Disclaimer: JKR is God. I am not.

Challenge: Lily/James, Marauder-era, about Lily and James getting together, using the words cat, potion, song, broom, pizza, jump, growel, sneak, smell, frown. For Kristina. 3 I'm not good at fluff, so this turned into a kind of adventure! Accepting new challenges all the time!

It was with little patience, tenderness or tact that Lily Evans stormed up to a group of boys sitting beside the lake. It was a warm, beautiful day. Everyone else seemed to notice; the grounds were littered with groups of students. It would have cheered even the grumpiest old house-elf right up.

It made Lily furious.

There was absolutely no privacy for what she was about to do. A delicate frown sunk her otherwise pretty features. Contrary to her hopes, James saw her coming. His hand rose half-way to his head in a sweeping motion, but with a small glance at Remus Lupin, he stopped himself.

"All right, Evans?" he called out. The other three looked round. Sirius smirked. Peter's tiny black eyes widened and flitted back and forth between Lily and James. Remus seemed to brace himself, as though for a storm. So did the students nearest them.

Lily stopped in front of James, staring at a spot above his head. "You're taking me for lunch next Hogsmeade weekend," she said in a low voice.

James stared.

"Meet me in the Entrance Hall. And don't you dare try anything funny," she growled.

With a twitch of a red curtain and smell of lavender, she was gone.

"What?" murmured Remus.

"Whoa," whispered Peter.

"Mental, her," said Sirius loftily, returning his attention to the lake. "Good going, though, I guess, Prongs." He clapped James on the back.

"I did it, Mary, you satisfied?" Lily snapped at her best friend. She was back in the empty Gryffindor common room.

A slightly plump girl with thick glasses, Mary Macdonald smiled. She sat at one of the desks in the far corner, surrounded by books and parchment. "Very," she said. "James Potter is absolutely ravishing and I wasn't going to allow you to pass up an opportunity any girl in the castle would jump at."

"He's an arrogant jerk!"

Mary tapped her quill on the tip of her round nose as she scanned her notes. "Not so much anymore, actually. He's been nicer lately." She looked up at Lily, whose expression was stony. "Though you're too busy hating him to notice. Not to worry, you'll be begging him for a second date after Saturday, I promise you."

Lily seethed. "The dare was for one date, Mary, one. I won't have you extorting me for your own sick pleasures."

But Mary had returned to studying and wasn't listening. As Lily stomped off to try and find something to wear for Saturday, she could have sworn she heard Mary humming a wedding song behind her.

If he brings his broom with him, I'll jinx him into a bludger, thought Lily as she walked down the Grand Staircase. She had run through every possible terrible scenario in her head in the past four days. She didn't want to be taken by surprise by anything James could conjure up.

He stood in the Entrance Hall alone. Lily suddenly realized how rarely she ever saw him by himself. His gang always hung around, as though they were one being that couldn't exist without a member of the troupe. James smiled when he saw her and it wasn't his usual, haughty smirk. It was a genuine, I'm-happy-to-see-you smile. It made her uneasy.

Not letting her guard down, she stalked past him. "Let's get this over with," she called over her shoulder and he followed.

They sat in the Three Broomsticks, at opposite sides of a circular booth in a corner. James had insisted on it and Lily reluctantly obliged. Neither one spoke, but sipped their butterbeer in silence. At one point, James had opened his mouth to say something, but blushed and kept quiet. He sat with a complacent smile on his face, appearing untroubled and serene. It was a demeanor very unlike him. On the other hand, Lily knew she looked surly and impatient; a frown was etched on her face and her eyes were continually checking her watch. Other students were glancing over constantly and would slow down if they had to pass James and Lily's table. Lily understood how odd it must have looked; everyone knew Lily hated James.

"They must think I've poisoned you or something," James said after a while.

Lily snorted and let her eyes wander the room. "No potion in existence could make me go out with you," she muttered back without thinking.

James frowned. "Then why are you here?"

Lily avoided his eyes. She didn't have the heart to tell him it had been a dare. Even he didn't deserve to know that. "Where's pizza-face Macnair off to?" she said, half genuinely curious and half eager to change the subject. Luckily for her, James looked round just in time to see a weedy, pimply-faced boy slip out the door. He was looking around nervously, wincing and was gripping his forearm.

"Let's go have a look-see, shall we?" piped James, looking more like his old mischievous self.

