A Wish and a Truce

It was June 28, 1975, and James Potter was standing in front of the full-length mirror in his dorm room. His first "date" with Lily Evans was this afternoon.

Sirius was sitting on James' bed, which was beside the mirror, twirling his wand in his hand. "Hurry up! This is taking so long! You are the man in this so-called relationship, not the woman. You should be ready in three seconds, not three hours!" For the past three hours James had been standing in front of the mirror trying to tame his unruly hair, polishing his glasses, and trying on different clothes, both Muggle and wizard.

"I know, I know. I'm almost ready."

"That's what you said an hour ago," mumbled Sirius.

"What was that?" James asked, looking at his reflection.

"Oh, nothing."

"Okay. Well, I think I'm done," James said stepping away from the mirror and smoothing out the army green Muggle t-shirt he had chosen. "Where did Moony and Wormtail go?"

"Wow, have you not been paying attention at all? They left about an hour and a half ago. I think they're in the Common Room playing chess," Sirius paused. "Actually, no, I take that back. Remus probably already beat Wormtail for the tenth time. They might be outside," suggested Sirius.

"Probably, let's go."

Sure enough, as the two best friends walked through the common room they saw an abandoned chessboard. James recognized that the two sets of chess pieces belonged to Remus and Peter. Beside the board was a small scrap of parchment made into a small "T" chart. One side was labelled "M" and the other "W". Under the "M" there were ten small ticks. "Yeah I think they are outside. Look at this," James said as he motioned toward the parchment.

"Whoa! A sweep! Peter really does suck at chess!" Without James noticing, Sirius pocketed two pieces from Remus' set, for later use.

James and Sirius continued walking until they were at the main entrance of the Hogwarts castle. As the two friends were about to step outside, they heard their names being called.

"Sirius!"

"James!"

They stopped and turned around to see Remus and Peter running towards them.

"What a pleasant surprise. We were just looking for you," Sirius said. "But it's too bad you couldn't have been five minutes faster, it would have saved me having to walk all this way," he continued.

"You walked, what? One hundred metres?"

"That is besides the point."

"Padfoot, you are officially the laziest person I've ever known!"

"Thanks for the compliment James," replied Sirius. The funny thing was Sirius was being serious; there wasn't a hint of sarcasm in his voice. Laziness was something Sirius took pride in.

"But yet you enjoy playing Quidditch. Kind of contradicting don't you think?"

Sirius chose to ignore this, and there was a minute of silence.

It was Remus who broke the silence. "We came in the other way. We were out by the lake. Sorry we didn't wait for you James, it's just that it really wasn't that fascinating watching you try on clothes for an hour."

"You're telling me," said Sirius. "How does this look Padfoot? Is it too baggy? Maybe she doesn't like baggy? How 'bout this? No wait, she's Muggle-born, she'll probably like Muggle clothes on the weekends," Sirius mocked in an odd voice. It was the voice of a boy panicking with a little bit of girliness in there too. Both Peter and Remus laughed while an embarrassed James lightly shoved Sirius against the wall and continued walking.

*

As the Marauders walked back into the Gryffindor Common Room, they saw Lily Evans descending the Girls' Dormitory stairs. She was dressed very casually in a pair of jean capri pants and a plain white t-shirt. Her red hair was pulled up into a high ponytail.

"Hello James," she said walking towards him. The other three Marauders had gone to sit on the couch in front of the nonexistent fire (There was no need for a fire with the temperatures at 30 degrees Celsius.) leaving James alone in the middle of the room.

"Hi Lily," replied James. He remained glued to his spot on the floor. She was coming closer, she was only a few feet away now, 'C'mon brain, think of something to say!'

Before James could say anything though Lily was standing beside him, "Shall we go and get this over with then?"

James nodded. 'I can't believe it! Lily Evans! I've been dreaming of this day ever since I first saw her!'

Lily and James walked passed the few gawking Gryffindors who weren't spending this free afternoon outside or at Hogsmeade. None of them ever thought they would live to see the day that James Potter and Lily Evans walked through the portrait hole together, like this. Lily running after James because of a prank he and the Marauders had pulled was the norm.

Just before James disappeared from view, he turned his head toward the waving and smiling Marauders with a nervous, yet deeply satisfied grin on his own face he left.

