When Lily arrived back in her room, Kate and Ruth were still awake. They were obviously talking about her and waiting for her to get back. Naturally, Ruth said "Ok tell us."

"Isn't there something you'd like to tell me first?" Lily said to Ruth.

"About..."

"The LETTER!"

"Oh that, well it was for your own good..."

"If you ever do that again I'll kill you." Lily tried to keep a straight face. "But I'm glad you did."

Kate gasped "Does that mean.."

"Yes it does." Lily said.

"WELL FINALLY!!" Ruth threw up her arms sarcastically. "Tell me about it."

"It was real romantic..." Lily sighed, and went on with details about what had happend.

Meanwhile in the boys' room...

"So it happend?" Sirius asked.

"Yea it did." James said.

"So what did you say to her?" Peter asked.

"Not much..." and James started telling the story about what happened.

"Well...good for you." Sirius said.

"Now what?" James said.

"What do you mean 'now what'?"

"What should I do now?"

"You take her out on a date?" Sirius said, stating the obvious.

"What kind of a date? I mean this is the girl of my dreams, I've always wanted to take her out, and now that I have a chance...I don't know where to take her, or whatever."

"Well technically you don't have to go out on a date to be...GOING OUT." Remus said.

"Yea, as long as she's your girlfriend." Peter jumped in.

"Yea." Sirius said. "Why don't you see how it turns out, and then ask her on a date for the next hogsmead visit?"

"Good idea." James said, and they went to bed.

It seems that no sooner than two days have past since their meeting by the lake, when everyone in Hogwarts knew that James Potter and Lily Evans were now officially a couple. James noticed a definate coldness in looks that girls have been giving him, not the usual smiles and hair flip he usually gets. Lily has also noticed a change in attitude of her fellow classmates.

Three mornings later, Lily entered the great hall with Ruth and Kate, and sat at the end of the table, away from three Gryffindor girls, Lani Wesley, Caroline Bell, and Malorie Blair.

"I wonder what their problem is." Ruth said.

"Isn't it obvious?" Kate said.

"No. What's so obvious?" Ruth asked.

"Lani." Kate replied.

"What about Lani?" Lily asked.

"You don't know?" Kate said, seeing the puzzled look on their faces. "I didn't tell you about Lani did I?"

"No." Ruth said. "Tell us."

Kate looked over at the three girls, who were now staring at them, and said "maybe later, now's not a good time."

Taking the hint, Ruth and Lily went on eating breakfast.

Half way through, Ruth just couldn't stand the silence so she said "when are you and James going out?" not caring about Caroline, who was looking at them and whispering.

"I don't know. Come to think of it, he just asked me out, he didn't specify when or where." Lily answered.

"Has he talked to you since?" Ruth asked.

"Now that you've pointed it out, not really." Lily was now deep in thought. "Has he been avoiding me?"

"I haven't noticed." Kate said. "Everything seemed normal to me."

"Of course, normal. After all, when I've had a crush on someone for six years and finally had the courage to ask them out only to find out they feel the same way about me, I ALWAYS avoid them from that point on." Ruth said loudly and sarcastically.

"Well you know boys..." Kate said.

"I guess you're right." Lily said.

Now that Ruth has brought it to her attention, she started wondering why James hadn't even come over to talk to her. Why hadn't he asked her on a real date yet? Why doesn't he say more than "hello" when he sees her in the common room? Why hasn't he said anything? She had a funny feeling, but shook it off quickly. He'll come around soon, I have never known James Potter as one to give up so easily.