HELLO! So I promised two chapters and I hope you enjoy them! I also, most sincerely, hope that your new year is off to a lovely start! Now that I'm back home, and back to real life, I'm going to have to try and work in more time to write but I might be a little busy for a while. This is just to say... I might not be writing as much in the near future.

BUT, never fear - my brain is still working up ideas and I'll be writing Jily whenever I have a spare moment! So without further ado, your chapters my FF friends! Oh - no smut in this chapter but there is suggestion. So if that's not your thing... tatty bye.

Disclaimer - still not JKR.

"Well, it's not my fault that they both wanted to go on a date with me on Friday! How was I supposed to know two dates in one evening was against the rules?!" Sirius sighed dramatically and flopped down into the chair near my window while I laughed, "Sirius. You had to know they were going to find out. You aren't exactly subtle." He just grinned wickedly at me, "Well, that's how I get all the female attention, isn't it, mate?" I sighed. "Exactly," he said, "I'm not changing my ways."

A rapping on the window effectively ended our conversation about Sirius' conquests. "Hogwarts letters," I said, hopping up off my bed and opening the window. Two owls, a barn and a screech, flew in, the barn owl landed near me while the screech owl perched on the sill next to Sirius. We removed our letters, gave the birds some owl treats, and watched as they flew off. "You ready for our final Hogwarts letters, mate?" Sirius asked. I nodded and grinned.

I tore open my letter and stared down at my hands in shock. "I got Head Boy." I whispered.

"You got what?!" Sirius looked stunned. "Head Boy!" I shouted. I could feel the panic rising in my chest. How in the hell could I be Head Boy?!

"How did YOU get Head Boy?" Sirius asked with a laugh. Thanks for reading my mind, Sirius. "Gee, thanks, Pads." I groaned and looked over the letter again. "I'm already worried enough about this. Dumbledore must be off his rocker. I wasn't even a prefect!" Sirius smiled, "Come on, James. Dumbledore knows you have a lot of influence with the other students. I'm sure that's why he chose you!"

I sighed and flopped back onto my bed. "He should have chosen Moony!" Sirius grabbed the letter out of my hand and read it over. "You know he couldn't choose Moony, Prongs." I groaned and threw my arm over my eyes. "I know," I said "but it makes so much more sense than choosing me!"

"Why are you all worked up about this James? You already know who your Head Girl is going to be." I pulled my arm off from over my eyes and saw Sirius smiling wryly at me. "Who?" I asked. "Our Lily, of course!" Sirius laughed and looked extremely pleased with himself for figuring this out. And then it hit me. Yes. Yes, Lily WOULD be Head Girl.

I sat up slowly and felt the smile form slowly on my lips. "That's right… Dumbledore HAD to make her Head Girl. Maybe this won't be so bad after all!" I hopped off my bed and ran down the stairs to tell my parents. This is going to be the best year yet. This will be the year I make Lily Evans fall in love with me.

It had only been a month, but I was already going crazy.

Lily and I were on friendly terms now, had been since the end of fifth year and our conversation after 'the incident,' but we still had yet to really work with each other at all. We hadn't even done a class project together after the catastrophe in third year Transfiguration. Well, I still think it was pretty clever… But now that we were Head Boy and Girl I wanted to make sure that we would be able to work professionally and effectively together. Turns out, Lily and I were, finally, on the exact same page. Our first month was going so smoothly, I was stunned.

After Lily showed me the ropes (I hadn't been a prefect, after all), we managed to handle all the meetings, schedules, write-ups, point deductions, and everything else with relative ease. It was a lot of work but working alongside Lily made it all manageable and… fun. The worst part, surprisingly, was living in the Heads Quarters with Lily.

Don't get me wrong. I loved living with her. I loved seeing Lily first thing in the morning, admiring the way the early morning sun made her hair blaze a shade of fiery red that did not seem like it was even natural, loved watching her rub her sleepy eyes as she padded out of her room in the morning and wandered over to her favourite window in the common room to take in the morning air. I enjoyed sitting with her in the evening and watching her read or work on some assignment for class, twirling her quill around in her hands or furrowing her brow as she fell into deep thought. I especially loved the way she would look up at me from under those long eyelashes, eyes hooded with exhaustion and smile that smile at me before saying "Goodnight, James," and walking to her room and shutting the door almost all of the way.

I loved living with Lily but she was definitely trying to kill me. She'd left the bathroom door ajar last week and I, being an idiot, had walked in while she was in the shower. She shrieked when she heard the door open and I muttered out some stupid apology but she shocked me – "It's okay, you can stay! It's not like you can see through the curtain." She laughed and I half-heartedly joined her, "Just do what you have to do! Sorry I left the door open a little," she'd said and I could hear her moving around in there which started up my imagination (and other things), "it gets so steamy in here so I like to leave the door cracked a little bit. It keeps it from getting too hot in here," Too late. "Besides," she continued, "I thought you'd already gone down to breakfast." I shoved the toothbrush in my mouth and mumbled, "Nope," through a huge mouthful of toothpaste.

Being around her all the time was leaving me in quite a state. I was turned on all the time and I took great pains to hide that from Lily. But the way she walked around our common room or the way she leaned over the table while she reached for a book that was just out of reach was too much. So I'd taken to reading more than I'd ever read in my life – I really, really liked (okay, loved) Lily and I didn't want to ruin whatever chance I had with her if she started to think that I'm just some perv who is into her for her body. I wanted all of her… if she would have me.

