James continued to return to the café, every morning, for a whole month. Sometimes the marauders would accompany him; Sirius keeping a keen eye out for the brown haired beauty who he hadn't seen since they had first met; though she continued to frequently pop up in conversations between the four friends. Often, however, James would go to the place alone, where he would wait eagerly for the half hour he would get to spend in Lily's company, when she was on her lunch break.

There were things that she said that intrigued him more than he could explain. He knew that if he tried, even to Remus, then he would end up sounding like a complete idiot.

James continued this way; not ever staying after lunch, for fear of appearing too forward, until, right at the beginning of August, the muggle telephone that was perched on the wall in Remus Lupin's kitchen let out a loud, shrill ring, shaking so that the thin layer of dust that had built over it's surface was rattled off ardently.

Remus' mother let out a vociferous shriek, for she never failed to become overly excited when the unusual appliance began to make sounds. The witch was intrigued by it's noises, and no matter how many times her husband taught her how to use it, she couldn't seem to shake the habit of yelling through the cord and down the line, often resulting in her husbands muggle friends becoming very scared indeed.

"HELLO?" she practically screamed, on this occasion, whipping the sweat off her brow, which was a combination of the summer air and her slaving away in the kitchen. "WHO IS SPEAK-ING?"

Remus came thundering down the stairs, hearing his mother's attempts at speaking through the contraption, and cringing at the thought of his father having to explain away her antics to his friends yet again.

Lily's timid voice came through the line, shaking as she spoke, nervous about actually calling in the first place, not to mention her over enthusiastic reception.

"Hello." She said, nervously, "This is Lily Evans. I was wondering if I may speak to James please." She said, cringing on the other end of the line as she waited for a reply. She didn't even know what she was going to say to him.

She had been sitting at home, on a Saturday night, once again, feeling way too sorry for herself about the fact that she was never invited out, when the urge had over powered her, and she found herself sitting by her phone, her breathing jaggered and uncontrollable; a state she never found herself in, normally having such a level head.

Mrs Lupin's face creased in confusion for just a moment, and she spun around, hearing Remus' footsteps behind her. Remus read her perplexed features all too correctly, and knew exactly what had happened.

Lunging for the phone, and grabbing it from her hand, Remus donned a voice far too deep for his own.

"Hello." He greeted, groaning inwardly. He didn't know who it was yet, or who he was meant to be, deciding to act aloof until he knew whether it was Belle or Lily speaking.

"Hello?" came Lily's voice down the other end of the phone.

Remus sighed. He couldn't tell who it was. His mother gave him an inquisitorial look, and he smiled apologetically, giving her a huge thumbs up. Mrs Lupin deflated, and walked back off to the kitchen, pulling a chequered tea towel out of the pockets of her robes.

"How, er, how are you?" he asked, clearing his throat deeply, away from the phone, his hands shaking at the thought of what Sirius or James were going to say when he had to tell them that he was forced to impersonate them for one of the girls. He was renowned in the group at the one who was hideously bad at flirting, and this was no exception, though he was disguised as one (though he wasn't sure which) of Hogwarts biggest womanisers.

"I'm fine." Came the reply, Lily looked at the phone a little puzzled. The voice coming through it sounded nothing like James'; much too deep for Prongs, but she brushed it aside, and gave a small laugh.

"Er, is your mother alright? She seemed a little worked up…"

Remus chocked back a laugh.

"Oh no, she's fine, she was just excited…"

"Why?" Lily asked, intrigued. Remus wished that she would give some hint as to who she was, even through her voice, though none came, and he was forced to speak in a nonchalant air again, racking his brains, thinking of every muggle studies class he had attended, hoping for a burst of inspiration.

"She won the lotttroy." He tried, thinking and mispronouncing the last lesson of the year. Lily decided it was best not to ask, and continued.

"You're kidding! Congratulate her for me, wont you?" she asked, hoping that she had understood what he had been trying to say. "You coming by tomorrow?" she asked, her heart pounding in her chest.

Remus let out a huge sigh, and smiled. Lily. It had to be Lily.

"I sure am." He replied, smugly.

"I probably seem really stupid, but you sound a hell of a lot different on the phone." She commented, with a laugh. Remus swallowed deeply, before letting a shaky reply come out of his lips.

"You're not at all stupid, I have a cold, that's all. Making me sound different…" he knew that it was a lame excuse, especially when the pair saw each other every day, but it was all that he could do.

