"You sure you're up for this?" James said as we left the Three Broomsticks. I was still kind of thinking of turning around and running away but I couldn't back down from a challenge.

"Obviously. My only worry is that you'll get scared of the exploding bonbons. I hear they can be quite difficult for a beginner." James scoffed at this and I was glad that I'd regained my ability to have decent comebacks.

"Oh, you are on so on, Evans." He said laughing.

"Our mouths are going to die by the end of this, this is possibly the worst idea you've ever had." I said, remembering painful memories of the midnight feast I'd had in Third Year.

"So far." He replied quickly.

"What?"

"The worst idea I've had so far." I rolled my eyes at this, that was ridiculous.

"Fine, the worst idea you've had up until and including this particular moment."

"That's more like it, Evans." He said, turning the corner toward Honeydukes.

I hoped that he didn't remember what I'd said a week ago. He didn't seem to mind but Denial Lily was a bit of an idiot. I blushed just at the thought of it but now that I'd accepted it, I was in more in control of cheeks and managed to get the pinkness to fade back to it's normal white marble colour.

"How many shall we get? You know the maximum amount?" I said as we stood over the container full of exploding bonbons.

"There is no maximum." James replied confidently.

"James, we physically will have to stop at some point."

"I'm unstoppable though," He said his eyes gleaming, "Let's buy the lot."

"But that's a LOT of bonbons, it's expensive."

"Nah, it's on me." He said. It took me a few seconds before I began to overthink. If he was paying, did this make it a date?

If it was I wasn't sure how I felt about it. On one hand, it would be exciting but this was moving so fast too. I'd only realised I'd liked him a week ago.

"No, I mean we're both competing, I can't let you pay for everything especially if I'm eating."

"Alright, Evans." He said. For a second, I thought he'd be annoyed. If he'd tried to make it a date and I'd turned him down, that would be awkward. He seemed fine though, so I guessed I was overthinking.

I felt kind of self conscious filling my bag with bonbons but James seemed to have no shame. By the end we had several full bags full and I was starting to regret this competition. If he was expecting me to eat half of hese, we would be in trouble.

When I saw the price of all these bonbons, I slightly regretted my rejection of him paying earlier but it felt good to pay, even if it was just to slow things down in my mind. I would just have to be a little bit broke for the next week.

"I would suggest going back to the common room for our competition but these bags are heavy and I think we should save our energy for the bonbons."

"Look at that, we finally agree on something." I said, feigning surpise. I could completely understand where Mary was coming from now, I really had been flirting with him before.

"We do agree on some things, I also think I'm a self-important dolt." He looked down at me, biting his lower lip slightly, clearly waiting expectantly to see how I'd respond.

"I was wrong," I said trying as hard as I could to appear serene, "We agreed on two things. It's a big achievement."

"It's a damn miracle." He said smiling to himself.

We eventually settled on a bench a little away from town, clutching our many bags of bonbons. I hadn't realised how much tiring balancing all those bags had been until I put it down.

"I don't know if it's just hot but I'm exhausted." I said, lying back on the bench.

"I'm sorry that I'm so hot but I'm afraid I can't turn it off." I laughed slightly at this even though he was ridiculous.

"Oh, I feel so sorry for you. Being hot all the time must be so so tough." I said sarcastically.

"It's a blessing and a curse. Just ask Sirius." He said.

"Sirius loves it , don't lie." I said jokingly but for once, James was serious.

"People just like him because he's hot. Once they get to know a bit more about him, they leave. It's too much apparently for some people and he acts like he doesn't care but he does..." He said looking slightly distressed, "He's a great guy, Sirius. He really is but he's got a lot of...."

He paused for a second as if realising he was saying too much, "...stuff to deal with. Anyway, shall we get on with the competition of the year."

"Don't you mean the competition of the year so far?" I teased. He rolled his eyes at me but he wasn't really annoyed.

"I'm so sorry, I meant the competition of the year until and including this particular moment" He laughed and I was honestly just surprised that he'd remebered it all.

"Better get on with it then." I said, reaching into one of the bags for a handful, "You're behind already."

"I'm letting you get a head start, you know get you off your guard..."

