"Lily, I can't tell you what to get for James," Remus said patiently.
"Why not?" Lily asked. "I have no idea what he would want, and I was hoping you would have an idea."
Remus thought ruefully that something James would enjoy very much would be a quick snog with Lily, but of course he couldn't say that.
"Er…I think James will love whatever you give him," Remus said.
Lily waved her hand dismissively, "I want him to like my gift because it's great, not because it came from me."
Remus sighed, wishing he could just tell her to ask him out on a proper date or simply declare her undying love, because James would go over the moon, but that wasn't an option either.
"Please, just give me a hint," Lily whined.
Remus smiled. "If I told you what to get James, then it wouldn't really be a gift from you anymore, it'd be a gift from me."
Lily pouted, an expression that looked remarkably good on her. "So you won't help then?"
"You don't need help," Remus insisted. "James will—"
"Love whatever I give him, I heard you the first seventeen times," Lily pouted even more.
"Well, considering you didn't get the hint the first four times, I just had to keep repeating myself—" Remus joked, and Lily whacked him on the arm. "Ow!"
~*~
"Potter, you unbelievably lucky git!" Brian Waldon threw an arm around James in a too-friendly manner.
"Er, hello Brian," James said warily.
"Why is James an unbelievably lucky git?" Peter asked curiously as he tried to extract his Charms essay from his bookbag.
"Because he's dating Lily Evans, that's why."
Peter immediately dropped his bookbag and stared at James in shock. Sirius nearly tripped, as he was too involved in gawking at his best friend. Remus folded his arms and raised his eyebrows.
James, though inwardly glowing, managed to correct, "I'm not dating her. We're just going to the ball." James, giving up the battle, allowed himself to grin broadly at the thought.
"It's the same thing, practically," Brian said, clapping James on the shoulder. "How did you do it?" he demanded. "That girl's been turning blokes down right and left, and you manage to snag her?"
James, inwardly cursing his conscience, added, "We're just going as friends, that's all. Really."
"Yeah, right," Brian said in disbelief. "You should have seen Julian Grey's face when Lily told him she was going with you…he nearly threw a fit."
James was starting to feel a little lightheaded. Lily was telling people that she was going to the ball with him. This was happening. This was really, actually happening.
"Told him, huh?" James said, trying to sound casual, and failing miserably. "So how many people know?"
"A lot," Brian said. "Word's spreading around…lot of disappointed girls, I bet." He clapped James on the shoulder again and winked. "See you around, Potter."
As Brian walked away, James turned to his friends and smiled sheepishly.
Sirius blinked twice, then said slowly, "You…and Lily?"
"It's not what you think," James said quickly, adjusting his glasses. "We're just going as friends. That's why she asked me, because we're friends."
Peter's eyes were huge. "She asked you?"
"Well, yeah, but—"
"Oh, this just isn't fair," Peter wailed. "You do absolutely nothing, and a girl falls right into your lap!"
"She is not in my—"
"Oh, yes she is," Remus said, grinning. "Do you realize that she was interrogating me for about ten minutes as to what would be the perfect present for you?"
"Your point being?" James asked, although he was doing a rather spastic jig on the inside.
Remus sighed in frustration. "James, get a clue. The girl's absolutely mad about you, she just hasn't realized it yet."
"No, she isn't," James insisted, although he wasn't quite sure anymore why he was still fighting this. "It's not a huge deal."
"Right," Sirius said sarcastically. "You get asked out by the girl of your dreams, and you're telling us it's not a big deal?"
James's grin grew even wider. "It is a big deal, isn't it?" he said, grinning goofily.
"I think he's finally got it," Remus said dryly.
~*~
As James walked into Potions class, he saw Lily sitting alone. He hesitated, then slid into the seat next to her. "Is it okay if I sit here?" James asked quietly.
Lily turned to him, smiling. "James. No, of course not. Sit."
"Where's Arabella?"
