So much for updating twice a week...this chapter really took some work! I'd completely run out of ideas. I'm not extremely happy with it but I hope you guys like it!

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Disclaimer : I don't own HP...

Two weeks after the Derek incident, Lily was feeling much, much better. She and James' parents had become very good friends. She spent more time with Sirius and James and found that beneath the arrogant, don't-care attitudes they displayed; they were exceptionally nice and extremely intelligent boys.

One evening, Lily wandered around James' house, hopelessly lost. His mansion was huge. She had gone to the west side of the house in search of a balcony to watch the sunset from but now, she was roaming the long corridors with no idea where she was or where she was going. She stopped in front of two large doors set midway down the corridor. Curious, she pushed them open and gasped in wonder.

She was standing in a library. There were large windows all along the opposite wall and desks along the other three walls. The room was long and spacious and filled with neatly spaced bookshelves, each shelf crammed with books, all stacked alphabetically.

She walked forward to the closest shelf and gazed up at the books. There were so many titles in many languages. She noticed that there were Muggle and wizard books. Her eyes lit up as they fell on a familiar title. She reached up but her fingertips only brushed the bottom of the book. She looked around for a ladder or a stool but found neither. Shrugging, she jumped, but couldn't pull the book out. She jumped again, missed the book and stumbled over a fold in the carpet. She would have fallen but a strong arm wrapped around her waist, steadying her.

A familiar chuckle sounded in her ear as James reached up with his other arm and pulled out the book she'd wanted. "You really need a few more inches Lily," he said.

She turned around and nearly collided with his chest. He was right behind her, one arm still around her waist while the other held her book. He stepped back, eyes twinkling as she blushed at their proximity.

"Grimm's Fairytales?" he asked, handing her the book.

"I like them," she said defensively, moving to one of the long seats below the windows. "How come you have Muggle books in here?"

"They're good to read. Muggle fiction is definitely better than wizard fiction," James replied, sitting next to her. "I should've known you'd find the library sooner or later. You have quite the nose for books."

"I stumbled on it by accident," Lily admitted. "I was actually searching for a balcony to watch the sunset from."

"There's one on the floor above us. But you can see it just fine from here too," said James, pointing out of the window. Sure enough, the sun was clearly visible over the horizon.

"What were you doing in here?" Lily asked.

"I was reading."

Lily looked skeptical.

"I really was reading! Just because I pretend not to know where the school library is doesn't mean I don't enjoy reading. I occasionally do sneak into the Hogwarts Library to grab a nice book. I don't tell anyone because they'd all think it wasn't cool," said James.

"And because you're a Marauder, you need to be cool."

"Exactly!"

Lily grinned. "I believe you."

James looked surprised that she had believed him so quickly even if he was telling the truth this time. "How come?" he asked. "You usually ask about twenty questions before you believe anything I say."

"Three reasons." Said Lily. "It explains why you wear glass, you smelled lemon wood polish when we brewed Amortentia and this place positively reeks of it and…I trust you." She looked away, blushing again and glad that her red face was camouflaged by the light of the setting sun.

James looked surprised and then he smirked, "So you remember what I smelled?"

"Oh shut up."

He chuckled again. "Don't worry, I remember what you smelled too," he said. He smirked knowingly, well aware that he smelled like oranges. He took a deep breath, catching a hint of her rose perfume that he had smelled in the potion. The scent was invigorating. He shook his head, drawing his mind away from love potions. He looked at the book on her lap. "Why do you like fairy tales?"

"They have happy endings. Wouldn't you like to carry your princess off into the sunset?" said Lily.

James' eyes twinkled mischievously. "How about I get my broom and fly you off into the sunset?" he said, gesturing out of the window at the sun which was now sinking below the horizon.

Lily's cheeks turned a little pink when she realized he'd called her a princess. "No way! You're not a prince!" she said.

"Oh? And in what way do I not fit the role? I'm rich and handsome and brave and loyal…"

"Princes also don't have heads twice normal size."

He laughed, "And here I was thinking you were hanging out with me because I deflated my head a bit."

