"Lily? Do you...er...want to talk about it?"

James had left the Three Broomsticks just in time to see a flash of red hair leave the crowded main street and head towards the Shrieking Shack. He had found her sitting on a fallen log, her back against a tree, face buried in the arms hugging her knees. Her entire body was quaking madly.

James thrived on the attention of others. Back in the tavern, facing Thomas in front of everyone, he had felt on top of his game. Now, in the quiet woods with Lily, he didn't know what to do.

Lily mumbled something that he couldn't hear.

"What, Lils?" He asked gently, timidly stroking her messy hair.

She looked up at him then, her eyes glowing, her face beet red.

"I said, 'Did you see his face?' Priceless!"

She was laughing. James looked at her in complete and utter disbelief.

"But you...he...I mean...I..."

"You've certainly got those pronouns down, Potter."

"You aren't upset? He's cheating on you!"

"Despite what that book says, I'm actually quite a good judge of character. Thomas is good looking, charming, and fun. He's actually quite a bit like you and Sirius, come to think of it. I enjoy spending time with him, but I know he's a flirt. I'm just glad I got to end things on my terms, and for once he's the one getting dumped! I'm probably the first girl to ever break up with him," said Lily. She hugged her knees as she grinned to herself yet again and looked up at James.

"So, how are you going to spend the rest of your afternoon?"

"Wait, Lily. I want to understand something. If Thomas and I are so much alike, why do you continually refuse me, but date him?"

Lily looked at James as though this were completely obvious.

"Because Thomas doesn't mean anything to me, and never has. You and I, well, we're friends, aren't we? I mean, we're in the same house and everything. It would be much more... difficult all the way around if we were to date and break up. So, what do you want to do?"

James was still rather confused by the entire incident, but because Lily's words gave him such hope, and because he didn't have to try and comfort a sobbing, heartbroken girl, he was quite pleased with the turn of events on the whole.

"I don't know. Let's just... play it by ear."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Several hours later, a shaggy black head popped over the back of Lily's chair, where she sat as she and James played a game of Wizard's Chess in the common room. It was quite late. Remus and Peter had only just gone up to bed, leaving Lily and James to wait for Sirius.

"So, Evans darling, rumour has it that you punched Thomas Mallon for making out with Polly Kirke in the Hog's Head today. Pretty feisty, aren't we?"

Lily turned to face Sirius. He was so close their noses brushed, and she had a hard time keeping a straight face as green eyes regarded grey with a serious expression. "The truth isn't half as interesting, Black, so I'll let the rumour stand. Suffice it to say that Thomas and I are no longer an item. Did you bring the stuff?"

"Yup." Sirius walked over to the sofa by the fireplace, swinging a large cloth bag.

"What stuff?" James asked, as he moved a pawn out of the way of Lily's queen.

"Snacks for us as we read our final chapter. Where were you when we set all this up earlier, at the pub?"

James distinctly remembered missing part of the conversation earlier as he watched the lantern light play off of the golden glints in Lily's hair, but before he could think of a suitably non-prattish reply, Lily continued, "That was a really dumb move, Potter. Checkmate."

"Again? That's the third time!"

"Oh, come on. You'll live."

Plopping down on the sofa in between James and Sirius, Lily propped her feet on an ottoman, pulled the book out of her robes and turned to the final chapter.

The Relationship

Many a fantastic Lily/James romance founders after the first kiss. One of the hardest things to write about in a Lily/James story is their budding relationship. Unless the author ends the story with the kiss, however, it is necessary to address this issue, and if the author plans to spin the story out in order to have more chapters (and thus, more reviews) the relationship should take up about one-third of a well-written story. This is too large a chunk to be neglected, although my instructions on how to write about their relationship are deliberately brief and vague. This is one section of the story where a fan fiction writer could actually be original and creative, and I encourage that very strongly. There are a few things a writer needs to remember, however.

One of the most fun things to write about, as well as to read about, is sexual tension between the characters. Only the unimaginative believe that sexual tension between Lily and James need end with the first kiss. Those writers who have experienced a serious relationship (without subsequently marrying that person) will understand that the beginning of a romance can be even more exciting than the time leading up to it.

"That's all I have."

James and Lily (whom had both turned several shades of red during the previous paragraphs) turned to look at Sirius.

"What are you talking about, Black?"

"The beginnings of relationships. That's all I have. No middle, no breakup. Once I start feeling comfortable and sure about myself around a girl, I skive off. Usually takes about a week and a half."

"Lord. Are you bloody serious?"

"Of course. That's why I have so many girlfriends at once. Keeps things exciting all the time."

James grinned at this matter-of-fact way in which Sirius explained his love life, while Lily looked quite shocked.

"I can't believe you just said that."

"Why not? It's the truth." Sirius leaned back on the couch with his hands behind his head, crossing his long legs as he propped his feet up on Lily's ottoman. "Don't knock me for it, princess. Explain busting up with your little boy toy Mallon then?"

"I... that was completely different," Lily sputtered in an attempt at righteous indignation. "Thomas was cheating on me!"

