DISCLAIMER: Not mine. :sniffle cry: Just borrowing random moments of their lives.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I know it's been a LONG time but please don't hate me. Author's note at end explains all.
SEPTEMBER 28, 1977
It was almost the end of September and James had finally learned how to act around Lily Evans. Over the summer he and Remus had gotten together and created a rule list for him to follow. About a week into the school year James realized that Remus's rule list was not going to work for him. He couldn't always be "cordial" to her; he was fairly easy going but his temper got the better of him sometimes just like anybody else. He couldn't dress up for her or comb is hair down; dressing up was uncomfortable and slicking his hair back just wasn't him. There were a few other rules, but the only one James felt was really necessary to follow was Rule #11: Don't pull Lily's hair. He figured he could give her that much. As for the other stuff, why bother? If she didn't want him for him, then he didn't want her.
He just had to learn how to make her want him for who he was.
So far he was doing an all right job of it. He hadn't cursed Snivellus unless he deserved it—never cursed him where Lily could see them. He had even lived up to his Head Boy responsibilities as best he could. Things were looking up for him. They were on almost civil terms.
"Potter, did you meet with the Ravenclaw and Slytherin Prefects like I asked?"
"Yeah. They said that they'd iron out the details of the first Hogsmeade trip and help us work something out with Dumbledore. We're going to use the he can't scare us and keep us from living approach. Lily, we shouldn't cancel our Hogsmeade weekends because of Voldemort. That's the kind of thing that he'd want us to do. Dumbledore will agree and we'll work something thing out," James explained.
"Good thinking, Potter. Very mature of you," Lily said before she walked away.
James felt they were making progress. She was still calling him by his surname, but she wasn't objecting to his use of her first name.
Later that night James found himself standing in front of the bathroom mirror. Sirius and Peter were hammering on the door, but he didn't listen.
"Lily, I know you think I'm arrogant but I'm not. Wait, that's a lie. I can't tell her that. I know I'm arrogant. I just don't care. Hmm. She's not going to like that. Lily, I'm not as vain as I used to be. No, wait I still think I'm hot. I know I'm good looking. How am I different from fifth year when she said she'd pick the squid over me?"
"JAMES! Pete has to pee and I need my hair conditioner! Let us into the bathroom!" screamed Sirius, banging on the door.
"Go use the sixth years' bathroom!" James shouted through the door.
James studied his face in the mirror. He didn't look that much different. He didn't have the circles under his eyes that staying up late causing trouble used to give him. His hair was the same as ever. His eyes were the same hazel they'd been since the day he was born. His face was a little longer, and so were his sideburns. He hadn't changed physically, and he still felt like the same person. Just more…mature? Responsible? Respectful? He couldn't put his finger on exactly why he was different.
"Why would she ever give me a chance?" James groaned.
"JAMES POTTER, IF YOU LET US IN THE BATHROOM WE'LL TELL YOU WHY SHE'LL GO OUT WITH YOU NOW!" Sirius yelled.
Remus walked in at this point. "He won't get out of there?"
"No. Wormtail's got to use the can and I need my hair conditioner. I've got a date tonight," Sirius whined.
"Peter, go use one of the other bathrooms. Sirius, I'll get your conditioner. Watch." Remus went over to his trunk and dug out a pack of matches. He lit three of them and slid them under the bathroom door. "Just watch."
James was still taking to himself. "My personality is still the same. Mostly anyway. Why do I deserve her more now than before?" He was still rambling on when he noticed smoke coming from the door. Was the dormitory on fire? He blinked and coming out of his reverie of self-pity took a deep breath, pulled his robes over his nose and mouth, and plunged into the dormitory.
The dorm was fine.
Sirius rushed past him and grabbed his hair conditioner out of the shower.
Remus walked into the bathroom, stamped out the matches, and threw a glass of water on the smoking door. "Ha," he said, smugly looking at Sirius. "Alright now, James, tell us what's wrong," Remus said, taking James by the arm.
Sirius joined them, clutching his hair conditioner.
"It's Lily. I want to ask her out again. We've been on good terms since the end of last year, and I think if I ask the right way, she might just say yes. But I can't think of any good reasons why she should say yes. I'm not that much different from how I was when she hated me, am I?"
