Lily was so distracted staring proudly at the dazzling silver doe, that she may have just missed what the rest of the class was seeing at the other side of the classroom. She may have missed the strong, regal stag that had burst suddenly from the wand of one James Fleamont Potter and she may have continued to deny for however much longer that she had aboslutely no feelings for the boy other than a slightly forced friendship.

As it happened, she could not miss it because her Doe and his Stag had both stopped their graceful trotting around the room to face each other and, in unison, the patronuses slowly approached the center of the circle of students that had formed to watch and regarded each other as though they were old friends. Lily felt as though the entire world had melted away as she gasped in shock, her eyes locking on the equally surprised ones of James Potter and both the Doe and the Stag bowed their heads in mutual respect before stepping forward and nuzzling into each other's necks.

Lily was sure at that moment that no one else existed but those deer and that boy across the room until the bell rang, breaking both Potter's and her own concentration on the spells, making the patronuses disappear.

Professor Furgal's voice instructing the class not to forget their homework assignments was nothing but a buzz in the background as Lily stared at the spot where the doe and stag had just been until a warm hand laid on her shoulder.

"If you were looking for a sign," Remus mumbled close to her ear, "That may have been it."

Lily let out a shaky laugh and looked back to smile weakly at him. "I thought you said Divination was a joke…"

Remus smirked and shrugged his shoulders. "I said you wouldn't find your answer in your tea leaves." He nodded towards where the patronuses had been. "Those were no tea leaves. And this isn't Divination." He gave her one last meaningful look and squeezed her shoulder before he disappeared into the crowd of students to collect his things and to stop Sirius from making lewd gestures in Professor Furgal's direction.

"Well," said Marlene briskly, swinging her bag over her shoulder and eyeing Lily with a knowing smirk. "That was quite a show, Lily. D'you reckon it's normal for Patronuses to behave that way towards each other?"

Lily bit her lip, unsure of what to say. She was too busy watching as James halfheartedly laughed at something that Sirius said that made Remus roll his eyes and smack the back of his head. Then hazel eyes flickered up, briefly meeting her own and she felt her face go hot and quickly looked away.

"Are you coming, Lily?" Mary asked while Dorcas and Marlene began to head out of the classroom.

Lily nodded. "I'll be along in a moment. I just want to ask Professor Furgal a question for the homework assignment."

The other three girls exchanged suspicious glances, but they didn't ask any further questions before agreeing to meet her back in the common room and making their way out to the corridor. Lily picked up her bag and took a deep breath before crossing the room to where the boys were preparing to leave, hanging back just a few feet from them.

"I'm pretty sure you're only encouraging him, Moony," Peter said grimly in response to whatever threat Remus had made towards Sirius' behavior.

James laughed. "Oh right, Wormtail. Like they both don't know exactly what they're doing. You know these two mutts are completely insatiable."

Neither Remus nor Sirius denied it, both grinning from ear to ear and exchanging teasing glances as they too gathered their things and started to leave, muttering flirtatiously to each other about something Lily couldn't hear but Peter whined and slumped his shoulders as he hurried after them with James following behind.

Before Lily could stop herself, she took another deep breath. "Potter!"

All four boys paused in the doorway of the classroom and turned to look at her. James looked uncharacteristically flustered for a moment, but her quickly composed himself, straightening up and jutting out his chin in a confident gesture that vaguely resembled Sirius.

"Evans?"

Lily chewed on her lip for a moment, her hands anxiously wringing the shoulder strap of her book bag. "Could I have a word?" She glanced at the other boys. "Alone?"

James hesitated, looking at Sirius and exchanging what seemed to be a quick, telepathic conversation via eye contact with his best friend before Remus, who threw a knowing smile at Lily, dragged both Sirius and Peter off, leaving the two of them alone.

Neither of them said anything for what Lily felt was the longest thirty seconds ever until James finally huffed and his hand shot up to muss up his hair. "Look, Evans, before you say anything, I swear I had nothing to do with… well… whatever it was that just happened with the Patronus charm, alright? I didn't make mine go after yours or anything, I don't even know how to make-"

Lily gave a frustrated sigh and shook her head. "Hogsmeade. Next weekend."

James stopped mid-sentence, mouth agape and looking like a deer in the headlights. "I…what?"

Lily could feel her heart thumping powerfully against her chest and she swallowed hard past the lump in her throat. "Sorry." She licked her lips. "I…I meant… W-would you like to go? To Hogsmeade, next weekend… with-with me?"

There was another terrible, drawn-out pause that made Lily extremely aware of how tight the collar of her school shirt was. A range of emotions passed through Potter's eyes so quickly that Lily didn't have the chance to catch what they were before he settled on his default cocky smirk, running his hand once through his hair as he took a step closer so that he was standing right in front of her, towering over her.

"Are you asking me on a date, Evans?"

The smirk said 'cocky', the stance said 'confident,' but the waver in his voice and the desperation in his eyes said something completely different and Lily straightened up, standing taller and crossing her arms, returning that stupid cocky smirk with one of her own.

