Chapter 4 – In which the bet kicks off to a rocky start, and Lily and James to an even rockier one.

The moment Sirius jumped down from his position atop the table, there was a shout of laughter from the back of the room and then a small tidal wave of movement as a message was passed forward through all the students. As James bowed to the on-looking crowd and began to make his way towards the portrait hole, there was a sudden burst of frenzied activity as the students scuffled to place various chairs, piles of books and convenient table legs directly into his path.

James remained blissfully ignorant of the activity, waving as he was to his peers. Blissfully ignorant, at least, until he tripped rather spectacularly over a strategically placed cushion, and only just managed to stop himself landing in a rather undignified pile on the floor because he first landed with a rather undignified bang against the nearest table. There was an immediate outburst of giggling from the nearest pack of girls.

James blushed, and was not impressed when he heard Lily's soft voice behind him. "How curious, Potter. I think this means they're rooting for me…"

"It means nothing of the sort! It only means they're getting into the spirit of the bet," he muttered back at her, sharply.

Turning to the crowd, he crossed his arms dramatically and said, "Ha, ha," rather drolly. The crows tittered back at him. Taking this as a sign of encouragement, he raised his arms and declared, "Gryffindors! Let's take this bet together with house pride. Let's show those slimy snakes just what Gryffindor is made of – that we don't stop when trouble is in our path, and we don't shirk from our bets! We keep our promises and fight to win!" He gave a cheer, and, predictably, the crowd of students cheered back with him.

Lily's voice growled angrily behind him. "That was a disgusting display of both melodrama and prejudice. What had the Slytherins done to you?"

"Been sorted into Slytherin?" James chuckled, flippantly, busy still waving to a crowd he couldn't see.

"James!" Lily hissed, furious and outraged. "I can't believe you-"

"Okay, okay," he interrupted her, wincing. "Don't get your wand in a knot, Evans – I was only joking!"

"I really wish I could believe that, Potter," Lily returned, coldly. "Unfortunately, this being you, I can't."

He sighed, audibly. "Fine, perhaps it was a bit – but, no," he carried on, changing his mind halfway through, and turned his sightless face towards her plaintively. "You know what they're like-"

"I know what you're like," Lily interrupted, furious.

"Look, I just needed to save the situation," James argued, his voice taking on a slightly whiny quality. "I can't have them all laughing at me. These kiddies all look up to me, you know?" he finished, as if expecting she would.

"I have no idea why," Lily returned, her tone decidedly frosty. "Trust you to completely twist a situation just to save you ego!"

James rolled his eyes under his blindfold, and growled back at her. "Well, it's your fault it happened anyway." Sensing an imminent eruption, he carried on hurriedly, "I thought you were supposed to be looking out for things like that! Good work, Evans, really impressive."

"I'm supposed to be looking out for things that render you unconscious in the hospital wing for a month," Lily retorted, coldly. "Believe me, Potter, if I warned you every time you were about to make a prat out of yourself, I doubt I'd ever be able to close my mouth again."

James paused, going suddenly, and suspiciously, still. His mouth twitched once, and then once more, giving Lily the vague thought that he might have some sort of tick. She peered at him, and all at once a dam seemed to break, and with a great guffaw James burst out laughing.

Lily's lips compressed into a thin, disapproving line. She sighed in disgust and observed the common room for a moment; the students all huddled together discussing the unfortunate situation in which she found herself with great excitement and amusement. She caught Heather's eye for a moment through the crowd, and saw both a commiserating and an 'I told you so' look floating there. She abruptly whirled around to face James again, not wanting to admit that perhaps Heather had been right.

The fact that he was still laughing, his breath now coming in short, wheezing gasps, did nothing to improve her temper.

"What?" she finally hissed at him, fed up.

"Oh, Evans," he managed to gasp out. "Don't you see? We have such chemistry together!"

For a minute Lily felt floored. Then, rebuking herself, she pulled herself together. "I see nothing of the sort, Potter!"

"But it's so obvious. These little sparring sessions you always seem to demand – you're flirting with me, Evans!"

"Flirting?" Lily gasped, appalled. "Have you really been chasing me for so long that you've forgotten what's it's like to talk to a girl who actually likes you, Potter?"

James merely flashed his cocky smile at her, and shook his head sadly. "Denial, Evans, is not healthy…"

"Now listen to me, Potter," Lily growled, utterly fed up with him – which didn't bode well, she was unimpressed to remember, for the next twenty-four hours they would spend entirely in one another's company. "There is not even a microgram of chemistry between us, you hear me? Not an ounce, not a gram. What there is is a large amount of idiocy from one of us, and a reciprocal amount of irritation from the other. I trust I won't have to enlighten you as to which of us those are assigned."

James ignored her, continuing to grin. "You can ignore the situation now, but you can't deny it forever, Evans! Just you wait, by tomorrow you'll have changed your mind completely!"

"I highly doubt it," Lily assured him, with complete confidence.

Just then a vulgar shout interrupted them from someone at the back of the common room. "Get a room, you two! We thought this was supposed to be a bet!"

"Yeah!" chorused a group of voices from various areas, before a storm of chanting broke out, students laughing hysterically as they all joined in.

"START THE BET! START THE BET! START THE BET!" began tumbling at them from all sides.

Grinning, James bowed to the onlookers and then with a dramatic swish he whirled away from Lily and began fumbling his way though the rest of the obstacle course. Lily sighed, cast one more desperate look at Heather, from whom she received little sympathy, and followed him. James paused once, to salute once more to his spectators, and then turned to go through the portrait hole. Unfortunately, he had his dimensions slightly wrong, and instead of exciting the common room, he took a step forward and crashed into the frame surrounding the Fat Lady's painting.

Lily snorted, while a scream of delighted laughter broke out behind them.

James winced, and rubbed at his forehead. "I meant to do that, Evans," he mumbled in her direction.

Lily rolled her eyes, and replied sarcastically, "Of course you did, Potter."

"No really," he assured her, "completely intentional – got to keep the kiddies happy, you see." Jerking a thumb over his shoulder, he indicated a group of first year's who all looked delighted at this most unusual show, and were making a great deal of noise in their glee.

Lily shook her head. "Yeah, regular hero you are, Potter."

He grinned, pleased, in her general direction. "See! Knew you'd come around, Evans. Just you wait, after this day is over you're going to love me!"

Lily deigned not to reply to that, but gave him a not-so-gentle shove out of the real portrait hole. Sighing, she closed her eyes and prayed for strength to get her through this ordeal.

Merlin save me!

Author Note: I just want to say thank you so much to everyone who has reviewed - receiving so many encouraging responses really increased my determination to carry on writing this fic. Thank you so much, everyone!

I really did intend to start the bet proper in this chapter, but Lily and James decided, as they normally do, that they wanted to write things their way! They wouldn't stop badgering me until I'd written this scene, lol. Next chapter will be up soon - I'll keep you posted!

Thanks!

xx