NEW YEAR'S EVE, 1976

Lily entered the Gryffindor Common Room just after eleven thirty. Glancing around the room, she saw many of the older students that had stayed behind for the holidays. Apparently, hardly any of the upper-year Gryffindors were attending the Great Hall banquet this year. She noticed the four Marauders all huddled in their own corner of the Common Room. Sirius and Remus were intently focused on their game of Wizards' chess—or at least Remus was. Sirius kept flicking his eyes toward something behind Lily. James and Peter were laughing about something—probably some prank they were discussing or plotting to torture some innocent first year.

"Lily!" Lily's head whipped around quickly to see her friends Alice and Marlene waving frantically for her to come join them. She walked over to greet the two girls, and Marlene exclaimed excitedly, "Happy New Year!"

"Marlene, don't you think you should wait a bit until you say that? After all, midnight is still…" Lily glanced down at her watch, "Twenty-two minutes away."

"I know, I know," Marlene continued, "but I'm just so excited! This is my first holiday at Hogwarts, and I want it to be great!"

"I'm sure it will be," Alice chimed in. "After all, you and Sirius Black over there haven't stopped making eyes at each other since you walked in. There's practically a puddle of drool at your feet as it is. I'm sure you'll get that New Year's kiss you're after." Marlene blushed bright red and hid her face in her hands, at which Alice and Lily laughed.

"Well what about you, Alice? I know that you and Frank Longbottom have been dancing around each other for ages," Lily teased. "Don't you think that there's a high possibility that both of you will get that kiss at midnight?" She smirked as her blonde friend blushed as deeply as Marlene, and effectively shut her up.

"How about you, Lils? Is there any special guy you've got your eye on?" Marlene asked.

"Oh, come on, Mar. You know there isn't." At the look of doubt on Marlene's face, Lily added, "And if there was, I'd tell you both immediately. You two would be the first to know."

"Well, I can tell you right now, there's a rather attractive bloke over in that corner who's just dying to get a kiss from you."

"Who?" Lily asked, confused as ever. She didn't mean…James, did she?

They were friends now. He hadn't asked her out in months, and it was great. She was finally able to enjoy her schooldays without needed to explode at James Potter for being a cocky prick. He'd changed.

Maybe it was the fact that he wasn't relentlessly and ridiculously pursuing her anymore, but she was grateful. They'd actually managed to have decent conversations since the beginning of the school year. They'd become friends. Not great friends, but friends nonetheless. She didn't want to potentially jeopardize that or make things awkward by kissing him, even if it was just for fun, as Marlene and Alice seemed to think it would be.

"Oh, come on, Lil. I think you know exactly who I'm talking about," she said as she flicked her eyes over to the corner where the Marauders were sitting. Lily turned around, hoping that Alice was indicating towards some other guy, but all she was met with were the striking hazel eyes of James Potter. He was still sitting with his friends, but he had looked up momentarily, and she happened to catch his gaze. They kept their eyes locked on one another for a minute or so, until Peter dragged James back into their conversation.

When Lily turned around to face her friends once more, she was met with knowing glances from both girls. "What?" she asked indignantly.

They both smirked at her and Alice replied, "You and James practically just gazed longingly into one another's eyes for five minutes straight. We called you name close to ten times, but you were too…preoccupied to notice."

"E-excuse me?" Had she really been staring at him for that long? How had she no noticed the time lapse?

"You heard me," the blonde said. "Why don't you just own up to the fact that you two could actually have something there? What's the harm in going on just one date with him?"

"Wait, first you talk about a kiss at midnight just for fun, and now you're talking about a relationship with the guy?"

"I said 'just one date,' not a long-term relationship."

"It hardly makes a difference. I'm not going to go on a date with the kid."

"And why not? Merlin knows that everyone in Britain knows he's in love with you, and you're starting to like him, too. I can see it."

"Even if any of that were true, which it isn't, he has not asked me out in months, and I'm really enjoying it. We're finally friends. He's changed, and I can carry on a civilized conversation with him without wanting to either rip my hair out or claw out his eyes. I'm not going to risk our friendship for a relationship that won't even get anywhere."

"Not with that attitude, it won't."

"Alice," Lily warned. She was getting sick of all this Lily-and-James crap. It was never going to happen. "Please just let this one go. I don't want to talk about it anymore, considering the fact that you're not even listening to me." When Alice tried to protest, Lily cut her off. "I'm serious."

