Lilly stopped at the door of the Great Hall. She looked down the Gryffindor table and tried to find her friends. She didn't see Jessie or Beth, but saw the Marauders towards the middle of the table. She walked down the aisle between the Gryffindor and Slytherin tables and and stopped behind Remus. Sirius looked up from where he was stuffing himself and broke into a huge grin.

"Well if it ithn't Evanth...." He said swallowing the huge amount of food crammed into his mouth. "Welcome back."

"Hello Lilly, are you feeling better?" Remus said, standing up and offering Lilly his seat.

"That's okay, you don't have to—"Lilly stammered, blushing when she realized James was staring at her with a big grin on his face.

"It's okay, I was finished. Sirius and I were just leaving—weren't we Padfoot?" He said, vanishing his dirty plate and silverware. Sirius looked bewildered.

"We were?" Remus rolled his eyes and pointed at Lilly and James. Sirius seemed to get the picture. "Oh! Yeah, we were just leaving...I um—I need to go to the library." He grabbed three rolls off a platter in the middle of the table and vanished his plate and utensils, then ran off with Remus. James cleared his throat and turned slightly pink as he watched Lilly sit down next to him.

"Subtle that lot....aren't they?" He said hesitantly. Lilly turned towards him and smiled. She nodded her head, and looked at her folded hands lying in her lap.

"James—"

"Lilly—" They both said at the same time. The tension broke then, and Lilly motioned for James to go first.

"Lilly—I know we aren't the best of friends, and I know you hate me and everything---"

"James..."

"—and I'm sorry I made you pass out by falling on you during the train ride yesterday—" He continued.

"James..."

"---but I was trying to protect you...I'm sorry if I hurt you, but I don't know what I would do if anything ever happened to you Lilly, I—"

"James!" Lilly reached out and softly placed her fingers over his lips. They stopped moving and James stared at her in disbelief. Lilly snatched her hand back and blushed after she'd realized what she'd done. "I—er—I just wanted to thank you for rescuing me yesterday, and last—last night was wonderful. Thank you for everything." She said quietly. They were silent for a moment.

"It was my pleasure," He said for the third time in the last twenty-four hours. After another long, awkward silence, Lilly looked at the food on the table and realized she wasn't hungry at all. "Lilly?" James said after a few moments. She turned towards him. "If you aren't going to eat anything, do you want to take a walk down to the Quidditch pitch with me?" Lilly nodded and they both stood up and walked out of the Great Hall. When they passed through the main doors, Lilly slipped her hand into James'. From the teacher's table, Dumbledore smiled and looked over at Professor McGonagall.

"Looks like Miss Evans and Mr. Potter are no longer enemies does it?" He muttered quietly.

"No sir, I don't believe they are." McGonagall smiled, then returned to eating her soup.

Lilly shivered slightly as they walked out to the Quidditch pitch. James saw this and slipped his sweatshirt over his head and handed it to Lilly.

"Here, take it. We should have brought jackets." He said, stopping and letting go of Lilly's hand for a moment. Lilly missed the contact and the warmth of her hand wrapped in his. She hesitantly accepted the sweatshirt.

"James, you'll freeze!" She said, noticing that all he had on was a long sleeved t-shirt.

"I'm fine. Put it on, I don't want you getting sick. I doubt you want to go back to the hospital wing do you?" Lilly shook her head, and pulled the sweatshirt over her sweater. It was still warm. The smell of faint cologne made Lilly smile. James had always smelled really good. Lilly pulled her hair out away from the collar and giggled.

"How do I look?" She smiled, then held her hands out like a model and turned around. James broke into a grin.

"Absolutely beautiful...although that sweatshirt is way too big for you." He tugged the edge of the sweatshirt and pulled her over towards him. He pulled her hand through his and they started walking again. They reached the Quidditch pitch and Lilly led James over to a bench. James put his arm around here and she leaned against him. Lilly beamed. James had called her beautiful and she was wearing his sweatshirt. Could life get any better than this?

"OY!" James and Lilly jumped at the loud voice. They had been so caught up in each other, they hadn't even realized they weren't alone on the Quidditch pitch. Sirius had his broomstick and was showing off in the air, Jessie was on the ground with her broomstick beside her, smiling and cheering him on, and Remus and Beth sat on another bench across the field watching and holding hands. Lilly blushed as Sirius landed and stumbled over to where they were. She sat up and James took his arm from around her shoulders.

"OY!!" Sirius yelled again, grinning from ear to ear. "What's going on?" Lilly blushed and glanced at James. He was blushing and laughing happily. Lilly started laughing as well and Remus, Beth, and Jessie hurried over from across the pitch.

"What's going on?"

"Did we miss the fun?"

"Lilly! Why are you wearing his shirt?!" Jessie squealed. Then she laughed devilishly and slipped her arm around Sirius. "Guess they couldn't stand to be left out of the fun!" She joked as Sirius dropped his arm around her waist. Remus was still grinning as he looked at his watch.

"Oh great, ten minutes until curfew...we're going to have to make a run for it." Sirius and Jessie grabbed their brooms, and James grabbed Lilly's hand. They ran quickly towards the castle. At one point, James tripped over a tree root and stumbled. He fell and pulled Lilly to the ground with him. Somehow, James landed on top of Lilly, leaning on his forarms, which were on each side of her head. He smiled at her, but before anything happened, Sirius grabbed the back of James' shirt and gave it a sharp tug.

"Not now mate! We're gonna get detention and I have plans tomorrow night and don't want to be stuck with Professor Langley again!" James rolled off Lilly and pulled her up. Running to catch up, they followed Sirius, Jessie, Remus, and Beth back towards the castle.