"Your personality is still the same."
"You look the same pretty much," Sirius said. "I disagree with the personality thing, Moony. Jamesie isn't as much fun as he used to be."
"I'm still the same me," James said defensively.
"James, I don't think it's your personality that's changed. I think it's your priorities," Remus said quietly.
"My priorities?"
"Yes, James. As much as you and Padfoot hate to admit it, you little boys are finally starting to grow up. You aren't the perfect gentleman but you aren't the little dweeb pulling Lily's hair anymore."
James blinked. "Moony, you don't date. How'd you get so smart about these things?"
"When you don't have a social life, you have a lot of time left over to read," Remus said wryly. "You wanted to show her you could be serious and you've been a lot more responsible lately. You haven't shown off as much and you haven't been giving her a hard time. Apart from that, you've actually been turning schoolwork in."
"That's true. My hand is still sore thinking about that essay I did for McGonagall last week."
"If you want to give it one more shot and see if she'll go out with you, make her an offer she can't refuse, Prongs," Sirius said, no-nonsense for once.
"What do you mean?" James asked.
"You'll figure it out. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got to go make myself look gorgeous," Sirius said, pushing James and Remus aside. He went to the bathroom and shut the door, turning the shower on and starting to sing.
"What was Padfoot babbling about?" James asked. "I didn't understand a word of it."
"James, in the past you've tried a lot of tactics to get Lily Evans to go out with you. They've all failed so far. Try the one thing you haven't tried yet." Remus patted him on the shouldered and exited, brushing past Peter on his way out.
"What tactic is that? I've already tried everything. At least, everything I could think of," James groaned putting his head in his hands.
"James, I'm not exactly a ladies man, but can I offer you some advice?" Peter asked, leaning against the doorway.
"I'll take what I can get at this point, Pete. Shoot."
"Three things. Number one: Get dressed, you can't sit here and mope all morning. Number two: Get some breakfast in you; you happen to think best on a full stomach. And three," he paused a moment. "James, what's the one thing Lily Evans has wanted for the last couple of years?"
"An end to the war, perfect grades, the Head Girl badge, me to stop bugging her…I don't know! What sort of advice is that anyway?"
"Put clothes on, eat, and think about what I said. That's all I'm saying." Without further ado, Peter himself started to get dressed.
By noon James had done nothing but follow his friends' advice. Except the part about actually speaking to Lily. He'd done a lot of thinking all through his classes, but he had yet to actually say anything to her. He hadn't quite gotten there yet.
Sirius looked sympathetically at James before turning back to Remus and Peter. "Can't we tell him yet? Or at least give him another hint?" he whined. "Look at him suffer. No appetite even."
James perked up to listen, but when back to sulking after the first word that came out of Remus's mouth.
"No," Remus said firmly. We've all told him the same thing. If he doesn't figure it out, he doesn't deserve her in the first place. Peter already gave him a big enough hint."
James glared at his so-called best friends. "How is it you're all on the same page here?"
"Because we discussed this one day last year when you were in detention. We were trying to figure out if there was ever an offer you could make to Evans that she'd have to say yes to," Peter said cheerful.
"Jamesie, eat. It'll help your concentration," Sirius said.
"I'm not hungry," he sulked.
Sirius decided it was his duty to make sure his friend didn't suffer any malnourishment, so he started feeding him, pinching James's nose when he refused to open his mouth. "If you want to breath, you have to open your mouth."
By dinner, James was stumped. He'd been chasing the question around his brain in circles all day. He couldn't find an answer. He was beginning to wish the stupid question would leave him alone. Then it clicked. There was one offer that Lily couldn't refuse. It was a risk if he was wrong and if he was right. If he was wrong, and she said no, it would undo his hard work in trying to be more presentable for her. If he was right…well, that'd be another risk but he'd cross it when he got there. He raced into the Great Hall to find Lily, just as dinner was starting. There was an empty seat next to her. "Hullo," James said, finding himself shy.
"Hello."
"Can I sit here? I need to speak with you."
"I suppose. But you know I don't like to talk business while I eat. If it's about the prefect meeting—"
"It's not. And it's not business. I've got a question to ask. Er, it's more like a proposition."
She raised an eyebrow at him. "And what would that be?"
