"So tomorrow," James Potter began, walking backwards so he could face the other Marauders as they made their way across the Hogwarts grounds towards the lake, "Padfoot has the dungeons, right?"

"Here, here!" Sirius Black raised his hand up and taking on the haughtiest accent he could manage. "I do believe you are correct, dear Mr. Prongs." Peter Pettigrew squealed with laughter, tripping over his feet a couple times.

James grinned at his best friend before continuing. "And Moony, you've got the first floor, the Great Hall and such?" Remus Lupin nodded in agreement. "And Wormtail's on the third floor?"

"Here, here!" Peter responded eagerly in a bad imitation of Sirius.

"And I'll be passing out the dung bombs outside the Gryffindor towerRRRR!" James voice grew into a yell as he tripped over a root. Apparently, walking backwards had not been one of his best ideas.

Sirius snorted as Remus offered James a hand. "Smooth, Prongs, very smooth," Padfoot commented sarcastically, overlooking the area to see if anyone had gotten a good view of James' fall.

His eyes fell on a head of flaming red hair that was failing to blend in with the shadows under the trees. The head belonged to a girl sitting under the tree, her chin rested on her arms. "Lily," Sirius whispered, kneeling down to James.

"Huh?" Prongs adjusted his glasses and ruffled his hair, giving Sirius a quizzical look. "What do you mean?"

"I mean Lily Evans is bloody right over there!" The more elegant of the two struggled to keep his voice at a whisper.

James' back shot up from its slouch, his eyes flashing over to the redheaded girl. Ruffling his hair again, he whispered, "Do you think she saw me fall?"

"Naw, Prongs," Remus consoled James, "she would have already left if she knew you were around."

James rolled his eyes, momentarily recovering from his nervousness. "Thank you, Moony. Your encouragement really is a help." Remus shrugged his shoulders as if to say, 'Well, what did you want me to say?'

"We'll talk later, Casanova," Sirius said, shoving James' shoulder as three of the four Marauders went on their way. James nodded goodbye to them, took a deep breath, and walked towards Lily.

"H-Hey," he greeted her, reaching his hand to his hair and then pulling it away abruptly.

Lily's emerald green eyes shot up to him, and Prongs was a bit shocked to see that they were rimmed with red and letting water pour down her cheeks. "Oh," she snarled, letting out a big sigh. "It's you."

"Your face is wet," the nervous teenager blurted out, adjusting his round, thick-rimmed glasses. Smooth, Prongs, very smooth, James could still hear Sirius saying in his head.

Lily looked up at him, her eyebrow raised. "I should go," she muttered, brushing her hair out of her face and reaching for her bag. "Gotta study… for Charms…"

Prongs watched her start to get up, horrified that he'd made her leave so soon. "W-wait," he stopped her, digging his hand through his robes pocket. "Here. Take this," he offered, handing her a tissue that was only slightly used. Damn Wormtail, James cursed. Getting his boogers all over the tissues Lily was supposed to be using.

She looked up at him and dropped her bag at the sight of the tissue. "Thanks, James," she managed, wiping her cheeks off with the tissue.

He sighed, relieved. "No problem, Lily."

The girl looked up at him, her big eyes already asking him her question. "Will you sit down with me for a while?" Her voice was quiet with desperation and shame at having to ask James Potter to sit down with her, but there was no way Prongs was going to turn her down.

"Yeah, of course," he said, plopping down and leaning against a tree opposite Lily's. "How… do you feel?" The question sounded like something his mother would ask him, and that was so far from the relationship he was hoping to have with Lily, but he couldn't help asking. This girl, he was sure, needed someone to ask how she felt.

Lily smiled half-heartedly, looking up at James. "Not so good," she answered, biting down her lip as she dropped her eyes. "I just feel like a bit of an idiot."

James practically forgot to breath in his shock. "You? An idiot? You're practically as smart as Dumbledore!"

Lily chuckled at the ground, but her smile didn't reach her eyes. "Not like that sort of idiot." She paused, searching for the right words. "I've just been sort of ignorant of what's been going on around me, y'know?"

James nodded slowly, narrowing his eyes as he tried to figure out what his crush was referring to. "Is this about that guy you were dating? Arnie… Aaron…" Shoot. Why couldn't he remember the name of Lily's boyfriend?

"Arthur, you mean?"

"Yeah, that's who!" James exclaimed, smacking his head. "Well, is this about him?" Lily stared off into the distance, nodding slowly. "What did he do?"

"You know Molly?" Lily asked, looking back to her companion.

James remembered her all right. He'd made out with her at a Quidditch party in fourth year. "Yeah, I sort of know her. Why?"

"Well, apparently, Arthur has feelings for her. Big feelings." A few more tears trickled down Lily's cheek.

"G-d, he sucks," James muttered, scooting over so that he was sitting next to Lily, their sides rubbing together. He gently laid his arm around her shoulders and took her hand in his, using his first hand to rub her hair lightly. She leaned her head against his shoulder, and his heart skipped a beat—or rather, ten beats. Her hair smelled so good, like vanilla and sugar. Christ, he wanted to kiss her so badly.

James wasn't one for not chasing after what he wanted, so he brushed his lips against the top of her head, letting his chin rest there for a moment. Lily turned her head up to him, wiping her cheek with her free hand.

And then came the moment that James would lie in awake in bed, replaying in his head over and over again until he couldn't quite remember the way it really went. Lily pulled her fingers out of his and used her hand to tilt his chin down to hers so she could kiss him. First, she only tickled her lips with his, and then their lips her clasped together.

A few minutes later, Lily pulled away from James, memorizing his face's every line. "Thanks for making me feel better, James," she said before picking up her bag and leaving.

James stayed under that tree for a little while after that, reviewing what had just happened. No, Lily had not confessed her undying love for him or something of the like. But this was a start. It wouldn't be long, he was sure, before Lily would be walking down the aisle towards him. He was so sure.