The Marauder's Tale [MOONY, WORMTAIL, PADFOOT, & PRONGS]

XLV. The First Date

“Oh my God. Oh my God. Why did I say yes? Oh my God.”

“Seriously, Lils, you need to calm down!”

“I’m calm! I’m completely calm!”

Dana raised her eyebrows. “Really?”

“Okay, I’m not remotely calm.” Lily collapsed onto her bed flat on her back, and covered her face with her hands. “I’m going out with James Potter in exactly fifteen hours. How can you expect me to be calm?”

“You have it down to the hour?”

“You wouldn’t?”

Dana laughed, and sat down next to Lily on the bed. “Oh, sweetie, you know you’re excited!”

“Not at the moment. I’m completely freaked out! Maybe I should tell him I can’t go.”

“You are NOT canceling your date with James!”

“Why not? Please, Dana, let me cancel! I’m too stressed to do this!”

“You’re not canceling for two reasons. Number one, that would be incredibly rude. That’s not just rude to James, but to everyone who’s meeting for lunch in Hogsmeade. Number two, you’ve told me yourself that you have a crush on James. Now is the time to act on that crush. You know that he likes you. He asked you out, and you said yes. Why would you cancel plans that you both want to have?”

“Because I’m a wimp,” Lily moaned. “I’m scared, Dana.”

“What are you scared of? This is James, Lil. You’ve known him since first year! You’ve spent tons of time with him this year. He’s not someone you need to be afraid of!”

“But I am afraid,” Lily said in a small voice.

“Why?” Dana pressed.

Lily sighed, and sat up. “This is James Potter, Dana. You know what he’s like with girls. He’s had more girlfriends than I have actual friends.” Her cheeks flushed pink. “I’ve only had one real boyfriend, Dana. James if far more experienced than I am. What if he wants me to do something that I’m not ready to do?”

“He won’t,” Dana said calmly. “Don’t you remember when Olivia was dating him? She said that his reputation with the ladies is mostly talk. And he really respects you, Lils. He really likes you. He’s not going to pressure you to do anything you don’t want to do.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure.” Dana grabbed Lily’s face between her hands. “You are going on your date, and you’re going to have a wonderful time.”

“Yeah, I will.” Lily paused and smiled. “It took me years to agree to go out with him. I owe it to both of us to enjoy myself.”

“That’s the spirit!” Dana laughed. “Now, let’s talk about what you’re going to do with your hair.”

***

“You know, this seemed like a good idea when I asked her.”

“Prongs, if you tell me that you don’t want to do this, I may have to kill you,” Remus laughed. “You’ve wanted to go out with Lily since first year!”

“Yeah, I know,” James said. “But now that it’s almost here, I’m a nervous wreck.”

“To my knowledge, that’s perfectly normal,” Remus grinned. “James, you’ve been on about six thousand dates. Haven’t you ever been nervous before?”

James frowned. “I was a bit nervous the first time I took a girl to Hogsmeade. But I’ve never been nervous like this.” He sighed, and reached up to clutch his hair. “I really like this girl, Remus. I can’t afford to screw this up.”