Lily couldn't believe that the end of year feast was later tonight. It was the first year in memory that she wasn't beyond excited to be returning home. Of course, James was the reason for that. He seemed to be the reason for a lot of things lately. Like, why she was returning home a great deal wiser about a great many things she'd never returned home wiser about before; for example, how absolutely wonderful broom cupboards could be. She had learned that the dark interior left room for accidental touches and brushes that were in no way accidental, but would be excused as such. It was entirely too early to be lying awake in bed considering how late she and James had occupied that broom cupboard on the second floor, but she just couldn't stop thinking about it. She smiled to herself as she recalled some of the details and how it had all come about.

Lily sat stiffly on the sofa in the common room between James and Alice. The end of exams party was still going on around them, but somehow, in the midst of things, the Marauders had struck up a game of Truth or Dare which Lily, despite her many attempts to escape, had become an unwilling participant of. Already she'd been forced to recall her most embarrassing moment and tell the group at large what color knickers she had on. The problem with playing Truth or Dare with the Marauders was that neither, Truth nor Dare was a good option and they charmed the game so you couldn't back out of your choice. Obviously Dare was the riskier option, but the Truths demanded were always embarrassing. Lily thanked Merlin that she had been smart enough not to pick Dare like Alice. She'd been dared to streak across the lawn while the rest of them watched from a window. Luckily, they were far enough away and it was dark enough that they hadn't been able to see much, but Lily still would have rather died than streak. Her turn came around again and feebly she said, "Truth." Sirius eyed her carefully as he crafted his question. She grew more uncomfortable by the moment, afraid of what she'd be forced to reveal next.

"Who was the first boy to take you into a broom cupboard?" Sirius finally asked with suggestively raised eyebrows.

Lily wondered if James hadn't put him up to that question, but she nearly sagged with relief anyway. She could see James watching her out of the corner of his eye when she smiled and said, "As I'm not that kind of girl, I've never been into a broom cupboard with a boy."

"A girl, then?" Sirius asked hopefully, earning him a swat on the arm from Alice.

"No one," Lily said firmly. She could see the Marauders exchanging quick glances around the circle and worried about what they might be thinking. As Alice took her turn beside her, she wondered if she should be embarrassed by her lack of experience. It wasn't that she hadn't kissed boys, she had, just not a great many of them and certainly never in a broom cupboard. In her experience, the girls who spent time in broom cupboards with boys were rather on the slaggy side. She sat and worried as the game progressed around the circle. She broke out of her reverie when it was James' turn again. He eagerly chose dare and, with dancing eyes, Remus quickly said, "James, I dare you to take Lily Evans to the broom cupboard on the second floor."

"Damn," thought Lily. "They probably had planned this." Her face burned as he captured her hand in his own and dragged her toward the portrait hole. His friends hooted and hollered their approval behind them. As they made their way down to the second floor in silence, Lily's embarrassment began to turn to anticipation. Hadn't she wanted more excuses to snog James? This was a golden opportunity, because of the magical charm on the dare, they couldn't back out of it.

"You okay?" James asked, as he squeezed her hand a little more tightly.

"Yes, fine," Lily said quietly.

"I'm sorry you got roped into this," James said, trying, but failing, to quite sound remorseful.

"You are not," Lily accused with a chuckle., "I'm sure you've been racking your brain for an excuse to bring me down here."

James chucked too and ruffled his hair self-consciously., "You can't prove that. Would it make you angry if it was true though?"

Lily stopped walking, moved in front of James, placed her hands on his shoulders, and pushed him backward until his back was against the cool stone wall. On tiptoes, she kissed him hungrily, leaning into his body. She pulled away, her eyes still closed and huskily, she replied, "No, I'm not angry." She opened her eyes and smirked as she watched understanding fill his lovely hazel eyes. To her surprise, he scooped her up and rushed with renewed purpose toward the aforementioned broom cupboard. She laughed with delight and wrapped her arms around his neck.