Lily chuckled. "Over there, arguing with Sirius." James looked over to see Arabella and Sirius arguing loudly. He heard Arabella say, "You know, I bet Quodpot isn't that bad…"
"Oh, she shouldn't've said that," James muttered, as Sirius's voice rose in outrage, squawking about how Quodpot being nothing more than a poor man's Quidditch.
Lily giggled. "Well, that's why she said it."
James laughed. "Yeah, I guess so." He looked at Lily out of the corner of his eye. "So, I heard a rumor that we're going to the ball. You know anything about that?"
Lily blushed. "I sort of…told Julian. I had to get him off my back somehow and…do you mind?"
"Are you kidding?" James asked. "I'm proud to be seen with the prettiest girl in Hogwarts. Why would I mind?"
Lily blushed harder. "You're going to make me so vain with all the compliments you give out."
James looked her straight in the eyes and smiled gently. "You deserve every single one."
Lily looked down, smiling nervously. "You…" She took his hand and rubbed the back of it with her thumb. "You are so sweet. Really."
James swallowed. "Lily…"
But then the professor came in, and Lily let go of his hand quickly, and she didn't look at him for the rest of the class.
~*~
"Alright, what's going on with you and Potter?" Arabella demanded as they walked through the hallways.
"Nothing," Lily said, avoiding her friend's gaze.
"Uh huh," Arabella said, clearly not believing it. "Then what was with you two in Potions today. You were so…lovey dovey."
"We were not lovey dovey. I was just thanking him."
"For what?" Arabella asked.
Lily shrugged. "For agreeing to come with me to the ball."
"Oh, yes, I'm sure it was such a hard thing for him to agree to," Arabella said sarcastically.
"So what's going on?" Frank asked as he caught up to them. "Lily, James wanted me to tell you that he's managed to get the pitch again for tonight at 8:00."
"Okay."
Arabella rolled her eyes. "James this, James that. You know, Lily, if I didn't know better, I'd swear there was something going on with you two…" Arabella trailed off as her eyes widened. "There isn't, is there?"
"No!" Lily protested. "James is a friend. That's it."
Frank mentally rolled his eyes so hard they fell out of his head, but he said nothing.
~*~
"Hunter! Walsh!" Rebecca roared happily as she soared into the air. "Both of you prats owe me 15 sickles! Pay up!"
Adam and Matt zoomed over to him. "What? No way!" Matt wailed.
"There's just no bleedin' way that our adored Captain could get up the nerve to ask Evans out," Adam insisted.
Rebecca grinned widely. "He wouldn't. Lily, on the other hand…"
Both Adam's and Matt's eyes widened to the size of saucers. Adam leaned back. "Has hell frozen over or something?" he demanded in shock. "Seriously? She asked him?" He grinned. "Our bet didn't cover that, it's null and void, and I get to keep my Sickles."
Rebecca looked at him with pity. "Adam, the bet was whether or not James and Lily would go to the ball together. And they are, so you don't get to keep your Sickles."
Matt looked miserable. "I don't even have 15 Sickles!" he whined.
"Ahem," James said, floating nearby on his broomstick. He looked rather stunned. "You…you're betting on my friendship with Lily?"
"Well…" Matt said desperately, " it's not like we're the only ones who were betting…" at the look on James's face, he backtracked quickly. Or tried to, at least. "I mean…er…oh boy."
In a strangled voice, James managed to ask, "There are more bets?"
Increasingly alarmed by the vivid shade of red that James's face was turning, Adam tried to smooth things over. "Now mate, it's not as bad as it sounds…"
"Not as bad as it sounds?" James shrieked. "People are making bets on my…"he stopped abruptly and Rebecca finished for him.
"Love life?" she suggested innocently.
James's eyes widened and he made a funny choking noise. "No. No, because Lily has nothing to do with….my love life," he finished lamely. "We are just friends, we're going to the ball as friends. Got that?"
"Yeah."
"Sure."
"Uh-huh."
'Great," James said, smiling tightly. "Then you won't mind doing five laps 'round the pitch then."