"Yeah, Potter. I am."

James raised an eyebrow at her, amused and intrigued. "Why? Did the giant squid have a prior engagement?"

Lily laughed, shaking her head. "I didn't ask the giant squid, actually."

"Oh?" James said. "Are you just saying that to make me feel better? Because the squid and I happen to be rather close, you know. I could just ask him myself and find out if I'm your second choice."

Lily rolled her eyes, wishing that she could stop blushing and grinning at the playful teasing, but also wishing that she wasn't enjoying it as much as she was. "You weren't my second choice, Potter."

James shrugged and raised both hands in defense. "Hey, I'm only saying that I wouldn't blame you. The giant squid is a lovely chap. I know I can't compete with that."

"I promise," Lily said as firmly as she could manage. She bit her lip. "And you know what else I can promise?"

"What's that?"

Lily smirked. "You're going to say yes."

James snorted, remembering that time he had used those exact words to her, and he sighed. "Well… I guess I can't really argue with the Headgirl, can I?" He rubbed the back of his neck anxiously. "Yeah, Evans. I'd love to go out with you next weekend."

Lily let out the breath she hadn't realized she had been holding. "Great," she said, suddenly feeling rather giddy and flustered. "Good. Er.. well then… that's settled." She cleared her throat. "I'll see you at rounds then, Potter." She gave a polite nod and spun on her heel, burying out of the classroom. She had barely made it into the corridor before she heard an excited "WHOOP!" that made reality come swooping down around her…

She had a date with James Bloody Potter.

—-

"I HAVE A DATE WITH LILY EVANS!" James announced as he burst into the dorm room enthusiastically.

Peter snorted. "How many times do we have to go over this, Prongs? Lily escorting you to detention isn't a 'date'" James frowned at him and started to argue but Peter continued quickly. "Nor is it considered a date just because you are on the same rounds – OW! Meling, I'm only teasing you! No need to whip out the stinging hexes!"

"It's not detention and it's not rounds!" James said, his excitement returning as he slipped his wand back into his pocket. "It's a real date! Next weekend! A real date with Lily!"

Sirius, who had been lounging on his bed with his head in Remus' lap, scrambled up onto his knees on the edge of the mattress, his eyes were a bit skeptical. "A real date? You're sure?"

"Yes! We're going out next weekend during the Hogsmeade visit!"

Sirius let out a loud barking laugh and leaped off the bed, tackling James in a bear hug. "It's about bloody time, mate! Well, go on, then! How'd you ask her? What'd she say?"

James laughed, wrestling himself out of Sirius' grip. "Alright, alright! Down, boy! Heel!" He shoved the other boy off and straightened out his shirt. "When she asked to talk to me after Defense today, I thought she was going to accuse me of tinkering with the charm somehow to make our patronuses act the way they did, you know? So I told her right off the bat that I had nothing to do with it and then she just asked me to go out with her to Hogmeades next weekend! Just like that!"

Remus snickered quietly. "Gee, I wonder what made her come around?"

James shrugged, unable to stop smiling from ear to ear. "She must have felt what I felt when we cast our Patronus charms, right? I mean, it was kind of undeniable, wasn't it?"

Remus hummed, giving Sirius a cheeky smile. "Almost like she had been waiting for some sort of sign, you could say. I did tell her that it was as good as any-"

"Oh please, Moony," Sirius scoffed. "There's no way Evans decided to give in and say yes just because you told her that it was a sign."

"Of course not," Remus agreed, still looking quite smug as he leaned back against the headboard of Sirius' bed. "But it did give her the little push she needed, didn't it? More so than you're stupid charmed mistletoe. Honestly, Padfoot! Mistletoe in October!"

James frowned. "Wait, what?"

Sirius pouted indignantly. "I charmed them to fit the Halloween theme, didn't I?"

"Regardless, it still didn't work!" Remus argued. "None of your silly little pranks worked. I told you, Lily just needed some sense talked into her and I did it. I won, fair and square."

"Er… won what?" James asked although neither of the two heard as they continued to bicker.

Peter rolled his eyes. "These two idiots were getting tired of you and Evans avoiding your inevitable coupling – well, actually, all of us were getting tired of it, but these two decided to take matters into their own hands and try to push you along."

James' eyebrows shot up. "They what!?"

Peter nodded. "Moony bet he could talk Lily into giving up her stubborn streak, but Padfoot thought it would take a little more than that, so he came up with all these little pranks and tricks. Slipping Lily Draught of True Desire, charming mistletoe, locking you both in a room with a heating charm until you both got too hot and had to take your clothes off." He ticked off the list on his fingers as he went.

James folded his arms, watching as Sirius and Remus continued to fight on the bed. "I see. And the terms were that Lily had to say yes to a date with me?"

"Pretty much." Peter nodded.

"I'm guessing the prize was something I want to know nothing about?"

"Of course it was," Peter confirmed with a smirk.

