Chapter Text
James entered the Gryffindor boys’ dormitory on September 3, 1977, and immediately joined Sirius, Remus, and Peter on Remus’ bed. “Lads, I’ve got a bit of a problem,” he announced.
Remus snorted and curled his legs to one side to make room for his friend. “And you’ve only just figured that out, eh?”
“Shove it, Remus,” James said, without heat. He buried a hand in his hair. “It’s about Lily.”
This time it was Sirius who snorted. “And you’ve only just figured that out?”
“Hey! This is a new problem!”
“Oh?” Sirius raised an eyebrow. It looked sort of comical, given that Sirius’ face was nearly upside-down to James, with his head in Remus’ lap. “Do tell.”
James scowled down at him. Now that it was time to explain himself, he realized his audience was not likely to appreciate the nuances of his dilemma. “Well,” he began, “I’d like to ask her out.”
Pete looked up from the magazine he’d been silently perusing and blinked. “Already? It’s only been two days.”
“This is definitely not a new problem, Prongs,” Remus added, smirking.
“It is . Things are different now.” At his friends’ dubious looks James clarified, “Between Lily and I.”
“Yes. You’re co-Heads now. And friends,” Remus agreed. He ran his fingers through Sirius’ hair, and Sirius closed his eyes and sighed contentedly. Remus smiled.
James scowled some more. The nerve of these tossers, sitting there all smug and happy with their advice as if James hadn’t talked each of them through many a similar crisis before they’d admitted how much they liked each other. Hmph . He took a deep breath. “Right.” He was proud of how calm his voice sounded. “And I want her to know I’m taking my responsibilities seriously.”
“Yes,” Remus repeated. “Which is why, when we had this conversation two days ago , you decided you were not going to ask her out this term.”
“I know!” James’ hand flew to his hair again, any semblance of calm tossed aside. “But that was before I saw her! Talked to her! Now that I have, I’m wondering, what if she wants me to ask her out? I swear she was flirting with me a bit at dinner. And we exchanged tons of letters this summer, you know.”
“Hmm,” Peter said, frowning thoughtfully. “Did she say she wants you to ask her out?”
“Well, no, of course not, Pete, girls don’t say things like that. But–”
Sirius cracked an eye open and looked at him shrewdly. “And if she says no, will you be able to work next to her as Head Boy all year and still be her friend? Without sulking?”
James huffed. “I wouldn’t sulk , I’d just–”
“Just leave it, Prongs,” Remus interrupted, shaking his head. He smoothed a hand over Sirius’ hair, and Sirius burrowed into his touch like a happy puppy. “Stick to the plan. Show her that you can work side-by-side with her without trying to get in her pants.”
“Fine. I won’t ask her out.” James jumped to his feet and pointed an accusatory finger at Remus. “But you know it’s never been about just getting into her pants.” He turned away from his friends and flopped down face-first on his own bed. His voice was muffled when he added, “It would be a lot easier if it were.”