Tonight, though, was proving to be more of a challenge than anything I'd faced so far. It was an unseasonably warm October evening and Lily was walking around the common room in a skimpy dressing gown with, from what I could tell, nothing on underneath. Probably knickers or something equally tantalizing. She was sitting splayed out on the couch, book in one hand and parchment balancing on her thigh, taking notes as she read. Every so often she would bite her lip and furrow her brow in concentration and I couldn't take it. I slammed my book shut quickly, jumped up, and ran. I have to get out of here.

I ran out of the Heads Quarters, probably shocking Lily as I sprang up and darted out of the portrait hole, and ran up to Gryffindor Tower. I climbed past the Fat Lady and ran all the way up the boys' stairs before bursting into my old dorm. "I'm going to kiss her."

My fellow Marauders were just staring at me in shock as I raked my hands through my hair nervously and started pacing. "It's driving my crazy living in the Heads Quarters with her." I saw Sirius smile at Remus and Peter out of the corner of my eye but I didn't have time for his jokes. This was serious. Ha.

"The whole place smells like her!" I continued, waving my hands wildly in the air, "I can't wake up in the morning without wondering when I'm going to see her! We sit up late at night and study together. SHE WALKS AROUND IN HER DRESSING GOWN, FOR MERLIN'S SAKE! I'm going out of my bloody mind!"

Moony laughed, "No, Prongs, you're just falling for her." I stopped dead in my tracks and looked up at him. "You think?"

Moony smiled and nodded. "Now what are you going to do about it?"

"I'm going to kiss her!" I shouted and I ran out of the dorm and back out of Gryffindor Tower. I heard some people jeering at me as I sprinted through the corridors back to the Heads Quarters but I didn't care. No one was going to stop me now, no one except Lily.

I arrived back outside our portrait hole and took a moment to collect myself. The old wizard in the painting raised his eyebrow at me as I stood there, shaking the nerves out of my arms, but I just glared at him. "Oh, sod off," I said and he huffed, "Just give me the password when you're ready." I took a few more moments, closed my eyes, and took one final, deep breath. "Okay, password's Gillyweed." The old wizard nodded and swung open and I walked slowly inside.

Lily was still in the common room but she wasn't sitting where I'd left her. She was pacing, book in hand, but she didn't really seem to be reading. She looked up when I walked in and closed the book, holding it at her side before perching on the back of the sofa, "Where did you go in such a hurry?" she asked, a smile on her face. I don't know if she was trying to be seductive but I was definitely being seduced.

"I had to ask the Marauders something," I said evasively, taking a few steps closer to her. I celebrated internally when she didn't get up and move away. "Oh?" she asked, raising her eyebrow, "And what was that?" I gulped and took a few more steps closer to her. Should I tell her? I'd been chasing Lily for seven years now… she knew how I felt. The worst she could do was hex me… and I'd been there before so at least I'd know what to expect.

I took a few more steps until I was standing directly in front of her, situated between her thighs that, somehow, had fallen open to admit me. She was looking up at me and an unreadable expression and I felt the words fall out of my lips – "I told them that I was going crazy living around you," she arched an eyebrow and I saw the corners of her lips start to hitch up, "And Moony told me I'm falling for you." "And are you?" she asked, her voice in a low whisper to mirror mine. "Yes," I breathed back. And then I kissed her.

She didn't even hesitate. Her hands wrapped around my neck, her fingers tangling in my hair as she pulled me closer against her and I groaned when our hips came into contact. Her tongue moved slowly out of her mouth, tracing the edge of my lips and I opened my mouth to admit her, moaning into her mouth and pulling her even closer. After a few minutes, or years, who could tell, we broke apart and, gasping for breath, I laid my forehead against hers, "Go out with me, Lily. Be my girlfriend." Lily smiled the brightest smile I'd seen on her face to date – "I thought you'd never ask. Yes, James."

I whooped in celebration, scooped Lily up over my shoulder, and ran out of the Heads Quarters. She was laughing hysterically and, though she was initially pounding on my back and demanding to be put down, she eventually gave up as we ran through the halls. "LILY EVANS IS MY GIRLFRIEND!" I yelled, earning a bright, loud laugh from Lily and applause as I ran through the corridor back up to Gryffindor Tower.

"MINNIE!" I yelled when I saw Professor McGonagall near the stairs leading to the Fat Lady, "LILY FINALLY SAID YES!" I expected a scolding but she just smiled warmly, "Congratulations, Potter. And please, don't call me Minnie. It's Professor McGonagall." "WE'LL INVITE YOU TO THE WEDDING, MINNIE!" I shouted, and sprinted up the stairs, Lily's laughter ringing in my ears and taking me to a whole new level of happiness.

The Fat Lady didn't seem too pleased to see me carrying Lily but finally agreed to let us through. "I AM GOING OUT WITH LILY EVANS!" I shouted. The entire common room broke into whoops and applause and I could feel Lily shaking with laughter on my shoulder now. I ran up the stairs to my old room, bursting in (just as I had an hour before) with Lily firmly on my shoulder. "SHE SAID YES!" The Marauders clapped as I finally set Lily down and grabbed her laughing lips into another kiss.

"About damn time," I heard Sirius say and I couldn't help the laughter that escaped as I pulled away. Lily was looking up at me with the most amazing look on her face – her cheeks were flushed with laughing, her eyes were bright and twinkling… I could have married her right then. Instead, I just wrapped my arm around her shoulder and kissed her temple.

"So, which one of you won?" Lily asked, a mischievous smile on her face. I looked down at her confused but I could see the Marauders looking at each other guiltily. "I know they bet on us," Lily said laughing. "Well, in that case," Moony said, sticking his hand out, "Sirius and Peter owe me two galleons each."

Lily laughed brightly and I could only hug her tighter to my side. This, right here, was the start of the rest of my life.

Gahhhh guys, I love Jily. Onto the next... ;)