*

"Whoa! Finally! I thought they'd never leave!"

"Shh, quiet Sirius, there are still a few left." Five minutes after Lily and James had left the few remaining Gryffindors had left the Common Room. Remus suspected it was to tell the rest of the school the big news: "EXTRA EXTRA READ ALL ABOUT IT! LILY EVANS AND JAMES POTTER HAVE GONE TO HOGSMEADE TOGETHER". Remus chuckled at the thought. Everyone knew James had a crush on Lily, but no one, save Sirius he knows everything (or so he says), thought they would actually go to Hogsmeade together.

"Ok, they're all gone," said Sirius as he watched a fourth year leave the Room. "Now can I tell you two about my marvellous plan?"

"Fine, let's hear it."

"Ok, here it is..." Sirius paused and looked up at the ceiling in thought.

"Out with it!"

"Hold your horses Wormtail. I've changed my mind..."

"Huh? What do you mean you've changed your mind? You've been bragging to me and Peter about this all week!"

"Moony, Moony, Moony," said Sirius shaking his head sadly, "don't you realize that my plan is so great not even words can describe it? You need to see it with your eyes."

"What do you mea..." Remus stopped and Sirius nodded. "You aren't!"

"Oh but I am. I'll be right back." With that, Sirius bounded up the Boy's Dormitory stair case and came back down a short while later with a shimmering silver substance; James' Invisibility Cloak.

"We're going to go spy on James?" asked Peter a little scared at the idea. "What if he finds out? He'll get so angry at us!"

"Stop worrying. We will be very very careful. We won't be heard or seen. And if we do (which we won't) James won't be too upset, he'll be ecstatic about the fact he finally got to go out with Evans."

"Hmmm," Remus groaned disapprovingly.

"You too. Stop being such worry warts. This will go fine," assured Sirius and he started towards the Portrait Hole.

"Whatever you say, but if James finds out it's your fault."

"He won't find out. C'mon." Sirius motioned to Remus and Peter to follow him and they did, though somewhat reluctantly.

*

Lily and James were walking down High Street in the little down of Hogsmeade. They had agreed to have a butterbeer at the Three Broomsticks and then go back to Hogwarts. Lily kept on insisting on only one drink and that this wasn't a real date.

The bell on the door jingled as James opened it for Lily. The Three Broomsticks was crowded with Hogwarts students, so the pretty redhead and star Quidditch player entered unnoticed. There weren't any tables left, and the bar was pretty much full too.

"Not a lot of room in here is there?" Lily said as she looked around.

'Wow, I was just thinking that and there she goes and says it! We are already reading each other's minds!'

"Perhaps there's room in the courtyard," suggested Lily. "You know? The place with tables and that nice garden?" she added a bit sarcastically when she saw the blank look on James' face.

"Umm no," James really had know idea what courtyard Lily was talking about, he for one had never heard of it.

"I didn't think you would have. C'mon, it's really beautiful."

The two teens walked through the crowded bar and into a small courtyard in the back. It had about six small, round tables, each with two chairs. The tables surrounded a beautiful garden full of both Muggle and Wizard plants. In the middle of this was a tiny wishing fountain that was no bigger than on of the tabletops. No one was there; perfect.

"How did you know about this place?" James asked.

"Oh, well, you know my friend Rooke?" James nodded, Rooke was the pretty brunette Remus had a crush on. Lily continued, "Her older sister who's been out of Hogwarts for a few years now told me about this place a while back," she paused and looked around. "Apparently not many people know about it, considering that no one's here." At this an odd look passed over Lily's face. James couldn't identify it. The look clearly said that she was glad nobody else was here, but James' wasn't sure why. Was it because she didn't want to be seen with him? Or was it because she wanted privacy, just the two of them? James decided on the latter.

"So...should we order?" Lily asked as they sat down at one of the tables.

"Good idea. I'll go and get the drinks. What do you want?"

"Hmm I'll have a butterbeer please," Lily decided.

James was about to go to get the drinks when a woman walked through the door, James recognized her as Madam Rosmerta, the owner of the Three Broomsticks. "Sorry to interrupt, but are you sure you want a butterbeer in this weather? How about a nice cold glass of pumpkin juice, or we have some Muggle soda pop?"

