"Stop moping," Sirius complained after having spent two hours watching James lie completely still on his bed, staring at the ceiling. "Let's just go do something."

"Tell me how that goes when you get back," James said sarcastically. Sirius sighed and sat down near James' head.

"I'm not going without you, and I'm not going to let you sit here and cry yourself crazy."

"Do you see any tears?" James spat. Sirius recoiled. "Sorry Paddy, I didn't mean to be harsh. It's just that- "

"It's just that this is all getting to your head, that's what! You need sunlight, fresh air, fun! Come on. We can grab our broomsticks and go up in the mountains for a while."

James lay still, contemplating the suggestion. Finally he sat up and nodded to Sirius. "You're right," he said. "It's no big deal. She's not even that important anyway." Sirius knew that he was lying, but if James had to lie to himself for a bit of fun, Sirius decided he'd allow it.

Less than twenty minutes later two teenage boys were gliding over the Hogwarts lake and toward the mountains on broomsticks, their hair whipping around their faces. They landed some hundred feet from the edge of the Forbidden Forest and James flopped himself on the grass. Sirius quickly joined him and they stared up at the clouds in silence for a few minutes.

"What are you thinking about?" Sirius asked, glancing over at his best friend curiously.

A slight grin spread across James' face. Slowly turning to Sirius, he leaned in close and whispered, "What it would be like to kiss you!"

Sirius quickly recoiled and jumped to his feet, his eyes wide and his face pale. James was still on the ground, rolling with laugher, tears gathering at the corners of his eyes. Sirius wandered over to a rock and sat there scowling.

"Oh come on Paddy," James said when he had calmed down.

"That wasn't funny," Sirius pouted. James laughed again and gave his friend a playful punch on the shoulder.

"Let's go in the Forest!" James suggested. Sirius' eyes lit up and he quickly grabbed his broom and strode off to the trees.

"Do you think we'll see anything?" he asked eagerly.

"I don't know, maybe we'll find some more of that funny moss we were going to use to make those homemade dung bombs."

James followed closely behind Sirius, gazing at random trees. Once he thought he might have spotted a unicorn, but as soon as he had seen it, it was gone again. Another instant, when he was too busy staring at a couple of ominous looking crows in a high tree branch, he tripped on a rather large root and was sent sprawling over the forest floor, cursing quite more than necessary. Sirius turned around to see what the commotion was about and helped James off the ground, but couldn't help from laughing as he helped brush James off.

They soon came to a clearing and were about to walk into the middle of it when James spotted two people sitting on the ground. Sirius nearly ran right into James' arm as he thrust it out to stop him from going any further. They edged back into the shadows and made their way closer to where the two people were.

"So how was the trip to Hogsmead?" A girl's voice, heavy with sarcasm, drifted to their ears. Coming into a better view, James noticed that one was a Gryffindor in his year by the name of Madelyn. He almost gasped audibly when Sirius pointed to the other; the very familiar redheaded girl of his dreams.

"Evans? What's she doing here?" James whispered. Sirius shrugged. One of the girls mumbled something that they couldn't hear.

"Let's go closer," James whispered, but had not taken more than two steps when he heard a loud crack from behind him. He whipped around to find Sirius staring wide-eyed at his foot, where he had stepped on a dead branch. James quickly whisked Sirius into the shadows as the girls sat silent, staring around to try to find the source of the sound. Finally they relaxed again, and James brought a finger to his lips.

"Well it was okay at first," she said, trailing off. Sirius was leaning closer and closer to them with mounting interest. "He was being really sweet, but then he had to go and get all, oh I don't know, James on me."

At this point Sirius elbowed James in the side, trying his best to stifle his laugher at the same time. James frowned and pointed at the ground in warning. He was becoming engrossed.

"And…?"

"And I sort of .. left him there," Lily added, averting her eyes.

"Lily! How could you do that?!" the girl named Madelyn screeched, suspiciously anxious.

"He was ignoring me-"

"Can't you just hold out a little longer?"

"Well…"

"Ooooh … you're afraid that you'll fall in love!"

"Am not!" Lily shouted, a bit too loudly. Madelyn snickered.

"Whatever … just give him another chance, okay? It only has to last a little while …"

"Yea, yea I know …" Lily trailed off, becoming more interested in something else she was thinking about, and the girls grew silent. James took this as his cue to urge Sirius out of the forest.

"Did you hear that Prongs? She's gonna give you another chance." Sirius was ecstatic, as if he knew that this was going to make things much easier for him and James both.

"Meh, I'm not so sure …" James still seemed sulky.

"What's the deal?" Sirius asked.

"It's only because her friend talked her into it, for what reason only God knows…" James kicked at a spot on the ground and sat down on a large boulder.

"Oh you're so hard to please sometimes," Sirius complained, getting on his broom and hovering a few feet over James' shoulder.

"Well what if she's just doing it to get attention…other guys' attention…" James trailed off.

"Come on now, James. You're being unreasonable." Sirius seemed very unconvinced.

"Well …"

"Look, James, if that's what you think it is, then just make her only see you. Make her not care about other guys. Make her realize that she only wants your attention. Whaddaya say, hmm?" Sirius had such a pleading look in his eyes that James had to eye him suspiciously.

"Yes, yea you're right Padfoot," James said at last, and, hopping back on his broomstick, the two made their way back to the school.

The next morning's breakfast showed a glimpse of the awkwardness that the day would later prove to withhold.

"Good morning, Miss Evans," James said cheerfully as he seated himself across from her. Lily cringed visibly and glanced around to see if anyone was watching them. Luckily it was still rather early, on a Sunday morning no less, so few people were awake yet. She noticed James staring at her strangely.

"Er, yes, good morning James." He smiled and leaned back more casually, bringing his goblet to his lips in a very exaggerated motion. Lily sufficed a small giggle, which encouraged James to spend the next three minutes trying to eat with the almost vigorous fashion that of a pirate. She had to admit that he could be quite entertaining.

"Ar, what's a pretty lass like yer'self do'in on a fine day like this?" James asked in his best pirate-accent. Lily giggled.

"If you're asking me on another date, I should expect it to be better than the last."

James opened his mouth for another pirate-like reply, closed it, then spoke normally, "I'm sorry Lily, I didn't mean to ignore you…"

"And I'm sorry for yelling at you. I guess it wasn't that big of a deal," she added, blushing a little and staring at her plate. An uncomfortable silence followed.

"How about a nice walk down to the lake, then?"

"Oh but James, it's awfully cold outside, and what about the decorating for the Halloween ball?"

"Ah yes, that dreaded thing," he said, purposely over-dramatic, and with a tinge of that pirate accent of his. Lily smirked.

"As a prefect, it's part of your duty to help out with this, I hope you know."

"Of course. That's why my second option was going to be staying in the castle and decorating the hall together. What do you say?" James was grinning mischievously.

"I suppose I couldn't refuse," Lily replied, gaining a nearly-genuine smile.

"I'll see you later then," James said, and removing himself from the table, he bowed playfully to Lily across the table and whisked himself away.

"This is going to be interesting," Lily muttered quietly.