"Lily Evans, for the past few years I have spent a lot of time annoying you and asking you out on dates. I'm sorry. I haven't been bugging you lately really, or asking you out. But I was wondering…"
"Spit it out, Potter," she said, looking a little bored, though her face had showed surprise when he said he was sorry.
"I propose you go on one date with me. If you go on said date and don't enjoy yourself, or if I act ungentlemanly, or if after said date you still have no desire to date me, I solemnly swear that I will never ask you out again. Will you go to Hogsmeade with me on Halloween, under these conditions? That's a month's notice in advance; it more than meets your standard for how far in advance you want a bloke to plan a date," he pointed out. There. It was all said. Now he just had to wait for her answer.
Lily considered carefully. This was good deal. She wasn't likely to get an offer like this from him again. Go on one date, say she had a lousy time, and then never have to deal with him pestering her about dating again? It sounded good to her, except that she'd have to go out with him once. He wasn't really so bad though. She couldn't put her finger on it, but he wasn't exactly the same creep he was in fifth year. "Yes, but I've got my own conditions for this as well. I'm not doing anything against school rules or the law on this date. No Firewhiskey, no sneaking off anywhere, just a little good clean fun. And not a word about the date must pass your lips beforehand. I don't want you to go blabbing that you finally go me to agree to go out with you," she said.
"Done. Do you have parchment and a quill? We can both write out the rules and make it official?"
"I've got ink and a quill, but no clean parchment. Just the back of that charms test Flitwick handed back today. I used everything else for my notes," she said, digging through her book bag.
James couldn't understand why she still had her book bag with her at dinner, but that was her own business. She'd probably been studying.
Together they wrote out the agreement.
I, James Potter, would like to engage one Lily Evans in a date on the 31st of October, 1977. The date will be spent in Hogsmeade. If school policy prohibits them from going to Hogsmeade on such a day, the date shall remain the same, but be changed to an afternoon picnic on the lakeshore. If Lily Evans is in anyway made uncomfortable by the date or has no desire to continue seeing me after said date, I will never ask her out again. I shall not attempt to make Lily Evans break any school rules on said date, nor shall I speak a word about the date beforehand.
So I, James Potter, solemnly swear.
I, Lily Evans, agree to above terms set by one James Potter. I shall at no date between now and October 31, 1977 attempt to break this date. A cancellation renders the contract void and allows for him to ask me out again at a time of his choosing. I shall call him by his first name and attempt to be civil.
So I, Lily Evans, solemnly swear.
They finished the meal in somewhat awkward silence. After dinner, James looked for his friends, but wasn't able to find them anywhere. He remembered then that Remus had a chess club meeting, Sirius had gotten detention at lunch for conjuring mudpuppies to appear in Snape's soup, and Peter was meeting with McGonagall about something.
He could have screamed. Here he was with the best news ever and he had nobody to tell it to! He guiltily remembered he wasn't supposed to tell anyone about it. He pulled the parchment out. Ah-ha! A loophole.
James climbed the stairs to the dormitory. He wondered if the house-elves had gotten rid of the under the bed writing while the students were away over the summer. He lit his wand and slithered under the bed. It was all still there. He added his own message, hoping sooner or later one of his friends would find it.
Lily Evans finally said YES!
Prongs a.k.a. the Happiest Man Alive
9/28/77
James figured that if nobody had seen it in a week days, he'd hide something under his bed and make sure that at least one of them would have to come looking for it. Feeling almost giddy, James floated down the stairs to find someone to get the day's notes from. The parchment was still in his pocket.
SEPTEMBER 29, 1977
Sirius grumbled. Why did James have to send him in here to look for his Quidditch gear. He just called up on the mirror and said he was running late and needed Sirius to grab his Quidditch gear for him and meet him down at the pitch.
Where had James said it all was, anyway?
Oh, right. Under the bed.
Sirius got down on his knees, saw the clothes and safety pads, and reached an arm under to pull them out. When they were all out he looked back under to see if anything else was there that'd he forgotten. He saw a paper dangling down; a corner of it was taped to the underside of the bed. Curious pulled it out and read it.
It was a contract between Lily and James. Lily finally agreed to the date! James must have finally figured out what it was that the three of them were hinting at.
