Chaos Theory

nerdypurdy

Rating: PG13
Genres: Romance, Humor
Relationships: Lily & James
Book: Lily & James, Books 1 - 4
Published: 27/12/2003
Last Updated: 04/10/2004
Status: in_progress

What happens when you take one stubborn Quidditch player, one hard headed journalist and then throw a wedding into the mix? (For their sakes, let's hope someone else is getting married.) (A/N: Out of town for a month...sorry)

Chapters

1. And so it begins...

2. Chapter 2

3. Chapter 3

1. And so it begins...

Chapter 1

“…Although there's no denying the talent of each individual on the Chudley Cannons…until they get their act together, their chances of winning the Quidditch Cup are nil. And with James Potter reigning as their captain, I doubt they'll be seeing a glitter of gold anytime soon.”

“Leigh,” Lily said, “I know you love me and all, but must you insist on quoting my articles to me? Besides, that article ran a week ago, why are you bringing it up now?”

Leigh shrugged, “Just wondering what inspired James Potter, Quidditch Captain Extraordinaire, to write a letter to Jim.”

Lily snorted, “He wrote a letter to Jim? You must be joking…he probably can't even read, let alone write.”

Leigh raised her eyebrows and said nothing.

“He wrote a letter to our EDITOR?” Lily yelled.

“I take it you didn't see today's paper then…” Leigh held back a laugh as she dropped a copy of the Prophet onto Lily's desk.

Lily opened the paper, furiously searching for the letter. When she found it, she read it silently…well, mostly. “Oh, ho! I'm a reporter `who claims to know about the sport of Quidditch and the way its really played in spite of the fact that she has yet to play in a game, real or otherwise.'?!”

“Careful, Lily…you know how volatile you are.”

Lily glanced up, confused by Leigh's choice of words, “Volatile? I don't think that's the word you're looking for. It means-”

“Prone to violence, I know what it means, Lils. And that was the word I meant.”

Lily narrowed her eyes and glared at Leigh for a second and said, “I was actually going to say “Inconstant” but whatever…” before returning to the article. “Ha! `She can make all the remarks about me that she wants, but I resent her attacks against my teammates.' Yeah, right.”

“Lily…why do you let this guy get to you? You know it only antagonizes you.”

“I don't let him get to me…he just does. It's like he knows how to get under my skin. Ugh, I hate him.”

Leigh smiled and remarked, “On the other side of repulsion lies attraction.”

Lily's eyes all but bulged out of their sockets at Leigh's insinuation, “Oh, Merlin! Never! Not in a million years!”

Leigh laughed, “Methinks the lady doth protest too much.”

“Leigh! You keep this up and you'll be on the same list with Potter!”

Leigh put on a face of utmost seriousness and replied, “Lily…hon…don't take this the wrong way, but I just don't think of you that way.”

“LEIGH!”

“Oy, Lily, calm down. I'm only joking.”

Lily glared some more.

“You know…you really do need to calm down…chill out…relax! You're 20 for Merlin's sake! You're supposed to have some fun once in a while.”

“I can't help the fact that I have my priorities straight.”

“And those would be…?”

“Education…career…marriage…children…”

“Uh-huh, now correct me if I'm wrong here, but you seem to have already taken care of your education and career…so wouldn't marriage be the next step?”

Lily looked away nervously, realizing the trap she had just set for herself, “Well, I guess…but-” she broke off.

“But what, Lily?” Leigh prompted.

“I just don't want to get married right now.”

“So don't…but that doesn't mean you can't date!”

“Right…and how do you propose I go about doing that?”

“Well…I could set you up with a friend of Jason's…”

Lily's eyebrows shot up, “No…I'm not going out with some lawyer guy!”

“Well, the guy I was thinking of actually isn't a lawyer.”

“Well, he knows one and that's generally not a good sign.”

“I'm going out with one!”

“I know…but I knew you before you did, so that's…different.”

“Oh, come on, Lils. Just one date and if it's that bad, I'll never bug you about it again!”

“It…doesn't work that way.”

“Then how does it work?”

“I don't know…I meet a guy and we just click, I guess.”

“Right…and how do you expect to actually meet the guy if you never do anything besides work?”

