was like this that Lily found them in their dormitory. She had timidly, after much deliberation, ascended the stairs to tell Potter that McGonagall had approved their final decisions for the Christmas feast.

"Uhhh…" Their heads snapped toward the door. Potter sat up.

Lily felt self-conscious. It seemed she had walked in on something. Potter was sprawled on his bed, looking carefree and untidy as ever. She was over-thinking this, of course. Potter hadn't meant anything by asking her out.

"I just came to tell you that McGonagall approved our plans for the feast."

Something changed in Potter's face. Was he confused? Crest-fallen? Why? Didn't he want to have their plans approved?

"Okay. Brilliant."

Lily stood there awkwardly for a little, then turned her back on them and walked out oft the threshold. She didn't see Lupin and Black exchanging looks behind her back. She didn't see Potter's eyes on her back. All she was thinking was that Potter didn't seem to think that her news was 'brilliant'.

"Tough, Mate." Padfoot commented as James flopped back onto his pillows.

"I really thought she'd come to tell me… something."

"She did tell you something. And just because it wasn't an answer, doesn't mean there won't be one." Moony pointed out, but he didn't seem so sure of himself.

Meanwhile, in her own dorm, Lilly Evans was hitting herself on the forehead repeatedly with her copy of 'Hogwarts, A History', newly rebound.

Somehow, she had to get James Potter out of her mind.

Note: There needs to be a 'dun dun dun' after that last line. Sound familiar, much? ;)