How to Lose a Wizard in 10 Days
Chapter Six – The Second Date
Lily didn't know why she was so nervous for this date. Maybe it was the outfit. It was a lovely shade of white. The fabric was made of silk and showed each curve in Lily's outfit, without being too revealing at the same time. Of course, you couldn't reveal too much. You had to leave the guy guessing. She had also picked out a matching bag and shoes, too, of course. She never thought the effect of using little makeup would make it turn out gorgeous. 'Working for a beauty magazine does pay off I guess,' Lily smiled to herself.. With one last look and a deep breath, she went outside in the hall, where Katie and Arabella were waiting.
"Wow…" Katie said, amazed. "Lily, you look gorgeous!"
"Ditto," Arabella nodded, giving Lily a thumbs up. "When James sees you, I wouldn't be surprised if his mouth hits the floor." Arabella winked.
Lily smiled. "Thanks, guys. Haha… I've already planned a few things I could do to torture him tonight."
"Oh, really?" Arabella said, giving Lily a look and raising her eyebrows.
Lily giggled and pushed Arabella jokingly. "God, Bell! Aren't we being the little pervert tonight?"
Arabella laughed. "Oh, you know what I mean…"
Lily rolled her eyes. "Of course I do. Anyways, I think it'd be too fast to say that I love him tonight, plus I have all this great stuff planned.
"Oh, I get it!" Arabella grinned. "Hm, yeah, I guess you should start tonight so he could see how horrible you really are."
"Me, horrible?" Lily blinked innocently. They all cracked up.
"Anyways," Lily sighed. "I'm off now. Don't miss me too much."
- -
"Damn, Prongs," Sirius said, stretching. "How the hell are you going to get her to fall in love with you? Tonight is the second night! You better do something awesome."
"Stop panicking, Sirius," James replied, annoyed. "When have I ever let you down?"
Sirius began ticking off events off his fingers.
"Shut up," James grinned. "What I meant was how could I ever fail with the ladies? That's actually something I'm good at."
"For once, I actually agree," Remus nodded. "And I already know that James knows that he must do a kick-ass job on this date… or else."
"Damn, I don't want to know what the 'or else' is," James muttered.
"Stop swearing, James!" Sirius exclaimed, appalled. "Your mother would be ashamed!"
"You're one to speak."
"What are you talking about? Innocent ol' me?" Sirius put a finger on his chin and an innocent look on his face.
"Haha, quit it." James said. "So, I'm taking her out to Lè Chantè… should I go with a preppy look or casual?"
"Expensive," Remus noticed.
"Money does come in handy sometimes," James grinned.
"Wow, if I wasn't straight, I'd definitely date you," Sirius winked. "Or am I?" He hinted suggestively to James.
"Ew, that's disgusting. And you were calling me gay." James scoffed.
"I didn't mean it, honey," Sirius said, batting his short eyelashes and trying to look cute… but failing miserably.
"Cut it out, you two," Remus's stern voice interrupted their argument. "It's like I'm living with two-year olds! I feel like a mom."
James laughed. "I'm insulted, Moony. You know mentally that I'm a 8 year old! A 2 year old doesn't know sh-"
"HOKAY!" Sirius exclaimed. "Enough with the swearing. You'll never win her over, you foul-mouthed as-"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa…" James replied. "Hold up! You're the one that was about to say the… a-word!"
"The a-word!" Sirius exclaimed. "What are we? 5th graders!"
"Like I said before," James smiled proudly. "We are mentally 5th graders."
"Speak for yourself," Sirius scoffed. "Anyways, I think you should go for the preppy look. The hunky look always wins the girls over."
"Yeah, the blonde girls," James said. "What about red-heads? I think this is, like, the first time I've dated one."
"Amazing," Sirius said. He counted his fingers and looked like he was… thinking! "Come to think of it, I haven't dated a lot of red-heads either. They do have a reputation of being fiery bitches, of course."
"Well, this one is different," James said, finally deciding on wearing a khaki-colored pair of nice cut trousers and settling on a pale blue rugby shirt.
"Sure." Sirius said, waving the matter off quickly. "Nice choice. Bring her some flowers… that definitely charms all the girls."