Lily avoided the topic, “I gotta go. I'm supposed to cover another Quidditch game tonight and I wanted to run to the gym before I went.”

Leigh, obviously exasperated, sighed and said, “Fine…take it easy it on them this time.”

“Hey…I just call it like I see it,” Lily called out as she left the room, shutting the door behind her. She leaned back against the door as a memory flooded her mind.

~Flashback~

“Mom? Where's Dad?”

A tired woman in her 40's looked at her young daughter smiling, the best she could manage anyhow, and said softly, “He's gone, sweetie. He won't be coming back.”

~Present~

Lily's eyes shut as she recalled that day with perfect clarity. She had just walked into the dining room to see her mother looking over stacks of papers - papers she now knew to be bills - with a worried look on her face. Now, nine years later, she understood the reasons behind her mother's sadness that day. Her father had just left them for his secretary - original, huh? - but when he left, so did most of his income. What he sent each month was just enough to cover her tuition at Hogwarts. She had always wondered if perhaps that was the reason why Petunia hated her so much…her going to an expensive school when their mother could barely afford it.

Her mother had attended Cambridge University, but upon marrying her father had dropped out to be a stay-at-home wife. It was what she had always wanted anyway. Unfortunately, it also left her without many options when he left. Lily admired her mother greatly for the hard work she had done for her sister and her. She took on two jobs while attending night school to finish her degree. Three years, she did that…three years. So Lily grew up refusing to let herself depend on anyone that much. In fact, she prided herself on her independence, but sometimes she wondered what it would be like…just to have someone else to depend on. Sighing, she left to go to the game.

*~*~*~*~*

Sirius groaned once more as their supposed star Chaser, James, missed yet another goal.

“Gah! James! How are we supposed to win if you keeping missing the goals?!”

“Relax, Sirius, I'm just having fun…its only practice,” he replied, shrugging it off.

Sirius exhaled sharply, getting annoyed at how this warm-up practice was turning out. “James, I want you to remember this, I'm not going to tell you again…you play like you practice.”

James rolled his eyes and flew back into the line-up to run another play as Sirius muttered under his breath.

“Hey, Potter…he getting on your case again?” Brian Andrews, a team beater, teased.

“Oh, yeah…good old Padfoot…we can always count on him to bug me.”

“Well,” Ally Freeman, the team's Seeker, defended their coach, “he's not half-bad, you know…considering he's only coached for a year.”

James replied, “I never said he was bad.” He sighed. “Come on, you guys, let's just get back to work…”

“Ahh, now you wanna work,” Ally teased.

“Or…even better…” James said as an idea began to formulate inside his mind. He called over a few of his teammates to go over his plan.

They got into position to run their play. Ally went high above them as a Seeker generally does. James raced toward the goal as John (another Chaser) threw him the Quaffle. He caught it deftly and held it under his right arm to protect it. He flew full-speed towards the Keeper, but just before he got there, he accidentally-on-purpose dropped the Quaffle.

“Oops!” he exclaimed as he tilted the broom to the ground, chasing the Quaffle at full-speed. He finally caught the Quaffle but he remained in his dive, performing a move generally reserved for seekers. At the last second, he finally pulled up and shot off to the goal again. This time, he flew to the goal farthest from him, then looped above and over the keeper, scoring in the other ring while upside down.

His teammates cheered at the goal as they admired James' daredevil moves. The coach, however, didn't look too happy with him.

James was laughing and joking with his teammates when Sirius called him down a few minutes later, after he had finally calmed down enough to talk. He flew down to the ground to talk with him. However, Sirius led him to the locker room.

James sat down on the bench and watched Sirius as he paced back in forth in front of him. Sirius stopped and rubbed his eyes before saying, “What the heck kind of stunt were you pulling out there?!”

“What are you talking about?” James asked. “I was just showing you the kind of stuff that scores goals!”

