A/N: Hi everyone! Happy New Year! I am so sorry this chapter is so late but after I updated I had to begin studying for finals which occurred a while ago now and I feel terrible that it's taken me so long to update, I usually NEVER take this long on stories as some of you have read many of them. So please give me understanding that I had to start my new update policy later than I planned. As always, thank you all for the overwhelming support! I love each and every one of you for it, enjoy!

Disclaimer: I would never be able to create the world that dear Jo has. She is a genius and I wouldn't dare steal from her.

James POV: I couldn't help but allow the sense of heartbreak take over me as I stood there and watched my girlfriend (I could finally say it!) hug my worst enemy. Yes, I was well aware how deep their friendship ran, thanks to Alice and Remus, but it was entirely different after I pieced together how he truly regarded her. It was obvious by the way he held her just how bad he wanted to be with her. Every fiber in my body was screaming at me to charge over there and set the filthy prat straight; but I had promised Lily! I had promised her that I would keep it quiet from him for now, and now that I finally had my girl, there would be no breaking promises of any sort.

"Alright there, mate?" Remus asked me in a low voice, watching me watching Lily.

"I just… I don't know if I can stand this, Moony!" I burst out exasperatedly. "It's one thing to keep this from Padfoot and Wormtail, and it's another thing to keep it from Snape, but it's an entirely worse thing to see him with her, see him hold her that way, and know I promised her I would say nothing! Does that even make any sense or does it sound like I'm speaking Parseltongue to you?"

"Right, first of all, keep your voice down. The others will probably be out of Honeydukes and back here any moment. Secondly, it makes perfect sense. It's only natural of you to be jealous. They are rather close after all."

"I am not jealous!" I said sharply. "I'd just fancy socking him in that abnormally large nose for laying a hand on my girl."

"James, that's what jealousy is," Remus exclaimed as though he were speaking to a child.

"I don't get jealous," I bit back. "I just don't like the bloke. Besides, what reason would I have to be jealous? After all, I'm the one who's actually her boyfriend now."

I went to continue but stopped short when I saw a slight smirk on my friend's face. "What?" I demanded. "What is it?"

"You two have made it official, then?" he inquired. "You're together now?"

The smile that graced my face then was that of someone with not a care in the world. "Yes," I sighed. "She is mine now as I am hers."

"I'm happy for you, mate," he said sincerely, clapping me on the back. "Just remember, now that you're together it's going to be quite hard to stay away from her in public. Are you sure you're ready to make it official and keep it secret? You've never been good at multitasking."

"Of course I'm ready," I assured him. "You may need to keep me from murdering Snivelly though if he doesn't keep his hands off her."

Lily POV (back at the castle that night): "Oh it was so lovely, Alice! We drank Butterbeer, we talked, and he even took me to his favorite quiet spot near the Shrieking Shack so we could have some time to ourselves. It was amazing!"

My best friend sat there on my bed, her face animated as she watched me excitedly recount my fairytale date for her. All of a sudden she began to shake her head.

"What?" I questioned.

"Nothing," she giggled. "It's just… I've never seen you this happy Lily and it makes me happy. I just can't believe it was James Potter of all people who made you feel like this."

"I never would have expected it either," I agreed. "We're polar opposites in a lot of ways but that's what makes it so great. He's different enough from me to let me be myself, and to get me to step out of my bubble every once in a while. There's no doubt that when we argue it will get ugly, but I don't even care so long as we have each other. Every couple fights, we'll probably just have the most spirited ones."

"So it's official now?" she demanded giddily. "You two are a couple?"

Just as I was about to answer her, James's owl flew through our open dorm window and dropped a tiny piece of parchment into my hands. I unfolded it to find James's untidy chicken scratch scrawled onto the parchment in a note for me.

Dear Lily,

Come down to the Common Room. Don't worry, no one's down here, and Remus is keeping the lads occupied. I need to talk to you about… Snivelly. This is kind of important otherwise I'd just wait till tomorrow morning to ask. Please come down.

Love,

James

"What does it say?" Alice pressed.

"He said to go down to the Common Room. He wants to talk to me."

"Go," she ordered me. "I'll wait up."

"Okay," I agreed. "He said it wouldn't take long he just has to ask me something important."

Five minutes later I walked quietly into the Common Room to see James's tall, built form facing away from me and toward the crackling fire. I marched right up to him and wrapped my arms around his shoulders, laying my chin on one of them. "Hi," I said dreamily, feeling happiness overwhelm me because he was here.

"Hi," he said back, a smile in his voice as he turned to face me and kiss my forehead. "I've missed you. It feels like ages since we've seen each other."

"I know," I sighed sitting on the couch. "But it's only been a few hours."

"Exactly," he said matter-of-factly, plopping down next to me and throwing his arm across my shoulders. "Much, much too long."

I sighed again, this time a happy sigh, and dropped my head to his shoulder. "So what is it you wanted to ask me?"

"What?" he asked, confused.

"Your note," I reminded him. "You said you wanted me to come down here so you could ask me something. You said it couldn't wait till morning. So what is it?"

"Oh," he said, shifting uncomfortably and dropping his arm. "I forgot about that for a moment. Thank you for reminding me."

"James?" I inquired, raising my head to look into his hazel eyes, which now that I saw them, held a great amount of worry.

