"That's it, I'm done, I'm finished," James slammed the dormitory door shut and collapsed on his bed, arms hanging of either edge.

Sirius and Remus exchanged confused glances before Sirius sat up. "With what?"

James sighed. "Evans." He sat up, missing the roll of Remus' eyes. "Every time I think I've gotten somewhere with her, she turns around and yells at me. All I did was let some pixies lose in a third year lesson and she started screaming louder than a banshee."

"You didn't have to do it while she was there, you could've waited five minutes." Remus suggested, earning him a dirty look from the bespectacled boy. "But obviously that makes no sense, what was I thinking?" he continued.

James grabbed a pillow from behind him and threw it at Remus, who ducked, and the projectile caught Sirius on the side of the head. "Your sarcasm isn't appreciated, Moony."

Remus opened his mouth to retort, but Sirius interrupted by throwing the pillow back to James. "Well, I'm all for the motion. Evans is a lovely bird, but she's a bit straight-laced for a Marauder, and I'm quite sure that she hates the lot of us."

"Except Remus, and probably Peter." James interjected dolefully, and Sirius waved his hand dismissively.

"Be that as it may, there are far better candidates. I vote we sneak out tonight see if we can find that clearing from last full moon." Sirius reached under his bed, pulling out two amber-filled bottles. "To celebrate you getting over her, as it were."

James nodded, pushing the redheaded girl to the back of his mind and hoping she stayed there. "I'm up for it, as soon as Peter gets back from detention."

"Oh yeah." Sirius paused. "Am I the only one who feels a bit bad for getting him into that mess with the house elves?"

Remus laughed. "Seeing as James and I had nothing to do with it, I think that's a yes."

Sirius frowned at Remus, but chose not to retaliate, instead grabbing a book off of Remus' nightstand and flicking through the pages, intermittently yawning and throwing pointed glances at Remus, who ignored him and watched with bemusement as James' face looked more and more confused.

"It's all over. I've had enough. I'm finished." Peter and Remus exchanged weary glances as James collapsed onto his bed, dropping the rolls of parchment he held.

Peter straightened his expression into something well-meaning before speaking. "What happened?"

James ran a hand through his hair, tugging at the ends. "We'd been holed up doing that Transfiguration project for about an hour, and I was getting bloody bored of flicking through books in the library without finding anything." Remus snorted, and James glared at him. "So I asked if she fancied going for a walk around the lake, stretch our legs, clear our heads and the suchlike." He paused dramatically.

"And?" Remus finally asked, wondering why he always seemed to be stuck with James when he was like this.

James sighed heavily. "She told me that she wasn't shirking her work to go gallivanting around with her, who did I think I was, blah blah blah."

"Maybe she's on her week?" Peter offered up, and before James could reply Sirius walked in.

He surveyed the three of them before turning to James, a smirk on his lips. "Did you really ask Evans if she fancied going for a swim in her underwear?" he asked, and Remus and Peter exchanged exasperated glances.

"I asked if she fancied going for a swim, she said it wouldn't be practical in her uniform, so I said we could always go in our underwear." James explained. "Then she got pissed and singed my eyebrows off." He moved his fringe to the side to show two blackened stubs where his eyebrows had been. "So now I'm over it."

Sirius nodded. "Sure you are, mate. Drinks to celebrate?"

"If we drink to celebrate every time he says he's getting over Lily, we'll die of liver poisoning." Peter muttered to Remus, who laughed.

"It's over. I can't deal with it anymore." A silent battle begins between the three other Marauders, with Remus losing.

He mouthed a curse at Sirius before turning to where James lay on the couch. "Care to elaborate?" He asked.