“NO! You were showing me the kind of stuff that gets you benched!” Sirius yelled. Calming down, he said, “I didn't like what I saw out there! I didn't see a star pulling a good move to score a goal. I saw a clown performing reckless circus moves! Look, I was your best friend at Hogwarts and I know you better than anyone on that team and I know you're not going to like what I'm gonna tell you. But at this point, you're proving Evans right! I didn't want to admit it because I'm your friend, but now I know you don't need a friend…you need a coach. I'm benching you indefinitely until you can show me the kind of leadership I need to take this team to the Cup. Is that clear?”

“As glass,” James returned, his voice heavy with anger and disappointment.

“You're dismissed,” Sirius said as he left to return to assist the other team members with their practice.

*~*~*~*~*

Tim watched as Lily entered the gym and called out, “Ahh, Miss Evans! Your usual spot is open.”

She smiled, “Thanks, Tim.”

“You're quite welcome. Have a good workout!”

As Lily made her way over to her usual treadmill, she passed by a young man hitting a punching bag hard; he grunted with each hit. His back was towards Lily and she stopped to admire the view…as he wore no shirt. He moved around to the other side and Lily caught a view of his face. As soon as she did, she no longer enjoyed the view - well, she did, but like she was really going to admit that? - because the man in question was none other than Mr. James Potter.

“Oh, sod a dog…could my day get any worse?” Lily muttered aloud to herself.

James stopped at the sound of her voice and looked up to see her. “Evans?”

Apparently, it can, she thought as she forced a smile to her face and went into reporter mode. “Mr. Potter, what brings you here instead of Quidditch practice? You do generally practice before a game, correct?”

“Yeah, we do,” he replied.

Not getting the answer she wanted, she tried again. “So why are you here?”

Not wanting to divulge the truth, James answered, “I'm on vacation.”

“Vacation? At the beginning of the season?”

“Yeah.”

“Sorry, but I don't buy that.”

“Fine, but I'll only tell you off the record.”

Lily sighed. “You have a deal.”

“I'm benched indefinitely, you happy?”

Lily frowned, “Not particularly.”

“Why not? It's your dream come true, isn't it?”

“Hardly, you're not in my dreams. Why were you benched?”

“I did a move in practice that my coach termed `reckless'.”

“Ahh, why am I not surprised?”

“I don't know; why aren't you?” James said, getting aggravated.

“Because you're not careful on the field. That's why you're not a good leader.”

“I'm a good leader.”

“No, you have the potential to be a good leader, but right now you're not living up to it. Your teammates need you to be serious, to be a team player…not a superstar.”

“Being a superstar is being a leader.”

“No, being a leader is being willing to let someone else take the glory.”

“And I suppose you know all about letting someone else take the glory?” James retorted in a sarcastic tone.

Lily didn't reply at first, but then she said, “Look, as much as I would love to stand here and argue with you all day, I don't have the time. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go workout and then go to the game. Good day, Mr. Potter.”

Watching her walk away, James socked the punching bag one more time…really hard.

2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I own nothing. JK Rowlings owns all. I got the idea for the story from reading a book called “I Do” but it's very different here.

Chapter 2

“He shoots…and he scores!”

A cacophony of groans erupted among fans of the Chudley Cannons' while the Bulgarian team's fans cheered wildly.

James Potter had taken on a taciturn personality as he sat on the bench with a grim look on his face. He glanced at his black-haired coach whose mouth was wildly forming words without uttering a single sound. When Bulgaria had scored their 20th goal, Sirius had finally lost it. He loudly began letting out a steady stream of curse words, at which point several of the surrounding wizards quickly placed a silencing charm on him. James only hoped that it wasn't permanent or maybe he did. At least that way Sirius couldn't yell at him anymore.

He wasn't the same anymore…not since their 7th year at Hogwarts. It was their last game…two weeks before school ended and they were thrust out into the real world. Both of them had high hopes for themselves, planned to play professionally for the Cannons and had even been signed. But a bludger hit Sirius in that last game and he had fallen over a hundred feet. By the time anyone noticed him hurtling towards the ground and got their wands out, it was too late…he had already landed. He was lucky enough to survive and be as healthy as he was now…but he had been forbidden to play Quidditch again. Suddenly, all of his dreams had been struck down by a mere bludger.

They were roommates for a while after Hogwarts and, at night, James would always hear Sirius cursing that bludger in his sleep. Sometimes, James wondered if Sirius still did, but they didn't live together anymore. They were barely even friends now.

