Disclaimer: oh, you know.

So Far: James and Marlene are in a bad spot in their relationship. We've met a guy named Benjy Fenwick. Dorcas and Cam are in a relationship but Dorcas is all wiggly about it. She's not quite as wiggly about talking to Marlene, though. Sirius and Lily had a fight.

Chapter 20

Or

Of Date Night

"Mate!"

"What, Sirius?" said James, exasperated. "What?"

"Where are you right now?" Sirius said. "Concentrate."

"I'm trying, but all I can think of is – "

"I don't care. This is important stuff."

"It's a game."

"I don't see your point."

"Sirius, if you don't let me think about my next move, I'm not going to make my move."

"Fine."

"Great. Rook to B3."

"Knight to B3."

"Shit."

James and Sirius were in a particularly secluded area in the common room, to avoid the usual crowd that would gather around their chess games. They had shooed away a couple of first years, and three fourth years moved to farther away seats when the game didn't escalate to anything interesting. Their banter was half-hearted at best, and bitter. The usual cheating, the hexes, the need for fighting, it just wasn't there today.

"You're the one who took forever to make a mistake."

"I wasn't blaming you."

"I didn't say you were."

"Queen to D8."

"Crap."

"You're the one who didn't think before making a mistake."

"Fuck you. Mate."

"Am I interrupting something?"

James and Sirius both turned abruptly. Lily was standing there, clutching a bunch of books and magazines to her chest. She was looking at the chess game, but she didn't seem to be referring to the board.

"Only in the literal sense," grumbled Sirius. Lily ignored him.

"Potter, these are for you," she said.

James stared at her for a moment. "What are for me?"

"Oh, right," she said, shuffling through her things and shoving the magazines into his hand. "McGonagall told me to tell you to look at them. Apparently they're really old issues that she doesn't need anymore, or something, but she said that they might interest you. They're, uh, Transfiguration Today, mostly, I think."

"Oh, okay," James said, smiling hesitantly. "Thanks, Evans."

"Don't mention it. Congratulations on the heart and stuff the other day, by the way," she said. "It was pretty cool." They didn't murmur their thanks. She then spent a moment staring at each of them – James, Sirius, and then the board – and said to Sirius, "You seem to be losing."

"I am."

"Well, then I'd probably move that pawn to D5." While Sirius looked at the board, Lily turned around, saying, "Well, I have a prefect's meeting to go to. Bye."

And then she was gone.

"She's right. Pawn to D5."

"Sirius!"

"What? The point is to win, you know."

"Is it?"

"Merlin, just make your move already."

She wanted to run her hand through his hair. It was too neat, and she felt like messy hair would probably suit him more.

"Lily?"

"Hmm?"

"Can you take the shift?"

Lily snapped back into attention, looking at Frank. "Which one?"

"The one tomorrow night."

"Tomorrow's Thursday, right?"

"Friday."

"Right. Then, sure."

"Okay, so Lupin and Evans for Friday. Fenwick, how are you for…"

Oh, his eyes, too. He was looking at her, and his eyes were so huge and so brown. Like chocolate. Or coffee. Or the ground after first rain.

"Are you okay, Evans?"

She blinked. It was the end of the meeting. Shit. She needed to stop doing that.

"Hey, Lily, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, thanks." She smiled half-heartedly at Remus, who was waiting for her near the door, beckoning for him to continue without her. "Really, I'm fine. I just got a little… dizzy, for a moment."

She sat there, her hands in her lap and her hair hiding her face from the world, or possibly, the world from her. She took a few deep breaths, then looked up and nearly had a heart attack.

She had assumed she was alone. Evidently, she was wrong.

"Wha – are you okay?"

"Yes. Yes, I'm fine. Just – why are you still here?"

"Why are you still here?"

"I, uh, I was dizzy."

"Well, I was looking over this." He gestured to the pile of papers he had in front of them. "Do you – uh, do you need help to get back to your dorm?"

"No."

"Oh, okay."

"But thanks, really. Like, that was very – uh, very sweet of you. I'm just. I don't think I – I'm sorry. I would actually love it."

"Oh, okay. Then, uh. Let's go?"

"Yea – yes. Right. Okay."

They were holding hands. Sort of. He had been helping her up and then it just sort of stayed that way.

"So, anyway – here we are."

Wait, what? How could they already be at Gryffindor tower? It hadn't been nearly enough time.

"Uh, Fenwick – "

"Yeah?" He turned around. His cheeks were a bit flushed, and he was smiling in the most adorable way. Like he was looking at a puppy. Or a baby. Something you couldn't help but smile at. (Honestly, she wanted to smile so bad, she couldn't quite grasp why she wasn't doing so. It felt like her entire face had turned into some weird kind of jelly or something.)

"WouldyouliketogotoHogsmeadewithme?"

"I'm sorry?"

"Right. Yeah. Uhm." She coughed. "Would you like to go to Hogsmeade with me?"

Benjy grinned. "This weekend? Yeah."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Then – at eight, at the great hall?"

"Great."

"Great. Then – then I'll see you there."

"Yep."

He turned around abruptly. She waited until he was gone and gave a great big sigh.

"Cute, that one," said the Fat Lady.

"Porcupine," said Lily, and the Fat Lady, reluctantly, swung forward. She rushed, practically ran, all the way to her dorm – James and Sirius weren't playing anymore – and crashed onto her bed.

