Disclaimer: All the Characters belong to J.K. Rowling. The not amazingly original plot and characters you don't recognize belong to me.

A/N: I would appreciate it if you would review! It's always nice to have feedback, and if you have any constructive criticism, go for it! Thank you SenatorPadmeand cylobabyfor your reviews.

Chapter Three: The First Kiss

It was time to put his plan into action. James had woken up this morning to find that Lily was already eating breakfast down in the Great Hall. He dressed and hurried down there snagging the empty seat across the table from Lily.

"Lily, I'm sorry about last night. You're right that was really bad of me." He paused, waiting for her to accept the apology. She didn't.

She looked up from her pancakes and copy of the Daily Prophet. "Was there something else you wanted, Potter?"

The apology didn't work; he would just have to keep moving on with his plan.

"Well, you know Halloween isn't that far way. We only have two months to plan the…" he looked around the table seeing that a few people were eavesdropping on the conversation. Couldn't they have any privacy?

"The secret thing…you know," he said hoping she would catch his meeting.

She looked at him blankly.

"Is this another one of your stupid games? If it is, leave now before you make a bigger fool out of yourself."

He took a deep breath forcing himself to be patient. "The thing… the one we talked about at the Prefect meeting. October," he said hoping she would get the clues.

She finally did. "Oh. Well, yes we do."

"We can work in the common room, tonight. I didn't schedule Quidditch practice today. Do you have your charms club?"

"No, I'm free tonight. Meet me up there at seven," she said and went back to her paper and pancakes.

Well he didn't seem to mess that up too badly. She was going to work with him tonight. Just him and her, and maybe he could lean over her and… Well, no he couldn't kiss her or touch her. Not yet, they had to be friends first. She had to like him and respect him before she would even consider that.

She was the first one to arrive at Advanced Transfiguration that morning so she slammed her books down loudly. James was so bloody annoying. He had to talk in stupid riddles to make it seem like he was that much better than the rest of the school. Why did the girls even bother eavesdropping? She just did not get it. Sure, he wasn't the worst looking boy at school, he could even be considered just a little bit good-looking. But, gorgeous? He wore glasses. How many boys could get away with being one of the most eligible bachelors at school wearing glasses? Sure they made him look intelligent and mature but if you observed him for two minutes you could see beyond that.

Then there was Tia. The girl had been sleeping through breakfast lately because she hadn't been there to wake her up. She had been wrapping up extra pieces of toast so Tia wouldn't be starving by lunchtime. She wished she would get here soon.

The room thing was turning out to be a lot lonelier than either Tia or she had predicted. Last night she realized she shouldn't have said anything about James staring at her. Sure it had been annoying, but what if he stopped sitting with her while she was doing her work? Then she would be left alone in that place, just like she had been at her house when her parents had been murdered.

Her thoughts kept drifting back there lately. She wished she would be able to get over these little states of depression soon. She put her hands down and laid her head on top of them staring at the empty chalkboard. McGonagall should be here soon. Hopefully. All she could hear was the sounds of the clock.

Tick.

Tick.

Tick.

"I'm so sorry Lily! I overslept again. I need to get one of those things you said the muggle world has. What did you call them danger clocks?"

Lily's head jumped up and she laughed. Thank Merlin Tia had finally come. She had been about to go out of her mind.

"Alarm clocks, Tia. We'll have to check out Hogsmeade and see if they have something like one over there. Or we could convince one of the house elves to drop water over you every morning."

"I think I'll pass on the water suggestion," Tia said reaching inside Lily's bag for toast. "I hate missing breakfast."

Lily rolled her eyes, and the class started to fill up. Professor McGonagall finally was teaching them how to conjure things. She looked up at the board and began to copy the notes.

James and his friends walked in five seconds before the bell rang. They couldn't be on time; they had to do everything so they stood out. Why did they have to be such jerks?

James, Sirius, Remus and Peter always had seats empty, no one dared to take one of the Marauders places. In first year they had always chosen the back of the room, but when James had acquired his crush on Lily they had somehow moved up so he could bother her.

They were doing conjuring charms today. They were going to conjure flowers and James didn't know if he should conjure a lily or another flower. Lilies seemed to be cliché, but if no one had ever gotten her one before it would be sweet wouldn't it?

He pulled out a quill and wrote on a piece of paper. They had used a protean charm to communicate with each other during classes. Of course, it had taken four years of detention before they though of doing it. James grinned at the memory and wrote-

James- Think I can get McGonagall to partner me up with Evans?

Sirius- After what happened last time? Are you crazy, there's a better chance she would partner me up with a girl.

