I had always liked James Potter. I mean, who didn't? It was just that every time I was around him, he said something completely idiotic that made me want to yell at him. Not to mention he and his best mate, Sirius Black, pranked me and everyone else at any opportunity available.

It was no secret that James Potter liked me. In fact, I'm pretty sure the whole school knew. I'm also pretty sure almost all the females of the school were jealous of me. They needn't have been, though. I was absolutely positive that James Potter would get over me eventually. I also knew that I would never agree to go out with him anyway.

And so we continued to live our lives; our quiet little lives in the safe-haven of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. James and his cronies, aka the Marauders, continued to randomly prank me and my friends, Alice Prewitt, Kathleen Hall, and Elizabeth West. Among their favorites were turning our hair green, drenching us with water, and at Christmastime, enchanting mistletoe to follow us around. There were also occasional fights with the Slytherins, mostly with Bellatrix Black and Severus Snape. And so life went on, day after day after day. And then one day, before we knew it, it was time to board the Hogwarts Express for our Seventh Year.

I closed my eyes and ran through the barrier between Platforms Nine and Ten and onto Platform 9 ¾. I kept my eyes closed for a moment, just savoring the now familiar sounds and remembering when they weren't so familiar. I remembered the first time I arrived at Platform 9 ¾. I was just a scared little muggle-born, not knowing anything about what the next seven years had in store for me. Little did I know that six years later I would be standing on the exact same platform, top of my year and Head Girl.

I opened my eyes and spotted Kathleen and Elizabeth boarding the train. By the time I pushed my way through the crowds, they had already found a compartment. I didn't have time to go find them; I had to conduct the Prefects' meeting. I headed for the Prefects' compartment. I knew no Prefects would be in there yet, but perhaps the Head Boy would be there. I had been curious for the past two weeks, after receiving my letter and Head Girl badge, as to who the Head Boy would be. I figured it might be Remus Lupin, another of the Marauders, who had been the other Gryffindor prefect for the past two years.

Sure enough, when I got to the compartment, the Head Boy was there. But it wasn't Remus. It was James.

I opened the door of the compartment, and there was James Potter, polishing his Head Boy badge. James Potter. James Potter, Head Boy? How is that possible? What was Dumbledore thinking? How could he make James Potter, the biggest troublemaker in the school, Head Boy? I asked James all these questions, but he only replied with a shrug and, "Your guess is as good as mine, Lily. Do you need help with that trunk?"

"Sure," I replied in a daze. I still couldn't get my head around the fact that James Potter was the Head Boy. It wasn't until he was lifting my trunk above his head that I realized what he was doing. James Potter was actually being sincerely nice to me! And he called me Lily! It was very, very unusual for us to call each other by our first names. It was always Evans and Potter, never Lily and James. Just as I was pondering whether or not to ask him about it, the Prefects started pouring in.

Once they had all settled in, I began the meeting. James helped a lot, surprisingly. Has James Potter changed? I wondered. "Just know that both James and I will be there for whoever needs help," I continued.

"Even if you're in Slytherin," James said.

I rolled my eyes and quickly added, "Or Hufflepuff, or Ravenclaw, or Gryffindor." Okay, maybe he hasn't changed as much as I thought.

He saw me roll my eyes and grinned. That stupid Marauder grin. It used to make me want to yell at him. Strangely enough, it now made me want to kiss him.

.x.

After the meeting, James walked me back to my compartment. He once again put my trunk on the luggage rack for me. My friends noticed. After he left (saying "See you at rounds, Lily."), Alice commented.

"Is it just me, or is James Potter actually being nice today?"

"I noticed that earlier, too," said Kathleen. "Do you think he's really changed, or is it just an act?"

"He was like that all through the meeting, too," I added.

"What meeting?" asked Elizabeth.

"The Prefects' meeting."

"What was James Potter doing at the Prefects' meeting?"

"He's Head Boy."

"Merlin! What was Dumbledore thinking?" asked Kathleen.

"That's what I said!" I exclaimed.

