Don't own Harry Potter, obviously. Thank you to Emily, as usual, for helping me with this and reading it and Happy Christmas to you and all that.

Table For Seven
Summary: James and Lily are interrupted on their first date.
Pairing: J/L
Word Count: 4,428
Rating: K+

The pub was extremely crowded, or maybe it had always been a lot smaller than James had thought, or maybe it had shrunk, because it had certainly become a lot more suffocating since he was last there. Did no one think to open a window in there? It was stuffy, and it was warm, and his throat was tight and constricted. He felt light-headed.

He was just turning his head to scowl at whoever was serving at the bar at the moment (the new barmaid, it turned out, whose name James had yet to discover), when he felt a hand of his arm. He turned back. Lily was standing on her tiptoes, her hand still resting on his arm – half to get his attention (as if she needed to), and half to balance herself – and her eyes were scanning over the pub, searching for an empty table.

He blinked down at her, smiling tentatively. She may as well have electrocuted him from the way tingles shot up and down his arm.

"I think there's one over there in the corner," she said brightly, her arm dropping slightly. Her hand brushed off his for about the hundredth time, just as he moved to cut a path through the sea of people. He hadn't taken her hand when they were leaving, and he hadn't held her hand the whole way there.

After all, this was their first date. She probably would have thought it was too soon for them to be holding hands. This mightn't work out at all. That wasn't his main reason for not holding her hand – he liked to think that in another universe where he still had his balls, he would have taken the risk and waited to see what happened – but it was part of it. His more pressing reason was that since they'd started walking, his hands had become increasingly sweaty. He didn't really need her first lasting impression of this date being an excess in perspiration, so he kept his hands in his pockets.

She eyed him peculiarly a few times as they walked, but if she found that, or his lack of confidence, odd, she didn't say anything.

Now she was smiling at him, tucking her hair behind her ear and fiddling with her sleeves. He realized, with an astounding feeling of light-headedness that she was a little nervous too. It was probably nothing compared to his own trepidation – since this couldn't be happening, he still couldn't believe he'd actually managed to catch her long enough for a date. And she seemed to really like him. It was more than he'd ever expected, and every time he thought about it, he felt like someone had knocked the wind out of him, or had to fight the urge to sit down.

"Right, I'll just get the drinks," he muttered, feeling a little relieved by the faint pink tinge in her cheeks. It didn't stop his insides doing somersaults, but the idea that she was as jittery as he was encouraged him, if nothing else. "You go grab the table. And I'll – I'll, er, be right there."

He smiled at her warmly, but it faded once he turned away. It hadn't been that confident, easy smile that she'd said she liked so much. He was probably worrying her by now, acting so strangely. Acting so timid, she wouldn't know what to think. He couldn't even be himself around her.

He raked his fingers through his hair and drummed his fingertips on the counter while he waited for the drinks, and then weaved carefully through the crowd to the table where she sat waiting.

He set the drinks down and sat opposite her, tapping his foot nervously. She blinked at him and then took a sip of her drink, smiling slightly. "Thanks," she mumbled.

He nodded, swigging down about half his drink. "Yeah," he replied, his voice hoarse. He mentally smacked himself – yeah? What the bloody hell had he been thinking?

She didn't seem to mind. Her smile grew slightly as she took another sip, but when she put her mug down again, they were both quiet for a little while, watching the masses of people surging in the pub.

"Crowded," she remarked, her chin resting in her hand. He nodded. He could have sliced the tension through with a knife. They were both on edge – and in one way, he was relieved that it was both of them. That way, when it all went downhill (and James had already come to terms with the fact that something or other would inevitably mess this up for him) he would be able to take solace in the fact that it wasn't entirely his fault.

But this wasn't what he expected. He hadn't expected them to be sitting here in this stale silence, not quite knowing what to say to each other, not knowing where or when to start. It wore on and on, and the situation got worse and worse. He'd have to say something soon. The longer he waited, the more awkward he felt, and already he was starting to fear that she'd jump up, make up some hare-brained excuse and escape before he'd even register what she'd said.

He genuinely hadn't expected to mess this up. He'd been so prepared, so ready for this. He couldn't just let it go that easily. He couldn't let her go, not when he'd finally got his chance.

No. This was going to have to change. He was James Potter, and James Potter did not get nervous, and he did not let anxiety ruin his dates, and he did not give up this easily.