James thought sardonically, Well, what do you know? Sirius is finally living up to his name. He chastised himself for thinking such a thing. Of course he's serious now…he has a reason to be. He's not happy anymore…he lost the one thing (aside from me) that brought him joy and then he pushed me away. James began to think about his own actions. I should have tried harder to make him happy…I'm such an idiot.

Forcing himself to try to pay attention to the game, he noticed that the score was now 370-10. Looking up at the stands, he caught a glimpse of the red-haired journalist who always managed to irk him. She was standing talking to some old geezer holding a camera…Probably a photographer from the paper, James thought. He sat there staring at her without realizing what he was doing. The fact that the Bulgarian team had scored another goal barely even registered in his mind.

As he continued staring, her words echoed in his mind. “You have the potential to be a good leader…need you to be serious…willing to let someone else take the glory….”

He sighed. He didn't want to admit it but he knew that to some extent…Evans was right. Not that he'd ever tell her, of course. Rubbing his eyes, he wondered, What the heck am I supposed to do about this?

James was startled by the sudden appearance of his coach sitting next to him and looking at him with a pleading look on his face.

James knew what he wanted. So he took pity on him and removed the silencing charm.

Sirius was obviously grateful to have his voice back and he said so, “Thanks, mate.”

James only nodded in reply.

Sirius continued, placing his head into his hands miserably. “I can't watch this anymore.”

“Me neither.”

Both of them sat in silence watching (semi against their will) as their team continued to be slaughtered mercilessly.

With each goal that their keeper let in, Sirius whimpered once more. James only stared in silence, growing increasingly antsy with each new goal. Finally, he lost control of his temper, practically yelling at Sirius as he stood up. “Why don't you put me out there already? We're losing horribly because I'm not up there!”

“Why is that?”

“Because I'm good! I can score!”

“Right, because you're the leader?”

“Exactly!”

“No, James! A leader wouldn't let his followers be lost every time he wasn't there! He'd teach them how to work with him and without him. Does it look like your teammates know what to do without you there?”

James opened his mouth to reply, but quickly found that he had nothing to say. He knew Sirius was right; he had always known it himself on some level. He sat down on the bench next to Sirius; his eyes glancing up to the stands, his gaze immediately drawn to Lily. He looked back to his coach and admitted defeat. “You're right. I'm not a good leader.”

“But that doesn't mean you don't have the potential to be,” Sirius said, “because you do. You have no idea how much your teammates look up to you. They probably listen to you more than me, but that's okay with me…because I know that somewhere inside that thick head of yours, you know exactly what to do to take us to the Cup…you just need to find it. I have faith in you, James…I never lost that. I know that if anyone can do it, it's you.”

James remained silent. He refocused his attention to the game and as he did, he noticed a flash of orange hurtling towards the ground. Dumbly, he remarked, “Oh, look, Ally's going after the snitch.”

“What?!” Sirius exclaimed, immediately leaping up to his feet, cheering his Seeker on. Who cares if they lost the game anyway? At least they could go out with a bang.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Daniel abruptly pulled his camera out again, shutting out the sound of Lily's voice as he pointed the small, black object at the diving figure. Lily stopped talking and searched for what suddenly grabbed her coworker's attention. When she found it, she thought, I knew their Seeker had talent. She's rarely not caught the Snitch. Ugh, note to self, work on English skills. She chastised herself; “rarely not caught”…talk about your negation use!

She watched as the Seeker's hand finally clasped over the elusive Snitch. About bloody time too, she thought, this entire game has been torture. She glanced towards the bench where nearby Sirius was wildly cheering in celebration at the one good thing his team managed to do in this game. She moved her gaze slightly to the left and saw….

Potter, she thought, her eyes narrowing. After a second, however, she noticed that he was behaving abnormally. His usual cocky grin wasn't plastered on his face and he actually seemed to be deep in thought. He was strangely still and silent for someone whose team was just saved - well, to some extent - from excruciating humiliation. Oh, well…maybe I'll just ask him.

