Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, JK Rowling does.

Chapter 20 Almost Perfect

Lily entered the girl's dorm and was not surprised to find out that she had been right. Her friends were indeed still awake and discussing the ball.

"So, Lily," Marlene said with a grin as Lily entered. "Katie tells us that you have finally seen the light."

"Maybe…" Lily said blushing furiously.

"Ooooo," all four girls squealed.

"So, where have you to been?" Katie asked with a suggestive raising of her eyebrows.

"Out assigning enough detentions to keep the teachers busy 'til Christmas and docking enough points to set every house back at least two weeks," Lily said rolling her eyes.

"Well, that's no fun," Marlene retorted.

"Enough of this silly talk," Abby declared. "Let's get to the important stuff. Did he kiss you?"

"No," Lily replied, "He was a perfect gentleman."

The girls sighed.

"I did kiss him though," she added offhandedly as she walked out the door to go the bathroom to brush her teeth, remove her make-up, and let her hair down.

There was a pause and then all four girls shouted, "What?!" But Lily was already out the door.

She came back ten minutes later feeling much more comfortable with her hair pulled back in a ponytail and wearing her favorite pajamas.

"You, kissed him!?" Katie shouted the second Lily walked back into the room.

"Yup," Lily confirmed hanging up her dress robes.

"And then what?" Marlene asked.

"Then I came back up here," Lily said still putting her things away.

"What? You didn't even say anything? You kissed him and left?"

"Yup," Lily replied again.

"Where did you kiss him?" Katie asked.

"On the mouth," Lily said.

"So…you just kissed him and ran away?" Marlene asked again.

"Yup," Lily said again. "Can't give him too much at once, gotta still play a little hard to get. It'll take all the fun out of it if I give in too easily," Lily said with a grin.

"So will you be his girlfriend if he asks you?" Mary asked the excitement evident in her voice.

Lily nodded still smiling.

"I forbid you to tell him," she added. "Best make him work for it. Watch him squirm a bit," Lily said with a grin.

"You haven't been playing hard to get this whole time?" Marlene suddenly asked sounding scandalized. "Because if I've had to listen to him all these years and you were just playing hard to get, well…I'm gonna find the most embarrassing hex I can and perform it on you every day until the end of the year."

Lily laughed. "No, I haven't been playing hard to get all these years. I wouldn't go out with him before because I could barely tolerate the sight of him. However, now I don't want to give in too quickly. His ego still doesn't need any boosting. Besides it's fun and it's not like I haven't made it rather obvious at this point and I'm not leading him on."

The other girls laughed at their friend's antics and the five of them began to climb into bed. It was almost two in the morning after all.

Meanwhile…

James finally snapped out his reverie when the dying embers of the fire gave a particularly loud crack.

James headed slowly up the stairs his mind reeling. She had kissed him. Lily Evans had kissed him!

"Was it really necessary to give me detention and dock points?" Sirius whined as James entered.

"Huh?" James asked. "Oh. Yeah, if it weren't for people like you we wouldn't have had to patrol the halls," James stated comprehending what Sirius was complaining about.

He and his date, a girl from Hufflepuff, had been one of the first people James and Lily had caught.

"I mean the Entrance Hall broom closet, you had to know that would be one of the first places I would think to check."

James changed out of his dress robes into pajama bottoms and flopped down onto his bed grinning like a fool.

"So, I take it you had fun with Evans?" Sirius asked casually.

"Excellent," James replied.

"Did you kiss her?" Peter asked.

"Nope."

"Fool," Remus replied much to James, Sirius, and Peters' surprise.

"Did you just call me a fool for being a gentleman?" James asked shocked.

"Why, yes I did. She would have let you," Remus said as if it were obvious.

"Yeah, I kinda figure that when she kissed me before she took off for the girls' dorm," James replied casually as if he had not just dropped a bomb.

"She…kissed…you?!" Sirius asked unable to contain his shock.

"Mmhmm," James replied still grinning.

"How did you do it?" Sirius asked in awe.

"How I should have done years ago," James answered. "I was myself."

"Now he gets it!" Remus declared in an over dramatic display frustration. "Six years, six years and he finally gets it!"

"I'm right here Moony, I can hear you, yeh know," James said trying to sound annoyed. Nothing his friends said or did could bother him right now.

None of the Gryffindor seventh years were up in time for breakfast the next morning, in fact not one of them was awake before 11. They probably would have slept later if it weren't for their need for food.

