A/N: Hello my loves! I guess the summer of updates didn't really go as planned :(. I am truly sorry about that but life took over, and even more so now that school's started and I'm writing for the newspaper and everything's so hectic. I'm starting to think I'm losing my touch too, because with news you can't write the way I do here and it's so difficult for me; but now I'm back and ready to get back into the swing of things! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: If I owned the Marauders (minus Wormtail because he sucks) I would be the happiest girl alive. But they belong to J.K. Rowling so I'm not.

Lily POV: "Alice, I have no idea what to wear!" I complained. "I'm not cut out for this. What do you usually wear when you go out with Frank?"

Frank Longbottom was Alice's boyfriend of almost a year. They were a muggle's description of the perfect couple; always together, happy and loving. Everyone in our year knew they'd probably end up married someday.

From her spot on my bed Alice chuckled. "Just wear what you feel comfortable in, Lily. You always dress nicely anyways."

"But," I protested as I struggled for the right words. "This is different! It's not just a normal day out with a friend; this is a date with none other than James Potter!"

She shook her head and stood up, coming to wrap her arms around my shoulders. "Relax," she soothed me. "James has always liked you just the way you are, even when you detested him. Correct?"

"I… guess," I said slowly. "But,"

"No buts," she interrupted me. "He's always fancied you, he's never had one bad thing to say about you, and you're nervous? Honestly, he'll think you're beautiful even if you wear a paper sack over your head. Wear something that makes you feel beautiful and at ease with yourself. I guarantee you that James Potter will fall to his knees when he sees you."

I smiled and hugged her back tightly. "Thank you Alley," I said. "I'm sorry I'm being so fussy, it's just that I actually really like James, he makes me happier than I thought anyone could, and we've only been talking for a week or so. Does that make sense?"

"It makes perfect sense," she grinned. "That's how it was for me and Frank really. We'd only been talking for nearly a month before we made it official, and look at us now."

"I'm really nervous," I whispered. "Ally I feel nauseous."

"That's normal," she patted my shoulders sympathetically. "Now calm down and let's find you something to wear."

An hour later there I was, hair straight, red cardigan and light-wash jeans with a white tank top and sneakers underneath.

Alice stepped back to admire her work. "Now that," she beamed, "Is what I call casual beauty at its' finest."

"You think he'll like it?" I wondered anxiously.

She rolled her eyes. "Lily Evans what have I been telling you this whole time?"

"He likes me as I am and I needn't worry," I sighed, repeating the same mantra she'd been drilling through my mind.

"That's right," she agreed. "Now you know the drill. Remus will be stalling Peter and Sirius so that James can leave the castle unnoticed. Then, I'll walk through the village with you so that Severus really believes you'll be spending the day with me, then when you two are safely inside the Three Broomsticks and away from prying eyes, I'll make my exit so you can enjoy your date. Sound good?"

"Um, it sounds divine but can I just ask you… why did you and Remus plan our 'getaway' in the format of a covert spy mission?" I chortled.

She rolled her eyes good naturedly and smacked my shoulder, "It's more fun that way that's why. Now let's go, we'll be expected there soon."

We made our way down the steps of the girls' dormitory and looked over on the boys' side just in time to see Remus poke his hand out the door and give us the thumbs up.

"That's our cue," Alice said to me. "Let's go!"

By the time we were about halfway through the village I heard the one voice I didn't want to hear at the moment call out my name. "Hey Lily!" Sev said from somewhere behind me getting closer. "Lily, wait up!"

I stopped despite Alice's evil glares. "Hey Sev," I half smiled when he caught up. Of course I wasn't unhappy to see him, but if he followed me to where I was going there would no doubt be a funeral at Hogwarts in the morning.

"Hey," he grinned back at me. "Look Lil, I know you said you were going to spend the day with Alice today, but I was thinking maybe later on we could meet up and hang out. I've hardly seen you since we got to school."

It took me a moment as I struggled, trying to find the right answer. I wanted to spend the whole day with James, but on the other hand Severus was right. We hadn't seen each other much since we'd gotten back. It hadn't really crossed my mind as James had me all flustered, but I felt the guilt seeping through now. "Sure Sev, can we meet at seven?" I wondered. I'd just have to tell James what was going on, surely he'd understand.