Lily began to make her way through the crowd towards the players' bench for the after-game interviews. She failed to notice James catching a glimpse of her motion towards them and then whispering something in Sirius' ear. At which point, the young coach whispered something back only to receive a nod in return. Slightly in disbelief at what he was about to do, he finally yelled instructions to the team…all of this she just didn't notice.

After all, she was a bit preoccupied with not dropping her notebook while she was amid the rather wild throng. Make no mistake; it was indeed a difficult task to master at this moment as there were witches and wizards of all sizes crashing into her in such a way that was eerily similar to the way waves crash onto the shore…one after the other. Good Merlin, I'm going to have a lot of bruises tonight. Damn these anti-apparition wards! Finally, she broke through the red sea of Bulgarian fans (though it had not parted for her as she would have liked). Reveling in her miniscule victory, with a smile on her face, she headed to Damon Tage, the Keeper, who usually gave a fair account of the game.

“Hey, Damon!” she called out to him.

“Ahh, hey Lils,” he replied, not quite looking her in the eye.

She raised an eyebrow at his behavior but deciding to chalk it up to post-game embarrassment, she ignored it and said, “Well, how about it? Your view of the game was…”

He gave her a pained look. “Look, Lils…don't take this the wrong way, but uh…not today, all right?”

Lily was confused but she forced a smile onto her face. “Yeah, okay. I'll see you later then,” she said as she turned around to go find another interviewee. She searched the huddle of orange suits and found Brian Andrews, a nice guy and a great beater. Lily chuckled to herself. Wow…a nice beater, sounds like an oxymoron.

She approached him. “Hey, Brian. Mind if I ask a couple of questions about the game?”

He smiled…sorta. “Ahh, man, Lily…I would, but I gotta go. Hey, maybe next time though…I'll see you around.”

“Okay, thanks.” For nothing! she added inside her mind. What the heck is going on here? Oh, well…I'll just talk to Sirius then. He never passes up a chance for publicity.

She quickly found him and walked up to him. “Hey, coach! I have a few quick questions to ask for tomorrow's article. Do you have a minute?”

Sirius let out a nervous laughed as he briskly glanced at James. “I…uh…um…” he began, frantically searching for an excuse. “I don't really remember much of the game,” he added lamely before quickly turning and making his way to the Cannon's Locker Room, but not before he muttered something to James.

Lily finally caught on to what was happening this time and she rounded on James. “You told them not to talk to me, didn't you?” she yelled.

James' face was stoical as he looked back at Lily. “So, what if I did?”

“How the heck am I supposed to write a good article without sources?” she fired back.

James brushed past her, trying to get away from her. “I'm sure you're smart enough to figure that out for yourself.”

“That's not the point, Potter!” Lily retorted as she quickly followed him. “If you want a fair article about the team, you need to let me interview you.”

“Well, forgive me if I don't particularly want to share information with someone who has a tendency to stab us in the back while parading the story for the entire wizarding world to see.”

“That is not true.”

James stopped suddenly and whirled around to face Lily. When he finally replied, it was through clenched teeth, “Your history proves otherwise.” He turned away from Lily and opened the door leading to the Locker Room, but not without one last remark. “You're not welcome here right now, Evans. Come back when you can keep an open mind. Good-bye.” He entered the Locker Room, shutting the door behind him, without glancing back at Lily.

Lily was seething. She threw her notebook against the door.

*~*~*~*~*

The next morning Lily was seated at her desk, furiously scribbling on some parchment. I would hardly call their performance at the game last night worthwhile, let alone professional. It was merely a shoddy display of their obvious and sickening lack of talent. I, myself, could take on that team and win…regardless of the fact that I've never played before. Come to think of it, my pet cat could probably win too.

Leigh popped her head in the doorway, breaking Lily's rhythm. “Hey, I have something important to tell you!” As the rest of her body appeared in the doorway, she asked, “Oh, did I disturb you?”

Lily put down her quill and replied, “Yeah, but its okay. I'm nearly done.”

Leigh approached Lily and peered over her shoulder at the parchments. “You're working on the article for last night's game? What do you have so far?” Her eyes scanned the barely legible words written on the yellow-tinted paper. Her mouth dropped open in shock. “Lily!” she chastised, “You can't print this!”

