Disclaimer: All of this wonderful world and all the characters are owned by Jo. I take no credit for any of them.
Upstairs in the boy’s dormitory, 15-year-old James Potter was having, in his opinion, the loveliest dream possible. Lily Evans, the gorgeous redhead that James Potter had a crush on, was confessing her undying love for him. Unfortunately, he didn't notice Sirius Black, standing in front of his bed, up and dressed, running a comb through his long, handsome, black hair. He glanced in the mirror at James, who was now grinning from ear to ear, looking very silly indeed, still in the only world where Lily could tolerate him.
“Hey Prongs I’m going to get some breakfast. Join me?” Sirius asked as he put the comb down and turned to face the snoozing James.
“I love you too!” James blurted out passionately.
Sirius looked taken aback. “Look, James, we're good friends and all, but that is just wrong on so many levels,” he replied.
James suddenly awoke, realizing what he had just done. “Oh sorry mate,” he muttered, turning slightly pink. “I was…er…never mind.”
He didn't dare tell Sirius about it. It was too embarrassing. WAY too embarrassing. Sirius would never stop teasing him.
“Whatever,” Sirius replied. “So are you coming or what?”
“Yeah sure,” James said and climbed out of bed. He pulled on a pair of jeans and a navy blue turtleneck before following Sirius out the dormitory door. Rather than using the stairs, the two slid down the banister and landed in the Common Room with a soft thud.
Lily Evans was curled up in one of the armchairs, a thick, slightly tattered book propped up on her knees, the fire crackling merrily in front of her. James motioned for Sirius to be quiet and then silently crept forward to Lily’s chair. He quickly made a grab for her book, snatching it out of her hands. He took a seat on the arm of the chair and grinned.
“'Lo, Evans,” he said with a smirk, “what are you doing up so early? Shouldn’t you be getting your beauty sleep? Oh wait. You are already beautiful.”
“It’s 10:30, Potter,” Lily replied, ignoring James compliment. “Now give it back.”
James ignored her and pulled the book further away from her outstretched hand. He stood up and opened the book.
“So, whatcha reading here?” he asked, flipping through the pages.
Lily sighed and stood up as well.
“Potions,” she answered. “Now hand it over.”
James ignored her request.
“Potions?” he asked, “What are you reading this garbage for? And on a weekend? Come on, you gotta take a break sometime! It’s Saturday! Enjoy yourself, Evans!”
Lily rolled her eyes. “I’m not reading it out of pleasure, you moron,” she told him. “I have a Potions essay to write. And no, I can’t take a break. If I don’t finish it now, I never will.”
“You actually write them?” James asked, as he shut the book with a soft snap.
“Of course,” Lily said and rolled her eyes. “Unlike you, I don’t intend on failing Potions this year.”
“Why bother?” asked James. “I think it’s all rubbish.”
“Good for you,” Lily replied, putting her hands on her hips. “Now give me my book back.”
“I’ll give it back on one condition,” James responded.
“Yeah? And what is that?” Lily sighed.
“If you go out with me,” James demanded and grinned at her.
Lily gave him a disgusted, annoyed look. “I’m not going out with you, Potter, not just for a Potions book.”
James looked slightly disappointed. “Fine,” he replied. “Well, then, will you make out with me?” he asked, giving her a goofy hopeful smile.
“No!” Lily shouted, more annoyed than ever. She snatched the book out of his hands and, shaking her head in frustration, sat back down in her chair.
James angrily retreated to a dark corner. Sirius, who had been listening to their conversation from behind, walked over to James, chuckling.
“What’s so funny?” snapped James.
“Your attempt to charm Evans,” Sirius sneered.
“Oh, like you could have done better!” James replied bitterly.
“Yes. I could have,” Sirius informed him. “Much better.”
“Oh yeah?” James replied, as he folded his arms across his chest. “How?”
“Well for one, if I were you and I had a crazy obsession over some silly girl, I wouldn’t have asked her out right off the bat after annoying the crap out of her,” Sirius told him. “And I most certainly wouldn’t have asked her to make out with me.”
“Yes you would!” accused James.
“Yes I would, but I said if I were you,” Sirius corrected. “Seeing as I don’t have any strange crush on some silly girl, it would be all right for me to do that.”
“Evans isn’t silly,” James argued. “She’s perfect.”
“I can’t see why you like her so much. She seems kinda stubborn to me,” Sirius replied and glanced over at Lily who had begun to work on her Potions essay again. “And grouchy.”