"That'll be great!" he said enthusiastically. "I should be done hanging around with Mulciber and Avery around then as well. See you later, Lily!" and then he walked off quickly, leaving me with a rather livid Alice.

"What happened to wanting to spend the whole day with Potter," she hissed at me clearly afraid Severus was still within earshot.

"You think I don't want to?" I retorted. "Of course I do! But Sev's right, we haven't seen each other and I feel bad. Plus, if he happens to go looking for me and sees James and me together it will not be good! You don't know how much they hate each other; if Sev finds out James will most likely be dead by morning, only we won't know for sure because the body will have mysteriously disappeared."

"Okay," she conceded, putting her hands up in surrender. "I get it. Snape finds out about you and James, it won't be good. There was no need to be overdramatic."

"That wasn't overdramatic," I countered. "That would actually be the reality of what happened. Overdramatic would be a Hungarian Horntail coming to devour James because Sev somehow acquired to commit the murder in his place."

Alice was looking at me like I'd just sprouted a nose from my forehead. "Your mind works in strange ways Lily Evans," she sighed. "What on earth does James see in a mind like that?"

I narrowed my eyes at her and she started to laugh so hard that tears were pouring from her eyes. "I'm kidding," she giggled. "I'd never ask him that. But I really did mean the part about your mind working in strange ways."

With that I began to laugh right along with her. "I won't fight you on it," I said as we made our way in to the Three Broomsticks.

From where we stood I could see James still wearing his coat in the far corner seated by the fire. I turned to Alice anxiously before he could look up and see us.

"How do I look?" I demanded frantically, smoothing out my hair and probably looking like a crazy cat lady the way I was fidgeting. "Is my hair sticking up? Are my shoes dirty? What about-"

"Lily, Lily stop," Alice said before firmly grabbing my shoulders and smiling at me. "You look amazing; probably exactly how you look in his dreams."

I scoffed. "Oh please. He does not dream about me, Alice."

"I wouldn't bet on that," she teased. "Now come on, he's waiting."

Taking a deep, slow breath I followed her to James's corner. When we got there, Alice cleared her throat to gain his attention and he jumped, immediately standing up when he saw me.

"Ah, um, hi," he breathed nervously. "I-I was waiting for you. In fact, I was slightly terrified you wouldn't show up," he chuckled, even more nervous.

I laughed along with him, trying to avoid those breathtaking hazel eyes as much as possible before I lost my coherent thoughts.

"She would never do that to you," Alice told him sweetly. "We just got held up for a moment. We're here now."

"I'm glad to hear it," he said, his voice suddenly warmer, more content. That was when I decided to establish eye contact. To my surprise he was staring right at me now with the most amazing smile I'd ever seen. It was equal parts adoring and devilish, giving him a hint of mischief that could make any girl weak in the knees.

I smiled right back at him, happy that this moment was finally here. How could I have despised him all these years? Why didn't I ever see that James wasn't really an arrogant selfish toerag? It was just a front he put on to impress others; to impress me. All this time, I'd been blind.

"Well," Alice stated awkwardly, breaking me from my trance. "I should get going. I'm supposed to meet Frank at Madam Puddifoot's in twenty minutes, and I want to beat him there. Have fun, you lot!" she winked at me, and then danced out of the pub.

That left James and I standing there, very nervous, and slightly uncomfortable. "Erm," I muttered. "Sorry. She's just a little excitable sometimes."

He smiled. "It's alright; she reminds me of Pad-I mean Sirius a little."

I had to laugh at that. "How so?"

He shrugged. "She's hyper, always ready for action and able to pull something over on anyone; that's why."

"Huh," I pondered. "I'd never thought of it that way." He was actually right, especially with the way Alice had been able to slip us past Severus; that conquest alone was enough to make her one of the sneakiest people alive. Well, either that or it was only me that found him difficult to hide from; probably because I was such a dreadful liar.

James smiled at me again. "Shall we sit down?" he asked, his voice began to constrict nervously again and he rustled up his hair. I used to find that annoying, now it was just plain cute.

"Sure," I squeaked like a tiny field mouse, most likely sounding like the biggest idiot alive. I slid my parka off and I heard him suck in a breath as my cardigan was revealed.