“Why not?” Lily remarked dryly, “It's true.”

“That's not the point, Lily, and you know it. You know it's your responsibility to give an unbiased article on the game.”

Lily sighed. “I know,” she replied, “I just needed to get it out of my system. I'll write another article.”

“Good!”

“What did you need to tell me?” Lily asked.

“Oh, yeah,” Leigh said, a smile immediately appearing on her face, “I'm getting married!”

“What do you mean you're getting married?!” Lily asked, a look of shock coming over her face.

“Um…I mean I'm getting married…uh…getting hitched, get-“

“I know what you meant; I just don't know what you…meant. Are you seriously getting married to Jason? I mean…Leigh…you really think he's the right guy for you?”

“Well, why not? He's handsome, smart…he's head of his division at the Ministry, he pulls in a good paycheck…he's organized-”

“Leigh,” Lily interrupted, “That's not what I meant. Are you really in love with him?”

“Yes.”

“Okay,” Lily answered, not entirely convinced, “When's the wedding?”

“Two months and,”

Lily interrupted, “You're gonna put together a whole wedding in two months?”

“Yes. Lily, will you please stop interrupting me? I want you to be my Maid of Honor!” Leigh exclaimed and then waited for a reply. When none came, she said, “Well, aren't you gonna say something?”

“Oh, I'm sorry. I thought you didn't want me to interrupt,” Lily teased.

“Lily-”

“I'd be glad to!” Lily squealed as she got up to hug her best friend. “So, what happened? When did he propose?”

“Last night at dinner…he proposed when the wine came. I would have told you last night, but I figured you'd be too busy covering the game.”

The game! Lily remembered. I have to turn in the article to Blake before lunch!

“Leigh,” Lily said, “I love you to pieces and I'm so excited that you're getting married…but you have to go now. I have an article to write!”

Laughing, Leigh replied, “Bye, Lils!” as she left the office.

Lily sat herself down at her desk, pulled out a clean sheet of parchment, and began to write.

*~*~*~*~*

A/N: Hey, guys. I just wanted to apologize for taking so long to get this story out. I'm currently writing 4-5 stories right now and school's keeping me really busy so I don't have a whole lot of time to write. I'm trying my hardest! Reviews work wonders at motivating me…just so you know…*winks*

3. Chapter 3

A/N: Okay, guys…I just want to apologize for how LONG I took to update this story…or any of my others for that matter. I'm gonna try to work on it, but it's *really* hard now that school's started. Anyway, I hope you like this chapter and don't forget to review if you did!!

Chapter 3

James glanced at his watch that read 11:23 as he sat in his chair located outside of a amiable wizarding café known for its sandwiches. As each second passed, James grew increasingly impatient. He had to be finished with this meeting before his scheduled 2:30 Quidditch practice. He thought to himself, What in the world is keeping him? He was supposed to be here twenty minutes ago.

*~*~*~*~*

“Lily!” Jim yelled as he stepped into her office doorway. “I need your copy now! We release in seven minutes!”

Lily, who was currently on her hands and knees reaching for a quill that she had dropped, replied, “It's on my desk, Jim. Can you get it?”

Jim walked to the desk, grabbed the parchment with her article and rushed out the door, pushing right past Leigh without uttering a single word.

Leigh watched as her boss disappeared down the hallway and then said sarcastically, “Oh, I'm sorry, Leigh….Oh, it's no problem, Mr. Andover. I'm just sorry I didn't sprinkle rose petals and lay out the red carpet for you.”

Lily giggled as she heard Leigh. “Oh, ignore him. He's five minutes from deadline and he only just got my article.”

“Well, that explains the fire in his pants,” Leigh replied. Suddenly realizing what her friend was doing, she asked, “Um…Lily, you are a witch, right?”

Lily stood back up, quill in hand, and said with a confused look on her face, “Yeah…”

“Then why didn't you just summon your quill?” Leigh asked with a laugh.

Lily scoffed as the realization dawned upon her. “Unbelievable….I've been a witch for almost ten years and I still forget…”

Laughing, Leigh sat down in the seat by Lily's desk and placed her feet on the surface. Changing the subject, she asked, “So…write a nicer article?”

