I stood at the portrait, tapping my foot impatiently. It was two minutes until we had to patrol together and he still hadn't shown. I peered down the corridor to the left. I could very faintly make out a figure sprinting towards me. Smiling to myself, I waited for him.

Wheezing heavily, he rushed to past me and the portrait hole to our shared Heads' dorms. Laughing, I called out, "James!" before he could turn into the next corridor.

Walking back to me, he panted out heavily, "Di-did I make it on ti-time?"

He stopped to lean against a wall and catch his breath, while I looked at my watch. "Yes! You actually were this time!" He looked at me in disbelief, so I shoved my watch in his face. He pumped his fist in the air and starting doing a victory dance that consisted of a lot of butt-wiggling and hip-shaking. He was still too out of breath to say anything, so he looked absolutely hilarious, and I burst out laughing. "James, James stop, please!" I was clutching my sides, as they hurt from laughing too much.

He grinned triumphantly in my direction, and bowed to me, extending out a hand. "Well, my darling Lillian, are you ready to proceed with patrols?" He held a straight face for a moment before giggling like a little girl and standing up straight.

I rolled my eyes, but smiled widely. "Yes, Sir James, let us 'proceed.'"

He grinned at me again. "So where do you wanna go first? 1st floor?"

I nodded, "Sure. Astronomy Tower last though."

"Alrighty, Flower."

I grimaced at the nickname, before deciding to ignore it. "So, what were you doing this time that held you up?"

He looked at me sheepishly, "Well, I was out at the Quidditch Pitch, flying, before realizing I missed dinner, so I sprinted inside to go to the kitchens before I realized I had like, two minutes to get up here."

I laughed, typical James. The first patrol we had had together, he had been three minutes late for it because he was out on the Pitch flying and had run right past me when he had reached the hall we had said we'd meet at to patrol. I had decided not to get angry about it because he had apologized and had looked so absolutely ridiculous that I had burst out laughing when he ran past, much like he had just now. I had expected James to be exactly like previous years, asking me out every chance he could get, but he had changed, and I could actually tolerate him now. We had become quite close over the past few months, and many times I had caught myself wishing we could be something more, but he didn't like me anymore, as far as I knew. Coming out of my reverie, I realized James was talking, although not to me.

"15 points from Hufflepuff for being out after curfew." Two Sixth year Hufflepuffs nodded sullenly at him, before running back to their dorms on the 4th floor. James ran a hand through his hair and I had to clench my hands together to keep mine from joining his in his hair. "I mean, Merlin, do they really think they won't get caught?" He shook his head and continued. "It's like, if you're going to snog, do it in a broom closet, you'll get caught if you do it in the middle of a bloody hallway."

"Mmm…. Yeah…." I trailed off, not really knowing what I was agreeing to.

He chuckled at me, "You have no idea what I was talking about, do you?"

"What? Oh, no…. Not really…. Can we go to the kitchens? I want some ice cream." I asked, looking up at him.

His hazel eyes widened at me in shock. "But-but what about patrols?" He asked uncertainly. I knew for a fact that he didn't care about patrols at all, but was just making sure I wasn't off my rocker.

"Oh, who gives a bloody shite about patrols? Now, get the stick out of your arse and let's go get some ice cream." I grinned at him, and grabbed his hand, pulling him down the hallway, ignoring the tingles that came with it.

Whatever answer he was expecting, it obviously wasn't that, because he spun me around and put his hands on my shoulders, pushing me down slightly so I couldn't move. "Lily," he began uncertainly, "do you need to go to the Hospital Wing?"

I giggled at him. "No, silly. Stop worrying about my mental health and let's get some ice cream!" I practically shouted with excitement.

"Okay…." He obviously thought something was wrong with my well-bring, but let me pull him along reluctantly.

When we reached the portrait of the pear and I had tickled it until it giggled and swing open, he finally cracked. "Lily…. You're absolutely sure someone didn't slip some sort of crazy potion into your drink today?"

I rolled my eyes. "James, once again, I'm fine. I'm pretty sure my behavior has been nothing but normal today." He looked at me in disbelief, so I giggled and pulled him through the portrait of the pear.

The house elves who had been working immediately crowded around me. Choruses of "Hullo Ms. Evans, what would you like?" Sounded around us. James was looking at me in shock, obviously surprised by the fact that I came down here often, considering all the elves knew my name.

I giggled, "Guys, I told you, call me Lily! And I'd like some Rocky Road ice cream. James?"

He still had some shock in his eyes but he said, "Uh, I'll take some Banana Split ice cream, thank you."

We went over to sit at the tables in the corner of the kitchen to wait for our ice cream. "So, I take it you come down here regularly?" James said, grinning.

"Oh yes. I'm a regular. I've been coming down here since 2nd year." I responded.

"That's weird. I come down here all the time too, but I've never seen you."

I shrugged as one of the house elves brought over two huge bowls of ice cream. "Here you are Li-Lily and Ja-James." The house elf's high voice stuttered over our names, who I now recognized to be Swanky.

"Thanks, Swanky." I reached over and plucked the bowls from her hands as she scurried off. "Yech, I can't believe you like Banana Split ice cream. Rocky Road is the best." I said, with mock superiority in my voice.

He chuckled and said, "Yeah, Rocky Road isn't that good, but Banana Split is definitely the best."

I stuck my tongue out at him while digging a spoon into my huge pile of ice cream.

Laughing, James and I discussing who he thought would win the Quidditch Cup this year. He said Gryffindor, of course, but said that Ravenclaw had a shot, and so did Slytherin. I glanced at my watch and gasped. "James! It's one in the morning! We should get back to the dorm!"

"Oh, so now it's time for the rules?" He grinned crookedly at me, and I swatted his arm playfully.

"Seriously, let's go." I looked down at my bowl and laughed. "Merlin, I didn't even make a dent in mine!"

He laughed and stood up, sticking out his hand to pull me up. Before he did though, I had an idea. It was time to act on my feelings. Taking the spoon, I took another huge bite and grabbed his hand, pulling his lips down to mine. He tumbled on top of me, frozen for a minute, before he started kissing me back. The ice cream in my mouth was long gone, and I was running out of breath, sp I pulled away, to get a few breaths in and say, "So is Banana Split still the best?"

"Well, I may be a bit biased, but I would have to agree that Rocky Road is the best flavor of all time." He said, rather breathily.

I grinned at him and stood up, pulling him with me. Not letting go of his hand, I turned to the house elves and said, "Thanks for the ice cream guys." They nodded at me, wide-eyed and tried to ask if we wanted anything else. I laughed and said no, promising we'd come back again, before stepping through the portrait hole, James and I still hand-in-hand.

As soon as the portrait closed, I felt James; hand slip out of mine. I turned around in confusion before I realized he was kneeling on the ground. Taking my hand in his, his face twisted up into trying to be serious and trying not to let a huge smile grace his face. "Dear Lillian, would you do the honor of being my girlfriend?" His voice sounded oddly strangled because of his expression.

I couldn't help it, so I burst out laughing. He literally looked like a piece of shite was about to pop out of his arse. Being the nice girl I am, I decided to let him know this. "Oh, Merlin, James, your face looks like you're about to have a piece of shite pop out of your arse." I laughed a little more and wiped my eyes. "But yes, I will be your girlfriend."

He grinned and stood up, crushing me in a hug. His lips, by my ear, whispered, "Rocky Road definitely has some new aspects for me."