During their late night patrol Lily and James had arranged to meet after lunch to go over what they were learning in Transfiguration. Lily was much happier with her marks now, of course, but she didn't want to risk becoming lost again. Also with N.E.W.T.s coming up she wanted to be well prepared. She wasn't positive what she wanted to do after she left Hogwarts but she didn't want to be hindered by a poor grade in Transfiguration, which could make getting into some of the fields she was interested in difficult if not impossible.

They escaped their friends easily. It was a shame they couldn't thank McGonagall for their ready-made excuse for leaving them. They had to meet with her to hand in the list of students who they had caught last night, well technically this morning, and give her a list of punishments they had handed out.

After exchanging pleasantries they turned in their list. McGonagall then spent a good bit of time going over what Lily and James thought about the dance and asking for suggestions for improving future dances. After that they had to go over the patrol schedule for the Prefects for November. James also went over Gryffindor's Quidditch practice schedule as it was easier to do it then, than to arrange a separate time to meet with McGonagall later.

In the end their meeting took almost two hours and by the time they reached the Head's Common Room to study Transfiguration it was three o'clock.

James sat down in his usual spot on the sofa in front of the fireplace and was surprised when Lily sat down next to him, instead of across like she usually did. Not that he was complaining…

They worked quite diligently and by four thirty Lily had, and understood, all the correct answers to their homework. Although she had finished it Friday there had been a few points she wasn't completely clear on.

Once they had finished James decided to bring up a subject he had wanted to talk to Lily about since the end of their opening dance at the ball the night before. Well, no, that wasn't true. He'd wanted to bring it up for years, and had on multiple occasions, but it was at that point last night that he thought he could bring it up without getting death threats, cursed into oblivion, or being told the giant squid was a better option than he was.

"So, I just wanted to say again that I had a great time last night," James began cautiously.

"Me too," Lily replied smiling.

"You looked amazing," James continued cautiously shifting himself so that he was a closer to Lily on the couch.

"You looked pretty good yourself," Lily replied putting down her quill and turning her full attention towards James.

"Thanks," James replied grinning. He ran his hand nervously through his hair. This was a lot harder than he thought it would be.

"Well, it's the truth," Lily replied shifting herself so that she was facing more towards James.

"Lily," James began quietly sounding more nervous than she'd ever heard him. He not only sounded nervous he looked it, he kept running his hand subconsciously through his hair and he wasn't looking directly at her.

"Yes, James?" Lily asked gently.

"I…well…I really like you, a lot…"

"I like you too, James," she replied. Although playing hard to get was fun she couldn't continue when he looked like this.

"Really?" he asked in disbelief.

Lily just smiled and nodded.

"Oh, well, I well, what are we?" he asked taking Lily slightly by surprise. "Where do we stand?"

"Where would you like us to stand?" Lily asked nervously.

She knew where she wanted this conversation to head and it certainly looked like it was heading that way, so why was she so nervous? 'Because your afraid maybe it's not heading where you want or think it is,' that annoying voice in her head explained.

"Well, and please don't hex, me…"

Oh no, I've waited too long, he doesn't want to date me, how could I have read the signs wrong…

"I'd really like it if you'd be my girlfriend..."

Oh good, he hadn't changed his mind. Lily's relief must have shown because James suddenly asked, "What's wrong?"

Lily smiled at him, "Well, I guess I could agree to that."

"Really?" James asked not entirely sure that he had heard her right.

Lily nodded. Both of them just sat there for a moment grinning like fools, while what had just happened sank in.

Cautiously, James turned so that he was facing Lily completely, their knees bumping. He reached out his left hand and took hold of her right. He ran the pad of his thumb over the back of her hand. It was so soft. He could feel that spine tingling sensation he felt whenever he was near her increase tenfold.

"You have no idea how long I've liked you," he whispered.

Lily smiled, "I've got a pretty good idea. If Marlene is to be believed," Lily laughed lightly.

"You really are beautiful you know," James told her breathlessly.

"Flattery will get you no where," Lily said quietly still smiling.

"That wasn't flattery, it was the truth," James whispered.

Throughout the conversation their faces had been getting progressively closer and they were now only inches apart.

'Just do it you fool,' James thought. 'She just agreed to be your girlfriend, she'll be angry if you don't do it, not if you do.' James could feel his heart pounding in his chest as adrenaline surged through him. He'd been dreaming about this for years and now he was actually going to get to kiss Lily Evans, last night didn't really count.

James was so cute when he was nervous. She was finding it hard to resist the urge to kiss him but she would wait and let him kiss her this time. As he took her hand in his she could feel the butterflies in her stomach and she felt a pleasant tingling sensation travel down her spine. His hands were pleasantly warm and not nearly as rough as she expected. Her face was inches from his now. She could feel his hot breath and she was sure he could feel hers.

