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She's the kind of girl you never see coming. James would say that they started off with a simple friendship, but it was never simple.
And they were never just friends.
"So, which one is she?"
Lily slips into the empty seat across from her fellow Head student. She takes a sip from the cup of sitting in front of her, but nearly spits it back out when the sweet, hot liquid hits her tongue. She hates sweet coffee. "Which one is she?"
James narrows his eyes. "Who?"
"The girl who's ordered the most un-coffee-like cup of coffee in the known universe," Lily scoffs.
"What's wrong with sweet coffee?" James takes a sip of his coffee, and despite the bitter substance in his mug he adds, "I like it."
"No, you don't," Lily scoffs. "The only time I've seen you have a drop of that poison is when you had a sip of Sirius' after that chilli eating competition in last year."
He doesn't answer, but the look on his face gives away his lie.
"So, who is she?" Lily asks. "Who is the girl lucky enough to nab a date with the legendary James Potter, fresh off Gyffindor's latest quidditch victory?"
"You're going to laugh if I tell you."
"I won't."
"You will."
"I won't."
"Abby Leman."
Lily pauses, unsure of how to react. "No."
"She asked me," James shrugs, "and it's not like I had anyone else to go with, so I said 'yes'."
"I swear to Merlin that I'm the only person in our year that hasn't gone out with her."
"Don't you worry your pretty little face," he smirks. "There's always next time."
"This pretty little face will not be going out with Abby for as long as she lives."
"Nah," James says. "She isn't as interesting as the person we all know you want to go out with."
"Oh?" Lily raises her eyebrows. "And who might that be?"
"Me."
"Come off it, James."
He laughs. "Can't blame a bloke for trying."
She raises her eyebrows at him, trying to tell if he's serious or not. "So where is your lovely date, anyway?"
"She's off getting more un-coffee-like coffee."
"She hasn't even finished this one!" Lily gestures to the half-filled cup in front of her. "And anyway, shouldn't it be you getting the drinks?"
"I tried, but she didn't let me!"
"You didn't try hard enough. "
"I tried plenty hard, believe me," he laughs. "She said, and I quote, 'Chivalry is for weak girls who don't know how to take care of themselves.'"
"What's the bet that she won't bring back some of her shitty coffee?" Lily laughs, eyeing the crowd of people surrounding the bar."
"A date with me."
He says it boldly and without hesitation. "A date with me says she won't bring back any substance even remotely resembling coffee."
"Okay."
"Ah, it was worth a tr—" He pauses, unable to comprehend what he just heard. "What?"
"A date with you says she won't bring back coffee." Lily simply states. "Though, the chances of that are pretty slim."
The Head Boy raises his eyebrows. "Seriously?"
Lily shrugs. "I'll go ask lover-girl right now."
James watches Lily leave the table and make her way to his date. He can't hear anything over the loud buzz of Hogwarts students, but can see Lily say something to Abby, and he can see that Abby says something back. He watches then converse for a few moments before Lily makes her way back to where he's sitting.
"She's ordering tea."
James' eyebrows shoot upwards. "What?"
"Yeah," Lily sighs.
"So now what?"
"A bet's a bet," Lily states. "And I never back out of a bet."
"Are you sure?" James raises his eyebrow. "You aren't planning to kill me anytime soon just so you won't need to go out with me?"
She snorts. "Give yourself at least some credit, Potter."
"But are you sure?"
"Of course," Lily says.
"You're being awfully calm about this."
"Mmhmm."
James is about to change the topic, but the upwards tilt of the corners of Lily's lips and the slight hint of pink on her cheeks makes him ask another question. "Why do you look so smug?"
"Oh, nothing," Lily asks. "I'm just thinking about all the death threats I'm going to receive once the girls in our year hear about the fact that I have a date with you."
He furrows his brow. "You didnt..."
"Didn't what?"
"You knew it would turn out this way, didn't you?"
"That's crazy, James. You were the one who suggested the bet in the first place."
"Yeah, but..."
"But what?" She laughs. "If I wanted to go out with you, I could've just asked."
"Yeah, but you're not the girl to ask a guy out. You'd need to be tricky about it."
"Tricky?"
"Yeah," he nods. "For appearance's sake."
"Hm," Lily shrugs. She's about to say something when she spots a familiar-looking blonde girl walking up to their table. "We'll finish this later."
James watches Lily walk out the door of the pub, then turns back to Abby with a smile.
"Hey," she says. "I got us some tea instead of coffee. I know how much you hate coffee."
James frowns in confusion. "Where did you hear that?"
"Oh, Lily told me a few moments ago," she admits sheepishly. "Sorry for making you drink that stuff before."
"Oh, no worries," James smiles, sipping his tea. "It's fine."
A little unexpected, but fine.