Author's note: So apparently, you guys like the fic. Which means I'll keep going. I like this fic better than my other one anyway. :)

Disclaimer: I'm not JK Rowling, nor am I claiming to be. I'm just a kid writing a fanfic. I only own (some of) the plot.

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Later that evening, Lily was to be found in the library studying, despite the fact that it was a Saturday night. James watched her from behind a nearby bookcase, having a mental battle with himself. After she had left the Hospital Wing, he and Sirius had had a painfully awkward chat about her. Sirius said he might as well get it over with and tell her, 'cause the worst she could do was say no and James could move on. And while James could see the logic in this, somehow he knew he wouldn't be able to just move on. Which brought him back to the whole persist-or-give-up thing, and he still wasn't sure which he'd go for. So, as he stood there, looking at her, part of him was saying "Go over to her. Talk to her. See where the conversation leads you," and another part of him was shouting "WALK AWAY NOW, WHILE YOU STILL HAVE DIGNITY!"

Eventually he realised ten minutes had passed while he stood there and he knew a conclusion had to be reached. He hesitated, then threw caution to the winds and sauntered over to her, plopping himself into a chair across from her. He waited until she looked up at him before saying "Hey, Evans," as casually as he could. He was slightly put off when she merely rolled her eyes before returning to her book, but decided not to let it get to him.

"Did you, er- happen to catch the match today?"

She didn't even bother to look up from her book as she said, "Don't act stupid, Potter, I know you saw me there."

Nothing daunted, James went on, "So you happened to see my seven spectacular goals?"

"The whole school saw your 'seven spectacular goals,'" Lily replied, still not looking up from her book, "but I'm not sure I see what was so spectacular about them."

"Were you even watching?"

"Yes, Potter, I was watching, Maybe Quidditch just isn't my thing."

Damn, James thought. There went the only way he could think of to impress her.

They sat together in awkward silence for a while, Lily still pretending to be reading, but actually just wondering why Potter was still there. It wasn't as if they were friends. And then, out of the blue:

"So... Lily... I was thinking, maybe - maybe sometime we could, er... What I mean to say is... Do you want to go out sometime?"

Stupid, stupid, stupid, thought James, lamenting how awkward he had just sounded. Ah, well, it'd have to do, no way to take it back.

Lilly finally looked up from her book and stared straight into James' eyes. He caught his breath. She looked bewildered for a moment, before she smirked.

"Very funny, Potter," she said bitingly.

He let out his breath.

Shit, what do I do now?

"I - wasn't joking..."

"Of course you weren't." She snapped her book shut and shoved it in her bag. "Well, I'd best be off, lovely chatting with you."

And with that she rose from her chair and exited the library, leaving James with a cold, confused feeling in the pit of his stomach.

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When Lily awoke the next morning she couldn't remember whether the events of the night before in the library had actually happened or whether she'd just had an exceedingly strange dream. She preferred to believe the latter, but a nagging feeling told her that it was the former. She pushed this thought to the back of her mind however, rolled over and went back to sleep.

James woke with a start and his thoughts immediately flitted to Lily. He couldn't believe the night before had gone the way it had. After being heartlessly rejected, even laughed at, then abandoned in the empty, darkening library, he had sat there numbly for about fifteen minutes before being chivvied out by Madame Pince. He then dragged himself back up to the dormitories and lay in bed for hours before finally falling into a restless sleep. And here it was, early Sunday morning, and he couldn't get back to sleep, because, for some reason, thoughts of Lily laughing at him crept into his mind no matter how hard he tried to ignore them.

So, after giving up trying to sleep, he got up, dressed, went down to the common room and took a seat by the long-dead fire. He sank into a kind of stupor, filled with thoughts of his current standings with Lily and whether he should keep after her. If he were to give up on her, he was sure he could find some other girl to take her place. And yet, it seemed that if he did indeed move on so quickly, it would render the last few years of trying to impress her completely pointless. And it left the most terrifying prospect of all wide open. She might find a boyfriend. James knew the only reason she hadn't yet was because it was common knowledge that he was in love with her. No one dared make a move on the star Chaser's girl, even if she wasn't technically his. But if he were to appear to move on, maybe find a girlfriend that wasn't Lily, she'd have guys lining up to take her out. This he couldn't bear to let happen. So, it seemed, the only choice was continue to chase her. But now that his chase was out in the open, people would expect him to win, just like on the Quidditch field. This was a feat he wasn't sure was reachable. But he'd sure as hell try his hardest. It was decided.

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Author's note: So I know this is short, and I know last time I said this chapter would include the first few times James asked her out, but I decided to do it this way instead. Hope you guys liked it! Review, pleaseeee! School started a while ago, that's why it took so long to get this chapter up, and updates will probably be rather slow. I'll try to get one up once every two weeks or so from now on, but I'll mostly only have weekends to work on it. Anyway, tell me what you thought.

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