~ROAC~ (incomplete)

~THIRTY-SIX~

"I'm gonna say what I need to say,
And hope to God that it don't scare you away.
Don't want to be misunderstood.
But I'm starting to believe that
This could be the start of something good."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To say James Potter was excited would be a vast understatement.

Today was the day he'd been waiting and hoping and praying for, the day Lily Evans had been delaying for years: they were going on a date. The sky was bright, the breeze was light, and the midday sun was warm. James hummed the Hogwarts anthem cheerfully as he offered Lily a hand up into the carriage that would take them to Hogsmeade. She was wearing jeans, a Beatles t-shirt, and a red sweater, and James thought she looked beautiful, like always. Sure, she'd looked real nice the night of Slughorn's party, but he had to admit he preferred her this way. It made him think she was comfortable enough around him to dress leisurely on their date, and to James, that was a very good thing.

For the first time all year, they could open the windows and not feel cold, so James did so on one side and Lily did the other. When he turned back, he noticed how close their hands were on the seat between them and he laid his over hers. She didn't protest, and James was glad to see how her lips tugged up a little bit into a small smile. Those emerald eyes of hers, that he could never get enough of, were watching the scenery pass by as the carriage rumbled down to their village destination; so he could get her to turn her head and let him gaze into them again, he drew her into a conversation about Quidditch. 

"And the Beaters are the ones that keep away the Bludgers, so their own team isn't hurt."

Lily wrinkled up her nose and James thought it was the cutest thing he'd ever seen.

"And you have, what, third years and up playing this?"

"Yep."

She shook her head and shrugged. "I would say that's not exactly safe, but then again, we're at a school with a Forbidden Forest, a 'curse' on the Defense Against the Dark Arts position, and a lot of stories about dangerous things that have happened in the dungeons alone, not the mention the rest of the castle."

James smirked. "Lily, have you ever heard of Creaothceann?"

She blinked. "No..."

"It's a game in Scotland." James waved his hand. "Well, was a game. It's illegal now. If you think Quidditch is dangerous, you don't even want to know about Creaothceann." He paused. As he expected, Lily waved for him to go on (though she'd narrowed her green eyes at him), and he grinned.

"It was a game where people would strap cauldrons to their heads and fly around on brooms trying to catch falling rocks and even boulders in the cauldrons."

Lily's eyes were quite wide by the time he finished and her brows were at an almost-comical level of concern. "By Merlin-" She gave a huff of air and cut herself off, shaking her head. She paused for a moment, and a small smile grew on her face. "How did you know that?"

"Quidditch Through the Ages."

Lily grinned. "I didn't know you could read!" James nudged her side and they squabbled for a moment, but when she leaned her head on his shoulder and muttered, "Alright, alright," he went silent and enjoyed the moment until they arrived at Hogsmeade. The sunshine glinted off of something around Lily's neck as she climbed out of the carriage and James couldn't have stifled his smile if he'd wanted to- she was wearing the necklace he'd bought her the last time they were here, and now that he thought about it, she hadn't stopped wearing since that day, either, not even after the, ah, dispute at Slughorn's party.