James Potter and the Year of Chasing

Remus’s hovering charm turned out to be nothing short of masterful. He managed to sneak unnoticed into the Great Hall and make the switch before the Hallowe’en feast began, then met the others back in the Gryffindor tower minutes before they were all supposed to head up to the feast themselves. When they asked how it’d gone, Remus just grinned and held out a Slytherin banner. While Sirius and Peter were laughing, James locked the banner away in his trunk; they were sure to think of a use for it later. Chortling and congratulating Remus on his success, they joined the rest of the Gryffindors who were trekking to the Great Hall.

James tried not to make his interest in the ceiling obvious, but it was hard not to stare at the sight: row after row of banners, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin. And where the last Slytherin banner should have hung, Snape’s undershorts--dyed a truly hideous shade of pink, at Sirius’ insistence--floated serenely. “What charm did you use?” James said to Remus, keeping his voice low.

“Eterna Pendeo,” Remus answered. “Whatever you cast it on will stay suspended unless you use another charm to bring it down. Shame it doesn’t work on people. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could hang Snape up there, instead of just his underwear?”

Others were noticing the unusual sight now; a group of Ravenclaw girls were openly pointing and laughing. More than one person was wondering who was responsible--including the owner of the item in question. James sniggered openly at Snape's accusing glare, and was gratified to see the boy's face turn a further shade of pasty.

Snape immediately turned back to the ceiling and pulled out his wand, but too late. Someone had beaten him to it, and the undershorts were now wafting their way towards the Gryffindor table. A group of fourth-years were standing on benches in order to grab the pink undershorts out of the air. Snape buried his head in his hands as laughter broke out; within minutes, the whole of Hogwarts knew that ‘Severus Snape’ was written in the lining. “Oy, Potter! This your handiwork?” Sebastian Kenet, another Gryffindor sixth-year, shouted across the table.

“I’m sure I don’t know what you’re talking about, Bastian!” James shouted back. He grinned hugely at Sirius, Remus, and Peter, who all smirked back. The four settled down to enjoy the feast, satisfied that a bad deed had been well done.

The feast was, as usual, fantastic, and the entertainment almost as good. The best performance of the evening was given by Professor Wyrd, the Ancient Runes teacher, who recited “The Tale of the Defenestrated Duchess.” Even some of the older students were quivering by the time she’d finished; ghost stories were much more frightening with actual ghosts around to provide sound effects. When she finished, the entire Hall burst into applause.

Professor Wyrd’s recitation marked the end of the feast, but for the Gryffindors, the fun was just beginning. The announcement of a poker tournament had caused much excitement in the Tower. Over thirty players had signed up, and the majority of the rest of Gryffindor House gathered in the common room to watch the carnage. No sooner had they returned from the feast than Sirius, Peter, Remus, and James began setting things up, with help from other excited competitors. The players were divided into several small groups; these would play until only one player was left in each group, at which point the remaining players would play until only one player remained. Every player had submitted an entrance fee of a large bag of sweets, which were gathered impressively on a table in the corner. Rhys Evans and Cassie Tenax, Beaters on the house Quidditch team, had offered to guard the table in exchange for a percentage of the prize. They sat on either side of the table, each holding a Quidditch bat and looking suspiciously at anyone who dared to approach the gleaming pile of sugar. Not many people were keen to tempt fate and a severe blow to the head by crossing them. Fortunately, there were other distractions about; James and Sirius had snuck down to the kitchens earlier in the day and brought back a staggering amount of food, which disappeared with remarkable speed given that everyone had just eaten a Hogwarts feast.

In short, the atmosphere in the common room resembled a party more than a competition. Peter, who took his gambling very seriously, rather resented this. At least, he resented it until someone handed him a plate of biscuits, which he ate absentmindedly while scowling at his latest set of cards. Peter, James, Remus, and Sirius had all joined separate groups in order to help ensure that one of them won the grand prize. Sirius was already eyeing the table of sweets with a proprietary air, not at all put off by the menacing way Cassie tapped her bat against her palm.

James was not much of a card player, but he was so satisfied with the success of his earlier prank that he didn’t mind being blown out of the water after only a few hands. Once beaten, he joined the ranks of those egging on other players. Then he caught a flash of red hair and green eyes across the room. Intrigued, he watched from a distance as Lily Evans, who was also competing, demolished her own group. There was scattered applause as she went to sit in the area set aside for those players awaiting the final match. James immediately went over to join her. “We meet again, Miss Evans,” he said jovially, sitting down.