"What?" I asked, blushing furiously.

"Nothing," he said, his blush now creeping up his cheeks towards his ears. "It's just… you look really beautiful today, Lily."

Butterflies assaulted my stomach then, and I began to fight for my speech ability. "Thank you," I whispered.

He nodded and shakily motioned to the table. "Erm, shall we sit?"

"That'd be lovely," I grinned and sat down, watching as he almost missed the chair and fumbled to get his footing back. I coughed to cover up my laughter earning myself an extremely cute impish glare from James.

"What?" I exclaimed indignantly. "You have to admit that was funny," I countered.

It seemed he was unable to help himself as he smiled back at me. "Yes I suppose it was," he agreed.

After that we got our butterbeer and seemed to spiral off into a conversation about nothing and everything; what our favorite colors were, our interests, our families.

He stopped after I mentioned Petunia. "So she doesn't want anything to do with you now that you're a witch?" he demanded incredulously. "That's Ludacris! I mean she's your sister for merlin's sake, why would she just write you off like you were a stranger?"

"Because," I sighed. "That's what she does when something doesn't go her way. She pretends like it means absolutely nothing to her and she grows to hate it. It's her defense mechanism."

He raised his eyebrows in question so I decided to continue. "When she found out what I was she wrote to Dumbledore, begging him to accept her into Hogwarts. Sev and I saw his reply. It very kindly stated that he was not allowed to accept muggles into the school even if he truly wanted to."

James nodded. "And another thing if you don't mind," he continued and I nodded, not really minding telling him about my life at home. "What's the deal with old Snivelly anyway? Is there any reason why he's always got his knickers in a twist or is he just a natural git?"

I sighed, only partially contemplating whether or not to tell Sev's story to James or not. For one, he'd never told anyone else about his life at home but me, and only because I witnessed it; but on the other hand if I asked James not to, he'd never mention it to another living soul.

"Promise you won't tell anyone?" I checked.

He gave me his best salute and motioned for me with his hands to continue. "Well, Sev's a half-blood see, his mum's the witch, and his dad's a muggle. His mum is actually a fairly pleasant woman, but his father… well, to say the least he hates anything that has to do with magic; and that includes his wife and son. So Severus grew up feeling unloved a lot of the time, as his mother never had time to pay attention to him because her and Tobias were always too busy screaming at one another."

"That's terrible," he muttered, slightly ashamed. "If I'd known I'd never have been nearly as hard on him as I have."

"Hey," I murmured, reaching across the table to take his hand. "It's not your fault. And besides, as far as I've seen lately he does have a hand in the way you treat him. He's not all that saint-like towards you either."

"Good that," he said darkly. "I know why he's always had it out for me too; because I fancy you."

I nearly choked on my drink. "Sorry?" I coughed.

He chuckled. "Lily your beautiful green eyes cannot possibly be that blind. Haven't you noticed?"

"Noticed what?"

"Snape, Lily. He fancies you nearly as much as I do."

I'd started shaking my head before he'd even finished. "Impossible," I said, but it sounded more like I was trying to convince myself than deny it.

James grinned at me again and my heart melted. "Suit yourself," he decided. "Just don't make me say I told you so."

I rolled my eyes. "You know I've been right all these years. You really are an insufferable idiot," I giggled.

He on the other hand, looked hurt and I immediately softened. "What's the matter?"

"Nothing," he shrugged my hand off his shoulder with a smile. "I mean, I know you were joking but sometimes I worry you really still think that of me. I'm not that guy, Lily."

"I know," I replied softly. "I'm sorry, James."

"Don't worry Lily, I knew you were kidding. Hey, what say you and I take a walk through the village? I know this quiet spot by the Shrieking Shack where we can sit for a while. It's more romantic than it sounds, I swear."

I chuckled, "I'd love to."

With that, we took each other's hands, James paid for the drinks, and we began walking. I was quite sure one date had never began so magically.

A/N: So what'd you guys think? The Shrieking Shack bit is coming up next for anyone who wants to see that! And how do you think Lily's encounter with Severus will go? Review and hopefully the wait won't be so long this time. I love you guys!

Thanks for Reading!

-thewolfgurlgleek :)