Lily Evans was enjoying a great day when all of a sudden a large rainstorm began. Running to find cover, the closest place Lily could find was the Quidditch changing rooms, ringing out her robes, she heard a small laugh behind her.

James smiled as the beautiful girl spun around in shock. Her read hair was plastered to her skull, her robes - dripping wet - were off, and her school uniform was soaking too. Seeing her emerald eyes staring at him, he blurted the first thing that came to mind. "Do you want my coat?"

Lily blushed and realized it was James. "Hi Potter, and it's ok."

"You sure, Evans?" James frowned at her. She looked, to him at least ,freezing. "You're shivering."

"Well, it's cold in here alright. But aren't you cold too?" Lily asked, concerned.

James shrugged. "Not really," he told her, glancing around the place. "I'm used to it. It's the manly muscles, you know," he added teasingly. "Keep you warm." Then he glanced at the still shivering girl and sighed, shrugging off his coat and draping it around her shoulders. He jumped away before she could hand it back

Lily looked at her feet, then smiled softly. "Thanks." She said. "It already feels better in here."

James felt a smile spreading across his face and he was certain he was grinning like a fool in spite of the sudden cold that permeated his bones. "You're welcome."

"Is it always this cold in here? Or just during storms?" Lily asked, breaking the silence.

"Uh..." James hesitated, blinking for a minute. Lily Evans was talking to him - to him, James Potter, who she hated - and he was suddenly struggling for words. "Well, Padfoot always says it is, but I don't mind it. It's the walls, you know," he added quickly. "They're so thin that they let the weather right in." She's talking to you and you're talking about the weather, you dolt?

Lily raised an eyebrow but smiled. "Interesting."

James blushed. "Sorry," he apologised. "I know it's boring, but..."

"It's okay. This is a changing room after all, not a 'hangout' room." Lily's voice was small.

James frowned. Lily didn't seem... happy. He flopped down onto the bench where he changed and patted it. "Want to sit?" He hesitated, then asked, "Are you okay, L- Evans?"

Lily sat down and the bench and sighed. "It's just...Severus. Ever since he started liking the dark arts..." Her voice trailed off.

James scowled briefly, but then wiped it off his face before Lily could see it. "Go on," he said, nudging her arm with his elbow. "You can tell me. You can talk to me."

"Thanks, Potter, that means a lot." Lily relaxed. "He's gotten so...weird? I don't know."

James barely withheld a snort. Of course he was weird - it was Snivellus. Probably best not to say that aloud though. "How so?"

"Just… he's always mentioning 'dark' things. Evil things. He's scaring me." Lily's eyes started to shed tears.

Alarmed, James jumped. "Hey, hey! Don't cry, Lily!" On instinct, James put his arm around her and said, "He won't hurt you; don't let him scare you."

Lily sighed but smiled. "Thanks... James. This means so much."

James smiled as he saw the girl relax and dug out a hankie from his pocket. "Here," he muttered, a bit gruffly.

Taking the hankie, Lily wiped her eyes and leaned against James. She never liked him, but right now she needed someone to lean on.

James wrapped his arm around her a little tighter as she leant in and suddenly felt the urge to speak. So he did. "Lily... I know you don't want to hear this, okay? But... just listen. Snape might change. He might give it all up... But he might not. He's in with the wrong crowd and Evans, that's dangerous for you. You need to... you need to look after yourself, okay?"

Lily looked up and into James' eyes. Looking away, she nodded. "I think he just needs time, but I will. Should I talk to him about it?"

James bit his lip and, for once managing to hold his shouts of "YES TELL THE BASTARD WHERE TO GO". Instead, he said, "I don't know, Lily. What do you think he'd say if you asked? He is, after all, your friend."

"I'm not sure I even know him anymore. He's changed- in a bad way." Lily sniffed.

James tightened his arms and shifted Lily a little closer. "Don't cry," he whispered, wrapping his other arm around her too so that she was in his embrace. "Lily, he - sometimes, people change for the worse, and sometimes for the better. People... people grow up and apart, you know? Do you still want to be his friend - not the old Snape, but the new one, the one you know now? Do you want to be HIS friend?"

"I don't know." Lily seemed to be fighting with herself. "Yes, I do...but no I don't."

James simply sat and waited, knowing she would talk in her own time. After all, he hadn't spent six years watching her for nothing.

"I like the old Severus. And I'm scared if I tell him this- I'll hurt him. I couldn't do that to him" Lily hugged James torso tighter, trying not to cry.