Lily looked at him and smiled, triumph twinkling in her eyes. “So it seems, Mr. Potter. I take it the excitement in the Great Hall this evening was your doing?”

James put on an expression of calculated innocence. “I admit nothing.”

“You don’t have to. I can practically see ‘I stole Snape’s underwear’ written on your forehead.”

“Why’d you ask then?” he grinned. “Thanks again for your help, by the way.”

Lily let out an exaggerated sigh. “If I’d known what you were up to, I wouldn’t have bothered. I was expecting something more creative.”

“More creative?” James repeated, astonished. “Listen, do you know how much work it took to set that up?”

“It’s the oldest prank in the book. You’re supposed to be clever; couldn’t you have come up with something new?”

“It’s a classic!” he protested. “Have you no respect for tradition?”

Lily waved a hand dismissively. “Traditional is just another word for lazy in circumstances like this.”

James laughed despite himself; he was rather startled by the turn the conversation had taken, but enjoying it nonetheless. “All right then; I promise I’ll make an effort to be more original from now on. Is there anything in particular you’d like to see?”

Lily raised an eyebrow. “You’re asking a school prefect for advice on how best to break the rules?”

“Why not? I’m a prefect myself, you’ll note,” James pointed out, leaning back on his hands.

“No one would ever guess it, the way you behave. Who did you blackmail to get the position?”

James grinned broadly. “That, I’m afraid, is between me and Professor McGonagall.”

Lily looked scornful. “Nobody could blackmail McGonagall.”

“Want to bet?”

They were interrupted by the arrival of Peter, who had finished his own game and come to join those waiting for the finals. “Naff off, James,” Peter said arrogantly. “You know you’re not good enough to be sitting over here.”

“I like that,” James said in mock-affronted tones. “I’ll have you know that I was playing poker when you were still in the cradle.”

“That explains why you’re so lousy at it, then,” Peter retorted. “Picked up bad habits young.”

“I’ll take you on any day.”

“All right then. A one on one match, right now. How about we bet your Cloudsurfer against my Comet 180?”

James leapt to his feet. “On second thought, it looks like the finals are just about to begin; I’d hate to distract you.”

Peter smirked. “Frightened you off, have I.”

“A good poker player,” James said loftily, “knows when to cut his losses and retreat. Besides, do you really think I’m daft enough to bet my broomstick against a bloke who probably knows exactly what cards I’m holding?” He grinned once more at Lily and left to join the rest of the Gryffindors on the sidelines.

The contestants for the finals were Peter, Sirius, Remus, Lily, Elijah Brice, and Hazel O’Connor, and each player had collected a group of supporters. There was excited whispering from the spectators as the first hand was dealt, followed by a breathless silence as the hand was played, followed by cheers and catcalls as Remus won the round. From then on, the betting was fast and furious. Remus, who tended to play either extremely well or extremely badly, was having one of his good days; his poker face was absolutely unreadable. He wiped the tables for the first few hands, and even knocked Sirius out of the running, much to Sirius’ irritation. James cheered loudly at this and lobbed extra poker chips at Sirius’ head as the other boy grudgingly left the playing field to a smattering of applause. “You don’t have to rub it in, James,” Sirius scowled, sitting next to him.

“’Course I do,” James said cheerfully. “What are best friends for, if not to kick you when you’re down?”

Sirius looked as though he would have liked to argue, but was shushed by other students as attention focused back on the game. Hazel O’Connor was the next player to go; she looked extremely disappointed as she threw down her cards. Remus lasted a while longer, but a run of extremely poor hands and a failed bluff eliminated him as well. He shrugged philosophically as he joined James and Sirius. This left only Peter, Lily, and Elijah, and things were getting serious. Peter, James noticed, looked distinctly worried. It was Lily’s turn as dealer, and she’d chosen to use a deck of Exion’s Exchanging Playing Cards for her round. These cards were prone to change values at unexpected moments; a player could be holding a two pair one moment, and the next would find himself with a full house. This meant strategizing was nearly impossible, and that made Peter nervous. It was a clever tactic on Lily’s part; James was rather impressed.

The game was five-card draw. Peter looked pleased with his initial hand, Elijah irritated, and Lily speculative. The betting went high. When the time came to draw, Peter took two cards, Elijah one, and Lily three. James knew he should be rooting for Peter, their last hope of gaining control of the table of sweets, but he found himself wondering about Lily’s hand instead; she still looked speculative. One of the cards in her hand shimmered, a sign that it had switched itself with another card, and Lily’s eyes widened briefly with excitement. She composed herself immediately, putting on a blank expression. But James had seen, and from the look of things, so had Peter.

