Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

Alright, guys-I'm actually quite nervous about this one, as I kind of put a lot of thought and love into it... My goal with this, basically, was to realistically plot out how James changed into a mature man over the slight bully we saw in Snape's memory. I love James so, so much, and I wanted to write him in a manner that gave him props for growing as a person, while also acknowledging his flaws. I would love to know your thoughts on how well I managed to balance that out, or if I did at all!

Oh, and this is all thanks to EternallySeventeen, whom I wrote this for. She got me submerged, once again, into the world of Jily. Hope you like it, hon!

A Sure Thing

The first time James Potter asked out Lily Evans, she was so, so absolutely infuriated that all she could think to do was shove at him until he fell flat on his bum. It was the middle of Fourth year, and Severus was spending more and more time with his Slytherin friends (whom Lily definitely did not approve of) and Marlene was busy making Sirius Black drool after her (though what she saw in him, Lily did not know). She often tried to take refuge in her favorite corner of the library, but somehow… somehow, he seemed to find her when she most wanted to be left alone.

She'd been scanning through a book about one of the first Goblin wars, trying desperately to make it interesting for herself, when someone had plopped down right beside her. She could smell James' musky cologne from a mile away, so Lily knew that it was him right away. She huffed and shot him a glare, hoping he would get the message and go away.

Of course, he was as daft as ever and instead started tapping his fingers against a book he had propped in his lap. She tried to focus on her own book—something she was supposed to read for History of Magic—but she the fact that he was so inevitably up to something caused her to become distracted. She'd glance his way every few minutes, suspiciously watching him as he read. Lily didn't understand quite what he was up to, but she knew that it couldn't be anything good.

Finally, after a good twenty minutes of these games, she slammed her book shut and scooted around til she was staring directly at him. James' lips quirked into a smile, but other than that he didn't show any signs of stopping with his book. Lily let out an aggravated sigh.

"What are you doing?" she demanded, tapping his knee for emphasis. He chuckled and then shut his book (finally), glancing up to meet Lily's gaze.

"Well, Evans—looks like I'm reading, doesn't it? This is the library, right?" He made a great show of looking around, even scratching at his head. Her eyes narrowed suspiciously as he turned back, his smile growing wider by the second.

"No, James Potter. You are always up to something. So, what do you want from me?" she whispered furiously, knuckles turning white as she clenched her hands in frustration. James seemed to light up at her question, then glanced once over his shoulder, as if he was about to divulge a great secret.

"Well," he beamed, "Evans—I would like to know if you would do me the great honor of being my date for the upcoming Hogsmeade weekend."

Lily stared at him for a few seconds, blinking stupidly into his grinning face. Then, she slowly began gathering her things, putting papers and quills into her bag one by one with a forced calm. Once she'd gathered everything up, Lily paused, opened her mouth, and then closed it. A sort of white fury was settling over her, but she didn't want to say anything that she'd actually regret.

"James," she said slowly. "If you ever, ever, ask me such a ridiculous question again, I will hex you into next week." And with that, she stiffly stood up from her seat, trying to control the burst of anger that was threatening to spill out from her.

She only made it up one flight of stairs before she heard someone calling her name. She tried to hurry, but James was apparently running as fast as he could, because it didn't take long for him to catch up to her and catch her elbow, stopping her in her tracks. She spun around, dropping her bag and pulling out her wand as a way to threaten him back.

His eyes widened slightly and his smile fell a bit as he backed up, holding up his hands in a placating manner. "Now, Evans," he began cautiously, but she cut him off by aiming her wand past his head and shooting some useless sparks, hoping he would stop right in tracks. She was just not in the mood.

"Why do you have to be so mean, Potter?" she demanded furiously, not bothering to keep her voice down now they were out of the library. James frowned now, seemingly confused by her words; this only made her angrier, because he had no right to march up to her, asking her out as if he didn't bully others on a daily basis and there wasn't a war on her kind going on and she wasn't being buried in schoolwork.

"I just want to take you out, Evans," he muttered, hands still held up by his head. Lily gritted her teeth when he flashed a smile. "Didn't mean for you to think I was teasing."

"Oh, I didn't think you were teasing," she replied stiffly, "I just know that you know what a bloody, stupid question that was! Come off it, James—asking me out when you were antagonizing me and my friends earlier! You hate my best friend, and you know I'm not talking of Marlene, so don't try that! And for—I mean, we have so much and there's Death Eater recruits all over the bloody school! So, why, why would you think for one second that I would ever agree to go on a date with you?"

James stared at her, mouth slightly open, as if he didn't quite comprehend all she'd just said to him. "But—Evans… it's just teasing. And it's only Snape, right? What's the big de—?"

She let out a feral-like scream at his response, then pointed her wand and shouted, "Anteoculatia!" before seizing her bag and taking off back toward the Gryffindor Common Room, rage threatening to let tears form in the corner of her eyes. She brushed them off briskly and hoped that Potter wouldn't talk to her for a long while… At least he would be absent long enough for him to get the antler she'd just given him removed.