"Okay, maybe it's only one and a half times as big as a normal head," said Lily. She watched him as he laughed again, the deep sound echoing in the room. She had to admit, he really did fit the part of a prince. He was definitely as handsome as all the princes she'd read about. His jet black hair stuck up so messily it was endearing and his face had a sculpted look. His features were not sharp, they were soft, yet strong. The intoxicating scent of oranges filled her nostrils as she unknowingly moved closer. His hazel eyes were ever so slightly magnified behind his round glasses that only enhanced his bookish appeal and in the red-orange glow of the setting sun, his eyes seemed almost golden and were so, so entrancing…

"Um…Lily?"

She snapped out of her trance immediately. She had moved closer and closer to him unconsciously and now they were only inches apart, both faces red as the setting sun. James was longing to reach out and close the gap. In fact, he'd tucked his hands under his knees to avoid grabbing her and snogging her senseless. He was really exercising every bit of self-control. Lily drew back suddenly and he let out a breath of relief he hadn't realized he was holding.

Lily however, was on the verge of panic. "Why am I beginning to feel…attracted…to James? He's Potter! We're supposed to be friends! This is not good, this is not good, this is NOT GOOD!" she thought, looking extremely harassed.

Sirius interrupted her mental freaking out session.

"I looked all over the house for you two. What were you doing all cozy and secluded in here?" he asked, waggling his eyebrows. To his surprise, both of them blushed. He gave James a look that said 'I want to hear about this.' Aloud, he said, "Alison's just arrived for the last couple of weeks of holidays. Oh and Remus and Peter aren't coming again these last two weeks. Remus has some relatives over and Peter's got his Apparition test next week."

"Alison's here?" squealed Lily racing outside the room, delighted. She came back five seconds later. "Er…how do I get back down to the hall exactly?"

X-X-X

A few hours later, Lily and Alison were safely ensconced in Lily's room. James' parents had taken to Alison very quickly and as Lily put it, Alison did have a way of charming everyone she met.

"You're especially charming to a certain Sirius Black," teased Lily.

"Oh come on! At least you and James almost kissed twice! Sirius…all he does is tease me," said Alison.

Lily had spent the last half hour recounting the events of the last few weeks. She buried her face in her hands. "I don't know what's wrong with me Alison," she moaned. "My stomach does flips when I see him; I blush when he gets close; my heart starts racing when he flashes that adorable grin at me. Look, I just used adorable to describe James Potter, my old worst enemy. He's supposed to be my friend, maybe one of my best friends. We've been great friends for nearly five months now and we were friendly for quite a while before that too. I never had these tingles when he comes close and I smell that wonderful scent of oranges on him and – am I going insane?"

Alison smiled broadly at Lily, "It's finally happened! Lily you're not going insane, you're falling in love!"

"Which is the same thing as I would never fall in love with James if I were sane."

"Stop resisting it Lily! You just described obvious signs of attraction and you're finally realized what we've known for so long. You fancy him," said Alison firmly.

Lily shook her head, "Oh no. I am not falling in love with James. He's a good looking guy - oh who am I kidding? He's hot – and I'm only physically attracted to him. I'll grow out of it. I cannot fancy him."

In the next room -

"I so fancy her."

"You must really love her if you're willing to wait for her to realize she likes you too. Especially after two near-kisses," said Sirius.

"I've always known she's amazing but now, after spending so much time with her, I've realized she's absolutely marvelous. And believe me, I had to keep reminding myself that I'd screw up the chance I finally have to stop myself from pushing her against a bookcase and snogging her. She was so close, her lips are so pink and enticing and-"

"Whoa, that's enough," said Sirius.

"Sorry," said James sheepishly.

"Besides, pushing girls against bookcases is Moony's style. Remember that one time he was in the Library with Mary and we were trying to find a book in there for Charms?" said Sirius.

Both boys shuddered at the memory of the comparatively prudish Remus snogging the daylights out of Mary in the back of the Library.

"At least it gave you an excuse to never enter the Library again," teased James.

Sirius snorted, "Like I need an excuse. Oh yeah, I was thinking-"

"There's a first."

"Shut it. Johnson really got off with a very unembarassing punishment than he should have got from Lily. I heard he lives in a village not far from here. Do you want to pull a prank on him?"

James hesitated. "Lily would kill me."

"I'm willing to take full responsibility. She won't mind me doing it, she'll think it's very older-brotherly."

