A/N: Edited October 6th, 2008.

James Potter was not in a good mood. How could he have been so stupid as to have taken that bet? He should've known that there was no way he could defeat Remus Lupin of all people at chess. Sure, Mr. Potter had taught his only son, James Andrew Potter, how to play chess, and true, said Mr. Potter was good at it, but James had seen Remus, one of his friends, cream people at chess. There was no doubt about it… Remus was too good at chess for his own good.

Well, he had lost the bet. And now he would have to ask Lily Evans out.

Lily Evans. James couldn't help cringing at the thought of that girl.

Lily Evans was in James's year—she was a fourth-year with the rest of them, in Gryffindor. She had fire engine red hair and bright green eyes. She was a completely prissy, stuck-up, know-it-all goody-goody who probably wouldn't even be able to tell a Bludger from the Snitch (two balls in James Potter's favorite sport, Quidditch).

James sighed and ran a hand through his messy black hair. A few blonde girls nearby giggled. James winked at them. They practically swooned.

There she was! Evans was sitting by herself near the Gryffindor common room's fireplace, her nose buried in a book as usual. Her hair made her stand out from the rest of the people in the room.

James sighed. Better get this over with.

He casually loped his way over to the girl and stood in front of her. A few people watched him curiously, clearly wondering what he was about to do.

Evans didn't once look up from her book.

James sighed again and cleared his throat loudly. Evans finally looked up.

"What is it, Potter?" she demanded irritably, brushing a strand of long red hair out of her eyes.

James couldn't help thinking that she actually looked sort of cute. Definitely more… developed, shall we say, than the rest of the girls in his year.

James shook his head again and smiled as charmingly as he could. "Evans," he began. "I was wondering…" here he paused for dramatic effect.

Apparently he waited too long, because Evans glared at him. "Get on with it, Potter," she snapped.

James was taken aback—no one had ever spoken to him, best Chaser on the Quidditch team, one of the most popular boys in school, like that before. But he quickly shook it off.

"Evans, I was wondering if you'd like to go on a date with me," James finished. He gave her his most charming grin. "What do you say?"

"What do I say?" Evans gave him a long, unreadable look. "I say… no."

James felt his jaw drop open. "What?" he sputtered. No one had ever dared to reject James Potter for a date before. No one.

"I said no, idiot," Evans shot back, glancing at him scornfully. "Now if you'll excuse me, Potter." She grabbed her book, got up, and left, heading up towards the Gryffindor girls' dormitories.

Conversation began to buzz from all corners of the Gryffindor common room. People began whispering things like, "I can't believe she just rejected James Potter! He's so popular!" and "If she won't go out with him, do you think I have a chance? I really do like him, you know…"

"Tough luck, mate," Sirius Black, one of James's best friends, said sympathetically, patting James on the shoulder. "But she's not cute anyway. Better luck next time."

James ignored him and just stood there, still feeling shocked. How could she have just rejected him like that?

He silently made a pact. I don't care what happens… I'll prove to everyone that James Potter has not lost his edge. And I'll prove that by getting Evans to go out on a date with me. Somehow.

Part one of the plan to Get Lily Evans To Fall For James Potter, or Operation GLETFFJP, was in action.

"But I don't want to be the damsel in distress," Peter was whining again. "Why can't it be Sirius or Remus?"

"Easy," James responded. "Because Sirius is too… well, good at dueling, to be hexed badly by Snivellus. And Remus is really smart. He knows a lot of spells. There's no way Evans would believe that he really was hexed badly by Snivellus if one of them was the damsel in distress. But… no offense, Peter… you're kinda dumb. So Evans would believe it if it were you."

"So let's go over the plan again?" Sirius asked, running a hand through his silky black locks of hair. "Peter goes and provokes Snivellus…"

"Right," James confirmed. "And then, of course, Snivellus hexes him. And Remus just happens to be distracting Evans and talking to her about O.W.L.s next year and leads her down the corridor, when she just happens to see Peter being hexed by Snivellus, and then I come in and rescue Peter, and she'll see how brave and heroic I am, and she'll want to go out with me!"

