This round's all about inspiration. We all got different prompts that were supposed to inspire us to write this round's entry.

Prompt: So you think I've got superpowers

Word count: 2700

I hope you like what I came up with!

I Know What I'm Doing

"Oh, not again," Sirius groaned loudly as he stared at the enlarged parchment on the doors to the Great Hall.

James, who peered over his friend's shoulder, had to grin as he watched him skillfully ignore the fact that he was more or less blocking the entrance when a bunch of Ravenclaws squeezed past him, shooting him annoyed looks. "I managed to completely forget about that damn Yule Ball, and now they remind me of it? How is that fair?"

"Yes, Padfoot, how is that fair?" Remus muttered as he pushed himself past both of them and walked over to the Gryffindor table.

It was the end of November and the posters for the Annual Yule Ball had been spread throughout the castle overnight. Every year, the ball went under a different theme, and the students were required to follow through with it. James hadn't thought much of it as he already had a date, his friends, however, were a different matter altogether.

"'Smart like a Muggle'," Peter read, eyes fixed on the parchment. "Does that mean we have to dress like Muggles?"

James groaned and threw his head back. He couldn't believe that he called those twats his friends and had for many years now. Without deeming Peter an answer, he turned around and set off after Remus into the hall.

Peter's voice followed him, squeaking nervously. "Does it?"

"Seriously, Peter, sometimes I wonder how you've managed to pass enough O.W.L.s to continue your education," he heard Sirius reply in his typical deadpanned fashion.

He quickly sat down, eyes roaming over the delicious and incredibly amazing smelling spread in front of him. He hurriedly picked up his fork and started piling bacon on his plate.

"I can't believe we have to go hunt for dates again," Frank Longbottom moaned as James watched Sirius drop down onto the bench across from him. "Can't a bloke just relax for a year?"

"Oi, what do you mean by 'hunt for dates'? Am I not enough of a date for you?"

Lily snickered as Alice Fortescue mock-glared at her boyfriend of three years.

"Yeah, well, you and James have it easy," Peter said, not giving Frank a chance to appease his glowering girlfriend. "You already have dates. Remus, Sirius, and I, on the other hand -"

"Yo, leave me out of this, Wormy!" Sirius defensively raised his hands and stared at the small blond with big eyes.

"W-What do you mean?" Peter frowned and looked from one person to the other. "Did I miss something? Do you have a girlfriend as well now?"

James rolled his eyes and decided to mostly ignore what would become his friend's annual monologue and focus on his bacon instead. Remus followed suit and hurriedly grabbed the newspaper that an owl had just delivered. Lily bit down on her lip as she fought the grin that threatened to spread over her face, and her friend Marlene turned red without noticing, which made it even harder for Lily not to grin.

"What? No, of course, I don't." Sirius recoiled as if he had been slapped, and shook his head, seemingly revolted. "I wouldn't dare deny the ladies of Hogwarts this." With a flourish, he waved his hand in front of his face. "No, I wouldn't be that selfish."

Sirius cleared his throat and wiggled around on his seat, accidentally elbowing James in the process, earning himself a heated glare. "Don't you worry, Wormtail. I know what I'm doing. I've got everything under control."

*~*HP*~*

"This has gotten completely out of control!" Sirius cried as he pulled at his hair with both hands, making him look how he felt on the inside - completely lost.

James sat on the edge of his bed, fighting to remain calm and composed. Sirius had been in a fit for the last twenty minutes or so, and it didn't seem as if he'd stop anytime soon. He'd been running around in circles, talking to himself in various volumes, and had jumped every time James had moved.

It was the evening before the Annual Yule Ball and Sirius had yet to find a date. James couldn't help but be slightly amused at how traumatised his best friend was.

Oh, how much James wished for Remus to be there with him. He couldn't cope with handling his devastated friend on his own, yet he'd have to. It was the day before the full moon and it seemed to be an aggressive one because his sometimes furry friend was staying the afternoon and the following night in the Hospital Wing under Madam Pomfrey's watch, before sneaking into the Shrieking Shack tomorrow.

He had made them promise to enjoy the ball and not to join him for his transformation. Sirius had been against it at first, but Remus had managed to make him see the advantages - beautiful girls, punch, and music. What more could he ask for?

Well, sitting on his bed, both feet on the floor and his elbows resting on his knees, James thought that Sirius might only be able to enjoy two out of those three things.

