Coming to Terms

The moment I heard about the upcoming ball, I knew immediately who I wanted to go with. Sarah. She was a seventh year, with brown hair, perfect skin, and a great body. She also happened to be the most popular girl in school. Every boy with an ounce of sense had a crush on her, even if they already had a girlfriend.

Most boys at Hogwarts had decided to go with her already, even though the ball had been announced only last night, and it was lunch now. I didn’t have a chance; neither did all the other boys. Except one. Ben, her boyfriend.

Cross that one off my list. Next one? Nina. Nope. What’s his face, he asked her last night in the common room. I mentally went down the rest of my list, and crossed them all off for the same reason: Unnatainable.

Just as I was trying to figure out whom to go with, Sirius waved his hand in my face. “Hello…earth to James Potter!”

“Huh? Oh. Sorry,” I replied. “Just thinking, is all.”

“About who you’re taking to the ball?”

“Uh, er, why would you say that?”

“Well, I wonder…”Sirius replied sarcastically. “Maybe it’s because that’s what is on every other bloke’s mind.”

“You have a point.”

“I always do.”

“Yeah, you just don’t exactly make yourself clear on it. Anyway, who are you thinking of taking?” I questioned.

Sirius looked around to see if our friend, Lily, was nearby. Seeing that she wasn’t, he answered. “I’m thinking of getting my courage up and asking Lily.”

I patted him on the back as I told him. “Good for you! I bet that she likes you too. She’s probably just can’t get up the courage.” I encouraged him. Sirius has had a crush on Lily for the longest time.

“But will she say yes?”

“Of course!”

“As a friend, or as more?” I knew that she only liked him as friend. I also knew that she wouldn’t want to hurt his feelings, either, so she would most likely say yes.

I lied. “As more.”

“And what about you?”

“No idea.”

“Not that it matters. You could have any single girl you wanted!” As an afterthought, he added, “And some non-single girls too.”

“As could you.” It was true. Even though we were only sixth years, we were already pretty damn popular. Not that I mean to brag, but, once again, it was true. The Marauders, as we called ourselves (Me, Remus, Sirius, and Peter) had a name as pranksters. Girls seemed to like that. Don’t ask me why, we just did it for laughs.

“Come on, James, just tell me!” Sirius whined.

“If you must know,” I quickly searched around in my head for the first halfway decent girl that came into my head. “ I was thinking of taking Hannah Phillips.”

“Oooh, Jamsie boy, you’ve never mentioned her before n-”

I cut Sirius off. “And I won’t mention her again if you call me Jamsie boy!”

“Fine, be that way.”

“I will. So when are you going to ask L-” I stopped all of the sudden as I saw Lily approaching.

“When am I going to as-” I cut Sirius off again, this time by kicking him in the shins, hard.

“What the hell, Ja-”

“Hello!” Lily exclaimed cheerfully, cutting Sirius off, and taking the empty seat beside me.

“Can’t I finish a godamned sentence around here?” Sirius asked.

“No.” I replied. “Have you seen Wormtail and Moony?” I asked Lily.

“No, why?” inquired Lily.

“Don’t take points off if I tell, okay?” Lily was a prefect, and although out friend, would often take points off Gryffindor for one of our pranks.

“Fine, fine, fine.” Lily sighed.

“They’re off stealing Malfoy’s underwear to, umm, display on the Quidditch field.”

“Oh, James, really!” Lily scolded me.

“What! He deserves it!” I cried, throwing my hands up in the air.

“And after what he called you last week?” Sirius had taken a break from his eating to argue our case.

“Okay, I guess he does.” admitted Lily, filling her plate up with salad, beans, and a sandwich. Sirius was back to his eating. “But if it doesn’t live up to your usual standards, I might have to report this to McGonagall.”

“Trust me, it will.”

“Something you’re not telling me?”

“Yes.” I looked over at Sirius. “How can you stand toe at all that and not throw up? One would think you’re starved or something.

Between mouthfuls, Sirius replied, “It’s not my fault that my stomach is a bottomless hole.”

“No, but neither is it your fault that your brain is a bottomless hole, either.” commented Lily.

For that, Sirius threw a roll at Lily.

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

“James?” That was Sirius.

“Mmm?” I mumbled, half asleep. It was about 1 AM in the morning, and Sirius was talking to me now?

“Should I ask Lily tomorrow?”

“Mmmm.” I turned over, and fell asleep.

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

“I did it!” Sirius yelled, jumping up and down while punching his arm in the air, a big smile on his face.

Heads turned and stared at his strange entrance to the great hall. He skipped over to the Gryffindor table, and everyone went back to their lunch. “I did it, James, I did it!” He announced again.

“Did what?” I asked.