Except . . .

She was looking into her lap now, pulling at her sleeves. And still she had that same small smile on her face, like she couldn't believe she was here. She looked . . . exactly how he was feeling. But the thought made his brain go blank, and though he cleared his throat to speak, he could barely find his breath when he was looking at her.

"So . . . Did you finish that Transfiguration essay?" she asked, blinking into her mug for at least ten seconds before looking up at him.

He blinked, caught off guard. "Wh- Oh. Yeah, I did. I was up until about four finishing it, but it's done." She nodded, and when she doesn't say anything else, he bit the inside of his lip and gulped audibly, panic setting in and constricting his stomach. "You?"

Was that really the best he could do?

She scrunched up her nose in a way that made him smile broadly before he could stop himself, and shrugged one shoulder. "No, not really," she said thoughtfully. "I mean, I did, but it was really rubbish, and it was really late, and I got a bit upset . . ."

James found himself grinning, the tightness in his chest just beginning to fade. "Is that your entire story? I feel like that's not the end."

She grimaced, her cheeks going red, and fought her smile. "Well, I may have thrown two entire rolls of parchment in the fire."

"Two rolls!" he repeated, nearly knocking over his drink. "You're kidding."

She nodded, feigning a glum face. "Yeah. It was really rubbish though!"

He chuckled into his mug before taking another sip and rolling his eyes.

"What's so funny, Potter?" There it was, a little twinkle in her eyes, a playful, mischievous smile just curving the corner of her mouth upward, and James was finally able to relax slightly, his relief and happiness nearly overwhelming him. This might actually go okay.

"Well, I've never seen you produce anything rubbish, so I really doubt that," he said conversationally. "And even if it was rubbish, you wrote two whole rolls! And your writing is tiny."

"No, it's not!" she protested, glancing down at her hands as if they were the culprits.

He nodded, his brows furrowed together in thought. "Well, they're tiny too, that's not going to help," he told her coolly, nodding towards her hands.

She beamed, leaning across the table to poke his arm. "Oi, don't mock me," she retorted, putting on a haughty voice and turning her nose up. "You don't know what these hands can do." She gave one, curt nod and took another drink.

"No, but I'm hoping to find out," he replied innocently, smiling back at her. She choked on her drink, her face going redder than her hair, and hastily set the mug down, ducking her head in an attempt to hide her smile.

"Well," she replied coyly, once she'd recovered. "If you play your cards right, Potter, you might just do that."

He quirked one eyebrow. "I always play my cards right. Am I not playing my cards right?"

She held his gaze for a second, the corner of her mouth twitching again. "So far," she replied simply.

He opened his mouth to ask her something else, it didn't matter now, because they had settled into each other's company and they were comfortable and James realized that he could talk about anything he wanted to and it wouldn't matter, they'd make something interesting out of it. As long as he was sitting opposite her, and she wanted to be here, he'd listen to her talk all day long.

This was a little more familiar, since they had spent a few nights – never alone, but together – in the common room, and the topic of conversation would vary so widely and change so fast, it was surprising that they were able to maintain a conversation at all. But they'd been talking about anything for a few months now. It became easy again, after that awful beginning period of a 'first date', which was only so dreadful anyway because it had a label and an expectation and a lot of connotations. But this – this was just Lily, and this wasn't the first time he'd thought he could say anything to her.

But before he had the chance to say anything further, they were jerked out of their private and rather pleasant bubble by an obnoxiously loud voice.

"Prongs!"

James jerked his head around, a scowl already fixed on his face. Lily looked a little taken aback. "Did you invite friends, Potter?" she asked teasingly, her eyebrows raised. Behind her playful tone, he knew she was genuinely concerned that he had.

"Of course not," he hissed, staring at his approaching friends in horror. Sirius' swagger had never been more irritating. Nor had his voice or the speed and self-importance in which he talked, that James usually shared, and normally found amusing. But not today.

"Brilliant, you got a table," he said brusquely, patting James on the shoulder when he reached them. Remus, standing to one side with his scarf pulling up over his chin, had his eyes narrowed and was surveying the two of them suspiciously. James was actually hoping that – for once – he would put two and two together faster than usual and pull Sirius away before he made a fool out of James.