"Why do they keep saying they already have dates?" Sirius repeatedly mumbled, clearly not understanding what had been going on for the last two days, in which he had asked everybody he had stumbled across to the ball. "Shouldn't they jump at the opportunity of going with me?"

Eyes big and oddly innocent-looking, he turned to James and waited for a response.

"Maybe you shouldn't have waited until the last minute, mate?" James said, his lips twitching under the effort of keeping them in a downward position.

He really didn't want to make Sirius feel as if he was making fun of him. Which he totally wasn't! Okay, maybe a little bit, but Sirius didn't need to know that by seeing the shit-eating grin that was hiding under the surface. He knew that his eyes were sparkling with so much humour that Lily, had she been here at this moment, would have immediately known what was going through his head.

"Bloody hell," Sirius groaned and let himself fall backwards. His back hit his mattress before he bounced up once, twice. His eyes stared at the canopy looming over his head. "I can't believe it. I will actually have to go stag."

James couldn't help himself but grin at his brother's choice of words.

A big sigh escaped the devastated boy as he pushed himself onto his elbows and looked at James. "At least, I'll have Pete to keep me company."

And as if he had been summoning yet another disaster to crash down on top of him, the door to the dormitory flew open and none other than Peter Pettigrew hurried inside, a wide grin lighting up his face. Sirius immediately started to frown, and James tried to prepare for what was surely about to happen.

He wasn't disappointed.

"You won't believe what just happened!" Peter cried and kicked the door shut behind him. His face was beet-red and he was sweating slightly.

Sirius just blinked, refusing to give his friend the satisfaction of curiosity. James wisely kept his mouth shut.

"Do you guys remember the pretty Hufflepuff fifth year that helped me look for the Charms book in the library last month?" he went on without giving them a chance to answer. "Well, I asked her to be my date for the ball and she said yes! Can you believe that?!"

James winced and glanced sideways towards Sirius, who had slowly sunk back onto his mattress. After what felt like an eternity, the tension in the air building with every second that went by, Sirius let out a heavy sigh.

"Well, fuck," he said and raised his hands to his hair, pushing them through. "I'm screwed."

*~*HP*~*

Lily looked at her boyfriend who had come rushing into her dorm room just moments before, stuck in between a laughing fit and confusion. "You've got to be kidding me."

"He's gone catatonic," James said as he sat down on her bed. "It's quite scary, actually."

"All because some girls said they already had a date?" Lily blinked as her boyfriend nodded.

"He thought it'd be a sure thing that he'd find someone to go with. He didn't even care who would join him, she just needed to look good." James huffed and leant back on his elbows, his eyes remaining on her, who was standing in the middle of the room, not quite knowing what to say.

She opened her mouth and closed it again.

"Yeah, I know," James said. "It's ridiculous, but he's my friend and I really don't want his last ball to be a disaster. I mean," he frowned and scratched his chin, "more of a disaster than it is every year. You know him. He'll make sure that we never forget it. If it was just him, I'd hand him a goblet filled with firewhisky and tell him to get plastered, but he'll drag me into this and that means that I'll drag you into this, and nobody wants that."

Lily's eyes narrowed dangerously, but James merely smiled at her innocently. "And because both of us want to graduate with a sane mind," he continued, "we need to find him a date, so he'll leave us alone."

Lily could see the logic behind that, as weird as it sounded. If anyone had told her two years ago that she'd reach the point of being able to follow James Potter's trail of thoughts, she would've either had a laughing fit or would have fainted. Either way, there was no way in hell that she would have believed that piece of information.

Yet, here she was, arms crossed in front of her chest, eyes trained on the Head Boy, who always managed to get up the charmed stairs and into her dorm without even one dust mark on his trousers.

"I might have a solution to his problem," she muttered as her gaze travelled over to one of the empty beds on the other side of the room.

"Our problem, you mean."

Lily ignored him as a grin lightened up her face and her eyes started sparkling mischievously. "Trust me, it won't be our problem for much longer."

*~*HP*~*

James clenched his jaw as he watched Sirius stare back blankly. "You want me to ask whom?"

Taking a deep breath, James bit down an annoyed groan and forced himself to answer calmly. "Marlene McKinnon," he said for the fifth time and dared his friend to repeat his question.

"McKinnon?"

"Yes, McKinnon."

"But… why?"

