Several hundred kisses later, and Lily was still as smitten as ever, if not more so. She was falling fast in love, and no one would catch her, set her right.

She wouldn't let them even if they tried. She did not want to be caught. She felt his touch everywhere, could feel him stroking her hair, whispering in her ear what he felt, could see his smirk in front of her eyes, burned imprint of them there even when she closed them.

And had James asked her out again? You bet she had. And had she said 'yes'? Of course. She wouldn't break her promise to Sirius. But they hadn't gone out on that date yet, as Lily kept putting it off. She'd decide on a date with him, but then Sirius would arrange something, and she'd blow him off.

But it only seemed to make him more eager to see her, he would not relent with his constant cooing over her, his bragging that he'd;

"Finally got the most gorgeous girl to go out with him."

"Won her over, hook line and sinker."

"Wed her yet."

Yes, that was the worst one. She winced when she heard it. She felt he was moving very, very fast. She did not want to marry James Potter. He was too immature, too annoying, nothing that she wanted. And she could see it tearing Sirius up too, he clearly wanted to punch James, but he restrained himself well.

James was now mooning over her daily; he would not leave her alone. She had to practically perform a banishing spell to get rid of him, but instead found other excuses, mostly excusing going to the toilet. Though how anyone could go to the toilet for hours on end, she didn't know.

And Sirius's plan had worked. James did not suspect one thing; he was blinded by his obsession for Lily. Which meant that when she was not being stalked by James, Lily and Sirius could do as they pleased. Mostly trips to the Room of Requirement, which she didn't know existed, until now. And she was glad for it. Because it meant that Potter couldn't find them. And he…well, he really wouldn't have liked to have found them in there recently.

Because if there's one thing worse than walking in on your best mate snogging your would-be girlfriend, it was walking in on them doing…other things. She felt bad for it, she really did. Yet she could not stop herself feeling like she was walking on air after she'd seen Sirius, stop herself liking him so much.

She thought about him pretty much all the time. Her studies were going to slip, she knew it, but she cared not. She cared more about the boy that she was almost in love with. She'd caught him staring at her several times in class, with a soppy smirk plastered over his face. It was this look of his that she couldn't get out of her head. She always blushed and looked away, hoping James wouldn't twig onto the fact that Sirius was staring at her. But either he was scratching stuff on the table with his quill (Lily had seen J.P + L.E countless times), or he was staring at her too. And he thought she was blushing at him.

How wrong could a person be? She really did not understand how James Potter did not give up. He was persistent, it was as if he was a dog with a stick, one that would never let go no matter what you did.

He would not let the thought of her go. Just like she would not let Sirius go. She wanted to be with him for all eternity, though she wouldn't admit that to him. He'd only freak out…wouldn't he? Or was he having the same thoughts as her? She wanted to know…and maybe, maybe she could test this. Ask him how much he liked her.

But wouldn't that be putting him on the spot? Lily frowned. Their next trip to the Room of Requirement was tomorrow. Maybe she'd ask him then…

Saturday came around slowly. Lily seemed to count the minutes until she was due to meet Sirius, and hurried off when the time came, grin plastered all over her face, dashing to the Room of Requirement.

She didn't know if he was there or not. So, just to be on the safe side, she walked past the wall three times, thinking of a safe haven for her and Sirius, the same as usual, where they could not be found.

Pushing the door open, Lily hastily entered the room, and grinned as she saw Sirius sprawled on the sofa that was positioned at the side of the room. He gave an equally large smile, and beckoned her over there, wrapping his strong arms around her when she did so, overpowering her with his kiss.

She let him kiss her for as long as she could, but before long she broke away, kissing his nose as she did, and smiling shyly at him, brushing away the hair from her face. She laid back on the sofa, and looked up at the ceiling, wondering if she should ask him or not…she was so deep in thought she did not notice Sirius lie next to her. Only coming to her senses when he stroked her cheek, she took his hand in hers.

Say it, her brain told her. She furrowed her brow, then softened her expression, knowing Sirius would notice if she looked like that. And he had.

"Lils, what's wrong?" He asked, looking at her with such a look that would make your heart melt. Lily felt hers do so, and her brain to go with it. She seemed to have lost her mind. She shook her head.

"Nothing's wrong, Sirius…" She assured him. "I just…I want you to know that…I love you." She stammered, facing away, wishing she'd never said that now. But instead of rushing away, Sirius stayed. She felt his grip on her hand tighten. Using his other hand, he turned her face back, so she was looking at him.

His voice was barely a soft whisper as he replied with the same three words.

Lily felt the corners of her mouth twitch into a smile, though she could not hold it for long as Sirius bent to kiss her. She returned it gladly, her brain seemed to contain fireworks, it was exploding so much.

Lily was glad again that James did not find them; this was another night that he would not have wanted to. As she stood and gathered her clothing, she blushed as Sirius gazed at her.

"What?" She asked indignantly, looking at him with surprise, baring her hands, shrugging at him with mock annoyance. He merely continued to stare, and she let out a sigh, rolling her eyes. Finally he spoke.

"You know Lily, you are so beautiful." She shook her head. Why did he say such things when they weren't true?

"Sirius, don't say that." She scolded him, turning away and trying to get her jumper on over her head with difficulty.

"Why not?" He walked over to her, hugging her from behind. "It's true…you are." He grinned, staring into her eyes, and kissing her for the trillionth time, it seemed.

He loved her. Lily couldn't get those words out of her head. Sirius Black, handsome and lovely, loved her. Lily Evans.

She was such a fool sometimes. Going to pieces over just one guy.

But she couldn't help it.