I suppose my liking him all started in fifth year... well, actually, I still thought he was an egotistical asshole then, so at the very beginning of sixth year. See, I think the main reason I think he's never going to ask me out is this: I know he liked me until the end of fifth year. He always asked me out; I always refused. He was stupid and thought he was all that. And we had a big fight at the end of fifth year. I guess he gave up on me starting last year. I told him to stop annoying me. Amazingly, he did.

And I only started liking him after he stopped asking me out. Ironic, don't you think? I believe once he started to impress me, I saw his true colors, not his show-off attitude. And believe me, I sure as hell liked what I saw. I almost went up to him and told him I liked him how he was, without trying to catch my attention. But too late. We'd had the fight; we only talked when we had to last year.

And so, I'm back at school now. And who is sitting next to me as Professor McGonagall tells me the Head Girl rules and responsibilities? You guessed it. James Potter. Sexy as every, in his entirety, dizzy hazel eyes, messy jet-black hair (helped by his constant rumpling), and cute butt. I mean, how can I not stare?

So Professor M. (as we call her; she hates it) just finished giving us directions. Since we already had dinner, we headed up to our room together. Well, together is kind of an exaggeration. I was on one side of the corridor, he on the other. There was complete silence, save clacking of my wood-heeled clogs on the ground. Yeah, no kidding I was at my prettiest today. I knew I'd be seeing James for the first time in two and a half months, so I decided to show off some of the better curves I'd finished developing over the summer. No that I was ever flat. No, girls were always jealous of my C cup at age fourteen. But today I was wearing a short skirt and loose belt and a low-cut short-sleeved shirt. Not too short or low-cut, of course. Contrary to common belief, slutty girls do NOT turn guys on. At least not James. James has a really good taste in girls, although, of course, I'd never approve of anyone he'd date unless it was me.

Currently, James held open the door for me. My James. Always polite, even to people he hated, except Snape, perhaps.

"Thank you," I muttered.

I hurried to dump my stuff in my room; of course, my trunk was already there. I grabbed a girl teen magazine and settled myself on the couch, all the while feeling James's eyes following me from his room.

Five minutes later, he said, "Er- Lily?"

I glanced up, not believing he was talking to me.

"I know I've been a prat lately, and I can tell that you're not really mad at me, and I really do like you, so could we go out sometime and catch up on things?"

No, he didn't say that. I wish, but it would've been too easy.

I sighed and said, "Yes, James?" fully expecting him to apologize or at least say something other than what he said.

"We have to patrol the halls now."

That's really all he said. I actually kind of got a little mad.

And I'm not fun when I'm mad; ask Narcissa. I was so frustrated that I stood up and blurted out these next words without thinking: "James Potter! What has come over you? That, I think, is the longest sentence you've spoken to me in over a year! You used to ask me out every day! And I could never turn my back on you because you would hit on my every ten seconds! And all last year you acted like you hated me! What is your problem?"

I nearly shouted that. But that just shows how much I wanted James.

There was silence.

"Er-" said James awkwardly. "What do you want me to say?"

"I don't know!" I yelled in frustration, and I walked out to patrol halls.

I hadn't meant to explode like that. Really. It just happened.

I was down two flights of stairs before he ran after me.

"Seriously, Lily," he said. "What do you want me to do?"

At that moment, I was thinking of something along the lines of "ask me out," but I knew I had to wait. I had to test James to see if he really liked me and how much, if he did. If he really liked me, he'd go to extreme measures to stay with me.

And so I answered, "I need time to think. I'll patrol Slytherin and Hufflepuff. You take the other two. We can talk later. Okay?"

"Yeah. See you, Lily." He turned to the left to Gryffindor and Ravenclaw. Sure, he was going to patrol. More like meet up with his buds and work on figuring out how to break some more rules.

But I'm not very obedient, either. I didn't feel like patrolling. So I headed back to my room to formulate a plan.

But apparently, James was seeking refuge, too. He'd taken the other path to the Head Dorm, so we both ended up where we started. And then we just sort of stood there for about a minute.

A minute is very long; most people don't realize that. Try counting to a minute. You'll get bored by the time you get to five seconds.

But at 52 seconds, we both burst out laughing.

