the girlfriend experience ━━ james potter ¹

vii. losses and luck

James cocked his head, "How can I ask Evans out in a way that guarantees she'll say yes?"

This was the exact question Remus expected to hear and yet he still internally groaned. Remus had been putting up with James' Lily shenanigans for far too long, and as Lily Evan's friend, Remus wanted to help her out and get James off of her back. He had heard Lily complain about James for hours, and he agreed with every last word of it ─ James Potter is arrogant and far too entitled. But then, for the past six years, Remus has always had the duty of being James' best friend and helping him get the girl of his dreams in any way he could. Remus was stuck in the middle. Remus didn't want any part of this anymore.

He finally glanced up from his book and lowered his glasses to sit further down his nose, "Don't?" he suggested.

James seemed to be baffled by the suggestion as if there was no way on planet earth giving up on Lily Evans was an option. His brows furrowed and he stared at Remus like the boy had three eyes and tentacles for arms. "Don't?" he repeated in disbelief.

Remus shrugged, "Yeah, don't ask her out," he said bluntly, shoving his reading glasses back up his nose and redirecting his eyes back onto the pages of his book.

"I think you missed the point of the question, Moony," Peter said, his face scrunched up a little.

"I understood perfectly," Remus replied. "The reason she keeps saying no is because she doesn't like you, James."

James Potter had never felt so offended in his life. He silently gasped, retreating back to his headboard. "Harsh," he spat, folding his arms across his chest.

Being the child he truly is, James grew out of his sulking phase quite quickly and sprang to his feet seconds later. "Well, that's definitely not it, so Moony's useless," he determined, causing Remus to pull a confused face. Concluding that this was always James' problem and never his, Remus shook his head, folded his legs into his chest, and buried himself deeper into his book. James looked at Sirius then down at Peter; his eyes not resting until someone gave him a brilliant idea to solve his heartache. "Anyone else got any bright ideas?"

The dorm went silent ─ Sirius rubbing his thumb along his chin; Peter piercing his eyes into the bin across the room lost in deep thought; James biting his lip; and Remus, well, Remus didn't care what they were up to.

Suddenly, Sirius' face lit up with glee and he snapped his fingers. Remus wanted to switch off his ears. "I've got it," Sirius declared, and James suddenly let go of his lip and gawked at his friend in anticipation. "Tomorrow's match!"

"Elaborate," James drawled, his grin creeping up his face.

"Win the match tomorrow," Sirius said, "and she'll have to go out with you."

It was Gryffindor v Slytherin the next day, one of the most important matches of the season ─ the very first one. Two great rivals battling it out on the pitch, till sudden death. James has quite possibly, the most important role out of his whole team ─ he's the seeker. 150 points, all in the palm of his hand.

Remus narrowed his eyes at his group of friends, all collected on the other side of the room, apparently, none of whom had any knowledge on how the female brain works. "I'm not sure that's how this works-" he began questioning their logic, but James cut him off before he could finish his sentence.

"Padfoot's right," James said. "If I catch the snitch tomorrow-"

"-Which you will," Peter interjected, his smile broader than ever.

"Which I will," James agreed. "Evans will have no choice but to date me. I'll be Gryffindor's most wanted. If she doesn't go out with me sooner rather than later, I'll be taken before she can even say the word Quidditch."