This time, James groaned loudly and covered his face with his hands. The bright moon lit up the seventh year's dormitory so much that he didn't need any charms to see the confused look on Sirius' face.

"Mate, I love you, but sometimes you can be really, really thick." The Head Boy sighed, rubbed his face, and stood up so that he could tower above Sirius. The other boy might be a bit taller than him, but, one, James would never admit that out loud and, two, right now, Sirius was sitting on his trunk, which made it very easy for his friend to loom over him.

"You," he pushed his index finger against Sirius' chest, "need a date because you," he dug the finger in deeper, "will never let me hear the end of it if you prat go without a date, so Lily and I have decided that you," he hunched down in front of Sirius so that he could look him in the eye, "will ask Marlene to go with you and you will enjoy the night."

After a few moments of silence, James took Sirius' hands in his, forcing him to look up. "She likes you, you know?"

A flicker of doubt shone in his eyes, as Sirius quickly looked away.

"I'm not messing with you, Sirius."

He blinked, clearly taken aback, and turned back to James, who was still holding onto his hands. There was no sign of humour in his face.

"You'll see," James said and squeezed his hands encouragingly. "She'll say yes."

*~*HP*~*

"Sirius Black?" Marlene stared at Lily and didn't know what to think. There was no way that her friend was really suggesting this. "You've got to be kidding me."

Lily rolled her eyes. "You know I'm not."

"I don't even like him!"

"You know you do."

Marlene glared at the smirking Lily and started walking back and forth. A huff escaped her as her friend's words echoed in her head. "He doesn't have a date and wants to ask you. James just told me to ensure that he won't make a fool out of himself by approaching you."

Sirius Black wanted to ask her, Marlene McKinnon, to go to the dance with him? Sirius Black, the best looking, sweetest, and funniest guy in all of Hogwarts wanted to ask her, the most boring and plain looking girl in all of Great Britain? There had to be a flaw somewhere because this couldn't be happening.

"There isn't any." Lily's voice made her jump. Had she just said that out loud? Oh Merlin, she was an embarrassment.

"Trust me, Marly, everything will be fine. Sirius is a really great guy and he will treat you right. And, if for some odd reason, you want to get away from him, I'll be in the same room. You just let me know and I'll get James to distract him."

I doubt that's going to happen, a naughty voice whispered in the back of her mind as her brain imagined the boy of her dreams in a Muggle suit, black hair shiny, and his smile as brilliant as ever.

"Okay," she said quietly, not noticing the wide grin on Lily's face. "Okay, if he wants to go with me, then I'll say yes."

*~*HP*~*

James felt Lily snicker when he circled his arms around her from behind. "I can't believe we actually did that," James mumbled in her ear, eyes set on one of the few couples swaying back and forth on the dance floor.

It was the night of the dance and most students had already gone to bed. It was already after midnight, the full moon stood high in the sky shining down upon them, and the Marauders had actually managed to enjoy the night; one in particular.

Sirius, arms around the beautiful Marlene, couldn't look happier as he gently guided her across the dance floor that had been installed in the middle of the Great Hall. James was sure that even if he were to go up to the two love birds and tell his friend that Remus needed them, Sirius wouldn't hear him. He was stuck in his own world, drowning in his date's sparkling eyes as she laughed at something he had just said.

"They're really adorable together, aren't they?" Lily sighed and leaned back into James' embrace. "I can't believe it took them so long."

"It would have taken them even longer if it hadn't been for us."

Calm silence followed that statement as the last few students left the hall, yawning. Sirius and Marlene were still going strong.

"It's ridiculous that Padfoot always says he's got everything under control and that he knows what he's doing when he clearly doesn't," James mumbled, causing Lily to laugh.

"But he has you, hasn't he?" She turned around in his arms, a secretive smile on her face. She raised her arms and wrapped them around the back of his neck, making him positively dizzy. "He can always rely on you."

James got light-headed when her lips brushed against his. "Let's leave," she breathed against his skin, gently tugging at the hair at the nape of his neck. "Let's leave them to themselves. He won't mess up now."

"Yeah, let's do that." James gulped and let his girlfriend pull him away from his best friend. Sirius would be fine, he figured. As for himself…

A dirty smirk crossed his face as he followed Lily out of the Great Hall and up the Grand Staircase.

He'd have to find out, now.

Yaaaay, happy end!

Until next time - see ya!