Hello! 21st chapter that's like a little mile stone for me so I'm a bit excited! So, I figured I might give you some extra cuteness this time around, just letting you know though, I won't be updating as fast for the next one, life slows down for no one! :D Thanks as always to the best reviewers anyone could ever even hope for; DelightfulSmiles, Jenny129 (because you asked so nicely, here it is nice and early!), hayls1313, Psychokillerhoney, Ash, sapphirestar11, VampyreGirl23, Jenny96, The DA is dressed to the nines, hptwilightlvr, JazzHalesBabyGurl, celticvampriss, shroomy-eyes, JacobsImprintGirl.

As always you guys are the inspiration and driving force :D
xxx

JAMES

I watched her red hair bounced as she turned away and I was immediately turned on, hell yes I was going to take full advantage of this situation. I started towards her door when I heard a very familiar cough.

I turned to see Professor McGonagall leaning against the door.

"Mr. Potter, I see you've got yourself all settled in."

I fight the urge to slam the door in her face. "Yes."

"Very good, your first patrol starts now."

"Now?" I asked incredulously.

"Do I stutter?"

"Could you give me like…an hour?"

A wry smile crosses her face. "No, this is your duty."

I groaned deeply. "Alright, I'll go get Evans."

"Miss Evans isn't rostered on patrol tonight, you will be going with another Prefect, he's waiting for you now, let's go."

I gave one longing look at Lily's door and sighed. This really sucked.

First night patrolling and I didn't even get to patrol with Lily. What was the point of having power if I couldn't even use it to my advantage?

"Earth to Potter are you even listening?" Zane asked waving his hand in front of my face.

"Sorry man, I'm just a little distracted tonight."

Zane grinned. "By a pretty red head?"

I groaned. "How does everyone know!"

"Sirius told me once you get this 'Lily Look' and I only just noticed tonight that it actually does exist!"

I sighed. "You think it's pathetic too right?"

Zane laughed. "Dude, have you heard Snape go on about her? I share a dorm room with him and he just never, ever cuts it out, at least she likes you back, that stops it from being pathetic."

"I don't even know if she does like me, that's the thing. I want to be just hurry it up and cut the bullshit and have something real with her, but I have years of rejection that prevent me from making the leap. Love sucks man, I know I should just man up and try to move on but everything about her draws me in, I can't help it."

Zane clasps my shoulder. "You know Potter, you may want to keep this talk of feelings to a select few, kids down my end actually respect you maybe even fear you, they heard you had a weakness? It would not end well."

I sling an arm around him. "You know Bluff, you're alright. How come you're alright when you're a Slytherine?"

Zane grins. "I'm a freak among freaks my man,"

I raise my eyebrows.

"Mudblood," he tells me in a stage whisper.

"Is that…normal?" I ask.

"To be a muggle born in a house full of pure blood activists? Yeah, it doesn't happen often, and I don't really broadcast it, but yeah, that's why I'm cool with you. I don't judge blood; just character."

"Why you were never put in Griffindor mate, I will never know."

Zane grins at me. "We all need our informants Potter, from what I hear we already got ours, I figure I'd even up the odds."

What the hell was that supposed to mean? That Slytherine already had their informant? Was someone a spy? I tried to think of everyone close to me even considering betraying and I almost laughed out loud. Impossible!

"Who are you talking about?" I asked shrewdly.

Zane opened his mouth to reply when we heard movement in what was meant to be a locked classroom.

"Finally, something to do," I muttered, gesturing for Zane to follow me.

Slowly we crept up to the door, there were definitely two voices inside, one male, one female. I grinned to myself, it was probably Sirius and Carla.

Zane raised his wand and I nodded, as second later the door burst open to reveal Peter backed up against a wall with a Slytherine girl, I think her name was Carrow or something, with one leg up against the wall provocatively trapping him in.

"Whoa, Pete you got a girlfriend? Can't say much for your taste man but woo you got a girlfriend!"

Zane pulled me back as the girl bared her teeth at me in a half snarl and half smile. "Dude… I don't think that's his…"

She threw her hair back, withdrew her leg and traced her fingers across Peter's lips before laughing. "We'll chat soon…lover…don't go hiding anywhere ok? I hate when guys play hard to get."