Alice looked thoughtful for a moment and then said, "I guess Dumbledore thinks he's changed, too."

.x.

It was James and my turn to do rounds at three o'clock. Pretty much all we had to do was walk up and down the corridors of the train. No one was misbehaving, so we just talked.

"Why do you call me Lily now instead of Evans?" I asked him.

"I don't know. Would you prefer me to call you Evans?" he replied with a grin.

"No! It's just weird. I'm guessing you expect me to call you James now, too?" I smiled.

James smiled back. "Whatever you want, Lily-flower. It's up to you."

He called me Lily-flower. The nickname that I once hated. Now I didn't mind it. Actually, I'm pretty sure I would still hate it if anyone else called me that. I smiled sweetly. "Potter, it is." James's face fell. I laughed. "Just kidding, James!"

James laughed, too. "I knew you were kidding, of course!"

I rolled my eyes, but couldn't keep the smile off my face. "Sure you did."

"I did!" James said mock-defensively.

I giggled. "Whatever."

"Did I note some sarcasm, there?" James asked, laughing.

"Great observation, Potter," I teased.

.x.

All too soon, our patrol was over. James walked me back to my compartment again.

"Don't forget about the meeting in Dumbledore's office after the feast," I said as we stood outside my compartment.

"I won't," replied James.

"Okay, see you then."

"See you." He hurried down the corridor to his own compartment, and I stood, rooted to the spot, staring after him for a few moments. Finally, I shook myself out of my stupor and went into my compartment. As I walked in, Alice, Kathleen, and Elizabeth were arguing about who James would pick to be on the new Quiddich team (he was the Gryffindor Quiddich captain, too).

All of a sudden, Alice noticed I was there. "Hey, Lily. So what's the deal? Has he really changed?"

"Yes, I think so," I replied, still in my own little world.

.x.

After the feast, I told my friends I would see them later and headed for the doors of the Great Hall. I was surprised (and delighted) to find James waiting for me in the Entrance Hall.

"Hey, Lily-flower. Ready for that meeting?"

"Yes, but you didn't have to wait for me."

James looked sheepish. "I wanted to."

I gave him a reassuring smile. "Well, thanks."

James grinned. "No problem. Let's go."

When we got to Dumbledore's office, the Headmaster was waiting for us. "Sit down, Mr. Potter, Miss Evans." We sat. "First of all, I want to congratulate the both of you. Secondly, I want you to know I will always be here for you. Thirdly, I expect each of you to, in turn, be there for any student that needs you."

He paused, and we both replied, "Yes, sir."

He continued. "Now, I'm sure you realize the rising danger of the man most people call Lord Voldemort." We nodded solemnly. "I expect this year will not be easy for either of you, or anyone else in this school for that matter. I hope you will be there at the side of the professors and myself, in comforting the students whose families have fallen victim of this man." We nodded once again.

"And on a lighter note," the gleam was back in Dumbledore's eye, "I expect you know that you are in charge of planning the Halloween Ball?"

"Yes sir, we are aware of that," I replied.

"Very well, then. Off to bed with you."

James and I walked in silence to the Common Room. Both our minds were on other things. Actually, I'm sure James's mind was on other things, but my mind was on him. He caught me staring at him and smiled. "Beautiful night, isn't it?" he said as we passed a window.

I smiled back. "It's gorgeous."

"Like someone else I know," he replied with his Marauder grin.

Oh, that stupid Marauder grin! I wanted to kiss him so bad! But I mustn't, I reprimanded myself sternly. Instead I just smiled back and said the password to open the Gryffindor portrait hole. James climbed in first and then turned around and offered me a hand. I took it and stepped through the portrait hole. I forgot I was holding his hand until we got to the bottom of the girls' staircase. Then I realized and quickly dropped it. James smiled and walked over to the boys' staircase.

When he was half-way up the stairs, I called, "Good-night, James."

He turned around and gave me one last smile. "'Night, Lily-flower."

.x.

As Head Boy and Girl, James and I had to patrol the corridors from nine to eleven every night. Remembering how fun it was to talk with James on our train patrol, I was actually looking forward to these night-time patrols.

