Once James had eaten his full, the two were walking briskly to Hogsmeade. James was keeping a steady pace which Lily struggled to keep up with. James, upon noticing this, politely shortened his stride without comment.

"I was hoping to go to Zonko's," James said nervously. "I mean, I know you hate that sort of stuff and everything so of course you don't have to come –"
"That'll be fun," Lily interrupted. "I need some new quills though, Scrivenshaft's have got some self-inking ones at the moment."

James decided that he can deal with that, and grinned. Lily was wonderful.

"Zonko's first then, so your quills don't get destroyed."

Lily thought James was joking, but upon entering the shop Lily had a dungbomb thrown into her face and had slipped on some green slime. James was already laughing at her.
"Stay close to me, Evans. And keep your eye out for traps!"

Doing as she was told, Lily stayed so close to James she was stepping on his heels. Bangs and explosions were heard throughout the store which occasionally caught Lily off-guard and made her jump, resulting in James chuckling. She ventured to touch a few things – a fluffy pink quill that was seemingly harmless, but would later develop a nasty rash on Lily's hand; a black ball that squirted mimbulus mimbletonia pus when a certain button was pushed (and of course, Lily pushed it); a golden telescope that had teeth once touched, and many more dangerous inventions that James loved.

He suggested that Lily stopped touching things, when a pair of gloves left bruises on Lily's arms. "Maybe we should leave," Lily countered, and continued to touch things. James, thoroughly amused by Lily's misfortune but upset that it was his fault seeing as he wanted to go to Zonko's, agreed. "I'll just get these and we'll leave, alright?"

In his bag once they'd left the store was a set of dice, an eyepiece, a telescope, an orange box full of powder, a green stone sort of like an emerald, some miniature rat 'lollies', a low supply of basic fireworks and a sock. Lily didn't want to know what they did.

"Off to Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop we go!" James said merrily. "I suppose that a self-inking quill would be useful."
"Well, I'll admit it's nowhere near as interesting as what you bought," Lily conceded, "But your fake enthusiasm is sweet all the same." James was thrilled Lily thought he was sweet, and skipped along beside her. "It's a cute store," he commented. "With a quite inventive roof."

Which was true, as the roof was thatched and had quills of all sizes and colours sticking out of it. They swayed in tune, obviously bewitched to do so, but they looked like they were swaying in a natural breeze.
"Yes, I always thought so," Lily agreed, and pushed the door open. A little tinkling of a bell sounded throughout the store, and a store clerk appeared from behind a corner.
"Ah, Miss Evans! Lovely to see you again!" A merry old man with rosy cheeks greeted. He was a bit on the chubby side and was a devout Quidditch supporter, James noticed, judging by the team flags attached to the wall. Lily didn't comment on them.
"Lovely to see you too, Mr Scrivenshaft," Lily greeted in return. "I was hoping –"
"The self-inking quills, of course!" Mr Scrivenshaft cried. "Yes, yes, right over there dear. They come in colours!"

James thought that the man was far too excitable over quills but thought it was endearing all the same. He noticed the owner eyeing him carefully, and decided now would be a good time to introduce himself.
"James Potter, sir," he said, and they shook hands firmly. A wide smile graced Mr Scrivenshaft's face.
"Ah, yes. The Gryffindor star. Tell me, dear boy, are you going to play professionally?"
"No sir, quidditch is just a hobby," James smiled. Mr Scrivenshaft looked a bit disappointed but didn't comment.

Lily returned to the desk. "Just these, please," and handed over three quills. With a charming smile, she paid for them and blushed profusely when she was reminded of her special discount. After asking James if he wanted anything, to which he replied in the negative, they left the store together.

"Discount, huh?" James teased. "Lucky you."
"I shop there often," Lily said. "You really should have gotten some of these, James. There are stainless ones that keep your fingers clean, and they look nice too."
"Eh, maybe if I'd seen one that caught my eye," James shrugged. Lily pulled out a white quill with a golden base. "This one is stainless," she said. "You can have it if you like."

After close inspection, James decided that it was a nice quill and gratefully took it from Lily. He promised himself he'd get her something nice in return.

"I didn't know you weren't going to play quidditch after school," Lily told James after he had tucked the quill away. Her lack of knowledge was true, but then, she never had taken much interest in James' life before now.
"Nah, I'm going to become an auror," James said proudly. "Me and Sirius have been talking about it for years."
"Quidditch would be great though," Lily said earnestly. "My parents always said that if you can do what you love for a career, your life will be a happy one."
James frowned while he thought. "Yes, but what about all the people whose lives aren't happy? We're at war, and I think I would be happier fighting for other people's freedom and happiness than playing quidditch."
Lily was impressed with his answer. "People are happy when they watch quidditch though," she argued. "Lots of them get really into it!"
"I guess there are just more important things, huh?" James grinned. Lily smiled back. "Anyway, today is not the day to discuss dark topics. Do you want to go to Honeydukes?"
"Ah, well, you know. Nothing else quite like a bit of sweetness to brighten up your day!"

James was in full agreement. "I'll buy you something nice," he promised.
"I can pay for myself, James," Lily said immediately. James shook his head.
"Nothing too extravagant. Just something small, as a thank-you for the quill you generously gave me," James said. When Lily still looked unsure, he added "I kind of figured you wouldn't want anything from my Zonko's bag."
This made Lily laugh. "You're right about that."

Upon seeing Honeydukes and realising that the quaint store was considerably empty, Lily was reminded that it was late afternoon and most students would be preparing to leave. "Let's make this quick so we can catch the carriages back to school," Lily suggested. This made James smirk.
"Not prepared for the walk back, are we?" he teased. When Lily scowled, he grinned. "Alright, alright. Just a quick browse. What catches your eye?"