"Oh, hello. That sounds like a wonderful idea, what do you think James?"

Surprised by the interruption it took James a few seconds to respond, "Oh, yeah, good idea."

"Have you ever had Coca-Cola before?" Lily asked.

"Coca what?"

"Two Cokes please. It's been awhile since I've had one, last summer I think."

"I'll be right back," Madam Rosmerta said leaving the two teens alone once again.

"What's coca-cola?" asked a confused James.

"It's a Muggle drink. It's about as popular in the Muggle world as butterbeer is here," explained Lily.

"What's it like?"

"Well, it's kind of fizzy and bubbly. It's quite good."

"Whatever you say."

A few seconds passed in silence, but before it could get uncomfortable, Madam Rosmerta came back with two tall glasses of Coke with ice cubes.

"Thank you." James paid for the drinks and the two sat sipping their drinks while chatting.

*

Sirius, Remus, and Peter reached the Three Broomsticks ten minutes after James and Lily. The three friends walked into the bar, Sirius grinning, and the other two with doubtful looks on their faces.

"Ok, we're here. Now what? I don't see Lily or James," said Remus.

Sirius looked around, he didn't see them either, but then again, he knew he wouldn't see them.

He turned around to talk to the owner of the Three Broomsticks who was standing behind the bar, "Hello Madam Rosmerta. How are you today?"

"Why hello there Mr. Black. I'm fine thank you. Yourself?"

"Marvellous," Sirius replied.

"If you're looking for Mr. Potter, I saw him a few minutes ago, with a girl. A very pretty redhead at that."

"Actually we are looking for him. He ran off you see. It must be those hormones kicking in again," Sirius winked. "We best go find him then."

With a bit of a chuckle Madam Rosmerta motioned toward an out-of-the-way door that most of the customers didn't seem to notice.

"Wow, what was that?" Peter asked after Sirius' little conversation with Madam Rosmerta.

"Just me working my charms dear friend, and no, not my "wand" charms," Sirius replied flashing that smile he was known for towards a Hufflepuff that was eyeing him.

"Ew, but she's so much older. You don't like her do you?"

"Oh of course not Peter, (she isn't that much older). I do not like her, at least not like Remus likes Rooke," Sirius stopped and nudged Remus who was blushing. "Sometimes you just have to charm your way through life to get certain things, like the whereabouts of a certain friend of ours. Besides, that was all for show. I talked to Madam Rosmerta last Hogsmeade weekend and we arranged this."

"So that's where you went. We were wondering where you had gone."

"Yeah, so anyway back to what I was saying. Madam Rosmerta said she would inform me of Prongs' whereabouts." By the time Sirius was done talking, they had reached the door, which would lead them into the courtyard.

"Ok fine, that explains that, but what about this door?" asked Remus, he was still doubtful.

"This door leads into a courtyard, a beautiful one at that. No one else will be back there; I made sure of that."

"How?"

"Nothing much. Once again, when Madam Rosmerta and I had that little chat, we made a deal. Well, actually it was more of a favour she said she would do for me."

"And that favour is..." Remus asked motioning with his hands for Sirius to continue.

"Madam is telling students that the courtyard is due for some fixing up. No one can go back there because it is getting 'fixed up'. And before you ask, I know about this courtyard from Andromeda. She told me about it last summer. It is apparently a place a few girls know about. It is the perfect place for a first date, so says Andie. Good thing not many people know about it too, that way Madam doesn't have to tell many people off," Sirius explained. Andromeda, Sirius' favourite cousin, was a year ahead of the Marauders, and still good friends with Lily. Andromeda had also informed Sirius that Lily would know about the courtyard the same way as she did, Rooke's older sister.

"Well, I'm still a little confused, but let's go and get this over with. We will only stay for a few minutes. Got that Sirius?"

"Sure, what ever you say Remus." With that Sirius pulled the Invisibility Cloak from under his Muggle t-shirt and threw it over himself, Peter, and Remus.

*

"So you see, Sirius really is a pain in the ass. Sometimes I can't stand him, he can be as annoying as hell, but don't get me wrong, he's really great most of the time."

James and Lily had been talking about everything, from Coca-cola, to their friends. James had just finished telling Lily all about how great his friends were, while she just sat there listening.

"He's quite the prankster though, isn't he?"