"Come on," I giggled, walking in. "Sit down."

So we sat for about another minute.

"Lily?" he finally asked.

"James?" I countered.

"What?" he said.

"You're the one who said Lily first. What were you going to say?" I asked.

"Well, I was wondering..." he started. "How exactly did we end up fighting?"

"Wait, just start from the beginning," I corrected. "We never really were friends, were we? I mean, all I remember is you asking me if you could borrow a quill once in first year... Even though we're in the same house, same year, we never talked. And then at the end of third year, you finally noticed that I was your fellow Gryffindor. And I don't know what happened.... You randomly asked me out. I didn't know you at all, so I refused. So what was it? After that day, you wouldn't leave me alone."

"So," he concluded, "we know barely anything about each other, we barely know each other, we're not friends, and yet you're mad at me for not talking to you. Makes perfect sense."

"What do you know about me?" I asked.

"Well, I'm guessing your name is Lily Evans and you're in Gryffindor. Seventh Year. Head Girl."

"Right on."

"Okay, you're- er- your parents are Muggles."

"Hmm... yes, I'm a mudblood. Just say it."

"Well, you're smart and popular and your best friend is Narcissa DuBois."

"True, true, and true," I said. "And no, I'm not usually stuck-up."

"But you are pretty," he added.

"Don't flatter me," I said casually. But inside I was thrilled. Score! "So that's all you know?"

"Yeah, I guess. You know anything about me?"

"Well, I think I'm write, correct me if I'm wrong, that you're James Potter, a Seventh Year Head Boy Gryffindor. And you're a pureblood. And you're smart and popular. And your best friends are Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew. You hate Snape."

"True, true, and true," he said. "We're absolute strangers!"

"Oh, and you're hott," I added.

"You think so?" he asked casually. "I get that a lot."

"It's your eyes," I sighed.

"Are you sure it's not anything else?"

"Only your ass," I giggled, putting my head in my hands. "I stare at it during classes."

He kind of just looked at me like I have issues, but then he got up and went to the mirror in his room and studied his butt for a few seconds, as crazy as it sounds.

"Hmm... yeah, I see what you mean," he agreed. Then he came back and sat down on the sofa next to me. Next to me! And I was still giggling furiously.

"Lily, I think if that's what we know about each other, we are merely acquaintances."

"Yes," I finally said, regaining my composure. "So tell me about the James Potter that I don't know."

"Well, you've got to know by now that I don't set much by rules. Moony (that's Remus), Padfoot (that's Sirius), Wormtail (that's Peter), and I, Prongs, basically spend our time sneaking around."

"I noticed," I said. "How many points have you four lost for Gryffindor?"

"It wasn't a lost cause," he said. "Hang on."

He ran back to his room and got a piece of parchment.

"Watch this," he ordered. He took out his wand, tapped the paper with it, and said, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

I gasped as lines started spreading from the spot his wand had made contact with the parchment. Numerous labeled dots walked around the map. At least it looked like a map.

"Is it a map?" I asked.

"The Marauders' Map," he confirmed. "Completed last July."

"What? You made this?" I asked in disbelief.

"My friends and I," he said. "Mind you, it was hard work."

"How did you ever do it?" I wondered. "Because you need genius to do something like this."

"Yeah, well, that's me. Genius."

He smiled at me, and I smiled back, fighting the urge to jump on him. Then I looked back down to study the map again.

"Seriously, though, what did you have to do to make this?"

"We snuck out every night for two years. Yeah, it took that long," he added at the look on my face. "We had to graph everything in the castle to scale: furniture, rooms, doors. And then a final charm made the people appear."

"It's perfect," I complimented in awe, still looking it over. "What's that?" I asked, pointing to two lines that went over the sides.

"Those are secret entrances to Hogsmeade," he explained. "And those are secret passages in the castle."

"Where in Hogsmeade do those come out?"

"One in Honeydukes' cellar, and the other you don't need to know about."

"Well, fine then," I said in mock anger. "Whoa! That one's planted right under the Whomping Willow!"

"I realize that," he said evasively. "And that's the one you don't need to know about."

"What else are you hiding from me?" I asked.

