a/n: I don't know what this is, but I haven't written a Jily fic in a while so here you go. Enjoy!

He had to ask one more time, just to make sure. After that, he promised himself that he would stop asking. He had certainly asked enough times already.

James frowned slightly, looking at the redhead to his left. He and Lily had finally become friends near the middle of their sixth year, as after fifth year he had stopped asking her out at every opportunity. They even ate meals together sometimes, as they were doing then. He knew that they could have become friends much sooner, if not for his pigheadedness. He thought back to the past couple of years and all of the mistakes that he had made.

In their third year he had realized that he liked her, conveniently near Valentine's Day. He decided to ask her to go to Hogsmeade with him, and he had owl ordered a dozen roses to be delivered to her before proclaiming his feelings to her in the middle of breakfast in the Great Hall. Unfortunately, the day before she had caught him hexing Snivellus- Snape- who she had, at the time, been quite close to. Needless to say, she rejected him and promised that she would never go out with him. At the time he had taken that as a challenge, but looking back he regretted it. If he had listened to her, they could have become friends earlier.

Before the next Hogsmeade weekend, he wrote her a poem and asked her to go with him again. However, he had by no means stopped his behavior towards the Slytherins and she knew that. So she had rejected him once again, telling him that Hagrid's dog would be a better date than he would be.

Of course, that meant that at the next Hogsmeade weekend he had borrowed said dog and tied a message to his collar, asking her to go with him. She refused again, this time citing his personality as the cause rather than his tendency to hex the Slytherins. It wasn't exactly an improvement, but the younger him had taken it as proof that he didn't have to stop hurting them.

His behavior continued, extending even beyond Hogsmeade weekends in fourth year. Lily seemed to hate him and he had begun asking her to simply hide his wounded pride. He lost count of how many times he asked her, how many poems he'd written, how many flowers he'd bought, and how many hours he'd lost on her.

In fifth year he asked her out at least once a week, a smirk on his face and a stolen snitch in his pocket. She insulted his hair, his ego, his stubbornness, and went back to her condemnation of his hexing the Slytherins. He didn't let it bother him, continuing to ask her out as often as he could manage it.

At least, he did until that fateful day after OWLs. James knew that however much he disliked Snape, the Slytherin had been Lily's friend. And when he called her that word, James was furious. Because Lily might hate him but even he knew that Snape was in the wrong. So he turned to Snape in anger, not realizing that seeing the boy hurt was the last thing she wanted. Lily had left, promising that she would date the Giant Squid before him. Even as half of his brain created a plan to have her date the Giant Squid, the other half realized how much she had lost when she lost Snape. He vowed to do his best to lessen the pain. Because she might not like him, but he wanted her to be happy.

He stopped asking her out, though he doubted she noticed as they left Hogwarts for summer soon after. The next year, sixth year, when he walked into NEWT level potions, he saw Lily sitting alone. Snape had always been her partner. So with an apologetic glance to Padfoot, he sat down next to her. She glared at him, but he made up some lie about Remus and Sirius wanting to work together and, as Peter hadn't gotten into the class, he needed a new partner. She looked suspicious, but Slughorn walked in and she couldn't argue with him then.

They did bicker quite a bit in Potions, but Lily eventually seemed to realize that he wasn't asking her out anymore. Every class, she seemed slightly less suspicious and a little more friendly. After the first Hogsmeade weekend, when he failed to ask her out or even make an ill-timed joke, she had greeted him with a smile.

He stopped hexing people who didn't deserve it, although whenever he heard a blood purist saying slurs he cut them off as quickly as he could. Lily stopped yelling at him for the little things. James learned to curb his ego a little around her, and Lily learned not to take everything he said so seriously. By Christmas, he felt comfortable getting her a gift. He was delighted when, after handing it to her, she blushed and held one out to him as well.

From then on, they were friends. When Valentine's Day came, he considered asking her to Hogsmeade, but he instead gave her a card thanking her for becoming his friend. He had to stop himself from laughing when she blushed more about that than any of the romantic gifts that he had ever given her. Being her friend was incredible.

