She watches him as he waits in the common room for Dorcas. He stands in dress robes, his fingers fiddling with the sleeves of the robes. Even with the fiddling fingers, though, he looks as confident as ever, the "Potter Arrogance" evident on his face. She can't pinpoint the exact characteristic that makes James Potter look arrogant. She thinks it's the way in which he stands, his head held high, his height giving him that towering look. But then, she wonders if it's his ever-sparkling eyes. Those eyes that Mary swore were like hazel pools she could swim in. His "Muddy Pools," as Lily likes to call them, are the epitome of confidence. So, there he is, waiting for his date, managing to look both fidgety and arrogant at the same time.

She really shouldn't care. And she doesn't. She doesn't care that Dorcas is going with James Potter to Slughorn's party. She doesn't care that James Potter had asked Dorcas in the first place. And most importantly, she doesn't care that she had assumed that he was asking her.

After all, she had told Dorcas she didn't care if Dorcas went with Potter to the party.

"Why would I mind, Dorcas?" she had asked, exasperated. "Honestly."

But, she hates that she had assumed it. Why? Because assuming meant that she had anticipated it… looked forward to it. And everyone at Hogwarts knew that if there was anything Lily didn't look forward to, it was James Potter asking her out.

So, what is the problem?

Urgh. She doesn't know. She is so very confused.

………………………………...

This is a disaster. He is going with Dorcas, but his mind is elsewhere…

Sirius, the git, is mad at him. He is also mad at poor Dorcas, who is totally innocent.

The only good thing that has come out of this is that Lily is looking at him. Of course, she might be looking at him because he had spinach between his teeth, but he doesn't mind. The fact that he had captured her attention was more than enough.

Ah, and here comes Dorcas, looking very pretty in a lavender dress gown.

"Hi, Dorcas." he says.

"Hello, James." she says, looking around nervously. She comes close to him, and then whispers, "James, we're - we are going as friends, aren't we?"

He chuckles softly, and then says, "Yes, Dorcas, we are."

She sighs, relieved. "Good."

"Well," James says, feigning a look of hurt. "I am very hurt, Meadowes. But, we all know that your heart belongs to someone else." They start walking towards the portrait hole.

"He hates me." she states frowning.

"Nah, he doesn't. He hates me."

"No, you guys are… like brothers. You'll work it out." she says.

"We will." he agrees.

………………………………...

"Butterbeer or firewhiskey?" James asks her.

Dorcas rolls her eyes. "I don't think we're allowed firewhiskey, James."

"Whether you're allowed or not is not the problem. If you want firewhiskey, just say the word, Meadowes." he says smirking.

"No, I think I'll pass on getting drunk, Potter." she says.

"Butterbeer, it is." he says, and hands her a bottle of butterbeer from the crate in the corner of the large tent in which the party is held. He shakes his head at her, "Come on, Meadowes, who drinks butterbeer at a party?"

"An underage witch."

"A Party pooper."

"Honestly, Potter?" she asks, a smile playing at her lips. "You should be thankful that I agreed to go to this party with you, just so that you could make Lily jealous."

"Right. That's what I'm trying to do." He tries to look skeptical about it.

"Excuse me," says a gruff voice, and they both turn around to find Sirius standing there, looking expressionless.

"Sirius." Dorcas and James say simultaneously. But Sirius doesn't acknowledge their greetings, and instead, reaches around to grab onto a bottle of butterbeer.

"Padfoot, come on -" James starts to say when Sirius turns around to walk away. Sirius doesn't look back. James sighs and turns to Dorcas, "I have to talk to him." She nods. "But first," He smiles, and holds out his hand to her. "Let's dance."

………………………………...

Sirius is furious. They're dancing. James the backstabber and Dorcas the heartbreaker. And here comes Remus the… well, Remus didn't do anything.

Remus eyes Sirius warily, and then praying that Sirius had cooled off a little, walks closer to him.

"So, how's the party, Sirius?" Remus asks reluctantly.

"Good." Sirius says shortly. And they're silent for around five minutes. It's an awkward five minutes in which Remus struggles to come up with something to say (something that did not involve James or Dorcas), and Sirius continues to glare at James and Dorcas. When the five minutes are over, Sirius mutters, "He could've just told me that he fancied her."

