Open Flame

"What about Lily Evans?"

"Huh?"

"Ask her out if you're so desperate for a date to the Ball."

"Lily Evans?"

"You know. Li-lee Ehv-ins."

"Lily?"

"James! You know Lily. She's been in pretty much every single one of your classes since first year."

"Lily?"

"Yes, Lily."

"I know who she is. Sirius! She's the hot one!" Sirius rolled his eyes.

"They're all hot to you."

"She's really hot."

"James," sighed Sirius exasperatedly, "don't be daft. You stupid git." James sighed.

"She is really hot." Sirius reached across to where James was digging into his pork chops and hit him on the back of the head hard enough for him to get a face full of pork.

"So she's hot. We've established that. Now we have to get her to like you."

"Like me? Why?" Sirius rolled his eyes again. "Why does she have to like me?" Sirius buried his face in his own pork and began to cry.

"My friend's an idiot beyond anyone's wildest imagination."

"Sirius! Don't cry! Who's your idiot friend? I'll knock some sense into him." Sirius lifted his face and glared. James burst out laughing.

"I'm just kidding."

"I never guessed," said Sirius, though whether it was sarcasm or not is left to the reader.

"Like me? I just have to take her to the Ball. Why does she have to like me? She just has to tolerate me."

"So we have to deflate your ego to a tolerable level then."

"My ego's not that big! Not like yours, Mr. I-Scored-Five-Goals-In-Our-Last-Quidditch-Match-Against-Hufflepuff."

"Did you score any goals? No! At least I have something to be proud about."

"I was playing as the Reserve Seeker! Longbottom tripped and broke his arm."

"So that's where he was...." Sirius trailed off thoughtfully. James reached out and hit Sirius.

"That match was two months ago! You're only just now realizing this?"

"Well, I wasn't that intrigued by it. He breaks his arm every two weeks. At least I pay more attention than you, Mr. My-Homework-Got-Caked-In-Drool-Because-I-Fell-Asleep-While-Doing-It-In-The-Common-Room!" James blushed.

"We don't normally mention my...ah...middle name, Sirius! So if we could just forget that for the time being!"

"Why? Too embarrassing for you?"

"No...it's just - "

"Hey, James! Guess who's looking your way?"

"Who?"

"Look!"

At the end of the table, Lily Evans leaned over her food, squinting at the parchment next to it. Her red hair fell across her shoulders, blocking her bright green eyes from the rest of the world. Because of the contrasting red and green, her friends frequently called her The Christmas Tree and put spells on her that kept little Christmas ornaments dangling from her shirt, even during the hot, summery days of finals.

"You know, I don't get Arithmancy at all," she sighed.

"Well that's what you get for taking all the advanced courses," snickered Tarah.

"Some help you are."

"I try," said Tarah lightly, buttering a piece of bread. Tarah was shorter with straight black hair and black eyes.

"He's really hot," said Venus. She had silvery hair and eyes to match, though she was rather tall. The other two looked up.

"What are you talking about?" asked Lily.

"James," she sighed again.

"Do you do nothing but think about guys all the time?" snapped Tarah.

"I can't help it! He's hot," defended Venus.

"With pork on his forehead?" asked Lily uncertainly, glancing at him.

"And gravy on his cheek?" put in Tarah.

"Yes."

"Insert girly sigh here," muttered Lily. "Come on! There are other things to think about besides hot guys."

"So you do think he's hot! You are female after all!" gasped Tarah in mock surprise.

"Like your failing Potions grade, for instance," frowned Lily. Tarah blushed.

"Ooooh, that's right. And we have that test tomorrow. Lily! Little help here?" Lily looked up once more and saw James staring back at her before she smiled to herself and bent over her parchment once again.

"She looked at me!" yelped James. "This should be no problem at all."

"You said that last time, James," snickered Sirius.

"It was no trouble last time."

"Because it was Lenna."

"So?"

"She's part of the James Potter fan club."

"There's a James Potter fan club?"

"I was jok - "

"I should join," James said thoughtfully.

"Who's an idiot?" exclaimed Sirius with a grin on his face and the air of one talking to a toy poodle. "You are! Yes, you are, you big idiot, you!" he squealed, ruffling James's mop...er...hair.

"Where're Remus and Peter?" asked James, looking around for the first time.

"They're at the Hospital Wing. Peter had an accident in Potions again."

"Again?"

"You were there, James. Mr. I-Wouldn't-Know-Anything-Unless-It-Had-Red-Hair-And-A-Killer-Body-And-Came-To-Every-One-Of-My-Quidditch-Matches-For-The-Past-Six-Years."

