Longer update today, I wanted to move things along a little. Thanks once again to Jannice Sace for the review and Happy Birthday for the other day! I was going to right in a scene where it was someone's birthday and they were singing Happy Birthday, but according to Wikipedia, all their birthdays are at the wrong time of year. I can't get the mental image of Bellatrix being Voldemort's cat out of my head now either... anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter!

...

Lily awoke to a beautiful sunrise streaming through her window. She rolled over and smiled, enjoying the warmth on her face. She stretched before fully realising where she was. She jumped up out of bed and looked around, trying to quell the hope that she felt rising within her heart. When the room didn't shimmer away, she grinned and ran out of the room. Lily was a little surprised when she didn't encounter anyone as she made her way through the castle, but she kept going until she reached their meeting room. Halting for a moment, she took a deep breath and opened the door.

The three boys looked up, startled. Remus grinned before he stood up and gave her a hug. "It is good to see you awake, how are you feeling?"

Lily was smothered by a very boisterous Sirius before she could reply. She laughed and returned his hug.

"Are you glad to see me Lily?" asked Sirius.

"Of course I am Sirius, but I would be even more happy if you let me breathe."

Sirius stepped away with a cheeky grin. Peter was the next one to greet her shyly with a hug, "It is good to see you Lily, maybe now James will calm down a little."

Lily looked concerned, "What? What is wrong with James?"

"Oh, nothing, he is just being an idiot," said Sirius.

Remus glared at Sirius, "No, he was just very worried about you. Dumbledore was a little worried that you would not be... well... when you woke up."

"I feel great. Better than great actually, absolutely amazing!"

"Really? We thought that..." Remus broke off and looked away awkwardly.

"You thought that I would be rather traumatised, right?" Lily said gently. They nodded. Lily smiled at them, "I know, I thought I would be too. But really, it feels like nothing ever happened."

"Well, I think we had better get Madame Pomfrey and Dumbledore to come and check anyway."

"Actually, I would like to see James if I could, where is he?"

After having a glaring contest as they fought over who would tell Lily, Remus sighed and answered her, "We do not know. He disappeared a few days ago when he was not allowed to see you. We have not seen him since."

"Have you checked that map that you made?" Lily asked.

They looked at her in surprise. She grinned at them, "Did you really think that I would not notice? You lot always seem to know where everyone is. I also got quite used to seeing a flutter of paper whenever I walked into the room, I knew you were hiding something from me."

Sirius smiled at her, "It looks like it is time to induct you into all of our Marauder secrets then."

"Marauder? What is that?"

"That is what we call ourselves, the Marauders," Sirius said with a flourish and a bow.

Lily looked at him strangely, "Alright, I am more than a little confused. Why do you call yourselves that?"

Sirius looked injured, "Because we are amazing! I really thought you would have learnt that by now!"

Lily laughed, "I am terribly sorry Sirius, of course you are amazing."

He huffed, "Thank you. Now, you already know one secret."

"I do?"

"The Invisibility Cloak, remember?"

"Oh, I already knew about that."

"You did?"

"Yes, James used to use it to sneak over to me, ages ago."

"Oh," Sirius looked disappointed, "Well, do you know about our nicknames?"

"No, you have nicknames?"

Sirius smirked, "Yes, yes we do. Mine is Padfoot, Remus is Moony, Peter is Wormtail and James is Prongs."

Lily gave them all a look, "Is this something to do with you being Animagi?"

They all looked at her, shocked. She laughed at their expressions before explaining, "Peter turned into a rat in front of me, it was not too hard to work our that if one of you could do that, you all could. You do everything together, I doubt you could find four brothers that are closer than you lot. I would like to know what you become though."

Sirius promptly became a dog and jumped up to lick her on the face. She laughed and pushed him away gently, "Careful Sirius, you do not want to let James see you doing that!" Lily looked over at Remus who had turned into a wolf. "You make a very nice wolf Remus," she said as she gave him a scratch behind the ears. "So, what is James' Animagus?"

Remus became himself again to answer her, "He is a stag, that is why he is called Prongs."

Lily nodded approvingly, "Well, is that all your secrets then?"

"There is only the map left, but you already sort of knew about that," said Remus as he pulled the map out.

Lily gasped as the map unfolded, "That is amazing, it must have taken you ages to make! Does it show everyone in the palace?"

"Yes, and that is why we cannot find James. He is not on here, so he must be outside of the palace. He could be anywhere by now."

Lily smiled, "No, I think I might know where he is."