James laughed. Everyone, including the teachers, knew Sirius's reputation with girls. McGonagall didn't partner girls with him because no matter who the girl, Sirius would spend more time flirting than doing work.

James- I finally have a plan.

Sirius- A plan for what?

­Remus- I would like to know that too!

Peter- If you guys aren't paying attention, how am I going to pass?

Sirius- Copy the notes on the board, Moony will help you later! I want to hear James's plan.

James: To get Lily to like me. I'm going to be more responsible, so we can't pull any bad pranks for a while.

Sirius: You're kidding, James. For a girl? A girl, who I might add, isn't very fun. She likes to study for Merlin's sake.

Remus: Sirius, stop being the insensitive flirt you always are.There is nothing wrong with Lily andJames likes her. James, that's a good start but if she doesn't like you, I don't know how much it'll help. Even if you do become friends.

James: I know. She'll like me though. She will. Just wait.

James could hear Sirius sigh loudly.

Sirius: Good luck. At least I win the title of Hogwart's bad boy without any competition now.

Professor McGonagall paused in her lecture. "Is something wrong Mr. Black?"

"No, professor," said Sirius with an innocent smile on his face. Well, as innocent as it could get. He was too mischievous to eve really look innocent.

"I'm going to put you in groups. Mr. Black you will be working with Miss Evans," she said.

This really was not fair. She had to work with Black because he couldn't pay attention. She was going to have to do double the work.

He sauntered over winking at the smiles of some hopeful girls and pinched Tia's arm. Tia turned to roll her eyes at him. She was tempted to bury her head in the desk and hope time would somehow magically rewind.

"I get partnered with the smartest girl in this school. Can I be any luckier?" he asked sitting on her desk. She gave him a disgusted look and moved to try to conjure a bouquet of flowers.

"Like you need any help. You're just lazy," she said bitterly. He, like James, also seemed to get good grades without any effort.

"Don't be jealous, Lily. I mean we both know that's the real reason you don't like James. It's not because he pulls pranks, or is a tad bit arrogant. It's because you're jealous that he does as well as you do and you have to work at it."

"Shut up, Sirius." She went to work to conjure the flowers. Transfiguration was not her best subject. James had already conjured a bouquet of lilies. She rolled her eyes a the irony of it all. She gave it a few tries, and on the third one she managed a bouquet of lilacs. She smiled. Three tries wasn't bad, not bad at all.

"Your turn, Sirius."

Lucky for her it turned out that it took Sirius a few tries to conjure up a bouquet too. She didn't think she could have stood it if he had gotten it on his first try as James had. He had conjured red roses. It suited him, the player with the standard dating flowers.

Lily could see that Tia had managed a single daisy, but was still having problems with a whole bouquet.

"So, why won't you go out with James?" Sirius asked lazily.

"It's none of your business," she snapped. He was almost as annoying as James was.

"Sure, it is. Although, I really didn't have to ask did I? It's the jealousy."

"I'm not jealous of him. I'm not jealous of the girls he dates. In fact, I feel a sort of pity for all the girls that come into the path of you two idiots," she said picking up her wand and moving to an empty chair next to Tia to help her.

Sirius smiled at her. He had sure gotten her riled up. It had to be because she liked James. She had been secretly watching him to see how he was doing on the assignment. James was walking over there now, to give her his bouquet.

She was pretty, he thought, in a cute sort of way. Her eyes were her best feature, and the hair was definitely interesting. She would look cute with James; he just hoped she didn't break his heart.

Sirius would do anything for James. He was his brother and if it meant having to help persuade Lily that she liked him he would do it. He wished James could have picked a fun girl though, someone who liked to have parties as much as they did.

He frowned as Lily thrust back the bouquet. James really did have confidence to still have hope after all her rejections. James took one of the lilies out and put it in her hair. Tia apparently thought it looked cute, and made Lily leave it in. James smiled as he walked away. She really better not hurt him, if she did, she would pay.

Lily got together her notebooks, a few quills and stuffed them into her bag. She started to tick off all the things she needed for a ball. Decorations, music, refreshments, how many prefects needed to help set up…

She wasn't that knowledgeable on music in the wizarding world but she was sure James had an idea. She hoped he didn't pick a band that would be a joke. She'd be able to curtail the rest of his moron ideas tonight, but the band she would have to check with Tia later on.

They were going to work in their common room, so she had to walk across campus from her Herbology class. Professor Sprout had asked her to stay a little longer to throw a few mandrakes into pots, so she was running late.

When she got to the common room she was out of breath from half running up the stairs. James, was unexpectedly prompt and ready, sitting on one of the fluffy couches. He patted the seat next to him, but she sat on the floor opposite him to work on the coffee table. She saw a frown that he quickly masked into a grin as he joined on the floor. She still had the lily tucked behind her ear from this afternoon. She didn't want to give him any more ideas.

