Author's Note: Written for…

Song Fics Challenge. Prompts: Lily/James, "Stubborn Love" by The Lumineers

Rummikub Challenge. Prompt: "How To Be a Heartbreaker" by Marina and the Diamonds

Fill the Calendar Challenge. Prompt: "Don't You Wanna Feel" by Rogue Traders

Triwizard Tournament Competition. Pairing: Lily/James

The A-Maze-Ing Race Challenge. Prompt: wand

Amateur Divination Challenge. Prompt: #1

Rubik's Cube Challenge. Prompt: glorious

Stubborn

Saturday night in Gryffindor Tower was widely known to be the one night a week when you didn't have to worry about dodging Potter and Black because they stayed up in their dorm all night. Lupin and Pettigrew and Longbottom did the same, of course, but no one ever had to worry about having a bucket full of mud dropped on their heads by them.

Every Saturday after dinner you'd see the five boys not-so-subtlety sneaking up to their dorm with armfuls of contraband food and drinks. No one bothered to say anything since Lupin became prefect, but it was obvious from the way Evans huffed and rolled her eyes at them that there were some in the tower who would've been all too happy to hand out detentions to the other boys.

Things were expected to go on as planned – just as they had for five years – until the lads found themselves a man short one night.

"Where's Frank?" James asked, sweeping into the room and plopping on his bed sideways to better view the intense card game happening between Remus and Sirius on the next bed. Peter was on his knees next to the bed, one hand clutching a bottle of Pumpkin Fizz and a licorice wand in the other, his eyes glued to the game.

Frank always provided a platter of sandwiches for Boys' Night since he had mysterious connections in the kitchens, but today his trunk and bed were devoid of all food and drink.

"He's got a study date," Remus said, keeping his eyes on Sirius to watch for signs of cheating.

"Emphasis on 'date,'" Sirius muttered.

James raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Who with?"

"Take a guess."

"Alice?"

"Who else?"

James wrinkled his nose in distaste. "He's blowing us off for a girl. It's despicable."

Remus snorted. "Right, like you wouldn't do the same if you could get a girl to say yes to heading up to the Astronomy Tower with you."

"I'll have you know I've had plenty of offers. I'm just holding out for someone special."

"So there is someone in this great big castle that you fancy," Sirius teased, all interest in the game gone.

James shook his head. "We're not doing this, mate. You're not getting it out of me."

"No, of course not. How about we go around the room and say who we fancy? I mean, we've got to have one girl we'd drop everything for, right?" Peter nodded in agreement, but Remus just shrugged, getting off the bed to grab a chocolate frog. "I'll go first," Sirius went on. "McKinnon."

Remus scoffed. "Didn't you two make out last year?"

"Yeah."

"And weren't you guys fighting the rest of the year?"

"She thought it meant something – which it did, just not at the time. Anyway, your turn, Moony."

Remus shook his head. "No, I'm not playing. I pass."

"Nope, sorry, no passing in this game. Now come on, who's going to become Mrs. Moony, hmm?"

The prefect hesitated for a moment before giving in and sighing. "Emmeline."

"Who?" James wondered.

"Emmeline Vance, Ravenclaw prefect? I've only been patrolling every night with her for the last three weeks," Remus said exasperatedly. "Your turn, Peter."

"If you can narrow it down to one," Sirius added.

Peter blushed, taking a bite of his cauldron cake and mumbling his answer.

"Pardon me?"

He swallowed his snack and tried again, an even deeper shade of red this time. "Bertha Jorkins."

James and Sirius made a show of gagging and groaning while Remus merely shook his head and selected another chocolate frog.

"It's James' turn," Peter squeaked when they'd quieted down.

James promptly buried his face in his pillow to avoid looking at his friends. "Evans."

"What, Lily Evans? Prefect Evans? 'Get a life, Potter' Evans?" Sirius ranted.

"Uh-huh."

"Oh, mate, you're for a world of hurt."

"I know, I know, but I can't help it!" The chaser propped himself up on his elbows to look at his friends. "I've tried everything but I can't stop thinking about her."

"Have you ever spoken to her? Without insulting her or her friends, I mean?" Remus asked.

"No."

Sirius growled, jumping from his bed to James' and shoving the boy off it.

"Hey! What was that for?"

"Your girl is right downstairs – you have every single class with her. Go talk to her! I'd be telling the others the same thing, but let's face it, Wormtail doesn't have a chance with Jorkins, and Moony's at least talking to the girl."

"What about you?"

"I'm working on Marlene. You just worry about getting Evans to go out with you." He gave James a kick from the bed, sending him a few feet closer to the door.

It was early and the common room was still full. He found Lily reading a Charms textbook by the window and dropped into the seat next to hers. She eyed him over the top of her book and quirked an eyebrow.

"Something I can help you with, Potter?" she said, turning her eyes back to the book.

"Actually, yeah." He cleared his throat, checking to see if anyone was close enough to listen in. This was hard enough to do without worrying about everyone else finding out. "I was wondering if maybe you wanted to hang out sometime."

She closed the book this time, staring at him curiously. "Hang out?"