“Yes,” Lily retorted, “I did. And one that was much too nice if you ask me, especially considering the way they played yesterday. The only good thing about the whole game was Ally.”

“Well,” Leigh said, “I'm sure the team will appreciate it. You know, I've heard that most of them really do value your opinion about how they played. They know that when you give a complement, you really mean it.”

“Yeah,” Lily remarked dryly, “I'm their toughest critic.”

“That's not a bad thing, Lily, but maybe you could pay more attention to what they do right as opposed to what they do wrong.”

“Yeah, I guess so. Anyway, wanna go grab some lunch?”

“Actually, that's what I came to talk to you about. Jason's asked his Aunt and Uncle to have a dinner tonight. He hasn't told them about our engagement yet and wants to do it tonight.”

“Uh-huh…and what does this have to do with getting lunch?”

“Well, one, I was hoping to go buy them a gift during lunch and two, that you would come with me tonight.”

“No…definitely not…not happening.”

“Lily, come on! I need you there with me! Moral support!”

“Moral support? What do you need moral support for?”

“I've only met them twice and the engagement might seem a bit…sudden to them….”

“Leigh…” Lily replied as she felt her resolve weakening.

“Oh, Lily…please!”

Lily looked as though she wanted to cry. “The things I do for you, Leigh…the things I do.”

Her best friend squealed. “Thank you! You won't regret it! Now let's go shopping!” Leigh exclaimed as she basically hopped out of the office.

“Somehow, I get the feeling that I will regret this,” Lily murmured, rubbing her forehead.

*~*~*~*~*

Just after 11:30, James saw his sandy-haired friend making his way through the lunchtime crowd toward their table.

“Remus,” James said as he stood up to greet him, “I was starting to get a little worried. What kept you?”

Remus looked at his friend with a strange look on his face. “You don't remember?” he asked. James gave him a questioning look in response. Remus chuckled slightly as he added, “We moved lunch to 11:30 because I had an interview this morning.”

James sucked in a breath and closed his eyes as a look of realization dawned on his face. “I can't believe I forgot,” he said.

“Yeah,” Remus joked, “I should've known you would and owled you this morning.”

James sat back down in his seat and remarked, “For your sake, I'm gonna forget you said that.”

At that point, a waitress, a young brunette with a kindly face, came over to take their orders.

“Two butterbeers, please,” James requested.

“Sure thing,” replied the waitress.

Remus asked, “Your accent….American, right?”

“Yeah,” she replied with a laugh, “it is. Good ear.”

“It's kind of hard to miss since you're in England.”

“You're probably right.”

Remus glanced at her nametag. “Anne…” he read aloud.

James cast a look at his friend and smiled to himself.

“You're new here, aren't you?” Remus asked.

“Today's my first day here, but I've been a waitress since…I dunno, forever. I guess that means you two are regulars.”

“At the best restaurant in town?” James asked. “You bet.”

“Ahh, I see,” Anne replied. “So does that mean I should go ahead and memorize your orders?”

Remus laughed. “Sure, you can if you want.”

“I'm gonna go get your drinks,” Anne said with a smile, motioning inside.

Remus' gaze followed her as she made her way into the kitchen.

James teased him. “Looks like somebody has a crush.”

Remus blushed and turned his gaze to the table.

“You should ask her out, you know.”

Remus sighed. “It'd never work out.”

“Why? Because you're a werewolf?”

“Yes,” Remus replied bluntly, “because I'm a werewolf. It's the reason no one wants to hire me. Why shouldn't it be the reason no one wants to go out with me?”

James grimaced. “I take it that the interview didn't go well…”

“That would be correct.”

“Here you go, gentlemen. Two butterbeers,” Anne said as she placed the bottles on the table. “So, can I take your orders?”

“I'll have the Turkey Sandwich Special and some potato soup,” said James.

“I'll have the same thing,” Remus added.

Anne gave him a suspicious look. “You're not just trying to make it easy for me to remember, now are you?”

Remus blushed again, laughed, and shook his head. “No.”

“All right, then. I'll be back in a little while with your food.”

After Anne was out of sight, James said, “I still think you should ask her out. She seems nice.”