“I asked Lily to the ball!”

“Sit,” I commanded. Sirius obeyed. “I take it she said yes?”

“Yes!?” Sirius cried. “She didn’t merely say yes, but she said…” He paused dramatically. “ ‘I’d love to.’ Can you believe it?”

“Tell.” I ordered.

“I went to the library, where else would she be? I searched all over, I even asked Madame Pince where she was, but I still couldn’t find her! So then I went up to the common room. She wasn’t there, so I came here. Then I realized lunch hadn’t started yet. So I went back to the library, and found her in the back, reading a-”

He paused to take a bite of a roll, and then started speaking again.

“So I found her in the back reading a book, and I said, ‘Wannagototheballwithme?’ and she said ‘Huh?’ and I said ‘Do you want to go to the ball with me?’ and she said-”

I broke him off. “Breathe.” He took a deep breath, and then continued excitedly.

“I’d love to’ and then she said ‘You came all the way here to ask me that?’ and I said ‘Yes’ and then I came here.

“Wow.” I commented. “You’re sure happy.”

“Am I ever!” I laughed, and continued on with my lunch.

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

So Sirus had a date, and all that was left was Remus, Peter, and I.

Or so I thought. It turns out Remus had asked Marsha Degani, a sixth year. And even Peter had snagged a fairly decent looking girl, Ann Ackinson. My temper got the better of me when I found out. I was pretty ticked at them for not telling me, but in the end I got over it.

The weeks went by, and I still didn’t have a date. I kept procrastinating, saying that I would do it the next day. Of course, that didn’t happen. Finally, one week before the ball, I put my foot down and told myself I wouldn’t go to sleep until I had a date.

I didn’t sleep that night. Or the next night, for that matter. I just never got around to asking a girl. I fell asleep not only in History of Magic, but also in Herbology, Divination, and Transfiguration.

When I fell asleep in Transfiguration, McGonagall woke me up. “Mr. Potter,” she announced, a stern look on her face. “Perhaps you would like to tell the rest of the class why you fell asleep, or, maybe the dream you were having?”

I chose the first option.“You see, Professor, I told myself I wouldn’t fall asleep until I found a date to the ball, and since I didn’t ask anyone, I couldn’t sleep. I haven’t slept for two nights.”

Suddenly, a beautiful brown-haired Ravenclaw named Kelly stood up and said, “Do you want to go with me, James?”

“Yeah, that’d be great.” I told her. She sat back down, looking ecstatic.

“Mr. Potter, Miss. Seubert,” McGonagall’s voice rang throughout the room. “Please resume your classwork and continue this conversation after class.”

We both obeyed, but my thought wasn’t on the work. Yes, that’s right, thought. I only had one- I have a date. I have a date. I have a date. I have a date. I have a date. I have a date. I have a date. I have a date. I have a date. I have a date. I have a date. I have a date. I have a date. I have a date. I have a date. I have a date. The phrse just kept repeating itself inside my head, like- what’s that phrase that Muggles use?- a broken decord* player.

The rest week passed quickly, my eagerness for the ball to come rising. Finally, that night came.

See Author’s Notes at the end.

I used to hate James. You have no idea how much I hated him. It started in 1^st year on the train, with him being a big jerk. It lasted all the way up until the beginning of 6^th year. He would ask me out teasingly, like he thought I was another pretty prize. And when I was prefect in 5^th year, oh the trouble he caused!

But then in 6^th year, something changed. After 5^th year, over summer, something just happened. He stopped asking me out. He started acting like a gentlemen. When I realized his change was for real, I, well, there was just something about him, I just, well, anyways, I have a crush on James now.

You know someone once told me, you should see how well your names sound together, that will give you a hint to how it might work out. James and Lily Potter. Lily and James Potter. Lily and James. James and Lily. Doesn’t that have a nice ring to it?

But I can’t just ask him out. We’re friends now, it might ruin our group. I’ll just have to wait and see.

I stopped writing to look at my watch. It was dinnertime. I set my diary and quill down, and then looked over at Catharine’s bed. She was writing in a red notebook, probably a story. I walked out of bed, and walked over to her. “Come on Cath, it’s dinner time.”

“One sec, Lils,” she replied. “Let me just finish this sentence.”

“Alright, but hurry up. We’re already running late.” Of course, knowing Catharine, a second was more like 5 minutes. Finally I seized her quill and notebook and threw them aside. I grabbed her hand and pulled her out of her bed. “Let’s go, I’m starving!” I told her. She sighed, but followed me out of our dormitory.

I met Catharine in my 1^st year, on the Hogwarts Express. I was looking for a seat and her compartment was the only empty one. We discovered how much we had in common once she broke the ice- both Muggle born, with an evil older sister, both have green eyes (she has black hair and olive skin, being Chinese.) We also both love to read and write.

