James didn't have to wait long to see Lissy. She was standing outside the Great Hall the next morning, evidently waiting for his arrival. He closed his eyes for a few seconds, breathed deeply, and then walked down the stairs to meet her.
"Hello James," she said levelly.
She was no longer the giggling girl of the previous day, nor the days before that. This was more like the person he had originally liked. There was a serious manner to her today, an edge that she hadn't quite had before, and circles beneath her eyes indicating that she too had not slept last night.
"Hello Lissy," he responded. He was going to ask her why on earth she was waiting for him instead of eating breakfast but thought better of it at the last minute.
"Congratulations on winning the match," she said, smiling tightly. "Big achievement for the captain, I'll bet."
James didn't respond; he just inclined his head to the left slightly and raised an eyebrow.
"I saw something that interested me at the match yesterday," she continued. "Something rather interesting."
"I should hope so too. Best performance we've pulled out of the bag for a long time," said James cheerfully.
"Oh, it wasn't that," said Lissy quietly. James's heart sunk a little lower, resting somewhere near his kneecaps. "Actually, I thought… for one very bizarre moment that Lily was going to kiss you."
She laughed derisively for a few seconds, but upon hearing his silence, she quickly sobered up. "So, James, you do still like her, don't you?"
The question was rhetorical, but he felt compelled to answer it regardless. "I don't know," he said dumbly.
"More than me," she said matter-of-factly.
"It's not like that," he responded, looking her straight in the eye.
"It is like that, James! I see you looking at her all the time. When you're with me, you casually glance over. What was this, some plan to make her feel jealous and come to her senses? I'm not going to be some girl that you use!" she shouted angrily.
"Look, it wasn't like that," said James plaintively. "I like you, Lissy. Really, I do."
"But you like her more," she whispered. "There's no point in denying it, James. Everybody knows it even if she's too blind to see it."
"No," he said. "When you're not around your friends, I like spending time with you."
"Not with my friends?" Her voice went an octave higher "What do you mean by that? You don't like me having fun? So you can prank with your friends, flirt with whoever you like -"
"You know what?" said James. "Give me a break."
"Fine!" She stared at him for a few seconds. "Fine," she repeated. "I'll see you around, Potter."
And instead of chasing after her, James just stared at her back in bewilderment. Surely she realised that he had given up all hopes of being with Lily? Even he realised when something had gone too far. But, a voice in his head niggled at him, he had only gone out with Lissy to forget about her. And, the voice said, he did seem to enjoy Lily's company far more than Lissy's even when she snubbed him.
But she was wrong. Wasn't she?
*
The rumours spread around like wildfire the next day. Everybody noticed that Lissy's spot at the Gryffindor table had been left vacated. Sirius was sitting back next to James again. It was also duly noted that a look of relief had settled on James's face. He didn't look in the least upset about his relationship failure. In fact he was possibly even more cheerful than ever.
"What do we have first period?" asked James as he spread some marmalade onto his toast. He took a hearty bite out of it and sighed in satisfaction. "I want to know why my toast never tastes like this."
"Because you burn it?" suggested Sirius. "I've never seen you not burn food before. It's a shame, really, what with your mother being such a fabulous cook."
"You bet she is," said James darkly. "I swear I put on at least ten pounds every time I go home. I come back to school looking like a pudding -"
"Oh I doubt that," said Remus lightly. "Everybody complains that you need to fatten yourself up."
"No, that's just the reserve Seeker." James laughed. "He said that generally the Seeker should be lighter than the Chasers."
"Have you seen how much he eats?" said Sarah indignantly. "No wonder he's trying to shift those extra pounds."
Peter jabbed his finger in the direction of her Witch Weekly copy. "You should stop reading that before you put us all on diets."
"Nobody could make you go on a diet," said Sarah, looking at him in horror. "How many calories are in those kippers?"
Her words were met with blank stares from the boys. Either things like calories were Muggle words that they didn't understand or they simply didn't care to pay attention to the health content of their food.
"I've always been fond of a treacle tart, myself," said Lily as she came over to their table.
"Yes, and you don't put on weight either," said Sarah darkly. "A girl could get annoyed by having you for a friend."
"We have Potions first period, James," responded Sirius. "With Slughorn. A 'P' if I ever saw one."
"A 'P'?" asked Lily, confused. "What's than then?"
James let out a hoot of laughter. "I can't believe you don't know what they are! A 'P' stands for 'Poor'. One of the worst grades you can get actually."
"Oh," said Lily. "Well, I suppose that explains why I didn't know then."
"Ever had less than an 'E', Evans?" asked James conversationally.
"No," she smiled. "Have you?"
"Maybe," he said, looking distinctly shifty.
"Oh don't lie," said Sirius. "The only time you didn't get an 'E' was when you had points taken off for blowing up a desk. Even then McGonagall was beside herself with the excellence of your -"
"Be quiet," said James. "It might get around that I'm the type of person who prefers a book to flying on the Quidditch pitch."