James shook his head. "You go ahead. I don't want to suffer Lily's wrath at this stage."

Sirius gazed at James. He understood that James didn't want to lose Lily when he was so close to finally getting her to fall in love with him of her own free will. He walked out of James' room to go to his own, when he bumped into Alison. An idea occurred to him. "Hey Alison, do you want to pull a prank on Johnson for hurting Lily?"

"Are you serious?" she asked.

"Of course, who else would be Sirius?"

"Sirius!"

"Right sorry. Yeah, I am serious – both the noun and the adjective."

Alison considered it and then grinned. "What did you have in mind?"

X-X-X

Sirius and Alison apparated to Derek's village.

"That's his house," said Alison, pointing at a house a little way down the street. It was quite early in the morning and no one was around.

"Right. I'm going in," said Sirius. He'd told her about the Invisibility Cloak the previous night. He now pulled it on. Alison levitated him up to Derek's window and Sirius unlocked it and climbed into the room. Derek was sprawled on the bed, fast asleep. Sirius quickly performed a charm on all of Derek's clothes and poured a few drops of a potion on the boy's head, careful not to wake him.

"Phase one, complete," he said when Alison levitated him back down.

Alison and Sirius followed Derek around all day. By lunchtime, their prank had begun to show. The potion had made him lose a lot of hair without realizing it.

"He's shedding like a cat. He should be bald soon," said Alison, grinning.

Sure enough, the last few strands of hair fell off as he headed to a small hotel. When he walked into a hotel for lunch, he glanced at a mirror on the wall.

"WHERE THE HECK IS MY HAIR?" he screamed. Everyone turned to look at him and burst into laughter. There were many girls from the village, giggling and pointing at him and this made him desperate to get out fast. He downed a large milkshake quickly and ran out, conjuring up a hat as he went.

Confident that no one would notice his lack of hair since his head was now hidden under a hat, he strolled into a park where he knew lots of girls gathered in the afternoon. Sirius and Alison hid behind some bushes as Derek flirted with a girl as he did everyday. She suddenly gave him a dirty look and walked away. When the same thing happened thrice, he demanded to know what was wrong.

The girl glared at him. "You think I want to go out with you?" she said, throwing his shirt a dirty look before walking away.

He looked down at his shirt, confused. It said 'No.1 Womanizer' in neon letters that glittered. He looked around wildly, angry that someone had done that to him and he hadn't realized at all. Sirius and Alison hid behind their bushes, holding in their laughter as Derek cursed loudly and tried every counter-jinx he could think of, though none made any difference to the words on his shirt.

"Wait till he finds out all his clothes, including his Hogwarts robes, have the same thing written on them," chortled Sirius.

Alison quickly shot a jinx at him. His hat flew off and his bald, shiny head now started flashing different colours. That drew some very odd looks from passers-by and giggles from all the girls. Derek cursed loudly again and stormed out of the park, trying to keep his head low (not that it was easy or even possible with all the colours). He did try conjuring another hat but a mysterious wind kept blowing it off.

Alison and Sirius collapsed behind their bush, laughing. Alison turned gleefully to Sirius and collided with his nose. "Ow! It's working out fine don't you think?" she said, glancing at Derek trying to make his way out of the park. When she turned to Sirius she was surprised to see him only centimeters away from her lips, his grey eyes locked on to hers.

"Yes," he whispered, "It's working out just fine."

Alison got the impression he wasn't talking about Derek as he move closer and she closed her eyes, waiting…

A gaggle of giggling girls shrieked with loud laughter as they spotted Derek's head even from that distance and Sirius and Alison immediately jumped away.

"Why is it everyone's interrupted when they're just about to kiss?" asked James exasperatedly.

"No one's love story is as simple as getting kissed the first time," said McGonagall, grinning.

"So Derek went around with a flashing head and clothes?" grinned Albus.

"Oh yes. His clothes changed to messages that varied from self-degrading to downright rude. Sirius and Alison also made him see grotesque reflections of his face in every reflective surface he passed on the way home. He saw himself with horns, excessive nose and/or ear hair, a handlebar moustache…pretty much everything a face can have," said Dumbledore, as the boys laughed.