They began talking more in Potions, cracking jokes and having conversations about anything from their favorite sweets to the brewing war. By the end of the year, he felt like he was nearly as close to her as he was to the Marauders, although, of course, he was still closer to his longtime friends.

He had been surprised and delighted when she sent him a letter within the first week of the summer break. They exchanged letters all summer, and when they got back to Hogwarts he felt like they had never been apart. At some point over the summer, he had finally acknowledged to himself, and Sirius who had laughed at him, that he still really did like Lily. And after getting to know her, he was beginning to wonder if he might even love her.

So, as he sat at breakfast with Lily Evans on his left, he could only focus on two things: the visit to Hogsmeade that was a week away and the pounding of his heart. After what must have been ten minutes of reminding himself that no matter what happened, they would still be friends, he turned to Lily.

Even if she said no, he wouldn't let it get to him. He had changed from the thirteen-year-old that he had been, and he knew that a no wasn't a challenge. But he had gotten to know the real Lily Evans and he had opened up to her a lot too. He often thought that they were both very different people than they had been back in third year.

No matter what, he and Lily would be friends. Because James was more mature now, and he understood that he had no right to chase her if she didn't like him. But that didn't mean he couldn't try one last time.

"Hey, Evans," he said, a familiar smirk on his face. She turned to him, and he saw something spark in her eyes when she looked at his face. He wondered if she recognized it from all of the times he had asked the question in the past.

But this time was different. This time he had no poem, no letter, no dog, and no script. This time he was being honest with her.

"Yeah, Potter?" she asked, a challenging glint in her eyes.

"I don't know if you heard, but the first Hogsmeade weekend is next week," he said, ignoring Sirius snickering next to him.

"I did hear," Lily said, raising an eyebrow. "As Head Girl, it is my job to know these things."

"Well, as Head Boy," James said, still not quite believing that he had gotten the position, "I was wondering if the Head Girl had any plans for Hogsmeade."

Lily laughed, and it was truly a beautiful sound. James wondered why he hadn't tried to make her laugh sooner. He preferred her laugh to her yelling, though one wouldn't guess it from how often he had made her shout in their first five years.

"Are you asking me on a date, James Potter?" Lily asked with a smirk.

"If I were, would you say yes?" he asked, feeling slightly self-conscious. He was still half-expecting her to say no, although she didn't seem against the idea.

"I guess you'll just have to find out," she replied.

"Well then, Lily Evans, would you do me the great honor of consenting to go to Hogsmeade with me?" he asked.

To his delight, she smiled instead of screaming. "Luckily for you, the Giant Squid is busy next weekend, so I think I can squeeze you into my schedule." James let out a shocked laugh, both surprised that she hadn't said no and that she had referenced her refusal to his last attempt.

"That's a yes?" he asked, still not quite believing it.

"That's a yes," she said, and the sparkle in her eyes made him want to kiss her right then. But he didn't, because they were in the Great Hall and she probably wouldn't appreciate that.

"It's a date, then," he said, before returning to the cocky smirk she would recognize from all of their interactions prior to sixth year. "I knew you'd say yes eventually."

"I've been waiting for you to ask again for about six months," Lily said with a small smile. "I wasn't sure if you would."

"I didn't want you to say no," he replied. "I find that I quite like being your friend."

"I wouldn't have said no. And I bet you'll like being my boyfriend even more," she said, and he felt a grin break out across his face.

Before he could respond, he was interrupted by Sirius, who he had forgotten about. "Just kiss already, please. This is getting ridiculous."

"Padfoot," James and Remus both hissed.

"I think Sirius may have a point for once," Lily said, and James turned back towards her, ignoring Sirius' protests.

"You do?" he asked. Rather than responding, Lily simply leaned forward and pressed her lips to his.

Later, Sirius would rib him endlessly for not being the one to initiate the kiss. But in that moment, James could only think about how much he loved his girlfriend.