James had never wanted to stay in bed so badly.

Currently wrapped in his arms was a beautiful sleeping Lily Evans, her face content and resting on his bare chest. Her lips were open slightly, little puffs of hot hair tickling his skin as she breathed in and out. He had never noticed how long her eyelashes were either, all of them dark with mascara from the night before.

She was his sleeping angel, his beautiful girl. And she was finally his.

"Oi, James!" He cringed, Lily only moving slightly before becoming still again. "Where the hell are my pants?"

He didn't dare answer. If something was going to ruin this moment it wasn't going to be him.

"James, seriously! Where are my –"

"Found them!" Came another voice, a girl's voice. James smirked, so he wasn't the only Marauder waking up with a girl in his bed this morning. "Honestly, Sirius, how did my knickers end up on Remus's bed?"

"He probably stole them and wore them around, you know how he is."

"I do not wear girls' knickers!" Remus said in a hiss, James could imagine his embarrassed face perfectly. "You wear girls' knickers."

"Great comeback Moony."

"Stuff it Padfoot."

"Is James awake you think? I have his notes," the girl's voice came again, James realizing that is was Lily's best friend Gemma. Finally…Sirius and Gemma had been bouncing around each other for months acting like they didn't want to be with each other.

"Nah, leave him be. I think him and Evans are probably cuddling."

"Aw, how cute. I've been trying to get Lily with him forever."

"So has he. So, my beautiful Gemma-bean –"

"Don't call me that Sirius or I'll never let you see me naked again."

"Okay okay woman, calm down. Let's go get some breakfast shall we? Remus, stop staring at my lady."

"I wasn't staring."

"Yes you were, you knicker wearer you!"

"I hate you."

"You two are idiots"

"And we're off!"

Sirius shouted, James knowing perfectly well that his best mate was yelling and pushing them out for his benefit. He'd buy him something pretty later, Sirius loves pretty things. Especially if they were shiny. His best mate was a bit insane that way.

Now that the dorm was quiet again, he carefully reached for his glasses and put them on so he could make out Lily even better. All the cute freckles against her cheeks, the small cluster in the shape of a cow he once made her angry about. It was like all of that bickering and fighting had paid off in an amazing way and now he was where he always wanted to be.

Resting his head back amongst the pillows, he felt her stirring for a few minutes before the cool touch of her lips touched the bottom of his chin.

"Good morning," she smiled as he looked down at her.

"Good morning."

"Did you sleep okay with me sprawled all over you?"

"Best sleep I've ever had."

"You liar."

"Okay, so you have really boney elbows that sometimes prod into the wrong places…but otherwise."

She laughed, sitting up and making him sad that her warm body wasn't on his anymore. "I'm absolutely famished."

"Who says famished? It's the 70's Lily, just say you're hungry for Merlin's sake."

"I'm famished, okay? Really bloody famished. Famished famished famished." He rolled his eyes, watching as she opened the curtains around his bed and slowly crawled out. "Famished."

"I get it, you're famished. You look fit in my shirt though."

"You think so, do you?" She put her hands on her hips, his shirt raising a little so he got a good view of her green knickers.

"Better on you than me, that's for sure."

"Maybe I'll keep it then."

"You should."

"That's settled then. Where are my pants?"

James laughed. "That seems to be a common problem this morning."

"What do you mean?"

"Sirius couldn't find his pants either. Gemma eventually—"

"Gemma was up here too? God, if McGonagall knew how many girls were sleeping in here at night she'd probably have a heart attack and die. And we're Head Boy and Girl! We should make a better example!"

"Lily, chill out. Gemma and Sirius were going to shag whether you slept up here or not…we all knew that was going to happen."

"True, they looked like they were going to rip each other's clothes off in Herbology the other day."

"See?" He smiled, coming to the side of the bed and throwing off the sheets. "You didn't make them shag. They did it all on their own. Don't punish me for their horrible actions."

"I'm not James, honestly, it's just that this dorm is becoming a big old Gryffindor orgy!"

James looked at her as seriously as he could for a moment before rolling on the bed laughing. He couldn't help thinking about the dorm covered in hundreds of pairs of underpants and girls coming and going while the Marauders just shagged away. It was hilarious to think about and he knew that's how Lily was seeing this all.

"We…are not…a big…old…orgy," he said, trying to breathe between loud barks of laughter.

"James," she was laughing herself now, climbing on top of him on the bed. He instantly stopped laughing as soon as he felt her bare legs against him and her hands on his chest. "You're ridiculous."

"You're the one saying my dorm was turning into a disgusting sex ring."

"I said orgy."

"Either way, that makes you one of my tarts."

"I guess it does, yes."

"That can be your prostitute name…Strawberry Tart." He watched as she turned red and batted him on the chest with her small hands. "No?"

"I'd rather not have a prostitute name, thank you."

"Whatever you say Strawberry Tart."

"Stop it."

"Hey," he said, remembering something out of the blue. "Remember last Christmas Eve when you said you never wanted to see me naked?"

"Yeah?"

"I proved you wrong, didn't I?" He waggled his eyebrows, making her sigh and get off him for another look around for her pants.

"At least I can compare notes with how you shag me with how you shagged McGonagall. I'll talk to her after class tomorrow," she dropped a wink, making him smile so wide it hurt.

"Oh, she'll just deny it Lily," he started, slowly putting his own clothes on. "If she admitted I loved her long and slow then she'd be fired!"

"I will vomit, that is a promise I can keep. I will throw up all over everything."

"Can't stand thinking of me with another lady, can you?"

"Yes, that's it. I'm so jealous of you and Mc—ugh, I can't even finish that sentence."

Laughing together, they got dressed. After James was done he grabbed a brush and slowly worked all the tangles out of Lily's hair. When he finished, she turned around and kissed him while her hands worked on making his hair as messy as she liked. As she smiled against his lips he smiled back, happy to know this would be how he'd be waking up from now on.

"And to breakfast!" He announced once they were done, grabbing her hand as they both rushed to get some food before it was over.

Getting to the Great Hall, they made their way over to the Gryffindor table and sat across from Sirius and Gemma. James smiled as Sirius sliced an apple and slowly fed it to Gemma. It wasn't in a cutesy way either, which Sirius was incapable of being. They were just talking, Sirius every so often sliding a slice between her lips. It all seemed so right. Lily on his arm, Gemma wrapped in Sirius's, Remus talking about classes and Peter passing out toast. This was how he wanted it to be. Always.

"So Lily thinks our dorm is turning into a big orgy!"

"James!"

"Really?" Sirius laughed, throwing an arm around Gemma as she laughed. "I've been to my fair share of orgies Evans and we are not even close. It'll take some planning, but I think we can do it."

"Sirius Orion Black!" Gemma said, slapping his hand away from her and giving him a stern look.

"Gemma Elizabeth O'Malley!" He said back.

"Remus John Lupin!"

"What Peter?"

"Oh, you ruined it," James pouted, throwing a bit of egg at Moony.

"Yeah, too bad, that was a big ol' bag of fun right there," Remus joked, going back to eating as they all fell into a calm normalcy again.

It was perfect. The Marauders were happy and where they wanted to be. With each other, with the ones they loved, forever and ever. Nothing would ever break them apart. Nothing.