James slowly lifted his other hand and brushed a strand of hair out of her face laying his hand on her cheek in its stead. He slowly leaned forward until his forehead was touching hers their lips just millimeters apart.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Lily whispered; so quietly it was barely audible.

Smiling James brought his mouth the rest of the way to hers. Instantly he knew it was the best kiss he'd ever had. After a moment James pulled away smiling.

"Wow," was all he said.

Lily giggled; something James had almost never heard her do before.

Suddenly the Grandfather clock in the corner of the room began to toll breaking the moment.

Lily smiled shyly at James who grinned in return.

"I knew you couldn't resist my roguish charm forever," he said grinning.

"Shut-up, Potter," Lily scoffed slapping James lightly on the arm yet laughing all the same. She had always hated it when he was right.

"I suppose we should get going to dinner," James said in a resigned voice.

"Yeah," Lily replied sounding no more enthusiastic about the idea than James did but resolutely began packing up her things up just the same. James followed suit.

"Lily?" he asked as they entered the corridor.

"Yes, James?"

"Can I hold your hand?" he asked looking pathetically adorable as he did so.

Lily couldn't help, it she laughed. "Since when do you have to ask if you can hold your girlfriends hand?" she asked.

James grinned. Lily Evans was his girlfriend. He was her boyfriend. He still couldn't quite believe it.

"Is that a yes then?" he asked.

Lily laughed and rolled her eyes but then she grabbed his hand and started walking down the corridor.

"Remind me later to play my Beatles record for you," Lily said as they headed off towards dinner.

"Beetles? Why do you have a record of beetles?" James asked confused. Lily laughed and James heard her mumble something about stupid wizards.

They were almost in the Great Hall when it happened.

"Potter, I'm afraid I'll have to report you to the Headmaster. I'm sure he'll have your badge for this. Love potions are definitely against the rules," Snape's voice rang out behind them. Snape's friend Avery sniggered behind him.

Lily sighed. Why, why couldn't he just keep his mouth shut? James had done nothing to him all year, why did he have to provoke him now? And how dare he accuse James of something like that. James would never do something like that!

Suddenly Lily became aware of the fact that James had stopped walking. He looked angry but she also detected a slight hint of hurt in his eyes.

"Go away Snape!" James said trying to keep his cool but unable to keep his anger out of his voice.

"What I'm not just going to let you get away with giving love potions to girls just to boost your reputation."

"I can't see why he'd even want to go out with some Mudblood to begin with," Avery sneered.

Now he'd done it. Now James was going to hex Avery, and probably Snape just for good measure, into oblivion and James was going to lose his badge, which was probably what Snape and Avery wanted. How could they be so hateful? How could anyone be so hateful?

"Twenty-five points from Slytherin!" James's voice rang out. "And detention for as long as I can convince Slughorn to give it to you!"

"What no hex? No, insults about Snape's greasy hair? Your precious Mudblood certainly has you whipped," Avery spat back venomously.

"Though I suppose we should expect nothing less from someone who hangs around with filthy half-breeds," Snape added.

"Fifty more points from Slytherin," James replied. With that he grabbed Lily's hand and walked quickly into the Great Hall.

As they passed the Slytherin table James stopped. "In case you all wondering, Snape and Avery are the ones responsible for the seventy-five points you just lost," he informed them and then turned and headed up to the staff table.

As he walked up to McGonagall and Dumbledore he noticed them eyeing the Slytherin hourglass which was now adjusting itself for the points James had just taken away. Lily stood quietly behind James as he stood in front of McGonagall and Dumbledore.

"I take it you are about to explain where seventy-five of Slytherins points just went," Dumbledore said calmly.

"Yes, sir," James replied, his voice a forced calm that didn't quite mask his anger. "Miss Evans and I were just walking through the Entrance Hall when Mr. Snape and Mr. Avery came up behind us and made some very rude comments including referring to the Head Girls as 'a stupid, um well… he called her a you-know-what. So I took 25 points and told him he'd receive as much detention as Slughorn would agree to. And then Avery made some comment about my not hexing Snape and blamed it on Lily's influence and referred to her as a…a you-know-what a second time and so I took some more points," James explained all of this very quickly.

He hoped that Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall would realize what he meant by you-no-what because he didn't really want to say it, he hated that word and anyone who thought it was okay to use it.

"Mr. Snape also made a snide comment about my hanging around with filthy half-breeds," James added. "I don't really understand why he felt the need to drag Hagrid into his insults too, but he did," James gave Dumbledore a look that he hoped conveyed that Snape had not been talking about Hagrid, but Remus. He hoped by saying Hagrid's name he would deter Lily from asking awkward questions about hisxc3 associations with 'half-breeds.'

