A/N: Anything you recognize, I don't own it. This is my first James and Lily fic, so enjoy and read and review please!

Chapter 1

"MUDBLOOD!" The accursed word still haunted Lily Evans in her sleep now, a full two years after Severus Snape had spat them at her. She wondered why that word bothered her so much now, seeing as it barely touched a nerve before. She supposed it was due to the fact that it had been thrown at her by someone she had, up to that point, considered her best friend. She was wrong. She seemed to be wrong a lot lately.

First off, she was wrong about Snape. He was not her friend, let alone her best friend. If he had been, he never would've thrown such dirty word at her.

Next, she was wrong about who Head Boy would be. She was ecstatic but not completely surprised when she was informed that she had been made Head Girl, but she had expected Remus Lupin to become Head Boy. Perhaps even that perky Ravenclaw prefect was understandable. But James Potter? She figured Dumbledore must've gone off his rocker, but James proved her wrong. There's another one for the books.

She had been wrong about Potter. James had been an arrogant, bullying toerag with an ego the size of Asia, but over the summer he had changed. He was still himself, but he stopped hexing people for the fun of it. He only hexed people who really deserved it, Severus usually being among them, but Lily didn't mind that too much. He stopped showing off and bragging about everything possible. He was sweet. He stopped asking her out and instead, they became friends.

Her final error? She had said numerous times that she would rather date the giant squid than James. She had unfailingly rejected him every time he asked her out, saying she could never like him. She had told him that she hated him. Somewhere alone the thin line between love and hate, she must've tripped, she reasoned. She must've tripped and that's why she was now madly in love with James Potter.

She woke from her dream, still haunted by Snape's words, drenched in a cold sweat, gasping for breath. She glanced at the clock. It was quarter 'til one in the morning. She knew she'd never be able to fall asleep now. She threw back the covers and stumbled sleepily out her large bed. Being Head Girl did have its perks. She quietly crept down to the Heads' common room, a fire no long roaring in the hearth. She sat down on the cold floor, drawing her knees into her chest. She shivered and realized how stupid she had been not to bring down a cloak- it was the first Friday night in December, of course it'd be cold down here! She stood, ready to return to her dorm to grab a cloak when a voice said, "Cold?"

She turned around to find herself face to face with James Potter. Even in the darkness the sight of him made her heart do a back flip, nervous butterflies erupting in her stomach and multiplying by the second. "N-no, I'm p-perfectly fine," she said sarcastically, her teeth chattering.

"Figured as much," he said cheerfully, handing her a worn out cloak. She smiled gratefully, wrapping it around her shivering body as he sat next to her on the stone floor.

He was wearing nothing but black boxers and a thin white shirt. "Aren't you cold?" she asked, cocking her head to the side.

"No," he shook his head, his black hair flopping everywhere, looking messier in sleep than it did in the day, if at all possible.

"Immune to it, are you?" she teased, a grin playing on her lips.

"Well, yeah," he said a bit sheepishly, "but only if I'm with you." She was grateful for the darkness in that instant, thankful that he couldn't see her blushing furiously at his words. "Look, Lily- I know you don't want to go out with me; you've told me a thousand times. So I won't ask you again, being friends is enough for me. Good night, Lil." She silently cursed her tongue, which at this time, seemed incapably of aiding her in uttering a coherent word as he got up and left, leaving her to her thoughts.

"You are impossible," Alice said, watching her best friend Lily stab a piece of sausage viciously with her fork. "He asks you out and chases after you for four full years and you turn him down, claiming to hate him. Now he stops and you fall madly in love with him and you can't even ask him out. Honestly, Lil- what's wrong with you?"

"I dunno, Alice," she moped, burying her head in her hands.

"Um," Lily heard a voice say, "what's wrong with her?" It was Sirius, James' best mate. Since she and James had become friends, she had grown quite attached to all four Marauders, despite their… er, faults.

"Oh, nothing," Alice told him airily. She lowered her voice to a whisper, just loud enough so that Lily could hear, and added, "I think she had diarrhea this morning- not pretty."

Lily jumped two feet out of her seat and yelped, "Alice! Don't tell him that! He might tell J-" She stopped suddenly, blushing furiously yet again.

Sirius chuckled at her. Lily had broken down and admitted her love for James nearly a week ago after he threatened to set her up with Peter. She loved Peter to death like a little brother, but date him? The mere thought made her shudder. "Don't worry, Silly Lilly- I won't tell dear old James about your… er, intestinal problems," he said.