I came down the stairs of the girls' dormitory at quarter-til nine the next night, expecting to have to wait for James. To my surprise however, he was already in the common room.

"Hello, James."

"Hi, Lily, ready to go?"

"Already? We don't have to start patrolling until nine."

"I know, but I have to show you something first."

I was slightly confused. "Okay."

James took my hand and led me out of the common room and into the nearest empty classroom. I noticed he had an old piece of parchment in his hand. I was just about to ask him about it when he started talking.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

"James-" I started to say, even more confused than before.

"Shh," he interrupted. "Look."

He thrust the piece of parchment into my hand. It looked like a map of Hogwarts. There were small dots here and there. Every dot had a name written by it. I noticed the words 'Severus Snape' under a dot that was moving back and forth as if pacing.

"Is this really-" I started.

"A map of Hogwarts? Yes."

I pointed at the 'Severus Snape' dot. "And is this really-"

"Snape pacing in the Slytherin dormitories? Yep, sure is."

I was impressed. "Where did you get this map?"

"Oh, the guys and I made it."

"You made this map!" I asked in awe.

"Yep. This is The Marauders' Map." James said proudly.

"The Marauders' Map? Catchy name."

"Thanks."

I was still confused, however. "But why are you showing this to me now? Do the other Marauders know that you're showing me?"

"Yes, they gave me permission. And I'm showing you now because it'll make our patrolling loads easier. We can see anyone that's out wandering around on this map. We can catch people that are out of bed without even lifting a finger!"

"That's brilliant!"

"Thanks."

"So is anyone wandering around right now?"

"Umm…" James looked over the map quickly. "Nope."

"Well, do you want to go walk around anyway, just for the fun of it?"

"You mean like we did on the train yesterday?"

I nodded.

"Sure, that'd be fun."

.x.

That's actually what we did during most of our patrols over the next few months. The Marauders' Map made it so much easier. All we had to do was check that no one else was out of bed every once in awhile. The rest of the time, we just wandered through the halls, talking about random things that usually led to us remembering one of the awful things James had done to me over the years.

One day, the subject of why-James-liked-me/why-I-hated-James came up.

"And remember on Christmas Day of our fifth year, when you enchanted all the mistletoe in the castle to trap people under it, and then you followed me around all day until we got trapped under one?"

James chuckled and finished the story for me. "And I said, 'Haha, Evans, now you have to kiss me!' And then you said, 'No way am I kissing you, Potter! I'd rather be stuck here forever!'"

I giggled. "Thank Merlin the charm wore off at midnight, or we would've still been stuck under there!"

"Hmm, stuck under mistletoe with Lily Evans for the rest of my life…doesn't sound so bad, actually."

I wanted to say we actually wouldn't still be stuck under there because I would've kissed him by now, but instead I just said, "James, why do you like me so much?"

James looked kind of taken aback by my question. He thought for a moment, and then said, "Because you know who you are. You're Lily Evans, and you won't let anyone push you around or tell you what to do. You know what's expected of you from every professor, you get your homework done, you tutor younger students, and you're just a nice person all around. You're the prettiest, smartest, and kindest witch in the school and-" he smirked "-you like Quiddich." Then he became serious again. "What about you? Why do you hate me so much?"

I was surprised that he still thought I hated him. "I don't hate you!"

"Okay then, why did you hate me?"

"James, I never hated you."

James snorted. "Whatever, Lily."

"I didn't hate you, I just thought you were the most immature and arrogant prat I had ever met. You picked fights with the Slytherins at every opportunity available, you pulled horrible pranks on innocent people, not to mention my friends and me, and you lost no chances of embarrassing me by asking me out in front of the whole school. Not to mention, regardless of all the detentions you got, you were still almost top of the year. It just wasn't fair."

"And yet you don't hate me now. Why is that?"