"But by not telling him, you're only hurting yourself," James pointed out. "You're prolonging the situation, Lily, and that's not... that won't solve anything." He bit his lip again at the smell of Lily's wet hair - vanilla, he thought - and tried to focus just on the girl in his arms. She was crying, for Merlin's sake. "You need to talk to him. If he's your friend, he'll listen and understand."

Lily nodded and looked up at James' eyes. "Thanks, I think I'll talk to him. I didn't know you could be sensitive." Lily smiled slightly.

James grinned a little sheepishly. "You don't live with Moony for seven years and learn nothing. Besides, watching him manage Padfoot into an acceptable boyfriend has taught me a couple of things too." Besides, he wanted to add, for you, I'd be anything.

Lily smiled and hugged James. She released her grip on him and sat up, wiping her eyes.

James shifted away from Lily a little, trying to get her scent out of his nose, and shrugged, feeling keenly the loss of the warm arms that had encircled him. "So, uh... It's still raining." He shifted and smiled. "Want to play a game? Truth, or something?" Anything so I can listen to you some more.

Lily nodded and thought. "Truth or Dare, you mean? I haven't played that for ages."

James grinned wolfishly. "It's a favourite of the Marauders... I figured you probably wouldn't want to do dares. Do you want me to go first?"

"Go ahead." Lily smiled.

"Okay..." James hesitated, staring at Evans, then said, "I pick dare, then."

Lily giggled. "Hmm...I'm not very good at this. I dare you to...not wear your glasses for a whole day?" Lily laughed in spite of herself, but she knew it was lame.

James laughed too. "This can only go badly... Okay." With a small grin and one last look at the beauty beside him, James took off his glasses, folded them neatly, and handed them to Lily. "To make certain I don't cheat," he offered in explanation. "Your go."

Lily smiled and thought for a while. "I normally do dare...so truth."

James's stomach tightened. He could ask her anything and she'd have to answer... But he decided not to, knowing that Lily was a private person. "Okay... we normally do dare, too, so this might suck... Uh. What did it feel like, when you learnt you were a witch?" It was the best thing that James could think of and he'd always wanted to know, seeing as he'd known from a young age that he was a wizard

Lily's eyes lit up and she frowned. "Severus and I knew we were special, and always used magic when we could. Like making things float and stuff, but I always thought I was different, until we got the letter from Hogwarts. My life hasn't been the same since."

James smiled, staring blurrily at her face. What was her expression? "That's amazing. I mean, to grow up as a muggle and suddenly be introduced into this world... I can't imagine." Then, realising it was his turn, he added, "Okay - truth."

"Yeah – pretty amazing." Lily smiled. "Truth? Wow. Ok...what's the biggest prank you have ever pulled?"

James froze, wondering how disapproving Lily would be. "Well... I suppose the biggest one would have been our Valentine's day one last year." James hesitated, then reminded her, "You know, the one with the cards that told everyone who fancied them? And then the people who fancied each other were stuck together for the day? It took ages to learn those spells."

Lily giggled as she remembered. "Oh yeah...that was pretty funny. And mean!" She added, but still was laughing. "So, I choose dare."

"Hmm." James hesitated, then said, "I dare you to... To dance with me in the rain." The idea came blurting out of his mouth before he could stop it.

Lily's smiled was gone, but soon was back. "Deal." She said, standing up and reaching out her hand.

James stood too, managing to make out her shape just about, and tried to grab her hand (and managed, much to his surprise). "You may have to guide me," he admitted, squinting around. "I can't see very well."

Laughing, Lily managed to walk James to the door. "There's a little step here, be careful," she added, still holding his hand.

"I'll be safe with you," he replied suavely, then managed to trip over the stair and stagger into her. "Oops."

James toppled into Lily and she nearly lost her balance. "I said be careful!" she teased. Lily realized she was still holding James and blushed.

James stared down at the girl that was holding him and felt a blush stain his cheeks, before he stood up and stepped away, marginally. Not that he didn't want to be close to her, but being that close did things to him that she probably wouldn't appreciate. "Sorry," he muttered.

"It's okay, now how about that dance?" Lily smiled, and took his hand. They walked out and got soaked in water.

James snorted as water dripped down his back, but then smiled down at Lily. "Okay, maybe this wasn't my best idea." Then he placed his hand tentatively on her waist and added, "So we'd best get on with it, right?" He hoped that the witch couldn't see how nervous he was.

