"Hello, ladies," James greeted the girls with a smug grin as he walked toward them. He carried his broomstick with one hand over his shoulder, making him look more arrogant than ever before, if that was even possible.

"What is it, J.P?" Jenna questioned, but right at that moment she realized that James wasn't even looking at her.

"How are you doing today, Evans?" said James, running a hand through his jet-black hair and ruffling it up, as though flying around for two hours hadn't made it messy enough.

"What don't you get straight to the point and just say what you want, Potter?" Lily told him, narrowing her eyes at him suspiciously.

"Just wanted to say how ravishing you look today, Evans," James said flirtatiously, his grin never fading away.

Whether James was expecting Lily to smile or feel flattered at the compliment, he ended up disappointed, because she showed no sign of flattery.

Jenna glared at her brother, afraid that this conversation was going where she dreaded.

"Well, if that's all you wanted to say, then good day to you," Lily snapped at him coldly and began to walk away, but James was quick to stop her.

"No, wait! Wait!" he said briskly, moving along her path and stopping in front of her. But then he shook his head, trying to regain his cool as he grinned again. "There's something else I wanted to say."

"What?" Lily asked, folding her arms at him expectedly.

James ran his hand through his hair again, finally saying, "The Hogsmeade trip is in a few days, and I want to take you out on a date."

"Oh, no." Jenna face-palmed, knowing how this was going to turn out. Alice watched the scene worriedly, as Marlene looked between them with excitement.

There was nothing Marlene loved more than a hot, fresh gossip. Or even better, the chance to be present when the said gossip was taking place.

"What?" Lily snarled, her eyes widening.

James shrugged, still smirking. "You heard me, Evans. Go out with me."

Jenna sighed to herself. "Here we go..."

It was right at that moment when Lily's face turned red, almost the same color of her fiery hair, and so she began yelling,

     "Listen here, James Potter! First of all, if you want to go out with someone, you don't demand them to go on a date with you! I don't know who the hell you think you are, but you're not the king of the world! Secondly, you've got some nerve to think for a second that I'll agree to this after how horribly you've treated my friend in the past years!"

     "Who? Snivellus? What does he have to do with this?" James scoffed mockingly. "C'mon, Evans. You're gonna have way more fun if you go out with me in Hogsmeade rather than hanging around with that old grease ball."

     Sirius snorted with laughter behind him, but Lily certainly didn't share the same humor.

"I wouldn't go out with you even if it was a choice between you and a filthy squid, Potter! Now get out of my way!" Lily shouted, before walking past him and storming away.

     Sirius burst out laughing at the confused expression on James's face. Alice and Marlene ran after Lily, though Jenna remained on the spot, glaring daggers at her brother.

     "What's the matter with you?" Jenna snapped at him angrily. "Honestly, if that's how you're planning on asking people out, you'll die a virgin, brother." And so, with one last glare at him, she turned around and disappeared into the girls' locker room.

     "Well, better luck next time, mate," said Sirius, walking forward and patting James on the shoulder. "But it seems like I'm going to win the bet way easier than I'd thought."

     James, however, didn't reply to his snarky comment. He just remained fixed on the spot, with a deep frown upon his forehead.

      "She didn't say yes." James blinked a few times in mild confusion, as though he hadn't even heard Sirius talking. "How's that even possible?"

     "I hate to break this to you, James, but it would've been more shocking if she had said yes, the way you asked her out," Remus remarked, making Peter snicker.

      "Admit defeat, Potter. And now," Sirius began, cracking his knuckles, "it's my turn to shine."

***

"Are you sure about this?" Peter asked Sirius later that night as the four boys sat at the Gryffindor table for dinner, every now and then stealing glances at a girl with curly, black hair.

     "The bet is the bet." Sirius grinned confidently.

     "Yeah, but this girl is a year older than you," said Peter, sneaking another glance at the girl, who was sitting a few feet ahead of them at the Gryffindor table.