"Yeah, I should bring her Lilies!" James said excitedly.
"Wow, so you do know how to use your brain," Sirius retorted.
"James sounds excited about his date toni-ight!" Remus teased.
"Hey, if I win her over, we all get to pitch in for the biggest account our company has ever handled! Bear with me guys, please."
"True," Sirius muttered.
Remus agreed.
- -
"Wow…Lily," James breathed. "You look…gorgeous tonight." James was waiting for Lily in front of Lè Chantè for a few minutes. She looked absolutely gorgeous when she showed up.
"Not too shabby, either, James," Lily grinned.
"Oh!" James said, suddenly getting aware of the situation. He handed her the bouquet of white and light-pink lilies he had picked up. They were wrapped in plastic with a clean, white ribbon. "These are for you." Suddenly, James felt very, very shy.
"Ohh, thank you!" Lily exclaimed loudly. "I love them!" She put her nose in the bouquet of flowers and inhaled deeply. A big smile was plastered over her face.
James smiled and felt glad. Inside, he felt very smug because he knew he was going to win the bet, hands down.
"Shall we go in?" He opened the door and gestured inside.
"Thank you," Lily smiled and walked in.
- -
"Monsieur, what will you be ordering tonight?" An elegantly dressed waiter waited patiently for James to order.
"I will start off with the escargots and pommes frites, then the poissons cuits au four, and finish off with crême glacée de mangue and gâteau au fromage de chocolat. Oh, and a martini, please. Thanks, Pierre." James finished eloquently as he handed the waiter the menu. He frequently dined at Lè Chantè, so ordering was no big problem for him.
"Ummm…" Lily said, looking unsure at the menu and was worried about embarrassing herself. However, James found her very cute when her face was scrunched up like that.
"I will have the salade de poulet, thank you very much," Lily smiled and handed the waiter the menu.
"And will madam have anything to drink?" The waiter asked.
"Water will be fine," Lily said. She knew ordering a small salad and water was the best way of pissing guys off… especially if you ate from their food.
"So, what do you think of it so far?" James asked.
"Very, uhh.. French," Lily grinned. "Haha… I didn't know you spoke French so well."
"It seems like it, huh?" James said, grinning. "I don't really, unless you think "speaking French well" means knowing all the names of the French food. I just come here often to eat."
"Wow, rich and handsome," Lily teased. "This one just might be a keeper."
"Well, then bringing you here tonight to this classy restaurant was definitely the right choice, huh?" James smiled.
"Definitely. Point one for James," Lily agreed.
"So, Madame Lil-lee," James said, doing his perfect French accent. "How 'ahs your day?"
"It 'ahs 'ahunderful, Jae-mee," Lily replied, using her best French accent. "Damn, I suck at this French accent thing. Oh well." Before Lily could continue, the food came.
"Wow, fast service," Lily noted.
"Another point for James," James replied, grinning.
"And I'm actually enjoying myself, too!" Lily replied. "One more point."
Lily picked at her salad. 'Ugh, how could girls eat this crap? It's basically leaves and some chicken meat.' She groaned to herself mentally. She stared at James' food. She was practically drooling. James started off with appetizers of French Fries and Snails… 'Disgusting but still better than any salad,' Lily thought. Time to put her plan into action!
Lily reached over and grabbed 5 of James' fries and ate them. "Wow, these are so good!" She exclaimed. "Got any ketchup?"
"Ketchup?" James asked, giving Lily a weird look.
"I'm Muggle-Born," Lily explained. "Ketchup is a sauce made from tomatoes to go make French Fries taste awesome."
"I know what ketchup is," James replied. "Just interesting you seem so smart."
"Thanks," Lily replied, grabbing more of James' fries.
'Why does she keep eating my fries?' James thought to himself, annoyed. 'If she wanted fries so much, she should've ordered fries herself and not some stupid salad.'
Lily could see by James' face that he was slowly getting mad. Lily smiled. 'My plan is working!' She thought merrily to herself.
- -
Author's Note: Isn't the song in the beginning cute? It's Blink 182 – First Date ).
