Jily one shots

the deal with james (2)

There are some who won't date me.

That one line had been bothering James for weeks.

Ever since Lily had confessed that, James had been searching for the answer. Why wouldn't a guy date Lily?

He had gone through the Gay, maybe. But Lily would know better than that, right? But... It fits! He's GAY!

Then the Or maybe it's because he's taken! Yeah... That works too!

And finally, the Maybe she's gay! NOOOO! I'm going crazy.

Now James had all but given up. He was sitting on a couch in the common room and he glanced around for an idea, and his eyes landed on Remus who was studying at a table in the corner.

REMUS! James had a flash of insight as he realized that Remus wouldn't go out with Lily. And it was because Remus had a friend who was totally and publicly in love with Lily!

Who else do I know who is publicly in love with Lily?

James sat in silent contemplation as he racked his brain for anyone. After half an hour, all he could come up with was Snape, but all of Snape's friends are from Slytherin.

That eliminates all of them! Lily said it wasn't a Slytherin.

Another half hour passed, and James slowly realized the only person publicly in love with Lily was himself.

His heart sunk as he realized that meant Lily loved one of his friends. One of his closest, loyal friends.

James was sure it wasn't Peter. Lily was polite to him, but she never spent time with him voluntarily.

It might be Remus, but Lily had tried and succeeded in setting Remus up with her friend, Samantha.

That left only one loyal friend.

Sirius.

James's heart twisted in anguish. He had gone over all the possibilities. The guy might still be gay or taken, but Sirius made the most sense.

Lily didn't want to tell him because he would give her a chance. A two week long chance. That is the exact amount of time Sirius gives to each girl who professes her love for him.

Then they would break up. With Lily, James had no doubt the breakup would be polite and courteous, but they would still break up after two weeks.

Sirius.

James's stomach erupted in jealousy for the man he adopted as his brother.

A bell started tolling, and it tore James away from his thoughts. He stood up, looked around, and realized that it was time for dinner.

"James."

He stiffened and walked over to the table she was sitting at.

"I was watching you," she looked down embarrassed. "Sorry if that's creepy, but you were grimacing and flinching. Were you having a bad dream?"

James sat down next to her and looked her in the eyes. "A nightmare."

Lily put her hand on his shoulder. She noticed that he tensed at the contact.

"Do you want to talk about it?" she questioned softly.

"No," he sighed. "Let's go to dinner."

"Ok," she agreed, and she took his hand.

They left the common room in silence, but Lily couldn't stand walking in silence.

"James, are you ever angry with me when you think of sixth year?"

James looked startled at her question. "No! Of course not. It wasn't your fault that I was arrogant and annoying."

"But in sixth year, you had changed. And I still treated you like crap," Lily insisted.

"It's fine, Lily. I have no hard feelings and I'm not angry with you when I think of sixth year."

They reached the bottom of the stairs and James stopped and turned Lily around.

Their eyes connected and James casually asked, "Do you want to sit with us, Lily?"

He saw the hesitation in her eyes before she accepted. That was the last sign he needed to prove that the guy she loved was a Marauder.

Lily and James separated hands and sat down next to the rest of the Marauders.

All throughout dinner, James tried to laugh and be lighthearted, but he knew that he was in a noticeably bad mood. He couldn't help but notice all the looks Lily and Sirius shared, all the times they laughed together.

James excused himself and was leaving when Lily, Remus, Peter, and Sirius had an argument about who should go after.

"Sirius," Lily nominated.

"What!" Sirius exclaimed.

"He was mad at you, I think. Therefore, you should go smooth things out," she explained.

"I agree," Remus said bluntly.

"Me too," Peter chimed in.

"Fine."

Sirius reluctantly ran off after James and caught up to him halfway up the stairs. Sirius grabbed James's shoulder and swung him around so they were facing each other.

"Prongs, what's wrong?" Sirius asked in a low voice.

James tried to shake off Sirius's hand, but Sirius tightened his grip. "I don't want to talk about it now," James sighed. He ran his hand through his hair and continued, "Give me a few days to think on it, and I'll tell you, ok?"

"Fine, James." Sirius released his grip with a curious expression on his face. "Won't you at least tell me what it's about?"

"Lily," James muttered as he turned around.

Immediately the expression on Sirius's face changed from curious to troubled. Lily and James were friends now and they were on good terms. They had come down to dinner together. That was a good sign, right?

Sirius turned around and jogged down the stairs. When he got to the Great Hall, he strolled back to his seat and winked at a group of Hufflepuff girls who were staring at him. They burst out in giggles just as Sirius sat down.

He glanced at Lily who was eating silently and asked, "Is there something up with you and James?"

Lily gagged and wiped her mouth. "Did he say there was?"

"He said that you were the cause of the problem that's bothering him."

Lily frowned and said, "I'll talk to him later."