DISCALIMER – I DON'T OWN ANYTHING.

How I, Lily Evans, fell in Love…

I was walking down the corridor from the library, just having finished my Charms essay, when it finally hit me. Like a mountain troll smacking me with a Christmas tree.

In precisely 2 hours and 53 minutes, I would be going on a date with James Potter.

A date. With James Potter. After six long and excruciating years of throwing insults, Body Binding curses and Balding Charms at him, last night, I – Lily Evans, threw myself at him.

It all began quite innocently.

I've always loved Fridays. Double Charms followed by Potions and a long weekend ahead to look forward to. Besides, this weekend was the first Hogsmeade weekend of the year.

After Potions that fateful Friday, I walked past the Entrance Hall to the school grounds. Mary and Alice were waiting for me by the Great Lake like they had been every Friday evening for the last five years. Every Friday evening, the three of us got together after class to soak our feet in the lake, eat chocolate frogs (me), talk about how good Frank Longbottom looked in his Quidditch robes (Alice) and come up with highly detailed and complex Quidditch strategies (Mary).

I was about to turn a corner after Greenhouse 3 to take a shortcut to the Great Lake when I spotted a black mop floating in between Greenhouse 4 and 5. While a floating black mop can mean any number of things in a school where all the students were magical, when it is at a height of six feet and a quarter inch, has a gorgeous boy underneath it and also doubles as 'Quidditch hair', it only means one thing.

James Potter was lurking in the alley between Greenhouse 4 and 5.

Now, a year ago if I had been confronted with the same scenario, I would have done one of two things – run like hell from the spot because surely, it could only mean that Potter and his gang had chosen that spot for their latest prank or gone up to him and given him detention for executing said prank.

But, a lot had change in the last three months. The first change appeared in the form of a shiny silver badge that fell out of an envelope into my hands. The badge wasn't unexpected but what was utterly shocking was the contents of the letter that came with it. Albus Dumbledore, the Greatest Wizard of the Century, Headmaster of the best Wizarding School in Britain, Order of Merlin First Class, Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards, Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot would soon be living in St. Mungo's after being declared clinically insane. That could be the only reason why he would pick James Potter to be the next Head Boy. Three minutes after opening the letter, I was done writing my own letter to the esteemed headmaster listing 52 reasons why I thought appointing James Potter as Head Boy was like declaring that Severus Snape had won the title of Mr. Congeniality.

The only reason the letter didn't reach Professor Dumbledore was that my owl, Roxie, wouldn't let me tie the letter to her legs, probably sensing that letter wouldn't be in the best interest of her owner. You now your life has reached bottom when your pet owl is smarter than you.

So I began my seventh and final year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry dreading all the hours I would have to spend with my mortal enemy doing Head Duties, mentally preparing myself for the many pick-up lines that would be coming my way and going over all the hexes I had ever learnt if I wanted to respond to the pick-up lines.

What I wasn't prepared for was the James Potter I found waiting for me in the Prefect's Compartment. The James Potter who would slowly but definitely become, well sort of become my friend in three months.

To most of the other students in school, he was still the same James Potter. He was still the life of every party. He was still acing all his tests. He was still making everyone around him laugh till their sides hurt. He still flew like he was born to be on a broomstick. And he still looked just as good.

Yet they didn't see what I saw. When you spend six years of your life hating someone the way I hated James Potter, you end up noticing small details about them. Details that infuriate you. Details that leave you baffled when they disappear. Everything about the new James Potter baffled me and I noticed the small changes. Like how he didn't ruffle his hair as often as he used to. Like how he didn't play with a snitch all the time to show off anymore. Like how he didn't throw his head back in that reckless manner and curse everyone wearing green and silver robes within a one kilometer radius anymore. Like how he hadn't asked me out since the beginning of seventh year.