"It's getting late," said McGonagall. "You two should go get some dinner."

"Oh come on, Professor, just one more incident? Please?" begged James.

"Oh all right. I'll tell you about the surprise that arrived with their Hogwarts letters that year," said McGonagall.

"Hogwarts letters," said James as he and Sirius entered Lily's room and handed her and Alison their envelopes.

There was silence for a few minutes while everyone read their letters. Suddenly, Lily let out a shriek. "Head Girl! Oh my gosh, I'm Head Girl! Can you believe it? I wonder who Head Boy is."

Alison shrieked too and pulled Lily into a hug. "Not unexpected, but Head Girl, Lily, that's amazing. It's such an honour!" she said.

Sirius gave her a bone-crushing hug too. "Excellent now I can break all the rules I want and you can favour me Lily. I'm so proud of you! I'd like to see the looks on the Slytherins' faces when they find out!"

"Sirius, I'll still give you detention if you break rules," said Lily sternly.

"James?" said Alison. "Aren't you going to congratulate Lily?"

"Prongs?" asked Sirius, looking concerned as James was still staring at his letter, looking dazed. All eyes on him, James reached into his envelope and pulled something out. He took a deep breath, looked directly at Lily and held up a shining gold badge with 'HB' engraved on it.

Three jaws dropped.

Alison snatched the letter out of James' hands. "He's not lying," she whispered.

"Er…Prongs? You didn't plan this with Moony and switch names on the letter did you?" asked Sirius tentatively.

James shook his head, his hazel eyes looking nowhere but right into Lily's green ones which still looked shocked. Then Lily blinked. She smiled and held her hand out. "Congratulations!" she said sincerely.

"Okay, that settles it. I'm dreaming. There is no way Lily would have no problem with James being Head Boy. Dumbledore is clearly off his rocker," said Sirius,

"I am happy. You're not dreaming," said Lily.

"But Remus –"

"Remus has his furry little problem to deal with," said Lily with a glance at Alison. "Come on Sirius. Dumbledore's eccentric but he's not daft. If he doesn't have a problem with James being Head Boy, I don't either. If it were the James I knew a couple of years ago, I would have freaked out, but he's deflated his head now. Frankly, I was afraid I'd end up sharing a dorm with a Slytherin prefect."

"You get to share a dorm?" demanded Alison.

"We get a whole tower to ourselves. The Heads' tower is the one right beside the Gryffindor one. We have a common room, bathroom and separate rooms for ourselves," replied Lily.

Sirius and Alison exchanged sly looks at the mention of separate rooms. James kept his face carefully expressionless though he was fighting a smirk.

"Well I'd better tell my parents," James said and backed out of the room. The other three joined him and were soon engulfed in all the hugging and congratulating by a very thrilled Mr. and Mrs. Potter.

"Oh this is absolutely wonderful! Let's all go out to dinner to celebrate," said Mrs. Potter.

She dragged her husband into the kitchen to make arrangements for a restaurant. "Well Richard, I honestly didn't think this day would come," she sighed to her husband.

"Neither did I. But I'm proud of James," replied Mr. Potter.

"So am I. How about we go to 'Alimentation du Paradis' for dinner tonight? It's a good place for a formal dinner," said Mrs. Potter.

Her husband's eyes twinkled with mischief just like his son's often did. "Why don't we do our part in helping James with Lily?"

Mrs. Potter smirked, "What did you have in mind?"

X-X-X

At 6.45 that evening, everyone assembled in the living room.

"Why isn't everyone else dressed?" asked Lily. Only she and James were dressed for the occasion.

"Oh you see dear, we can't go. Sirius has a stomach ache," said Mrs. Potter, staring pointedly at Sirius who was grinning.

"What? Oh- oh yeah. My stomach really hurts. Must be all those brownies, ow!" Sirius said quickly.

"You made brownies? How come I didn't get any?" James asked his mum suspiciously.

"Sirius ate them all."

"What about you?" Lily asked Alison.

"Oh, I left my purse at Diagon Alley this morning. I need to go find it," said Alison.

"You didn't bring a purse," Lily said.

"Yes I did. I just charmed it to fit in to my pocket," said Alison firmly.