"Well, yes, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing is it?" asked James, interested to hear what she thought about pranksters. She had lightened up while the two of them had sat chatting. She almost seemed to like him now, but James still wanted to hear what she had to say.

"It depends," she said simply.

James looked at her, urging her to continue.

"James, you have to stop hexing people for absolutely no reason, it's just so cruel!"

"But what about Sniv...I mean Snape?"

"There are always exceptions to every rule. You of all people should know that."

James smiled. 'Ok, I've just got to lower the amount of pranking and hexing, that's not going to be too hard. Thank God Snivellus doesn't count.'

"Ok Lily, let's make a truce. I will stop hexing people for walking down the hall (not including Snape), but you have to give me a chance. Deal?" James put his hand out to seal the offer.

"This is your chance James, right here, right now. I'm doing my part, so you better start doing yours," Lily said as she shook James hand.

"A handshake is good, but there is another way to seal things like these, with a kiss perhaps?"

"You're pushing it Potter."

"I was just kidding, a hand shake is fine by me, but how about we throw some knuts into that fountain over there, just in case," suggested James, getting up, taking Lily's hand over, and walking over to the small wishing fountain.

"I suppose that's all right," Lily replied as she took the bronze coin James had offered her. "On the count of three we'll throw them in, to seal the truce. One, two, three!"

In unison, the two threw the coins into the water. There was a splash of water, apparently this fountain was enchanted, for two spurts of water rose out of the stone base, collided with each other, and fell back down as one large stream.

Lily and James smiled at each other, and went back to sit down, but before that James had one little thing he wanted to do. He pulled a golden galleon out of his pocket and threw it into the water, whispering, he wished for one thing; "I wish, that one day, Lily Evans will love me as much as I love her."

*

"So you see, Sirius really is a pain in the ass. Sometimes I can't stand him, he can be as annoying as hell, but don't get me wrong, he's really great most of the time."

"What? Me, a pain? No way!"

Sirius, Remus, and Peter had walked through the door just as James had said this.

"Keep it down Padfoot. This is how you can be a pain!" scolded Remus. It was awfully hot and crowded under the Cloak, so Peter transformed into a rat to make more space. They had also hidden behind the centre garden just in case.

Quietly they eavesdropped for about five minutes, but Sirius started getting restless.

"You've got to stop moving so much, they will hear us," whispered Remus. "In fact, you are moving too much, let's get going."

"No, we can't not yet. I've got one more thing to do, then we can leave." Sirius pulled two chess pieces out of his never-ending pockets, a king and a queen. He set them down.

"Aren't those mine?" asked Remus.

"Shhh, yes they are, I needed to borrow them." With a flick of Sirius' dragon's heartstring wand, the two chess pieces were transfigured into a bouquet of white lilies, and in another blink of an eye, Sirius was now Padfoot. Padfoot picked up the flowers in his mouth and trotted out from behind the garden. In a very cute manner, Padfoot walked up to Lily and dropped the bouquet on her lap.

"Aww, look at him! He's so cute!" Lily exclaimed as she patted Padfoot softly on the head. "And look at these flowers, they're so beautiful. Did you do this James?"

"Uhh yeah," replied James, eyeing the mysterious black dog. That dog looked awfully familiar to James, almost like...Padfoot! When the realization hit him, James looked down at the dog, scowling. He couldn't believe his best friend had come to spy on him! But then again, maybe this wasn't Sirius, it was doubtful, but just maybe...James decided to believe that this was some stray dog, and besides if it was Sirius, no good would come out of James saying something about it while Lily was there. Number one: Lily would find out Sirius was an illegal, underage Animagus, and number two: Lily seemed to be enjoying Padfoot. She was sitting there petting his head and smiling down at him, whilst Padfoot just sat there and looked cute. But as all good things come to an end, so did this. Padfoot's job was done, so he walked back to the invisible Remus, and rat Peter, and the three left out the backdoor.

*

"Look at the time! It's nearly 3 o'clock already. Sorry James, I've got to get going. I told Rooke and Andie that I'd meet them at Honeydukes at 3. I've had a nice afternoon. Thanks for everything. Friends?"

"Friends." They shook hands, smiling at each other, but then Lily had to be off, and through the door she went back into the crowded bar. James left soon after.