November 1977

Gryffindor was definitely flattening Slytherin, and James Potter was sure he had played a big part in it. He was scoring goals today like nobody's business. It was raining slightly, but he did not mind, for he could still see the goal hoops perfectly clearly.

There, in the stands, Lily Evans was cheering for him, something she never would have done even one year ago. Sirius and Remus were saying that she liked him back, but how to know for sure?

James was snapped out of his thoughts by one of his teammates tossing the Quaffle to him; he quickly caught it. He could hear Sirius commentating down in the stands.

"Gryffindor in possession, James Potter has the Quaffle, can he make it? He shoots—HE SCORES!"

The entirety of Gryffindor House cheered. James grinned at Lily, back in the stands with the rest of the crowd; she was jumping up and down in excitement. Cheering for him! Then he realized…if he was curious to see if she loved him back by now, there was really only one way to find out…

James sped towards the stand on the broom, flipped himself upside down and—although he was now hanging onto the broom with his knees alone—grabbed Lily's shoulders and kissed her, right there during the middle of the game.

"Ah, here's a new development…Gryffindor Chaser James Potter decides to take some time out for a little snogging…"

James had no time to concentrate on Lily's reaction, or on Sirius's commentary; the Quaffle had come at him again and he seized it under one arm as he flipped himself right-side-up again, grabbing onto the front of the broomstick with his other hand. He waved to Lily, who looked shocked, and shot another goal, just as the rain began to let up. And then…

"GRYFFINDOR SEEKER HAS SEIZED THE GOLDEN SNITCH!" Sirius hollered. "SLYTHERIN IS PULVERIZED, 300-60! GRYFFINDOR WINS!"

Beaming with triumph, James descended to the ground, along with the other thirteen players. Remus and Peter were standing under a big red umbrella, looking shocked out of their minds; Sirius was running down out of the stands to meet them, shaking his wet hair out of his eyes the way a great big shaggy black dog might. But James wasn't focused on the other Marauders right now. He was focused on the beautiful girl running straight at him.

"James!" Lily cried, her shoes splashing through the mud puddles the rain had left.

"Lily," James said calmly, placing one hand on her shoulder. "I have something to ask you."

"What?" Lily raised one eyebrow.

"Will you go out with me?"

There was a long pause for a second, in which hazel met green; then Lily gasped, "Does this answer your question?"

It was the best kiss James had ever received. Kissing Lily wasn't the way he had imagined it to be; it was worlds better. It was as if time had stopped, and they were the only two people on Earth, surrounded by sunshine and rainbows and then—

"Yes," James told her softly as their lips parted. "Yes, it does."

With that, he lifted her up into his arms, bridal-style, and kissed her on the forehead. Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff were all cheering wildly. James looked over at his friends—Sirius was grinning from ear to ear, Peter was looking as shocked as ever, and Remus had burst into tears. James winked at them, Lily saluted like a soldier to the entire stadium, and he carried her back to the castle.