When they reached the broom cupboard, he set her lightly back onto the floor so she could enter of her own free will. He pulled the door open and said, "Ladies first." Lily lit her wand and followed the light it cast into the cramped space. As it was a broom cupboard, it was full of buckets, mops, brooms and other various cleaning supplies. There was barely space left over to squeeze into; that, she supposed was the appeal. If a couple found their way here to snog there was precious little room and no choice but to stand pressed up against one another. Her stomach swooped at the sudden thought of herself and James pressed up against one another.

He followed her into the cupboard and pulled the door closed behind him. He cast a charm upon it, ensuring that they wouldn't be interrupted; at least, not immediately. With the door shut, he was maddeningly close. She looked into his eyes, smiled and extinguished her wand, which she hastily tucked it into the pocket of her skirt. Inside the cupboard was true darkness. She could feel how close he was to her in the dark, but couldn't see a single part of him. There was the tiniest sliver of dim light that spilled in from beneath the door, but that was all.

Without her sight to guide her, other instincts took over. When she felt his hands take her waist her face tilted up instinctualy and their lips met effortlessly. As the kiss deepened, she felt him pull her ever closer with his hands still upon her hips. When their bodies were pressed as firmly as they could be together his hands slid smoothly lower down on her hips and around to her bottom. As he cupped her bottom in both hands, she wrapped her arms around his neck and let her hands sink into his messy, luxuriant hair, which she'd always longed to touch. Their kisses grew deeper and more urgent as they cautiously explored. Lily could feel his hardness between them and it only urged her forward. She explored his well-muscled back, chest, and arms with her hands, while his hands had moved up from her bottom to stoke her long silky hair. When James' mouth separated from her own, she nearly gave an involuntary groan of protest. Instead, she ended up moaning a little when his mouth moved to her neck and sucked the delicate skin there. She had been unaware how good that could feel. She unbuttoned the top two buttons of her shirt, giving James access to more skin to tantalize. As his mouth moved along her collarbone, she unbuttoned his shirt as well and gave herself access to his bare chest. She felt him gasp a little at her touch as she traced over his well-defined muscles with her fingertips. Quidditch had clearly done him good. When he separated his mouth from her skin and, panting slightly, said, "Merlin, Lily, you're driving me crazy," she giggled and said, "You're not doing so bad yourself."

"Perhaps we should slow down a bit?" James asked considerately.

"Not just yet," Lily said, disagreeing before she rained kisses along his neck, preparing to tease him in the same manner he'd done to her. As she sucked and nibbled along his collarbone, she felt him un-tucking her shirt from her skirt. His hand moved up her hips until they connected with bare skin beneath her shirt. Her ministrations on his neck halted and she focused all her concentration on his hands. As they crept higher beneath her shirt, sliding over her smooth skin, Lily knew they should stop. She didn't want to, but knew they should. She put her hands on top of his and stilled their journey upward. "We have to stop," she whispered., "No further tonight." James didn't respond verbally, but instead kissed her again. It was a kiss that was both tender and passionate all at once. It was a kiss that told her that he wanted her, badly, but was willing to wait. It was a kiss of love and respect. Lily wasn't sure she'd ever felt as loved in her entire life; she only hoped that her kiss was telling him all the same things.

When the kiss finally ended, he hugged her fiercely. When they separated, they straightened and re-buttoned their askew clothing in the silence. Breaking the silence, James said, "You know, you didn't have to go through with this."

"Of course I did. Remus dared you, and the game is charmed to ensure that we couldn't back out," Lily reminded him.

"That's true," James said. "But all Remus dared me to do was bring you down to the second floor broom cupboard. He didn't say anything about going inside or snogging."

Lily was dumbfounded, he was absolutely right. She couldn't believe that she hadn't thought of that herself. Clearly, she'd wanted to snog James more than she'd even guessed to let a detail like that slip past her. She couldn't think of anything to say. Finally she settled on, "Did you plan this?"

Without any pause for thought or excuses, he said, "Yeah, I'm sorry Lily. I've been hoping to come here with you, but thought you might be offended if I suggested it. I thought if the opportunity arose in another way you might be more open minded. I'm sorry."

