"I don't understand why you have to be here while I walk her over there," Sirius said incredulously.

James stood with his back against Sirius' and chewed idly on the top of the zipper of his leather jacket. It was his nervous habit, and it had ruined that end of the zipper to the point that a couple of the teeth had already fallen out. He had his invisibility cloak thrown over one arm so that it could not be seen. Maybe it was nerves talking, but James didn't want to give Lily the opportunity to get lost on the way to their date. It was bad enough that she had almost convinced him it would be better for them to reschedule, but he had managed to convince her that there was no need. The snow be damned. The Marauders had the Marauders Map, and the snow couldn't stop them from getting where they wanted to be. Of course, they couldn't just reveal that to Lily, and everyone had been adamant about that, but James had the best friends in the world - not to mention the smartest ones. The date had been salvaged to Lily's disbelief, but she agreed to let him prove her wrong.

"Because I don't trust you to not snog my girlfriend, Padfoot."

"Oi, that happened one time, and McKinnon was just using you to get to me," Sirius said with a smirk. "Plus, Evans isn't your girlfriend."

"Yet."

They had been having this very conversation since the moment James had seen Lily, but it was still very surreal to him that it might actually be true. Sirius had always said it would be, but James had almost given up hope. Sirius leaned on James for a moment longer before straightening up and pushing James back with a shove of one arm. It didn't take a genius to get the hint. James threw his invisibility cloak over his head and crouched down to keep his feet covered up.

He looked up just in time to see Lily coming down the stairs from the girls' common room, and he felt like his heart may break free from his chest. It never made sense to him why she didn't believe him when he said that she was the most beautiful creature he had ever seen in his entire life. Of course, she just reminded him that he hadn't been alive very long, but he always knew that there could never be someone as beautiful. No one could shine like she did. Lily was wearing his favorite shirt; it was purple with the Hogwarts crest in black emblazoned on the front. The purple made her green eyes impossibly greener. She left her red hair loose so that it fell against her face and into her eyes when she looked down at Sirius from the steps, and he wanted to brush it away. That curt smile on her lips made his heart swell, because it was her look of contempt that had made him fall for her in the first place.

"Oi, Black. What's that sly look you got on your face for?"

"This is just my face, Ginger."

Lily did that thing where she squinted and wrinkled her nose in distrust, and James almost had a stroke.

"Well, where is Potter? I didn't agree to go out on a date with both of you."

"Patience, Ginger. I'm just escorting you in case you get cold feet."

The two of them headed out of the Gryffindor common room, and Sirius offered Lily his arm so she could loop her own through it. A slight pang of jealousy made James want to kick him in the shin, but he caught Sirius looking right at him even though he couldn't be seen. Sirius was being a bastard - James should have known.

Arm in arm, the two of them walked down the corridors, Lily continuously tucking her hair behind her ear and waving at people that they passed. Everyone was stuck inside the school today thanks to all the snow. Some people looked very surprised to see Lily and Sirius being so friendly, but they didn't bother to ask about it. James wondered if people thought the two of them made sense.

"So can I walk you down the aisle when you marry James, Evans?"

Lily shoved him before pulling her arm out of his. "I said yes to a date, not to marriage."

"Not yet."

"Sirius Black, if you think I'm going to marry your idiot best mate, you've got another thing coming."

"We all know you love him, Ginger. You just haven't got the balls to admit it."

"Don't make me go back to the common room, Black."

"You wouldn't dare," Sirius barked with laughter.

He never saw James' foot coming, and when he tripped, he looked genuinely surprised, nearly bringing Lily down with him before righting himself.

"Bullocks."

The fact that Sirius had nearly face-planted tickled Lily greatly, because she was nearly red in the face from laughter. Sirius took it like a champ and merely laughed along with her as they headed toward the doors that exited into one of the smaller courtyards. James didn't have time to watch them any longer, because he had to rush ahead of them to get out the slightly-open door first.

Outside, the snow had not let up. White flurries swirled past James as he pulled the cloak from over his head and tossed it over his shoulder. Snow crunched under his feet as he nearly tripped over the icy cobblestone beneath the blanket of snow, but he managed to keep his balance and come to a stop right when Lily and Sirius exited the school.

The moment she saw the igloo behind him, he could have sworn he had never seen her more impressed. Perhaps she had been expecting some ill attempt at a picnic in the snow, but she certainly hadn't been expecting an actual ice house made from the snow in the middle of the courtyard, but it was there. James rested his hand on the entrance to the igloo and smirked like she should have been impressed, because it was impressive. Lily wiped that look of surprise from her face when their eyes met, but James couldn't help but grin knowingly at her.

"We're supposed to be snowed in," Lily said evasively as she tried to cover up how off guard he managed to catch her.

