The fire was dying in the grate but still warm. The common room was empty except for the couple on the couch. James looked at his watch and realized it was time to go. He looked down tenderly at the redhead that had fallen asleep on his lap. It was still hard to believe that Lily actually liked him. James started to gently slip off the couch without disturbing Lily, but as he moved to stand up, her eyes blinked up at him.

"Time to go already?" she asked sleepily.

"Yeah. I'll be back in the morning."

"I know. Just… be safe. Please."

James looked at her, a little shocked. "You can't think that Remus-?"

"Of course not. I was talking about Sirius and yourself. You're more likely to do something stupid that would get you hurt."

"Oh ok. That makes more sense." James grinned cockily.

"C'mere." Lily asked softly.

James bent down to receive her light kiss.

"Oi! We've got a party to plan! Let's go Prongs!"

Sirius bust into the room, non-too quietly despite the hour and grabbed James by his collar, dragging him backwards towards the door. James rolled his eyes and blew Lily a kiss.

"Bye. Have fun" Lily smiled from the couch.

"Seriously, mate," Sirius said as they walked quickly down the corridor. "Lighten up with the snogging. You guys are disgusting."

"Look who's talking!" James retaliated. "You are always all over whatever girlfriend you have at the time."

Sirius shrugged non-committaly. He pulled the invisibility cloak from his pocket and threw it over the two of them.

"Where's Peter, anyway?" James whispered as they slipped out the front door.

"Not feeling well, apparently. Decided to sit tonight out."

Silently they crossed the grounds to the forbidden forest. With a flick of his wand, Sirius immobilized the thrashing tree under which they had stopped, and the two boys disappeared into a hole among its branches. A few minutes later they emerged in the shrieking shack. They looked at each other, then silently transformed. The stag and dog stood patiently as the time passed. Then a scuffle sounded from the tunnel, and Remus emerged, still in human form, and visibly in pain. The other boys rushed forward to support him as his transformation began in earnest.

Lily awoke in the early hours of the next morning, still on the couch on the common room. Dawn was just breaking outside the windows. She sat up and saw what had woken her. James was silently slipping across the room, evidently just returning from the night out with Remus.

"James! What happened?" Lily was awake instantly when she saw the gash along the side of the boy's face, and rushed to his side.

"Remus, didn't do that, did he?"

She pulled out her wand and drew it over his cheek, and the slash, though deep, started to slowly heal.

"Of course not. " James replied. "We just met up with a pack of wolves outside of Hogsmeade, and they didn't take kindly to us being there."

"Wolves? And they attacked the three of you? What could have gotten into them?" Lily asked bewildered.

"They weren't ordinary wolves." James muttered darkly. "I'd say they were enchanted. They never tired, and we couldn't fight them off. Finally I transformed back so I could use my wand to drive them away. Remus wasn't at all pleased about it, but we all would have been seriously hurt otherwise."

"There." Lily said. "All better. At least nothing worse happened, and you're all safe."

"Thanks Lily." James smiled, and kissed her forehead. "I don't know how I managed without you."

"What are your plans for today?"

"Spending time with you, eating a lot, kissing you, quidditch practice this evening, and making out with you. Did I miss anything?"

Lily raised her eyebrows at him. Then she turned and walked towards the dormitories.

"Hey! Come back!"

James grabbed her hand, but she only looked back at him with an expression that said, "C'mon, trust me." and kept walking.

"Fine, but you'd better hurry." He went to wait on the couch the Lily had vacated.

Several minutes later she returned with a book in her hand.

"What took you so long?" James pouted, pulling her onto his lap and kissing her before she had a change to reply.

"I kinda walked in an Alice and a boy. They were sorta busy."

James looked at her incredulously. "What boy?"

"You know Frank Longbottom?"

"You're kidding."

"Nope. Not in the least."

"But Alice –"

"Isn't the nerdy type? I know." Lily sighed. "It was a little amusing to walk in her. She totally wasn't expecting it, as she thought I was spending the night with you."

"Well that's not such a bad idea, now, is it?"

Lily just smacked his arm with the book.

"Anyway, I went in there to get this. It was going to be your Christmas present, but it sounds like you might need it a bit early."

The book was entitled, "Advanced Defense Against the Dark Arts: Counter Curses and Protective Spells".

James took the book from her and flipped through the first few pages. He looked up at her with an odd expression on his face.

"Lily, this is really high level stuff. What on earth would I need this for?"