"I see," Dumbledore replied looking at James with that piercing gaze that always made James feel as though Dumbledore was looking through him rather than at him. "Horace, I will need to see Mr. Snape and Mr. Avery in my office later. I would appreciate it if you would accompany them."

Professor Slughorn nodded a look of shock on his face. James wasn't sure if it was shock that James had just taken seventy-five points from Slughorn's house or if it was because of what Snape and Avery had said. While Snape was brilliant at Potions, he wasn't in Slug Club like James and Lily were. Perhaps it was a combination of both.

"Thank you Mr. Potter, you may sit down now," Professor Dumbledore said gently. James nodded and he turned towards the Gryffindor table. As he walked past Lily he reached out and grasped her hand gently in his.

James had never been so angry in his life. Sure he'd heard Lily called…a…that word before but this time it was more personal. Avery had meant it to be that way. He had known exactly how to push James' buttons.

And for Snape to suggest that he would give Lily a love potion just to get her to go out with him was ludicrous. That was something Snape would do, probably the only way for him to get himself a date. Who would want to go out with the greasy haired git? While Snape's suggestion that James had given her a love potion didn't anger him nearly as much as Avery calling Lily…that word, it had still gotten to him more than he wanted to admit. What if other people thought he had? He would never do something like that but would other people think he had?

Why was he even worrying about that? Avery had called Lily the M-word and he was worrying about being accused of giving her a love potion, 'Where are my priorities? And if Snape and Lily had been such good friends how could Snape just stand there and let Avery talk about her like that? I hope Dumbledore makes them clean out the bedpans in the hospital wing, without magic. And that while they're facing this punishment some horrid, but curable, intestinal disease befalls the castle to make their suffering even greater.'

And Snape's comment about Remus had just been uncalled for. James hoped that by mentioning Hagrid he had thrown Lily off, but he was worried that Dumbledore hadn't picked up the fact that Snape hadn't really been talking about Hagrid. He was sure Dumbledore, clever as he was, would pick up on it but that didn't really stop his worrying.

Their friends hadn't come down to dinner yet and it wasn't very crowded so James and Lily sat at the far end of the table where there was no one to eavesdrop on their conversation.

"You handled that really well," Lily said in what she hoped was a soothing voice; she was still quite shaken up by the incident herself.

At the sound of her voice James snapped out of his thoughts.

"Are you ok?" he asked his voice full of concern.

"I'll be fine," Lily replied. "That's not the first time I've been called that."

It was true, this was not the first time someone had called her…the M-word, and unfortunately she doubted it would be the last.

"That doesn't make it right," James said banging his fist on the table in frustration.

They both lapsed into an uncomfortable silence.

Neither Lily nor James were very hungry anymore and after fifteen minutes of half-heartedly picking at their food Lily suggested they go back up to the Common Room.

James readily agreed. He didn't feel like dealing with people at the moment, and as people were now really starting to head down to dinner, he decided now would be a good time to show Lily one of his shortcuts that would take them off the usual path to the Common Room. It was this that caused them to miss their friends heading down to dinner.

Since it was now the height of dinnertime the Common Room was almost completely deserted. James flopped down on a couch in front of the fire and Lily sat down next to him. James shifted his position so that he was leaning against the arm of the couch with one leg propped up on it stretched out in front of him and prodded Lily to move so that she was lying up against his chest.

They had been lying like that for about ten minutes when James finally spoke.

"I'm sorry," he whispered sadly.

"What are you sorry for?" Lily asked sitting up so she could see James while still sort of lying down. "It wasn't your fault. You did absolutely nothing to them."

"If I hadn't been such an arse to them all these years they wouldn't have bothered us," James said dejectedly.

"You haven't done a single thing to them this year," Lily said. "And even if they didn't hate you, they'd still call me names."

James sighed gripping his hair with his right hand in frustration, his left hand was resting on Lily's back.

"It's not fair!" he declared angrily. "It's not right that some witches and wizards think they're better than everyone else just because they're families have been wizards for generations. It doesn't make them any better. You're a perfect example. You're muggle born and you're the best student in the whole year. It's just stupid bigotry. It's not right."

Lily was struck again by that same feeling she'd had when James had realized just how Petunia felt about her. James clearly had very strong convictions about right and wrong and she knew that he would always stand up for what he believed was right, no matter what the consequences.

"And then you've got gits like this Voldemort character going around promoting purity of blood," James continued his rant.

