Sixteen year old James Potter sat in the Gryffindor common room with his best friends Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew carefully planning out their latest prank on none other than Severus Snape.

"Why don't we spill some Polyjuice Potion into his pumpkin juice, turn him into a girl.." Peter suggested.
James rolled his eyes.

"You think too small, Wormtail," Sirius scoffed as he flicked Peter's nose, "besides, if I were turned into a chick for an hour, I'd stand in the mirror, checking out her chest."
Peter sunk down in his seat as James chuckled with laughter.

"Hey, isn't Davy Gudgeon dating Lily?" Remus asked, looking up from his book. James' laughter stopped abruptly.

"Yes," he replied, grudgingly, as he turned his attention to Remus, "Why?"
Remus motioned over to the far corner of the common room, where James could see the Gryffindor in question snogging a girl who was quite obviously not Lily.

When you try your best, but you don't succeed
When you get what you want, but not what you need
When you feel so tired, but you can't sleep
Stuck in reverse

"That son of a.." James trailed off as he rose from his seat with his fist clenched so tightly that his knuckles were beginning to turn white. As he started to walk towards the snogging couple, he felt his body suddenly jerk back into his seat.

"What are you doing?" James asked Sirius, who was holding James' wrist.

"Don't, Prongs." James saw a smirk slowly form on his friend's face.

"What the hell, Padfoot?" He grunted as he attempted to free himself from Sirius' grip.

"Instead of beating the snot out of Gudgeon, tell Lily. You'll break them up, and gain her trust."
James slowly calmed down his effort to get Sirius to release him as his words sunk in. He looked over at Davy, then to Sirius, then back at Davy, again. A smile spread across his lips as he jerked his hand out of Sirius' grip, jumped out of his seat, and darted out the room.

Remus' stomach began to turn at the thought of his friends' plan. He knew that this couldn't end well

"Sirius, what have you done?"

And the tears come streaming down your face
When you lose something you cant replace
When you love someone but it goes to waste
Could it be worse?

As James sprinted down the hall, he realized he left the Marauder's Map in the boy's dormitory. Deciding he was too excited to go all the way back for it, he began looking everywhere he could possibly think of for Lily. He was about to give up and go back for the map when he spotted Frank Longbottom and his girlfriend Alice sitting in the back of the library. Alice looked up from her book, feeling his eyes on her.

"Excuse me, have you seen Lily?"

"Leave her alone, James." Alice replied, turning her attention back to her book. She knew his reputation all too well.

"Please, Alice. It's important!" James begged.

"She's down by the lake."

"Thank you!" James exclaimed as he ran out of the library as quickly as he had entered.

Alice elbowed her boyfriend in the stomach, "Frank!"

"Umph!" Frank grunted, "What? He said it was important!"

Lights will guide you home
And ignite your bones
And I will try to fix you

As James stepped outside, he felt the bright sunshine hit his face. It was so bright that he had to squint against it, making his search for Lily even more difficult. He eventually spotted her, despite the sunlight, sitting with her back against a large tree, with an open book in her lap.

High up above or down below
When you're too in love to let it go
If you never try, you'll never know
Just what you're worth

James stopped in his tracks and watched her. Her red hair was tied up, except for a few strands in the front that were too short to stay in place and were hanging in front of her eyes. He smiled as she tucked the strands behind her ear and turned the page, only to find them to fall back in front of her face, again. She sighed in frustration and tucked them behind once more. James slowly approached her.

"Lily?"
"Goodbye, James" She replied, without looking up from her book.
"Lily, I need to speak with you."
"That's just too bad isn't it?"
"Please?"

Lily heard the sincerity in his voice that caused her to sigh and close her book. She looked up at him for the first time since he approached her.
"Alright, what is it?"

James sat down next to her and sighed, not knowing how to say what he saw.
"James?"
"Okay, I was sitting in the common room with the Marauders and we saw Davy snogging Allison Brody."
"James, that's not funny," She scoffed as she opened her book, realizing that she should have known better than to trust him.
"Lily, I'm not kidding. I'm sorry."
Lily slammed her book closed again, "James, stop! That's low, even for you."
"Lily.."
"Stop it!" She screamed. Lily collected her things and stormed off. James remained sitting there wondering how it possibly could have backfired on him.

Lights will guide you home
And ignite your bones
And I will try to fix you

Later that night, Lily and Davy were sitting in the Great Hall, eating dinner.

"I heard the funniest thing today, Hun. James Potter told me he saw you snogging Allison Brody. Isn't that ridiculous?" Lily laughed as she reached for a slice of bread.

"Of course it is, baby" Davy laughed as he kissed her cheek, "You know you're the only one for me. Lily smiled with satisfaction and glanced over towards the other end of the Gryffindor table, where James was sitting. They made eye contact for a moment, before James looked down at his plate. By the time James looked back up at her, her attention was already back at Davy.

Tears stream down your face
When you lose something you cannot replace
Tears stream down your face
And I…

Lily sighed in content, James was wrong. She didn't know why she had even given his accusation a second thought. She turned to Davy and smiled.

"So, babe, how was your--" and that was when she saw a red smudge on his left earlobe,

"Davy, what's that?"

"What's what?" he asked, taking a sip of his pumpkin juice.

"That," Lily said, pointing to his ear, "What is it?"

"What?" Davy touched his ear, confused. He looked down at the red smudge that was now on his finger, "Oh, that. That's paint." Lily rolled her eyes in disbelief.

"That doesn't look like paint, it looks like.." she trailed off, grabbing his hand and pulling it closer to her face so she could get a better look, "..lipstick." Her heart dropped.

"He was telling the truth, wasn't he?"

"What are you talking about, baby?"

"James. He was right, wasn't he?" She demanded.

"Lily.."

"Wasn't he?!"

Davy stared at her in shock, "Baby, don't be ridiculous."

"'Ridiculous'? I'm being ridiculous?" Lily exclaimed in disbelief.

"Yes, Lily, you are," Davey replied, taking a bite of his corn.

Lily slammed her hands on the table, lifted herself out of her seat and stormed out of the Great Hall.

Tears stream down your face
I promise you I will learn from my mistakes
Tears stream down your face
And I…

"Hey Prongs,"

"Hmm?" James looked up, his mouth full of mashed potatoes.

"I think she knows, now," Sirius replied, motioning towards Lily as she stormed out of the Great Hall.

James jumped out of his seat and walked out. He realized this time he should get the map, so he began walking towards the common room. As he was walking through the halls, he began contemplating what he would say to her, he didn't want to further upset her. He approached the portrait leading the Gryffindor common room, and muttered the password, "Chocolate Frogs".

He then realized that he would no longer need the map because he had already found her, in the empty common room, sitting in front of the fire, crying. He slowly approached her, still unsure of what to say.

Before he had the chance to say anything, Lily looked up, acknowledging his presence.

"I'm not in the mood, Potter," She stood up, wiping the tears from her eyes.

James didn't move, didn't say anything, he didn't even acknowledge that he heard her.

"Please leave me alone," she sniffled.

James finally moved. He took one step, not away from her, but towards her, closing the small gap between them.

"James, what are you-- " James wrapped his arms around her and pulled her towards him into a hug. She struggled to get out of his grip before sighing in defeat. She relaxed into the hug, and put her head on his shoulder, wetting his shirt with her tears.

Lights will guide you home
And ignite your bones
And I will try to fix you

"Please just don't say 'I told you so,'" She struggled through her tears.

"Shh," he replied calmly, stroking her hair, "Never."