"That rascal set me up," chuckled Sirius. He tried to think of something suitable to call James. Rascal didn't seem to do him justice. Git? Annoyance? Trickster? Genius. Yes, genius was suitable.
Sirius checked his watch. He really ought to get James's gear down to the pitch. He was tempted to throw it out the window instead and just have James find it on the lawn.
Instead his got onto his back on the floor and slid under the bed, checking to see if the old messages were still there. They were, and six new messages besides. He read them. James had managed to snag Lily yesterday according to the date under James's most recent message. Sirius took his wand and added his own words underneath.
Way to go, Prongs!
Padfoot 9.29.77
Slithering out from under the bed, Sirius thought about "accidentally" dropping the contract on Remus's pillow and then pocketed it instead. He'd find a better way to get the information to him.He frowned at the offending Quidditch paraphernalia on the ground by James's bed. Sighing melodramatically he gathered it in his arms and started the long journey to the Quidditch pitch.
OCTOBER 2, 1977
Remus knew that seventh year was going to be tough, but he hadn't expected the work to pile on so quickly. October was barely starting and they were up to their ears in assignments. Not that Sirius or James bothered to do theirs most of the time, but the assignments existed nonetheless. Well, James was at least doing his homework more than Sirius.
He wondered just what had happened to his watch. Sirius had taken it from him the night before when he complained that Remus's candles were keeping him awake. Remus had wanted to study earlier but Sirius, James, and Peter had distracted him. By the time he'd managed to get over to the library it was closed and he'd had no choice but to sit in bed and study. Sirius hadn't liked this and had thus initiated the game of monkey-in-the-middle with Remus's watch.
Now it was the next morning and all of his roommates were at breakfast, gone before he'd gotten up. He'd woken with a note spell-o-taped to his forehead. This lead him to a note under his favorite chair in the common room, which led him to the sink, which led him back to his dorm room. Sirius must have gotten up very early to deal with all of these. He looked down at the paper that had his final clue. He refused to go down to breakfast with his watch.
The channel of communication for we,
Tight of space though it be,
Still it is ours alone,
Marauders four perceive this zone.
Remus was rather proud of Sirius. He hadn't thought his vocabulary included words as long as "communication" and "perceive" just seemed like a word that Sirius wouldn't know. Maybe he'd had help from James.
He thought for a long minute. It was a way of communicating known only to the Marauders. There were mirrors for one thing, and the map for another. But the note said "tight of space" meaning a small area. The map probably couldn't be considered tight of space; it showed everything. And "zone" made it sound as though it wasn't the mirrors; besides that, James and Sirius always carried the mirrors on them.
There was one other place worth trying. Remus wondered what time it was and looked down at his wrist, forgetting for a moment that there was no watch on it. He was almost certainly going to miss breakfast entirely and possibly be late to his first class. He'd gotten the watch in first year so he could avoid being late and now look at the trouble it got him!
He got down on his stomach and through James's blankets so that he could see under the bed. Before he could manage to squeeze through the opening, he had to pull out two potions books, a broom, and a half-eaten bag of pineapple-flavored sugar quills. He looked around for the watch and couldn't see it. Sure there were more things under the bed, but it was too darn dark to see anything properly. He slithered out again and took his wand off the bedside table.
Once more Remus slid under the bed in search of his watch. Amid all the clutter under the bed, he couldn't seem to find it. He slithered out one more time, rolled over onto his back, and squirmed his way back under again. With the use of his wand he soon found his watch spell-o-taped to the under side of the bed with a note.
I knew you'd find the place, Moony,Here's your watch and come to breakfast soony.
If you make fun of my rhymes
I'll torture you with mimes.
P.S. Look at 9/28.
Remus did and found the message from James and the message from Sirius. Also there was taped the contract between Lily and James. He started to laugh and ended up hitting his head. James finally got a date with Lily and they just had to tell him in the most "creative" way they could think of?
He wondered what he should write; it was apparent that such occasions as this were worth remarking upon. After all, you only get to be young once. If you don't break the rules when you're young then you'll crack one day and go off and break all the laws when you're old and get yourself thrown in Azkaban (so was James and Sirius's philosophy at any rate).