…

James wandered through the forest as a stag. He knew everyone would be worried about him, but he didn't care, he needed time to think.

James watched as the red headed girl danced through the forest. He had been following her since she had left the village. She was so graceful, James could not keep his eyes off of her. When she bent down to pick a herb before dancing on again, James almost sighed with longing. He had never seen anyone as beautiful as her.

Before he could hide, she turned and looked at him with a glare. "I thought someone was following me. What do you want?"

James could not move, she was even more beautiful when she was angry. He stood there, transfixed, as she stormed towards him.

"Oh, it's you, the Prince," she spat. "Come to tell me what to do again?"

When he didn't answer her, she pulled out her wand, "Or are you just some sort of creepy stalker. I am warning you, try anything with me and I will hex you into the next kingdom."

James couldn't help the smile that grew over his face, "You are so beautiful when you are angry."

The girl stopped, stunned. "Excuse me?" she asked.

"Tell me your name."

"How about... no."

"Why not?"

"I do not give my name to strangers I meet in the forest, much less creepy strangers that are stalking me."

"I am not stalking you, I was out walking and saw you."

"And then you followed me, how is that not stalking?"

"Because I have no intentions of hurting you."

"Sure, like I believe that. Have you forgotten the cow pat or do I need to remind you?"

James laughed, "No, I remember it well."

"Good. Now that we have come to that conclusion, I will bid you good day and be on my way. I suggest you be on yours too." With that, she turned her back on him and began to walk off.

"Wait, please, just tell me your name, then I will leave you alone."

"No, I told you, I do not give my name to strangers. Go away."

"I am not a stranger, I met you the other day. And it is not fair, you know who I am."

"But I do not care who you are, so why does it matter to you."

"Because you are beautiful."

"And?"

"What?"

"I am beautiful, so what? Why does that make it so important for you to know my name?"

James was dumbfounded. What was the girl talking about?

"If I was ugly, would you still be following me?" When he didn't answer, she continued. "Exactly, you would not care if I was intelligent, or friendly, or funny. All you care about is looks. You are just some arrogant, spoilt, superficial Prince that thinks he can have whatever he wants. Now, go away, I am not going to tell you again."

"Excuse me, but I do care about those things. I find you intriguing and I want to know more about you."

The girl sighed, "Trust me, you do not. You will be bored in a month if I let you 'know more about me'. I know your type, you just like dizzy girls that fawn all over you, girls that you can use for a bit and then throw away. I am not going to be one of them."

"You have got me all wrong, that is not how I work at all. I respect all the girls that I have been with."

"Sure you do. Tell it to someone that cares, I have things to do."

James couldn't bear to see her walk away from him so he reached out to grab her wrist. She darted around and before he could even open his mouth she Stunned him. When he awoke, the sun was setting. He smiled and stretched. "What a woman," he thought.

James smiled a deer smile at the memory, Lily had always had a temper. He had to agree with her though, he had been pretty creepy that day. It was a good thing that he had eventually toned the arrogance down and stopped with the over-the-top displays or he might still be trying to win her affections.

"James?"

He jumped and started to run before he recognised the voice. He stopped and turned back. He was so surprised that he turned back into a human.

"Lily? Is that you?"

She nodded and he walked towards her. He stopped a few meters from her, looking at her suspiciously. "I am sorry, but how can I know that it is you? This could be another trick."

"It is me James. This is the place where you stalked me through the forest and I Stunned you. I left you lying right over there."

He laughed, "Yes you did."

"Did you ever tell anyone about that?"

"No."

"And did Snape find out about it?"

"I am pretty sure he did not."

"Well then, is that enough proof for you?"

He bounded over to her and swept her up in his arms. He went to kiss her but stopped.

"What is wrong?"

He hesitated. "I just... are you alright with this? As everyone pointed out to me the other day, you were not alright before this war started. I do not want to make you feel like you have to do this, not if you are not comfortable."

"James, would I be here if that was true? I am fine, really, I feel the best I ever have."

James stepped back, "What?"

"I feel great, it is as if nothing ever happened. And there is nothing I want to do more than kiss you right now."

"Lily, as much as I want to do that too, I do not think I can."

"Why not?"

"Please, do not be offended, but you should not be 'fine'."

"I am James. If you were Snape, then I probably would be a little upset. But you are not him, I love you James."

"I love you too Lily. Lets go back to the palace, everyone is probably worried sick."

"Can I at least have a little kiss first?" pouted Lily.

He smiled, "I suppose so."

As he kissed her, everything went dark.