"Oh, there you are, Evans," Sirius continued, while James blinked up at his best friend with his mouth in a thin, grim line. Blimey, he loved the sound of his own voice, how had James never picked up on that before? And why wasn't he picking up that James wanted him to go away? He kept saying he was so smart, if he was so smart, why couldn't he figure it out and leave them be?

His insides had turned to ice, and he looked back at Lily, who was staring at Sirius in surprise and, if he wasn't mistaken, a hint of annoyance.

"Your friends have been looking everywhere for you," Sirius told her. "I said you two were probably getting a table. Do you want drinks? What are you drinking, Prongs, Butterbeer? I'll get you a Firewhiskey, stop being a square. What about you, Evans? Still working on yours? Ah, I'll get you one anyway. Gillywater, is it? Right, can do."

He bounded off again in the direction of the bar, beckoning Remus and Peter to follow him.

Lily leaned forward, and James was stunned (and delighted) to find that there was a playful glint in her eyes, a teasing, amused smile lighting up her face. "Did you tell them we were on a date?" she asked in a low voice, her tone rich and warm with amusement.

"Er – no," replied James awkwardly, scratching the back of his head. "You said you weren't telling yours, and I thought that if they knew, they'd come ... er, spy on us."

She laughed. "So instead, they're going to join us, that's much better," she remarked, shaking her head and glancing over. Her jaw dropped. "Oh, fantastic, there's –"

She broke off; James followed her gaze. Her friends had reached Sirius, who was now pointing in their direction. "Seems like your friends aren't the only problem," she said, aghast. "Oh, now they're coming over, and they're going to – bloody hell, what do we –"

She cut herself off just as a blonde girl called Marlene and a dark girl called Anna slid in beside her, ushering her further over on the booth. She caught James' eye, and sent him a deeply apologetic look, which was also a cry for help.

"There you are, Lily!" Marlene gushed, rolling her eyes. "We tried everywhere, you said you wouldn't be at the Three Broomsticks until five, but we couldn't find you, so we thought we'd have a look. Hi, James," she added, smiling at him warmly. "Been keeping Lily company?"

James blinked, smiling wryly. "Something like that," he muttered, taking up his mug again. He caught Lily's eye again to find her grinning back at him, her cheeks pink again.

"Well, there's no other tables," she said thoughtfully, craning her neck to scan the pub. "So I'm sure we can all share, right? It's really crowded in here, isn't it?" she went on, frowning. "No joke, I could have sworn I saw a few second years wondering about, and I thought I should tell you, you know, Head Girl and all," – she elbowed Lily, winking – "And you too, of course, James. Except you've been sneaking to Hogsmeade since Day One, so really who are you to punish anybody? I wonder how they got here. They're getting a lot more devious, aren't they? Don't you think, Lily?"

She looked at Lily inquiringly. James could tell she'd zoned out completely, barely reacting when Marlene aimed another elbow sharply into her ribs. "Hmm? Oh, mmm," she murmured, nodding and frowning a little to show she was listening. "That's – that's very interesting. Isn't it, James?"

"Riveting," he retorted into his mug. They both fought another small smile – the two girls didn't notice, or rather, they didn't get the time to. That was the moment Sirius decided to make his grand return, slamming a tray down on the table so hard, the drinks wobbled on it and sprayed them all in a few drops that had managed to escape the confines of the mugs.

Sirius shoved James further into the seat, and the four boys toppled into it together, Remus just about hanging off the edge.

"I got you a Firewhiskey," he said cheerfully, hitting his arm. "Live a little."

"Great," James deadpanned, ruffling up his hair with a dejected sigh. "I'll need it," he added in a low voice as he glanced across the now crowded table. Lily smirked a little more at that, and when he finally tore his eyes away from her and looked back at their friends, he really had to try to stop the scowl spreading across his features.

In truth, he knew it probably would have been worse if he had told them he'd had a date with Lily, so as far as they were concerned, he had no reason to sulk. And on top of that, he was pretty sure Lily wouldn't be impressed if he had a sour face on him just because their friends showed up without warning and inadvertently ruled their date.

From her pleasant smile and quiet demeanour, he was fairly certain that she was just as disappointed as he was, but had decided to make the best of a bad situation and still have a good time. James almost wished she looked a little angrier.

