"I don't even know where I'm going!" Lily cried, pulling on her boots.

"What do you mean you don't know where you're going? It's half past nine in the evening!" Alice exclaimed. "Are you insane? You're going on a date with him in the middle of the night?"

"I would hardly call half past nine the middle of the night," Marlene commented.

"But it's not right!" Alice protested. "Going out on a date to a place you don't know for Merlin knows how long-"

"Okay, James isn't the kind of boy to take advantage of a girl," Dorcas interrupted.

"That's not what I was saying!" Alice scowled at Dorcas as Lily grabbed a coat, rushing over to her bed where her wand lay. "I was trying to say that's it's inexplicably risky and that whatever James is planning is more than likely not very canon."

"Well, the way you said it made it sound different," Dorcas defended herself. Lily was overcome with anxiousness now as she listened to her roommates argue. Alice was right; this was extremely risky, and Lily definitely didn't like being uninformed. But what other choice did she have but to go?

"Hey, at least this whole bet thing will be done and over with tonight," Lily supplied.

"That's not necessarily a good thing," Alice retorted, to which Lily rolled her eyes. Finally this would be the end of the deal she had made with him, meaning no more dates. Why did this fact bring no satisfaction of any kind?

"Alright, I'll see you all later," she said quickly, rushing out the door before anyone else could say something. She was more than halfway down the corridor when she heard her name being called.

"Lily!" She turned around to see Alice jogging towards her. "Lily..." She could hear the apprehension and anxiety in Alice's voice.

"We're not going to get caught, Alice," Lily assured her best friend. "I trust James, and I know that we're going to be fine." She watched as Alice sighed, her mouth set in a mulish line.

"Just be safe," she requested. "I don't want you to get in trouble."

"I won't," Lily pressed. "I promise." Alice smiled weakly.

"Okay, but be careful," she bade, turning to go back to their dorm.

"Alice," Lily said, catching the other girl's hand.

"Yes?" Lily bit her lip, hesitating.

"I'm nervous," she admitted.

"Well, you are going off to goodness knows where-"

"No," Lily interrupted. "I mean, I'm nervous about going on a date. With James." There was moment of silence as Alice took this in, and Lily wondered what the brunette could be thinking. She had been fighting this feeling for such a while now, pushing it back and trying to smother it. And she was tired of it. She didn't want to fight or push it back anymore. She didn't want to avoid it any longer, and she had realized this only that very afternoon when she had been so open to James's advances. She had thought about that small encounter for a long time after it had ended, and she finally realized that she had feelings for James than ran much deeper than she had ever expected.

"It's going to be fine," Alice reassured Lily. "James loves you just as you are."

"He makes me nervous, Alice," she said quietly, aprehensive about voicing such private sentiments but desperate to do just that. "I feel differently around him now. I want everything I do to be acceptable to him, I want to spend every spare moment I can with him, and I can't stop thinking about him-"

"It's going to be fine," Alice repeated, grasping Lily hand in both of hers. She looked Lily directly in the eyes. "Those things you feel aren't bad, Lily. They're not out to get you or accuse you, so don't ever feel like you should stifle them."

"But it's so much easier," Lily protested, although she knew she was past this now.

"Not in the long run," Alice responded. "And you only end up unhappy when you ignore your feelings."

"I don't want to get hurt by him," Lily told her. "I don't want to get hurt because he was just along for the chase-"

"Don't even think of such a thing," Alice ordered sternly. "We both know James is above that. He cares for you like his own body, if not more so." Lily bit her lip, knowing it was true.

"Wish me luck," she whispered. The brunette smiled.

"Good luck." Lily released her hand, turning to walk towards the staircase. "Lily."

"Yes?" She turned once again to look at Alice.

"Are you ready to admit that you fancy James?" Lily sighed heavily, glancing down at her shoes.

"You could say that," she replied, feebly attempting to avoid the subject.

"You're the one who needs to say it," Alice retorted matter-of-factly, crossing her arms. "So spit it out already."

"Fine," Lily said. "I fancy James." Lily flushed with embarrassment as Alice grinned ear to ear.

"You do not know how long I've waited for this day."

"Shut up! This is embarrasssing enough as it is!" Lily exclaimed.

"Either way, have fun, and don't get killed," Alice laughed. "And remember, why are you doing this in the first place?" Lily sighed, knowing what her friend wanted to hear.

"Because I fancy James," she answered grudgingly before descending the stairs. She felt so much better now that she had spoken to someone about the way she had been feeling. She had a sense of peace that did well to calm her nerves, if not eradicate them. Who said the truth had to hurt? Lily spotted James lounging by the fireplace, slouching as he kicked his feet up to rest on the coffee table. Lily observed him for a moment, taking in the casual confidence that exuded from him like a perfume. In Lily's opinion, it was more like a drug. Something you don't necessarily like, she thought. But you just can't get enough of it. Taking a deep breath, she walked over to where he sat, hoping she looked good enough.

