I'm aiming for two to three posts per week right now. However, they probably won't be spread out evenly, because that's just the way I am. This will probably change when I start work.

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, his parents, the other characters, the world, or basically anything you see in this story. It was all created by J. K. Rowling.

Chapter Three

Lily Evans was sitting in the Common Room, purportedly doing homework, but in reality gossiping with her friends and enjoying a nice, relaxing Saturday afternoon. From the horror stories the professors were passing around, as well as second-hand experience of those seventh-years in previous years, there weren't going to be too many more lazy afternoons to be spent that year.

James paused when he saw her, taking in her profile. She really was beautiful, and no matter how many times it happened, the sight of her always took his breath away for a moment.

The effect was usually ruined when she opened her mouth (what came out was almost inevitably some insult or other abuse directed at him), but James tried not to dwell on that. That was before, this was now.

"Evans!" he called out to get her attention.

She closed her eyes briefly, taking a breath to centre herself. "Hullo, Potter." Beside her, her friends didn't quiet down, as James had hoped, but instead started to giggle and whisper into each other's ears. It was unnerving to have so many eyes watching him, laughing at him, but James ignored them the best he could. From her seat in the middle of the crowd, Evans did the same.

"I'm glad I found you," James said, throwing himself down onto a chair beside her, paying no mind to the squawk Irune Giorno, a fellow seventh-year, gave him when he practically sat in her lap. He also ignored the subsequent glares she sent drilling into the back of his head when he didn't move despite the not-so-subtle pokes she was giving him.

James ignored a lot of things when Lily Evans was involved.

"What do you want, Potter?" she asked in a long, suffering voice that James couldn't reconcile with the fact that, as his potential girlfriend, she should be delighted to see him.

"The letter you sent me," James said, producing the same letter, trying to straighten out the creases that came from clutching it possessively and obsessively ever since he'd received it. He wasn't too successful at this because at the same time he was also trying to wave it in her front of her face on the off chance that she wasn't sure which letter he meant.

"Oh, God," Evans muttered, looking at James as if he were a boggart, bringing her worst fears to life right before her eyes.

The giggling picked up again, while Columbine, ever the gossip, demanded, "What letter? What haven't you been telling us, Lily?"

James tried to explain. "This letter. She sent it last night, agreeing—"

Evans cut him off before he could go any further. "Look, Potter. I'm sorry about that. And I would appreciate it if you looked the other way. Just this once. Please? Forgot about it."

James faltered. "Forgot about it?"

With one last look to her giggling friends, who didn't look like they knew the rules of feminine solidarity at that moment, Evans got up and yanked James to the side, out of earshot of everyone. James noticed Sirius had followed him down, standing a little ways away with his arms folded across his chest. He was watching the pair intensely, but, strangely enough for Sirius, made no attempt to come over and eavesdrop on them.

"Look, Potter, I'm sorry," Lily said, dragging his attention away from Sirius' strange behaviour. "I shouldn't have done that, and especially not after lecturing you about responsibilities. If it's any consolation, my head hurt like you wouldn't believe this morning. And, except for that letter, no one knows. I wasn't wandering through the castle, or anything, so no one knows anything. Except you."

James finally understood what she was getting at, and with a quick, inconspicuous glance at the paper he finally noticed the way she signed off: "Slightly intoxicated." It wasn't, as he'd first believed (had forced himself to believe—now that he was facing the truth about Lily's letter, he had to face the truth about how he had been deluding himself in the first place), her admitting to being intoxicated by the thought of going out with him, but rather her admitting to being intoxicated after having consumed one too many alcoholic drinks.

James could feel the bottom of his stomach drop out and he tried his best not to let the devastation show on his face. From the puzzled look Evans was giving him, he wasn't entirely successful.

"Don't worry about it," he muttered. "It's no problem. No problem at all."

"Potter…" Evans didn't follow it up, but James could tell she wasn't buying his forced nonchalance.

"No, really," James tried to insist. He had been stupid, but she didn't have to know that much. She didn't have to know what he'd deluded himself into thinking. She didn't have to know that he thought she was serious.

Evans still looked so uncertain that James found he could no longer look directly at her. Instead, he sought out Sirius, who was still standing a few feet away. He was now visibly holding himself back in anger, gripping his wand so tightly that his entire hand was white with tension. The nails of his other hand were digging into his flesh, but Sirius didn't seem to notice this even though it was painfully obvious to James.

Sirius was a Dr. Filibuster's Fabulous No-Heat Wet-Start Fireworks and if James didn't stop him, he was going to go off in the very near future. Whatever else James was feeling towards Evans right then, he couldn't let Sirius go after her in a deluded attempt at helping James.

For Evans' sake (and for his own—it was embarrassing to be caught in such a delusion, being the butt of a joke even if it wasn't meant as one), James tried to relax. He even plastered on a fake smile, though it probably didn't fool Evans or Sirius. Hopefully it would save him some face with the rest of the Common Room (there were so many Gryffindors… James had never noticed that before).

"I just wanted to, just wanted to see that everything was all right. Can't have both the Head Girl and Head Boy acting up, after all." Was it his imagination, or was his voice a little hysterical?

Shaking his head, hoping that would clear it, James tried again. "Just, well no one saw you, so there's no harm. So no problem. Really. I won't tell anyone. You're allowed to have fun everyone once in awhile." He was babbling. Evans was giving him a weird look that he couldn't decipher. He needed to stop.

"Right." James stood. He quickly tucked the letter into his pocket, although not for safekeeping this time. As soon as he was out of sight, he was going to rip it to shreds. He only had just enough dignity left not to do it now, in front of the entire Common Room so that everyone would know just how utterly, completely stupid he had been in thinking that Lily Evans might actually want to go out with him. "I'll see you then."

James hurried off to his room.

In the next chapter:

Lily watched James run away. "What's his problem?" she asked, confused.

"You," Sirius said nastily.

"No one was asking you, Black."

Sirius gave her the two-fingered salute before following his best friend upstairs, leaving Lily in the Common Room wondering what on Earth was with Potter this time. She tried to put it out of her mind—most likely it was some prank or another and she would find out soon enough when it blew up in his face—but couldn't seem to let the matter go completely.

She wondered what was wrong with herself.

Reviews (criticisms, etc.) very much appreciated. I try to get back to all my reviewers by e-mail, but not all of you have working e-mail addresses. So thank you to everyone who's reviewed so far.