I couldn't figure out the reason behind these changes for the life of me but I found myself warming up to him as the weeks passed by. Head duties were fun because we did them while arguing about whether the lead singer of Pink Pixies was actually a man and patrolling was fun because we got ice creams from the kitchen to eat while we walked. And talked. Because James Potter always had a story to tell.

The night we went up to the Astronomy Tower and stopped two fourth years from reaching second base, he told me about the time his grandmother started the Hippogriff dance at his aunt's wedding after eating some objectionable cookies two Cuban friends of the groom gave her. Three guests had to be taken to St. Mungo's because of the mayhem that followed. The night we found Sirius Black in a broom cupboard with a blonde fifth year, he told me about an incident that involved Sirius in a red dress, a 'tame' dragon, chocolate pudding, and a Volvo during a night out in Muggle occupied Paris.

James Potter had changed.

So, that Friday evening, when I saw James Potter lurking in the alley between Greenhouse 4 and 5, I didn't run or hand out any detentions.

I walked up to him and said, "Hey".

XXXXX

My chirpy greeting made him jump about a foot in the air. He turned to look at me with a very surprised and slightly guilty look on his face.

"Lily! What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing, Potter. What have you got in your hand?"

He waved the Daily Prophet he was holding at my face and said,"Suspicious much?"

"I meant your other hand, James."

I was sure of it now. The boy was definitely hiding something.

A staring match ensued. As the look on my face got more and more determined and curious, the look on his face got more and more sheepish and guilty. Finally he cracked.

"Ok, promise me you won't get all 'Head Girl' on me. And don't mention this to Sirius."

A James Potter secret that Sirius Black didn't know about? This was going to be interesting.

"So I read about this thing in Wizteen. Its a plant native to Peru, but I hear Sprout's got a batch somewhere here in Greenhouse 5. If you burn the leaves and inhale the smoke, it makes you..h..umm...happy. " he said in one breath, probably hoping I wouldn't catch any of it.

Tough luck.

"YOU ARE SMOKING A JOINT OUT HERE?"

"Shh...keep your voice down, Lily! I didn't do it. I came out here intending to..to take my mind off things but I changed my mind! It was a stupid idea. I don't know what I was thinking."

"Seriously James, I thought you were past all of this! Stealing a a plant from the greenhouse to smoke something that's probably illegal and risking expulsion or worse for a momentary thrill? I thought you had changed. And you don't have Sirius to blame all of this on. Even he probably wouldn't do something so stupid! And what is Sprout thinking keeping something like that in the school Dumbledore know about it?"

"It wasn't for a thrill, alright? I just needed something to take my mind off things. I told you! Would you just calm down?" he said; now beginning to look agitated.

"Oh yeah? And what are these 'things' you need to get your mind off? Too many third years asking you out? Ravenclaw's Quidditch strategy better than yours? Tell me. What was troubling you so much, that you were compelled to break about a dozen laws?"

"You wouldn't understand anyway. Why bother?" he said, turning to leave.

"Not so fast," I said, grabbing his arm."Try me."

Maybe he saw something in my face that made him trust me, or maybe I just had a really good grip. Whatever it was, he stayed. When he turned to look at me, I couldn't read his face.

"Did you read the Prophet this morning?" he said.

"Don't change the topic, James."

"Will you just hear me out? Did you read the Prophet this morning? More specifically the article about the 'mysterious disappearance' of Charles Harvey?" he said, looking at me more seriously than I ever thought him capable of.

"No. What does that have to do with anything?" I said, starting to get impatient.

"Guess I should start from the beginning then. Both my parents come from old Pureblood families, only difference being that my Mum's family thinks that makes them better than everybody else while my Dad's family couldn't care less. My Mum's an Auror, while my Dad works at the Ministry. They're both pretty high up, so they know things. And so I know things."

"The past few months things have been getting weird, Lily. I see how tensed my parents look but they don't want me to know. There's something out there. Someone actually. And he believes in all this Pureblood nonsense. And he thinks the purebloods should stop sitting around talking about how Muggleborns don't belong in our world and do something about it. They say he's becoming powerful. Gathering followers. Everyday more people are disappearing .They think it's because of him."

