After dinner, the marauders went their separate ways for a while. Remus and Peter headed to the library to finish their potions essays that they hadn't finished amid the commotion earlier. Sirius had a "date" with some Hufflepuff girl and left immediately after dinner to go meet her.

"Why so early?" James had asked. "Just play one game of exploding snap with me then meet her later."

"Can't Prongsie," Sirius replied, "I have to meet her early because I have other ahh… commitments once we are through." He wagged his eyebrows suggestively.

"You've got two lined up for tonight? When did you find the time?"

"I have my ways."

James rolled his eyes at his best mate. Looks like he was doing homework tonight after all. He wouldn't go to the library though. It was too stuffy and he wasn't in the mood to answer Peter's questions. He was happy to help his friend when needed, but Moony had this one under control. When alone, he much preferred to find an empty classroom to work in.

After getting back to the room, James packed his bag and set off again in search of an empty classroom. The only issue with this strategy was that classrooms were often occupied by couples. Normally, he would use the map to avoid having to knock or barge in, but Sirius took it tonight so James would have to take his time getting a spot the old fashioned way.

He had found a room quickly enough. He had gotten out there fairly early before most couples had met up. It took him a while to do his potions essay. It wasn't hard, really, but his motivation wasn't there. By the time he finished it was just before curfew. He had wanted to explore a bit, but he hadn't brought his invisibility cloak with him. Cursing himself, he packed up his bag and started heading towards Gryffindor tower. He knew the way back well enough and wasn't out after curfew needing to be careful, so he let his mind wander from his surroundings. He was trying to decide if he wanted to turn in for the night or grab the cloak and go back out, when suddenly he was pulled into an empty classroom.

He hadn't seen it coming. He was already inside and the door closed before he whipped around with his wand in hand to face whoever pulled him in here.

"Evans?" he panted, confused but lowering his wand. She looked miffed, so he didn't put it away yet, just in case. There had been more than one occasion when wands were drawn during a fight between the two. "Can I help you with something?"

Lily stood there but didn't say anything. She seemed to be confused by the situation as well.

"Look, I was just heading back to the dorms and would like to get there before curfew so I don't have to worry about Flich. I don't fancy getting a detention right now, so if there's no – " but suddenly he couldn't talk. At first he thought that Lily had cast Langlock to get him to stop talking, but quickly realized that the thing stopping him from talking was Lily herself. She was kissing him!

He swiftly put his wand into his pocket and grabbed Lily by the waist with both hands, pulling her closer. He snogged her, and held on like his life depended on it. He couldn't believe this was happening. Lily Evans was kissing him and running her hands through his hair. It must be a dream or something. He pulled away slightly to talk between kisses.

"Not that I'm complaining –" he kissed her cheek. "But what –" he moved down to her jaw. "Is going on here?" he made his way to her neck and started sucking on it lightly.

Lily tilted her head back to give him better access and sighed. "No talking."

James obliged and made his way back up to Lily's mouth to continue snogging her. It could have been minutes or hours later, James wasn't sure, but they were interrupted by an annoying beeping from Lily's watch.

Lily quickly pushed James off of her and started straightening out her robes. As quickly as it had started it was over again.

"What is that? You have a snogging alarm or something?" James laughed as he ran his hand through his hair.

Lily's face was serious. "No, it's five minutes till curfew. I have to get ready for my shift tonight doing prefect rounds."

"You're doing rounds tonight? Brilliant! We can stay a little longer… it'll give the other couples longer too. It's basically community service if you think about it."

"Right, well… Not interested." Lily reached for the door to leave.

James was confused. "Wait!" he said, "Only joking. I know you'd never shirk your duties to have a snog." He chuckled then. "I knew you couldn't resist me Evans. I'm too charming."

Lily laughed. "Sod off, Potter. You wish." She reached for the door again, opened it, and started down the hallway.

"What are you doing this weekend?" He called after her. "Care for a stroll around the grounds?"

She called back over her shoulder without even turning around. "In your dreams Potter!"

He jogged to catch up and grabbed her arm, halting her movements. "Oh I'll definitely be dreaming of you tonight," he joked.