"Let's." Lily agreed. She couldn't help that huge smile on her face. She was always a good dancer, but all of a sudden being around James made her all giggly and nervous.

Hoping that he wouldn't trip over his feet, James began to dance, smiling as Lily moved with him. She was a good dancer. James, being a pureblood, had been taught as a child, but not as much as Sirius had, so was competent but not brilliant. Lily moved like a natural dancer, though, and he hoped she wouldn't mind his crappy effort in comparison.

The rain was freezing, and soaked through Lily's clothes, but she didn't care. Stumbling only a few times, James and Lily managed to finally get a steady pace. She placed her head on his shoulder.

Feeling the weight of a head on his shoulder, James smiled down at the blur of red and pulled her closer to his chest, wrapping his arms around her and eventually just swaying to a beat instead of actually trying to dance, since they were just trying to conserve body heat. When Lily shivered despite their embrace, James decided that her health was more important than his happiness and said, "Well, you managed a great dare - but it's freezing. Do you want to go and get dry?"

Lily looked up and nodded, though without his glasses, she was sure James didn't see her. "Okay." She giggled.

James smiled at her giggle and said, "Well, lead the way, Miss Evans. And then I'll give my drying charms a go, but I'm sure you're better than I - you are, after all, top of the year in charms."

"I'm not sure I'll trust you without those glasses..." Lily said. She had a light hold of James' hand and led him inside, back to the bench.

James laughed at her teasing. "My eyesight doesn't affect my spell work - although it might affect my aim, I suppose. I guess it's up to you."

"You seem to be struggling on seeing, sure you don't want your glasses back?" Lily asked concerned. She got her wand out and was about to cast the spell.

"Nah it's fine," he replied. "I never back down from a dare." And I like you holding my hand. Not that he'd say that. "You don't have to dry me if you don't want to..."

"No, it's okay. I know the spell." Lily chimed in. "Exaresco!" She said, and James' robes were instantaneously cleaned.

James blinked, glancing down at them and smiled at the dry feeling. "You are amazing," he told her fervently. "Have I told you how amazing you are yet today?"

Lily smiled and giggled again, pushing James on the shoulder. "You know, you're pretty amazing too." Lily said softly, thinking back to him comforting her.

Surprise shot through James and he swallowed, running a hand through his hair. Was she making fun of him? It didn't seem like Lily, but... "A-are you being serious?" he blurted out, then blushed a bit. "I mean, you hate me."

Lily looked down at her feet. "I do...I mean I did. Guess I never gave you a chance."

James half expected to see angels coming for him or something, because surely, surely he must be dead to hear the words he had always dreamed of coming from Lily Evans's mouth. This couldn't be happening. "You... mean that?"

Shrugging, Lily blushed. "Yeah." She glanced back down at her feet.

James repressed his urge to shout in glee and dance around. "So…" Here he hesitated, wondering if he was going to ruin everything. "Next time I ask you out, are you going to slap me?"

For the first time, Lily considered this. "I'll try my best not to," she teased.

James laughed and smiled at the blurry image of Lily Evans in relief. "Well," he said, hesitating. "I could give you some practise, if you wanted - you know, practise in resisting the temptation to slap me?"

Lily's cheeks shone bright red and she cracked a smile. "It's going to be hard, but I'm willing to try."

James gulped and shot her a nervous smile as he saw the blurry colour cross her face. "Here goes. Resist, Evans." He resisted the urge to ruffle his hair and said, "So, Lily, would you like to go out with me, maybe, sometime?"

"I'd love too..." Lily smiled.

"W-what?" Shock hit James like an anvil being dropped on his head. He was certain he couldn't have heard her right. Lily couldn't have - she hated him - she said - "You mean - really?"

"Yeah." Lily blushed. "How did I do?" she asked, teasing.

Eyes wide and mouth slightly open, he replied, "A-amazing. Top marks."

"Hey, don't act surprised." Lily pushed James's shoulder a little. "You mean you didn't see that coming? You asked me to dance in the rain and I didn't kill you, that means something!" She laughed.

James laughed too. "I thought you were - taking pity on me. Or - I dunno - grateful for the coat." James blushed, then glanced at the window and smiled. "Hey, Lily - it's stopped raining. Do you want to walk with me up to the castle?"

"I thought I was at first too, but..." Lily looked out the window and nodded. She held out her hand and began guiding James outside again.

James knew he was grinning like an idiot but he didn't care. Lily Evans was holding his hand and guiding him across the grounds, towards the figures of three waiting boys. Sensing his marauding friends, he whispered, "Oh, Merlin. Sorry about this, Lily."

