❝ You'll never know how many dreams I dream about you or how empty they may seem without you. ❞ -Anonymous

The bell that signified the end of class rang. James Potter, who had been dozing off as of the past twenty minutes-like he always did in Astronomy-jolted awake at the noise of students rushing out of the classroom, as if in a hurry to catch the train. He fixed his glasses that had gone slightly askew and got up sluggishly, yawning.

As he took his time to pack up his things, a girl caught his eye. She, too, hadn't exited the classroom in a hurry with the rest of the crowd, but lingered behind to fix her dark ponytail. James recognized her as a Ravenclaw that always sat at the back of the class called Irene Jones. They didn't interact very often, but when they did, it was always to crack jokes or help each other out with their Astronomy charts. James liked her better than he did most people, especially Ravenclaws, who he found to be, for the most part, rather pompous and full of themselves.

There were two things about Irene that James knew for certain: a) she was best friends with Lily Evans, the girl he'd been in love with for as long as he could remember, and b) she herself totally fancied his best friend, Sirius Black (and James had a suspicion that Sirius felt the same, but was too afraid to make a move on her yet. And then he had the nerve to tease James for not having asked Lily out already. The hypocrite.)

With this knowledge at the forefront of his brain, James grabbed his schoolbag and approached the Ravenclaw.

"Oi, Jones!"

Irene, who was about to exit the classroom, stopped and turned around. The left corner of her mouth curved in a mischievous smile, as if she knew what he was about to ask her.

"Yes, James?"

He cleared his throat and walked beside her, so they could leave the classroom together. It wasn't until they started to make their way down the flight of stairs, that he found the voice to talk.

"So, uh . . . you know your friend, Lily?"

"Oh, I don't know. I mean, we've been best friends since year one, and she works with me at my dad's muggle coffee shop every summer. So yeah, I guess you could say I know her."

James laughed softly, lowering his head. "I can definitely see why Sirius likes you."

"Wait, he likes- what now?" Irene stopped dead in her tracks, her pale face whitening even more. She looked at James half in excitement, half disbelief. "Say that again?"

"Okay, so here's the deal." He took a deep breath. "I know you fancy him, and I can guarantee you that he feels the same about you. So I can set you two up on a date this weekend in Hogsmeade." Irene's mouth fell open and it seemed like she was about to squeal with joy and start bouncing up and down, but James raised an index finger, smirking in triumph. "On one condition."

"You want me to secure you a date with Lily in return, don't you?"

"That's right."

"Consider it a deal."

"Oh, um . . . just one thing." James scratched the back of his neck in a sudden rush of embarrassment. "Only if, you know, she's fine with it. I don't want her to feel pressured to come just so you can hold up your end of the deal. I mean, I'll still make sure you and Sirius go out. I know you both like each other, but I-I don't know how Lily feels about me."

Irene gave him a knowing look. She turned to walk in the opposite direction towards her next class, but right before disappearing into the crowd and out of sight, she glanced back at James and winked.

"Trust me, Potter," she said. "She feels the same."

▼

James checked his reflection on the bathroom mirror one last time. He'd smoothed back his curls with hair gel and had settled for a white shirt, a pair of ripped denim jeans he stole from Sirius, and short-heeled black shoes.

"Prongs, how do I look?" came Sirius' voice behind him.

James turned around to see Sirius in a sharp blue suit, grinning from ear to ear like he'd won a hundred thousand Galleons.

"We're going on a date, for Merlin's sake, Padfoot. Not a bloody ball."

"So what? Can a lad not dress to impress?"

James scoffed. "I'm sure if Irene wasn't already impressed by you, she wouldn't have agreed to this in the first place. Now get that thing off and wear something sensible, we're gonna be late."

Sirius huffed and rolled his eyes, but walked towards the closet to change nonetheless. Ten minutes later, they walked out of the Gryffindor Common Room (Sirius now dressed in a graphic T-shirt of some muggle band with his beloved leather jacket on top and black skinny jeans.) Lily and Irene were waiting for them in the Entrance Hall. The carriages that would transport them to the nearby wizarding village were parked outside, students slowly filling them up one by one.

