"Let's get it on." - Marvin Gaye, 1973

"Okay, you can do this."

Lily Evans took a deep breath, squared her shoulders and tried to make a sexy pout. She quickly whipped open her kimono robe and revealed her new lacy, black bra and knickers set to herself in the mirror. The Gryffindor shook her hair and fluttered her eyelashes at her reflection.

"Take me to bed, James Potter!" the virgin rehearsed, trying to use her raspy voice. However, her romantic exclamation fell flat and came out extremely hoarse. Lily sucked in an astonished breath and then caught her scared reflection in her mirror, which caused her to let out a sharp laugh.

"He's never going to fall for that," she muttered. Although she was petite and usually courageous, Lily insecurely pulled at the exposed skin on her stomach and frowned as embarrassment flooded her cheeks. She never should have let Alice talk her into buying the lingerie.

"LILY, WE'RE LEAVING!" her father called. The witch scowled as she hastily closed her robe, cinched its belt around her waist, and after throwing her hair into a messy bun, trotted down the stairs to say goodbye to the rest of her family. She tried to ignore her sister's scathing gaze.

"Goodbye," Lily smiled before delicately kissing her father's cheek. She moved to her mother and forced out a lie. "I hope you have a great time with the Thickes. They always do throw a spectacular New Years Eve do."

"It won't be as exciting as your boyfriend's party, I'm sure," Petunia spat as she crossed her arms. "But then again, I wouldn't call dancing around a bubbling cauldron and shouting curses exciting."

Before Lily could lash out at her sister, her father put an arm around Petunia's shoulder, muttered something like "Come on, Vernon is waiting for you" and guided her towards the door. Her mother shot Lily a forced smile before following them to the family car.

Guilt washed over her. Even though she hated the Thickes, Lily quickly considered owling James an excuse in order to hang onto her last connection to the Muggle world … but Petunia slammed the car door and her family sped off into the night before she could do anything.

She sighed again as she made her way back to her room. After sluggishly rolling up her black thigh highs and clipping them to her vintage garter belt, the Head Girl tugged her purple dress - made from the expensive fabric James had bought her for Christmas - over her head. Lily zipped up the side and looked at her reflection in the mirror; although the dropped waist showed off her figure, she still felt uncomfortable.

Would James like what she had made with his gift? And more importantly, would it make a good first impression with his parents?

After glancing at her clock, she realized she was running behind schedule and tried to squash her insecurities. Lily quickly snapped her clustered pearl earrings into her lobes and grabbed her black cloak and evening purse. She took a shaky breath before pulling out James' invitation from her clutch.

"Here goes nothing," she muttered.

Lily quickly glanced back at her mirror, remembered her earlier failure and then pushed it all out of her mind to apparate safely. After closing her eyes, she felt like she was in a swirling vortex and thought she was going to vomit. Seconds later, she arrived in the gravel driveway of Potter Manor and tried to regain her sense of balance.

"Ah, Miss Evans," a house elf smiled as it held out its hand. "Right this way."

Lily looked up from the ground and felt her jaw drop; there was a large, snowy marble staircase that led to the large wooden front doors of Potter Manor. James' house was enormousand Lily immediately felt uneasy. Her earlier guilt quickly morphed into intense fear.

"LILY!" James exclaimed. A wild, idiotic grin covered most of his face and he jumped down several stairs in order to quickly wrap his arms around her. She yelped in surprise when he picked her up and spun her around. "You're wearing your Christmas present!"

"Put me down!" Lily eventually giggled. He returned her to the ground and her lack of confidence slowly turned into a steady poise. James always calmed her nerves, she thought, whether he realized it or not. She smiled and pushed some of his messy black hair behind his ear. "You clean up well, Potter."

"As do you, Evans," he responded with a laugh. He took her hand and held it above her head; she gave him a confused look and he motioned for her to twirl. Lily obliged him and when she finally caught his gaze again, he beamed.

"You look smashing. I am going to be the luckiest man in the world tonight with you by my side."

"Stop it," she scolded as she playfully smacked him with her purse.

"Never," James winked.

He held out his arm and she gladly took it; they carefully scaled the grand outdoor staircase. Yet, with every step, Lily felt her sizeable insecurities creep back into her thoughts. Her normal steadfast bravery was nowhere to be found, for although James calmed her nerves about her appearance, she still had to meet his parents. What were they going to think of her? Would they approve of the girl who had scorned their son for the better part of his Hogwarts education?

"James," Lily said softly, just as they reached the large wooden entrance doors. "I don't know if I can do this."

"Do what?"

"Meet your parents."

"Nonsense, they're going to love you as much as I do," James said as he led her into the Manor.

