James was always raised a bit more traditionally. His parents were fairly progressive for their age, but they were well-off enough that they had a special place in their hearts for the past, and for staying true to tradition. And as part of that, they'd always taught him to be chivalrous and a bit old fashioned when it came to women.

James liked to say he was a feminist, but he also knew that he was also the type of bloke who insisted on a little bit of tradition when it came to dating women. At heart, he thought he was a romantic, but he had never liked anybody seriously enough to really know for sure. He could never quite wrap his head around the way that Sirius treated women, and if anything, James was more of a serial monogamist. He was never the type of person who would get involved with a girl and not date her. If ever there was a physical connection, he would almost always date the girl out of guilt, even if he wasn't sure if he wanted to.

He'd dated a couple girls for a couple weeks during his first three or four years at Hogwarts, but nothing serious. How serious could a relationship be in his preteen years, anyways? But it was Lily who'd always been in the back of his mind, the first girl he'd met on the train. Even then, he'd been a little stunned at how pretty she was, with the flaming red hair and the sharp green eyes. Because she never fully left his mind, he vowed to spend fifth year getting Lily to go out with him, and he really did give it his all for a couple months. He made an absolute fool of himself, making announcements in the Great Hall, holding up corridor traffic between classes, grabbing the mic after Quidditch matches. But after the year ended, after a dozen attempts, and especially after she publicly yelled at him after O.W.L. exams, he decided he was going to forget about her.

During his sixth year, he got a bit caught up in Sirius's world, leaning a bit more into substances than he thought he would, spending more time at parties, using other girls as a distraction or as an ego boost. He became more lax about his own rules, getting involved with girls he didn't particularly want to date, but he was bored. It felt good to have attention from pretty girls. He wound up spending the better part of a semester dating Gemma Jones, a Hufflepuff Quidditch player. She ended up being the first person that James ever slept with.

They'd broken up, amicably enough, in the spring of the sixth year, and James hated the fact that Lily was still on his mind. He was worried that at this point, it was just the idea of her that he was so obsessed with, or the chase. But as they saw each other in passing more, and were able to have more cordial conversations, he kept feeling the crush come back. Every time he talked to her, he couldn't help noticing how passionate she was, how caring, how smart, how funny, how pretty.

He wouldn't say that it was his goal for his last year to get Lily to go out with him, but it was definitely something he thought about a lot. He was worried he wouldn't really see her after school anymore, and then that would really be it. Then he would always wonder what would've happened if she'd just given him one chance for a date. But whatever he had done during fifth year certainly hadn't worked, so he was trying to be more go-with-the-flow, and let things happen a bit more organically. Clearly what she knew about him so far wasn't doing it for her, so maybe she just needed to see a different side of him. He always had a feeling that he messed up and said the wrong things to her anyways, so maybe he just needed to loosen up a bit. If she didn't get along with the more genuine, more real version of James, then maybe he could accept that it wasn't meant to be, and just move on. But he had to know first, had to at least try to get Lily to know the real him.

But still, he didn't want to get his hopes up. She was still stiff and suppressed around him, and he honestly thought there was a good chance she would never go out with him. So when things started escalating with Charity at one of the first parties of the year, he let it happen. And then he let it happen again, a couple days later. He mentioned to Charity that he wasn't looking for a relationship, half wanting to break things off, but she seemed fine with it. And, well, it was kind of the perfect situation for James.

He could go on, pining after Lily in peace, but he didn't feel like he was wasting away while he was waiting for her. He had somewhere to work out his needs, and if anything, it actually helped relax him a little bit more around Lily. Of course, his friends weren't going very easy on him about it.

"Well, if Sirius gets back with Amelia, you can all double date," Peter laughed, a reminder that Amelia Bones and Charity Burbage were inseparable. "How cute."

"Not happening," Sirius said, shaking his head vigorously. "In fact, please don't bring Charity around too much. I'm worried Amelia will be there too."

"Aw, but what if Mary tags along?" Peter prodded, referencing Mary's friendship with the pair of Ravenclaws. "You'd like that, wouldn't you?"

"Are you trying to get me poisoned?" Sirius asked. "Because I wouldn't put that past Amelia. Heads up, Mary's headed this way."

