Lovely Lily.
Day One of our challenge shall commence on November 24. It is then we shall discuss the finer details of the challenge. Meet me at the Library at precisely seven p.m.
Do not be late.
P.S: No, we will not be skipping dinner.
P.P.S: Yes, I will be providing it.
With love, James.
Lily had held onto James' letter for the last three weeks. He gave it to her on the first day of November and she had not let it out of reach. It was crumpled and a bit ripped from being forced into her pockets every day.
Needless to say, today was the twenty-fourth, it was six forty-five, and Lily was on her way to the Library. Her heart fluttered thinking about what James had planned. Why had he left it so late?
She walked down the corridors, her footsteps echoing on the walls. The Library doors were up ahead, but James was nowhere in sight. This didn't worry Lily; she was early, after all.
Entering her favourite place in all of Hogwarts, she breathed in the comforting smell of books. Keeping an eye on the time, Lily decided that a quick browse wouldn't hurt anyone so long as she stayed near the front where she could be seen.
Passing the 'B' section, Lily felt a presence behind her. She pretended not to notice until she reached the 'C' section. "You're late," Lily accused.
James came into her vision, shrugging casually. "I'm not late. I said meet me here at seven. It's only…" James looked at the clock. "Six fifty-seven."
James was dressed in a casual button down shirt with black slacks. Mortified, Lily realised that she was still in her school robes. "Should I have dressed differently?" Lily asked quietly, gesturing to her attire. James appraised her body, then shook his head.
"If you're comfortable, so am I. Are you ready to go?"
Lily gestured towards the Library doors. "Lead the way."
James led Lily to an abandoned classroom on the fourth floor. It should have been dusty and more than a little dirty, but someone had evidently been in here to clean up. Not a speck of dust was in sight, not a piece of furniture was out of place, not a single smudge on the windows. A dozen floating candles, obviously stolen from the Great Hall, were providing the golden glow of the room.
In the centre a red and white checked picnic blanket was laying. A large, weaved wooden basket was sitting beside it, overflowing with food. Lily eyed James curiously.
"A picnic?" she questioned. "Seems a bit basic for you."
James huffed and sat on the blanket. "Are you not impressed by the simplicity?"
"Not really," Lily teased as she joined him. She reached for the basket but James snatched it first, opening it up and letting the tempting scent of bread waft out. Without Lily noticing, he slipped a folded piece of parchment out of the basket and sat on it.
"I thought the food should be basic, too," James said confidently, but inside he was nervous. What if Lily really wasn't teasing and she wanted extravagant food? James had always wanted to give Lily the best but she never seemed to want it. His doubts were overpowering. Handing over the basket for Lily to pick through, he began to ramble. "I mean, if you don't like any of it, I suppose we can just go down to the kitchens…"
Lily rolled her eyes at James and unpacked the food. "Relax, James. It's all perfect."
Something bubbled within James' stomach pleasantly. A smile from Lily was what convinced him he was on the right track. James took a deep breath and calmed himself. Why did he always have to get nervous on 'official' dates? Can't he just pretend it was a normal day?
Lily urged James to dig in to the food, having just finished laying it out on the blanket. She herself had already filled her plate with four different types of cheese, a large handful of plain biscuits, dedicated half of her plate to fruit, a small corner to chicken, bacon and sausage, and left the middle specifically for nuts. James looked amused.
"I love finger food," Lily explained. "My parents always used to fill my plate according to the layout of the table."
"I don't understand," James admitted. Lily frowned.
"If the nuts were in the middle of the table, they would go in the middle of my plate," Lily explained. "Meats on the right side of the table; right side of my plate. Understand?"
James observed Lily's plate and noted the layout. He chuckled. "You are very strange, Miss Evans."
"Organisation never killed anybody," she sniffed. "Besides, it could be worse. I could eat like a starving man."
James glared at Lily, as he was shovelling food into his mouth at that very moment. The comment was definitely directed at him. "I'm a growing boy!" he said around his food. Lily looked disgusted which made James throw a grape at her. "No frowning, Lily. It gives you wrinkles. Besides, it could be worse," he mimicked. Lily smiled. "I could eat like Sirius."
Lily's smile disappeared.
After they had eaten their full, and James had whipped out a sticky date pudding from nowhere and shared it with Lily, James began to get nervous again. He had two and a half hours to go. Deciding to pass the time the only way he knew how, James started to talk.
Lily was pleased that James was chatty, for she was nervous as well. They talked about Head duties and, after a brief argument, decided to reuse the patrol timetable for next month. Remus was brought up in conversation and they wondered what had happened to the giant kitten James created in Transfiguration. James jokingly pointed to the sausage and declared it cat.
"It is," James stressed. "It's cat!"
"No, it isn't," Lily giggled. "I know what cat tastes like!"
