This is now going to be a collection of one-shots about Lily and James. All one-shots are unrelated, other than being about Lily and James.

Enjoy :)

"Leave her alone."

Muliciber smiled. He was a vile looking boy. His straw colored hair looked as if it hasn't been washed in years. His smile was more of a sneer that bared his yellow teeth, "Look, it's the mudblood's guard dog."

"He's not my guard!" Lily yelled at the same time James yelled, "Don't call her that!"

The two other Slytherin's laughed, and Lily wished James hadn't shown up. She could handle these three on her own. Why did he always pop up an try to save her?

The girl, Anna, laughed, "We'll be going. Not worth fighting a blood traitor and his pet mudblood."

James shot a spell at the girl, hitting her square in the chest and sending her flying back across the field.

"Potter!" Lily's voice was full of contempt. "Stop being so rash!" Muliciber and the other boy, Goyle, went after Anna. Lily marched up to James, whacking him hard on the arm.

"Ow!" He yelled, "Is that what I get for trying to help you?"

"Help me?" Lily laughed a bitter 'ha!'. "You've just made a mess of things, like you always do!"

James stared at her in disbelief, "They called you a...you know what."

"I know what they called me," Lily spat. "They always call me that. It seems to bother you more than it does me." She could see the three Slytherin's brush off their cloaks, shoot nasty glances at her and James, and leave in a hurry. "Now you've just given them more of a reason to hate us."

James ruffled his hair with his hand. I hate when he does that, "Are you saying you'd rather just grin and bear it than fight back?"

"I'm saying," Lily met his eyes, "that I know when it's worth it to start a fight and when it's not." She started off down the hill again. She'd been heading off to the Owlery before Muliciber and company stopped her.

James followed. Of course he followed, "Well, Evans, excuse me for trying to protect you."

She turned to face him with a ferocious look about her. Something inside of her noted how close they were standing. Lily suppressed that. "I don't need or want you to protect me, Potter. You just make me look weak."

"Make you look weak?"

"Like I'm some damsel in distress or something," Lily explained. "I'm not Cinderella. I don't need you to rescue me."

James raised an eyebrow, "Cinderella? Is that a disease."

"Oh, never mind," Lily grumbled, continuing on her way. The sound of footsteps in the snow let her know that James was still following her. She sighed, "Why are you following me?"

James scoffed, "Don't flatter yourself, Evans. I'm off to the Owlery as well."

Of course you are, she thought. Lately, James had been taking any excuse to spend time with her. Everywhere she turned, he would be there. He'd be sitting next to her in The Three Broomsticks, behind her in the queue at Honeydukes, in the chair next to her in potions. He'd laid off on all the bad pick up lines, but now he never left her alone. It was like he wanted to constantly remind her of his existence.

"Have you started studying for N.E.W.T.s?" He asked causally as the trotted up the stone steps to the Owlery.

Lily nodded, "I've been trying to study every day. I need high scores if I'm to work at the Ministry."

"I want to be an Auror," he said. "But if there's a war coming, I don't want to waste my time in school. I want to be out there fighting."

"I can't afford to do that," Lily admitted. Her parents had never been very wealthy, and with Petunia attending a private girl's school, funds were tighter than ever. Lily always had to be careful with money, and always be extra frugal.

James didn't have any reason to be cost conscious. He could spend and spend and spend and never run out of money. His family had always been a wealthy one. If he wanted to go off and fight instead of having a job, he'd be perfectly fine with his finances.

Lily literally couldn't afford to be like that. She needed a well paying job if she were to support herself.

James gave her a friendly smile, "I'm sure you'll pass at top of the class. The Ministry departments will be fighting over who gets you."

Lily smiled too. She liked this James. She liked his sincerity.

Some warmth was filling her up. It came out of her stomach and radiated to the other parts of her body. The feeling wasn't new, but it always surprised her.

They reached the Owlery and Lily dug her letter out of her sleeve. It was for Petunia, congratulating her on being selected to go to a prestigious University. She doubted her sister would appreciate the sentiment, but she sent it anyway.