“Open your eyes, mate!” James replied in a dreamy voice. “I mean, look at her! Her eyes, her hair, those dimples, that smile!”
Sirius raised an eyebrow. “Prongs, I know she’s pretty. Well, actually, to tell you the truth, I don’t really think she is, but if you like her just because you think she has a nice face and some average looking hair, then I for one advise you to forget about her. I mean, there are plenty of other redheads that aren’t as grouchy - or stubborn - and would be dying to go out with you,” Sirius informed him.
James shook his head. “I don’t like them. I like her. And it’s not just her beauty I admire, Padfoot,” James replied, still in his trance. “It’s everything about her! She’s so clever and friendly and hard to get…”
“You like that she’s hard to get?” Sirius asked, raising his eyebrow slightly higher.
“Yes,” James answered, finally recovering from his trance, “I enjoy a challenge.”
“Right,” Sirius replied, wanting to get off the subject of Lily. “Well, are we going to breakfast or what?”
“Yeah sure,” James responded. He took one last glance at Lily before following Sirius out of the Portrait Hole.
The two made their way to the Great Hall, pushing open the large oak door, and glancing around the crowded room, filled with chatter from all the students and teachers. They turned towards the Gryfindor table, where, much to their pleasure, they found Remus Lupin and started towards him.
“'Lo Moony,” Sirius said with a grin, sliding into the empty spot on Remus’ left as James slumped into a seat across from the two. “I figured you’d be in the library studying away like Evans.”
“I ought to be,” he replied. “But I needed a bite to eat first. Glad Lily’s up though. We need to discuss a few things about the prefect meeting.”
“Yeah, we had, well James had, a little chat with her in the Common Room,” Sirius said with a smirk, as he piled his plate high with mountains of food.
“Oh?” Remus questioned, not really liking the tone of his friend’s voice. “What did you two do to her?”
Sirius pretended to look hurt.
“Now why would I do anything to her?” he inquired, giving Remus an angelic smirk and bashing his eyelashes.
Remus rolled his eyes but couldn’t help smiling slightly
“Now really,” he replied seriously, “what happened?”
“Oh, Prongs here just made Evans hate him more,” Sirius said, still smirking as he lifted his fork, which was piled with food, to his mouth.
“What did he do?” Remus asked as he took a much smaller bite of his own breakfast.
“Well first he stole her book, then he asked her out, then she rejected him, and finally he asked her to make out with him,” Sirius answered as he chewed, ticking each event off his fingers as he said them.
Remus sighed. “When will you learn, James?”
“Huh?” James replied, jumping a little. He had been staring into space, deep in thought.
“There he goes again,” Sirius said and rolled his eyes. “Thinking about Evans, weren’t you?”
“No!” James lied. Sirius and Remus both smirked.
“Prongs,” Remus began, “you can’t just ask her out like that.”
“That’s exactly what I told him!” Sirius retorted in between mouthfuls.
“Oh and why not?” James questioned.
“Because she hates it!” they both said together.
“Talk to her about something. Not yourself, but about something she’s interested in for a while. Get to know her a little better,” advised Remus.
“Then can I ask her out?” James asked eagerly.
“No,” Remus replied. “Then you leave her alone for a while and do the same thing again the next day. Just have a friendly little chat with her - without bringing attention to yourself.”
“Then I ask her out?” James asked.
“Yes, then you can ask her out,” Remus explained. “After you’ve had several of these friendly little chats.”
“Yeah and don’t ask to make out with her!” Sirius added with a smirk.
Remus nodded to show that he agreed. “Definitely not.”
“All right,” James replied with a sigh. “I guess it’s worth a shot, if it will get me closer to charming Evans. But I would like to make out with her.”
“Yeah we know you would mate,” Sirius said and patted his friend on the back. “Only problem is she doesn’t wanna make out with a big git like you.”
“Yeah, but if you don’t screw up, maybe you’ll have a chance to take her to Hogsmeade,” Remus pointed out.
James nodded.
“Yeah hopefully,” he replied and then stared back down at his plate, not touching his food. Once again, he drifted into his thoughts, thinking about Lily as his fellow friends began to chat about how they intended to spend their afternoon.
A/N Well, I've had this story posted for quite sometime and as of today, May 12th, 68 people have read it but no one has reviewed! I'm beginning to think this story isn't too good. Please please review guys! And I'd like critiscm, comments, advice, etc.
I'd also like to thank Masked One, gwendolynstanbury, Brunette, and Orlaith for all the help they haven given me with this story. Thanks guys! I really appreciate it!