Unfortunately, James Potter didn't stay away for as long as she would have hoped. Only two weeks later, he began pestering her again, only to ask her out for another date. She had glared at him and simply shaken her head, indicating with an air of icy fury that he had better back off. He seemed to get the message, and left her alone for another few days.

And then, the pattern began to repeat: pestering Lily until he asked her for a date (whether it was to Hogsmeade or for a stroll around the lake), she would decline him angrily or in annoyance or both, he would leave her to cool off for a few days, and then... it would happen all over again. It was rather exhausting, but Lily had to admit it was sort of a nice distraction from the other things going on around her. Plus, he never pushed her after she said 'no' the initial time.

They kept up the dance for years; through Sirius and Marlene's on-and-off-again relationship and ultimately its dramatic once-and-for-all ending, through the darkening war and gradually more dangerous Wizarding world, through her worsening relationship with Severus and finally, the breaking of their friendship… It was one thing that was constant and steady and she expected; it was something that she could predict every step of the way, and that was relieving in a way.

Of course, James was still an absolute prat. He made her angrier than anybody else at the school ever could with just a flick of his hair. He bullied Severus and teased other kids who had a rougher time, and he still didn't understand why that was such a bad thing, which was probably the worst thing of all of it. But he made her feel a little safer and, well, she wasn't going to begrudge herself that.

He did start maturing a little bit, though, in their sixth year. He didn't pick on others as much, and when he did he started apologizing for it afterwards. At first, he only did so to her, but Lily quickly put him in his place about that—an apology didn't mean anything if it wasn't directed at the person who deserved it. He was never polite to Severus, though, and even though their friendship was all but completely severed, she didn't like it at all. In fact, she quite despised it.

In seventh year, though, he entered a changed man. And, Lily noted (for the first time), he was indeed a man, as opposed to the mean boy who had first asked her out in their fourth year. She started to flirt back a little bit—just a little bit, she'd insist to Marlene vehemently—and noticed with pride that he seemed to stick well away from all of the Slytherins… including Severus. He wasn't nice to him, didn't offer an apology for the past, but Lily didn't really expect that from him. She was just pleased he'd learned from his mistakes.

They kept up that pattern for a few months of their seventh year, but at the beginning of November, just as James was gearing up to ask her out for what must have been a hundredth time, something in Lily Evans snapped.

He was messing about with Remus and Peter as Sirius made eyes with some Hufflepuff girl in the corner (probably to spite Marlene, who was purposefully not looking in their direction and had just started dating her own Hufflepuff), when he took out that bloody golden Snitch. He let its haphazard wings flap for a few seconds, then let it go.

She watched his face as he observed the aging ball flit around for a few moments—it was one of awe and of admiration, but there was a smirk hidden underneath it. And the look was just so undeniably James that Lily couldn't imagine it on anyone else's face. He only let it fly for a moments before snatching it up again. And the thing was, Lily didn't doubt, not even for a second, that he would let it get away.

As the realization came upon her, Lily's heartbeat sped up considerably and her throat clogged up. She had to take a deep, measured breath, because… because the thing was, James Potter was someone who she could count on. No, not only that—James Potter was a sure thing. And yes, he was still arrogant and he was much too handsome for his own good… but he was also fiercely loyal and he cared for her, in his own weird sort of way. After that initial blow-up, he'd managed to restrain himself just enough that instead of hurting her feelings, he made her feel better. He knew better than to pick on someone smaller than himself, now, and she had helped him with that. He helped the younger students, and he'd made friends with all the students he had previously picked on in their own House, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff.

James Potter was a good man. He was a good man who wanted to take her on a date… and Lily wanted to go on that date.

Without another thought, Lily uncurled from her position on one of the couches and offered James a small smile. When he caught her eye, a devilish smirk crossed his face and he sprang up, stuffing the Snitch back in his pockets and waving Remus and Peter away as he marched across the Common Room. "'Lo, Evans! How are you this fine evening?" he beamed, collapsing next to her in the way that boys generally do: loudly and heavily, throwing every bit of his weight into the couch that would, inevitably, catch him.

"I'm alright, James," she said, feigning indifference. Her voice shook, though (just a little), and he seemed to latch onto this.

"Well, you sound a bit under the weather. Hmm," he tapped his chin, pretending to think, "Well, I can think of one thing that would cheer you up." His eyes were shining as he stared down at her. Lily raised one eyebrow.

"And what would that be, James Potter?" she asked, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. She knew, without a doubt, that he was expecting her to deny his next question. And, what made it even better and, somehow, worse, was that he was perfectly okay with that. He was fine with asking Lily out, day after day, year after year, and her declining, just because he knew that it was a game she'd grown fond of…

"I think you'd have a mighty good time on a date with me. What d'you say, Evans?" he asked, nudging her playfully. She bit her lip, helpless to stop the fiery blush that spread across her cheeks. She stared up at him determinedly, strong in the knowledge that James Potter was her next step, her constant, her sure thing.

"Yes, James. I would love to go on a date with you."