"You know, Evans," James said as he strapped a letter to an orange owl. "What I don't understand is why you walked outside to get to the Owlery instead of just walking through the castle. Especially in such bitter cold."

"You know, Potter," she released her owl and it fluttered out the window, "Why I don't understand is why you said you were going out for Quidditch practice today. Especially in such bitter cold."

He raised the corner of his mouth into a smirk, "I told you I was going out for Quidditch practice this morning. Is it possible you wanted to see me and that's why you went outside?"

"Don't be ridiculous, Potter."

"Oh, never, Evans."

They had slowly moved closer until they were standing just inches from each other. She felt the warmth wanting her to move closer to him, but she pulled away despite it.

He took her arm, "Hey, I want to go show you something. You'll like it."

"Last time you said that, you took me to a room full of mistletoe and tried to kiss me against my will."

He shrugged, "Hey, you would've liked it if you tried it."

"Ugh, no," Lily said. She tried to shake off his hand but his grip stayed. "Want to come?" He asked her.

Lily nodded. She wasn't even sure why she did that, but he took off running before she could protest and she had no choice but to match his pace.

They ended up in a long corridor, that Lily knew she'd seen before. Suddenly, the wall began to make a hissing sound and a door appeared.

"The Room of Requirement," Lily gasped as the door protruded a bit and then settled into place. She'd been in the room once before to hide from Filch. She had been out after hours on accident, staying too long at one of Slughorn's parties. Filch had said that he wouldn't punish anyone from the 'Slug Club' for breaking curfew, but quickly turned on his word. She'd hid before he could get to her.

James opened the door and she entered the familiar, endless room. It made no sense that this place was inside of Hogwarts. It was too big for the space it was allotted. But magic can do what it wants, so rooms could be bigger on the inside.

"This way," James had now grabbed her hand and laced his fingers with hers. She tried to tell herself otherwise, but she liked his hand in hers. It felt...right.

They rushed along for a while, down rows and rows of lost and forgotten things. James seemed to know where he was going, so Lily trusted him on that.

Eventually, they stopped at a large mirror. It was old, dust covering it at the sides. The corners had lost their luster, and the reflection was less than pristine. It's frame was very ornate however, and there were words carved at the top, written in a language Lily couldn't understand.

There was something familiar about the mirror, but she couldn't place it in her memory.

James grinned at it like and old friend, "What do you see in the mirror, Evans?"

Lily laughed at the stupid question. "It's a mirror, Potter. I see a reflection."

"No," James rolled his eyes. "Look. Really look."

"Why are you..." She mumbled, but stepped into the mirror anyway.

It was a reflection. She saw a reflection. Lily was standing there and James was next to her. They were still holding hands. Lily looked down at her hand and saw that it was true.

"It's a reflection, Potter," Lily sighed. "That's how mirrors work."

He smiled. A really big, bright smile. She couldn't see what was so amusing.

"Have you lost your marbles?" Lily asked when he started to laugh uncontrollably.

"Try again, Lily," he said through his laughter, pushing her so it was only her in the reflection. No, James was there too. She glanced to her side but saw that he hadn't moved. This James was only in the mirror.

Mirror James reached and took her hand and stood next to her smiling.

"This is the Mirror of Erised, Lily," James whispered.

Lily felt as though her heart had dropped right into her stomach. She'd read about this mirror. That's why it looked so familiar.

"The Mirror," he sauntered up next to her, conceit rife in his voice, "shows your heart's true desire." James stood behind her, his chin on her shoulder. "So," he purred, "what did you see?"

You and me. We were happy and together and I knew you loved me. I just knew.

Lily pushed him off of her, "I saw a reflection, Potter. It's a mirror." The lie was easy.

He didn't seem convinced, "Why won't you admit it?"

"Admit what?" Lily said coyly.

James faced her and reached out a hand to brush the hair out of her face, "Admit that you saw me in there, just like I saw you." His hand trailed down her face, lightly cupping her chin. Some part of her thought that this might be some cruel ruse, but the larger part of her knew it was not. There was no use in lying.

Lily reached up and placed her hand on his elbow, "I saw you, James."

Then he leaned in and she knew he meant to kiss her.

And, for some strange reason, she let him.