"Right," Sirius sighed. "And I'll just be the spectator?"

James shrugged apologetically. "Well, like Peter and I said—"

"You mean you said," Peter corrected grouchily.

"Right. Fine, then. Like I said, you can't be the damsel in distress, and Evans would think you were trying to trick her if you went up to her and started talking about the importance of O.W.L.s. But Remus, being the bookworm that he is, would be perfect for that job. And we don't want Evans to fall for you; we want her to fall for me. And besides, you said you didn't even like her."

"I changed my mind," Sirius interrupted. "She's actually sort of hot, if you get past the neon red hair."

James glared daggers at him. "Evans is going to date me, not you," he declared.

Sirius held his hands up. "Whoa, calm down. I was just sort of saying that she doesn't look that ugly anymore. I don't want to date her. I've actually had my eye on Brianna Harrison for a while now. You know, that hot blonde Hufflepuff fifth-year chick with the big boobs?"

James rolled his eyes. "Sirius, is that all you ever think about? Girls and their… uh, particularly good-looking body parts?"

"No," Sirius defended himself. "I think about pranks, too. And food. Food tastes good."

James rolled his eyes again. "Well, you can just go… I don't know, ask Brenda Harold or whatever her name was out. Sound good?"

"Perfectly radical," Sirius assured him.

James crinkled his eyebrows. "Radical?"

Sirius shrugged. "I dunno. It was in Peter's word calendar."

"Word calendar?"

"Didn't you know? Peter collects calendars. He has a word calendar, a joke calendar, a food calendar, a chocolate desserts calendar, a Diagon Alley shop calendar, a Ministry of Magic Decrees calendar, a…"

"Okay, okay, I get the point," James quickly cut in. "Just go… do something productive, alright?"

"Got it." Sirius nodded and left.

James turned to Peter. "You ready?" he asked.

"I guess," Peter sighed.

Ten minutes later, everyone and everything was in position. James had pulled on his Invisibility Cloak, a gift from his father, and eavesdropped on Remus's conversation with Evans. She had sounded greatly excited when Remus had approached her on the topic of O.W.L.s. Apparently she had done a great deal of studying on that particular subject.

James went and crept toward the corridor that he and Sirius had designated for the plan to be set into motion. It was in the seventh-floor corridor.

He wondered where he should put his Invisibility Cloak now. Just then, a door appeared.

James wondered where the door had come from, but he decided just to check it out.

He opened the door and found, with horror, Sirius and a tall blonde Hufflepuff with… er, a very large bosom. They were playing tonsil hockey.

James recoiled in horror as his best mate looked up from his… game, in which he apparently appeared to be winning. Sirius grinned cheekily. "Hey, James," he said cheerfully. "How's it going?"

"Merlin, Sirius, I did not need to see that!" James groaned, slamming the door shut again. He distinctly heard the Hufflepuff girl ask, "What's his problem?"

He sighed and then realized the could've just stuffed the cloak in his bag. Evans was right… he really was an idiot sometimes.

Just then, he heard voices. He quickly pulled the cloak over his head again.

"You're cornered, Pettigrew," James heard an oily smooth voice hiss. "You can't escape."

James heard Peter's frightened squeak and grinned to himself. The plan was working perfectly! But… where were Remus and Evans?

Just then he heard more distinct voices. He recognized them as Remus and Evans's voices.

James had no time to lose. He quickly pulled the Invisibility Cloak off his head and stuffed it in his bag, and jumped out from the dark corner he was in, brandishing his wand. "Petrifus Totalus!" he shouted, pointing his wand at Snape.

Snape's mouth clenched shut. His arms and legs locked together, and he fell to the ground, stiff as a board.

"Potter!" a voice shrieked. James looked up from where he was, standing triumphantly over Snape with his wand out, to where a very furious-looking Lily Evans was standing.

James felt frazzled all of a sudden, but he couldn't let it show. "Yes, Evans?" he asked, grinning and running and hand through his black hair.

Evans glared at him. "Potter, what is this"—she gesticulated wildly at Snape, lying on the ground—"all about?"