As Head Boy you shouldn't be writing on your bed like this, Prongs.
Moony: Oct. 2, 1977
Still laughing, he got up and hurried off to class where Sirius was waiting for him with two slices of toast and a glass of orange juice. Remus sat in the back of class with Sirius, eating his breakfast and discussing how they should get Peter to read the note—it seemed only fitting that he should be put through as much hassle as they were.
OCTOBER 5, 1977
Peter huffed. Why him? Why was it always him? If Remus and Sirius had it on good authority that some Slytherins had planted something in their dorm, then they should check themselves. But no they all made excuses, even James. Well, technically James hadn't said what he had to do, just that he was busy and couldn't help Peter search. He didn't even know what he was looking for. Smoke bombs, stink bombs, itching powder, scorpions, bubotuber pus? Knowing the Slytherins it could very well be anything; Sirius had dyed the Slytherin Quidditch team's hair red last week. Peter still wasn't exactly sure how he'd managed that but all the seven of them had scarlet hair now.
He looked down at his list. Sirius had given him a list of places the Slytherins liked to use to prank, trap, or trick people.
1) Canopy over the bed
2) Pillowcase
3) Under the bed (i.e. spell-o-taped to the bottom of the bed)
4) Water pitcher by the window.
5) Anywhere else you can think of.
Peter felt this was more of a list of where Sirius happened to find places to prank people rather than the list being genuinely Slytherin, but he kept his mouth shut. Three-quarters of an hour into his search he finally bothered to check under the beds. The first three beds yielded no more luck than anything else had, but at the fourth Peter found a note hanging from the underside of the bed.
Wormy, hope you had fun with that game. The Slytherins weren't planning anything, thanks for checking though. Oh and read 10.2.77
It was in Sirius's handwriting and it was most definitely Sirius's wording, but it was signed Moony and Padfoot and it was definitely Moony's signature. Peter fumed. He'd had homework he needed to get done and he spent all this time looking for traps that didn't exist. He read the new messages since the last time he'd written anything. Also there was a pact written by Lily and James and taped to the wood.
Feeling snarky, he directed his comment at Remus.
Neither should you, Mr. Prefect.
Wormtail 10-5-77
He trudged down to the common room to get some work done. If he didn't have his charms essay done by morning there'd be trouble.
OCTOBER 10, 1977
James was still counting down the days until his date with Lily Evans. His contract which had been missing until this point, had reappeared a couple of days before and he was quite hapy to have it back. Twenty-one days and he'd be the happiest man alive. While he hadn't "said" a word about the date to any of his friends, his three best friends all now knew and he was glad for it. He didn't tell anybody else but teachers and students alike noticed an extra spring in his step.
He smiled happily to himself as he started cleaning up his junk, organizing it, and putting most of it in his trunk.
Lily had come up two days ago looking for him and Remus for a meeting and had been absolutely appalled at the room. There had been feathers everywhere, some dog hair, candy wrappers, and a general assortment of garbage and junk. She also said the place smelled like sweat and wet dogs.
Now James was doing his part to help clean up the room. He was vanishing garbage left and right, throwing nasty clothes into the laundry basket, and throwing anything that was his into his trunk. So far he'd made a lot of progress. He'd even opened the window to let a little bit of fresh air into the room.
He figured that this neatness and tidiness would probably only last a grand total of twenty-two minutes.
He sat on the bed looking quite pleased with his work. However, sitting on the bed reminded him of something. He wondered if any of the guys had left any comments about his proclamation, since they all did know about it after all.
Curious, he got down and went under his bed, shining his wand like a flashlight.
Clear as day, he read the words and frowned. Was his bed some kind of wall they could tag whenever they felt like it? He thought of Lily and knew that if she ever found out about this, she'd tell him off for vandalizing school property.
Quit writing on my bed! Go carve letters into Wormtail's bed if you must.
Prongs 10/10/77
He'd added the last part mostly as a joke. Ah, the things they were leaving behind for posterity!
Author's Note: 1977 Part II coming hopefully soon! The first little story in this chapter took me forever and I didn't want to go on until I had it. Then I wanted to get all of 1977 done so that I could post the whole chapter together, but I figured I might as well post what I have now and the rest when I get it. Please review, it makes me smile!