"When are you going to learn that there isn't anything in this world that can stop me from getting what I want?"

"One day I will prove you wrong."

"I look forward to it. But I think this is the first time I've seen you look impressed, Evans."

"Shut it, Potter. I'm not impressed at all."

Lily tried to suppress a smile, but it didn't work, because he could still see the way it threatened to split her lips to show just a little bit of her teeth. That was the smile that made his heart stutter in his chest so that he was sure that it was going to skip a beat, but he managed to get control of himself before he melted right then and there.

"After you," James said as he signaled toward the entrance.

He gave the top of the entrance a tap with his wand and watched as it stretched so that she wouldn't have to crawl to get inside. Another plus about having such smart friends was that they could pretty much make anything together. People really underestimated the Marauders if you asked him.

When Lily entered, James followed right after, only pausing to give Sirius a wink just as the entrance closed back up. It left the two of them standing in the center of a rather big room made of ice. A steady flame flickered in the center of the room and gave off warmth, but it didn't melt the ice around it or above it. A record player was playing the sounds of Elvis Presley into the room, and James thought he saw Lily tap her fingers against her thigh to the beat of the song, but she stopped before he could be sure. She and Sirius were the entire reason that he got into muggle music in the first place, and he planned to tell her that when he turned to look at her fully, but when he turned he came face to face with nothing but air. Lily had taken her seat on the blankets near the fire and was looking up at him imploringly with her green eyes.

"Alright, truth time," Lily admitted as she looked around with eyes shining with wonder. "This is wonderful, James."

James. She made his name sound like a word that described the best feeling in the world and the best chord to ever be struck. James found himself wondering what his name would taste like if she breathed it in his mouth. It would probably taste foreign and burn him with the sincerity of it.

"You know what it reminds me of?"

"What?" He asked a bit too quickly as he realized that he just wanted her to say his name again.

"This reminds me of the first time I saw what magic could do. The wonder of it, you know?" Lily asked only to blush slightly so that the apples of her cheeks turned cherry red. "I guess you wouldn't, would you? You've grown up around this type of stuff all your life."

"I would," James corrected her gently and looked around the icy walls of the igloo for a moment before letting his eyes settle on her once more. "I've known that feeling of wonder that magic can bring from the moment I first saw you. Your wonder has always been infectious to me."

Oh, that was stupid, you git.

James could have kicked himself right then if his leg bent that way, but instead he just settled on running his fingers through his unruly black hair. It only served to make it worse, and he turned his hot face away from Lily so that she wouldn't see how stupid he felt for saying it.

"James."

There it was again. His name was a symphony of the best sounds when she said it. It may as well have been her deepest, darkest secret, and he felt raw and open for hearing it in the best sort of way.

"You're an idiot."

James let out a short laugh before biting on the inside of his thumb as he turned to look back at her finally.

"I know, but it's only because of you. I am always the biggest fool when I am with you, and it drives me mad. All of my life everything has come easy to me, right? I can fly on a broom like no one else can. I have got the smarts to outwit even the likes of Remus. I've the power to take Marlene down in a duel. But as soon as you say my name, I come undone. Hearing you say my name doesn't come easy to me, because you say it like it is the best-tasting word you have ever had in your mouth. You say it like you want it to be a secret, but you can't help telling it. You make my name sound bloody sacred, and I come undone because of it. That's the thing though, innit? You haven't always called me by my name. But whatever it is that you're calling me that day sounds like the way I feel when I am on a broom headed across the pitch to score a goal. It sounds like Florean's Every Flavored ice cream tastes on a muggy day. It sounds like that feeling I got when I was eleven years old and held my wand for the first time in Ollivander's shop. It's wonder."

Now, she was staring at him. James wasn't sure what the look in her eyes meant, but she was staring at him like she was trying to gather up something to say. Maybe she was trying to figure out a way to turn him down without hurting his feelings, because now she knew just how deep those feelings might have gone. He had just bloody well told Lily Evans that she was the reason he saw wonder in every day. Merlin, avada him right now.

"I'm sorry, Evans. I didn't -"

"Oh shut up, you tosser."

Then she grabbed him by the front of his shirt and pulled him down over her. James lost his balance and fell onto her lips with no grace at all. For a boy that could free fall on a broom for a hundred yards without breaking a sweat, this short fall nearly took his breath away. His heart crashed in his chest like the stolen snitch in his trunk did when he left it locked up for too long. Still, the fear of the unknown made the fall scarier still, because his heart was starting to swell in his chest when their lips finally met. It was thrilling and humbling.

In that moment, James Potter realized that he had fallen in love with Lily Evans the very moment he fell onto her lips.