James nodded. "Right then." He cleared his throat. "Oi! Mutts!"

Sirius and Remus both stopped their arguing, blinking at James owlishly.

"The bet was that Lily would say yes to a date with me, provided with some help from either one of you, right?"

Slowly, and looking slightly ashamed, they both nodded.

James chuckled and shrugged his shoulders. "Well then I'm not so sorry to inform you, but neither of you won. She asked me out, didn't she?" And then it hit him like a bludger to the chest. His eyes went wide and he felt like the air had been sucked from his lungs/ He stumbled back and sat heavily on his bed. "Bloody hell, Lily Evans asked me out!"

He had a date with Lily Evans.

—-

"You'll never get a second date dressed like that, Jamie. Don't you have anything other than wrinkled T-shirts and Quidditch jerseys?" Sirius snicked, ducking to the side to dodge yet another balled-up shirt that James tossed over his shoulder. He was lying on his stomach on his best friend's bed, watching the other boy model outfit after outfit in from of the mirror. James grumbled, his bare feet stomping across the floor as he crossed the room and threw open Sirius' trunk.

"Oi!" Sirius shouted. "Bloody ask first, why don't you?"

"Shut up, Pads!" James growled, digging through the trunk and adding some of Sirius' clothes to the growing pile that was beginning to take over the room. "Why don't you make yourself useful and get off your arse and help me!"

Sirius snorted. "Lost cause. There's no helping you and your shitty sense of fashion." He watched for another moment before sighing and rolling off the bed, joining James in front of his trunk and smacking the boy's hand away. "Calm down, prat. I'll find you something, you just go do something about that swooper's nest you call hair."

James' face fell and his hand flew up to his head defensively. "I just did my hair!"

Sirius rolled his eyes. "With what? Your broom?" Sirius threw his hairbrush at James. "It's called a brush, Potter. Use one. Ah! Here we are!" He pulled out a navy blue button-down shirt and held it about his head triumphantly. "Try this on. You'll still look like a right git, mind you, nothing we can do on such short notice about that face of yours, but at least you'll look somewhat presentable."

"Ha bloody ha," James said, ignoring Sirius' snark and snatching the shirt from him.

"For someone who's going on a date with the girl he's been after for nearly seven years, you certainly aren't in a very good mood," Remus remarked quietly from his bed, glancing up from the Muggle Studies paper he helping Peter revise.

James sighed, buttoning up the shirt Sirius had given him and giving his friends an apologetic look. "Sorry. You're right. I'm just nervous I guess. I feel like I'm going to screw this whole thing up." He turned back to the mirror only to see the buttons had been done up crooked. "Fucking hell…"

Sirius chuckled and walked over to his side, straightening the shirt and redoing the buttons. "Of course, you're going to screw it up, mate."

James glared. "Some best friend you are."

Grinning, Sirius shook his head. "What? You will! But Evans knows it's you she's going on a date with, doesn't she? I'm sure she's expecting a far worse experience than anything you could actually deliver." He narrowly avoided James' hand, which had swung to smack him in the head.

"What Sirius is trying to say," Remus gently intervened. "Is that Lily knows you well enough. Don't stress over trying to be something you're not. Just be yourself and have a good time."

James visibly relaxed. "Thanks, Moony."

"Of course. But when I say 'be yourself', I do mean to be your best-behaved self and not the annoying, arrogant, pushy git she wanted nothing to do with all these years."

Sirius and Peter both fell into a fit of laughter and James glared. "Thanks, Moony."

James pulled on a pair of trainers he had charmed all the dirt off of and gave himself another once over in the mirror. "Well? How do I look?"

Peter gave him a grin and two thumbs up, Remus smiled and nodded his approval, and Sirius let out a dramatic cry and flung his arms around him.

"MY LITTLE BOY IS ALL GROWN UP!"

"Ugh, Padfoot! Get off!"

"HE'S FINALLY GOING ON A REAL DATE!"

"SIRIUS! COME ON, I NEED TO GO!"

Sirius finally released him, dabbing away fake tears with the sleeve of his shit and beaming proudly as James fixed himself once more in the mirror and grabbed his jacket, heading towards the dormitory door. He turned to his friend and grinned.

"Wish me luck, lads!"

"Good luck!" They all called after him.

The door shut behind him and once the sound of his footsteps faded down the stairs, Sirius rounded on Remus and Peter with the familiar look in his eye that usually meant trouble.

"Right then," he said clapping his hands together. "I say we give them a twenty-minute head start."

Remus and Peter exchanged confused looks.

"...A twenty-minute start before what, exactly?" Remus asked with slight apprehension.

Sirius grinned. "Before we follow them, of course."

Hey all! Hope you enjoyed today's chapter. In what world would Sirius not follow Jily's first date? I can't wait to post the Date chapters...

Anyways, check out my Instagram or Gmail at Via889Fanfiction or my Podcast - The Marauders (Olivia's Version) - on Spotify or Instagram at themaraudersoliviasversion.