And he scooted out of the booth and began winding his way between the tables towards the exist. Without choice, Lily followed. A few people wolf-whistled as she went after James. The soft cat-calls stopped as the door closed behind her. James was standing in the middle of the small road. There weren't many people out. Lily glanced up and down the lane. She saw a trainer disappear around a corner.

"This way," she whispered to James. Together, they jogged down the road to the corner where Macnair had disappeared.

"He was holding his arm," James whispered as they peered down the alley between Zonkos' and a small Inn. "You don't think he's…"

"I don't think. I know," she whispered back. Severus had practically listed to her all the Death Eaters now at Hogwarts – his crowd, his friends. Lily fought back angry thoughts as she began to sneak down the alley. "Are you coming or not?" she hissed, sensign that James hadn't moved from the lane. She could see figures moving in the dark, deep alley, but couldn't hear them. They must have raised a Silencing Charm. As James watched, Lily raised her wand and whispered "Finite Incatatem." Instantly, hushed voices could be heard from beyond the bin. They waited, but couldn't understand what was being said.

"We need to get closer," Lily muttered. "But how…" She suddenly felt James' arms around her. "What in the name of— "

"Shh!" There was a light cloth on top of her, a sheer material she could only just see through. And James was under it, too, crushed next to her so they could both fit. "It's an Invisibility Cloak. So we can get closer."

He took her hand and as quietly as they could, they inched towards the group of boys standing in the back of the alley. They all had their sleeves pushed up, revealing tattooed skulls. It took all Lily's concentration not to gasp. Severus was among them.

"He's calling us, but it isn't wise to leave now," Lucius Malfoy was saying. "The trip will be over soon, and if we are all missing, Dumbledore is sure to suspect."

Though listening hard, Lily was intensely aware of James' body pressed against her from behind. It was an odd sensation, wanting more and less of something at the same time.

"But if we don't go…" said Nott, sounding scared.

"One of us should go," said Severus and Lily's fists found themselves clenched painfully. "And if he truly requires our presence, he can send for the rest. The Dark Lord would never purposefully put us in danger, but he doesn't know where we are now."

"I elect Malfoy to go," said Macnair quickly.

Both Goyle, Mulciber and Crabbe nodded quickly.

"Cowards," hissed Malfoy, but he seemed satisfied with the decision all the same. "Do not wait here. Return to what you were doing and if calls, you will know." With that, he Apparated with a crack.

Lily gasped in surprise. She didn't know Malfoy knew how to Apparate. Suddenly, the group of young Death Eaters pulled out their wands and pointed them at the entrance to the alley.

James' hands grasped her arms and thrust her sideways. Her back hit the wall and James forced himself way too close in order to remain under the cloak and avoid the storm spells. A rainbow of colored sparks and jets of light exploded down the alley behind them. James and Lily stood nose to nose, staring each other in the eyes, hearts pounding. Lily tried her hardest not to breathe. They knew. They would surely find them.

Behind James, Lily could see the boys walking slowly up the alley, heads bowed, shuffling their feet. They were looking for invisible, unconscious bodies on the ground.

"Let's go," came Severus' voice. To Lily, it sounded uncharacteristically cold and low. They trumped away, not speaking.

As the sound of danger faded away, Lily again came to know the details of James' body. He didn't seem to be blinking as he looked at her. Lord, does he smell good…

There was a very tense silence. All she could hear was the blood pounding in her ears. "I think they've gone," she whispered.

"Yeah." His breath ghosted over her face. He was looking at her as though he could never look enough.

And then he was kissing her, gently and with pursed lips. And, however claustrophobic she felt smushed between a wall and a boy, she didn't mind the boy as much as she minded the wall.

They walked into the Entrance Hall twenty minutes later. James had been silent all the way back to the castle. He had apologized after kissing her, looking embarrassed, then relieved that she hadn't cursed him. Lily kept her face expressionless the entire time. She did not want to give him the satisfaction of knowing she had enjoyed it. Although she hadn't kissed him back. She had been too shocked.

He walked her to the stairs. "Meeting Sirius outside," he muttered, staring at his feet.

There was an awkward pause.

"Same time, same place, next Hogsmeade weekend," Lily said with finality.

James' face lit up like a Broadway sign and he lifted his head, but she had already begun her ascent up the stairs.

They walked away from each other, wearing identical smiles.