Three days later, Lily sat down next to Alice in the Great Hall, needing some brain food in order to finish this paper on Acromantula Venom for Professor Slughorn. "Alice, I officially hate mornings. I hate them."

Alice chuckled under her breath and in a low voice, said "I think your morning is about to get a whole lot better." She raised her cup of coffee to her lips and took a long sip, looking in the direction of the entrance to the Great Hall. "One… Two… Three…"

BANG. The doors to the Great Hall slammed open, and a hush fell over the crowd of tired, hungry, but somehow still talkative students. Even Dumbledore looked towards the door to see who had created such a scene so early in the morning.

Lily craned her neck to look over the bobbing heads of underclassmen desperate for a peek at the disturbance. Then she saw it - the unruly black head of hair slowly sauntering into the Great Hall. James.

"James bloody Potter! Thank fuck you're back!" Sirius bellowed from the front of the Gryffindor table. The Marauders burst into applause, spurring the rest of Gryffindor house to follow suit. Soon, everyone except for the Slytherins was clapping and cheering for James, though most probably didn't even know why. The rumor was "quidditch accident," and only those on the inside knew that he had slipped up on something as mundane as honeywater.

James Potter made his way towards front of the Great Hall, towards Lily. Instinctually, she stood. He's walking. He's okay. She hadn't seen him since two days before, when they had a conversation in the hospital wing about films and muggle things they both liked, and then magical things they both liked, and then just life and the universe and, well, everything. Then, when every topic they could think of had been exhausted, silence fell, and they held hands. They leaned towards each other as if to kiss, but were interrupted by Madame Pomfrey shooing Lily away to change the dressing on James's head wound.

But now he was here. He was walking. Madame Pomfrey was nowhere in sight, and he was walking directly towards her. Towards Lily. Lily Evans. She contemplated sitting back down and going back to her food, but her feet were glued to the floor. She watched James (James bloody Potter) get closer and closer and then he was grabbing her arm and dipping her and he was kissing her in front of everyone and she couldn't tell if the roaring in her ears was the applause and cheering getting louder or if it was just the sound of her heart stupefying her brain. James's hands were in her hair, supporting her head, and then they pulled her upright, holding her tight to him, not pulling their lips apart even a centimeter. Lily smiled, wrapping her arms around his neck, careful to avoid the bandage she knew was on the back of his head.

"Alright you two, are we going to have to deal with this for the rest of the fucking year?" Sirius called out. Those in the Great Hall who were still paying attention to the grand entrance of THE James Potter - which was a lot of people - laughed at Sirius's joke, and James and Lily pulled apart. Lily opened her eyes and looked up at the Head Boy. He was looking back at her. He was smiling. Fuck it, Lily thought. Why not?

"James Potter, will you go to Hogsmeade with me?"

"Lily Evans, I would be honored."