James Luvs Lily

James sat awkwardly next to Lily. Well, this was great. All his friends took the first chance they could get to abandon him. Peter had followed Isabella as she raced off to her friends, Krystal and Remus had left to find the punch bowl, and even Frank and Alice seemed to have disappeared somewhere.

Sirius remained faithful, though. That was, until Avery made a funny face, whispered something to him, and ended up carting him off by the collar of his robes.

"Come on," she demanded, tugging him away.

"Oi! I'm coming!" Sirius had protested. "Sorry, Prongs!"

James watched him go with a feeling of isolation. "Oh, she's not killing him," Lily irately remarked. "Stop looking so depressed. At least try to look like talking to me isn't torture."

"Oh," James responded. He hadn't known that it showed. "I'm sorry… So… Um…"

Lily laughed into her cup. "You could ask me something," she suggested.

"What's your favorite color?" James queried.

"Not like that," Lily patiently told him. "Try… What are your plans after graduation?" James nodded. It was good advice, he guessed. "This is the part where you ask me, James."

"Oh, okay," James awkwardly responded. "So… what's your plans?"

"I'm going to stay with some friends," she informed. "But I'm really hoping that a handsome man I know would ask me on a date. I've been trying to get somewhere with him for forever, but he's painfully oblivious."

"Oh…" James responded. Lily liked someone else? A punch to the stomach would have hurt less. He had to grin and bear it, though. "Who…?"

Lily laughed. "I think he likes me back," she continued without answering the question, "but he's too proud to admit it. He always stutters around me, and he eventually asked me to go to this prom with him."

"Who?" James repeated. He felt like one of those Muggle balloons once the air escaped.

"You might know him," Lily responded. "He's tall, with dark hair, and loves quidditch."

"Sirius?!" James practically squeaked.

Lily raised an eyebrow. "Sirius?" she repeated in disbelief. "No. But he's friends with Sirius. Best friend, actually."

James let this sink in for a moment. "Me?!" he incredulously inquired.

Lily nodded. "Yes," she responded with a quirk of a smile.

He practically exploded.

"You can kiss me, now," Lily informed.

"What?" James stuttered. Lily liked him. It was his dream come true-

Lily rolled her eyes, but the little smile was still there. "I said," she declared, "that you can kiss me." And she leaned over and kissed him.

Lily kissed him. He couldn't believe it. It was like the fairy-tale setting around them: too good to be true.

"You can close your mouth," she teased.

He promptly shut it, cursing himself for gawking like that. Then, he couldn't help the dorky grin that exploded across his face. "Okay," he responded. "You really…?"

"No, James, I'm making it up," Lily teased. "Yes, you git. I like you. Now, will you stop acting weird?"

"Maybe…?" James offered.

She laughed and scooted her chair closer to him. "That's good," she stated. "A start, at least."

"I like you, too," he responded. Then, he kicked himself for sounding so childish. He couldn't think around her.
"Yes, dear," she gently responded. "I figured that much out."

"I should stop talking," he declared. "I'm making this worse."

"Well, it's not the best date," Lily admitted, "but first dates are always the worst. Don't stop talking; just stop panicking. I'm not going anywhere."

He glanced up and saw Avery and Sirius laughing at him from a safe distance away. Sirius caught his gaze and offered him a thumbs up. The realization hit him again. It was really happening. He couldn't believe it. Lily liked him. Even enough to put up with his horrible state. And Sirius was watching over for him and rooting from the sidelines. Somehow, that made it more real.

"So… um… How was your day?" he offered.

"It was the start of something new," Lily informed, and James couldn't have agreed more.

Front Row Seats

"Come on," Avery demanded. She rolled her eyes and grabbed his collar.

"Oi! I'm coming!" Sirius yelped. James watched them go with a look of utter betrayal. "Sorry, Prongs!" Sirius turned back to Avery. "Why-"

"Just watch," Avery interrupted, dragging Sirius towards a clump of decorative bushes.

"But James-"

"While you two were clueless, Lily and I were hatching a plan," Avery informed. Sirius was completely skeptical, and it must have shown. "Oh, just watch," she hissed, ducking behind the plants and motioning for him to do the same.

He plopped down on a bench and stretched. "So...?" he asked.

"Ssh! Oh my gosh, she's doing it!"

Sirius glanced up in time to see Lily grab James' face and kiss him. "Oh..."

"Yeah," Avery answered, sounding a little irritated. Then, she laughed. "If that dork doesn't shut his mouth, something is going to fly into it."

They both burst out laughing. James looked over rather helplessly at him, and Sirius managed to stop laughing long enough to give him a thumbs up.

Once they were finally done giggling, Sirius started to take stock of the situation. Going back to the table was probably out of the question. He wished Avery had let him finish eating first. What was he supposed to do for the rest of the night?

He looked at Avery, who was still crouching behind the bushes. She looked pretty hot in that aquamarine dress.

"You want to make out while we're here?" he blurted. He wanted to kill himself. "You know, hiding in the bushes?" Yeah, that only made it worse.

She rolled her eyes and stood up. "I'm going to say hi to Jamie," she announced. "They should be giving the band a break after this next song." She glanced off into the distance. "Why don't you check up on Remus and Krystal? I swear, he looks so nervous that he might puke. You should lighten him up with your award-winning banter."

Someone Has to Clean this up

Penny moaned. "If I have to look at another ribbon, I will die," she swore. However, her solemn conviction was ruined by the yawn that followed.

Artemisia huffed. "If I remember correctly, you were the one that told the others they could leave," she pointed out.

"Only because Catherine said they were folding the table cloths wrong!" Penny responded.

"Well, Cate is a perfectionist," Artemisia retorted. "You only listen to her if you never want to be done."

Catherine did her best to smirk, but it probably came across as a weary smile. "I'm minorly OCD," she admitted. With a murmur, she flicked her wrist, and the last gauzy ribbon detached from the wall and whirled back onto its spool. "You have to admit, it did look gorgeous."

"It was perfect," Penny dreamily sighed. "But impossible to put up."

Cather shrugged. "Perfection has a price," she teased. "Oh, and it's not my fault they were too tired to put the table cloths away right."

Here are some other random snippets from prom night! There would have been more, but they only exist in note form such as: "*Almost* K/R, interrupted by Sirius w/ news of J/L"