Twosome

One, two... one, two... No, no! Don't lose balance! Don't. Lose. Balance. Lily's breath quickened as Sirius Black, James Potter, and Remus Lupin sped past her. Miraculously, she managed to flatten herself against the wall and somehow attempt to keep herself from falling right onto her butt. As soon as they passed, she pushed herself off of the wall and attempted to start up again. One, two... one, two... Right leg, left leg...

"I think I'm getting it," she said to herself. A triumphant smile spread across her face. But just at that moment Peter Pettigrew happened to hobble past her.

It's extraordinary how James or one of his little friends always have to cause a little bump in my road to happiness, Lily thought. Like that one time in our First Year when he got me into detention...

"Harumph!" The wind got knocked out of her as her roller skates flew from underneath her body and she landed on her butt. Just as she caught her breath, the wind got knocked out of her again as Peter's shoulder landed squarely onto her stomach.

She bodily pushed Peter off of her as she tried to breathe. "S-sorry," he stuttered.

Instead of acknowledging his apology, she looked heavenwards and groaned, "Why am I doing this again?"

"To promote good ole healthy social interaction with your classmates in a normal muggle environment, remember?" James Potter slid to a stop right in front of her and held out his hand. "And Dumbledore thought it'd be fun," he added as an afterthought.

Tucking her hair behind her ear, she sarcastically smiled and attempted to get up by herself but failed fantastically as her roller skates once again flew from underneath her, but this time instead of falling on her butt, James, with his quick quidditch reflexes, caught her deftly in his arms.

"Please, now do you expect me to swoon as I look into your oh-so-deep chocolate-colored eyes?" she asked, as she pushed herself out of his arms and onto her butt once again.

Letting out a grunt of frustration, she pulled off her skates and stomped out of the skating rink in her socks, which probably would have been more impressive if she hadn't just fallen on her butt. Twice. And it started to hurt a bit. It didn't help that right at that moment James came skating after her, saying, "Do you really think I have oh-so-deep chocolate-colored eyes?"

"I was being sarcastic, you dimwit." Rolling her eyes, she flopped herself down onto one of the benches as James leaned over the railing, standing just inside the rink.

"Really?" he asked.

"Really, Potter," she said, dully, trying to balance herself on the bench so she wouldn't put too much pressure on her bruised butt cheeks.

Apparently James noticed, saying, "Do you need ice for that?"

"Haha, thanks, but no," she answered, monotonously. Grimacing, she continued to find a somewhat comfortable balance.

Just at that moment, the lights dimmed and the background music, which previously was something upbeat, slowed. "Now we ask you folks to find a partner. This song is for all the twosomes out there," the man on the skating rink's intercom announced.

Lily rolled her eyes as she heard a Ravenclaw girl nearby squeal as some boy asked her to skate with him, but much to her dismay, James was thinking along the same lines. "Do you wanna--" he began.

"No. No way," she said quickly. "Are you crazy?"

"Maybe," he smiled. "But you look so lonely as a onesome. How about you join me? We could be a twosome!" He looked quite excited by the idea.

But she shot him the dirtiest look that she could muster. "I said no," she said, resolutely turning away, not without causing pain to her butt.

"Why?" He tilted his head to his right, skated out of the rink, and took a seat next to her. He didn't look a bit put out by her refusal.

"Because," she said, turning away from him.

"Because what?" he persisted.

"Because," she said again, "I don't know, just because I don't want to be a twosome with you."

"What's so wrong with being a twosome with me?"

"Do you ever shut up?" she muttered more to herself than to him.

"What's so wrong with being a twosome with me?" he asked again, unfazed by her previous question.

She turned to him, eyes wide, and said, "Do you really want me to answer that? It's not like you haven't been the biggest jerk in the world the last seven years, Potter, and you know it." Once again, her eyes rolled, and she turned away. "You ask too many questions."

"I'll teach you to skate properly," he said, smirking as he got up from the bench and handed her his hand.

She looked up at him and sent him daggers with her eyes. Her horrible skating was a touchy subject. "I'm never getting into these skates again," she said, dryly.

He lowered his hand and used it to rustle his hair a little bit, thinking that it might make him more appealing to her. Unfortunately, all she thought was that he was an idiot.

"Come on, Dumbledore said that McGonagall's giving one extra credit point for every lap you do," he pleaded. She just continued to send the daggers at him. He sighed, resignedly, for about a second, before the most brilliant idea popped into his head. "I'll shut up and leave you alone for the rest of the nigh if you skate with me. One lap while we're holding hands, and that's it. I promise."

Now James shutting up and leaving her alone was what appealed to her. But having to skate with him while holding hands? That didn't appeal to her so much, if you haven't noticed. But, then again, it was only one lap. One lap and he said he'd shut up and leave her alone.

"Fine," she said, her voice a little hesitant. "Help me up."

He smiled that stupid radiant smile of his and took her hand in his as he hoisted her up and helped her put her skates back on.

Then as she not-on-purpose clutched James' arm as the entered the rink once again, she couldn't help but think that it was all kind of nice... The slow stupid background music, James protecting her from stupid people who might decide to come hobbling at them while trying to accidentally on purpose knock them down, the would-be rhythmic motion of skating, the way James' hand felt against hers when she finally stopped clutching his arm...

Maybe one more lap wouldn't hurt. She kind of liked being part of a twosome.