"She's been to every Quidditch match? I didn't know she was there when we played Hufflepuff in third year." This comment earned James another face full of pork. He lay there for a moment. "Really? Every Quidditch match?" Sirius growled in a very dog-like way and stormed out.

Venus giggled as she, Tarah, and Lily sat around a table covered in parchments.

"What's so funny now?" Lily asked, sighing as, once again, the Arithmancy problem didn't work out.

"You-Know-Who is coming this way," she giggled.

"What?! Voldemort? He's coming here?" Lily gasped.

"Don't say the name!" Venus shuddered. "No, James is."

"Oh. Nothing worth losing my place on this problem I've been working on for SIX HOURS!" She growled and set about writing furiously again.

"Uh...excuse me...Lily?" Someone tapped Lily on the shoulder, making her jump and lose her place. "Could I talk to you for a moment?" It was James. It figured. Right when she was about to get the answer to this problem that she'd been working on for hours.

"Right now? I'm a little preoccupied right now. Could we make an appointment for next Tuesday?"

"Erm...," started James uncertainly.

"Don't mind her for being rude, James," glared Tarah. "Just give her a minute." All three of them bent over their parchments once again. Suddenly, Lily looked up.

"Are you still here?" she asked James, more curiously than rudely.

"Apparently."

"I noticed. What do you need?"

"I was wondering if you'd like to go to the Ball with me."

"What? You're expecting me to jump up and start worshipping the very ground you walk upon just because you're hot and popular and start sobbing unrestrainedly into your shoulder for the pure joy of it?"

"Actually...no. I was expecting you to say 'yes.' Or even a 'no' would be better than nothing."

"Oh." Suddenly she jumped up. "YES! YES! YES!" She burst out sobbing unrestrainedly into his shoulder for the pure joy of it.

"You'll go to the Ball with me?"

"I figured out the Arithmancy problem!" She hugged him and then ran around the Common Room and proceeded to hug every person in it. "I figured out the problem!" She ran back to James and hugged him again.

"What about me?" he asked.

"Hmmm?"

"Will you go to the Ball with me?"

"Oh, sure. Fine. Now I only have...twelve more problems to do." She buried her face in her books and began to sniffle. "I hate Arithmancy." James cleared his throat uncertainly and went back over to the couch in front of the fire.

"You're going to the Ball with James!" squeaked Venus.

"Uh...yeah," said Lily, preoccupied once more.

"You're my heroine!"

"Or rather, your supplier," muttered Lily.

"What?"

"Nothing. Muggle humor."

"Oh." Nobody really paid attention. Lily did that every so often, but always refused to explain anything.

"Hey, Lily! Wait up!" Lily turned and saw James jogging up behind her.

"Hi, James," she said as he came up next to her.

"Hi, Lily. I was wondering if you'd like to join me, Sirius, Remus, and Peter for some hot chocolate around the fire tonight after dinner in the Charms classroom. You can bring your friends if you'd like."

"You mean Venus and Tarah?" He nodded.

"I thought we ought to get to know each other if we're going to the Ball together."

"I suppose so. We don't really have any homework left to do, so I guess we'll be there."

"Great!" He flashed her his two million dollar smile. "I'll see you there! We'll provide the hot chocolate and the fire." He took her hand and kissed it before disappearing around the corner of the next hallway.

"But...there's no fireplace in the Charms classroom," Lily muttered to herself as she walked into Arithmancy. She tried not to think about it for the rest of the period.

When Lily, Venus, and Tarah walked into the Charms classroom that night, it was completely dark except for a fire in the middle of the room. James looked up when they came in and took Lily's hand.

"Hi, Lily," he said shyly.

"Hi, James."

"Um...Lily...hi," he said again. Lily raised one eyebrow at him.

"Huh?" Suddenly Sirius popped up between the two of them.

"This Jane! She pretty! She real pretty!" James glared.

"I know she real pretty...er...she's really pretty, Sirius. You don't need to tell me that."

"Um...James?"

"Yes, Lily?"

"That fire...it's not in a fireplace."

"I know."

"Do you know what fire does?"

"Uh...I think so."

"It burns."

"Oh, we learned to control fires a long time ago, even without magic. We had to...ever since the time when...uh...never mind."

"Let's try not to mention that in front of the...the...," started Sirius.

"The ladies," Lily supplied.

"Right. The ladies. Let's not mention these things in front of the ladies."

"Sorry, Sirius."

"Mention what?" asked Tarah curiously.

"The...incident. We try not to mention it very often, in case there's a teacher within hearing distance. It was all Sirius's fault."

"It was not!" retorted Sirius hotly. "Peter helped." Peter sniffed from across the fire.