"Rosmerta's looking good, isn't she?" Sirius began, looking over at the bar appraisingly. "I mean, I know she's an older bird, but she really takes care of herself, you know."

James took a hasty sip and gave a non-committal jerk of his head. "Mmmm."

"And Prongs, seriously, did you see those girls in the corner?"

"Does your brain focus on anything else?" someone asked – he didn't even bother checking who, it was probably Remus – and Sirius snorted loudly.

"Of course it does, my brain works a lot better than yours anyway," he said, sniggering. "But seriously. Come on, Prongs, which one do you want? I can't decide between the two blondes, so pick one and I'll go with the other. See, Moony, I've improved," he called down the table to Remus. "I'm not calling dibs anymore."

"I'm bursting with pride," came Remus' dry response, and James managed a grin, even when Sirius proceeded to jab him sharply with his elbow.

"Come on, Prongs," he said impatiently. "Pick one."

"I really don't want to –"

"Come on, just pick one, they're practically the same anyway..."

"Padfoot, I don't even think those girls go to our school, I don't –"

"Just pick!"

"Yeah, Potter," Lily grinned, leaning forward on the table. In one way, it was a massive relief to see her smiling at him like that. She seemed to actually be enjoying herself on this trainwreck. It was quite strange, but he preferred seeing her smile over the awkward silence they'd experienced earlier. For a moment, a strike of panic hit him – was she only smiling because she'd been rescued by someone a lot more interesting, more entertaining? But then, he remembered, no, he was sure she was smiling before they got here.

Still, it was better than nothing.

"Just pick," she said teasingly, raising one eyebrow at him.

He met her gaze for a minute and saw the challenge in her eyes. She was loving this. He sighed heavily and looked over in the direction Sirius was pointing – gesticulating, rather, wildly – with his eyebrows raised.

After a second, he shrugged and returned to his drink. "I'm not really into blondes," he said simply.

Sirius huffed like a disappointed child, folding his arms. "Fine," he replied childishly. "More for me."

James let out a bark of laughter, shaking his head. "Yeah well, why don't you go bother them instead?"

"Am I bothering you, Prongs?" Sirius retorted, raising his eyebrows, and adopting a pleasant, posh tone, like that of a butler.

"Yes," James told him emphatically, laughing and shoving his shoulder playfully. "Enormously."

"That adverb doesn't even correspond," Sirius said haughtily, rolling his eyes.

James mimicked him, unable to prevent the grin spreading across his face; he looked back to Lily, who was looking back at him with a mildly curious expression, but her smile had faded. When he grimaced apologetically, she shook her head as if to say it wasn't a problem, but when she thought he'd looked away, out of the corner of his eye she saw her head drop, her downcast gaze falling into her lap.

A few minutes later, Sirius cut into the normal conversation (during which James had been hoping to get a private word in with Lily) again, thwacking James' arm with unreasonable force. "Oh look, they've got boyfriends," he announced. "Not that it matters, but that's a lot of hassle just for a bird, innit?"

James nodded non-committally again, clearing his throat. That was all he could do since Sirius had sat down. Sirius wasn't the only problem by any means. Marlene was consistently pulling on Lily's arm to draw her into a heated and obviously very private discussion about her boy troubles, or Anna would ask her about homework until Lily was blue in the face from answering questions.

Peter laughed at everything Sirius said, and Remus and Sirius argued playfully for a while, and it hit James that he had not realized how irritating his friends could be. He'd never not wanted them around before, and it was very easy to find them entertaining when he was glad for their company, as he always was. In fact, if this hadn't been a date, he was positively certain that he would have been the loudest and most annoying of all.

After what must have been an hour and a half at the very least, he attempted escape. "Well, I'd better be off, I've got a Transfiguration essay to finish," he muttered, poking Sirius' arm so that he'd move so James could slide out of the booth.

"No, you don't, you finished it," Peter told him, shaking his head and frowning in confusion. "Remember? And then you let me copy it."

James scowled. "As I recall, I told you I'd burn your eyebrows off if you did copy it."

There was a little snort from the other side of the table, and he looked round in surprise. "Something funny, Evans?" he asked, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

"It's just –" she shrugged one shoulder, "Since when did you become so protective over schoolwork?"

