"You make me SICK!"

"Evans! Hey EVANS!"

James ran his fingers through his hair exasperatedly. "Be right back!" He called over his shoulder as he sprinted after her.

"Evans." He reached out and gently touched her shoulder, "Evans! Wait up."

She whirled around to face him. Her green eyes shone in the midday sun. James noticed that in them he did not see hate, but, in fact, sadness.

"Every time, James! You do this every, single time!"

James cocked his head slightly in confusion. He had no idea what she was talking about.

"Every time I think that maybe, possibly, I could perhaps like you, you pull something like this! You're just the exact same arrogant loser I thought you were from the start!"

With that, she turned, yet again, and left him to stew in his own misery.

Lily was bored out of her mind. Professor Binns was giving a particularly tedious lesson on the Goblin Rebellion of '37, and her mind was drifting elsewhere.

She stole a look at James, her titian colored hair falling into her eyes as she did so. He was also sharing her same look of contempt for this same lesson, as he was drawing absent-mindedly on a piece of parchment. He inattentively reached up, presumably to rumple his hair, as Lily had seen him do so many times before. As he did, his good friend Remus, who sat beside him, grabbed his wrist. James looked at his friend with a combined look of embarrassment and gratefulness. Lily wasn't really sure what to make of this, so she tapped James's best friend, the handsome Sirius Black, on the shoulder. He leaned back in his chair and smiled playfully at her.

"What's up with them?" She asked, nodding towards James. Sirius followed her gaze and grinned. "Yeah, James is determined to pull his reputation from a- how did you phrase it? Oh yes, from an arrogant loser." Lily looked Sirius in the eye, and was surprised to not see any hurt. "He's trying, Evans, he really is."

Sirius suddenly turned all the way around to look at her. "Were you looking at him?" His grin grew wider with every second that she looked down at her paper, her face slightly pink.

"Miss. Evans, Mr. Black, you aren't, may I ask, discussing anything having to do with the subject at hand, are you?" Professor Binns called loudly from the front of the room.

Sirius shot a cocky grin at the professor. "No, now that you mention it, Professor, Evans and I were just catching up on the latest gossip, but we could deter to world politics if that would suit you better?"

"Detention, Mr. Black." Professor Binns said wearily.

Lily was grateful when Sirius turned back around, because she didn't really want to answer his question.

"Hey." Lily fell into step with James as he was walking to Transfiguration was his Marauder buddies. Though they were mildly surprised, they stepped back when she approached him, leaving them alone.

"To what do I owe this lovely surprise?" asked James with a cocky smile that made her feel slightly weak at the knees.

"I've done some thinking-"

"Always good to hear."

"-And I've decided," Lily turned to face him, "that I might go out with you."

James raised his eyebrows playfully.

"If you ask nicely." She smiled at him and walked away.

"So, how come you've never been exactly, hmm, how shall I put this, humane, to me, Evans?" James asked curiously as he and Lily walked around Hogmeade. Lily pretended to ponder the thought. "I guess it was the whole, look at me, I'm James Potter, smart and popular, and, ooh! I can play Quiditch better than anyone in the whole world! I also feel the need to hex anyone who stands in my way, particularly a sad, greasy individual named Snape." James looked at her with a wide-eyed expression. "Do I really sound like that?" The two burst into laughter.

"I'd walk you up, but I've got a detention with McGonagall." Said James as the two approached the Portrait Hole.

"What for this time?"

"Sirius run his mouth off again, and now he's landed us detention for the week."

"I'm sure you had nothing to do with it."

"I didn't!" James exclaimed.

"Of course," said Lily in a way that made James doubt that she actually believed.

"I've got to get going," James said, looking at his watch.

Lily was surprised when he leaned in and kissed her.

James grinned. "Goodnight…Lily."

With that, he turned and walked, very happily, to his detention.

"I'd say he quite likes you," stated the Fat Lady from her painting, "Do you remember the password, dear?"

Lily was having a hard time remembering anything at the moment.

­

Sirius was already seated when James strolled into detention, a silly grin on his face.

"Prongs, I can see that you obviously had a good time, but can you please wipe that smile off your face? This is detention, mate."

But James didn't seem to hear him

Date # 2 on the way… what do you think? R&R, please.