Meanwhile, the three girls had gone to sit around the fire where there were several mugs of hot chocolate. Lily made sure to sit next to James, though she seemed to edge away just a bit before he came to sit down again.

"So has anyone here ever had a marshmallow besides me?" Lily asked.

"A what-now?" asked Sirius.

"She said narchnallow," said James. "I think."

"No, marshmallow. It's a kind of Muggle sweet that you eat around campfires."

"You should've brought some," said Peter sadly.

"And, Peter, pray tell, where wouldst one find a Muggle sweet in Hogwarts given six hours notice?" He shrugged.

"You ought to try Hogsmeade," said James thoughtfully, which didn't suit him at all.

"How would I get to Hogsmeade in six hours on a Thursday?" James blushed and Sirius coughed slightly while Remus and Peter both averted their eyes. "You four have too many secrets," opined Lily.

"You haven't the foggiest idea," muttered James. There was a slight bit of tension for a moment before Peter tried to take a drink of his hot chocolate, choked, and ended up rolling around the floor coughing madly. Remus picked up his wand and lazily performed a Heimlich maneuver-like spell.

"We had to perfect that one for as often as Peter does that." Nobody said anything for a while as they all enjoyed the warmth of the fire. Then Lily spoke up, her voice tinged with fear.

"Uh...James? Does that fire seem a bit...bigger to you?" James scrutinized it for a moment.

"No. It's still the same height as before. It's just closer so it seems bigger."

"Why is it closer?"

"Seems to me to be burning up the wood flooring."

"It's not supposed to do that!"

"No, I guess we ought to be leaving then."

"We can't leave an open flame burning in the middle of our Charms classroom!"

"I guess we should put it out then."

"That would appear to be true," shrieked Lily, backing up as the fire grew bigger.

"What was the spell for water?" called Sirius over the roar of the fire.

"I know!" yelled back Peter. He muttered something and a fountain of wine shot out of the end of his wand. Pointing it at the fire which had now begun to take up nearly the entire center of the room, he made the spray land in the center.

"Peter? What is that?" stated Lily, very slowly and clearly.

"Wine!" he called back.

"What?! Peter! No! Don't you know what wine does to fire?" It was too late. The center of the room burst up in a fireball. "PETER! YOU RAT! I'm not even going to ask how or why you know that spell!" shrieked Lily as James pulled her back against the wall nearest the door. James shuddered at how close she was to the truth. She muttered something and her wand began to shoot out water. Quickly putting out the fire, she kept spraying it at Peter until he was thoroughly drenched. "You fool! We could have been killed! Just thank James for saving me, or perhaps now you'd rather be an ungrateful wretch! You could have died! We could have all died! I'm surprised I'm not dead! You - you!"

"She's got quite a temper," whispered Sirius to James. "I think it's the red hair."

"I think it makes her look hot," whispered James back.

"And you!" screeched Lily, whirling around. "Thanks." She leaned over and kissed James on the cheek and then left. James blushed and sank to the floor while Tarah and Venus rushed out of the door after Lily.

"Oh, great!" sighed Sirius in exasperation. "Now he's a bumbling git and we have to drag him all the way back to the Common Room!" He stuck his head out of the door. "Thanks a lot, Lily!" Pulling his head in, he motioned to Remus. "You take his left arm and I'll take his right. Peter, you stay out of the way. And fix the floorboards."

"You kissed James!" shrieked Venus. "You kissed James!"

"Sorry. I know you were in love with him."

"You kissed him! What's it like?"

"Kissing his cheek? Smooth? What do you want me to say?" Venus sighed.

"He's hot!"

"Honestly! Is everyone in this fic...er...castle completely superficial?"

"Yes!" Lily sighed.

"Prongs! If you do not get up and start walking right this instant I, Sirius "Padfoot" Black, will personally make sure that you go to the Ball stag!" James slowly climbed to his feet.

"That was a terrible pun, Sirius."

"I wholeheartedly agree," put in Remus from his other side.

"But it got you up," defended Sirius.

"She's hot," sighed James again.

"Are you really that shallow?"

"I'm supposed to be. Research shows that fifty-three percent of all readers prefer guys as shallow, bumbling gits."

"And did you know that eight-seven percent of all statistics are made up on the spot?" asked Remus.

"Really?" said Peter in amazement. Everyone glared at him pointedly. "What?" They all shook their heads in unison.

At this point the author decided that this fic started out as an Astronomy Tower fic and ought to be finished like one, especially if it was going to be put in the Astronomy Tower and would also like to recognize how hard it is to talk in third person. Unfortunately, nothing ever works out like she means it too. And for future reference: she knows she slaughtered Hagrid's accent, but everyone else does it too so it's okay. She also seemed to run out of funny things to say....

