It Started With Cupid's Arrow

Fifth Year—Only in your dreams?

“I’m telling you, Prongs, it is not a good idea. Lily will freak,” Remus said, once again trying to convince his friend not to go through with his latest plan of getting Lily Evans, an extremely bad tempered red-head, to go out with him. “What could go wrong? I mean, Evans loves me; she’s just playing hard to get. I mean, me and her are like the lake and the giant squid. We’re just meant to be together,” James sighed, a wistful look on his handsome features.

“Well, I personally don’t think she’s playing hard to get. And even if she is, she doesn’t like all the public attention. Lily is the kind of girl who would rather keep her personal life just that—personal. This will make her want to kill you more then she normally does,” Remus tried to reason with his friend. “Prongs…Prongs! Prongs!” Remus called, trying, but failing, to get his friend’s attention.

James had zoned out before Remus had started talking. Busy daydreaming about the only girl for him, he hadn’t heard Remus’s warning. Nor did he notice Remus shaking his head as he left the dorm—therefore, leaving James to his devices. For awhile, James just sat there, doing nothing besides picturing him and Lily together, happy and laughing. The way it would be once she agreed to go out with him. This would be soon, because he knew Lily would agree to go out with him after the game tomorrow.

/\/\/\/\

“No way! I would never go out with him! Shrewsbury is a bit too creepy. Whenever I see him, he’s always doing this weird thing where he stares at everyone until they move. It’s just not normal,” Carolina told Lily, who had burst out laughing at the expression on her friend’s face.

“Well, then who would you go out with? You’ve never mentioned it before, so I’m curious. I mean, Liz and Will have been dating for ages now, and Claire just started dating that fourth year.”

“Well, he’s in our year, and he’s quiet, and really cute and sweet, but I don’t know if he likes me back. I mean, I do talk to him, but he’s just so shy,” Carolina admitted, her eyes looking down at the ground.

“Really? What’s his name?” Lily asked, leaning forward from her spot on her bed, were she had been braiding her long, red hair.

“Okay…it’s Remus,” Carolina muttered, biting her bottom lips.

“You’re kidding! You should ask him to the dance next week! I’ve seen him looking at you before, and I think he likes you,” Lily said, a grin making its way onto her face. “But what if he says no? Don’t you think that would be really embarrassing?” Carolina fretted, her eyes showing her anxiousness.

“Well, I think he would say yes. Do you want me to find out during patrol tomorrow? I mean, it won’t be hard to get him to admit it, he trusts me a lot. He and I are really good friends. And to think this never would have happened if the two of us hadn’t been made Prefects,” Lily said, thinking of what to say to the sandy-haired boy the next day.

“Lils, you’re a great friend. Now it’s time to talk about your love life. Think Potter will ask you to the dance? More importantly, what will you say? Are you finally going to agree to go out with him?” Carolina asked, but Lily just shook her head.

“Most likely he is going to ask me. I mean, he almost never misses a chance to ask, but I’m not gonna say yes. I mean, yeah he’s cute, and according to Remus he’s a really great guy to his friends, but until I see that I’m never going to agree.”

/\/\/\/\

Today was a big day. It was the Gryffindor vs. Slytherin Quidditch match, and Lily was sitting in the stands with her friends. Elizabeth--who wasn’t a fan of the sport--had opted to spend the time studying for the upcoming O.W.L.s. Letting her eyes flick over to the stands where the professors sat; she could see Remus getting ready to narrator the Quidditch match.

It wasn’t long until the match was about to begin. The Slytherin team flew out first, and Remus called out their names as they passed him. “Presenting Rosier, Black, Tanner, Malfoy, Lestrange, Carrow, and Crabbe!” he announced. A fourth of the stands burst into applause, while the others just booed. “Next, we have the Gryffindor team. Presenting Woods, Uley, Harrison, Tudor, Caylor, Boot, and Potter—wait, what’s this? There seems to be a banner on the back of Chaser James Potter’s broom reading ‘Lily Evans, will you go to the Valentine’s Day Dance with me?’”

Lily’s head darted to the sign, then she could be heard sighing and taking her wand out of her pocket. Muttering an incantation, the words on the banner morphed into a new sentence, causing the students to burst out laughing. “Oh my, it looks like Lily Evans was not happy about Potter’s little stunt. I mean, she did change the banner to say ‘Not even in your dreams, Potter.’”

James, who had been flying by the goal posts, about a meter off the ground, crashed, falling to the ground. Muttering to himself, he crumpled the banner up, and placing a charm on it before throwing it up at the head of Severous Snape. “Potter!” Professor McGonagall screeched from the stands.

“I know one week’s detention. Your office, starting at eight tonight,” James called back, before going back to muttering under his breath.

“You know,” Professor McGonagall commented to Remus, who was right next to her, “I was only going to give him three days worth for causing a scene and throwing something at another student.” Remus looked at her for a second, and shook his head.

“Professor, if you could only hear what he is saying right now, you probably would have given him two weeks.”