Frank watched with wary eyes as James talked to Alice. He saw her say something, then cover her mouth looking horrified. He growled deep in his throat and made his way towards them. James ran away towards the exit of the common room, leaving Alice shouting behind him. Frank could just make out what she said.
“Oh, great! So you’re going to Hogsmeade! Can you pick me up some candy from Honeydukes while you’re there?” Alice called after James, her voice quickly calming Frank down.
But James didn’t acknowledge Alice’s request.
Frank decided: ‘Well, it doesn’t look like James will be getting that candy, so I guess I’ll just have to do it myself.’
*
Lily and Remus sipped their butterbeers while keeping their thoughts to themselves, until Remus broke the silence and said, “Look, about that deal…”
Lily smirked. “What’s the matter, Lupin? Finally realize that there’s no way you are going to win this bet?”
Remus smiled. “Nonsense! I just want to make the terms a little more… fair.”
”And how, exactly, do you plan to do that?” Lily questioned.
“Well, I just want you to be, well, CIVIL to James the next time you see him. Otherwise, he just might be a little bit arrogant, and with a good reason.”
Lily pursed her lips. “Fine,” she mumbled, pouting. Her voice rose a little. “But ONLY the next time I talk to him, okay? This is a one-time deal.”
Remus smiled. “I wouldn’t expect it to be any other way.”
*
James entered the Three Broomsticks, and looked around, his eyes seeking out the fiery red he knew only too well (he had watched the back of Evans’s head enough, that’s for sure).
“Anything for you, Mr. Potter?” asked the bartender.
Distracted, James said, “Yeah, yeah sure. A butterbeer please, extra hot.”
The bartender whipped a foaming bottle out from under the counter just as James spotted Lily sitting in a corner of the pub with Remus. He grinned to himself, thinking, ‘Target sighted.’
James made his way over to where the two were sitting. “Why, hello Remus. And… Evans! Fancy seeing you here. Mind if I join you two?” Without waiting for an answer, he plopped himself down, purposely placing himself in between Lily and Remus. As his butterbeer hit the table, some of the hot liquid slopped out and splashed onto Lily’s arm, which was resting on the table, but it wasn’t noticed by James.
Lily pursed her lips together and remembered the promise she had made to Remus about being civil towards James, and tried to hide a wince of pain.
Remus himself was looking from Lily to James and back again frantically. He had hoped to talk to James before the bet came into play, and make sure he would act on his best behavior.
James, obviously not noticing the tension and unease floating around the table upon his arrival, struck up a conversation. “So, Evans, did you happen to go to the Quidditch Cup match earlier?”
Lily smiled- only Remus noticed how forced it was- and replied, “Actually, yes, I did. Good job out there. Congratulations.”
James grinned- she SMILED at him, he was inwardly ecstatic- and said with his usual cocky arrogance, “Yeah, I did do pretty well, didn’t I. I mean, the rest of the team did great, as usual, but everyone knows who REALLY won the game, don’t they.”
Remus rolled his eyes and groaned, banging his head on the table.
Lily smiled even more forcefully, and stood up. “Well, I think we’ve ALL-” here she looked pointedly at Remus” - learned something from this little chat. I’d better be going.”
She turned and walked away a few steps, before pivoting. “And Remus?” He raised his head up wearily. “You owe me three Galleons.”
As Lily walked away, she could hear James saying to Remus, “What just happened?”