"Kiss me, my fool!" moaned Lily.

"I...wait...yes! My dear! I have waited for this moment for an eternity!"

"That's not what the script says, James."

"Sorry. I lost mine a week ago."

"You still haven't memorized your lines?"

"Well...that is to say...I would conclude...though it is possible to reason...that...no. I'd have to say not."

"James! The play is in two weeks! If we're going to perform this in front of the whole school at the Ball, we have to know it down pat!"

"Calm down. I'll learn a memorization charm and use it to help me."

"There's no such thing."

"You sure?" She nodded and he sighed. "That's what I get for dozing off in Charms."

"Yep. We're screwed."

"Thanks, Ms. Optimistic."

"Well, we are!"

"Maybe we should put on a puppet show."

"Hey, buddy! It was your idea to choose a play! If we're going to do a two person scene from a play, we need to be able to do it well."

"What time is it?"

"What?"

"I asked what time it was."

"It's three o' clock. Why?" James suddenly gasped.

"I'm late! Come on!" He grabbed her hand and dragged her outside to the front lawn where there was a thin skimming of snow. Lily's teeth began to chatter.

"Where are we going?" she asked between chatters.

"Hagrid's! For tea! And tea is always at four!"

"But it's only three."

"Yes, but since the Muggles don't know that Hogwarts is here, they put a time zone right through the grounds so Hagrid is on another Time Zone."

"There aren't any Time Zones that go right down the middle of Great Britain."

"There aren't?"

"No! I'm a Muggle-born. I would know."

"That means that Hagrid probably got drunk and set his clocks an hour off again, thinking it was Daylight Savings Time." James sighed. "Well, we can tell him when we get there. I'm freezing so hurry up."

"Me? I wasn't invited."

"I'm inviting you. Hurry up."

"Some Ball date you are. Dragging me onto the freezing grounds and then forcing me to go to tea. I hate tea."

"Not Hagrid's, you won't. I can promise you that."

"How?"

"It's spiked." By the time Lily had fully comprehended that, James had dragged her to Hagrid's front door and knocked.

"James! Ye' brought a frien'! Lily, isn't it? Yer always welcome at my house! But, James...yer early." Lily threw a look at James. "Almos' two whole minutes. Well don' jus' stand there freezin'. Come in an' warm yerselves by the fire. I've got summat good tea yeh like, James. Yeh'll like it too, Lily." He served them some tea as they stood, melting, in front of the fire.

S-s-s-s-so, Hagrid," started Lily, but she was overtaken by the chills again.

"Your accent seems different," pointed out James from between blue lips.

"Th' author wan'ed her try at i'."

"Now, Hagrid," scolded James. "If everyone else jumped in front of a rampaging hippogriff, would you do it too?"

"Bu' I didn' do it!" protested Hagrid. James flatly ignored him and moved closer to the fire.

"Don't you have any blankets?" he asked. "Any?"

"On'y th' one. Th' res' are bein' dry cleane' this week."

"Convenient how these things work, isn't it?" Lily muttered.

"I' makes a good settin' for a fluff scene," said Hagrid as he wrapped the blanket around the two.

"It's not very fluffy if one can't breathe," Lily choked out after he was done.

"Oops!" He loosened it a bit so they were merely sitting next to each other on the hearth with the blanket over both of their shoulders.

"That's a bit better," said James. Lily nodded her head in agreement as she snuggled closer to James. The fire was bright and warm, and contained in a fireplace which took away a lot of tension in the atmosphere.

"This is almost...nice," said Lily after a while. "We should do it more often."

"And with narchnallows."

"Maybe." She leaned in closer to him, against her will, as she wasn't writing the story. They stayed like that for quite a bit, with Lily resting her head on his shoulder. Hagrid seemed to have disappeared. Or else he had fallen asleep. "You know, you're not so bad, for a guy, James."

"You're not so bad for a girl, Lily." He leaned over and kissed her. After they broke off, Lily sighed.

"I'll have to tell Venus. She'll be so disappointed that she can't have you now. I'll have to approach her with the chocolate held out in front of me on a twenty-foot pole."

"Venus is an odd name, is it not?"

"It is. You know, we never actually drank any of the tea that Hagrid gave us." She buried her face in his chest as the fire warmed them both to an exhausting point. He lifted her face up and kissed her once more.

There! I told you I'd end it in fluff! Dumb fluff, but fluff nevertheless. Hee hee. Reviews are happily accepted. As long as you insert a coin beforehand. Thank you! Please come again!