"James, you have no idea how much you've changed. You're Head Boy, I haven't seen you fight with Snape or Bellatrix yet, you haven't pulled any life-threatening pranks on anyone, you haven't turned my friends' hair green, and you haven't asked me out since last year. You're so much more mature and no where near as arro- okay, scratch that, you're as arrogant as you've ever been, but maybe I just don't mind it as much anymore."

James smiled. "I'm glad you don't think I'm an immature prat anymore."

I smiled back. "You know what, James? So am I."

.x.

Another night, James asked me what I wanted to do with my life.

"I don't know," I answered. "I suppose I want what every girl does. You know, get married, have kids, the works. I would like to work at the Ministry, or as an Auror or something, but I suppose I wouldn't mind just being a stay-at-home mum. What about you?"

"I definitely want to do something in the fight against Voldemort. I'll probably end up being an Auror. But I want to get married and have kids, too."

I laughed. "I can see them now, a bunch of kids plagued with your stupid hair!"

James laughed too. "I can see your kids, too. Red hair and a red-hot temper, just like their mum."

I giggled. I seemed to do that a lot around James those days. "It's funny, really, how we became friends all of a sudden. If you would have said that to me a couple years ago I would have slapped you."

James chuckled. "I noticed."

.x.

Before we knew it, September was a thing of the past. One day, I decided to talk to James about the Halloween Ball.

"You know, the Halloween Ball is in less than a month. We really need to figure out what we're doing. We have to plan the music, the decorations, the food, and all that stuff."

"You're right. Let's start right now."

"Right now? But I don't have any parchment or anything to write with or anything."

"Lily? Are you a witch or not?"

I blushed. "Oh, right." I conjured a piece of parchment and a quill.

James laughed. "I never thought I'd see the day that Lily Evans forgot she was a witch."

"Ha-ha, very funny," I grumbled. "Okay, so here's what I think we should do for the food…"

We planned almost the entire dance that night, everything except the decorations, which we decided we would do on Halloween afternoon. It was a Hogsmeade weekend, so we figured we would each just come back a little early and decorate.

By the time we had finished planning, our patrol was almost over. We checked the map one more time and then headed back to the common room. As we reached the stairs I quickly said, "Good-night, James," like I did every night.

James's answer changed on a day to day basis. When I was half-way up the stairs, James called, "Sweet dreams, Lily-flower."

.x.

One night about two weeks before the Ball, James and I were once again talking about all the annoying stuff James had done to me over the years.

"And I always give you flowers on Valentine's Day, even though you always either sell them to first years or throw them out the window," James said.

"I kept them last year."

James looked really surprised. "You did?"

"Yep. In January was that whole thing with Snape finding out about Remus, and I thought how you yelled at Sirius even though he's your best mate was really awesome. And it was pretty brave of you to risk your life to save Snape's since he's your enemy and all. So I decided to keep your dumb flowers for one year," I rolled my eyes. Then I smiled. "Besides, they were my favorites, lilies."

"So after all these years, I finally figured out what your favorite flowers are, huh?"

"Yeah, you'd think you would've guessed it before now; it seems like the obvious choice since it's my name and all."

He smiled. "Yeah, well, that seemed too easy. So," he said with a teasing grin, "you kept my flowers, you think I'm awesome and brave, and you're actually talking to me this year. Could Lily Evans actually be starting to like me?"

"No! Just because of all that doesn't mean I like you!" But I was blushing as I said it and I knew it. To this day, I still don't know if James caught on to this or not, but the next thing he said suggests he did.

All traces of a grin were gone. "Look Lily, I know we haven't really been best of friends in the past, mostly because of what an 'immature and arrogant prat' I was, but this year, I think we've actually learned to tolerate each other and maybe even become friends. I'll understand if you say no, and I'll probably never ask you again after this, but Lily, I would really love it if you would go to Hogsmeade and to the Halloween Ball with me next weekend." He forced a grin, the same Marauder grin that had made me want to kiss him so often that year.

This time I couldn't control myself. Before I knew it, my lips were on his. I put everything I had been feeling for the past month and a half into that kiss. All the confusion, all the happiness, and all the love. Because it was true. James Potter had changed. James Potter had changed, and it was then that I realized I had ceased to just like him. It was then that I realized I had fallen in love. I smiled into the kiss.

