The next morning, James got up three hours earlier than usual, determined to make his hair tidy for Lily. He tried everything, the sticking charm, Malkin's All-Purpose Glue, he even tried something muggles called gel. Nothing worked. Sighing, James made his way down to Gryffindor Common Room.

"Hey! Prongsy, m'boy! Are you ready?" Sirius grinned at James.

"I-think-I'm…gonna be…sick," gasped James, clutching his stomach, his breathing growing increasingly rapid.

"Oooh! James Potter, celebrity and resident 'hottie' of Hogwarts, is nervous about a date?" Laughed Sirius.

"Shut…up…this…is not…funny!" panted James, his eyes growing wide and his face getting paler by the second.

"I think it is time for me to intervene. Nervioso!" said Remus, pointing his wand at James. Almost immediately, James returned to normal.

"Thanks, Moony. I really owe you one."

"Yeah, well, we better get going. We have to meet the girls in the Entrance Hall in ten minutes."

They all made their way to the Fat Lady's portrait, James taking up the rear, checking his reflection in every shiny object he passed. When they finally reached the entrance hall, they all stopped in alarm. Their dates looked, in Sirius' words, "bloody hot." Sirius shamelessly gazed at Emma in a certain spot, unable to take his eyes off her.

"Stop drooling, Black. Let's go," Emma grinned, flaunting herself in front of Sirius, teasing him. Together they walked off, holding hands, Sirius looking back at James to make sure he wasn't unconscious on the floor.

"Right. Well, shall we, Ella? I'll er…see you, Prongs," Remus said, winking at James.

James gulped and turned to Lily, who was grinning at him, as if she was taking humor in what he was going through. "Should we…er…well…go now, Lily?" he asked.

"Sure. Come on, keep up. I don't want to waste a minute of this visit," she said, walking along briskly, leaving James to run after her.

Snow was slowly falling over the path to Hogsmeade. It created a beautiful effect, making everything look, for a better word, Christmasfied. James finally caught up with Lily.

"So…what do you want to do first?"

"I suppose we could go to Honeydukes. I love their sweets!" said Lily, smiling up at James.

The two made their way up to Honeydukes, grinning at each other awkwardly. Each was trying to think of something to say, but every thing they thought of was too stupid.

Inside Honeydukes, James bought Lily a large and quite expensive box of chocolates, which was enchanted so that every time you finished the box, it magically filled itself again.

Next on James' list was Zonkos, but when he approached the shop's entrance, Lily gave him a cold, warning look. He immediately released the door knob, looking at her apologetically.

"Sorry…it's…a bit of…a habit, I guess," he said, looking down at the ground.

"Yes, well it is a habit you will have to quit if you are going to continue to go out with me-" Lily stopped suddenly, looking down at the ground. "Er…that was extremely foolish of me, wasn't it? Of-of course we're not going out; I don't know why I said it-"

"We're a couple if you want us to be, Lily," James said, smiling at her.

"Alright then. I guess…we are," she said, still looking at the ground, blushing.

James grinned. "Good. That's what I hoped you would say."

"Right. Well…shall we go to the Three Broomsticks next?" asked Lily.

"Sure. It is really rather cold out here," replied James.

Together they entered the Three Broomsticks. Lily found a table while James ordered two butterbeers. They both stared at each other for the longest time, smiling sheepishly. Then, suddenly, Lily spoke.

"So why me, James?"

James nearly spit out his butterbeer at the surprise of Lily saying something. "Excuse me?"

"Why do you like me, of all the girls you could have chosen? I mean, every girl in their right mind loves you, James. And I am definitely not the prettiest girl in our year-"

"Of course you are. Whoever told you otherwise, Lily?" Lily blushed and looked down at her butterbeer, slurping continuously. "Well, I suppose I love you because you are smart…and beautiful…and, well…you're you. There's no real way to explain it. From the moment I first saw you I have always loved you, even when you snapped and glared at me every second you got the chance," James grinned.

"Er…sorry about that. I think I've always liked you, too, but I've never wanted to admit it."

"You have no idea how happy it makes me feel that you finally did."

They finished off their butterbeers in silence, each staring at the other. Soon they left The Three Broomsticks and continued on the path, somehow making their way to the Shrieking Shack. James suddenly stiffened.

"Erm…Lily? I've heard this place is haunted, and I really don't want to scare you, so how about we just leave?"

"Aw, I'm not scared. They're just ghosts. You know, I've always wondered if they can hear what we're saying all the way out here…"

"Well, I dunno if they can, but really, lets just go-"

"Goodness me, James! Are you scared? They're just ghosts! I cannot believe famous James Potter is afraid of the Shrieking Shack!" Lily teased, causing James to blush. "Well, alright, I suppose we can go. The visit is nearly over anyway."

Relieved, James hurried along the path, making Lily double the length of her strides just to keep up. Soon, they were in the center of Hogsmeade again, and James stopped, allowing Lily to catch her breath.

"Why…why did you walk…away so fast?" she panted.

"Now, was I walking away quite fast? Or were you just walking away slowly?" James grinned. Lily could tell that he was not going to reveal why he hastily left the Shrieking Shack, so she changed the subject.

"Sure…perhaps I was. Let's get going, anyway, we don't want to get into trouble with Filch for being late."

James rolled his eyes but began walking at the same pace as Lily. Soon enough they were out of Hogsmeade and on the path to Hogwarts. James suddenly grabbed Lily's hand, who gasped in surprise, but did not protest. They walked like this all the way back to Hogwarts. Suddenly, James stopped right in front of Hogwarts' entrance.

"Er…James…it really is time to go inside now…Why did we just stop anywa-"

James kissed Lily softly on the lips, resting his hands on her waist. For a few seconds, Lily was so shocked that she couldn't move, but soon she returned James' kiss, resting her arms around his muscular shoulders. They kissed for what they thought was hours, but was merely a few minutes. It was a long, passionate kiss, the kind you can only have with the one you love, with snow falling gracefully overhead. Suddenly, James heard someone clearing their throat dramatically just behind them. James ignored them, continuing to kiss Lily. The person cleared their throat even louder, tapping their foot on the ground repeatedly. James reluctantly broke away from Lily.

"Sorry to break up the little lovefest, but Filch is coming, and you two are late. Also, you are completely blocking the entrance to get inside," Sirius smirked, gesturing around him, causing James to look for the first time at the crowds of students that were waiting to get inside, all staring at him and Lily. Lily gasped and hid behind him, her face now matching her hair.

"Er…right. Sorry, everyone…erm…go on in, now," James said, completely mortified. However, the crowd stayed put, obviously hoping that James and Lily would continue the show.

"YOU HEARD HIM! Go on! There's nothing to see here, people! Move it, move it! Get the hell away from me or I'll hex you! I swear I will! MOVE!" Sirius pushed a crowd of third years forward, attempting to diminish the crowd. James looked at Lily, still hiding behind him.

"Er…we should do that again sometime," he said awkwardly.

"Yes. Definitely. Sooner rather than later," she said.

"Right. Well…I'll…er…see you."

"See you, James." With a quick kiss on the cheek, Lily left James to watch Sirius rolling on the ground with laughter.