Elijah threw his cards down. “Fold,” he announced, scowling at his abandoned hand.

Peter eyed Lily consideringly, then placed a stack of blue poker chips into the kitty.

Without a word, Lily pushed half her chips into the pile.

Muted whispering broke out all through the common room. “Merlin, what do you think she’s holding?” Sirius asked James in a low voice that dripped with astonishment. “Must be something impressive, if she’s that confident about it.”

Peter paled, staring at the monster pile of poker chips. Indecision weighed on his face. He looked at his own hand, then sighed and put it down. “Fold. It’s yours.” As Lily claimed her winnings, he burst out, “What did you have?”

Lily smiled sweetly, and laid down the ten of diamonds, the jack of clubs, the queen of spades, the king of spades...and the six of hearts.

James blinked for a moment, then burst out laughing. She’d bluffed them! The entire common room roared with applause and approval. Even Elijah and Peter looked impressed, though Peter hit his head with the back of his hand several times, cursing his own idiocy. His expression was etched with determination as he set up the next round, using an ordinary deck of playing cards. Lily was now firmly in the lead; Elijah only had a few chips left, and while Peter wasn’t as bad off, his pile looked pitiful compared to Lily’s.

Peter declared that the next game would be English Stud, which meant several rounds of betting. Each player seemed confident; Peter was smirking, Elijah looked smug, and Lily was once again wearing a speculative expression. The pile of poker chips grew and grew. When the time came for the final round of betting, Elijah pushed all his chips into the center. Lily hesitated, then did the same. Peter looked at them both, then added his. The common room erupted into excited murmuring; this, then, would be the final hand.

Elijah was wearing a broad smirk. “Flush, king high,” he announced, laying down his cards with an air of glee. He turned to Lily, obviously expecting her to be disappointed or irritated.

But Lily was smiling. “Full house, queen high,” she declared, showing a hand that included two queens and three sevens. Elijah’s face fell.

Every eye turned to Peter. James found that he was holding his breath; Peter’s expression was completely blank. He stared at Lily’s cards almost with incomprehension. After what seemed an eternity, without speaking, he laid down his cards...revealing two tens and three nines.

The common room erupted into noise. Dimly, James was aware that Sirius was cursing furiously, while Remus seemed to be laughing. Peter sat dazed as a hoard of Gryffindor girls crowded around Lily, cheering; Lily herself was almost glowing with triumph. The girls pushed her towards the prize table, where Rhys and Cassie grinned and immediately began discussing which sweets should go to them for acting as guards. Lily laughed as she divided out her winnings, taking a moment to toss an exploding bonbon at Elijah's head; Elijah grinned good-naturedly and ate it. Within seconds the table had been emptied, the contents divided amongst Lily's friends. "Party on the girl's side, Lily?" Demeter Demaris asked, smirking, her arms filled with packages of Fizzing Whizzbees and a small barrel of Every Flavour Beans.

"Oh, absolutely," Lily agreed at once. "I'd say this calls for a celebration."

"Just remember to turn the lights out by two am, Prefect Evans, or I'll have to report you!" James called out.

Lily turned and grinned at him. "Report away, Prefect Potter. I'm sure I could bribe the Headmaster to see my way of things; I hear he quite likes sweets. You can have these, though, as a consolation prize." She tossed him a small box, then turned and followed the other girls down the stairs.

James looked down at the package in his hands. "Cockroach Cluster?" he said, amazed. "Who on earth donated Cockroach Cluster?"

"Me," said Sirius, looking at them. "Got them in Honeydukes a while back. Meant to see if I could get Snape to eat them, but I forgot. They've been in the back of my trunk for ages."

"You used old, cockroach-ridden sweets as part of your entry fee?" James said reproachfully. "Sirius, I'm surprised at you." He considered. "Then again, on second thought I'm not."

Remus let out a sigh. "A shame none of us won, though."

"I can't believe it!" Peter said suddenly. "It was a foolproof plan!"

Remus grinned. "Maybe, but it seems Lily Evans isn't a fool."

"But no one ever beats Peter at poker!" Sirius ejaculated. "Except me, of course."

Peter glared at him. "Only when you're cheating."

"Which is most of the time," Remus added.

James broke into laughter. "Come on, lads," he said, standing. "It was a good plan, it didn't work, we'll come up with a way to get revenge someday. Meanwhile it's near midnight, and I hear my bed calling."