     "That was the deal," said Remus with a rare mischievous smile on his lips. "James wanted to ask Lily out, so Sirius had to ask someone who would be as equally difficult to ask. Which is why we agreed that Sirius had to ask a fourth year girl."

     "One of the prettiest ones in their year, might I add." Sirius winked, not looking intimidated or nervous in the least. "Mary Macdonald."

     "Well, don't get too cocky, Black. There's a big chance she wouldn't say yes either," James said grumpily. He seemed to be in an extremely foul mood ever since Lily had turned him down earlier that day.

     "Meh. I'll take my chances." Sirius shrugged, and with that he suddenly got to his feet and began walking down the Great Hall's aisle.

     "What's he even planning on doing?" Peter mused, stuffing a pudding into his mouth as he nervously watched Sirius walk away.

     "I guess we're just about to find out," said James, following Sirius with his eyes until he finally stopped when he reached a group of fourth year Gryffindor girls who were sitting at the table, enjoying their dessert.

     Once Sirius reached Mary, he stood right behind her before gasping to catch her attention, before saying, "Merlin's beard! Are you okay?"

     With confusion and worry mingled on her face, Mary turned her head back to look up at him. "What?"

     "Are you okay? Are you hurt?" Sirius said with great concern, looking panicked. Even all the other students who were sitting nearby had stopped their conversation and turned to see what was going on.

     "What are you talking about? I'm fine!" said Mary, her eyes wide at the boy's odd behavior.

     "Are you sure!?"

     "Yes!"

     Right at that moment, the worried look on Sirius's face completely disappeared, only to be replaced by a smooth grin as he said, "Sorry. I just assumed it had hurt when you fell from heaven."

     Mary suddenly blushed at those words and her friends giggled, while James, Remus, and Peter had to place a hand over their mouths to muffle out the sound of their laughter.

     Mary chuckled. "That was the lamest pick-up line I'd ever heard in my entire life."

     "Oh, yeah?" Sirius grinned, leaning closer to her just enough that she could smell the expensive cologne on him, and then whispered in her ear, "Then why are you smiling?"

     Everyone was now watching them with amusement, eager to see what was about to happen next. Although there were many second and third years girls who had nothing but envy and jealousy in their eyes.

     "I'm Sirius Black, by the way," said Sirius as he sat beside her, raising his hand for her to shake. But the moment she gave him her hand, he leaned down and placed a kiss on her knuckle. "And you must be..."

     "Mary Macdonald," she said, and he gave him a charming smile. "And yeah, I knew your name already."

     The truth was that Sirius already knew who she was too, but he didn't want to give her the satisfaction.

      "Well, Mary," he chose his words carefully as he spoke, still smiling charmingly at her, "would you give me the honor of going out to Hogsmeade with me?"

      Mary chuckled, though she didn't look completely opposed to the request either. "But aren't you younger than me?"

     "Only by a few months. My birthday is in three days, so then we'll technically be the same age." He shrugged, now grinning. "So? What do you say, Mary? Will you go on a date with me?"

     "Um..." Mary began nervously, looking back at her friends for approval before smiling and nodding. "Yeah, all right."

      "Great." Sirius smiled once again as he stood up, giving her one last wink. "I'll see you later, then."

      Then, with an arrogant smirk dangling on his lips, he walked back to where his friends were sitting, with all eyes in the Hall on him.

     Sirius sat down, giving James a smug look. "And that's how it's done."

     "That was brilliant, Sirius!" Peter squeaked, clapping his hands together once.

      "Looks like James has to buy us all Butterbeer for the rest of the year," said Remus, nudging James with his elbow.

     "Oh, don't get ahead of yourselves," said James, grinning.

      Sirius narrowed his eyes at him. "You look too cocky for someone who has just lost, Potter."

     "Oh, but that's the thing. I haven't lost. Not yet, at least," he said.

     "What are you talking about?" Remus mused.

     "The deal was to get the yes before midnight," said James, his smirk growing broader. "I've still got time."