A/N: Okay guys hope you liked the last chapter. Thanks a lot for the reviews, and just bear with me here. The story is starting to pick up in this chapter…(not that there's any J/L…) Anyway, I'm trying to make them fall in love slowly cuz I mean really, who falls in love in like three days? Especially if you hate the guy. Let me know if you want to hear more about Remus because he's going to be in the later chapters more, but I don't really know what to do with him now.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize as JK Rowlings work.
"Why Sirius," Madam Rosemerta asked, "Where's your other half?"
"Oh, I have a feeling he's having fun," Sirius said checking his watch. James and Lily should be at the post office now waiting for him. Hopefully James would realize that Sirius set them up.
Sirius smiled across the table at Arya. Their date had been going really well and Sirius felt himself falling for the dark-haired girl. She had a relaxed nature to her that made Sirius more comfortable around her than most girls.
"Are you just going to sit and stare at me or have a drink, " Arya teased him.
"Sorry," Sirius said blushing slightly. He had been staring at her.
"Are you blushing, Mr. Black?" Arya asked incredously.
"No, I always look this good," Sirius said trying to shrug off the moment with one of his famous grins.
Arya smiled, seeing right through his lie. Sirius felt the sudden urge to grab her hand, but he was strangely shy. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and made a quick grab for her hand. Maybe he should have kept his eyes open. Sirius went crashing to the floor, the sugar dish shattering over his head.
"Oh Sirius!" Arya said obviously trying to hide a grin, "Are you alright?"
Sirius was alright, but he couldn't imagine how stupid he looked. Why was he so worried about how he acted around Arya? There was sugar all over him and many people were laughing. He looked at Arya who was trying desperately to hide her giggles, but failing miserably.
"Your definitely blushing now," Arya said.
Sirius gave her a grin, "You know my head kind of hurts, maybe you should kiss it better."
"Aw, does poor Sirius' head hurt?" Arya said mocking him.
Sirius got up and chased her around the table. After flinging a tip onto the table, he chased her out the door and down the street. The clock chimed threes times.
James looked at Lily, "It's three o'clock Evans, I don't think Padfoot is coming."
James and Lily had made forced conversation for an hour now, well, James at least had attempted to talk to her. Sirius was over and hour late.
"I'm going to give him fifteen minutes, then I'm out of here," Lily said shivering.
"Evans, for the millionth time, please take my cloak," James said eye Lily who was hadn't brought her cloak and only wore a sleeveless top.
Lily finally decided that her health was more important than ticking off James Potter at the moment, "Thanks," she said throwing the cloak over her.
"So you're just going to stand out here for an hour to met Sirius, and when he doesn't show up, you're just going to leave?"
"If I had anything else to do, I would have left by now," Lily smirked.
"Well, maybe we could stop and get a drink at the Three Broomsticks or something," James suggested.
"Potter, just because Amos isn't here doesn't mean that I'll go out with you," Lily sneered, "Unlike you, I don't get around."
"I-I wasn't" James stuttered, hurt by her comment, "Look, I'm sorry about the last few years, but I'm trying to change."
"A little late, don't you think?"
"Hey, you know what they say, better late than never," James said grinning, and he could have sworn she almost laughed.
"I'm leaving Potter," Lily said, "And don't even think about asking if you can walk me back."
"I wasn't going to," James called after her, "And keep the cloak."
James watched Lily until she disappeared in the trees. Sirius must have set them up that little git. And since when did Lily and Sirius become such good friends? James headed down the same path that Lily had taken.
"You filthy little mudblood," A voice rang out through the trees, "I've tolerated you far too long. It's time for a little lesson in pain."
James stopped dead. There was no mistaking that voice, it was Snape. But who would he be torturing, unless Lily wasn't out of the woods yet. James began to run towards the sound of Snape's voice.
"Help! Please!"
James felt his heart leap as he flew into a full out sprint. That was Lily, and she was in trouble. He tore through the brush in the thick forest. Branches and plants tore into his skin, but he took no notice.
"Don't talk Mudblood, now you're going to play double. I'm done playing with you, goodbye you insignificant piece of flesh," Snape sneered.
James saw Snape's wand light through the trees, but it was still a hundred yards off. He wasn't going to make it. He started to pump his legs toward the light faster than he would have thought possible. He whipped out his wand and aimed blindly towards the light, "Stupefy!" he shouted.
James heard a thump and he ran into the clearing. Both Lily and Snape were lying on the ground. Was Lily ok? Had he made it in time?
"Lily, Lily?" James said holding her in his arms, "Please talk to me Evans. Yell at me, hit me, do something please," he pleaded.
"James?" Lily moaned her eyes fluttering.
"Yes, it's me Evans. Are you alright?" James asked anxiously, "Did he hurt you? If he did, I swear I'll bloody kill him."
"I'm alright," Lily said slowly getting up, "I think when you stunned him, it threw off his aim. His curse missed, I must have been knocked out from the magic."
James threw his arms her, relived that she was ok. Surprisingly, she didn't pull away, but buried her head into his shoulder. They stood together for a while until James finally stopped stroking her hair, and looked into her eyes.
"Are you certain that you're okay?" he asked.
She nodded and said, "You know, a walk to Shrieking Shack doesn't sound too bad."
James grinned, "Seriously?"
"Why not? You did just save me," Lily pointed out.
So the two walked together to the Shrieking Shack. They talked along the way as if they were old friends. James was himself, playful and carefree, but Lily laughed at his jokes instead of yelling at him.
"Hey James," Lily said, "Why don't you use your head boy dormitory?"
"Oh," James said blushing a little bit. He hadn't been using in his dormitory, "Well, I thought it might make you uncomfortable, not that I would blame you."
Lily noticed that his cheeks had gone red, "I don't think I'd be too uncomfortable. Besides it gets awfully lonely. You and the Marauders might liven it up a bit."
James looked appalled, "I'll move in when I get the chance then."
"Good," Lily said smiling, "You know, I'm kind of glad Sirius bailed on me."
"Erm-," James muttered confused. Was that a good thing?
"I mean, otherwise I wouldn't have asked you about the dormitory," Lily said quickly recovering herself.
"Right," James replied quickly. Lily turned away and tripped over a root in the ground. Thanks to James' excellent reflexes, he caught her in a flash.
Lily laughed, "Guess your reflexes help you with quidditch."
"Yeah," James replied, "And I guess reading books all the time doesn't help your coordination."
He mentally kicked himself, why had he said that? Lily looked hurt, but if James had known her better he would have known that she was faking. After James had turned away, Lily kicked his legs after him. This time she caught him.
"Maybe you should study up on revenge, Potter," Lily said grinning.
James was surprised. He was even more surprised when she took off running down the path, dropping him to the ground. James got up and looked to see were Lily had gone too. His smile vanished. There at the end of the path stood Amos Diggory.
"Great," James mumbled as Lily gave him a kiss, "Just great."
A/N: Okay, hoped you liked it. Sorry it took me so long, this chapter got erased three times on accident. Anyway, please review!
