House: Slytherin
Category: drabble
Prompt: [First Line] The parchment she/he just received simply said very clever.
Word Count: 497
A/N: Thank you Lorax for helping me finish, Star for the beta-ing, and Rabbit for beta-ing also. You guys are the best! 3
oO0Oo
The parchment he just received simply said 'very clever', but the words were written in Lily's flowing script, complete with the trademark squiggle which she always insisted was her initials. Lily thought he was clever?
"Did Lily really send this?" James asked.
"Of course!" Marlene whispered. "Oh— Minnie's giving us the evil eye..." Marlene hurriedly began copying the definition of inanimate transformations; James would have done the same, but for the life of him, he couldn't concentrate on something as mundane as Transfiguration. Lily Evans thought he was clever. Very clever, in fact. He spent the rest of the class in a daze, dreaming how afterwards, he would sweep Lily off her feet and she would finally go to Hogsmeade with him…
When the bell rang, James didn't even notice it — it was only when Sirius tapped his shoulder and said, "You okay, mate?" that James woke.
"Yeah— where's Lily?" he asked, jumping to his feet and scanning the classroom.
"Er, she already left." Sirius raised an eyebrow. "Prongs, are you okay?"
"I will be," James answered, throwing his satchel over his shoulder and striding to the door. "Where's Lily?"
Sirius shrugged. "I heard her say she was going to the library."
"Thanks!" James hurried from the classroom, ignoring the curious expression of his mate, too fixated on finding Lily Evans and asking her to Hogsmeade. When he entered the library, he caught a glimpse of Lily's red hair through the stacks, and he made his way over to her. She didn't realize he was there, though; she just kept paging through the monstrous tome before her, so James coughed quietly, then whispered, "Lily, what's that?"
"Arithmancy," Lily answered, not looking up from her book. "It's absolutely fascinating, and—" Then she glanced up, saw him, and stopped.
"Hey, you can talk to me!" James said. "I'll understand it. Remus talks about Arithmancy all the time!"
"But— but, Potter…"
"I thought you said I was 'very clever'," James retorted. "Come on Evans, give me a chance!"
"When did I say you were clever?" Lily asked, her brow scrunching in confusion.
"In that note in McGonagall's class!" James cried.
"What note? Wait — are you quoting that note I sent to Remus?"
"Remus?" James froze.
"Ugh, Marlene…" Lily groaned, a faint blush on her cheeks. "She's so persistent! That note was for Remus, not you! I don't know why she thinks I like you—" Suddenly, as if realizing what she was saying and who she was saying it to, she stopped, her cheeks now crimson.
"Maybe because it's true?" James asked, waggling his eyebrows. Conjuring a rose, he knelt on the floor of the library and said, "Lily, would you go to Hogsmeade with me?"
"Of course not," Lily answered, but James could tell it lacked her usual fire.
"Then maybe next time," James said, smiling at her before he walked away. "Even if you won't admit I'm clever, you will admit I'm exceedingly handsome. Bye, Lily!"