"Hi James," she said. He turned to look at her, and a brilliant smile spread across his lips. Lily's pulse kicked up a knotch.

"Hey, ready to go on patrol?" James asked, winking as he stood up from his seat.

"Yeah. Let's go." They head over to the portrait hole and exited the common room. "So where exactly are we going after patrol?" James grinned wickedly as they turned the corner and head for the staircase.

"Wouldn't you like to know, Flower," he remarked.

"Yes, I would, as a matter of fact," she retorted. "Now tell me where on earth we're going."

"I want it to be a surprise," James told her. "I'm going to be showing you things we shouldn't even know exist. I got special permission from the other Marauders to let you know about this."

"Wow, don't I feel so honored now?" Lily remarked drily, although she knew the answer to her question all too well.

"Well, you're probably the only girl who they'd allow to know Marauder secrets," James said. "So yes, you should feel honored." Lily laughed softly.

"Can you at least give me a hint of what we're going to do?"

"We're heading to the third floor. That's all I'm telling you for now." They caught a few Hufflepuffs outside their house on the way down but otherwise, the halls were completely deserted. This reassured Lily, since there were less people to catch them in whatever they were about to do.

"Before we do this, I want you to understand something," James told her as they head down a particularly long corridor, his voice slightly stern. "I'm sure you've already figured this out, but we're about to do something risky here, so I need you to understand that if I tell you do something, you need to listen to me. If I tell you to get behind me, do it. If I tell you be quiet, do it without asking questions. Do you understand me?"

"Yes," Lily answered. James smiled, placing his hand on the small of her back and steering her to the side of the hall towards a statue of a humpbacked witch with one eye.

"Good. I just wanted to get that straight in case we run into any trouble," he said before adding hastily,"Not that I expect us to get in trouble, of course."

"Alright, but could you just explain to me what exactly we are going to do on the third floor in front of a disfigured female's statue that is going to be so risky?" she wanted to know. James only smiled knowingly, drawing his wand and tapping the hump on the witche's back.

"Dissendium." The hump opened up, creating a large opening big enough for one large person to enter. Lily's mouth hung open in astonishment.

"How on earth did you find this?" she asked.

"The map," he replied, shoving his wand back into his pockets. "When we first created the Marauder's Map we created it to chart everything in Hogwarts, regardless of whether or not we knew something existed. Well, climb in." Lily looked at James as if her was a madman.

"Sorry?" she asked. "I could have sworn you'd just asked me to get in." James looked pointedly at her.

"I did. Oh come on, it's not dangerous," he told her.

"But it's dark, and it-oh my gosh, it's a slide!" she exclaimed in as soft of a voice as she could while still getting the extent of her skepticism across.

"Lily, I promise you that it's not dangerous," he said almost pleadingly. "Look, what do I have to do to convince you that this is safe?" Lily looked from the tunnel to James, and couldn't help but allow her eyes to wander across his slightly parted lips, his shoulder that had felt so strong to her, those hands whose memory were welded into Lily's skin. Oh, what she would do to feel those hands on her once more! She looked back at the tunnel, turning her back slightly to James.

"Just don't make me go down that thing alone," she said in as meek of a tone as she could manage. She waited for his response, which came only a few seconds later.

"Well, if that's what you want," he responded. Lily fought the urge to smile as she turned towards the opening. "I think we'll both fit. Do you want me to be in front of you or behind you?"

"Behind," Lily answered, a little too quickly for her taste. James blinked, clearly a little confuzed.

"Okay, then, you should climb up first," he suggested. "Do you need help?" Of course I don't need any help, Lily thought wrly.

"I think so," she replied as she stepped up to the statue. "Just let me take your hand to keep me balanced." He obeyed willingly, offering his hand to her and stepping close to the statue. Lily took it, and her hand went warm on the contact with his. She pulled herself up, feeling the rough callouses due to Quidditch on James's large hands that seemed to envelope hers. She released his hand to settle herself on the ledge; she was kind of scared to go down alone, so even though emotional support was not her main objective, it did very well to have it anyways. Lily's pulse began to race when she felt James slide in behind her, pressing his chest against her back. God, it felt so good! However, she felt the hesitance in his touch as he place his hands on her shoulders, as if she might shrug him off.

"Are you comfortable?" he asked softly, his breath warming Lily's ear. She pressed her back gently yet firmly into James's body, placing her hands over his and interlacing her finger with his. She turned to look at his face, which was covered with surprise.

"I'm absolutely perfect," Lily said, and she couldn't remember a time when her words had felt more true.

XXXXXXXX

What do you all feel about Draco Malfoy's wife, Astoria Greengrass? We know her name, that she is pure-blood, has a sister named Daphne, and she's 2 years younger than Draco. Other than that, she's pretty much a blank page. Leaves a lot of leeway for creativity, don't you think?

I've always wanted to write something concerning the Malfoys...