"Well," James heaved a heavy sigh. "I went to the kitchens to get our food, and she's there. And we're talking and joking because we're mates now." Remus nodded – the day Lily and James had become mates the bespectacled Marauder had spent an entire twenty minutes recounting the exact conversation they'd had. It was a hard thing to forget. "And she's sitting there in her shorts and baggy Harpies' top drinking iced pumpkin juice and I realised that I can't be feeling this if I want to be mates with her." James looked to the other three for agreement, which he received. "So I'm done with this fancying Lily thing. From now on we'll just be mates, and that's it."

Remus raised his eyebrows, mouthing a swearword before replying. "You think that's for the best? Because usually after this decision you mope around a fair amount."

"And you're no fun with pranking." Sirius added, earning a glare from James and a shake of the head from Remus.

James sat up, crossing his long legs and resting his head on the back of the sofa. "I'm of age now, I can be mature about this kind of thing."

"Now we've cleared that up, did you get the food?" Peter asked, grabbing an armchair in front of the fire. James swore and shook his head, and he was redispatched to the kitchens. When he returned, Lily was with him, and the three Marauders noticed the way he looked at her as she walked away but chose to keep silent when James sat down with a wide smile.

"I think it might be over." Sirius' head snapped round to where James lay, unsure if it was another of his Lily-free diets or something real. "I'm being serious this time, I think…"

Sirius sat up, surveying his best friend. "Why?"

"Have you noticed how, ever since we 'announced' we were dating," - they hadn't, a pair of Hufflepuffs had happened upon them kissing in the Heads' office, but Sirius chose not to contest that detail - "that she's getting attacked more often? I mean, she's been in the Hospital Wing twice in the past two months, and she should've been there more often but she gets me to heal it instead." James paused. "I just think she'll be safer…"

Sirius shook his head. "Don't be a bloody tosser, Prongs. Hex the bastards; piss her off for doing it, but don't end it. She'll hate you for it – our Lily's stronger than you know."

James shrugged, checking the watch his dad gave him for his seventeenth birthday. "Prefect meeting." he said before leaving, and Sirius wondered if he'd be this unsure for the rest of his life.

When James got back an hour late from the meeting with a huge grin, Sirius pointed out the smeared lipgloss on the corner of his mouth with a knowing smile, and when he visited Remus in the Hospital Wing he noted the three beds being occupied by Avery, Mulciber and Nott with a smirk.

"You aren't nervous?" Peter asked, and James shook his head, straightening his tie with a smile. "I thought people were meant to be nervous." The shorter boy turned to Remus, who shrugged.

James turned round to face them. "I've wanted this, in one way or another, since I was twelve years old. I'd be an idiot if I was worried."

"Well, Lily could always leg it. She hasn't always been enamoured with you," Sirius pointed out, catching the tie James threw at him. "It's typical, though. We listen to you 'give up' at least once a week for the past four years, and on the scariest day of a man's life you're perfectly fine. I always knew you were a bit dim."

Lily poked her head in at that moment. "You shouldn't make him self-conscious on his wedding day, Sirius," she reprimanded, and Sirius mockingly saluted. Remus grabbed his and Peter's elbows, steering them out of the room.

James shut his eyes as soon as Lily walked in. "I'm not supposed to see your dress."

"That's just a superstition, you're going to see it in about five minutes anyway" Lily said.

James shrugged. "All in all, I think the world has enough bad luck in it at the moment." He let that sombre thought sink in before continuing. "And anyway, I bet when you thought about his day, as a seven year old, the lucky husband-to-be didn't get to see you."

Lily laughed, poking him in the chest. "Stop thinking about me as a child, it's creepy."

James caught her hand, pulling it up to his lips. He cracked his eyes open to see a blurry Lily smiling widely. "Cold feet?" He asked, and she shook her head.

"How about you?"

James smiled, placing his hands on her waist and ducking his head. "There hasn't been an unsure moment since the beginning."

"That's not what Sirius told me…" James cut her off with a kiss, and Lily laughed, pulling away as her father stuck her head round the door. James squeezed her hand as she left, and he thought his heart might burst when she turned to face him with a beatific smile on her face before she disappeared.