Lily turned out to be very picky with her candy. He had pointed out plenty to her already but she declined all of them. James supposed it had something to do with the muggle side of her, but she didn't enjoy the candy that squirmed in your stomach or made you hear a buzz in your ear. James grabbed plenty of those.

"Just how much money do you have, exactly?" Lily asked accidentally. She had been wondering that all day but thought it too rude to ask. James didn't seem to mind, though.
"More than I know what to do with. How about this, Lily?" James grinned with a pleading look in his eye. "This is perfect."

In his hand was a tiny chocolate kitten that was very much alive and walking around. "James, I can't eat that," Lily said, horrified. James shook his head
"You're not meant to! It poops out chocolate cherries!" As Lily watched, the kitten squatted, a miniature cherry appeared on James rough palm, and with a huge grin the kitten meowed obviously expecting praise.
Now disgusted instead of horrified, Lily was speechless. "I don't think that's what I want," she said at last. James put the kitten back on display sadly.
"Maybe I should get it for Sirius?" he wondered, but decided against it. He realised that Lily had disappeared from his side.

Lily was over in the corner, looking at a dragon on the shelf . It was chocolate covered, with sugar coated wings and chewy liquorice claws. The whole thing was about the size of her forearm. Excited, she picked it up and brought it over to James. "This is way beyond my price range," Lily said excitedly, "and of course you don't have to get it for me, but if you're going to buy me something, this is it!"

The way that Lily was looking at the dragon (which didn't move, mind you, so James still believed the kitten was a better idea) like it was the most special thing in the world. How could James not buy it for her?

With a smile, he asked Lily if she had everything she wanted and proceeded to the counter to pay for everything. Lily was bouncing on her feet happily.
"There's a surprise in his stomach," the lady behind the counter informed Lily with a smile. This only made Lily happier.

Together they exited the store with their money pouches considerably lighter, but James for one didn't care. He had made Lily happy, they had no arguments, and their date was a success! "Ready to go back to school?" James asked Lily. He thought she looked a bit sad when she nodded, but he was probably just wishfully thinking.

"This dragon is nowhere near equal to that quill," Lily mumbled when they got into the very last carriage. It seemed to have been waiting for them. "I mean, the quill cost me nine sickles. What is that compared to this?" She held up the dragon for inspection.
"I don't care," James said. "Happiness is priceless."

Lily thought that was a bit sweet. "I wonder what's inside him?" she said to herself, shaking the dragon hoping to hear something move in its stomach. She heard nothing.
"I hope to be there when you find out," James murmured.
Lily had heard him. "If you're not, I'll tell you what you missed out on," she teased.

The carriage ride went by quickly, with Lily nibbling on her dragon and James explaining what all his Zonko's products did and how. To his non-surprise, Lily followed the explanation carefully and (to his complete surprise) complimented the magic technique. "I admire their creativity," Lily had admitted. "I just don't like what they're used for. There is so much more potential for them."

Hogwarts loomed ever closer and after a stretch of silence, Lily realised that she had had a good time with James. She didn't feel the need to tell him, though. He would know.

As it was, James was starting to wonder. She had been silent most of the ride back, and he was beginning to wonder if he'd said or done something wrong. He was so sure that today was perfect!
"So, have you had a good day?" he asked eventually. Lily nodded enthusiastically as the carriage screeched to a halt. Quickly, James jumped off and offered his hand to Lily as she climbed down. She took it briefly. "Have you had a good day?" she asked. James nodded.
"Good."

As dinner wouldn't be for another hour at least, they decided to head up to Gryffindor tower to put away their things. "I still say this wasn't a fair trade," Lily grumbled. James simply shrugged and led the way through his favourite secret passageways, ignoring Lily's endless questions. Where did this come from? Who else knows about these? Why are you always late if these are shortcuts? Why are we moving down if the tower is up? The trip took half as long as taking the stairs.

"So, we should do this again sometime?" James suggested hopefully, before they reached Fat Lady. Lily clutched her dragon close to her chest. "Yeah, or something else," she agreed. "It doesn't have to be Hogsmeade."

James' heart leapt at how perfect Lily was. He couldn't believe that she had said yes to another date. The first time was a miracle, let alone a second time! This was history!

"That sounds good," James managed to say calmly. He said the password and held the portrait open for her. It was strangely quiet inside the common room, and James found out why when he nearly crashed into Lily.

Everyone was staring at them. Literally everyone in the common room. The portraits as well. When James fixed them each with a glare, whispers erupted behind hands and muffled conversations began. Lily, blushing bright red, hurried into her dormitory.

"What are you all looking at?" James demanded angrily. "Are you that surprised to see the Head Boy and Girl getting along?" When no one responded, but everyone looked sufficiently guilty, James prowled into his own dormitory. His mates were waiting there.

"So the date went well then?" Remus asked casually when James slammed the door shut. James frowned at him. "Actually, yes, but then everyone in the common room was staring at us like a pair of show freaks," James grumbled.
Sirius started guffawing. "Yeah, I asked them to do that. Told them to expect an argument of the century." He clutched his stomach in laughter.

James was furious. How dare he? He almost ruined the most perfect date of James' life! James flashed across the room and grabbed Sirius by the front of his robes.
"Never do that again," James snarled, nose to nose with Sirius. When he noticed James was not amused, Sirius looked ashamed of himself.
"I'm sorry, mate," Sirius said quickly, prying James' hands of his clothes. "I thought it would be funny, that's all."

James huffed, realised he was overreacting, and apologised. "It's just that I had such a nice day with Lily," he sighed. Sirius lounged by his side. "Then to come into the common room and see everyone staring at us like we're freaks…"
"I'll go fix it," Sirius exclaimed and jumped up. "They'll be sorry they ever listened to me!"

He ran out of the room without another glance.