When we finally broke apart, James grinned again. "If that wasn't a yes, I don't know what is."

"James," I said.

"Yeah, Lily?"

"That was a yes."

.x.

When we got back to the common room, we stayed up for awhile and just talked in front of the fire. When the lack-of-sleep finally caught up to us and we both decided to go to bed, I said, "Good-night, James," like I usually did.

James usually replied when I was half-way up the stairs. Tonight was no different. "Good-night, my Lily-flower."

Usually Alice waited up for me after patrols. I totally didn't expect her to that night, though. But there she was, still awake, even though it was after two o'clock in the morning.

"Where have you been?" she asked, sounding almost reproving. Then she noticed the faraway look in my eyes, and the silly smile on my face. Her eyes widened. "Lily-" she started to say, but I cut her off.

"Alice, I'm going to the Halloween Ball with James Potter."

She shrieked. "I knew you would get together eventually! Lily, that's great!"

"Shh!" I said, knowing she had probably woken up half of the girls in Gryffindor Tower. Needless to say, Elizabeth and Kathleen were now awake.

"Wha…What's going on?" murmured Elizabeth sleepily.

"Lily is dating James Potter!" yelled Alice, forgetting once again to keep her voice down.

"Alice, if you don't be quieter, I'm going to be forced to give you detention," I said in my Prefect-ist voice. "Besides," I said in a dreamy voice, "I'm not dating him; I'm just going to Hogsmeade with him one time."

"You said you were going to the Ball with him!" said Alice, slightly confusedly.

"Oh," I said with a blush, "yeah, well, we're actually going to both together."

"So I bet James was happy," said Kathleen. As if on cue, we heard yelling from the boys' side of the tower.

"So am I," I said with a smile.

.x.

The next two weeks were full of bliss. I was happier than I had been in a long time. My guess is James was too. Our nightly patrols were still the highlight of my day, even more so now. We still talked about everything under the sun.

Before we knew it, it was Halloween. That morning at breakfast, I could tell James was very nervous, so I went over and sat next to him. "Nervous?" I asked.

"What if something goes wrong? What if it's a complete disaster? What if we find out we really hate each other? What if-"

"James."

He just kept on rambling.

"James!"

No luck.

"James!"

"Yes, Lily?"

"Knowing us, something probably will go wrong, and it probably will turn out to be a complete disaster, but none of that matters, because I'll be with you. Now come on, let's go."

We checked out with Filch, and started on the half-hour walk to Hogsmeade. We were silent for awhile, but finally James struck up a conversation.

"How long have you liked me?"

"Who said I like you?" I said, teasingly.

James snorted. "I wouldn't think you would kiss someone like that if you didn't like them."

"Like what?" I said.

James smirked. "Like this." He leaned in and kissed me.

I smiled. "Oh, I see your point."

"You still didn't answer my question."

"What question?" I asked innocently.

"How long have you liked me?"

"Oh, that question. Er…I don't know. A long time. Probably as long as you've liked me."

James looked stunned. "What? What are you talking about? You hated me!"

I rolled my eyes. "For the last time, I did not hate you! I actually liked you, but you always screwed that up with your fat, arrogant head."

"Hey!"

"Well, it's true! But then this year, you were so nice to me, and I was confused. I wondered if you had really changed, or if you were just acting. But then when you asked me out, I realized you really had changed." I sighed contentedly. "I'm so happy, James."

James took my hand. "So am I, Lily, so am I." And we walked the rest of the way to Hogsmeade, two happy people, holding hands and in love.

.x.

"What are you doing here, Padfoot?" I heard James hiss. I looked around, but couldn't see anyone.

"Is there something the matter?" I asked. So far our date had been perfect; we had gone to a few shops I wanted to go to and right then we were having a butterbeer in The Three Broomsticks. After that, James was going to take me to his favorite shops, Zonko's and Honeydukes. Then we were going to walk back to the school early to set up for the Ball.

"No, nothing," James said innocently.