Sirius let out an exaggerated, dramatic sigh. "Oh, you don't know him at all, Evans," he said lightly, making James grimace. "Prongs here has always been a bit aggressive over his Transfiguration homework. Vicious, really. He'll let you copy anything except," he grinned, pointing one finger at her. "His Transfiguration homework."

"Yeah, well I'm the only one who bloody works at that subject," James grumbled. "And I really do have an essay to finish."

Peter shook his head again. "Well, I copied it, and it looked fairly finished to me."

James glowered at him. Lily caught on quick, leaning forward again. "James was actually going to help me with mine."

Every last person seated at the table eyed her in confusion, except for James, who was smiling broadly. Lily Evans did not need help.

"Since when does he give you help?" inquired Marlene.

Lily shrugged. "It's a difficult topic," she replied simply. "Conjuring is the one thing I can't get, the whole Gamp's Law, Elemental Transfiguration, it's just too much." She threw her hands up, putting up a very good show of acting completely befuddled by what she was talking about. James knew she wasn't.

"James was just going to . . . explain it to me," she said, eyeing him.

"Just?" echoed Sirius, his voice lower now.

She raised her eyebrows at him, her pleasant smile faltering slightly. "What?"

"You sure you two weren't going to go snog in a broom cupboard afterwards or something, Evans? You look all googly-eyed!" He burst out laughing, and Peter and Remus joined in. James cringed, staring down at the floor and cursing it for not opening him up and swallowing him whole.

Lily flushed, and despite his mortification James smiled and his heart leaped into his throat; she really needed to blush more often.

"I don't get it," she said hesitantly, glancing around in bewilderment as her own friends joined in the hysterical laughter.

"Oh, nothing," Anna told her quickly, chuckling. "It's just – can you imagine? It's ridiculous."

"It's not that ridiculous," James said defensively, before he could stop himself.

"Ah, come off it, Prongs," said Remus, still grinning. "It's a bit far-fetched."

Sirius pretended to analyze him critically, but his barely contained laughter ruined the effect. "Mm. I don't see it."

"Don't you?" Lily retorted, her grin wide and a little smug.

"And you do?" James shot back, raising one eyebrow at her.

Sirius snorted again, and Remus chuckled. "Honestly, Lily, how do you put up with him?" he joked, shaking his head.

Sirius beamed at him. "Well, at least we can say he's persistent, right, Prongs?" he said proudly, clapping his on the back.

"That he is," Lily agreed, nodding and peering at him curiously. James looked over at her and raised his eyebrows, grinning proudly.

"Well, you can't blame a bloke for trying," he said lightly, shrugging one shoulder. "Never been one to give up."

"Yeah, we know," Remus muttered, grinning. "You'll probably chase her around when you're both walking with canes."

"Oi!"

"Ah, it's alright, Prongs," said Sirius, patting him on the arm bracingly. James frowned at him, quirking one eyebrow while Lily giggled. "I mean, it's not like we ever really thought you'd score Evans, did we?"

"We didn't?" James inquired, keeping his tone polite, watching Lily duck her head into her cup to stifle her laughter.

"Well, she's sort of out of your league, isn't she?" Sirius snorted, tapping his glass off James'.

"Hey!" James retorted, scowling at him indignantly.

"Well, come on," Sirius chuckled. "Let's look at his objectively, alright, Exhibit A –"

They never did get to find out what Exhibit A was. That was the moment Lily chose to get to her feet, pushing past Marlene and Anna, pulling on her coat.

"Ah, come on, Evans," Sirius said, looking bewildered. "We were only having a laugh, we –"

He cut off again; Lily was shaking her head, one hand held up. She looked to James, grinning broadly, and held out her hand.

"Are you coming?"

He blinked at her for a few seconds, his friends' heads whipping around to peer at him in confusion. He just grinned, jumping out over his friends, hitting Sirius over the back of his head on the way.

Lily slipped her hand into his, grinning, but James noticed the flush in her cheeks as she deliberately avoided anyone's eyes, tugging him out of the pub and down the street without another word to their friends, who stared after them with jaws hanging open.

She pulled him down the street, laughing about the look on their friends' faces – "I can't believe they just barged in on it like that!" - and James could hardly answer through his laughter, nor could he stop staring at her in amazement. He could hardly believe his luck, and he dared not blink in case she disappeared. She was brilliant, and she had wanted to be alone with him – with him – and her hand, it fit perfectly in his.

Thanks for reading!