"It's nothing Lily," he chuckled. The sound was strained. "Just come off it. I wanted to see you, so I told you I needed to ask you something. You can go back to bed if you like."

Now I was angry. He was on the offensive again, cold, trying too hard to behave maturely; just like before he opened up to me, just like when I hated him.

I did not want to go back to that. "No," I said seriously, taking his chin and forcing him to look at me. "You said this was about Sev."

"Sev," he spat out the name like it were a putrid tasting potion. "Is that your little pet name for him?"

It all clicked into place then. "Wait… this is about when you saw he and I hugging earlier at Hogsmeade, isn't it?" I demanded. "Are you jealous?"

"Of course not," he retorted hotly. "I just… I don't know if I want you with him."

My eyes narrowed into slits and he recoiled slightly. "What exactly is that supposed to mean, James?"

"It means that that hug was certainly more than just a friendly hug to him, and I didn't like it."

"Well you don't have to like it," I told him. "Sev and I are best friends. If he does have feelings for me then I don't know about it. All that matters to me is that I fancy you. I hugged him because he is my best friend and he is in pain. He needs me."

"Don't you understand?" James scoffed at me. "He's always going to need you. He wants you to constantly be on his side, he wants you to feel like he needs you to defend him, so that you only see the bad side to us. To me. He wants to make sure you're never at any risk of getting to close to me."

"That's not true!" I said, raising my voice now. "We've been there for each other for years! He comforted me when my sister told me I was a freak after I got my Hogwarts letter! He's the one that told me I wasn't crazy, he's the one that's always made me smile during a bad time. Our friendship runs deeper than you, Potter. And if you can't handle that or admit you're jealous, then I see no reason for us to be together."

This seemed to terrify him, and his eyes filled with pain. "What?" he said softly.

"Are you jealous?" I demanded. "Are you jealous of Severus being so close to me? The truth, James."

"No," he puffed out his chest. "I'm not."

I could hear the bravado in his tone. He was putting on a front. That front.

"Well then," I said slowly, bracing myself as my heart began to crack. "I see you've made your choice," my voice was stoic and my movements robotic as I got up off the couch and descended to the stairs.

"Hey, hey, hey," James said quickly, jogging ahead of me and lightly taking my shoulders. "Where are you going? What choice are you talking about?"

"I know when you put on a brave face, James," I whispered, hearing my voice crack. "Whenever you do that, I know that you're lying to me. I like you when you're yourself, not that popular, self-conceited James Potter that everyone else knows; that's what I just saw. And if that's what's going to happen from now on, then I'm sorry, but we can't be together."

As I made my way up the stairs, my heart tearing more and more with each step, I heard James call to me, "Lily, please wait! Let me explain!"

I turned slowly, trying and failing to keep the tears from falling rapidly down my face. "Explain what, James?" I asked, my voice shaking. "How you're too full of pride to tell me the truth? How you'd rather keep your ego than me?"

"Yes!" I exclaimed, pulling me gently down the steps and taking me by the shoulders. "I- I mean no! Lily, you don't understand! I would never ever want to keep my pride if it meant losing you. I know it sounds silly, seeing as we've only been officially together for a few hours, but I've fancied you for the past five years, ever since I first saw you. I would do anything for you, Lily!"

"Then why would you even attempt to lie to me?" I asked weakly.

"Because I didn't want you to think I was a possessive, jealous prat! The truth is Lily, that I am insanely jealous of Severus Snape, not because he gets to have you in his life, not anymore, I have that now. What I am truly jealous of, is the fact that he can hold you in public. I can't do that yet, I can't even call you my girlfriend for the whole world to hear like I've wanted to for so long. I don't mean to lie to you, it's just that usually, I'm not very good with expressing my feelings. Now, because of you, I'm getting better. It just might take me a while to get it right."

I laughed softly, more tears slipping out as I did. James smiled and brushed his thumbs across my cheeks, wiping the tears away. "Who would've thought," I murmured. "James Potter is jealous of Severus Snape."

"You bet I am. But," he said in all seriousness. "If you tell anyone I may never speak to you again."

"That's a lie," I whispered.

"Of course it is," he agreed. "I'd never make it." He hesitated for a moment after that and then asked nervously, "Lily?"

"Yes James?"

"Does this… mean you forgive me now? You'll give me another chance?"

"Of course," I nodded. "I would've never been able to stay mad at you anyway."

He grinned at me then, eyes shining with delight, and he kissed me. I don't think I've ever been happier.

Third Person POV: In their moment of bliss, neither James, nor Lily, noticed a bewildered Sirius Black standing at the foot of the boy's staircase, watching the scene between his best mate and Evans unfold. He then began to retreat up the stairs, feeling slightly betrayed knowing that his best friend neglected to tell him that he'd finally gotten the girl of his dreams. Vaguely, he wondered if Remus had known anything about it.

A/N: So I decided to make this chapter extra long in an attempt to make up for it being so overdue. I was originally going to cut it off right after Lily broke things off with James, but I figured since it's Valentine's Day, Jilly should have a happy ending. What do you all think of Sirius finding out? I promise that my update policy officially starts NOW. I shouldn't be as busy anymore, hopefully. So it will definitely work. Happy Valentine's Day everyone! I hope you had a magnificent day filled with joy and love. However, I doubt anyone is as grateful for you all as I am. I love you all.

Thanks for Reading!

-thewolfgurlgleek :)