"That's no good. I thought we could go and snog in that store cupboard again."

The phone clattered to the floor, with a crash, as it slipped out of Remus' hands. Realising what he had done, he scurried to the ground, picking it up immediately, though remaining flustered. Why had James failed to mention that he had been off snogging the girl of his-

"I was kidding James, god, I'm insulted that you were so shocked by the insinuation actually." She laughed, mockingly.

"No, no no, no…" Remus stammered, in response, ashamed that he had allowed himself to be fooled.

"Calm self James, it's fine."

Remus took a deep breath, and then paused, thinking of how to continue.

Here Lily was, calling his house, for the first time. What would James say if he knew?

Surely, ask her out. If she took the effort to call him, and joked about snogging in broom closets, and, that had to be a good sign.

There was one horrible, slightly problematic obstacle that Remus had to over come;

What if she said no?

James would never forgive him, and that was definitely not a good thing.

Realising how long it had been before he had talked, Remus opened his mouth, chancing a gamble…

"So I was thinking, do you want to catch up somewhere other than the coffee house tomorrow?" he asked, nervous, despite the fact that it wasn't his love life hanging out on a limb in this circumstance. "See a movie or something?"

Remus knew about movies. He had never been to one himself, but in muggle studies class they had been told al about the moving pictures that they went and watched. Remus couldn't see what the fun would be really, but the muggles seemed to enjoy it, and so he took the chance, his fingers crossed in the pockets of his robes.

Lily was stunned. She had been hoping, but never had she thought that James would actually get up the courage to ask her out- she sat there, gapping, for a moment, before-

"As friends, of course!" Remus added, hastily, incorrectly interpreting her silence, and making Lily's heart plummet past her feet and onto the ground. "I'll get the others to come. It'll be fun." He added, cringing as he realised that he had just invited himself to James and Lily's first date, in theory. Then, supposing that he may as well go the whole way in ruining his best friends life, he added, "You can bring some friends along too, if you would like."

Remus knew how stupid and robotic he sounded. Just the opposite to how James did whenever he asked James out, though he had admittedly not been as smooth when he was talking to Lily…

Lily smiled, still disappointed, on the other side of the line.

"Sure, I'd love to." She said, a pained expression masked by the phone. "Meet you there at five?" she asked, expectantly.

He gulped, and stammered back a 'yes' before bidding her a farewell, and hanging up the phone.

Lily heard the dial tone at the other end, and looked down the phone line, confused. For a moment there she had thought- or maybe just hoped- that James had really liked her.

James stared down at Remus's head, which was floating in the fire, his mouth dropped open in an expression of utter amazement.

"You mean to tell me that I am going to watch other people fall in love on a giant moving screen, with Lily Evans, you, Padfoot, and Wormtail?"

Remus gave him a guilty, apologetic glance.

"That's the basic gist of things, yes…"

"How the bloody hell did you manage that Moony? I've been trying to ask her out for weeks, you're a bloody genius!" he began to dance around his living room in a maniacal sort of way, a triumphant beam on his face.

Remus spluttered, amazed. He had been readily preparing himself to be whacked over the head, and to swallow a fair amount of ash, however, James seemed to be ecstatic.

"But…but we're going to be there!" Remus said, wondering why James wasn't more annoyed. James nodded, rapturous.

"I know, it's amazing, this way she doesn't think I'm too forward. Friendly get togethers, that's the key, and then I swoop in with my charms and she wont scream when I snog her senseless!" James said, raising one leg up on a footrest and pumping the air with his left hand, exultantly.

"So this is a good thing then?" said Remus, slowly, raising his eyebrows questioningly. James nodded, in earnest, making Moony sigh with relief.

James didn't go to the coffee shop the next morning.

Half a day might seem a long time for one of the male species to prepare for a date, especially when it was going to be shared by three mates anyway, however, James not only had to make himself smell mildly appealing, and work out muggle money, but he also had to stop over analysing the situation, which was driving him to the brink of insanity.

He stood in front of the mirror, with an unblinking stare, looking himself up and down.

He jumped, startled, when Sirius appeared in the mirror behind him.

"Your mum let me in." he told James, with a laugh. His friend had been so absorbed in himself that he hadn't even noticed Sirius saunter through the doorway.

"I suppose you're just nervous about the-" he put his hands in the air and made air quotes with his fingers- "Gathering of mutual friends." And then let out a snigger. "Me, Remus, Pete and you sure are gonna get lucky tonight eh Prongsie?"

