Prologue: Halloween Night, Sixth Year

James was feeling this. The music, the crowded room. There was a good vibe, and it just screamed through the walls. A little bit of the right people, a little bit of brandy, and everything was feeling all right. His lids were heavy as he scanned the area – filled with fellow Gryffindors, all moving and swaying to the music that he'd chosen. They were all enjoying a party that he'd planned, along with his best friends of just over six years now; Sirius, Remus, and Peter. He pulled a flask out of his pocket and took a swig, admiring his handiwork. This had been the third consecutive Halloween Party that himself and the Marauders had put together, and for the third consecutive year, it had been a hit. Actually, a hit would be an understatement.

People had been asking about it since early September, but as usual, none of the four boys would let on their secret plan. It was always something that was a surprise, and every time, people were just plain blown away. This year was no exception. People may say that it was a little – fruity, for lack of a better word – that four boys would plan a party. But there was always a motive behind it. That motive, on the most part, being that they wanted to find a way to make the girls easy. To be honest, when was there a better excuse to drink, party, and allow girls to dress as slutty as they'd like? Everyone knew that Halloween was just an excuse for girls to wear costumes that barely covered their backsides, and get away with it.

The only person that appeared to be missing from this party was the infamous Lily Evans – the one girl who didn't fall victim to traps like these. No, Lily was probably in her room reading up for her classes tomorrow, or doing homework for the next three months. Lily was a prefect, a rule-abider, and the girl that had stolen James' heart six years prior, when she'd opened up his car on the Hogwarts Express and asked if she could sit there. He'd never seen a redhead with such beauty – because admit it, how many redheads do you meet that are actually pretty? Sure, they've got exotic hair. But what else? Lily had everything. But unfortunately, because of his lack of maturity at eleven years of age, things hadn't exactly worked out the way he would have liked . . . consequently leading to Lily despising him. Utterly.

"The flask," Sirius hissed in James' ear abruptly, elbowing him in the side. James furtively slipped him the alcohol and slid his hands back into his pockets. Watching as his best friend tipped back his head and took the alcohol like a pro. "So what're you doing on the sidelines?"

"Just taking it all in."

"You mean focusing in on your next target?" Sirius asked with a laugh, wiping his mouth and scanning the room. "What do you think of Rebecca tonight. She sure does make quite an attractive Dorothy! I wonder if her underwear match her shoes."

"That's just weird," James replied, chuckling to himself. "Where's Remus?"

"One word. Playboy bunny."

"Two words."

"You get the idea." Sirius shrugged and passed the flask back to James, who drained it. He was sure feeling good now. He loved that feeling; the second the alcohol penetrated his bloodstream. He felt liberated -- like he could do anything. "Okay, I need to get back to hot Dorothy before someone snatches her up. Go find yourself some ass, all right?"

"No worries Padfoot, its in the bag," James said, his voice slurring slightly. Sirius gave him a final salute and backed into the crowd, wrapping his arms around a certain tall, curly haired girl in a gingham dress. James exhaled, enjoying the mesh of colors and he leaned up against the wall, his eyes heavy and a dumb smile on his face.

That's when he saw her. It was such an unexpected sight that James almost sobered up just at the thought. What was she doing here? And why was her skirt higher than her knees? Oh, and look at those legs and how perfectly shaped they are. Lily Evans sure made a perfect catwoman, with the tight, pleather top. James thought that he might juice his pants. What was she doing here, and in that costume? He tried to draw his attention away, but he absolutely could not. He didn't have a chance, so why bother?

James reached for a glass of punch and missed, instead, sticking his hand in the punch bowl and staining the end of his sleeves a haunting blood red. He wiped his hand on the tablecloth and slid through the crowd. People had absolutely no problem parting for James Potter – after all, him and his friends practically ruled the school. He was surprised how easy Lily was to approach. He wondered why, when he came within three feet of her, she didn't mutter some weird insult and dart in the other direction. No, there was something different about Lily Evans that night, and James would be damned if he didn't figure it out.

"Miss Evans," James slurred, sneaking up next to her. He was so close he could feel her body heat. He wondered how hot she must be, wrapped up tightly in all that plastic.

"Potter," Lily said, using his name the same way she normally would. Except there was something different. Her tone wasn't full of hatred or disgust, and her eyes just slipped slowly up his frame and back down. Her mouth formed a slight smile, and she raised an eyebrow in his direction.

James licked his lips, wanting to trail his fingers down her body. He was getting goose bumps just thinking about it.

"What brings you to the Halloween Party?"

"I don't know. I just felt like getting out. You know, letting loose," Lily replied, biting her lip and glancing slowly out at the crowd. She flipped her hair, allowing James a whiff of Honeysuckle shampoo.

"Well, I could probably help you with that," James said, knowing he was crossing the line and not caring, because he was getting a good feeling. The buzz of the alcohol, the energy of the crowd, the beat of the music. Everything just felt so good. Why stop now?

"Possibly."

"You know you're a tough catch, Evans?"

"Yeah, but that makes me so much more worth it."

James looked at her, his gaze pleading as he trailed his eyes down her perfect figure. He couldn't stop thinking about how closely the outfit clung to her frame; her hips, her bosom, her tiny little waist. "So what's the secret?"