"Yeah, like a date." At that she laughed.

"Get back to me when you're serious," she said, navigating her way through the crowd easily as he struggled to keep up.

"I am serious!" he shouted after her as she head up to the girls' dorms.

:-:

"You gotta let her go, mate, move on!"

"She's just being stubborn."

"I don't think turning you down for two years can be considered 'stubborn,'" Sirius sighed.

"This is coming from a man who's convinced half the female population of Hogwarts is in love with him," Remus commented from where he sat doing his homework.

"More than half," he corrected. "There are only a handful of girls that are able to resist me."

"Hey, remember when we were talking about me and you promised you'd help me get the girl of my dreams?" James said, annoyed.

"There's nothing more we can do, Prongs. Let her go."

"I can't! She's driving me crazy, but I still want her."

Sirius nodded knowingly. "It's like Marlene and I – only I think she's just doing it because she knows I'll keep asking."

James hit his head on the bathroom door. "It's just … I'm crazy about her and she's just throwing it away, you know? It's breaking my heart."

Remus groaned, putting down his quill. "Then do something about it. And not something showy or dangerous or stupid. Do something for her, something she'll like. If you're as smart as you keep telling everyone, you should be able to figure something out. It's not as if you haven't been stalking her for two years."

James scowled for a minute before breaking into a grin. "Moony, you're a genius!"

:-:

"What is this, Potter? Where are you taking me?" Lily huffed, trying to pull her hand free from his.

"Just hold on. It's a surprise!" James said excitedly, pulling her along as he ran across the lawn.

He'd been sure to take Remus' advice to heart and spent an entire day and half thinking over what he would do if he managed to convince Lily to spend more than five minutes around him. After that it was only a matter of bribing Marlene and a few of the other girls into convincing Lily to spend an hour with him.

Now here he was, dressed in his lucky "Potter's #1" t-shirt that a fan made for him after he won the Quidditch Cup back in fourth year.

They stopped running when they reached the Quidditch pitch. James let go of her long enough to unlock the door to the Gryffindor change rooms, then pulled her inside, despite her trying to wriggle away.

"Come on, Potter, what is this? I've already seen the trophies, so if that's all you want to show me-"

"It's not, I promise."

He led her out onto the pitch, taking her to the very center where a single broom sat waiting.

"This is my broom – it's top of the line," he said proudly when it flew into his hand.

"It's lovely. I'm sure if I cared about brooms I'd be thrilled. Can I go now?"

"Not yet." He mounted the broom and hovered a few feet in front of her. "Hop on."

"I beg your pardon?"

James patted the handle of the broom. "Hop on. We're going to a little trip."

Lily gulped, backing away slowly. "I-I can't. I mean, I can, I just don't want to."

"Come on, I want to teach you how to fly."

"I already learned how to fly!" she assured him, backing up a couple more feet. He floated after her easily.

He gave an exasperated sigh. "You learned the mechanics of flying, but they don't teach enough here. You never got the full experience – you never learned to enjoy it!"

"Really, Potter, I-"

"James."

"What?"

"James. You keep calling me Potter. My name is James."

"Fine, James, I can't fly. I couldn't go more than ten feet off the ground."

"I remember. But keep in mind you were flying alone. Tonight you'll be with me – Quidditch captain and the soon-to-be winner of his fourth Quidditch Cup. You're in safe hands."

"I appreciate the offer, but no," she said firmly.

James nodded, landing and biting his lip.

"I just thought … I mean, you don't really know me too well, and I'd like you to, so…" He took a deep breath, looking at her uncertainly. "Don't you wanna feel what I feel every day – see the things I see?" He shrugged. "It was silly, sorry. You can go."

Lily pursed her lips. "You know any spells for broken bones? How to resuscitate someone?"

"I'm a really fast flyer. If something happens, I can get you to the infirmary in less than five minutes!"

"I must be out of my mind. Fine, I'll fly with you – but we can't go too fast, or too high."

James nodded eagerly. "I can work with that."

They did a slow lap around the pitch as the sun began to set. Lily spent half of the lap with her eyes closed, leaning over the broom handle to grip it better, then James straightened her up and forced her to look up instead of down at the ground.

When she was more comfortable, he inched them higher and higher as they flew – barely noticeable at first, but when he got them in the position he'd been aiming for, they were above the goal hoops and had a perfect view of the sunset.

"This is what I do when I'm stressed out, or bored, of pretty much any chance I get," he whispered. They were close enough that she could hear him perfectly.

"It's glorious," she replied. He couldn't see her face, but it sounded as though she was smiling.

Smiling. He'd made her happy.

When it had gone dark, James flew them back to the castle and landed in front of the steps, even helping Lily dismount the broom like a gentleman.

Afterward, she turned to him and smiled. A real, genuine smile – bigger, he was sure, than any smile he'd ever witnessed.

"Thank you for this. I enjoyed myself tonight," she said quietly.

"You're very welcome, Miss Evans." He took her hand in his and led her up the steps to the grand doors. "Now, you see, if you hadn't been so stubborn all these years we could've done this much sooner."

"Potter!"