Disclaimer: Everything here (except for any characters that don't sound familiar) belongs to the spectacular JK Rowling.
Chapter 3: So simple, so wrong!The next day was Monday and the Gryffindors first lesson was Charms. Lily and Ursula walked to class just as normal, with James, Sirius, Remus and Peter not far behind. James, spotting his first chance to be a 'gentleman' remembered what Remus had said:
"If I may, you should maybe take out her chair for her to sit on in class."
James grinned; this was going to be so easy. If only he'd known before! He rushed to where Lily was headed. She was chatting to Ursula while getting her wand and parchment out.
"Here Lily." James said, and slid the chair out for her. Unfortunately, for poor (it could go either way here) James/Lily, Lily, thinking her chair was right behind her, didn't realise James had pulled it out for her and fell flat on her behind.
The class erupted into laughter and Lily glared up angrily at the person who had done this to her. "James Potter, I should have guessed! Why you nasty, you horrid, you..." Lily tried to get up but a pained expression on her face showed that she couldn't quite yet.
Meanwhile, James was feeling highly mortified. How could something so simple go so wrong?
"Evans, I didn't mean to! I'm so sorry!" James couldn't think straight enough to say anything more right then, but his brain was going into overdrive to try and think him a way out of this.
"Sorry! As if! I'm just another one of your practical jokes, aren't I?" Lily shook her head angrily. "Well, well done Potter. Everyone's laughing. Except for me." She tried to get up again, and James, in a valiant attempt to redeem himself, tried to help her. "Get off me! I don't need your help! The day I'll need your help will be a very sad day."
James, realising just how angry she was, backed off. He looked around and found that half the class was still laughing their heads off at the little scene that had just happened. He looked around at them all, wand held threateningly. "The person who doesn't stop laughing this instant will sourly regret it." Everyone immediately stopped laughing. James turned to look at Ursula who was looking wondrous that her first two lessons had just been broken so spectacularly. She looked at him questioningly and shook his head and mouthed "later."
Slowly the class got down to work. James slumped into his seat beside Sirius and fell into feeling highly sorry for himself. James remembered what Ursula had said about jokes hurting people. He hadn't even meant to make a joke out of Lily. Even if she believed he had been, she hadn't even laughed. She had let him know how upset she was about it.
"She must really hate me now," James thought.
When the class was over James looked over at Lily. She caught him looking at her and gave him a highly dirty look.
"Well, that's really made my day." He thought bitterly.
The rest of the day James wasn't half as boisterous as usual and Sirius was getting annoyed that his partner in crime wasn't himself. He didn't have to guess hard as to what the problem was.
"Look Prongs, you didn't expect it to work first time, did you?"
James looked at him incredulously. "Padfoot, nearly everything works for me first time. Why shouldn't this?"
"Because these things take time!" Remus said. "This is Lily Evans, did you think a couple of nice gestures would win her over and you'd live happily ever after? You have to work at it James!"
James sighed. "I know." He ran his hand through his hair distractedly. "Everything just seems to go so wrong with her! "
"It did just go terribly wrong today, didn't it?" Sirius commented happily. "I'll remember that for a while now."
James punched him on the arm. "It would have been funny if it wasn't her. Anyway, I'll just keep trying. She can't be mad at me when I'm trying to do all these nice things for her."
"I don't know, this is Evans we're speaking about here..."
Lily sat on the end of her bed and rubbed her temples tiredly. What a day it had been! She was still angry about what James had done to her earlier. She lay down on her bed and stared up at the ceiling. She breathed in and out, aware of the sharp pain on her behind.
"He could actually be a nice person if he'd just stop being such a boastful, bullying berk!" Lily thought savagely. "Just because he can... argh! Why can't I stop brooding over him?! Between his amorous advances towards me and attempts at creating amusement for himself and his friends by humiliating people, he is a truly an awful person. And people think he's cool! Just because he can do impressive spells and he's good at quidditch! I'm good at school and yet you don't see me going around hexing people!" Lily winced suddenly as she felt the pain on her behind twinge slightly. "Yes Lily, you can thank James Potter for that."
Lily continued to wonder if he'd ever stop being a git when Ursula came in. She plopped down on Lily's bed.
"Coming down to dinner?" She asked.
Lily shrugged. "Might as well."
Ursula took her chance when they were making the journey down to the Great Hall.
"Lily, I know you didn't see this, but when James pulled away your chair today he was actually trying to be polite."
Lily laughed, "That doesn't make sense."
Ursula shook her head, "Sorry, what I mean is, he was taking out your chair for you so you could sit on it. He was being gentlemanly."
Lily snorted, "It might've appeared that way to you, but Potter doesn't even know what gentlemanly is."
"No Lily, listen, I saw him. We were talking and he said 'here Lily' and pulled out your chair. You didn't hear him and unfortunately that was the moment you chose to sit down. Lily it wasn't really his fault that you fell down. Please believe me on this one." Lily would normally dismiss this right away but Ursula looked so earnest that Lily wasn't sure what to think. James Potter, being a gentleman? It was such a strange idea!
"Right, well, maybe. It didn't go so well though, did it?" Lily commented. Lily now found the situation quite funny.
Ursula laughed. "No it did certainly not. But you never know Lily, he might try again."
Lily smiled. "Please no. There's only so much injuries I can stand."
Meanwhile, James, Sirius, Remus and Peter, having finished dinner, were gathered round the common room fire.
"So what's next?" Remus asked. "Flowers, chocolates?"
"I know what one I'd like best." Peter said, longingly thinking of a large box of chocolate frogs.
"Yeah, but no-ones trying to get you to fall for them." Sirius said, raising an eyebrow.
"I dunno." James said. "I've been thinking."
"Oooh thinking! How does it feel?" Sirius asked jokingly.
James looked at him witheringly. "All girls are different."
"You've just noticed?" Remus asked.
"So," James continued, as if the other two weren't interrupting him, "Lily might not like things like flowers and chocolates. If I'm going to get her a gift at all, it'll be something that she'll like and appreciate."
Remus looked impressed. "Well done. Did you think of that yourself?"
"Yeah. So you think it's a good idea?"
Remus nodded, "I'm surprised Ursula didn't have to tell you. Though I suppose you won't be having another 'lesson' for a while now if today is anything to go by."
"How are you going to find out what Lily likes?" Peter asked.
James smiled at them all. "Well that's where you lot come in."
Sirius rubbed his hands together. "Can't wait."