Chapter 15

He'd been bluffing of course.

He hadn't really any intention to 'ruin' Lily. Lucky for him though, her opinion of him was low she had easily bought it. It was an inspired bit of quick thinking if he did say so himself.

When Lily returned from the lavatory ten minutes later, it was looking much different than from when she had left. Gone was the girl who appeared quite possibly on the verge of murder, and here instead was someone remarkably calm and collected.

Lily retook her seat, without a word or ever a glance at him, and went back to work as if the past exchange had not happened. Concerned that she had found some steely resolve whilst in the loo and was not going to be as cooperative as he'd been so convinced of mere seconds ago, James studied Lily apprehensively, but could not make heads or tails of her silence. Deciding it best not to push her for the time being, he left her to be for the remainder of the lesson.

"We'll continue where you've left off next lesson so remember your place! And I expect everyone to hand in their essays then too. Twelve inches - Mr. Pettigrew you've left your book on your desk - no more, no less!" Flitwick hurriedly instructed as everyone made for the door.

"So," said Lily, speaking to James at last as they filed into the bustling corridor, "How are we doing this then?"

She was still on board then.

Betraying none of his relief James readily replied, "First things first," not missing a beat, "Damage control. You've made rather a muck of things lately, what with the cold shoulder and general contempt."

"Yes, I have behaved rather terribly haven't I?" she drawled, "And so unwarranted it was too…"

"We need to be convincing about this," James went on ignoring her snark, "We can't just hold hands and go skipping about the castle calling each other love muffin all of a sudden."

"Thank Merlin," said Lily.

"That comes later. We'll keep it casual for now," he said, "make it appear as if we had a row but all is forgiven."

"And then?" she asked.

"I've got a plan. I'll explain later, I don't want to go into specifics right now," he added before she could question him about it.

"So when the love muffin time comes," she asked instead, as they started down a staircase to the second floor, "just how long exactly will it stick around for?"

"Until Davies's convinced," James answered simply. "Which will need to be before the third of February. That's our deadline."

"Davies?" she echoed.

"Falcon Davies. That tosser who crashed our table at breakfast a few-"

"I know who he is," she interrupted. "That's who you made this wager with?"

"Yeah..." James turned to glance at Lily and found she'd fallen behind. She stood, paused on a step several above him, paying no heed to the people pushing past on either side of her; a peculiar expression was on her face.

"Well, that changes things a bit," she said more to herself than him.

"It does?" asked James uncertainly.

"Mmhmm..." she murmured absently, resuming her descent down the stairs.

"Why's that?"

"Because Davies is a tosser." The sudden conviction in her voice took James aback.

"What's he ever done to you?" he probed curiously.

"Never you mind that," she said brushing past him.

"I will actually," he said, following after, "if it has anything to do with why he chose you for this. I just reckoned he picked the person who'd make me the most miserable. You know, seeing as we get on like cats and dogs," he added at Lily's raised eyebrow.

"Am I the dog?" she questioned wryly.

"We're supposed to be reconciling after a row, Evans," James reminded. "I'm not trying to start a new one, so don't start trouble."

Lily did not take kindly to his admonishment. Pursing her lips, she stuck her nose up into the air and fell silent once more. Which suited James just fine. His choice of words had been innocent. There had been no malicious intent meant. It was a figure of speech not an insult, and he had no interest in being goaded into an argument over it.

"You know," said Lily after several moments of quiet had passed, "If you'd just told me from the beginning that Davies was involved I would've agreed to help you a lot sooner."

James knew better than to fall for the innocent tone, but still, her words gave him pause.

"You what?"

"Like I said," she said smugly, bypassing where he had stopped in the doorway of the Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson room, "It changes things."

xxx

It was a lie, of course.

Perhaps it might've made her think twice, but it certainly wouldn't have been enough to change her mind. She had not been lying about it changing things though, for it did. This new knowledge that Davies was involved was like a placating blanket draped over her shoulders. It was a soothing pet on the guilt that gnawed at the back of her head, never to be acknowledged if she was actually to go through with this (which she was).

James had been wrong though. There had been no alternative motive behind Davies choosing her, as he had no issues with her. The fact that he had picked her, out of all the girls in the whole school, well, Lily smiled grimly to herself, that was just a funny coincidence.

And she was personally going to see to making it unfortunate one for him too.

xxx

Lily and James carried out the rest of the day much like two mates would. Meeting in between lessons, dining together for lunch and dinner, and afterword hanging out in the Gryffindor common room doing homework. Well - Lily did homework, James played a game of exploding snap with Peter.