James watched the group of three girls approach. It was rare to see Lily without either of them, especially now, with the Slytherins at their necks. He thanked his lucky stars that he hadn't done something egregious to turn Macdonald or McKinnon against him years ago, because that was something he didn't know he could come back from. He realized Mary was giving a small smile in this direction, and James followed Mary's gaze to Sirius. James turned to him.

"What's going on?" James asked. "Wormtail said Macdonald paid you a visit last night."

"We smoked," Sirius said. "That was it. Macdonald is proving hard to crack. Me offering her drugs is the only way to even get her to come see me."

"You didn't make a move?" James asked.

"The vibes weren't there," Sirius said. "Didn't want to push it, since it seems like things are going well with the golden trio right now. Gaining trust and all that."

"Weird for you," James said. "You like her? You guys actually have a lot in common."

Sirius shrugged. "I do like her. More than usual. But it's not that deep."

Remus lowered his gaze, poking distastefully at his food. Half-heartedly, he asked, "You think she's still after somebody else?"

Sirius shrugged. "Don't know. Don't really care. Things will happen, or they won't. I'll give it my best work, which honestly, I haven't done in awhile."

"Just do me a favor," James said. "Try not to do anything to get Macdonald to hate your guts."

Sirius laughed. "And why would that be, Prongs?" he asked, feigning stupidity. Sirius knew good and well that James was terrified that Sirius would do something that would encourage Evans to put even more space between them. "What are you worried about?"

"Incoming," Peter said, only a second before it happened.

"Hey James," Charity said, her fingers passing along his back. James nervously shot a glance in Lily's direction, but luckily, she was distracted. He turned around to face Charity.

"Hey, hey," he said, wondering how he could get her out of there as fast as possible. "Can I see you tonight?" he asked, almost automatically.

Charity smiled, and James softened a bit. He forgot that he really did enjoy her company. She was light-hearted and easy to be around, and she had an openness to her that had made her so likable at school. "Sure," she said. "Eight okay?"

"I'll be outside the common room," James promised, giving her a smile in return, as she and Amelia drifted off into the crowd outside the Great Hall. James's gaze followed her for a couple paces, her long brown hair swaying behind her.

"Maybe I'm just trying to be like you," Sirius joked, smiling widely. "Keeping things a secret so I can hope to actually be with my One True Love eventually."

James elbowed him hard.

"Damn," Sirius said, crossly rubbing his ribcage. "How am I supposed to take all those Bludgers during the game if you're doing this to me between practices?"

"Speaking of," James said. "Don't forget about lunch today. Seems like Hooch wants to bite the bullet and get it over with today. Don't be late. She's going to make us do it again if anybody skips it." James was dreading this as much as Sirius was, but Hooch had stared him dead in the eye and threatened to limit their time on the pitch, and James knew that she had meant it.

"This has got to be a bloody joke," Sirius muttered. "Avery, Mulciber, Crouch, Rosier, and my brother? Plus, it's not like I'm a huge fan of Diggory or Bones. Merlin, Edgar Bones hates me as much as Amelia does since we broke up. Although I don't think he ever liked me much to begin with."

"If I had a sister, I wouldn't like you either," James said, but his face darkened at the mention of Edgar Bones, who was the only person Lily had really dated at school. Perfect grades, perfect family, perfect everything. James despised Bones because of Lily, and that was reason enough, despite the fact that Bones had really never been anything but disgustingly polite for as long as James had ever known him. Even after James had spent most of fifth year publicly asking out Lily, and Bones had spent most of sixth year dating her, he still found it in him to be irritably polite to James. James didn't get it, and he would much rather Bones just be an arse.

"Please don't do anything stupid," James said. "Remember how clear Hooch made it that we would get kicked out of games?"

"Amelia's gonna be there," Sirius muttered. "Caradoc Dearborn. Did I already mention my brother? I'm really, really not a fan of this lunch. Mate, I don't think I'm gonna make it."

"What've you got against Dearborn?" Remus asked.

James and Sirius exchanged a look. They'd never explicitly had the conversation, and perhaps they wouldn't even be able to put it into words if they tried, but it was absolutely an ego measuring competition. Caradoc Dearborn and Edgar Bones were a bit like the Hufflepuff versions of James and Sirius. Quidditch, school, girls, and life at Hogwarts had just come easily for them. They weren't the same troublemakers that James and Sirius had been, who almost flouted their disregard for the rules, but it wasn't as though they were angels. They just didn't have the same detention records and bullying records that the Gryffindors had accrued.