James gave him a look that could kill, and then exchanged a small, rueful smile.

"Laugh all you want Padfoot, I am going out with Lily Evans tonight."

Sirius continued to snigger, and James replied by throwing a rather heavy book his way.

Remus didn't arrive until ten minutes before they were due to leave, and they were practically out the door when Peter rushed up to them, having mistaken the time.

James, after this, was furious, and being nervous did not help the anger.

"You looked nice." He told Lily, his hands shaking as he walked up to her, out the front of the cinema. Lily raised one eyebrow at him, sceptically, and smiled.

"Alright. Er, so do you." then she turned to Remus. "And you." her gaze roamed right around to Sirius and Peter, who were standing at James side in what some would call a loyal manner, and others (James included) would just call annoying. "And you two." She added, with the hint of a laugh.

Then she turned, and began to walk inside. James followed close behind, and Sirius hurried to catch up.

"Now Lils, when you told Remus that he looked nice before me, that didn't mean that he looked nicer than me, did it?'

Lily sniggered, and Remus grabbed a hold of the back of Sirius's shirt, and pulled him back to walk with him and Peter.

Lily turned to James.

"So you're all better now then?" she asked, trying to start kind conversation. James nodded, a bemused expression on his face.

Remus over heard, and then let out a very fake, raucous sneeze.

"Ah yes, Gave it to me the git." He said, loudly, and gave a nervous little laugh. James' eyes widened, confused, and Lily gave them both a curious look, and continued into the cinema.

As soon as the five of them entered through the door, Remus knew that there was going to be trouble; Peter seemed almost magnetically drawn towards the muggle vending machine, in the corner of the room, and Sirius walked straight to the stationary picture- much larger than life- of a muggle actress, plastered to the wall, his mouth dropped open in awe. James took one step closer to Lily. He didn't know what to do from here. He could smell what he recognised as popcorn coming from the stall in the corner, but they were advertising drinks that he didn't know, and the currency on the price board was definitely not what he was used to.

Peter now had his rather round nose pressed eagerly up against the glass that guarded the contents of the vending machine from the outside world, and Sirius was prodding the picture of the girl suspiciously, trying, it appeared, to make her move.

James saw this, and steered Lily over to the food bar, so that their backs were facing both his friends' odd behaviour.

"What would you like?" asked James, pulling out of his pocket the muggle money that Remus had lent him. Lily looked at the board.

"Choc top?" she suggested. James stopped. He stared. He ran his hands thought his hair, messing it up.

Was she referring to him? Like a carrot top, only…chocolate brown…

There was a loud cough from behind him, a cough that sounded a lot like ice cream, and came from Moony's direction.

James sighed in relief, glad for the help, and order two choc tops, while Lily turned around and gave Remus a very strange look. He shook his head, as though he didn't know what had happened, and gave two tiny coughs.

"Nasty, what James had." He said, referring to the cold, and gave another hopeful cough, trying not to appear fake.

Not entirely convinced, Lily walked over to the ticket booth, and they bought tickets, and strode in, James making sure that he got a seat right next to Lily. Sirius followed close behind. Remus and Peter, however, were the last in the cinema to enter, Remus having had to pry Wormtail off the vending machine, trying to convince him that the candy inside just wasn't real.

James sat, in the darkness, and looked to his side.

There it was.

Lily's hand was sitting, ominously, on the armrest, right next to him.

Was it there for him to hold? Had she purposely place the hand there so that he would grab it, and make sure that the movie outing wasn't just another way to ensure he entered 'the friend zone'? Or was it merely placed on the seat so that she was in prime position to steal Sirius' popcorn?

Everything could rest on this hand, lying nonchalantly on the armrest. All he had to do was reach out and-

It was gone. She had moved it. Was that because she had given up on James, or because the armrest was itchy? Or uncomfortable? Or-

James groaned, and let his head fall back onto the chair, annoyed. He was over analysing her every move. He was becoming obsessive. He was never like this over a girl.

It was not a good sign.

The movie continued, without much event, apart from Peter becoming scared of the giant spider on the screen and making all the muggles in the vicinity- including Lily- turn and look at him when he yelled 'acromantula!' until about half way into the plot line, when Remus was deciding that the movies definitely was not the best bet for the 'mutual gathering of friends'.

"If the asshole who has his feet on the back of my seat doesn't get them off right away then I swear I will come back there and rip your head off!"