"Hmm? Do you really think I'm that easy?"

"I think I could make you easy," James replied, stepping in front of her, so close that her breasts almost brushed his chest.

"That's a bold statement, Mr. Potter," Lily pointed out, looking up at him with heavy lids.

James slid a hand up to her chin and cupped her face. She shivered slightly, but made no move to leave. Her eyes closed at the sensation of his touch, and James could feel something between them. There was a static, a certain energy emanating from their bodies. It was making James' heart beat fast. It was making him hot, and he couldn't stand the tension. He needed her, and he needed her fast.

He wrapped his other arm around her waist -- taken aback by how tiny it was, but pleased nonetheless – and pulled her up against him leaving no room between them. He lowered his face to meet hers, and when their lips met, it was as if a sudden urgency had taken over. The room was too hot, and everything else seemed to quiet. The room bounced in slow motion. James pushed her up against the wall, and Lily moaned in enjoyment. He worked his hands up and down the sides of her body and she buckled into him. James couldn't believe this was happened – with Lily Evans. She was a prefect. Goody-two shoes didn't do things like this. It was like every guy's dream of good girl gone bad, and he was loving it.

Now let's get one thing straight here about a certain Mr. Potter, before we proceed. James had always been a ladies' man, but in no way did that imply that he had no respect for or didn't know how to treat a lady. Sirius was the debonair one, the one who didn't care so much. The one who didn't would spend the night and leave her. James believed in relationships, he believed in love, he believed that there was much more to sex than the physical act – but he had yet to meet a girl who really proved all of these theories. He'd always had a certain magnetism towards Lily Evans – one which was different than anything he'd felt with another girl.

But back to the story. James could feel the immediateness of Lily's actions in the way she kissed him. It was almost as if she never thought she would kiss again, and how quickly her hands wove through his hair and along his back; squeezing in tugging an urgency that was almost unimaginable to him. So why would any sixteen year old boy stop a girl that was ready to have her way with him? James backed away, taking Lily by the hand and leading her up the stairs.

This proved to be a more difficult task than he had planned, however, because they kept stopping on the way up, pushing each other up against the walls. On top of it all, James could admit later that he was highly intoxicated. Not so intoxicated where he wouldn't remember what happened, but just enough for him to have a bit of trouble stabilizing himself on a circular staircase. Needless to say, by the time they even reached the sixth year boys dormitory, James' shirt was completely unbuttoned and half untucked from his trousers, and the lacing up the back of Lily's stop was becoming loose, and James feared that if he moved too far of a distance away from her, the top would fall and expose her to other people in the dorm. And James couldn't have thathappening.

So he held her tight, kissing her neck as he lifted her up and placed her on to the bed, laying her out so that her long, gorgeous red mane fanned out around her. She looked like some sort of dark angel, sprawled up against the bed sheets on his four poster. He winked at the others in the room, wondering quietly where Peter had gotten off to, and drew the curtains, muttering a silencing charm as they fell around the bed, and crawling over Lily to create magic and moments for a night that he was sure neither of them could ever, or would ever forget.

"Prongs!"

James stirred slightly, blinking that the darkness that still enclosed his bed from the night before. He looked down, noticing that he was wearing nothing and drew the covers closer to his body remembering the amazing night before. Lily was sleeping next to him, on her side. She was still out cold. He kissed her on the neck softly.

"Prongs!"

James grabbed his glasses and slid them onto his face, noticing the sliver of light coming between the curtains. There was the face of Remus, peeking at him and beckoning him out.

"Not now, Moony! I'm not wearing anything!" James hissed, nodding in the direction of Lily.

Remus tossed some boxers at him. "You have to hear this. Get out! Now!"

James snapped the curtains shut, wondering angrily what could possible be so important that they'd need to ruin this beautiful morning? He slipped the boxers over his legs, trying to move as little as possible. He didn't want to wake her up when she looked so peaceful. He couldn't believe what was happening. It was so amazing that he was ready to burst. Who knows what good could come of a thing like this?

He slid off of his bed, closing the curtains tightly and remuttering the silencing charm on the bed that he had the night before. He didn't want any stupidity that the Marauders felt the need to share penetrating Lily's beautiful sleep. Because Merlin knew, she needed it after all the physical activity from the night before.

Remus and Sirius were sitting on Remus' bed, watching James, both of them looked a little strained about something. Peter was poking around the room, pacing back and forth. James couldn't help but wonder what the matter was, but from the looks of it, it was actually serious. He didn't expect it at all. He was thinking it would be Remus and Sirius wanting to fill him in on their experiences from the night before, but this very obviously wasn't the case.

"James, I think you should sit down," Sirius said.

James gave him an odd look, leaning up against the nightstand and crossing his arms across his bare chest. "What? Why is Sirius so serious?"

"Ha," Sirius said, and with a glare from Remus, quickly shut up.

"As you may know, Lily had an unfortunate run-in with the Slytherins yesterday," Remus began slowly, not breaking eye contact with James the entire time.

"Yeah . . ."