When eight thirty rolled around, it was time for Lily and James to participate in the nightly patrols of the castle corridors. It was also, James apparently felt, the time for him to share with her his mysterious plan. She listened while shooing away any students they came across back to their respective common rooms, before curfew went in effect.

"-then we'll date for a bit and you, naturally, will fall madly in love with me. Thus, winning the bet," James finished with a flourish of self-satisfaction at his own cleverness.

"Madly is right," said Lily dryly.

"Reckon you can manage it?" James asked, having not heard her, or pretending, "It's going to take some convincing acting…"

Lily felt a stab of annoyance at his lack of faith.

"What choice is there?" she snapped. "I'm going to have to."

xxx

"This is really very unnecessary," Lily pointed out as they climbed up the tower stairs.

"Unnecessary? Perhaps. But really very?" James made a noise of disagreement from behind her.

"Considering I'm under threat, I see no reason for you not to trust me," said Lily. "If I screw you over, you screw me."

"This is about making it official-" he started.

"Your distrust?" she interjected.

"Your commitment," he corrected. "And I reckon I should be there for it."

"My susceptibility to coercion you mean," she retorted.

James tsked.

"Always so negative."

"I prefer to see the truth in the matter."

"You might find it easier to cope if you allowed yourself a little gray area," he said, as if imparting wisdom on her.

"No thank you. I prefer to keep things black and white where you're concerned," she responded crisply.

"So trust isn't a two way street then?" he said. "I screw you over, you screw me. Isn't that how you put it?" he asked.

"Yes, except it's the other way around for you. You've got it backwards," she replied smartly.

A hand on her arm brought her to a halt. James stood one stair lower and she one higher, but their faces were nearly eye level and he stared into hers seriously.

"There is no backwards or forwards, Evans," he said. "Don't you see? It's a circle. We're in the same boat, you and me."

"Except," said Lily, "I lose everything I've dreamt of and worked my arse off for for the past seven years, and you lose a ruddy broomstick you could afford to buy a new one of ten times over!"

Somewhere along the loss of her temper, her voice had wobbled. Furious with herself for this, and the injustice of it all, Lily stomped the rest of the way up and shouldered open the door to the Owlery. Stalking across the frosty straw covered floor, she came to a stop in the middle.

"Well?" she demanded turning on the spot, craning her neck up to view the hundreds of owls huddled, asleep on their perches that lined the walls up to the ceiling, "Where is it then?"

James, who had followed her in, responded calmly by calling for his owl, Agatha. From high above flew down a sweet looking barn owl, who landed on James' proffered arm.

"Ready for a little trip?" He cooed, stroking the owl affectionately.

Lily noticed it was giving James the same adoring gaze many a girls did, and her bad temper was not improved.

"Right," she said testily, starting toward them, "Let's get this over with."

She pulled a thong and a scroll of parchment out of her pocket; obligingly, the owl stuck out her left leg. That one simple gesture was all it took; Lily faltered as all her bravado and annoyance was suddenly replaced by trepidation.

"What did it mean," she blurted out, "RSVP and instructions will follow? On the invitation," she added.

It had been something that had been niggling at her since she had read the words yesterday morning.

"Prominent wizards and witches, not to mention a fair few top Aurors, all gathered together?" said James, raising an eyebrow. "It's exactly the sort of thing the Death Eaters would love to crash. My parents make special arrangements every year so the guests can arrive safely. I never know what they are. I expect you'll find out though, once you RSVP..." he prompted pointedly.

At this not so subtle nod to her stalling, Lily mustered up some resolve. Deftly, she tied the scroll of parchment onto Agatha's outstretched leg. As James walked over to the nearest window, Lily fought the mad desire to leap after him, to snatch back the scroll and rip it up into tiny little pieces that scattered in the wind.

Instead she stayed firmly rooted to the spot and watched. Watched as the owl spread her wings and took off, out into the cloudless blue sky and away.

Short, I know. I do have more written but it needs tweaking and I didn't want to delay any longer.

Also, I have made slight adjustments to Chapters 13 & 14. Originally I had James keeping secret that Lily was supposed to be in love with him, she had just been informed that she needed to date him and was under the impression it was one-time kind of a thing, which was supposed to have James thinking he could still trick her into falling for him if he just got her close enough. But it wasn't working for me and I realized her knowing about it would allow for some high jinks to ensue.

As always thank you for every favorite, follow & review! I hope you continue to enjoy :)

- GoddessoftheMaan