"Would you stop using all these pronouns?"I said, trying to keep the fear out of my voice."Who is this guy?"

"I don't know, Lil. Like I said, my parents are trying to protect me or something. I cant get anything out of them. All I get when I ask them is 'Don't you worry about it, son.' It makes me furious."

"What does this have to do with Charles Harvey's disappearance?" I said.

"Charles Harvey was an Auror. He worked with my Mum. He has a kid about our age, George. We used to play together when we were kids while our parents hung out. I just got a letter from him. Doesn't know what to make of his father's disappearance. Heard his Mum talking to my Mum. Apparently they think he's dead. Murdered. They think there's a war coming. He wants to know if I know anything about it."

They silence that followed was heavy. Suddenly, I felt very small.

"James, I.."

"What the hell am I supposed to say to him, Lily? When it just as easily could've been me sending him a letter asking about my Mum. They are in this too deep. And I don't know whether to be proud or terrified about that. "he said, burying his face in his hands.

I took his hand in mine.

"I think you have the right to be both." I said, sounding way more sure of myself than I actually felt.

While we had gone from arguing about strange Peruvian plants to a war that might be ahead of us, night had fallen.

XXXXX

We were silent for a while after that. Each of us lost in our own thoughts. I had forgotten about Mary and Alice, but I suddenly remember the Chocolate Frogs I had carried with me. Now seemed as good a time as any for chocolate.

"Want one?" I asked James, holding out a Chocolate Frog.

"Sure."

I tore off the wrapper and found Albus Dumbledore winking up at me.

"Dumbledore."I said.

"I have about eleven Dumbledore cards." Said James, tearing off the wrapper from his own Chocolate Frog."Ugh, Urik the Oddball again. Seriously, how many of these do they make?"

"No, James, I mean what about Dumbledore? As long as we have Dumbledore we don't really have to worry, do we? He's the greatest wizard of our time. Even Grindelwald didn't dare to enter Britain because he was scared of Dumbledore. And he finally defeated Grindelwald. If he isn't worried then maybe its nothing."

"Of course Dumbledore is worried. He came to my house many times over the summer. Probably to discuss about the disappearances. The Ministry likes to pretend nothing is happening. I think Dumbledore is trying to get people to wake up. I heard them talk about an 'Order'. All summer there have been strangers coming to my house for secret meetings that last for hours together. Sirius and I tried to get in on a couple of them but they wouldn't let us."

"Is that what happened to you over the summer?" I said without thinking.

"What do you mean?" James said, looking puzzled.

"I mean, you've changed over the summer."I said, blushing.

"You mean I'm acting like less of a jerk now?" he said with a smirk. "Toerag, I think, was your preferred word."

"Well yeah."

"I guess it might be the reason I've changed. In school I thought it was just some stupid house rivalry, you know? The Slytherins pick on Muggleborns as a joke and the rest of the school gets back at them. But maybe it's more than that. Maybe its starts here in school. I don't know, suddenly hexing Slytherins doesn't feel like a game anymore."

"It never was a game, James. People got hurt."

"See, I never looked at it that way. People got a few laughs out of it and the ones who get hexed get over it. I thought that was it. You were right all along. There was no difference between me and those Slytherins." he said looking more dejected than before.

"It's not too late to change that, James. Hell, you've changed already."

"There's just more to life than Quidditch and pranks and girls, you know?"

". James..Did I just hear you say there's more to life than Quidditch?" I said, completely shocked. I mean this was the boy who supposedly had a hex-proof, airtight case for his Quidditch magazines up in his room.

"Well, there is. I mean, yeah you do need that stuff to keep you sane and its what makes life fun..but there are more important things. Here at Hogwarts we don't see that. It's wonderful here. We are spending the best years of our lives here. But it's like a cocoon. While we are here we have no idea what's happening out there. Can you believe we'll be out of here in a couple of months? What then?" he said, looking up at the moonlit castle with a look that I usually reserved for my Chocolate Frogs.