Lily was silent for a moment. Part of her was disappointed in him. Wasn't this thing between them different? Special? Why did he have to go and cheapen it by tricking her into this? A slightly larger part of her was slightly amused and completely understood why he would feel the need to go about something like this in an underhanded way. She'd always been a little repressed when it came to boys and dating and was therefore understandably nervous about new things. She had enjoyed herself though, and admittedly had wanted to experience this with him as well, once she got over the initial embarrassment of the whole situation.

"I'm not angry, James," Lily said softly, taking his face between her hands. "I'm a little disappointed that you thought that tricking me into it was the best plan of attack, but I'm not angry and I'm not sorry. Having never experienced the thrill of snogging in a broom cupboard before, I always saw it as something cheap and scandalous, but you've changed my mind. I've been looking forward to the things that happened between us tonight and if a broom cupboard was our best shot at a little privacy for them to happen, then I'm glad." Having said what she needed to say, she pulled his face down to her own and kissed him heartily again.

Lily continued to lie in her bed reliving and analyzing the previous night's activities in her head. She wondered if it was reckless to snog like that with a boy she'd never even been out on a proper date with yet. She tried not to let it worry her though. She had known James for six years and lived in the same castle with him for the better part of six years. Somehow, things were changing. There was something extraordinary happening between them and for that reason she felt no guilt or remorse over what had transpired in the broom cupboard. As she lay there she realized that she didn't want to wait several more hours to see him again. The term would be over later today and the next morning they would all be headed back to London on the Hogwart's Express. She would be apart from him for the whole summer; she was not going to deny herself today. She hoped that no one was up this early and sitting down in the common room to catch her. She quietly descended the stairs and smiled happily when she entered the empty common room. She quickly climbed the stairs to the boys' dorms and quietly opened the door for the sixth year boys' dorm. She closed the door behind her and crept to the bed that she knew to be James'. She pulled back the bed hangings and smiled softly over a sleeping James. His hair was as mussed as ever, his dark lashes fanned across his cheeks and his full lips parted slightly. She nudged him gently and whispered, "James, wake up." His eyes fluttered open after a second nudge and he stared up at her in surprise.

"What are you doing here?" He whispered before adding, "Are you really here?"

"Yes, move over, I'm getting in with you," Lily said.

James obediently slid over in the bed and held the covers up so she could easily slide in with him. He drew the hangings shut again and cast a few spells on them. When she was snuggly situated against his chest, her head beside his on the pillow, he whispered, "Not that I'm not happy to see you, but what are you doing here?"

"I couldn't sleep. I was lying in my bed thinking about last night and how today is the last day before we all go home and I decided that I didn't want to waste any time I could be spending with you," Lily said.

"So you came here to…" James trailed off, not willing to try and interpret what it meant that Lily Evans was in his bed.

"Sleep, in your arms," Lily said. She kissed him softly on the lips and added, "And maybe kiss you a bit."

"Sounds good to me," James sighed happily, as he drew her ever closer into his embrace.

It sounded good to Lily too. As she felt James relaxing back into sleep around her, she thought about how much had changed in the last several months. Four months ago, when they had become partners in class, she had loathed him. Now, she was fairly certain that she was at least a little bit in love with him. She felt like if she concentrated hard enough she could almost see their future stretching out before them. She kissed a sleepy James on the forehead and tried not to think about how few hours they had left. She knew one thing for certain; she was going to miss James like crazy this summer.

Author's Note: Hi All – first off thank you for reading and thanks to those of you who have been leaving me reviews – it is VERY much appreciated and it really helps me to gauge how this story is going.

Thank you also to my beta, Terra Ferme, for reading and editing this chapter – you are so quick, it astounds me!

I know it has been a LONG wait for a chapter like this to happen…but we needed them to get here before it could happen. Now that we've made it there, I think there will be a lot more of the romantic fluff like we saw in this chapter.

The story is still far from over and, as always, if you have brilliant ideas for me – share them!

Thanks!

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