"I thought of a few things for the ball," he said.

"Yeah, I did too. I have ideas for everything except the music. Do you happen to have any ideas?"

"The Flying Frogs," he said automatically.

She raised her eyebrows. The fact that he had come up with that name so quickly had her wary.

"They the hottest band out now. Everyone's into them, haven't you seen any of the green t-shirts with winged frogs?" he questioned her amusedly.

Was she that out of the rest of the world that she didn't even notice when a huge new fad popped up? She didn't recall any frogs with wings. She just nodded. She would consult Tia later to make sure he wasn't pulling wool over her eyes.

"I was thinking of talking to Hagrid about live bats too," James said.

"Yeah, I actually was thinking that too. It would be beyond cool to have them flying around the ceiling for the whole night. But bats, have well… I don't think anyone would appreciate bat dung in their food or on their clothes, so I was thinking about charming some rubber ones."

James smiled at her. "They sell them at Zonko's. Rubber bats. Don't you think that says something Lily? We had the same idea," he said getting up to sit next to her on her side of the table. She automatically inched away.

"It'll probably be easier if we can read your notes together," James said his arm passing over hers to pick up some of her ideas.

She knew it was just so he could sit next to her but what was she going to say? He was right it was easier to go through the ideas if they were sitting closer.

James had always unnerved her from the first time they had met in first year. He was loud and secure of himself and if he sensed insecurity would pounce. She had made sure she was never insecure around him, which often resulted in a temper or cool politeness when forced to work with him.

He was unnerving her now by sitting so close but she wanted to finish this. She wanted her first activity as Head Girl to be a huge success.

"You know those huge pumpkins Hagrid grows? I was thinking we could hollow one out and then everyone could take pictures inside of it. People could do it with their friends, their dates, by themselves, it doesn't matter."

"That's a great idea. As the organizers we'll have to get first dibs on taking a picture together."

She laughed. "As the organizers we should let everyone take pictures first, James," she said condescendingly.

"We can compromise. We can take a picture before everyone shows up."

"Then all the prefects will want to and we won't get anything done," she rolled her eyes at him.

"Then we'll send them out. We can be alone," he said quietly, turning to stare into her eyes.

"Stop that, you're acting weird." Lily was uncomfortable with his stare; it was as if he really liked her. She turned away.

He moved his hand over hers and caressed it slowly.

She turned back. "James, this is a bad idea."

"No, it's not." The way he was looking at her… he really cared about her. She had never seen him look at anyone like that before. When he leaned it to kiss her she knew she was lost.

He was in love with her; there was no denying it now. It wasn't young love, it wasn't a crush, it was something strong that would be with him forever. This was the moment; he might never have the chance to kiss her again. He had to do it now when she was staring at him, before she broke the spell that was caught around them.

He put a hand to her cheek, cupped her chin and moved in. The first taste of her was sweet and unique something he knew he'd never forget it. He kissed her softly caressing her bottom lip with his tongue before moving her closer. She responded moving her mouth against his and suddenly he couldn't take it slow anymore; he kissed her harder eliminating all space between them so he could feel her against him. He moved his other arm around her pulling her into his lap planning on making this last as long as possible. He put three years worth of desire into the kiss willing for it to change her feelings of him, for this to mean as much to her as it did to him.

He let go of, taking his mouth off hers. Her hair was coming out of place; she was breathing hard and sitting in his lap. Her face was flushed and her green eyes were wide with amazement. He wasn't sure if it was amazement at the kiss or that that she had let him but he sure hoped it was the former and not the latter.

She laid her head on his shoulder. He plucked the lily out from behind her ear and leaned over to kiss her neck.

She looked up at him, her eyes confused. "James, I think we're going too fast. I don't even know if I want to start anything, or…"

He wrapped his arms back around her for comfort. "It's alright. We can take it at any pace you want it. Promise me you'll come with me on a date next week though."

She laughed. "Next week? There's no Hogsmeade visit next week."

"I know other ways," he said mysteriously.

She looked curious. He could tell she was debating over wanting to keep up her good girl persona and the thrill of actually doing something to break the rules.

"Okay. Next week, I'll go on a date with you. Just once, though, so we can sort through this," she said wrapping up all their plans and going to bed.

Phase one had gone perfectly. He wasn't going to make their date extravagant, just something simple and comfortable. Easing her into this relationship would be the best thing. They were going to have a relationship, he could feel that now. After that kiss, he knew, she was meant for him as much as he was meant for her.