“They always do, James. Come on, let's not talk about me. Besides, I really came here because I wanted to talk about you. Sirius, uh…told me that he benched you, he said that you were being too reckless at practice.”

“Oh, jeez,” James said, “don't tell me that you think I'm not being a good leader too.”

“It doesn't matter what I think, Prongs. Do you think you are? Honestly?”

James sighed. “I guess not.”

Remus smiled and joked, “Good job! You just completed `Step 1: Admitting You Have a Problem'!”

James laughed. “Shut up.”

“Seriously, Prongs,” Remus added, “what are you gonna do about it?”

“I don't know,” he replied. “I haven't really thought about it.”

“Well…what are your plans for the rest of the day?”

“Um…practice in a couple of hours and then dinner at my parents' house.”

*~*~*~*

Lily and Leigh were walking on the streets of Diagon Alley looking for possible gifts for Leigh's future in-laws.

“Leigh…what can we possibly buy for the Minister of Magic? I mean, I'm sure he already has everything under the sun.”

“Um…well, Jason said that they love anything from China…”

“Oh, well, great then…why don't we just Apparate to China?” Lily said sarcastically.

“Or…” Leigh replied, “we could just go to Wong's.”

“Oh, right…forgot about that store.”

*~*~*~*

James stood up from his chair and reached into his pocket for some galleons to cover their lunch. “It's my turn this week, right?” he asked.

Remus nodded his head in response.

James quickly dropped the coins on the table.

They waved good-bye to Anne as they departed the restaurant to take a short walk around the shops of Diagon Alley. As they walked, James kept throwing looks at Remus.

Finally, Remus stopped abruptly, sighed, and asked, “What is it, James?”

“Ask her out, man.”

Remus tightened his lips and glared at James.

“Fine. Whatever. Don't have a social life,” James said as he resumed walking.

“I can't afford a social life if I don't have a working life,” Remus retorted.

“That's a good point, mate. You need a job,” James replied. “Oh, hey, try the classifieds in the Daily Prophet.”

“Might as well,” said Remus. “I've tried everything else and it's back to square one…again.”

They stopped at a newspaper vendor and Remus quickly purchased a copy.

They stood there briefly as Remus skimmed through a couple of articles. “Uh-oh,” he said as his gaze fell upon one in particular.

“What?” James asked.

“Um…Prongs, you're not going to like this,” Remus said as he handed the paper over to James.

James quickly read the article that Remus pointed out. His jaw clenched more with each word he read and he shook slightly as he struggled to keep his rage in check.

Hearing laughter, he turned his face only to see Lily Evans walking out of a store with some woman. Remus followed James' gaze and instantly knew what his friend was going to do. “Prongs, don't,” he warned.

James, however, paid him no attention as he headed straight for the auburn-haired journalist. “Evans!” he spat out.

Lily turned to face him with a bewildered look on her face.

“What the hell is this?” James asked, as he motioned to her article.

“What are you talking about?” Lily asked. “I gave you guys a good review…not that you deserved it.”

“Good? You call this good?” He brought the paper up and read an excerpt from her article, “It was merely a shoddy display of their obvious and sickening lack of talent.”

Lily's face paled as she snatched the newspaper from James. “Oh, crap,” she said as she saw her callous version of the article printed in the newspaper. “He grabbed the wrong parchment. Damn it!”

“Oh, don't give me that bull, Evans! You just wanted to stab us in the back again…try to make us look bad.”

“I wrote this version because what you said after the game yesterday pissed me off! I figured that after I got rid of all my anger and animosity towards you, I might actually be able to write an impartial article!”

Remus interrupted them, saying, “Um, guys…you're kind of drawing a crowd here.”

“Good!” James said. “Then I have witnesses.”

“Erm…witnesses for what exactly, Prongs?” Remus asked.

Ignoring him, James motioned to the paper again and said, “Why don't you put some proof where your mouth is?”

“What?” Lily asked.

“If you're so confident you can beat us, why don't you play against me in a game of Quidditch?”

“You're serious?”

“Yeah.”

“Fine. You're on. When and where?”

“Today….4:00…right after our practice is over.”

“Deal.”

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