“Just who I was looking for,” whispered James Potter.

On the other side of the vast lawn sat Lily Evans on the cool summer grass. A friend of hers sat by her side. They were both silently reading, enjoying the warm, spring sunshine. May was drawing to a close, and James had made no progress in his efforts after nearly two years. Since she wholeheartedly hated him, it didn’t seem as if he would be exactly winning her heart before school was up, either. But, then again, there was always room for a little hope.

Signaling to his friends to follow, James stood and began to strut in the direction of the red-headed sixth year. Her friend spotted James with her wide, brown eyes and poked Lily hard in the shoulder. Irritated, Lily’s green eyes followed the direction of her friend’s pointing finger and saw a very unwelcome visitor.

“Well, if it isn’t the lovely Lily Evans!” James smirked, stopping in front of Lily. One hand casually tousled his hair as he spoke. “Beautiful weather, isn't it? It’s a fantastic day for flying, you know.”

“Shrug off, Potter. I don’t want to talk to you,” growled Lily. “Come on, Cora.” She grabbed her friend’s hand and headed for the Hogwarts doors. Lily's small, skinny friend stumbled along behind her. James hastily followed after Lily, ignoring her suggestion.

“Why not join me for a ride?”

Lily spun around on the spot and glared at him. “I’d rather have tea with a werewolf at the full moon!” (James glanced suspiciously at Remus, who replied with an innocent shrug.) “Why don’t you just go and jump off your broom from a hundred feet in the air?” Again, Lily began to walk away, but this time it was at a faster pace, and Cora had to run after her.

Nothing James did ever had any effect. Needless to say, he was frustrated. He remembered when they had been friends. She had liked him just fine back then. Why was now any different? Today was his two hundredth and eighty-seventh time to ask Lily out on a date. (He had kept a close count.) She had refused every single time.

Lily and Cora were nearly to the doors. The Marauders had clustered around James. He hadn’t moved, but had watched Lily as she walked away, his face set in a stubborn look. Sirius checked his pulse.

“He’s not dead, Padfoot.” Remus patted James on the shoulder. “There are others girls. Don’t take it so hard, Prongs.”

“Yeah, listen to Moony,” Sirius encouraged. “Better luck next time, right, mate?”

Peter glared at Lily’s retreating back. “Stupid girls. They’re all crazy, you know. I saw a girl just last week who got all upset because her potion didn’t work out right and her hair got all fuzzy. It's just hair! Get over it! And then when you date a girl she expects you to constantly be by her side and giving her gifts and telling her you love her!” (“Like you would know,” Sirius interjected.) Peter ignored him and continued, “It’s just stupid. Ridiculous, even. Insane! I’m telling you not a single one of them is worth the bother.”

“This one is,” James replied, seemingly coming back to life.

Suddenly it was as if his brain started to work properly again. He blinked. He was the James Potter. How could he just stand here and let her get away? He had to do something! Lily Evans was not getting away that easily. This time he wouldn’t let her slip through his fingers. Suddenly, he began to run.

Legs pumping hard, James started to close the distance. Lily and Cora had almost made it to the doors. Curious, the two girls turned around to the sound of pounding footsteps. Within moments, James skidded to a halt in front of them.

Lily crossed her arms. “What do you want, Potter?”

“Why?” James demanded.

For a moment, Lily hesitated. “What?”

“Why not, Evans? Why NOT go out with me for once?” His eyes sparked dangerously. “What is it with you, Evans? WHY DO YOU HATE ME?”

Eyes flashing like green fire, Lily took a few steps closer to James. “WHY? WHY? How can you ask WHY? You strut around the school like an overgrown rooster, cursing anyone who gets in your way! You’re always breaking rules and losing points! Gryffindor’s lost so many points that you might as well be working for Slytherin! Then, you go and brag about non-existent Quidditch skills! All you honestly care about is Quidditch and yourself! I can’t believe you can actually assume that I would ever want to go on a date with such a gigantic prat! And then you ask me WHY?” screamed Lily furiously.

The two sixth years stood and stared at each other, silently fuming. Words failed them. Then, from behind Lily came a quiet, barely audible voice.

“You know that’s not why, Lily.”

Temporarily caught off guard, Lily broke eye contact with James to turn around. Standing behind Lily was her friend, fidgeting with her Hufflepuff robes. James thought she looked at least a year younger than Lily. “What are you talking about, Cora?” Lily asked.

“I mean… the first time he ever asked you… that’s not why you said, ‘No.’ ” Cora was trembling as her eyes skimmed the faces of the Marauders before resting on Lily. It was easy to spot that she was uncomfortable talking in front of the strangers. “That’s… not how it happened.”

Slowly, Lily relaxed. Her shoulders fell and her expression softened. In a gentler tone this time, she said, “Cora, it wasn’t your fault.”

“What’s going on?” James was indignant at being ignored. Lily bit her lip and gave Cora a look that clearly said, Do you want me to tell him? Cora slowly shook her head and took a deep breath.

“In m-my fourth year (your fifth)… I h-had…” Cora turned her eyes to the grass beneath her feet, not daring to look at James’ face. Suddenly, she blurted, “I had a crush on you.”

James tried to act nonchalant. The story was certainly unexpected but there were many girls in the school who probably had crushes on him. Why should he be surprised? But he was still confused. So, he pretended to ignore the sudden confession of love from this girl who he had never properly met before, and asked, “But what does this have to do with anything?”

Cora shifted uncomfortably where she was standing. “She d-didn’t want to hurt my f-feelings when you asked her to H-h-hogsmeade, I guess.” Looking up, she saw Lily was still biting her lip. “She s-said no 'c-cause of… me.” James stared at Lily, stunned. He had always thought it had been his fault.

“Wait a minute! You said you had a crush on me. Why won’t Lily go out with me now?”

“Because I HATE you, Potter!” Lily broke in.

“Sort’ve guessed that…” muttered James. Behind him, Peter giggled.

“It was only because of Cora that I ever realized who you really were. I was a fool to have been friends with the likes of you. You’re just an arrogant, ignorant, stubborn, immature, troublesome, little GIT!” Lily spun on her heel and would’ve stormed off again if Cora hadn’t grabbed her arm.

The girl whispered quietly, “Lily, please… listen to him for once.”

The look of her pleading brown eyes was irresistible. Lily couldn’t possibly refuse. Crossing her arms again, she snapped, “Fine.” She looked at James expectantly. “Potter?”

He flashed her a roguish grin. “What would it take?” His hand unconsciously reached up to ruffle his already messy hair. “What would it take, Evans, for one date?”

Lily inhaled slowly. “Deflate that head of yours, Potter. MAYBE, just maybe, I… might… consider it.” She glared at him as if to dare him to say anything else and turned her back on him. “Maybe.” Sulky and sullen, she walked up the stone steps and entered the front doors.

“She’ll c-come around,” Cora mumbled reassuringly to James.

He looked down at Cora. “Thanks for the help. You know, I don’t remember meeting you before.”

Cora muttered nervously, “Oh, y-yeah. I… stick around the l-library a lot. I only started hanging around with L-Lily in third year… actually.” She glanced up at James one last time and then followed after her friend, head down, and hands clutching her book to her chest.

The rest of the Marauders joined him as he watched Cora rush to catch up with Lily until they finally disappeared behind the gigantic oak doors. Softly, James murmured to himself, “Maybe.” After two hundred and eighty-seven tries, she had said maybe. His face split into a grin. Maybe there was hope yet.