"No, you're Evans. I'm Sirius," a familiar voice said with a smug drawl.

"Hello, Black," Lily said without even turning around.

"Evening Evans. Alice. Marlene." The way he said the last girl's name made the girl in question blush once more. Wow, Lily thought. She really has it bad for him.

"Evening everyone," Alice said with a smile. Her eyes suddenly lit up, and she excused herself from the table. Lily turned to see what it was that had Alice roped in, but then she saw Frank Longbottom. Figures, she thought.

She checked her watch. It was about ten minute 'til midnight. This could get pretty awkward pretty fast if she stayed in the vicinity of all the couples in the room, as many of them were starting to flock around the table that she and her friends had occupied only minutes before. She maneuvered her way to one of the armchairs across from the fireplace. She sat down and closed her eyes, enjoying the peace.

However, as soon as her eyelids shut, someone tapped her shoulder. She looked up, only to be met with the spectacled face of one James Potter. "Mind if I join you?" he asked.

"Go ahead," she said, and indicated to the chair across from her, which he sat in.

"Thanks. How's the evening so far?"

"Pretty good. Alice and I got into a bit of a spat right when Sirius walked up, but I think she's probably forgotten it by now."

"What makes you say that?"

"As soon as you lot walked up, she caught Frank Longbottom's eye from across the room."

"Ah, I see. What did you two fight about? If you don't mind me asking, that is."

"I don't mind," she said with a light smile. "I won't go into any great details, but she thinks that I should kiss one of my friends at midnight tonight."

He tensed up. What's wrong? Lily thought."Why would she want you to do that?"

"Part of it is that she doesn't want me to be alone, since both she and Marlene are bound to be kissed. But part of it is that she thinks that this guy really likes me and that I'm starting to like him."

"Is she right?" He was avoiding eye contact with her. Why?

"On which count?"

This time, he looked directly at her and held her gaze. Lily's breath hitched slightly in her throat. "Both," he said with finality.

"Well," she gulped, "I know that he used to like me, but I'm pretty sure he doesn't anymore. And besides, we've only recently become friends, and I don't want to jeopardize anything." Damn, she thought. Could I have made that any more obvious? He's bound to find out we were talking about him!

"Oh." He averted his gaze again. Why was he avoiding her? They'd stared at each other for a full five minutes earlier, and now he was looking at literally everything else in the room. They sat like that for a few minutes, not really moving, and definitely not speaking. Lily kept looking at James, and James kept looking at everything but Lily.

Somewhere in the Common Room, the countdown started. Was it really almost midnight already?

"TEN, NINE, EIGHT…"

The sound of the countdown was drowned out as Lily focused intently on James. What was up with him? Why was he acting this way?

"…SEVEN, SIX, FIVE…"

Suddenly, James looked up at her and their eyes locked once more. He just stared at her.

"…FOUR, THREE, TWO, ONE…"

They both stood up at the same time. Alice's voice ran through her head as she debated whether or not kissing him—even if it was all meant in fun—would really be worth the consequences.

"HAPPY NEW YEAR!" the Common Room collectively screamed. Lily stood up on her tiptoes in order to be the same height as James, leaned in, and planted a tender kiss on his cheek.

When they both realized what she had done, they each blushed rather heavily. Lily was positive that her face matched the color of her hair, and she was mortified. Thank Merlin she didn't kiss the boy on the lips.

"Happy New Year, James." Her use of his first name shocked them both.

"Happy New Year to you too, Lily." She blushed even redder, if that was possible. She didn't know what to do. She was at a loss for words.

She walked past him, headed for the stairs. She didn't get very far, however, when she felt a warm, strong hand wrap around her forearm. The force of it spun her around, and before she could give it a second thought, she came chest to chest—and face to face—with James. She couldn't help but blush even more. What was happening?

James looked like he was going to say something, but then though better of it. He let her go, and she stumbled back, like she'd been hit with a stunning spell. Lily quickly turned on her heel and fled to her dorm room.

When she got there, she exhaled loudly, relieved that she was alone. She flopped down on her bed and thought of what had just happened. What was he thinking? Why did he affect her like that? Was Alice right—did she feel something more for this boy than just innocent friendship? Her mind strayed to the kiss. What would James think of her actions? What would her friends think? What would his friends think? She resolved that she would never again make a fool of herself like that over a boy. Maybe it was James Potter that made her crazy, or maybe it was the party. It was probably the latter of the two, since she was never really one for parties anyway.