Lily walked down the corridor slowly, wondering if she had made the right decision. She did like him, sure, but she didn't know if she loved him, yet. It was obvious he loved her though. She hadn't realised the strength of his feelings before and thought he wanted her to be just another in the string of girls he had been out with. These relationships had never lasted long, they usually ended with the girl throwing something at him and swearing a lot and it never seemed to bother him for long as he soon picked up with someone else.

She had to give him points for persistence though when it came to her, he had been trying for four years to get her to go out with him. What she'd said to him had been true though; she had been waiting for him to grow up. She only hoped this latest admittance of feelings was for real and not just a clever trick. He had seemed really genuine but you never really knew with James.

She decided to take a walk, not really wanting to go to the common room just yet. She needed time and space to think, so went to go back out onto the Hogwarts grounds.

Once outside again she breathed deep, the sweet smell of spring air pervading her nostrils. As it was evening, the temperature was cooler now and she wrapped her cloak more tightly around her as she walked.

Suddenly she saw a figure in the near distance, sitting by a tree. As she got closer she saw that it was Severus Snape, looking like he was deep in thought.

In previous years she had been his defender against the persistent efforts of The Marauders, mainly Sirius and James to make his life a misery. But he had always met her attempts at friendship with disdain, but not any more. It had been from about after the Christmas holidays, that they had started to talk and now they had a strange sort of friendship, or maybe, more of an alliance against The Marauders attentions. She didn't know how he would react when she told him that she had at last given in to James and agreed to go out with him. She never the less decided to tell him.

"Hello Severus, it's unusual to see you out here at this time of night" Lily said sitting down on the damp grass next to him

"The noise level was rather too much in the dorm tonight. They have some sort of party going on, someone's birthday, I believe" Severus answered, a look of irritation on his face, "so I decided to come out here for some peace and quiet"

"Hhmmm...me too, I love it out here at this time of night with all the birds singing and the colour of the sky when the sun sets against it." Lily said dreamily, looking out at the beautiful scenery all around them.

"Humph! You are such a hopeless romantic soul Lily Evans!" Snape said sounding incredulous, but with the faintest of smiles.

"Maybe I am, but I think you need a bit of romance in your life Severus Snape! Have you got a girlfriend yet?" She asked already knowing the answer

"You know all the girls in Slytherin look at me like I am a pustulated flobberworm or something and anyway I do not like any of them either. My studies keep me busy enough at any rate, I have little time for anything else at the moment." Snape said resolutely, but he was looking down at his knees as he spoke and finished with a sigh.

"I'm sure the right person will come along soon." She said comfortingly, laying a hand on his shoulder, "I've always believed that your true love will always find you, no matter how long it takes, because if you were meant to be together, fate will always lend a hand." Lily went on. Severus did not answer, he just looked into the distance. They were silent for a while then she remembered her news

"Erm, I have something to tell you. I don't think you're going to like it, but here goes...James asked me out today and.." she looked down biting her lip, "I said yes" she sat there, nervously waiting for his reaction

He looked at her for a second then looked down again,"It was only a matter of time wasn't it," he said resignedly

"I hope you don't think this means we can't be friends anymore because it will make no difference to me. In fact I can now guarantee that he will leave you alone, or there will be hell to pay!" Lily said encouragingly

"They have lost interest in me lately so it will be of little consequence" Severus said stiocly, getting up, "well I am going to my room, hopefully the party will have got to the 'face sucking' stage by now and it will be quiet"

Lily laughed at this last statement "maybe you should try it sometime, you might like it!"

His expression was unreadable as, smiling briefly, he turned and walked away, back into the building.

Now she had told Severus, Lily suddenly felt really happy, she was now going out with someone she had fancied for years and who loved her (so he claimed). It was true he had calmed down a bit lately, now often seen poring through books in the library, looking exasperated. She had heard rumours that he wanted to be an auror, like his father. They only took students on as auror's, if they had good exam results or exceptional talents, so he was obviously trying to cover all the bases. Lily had been impressed by this attitude; it showed he was now thinking about his future and not just about having fun with his friends. But even despite her-self, she giggled at their latest bra-removing prank; it had been quite harmless by their standards.

She sat there for a while thinking some more, but as it began to get dark she knew it was time to go in. She got up and taking one last look, walked up to the doors of the school.

When she arrived in the common room, James was waiting for her, a look of concern on his face.

"Where have you been? I was starting to get worried" He said, sounding a little annoyed

"I have just been for a walk, I am still allowed to you know." Lily said crossing her arms defiantly. Then she launched into a tirade, "Don't go thinking that just because we are going out now, you can tell me what to do and where to go, I won't stand for it!"

She was feeling self-conscious and irritated and that had made her anger rise up, mainly because of whom she had been talking to; she knew James would not approve of her friendship with Severus.

"Alright! Calm down, I just wondered that was all. I thought maybe you had changed your mind and were trying to hide from me, or something. I couldn't bear that, not after you've just seen the light at last and agreed to go out with me" James said grinning cockily at her

"You..you.." Lily started to say, but James moving quickly in to kiss her softly on the lips cut her off. She resisted a little at first, wanting to finish what she had been saying, but he persisted and she gave in. Suddenly they realised they had an audience and pulled away from each other, feeling a little embarrassed. James's friends and quite a few others were still up too and were watching curiously. Suddenly a cheer went up.

"It's about time you two got together. You know, we've all been hoping that this would be the year that you would and now you have, so congratulations!" said a boy that they both knew as Percy Beatus,(a name that got him a lot of ribbing, for obvious reasons) on behalf of the gathered crowd

James and Lily just smiled and looked at each other fondly

"Well I'm going to go to my room now James, so I'll see you tomorrow, " she said, turning to go up the stairs

James grabbed her and kissed her one last time, but Lily had to tell him that she really wanted to go. He was like a kid with a new toy, he didn't seem to want to let her go now he'd got her. But nevertheless he did reluctantly let go and she went up to her dorm. That night she lay in bed thinking of him and how wonderful it felt to kiss him and realised that she was very glad she hadn't waited any longer.