Disclaimer - Usual.

Chapter 85

Despite being the last year that the Marauders' would be in school, and they had hoped it would be more fun, they found that a heaviness lay on each of them. They had more schoolwork than in any other year, so for each subject that two or more of them shared, only one did the classwork to give the other the freedom to do the work for another class. It made the load considerably lighter. The only time that didn't work was when they had to pick separate topics for an essay, but even then they tried to share the load of work.

James was, by far, the most busy. By the time October came around, he really began to question whether or not he would be able to handle being quidditch captain, Head Boy, do his class work, and look into potential Death Eater activity on campus.

As Head Boy and Head Girl, James and Lily had more responsibility than they had expected. They had to take bi-monthly reports from the other prefects. They also had to act as student counselors, a task which drove James crazy, despite the fact that he was actually pretty good at it. They attended meetings with the Heads-of-House and the Headmaster, offering a familiarity with the very people they hoped would help them most in their efforts to fight Voldemort and his forces.

Due to their positions, they were also given more freedoms and luxury. They each had their own living quarters, much like the professors did. They had access to every part of the castle, which meant they were always updated on the password for the Gargoyle, as well as knowing the passwords for each of the common rooms. James tried very hard to convince Lily he was justified in searching the Slytherin dorms, but she would not allow it and insisted that, if he tried, she would report him to Dumbledore for misuse of power.

On their way back from a meeting with the Heads-of-House, in which the first Hogsmeade visit was announced, James smirked and glanced at Lily out of the corner of his eye. "Oh Evans…" he said in a sort of sing-song voice.

"Oh Potter," she replied, mimicking his tone.

"First Hogsmeade visit of the year…"

"And?"

"Will you go with me?"

"No."

James frowned in frustration. The two of them had been spending considerable time together and had actually been getting along. He had hoped she would finally give him his chance. "Why not?"

Lily glanced at him with a glint in her eyes that reminded James of Sirius when he was plotting something. "I'll tell you what, Potter. There are a few… conditions… that you have to meet before I'll go out with you."

The two of them had just reached her living quarters.

"And they would be…?"

Lily turned to face James, smiling mischievously. "Use your great Marauding skills to find out." And with that, she whipped around and stepped through her door, closing it on a confused, yet elated, James.

James stood for a moment, staring at the now closed door, then he too spun and made a mad dash to the Gryffindor common room. When he entered, he yelled, "Gillette!... Gillette!" James walked purposefully up to Sirius, who was sitting in his usual place on the couch. "Where is Gillette?"

"Calm down, mate. What's the problem?" Sirius asked.

"It's Evans!"

By James' response, Sirius couldn't tell if something was wrong or very right. "Well, you'll just have to wait a minute. She went to powder her nose. – You know, I really don't understand that expression – 'powder your nose.' I mean, really, one's nose is about as far from your…"

"Sirius!" Remus warned.

Sirius smirked, but kept quiet, though James was starting to irritate him with his impatient tapping on the back of the couch.

As soon as Gillette re-entered the common room, James pounced at her and grabbed her by the shoulders. With a little desperate shake, he said, "Gillette, I need your help."

Gillette stared at James, wide-eyed. "James," she said slowly, as if speaking to someone mentally disturbed. "Let's sit down."

James seemed to come to his senses and he let her go, then followed her to the couch. "Evans said she would go out with me if I met certain criteria. What are they?"

Gillette gasped and covered her mouth. Then, in the way that tends to frighten boys, she started squeeing and bouncing in her seat. This was followed quickly by launching herself toward James and giving him a hug, before pulling back and bouncing a few more times. It was James' turn to look at her in a wide-eyed, slightly frightened, way.

"Okay. First of all, I think you're supposed to figure out what she wants and not have me just tell you… but I'll give you the first one as a freebie. Call her 'Lily' not 'Evans.'"

James nodded. "I can do that."

"Oh," Gillette waved her hand, indicating James should wait. "But you can't just start calling her 'Lily.' That won't work; plus, she'll know I told you. It will have to be at a special moment."

James sighed frustratedly. "Anything else I should know?"

"Well, of course. That's kind of the point, isn't it?"

"How many of these 'criteria' are there?"

"All right, listen… Most of the criteria she had you've already fulfilled without knowing it…"

James smiled cockily, "I have?"