"Why, I was simply helping a friend in need," James answered, glancing over smugly at Peter. But his smug grin faded.

Peter was perfectly unharmed, if not a bit shaken up from so narrowly escaping Snape.

"He didn't need help! Snape didn't do anything! Potter, you are a prat!" Evans shouted. She shot him a final death look before pulling out her own wand and saying, "Finite Incantatem!"

Snape jumped back up and grabbed his wand but didn't use it.

"Well?" Remus finally spoke up, staring evenly at Snape. "Aren't you going to thank her?"

Evans's jaw dropped open. "You were behind this?" she demanded of Remus.

Remus blinked and looked at her, startled. "Did I say that?"

Before Evans could reply to Remus's question, Snape answered Remus's first question. "I don't need help from filthy Mudbloods like her," he sneered.

Instantly, James's wand was at his throat. "Don't call her that!" he shouted.

"I don't need you to defend me, Potter," Evans snarled. "I can fight my own battles. And what were you thinking, coming in here like you own the world and hexing Snape! This is all your fault! You're a bloody git, Potter, and I hate you!" And with those parting words, she stormed off.

There was a silence. Then it was broken by Sirius poking his head out of the door of the room he had been in with that blonde Hufflepuff and saying, "Well, I heard all that. And James, find someone else. She doesn't appear to like you."

Remus had told him to just ask. So he was going to.

He approached her where she was sitting at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall for breakfast in the morning. One of her friends—a brunette—giggled wildly and whispered furiously to Evans when she saw him approaching. Evans simply rolled her eyes and continued stabbing her toast viciously with a fork. She didn't seem to be in a good mood this morning.

James had to ask, anyway. He plucked at her sleeve. "Can I talk to you, Evans?"

"I have nothing to say to you, Potter," she snapped. "Go away and leave me alone."

Evans's brunette friend's mouth dropped open, like she couldn't believe Evans was speaking to James Potter like that, but James wasn't fazed at all.

"Look, I'm sorry about yesterday," he apologized sincerely. "But I want to start over. Friends?"

Evans eyed his offered hand warily but slowly took it and shook it.

"Great!" James grinned. He couldn't help feeling a little excited that Evans was willing to forgive him. She really wasn't that bad after all… "So want to meet up with me next Hogsmeade weekend?"

The hesitant smile slid off her face. "And I actually thought you were serious for a moment there, Potter," Evans whispered furiously, her voice dripping icicles. She wiped her hand on the tablecloth as if it were diseased. "My answer is no. Go to hell." And with that, she got up and stormed out of the Great Hall.

"Evans, go to Hogsmeade with me next Hogsmeade weekend?"

It was now their fifth year. Lily Evans—whom James had begun to call "Lily" instead of "Evans"—still hated James. James was now infatuated with her. And to think it had all started with a little bet…

"No, Potter."

That had just been Lily's answer to James's request.

And that was the end of that.

"Happy Christmas, Evans! Go to Hogsmeade with me?" James held out a bouquet of (slightly wilting) daisies and a wrapped present… a thong decorated with Snitches. Lily was sure to love it, and him when she opened it and saw it. He had spent five whole minutes picking it out for her in Hogsmeade. And she would love the note, too: You're hot, Evans. Go out with me? I'd love to see you in it. Love, James.

It was sixth year now. Nothing had really changed from last year, however. Nothing in the romantic life of Lily Evans and James Potter, anyway.

"I said no just one hour ago, Potter. My answer has not changed."

End of story.

It was Lily Evans's birthday, and James hadn't bought her a present.

That would be bad, if it weren't for the fact that James had stayed up to two in the morning creating the perfect birthday card for Lily. It wasn't tacky or gaudy or decorated with hearts, or anything. A large, simple, but elegant card, with lace on the edges, and a frosted birthday cake adorning the cover, with the large words Happy Birthday on it, written in fancy script.

James was proud of the card. He had actually spent time on it, instead of buying it. He had made the card himself.

James smiled as he walked up to Evans. She was going to love his card. He could feel it in his bones.

