Chapter Three

Wooing the Fire

"So irresponsible!" Lily yelled, as loudly as she could. Which, knowing Lily, wasn't very loud. She was such a sweetheart, and seeing her in such a furious state was a little alarming. "All three of you! We're seventh years now, you'd think you'd have learned a little bit of responsibility by now!"

"Aw, come on, Lily," Sirius said, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. "It was only a joke! Besides, all the first years loved it. We did a good thing, you know! We helped calm their nerves!"

"You've all been horrible examples!" she shouted and stormed away, falling into a crowd headed for the common rooms.

I frowned at Sirius, who shrugged. "She's your best friend," he said. "You fix this."

"You'd think she'd calm down a little bit. We've been perfectly punished as is," I sighed, thinking of how the three of us would be spending our evenings with Filch for the next two weeks.

"Not that that'll teach us anything, either."

"She's just conflicted," I said. "She's supposed to be the most responsible of our House, and she's best friends with the least responsible."

"True," Sirius said, and then nudged my shoulder. "But, hey, lucky her! I'd love to be friends with me."

"Mmh."

"Oh right. And you too, of course, Gracie!"

I rolled my eyes, grinning only slightly, and pushed him forward. "Come on, we'll go find James and make him woo her out of her anger."

We found James as he got to the Gryffindor common room, along with Lily, and a mob of excited looking first years.

"This is the common room," he was saying, "right behind the portrait here. And all you have to do to enter is say the magic words!"

Lily let out a small breath. "The password is 'Peruvian Vipertooth.'"

"Oh, really now," Sirius muttered, looking perplexed. "Who comes up with these passwords?"

"I know what that is!" one of the first years called out.

"Yeah, I read about that in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them—"

"It's a dragon!"

"All right, yes, it's a dragon. But that's not the point," Lily said. "Just say 'Peruvian Vipertooth' and the portrait will swing open. Like this," she said, demonstrating. She repeated the password to the Fat Lady, and the portrait promptly slid open, revealing the Gryffindor common room.

"And don't forget the password! It changes twice a week, so make sure you keep up with it," James said.

"We'll go in now, and I'll show you your dormitories," Lily said, climbing in, the hyperactive group of first years following after closely.

"'Ey, Prongs! Wait up!" Sirius called, running after James before he could follow after the first years.

I walked up behind them, and James looked at both of us, smirking slightly.

"Nice job with the fireworks earlier," he said. "The detention's a little bit of a downer though."

Sirius shrugged. "Eh, it was worth it."

"Anyways! We needed to ask you a favor," I said in a rush. "Lily's furious with us..."

"Oh, I know," James said, "she was ranting and raving just a minute ago. She was like a steam engine, red faced and steam blowing out her ears and everything—"

"We know, we know," I said, "and we were thinking that you probably know just the right things to say to cheer her up for us..."

"And, prevent her from murdering us before the week's over," Sirius said.

James looked from me to Sirius, face losing expression. "Ohhh no," he said, shaking his head. "Last time you tried to make me intervene in your Lily problems, she nearly hexed my eyes out!"

I sighed. "There will be no explosive flower offerings. But in our own defense, I really thought she would think it was funny!"

"The past is the past, and we have learned from our mistakes," Sirius said, but stopped, and looked at me, suppressing a grin. "Well, mostly. All you have to do this time, is...well..."

"Woo her!"

James stared at us blankly. "Woo her? That sounds inappropriate."

I slapped my hand to my forehead. "No, just be sweet and charming like you always are, James. Flirt a little! It shouldn't be difficult."

"How is flirting going to make her forgive you?"

"It'll put her in a better mood, and she will see the error of her ways," I said.

"The error of her ways? You're the ones that set off the fireworks—"

"Not the point!"

"Prongs, don't be a coward!" Sirius said. "Just do it. Maybe you'll benefit from it too."

James scratched his head idly, and let out a breath. "All right. But just because I feel bad for you two... I'm glad it's not me for once, though."

"Thank you James! You're the best!" I said, making sure to hug him as tightly as I could manage.

"Ow, ow, you're crushing my ribs! Gracie, you can't send me to the hospital wing right now, I need my ribs in tip-top condition so I can go woo Lily!"