Blowing a kiss to Peter she turned to us and with eyes on Zane pressed her finger to her lips before skipping out of the room.

"Wormtail, I had no idea you had game! Wait until Sirius finds out, wow, we should throw you a party of something!"

Zane grabs my arm firmly. "Potter we really need to…"

I pat his hand gently. "Hey, it's all good mate, I'm not going to dob your girl in and we won't turn Wormtail in here deal? I mean, at least someone's getting some action right? Actually, why don't you go take some free time, I can cover for you."

Zane looked at Peter then me and seemed to be torn, finally he sighed and his head hung slightly. "Alright, I'll catch you later Potter, have a good night."

Zane turns and leaves, not even acknowledging Peter which is weird, he's usually a really friendly bloke, huh must be a bad night.

Peter grabs the front of my robes looking stricken. "James, I can explain-"

I hold my hand up to silence him. "It's ok Wormtail, I know exactly what's going on."

Peter's eyes widen. "You do?"

I nod. "Yep, and I'm ok with it."

"Y-you are?"

"Of course I am! You were scared to tell us you were falling for the enemy so you were going behind our backs, we would have understood, I'm not going to punish you, but only because I'm so proud of you! Now get to bed, and I do mean your bed mate, not hers."

Peter flings himself on top of me and his weight almost crushes me for a second.

"Whoa, you alright?"

"You're a great friend," he whispers, and then he scurries out of the room.

I shake my head in sympathy. Poor bloke, love does strange things to a man.

I got into the dormitory just before eleven o'clock to find Lily curled up by the fire place with marshmallows and a stick, she looks so adorable and younger and for a second I can visualize what she looked like camping with her family when she was a young girl.

"Peckish?" I asked as I sat down next to her.

Lily looked up in surprise and then grinned. "You want one?"

I look down at the black cube she's offering me and fight to keep my face neutral.

"I'm right Evans, I'm trying to go on a diet, unfortunately I had to cut charcoal out of my life."

Lily smiled brightly. "Sorry, I can make you another one, it tastes better when the top is burnt because the rest is all melted."

"Does it really?"

She offers me the marshmallow again and I take it. "You haven't poisoned it right?"

"Not this time."

"Can I trust you?"

She leans closer and takes the marshmallow and pops it in her mouth, then she grabs me and kisses me swiftly. I can taste marshmallow and my favourite thing in the world; Lily Evans.

"How was that?" she whispered.

I licked my lips, craving more of it. "I'm not too sure, I may need another try."

Lily giggles and hands me a twig. "Here you go, you can do it yourself."

I smile at her seductively. "I think I like your way better."

She ruffles my hair. "Tough luck, off you go!"

"I had to try," I tell her with a grin, placing my marshmallow slightly in the flames.

"I used to love doing this," she tells me. "In our Primary School camps this was always the highlight."

"Primary School?" I ask. "Sounds interesting, enlighten me in the muggle ways."

"Well, we had our usual games like red rover and kiss chasey," Lily began. "Oh and you'll love this, when you were younger, if a guy was mean to you it generally meant that they liked you and didn't know how to show it."

I burst out laughing. "Are you serious? So that's where I went wrong! I should have been mean to you from day one! Wait, you were always mean to me; does that mean you liked me all these years and I was just too daft to pick up on it?"

Lily laughed. "Watch yourself Potter, your ego is running away with you, and if that were the case by now I'd have gotten sick of you not getting the picture and tried another tactic."

I grinned, so intrigued by this. "Like what?"

"Well, where I grew up, you didn't just snog someone and that meant you were together, you walked up to them, usually with a group of friends for support and asked them if they wanted to go out with you."

"Go where?" I asked.
"No, not go somewhere with them, as in, be in a relationship with them; that's what it means silly. Wow, you should really be taking muggle studies."

I leant in closer and cupped Lily's face in my hands, our noses were touching.
"Lily Evans, you are all I think about, you make me happy please, please give me a chance to do the same. I know I haven't got my friends here like it's tradition but do you wanna maybe go out sometime?"
The breath catches in Lily's throat and she stares deep into my eyes. I look into hers and I can tell her eyes are mirroring mine; scared, honest, vulnerable and excited. Without breaking eye contact she pulls something from out of her pocket and hands it to me; it's the lovers card I've been trying to find all summer, evidently she'd kept it.
"Yes," she whispers, and then she kisses me.