When we got down to the Great Hall, I surveyed the Gryffindor, looking for James, Sirius, and Remus. Catharine, realizing who I was looking for, elbowed me and said, “Looking for your new boyfriend, eh?”

“Shut up. I only said yes ‘cause he looked so sweet… he’s not a bad bloke, though. His best friend…now that’s something else.”

Catharine giggled. “I beg to differ. His other best friend…that’s what I’m talking about.” She was referring to Remus, of course. She’s liked him since about 3^rd year, and it’s fairly common knowledge (except to Remus.)

I spotted them finally, and we walked over there and sat in the empty seats nearby them.

“Hey, babes.” Sirius said as we walked over. Catharine and I looked at each other and giggled. We seemed to be doing a lot of that lately. “How’s it going?”

“Fine,” I replied, dishing potatoes onto my plate. “You guys?”

“Oh, just the usual…”

“Hey, who are you guys all going with to the dance?” Catharine asked, glancing over at Remus. Honestly, I was surprised that Remus or one of his mates hadn’t caught on yet. I mean, they weren’t stupid or anything…

“I’m going with Marsha Degani, James here is going with Kelly Seubert, and Sirius is going with Lils, of course.” Remus said. “Oh, and Pete’s going with Ann Atkinson.” He added as an afterthought, as though he had forgotten about him.

“Oh…” Catharine replied, obviously disappointed in Remus’s choice. “Yeah, okay. They’re nice.” She tried to put on a smile, but failed.

Cath didn’t say anything for the rest of dinner, but just listened. I kept shooting quick smiles at her as I entered a long argument with James about the latest Cleansweep.

The rest of the evening passed quickly. We hung out in the common room for a little, tried to do some homework, played a little chess, and a little Exploding Snap.

But once we reached our dorm rooms, she burst into anger, obviously held back all night. “Argh!!” She screamed. “Why her? That little bitch! What does Remus see in her? I mean what does she have that I don’t?” She yelled.

I knew the question was rhetorical, yet I still replied. “Well, let’s see, blonde hair, freckles…”

“Honestly, Lils! I just don’t get it!” She lay down on her bed.

“Yell a little louder, I don’t think they heard you in Australia.” I joked. “No, really, though. Just ask him out. What can it hurt?”

“Well, I would, but, well, I dunno…I guess the same reasons you don’t get together with James.” She said. “Not that those are the best reasons…but I can relate.”

“Okay so let’s make a deal- next Hogsmeade weekend after the dance, I’ll ask James to go with me, and you ask Remus.”

“You don’t think Sirius will be hurt, though?”

“Nah, we can just get Marie to go with him. We can all triple date.”

“Hmm…okay, fine, deal.” We shook on it.

“Now, I want to finish my homework, so can you please not bother me?”

“You? Hello, Cath, you’re the one who started yelling as soon as we got up here.”

“Shut up.” Catharine joked.

“No thanks,” I said, taking out my books out too.

*~*

The crisp white snow fell around us, our boots leaving imprints in the foot of snow on the Hogsmeade pavement. “Brrr.” I shivered, my teeth chattering.

“Oh I know, it’s freezing. Let’s g have a butterbeer to warm ourselves up, okay?”

I looked at my watch. “Do you think we have enough time to do that, and get out dresses, and finish our Christmas shopping? We only have 2 hours left.”

“We can do it! We can be super shoppers!” I laughed as she struck a superhero pose, and we walked into The Three Broomsticks.

Once we entered the small, friendly pub, I immediately spotted James, Sirius, and Remus. They were in the center of a large group of laughing girls. Peter was sort of pushed off the side, however. “Famous by Association” might have been the way to describe how he got his date, I thought to myself quite rudely.

My mood might have changed so suddenly because of Cath’s suddenly sour mood. It was so foul you could almost smell it. I looked to follow her gaze. I saw she was looking at Remus and Marsha, right smack dab in the middle of the circle, laughing like hyenas, except more refined.

With a frown on her face, and a new smile on mine as I watched James, we walked towards the center of The Three Broomsticks. “Hey!” I called. Remus looked over, and Catharine put a sudden smile on her face.

“Hi there,” he called back. “Hold on a moment,” He mouthed to Marsha while walking towards us and motioning for James and Sirius to join him.

“What’s up?” James called.

“Quieter, just a little please.” Madame Rosmerta called over our voices, directing her command towards the group still left keeling from Sirius’ latest crack.

“Sure, no problem,” Robbie called back.

“Anywho,” Sirius said. “I didn’t know you guys were coming. I would’ve told you about this big group….shindig.”