"Is it because he dated Mary?" Peter added.

"No, that's not it," Sirius said dismissively. "I genuinely don't mean this in any way, because I'm not a hypocrite, but Mary's dated a lot of people. I really can't commit to disliking so many people."

"I'm supposed to go early to this stupid Quidditch thing," James said. "Lunch, Padfoot. Don't be late," he said, getting up to leave. He passed by the golden trio, flashing Lily a hesitant smile as he passed, and she returned it in a way that felt almost natural. He felt his heart skip a beat and he kept walking, his mind already floating off into a daydream. He'd been such an idiot during fifth year, never actually trying to get to know her, just publicly asking her out time after time. No wonder she'd turned him down so easily each time.

Asking her out felt like it was on the tip of his tongue whenever they spoke. He would find himself reaching out to brush her arm or say something kind, and he would always remind himself to back off a little bit. He had obviously come on too strong before, and he just needed to wait now. Be a person, treat her like one, and not be so weird or so pushy, and maybe, just maybe, she'd give him a shot.

James showed up a half hour early for lunch with the other captains. He nodded briskly to each of them in greeting. Avery, the default ringleader of the Slytherins, looked unreadable, almost bored with the hour ahead of them. Amos Diggory gave James a bit of a smile, which was quite characteristic of him, and James sat down next to him. Of all the captains, he certainly liked the Ravenclaw captain the best. Caradoc Dearborn, the Hufflepuff captain, gave James a nod in return.

Hooch strode in confidently, standing at the head of the table, and all four boys turned to her. "Listen up," she said smoothly. "Since you all have already finished tryouts, I expect that you've spoken to your teams about today. I want the four of you to know that I will see your teams as a reflection of your own leadership. Do you have any questions?"

All four of them shook their heads. Years of working in proximity with Madam Hooch had taught them long ago not to cross her, and not to push her. She was quick and perceptive, and she made assumptions. They knew to stay on her good side.

"Good," Hooch said, pulling out her wand, and a stack of color-coded index cards. "Seating arrangements," she said, smiling. She looked around at the table arrangements and shook her head. "No, I don't think this will work," she said thoughtfully, before waving her wand. The room rearranged, and suddenly there were tables of four across the room. "One player from each team at each table."

It was Avery's gaze that James met. Bones and Diggory were being good sports about it, but Avery and James were dreading it.

"Madam Hooch," Avery said, his voice silky. "I have to ask. I don't mean this disrespectfully at all, but why exactly are we doing this?"

"Remember Dumbledore's speech about inter-house unity at the first dinner?" Hooch asked. "This is part of it." She flicked her wand and the seating arrangements flew to their spots. "The four of you are staying here with each other for the first lunch. And I better not see the four of you sitting here in silence. Let's talk logistics before the other players get here. Here's the fall match schedule. It's going up tomorrow as public information."

She passed out four pieces of parchment that the captains each reached for greedily. The fall was strictly for scrimmages and practice matches, but they were still an enormous deal. It wasn't until after the winter holidays that the race for the Quidditch Cup that year would actually begin, that each match's score would contribute to each team's standing as they competed for the Quidditch Cup.

September: Tryouts, practice

October 22: Gryffindor v. Hufflepuff

October 29: Hufflepuff v. Slytherin

November 5: Ravenclaw v. Gryffindor

November 12: Slytherin v. Gryffindor

November 19: Ravenclaw v. Hufflepuff

November 26: Slytherin v. Ravenclaw

December 10: Winter Championship

"You know the drill," Madam Hooch said. "Each team plays each house once. Top two scoring teams after all six cumulative matches will play in the winter championship game. Games are every Saturday starting late October, rain or shine. Junior varsity matches are on Sundays, same match-ups." She paused before continuing. "Spring schedule, each house plays every house twice. Top two scoring teams after these twelve cumulative matches will play for the championship. Every goal counts. Questions?"

Each of them shook their heads, and Madam Hooch smiled. "Good. Welcome to Quidditch season."