And then Sirius shouted, "OI! PRONGS! Whatcha think you're doing?"

Lily let go of James hand and blushed deeply. "I was just...helping James back to the castle." She slipped his glasses back in his hand.

James stared at the glasses in his hand and said, "No!" He grabbed Lily by the hand and she turned back to him. "You said a day. As in 24 hours. So you're going to keep them for that long, Lily - I won't give up." He stared down desperately at the blurry face in front of him and handed her back the glasses. "You don't have to go," he added in a low whisper. "Sirius is an idiot. We'll leave them alone-"

"You sure?" Lily whispered, staring at the grinning Sirius in front of them. James nodded so she spoke. "Umm, hi," she said to him, shifting uncomfortably.

James couldn't contain the grin that spread across his face as Remus and Peter muttered greetings, but Sirius just stared in abstract amusement at the two. Shooting a glance at Lily, James turned to his friends and said, "Hey guys. Nice of you to come and find me, but... Well, Lily and I are going to for a walk. Talk later?" He smiled and hoped he'd get away with it. Not a chance.

"You wait right there, James Potter!" Sirius shouted.

Lily, for some reason, was amused and not embarrassed. She was surprised as Sirius was that she was holding James' hand, but after today she really liked him. She knew it sounded silly but...

James grimaced, hoping Lily wouldn't change her mind after this. But, surprising them all, Sirius just leant close and whispered, "I told you she'd come around, Prongs." Then he leant back and took Remus's hand, adding, "All of this romance has got me in the mood, Moony. Let's go shag in our dorm room."

Remus rolled his eyes as he was led away and muttered, "Very romantic."

Peter snorted and James turned back to the redhead beside him, smiling. "That went... better than I expected."

Lily smiled and nodded. "It did, surprisingly." She squeezed his hand.

James squeezed back, thanking whatever force had brought Lily's mind around. "I'm so glad you changed your mind," he suddenly whispered, then leant down and placed his hand on her face, guiding it up to his, and brushed his lips over hers gently, hoping he wouldn't get slapped.

Lily looked down but smiled. She bit her lip and did something that even surprised herself. She kissed him back. "You know what, James? I'm glad too."

A wide grin split over his face and James laughed, grabbing her around the waist and lifting her, spinning her around wildly. "Lily Evans!" he declared as he stopped spinning and placed the giggling girl down. "I absolutely adore you." Then he dropped his head and kissed her again, fiercer this time and more passionately.

Lily was enjoying this more than James was, but she stopped him. Smiling, she said, "Should we be doing this out in the open?"

James ginned and replied recklessly, "Maybe I'm a bit of an exhibitionist. But okay - we can go inside if you like!" Then he laughed and grabbed her hand and said, "Lead me forwards, my beauty!"

Giggling the whole way though the castle, lots of people starred and whispered. "James and LILY?" they all were saying. Lily smiled and brought James up to the seventh floor, where there was absolutely no one around.

James could hear the whispers fading into the background as he blinked blindly around. "Lily," he said slowly. "Where are you taking me?"

"I found this a few weeks ago, when I got lost in the castle, surprisingly. The Room of Requirement!" Lily started skipping to a plain wall and held out her arms.

"The Room of Requirement...?" James echoed, awe clear in his voice. "We've been searching for this for seven years," he whispered and he stared at the blank wall. "I... never realised it was real." He turned to Lily and whispered, "You are a wonderful, incredible witch. Open it."

Giggling at James' comment, Lily paced the wall 3 times and a wall appeared. Lily smiled as she pushed the door opened and walked into the room, James following close behind.

James blinked around at the room. It was light and open and - well, he had no idea what was inside of it. "Um, Lily?" he asked, a little embarrassed. "I'm sorry but... I have no idea what I'm supposed to be seeing. Sorry."

"Oh, sorry. Well, it's different from the last I was in here...There's only a couch in here." Lily said, confused.

James grinned. "Well, well, well," he said. "What were you thinking of, Miss Evans?" When Lily shot him a look that, despite his poor eyesight, he could clearly see meant 'what?' he explained. "Whatever you're thinking of comes true, Lils. So you must have been thinking of a couch!"

Lily blushed and giggled. "Well, I guess that's a little embarrassing.

James smiled back and said, "Not at all. It makes it easier to know that we were both thinking of the same thing."

Lily blushed and grabbed James' hand, pulling him to the couch. James flopped down onto it, dragging Lily with him so that she landed on top of him. He smiled at her blush and stroked her hair away from her eyes.