"Yes. And wipe that smile off your face, because that will count against you." James dropped the smile so fast, Gillette had to work hard not to laugh. Sirius, who was sitting next to her on the couch, did snort in laughter. "Prove to her that you know her – not just her name or her physical attributes, but that you really know her. She wants to be liked for who she is. And show her something of yourself." Sirius chuckled quietly again, so Gillette elbowed him in the side. "Do not buy her something. She knows you have money and she'll think you're just trying to flaunt it. That won't impress her. Oh, and you can't use the Room of Requirement – that's cheating."

James nodded as each of Gillette's instructions were fired at him. His frown deepened with each one as he realized he'd have to put serious thought into making this perfect. He actually began to get nervous. This might very well be his one and only shot to prove himself to her and he didn't want to mess it up. "Can I get help, at least?"

"You've already gotten help, but yes. And with that, I think I'll leave you boys to talk."

James wore a forlorn expression as he looked to his friends for help. "Any suggestions?"

"This is worse than a marriage proposal," Sirius commented.

"She just wants some reassurance that Prongs is serious," Remus stated.

"No, I'm Sirius… and after four years of Prongs asking her to Hogsmeade, she ought to know he's… you know," Sirius said indignantly. It wasn't that he didn't like Lily. He'd learned to like her a lot last year with the whole "Snivellus Incident." He just didn't think it was fair that his best mate had to jump through hoops to impress a girl who spent most of her time criticizing him. Then again, Sirius had to admit she hadn't been criticizing him nearly as much as she used to. In fact, they'd all been getting along pretty well.

"Pads, will you help?" James had that pathetic look that got Sirius to do anything he wanted.

He sighed. "Of course I will."

James cheered considerably. "Wormtail, any details you can give me would be helpful right about now."

Peter frowned, thinking hard about what he knew about the lovely Miss Lily.

Before he could say anything, Remus jumped in. "I thought the point of this was to find out what you know about her… So let's start there." To aid in the discovery process, Remus pulled out a piece of parchment and his quill to make a list.

"Okay. I know… mmm… I know her parents died and she lives with her sister, Petunia, who she no longer gets along with…"

"Well that's cheery," Sirius interjected, but Remus shot him a look, clearly telling him to shut up.

"I know her best friend is Gillette, but she's also good friends with Patty, Stacey, and Leena. She's had two boyfriends. She loves Christmas. She wears a cross necklace all the time. She's studious, very good with people, and follows the rules, which is probably why she's Head Girl. She's good in Potions and Charms, but she's not very good at Herbology. She's passionate about things she cares about and has a strong sense of justice. She's competitive and has a quick wit… And she hums to herself when she's walking around. She twirls her hair when she's thinking, she shakes her leg when she's nervous, and she doodles when she's bored."

"Very good, Prongs. Now what about her likes and dislikes?" Remus encouraged.

"She likes quidditch. She doesn't like liver. I don't think she really likes flowers. Even her perfume is more musky than flowery. But she loves chocolate – the richer the better…"

James went on like this for nearly an hour, telling every minute detail that he knew about Lily, her life, her habits and her likes. By the end of the hour, Remus was shaking a cramp out of his hand, Sirius was staring at him, open mouthed, and Peter was still frowning.

When James went quiet, Peter said, "You knew a whole lot more than I did, Prongs."

Remus added, "I'm impressed. Now what are we going to do with this."

"Give it to her," Sirius said firmly.

"What?" James asked.

"Give it to her. Honestly, mate, if she wanted to know if you 'know' her, that there is the proof. It's a bit scary, really. But it will prove it, beyond a doubt."

"That's true," Remus agreed. "If you write this up and give it to her… I bet that would make quite an impression."

"Here's what you do…" Sirius leaned in conspiratorially and whispered a plan to James, who listened with rapt attention.

Two days later, Lily opened the door to her room and found a long, thin, yet small box, neatly wrapped with a bow and a small card. She frowned when she picked it up and glanced both left and right down the hall. She opened the card, which read simply, "To My Dearest Lily, From James."

She smiled and her heart began to race with anticipation. Instead of going to breakfast as she had intended, she stepped back inside her room and closed the door. She set the box gently down on her desk and pulled the ribbon, untying the bow. Lifting open the lid of the box, she was surprised to see, not some ornate or expensive trinket, but rather about four-feet worth of a scroll. It was even sealed with wax and what she assumed was the Potter crest – the head of a Stag. She carefully broke the seal, wanting to keep everything exactly as it was. If James was who she hoped he would be, then she wanted to be able to keep this for the rest of her life.