"He's been causing trouble for years, but the Ministry complete ignores him until he starts attacking Pure Bloods, where were they when he was only causing problems for Muggle borns and Half-Bloods."

"Hey," Lily said calmly bringing her hand up to him and running it through his hair. "It's alright."

"No, it's not," James said with such passion and conviction in both his voice and his eyes that Lily was momentarily speechless. She'd never seen a look like that on his face.

"Okay, it's not," she amended, "But there's not much more you can do right now. You took enough points from Slytherin to make the whole house turn on Snape and Avery. You've told Dumbledore, who's arranged a meeting between himself, Snape, Avery and Slughorn, and you've guaranteed them many unpleasant hours of detention. You've done everything that is within your power to do. You can't force people to change how they think. Well, except maybe with the Imperious Curse, but that's not really changing their minds and it's also more than a bit illegal," Lily said this last part with a slight grin.

"Yeah, I suppose," James sighed. "I just wish…"

Lily cut James off with a gentle kiss on his lips.

After a minute or so she pulled away she asked, "Now what where you saying?"

"No, idea," James replied placing his hand on Lily's cheek and pulling her face towards his again. He kissed her, lightly at first, then more passionately. His tongue ran across her lips begging for access and she complied. His tongue brushing up against hers sent shivers down her spine.

Lily shifted into a more comfortable position, never breaking contact with James' mouth. Her hand slowly reached up and she ran it through his hair. It was amazingly soft, she didn't know how she hadn't noticed before.

James wrapped his arms around Lily, one resting comfortably on her waist the other running through her hair. It was just as soft as he imagined it. He could spend hours like this he thought.

"EHEM!" Lily and James both jumped and Lily, literally, fell of the couch.

"Well, I must say, when Dumbledore said in your letters that you two were supposed to be role models to the younger students, I didn't realize that this is what he meant. Makes you wonder why he didn't make me Head Boy," Sirius said with an innocent grin plastered on his face.

"Sirius, have I told you that I hate you today?" James asked sounding more than a little annoyed.

"Well, Prongs," Remus said smiling, "I see you've gotten over your need to be a gentleman."

"Yeah, weren't you the one lecturing us about that just last night?" Peter asked with a grin.

"Sod-off," James grumbled.

"Now, now, Prongs, is that anyway to talk to your best mates?" Sirius chided.

James gave him a look that said, 'You're pushing you luck,' and Sirius promptly shut-up.

"Hi, Lily," Katie said grinning. "Why are you sitting on the floor? You looked a lot more comfortable on the couch."

"I have to agree with James on this one, sod-off," Lily said in an annoyed voice, although she couldn't help smiling slightly. Katie was right, Lily had been a lot more comfortable on the couch.

"Lily Evans," Katie exclaimed, "do you kiss your mother with that mouth?"

"I don't know about her mother," said Sirius barely containing his laughter, "but apparently she kisses James with it."

All their friends burst out laughing.

"So this is why you two weren't at dinner?" Marlene said grinning along with the rest of their friends.

"Yeah, it's a shame you weren't there," Sirius said excitedly. "Slytherin somehow managed to lose SEVENTY-FIVE points between lunch and dinner. There are rumors that Snape was involved somehow. I hope it's true. I can't imagine how his housemate will take him sending them from first to last place in one day."

James and Lily's friends were all grinning at this until they saw the dark look that passed between Lily and James.

"What's wrong?" Sirius asked.

Lily returned to the couch and gave James a look that clearly said, you explain. James nodded sighing.

"We ran into Snape and Avery in the Entrance Hall on the way to dinner or I suppose more accurately they came up behind us in the Entrance Hall…"

James and Lily's friends listened in silence as James retold the story to their friends.

"So Dumbledore upheld your seventy-five point deduction and Snape and Avery have to go to a meeting with Slughorn and Dumbledore?" Sirius asked in astonishment. "Meetings like that tend to lead to misery and suffering and months of detention," Sirius said knowingly, "I hope they make him clean the bed pans in the hospital every weekend for the rest of the year... without magic."

James shrugged. "Won't make any difference," he mumbled.

"Hey, they're not getting away with it for once," Lily pointed out. "That's something."

James lapsed into silence again staring at the fire. Lily curled back up against him although she refrained from doing anything more than holding his hand to comfort him, now that their friends were present.

Their friends settled into chairs in front of the fireplace too. Peter ran upstairs and got his chessboard and proceeded to win spectacularly against Sirius much to the rest of the groups' amusement. During all this Lily decided, as James ran his hand lazily through her hair, that despite the problems with the Slytherines, overall it had been a pretty good day.