I gasped as a hand suddenly popped out of nowhere. The rest of Sirius Black followed. "How did you do that?" I breathed.

"Invisibility cloak," said Sirius.

"You have one of those?" I asked.

"No, it's James's."

"You have one of those?" I asked again, now directing the question at James.

He nodded. "My dad gave it to me, like his dad gave it to him and I will give it to our--I mean my--son."

I raised my eyebrows, but decided not to say anything about the 'our son' comment, since James was already blushing.

"So anyway," James said, trying to change the subject, "why are you here, Padfoot?"

"Just thought I'd check up on you," he said. "Wouldn't want you to be snogging on your first date or something." He smirked at the thought, seeming to say 'like that would ever happen'. Then he caught sight of Madame Rosmerta. "Hey, Rosie, can I get a butterbeer?"

While Sirius's back was turned I caught James's eye. He smiled, then mouthed, "Let's show him, huh?"

I gave a slight nod of my head. Right as Sirius turned back around towards us, I leaned in and gave James a kiss.

Sirius's eyes widened. "Well, I told Remus and Peter I would meet them at Zonko's this afternoon," he said hurriedly. "I'd better go. Guessing you're not coming, Prongsie? We're getting stuff for the prank tonight."

"I'm bringing Lily there later. I guess I'll see you then."

James and I laughed as Sirius scurried off, obviously grossed out by our kiss.

After we finished our butterbeers, we decided to go to Honeydukes before meeting up with the other Marauders at Zonko's.

I love Honeydukes. It is one of my favorite shops in Hogsmeade, right after Scrivenshaft's. All those sweets always make my mouth water. I make it a priority to visit there every time I'm in Hogsmeade, even though every time, Elizabeth protests because she's allergic to chocolate and it's torturous for her to be around that much without being able to eat it.

Today, the trip was extra-special because I was there with James. He bought me a bunch of chocolate frogs, my favorite wizard sweet.

On the way to Zonko's, I asked James what prank they were going to pull that night. He shrugged, and answered in a mysterious voice, "Guess you'll just have to wait and see, my Lily-flower."

I sighed. "So a girl can't even be in on one of the infamous Marauder pranks even if she is dating one of the Marauders himself?"

James raised his eyebrows. "Are we dating, Lily?"

I blushed. "I don't know…are we?"

"Um…I suppose to be 'dating' you would've had to have gone on more than one date, or at least agree to go on a second, so er…Lily, will you go on another date with me sometime? Urm…how about next Saturday night? I'll take you up on my broomstick."

I giggled. "You sure remedied that problem. Yes, of course I'll go on another date with you; flying next Saturday sounds great."

"There, we're dating," said James, triumphantly. "And as for your question, we'll let you in on the next prank, I promise."

By then, we had arrived at Zonko's. The door shut behind us with a jingle. Sirius appeared, holding what resembled a dirty sock. "Look, Prongs! This'll be perfect for the prank!"

I rolled my eyes. "I don't even want to know!" After awhile, I got bored with all the secret planning, so I wandered off by myself. I found Remus in one of the back aisles, looking at an article in a pranking magazine, blaring the headline: The Newest Technology in Pranking: Drive Your Friends Batty by Turning Their Belongings into Port-keys!

"Hi, Remus," I said with a smile.

"Hi, Lily. What are you doing here; shouldn't you be with James? Speaking of which, how's your date so far?"

"Wonderful. Well, at least it was until we got here and James and Sirius started planning their huge prank for tonight. Why aren't you helping them, anyway?"

Remus shrugged. "It's their job to buy all the stuff we need; it's my job to figure out all the charms."

"What about Peter?"

"We test everything on him."

"Remus!" I said, half-reprovingly, half-amused. Okay, maybe more like three-quarters amused.

"So, what are you going as tonight?" asked Remus.

"Oh no, I haven't thought about it yet!" I said with a groan. With all the excitement of the past fortnight, I had completely forgotten that although the students had the option of wearing costumes or not for the ball, James and I had decided to. "Remus, I have to go find James. See you later, okay?"

