This is ridiculous.

I can get over Evans.

Just don't think about her hair. Or her eyes. The way they spark when she's angry. How she pushes her hair out of her face as she makes last minute edits to her essays outside the classroom doors because she thought of something else she just has to add. When she rests her head on the table after a long day and watches the candle wax dripping down the side and time seems to slow down. How sometimes her sweater rides up a little on her back and there's a spattering of freckles above her waistline…

No. You are James Fleamont Potter. Time to give up. It's hopeless.

Hopeless. Hopeless. Hopeless.

James slammed shut Moste Potente Potions in frustration, earning a glare from Madame Pince. Ignoring her, he let his head slide down from his hand until it banged on the table.

"Shhhh!"

With a sigh, James looked up, glared back at Madame Pince, and noticed Marlene McKinnon, one of his Gryffindor quidditch teammates, enter the library. Spotting James, she gave him a wave and plopped herself down in the seat across from him.

"Are you done with that book? I need to use it for Slughorn's essay. I can't believe he's asked for three feet of parchment on one ingredient! How does studying one component of the Polyjuice Potion have any bearing on our understanding of the entire potion? I mean, I suppose that the presentations will help wi—"

"Mar, you're rambling."

"Oh, sorry! It's just this essay has been driving me insane for the past few of weeks, and now that I've procrastinated it to the final week, I'm freaked. Lily is supposed to come help me if you'd like to stay for a bit."

James started at Lily's name, standing abruptly.

"Nope, I've gotta dash!"

"Wait!" yelled Marlene, immediately realizing her loud mistake as Madame Pince sprang into action in her peripheral vision. Marlene quickly got to work behind a pile of books to appease the strict librarian (and hide from her).

It was odd, thought Marlene, that James had run so quickly before Lily got here. Usually he took advantage of every opportunity to chat up her best friend...

• • •

I'm fine. Not freaking out. Should I put on the cloak? Nah, that's a bit overkill, don't you think, James? If I'm going to get over Evans, I have to at least be able to pass her in the corridor like a normal person. Besides, we're heads together, I do it all the time. It's agonizing, yes, but doable. Deep breaths. Maybe walk a little faster…

James turned the corner and ran up the stairs, fervently praying that he wouldn't run into a particular redhead. Once he was in front of the Fat Lady, he breathed a sigh of relief and dashed through the portrait hole after mumbling the password. Refusing to glance around the common room, he continued up the stairs to the dormitory — failing to ignore the flash of red in the far corner of the room.

James swept into the dorm and ran his finger nervously through his hair. "So… I lied…"

James Potter's two (of three) best friends looked away from their respective tasks — Remus from his Charms paper, and Sirius from staring at the ceiling.

Sirius was the first to respond, "We know, Prongs."

After a beat, Sirius spoke again. "Uh about what, exactly?"

"Evans," said James.

"Oh, right!" laughed Sirius. "Well, you can't just expect us to believe that you've suddenly gotten over Evans."

"But I tried so hard!" cried James. "She despises me. I don't understand what I'm doing wrong, you know? I thought I 'matured.' That being Head Boy would give me a chance to prove it to her. But no. She's determined to hate me forever."

James sighed and fell onto his bed, whacking his head on the headboard in the process. Wincing, he turned to his friends. "You've got to help me. Evans is a lost cause and one way or another, it's about time I moved on."

Remus slowly closed his book, nodding, and finally spoke. "So, we need a plan."

"Agreed."

"When's the next Hogsmeade visit?" questioned Remus.

"Next weekend."

Sirius shot a piece a balled-up parchment at James. "Aw what a good head boy, knowing all the Hogsmeade dates, staying on top of his homewo—"

Throwing it back, James glared at Sirius. "Shut it, Snuffles."

"Now now that's not very nice."

"Well, you can shove your snide remarks up your arse."

At that moment, Peter slumped through the door, dropping his book bag. "What are we talking about? New prank?"

"Pffft, I wish. Prongsie here is in the process of getting over Evans," said Sirius, leaning back in his chair with the classic Sirius smirk on his face that James wanted to smack off him.

Peter laughed. "Not possible."

"Oy! Is too! Moony has a plan!" James couldn't believe what he was hearing. Did his friends have no faith in him? He supposed that the past five years of pining after Evans didn't help his case, but he was determined to move on. Hateful banter was one thing, humiliating insults and a vow to date the giant squid before him even if he was the last man on earth was an entirely different thing.

Remus sighed, "All I did was ask when the next Hogsmeade was."

"But you were on to something!"

"It's not exactly a radical idea, mate. Just ask another girl to Hogsmeade. Get used to dating other people and get Lily off your mind."

James nodded thoughtfully and pulled Remus into a hug. "Moony, that's brilliant."

Remus groaned at the unexpected embrace. "Like I said, not a radical idea."

"Well, we know Prongsie isn't the brightest of the bunch. Had a crush on the same girl for the past five years, dontchaknow."

After letting go of Remus, James — noticing how close Sirius's chair was to falling over — decided to give it a little push for all the snide comments.

Sirius's face flashed in horror as he felt himself fall to the floor with a bang. James snorted, Sirius glared. "You're going to regret that, Prongs"

"Hah! Not likely, Padfoot. The look on your face was priceless."

Sirius lunged for James, tackling him to the ground. Neither Remus nor Peter interfered, used to at least one brotherly wrestling match a week. Instead, they sat on Remus's bed and cracked open the Honeydukes hoard, waiting for the spat to end.

After a couple of minutes, Sirius's head popped up. "Fine, Prongs, you win this time, but only because I pity you."

"Wow. How sincere Padfoot." While his voice portrayed annoyance, there was a shine in his eyes as he put his glasses on — he could never hold a grudge against his best mate.

"Wormtail, pass me one of those Honeydukes sweets you've been hoarding. James just broke my back."

Throwing one over to Sirius, Peter took several more for himself and turned to James. "Now back to our original discussion: who are you going to ask?"

"No idea, Wormtail, but James Fleamont Potter is officially on the prowl!"

"Prongs, never ever say that in front of a girl. She will run in the other direction."

James pranced back to the middle of the room after grabbing his own chocolate and pulled Sirius into a headlock. "I beg to differ, Snuffles. Have you seen my good looks?"

Sirius laughed, "Please, they definitely don't even compare to mine."

"Should we take a poll?" challenged James.

Smirking, James released Sirius from the headlock and the two of them faced Remus, still stuffing his face with Chocolate Frogs.

"We already know I'll win, there's no point, right, Moony?" said Sirius.

"Please leave me out of this."

"Mooooonyyyyyyyy."

"Moooonyyyy, you can't back out."

"You are both equally handsome," said Remus as he rolled his eyes. His friends were absolutely ridiculous.

Sirius and James stared at each other with furrowed brows as if a staring contest would determine who was the most eligible bachelor of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (if you must know, the female population of Hogwarts was evenly split). After some time, Peter interrupted the staring contest to inquire as to when they would be heading down for dinner, at which point the three other boys realized how hungry they were and set out for the Great Hall immediately.

Swinging his arms around his friends' shoulders, Sirius smiled. "Prongsie, time for you to find the girl of your dreams."