"You're stalling, Potter, grab the damn bonbons." I interrupted. He raised his hands as if in defeat before grabbing an even bigger handful.

"How many have you got in your hand?" He asked.

"7, you?"

"Ha, 9!" He laughed triumphantly.

"You have bigger hands. Besides, I'm letting you get a head start now."

"Damn, you played me at my own game. I say we just stuff as many as we can into our mouths."

"Agreed." I said, anxious to start.

"Hey, that's three things, we agreed on!" He said before somehow fitting all 9 bonbons into his mouth. I followed his example and instantly regretted it.

I felt like my whole mouth was going to burst, it was so painful. It was a struggle to keep my mouth shut but I knew that I had to. The idea of bonbons flying out of my mouth was absolutely mortifying, especially in front of James.

Despite the pain, I somehow managed to swallow the bonbon shrapnel and reached for another handful. His face was still screwed up with agony yet he somehow still managed to look cute. It was quite unfair really.

"You're behind Potter, 7 down!" I laughed. He tried to say something but his mouth was still so full of bonbons, I couldn't decipher a word of it, "Sorry, Potter, can't hear a word you're saying!"

The second batch was better than the first, I was expecting it this time. After a few seconds and lot of weird facial expressions, James managed to force the sweets down his throat.

"I said, it's all part of my master plan." He said. I had so many comebacks for this but my mouth was otherwise occupied and all I could manage was an annoyed grunt.

My mouth was raw by the end when we finally came to a stop. We both lay back on the bench, if somebody walked past they'd probably think we'd fallen asleep.

"How many did you manage?" He asked weakly. It took me a second to remember as my head was spinning from the tiny battle that had occured in my mouth.

"47. You?" I watched him pause and process for a second.

"47 too. Guess we'll need a rematch." I couldn't help but laugh, he was smooth. I felt surprisingly relaxed with him - I guess it was because there no pressure, nobody watching us.

"How remarkable is it that we'd both get the exact same number." I teased as I was sure I'd eaten more.

"Amazing coincidence. So, rematch?" He pushed on.

"Yeah, alright, you're on."

"Great, it's a date." He said. My sense of ease suddenly left me.

I liked him but it was all moving too fast for me suddenly. This had all happened in two weeks. Two weeks. I hadn't even told my best friends yet, only Remus.

"Uh huh." I said, standing up suddenly. What are you doing, idiot, I thought to myself, don't self sabotage! I wanted to listen but I was nervous. I needed to discuss this with Marlene, Alice, Dorcas and Mary. It was all too new for anything real to happen.

"I think we should go." I said rigidly.

"Hey, what's the rush?" James said, his face suddenly concerned.

"No rush, we've just been gone for ages." I said, walking away.

"It's only been about half an hour, the others won't miss us! ... Lily?" He called after me as I quickened my pace, in a sudden desperate attempt to get away from the situation. He caught up to me with ease, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm good really. I just wanted a girl's day that's all and then you guys came and I haven't seen them."

"Oh, I'm sorry." His face fell suddenly I suddenly realised how bad it had sounded.

"I didn't mean it like that. I had a nice time, really I did." I said desperately, happy to see that he smiled slightly, "I just miss them."

"I get it, don't worry. Sometimes you just want to hang out with your girls...or boys in my case." He replied although he sounded a bit flatter than he had done before but I didn't think it was deliberate.

We walked back in silence. I wanted to say something but I couldn't think of anything. When we arrived back, he said something to Sirius and Remus.

"Well, I think we should head off now." Sirius announced loudly much to Marlene's disappointment. I felt a little bad but I needed to talk to them right now, without boys around and I was glad that James understood that.

"Bye Evans." James said, slightly sadly. I was about to reply when Marlene grabbed my shoulder.

"Right, Evans, time to spill everything." Marlene said. The four of them looked at me eagerly and for the first time, I really was desperate to tell them everything.

Just a little note at the end, I know TECHNICALLY this is on the same day as the last one but I wanted to give you guys an actual Jily chapter as there have been quite a few that have not had that much so I hope you enjoy their (sort of) first date. Anyway if you enjoyed it please consider giving it a vote and I hope you enjoy! - E