Remus stares at Sirius, and then chuckles. But when Sirius turns to give him the famous Black glower, Remus stops laughing. "Look, Sirius, if you haven't figured it out yet, then I have to say that you're pretty clueless." When Sirius' glower only intensifies, Remus sighs. "James is hopelessly in love with Lily." Sirius opens his mouth to disagree, but Remus cuts him off. "Yes, he asked Dorcas to party, but only because he thought he had to prove to us that he was over Lily." Remus rolls his eyes. "But we all know that that's impossible. He practically drools over her." He pauses. "And well, Dorcas… she likes you too much to want to hurt you. James asked her, and she said yes." Again, Sirius starts to protest. "You hadn't asked her, so, it's not like she knew you were going to." That said, Remus gets up, and says, "Talk to them." And then he is gone.

………………………………...

She dances with James, but her eyes are glued on the dark-headed boy sitting next to Remus. When he gets up and starts walking towards them, she almost gasps out loud. She pulls away from James, and whispers, "He's coming over, James." James turns around, and they both wait as Sirius makes his way over to them. For a moment, the three of them just stand, looking at one another.

Sirius is the first one to talk. He looks at James and says, "You don't fancy her." It's not even a question. It's a statement.

"No." James says.

Silence.

"I'm sorry." Sirius says.

James smiles slightly, and then says, "You're a git, you know that?"

"I know." He smiles too, and suddenly, this is all just so childish. Of course, James didn't fancy Dorcas.

Sirius looks over at Dorcas, but doesn't ask her anything. They stare at each other for what seems like forever.

James clears his throat, and says, "Well, I'll just be leaving, then."

………………………………...

He leaves the party, smiling widely. He doesn't know what made Sirius finally come and talk to him, but whatever it was, he is happy.

The hallways of Hogwarts are deserted, as it is almost close to midnight. The members of the slug club are still enjoying the party, while most other students are probably fast asleep.

He likes the solitude, though. It wasn't often that he got to be alone, but when he miraculously was alone, he kind of liked it. Not that he didn't like being around his friends. He loved his friends, and most of the time, he liked their company. But being alone for a few minutes wasn't all that bad.

He turns a corner, and then almost stumbles over something… No, someone. A someone who is five feet tall with red hair.

"OW!" she yells.

"Evans!" he exclaims, as she gets up from her sitting position. "What on earth are you doing, sitting against the wall, in a corridor, at the middle of the bloody night?"

She brushes off the back of her emerald green dress robes, and says, "What on earth are you doing, walking in the corridor at the middle of the - night?"

"I'm walking back from the party."

"I'm just… sitting here." She sits down again, leaning back against the wall.

"Yes, I can see that." he says, and then slides down the wall, sitting next to her.

"Where's Dorcas?" she asks, surprising herself and him by not telling him to go away.

"With Sirius." he says, and she looks up, surprised. He smiles, and then grins.

"What are they doing?"

"I'd rather not know." he says.

"Wait, with Sirius?" Her eyes widen. "With Sirius? Sirius Black?"

"Yes, with. How many Sirius' do you know?" He raises his eyebrows at her. "You're actually surprised? They have had this thing going on forever."

"Well, I know that they've had this thing… I mean, at least I know that Dorcas has - she took his Quidditch gloves, for merlin's sake!" she says. "But, Sirius… well, he's… you know."

"No, I don't know." James says, confused. "Sirius is what?"

She hesitates. "It's just… he hasn't really been known to be the long-term boyfriend, has he?" She sighs. "Look, Dorcas is my friend, and I don't want her getting hurt."

"So, you're saying that Sirius is going to hurt her?" James asks, a little irritated. "Don't you think you're being judgmental?

"No, I'm just saying that they're really different -"

"So? Why does that even matter?" he asks.

"It matters, James, because -" But he doesn't get to know why it matters to her. They hear foot steps and hushed voice from around the corner of the corridor, and James signals for her to stop talking. He looks around the corner, and sees Snape, Mulciber, and Avery walking out of a classroom.

………………………………...

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