Groaning, Adam turned on his broom, but James stopped him. "I didn't say anything about doing the laps on your brooms."
"Oh, come on, James—"
"Yes, well, maybe this will teach you from making stupid bets about your captain!"
~*~
"Why are three of our players running around the pitch?" Lily asked in confusion.
"Punishment," James said bluntly.
"Why? What did they do?" Lily asked.
James paused, flushing. "They were…insolent."
Lily laughed. "Insolent? I didn't even think you knew a word that big," she teased. "Clearly your ego is in need of some deflating."
"They deserved it!" James protested.
"Oh? What did they do, exactly?"
James turned beet-red and muttered. "Theyweremakingbetsaboutus."
"What?"
James closed his eyes. "The three of them had bets going…on us. Over whether we'd end up going to the ball."
When Lily didn't start screaming, James hesitantly opened his eyes again. Lily was just gaping at him, her eyes wide. "Lily? Say something?"
"How many laps did you give them?" Lily asked in a strange voice.
James shrugged. "Five. Why?"
Lily pursed her lips. "You should have given them ten, " she said, then flew down to the three runners.
A gasping Adam huffed, "Evans, in case—you haven't—noticed, we're just a little—bit—busy—right now."
"I noticed," Lily said wryly, then asked, "Why on earth would you want to make bets on us?"
Adam shrugged. "Seemed—to be—an easy way—to make some money." He frowned. " 'Course—I lost and running—so it—probably wasn't the—smartest idea—I've ever—had."
"Hell—of a punishment—Potter gave us," Rebecca moaned. "D'you have—any idea—how big—this pitch—really is?"
Lily smiled. "How many laps do you have left?"
"4," all three of the punishees said miserably.
"Hey—can't you—get him to—lighten—up?" Matt asked, gasping. "He's a—despot!"
"Not a chance."
~*~
"Don't you guys think this is a little unfair?" Melissa asked.
"No," Lily said, frowning. "They deserve it." Lily glared at the three straggling figures. "All day, people have been asking me how I managed to wrangle James Potter as my date for the ball. I get here, thinking I'll have some quiet and peace, and be left alone, and then I find out that three of my teammates are betting on my relationship with James."
James, who was nearby, nearly choked. "We…have a relationship?"
"We're friends," Lily said shortly. "As friends, we have a relationship."
"Right, right," James said, nodding quickly. "Absolutely." He paused, searching for the right words to say. "Better go down there and call it off, or we'll be here all night."
~*~
"Karen, don't start," Lily warned as Karen walked into the dormitory. "If I hear one word about James Potter—"
Arabella looked up from the magazine she was flipping through. "I'd listen to her if I were you," she advised Karen "She knows some nasty hexes, believe me."
Karen sighed in frustration. "Lily, you're going to the ball with him!"
"As friends," Lily said through gritted teeth. "Now drop it."
"Fine," Karen turned to Arabella. "I cannot believe you are going to the ball with Sirius Black! Sirius Black, Arabella!"
Arabella didn't look up from her magazine. "Karen, if you want your hair to stay the same color it is right now, you will drop this subject."
Karen let out a scream of frustration. "You two are so unfair!"
"And you're too nosy," Arabella replied as Karen flounced out. Then she looked over at Lily. "You know, Lily, I hate to ask, but…is there something going on with you and James?"
Lily looked up and stared at her friend in surprise. "Oh, not you too," she moaned.
Arabella got off her bed and picked up a piece of parchment. "Lily, this is your list of things you have to do."
"Yes."
"Half of these things have something to do with James Potter," Arabella pointed out. " 'Practice for the game against Ravenclaw…find James's present…find dress robes for the ball…' "
"There are other things on there too!" Lily insisted.
Arabella looked down at it. "Yeah. 'Study for Transfiguration and Potions.' Lily, come on…it does look…suggestive." She shrugged. "But I could be wrong."
"You are," Lily said shortly.
"Okay then."