"Even blind," he whispered, "I can see your eyes perfectly. They are the most beautiful things I've ever seen."

Lily seemed shocked. "Really, James? Out of all the guys I've ever dated, you're the only one to say that..." Lily put her hand on James' cheek and brought him into a kiss.

James bit back a moan as Lily kissed him and sighed at the perfect fit of her lips against his. He laced his fingers through her hair and brushed his tongue against her lips, gasping again at the electricity that raced through him again.

"Does this count as our first date?" Lily teased, bringing James into another long kiss. She ran her hands down his shirt.

Gasping a little, James pulled back and said, "Merlin no. I'm going to make our first date much better than this." He gasped as her hands brushed his stomach and smiled at her blurry form. "This could be... Us making up for six years of lost time."

Giggling, Lily pulled James' shirt off and traced his ribs with her fingers, when she got to his abs, she was shocked. "All those years of playing Quidditch have paid off, haven't they?" Lily asked.

James grinned at her surprise. "What," he teased. "Did you think it was just holding onto a broomstick?" He chuckled and moved, flipping them over so that he was kneeling above the flushed redhead. "What about you, Evans?" he asked as he slowly undid the buttons of her blouse. "Are you secretly a body builder?"

"Only one way to find out" Lily laughed. She was quite glad the rainstorm trapped her into the changing rooms – or she would doing her boring Charms homework.

James slowly slipped the last button out of its hole and pulled her blouse away from her, staring down at her in awe. Even glasses-less, she was beautiful and perfect, soft curves and pale skin. James couldn't believe his luck as he leant down and brushed his lips across her collarbone. "You're prefect," he breathed against her neck. "Perfect."

"Stop it, no I'm not." Lily said softly. "Are you sure you don't want your glasses?" She asked for the fourth or so time.

James smiled at her and kissed gently up the curve of her neck but stopped short of her lips. "Yeah," he told her softly. "I might not be able to see brilliantly, but I can see clearly enough. You're amazing, with or without my glasses." He leant back down and kissed her softly. "And you are perfect."

A small moan escaped Lily's lips. "James, this is amazing." Lily smiled, she hated being called perfect but from James it just sounded like a normal compliment.

"You're amazing," he replied as he moved slightly, so that his knees were either side of Lily and his weight wasn't crushing her. The sound that passed her lips as he kissed down her neck again, sucking gently at the soft skin at the bottom, was enough to let him know that they should really stop quite soon if he didn't want to take this too far.

"That's for another time – I promise," Lily teased. She sat back up and ran her fingers through James' hair and gave his a long and passionate kiss.

James smiled and shifted away from her, reaching for his shirt. "You're right," he agreed. "I mean, we haven't even been on a first date yet." But he still shot her a glance and stole another long, passionate kiss. "Merlin, you're beautiful."

"You're adorable." Lily smiled and hugged him tightly.

James grinned and ruffled his hair. If he kept her here much longer he knew that he'd be in trouble... "Come on," he said. "I know for a fact that I have a pile of homework to do... and the marauders will probably be looking for me by now," he admitted grudgingly.

"Fine, but this isn't over!" Lily gave him a quick peck and guided him to the hallway.

James smiled to himself and agreed silently, but said nothing. They reached the portrait hole quickly – seeing as they were already on the same floor – and Lily helped him through the portrait hole. The common room seemed to fall silent as James tripped a little and succeeded in pulling Lily closer, reaching down to drop a kiss on her nose. "Thank you for looking after me, Lils."

"Anytime, Jams." Lily knew the nickname was lame but she needed one for him.

James burst out laughing at the name and wrapped his arm around her waist. "Jams?" he queried. He knew Lily was blushing, so said, "I like it. It's... innovative."

Lily giggled and gave him another kiss, but she looked up and noticed the people staring, with their jaws open.

James felt Lily stiffen in his arms and looked around, blinking blurrily at their surroundings. "What is it?" he hissed, trying to figure it out.

Before Lily could answer, Sirius stood up and said, "Alright, folks! Move along now. Leave the love birds to their lovin'. Merlin knows, James needs it. Six years he's been pining over her, y'know, and I'm sure by now his hand is tired-"

A burst of laughter filled the common room and Lily let go of James, who was blushing like crazy. "Let's continue this later…" Lily whispered.

James stared at her and said, "You bet."

And that was the tale of how an October rainstorm brought James Potter and Lily Evans together.