"Okay. Good luck with your costume!" I heard Remus call as I ran to the front of the shop in search of my date.

He and Sirius were still discussing the details of their huge prank. "James, come on, we have to go get our costumes for the ball!" I grabbed his arm and drug him out of the shop and down the street to Gladrags.

"Er…Lily?" James said.

"What?" I answered rather absentmindedly, my eyes having just landed on the most beautiful dress I had ever seen.

"Er…what exactly are we going as?"

"Don't worry. I've just been struck with an idea."

.x.

"That dress is so gorgeous, Lily!" Elizabeth said as I looked myself over anxiously in the mirror.

"What are you going as, again?" asked Kathleen, coming in from the bathroom where she had been carefully applying her makeup.

"I'm a Muggle princess, and James is my prince." I had on the beautiful dress I had seen in Gladrag's earlier that day. It was a pretty green color that matched my eyes. It was strapless and tight-fitting until my waist, where it gradually fell into a bell-shaped skirt. There were sparkles all down the bodice, and I wore a matching sparkly tiara in my freshly-curled hair.

"That's so romantic!" said Alice. "You guys are the perfect couple!"

"Too bad it took you so long to notice it," mumbled Kathleen.

"Hey, I heard that!" I exclaimed. "I'm ready to go, what about you guys?"

"I'm not!" exclaimed Elizabeth.

"Neither am I," said Kathleen.

"I am," said Alice. "I'll go out there with you."

At the top of the stairs, I pushed Alice forward. "You go first."

She quickly walked down the stairs and joined her boyfriend, Frank, in the common room.

As I started down the stairs, I noticed James and Sirius playing exploding snap in the corner. James was absolutely stunning in a Muggle tux. Sirius saw me first and whistled, then punched James in the arm. He looked up fast, and upon seeing me, his jaw dropped open. I walked over to them. "Lily, you look…you look…beautiful," James stuttered.

I smiled. "Thanks. Ready to go down there?"

"Sure am, Princess Lily-flower." He offered his arm, and I took it, giggling, as we stepped out of the portrait hole and walked down to the Great Hall.

.x.

"May I have this dance, Princess Lily?"

"You certainly may, Prince James."

As we danced across the Great Hall, I caught Dumbledore's eye. He was dancing with McGonagall, and gave me a small, mischievous smile over her shoulder. I smiled back, wondering, not for the first time, if he made the two of us Heads for a reason.

.x.

"James," I whispered. It was the last dance of the night, and James and I were each lost in thought, gazing at the ceiling of the Great Hall, starry as the sky outside. Somewhere near the big-dipper, there were stars that spelled out James and Lily Forever, a product of one of a series of pranks the Marauders had pulled earlier that evening. (Though I still don't know where the dirty sock came in.)

"What, my Lily-flower?"

I smiled shyly. "I love you."

James's breath tickled my ear as he whispered back, "I love you, too, my Lily, and I always will."

.x.

James and I were married two years after we graduated from Hogwarts.

Because of the threat of a Death-eater attack, it was a simple ceremony, with only Alice as the maid-of-honor, Sirius as the best man, and a select few in attendance. Still, to me it was gorgeous.

.x.

One night about six months after we got married, James got home from work a little late. As he walked in the kitchen, he noticed my pale face. "Lily, what's wrong?" he asked worriedly.

I took a deep breath, wondering how he would take this. "I…I…James…I'm pregnant."

He let out a whoop of joy and hugged me hard. "Ow, James, you're squishing me!" I gasped out.

"Sorry, Lily-flower. Honey, this is wonderful news! What are we going to name him?" He gazed at my stomach affectionately.

"Him? What makes you so sure it's a 'him'?"

"Don't listen to Mummy, she doesn't know what she's talking about. Of course you're a 'him'; you have to be so Uncle Sirius and I can teach you how to play Quiddich and how to pull the best pranks!" James said, now directing his dialogue at my belly.

"My child will not be a prat like you, James Potter!"