"Well, there was some cursing – on both sides – and it turns out that Lily may have been –"

"James she only slept with you because she was under a very heavy spell last night!" Sirius blurted. James felt his stomach drop and his eyes lowered to the floor. This was really a problem.

"James, if she wakes up and sees you, she's going to flip out! I looked it up, it's a dark magic curse that closely resembles the Muggle date rape drug. Chances are she wont remember anything that happened last night. So if you both used protection, no one has to know," Remus explained, backing slowly away, because he knew James would getting more and more pissed off as the moments passed by. He knew it wasn't her fault, but he was still angry. He was angry that they'd spend time together, and no one would no. Lily wouldn't know. She wouldn't even care!

James nodded, swallowing his anger. There was nothing left to do. Lily could never know about this. It was something that could only stay between the four of them. If Lily found out, she'd be livid. If the Slytherins found out, they'd be elated. And he couldn't have either of those things happening. Through his anger, James knew that he had to do what was best for Lily, even if it meant hurting silently for a long time.

He pulled on some clothing and fixed his glasses, scooping Lily into his arms. He wrapped her in a sheet, and with both of them under his invisibility cloak, snuck down the stairs into the common room. It was still very early. James was surprised that Remus had even gotten Sirius up to talk. No one was on the couches, and the fire hadn't been lit yet. He supposed the less people that were around, the better.

James had to move slowly and fluidly, so not to jerk Lily awake and risk being beating over the head for touching her. She'd probably think he'd raped her. The thought of it made him a little angry. Anyone who knew James Potter, knew he'd never take advantage of a lady. James couldn't help but feeling terrible about the night before, but had he known what had happened, James would never have slept with her. Absolutely never.

He crept up the stairs and swung open the door to the sixth year girls dormitory. Al the girls were still asleep, including Lily's friends. He hoped to God no one had noticed her missing the night before, or there'd be serious trouble. He knew he couldn't leave her in bed naked – because honestly, who sleeps naked in a room they share with like ten other people? So he poked around her drawers until he found a nightgown, and after ten minutes of creeping around her body so he wouldn't wake her up, succeeded in dressing her and slid her under the covers.

As he turned to leave, his heart ached. He felt like a wimp, but this really sucked. He knew he'd never forget about that night. And he hoped that one day Lily would be as excited and satisfied with it as he'd been. He bent over and gave her one last kiss on the cheek, brushing her hair out of her face before spinning away and hurrying down the stairs as quickly as possible without making noise. He went back up to his dorm, and resumed his normal day. The only problem with it was, all of his normal days following that Halloween Night would never be the same.

Lily stirred on the day after Halloween only after her best friend, Arianna's, alarm clock had gone off three times. It wasn't a surprise to most that it would take that many rings to wake Arianna up, but normally Lily was up at the crack of dawn. It wasn't because she got up early to primp, or to do excess homework like most people thought. No, Lily Evans just loved watching the sunrise. She loved the colors, and the smell of a day when it was fresh. She loved listening to the birds chirp and watching the dew fade. She'd walk up there, early in the morning with a canvas tucked under her arm and just paint the morning away.

This particular morning, Lily felt groggy. Her eyes were cloudy, and she felt exhausted. She didn't understand why. She remembered the night before. She'd gotten into an argument with that awful woman – whatsername – Bellatrix from Slytherin and then she'd gone to dinner. After dinner she'd been tired, so she laid down. So there was absolutely no reason why she should be sleepy at all!

Lily sat up, shaking the sleep out of her head and yawned. It was easily seven-thirty already, and she had class in an hour. She blinked and looked over at Adrianna, who slapped her alarm clock for the fourth time and rolled back over. Lily hoped to herself that she wasn't coming down with anything.

She slid out of bed and got dressed quickly, knowing she wouldn't have time to shower before her first class. So instead, she brushed her hair and threw it up into a ponytail. Noticing the dark circles under her eyes, put on a little make up and some chap stick before grabbing her bag of books that she'd prepared the night before. She glanced once more in the mirror, noticing a red mark on her neck. Well that was funny. She must have bumped into something last night. Simple solution; she just zipped her jacket a little higher and made her way down the cold stairs.

She could smell the fire burning in the common room already when she reached the bottom. A few people were moseying around, reading or gossiping quietly. That was what she loved about the morning – everyone was quiet, as if they were still asleep and dreaming a little.

Everything about the morning seemed perfect – until she caught a glimpse of a certain messy-haired head lounging in one of the chairs by the fire. He seemed deep in thought about something. The corners of his mouth were turned down, and his chin was rested on his palm. It appeared as if something was really bothering him. Lily's spirits seemed to rise a little at this, knowing that James' day wasn't better than hers. She couldn't stand his little happy façade that he had all the time. How everyone seemed to like him. How come no one could tell he was just another arrogant prick?

Lily glanced back at him quickly, noticing how he was not watching her intently, his eyebrows raised, yet his face was expressionless. She breathed in quickly and cocked her head at him, holding her bag closer to her. He didn't look away once, or make a crude remark.

"What are you looking at?" Lily snapped. James just shook his head and Lily pushed through the portrait hole, wondering why he was acting so strange.

If only she knew.