She rolled her eyes and sighed annoyed. "I'm not going out with you Potter. This meant nothing. You're still an absolute git and I still hate you. Nothing has changed. Now please, let me be."

She shrugged him off and he let go without a word. He stood speechless staring after her as she walked away until she turned the corner out of sight. What the bloody hell had just happened? He was so confused. He made his way back to Gryffindor tower only slightly after curfew and with no issues. When he walked into the common room Remus and Peter were in there playing wizard's chess; Sirius was nowhere in sight.

"Alright, James?" Peter said without really looking up from the board as James walked up to the pair.

James gave him a quick nod in greeting before sitting down.

"How was your night?" Remus asked.

James sat staring at his feet with his eyebrows knitted. "Confusing."

Remus was just about to ask what he meant when Sirius came barging through the portrait hole. "Evans just nicked me! She was so smug about it too. Seemed to be especially happy to be breaking up my evening. Probably just jealous. She could use a good snog, maybe that would calm her down a bit." With that he threw himself onto the couch next to James.

Peter laughed, as he always did when Sirius was trying to be funny. Remus shook his head, though there was a hint of a smile on his face. James opened his mouth to say something, to tell them about what happened with Lily that night and that she had, in fact, had a good snog and it didn't seem to help. He stopped though before he could say anything. Something in him wanted to keep this a secret for now. Though he would love some advice from his mates on what to do or what it all meant, he wasn't ready to share the information again just yet. Instead he just laughed and agreed with Sirius.

They sat there for a little under an hour just taking the mickey of each other, mostly joking with Peter about his poor chess skills. As Remus ended another game in victory, Peter sighed. "As fun as losing and getting made fun of is, I think I'm done for the night. I'm heading to bed."

He stood up and Remus and Sirius followed suit. They were the only four left in the common room and were all ready to go to bed in order to wake up early tomorrow for another day of classes. James, however, hesitated and stayed seated.

"You not coming?" Sirius asked him when he realized that James wasn't following them to the staircase.

"Nah, I'm not tired yet. I'm going to hang out by the fire a little longer. Wait for Evans and give her that snogging that she needs," James joked. He laughed to himself though at the honesty behind the statement. He did plan on waiting for Lily and getting to the bottom of what happened tonight.

Sirius laughed. "Good luck with that. Try not to let her kill you. The rest of term would be awfully boring."

"Good to know you care," laughed James, and Sirius started up the stairs after Remus and Peter.

James knew that he wouldn't have to wait long as Lily's rounds were set to be done soon. Indeed, it wasn't long before she entered the common room. She didn't notice him sitting by the fire, and gave a start when he spoke to get her attention before she went upstairs.

"Evening Evans."

"Goodness!" Lily shouted, her hand to her chest. "What are you doing sitting here all alone Potter? It's very creepy."

James smiled at her innocent language despite being scared. "Just waiting for you. I wanted – "

"Look," she cut him off, "I don't want to talk about tonight, okay? It's not going to happen again. It shouldn't have even happened in the first place. I don't know what I was doing."

There was a pause as she took a breath, but James didn't speak, he didn't know what to say.

"And don't tell anyone about it, alright? Not even your little friends, and especially not Black."

Another pause. James was still silent. He had thought this was going to go differently.

Lily sighed. She seemed to be getting frustrated that he wasn't responding. It wasn't like him. "I'm sorry if I confused you," she said finally. "I thought I made it clear before, however, that it meant nothing to me. You mean nothing to me. Got it?"

James flushed at that. He was embarrassed and angry. "Yeah Evans. Got it," he bit out as she walked up the stairs. Once she was gone he let out the breath that he had been holding. He wished he hadn't let himself look so vulnerable and probably desperate in front of her. He should have had a come back and ended the conversation on his own terms. He made his way up the stairs and went to bed, closing the curtains of his four-poster without a word to the others. As he fell asleep, he vowed not to be so weak again.

A/N: My original plan was for this to be a one-shot, but no such luck. Not fully sure yet, but thanks for reading! I hope you're enjoying it. Let me know what you think :)