"Your father's working late tonight," said Mrs. Potter to James, "But we feel you two should still go out and celebrate. It's your special night after all. Go on, we made reservations. Have fun!" She literally shoved them out of the house with a quick wink at James.

He smiled and shook his head at his crazy family. He took Lily's hand. "I guess it's just us then." They Disapparated, arriving in a small room inside the restaurant. They were led to their table and they ordered quickly.

"So this is a wizarding restaurant?" asked Lily.

"One of the best for formal dining," said James. He smiled at her. "You look lovely tonight."

Lily blushed at the compliment but thanked him. They both looked around, a slightly uncomfortable silence between them. The restaurant was large and lit by fairy lights and huge chandeliers. Soft music was playing in the background. Despite being a wizarding place, everyone was dressed in formal Muggle attire. The tables were spaced far enough apart to ensure the privacy of the guests. Little fairies drifted lazily about the room and the windows looked out on a huge estate.

James turned his gaze back to Lily. She was wearing a knee-length blue dress that flattered her very well. Her hair fell in waves around her face and shoulders and to James, she looked more beautiful than any of the rich witches with all their jewels that were dining that night.

Lily looked at James too. He was dressed in a formal shirt and trousers but he still managed to pull off such a simple look with extreme grace and look good.

"Lily," he said, "are you really okay with me being Head Boy?" he asked quietly.

"Well…Remus would have been the better choice," she answered carefully.

"I think Dumbledore's mad. I mean, there's a reason I wasn't a Prefect. Why did he pick me? I don't even know what duties I'll have. I'm scared. What if he's made the wrong decision and I screw up?" said James, running a hand through his hair nervously.

Lily frowned as she pulled his hand away from his hair. She smoothed his black locks back into some order, resisting a strong urge to keep running her hands through his silky, smooth black hair. "It had at least looked like you'd tried to comb it," she said to explain her actions.

She took his hand. "Listen, Dumbledore's weird, but he's no fool. There's a reason he's made you prefect. You've deflated your head now, you've handled responsibility well with Quidditch and other things but more than anything, you're a leader. Remus is too soft to manage the entire school. He's too forgiving. Everyone looks up to you, all the kids want to be like you. You don't just lie down and take orders from someone. That's why Dumbledore – and I – think you'll make a good Head Boy. People need a role model now when the Dark side is growing so strong both inside and outside the castle. You're a troublemaker but your heart's in the right place. Don't worry. Whenever you need help with being Head Boy, I'm there for you," she said kindly.

He smiled with relief, "Thanks for believing in me." His face became mischievous again, "You're sure you won't mind sharing a tower with me?" he asked, leaning in close.

She blushed, but smirked and leaned even closer, her breath tickling his face, "Are you sure you won't mind?" she asked, her voice low.

James gulped and drew back, his face red and his eyes smouldering, "I think I'll be okay," he said quickly. Luckily, their food arrived just in time. They ate slowly, laughing and talking. However, they were thinking about what had just happened.

"Oh my gosh, I'm flirting with James Potter!" Lily thought, slightly horrified and confused.

"Oh my gosh, she's flirting with me!" thought James, happily.

They managed to stop thinking about it and just enjoyed the rest of their evening. They apparated back home and James walked up to their rooms with her. He stopped outside her room.

"Well that was like any Muggle date - er – dinner," said Lily, correcting herself quickly.

"I really had fun," said James, grinning. He suddenly leaned down and kissed her on the cheek. "Good night, Lily."

"Good night James." She walked into her room but as she changed out of her dress, she could ignore the fact that she had wished the night would end like all other Muggle dates – with a kiss on the lips.

"What in the world is wrong with me?" she muttered to herself before turning off the lights.

"Ah finally! Physical attraction," said Albus.

McGonagall looked at the clock. "Look at the time! You'll miss dinner if you don't head down right now. We'll continue tomorrow."

The boys nodded and left her office. They finished dinner and were about to head back to Gryffindor Tower when they heard Rosalie.

"James Sirius Potter, you are coming with me.

A big thank you to my friends for giving me ideas for the prank! Oh and I have to confess that in the last chapter I said James buys Rosalie a gift...well I was just buying time...I have no idea what that gift is going to be. If you have any ideas, let me know !

Did you like it? Please review! :)