"I think you know as well as I do." She looked at him steadily. "Voldemort's on the rise, and there are people within Hogwarts that admire him a bit too much to be safe."

James thought back, and realized that she was right. There had been incidents lately, nothing big enough to raise suspension right away, but when coupled together…

"We have to tell Dumbledore."

"I have a feeling he already knows. We just need to prepare ourselves in case it's us next."

"Ok. You want to start today?"

"The sooner the better."

"Fine, but can I get some sleep first? It was a rough night." James rubbed his eyes.

"Of course. Where's Sirius, anyway?" Lily had noticed his absence.

"He's staying with Remus. Moony was a little shaken up, and we didn't want to leave him alone."

"Good idea. Sleep well then." Lily smiled, kissed James, and then stood up to return to her dorm. Before she reached the entrance, however, she paused. When she looked back at James, there was hesitation on her face.

"I really don't fancy walking in on Alice again."

"Come with me then. The dormitory will be empty, as Franks in with Alice, Sirius is with Remus, and Peter is MIA."

He reached out and took Lily's hand, leading her up the boys staircase.

"Do you really think we should be doing this?" Lily questioned, looking nervous as they entered the deserted room.

"Why not? It's not like anything is going to happen."

Lily looked relieved at this. James sat down on his bed, pulled Lily next to him, and looked at her seriously.

"I mean it. We won't do anything you don't want to."

"I know this sounds weird, but I kinda wanted to save that for marriage. I just think its right."

"Well, I'll have a ring on your finger soon enough anyway."

Lily looked at him sharply. James chuckled.

"I'm not proposing, Lily, don't worry. I really do need sleep though."

Her expression softened, and she smoothed his hair back from his forehead. Bending down, she kissed him gently. James' eyes closed, and Lily realized how truly lucky she was. James Potter had grown into a fine, handsome wizard. As she thought back to his comment about getting a ring on her finger, Lily realized that he may indeed be The One. She drifted off to sleep beside him with a smile on her face.

Over the next month, Lily and James worked hard to learn the spells from James's book. In between classes, during meals, and evenings, they could be found in spare classrooms, attempting to block curses and deflect jinxes. They had never dreamed, however, that their amateur skills would come in handy so soon.

There were out by the lake late one Friday night, underneath the beech tree. Lily was sitting on James's lap, his shirt was undone, and his hand was holding Lily's leg around him. James shivered as Lily's hand lightly slipped down his side and around to his back. For a girl who was super disciplined about school, she really could get into it. Sometimes she made it hard to keep his promise to her about not going all the way. She kissed his fervently, and he responded in kind. An owl hooted close by, but neither paid attention. As James drew back for air, he smiled gently at her.

"What?" Lily asked, resting her head on his shoulder.

"You."

James could almost feel Lily raise her eyebrows.

"I've liked you for forever. But I never realized that being with you and loving you would make me this…. Well, happy." He kissed the top of her head.

Lily was silent for a minute before speaking.

"I guess that's the same with me. All those years I thought that dating you would be the worst possible punishment, but now I realize it's the opposite."

"It's the best possible punishment?"

Before she could reply, an ear-splitting shriek echoed from the distance. They both sat up very quickly, instantly alert. The cry came again, but was cut off with a dull thump. Lily scrambled up and drew her wand. James, now beside her, had done the same. Silently they both started warily towards the sound. Lily turned to look back at James, and reached out her hand. She looked scared, but determined. James took it and squeezed, reassuring her. As they got closer, Lily though she heard a girl crying. The noise was coming from a section of the castle wall that backed up into the forbidden forest. As they drew closer, James held her back, and they waited in the shadows, listening. Voices could be heard over the crying.

" –be upset over it? They were muggles! If you were a real witch, you wouldn't care! You would understand that they were in the way of wizardkind advancing, and the benefit that their death brings."

The speaker was clothed in darkness, but James could tell that there were more people standing nearby. A dark huddle on the ground was sobbing into her hands.

"Let her cry." Another, deeper voice chimed in, amused. "She'll soon see the errors in her ways, and then she will come running back to us, won't you sweetheart?"

The girl cried harder as the owner of the voice bent down and stroked her cheek.

"Enough. We don't need to go touching the filthy mudblood as well." A third voice said, sounding dispassionate.

Lily stiffened. With a face full of shock and horror, Lily look back at James, and he didn't need to ask why. There could only be on guess as to who the voice belonged to.

Severus Snape.