There she was, her back silhouetted against the sun that was setting over the calm sea, her red hair fluttering lightly in the breeze. Man, he could just watch her forever and never get tired, but she turned to him and though he couldn't see her face she reached out her hand for him to come to her. James smiled and without a moment's hesitation joined her, taking her small, soft hand in his own and wrapping it round his waist. She laughed softly and he felt warm all over at the sound, as she turned to face him, her green eyes glittering with the light and from something else he struggled to identify for a moment, so rare was it that he saw it in those pools of green. Happiness. And...mischief.

Before he could fully process that last thought Lily grinned and pulled her hand out of his, running away with a laugh, running up the slightly sloped banks of sand behind them. When she turned to watch him as she ran, James followed after her, knowing he could catch her easily. Her laughter floated on the wind back to him as the chase progressed. She stopped suddenly and James ran into her, as her abrupt stop caught him by surprise, his arms catching hers as he struggled to slow his speed enough and the pair tumbled down into sand, in a tangle of long limbs and James could feel her body shaking beneath his own as they both began laughing uncontrollably at their demise.

Eventually, the laughter subsided and James suddenly found himself looking deep into her emerald eyes that glittered with the ghost of their laughter, softening slightly in the orange light reflecting off the sea. A soft smile etched itself on her face and one small, soft hand reached up and traced his cheek. Without thinking he placed his hand gently over hers and a smile lit up her face. He reached down and brushed a strand of wild, wonderful hair behind her ear as her gaze dropped, his eyes mirroring hers, resting on her mouth. Without a second's thought he leant down to finally capture her mouth with his own. Finally he was going to feel those soft, pink lips against his own... SPLASH! James felt the large cold wave wash over them and...

Sirius' face loomed over him as he bolted upright. It took a moment for him to feel the cold water dripping down his face and down the back of his neck, another to notice the jug in Sirius' hand and one more to link them together.

"WHAT THE HELL PADS!" he yelled a she came to his senses. "What in Merlin's name was that for!?"

"How'd you know it was me?" Sirius whined, "You're not wearing your glasses!"

"Sirius you're the only one in the room with stupidly long hair!"

"Oh...well it was Moony's idea! We couldn't wake you up and we'd miss breakfast!"

From the four-poster bed on his left James heard rather than saw Remus and his reply. "Come off it Sirius, it was your idea, don't cast the blame in my direction" He heard the sound of a page being turned, Remus obviously not giving the problem his full attention.

By this time James had brushed the water from his face and had reached for his glasses, his vision clearing. "You couldn't have left it another minute?" he asked with a short laugh and a shake of his head, swinging his legs over the side of the bed and leaning forward, heavily on his arms as he pressed to remember the dream fully, worrying that it would slip away.

"Aww did our ickle Prongsie have a nice dream?" What happened, was Evans about to drag you off to bed?" The next moment a pillow had launched itself at his face from James bed.

"Shut up!" James said with a grin "You know it's not all about that with her"

"What happened then James?" piped up Peter from the corner of the room.

A distant smile fixed itself on James' face as he leant on the bedpost. "She was about to kiss me" he said after a moment.

"You're such a sap" Sirius sniggered.

"Just because you still act 14 years old Sirius doesn't mean the rest of us haven't grown up" James said with a small shrug, grabbing a t-shirt and towelling his hair dry, emerging after a moment, his hair sticking up in soft tufts.

"Grow up? Who wants to do that?" he asked, jumping onto Remus' bed.

James couldn't help but smile a little as he got ready, remembering the muggle story he's found the year before about a boy who didn't want to grow up. He glanced towards his trunk where it sat now, hidden from view.

The discussion stopped there for a few minutes as Remus yelled at Sirius to stop jumping on his bed, to stop acting like a child and just to bugger off so he could read his book in peace. James glanced over and saw that Remus had put down his book and was attempting to trip Sirius up and push him off the bed. This was the only sound until James began doing his tie and Peter's voice could be heard over the noise.

"Why do you like her again James?"

"For goodness sake Pete!" groaned Sirius, collapsing onto the bed, jumping forgotten in his apparent despair. "You just had to ask!" He buried his face in Remus' pillow.