"Good thought, we'd best skive off before someone asks us to clean up this mess." Sirius eyed the common room, which was a complete wreck.

"I can't believe I lost," Peter grumbled.

Remus clapped the shorter boy on the back. "Cheer up, Peter. I think I've got some leftover treacle if you want it."

"Yeah, and you're welcome to these," James said, handing over the aged box of Cockroach Cluster.

Peter immediately handed them back, his expression sardonic. "Thanks all the same, mate, but I think I'd sooner eat a Grindylow."

"Well, if that's your preference, maybe we can catch one for you. D'you think there are Grindylows in the lake?" Sirius wondered, glancing out the window as they climbed upstairs.

"Who knows?" Remus yawned. "Tomorrow we'll toss you in, and you can tell us."

"How would you cook a Grindylow?" James mused, opening the door to their dormitory.

"Fry it," Sirius said at once. "I bet you could make a killing selling fried Grindylow fingers..."

James tossed the box of Cockroach Cluster into his trunk and fell into bed, not bothering to undress. Around him were the sounds of other boys getting ready for bed, mingled with Sirius and Peter bickering about how best to advertise Grindylows as fast food. Distantly, he heard shrieks of laughter from the girls' dorms. He fell asleep wondering which laugh might belong to Lily.

Gryffindor lost a large number of points the next day; professors were not pleased by the way their students kept yawning and falling asleep in class. Professor McGonagall was the most irritated of the lot, and looked directly at James when she told them all off for staying up too late. Or at least, so Sirius said--James had been more than half asleep himself at the time, and hadn't noticed. He had to force himself to pay attention in Divination, though ironically enough this was easier than usual; they were studying Phrenology, and even James couldn't sleep through Professor Trelawny poking and prodding at his scalp. She announced with relish that the combination of bumps at the base of his hairline meant that he was unusually prone to falling from great heights. James found that rather irritating, as the Quidditch match against Ravenclaw was only a few days away.

Still, he was wide awake and ravenous by dinner; he and Remus arrived early and tucked in. Remus looked around for Sirius and Peter; James automatically looked to the opposite end of the table, searching for a glimpse of red hair and green eyes. Lily, he noticed, looked none the worse for having been up all night celebrating.

Someone hit him on the head, and James looked up angrily. “What was that for?”

Peter glowered down at him. “You’re ogling Lily Evans again, that’s what for. Traitor.”

“Traitor?” James repeated incredulously. “Just because she beat you at poker?”

“I’ll thank you not to rub it in.” Peter sat down and dug into his porridge as though fighting a war; his defeat the previous night had obviously left him irritable.

Sirius let out an exaggerated sigh. “It would have been excellent; those sweets would’ve lasted us for ages.”

“Not the way you eat them,” Remus said. “They’d’ve been gone by tomorrow, and you’d be in the Hospital Wing for a week with stomachaches.”

“You can’t deny it was impressive, though,” James mused, more to himself than his companions, glancing back at Lily. “I don’t think any of us have ever managed to bluff Peter.”

Sirius looked solemn. “Ah, but she was cheating. She distracted him with her feminine wiles.”

“What feminine wiles?” Peter retorted grumpily.

Remus grinned. “The ones James has been ogling, of course. Have you ever seen anyone so absorbed?”

“Am not,” James said absently.

“You’re staring at her now, you git. Earth to James Potter,” Remus intoned in a deep voice, waving a hand in front of James’ face. James glowered at him, batting the hand away.

“Merlin’s ghost, just ask the girl out, James,” Sirius said, exasperated. “Then she can say yes and all this bloody mooning about will be over with. It isn’t like you.”

“I am not mooning!”

“Of course you’re not,” Sirius retorted. “And Peter’s the best dueler at school, and Remus is seeing Trelawny on the sly, and I’m giving up wizardry and turning Muggle.”

James made a depreciating noise and gave up the argument. He had been staring, and he knew it; he just couldn’t figure out why. Every time he looked away, he found his gaze drawn back to Lily as though by a magnet. It was downright unnerving. He glared at all three of his friends. “You are all a bunch of bastards,” he announced. “And see if I help any of you in Transfiguration ever again. I don’t want a girlfriend, I haven’t got time--”

“We know, we know, we’ve all heard you bang on about it.” Peter screwed up his face and imitated James. “‘I don’t want a girlfriend, I haven’t got time, I’m too busy with you lot and Quidditch and homework and making Snape’s life a misery and pass the butterbeer and forget what I just said, who’s the pretty blonde over there?’”

“Sod off, Peter!”

