Disclaimer: Not my toys; just borrowing them for a bit.
Over the next two weeks, James sent and received numerous owls. His three dorm mates correctly assumed he was making the arrangements for Lily Evans's Valentine's surprises.
On the morning of the 14th, the four friends woke early. Each of them wanted to see Lily's reaction to James's gifts. They hurriedly dressed and went down to the common room. Just as they arrived, Remus caught sight of Lily going through the portrait hole. She was carrying a single, red rose.
Remus and his friends left the common room and headed down the stairs to the Great Hall and breakfast. Catching sight of Lily sitting half-way down the Gryffindor table, the four boys quickly took seats where they had clear views of her. Peter and Sirius began piling food on their plates. James was too nervous to eat, and Remus felt as if a rock were sitting in the pit of his stomach. He knew that his suggestions would win Lily's heart, and, truly, he wanted to be happy for James, but it was still hard to watch the girl he loved fall for his best friend.
Suddenly, hundreds of owls swarmed into the Great Hall. A snowy white one swooped down the table and landed in front of Lily. Surprised, she untied the envelope attached to the owl's leg. Using her wand, Lily slit open the envelope and pulled out an old-fashioned Valentine. Puzzled, she opened the card and read the sentiment. Lily laughed silently and looked down the table at James who grinned at her. Whatever the card had said had put an unmistakable glint in her emerald eyes. Several of her friends leaned over to read the card, but Lily quickly concealed it in her book bag. Remus noticed that a red rose was lying on the table in front of her.
Remus felt as if someone had punched him in the stomach. He couldn't sit there any longer. Grabbing his book bag, Remus stood up.
"Where're you going, Moony?" asked Peter.
"I …er…need to make a detour before herbology," said Remus abstractedly.
Sirius gave Remus a hard look but refrained from making any comment. James was too busy staring at Lily to notice his friend's sudden departure and Peter was too occupied with his breakfast to care.