Sirius squinted into the darkness, at the silhouette of the girl who was kneeling up on the seat in front of him, which he had had his feet resting on until just a moment before.

His face slowly split into a grin.

"It's you…" he said slowly, smiling slyly, and leaning forward so that his head was in the middle of her seat and that of her friend, who had hazelnut hued hair, and kept her face firmly to the front of the cinema.

Belle froze, still facing the screen. She knew the voice. It was most definitely that of the boy she had met at the coffee house in London. The one who had look strikingly familiar.

Slowly, she turned to face him, cringing slightly.

"Thanks."

"For what?" asked Sirius, puzzled. Bella looked just as confused.

"Er, for taking your feet of the back of my chair…." She replied, as though she were speaking the most obvious truth in the world.

A dawning look of comprehension crossed his handsome face, and he grin, impishly, leaning back in his chair and resting his feet on the back of the chair once again. Belle flared up immediately.

"And what was the point of that?" she asked, turning around to reveal her clearly aggravated disposition. Sirius raised one eyebrow.

"I'm rather mad at you." he replied, with an air of nonchalance.

"What for?" asked Bella fired back, outraged. Sirius puffed out his chest, indignantly.

"You never ding-a-linged me!"

"Excuse me?" Belle cried, shocked. From the seat next to her, Remus groaned, and rested his head in his hands, where they rested on the armrest.

"Rung Sirius, she never rung you."

Sirius' eyes grew wide, and he gulped.

"You never rung me." He repeated, hopefully.

Bell gave him a curious look, and then whipped back around so that she was facing the front.

"Well?" he asked, his raised voice arousing many angry voices of people who were trying to watch the movie. Lily gave James a questioning look, as Sirius' annoyance was brought to their attention, and James returned it with an expression of pure nervousness.

Belle was stammering, not quite knowing what to say.

"I didn't know what I would say. I still haven't worked out where I know you from." she said, formulating an excuse fresh in her mind. Sirius gave her an aggravated look.

"I thought we agreed we'd never met?"

"I certainly wish we hadn't!"

"Feeling's mutual!"

"You don't even know what that means!"

"I've heard Moony say it!"

Belle made a disgruntled noise, but caught herself, obviously realising that the prat sitting behind her wasn't at all worth wasting the breath on.

The pair of them sat, in silence, Belle trying desperately not to notice the feet propped up on the back of her seat.

Meanwhile, James sat, two seats down, reflecting that this barely counted as him watching his first muggle movie. His eyes had barely wavered from Lily's face the entire night, something he sorely hoped she hadn't noticed.

The credits rolled, and Belle was the first in the cinema to rise to her feet.

"Come on Audrey." She said to her friend, in a low hiss. "If I leave now I never have to see that creep again.

Audrey turned a deep shade of pink, and gave Belle a guilty, yet apologetic smile.

"Well, I sort of, I told Remus that we would go out for ice-cream with them…"

"Who the hell is Remus?" Belle whispered back, hoping against hope that he wasn't who she thought he was.

"Oi Remus! Where to now?" came Sirius' voice, in an audible tone, from behind them. Belle's eyes flashed with fury.

"Why…why…why?"" she asked, unable to get any other word out. Audrey laughed, in spite of herself.

"Well, while the two of you were arguing we got to rolling our eyes at each other, then talking, and then he asked if we'd like to come out with them. James- the one with the messy hair- has this girl see, Lily, and she'll feel awfully awkward if she's the only female amongst that mob, don't you think?"

"You managed to talk out all of that in the time Sirius and I were arguing?" Bella asked, mildly amazed through her angry. Audrey nodded, rolling her hazel eyes.

"You wouldn't have noticed, you were too busy flirting with him."

"Flirting! I don't think that that anywhere near classifies as-"

"Audrey? You two coming?" asked Remus, running back to where the two girls were still arguing in the seats of the cinema. The girls jumped.

"Yep!" Audrey replied, chirpily, grabbing Belle's hand and bouncing up the row, dragging her reluctant friend behind her.

A/N: I am so sorry for the long update. Bella, u can stop hating me now, hahahaha! I did have most writing ages ago, but I was having trouble editing, and also, I know I told some reviewers that Voldermort would be in this chapter, but I thought it would ruin the flow for me to introduce that here, so he shall be soon, but rest assured, he is in there! Lol. So sorry! Next chapter up soon ((I'm on holidays, finally!)) hope you liked this! review!

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