"You don't need to tell me that, Sirius," Lily sighed. "I didn't have diarrhea; she just wanted me to admit that I'm upset because last night, I was presented with another perfectly good opportunity to ask him out and-"

"And you failed miserably?" Sirius grinned. "Ah, Silly Lilly… whatever shall we do with you?

"Kill me," she pleaded. "Please. It's better than this."

"Don't say that, Lily," said a voice from behind her. James. "I know being a Head is stressful, but it shouldn't push you to suicidal tendencies… or turning Sirius towards homicidal tendencies," he teased.

"Hey!" Sirius protested. "I was already there!"

"Do I even have to tell you what's wrong with that sentence?" Alice questioned, cocking a blonde eyebrow at him.

"No, James, I wasn't talking about that," she said, her cheeks turning a deep shade of red.

"So what were you talking about then, eh?" James asked, sitting next to her and starting to pile food onto his plate.

"Nothing, I was just kidding," she said. She checked her schedule and realized what the date was. "Is it a full moon tonight?" she murmured under her breath.

"Yeah," Sirius replied quietly. "Don't look for us tonight; we'll be out near the Shrieking Shack, as per usual."

"Where's dear old Remus?" Alice questioned.

"Hospital wing," James grunted. "Got to feeling sickly this morning; not unusual. That happens a lot when the full moon gets near."

"Is he okay?" Lily asked, concerned, her green eyes darkening with worry.

"Yeah, I'm sure he's fine," Sirius replied. "Come on, we better get to our detention, James, or McGonagall will have a cow."

"Hell, maybe she'll even have the whole barn," James added, grinning.

Lily woke around quarter 'til midnight, again haunted by her dream. This time, however, James was out on the grounds, keeping Remus in check, leaving her alone in the Heads' common room, her head swimming with terrible thoughts. Severus called her a Mudblood after years of friendship- something she never expected to happen. When she thought about it, she supposed she should've seen it coming. He called every Muggle-born a Mudblood- the only reason he hadn't called her that before was because they were "friends". She snorted. Friends my ass, she thought.

They could no longer be friends. Their friendship was over because of her parentage. How many times would that get in the way of a relationship? A horrible thought suddenly struck her. What if James can't love me because I'm Muggle-born? She knew it wasn't true; he wasn't that kind of person. But her doubts got the better of her as the first tears of many spilled from her emerald green eyes.

She heard someone enter the common room. James. She attempted to stop crying, so he wouldn't hear her and would go straight up to bed, but she failed miserably. "Lily?" he said, his hazel eyes full of concern. She didn't say anything; she merely sniffed in response. "Lily," he repeated, sitting down next to her, "what's wrong?"

She, again, said nothing. She just turned and burying her face in his chest, tears pouring out of her eyes at an alarming rate. He seemed shocked at first, but then he wrapped his arms around her- not in a forward way, but in a comforting way. "Shhh," he murmured soothingly, gently stroking her red hair. "Tell me what's wrong, Lils."

"I h-had a b-bad d-dream," she spluttered, looking up at him.

"Come on, Lils. How bad can it be? Were you dating me in it?" he joked, trying to make her feel better. But his comment about dating him made her cry even harder and she buried her face in his chest again. "Sorry, Lils, I was just trying to make you feel better."

"D-don't s-say that," she said into his shirt.

"Okay, okay," he said softly. "What was the dream?"

"D-do you remember when you were hexing Snape in fifth year that one time and I tried to stop you?" she asked, her crying a bit more under control now.

"Lils," he said, grinning down at her a bit, "that happened about fifty times that year. Anything about that time in particular?"

"The time when Snape called me a… a Mud-" Lily stammered, but James cut her off, his face darkened with anger, his whole body tensed.

"Don't say that word," he said, bitterness and anger in his usually warm and friendly voice.

"You know he and I were… for lack of a better word, friends before that," she said.

"Yeah," he sighed heavily. "Is that why it bothers you so much? Because if he's the reason you're crying, I can hex him so badly that he'll go backwards."

She stifled a laugh. "No, James, that's okay. I wouldn't want you to get in any trouble because of me," she said. "There's more, though."

"Spill," he said, softly, his usual demeanor back.

