A/N: In honor of James's birthday :)
Lily Evans suppressed another yawn, turning aside in the hopes that her boyfriend wouldn't notice.
"I saw that, Evans," James Potter said immediately, though his eyes remained trained intently on the horizon, scanning the sky for any hint of grey that would signal dawn had arrived at last.
"I forgot how long the night seems when you stay up for all of it," Lily said, pulling her cloak closer around her shoulders. She glanced sideways at James, again marveling how he'd survived the chilly night in just his Quidditch robes and wondering how he really expected to attend the eight o'clock warm-up he'd scheduled for his team before their game later that day.
James caught her gaze and smiled smugly. "Eyes up here, Evans," he said mockingly, pointing to his own hazel ones.
Lily nudged him with an elbow, shaking her head but recalling all too clearly the day she'd finally admitted to herself how fit James looked in those robes—though it had taken her an embarrassingly long time to confess it to anyone else and eventually to James himself.
Before she could actually voice a protest, however, another yawn overtook her. "I think I'll just tell you happy birthday now—as it is technically several hours into your birthday—and call it a night."
He knew she was joking, but still James glared sternly at her. "This was your idea," he reminded her.
"Only because it's tradition," Lily said, to which James's expression turned skeptical.
"I hardly think doing it once makes it a tradition."
"All traditions have to happen a first time," Lily objected.
"Well, then, I have to say this is much worse than last year," James said seriously. "Though at least we thought to bring food this time." He took a bite of a cream pastry from the stash they'd taken from the kitchen, and after swallowing added, "Anyway, I seem to remember a lot less talking and a lot more snogging."
Lily narrowed her eyes at him. "We're going to miss the sunrise again if we start that." But James was already leaning closer, his hand cupping the side of Lily's face and tilting it upwards.
"I don't care," he said in a low voice. "There'll be hundreds of sunrises to watch."
"There'll also be hundreds of chances for us to snog," Lily said, or tried to say, though the end of her sentence was swallowed up by James's lips.
The kiss was slow and sure, a sharp contrast to the frenzied, hungry kisses they'd shared in this very spot a year ago. Then, there had seemed to be so much to make up for, after weeks of tension had finally been released during one explosive moment in the middle of James's birthday party. Lily had marched straight up to him and, not caring who saw, not even bothering to wish him happy birthday, kissed him full on the mouth.
She remembered the exultant look in his eyes afterwards, and the knowing grin playing about his lips, as though he'd suspected how much she'd wanted to kiss him the past few weeks, but had been waiting patiently for her to work up the courage. In fact, that wouldn't have surprised her at all—if there was one thing she had learned about James Potter, it was that he knew her better than anyone, sometimes even better than she knew herself.
"D'you want to go somewhere?" he'd asked, and almost before Lily had nodded in response, James had grabbed her hand, leading her out of the crowded common room, down many long corridors, and finally up the Astronomy Tower and into the quiet spring night. There they'd spent many hours kissing, talking, and eventually watching the sun paint color back into the grounds below.
Tonight, their friends had begun once again to speculate about whether the Ministry would take action against the man calling himself Lord Voldemort, and whether war would officially be declared on him and his followers. The conversation had been especially charged due to the murder of two prominent Ministry members reported in that morning's Prophet. Finally, James had caught Lily's eye and nodded towards the common room door, and she'd gratefully followed him out into the corridor where James launched immediately into a discussion of Gryffindor's chances in the upcoming Quidditch match. A pointless conversation—though of course James would have argued vehemently with her had she voiced that opinion—but Lily knew he was really doing it for her sake, to distract her from dwelling on fearful thoughts that often kept her up late into the night. Eventually, she'd suggested they watch the sun rise from the top of the Astronomy Tower, and it was there that they sat now, lost in each other's embrace.
When they finally broke apart, Lily's face was flushed, any thoughts of sleep long forgotten. James stole a final quick kiss from her lips before leaning back against the smooth stone wall of the castle, slipping an arm around Lily's shoulders. Gesturing triumphantly at the still dark sky with his free hand, he said, "See? We didn't miss anything."
Lily couldn't help laughing. "Then I suppose that means we'll have hundreds of chances to watch sunrises and snog."
"The first is doubtful—very rarely would I consent to staying up this long or getting up early just for that."
"How do you feel about sunsets, then?"
"Generally positive." Lily nodded, and they lapsed into a comfortable silence. Momentarily, James muttered almost to himself, "Sirius is going to think I've gone madder than ever when he hears I was up here all night."
Lily sat up straighter, forehead creasing slightly. "You think we should have asked everyone to come with us? It probably would have been good for all of them to be distracted tonight, plus we could have had a proper birthday celebration for you . . ." she trailed off, suddenly feeling guilty.
James shook his head, smiling. "There'll be plenty of time to see everyone later. Right now, this is perfect. The weather's perfect—although of course you'll say it's too cold." Lily huffed in protest, but as a light breeze blew strands of her red hair into her face, a shiver betrayed her. James laughed, pulling her closer, and Lily leaned into his warmth. "The food is perfect," he took another bite of his pastry, "you're perfect, and of course I'm perfect," Lily wrinkled her nose as James smirked down at her. But as their eyes met, his softened and his expression became more serious. "I'm glad it's just us," he added softly, pressing a kiss to Lily's temple.
And for a moment, it was just them; in the pre-dawn silence, with only a few pale stars for light, Lily could almost imagine they were alone in the world. For those few seconds, she forgot the worry and terror that plagued her daily, and the uncertainty of what would become of them in just a few short months when they left Hogwarts behind for good. Instead, she sat contentedly curled beneath the arm of the man she loved, and knew James was right—for now, that was enough.