She tried to dissuade him and dig her heels into the carpet, but the Gryffindor felt her complaints fall away as she looked up. The inside of Potter Manor was tremendously beautiful. The high ceilings were covered in frescos and gold filigree and the walls were decorated with evergreen garlands. When James finally stopped, she looked out over the landing at the broad entry hall; beyond it, there was an extensive ballroom that lead to another set of wide rooms. Lily was so spellbound by the Manor that she didn't see the two figures behind her. She jumped in surprise when she realized James' parents were finally next to them.

"Miss Evans," Fleamont Potter grinned, "it is a pleasure to finally meet you."

"Pleased to meet you, as well," she answered meekly. "And you Mrs. Potter."

"Call me Euphemia, please," she replied with a comforting smile before pulling her into an unexpected hug. "Thank you Lily, for turning my son into a proper gentleman. I know he was quite the nuisance when he was younger, but now he's a grown man - all because of you - and I can die a happy mother."

All of Lily's earlier worries quickly dissolved when she felt the sincerity rolling off her in waves.

"Lily, you're finally here!" Sirius exclaimed as he joined their small party. He took a sip from his glass tumbler. "Thank Merlin you've finally put Prongs out of his misery. He's been waiting for you, glued to that front window like a bowtruckle on a doxy egg."

"Oi, I wasn't that bad," James defended. "And if I remember correctly, you were right there with me until you wandered off a moment ago."

"Well, I needed a drink," Sirius muttered as he took another sip.

"I'm sure we're going to love Gemma," Fleamont reassured. Sirius looked up at him tenderly - as if he was truly related to him - and Lily felt her smile grow.

"Miss Alice Cooper, Mr. Frank Longbottom, and Miss Gemma Rawnsley!" a house elf announced and everyone's eyes shot to the door. Alice's face immediately lit up when she locked eyes with Lily and she pulled Frank towards their group. As the couple made their introductions to the Potters, Lily noticed that Gemma continued to nervously stand in the doorway; she shied away from their welcoming party and tugged at the chiffon sleeves of her psychedelic, empire-waist dress. Sirius softly excused himself and rushed to the door.

"It was very nice to meet you, Alice," Euphemia said as she patted her hand affectionately, "but I have a feeling we're needed by the main doors."

The Potters cast a quick, fond glance at their son before floating over to Sirius and Gemma. James sighed softly.

"He was a shadow of his former self this summer," he said as he took Lily's hand. "Well, to be honest, he'd been that way ever since he ran away. We were all so worried about him … but then he met her. And ever since then, he's been the happiest I've ever seen him."

"It can't be easy, though," Frank said nonchalantly.

"What are you on about?" Alice questioned.

"What? I love Sirius just as much as James does, but you can't deny that he's a very demanding bloke."

"Demanding yes, but passionate as well," Lily laughed as they continued to watch Sirius excitedly present the love of his life to the Potters. Their chuckles slowly subsided and an eerie silence crept over them.

"But do you think it will last?" Alice whispered softly, voicing the thought that everyone refused to share. "After all, she is a Sixth Year and he's six months – give or take – away from being an Auror in training, just like the rest of us."

"Hold your hippogriffs!" Frank exclaimed. "We don't know that -"

"Oh come on, Frank," Alice interrupted, "we all know they're going to let into the program. We're smart candidates and they can't afford to pass us up."

"Don't count your chickens before they hatch," Lily playfully warned her best friend. "We have to pass our NEWTs first."

"Alice does have a point, though," Frank said solemnly as he looked down at his shoes. "Whatever happens, he's going to be in London and she's still going to be studying at Hogwarts … I really do hope they can make things work, though. They make each other so happy."

"They'll be fine. When you find someone that makes your heart skip a beat, you automatically know you'd do anything to keep them in your life," James cut in with a dashing smile as he squeezed Lily's hand. "Wouldn't you agree?"

Frank and Alice nodded their heads wholeheartedly and Lily blinked back a couple of happy tears as James led her down the stairs towards the ballroom. Alice prattled on about how should found her black dress for the evening, but the Head Girl was too wrapped up in her own bliss to really pay attention.

"Ah, Prongs! Lily!" Peter exclaimed from the other side of the ballroom as he waved his hands. Next to him, Aeryn waved just as eagerly and Remus gave them a soft smile before taking a sip from his glass tumbler. James quickly led Lily over towards their friends as Alice and Frank peeled off to find refreshments of their own.

"Wormtail, I didn't see you come in! How are you?" James grinned as he hugged his best friend and gave him a slap on the back. The two boys quickly fell into a side conversation and Aeryn remained silent as she listened to their every word. Lily rolled her eyes. Although she found Peter's girlfriend to be extremely kind and compassionate, she secretly thought that she needed to grow a stronger backbone. She caught Remus' wandering gaze out of the corner of her eye and chuckled when she saw the same annoyed expression on his face.