"You were looking for an excuse to dump him, and you know it," replied Sirius smoothly, with an all-knowing smirk. "You probably knew he was cheating. Girls are such hypocrites."

"How... You... Did you tell him this?" Lily said, rounding on James.

"Don't look at me! I've been with you all afternoon! Sirius is just..."

"A genius?"

"Annoying?"

"I was going to say, 'Perceptive'. Though this morning, Padfoot, you said Lily would get her heart broken, remember? And she didn't."

"Hey, I'm not a seer. Half the time I just bluff my way through. And it works, too." Sirius leaned forward to look at Lily's face. "I was right, wasn't I? He was just a boy toy!"

Lily could not help the little self-satisfied grin that blossomed on her face at Sirius' triumphant expression.

"Where were we, anyway?"

"That's what I thought."

Although James and Lily have shared their first kiss, it is best to keep their relationship on very uncertain terms, with one or both of the characters unwilling to do one or more of the following:

1. Be alone together for any length of time, as this could lead to uncomfortable situations/misunderstandings, etc.

2. Tell the other any part of their true feelings for that person, for fear of rejection, lest the kiss had been a fly-by-night occurrence.

3. Let their relationship be known to any of their friends or schoolmates, especially if a love triangle is involved (ie, one of Lily's friends says she is in love with James, Sirius is in love with Lily, etc).

In other words, the same dread, anxiety, and exhilaration that any new couple experiences.

"So, you're in love with me then, Black? I didn't know you cared."

"I didn't know either, but I'm willing if you are... hey!" As Sirius responded, he casually draped an arm around Lily's shoulders. James promptly reached behind her and dumped a tankard of butterbeer over Sirius' head. He jumped up, dripping, as the two on the sofa roared with laughter.

"Well, that tears it. So the prefects' bathroom password is 'nargle', right Lils?"

"No, it's 'chimera'... Oh, damn! Black, you can't go in there! Besides, we haven't finished the book yet."

"Finish without me. Prongs can fill me in later... and I want all the details," he added in a whisper to James, before heading up to the boy's dorm. He passed back through the common room a moment later, his bath kit in hand, and with a final whack to the back of James' head, disappeared from sight. A moment later the portrait hole opened and slammed with a bang. James and Lily could hear the Fat Lady's muffled protests from the other side.

"So, shall we keep reading?" Lily asked, with a small tremor in her voice.

"I'm game if you are," James replied, shifting infinitesimally closer to Lily on the couch.

After a few of these scenes, and with the passage of time, a level of comfort can be established for the couple, especially if there are more pressing matters for Lily and James to attend to, such as a battle with Voldemort or graduation ceremonies to arrange (although, as J. K. Rowling has never mentioned said ceremonies, they probably aren't a major event at Hogwarts, if they are held at all.).

A sensible writer will end at this point (somewhere near the end of their Seventh Year), although it is possible to spin out the story to embrace their married life, the birth of Harry, and the ultimate demise of the Potters. However, this will cause the story to end on a real down note. It is perhaps best to end the story as they are leaving school, and save their darker adult lives for a potential sequel.

By the end of your story, then, all loose ends for secondary characters and extraneous plot holes will be tied up. James and Lily will have overcome numerous obstacles, cliched or otherwise, to discover their true feelings for one another, and will be looking forward to embarking upon a future together, little realizing the tragedies that lie ahead of them.

On this happy note, fellow writer, I urge you to write your own version of their enduring love story, and if you can actually establish an original plot, characterization, or setting, I will honor you with many exulted reviews.

Yours in Fan Fiction,

Daisy Pennifold

"Well, that was... lovely. We run off happily into the sunset, get married, have a wonderful little boy, and... die. I know I'll be sleeping well tonight. G'night, James." Lily spit all of this out quickly to cover her conflicting emotions, and started briskly for the girls' dorm staircase. She paused at the foot, as she thought she heard James mumble something in the now darkened room.

"Did you... er... say something, James?"

"No, noth... I mean, wait. Yes, I did," he said, in a suddenly firm voice. He strode over to where she stood, and clutched her arms with his strong hands. For the first time in her life, Lily looked at James and saw not the flippant, charming, lovestruck boy that he was, but the strong, fearless, loving man he would become.

"I said it would be worth it. Dying with you. Because it would mean living with you. And I would happily die tomorrow, after the day we had together today, if I knew that you feel about me the way I feel about you. But I know you don't. Not yet. And that's fine. I can wait. And I will wait, until the end of my life if it takes that long. I love you, Lily. I've never said that before because to me those words really mean something. So now I've said them. I'm just waiting to hear them from you."

With that, he leaned down as if to kiss her, his usually sparkling eyes dark and serious as they searched her own. He brushed his lips roughly across her forehead, dropped her arms suddenly, and walked slowly towards his own staircase. When he was halfway up, he stopped at the sound of Lily's voice.

"James?"

"Yes, Lily?"

"I don't think you'll be waiting long."

James smiled in the dark, and headed for bed.

THE END