"I was w-worried that y-you wouldn't like me," she admitted, looking down at the floor sheepishly.

"What?" he gasped. "Because you're Muggle-born? Lils, I'm not that kind of guy."

"I know that," she said. "My doubts just got the better of me."

"Lily," he said softly, "is that why you were crying? Because of me?" She looked into his hazel eyes, which were sparkling with tears.

She shook her head furiously. "I was afraid because… because I thought you didn't love me anymore," she said, spitting out her deepest fear before her mind could stop her.

"Wha?" he said, his beautiful hazel eyes going wide and his jaw dropping. "I thought… I thought I was-

"An arrogant, bullying toerag?" she suggested. He nodded. "You've changed, James. I've noticed."

"What are you trying to say here, Lils?" he asked, still looking confused.

"I think what I'm trying to say is… I love you," she said softly, suddenly finding herself unable to look him in the eyes. She felt his hand gently force her to look him in the eye. He brought his lips to hers, kissing her softly.

He pulled away, grinning at her. "I thought you'd never say that." She smiled as he brought his lips to hers again, this kiss more passionate and demanding than the first. His hot tongue swept against her mouth, asking for entry. She hesitated for a mere moment before granting it, moaning in pleasure has his tongue explored her mouth. Her hands were entangled in his unruly black hair, loving the feel of the silky strands between her fingers. Slowly, hesitantly, he gently sucked her bottom lip into his mouth, hearing her gasp in pleasure. She tore her hands from his hair and placed them against his chest, feeling the muscles that years of Quidditch training had granted him. When he finally pulled away, her smiled down at her. His smile faltered as he asked softly, "Did you mean it, Lils?"

"Did I meant what?" she asked, her mind still reeling from their recent snogging session.

"Did you mean it when you said that you loved me?" he repeated, growing more anxious by the second.

She laughed, saying, "Of course, I did, James. I wouldn't have said them if I didn't."

His smile returned as he kissed her on the lips softly. "I love you, Lily."

"James," she breathed. "I love you, too."

James smiled deliriously into his oatmeal at breakfast the following morning. "James? Are you okay? Did you fall in love with Lily or your oatmeal?" Sirius asked. Remus was still in the hospital wing- the previous night had been a rough one.

"Lily," he replied, still thinking back fondly on the previous night. "Sh-she's…"

"She's right behind you," Sirius said, pointing at the redheaded girl behind him.

"Lily!" James said brightly as she swooped down to kiss him on the cheek. She took a seat next to him as he grasped her hand tightly atop of the table.

"What's going on here?" Peter asked, choking on his toast.

"Last night…," James said, his voice trailing off uncertainly. "Last night, we…" he tried again. Lily giggled at her boyfriend's apparent lack of vocabulary at the moment.

"We're dating," she said. Sirius and Peter gaped at them. Then-

"Go on, Peter. You know we made a deal," Sirius said, grinning broadly at his slightly chubby friend.

"Damn it," Peter said. "I'll see you all later; I've got to go moon the Slytherin table."

"You two were making bets against us?" James demanded, blushing furiously.

"Not against you," Sirius insisted. "For you. We were betting on how long it would take. I said before the end of this year, Peter said before you two turned twenty."

"Twenty?" Lily squeaked. "He bet that it'd be another three years before I was happy?" Sirius nodded.

"So… wait. You knew?" James said to his best mate. "You knew she was in love with me and I was in love with her and you didn't tell either of us?!"

"I was sworn to secrecy on both ends," Sirius sighed. "A Marauder never tells a secret."

"Right," Lily grinned. "And an Evans never passes up an opportunity for revenge." Sirius look alarmed and hastily left the breakfast table, screaming like a first year girl. James chuckled to himself as his love chased his best friend around the Great Hall, shrieking furiously. He considered getting up to help her, but he figured he'd let her fight her own battles.

"Lily," he moaned. They were alone in his dorm. He was leaning against the pillows on his bed as she trailed kisses down his neck. "Lily."

"Hmmm?" she replied, kissing his jaw line now.

"Stop," he pleaded, his glasses fogging up from the heat of his breath.

"Why would I want to do that?" she asked, staring at him with her green eyes.

"You drive me crazy," he murmured. "And I love that. You were made for me." She grinned at him, bending her head down so her mouth fell across his, her mouth already parted.

As she kissed him in that moment, he knew in all certainty that this was the girl he wanted to marry.