James stared at the portrait door in shock. Lily was going to Hogsmeade with Remus! He had obviously tuned out after the words ‘Remus, if you must know.’
‘Lily with Remus. Remus with Lily.’ James started to work himself into a frenzy. ‘Lily and Remus together. Lily Lupin!’ He finally came to the conclusion that something was wrong with this picture and he had to do something about it. His mind made up, James flew himself up the girls’ dormitory stairs, thinking ‘Alice will know where Lily is. She HAS to. I have to stop them from getting together, or else I’ll be the laughingstock of the school. Asking Lily out, then having her going out with one of my best friends!’
He sprinted up the stairs, hoping to get there before-
WHOOSH! The stairs folded in on themselves, and James went tumbling down the stairs. He fell in a heap at the bottom, cursing his bad luck. Now he would never get to talk to Alice. Fortunately for him, the stairs had caused such a racket that Alice had come out to see what the problem was. She slid gracefully down the stairs and asked, “All right, which of you boys tried to get into the girls’ dormitory?”
Sheepishly, James raised his hand. “I had to talk to you, in private.” He grabbed her wrist and started to pull her towards a secluded corner of the common room, when a shadow fell across his feet. Looking up, he saw Frank’s face twisted into a scowl. “Don’t worry mate, I’m not going to snog her, I’m just going to ask her a question.”
Embarrassed, Frank looked over at Alice, who nodded at him. Reluctantly, he stepped out of their way.
Once the two were in a secluded spot, James whispered casually, “So where’s Lily? I haven’t seen her all night.”
Alice rolled her eyes. “I can’t believe it. I actually thought you were going to ask me a serious question. I should have known better.”
James whispered with a little more urgency, “It IS important.”
Alice laughed a little. “Why? It’s not like she’s doing anything bad. She’s just meeting Remus at the Three Broomsticks.” She gasped and put her hands to her mouth. “I don’t think Lily would have wanted me to tell you that.”
James grinned and went towards the portrait hole.
“Hey, where are you going?” Alice called after him.
“I suddenly got a craving for some butterbeer.”
Alice’s eyes lit up. “Oh, great! So you’re going to Hogsmeade! Can you pick me up some candy from Honeydukes while you’re there?”
But James was already gone.
*
Lily pushed her way through the crowd at the door to the Three Broomsticks and spotted Remus sitting in one of the back corners. She worked her way over to him. She set her bag down and plopped down on to the chair next to him.
“You’re late,” he accused.
Lily smiled. “Actually, I’m not. We never actually decided on a meeting time, just the place and day. Remember?”
“Yeah, I guess you are right, for once.”
Lily fake scowled at him. “I thought I always was.”
Remus chuckled, and then his face became serious. “Well, as amusing as this all is, we came here specifically to resolve one thing. Remember?”
Lily winced. “I hate it when you throw my words back at me. But yes, we did come here to work out a little problem, didn’t we?”
“Yeah, and before you say anything, I just want you to know that I’m sorry, as I said before. It’s just that- you don’t have any idea as to how much the friendship James, Sirius, Peter, and I have means to me. I just-” He hesitated a little. “I know it may sound corny and all, but I can’t lose that.”
Lily’s face softened. “I guess I know what you mean. I don’t know how I’d feel if I lost Alex or Alice, or both.” She shuddered slightly, and then smirked. “Though it is beyond me as to how any kind of relationship- especially a friendship! - with James I-am-so-great-everyone-loves-me Potter could mean anything special to anyone!”
Remus smiled and laughed. “Sure, James has his faults- he gets INSANELY jealous, has a terrible temper, and yes, he can be a bit arrogant at times, but he’s really not that bad-” Seeing the look on Lily’s face, he hastily added- “Once you get to know him.”
Lily snorted. “Yeah, I’m sure he is a GREAT guy and all that, especially after all he’s done. You know- calling me Little Red (I hate that), partially turning me into a lion, hiding my homework, and humiliating me in front of our entire year by pretending to ask me out- any of that ring a bell?”
“Look, Lily, I bet he’s sorry about the things he has done in the past- I know I am- but he’s a loyal friend, and a good guy at heart. About him asking you out, he wasn’t joking. He really does like you.”
Lily bit her lip. “However honest you may be, I’m just not sure I can believe that James Potter would ever like me in any remote kind of way.”
“Oh, come on, Lily! Just give him a chance! I bet the next time you see him, he won’t be as arrogant as he usually is.”
Lily took a sip of her butterbeer. “How much?”
“Huh?”
“How much do you want to bet?”
Remus’s eyes took on a mischievous glint; he loved to bet. “How about three Galleons?”
Lily smiled. “Deal. That’s three Galleons I am definitely not going to lose.”
Little did they know how soon their bet would be resolved.