Lily and James tumbled to the ground in an undignified heap, having gathered much speed in the tunnel.

"Get-off," Lily gasped, crushed by James's body weight. Perhaps this was taking the whole touchy-feely thing a bit too far.

"Oh, sorry." He clambered off Lily before helping her up from the ground. "Did I hurt you?"

"I'm fine," she assured him, dusting off the front of her clothes. "Where are we?" They appeared to be in in a storeroom of sorts. Sealed boxes sat against one wall in neat rows, and open boxes against the opposite. There was a single door on the far side of this unlit room.

"Wait a second," James whispered, holding up his hand. His eye were alert as he seemed to listen for something. Lily was about to ask him what was wrong when he grabbed her and pulled her against him with violent speed. He pulled something out from under his shirt and threw it over them so that they were both veiled in a gauzy silver material.

"Don't say anything," he hissed. No sooner had he uttered the words that the sound of turning metal reached their ears. Lily looked to the left in horror to see the owner of Honeydukes enter the room. Wait, Lily thought. The owner of Honeydukes? James's hand clamped over her mouth, and she almost didn't catch the barely audible shush he gave.

"Hello?" Mr. Flume called hesitantly. James pressed his hand even more firmly over Lily's mouth; it seemed like he didn't want her to say anything. I get the point already, she thought with annoyance, but of course she couldn't vocalize her thoughts at the moment. She waited now for the old man to yell at them and interrogate them as to how they ended up in here, but he said nothing. Even when he lit a lamp, he didn't so much as acknowledge their existence. Was this man stupid? Or did he have critically poor vision? Lily's shock multiplied when Mr. Flume set out the lamp and exited the storage room, closing the door behind himself. Lily was dumbfounded as to what had just taken place. Clearly she and James had been standing in the middle of the room, and this man had stared right through them!

"Did you see that?" Lily demanded, stepping out from under the material and gesticulating strongly at the door. "Did you see that? He completely ignored us! It was like we were-" Her mouth went dry when she turned and saw no one behind her. "What...?" James had been right behind her no more than five seconds ago. where could he have possibly gone in so short an amount of time?

"James?" she said questioningly, her voice quivering. "James, this isn't funny."

"You're right. It's not." And James shrugged off nothingness to appear out of thin air, slinging the gauzy cloak over his shoulder. Lily couldn't have been more dumbfounded than if he'd grown five heads. The cloak, Lily realized.

"What-how did-James...what is that?" she spluttered, eyes wide as she stared ogled at the iridescent cloth.

"It's an Invisibility Cloak," he answered, holding it up for Lily to examine. "It's saved me more than once from a well deserved detention."

"Did you make this?" she inquired. James laughed, and Lily was grateful for the darkness that shielded her blush.

"No, this has been in our family for at least a century," he explained. "The boys always got this, and the girls got some kind of locket. Mum wears it all the time, but I don't know what it does." Lily let the silky silver material slide over her hands, which flashed in and out of sight.

"This is amazing," she breathed.

"Come here, Flower," he requested. "We're going to leave this room."

"And I wonder how we're going to do that," she remarked with playful sarcasm as she let the magical item go.

"By the way, I'm sorry about manhandling you when Mr. Flume came in," James apologized, rubbing her shoulder. "Did I hurt you when I grabbed your arm?"

"Oh, no, I'm alright," she said. Honey, you can grab my arm and manhandle me anyday, she thought, before kicking away the idea that had come from a place neither chaste nor pure.

"Are you sure?" he wanted to know, taking her face in his now gentle hands and tilting it upwards, running his thumb along her jawline. "I thought I might have given you a bruise or something." She didn't know about bruises, but she was certainly about to melt.

"Really, I'm not hurt," she reassured him, stepping away from his intoxicating hands. "Speaking of Mr. Flume, what on earth was he doing in here?"

"Well, this is his store room, so he has more of a right to be here than us," James responded, throwing the Invisibility Cloak over the two of them. Lily clung to him arm, staying close to him to conserve space. Yeah sure, a voice at the back of her mind remarked sarcastically. But if this was Mr. Flume's store room, then that meant they were inside Honeydukes. And if they were inside Honeydukes...

"You brought me to Hogsmeade?" Lily said, astonishment ringing in her words. James smiled down at her.

"I don't think you've ever seen Hogsmeade at night," he remarked. "But I think you'll like it." They snuck out of Honeydukes through the back door, removing the cloak in the alleyway.

"I never knew that secret passage even existed," Lily told him as the walked out from the alley to the main street. "How many others are there?"