With each step he took towards Lily, James' heart started beating faster and faster. She was wearing a brown knitted jumper and a plaid scarlet skirt, her flaming red hair pulled with dark ribbons in half up pigtails. He'd dreamt of their first date for months-years even. Now that it was finally here, part of him couldn't even believe it. Suddenly, all the funny jokes or stories that he'd rehearsed in his head or in front of the Marauders, over and over, in hopes to make her laugh, seemed to have vanished from his brain. The sight of Lily alone had rendered him speechless.

"Cat's got your tongue, Potter?"

James shook himself out of his trance and turned to Lily. She looked at him with a soft and teasing smile, emerald green eyes sparkling between her long lashes. He cleared his throat and straightened up.

"Haven't the faintest clue what you're talking about, Evans."

Lily gave him a playful nudge with her arm, and he took this as an opportunity to coil his arm around hers and reach for her hand, his fingers slipping through hers. If the mere idea of holding Lily Evans' hand made James' knees go weak, it wasn't until she tightened her grip on his hand that he thought his heart would burst out of his chest. In that moment, he felt like the luckiest boy on the planet.

"Potter. Evans. May I have your permission slips, please?"

"Here, professor," said Lily, handing Minerva McGonagall a piece of neatly folded paper.

They'd been visiting Hogsmeade since their third year, yet their Head of House still required permission slips right before every trip. James found the whole process redundant-not to mention annoying, as one time in fourth year, he lost his slip, and when he tried to replicate it by forging his dad's signature, McGonagall didn't buy it. Therefore, she didn't let him go until he wrote home to ask for another. Ever since that time, James knew better than to lose it again. So he pulled it out of his pocket, crumpled as it was, and handed it to McGonagall.

She scrutinized the slip for a moment to verify its legitimacy, then gave James an approving nod.

"Very well," she said. She lifted her gaze to meet James' eyes briefly, and he could've sworn he saw the ghost of a smile twitching at the corners of her mouth.

"C'mon," he told Lily, tugging at their joined hands.

They made their way over to the carriage, where Sirius and Irene were waiting for them, though not idly. In fact, they were too busy snogging each other's faces off to notice when James and Lily took a seat opposite them.

"Honestly, you two," said James. "Couldn't you wait till we got to Hogsmeade first?"

Sirius reluctantly pulled away from Irene and turned to James with an annoyed look.

"And do what? Stare at the ceiling while you two lovebirds took your sweet time to get here? You might find wasting time a good idea, Prongs, but Ira and I don't."

James rolled his eyes, but couldn't help but laugh. Beside him, Lily did the same. Even her laugh was so pleasant to listen to, James started to feel lightheaded already. He decided to be bold, and threw an arm around her shoulders, pulling her close to himself. Lily leaned her head against his shoulder, her hand reaching for his other one, their knees brushing.

"Aww, aren't you two adorable?" Irene cooed, smiling. "I wish I had a camera to take a photograph of this moment."

Believe me, James wanted to say, So do I.

But he knew that he didn't need a camera at all because no matter what happened in the future, where he and Lily ended up landing, the feeling of holding her like this as they headed to their first date ever, would be one he cherished for the rest of his life.

They arrived in Hogsmeade shortly after. James always loved how the village looked in the spring, with the sun beating down on the cobbled streets, the trees starting to blossom, and whatever remained of the winter snow slowly melting away to puddles.

The Three Broomsticks always filled up quickly, so it was almost impossible to find a free table, unless one didn't mind wasting at least an hour or two waiting. But to his surprise, the queue wasn't atrociously long today. Sirius and Irene decided to wait out the needed thirty minutes (because really, there was a reason the pub was so popular: no other one in Hogsmeade served the kind of delicious meals they had.) In the meantime, James and Lily went for a walk.

"So," Lily started after several moments of walking in silence. "Ira told me you were the one to land her and Sirius a date."

"Oh, yeah." James cleared his throat, trying to sound casual. "I've seen how Sirius looks at her in the Great Hall when we have breakfast, or in the corridors when they pass each other. I already knew he was whipped."

She laughed softly-there was that lovely sound again. James tried not to stare too hard, so instead he averted his eyes to the shops they walked by.