"I think I liked the old James better. Yeah, he was annoying as hell but at least he never bummed me out as much."I said grumpily, trying to lighten the mood.

James laughed.

"I can never win with you can I, Lily?"

I shrugged and grabbed another Chocolate Frog.

"To think that up until last year the only thing that scared me about graduation was the thought that I would never see you again. Not that it doesn't scare me now."

Only James Potter could say something like that to a girl and still continue staring at the castle as though nothing had happened.

"Of course, you'll see me again. What makes you think you won't?"I asked, not really sure if I wanted to hear the answer.

"Come on, Lily. You can't stand being around me. I saw the letter you wrote to Dumbledore .I'm shocked you could only come up with 52 reasons why I shouldn't be Head Boy." he said, still refusing to look me in the eye.

"Where on earth did you get that?"I asked, completely shocked.

"You left it with the patrolling schedule you gave to me at the beginning of the year. But, hey, it's ok. Nothing in there I didn't know about already." Said James, trying to sound like it didn't bother him.

"James, I admit I believed every word I wrote while I was writing it. But that's not why I think right now. And I sure as hell don't hate you." I said, desperately hoping he'll believe me. Maybe I should've said something more than 'I don't hate you' but I didn't have the courage to. I always thought the stupid Hat put me in the wrong house. So much for Gryffindor bravery.

"Do you think we'll ever get a second chance, Lily?"

"What do you mean?" He still wasn't looking at me.

"Do you think we'll ever get over all the crap in our past? Start over, you know?"

"You mean become friends?" I asked, knowing that wasn't the answer.

"Yes. And more."

He finally turned to look at me.

"Lily, if there's a war coming and my family is going to be in the middle of it, then that's where I'm going to be. I can't just stand by and watch the world I grew up in fall apart. I'm willing to risk my life for that. Even if that means I'll probably end up at the receiving end of a Killing Curse before I turn thirty, then I'll take it. But when I see that green light rushing towards me, I don't want my last thought to be 'What if I hadn't insulted Snape and driven Lily away in the train compartment back in first year?'That's where it all started, huh? Since then I've thrown away any chance I had with you with both my hands, along with any chance I had of being happy. But I don't want to wonder about what would have happened if I had had the courage to clean up my act and ask you to give me one last chance."

Hazel.

Everyone always said that James Potter has hazel eyes. I always said they were golden. That night they were neither. I think that was the first time I saw him for who he really was. The first time I thought that he actually meant what he was saying.

Something in my brain told me that it was moments like these people wrote songs about. Yet, the world didn't start spinning like the songs claimed nor did I hear violins playing in the background.

Nothing extraordinary happened.

Except that with a blink of an eye, I took a step forward and kissed James Potter.

The first thing I thought of was chocolate. Chocolate frogs, to be more specific. Then I thought about how James smelt of chocolate. And pumpkin juice. After that all I could think about was James. I don't know how long we 'stood' there like that. At first, James pulled back in surprise. But remember my good grip? He didn't need any more encouragement after that.

There are many different kinds of kisses. I mean, you can put a lot of things into a kiss. It could mean anything from 'I wish you weren't moving to India because who knows when we'll be doing this again' to 'I wish you would let me borrow your broomstick'. Or, it could just mean I can't believe we spent six years fighting when we could've been doing this.

Eventually we had to come up for air.

Somehow we found ourselves pressed against the wall of Greenhouse accurately put, James was pressed against the wall of Greenhouse 4, I noted with embarrassment.

James looked anything but embarrassed. His eyes were golden again.

"Does this mean you'll finally go out with me? Tomorrow..Hogsmeade?"

"Yes."

It's funny how a three letter word can change your whole life.

XXXXX

END OF CHAPTER