A/N: Happy independence day to all the Americans!
Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans
thirteen: butterbeer
He loves her because she can completely deflate his ego.
The first time he asks her out is third year, during the first Hogsmeade trip. He's sauntering down the streets with his mates, carrying bagfuls of Zonko's merchandise and feeling like he's on top of the world.
Then, he sees that familiar flash of red hair down the road and his palms start to itch and his thoughts start to muddle and his tongue starts to go numb and he knows he has to say something soon before he's too much of a mess to even smile at her so he says the first utterly prattish thing that comes to mind.
"Get a butterbeer with me, Evans!" Except, it's more of a demand then a question and she doesn't like that very much and suddenly he's walking down the street with his mates feeling like he just got ran over by a hippogriff, when it was really only Lily Evans and her devastating rejection.
That day, he wallows in his embarrassment and self-pity and declares it to be the worst day of his life. He is wrong, because there are many days after that when he sees her and his insides turn to mush and all he can say is "Get a butterbeer with me, Evans!" and all he can hear is her continual rejection and all he can think is that maybe he is not the greatest bloke in the world anymore.
He hates that she was the person to make him realize his flaws but at the same time he loves it because she's Lily Evans and she can make him feel like worthless scum one day and king of the world the next and the amount of control she holds over him is frightening but at the same time it's devastatingly amazing and he loves her for it.
