James lied in his four poster bed, the curtains drawn. Only one face came to mind, and it belonged to the beautiful Lily Evans. He stared without really seeing what he was looking at, his mind only meters away… somewhere around the girls' dormitory. He could hear Sirius snoring. It must be very early, he thought. There was just no way Lily could be with that slimeball. There wasn't much time until the end of term, and soon enough it would be two whole months before he saw Lily again. Surely those two lovebirds would be spending the summer together. Normally Sirius would be his go-to man, but he needed someone with a little more experience in the matters of love. Pulling the curtains back, he got up, put his bathrobe on, and went to his trunk. He pulled out a piece of parchment, a quill, and his bottle of ink. He brought everything down to the common room, which was empty. Sitting down in a chair, he uncapped his ink well and slowly dipped his quill in, thinking. Dear Father, he began. But how should he phrase his problem best? I'm in love with this girl, Lily – I've mentioned her before. But she's dating this git from Slytherin. What should I do? How did you meet mum anyways? He paused as footsteps sounded from the stairs. It was Sirius.

"What are you doing up so early, mate? It's th-the w-w-weekend." Sirius couldn't stifle his yawn.

"Just writing a letter to my parents."

"Your parents? You're going to see them in two weeks!"

"I know, I just… have a question for my dad."

"It's about Lily, isn't it? You're asking him for advice, aren't you?" Sirius knew him too well. There was no point in hiding the truth.

"Er…yeah, I am."

"Good idea!" James bent back down over his letter. Sirius says hello. Please send back your reply pronto. James. He signed the letter with a flourish and folded it. Standing up, he looked at Sirius, "Want to come with?" They clamored out of the portrait hole and headed for the owlery.

"So what are you going to do about Lily?"

"Dunno yet," he replied sulkily. James Potter always got his way. Quidditch star, good marks, nearly everybody liked him. They climbed the steps to the owlery.

"I think one good hex would do him some good," Sirius boasted. James merely nodded. No, he thought to himself, it was Lily he had to convince. Perhaps he could talk to her, try to make her see sense. He chose a barn owl, and tied the letter to its leg.

"Take this to my dad, and make it quick," he snapped. The owl clicked its beak indignantly and took off through one of the oval windows. Sirius watched him curiously, his arms folded across his chest. James kept quiet as he made his way back down the stairs, Sirius following him. It was quite uncharacteristic. Suddenly an idea came to him. Surely all girls liked flowers? He would get her flowers! "Sirius, what about flowers? Girls like flowers, don't they?" Sirius looked rather taken aback. "And I'll get her lilies! She'll love that!" He began rushing back to Gryffindor tower, Sirius still quite stunned, but following nonetheless. Hadn't they just done something of the sort in Transfiguration? Moony would show him how to do it, or at least do it for him.

They climbed back through the portrait hole to find a few students up already, Remus included. James rushed over to him, slightly manic over his idea, nearly shouting his request at Remus.

"Hey, you know that thing we just did in Transfiguration? I don't know when it was, but it was turning weeds into flowers! What was the incantation for that? I need flowers!" James had thrown himself into a chair next to Remus, staring at him eagerly.

"You know, James," said Remus serenely. "This is coming up in or O.W.L.s. You should know this. But as I think I know what this is about, I'll help." He waved his wand, and a small bouquet of flowers appeared. They weren't lilies, to James's dismay, but they would do. Remus wasn't usually so accommodating; something must have put him in a good mood, but James didn't question it. He dashed upstairs, quickly dressed, and made a failed effort to flatten his hair. Taking the stairs back to the common room two at a time, he once again threw himself into a chair facing the stairs. He picked up the flowers and waited. Sirius stared at him, his mouth slightly open. This was definitely not his best mate. Perhaps someone had slipped him a love potion. But that certainly couldn't be, because Sirius knew that James already fancied Lily. No, something in him had snapped. That had to be it. Sirius watched James as he impatiently tapped his foot, waiting for Lily to come into the common room. He shook his head, and made his way to get dressed, leaving James to his madness.

It felt like an eternity for James. His back was starting to ache and he was getting cramp in his leg. But he didn't dare move in case he might miss Lily. He watched as people came and went, watched as couples sat together, watched as they left. How late could Lily be sleeping? Or had he already missed her? A thought crossed his mind; perhaps he had missed her, and she was already out with Snivellus. He frowned at that thought. But at last, she came down the spiral staircase, fully dressed, with her books under her arm. James immediately stood up, slightly stiff, and walked over to her as she sat down at one of the tables. He brandished the flowers at her, watching her face expectantly. Lily raised an eyebrow, then eyed the flowers.

"You seriously don't expect me to take those, do you?" She shook her head. "So conceited," she muttered, grabbing her books, and marched out of the portrait hole. James stood there for a moment, his mouth gaping. He threw down the flowers and chased after her.

"Lily! Lily, wait!" James slammed into the back of the Fat Lady, forcing her open with a bang, to many shrieking protests. He was faster than her, and caught up. Grabbing her wrist, he spun her around.

"Don't touch me!" She yanked her wrist free.

"I'm sorry," he said, somewhat lamely. "But you honestly don't see what a git Snivellus-"

"Don't call him that." She was seething.

"Sorry," James said again, and corrected himself. "Don't see what a git Severus is? You honestly don't hear about what he does with those Death Eater pals he hangs around with? How about what they did to Mary Macdonald?" He spat the words at her, stinging her. Lily fought back a cringe. She obviously had heard.

"Just what they do doesn't change who Severus is," she spat back at him.

"She's in St. Mungo's, Lily! They tortured her! And your precious Sevvy was right there alongside them! Don't tell me you deny what they do! Or did sweet, naïve little Sevvy forget to mention the details?" James felt the contempt burning in his chest. Jealousy was overheating his head.

"You're no better than they are, what with dangling people by their ankles every five seconds!"

James spluttered. "Yeah, well…well at least I don't go around torturing people into insanity!"

Lily spun back around, tears in her eyes and dashed off towards the library. James clenched his teeth and shut his eyes. Slowly and purposefully, he turned back around faced the Fat Lady, who was obviously not pleased.

"Oh yes, let's just bust through doors, no respect at all!"

"Gobledegook," he muttered. She humphed and swung open. James climbed through, sullen, and sat down next to Sirius. He put his head in his hands.

"Didn't go well, I take it?"

"No," James groaned and hung his head. He covered his face with his hands and exhaled. His cheerfully planned conversation had gone disasterously awry.