He flashed me his Marauder grin. "Maybe being a prat isn't such a bad thing, Mummy. After all, I got Miss Goody-Two-Shoes Evans to fall in love with me."

I rolled my eyes and looked down at my stomach. "I hope you don't get your father's grin, Baby, or we'll have to beat the girls off you with a stick."

.x.

"And then eight and a half months later, I had you." Lily Potter smiled down at her eight-month-old baby boy, who had long since fallen asleep during her bedtime story. She leaned down and gave her son a kiss on the forehead. "Harry honey, we're going through hard times right now. We have a lot of people trying their best to protect you, but if something should happen to us, I want you to always remember that your father and I love you more than anything else in the world. Never underestimate the power of love, my Harry."

By the time she was through, Lily had silent tears running down her face. She didn't know what was going to happen in the future. She didn't know if she would live until she was one hundred, or if she would even live until tomorrow, but she didn't want to think about it right now. All she wanted to do was cuddle up next to James and dream that things were the way they used to be; dream that they had just shared their first kiss and still had all of forever to spend together; dream that they were still innocent children, protected by Hogwarts.

Lily didn't have to go far to find her husband. James was standing right outside the door to the nursery. Lily quickly wiped her eyes and squeaked, "Have you been standing here the whole time?"

James just smiled and said, "Lily, you're a wonderful mother. Everything's going to be okay. And no matter what happens, always remember how much I love you."

Lily sighed and laid her head on James's shoulder. "I love you too, James. More than I can say." Lily leaned up and kissed James hard on the lips, and for just a second, as James deepened the kiss, she was transported to happier places.

…

He saw me roll my eyes and grinned. That stupid Marauder grin. It used to make me want to yell at him. Strangely enough, it now made me want to kiss him.

…

"Beautiful night, isn't it?" he said as we passed a window.

I smiled back. "It's gorgeous."

"Like someone else I know," he replied with his Marauder grin.

Oh, that stupid Marauder grin! I wanted to kiss him so bad! But I mustn't, I reprimanded myself sternly.

…

I laughed. "I can see them now, a bunch of kids plagued with your stupid hair!"

James laughed too. "I can see your kids, too. Red hair and a red-hot temper, just like their mum."

I giggled. I seemed to do that a lot around James those days.

…

"And I always give you flowers on Valentine's Day, even though you always either sell them to first years or throw them out the window," James said.

"I kept them last year."

…

So," he said with a teasing grin, "you kept my flowers, you think I'm awesome and brave, and you're actually talking to me this year. Could Lily Evans actually be starting to like me?"

"No! Just because of all that doesn't mean I like you!" But I was blushing as I said it and I knew it.

…

He forced a grin, the same Marauder grin that had made me want to kiss him so often that year.

This time I couldn't control myself. Before I knew it, my lips were on his.

…

"Where have you been?" she asked, sounding almost reproving. Then she noticed the faraway look in my eyes, and the silly smile on my face. Her eyes widened. "Lily-" she started to say, but I cut her off.

"Alice, I'm going to the Halloween Ball with James Potter."

…

"How long have you liked me?"

"Who said I like you?" I said, teasingly.

James snorted. "I wouldn't think you would kiss someone like that if you didn't like them."

"Like what?" I said.

James smirked. "Like this." He leaned in and kissed me.

I smiled. "Oh, I see your point."

…

While Sirius's back was turned I caught James's eye. He smiled, then mouthed, "Let's show him, huh?"

I gave a slight nod of my head. Right as Sirius turned back around towards us, I leaned in and gave James a kiss.

James and I laughed as Sirius scurried off, obviously grossed out by our kiss.

…

"I'm a Muggle princess, and James is my prince."

"That's so romantic!" said Alice. "You guys are the perfect couple!"

"Too bad it took you so long to notice it," mumbled Kathleen.

"Hey, I heard that!" I exclaimed.

…

"James," I whispered.

"What, my Lily-flower?"

I smiled shyly. "I love you."

James's breath tickled my ear as he whispered back, "I love you, too, my Lily, and I always will."

.x.

Thanks for reading!

Reviews are welcome…(hint hint ;))