Dorcas and Marlene were dancing together next to James and Lily, chuckling over some joke that Lily hadn't quite overheard; she was happy, of course, to be there with James, but everything was so much sometimes and why did Severus have to be such a constant, unbearable presence in her otherwise ideal life?

It didn't help anything to dwell on it, she decided, and let James twirl her awkwardly with his arm.

"Evans," whispered James.

"Potter."

"Truth or dare?"

"Truth," Lily said. James may be sweet and determined and loyal and intelligent and every other positive superlative, but he was still a Marauder and there was absolutely no predicting what accepting a dare from him could get her into.

"First moment you liked me," said James instantly.

Lily scrunched up her nose. "Who says I like you at all?"

"You did, an hour ago," he reminded her.

"Merlin, you're right," she said, ever-sarcastic. "I don't know. I haven't really thought about this before, seeing as I've pretended not to like you for such a long time- pretended to myself, too-"

"What, ashamed of me?"

"Absolutely," Lily joked, knowing that he knew it wasn't true- she imagined that there had to be some sense of security in being a popular, pureblood, star Quidditch player with top grades despite never studying. Indeed, Potter had never lacked confidence. "No, but if I had to pick it was in fifth year."

"Fifth year?"

"After our transfiguration OWL. Remember that piano we were supposed to turn into a crow? Well, my crow looked fine but it kept singing Fur Elise, and I was in tears about it, literally, and you said, 'Hey, Evans, it's fine, my crow was crap and we both know I'm getting an O on this.'"

James laughed, remembering.

"Of course, your crow wasn't crap, I had seen it-"

"Was too!" he cut in. "It still had, like, three white feathers."

"Oh, c'mon."

"Your complaint was just as silly. Remind me what you got on your Transfiguration OWL?"

"An O," she said quietly.

"Can't hear you!"

"An O!" she repeated, swatting him gently. "What about you, then, what was the moment?"

"First day of school," he said easily.

Lily hummed gently, spinning him around. "I'm sure. But I mean the real one. You can't have liked me for 7 years. You hadn't even gone through puberty at age 11, I remember," she teased.

"True," James admitted. "I mean, okay, if I'm being totally honest I thought you were pretty good looking first year, and I kept it up for a laugh until around fourth year, when I started dating other girls- still asking you out nearly every day, obviously, but that's just tradition." He messed up his already-chaotic hair. "Then sixth year it came back in full force- I saw you in the library one day, reading aloud to Moony because he wasn't feeling well, and I came in and said hi to you guys and your face just, like, lit up. Like it was glowing. I can picture it so clearly," he said, squinting his eyes together, clearly picturing the moment.

Lily felt her heart leap at what had to have been the sweetest answer possible. "Yes, well, you tend to have that effect on people."

"I only care about having that effect on you," James said, kissing her on the forehead. They stood there together, dancing awkwardly but oh so happy, until Lily's feet ached and she asked James to head to the snack table with her.

They met Peter Pettigrew there, his face flushed and sweaty. "Have you seen Sirius and Remus?" the boy asked anxiously.

"No, why?" said James. "Are they hurt or anything? Remus's furry little problem isn't till next week, but I know sometimes he gets ill a little early-"

"Nothing like that, I don't think," Peter said quickly. "Just- we got in a fight, and I haven't seen them since."

"What was the fight about?" Lily asked, out of curiosity more than anything. She wondered if Sirius and Remus were off kissing in a broom closet somewhere- it was bound to happen eventually, knowing from James that those feelings Remus talked about were mutual.

"Er, I might've made fun of them for dancing together-"

James took a step forward, that same tight expression on his face that had appeared so quickly when he saw Severus. "You what?"

"I didn't think it'd be a big deal, but apparently they're both-" he dropped his voice, "actually gay, so…"

"And you have a problem with that?" James asked.

"No, James," said Peter, exasperated. "Alright, fine, a little bit, but they're my friends and you know I care about them no matter what choices they make. If they wanna hook up-"

"It's not a choice, Peter," said Lily automatically.

"What, hooking up?" he asked, confused. Peter was probably the only boy in the school that Lily was taller than, and she drew herself up to her full height, enjoying it.

"No, being gay," she said.

"What, are you gay, too?"

Lily shrugged. "Not particularly, but plenty of my friends are, and I'm not going to tolerate you having an issue with it."

Peter narrowed his eyes. "Well, no offense, but I don't know why I should particularly care what you have to say on the subject-"

"Well, you're going to be seeing a lot more of Evans, Wormtail, seeing as we're dating," said James flatly.

"Oh, really! Wow, my congratulations-"

James scoffed. "Yeah, yeah, back to what's important- not that you're not important, Lily," he said instantly, turning to face her.

She stifled a laugh, knowing it would be inappropriate. "No, go on."

"You were a dick to our best friends, Wormtail!" James finished.

"I didn't mean to be, it just- slipped out," said Peter.

"No excuse. I don't even- I mean, Pete, you're supposed to be the nice one. You're so caring, and trusting, and- well, fuck you for this." Lily could see the heat in James's face, even in the dark. "I'm gonna go find Moony and Padfoot, and if they decide to forgive you that's up to them, but if not, well, that's that."

"Okay," Peter said, seeming to know not to push it. His face was tinged a little green, but Lily had no sympathy.

"I'll come with you, can I?" she asked James, wanting to check on Remus- and Sirius too, she supposed.

"Yeah, I know where they are," said James. He turned to her with a wan smile as he unfolded a piece of parchment. "This is one of the Marauder's deepest secrets, Evans, so if you tell anyone-"

"Marauder's map, I already know, Remus told me years ago," she said with a cheeky grin.

"Blast him," said James. He tapped the parchment. "I solemnly swear I am up to no good. There they are, some deserted classroom on the third floor."

Lily raised an eyebrow. "Are we sure we want to burst in on them?"

"Yes," said James confidently, and of course Lily had to follow him as he strode up the steps.