James grinned. "Well Pete old boy, I'll tell you"

Remus rolled his eyes, pushing Sirius off his bed, making him hit the floor with a crash and a muffled protestation. "Here we go again" he muttered

By the time they'd made their way down to the Great Hall and breakfast, James had reached number 37 on his list.

"...And when she's worried about something she tends to nibble her thumb which is adorable and..."

Sirius, Remus and Pete all looked up from their breakfast as the wave of words that they had allowed to wash over them came to a rather abrupt halt

"Uh oh..." Remus murmured, knowing what was coming.

"Morning Evans!" James said, running a hand through his hair as Lily was about to pass the group, walking towards her friends. "You are looking radiant this morning love!"

"Bugger off Potter" Lily snapped, fixing him with a glare as she rushed past them and took her seat further down the table.

James' face fell, a crease forming in the middle of his forehead as he turned back to his plate of food woodenly. He glanced up the table to where Lily and her friends were sitting, laughing together, for a lingering moment before saying "I don't understand her at all" he turned to shovelling food into his mouth as if he didn't care.

"Well I'd be flattered if you told me I looked radiant Jamesie" Sirius said, fluttering his eyes and leaning closer and closer to James until the latter smiled and pushed his face away abruptly.

"Shove off" he said through a laugh.

"James you are still serious about the decision you made over the summer right?" Remus asked slowly, picking over his eggs, that to be honest were getting cold and wouldn't be that nice anymore anyway.

"What decision?" Peter asked, his words barely coherent due to the bacon he'd just put in his mouth.

Remus rolled his eyes but answered "The decision he made to stop being a 'arrogant toe-rag' as Lily most delicately put at the end of last year, and behave like a decent, civilised human being"

James frowned, "Of course I'm still serious,what do you think I was doing then?"

Remus rubbed his eyes, "James, acting how you did just then, will not get you any points in her books"

"Why not? I just complimented her! I was being friendly!"

"Did you properly look at her before leaping in? If you had you would've seen that what you said was entirely the wrong thing to say in that moment"

"How? Explain it to me Remus, because I have not got a clue" James said, a hint of desperation in his voice.

"Well first off, calling her love is not going to do you any favours. To her it'll seem arrogant as she'll see it as you presuming the reciprocation of her feelings and that you're in a relationship where it is acceptable to give each other pet-names, when, let's be honest, you're not even friends James! You can't call her love. Stick to her name. First names over last names preferably." He took a gulp of tea quickly before continuing, "Next, if you'll look at her you'll see the carefully concealed circles still slightly visible under her eyes. She's had a late night, probably up studying if I know her. She's later than us to breakfast and we're not exactly early so she's woken up late. Her hair isn't as neatly braided down her back as usual and there's a slightly frantic look in her eyes. You calling her radiant James would be heard as sarcasm, because she knows she doesn't look her best today"

There was quiet from the boys and Remus looked up from his plate to find them all staring at him.

"What?" he asked

"How in Merlin's name were you able to tell all that from one quick look at her?" asked a shocked James.

"Why would she be studying? It's only the second week of the year!" asked Peter.

"Well, she's studying because she needs top grades to be an Auror and she's worried she won't get good enough ones, especially in Transfiguration. And I know all this because I'm her friend and she talks to me. James, you may know that she chews on her thumb when she's worried, but if you don't know what's worrying her then what use is that knowledge? And the only way you'll know is by being her friend."

James thought about this for a minute or two. He looked over at Lily again. He wanted more than anything for her to share those things with him, the way she did with Remus. And he was right, there was no way in their current mess she'd say anything to him if she had the choice. He turned back to his plate, still lost in thought. Perhaps it was better to forget the notion of getting her to love him. The way things stood it would take a miracle for that to happen. Perhaps he'd have to settle for being her friend. Maybe he could cope with that...no, he would make sure he could cope with that. It was the only way he would ever be with her, he could see it now. He would try to forget his romantic feelings for her, not let her see them any more His jaw clenched as he reached his conclusion. "Then that's what I'll do. I need to be her friend. That's all I want." He looked up. "Though how I'm going to get to even that stage I don't know" he said.

"Oy, James" Sirius said with a smile. "We're the Marauders, I'm sure we'll find a way."

James smiled. Perhaps there was a ray of hope after all.