“I really don’t see the problem, James,” Remus said easily, “So you change your mind about wanting a girlfriend. What’s wrong with that? I thought you were mental to give them up in the first place, to be honest.”

Peter glared at Remus. “Don’t encourage him, Remus. This is still the girl who ruined our plan, remember.”

“But such an attractive girl,” Sirius said, glancing over at Lily himself. “Besides, we can always demand a rematch. They can't have eaten all those sweets already.”

Evidently their staring had attracted Lily’s attention, because she turned and looked directly at them. Peter immediately scowled and looked away, as did Remus, though Remus was still smiling. Sirius grinned broadly at Lily and waved. James simply met her gaze, silently acknowledging that yes, he’d been watching her, what of it?

Lily's eyes drifted over the four of them; her eyes fell on James in particular, and she smiled wryly. She then gathered her things and left the table. James watched as she left the Great Hall, but she didn’t look back. The moment she was out of sight, Sirius let out a bark of laughter. “Did you see that smile? You’re a lucky dog, James.”

“What are you talking about?” James asked.

“She wants you to follow her, of course.”

“Are you mental? She didn’t even say anything.” Peter’s voice was surly.

“She didn’t have to,” Sirius said in a pompous I know more than you do sort of voice. “It was written all over her. Girls never come out and say things, it’s all in the body language. Trust me, James. She wants you to go after her.”

“Does she, now,” James said, considering this. The idea was rather appealing, he had to admit. “She was holding a book; she might be heading for the Library.”

“Go on, James, follow her,” Remus said encouragingly. “You can catch us up back at the Tower.”

“Assuming you don’t have better things to do,” Sirius smirked.

Peter scowled at each of them in turn. "That's right, encourage him to consort with the enemy. Some friends you are."

James grinned at them and left the table, walking quickly out of the Great Hall. From behind he could hear Sirius and Peter arguing, and Remus’ attempts to make peace between them. He wasn’t worried; Peter was just out of sorts because of the poker match. Peter hated losing, but he'd get over it soon enough.

James turned in the direction of the Library, musing. It’d be nice to have a flame all his friends liked, for once. His last had been Emily O’Meara; she played Keeper on the Hufflepuff team, and was rather quiet unless Quidditch was being discussed. James hadn’t minded that, but Sirius and Peter had dismissed her as “boring.” James had liked Emily, but eventually it had gotten boring not having anything in common except Quidditch. It made all their conversations rather predictable.

Somehow he didn’t think that would be a problem with Lily; he might not know her well, but she'd already shown herself to be anything but predictable. It was interesting, and extremely attractive.

James smiled inwardly at the thought. It'd become a habit to protest that he didn’t have time for a girlfriend, particularly since Gwen had started showing an interest in him. But Remus and Sirius were right: if he wanted to make time for a girl, he probably could. He’d see Lily and see how it went. If time was as short as it’d been last time he’d tried dating a girl, he’d break it off. Somehow he didn’t think Lily would be hurt by that; she was a prefect herself, and just as busy as he was. Surely she understood about time constraints. And she certainly was pretty. And witty, and intelligent, and he could just imagine what those eyes would look like if he kissed her...

James’ smile broadened. He was beginning to quite like the idea.

By this point he’d reached the Library. Sure enough, Lily was standing by one of the shelves in the corner, a small frown creasing her brows as she scanned a row of books. James walked over and joined her. “You look frustrated. What are you looking for?”

Lily continued her perusal of the shelves as she answered. “Bane of the MacBoons by Porpentina Scamander. I need it for my Quintaped essay, and I can’t find it anywhere.”

James leaned back against a nearby table. “That’s because Remus and I have been using it, actually. I’ve got it in the Tower.”

Lily frowned, looking at him for the first time. “You have it?”

“I'm afraid so,” he said, apologetic.

“Bother. I don’t suppose you’d be willing to let me borrow it, would you?”

“'Course. Just remind me when we get back to the Tower.”

Her face brightened, and she smiled. “Thanks, I’d appreciate it.” She dropped her books on the table and opened one of them, flipping through the pages in a concentrated manner.

James found his mind suddenly, irritatingly blank. The conversation seemed to have ended, and that wouldn’t do at all. He pulled up a chair and sat down, trying to stay casual. “So what’s a nice girl like you doing in a place like this?”

She raised an eyebrow; James decided that he’d never seen anyone convey so much sarcasm with a single gesture, which was something considering that he knew Peter. “I thought I’d do some revising. I realize that’s terribly revolutionary of me, but it seemed a good idea at the time.”