He was way too optimistic for his own good sometimes.

"Happy birthday, Lily!" he greeted her, handing over the card. He couldn't wait to hear all the praise that was sure to escape from her lips the moment she opened it and read the card!

He had actually written a thoughtful poem he had thought up himself on the inside. Not something like, Roses are red; Violets are blue; The sun is hot; and you are too. Happy birthday, Evans; go out with me? He had actually written a good poem. It had taken him almost an hour to complete, but he was proud of it.

Lily glared at him, not even sparing a glance at his beautifully handcrafted birthday card. "I'm having a perfectly nice birthday so far, and I don't need you ruining it, Potter," she spat.

James felt all the happiness instantly leave him, like he was a balloon being deflated. He should've known. No matter how hard he tried, Lily Evans was not going to like him. He should just accept that fact and move on.

"Fine," James snarled. And with two quick motions, the birthday card he had worked so laboriously on for so many hours was lying in two shredded pieces on the ground. "Have a wonderful birthday," he added sarcastically, before storming off. He didn't look back. If he had, he would have seen the shocked and regretful look on Lily's face.

"Potter… can I please talk to you?"

James turned to see Lily Evans standing before him, with an almost pleading expression on her face. Normally, he would've thought he'd died and gone to heaven if Lily Evans wanted to speak to him. But right now, all he felt was anger. He still couldn't forget how she had so coldly blown off his hard work.

"No," he said shortly, before turning and leaving her behind.

James was sitting out underneath the tree near the lake on the Hogwarts grounds when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

He expected it to be Sirius, or Remus, or Peter, or someone like that, but it wasn't. It was Lily.

Oh. Lily.

He normally would've been overjoyed to see her. But he wasn't.

"Oh," he grunted. "It's you." He stood up to leave.

"Look, P—James, I'm really sorry," Lily began speaking, making a sort of pleading motion with her hands, begging him to stay. "I just… I just was used to rejecting you, and I didn't think you would be so mad, and…"

"Well, I was mad," James told her. "I spent hours working on that card. It's not completely tacky. And I spent a long time writing a…"

"Poem," Lily finished.

James blinked, startled. "How did you know?"

Lily smiled bashfully and reached into the pockets of her robes and retrieved a very familiar-looking card. It was the card James had made for her, looking completely new.

"I kind of picked it up and repaired it, and read it," Lily explained quietly. "And I'm really sorry for being so mean to you."

"That's… okay, I guess," James finally said. His entire body seemed to just be working mechanically—it was just happening; it was like his brain knew what to say. "I mean, not really, considering all of the rejection I've had to take, but definitely better than… you know what I mean?"

"I do," Lily agreed. "And…" she hesitated a moment. "I was just sort of thinking… if you'd still like to go out with me…"

"You don't even have to ask," James finished, grinning. "You know, if I knew this was coming, it would've been a lot easier to take all the rejection you gave me."

"I love you, Lily."

"I love you too, James."

Well, that little conversation said it all.

James had to say it. He had to ask those five little words: "Lily, will you marry me?"

But his mouth was stuck. He couldn't. They had had their dinner. And now they were in a Muggle taxicab, and Lily was about to go home. It was too late to propose now.

He swallowed the lump in his throat as he got out to help Lily home. Too late, too late, it was too late…

No, it wasn't too late; he could hear his best friend Sirius Black's voice scolding him, Just get on your damn knees and bloody propose!

James swallowed again, willing the words to come out. But what flew out of his mouth was not, "Lily, will you marry me?" Instead, the words "Marry Lily?" came out.

He instantly wanted to smack himself. That wasn't how he had pictured the romantic way he would propose to his wife.

Lily understood, however. Her eyes widened. "Did you just ask me to marry you?" she asked slowly.

James winced. Rejection. He should've known. It was like a Lily trait. It was required in dating the girl. "Well, I didn't think you would want to, but…"

"Don't be ridiculous, you prat. Of course I'll marry you."

As James's face split into a wide grin, he couldn't help thinking, And this all started with a bet…

A/N: Fluffiness. Whoot.