"Merlin," said Tally in that gruff tone she seemed to have all the time now. "What's wrong with you?"

Lily ignored her, flipping to lie on her back. Her face was flushed, and not from the physical exertion of running up too many steps.

About an hour later, she was talking to Mary. "I asked him," she said.

"And?" Mary asked urgently.

Lily giggled.

She actually giggled.

"He said yes! We're going to Hogsmeade together," she said with a smile as wide as the sea. "He was so cute! His hair is not messy enough, but everything else about him is so…" She sighed in glee. "Perfect."

"I can't believe you're going on a date with him. Of all people, too," Mary said.

"Neither can I."

She was going on a date with Benjy Fenwick. On Valentine's day weekend.

It was going to be the best weekend ever.

"This is going to be fun," Cam said. Dorcas nodded, holding his hand. He was much warmer than she felt. Why did Valentines' have to be in the middle of February, of all months? It was so cold.

They stepped into The Three Broomsticks. She spotted Marlene and her heart did cartwheels for a moment. Marlene waved at her, sort of, and she nodded and followed Cam to get something to drink.

Marlene was here with James. Not with her. Relax, she told herself. It's a hopeless crush, nothing else.

Shit. Do I have a crush?

She glanced at Marlene, who was sipping out of her Butterbeer and very obviously not looking at anyone, instead, staring at the ceiling. Merlin's sorry arse, she thought. I have a crush.

Dorcas wanted to jump out of a window. Anything is better than this.

Madam Puddifoot's. For some, a hellhole of romantic bullshit with some sugary glue on the side. For others, a haven of chocolaty goodness and adorable fluff. For Lily, it was a mystery she'd never thought she would have to tackle.

It's not that this was her first ever date. It's just that they had somehow never gone anywhere. In fourth year, Carl Casington – then a sixth year, and a fellow Muggleborn – asked her just before the winter holidays, and he actually took her to the movies. He tried to kiss her afterwards, but managed only to rub his oily, pimply cheek on hers. Another date of hers was in the beginning of fifth, and he was a Hufflepuff. She couldn't actually remember if his name was Paul or John, just that he never understood any of her Beatles references and that he never got past taking her to the Astronomy tower for their first date, because the first one had no redeeming qualities whatsoever.

So far, Benjy had been nothing but courteous. But it wasn't going to be anything more, and she thought that he could tell as well.

Life would go on if they didn't go on another date. There was nothing heart-stopping, no spark, no electricity-filled moments. It was warm, friendly. Holding his hand was nothing like Mary had described to Tally, early on in third year, when she had gone on the first date out of all of them – Lily, Marlene, and Dorcas were listening in secret, pretending to do homework, but Mary obviously knew, or was trying to brag, as she was talking much louder than she usually would.

(She was still fantasizing about messing up his hair. His tie could be a bit looser, and his smile was too… straight. His face was too symmetrical when he smiled.)

Madam Puddifoot's was different for each person who went there. For some, a nightmare of pink and red, for others, a much needed romantic escape.

Right now, for Lily, it was like a distraction. A huge, fuchsia pink bubble that was jumping up and down, preventing her from dealing with the fact that this guy – who was adorable and quiet and polite – wasn't the guy for her.

And she had liked him so much just a few hours ago.

"Thank you," she told the waitress who was taking away the teapot. "How much was it?"

"I can pay – " Benjy started saying.

"Nah, I was the only one who ate anything. I'll pay."

"Oh. Okay."

Money changed hands, and Benjy and Lily went outside. It was cold out, though reasonable for a February evening. Benjy's fingers were twitching.

"It's not going to work out," Lily said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. The wind was blowing and messing his hair up a bit, which she was all for, but that probably meant that her hair was getting tangled up as well.

"No, it isn't," Benjy agreed, seeming relieved. "I didn't want to say anything quite yet, but – "

"WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?"

It was a voice Lily recognized. Not just recognized, but in fact knew very well. The familiarity extended to this very tone of voice, as it was James Potter who burst out of The Three Broomsticks, yelling and – were those tears?

That was new.

"I WANT YOU TO PAY ATTENTION!" screamed Marlene, and did she - glance at Lily's direction? "I WANT YOU TO GIVE A DAMN! INSTEAD YOU IGNORE ME, GO PLAY WITH YOUR LITTLE FRIENDS… I WANT YOU TO STOP. MERLIN – "

"WELL WHY DON'T WE?"

His face was flushed, though, oddly enough, not as flushed as he tended to be when they argued. His glasses were askew and slightly foggy. His eyes were puffy and he was wiping leftover tears away.

"Why don't we?" he repeated, though he seemed to be talking to himself.

Marlene stared at him for a moment, her mouth left open in shock. Lily realized she had pushed her way to the front, so she now stood an arm's length away from her, and when Marlene turned around, she automatically reached for her. "Oh, Marlene," she whispered.

Marlene pulled away from her. "I told you so much," she said, glancing for a moment at James, and it seemed as if she would say something heartbreakingly sad, or hurtful. Instead, she turned around, and, as she walked away, said coldly, "If I hear any of it around school, I will come for you."

A/N: So this is it you guys! The end-of-summer-oh-God-it's-almost-senior-year chapter!

A lot of stuff is changing. This arc, I can officially tell you, will close in chapter 22, and a whole new set of plotlines will start almost immediately. And Jily is coming your way in spades.

Just hang on there.

Lots of love, and don't forget to favorite, share, follow, and most importantly - review!

JustGail