"How are you, Remus?" Lily asked lightheartedly.

"Oh you know me," he responded with a slight smirk before taking another sip. "Doing the best I can."

"And your Christmas?" she prodded.

"If you're really asking about your chocolate sampler," the former Prefect chuckled, "I think you already know the answer." Lily grinned, but was distracted by Sirius' boisterous laugh. She did, however, notice the way Remus shied from their group upon seeing Gemma.

Lily's smile turned into a slight grimace. She'd figured out Remus' dark secret when they had first started patrolling during their Fifth Year and before long, she became his close confidant. They quietly discussed his lycanthropy, but never spoke of it outside of their patrols; it wasn't her place to publically comfort him, especially when she considered his best friend to be her mortal enemy. However, ever since she and James had reconciled, she had been tempted to reach out to the werewolf to open the lines of communication.

But it seemed that Gemma had already tried. And failed. The only thing Lily had thought to do to help was keep Aeryn occupied in order to prevent her from learning the truth about his condition.

"Moony, Wormtail! My friends!" Sirius exclaimed, his arms wide open as he approached them. "Let us drink to 1978!"

"We still have two hours until midnight," Gemma muttered behind him. "If you start now, you're going to be sloshed."

"That's the plan, love," Sirius replied as he grabbed a champagne flute and ostentatiously presented it to his girlfriend. She shook her head and pulled out a small joint from her bohemian clutch.

"D'ya think your parents would kill me if I lit up outside?" she whispered to James.

"Not at all," he responded with a wink. "There's already a crowd out there smoking cigarettes, you'll blend right in."

"I'll join you then!" Peter exclaimed as he pulled out a pack from inside his robes. Aeryn huffed - clearly annoyed that her boyfriend had taken up his old habit - and Lily saw Gemma throw Remus a fleeting, remorseful glance before taking Peter's arm.

The rest of the group soon fell into a lengthy conversation about the current professional Quidditch standings and as James and Sirius argued and chugged champagne, time began to fly by. Lily flitted back and forth between the guests, her earlier lack of confidence slipping away as she began to socialize.

"Everyone! Quick! It's 11:58!" Mr. Potter exclaimed from the top of the stairs. Every guest frantically prepared themselves and as James looked for a pair of champagne flutes, Lily smiled like a complete idiot. Pure happiness coursed through her veins.

1977 had certainly been a rough year for her - as shown by her strained relationship with the Muggle world, her sister and Severus - but as she looked around at everyone gathered in the ballroom, she finally felt tremendous inner peace. She was so thankful that Alice gave her emotional stability, James showered her with love and affection, his parents welcomed her with open arms and the rest of the Marauders promoted her selective rule breaking. She was meant to be here, in the Wizarding world, with the best people she had ever known.

And even though the times were getting darker and uncertain, she knew that she was put on this earth to fight for what she held dear. Even if Severus and his new friends were against her, she would still persevere.

"3 -2 -1! HAPPY NEW YEAR!"

"Happy New Year, Lily," James said softly as he offered her a fresh flute and gave her a chaste kiss on the lips. And that was when she realized there was only one thing that would make the night more of a success than it already was.

"James," Lily grinned as she put the champagne down on one of the tables. Confidence burst through her. "Would you mind giving me a tour of the house?"

"Now?" he asked, a bit confused.

"Yes, now."

"Whatever you heart desires, dear," he slurred and then took her hand to guide her through the crowd. She giggled softly to herself as he began to grandiosely present all the portraits, statues and other decorations that littered the house.

"And where do you sleep?" she offered sweetly. James was completely oblivious to her intentions and led her up a large staircase towards his bedroom.

"So that's Sirius' room down there. I told him the Third Floor had bigger rooms, but he insisted on being in my hallway. And this – this is my room. Bloody hell, I forgot to clean, didn't I?"

He laughed to himself as he frantically scooped up two large piles of dirty Quidditch robes. Secretly behind him, Lily closed the door and zipped off her dress, letting it fall to the floor. When James finally turned around, she almost lost her composure when she saw his shocked expression; his jaw had dropped so far that she could see the back of his throat. Instead of laughing, she sucked in a quick breath, put her hands on her hips and gave him a lustful stare.

"Take me to bed, James Potter."

His eyes promptly rolled into the back of his head as he passed out.

Lily couldn't hold it in any longer. After her boyfriend dropped to the floor, she burst into a huge fit of laughter and slapped her thigh with glee. When her lungs finally started to hurt, she caught her breath and wiped away several tears. Her gaze wandered around his room and offhandedly caught her confident look in the mirror on his desk.

"Job well done, Evans!" she praised herself with smirk.

"Goodbye 1977, hello 1978," she heard James whisper incredulously once he finally came to. He took a second to stand, but quickly wrapped his arms around her waist and led her over to his bed.