I let go of him, and instead pat him on the head like a puppy. "Just don't do anything that'll make you get slapped."

"I'll keep it in mind," he said, reaching up to fix his hair.

"You look fantastic. Now get that woo-ing face on," I said, nudging him forward into the common room.

He shot me a look. "Gracie. Don't make me change my mind."

"Okay, okay! Sorry! Talk to you later!"

He climbed into the common room, and Sirius shouted after him, "Good luck!"

I was lying down in my bed, hidden beneath my bulky pile of blankets, snuggled in tightly. I peeked my eyes out from beneath the covers, watching the door for the entrance of the lovely Head Girl herself.

I re-adjusted my head on my pillows—well, kind of my pillows. Technically only half of them were really mine. I had borrowed my absent friend's bedding, and was now cradled in a pile of heaven.

I was nearly asleep when the door creaked open and Lily tip-toed inside, making way to her bed, where it was every school year, in the same spot next to mine. She reached it and stopped, and I saw her eye her bare bed suspiciously. She swiveled slowly in her spot, facing me.

"Gracie." She sighed. "Thank you for stealing my blankets, and my pillow too!" She sighed again. "If you don't give it back, I'll have no choice but to crawl in there next to you."

I laughed, propping my head up. "I was keeping it all warm for you!"

"How thoughtful. Now, unless you would like some personal space..."

I sat up in my bed and tossed her pillow at her. She caught it, and I threw the blanket, which landed on her head.

"Ahh, there's a ghost in the dorm!" I cried, giggling like a child.

Lily laughed and pulled the blanket off her face. "Shh, Gracie!" she whispered. "You're going to wake everyone up."

"Oh, hee," I said, shrinking back under my covers. "Woops."

She pulled the blankets back over her bed and then turned to her nightstand, murmured some spell I was not acquainted with, and conjured a glass vase.

I stared curiously as she dropped a bouquet of flowers I hadn't realized she'd been carrying in the vase. "Aguamenti," she whispered, and glanced at me. "What?"

"Where'd you get those?" I asked, rolling over onto my stomach and propping my chin up on my palms.

In the candlelight, I could detect the faintest blush rise to her cheeks. She turned away from me and sat down in her bed. "James. He spent the whole night, while we were supposed to be patrolling the halls..." She stopped and I saw her smile, and glance up at the ceiling. "Wooing me." She turned her face back down and smiled at me.

"Wooing you? That sounds inappropriate."

"Oh, shush Gracie," she giggled, burying herself under her covers. "I know that you and Sirius put him up to it."

I gasped. "We did not."

She raised her eyebrows.

"All right, maybe we did, but he really didn't need any convincing, if you must know," I said.

"He told me you two were desperate for my forgiveness," Lily said. "How you were trying to get him to flirt with me just so I wouldn't be mad at you two anymore."

"Pshh... why would we do that?"

"It's all right, I'm not mad," Lily said. "I guess I shouldn't have gotten that mad at you two... You know I can't stay mad long anyways."

"Yay!" I squeaked, and Lily shushed me. "Well, did James ask you on a date?"

I could just barely see her nod her head shyly.

"What'd you say? Did you reject him for the fifty millionth time?"

"Actually," she said, softly, "I told him I would go."

I squeaked again, excitedly, sitting up in my bed. "That's so cute! Oh my goodness. Where are you going? Well, I guess the only feasible thing would be Hogsmeade, as that's the only place we can actually go... Oh my goodness! It's only the first day and you already have a date, oh Merlin's great fluffy beard..."

"Gracie!" Lily laughed. "Calm down!"

I laughed too. "Oh, you know, I find this so adorable. I would totally wink at you right now, but I don't think you can see me, because it's too dark. So take my word for it. Wink, wink."

Lily giggled again, and pulled her blankets up tighter to her. "All right, I think it's time we get to sleep now."

"Good idea. Okay, good night Mrs. James Potter!"

She rolled over away from me, let out a little breath, and said, "Goodnight, Gracie." It was funny how I could hear the smile in her voice.

A/N: Not too sure I like this one, but thanks for reading anyways. :) I promise I'll get a move on with the plot in the next one! Or the one after that. Sometime soon ;) Noww reviewwww and you will be granted MILK AND COOKIES! :D
OH! AND HAPPY NEW YEARS!