"Quite a few, but some caved in so we could never find out where they led to," James replied as they reached the main street, to which Lily gasped. It was like something out of a fairytale book. The cloudless starry night sky, the old-fashion lamps lining the walkway at intervals, the vast array of Christmas lights and decorations that reflected off the snow. There weren't nearly as many people out as during the daytime, giving the setting a serene feel. The rooftops also reflected the light of the lamps, shooting light into the air so that the entire area above the rooftops seemed to be domed in a golden glow. It was breath-taking.

"This is so beautiful," Lily whispered.

"I'd hoped that you would like it," he commented, biting his lip and stuffing his hands into his pockets.

"Like it? I love it, James!" she cried, throwing her arms around him in an enormous hung. The excitement and picturesque beauty of the place were overwhelming, and she couldn't believe that he had taken the time and trouble to bring her here just so she could enjoy this wonderful place at its most stunning. James chuckled softly, wrapping his arms around her upper body and pulling her close.

"I want to show you something before we leave here tonight," he spoke into her hair.

"You want to show me something else?" she exclaimed, drawing her face back to look at him. "Wasn't Hogsmeade what you wanted me to see?"

"Well, yes, but there was something else I wanted you to see," he answered. "But you're probably thirsty, so let's go to the Three Broomsticks."

"Sure." They hooked arms and walked happily to the cozy pub.

"You know, I would have thought I'd be freaking out by now," Lily told James. "I mean, we've just snuck out of school, and we could get suspended or expelled for this, but I really don't seem to care. Is that strange?"

"Well, the fact that you don't care about getting expelled sounds kind of far-fetched," he responded. "I think you mean that you're not worried about getting caught or expelled."

"You're right," she agreed. "That's more of what I'm trying to say."

"Well of course I'm right, Flower," James declared. "But you knew that already, didn't you?"

"You'll never get over yourself, will you?" Lily laughed as he held the door of the Three Broomsticks open for her. They received a warm welcome and a gentle scolding from Madame Rosmerta before they slid into a booth in the back of the pub.

"How often do you do this?" Lily inquired. "Sneak out to come here?"

"Every now and then," he told her. "I always come here with the other Marauders when we need some time without you pesky girls." Lily caught the lightheartedness of his tone.

"Well, excuse me, Mr. Potter," she responed in mock indignation.

"Hey, lovebirds!" Madame Rosmerta called from behind the bar. "What do you want to drink?"

"Peppermint tea," Lily called.

"Rum," James shouted over the noise. "Red currant."

"Do you just want the whole bottle?" Madame Rosmerta wanted to know. Lily's raised any eyebrow at James as he accepted the offer.

"An entire bottle of hard liquor," she commented disapprovingly.

"The bottle isn't even that big," he answered defensively. "Besides, I want the bottle here so that when you're not looking I can spike your drink and you won't even remember what we did tonight." Lily laughed heartily at this, but then wondered if he was, in fact, planning on doing just that.

"James, you wouldn't actually-"

"No! I would never really do it!" he told her, scowling slightly. "Merlin, what do you think I am?"

"I think you're a very tricky boy who will go to great lengths to have your way with me," she retorted. "No, but really, I hope you were joking."

"Lily, " James said in a more quiet tone. "You know that I've made advances on you before, but I would never make that kind of an advance on you. Not unless I was completely sure that you wanted me. I would never-ever-force you into anything you didn't feel comfortable with." She smiled reassuringly at him. Of course she knew him better than that.

"I know James," she said as a waiter brought over their drinks. "I wouldn't have agreed to come here tonight if I had any doubts."

"Thanks," they said in unison to the man, and James tipped him with five galleons. Lily inhaled the cleansing scent of the peppermint and smiled, allowing her face to be immersed in the pure steam that billowed out of her cup.

"Just wondering," James began, removing the top from the medium-sized bottle of ruby liquid. "What do you feel about..."

"Sex?" Lily completed his question. James didn't meet here eyes as he took a moderate swig from the bottle.

"Yeah," he responded quietly, staring at the bottle. Lily was surprised at his question, not expecting to be asked about something so intimate. "You don't have to answer if you don't want to."

"No, it's okay," she said to him. "It's just that you caught me off guard. I mean, no one has ever asked me about it."

"So you don't talk about sex with your friends?" James asked.

"Oh, we talk about it, definitely," she assured him. "We talk about it a lot, but we never just walk up to each other and ask what we think about sex. It's more like the conversation just leads up to it, but when it does come around to talking about it we don't have a problem."