James grinned ruefully. “All right, it was a daft question. What are you working on?”

“Arithmancy. I need to write up a set of charts for my extended family, then use it to describe our personality types and how we all get along.”

“Thrilling,” James said with heavy irony. He hated numbers.

Lily was still leafing through pages. “Oh, it's more interesting than you'd think. According to this, my sister is a three, which means that she should be artistic and easygoing. It’ll be fun asking Professor Point to explain how Petunia can be a three and also be a nosy shrew who’s only impressed by art if it’s worth a lot of money.”

James chuckled. “I take it you don’t get along with your sister.”

Lily looked up briefly and smiled. “Not in the least.”

She turned her attention back to the textbook, finally locating the page she wanted and moving a finger down a paragraph. James tried to think of something else to say. “So according to your arithmancy charts, what am I?”

She shot him a quizzical look, then pulled out a piece of parchment and a quill and did a few calculations. “A seven,” she said after a moment. “That means you’re perceptive and enjoy a challenge.”

James rather liked the sound of that. “How about you then?”

Lily stared at him with a sudden air of suspicion. “Are you chatting me up?” she asked abruptly.

He shrugged, putting on his most innocuous grin. “Maybe.”

Lily's eyes narrowed. “Then let me set you straight.” She leaned forward, hands on the table, expression firm. “I am not impressed by you. You’re a good Quidditch player and a good student, and yes your pranks are very funny, but you’re also the lout who’s ignored his prefect duties all year in favor of running around playing silly games. You seem a decent enough sort, but I have no interest in going out with you.”

James was stunned. “But…” He grasped for something, anything to say. “You helped me get out of trouble before.”

“I wasn’t helping to keep you out of trouble, I was trying to get Snape into trouble. A subtle but significant difference.” She picked up her books and eyed him coolly. “It’s not that I have anything against you, but I’m rather busy, so if all you wanted was to chat me up, you’re wasting both of our time. Now if you don’t mind, I really need to get to work. Good luck in the match against Ravenclaw this weekend,” she added, almost as an afterthought, before turning and walking away.

James stared after her. Somehow the idea of her turning him down hadn’t even occurred to him.

But there at was. Lily had turned him down. Thoroughly, in fact.

James left the Library and walked quickly back to Gryffindor Tower, completely nonplussed. He hadn’t managed to sort himself out by the time he arrived; it took ten minutes to remember that the new password was “Poppycock.” He wandered up to the sixth-year boys’ room in a daze. Sirius was sprawled on a bunk, and looked up with an expectant expression as his best friend entered the room. “How’d it go?”

James fell back on his bunk and covered his face with a pillow. “I don’t want to talk about it,” he said, voice muffled.

Astonishment was written all over Sirius’ voice as he exclaimed, “Don’t tell me she turned you down!”

James removed the pillow and glowered at his friend. “I said I don’t want to talk about it.”

“She did!” Sirius looked as though he couldn’t decide whether to be impressed or angry on his friend’s behalf.

“Who did what?” Remus asked, stepping into the room, followed by Peter.

“Lily Evans turned down James.”

“She what!” Peter exclaimed, incredulous.

“Would you all please just drop it?” James asked, petulant.

“But that’s amazing,” Remus said, completely ignoring this. “Nobody’s ever turned down James.”

“What’d she say?” Peter wanted to know.

“What’d you say?” Sirius demanded.

“How many times do I have to say that I don’t want to talk about Lily Evans before it gets through your thick skulls?” James snapped.

Even Sirius looked a bit taken aback. There was a long moment of silence. Then Peter flopped down on his own bunk. “Well, what’s the fuss? You’d never even noticed her until last week. If she won’t go out with you, it’s her loss.” He grinned suddenly. “Sorry, did I say loss? Her good luck, I mean.”

James lobbed a pillow at Peter, while Sirius and Remus laughed. Sirius jumped onto James’ bunk. “Yeah, buck up, mate. There’s other fish in the sea.”

“Why would he want to date a fish?” Remus wondered.

“Maybe if we found a particularly attractive mackerel...” Peter sniggered.

“Sod off, both of you,” Sirius said, obviously stifling a grin. “Besides, the only fish worthy of our James is the giant squid. You could try for the mackerel though, Peter.”

James listened to his friends bicker and tease each other, and smiled despite himself. They were right, of course. It wasn’t important. He barely knew Lily, hadn’t really even spoken to her until a few days ago. He’d forget about her in a week.

At least, he hoped he would.

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