This could quite possibly be the best night of my life.

LILY

Oh my god. I have a boyfriend. Me! Lily Evans, the ice queen has a boyfriend and it was James Potter, the guy I had convinced myself I could never care about. I was still waiting for reality to hit me. As I walked down the halls, everyone was staring and whispering, right at me.

"Oh my god, do you think it was a love potion?"

"Can't have been, he's been trying for years."

"But it's James Potter!"

I kept my head down and tried to ignore them as best I could, but it was hard. All I could hear was dozens of people voicing my inner fears and playing on my insecurities. God, how was I meant to make the relationship work when everyone in the goddamn school had to be involved? How long before James took notice and realized everyone was telling the truth, that I wasn't good enough after all.

Argh why couldn't anything in life ever be easy?

"What's up pretty girl?" Carla asked, falling in step with me.

I grabbed her arm and pulled her into a small corner where we couldn't be seen.

"I said yes to James Potter, James Potter is my boyfriend!"

Carla raised both eyebrows. "I know, it happened last night and you owled me right after you'd finished your kissing and cuddles. In fact, I think everyone in the whole school knows by now, Professor McGonagall was telling Slughorn today what a beautiful pair you make."

I moaned. "Oh no! Now even the teachers are getting involved!"

"What's the problem?" Carla asked. "I thought this is what you wanted, god knows we've all waited long enough!"

I sigh. I'm being ridiculous, I know I am but I have always been a private person and this will be my first really serious relationship. It was just all so overwhelming.

"I hear Martha Gyrit in the bathrooms today saying I was a bit fuck to James and once he got bored of me he'd drop me faster than a biting garden gnome."

Carla grabs my shoulders and shakes me roughly. "You need to get out of your head! Who freaking cares what anyone else thinks? If he makes you happy then screw 'em."

I'm about to reply when I'm enveloped in warm arms. "Hello girlfriend!"

I can't help but smile up at James' grinning face. "Hey you."

Sirius pushed James off and hugs me close. "Thank you, thank you! You have just made my year bearable Evans, I no longer need to spend hours listening to Prongs moan about why you won't give him a chance or what he can do to win you over. No more fun police! No more trying to make me think like a chick and analyze your every blink. THANK YOU!"

I giggle and slip out of Sirius's grasp. "Um…your welcome?"

"How's your day been beautiful?" James asks slinging his arm around me. "Not too good I'm guessing since you're hiding away."

"I'm not hiding," I reply, hoping my face doesn't give away the lie. "We just wanted a time out."

"Can I have a time out?"

I shake my head with a smile.

"Urgh, do we have to watch them be all cutesy with each other now? Maybe I'll take the thank you back," Sirius mock groaned.

Carla grabbed his hand and started to pull him away. "Come on baby, let's go argue over who's prettier."

Sirius's face lights up and they begin to walk off. "Ok! But you can't cheat this time, no strip teases, it's too distracting!"

I laugh and turn my face up at James. "We're not going to end up like that right?"
James puts his arm around me and leads me back into the traffic of students. "Hell no! I would never say no to a strip tease!"

I hit his chest playfully. "Shut up!"

"Sure thing, girlfriend."

I giggle. "I do have a name you know."

"Oh, I know, and now you have a title, and it sounds so good!" he replies, bouncing on the balls of his feet.

I smile brightly. "Ok, boyfriend."

James closed his eyes, his lips curling into a smile. "Say it again."

"What word?" I ask innocently

James swept me off my feet swiftly and threw me over his shoulder. "I must have you now!"

I screamed in delight. "You're not a caveman James, put me down!"

"Tell me what I want to hear and I will Evans," he replied softly.

I'm about to reply with something witty, but someone's voice cuts through my response. "Hey James,"

I look around James' shoulder to see Magenta Holst staring at James with hunger.

"Hey, what's up?" he asks, and I have to give him props, he hardly sounds interested.

"Oh, I was just wondering if you'd walk me to class?"

James pulls me closer. "I'm kinda busy here, sorry."

Magenta sneers at me. "Oh sorry, I didn't think you had anything important going on, well, maybe another time."

She gives him a wink. James slides me down and I'm sure he's going to leave me walk off with her, I prepare myself for the heart ache to come.