"That makes sense," James remarked. "Well, what do you think?" Lily pressed her lips together, thinking carefully about how to turn her thoughts into words.

"Well, I think it's special," she told him, blowing gently on her tea. "Something precious, like a gift. It's a complete giving of yourself to another person, not hold anything back or putting up any barriers. It's making yourself vulnerable, an act of complete faith and trust in someone. It's allowing that person to give themself to you entirely, and taking everything in whether it be good or bad. You love them because of the good and in spite of the bad, and you want them to know that, and feel that in everything they do for the rest of your lives." When she looked at James he was staring at her, hazel eyes slightly wide and his lips slightly parted. As if he was staring at her in awe.

"What do you think?" she asked him. He sighed, taking another drink from the bottle as Lily took a delicate sip of her tea. "I agree with everything you said. It's not something people should take lightly because it's more than just a physical thing. It's more than just skin against skin, and that's how it's supposed to be. Like you said, it's giving everything, not just your body. The Muggles have a book that puts it perfectly, it's in like the first or second chapter, something with a 'B', but I can't remember its name..." Lily grinned, realizing exactly what he was talking about. He really had been to Muggle school, hadn't he?

" 'That is why a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one body' ," Lily recited.

"Exactly," James agreed enthusiastically. "It's like fusing two souls together, and it's irreversible. But it should never have to be irreversible."

"I agree completely," Lily told him. "That's why I don't think people should sleep around before they get married."

"It's so much better if people wait. There's just so much less risk and hurt involved," he said, then looked back at the bottle in his hand. "I tell Sirius that he shouldn't treat girls the way he does, that he shouldn't take sex so lightly. He doesn't listen to me..." Lily took another sip before answering.

"You can't change him if he doesn't want to change," she said matter-of-factly. "All you can really do is make sure you are living the right way." A small smile appeared on James's lips.

"You're right." Lily set her cup down, considering whether or not to ask the question. She was curious about it, and they were already on the subject as it was..."

"James, I hope you don't get offended by this question," she began tentatively, turning her cup around on its saucer. "But, have you-ever slept with anyone?" She dared a glance at him, and was relieved to see him smiling warmly at her.

"No Lily," he answered, a hint of amusement in his voice. "I've never slept with anyone. And I'm sure you're a virgin too."

"Yes," Lily confirmed. She blushed as he took a long swig from the bottle of rum, his eyes never leaving her.

"Good," he said, setting the half-empty bottle in the middle of the table. Lily smiled suspiciously at him.

"As if my virginity has any implications for you," she commented, taking another sip of tea.

"Well, I'd like to know that we're both pure so that our wedding night can be that much more special," he told her with a sly grin. Lily felt the blush returning full-force to her face.

"James!" she laughed. "Don't say such a thing in public! Someone might hear you and misunderstand."

"Well then I'll just have to say it louder," he teased, pretending to stand up to announce the subject of their conversation to the entire pub. Lily caught him by the shirt and pulled him back down to his seat.

"Don't embarrass us," she rebuked, still laughing. "Goodness, what am I going to do with you?"

"Well, you could kiss me, date me, marry me, have kids with me," he listed off, counting the options on his fingers. "All of the above..."

"You're so funny," she told him, still smiling. "And you're the sweetest thing there is. The girl that gets to have you will be lucky."

"I want that girl to be you," he said in a more solemn tone now. "I've always wanted that girl to be you." I have to say it, Lily realized. I have to tell him now. I don't have a choice anymore.

"James-"

"Hey you two!" Both teenagers jumped at the sound of Madame Rosmerta's voice. "What's the name of your friend that's getting married?"

"Alice!" they called backin unison.

"Alice Thomas?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, hey Julius!" Madame Rosmerta called to someone else across the room. "The name is Alice Thomas!"

"A toast to Alice Thomas!" someone shouted randomly. "To good health and good sex!"

"To a long life and lots of kids!"

Lily and James stared at each other, then looked back at their drinks. Merlin knew she loved Madam Rosmerta, but a perfect moment haas just been ruined!

"What were you going to say?" James inquired. Lily couldn't say it now; the magic had been lost amont the shouts for toasts.

"I can't remember," she lied. "Hey, you said you wanted to show me something else here."

"Oh yeah! You're right," James remembered, his eyes lighting up. "Are you ready to leave?"

"Whenever you are," she responed. He grinned, standing up quickly and picking up the bottle. Obviously he was excited, and now Lily wanted to know what he was going to show her.

"Come on," he said as she stood up. "But you can't tell anyone what I'm about to show you."