She read through the scroll, flabbergasted at the things James knew about her – some of which she hadn't even realized. He had added to the list small anecdotes of their time at Hogwarts and things he most remembered about her from over the years. He was blatantly honest, telling her not only good things about herself and good memories, but things that annoyed him and hurt him. She laughed at parts, rolled her eyes at others, and even cried.

When she had finished reading the entire scroll – twice – she carefully rolled it back up and used a non-permanent sticking charm on the seal to keep it closed. She grabbed her bag and headed for breakfast.

James seemed to have a sixth sense when it came to Lily. The instant she crossed the threshold into the Great Hall, he knew she was there. He looked up, feeling incredibly nervous.

Lily quickly found him at the Gryffindor table and headed straight toward him.

James stood at her approach. He noticed the scroll in her hand, and that it appeared to be unopened, and his heart fell. What could have gone wrong already?

Lily stopped about a foot away from James. She held up the scroll. "Did you come up with this by yourself?"

James knew his answer would be very crucial to the future of their relationship, so he decided honesty was best. "Not entirely."

Lily dropped her head in disappointment. "I see."

"I mean," James explained, because he knew he was losing her, "Gillette told me that you wanted to know that I knew you. And Remus suggested making a list. Sirius told me I should give the list to you once it was made. But everything in there came from me."

Lily glanced at the Marauders, who were all watching the exchange very closely. "It's true, Lily," Sirius backed up his friend's story. "Prongs came up with the entire list."

"And the stories?"

"What stories?" Sirius asked.

"We didn't know about anything but the list," Remus confirmed.

"I wrote those later," James said.

Lily stared at James for a few seconds. "Thank you," she whispered, and threw her arms around James.

James was taken by surprise, but quickly recovered, and wrapped his arms around her. "You're welcome, Lily."

Lily held on tighter and buried her head in the crook of James' neck and shoulder. She had started trembling slightly and James realized she was crying. At a loss for what to do, he stroked her hair and whispered, "I'm sorry, Lily."

Lily pulled back and wiped her eyes, "No. No, it's not you, James. I mean… It is you, but it's not a bad thing." She laughed lightly. "Yes, James Potter. I will definitely go with you to Hogsmeade."

"Yes!" James said ecstatically. He hugged Lily again, this time lifting her up and spinning her around, while she laughed at his enthusiasm and in her own joy. Upon returning her feet to the floor, the moment seemed too perfect not to take advantage of, and James leaned in and kissed the only girl he had ever wanted to kiss. She returned it and the entire Gryffindor table, not to mention quite a few students from other houses, cheered.

They broke apart, both blushing madly at the public interest they'd garnered. Holding her hand, James helped Lily into her seat and sat down next to her.

Just as she sat down, however, Sirius stood up and leaned across the table, gesturing at Lily. She stood and leaned awkwardly across the table, the two embracing joyfully. Peter shook Lily's hand, and Remus, who was on the other side of James, got up so he, too, could to give her a hug.

Lily felt oddly like she was being welcomed into a family, and she couldn't have been more thrilled. She'd waited a long time for this and had been most concerned about Sirius' reaction. She wasn't sure if Sirius would be happy or jealous if she and James got together. So far, he was happy. Lily glanced at Gillette, who was beaming, but a couple of tears had slid down her best friend's face – tears she knew to be of joy.

Sirius had also looked over at Gillette. He saw the tears of joy she had shed for her best friend and he somehow knew that everything would be all right for Lily and James. Gillette turned her gaze to him. He smiled at her and nodded slightly toward James and Lily, indicating he was happy for them. She nodded back, but then held his gaze. Something passed between them that Sirius couldn't explain, or was too afraid to try to explore, but the intensity of it made him look away, and he returned his attention to the couple before him. Life was good.

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A/N - Bit of romantic fluff, but who hasn't been waiting for this. :) Thanks again for all of the wonderful reviews, encouragement, and kindness. Thank you. And thank you to my wonderful betas - Mom, mei mei, and J.A.Carlton.

Shoshoni - I wanted to thank you earlier and forgot. Very sorry. Thankyou very much! I'm thrilled to hear that you started way back with The Way We Were and enjoyed it enough to keep going. :) Awesome. That's a lot of reading. Ha ha. I'm glad to hear I'm able to elicit emotion and talking to one's self. :D Thank you!