"You can't be serious," said Lily doubtfully. "That's more what I would say."
"Of course I'm joking!" said James, looking horrified. "You don't honestly prefer a book to Quidditch, do you?"
Lily just winked, gathered her books and placed them in her bag. She hitched it on her back and walked out of the Hall.
"She was joking, right?" asked James, looking to the others for comfort.
"I don't think so," said Remus, looking at him in amusement.
And so it was in slight incredulity and disbelief that James walked down to the dungeons.
*
The remainder of the day was spent studying for their Transfiguration test. James, having mastered all the theory and practical side of things, decided that revision was no longer necessary.
"What's the point?" he told Remus. "I'll just make myself as stressed as you."
Instead he decided to Transfigure Remus's books into chairs and desks for the other students to sit on and amused himself with removing chair legs when they tried to sit on them.
"Having fun, are you?" asked Lily in an annoyed tone. "It might be easy for you, but they're trying to revise!"
James immediately flicked his wand, fixing the table, and said contritely, "Sorry. What's up?"
"If you want to know, I was trying to study for a test that I'm definitely going to fail, and instead of being able to revise, you were distracting students who came to me for help, and how could I help them if I had to revise myself? Transfiguration is my worst subject and -"
James's eyes bulged slightly as he made the effort to understand what she had just said in one breath. "Do you want some help?" he asked.
"Oh," she said in surprise, "well, that would be great if you don't mind."
"What are you having trouble with?" he asked ten minutes later as they sat at a table with Lily's books surrounding them.
"It's not so much the theory, although I find that difficult too. I just can't, you know -"
"Transfigure things?" he said kindly. "Vanish an invertebrate?"
"How did you know?" she said in relief.
"Most people can't. More than you know anyway. And I should know because I've helped them all at some point," said James.
The rest of the afternoon was spent with Lily growing increasingly frustrated. "I just-can't-do-it," she said in annoyance.
"Relax," said James. "You're almost putting in too much effort. See - just a casual flick and a non-verbal spell. There."
The badger he was vanishing disappeared in just one flick. Lily let out a low growl. "I've been trying to do that for an hour, and you did it in two minutes."
James looked at her in slight despair. "But you're really good. Honestly. You're just -" He looked at her nervously. "Did you just pull out your hair?"
"No," she said. "Oh, well, maybe I did. I find it hard to control my magic sometimes."
"Anyway, so as I was saying…just a flick of the wrist, make sure you don't move your arm, say a non-verbal 'Evanesco' and -"
Lily had finally done it. After three hours of work, she had finally completely vanished her animal. She ran around the common room (much to the bemusement of the other students who were revising for their exam too) and delightedly vanished her own books. After she had conjured them again, she ran up to James and kissed him on the cheek.
"Thanks," she said breathlessly. "Now if I don't get my 'O' I'll know who to blame."
He didn't respond; he just felt his cheek where she had kissed him. His nerves were all aflutter, and he knew that his mind would certainly be elsewhere in the Transfiguration examination. Still, he thought tiredly, it would all be worth it in the end.
*
"Right, the map," said Sirius, "needs some careful thought and serious planning. If we manage to pull this one off, it'll be one of our biggest pranks during our time here."
"We're in our seventh year," continued James, "and we've nearly finished. But for this to be the ultimate prank, we need to put the charm on it that will make it blank to all but us."
"We need to document our knowledge of the school and its passages," said Remus, "and pass on that knowledge to any new mischief makers that come through the great oak doors."
"We can do it," said Peter optimistically. "The thing is…none of us know the charm. We've spent months researching in the library."
"I was thinking that we could ask Lily," said James. "She's better than all of us at Charms."
"I don't think that we should," said Sirius stubbornly. "She might report us for it or confiscate it."
"She's not like that," said James resolutely. "I think we should give her a chance."
"I don't think so," said Peter. "We managed to become Animagi without any help, didn't we? Why should this be any different?"
Sirius rolled his eyes slightly at the latter comment, but chose to say nothing.
"And," he continued, "it won't be just a Marauder production if we have outside help, will it?"
"No," said James thoughtfully, "I suppose it won't."
"It'd just be nice to finish it before we left school," said Remus, laughing. "At the rate we're going, that may not happen."
"And the library hasn't been any help," said Sirius. "Maybe we should ask a teacher."
"Who would really be willing to offer that kind of advice?" said James dubiously. "Sure way to get found out if you ask me."
"Get found out about what?" asked Lily as she came over to their table. "It's our turn to patrol tonight, James."
"Well," said Remus, looking at her thoughtfully, "we were wondering if there is a charm to make, say, a map blank until you want to peruse it again. So no prying eyes could see it unless they knew the special charm too."
"Sounds rather suspicious to me," said Lily with sparkling eyes. "I'll look into it for you, if you like."