“It’s okay. We were just popping in for a quick butterbeer anyways.” I told him. “Then we were going to get out dresses for the ball.”

“Oooo fun! Can I come?” Asked James, for some reason actually sounding serious about his request.

“What about everyone else?” I inquired.

“Nah, they’re boring anyways. Besides, I still need to get my dress robes.”

“Okay, well that sounds like fun…Sirius, Remus, you wanna come along too?”

“No thanks, that’s quite alright.” Remus said. “Sirius?”

“I think I’ll skip out this time. I’d like to keep my date’s dress a surprise,” He replied.

Catharine and I exchanged looks. I knew that she too was thinking about how unfortunate it was that I had to go with Sirius. Not that I didn’t like Sirius, in fact, he was wonderful, but just not my ideal choice of date.

“Well, we better head off then.” I announced.

“Yeah, okay.” James said, setting down his Butterbeer. Cath and I did the same, and we walked out of the pub, as it was all of the sudden silent, save for a few murmurs. No doubt about the oddity of James coming with us to pick out a dress. But it wasn’t like I cared anyways.

Once we were about 50 down the road, (50 feet that had been filled with silence,) I asked him the inevitable- “Why did you agree to come along?”

“What, can’t a man come along for some good quality shopping without being interrogated?”

I snorted in response, along with a “No.”

“Well then….une minute si vous plait.” He whispered into my best friend’s ear for a moment, and then Catharine scurried off, not even bothering to attempt excuses.

“What. The. Hell. Are. You. Doing?!” I demanded of him, now getting seriously curious.

“Nothing,” he replied, “nothing at all.” By this time we had become increasingcly close. Close enough, I thought, to kiss.

And obviously, that’s what he was thinking too. But as he leaned in, it hit me……

*~*

I woke up a few hours later in the hospital wing. “What the fuck happened?” I screamed.

“Hush hush, you’ll wake everyone else. And watch your language.” Nurse Gickens came gliding over. “You were hit hard.”

“By what? The kiss James was about to give me?” I said, slightly furious about missing my opportunity.

“Not quite m’dear. No, it was more of a tree branch.”

“A tree branch. A tree branch!” I shouted, losing my cool even more.

“Yes, yes, that’s exactly what I said. You were standing under Farmerbee’s Oak, correct? And you know how rickety it is, I’m sure, my sweet. Anyways, a small branch, well, small relative to the tree, fell on your head. Most likely from increased weight upon it.” She explained. “Well, at least that’s what the young man who brought you in, Remus, said.”

“Remus? Are you sure it wasn’t Sirius?”

“Quite. Sirius is over there.” She pointed to a bed a few rows down.

Then it dawned upon me why there might be increased weight on the tree branch. Sirius must have been watching us from atop the tree. That’s why he was in here too. He must have fallen on me and James, along with the branch. God, I was going to kill him. And then I remembered. “Was there another boy that was brought in with me?”

“James? Yes, he’s fine. He’s just sleeping over there.” She pointed, and before she could bring back her arm, I was hopping out of bed.

I ran over to his cot, which was on the other side of the hospital wing. “James?” I peered into his eyes. Well, not really, as they were closed, because he was asleep, but that doesn’t matter. “James?” I asked again. His eyes flickered open.

“Hm?” He sat up and said. “Oh! Lily! How are you? Are you okay?”

“Yes, yes. I’m fine. How about you?”

“I’m as healthy as a horse. Let’s get out of here.” He began to get out of bed when I noticed something on his arm.

“James?” I asked as we walked away out of the Hospital Wing, ignoring Nurse Gickens’ protests and leaving Sirius.

“Yeah?”

“What was it that you were going to say to me? Back there before we were hit by a branch?” I said, knowing very well that he was going to kiss me, and not tell me something, and therefore giving him the option to try it again.

“Which I’m sure you will explain to me later. But I was just going to-” He broke off in the middle of his sentence and turned his head to see me looking up into his eyes. Then he bent down, and did exactly what I was hoping for him to do. And this time there was no tree above us to ruin it.

I know that James’s sudden liking of Lily was, well, sudden. I do, however plan to someday put out a fic that will explain it, and make it seem reasonable. Someday. Sorry if the ending was a little abrupt too. I just felt I needed to end it there. And it definitely turned out much different than I expected. Sorry. Okay. I need to stop apologizing.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed. I appreciated all the comments, and I will use them to improve my writing further.

If you’re also into TP, go read my K/D fic. Yes, I’m shamelessly plugging. I don’t care.

Watch out f or me as Cool like Ice on ff.net, pk.net, and FA. Also Cool as a Cucumber on pk.net

Peace out,

Aurelle