"Well, Ira hasn't been that discreet about her feelings, if I'm being honest," she said. "She never shuts up about him. Sirius this and Sirius that. She practically came flying into my dorm today to tell me about the date."

James smiled. "I can imagine."

Not that I need to. I basically have done the same, if not worse. All my friends can vouch for how much I've talked about you over the past three years.

"Uh, Irene also told me . . . something else," James said nervously.

"What's that?"

"When I told her that I would link her up with Sirius if she-well, landed me a date with you, I, uh . . . I made sure to tell her to tell you that-that you didn't have to come, if you didn't want to. I didn't want you to feel pressured into it. I mean, I assumed it was different for them since they both fancy each other, but I wasn't sure how you felt. And, um . . . she said-" He swallowed and plucked up the courage to look at Lily. Merlin, her eyes. "She said that you do. Fancy me. Feel the same. You know what I mean. I-Is it true?"

Lily stopped and turned to face him, her lips quirking upwards in amusement. They had reached the landing where the street forked into two paths: one that led into the woods, and the other all the way to the Shrieking Shack, which had become, to James' aggravation, a location of both interest and gossip for supposedly being "so haunted, even the Hogwarts ghosts avoided it." He knew full well where the rumours had come from, and it had nothing to do with ghosts or evil spirts.

He kept his eyes focused on Lily's face, so close to his own now that he could see every freckle that dotted her small nose, rosy cheeks and broad forehead, as though they multiplied the closer he looked. Instead of taking away from her beauty, her freckles only served to enhance it more, like a cluster of stars strewn across a summer sky. James' heart doubled its beats again and his breath froze in his throat.

"Really, James," said Lily. "Do you think I would be here now, that I would've said yes at all, if I didn't like you?"

"No, I just-of course, I-you're right, but-"

Lily placed her hands on both sides of his face to stop his nervous fumbling, an amused laugh bubbling past her lips.

"We've been friends for so long now," she whispered, inching closer. "How could you be this oblivious?"

The close proximity between them, her hands gently holding his face, and the intoxicating scent of her strawberry shampoo were making James struggle to breathe, let alone process what Lily had just told him and answer.

He closed his eyes, his voice dropping to a whisper. "I guess I got so used to rejection, I never dared hope for anything more."

Lily's melodious laugh filled his ears again, and then her lips were on his, soft and sweet against his own. James could've melted right then and there. They were kissing in broad daylight with the birds chirping softly around them and a light spring breeze caressing their faces, and it was so perfect, even James' most intricate dreams couldn't come up with something like this. No fantasy compared to how real this moment felt, how magnificent in that realness. He wouldn't have traded it for the world.

At last, they pulled away, out of breath and giggling like children. James blinked rapidly to make sure he wasn't dreaming. Did that really just happen? Did I just kiss Lily Evans? Or more like, did Lily Evans just kiss me? But the sight of the beautiful redhead he had been in love with since they were children didn't disappear, no matter how many times he opened and closed his eyes. She still stood in front of him, lips curled up in a gentle smile, emerald eyes brighter than ever, the shade of red on her cheeks almost matching the one of her hair. James felt his own face heating up.

She smirked. "Was that convincing enough for you?"

"Hm, not quite," he teased. "Maybe if we do it again, it will be."

Lily rolled her eyes and pushed him away, but he grabbed her arm and drew her closer again, both of them laughing. She reached for his hand and started to drag him down the cobbled street in the direction of The Three Broomsticks.

"C'mon. I'm sure Ira and Sirius are waiting for us inside."

James snorted. "Nah, I bet they're too busy snogging."

As they made their way over to the cozy pub, where Sirius and Irene had found a table in the corner (and were indeed snogging, just like they were back in the carriage), James marveled at the idea that none of this would've been possible-not the two of them getting together, or him and Lily sharing their first kiss-if he and Irene never made that silly little deal in the first place.

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i was gonna update lifeguard but couldn't bring myself to, so i wrote this instead bc i needed some wholesome jily & sirene content to cheer me up. they're so cute pls i love them so much

quotc: what's your birthday month?
a: november