Sirius and Peter shot Remus looks that could easily kill a lesser person, but he chose to ignore them. "Thanks," he said.
She walked out of the portrait hole, and James followed shortly after, picking up his Invisibility Cloak first.
They walked in an uncomfortable silence for a few moments before Lily decided to speak.
"I found out my Transfiguration result today," she said.
"How did you do?" asked James curiously.
"Apparently I definitely 'Exceeded Expectations' by not failing," she said, grinning.
"That's great," said James, smiling genuinely. "Do I get to claim half the grade for helping?"
"Hm," said Lily thoughtfully, "no, I'm afraid not."
"Shame," said James in mock despair.
"So I was wondering if" - Lily stopped embarrassedly - "if you'd like to come to Hogsmeade with me at the weekend."
"Wait," said James, "you're asking me to go to Hogsmeade with you?"
"Well, if you don't want to…I just thought, after all you did to help me today…"
"Of course I want to go," he said, smiling. "I just never knew it would be so easy after all these years of trying."
"Maybe you just didn't go the right way about it," she suggested.
"Obviously not," he said with a frown, "so what was I doing wrong?"
"It was more of a case of what you weren't doing right," said Lily, laughing. "It was embarrassing to have you coming up to me every day, and I didn't want to inflate your ego by falling at your feet."
They walked down the corridor in silence for a little while before she added, "And I didn't like you, of course."
"You didn't?" asked James incredulously. "Well, obviously I know you didn't, but…I've never been hated by anybody other than the Slytherins."
"I know," said Lily darkly. "Everybody thought I was crazy for a while."
"They still do," said James cheekily, earning himself a punch on the arm.
"Don't push it, James, or the date's off."
"The date?" asked James. "You mean…it's a date?"
Lily rolled her eyes expressively. "Well, we could always go as friends if you prefer it, after your…Lissy episode."
James cringed. "Let's forget about that, shall we?"
"Certainly," said Lily. "I had the feeling that you would rather we did."
They walked back companionably to the Gryffindor tower, where they parted ways.
"I'll look forward to tomorrow," said James.
Lily just gave him a little wave before heading up the steps to her dormitory.
*
Lissy had obviously heard the news when she saw Lily and James walking to Hogsmeade together the next morning. Her eyes widened slightly with obvious disappointment, but she said nothing, determinedly avoiding his eyes. He tried, and failed, to look like he really cared.
They spent the afternoon going through the different shops. Lily had to drag James away from Zonko's with the promise that they would head back there later for him to purchase his products.
"Ever thought about opening a joke shop, James?" Lily asked as they walked up the path to the Shrieking Shack.
"Yeah," he said slowly, "But I think that in a time like this I'd be more useful as an Auror."
"Really?" she said. "I was thinking that too. It seems a shame to get high grades and not use them for anything worthwhile."
"Don't get me wrong," said James, "I know that being an Auror isn't the only important job, but I think it's the only useful one I could see myself doing."
"I don't see you as a person that would sit back and let others fight your battles for you," said Lily.
"No," he said thoughtfully, "I'm not."
They paused outside the Shrieking Shack.
"Some say that this building is haunted," said James lightly.
"You just want me to hold your hand, don't you, Potter?" grinned Lily.
She placed her hand in his nevertheless as they stepped slightly closer.
"Do you think it's true?" he asked.
"Of course not," she said. "Just some rumour started by students."
"You're too intelligent for your own good," said James sadly.
"Doesn't always pay in this war to be intelligent, does it? Then again, it's going to get you no matter who you are -"
Just then they heard a rustling in the trees. They both turned around, wands drawn, to the source of the noise. James stood protectively in front of Lily and shielded her with his arm.
"Who's there?" he called.
Lily trod on his foot. "Let me go," she hissed.
He ignored her and kept his arm around her. "Just wait a minute," he whispered. "It took me this long to get you on a date, I'm not letting anything happen to you now."
She sighed and resigned herself to their situation.
"Is that Sirius?" she asked.
James groaned.
"Please, tell me he isn't with -"
"Is that a fifth year?"
"Sirius really doesn't have many morals," said James, laughing.
He had fallen out of the bushes with a girl following just behind him, picking leaves and twigs off her clothes. Seeing his friends standing nearby he raised his hand in mock salute and led the girl by the hand back into the village.
"I pity the poor girl," said Lily, shaking her head.
"Where d'you want to go next then?" asked James.
"We could head up to the bookshop if you like…"
"Why did I bother asking?"
"It's the price to pay if you want a date with me."
"Well, for that kind of offer I'd even go to the Hog's Head."
"I won't hold you to that."
James couldn't talk about that day with his friends without smiling rather inanely ("Great soppy grin he's had on his face ever since he got back," said Sirius to Remus). He realised his friends were laughing - fondly, he must admit - at him but he failed to care. Finally, finally, he felt as if they were getting somewhere.