"Holst, I'm not sure you've met the most important person in my life, this is Lily Evans, my girlfriend."

He holds me close the whole time saying this, emphasizing the word girlfriend which was a clear under tone of 'back off'

Magenta sneered at once more then gave James her most winning smile. "Well still, come find me when you're done with whatever this is,"

James gives her a tight smile. "I won't ever be done with this, and I don't think I'm ever going to be looking for you, so you're probably better off finding someone else, I would hate to see you made a fool of."

Magenta's mouth hung wide open. I had to restrain myself from saying so there, bitch!

"The offer is always there," she told him tightly before sauntering off.

James whistled. "What a trip huh? Now where were we?"

I stared at him, incredulous.

"What, did I do something wrong?"

"She's the hottest girl in school…"

"Evans, I thought we went through this and I already said it was you."

"No but…you could have her, every other guy dreams of it, and you said no, so easily. She's the type of girl everyone at the school expects you to be with, who suits you and you're going against all of that."

"I only want you," he replies simply. "That's all I could ever want."

I throw my arms around James and kiss him full on the lips, in front of everyone's judging stares, students, teachers, peeves and I don't give a damn.

"You're amazing," I tell him softly. "Walk me to class, boyfriend."

James grins broadly and offers me his arm. "Yes ma'am."

I sit on James' lap later on in our common room, legs pulled up, arms around his neck and head on his shoulder, curled up into him like a child.

"I have to go patrolling," I tell him softly.

He leans down and kisses me gently. "Make the other Prefects do it, go mad with power!"

I laugh. "You know I can't do that, we're meant to lead by example."

He lifts me up and positions me so I'm straddling his legs. "Come on, isn't there anyway I can convince you to stay?"

He starts to kiss my neck and heat rushes through my body. My body responds automatically and I tilt my neck to give him better access, while burying my hips deeper.

"I should…go," I gasp.

"Should you?" he asks, pressing his lips onto my collarbone.

"Duties…lead by…example," I murmur.

"Really? So you don't want to stay here with me?"

"No…yes…I don't know, you're confusing me!" I tell him and I manage to push myself away.

"One hour, and then I'll be back."

"Evans, you're killing me!"

I grin, loving that I'm regained control. "My patrol is meant to be just shy of two and a half hours, I'm compromising with you."

"I'll come with you then," he suggests.

"No, you went last time. I'll be back before you know it," I tell him, blowing him a kiss and then exiting before he can change my mind.

I'm practically skipping through the halls, not even checking thoroughly or doing my job properly, I could really care less about enforcing. Hell if I busted a couple together I would probably just high five them and be on my way. I have never felt so great in my life, everything seemed to look beautiful. Life was great.

I looked down at my watch, twenty minutes to go. Oh what the hell, by the time I head back it will almost be the end of my shift.

With a skip in my step, I head back to the dorm when I hear it.

A soft rustling noise, like someone is following me. I whip around; no one is there.

With a fierce determination I begin to walk faster.

I can hear foot steps behind me.

Ok, this was not cool, I was starting to feel like I was in a cheap horror movie.

"Hello?" I called out and immediately wanted to kick myself. Hadn't I seen enough movies to know that calling out always got you killed!

I started out at a jog, ignoring my instinct to look behind me to see who was following.

A soft chuckle echoes through the halls and I'm starting to really freak out now.

"James?" I call, slowing to a walk. "James, is that you?"

I turn around and it's still empty, still eerily quiet. Could it be possible I'm imagining this whole thing?

I let out a hysterical giggle and continue walking to the dorm.

There are no more noises, there are no more footsteps and the fear is starting to drift away me.

Two hands grab me and I let out a little scream. One hand covered my mouth, the other locked around my chest.

"Hello Evans, lovely night isn't it?"

My heart beats faster and faster in my chest until I was sure I was close to a heart attack. Rough hands pushed me against a wall and in the dark I couldn't see their face, nor recognize their voice.

"Severus has spoken so highly of you mudblood, I just had to see what the big deal is. You see, Snapey boy tends to think you're special, that you're above all others."

His wand traced across my collar bone. "He thinks you're pure. I'm here to find out, just how much of your blood is clean."

He uncovered my mouth, but trapped my body against the wall with his. "Any messages you'd like me to pass on?"