James was disgusted. "Holy hell, Lily Evans. That is gross."
"Dim Sims are quite a popular Chinese food in the muggle world," Lily said with a completely straight face.
Of course, Lily was lying. Dim Sims were not made from cats. But it was a running joke between Lily and her father and she was keen to see how James would react.
"I don't believe you," James said unsurely. Lily began giggling. "Evans, you actually are lying!" He threw a cube of cheese at her, which she caught and threw back. Impressively, he caught it in his mouth and ate it, Lily erupting in laughter.
The clock stroke nine, then ten, and finally James deemed it time to end their date. He hadn't noticed the time passing quickly; he was so immersed in Lily and everything that she was that he was pretty oblivious to the outside world.
The parchment James had stolen from the basket at the beginning of the date had long since been returned to the basket, along with most of the plates of food. Lily had insisted the nuts remain within reach.
"So do you think you can manage it?" Lily asked. James looked at her curiously.
"Win the game? Yeah, of course, it's only against the Hufflepuffs." James shrugged modestly.
Lily snorted. "Moving on from quidditch, James. I was talking about the challenge."
James chewed his lip. "Well, how did tonight go then? In your opinion?"
"Lovely, as always," Lily said kindly. "Can't wait to see what you've got planned tomorrow." At James' mischievous grin, she demanded to know what he was thinking about.
"I suppose this is as better time as any," he said mysteriously. "I prepared this earlier. Just to clear up any misconceptions about our challenge."
Lily's curiosity peaked. "What are you talking about?" James smirked at her.
"Come on, we should get back to the common room. Help me fold the blanket, will you?"
With a wave of Lily's wand and a disapproving frown from James – who had wanted to fold it manually, just to show that he could – they were leaving the classroom and on their way. James had taken out his letter and Vanished the basket (refusing to admit to Lily that Remus had transfigured it from a twig). Not wanting to leave the classroom, they dawdled back to the tower. The common room was only three flights of stairs away.
They took so long, in fact, that they had the misfortune of running into Filch.
"Aha!" he shouted gleefully. "Students out of bed! I'll have you now, Potter! Come with me!"
"Afraid not, Mister Filch," James said easily. He pulled his Head Boy badge out of his pocket. "Just finished my patrol shift with Miss Evans here."
Filch was puffing loudly, clutching an ugly cat to his chest. "You're lying, come with me!"
James rolled his eyes and almost began to follow Filch, but Lily intervened. "Actually, Mister Filch, if you have a problem with us being out of bed – because we were finishing school duties, mind you – you can take it up with Professor Dumbledore."
Lily grabbed James' hand and quickly led the way to the tower, leaving Filch gobsmacked and stuttering. Once out of sight, Lily began to giggle uncontrollably. "I've never seen him look so shocked!"
James looked at her from the corner of his eye. "Careful, Evans. If you keep this up you might actually give him a heart failure." Lily waved her hand, obviously thinking that what James said was irrelevant. This made James grin.
"Snuffle snout," Lily said promptly. James realised they had reached the portrait and Lily was now clambering through. James remembered the letter in his pocket and took it out, fiddling with it. Lily paused, waiting for him to climb through. "Aren't you coming?" she asked. James nodded and quickly followed her.
"So, I prepared this earlier," James began with a smile. Lily didn't take her eyes off the parchment in James' hand. "Just to clear up any misconceptions about our challenge," he repeated. Lily looked nervous.
"Okay," she said unsurely. James reached for a strand of Lily's hair, twirling it around his finger before letting it drop. He handed over the letter.
"I'll see you tomorrow," he said quietly, then disappeared into his dormitory.
Lily waited until she heard the door close before she sat in front of the fire. The parchment was resting of the floor in front of her. Faintly, she could see James' loopy scrawl. With a deep breath, Lily unfolded the parchment.
Lily dearest.
You asked me to show you why you should want to be mine. You told me to show you that you can trust me, and show you what you've been missing out on. Show you that you've been stupid for the last six years for not calling me yours.
Well, I won't.
Not today, anyway, and certainly not in this letter. You gave me three days to fill your criteria; I have chosen which dates. You did not say they had to be consecutive. You didn't give me any rules. Three days is equal to seventy two hours. I will use the time, down to the last minute, to remind you of how good of a friend I have been to you so far this year. Of all the progress we've made over the last two, nearly three months. I will remind you, not convince or persuade you. Either your feelings are there, or they aren't, and nothing I do over seventy two hours will change that.
Without the use of a love potion, of course, but I will refrain from using those!
Our next date will be one week from now; November 30. Hogsmeade weekend. I've used three hours of your time tonight; sixty nine hours to go. From eight in the morning, to four in the afternoon, I would be honoured if you graced me with your presence.
With love, Hope to see you then,
James.
Lily clutched the letter to her chest with a smile. Hogsmeade was sure to be a blast.