"Just an Invisibility Cloak," he replied.

"Oh my god!" I shrieked. "You've got one of those?"

"Yeah, how else do you think we walk around at night?"

"Let me see it!" I demanded.

"Just a sec." He returned to his room and came back with a silvery, velvety cloak.

"Can I see it?" I asked, cautiously reaching out to touch it.

"He handed it to me, and I slid it on, walking to my mirror.

"That is so cool!" I exclaimed.

"Yeah. Hang on. There's one more thing."

I slipped off the cloak.

"What else?" I was about to say, but the words hadn't any time to leave my mouth. James wasn't there. But what was there was--- a stag. A beautiful stag. I actually let out a little scream.

"You're an Animagus?" I asked. Then I said, "Wait! You can't talk. Oh my god, you're so beautiful!" I reached out to pet him, but as soon as my hand had touched him, he changed back to human form, leaving my hand on his head.

I pulled it away. "You did that on purpose," I said.

"How would you like being petted?" he said defensively.

"But that is so cool!" I exclaimed, dropping back onto the couch. "Oh! Prongs! I get it!"

"Can't believe it took you that long. You're supposed to be smart," he said, sitting down next to me again. "Now that I've indulged all my secrets to you, do you have any?"

"Sorry, my life is as monotonously boring as peanut butter."

"Peanut butter?"

"Inside joke with Narcissa," I explained. "I swear; what you see is what you get with me."

"Oh yeah? I like what I see."

He leaned forward. Oh my god! He's going to kiss me! I thought. I closed my eyes.

"Eyelash," he said simply, and I felt his finger brush right under my left eye. Tingly sensation. He touched me. Nice hands. James Potter touched me. Nice hands. JAMES POTTER touched me. Tingly.

I quickly changed my eye-close to a badly-timed and misplaced sigh.

"Thanks," I said. Damn you, Potter! Kiss me!

"I would very much like to kiss you now, Lily," he confessed.

"Ditto," I whispered.

"Yes, but unfortunately we don't always get what we want sometimes," he smirked. Such a player.

"This isn't one of those times, is it?" I asked, tracing his lips with my finger.

"No, you're right; it isn't."

And you know the whole bird singing and everything getting brighter and realizing that you're perfect feeling? It was there; I'm telling you. And a thrill pounded through my veins as his lips met mine. Oh, bliss. I, Lily Evans, was getting kissed by my idol James Potter. I decided to savor the feeling. Who knew when this would happen again? I was even shocked that this wasn't a dream. Yum, yum. James Potter was as I'd always imagined: a great kisser. And I know one when I find one; trust me.

We tore apart for lack of breath.

"You got what you wanted," I said.

"Yeah, you're right," he agreed. "The question is, did you?"

"I've been waiting forever for this," I admitted.

"Not as long as me," he said. "Listen, don't you want to go to bed? It's midnight."

"Unless it's with you, no," I blurted out without thinking.

He burst out laughing. "No, not today, Lil, dear, tempting as it sounds."

I put my hand to my mouth. "Oh my god! I'm so sorry! I did not just say that!" I felt myself turn red.

"That's okay," he said, still grinning. "The truth is better than lies."

"And how do you know that what I said was the truth, Mr. Potter?" I asked.

"Otherwise you wouldn't be redder than your hair," he smiled.

"Mhm... Yeah, I'm going to bed now," I announced, deeply embarrassed. "Alone."

"You sure?" he asked.

"Positive!" I called back, walking into my room. "Oh, wait," I said, sticking my head back around the doorframe. "Sorry."

"For what?"

"For ignoring you all those years, for being a bitch, and mostly for yelling at you before," I said. "I was out of it."

"It's okay," he nodded. "PMS, right?"

I laughed. "Sure."

A/N: So what do you think so far? I think my writing has improved. It should have, as this is my third fanfic. Opinions?? Sorry if this is moving a little too fast for anyone. It has to be. They were meant for each other. So PLEEZ read and review. For me? 0:) Yeah, that was supposed to be a little halo. I've never tried that before, actually. Does that look like an angel? Whatever. Ignore me. I'm getting off the subject. When we return, more Lily and James, plus the new feature: meeting the other Maurauders!!!