January

Lily Evans had never much been one for staring into mirrors. Too vain for her tastes. Nor was she ever in with the hordes of girls who hurried to the bathrooms between classes to check that their hair was still in place and their makeup fresh. But tonight seemed to be an exception.

Whether her cheeks were flushed from the chilly wind that had whipped through Hogsmeade all day, or just from how pleased she was, she couldn't tell. But she did know that the smile that had been on her face ever since she met James Potter earlier that day was not likely to disappear any time soon.

It was somewhat embarrassing. Caught her off guard, really.

Lily looked away, and after turning on the tap and filling her cupped hands with water, splashed her face several times. She then tied her hair back into a low ponytail and took out her pearl earrings. Still blushing. Probably didn't help that she could barely stop thinking about him.

Clutching the clothes she had worn that day, she pushed open the bathroom door that led to her room. She threw them in a chair- unusual behavior for her. Normally she tried to save the Hogwarts house elves some work. Not tonight.

Flopping down on the bed, she sighed. She had meant to get her schoolbag out of their common room, but she didn't think she could muster the energy. Managing to kick one of her slippers off, she closed her eyes, the day still fresh in her mind.

Apparently James had 'forgotten' to tell his friends that he had to meet Lily at one o'clock. She had been able to see through the Three Broomstick's slightly cloudy windows that Peter was shocked, Remus was pretending to be shocked, and Sirius just looked slightly amused. He had winked at Lily through the window, then dragged the other two off to Zonko's, leaving James and Lily to their own devices. In his mind, he reasoned that at least they were in public, and therefore couldn't inflict too much damage on each other if things went wrong. (He sincerely hoped they didn't.)

The original deal had been one drink. They realized that when they were halfway through their third butterbeer. James had leaned a bit closer, smirking as Lily scooted her chair back half an inch, and then asked, "So was this really as horrible as you thought it'd be?"

Lily was spared having to answer that by the timely arrival of the other three Marauders.

Sirius pulled up a chair, looking highly annoyed as he did so. "Prongs, you owe us." Remus nodded, and added, "Unbelievably so."

At James and Lily's puzzled expressions, Sirius launched into an explanation. "We got bored, eventually, you know... and we didn't want to interrupt here..." His expression darkened. "Sosomeone suggested Madam Puddifoot's..." he spat as he threw a glance at Peter, who looked away, whistling feebly. Lily began laughing; James's face was a mixture of horror and curiosity.

"Oh, Merlin, you didn't," he breathed.

Remus nodded gravely. "Afraid we did, mate."

"And... what was it like?"

"Disgusting."

"Ghastly."

"Dreadful."

"Garish."

Lily, still giggling, hardly quailed under Sirius's reproachful look. "Well, you survived, so I guess it couldn't have been all bad?"

This time all four Marauders turned to stare at her. Remus found his voice first. "Survived? Barely... but feel free to go there yourself, I hear Puddifoot puts on a great Valentine's Day celebration..." He shuddered.

Smirking, Lily set down two Sickles on the table. "I'll have to keep that in mind," she said, grabbing her jacket. "See you later," she added, glancing at James, who had quickly stood.

"You don't have to pay," said James, sweeping the coins off the table and pressing them into her hand. Lily studied him for a second, then smiled. "If you insist."

She made for the doors, pausing only to say goodbye to Madam Rosemerta. And then, tightening her scarf, she stepped out into the cold street. James wasn't far behind her. "Wait up!" he called, pulling on a pair of gloves as he kicked the pub's door shut behind him. Lily's step faltered and she turned around, looking mildly surprised.

And so they had amicably walked around Hogsmeade for another few hours. Lily even (reluctantly) allowed herself to be dragged into Zonko's. She caught James looking at a Spell Check Quill, and he quickly replaced it, muttering about how a self-respecting Head Boy like himself would never condone such an item being used at Hogwarts.

What Lily found truly odd though was how he attempted to change the subject when they passed the Shrieking Shack. All she had done was mention that she, for one, had never heard the rumored ghosts' screams. James had replied with some off-hand comment about how loud Peter had screamed when he had found a rat in his trunk. Though curious, Lily didn't press it. Things were going too well.

Other than that, the day passed by quickly. They had headed back up to the castle with the rest of the school, and each had eaten dinner with their own group of friends.

Things were back to normal until it came time to do the rounds at night. It took a bit longer because instead of splitting up to roam the halls, they went together. Walking around in the dungeons wasn't nearly as awkward as it could have been, noted Lily, but unfortunately Peeves discovered them up near the Astronomy tower. The poltergeist was expertly juggling a set of model planets, but he quickly tired of it as soon as the Head students turned their backs on him. Saturn hit Lily in the small of her back, and James took a blow from Mercury to the head. Before he could even draw his wand, Lily had silently jinxed the annoying little man, causing him to fly backwards and become tangled up in a lit chandelier.

And now, they were back. Judging by the dim light peeking underneath the door, James was still awake, probably trying to do some homework in their common room. Lily kicked the other slipper to the floor and pulled the bedspread up to her chin, closing her eyes.

Thirty minutes later, she still hadn't slept a wink. The light was still shining in from under the door frame. She picked up her watch from off the nightstand. Fifteen past midnight. Lily figured she wouldn't fall asleep any time soon, and so she pushed the covers back and put on her slippers, making for the door.

James quickly looked up from the papers in his lap when Lily came in. He blindly shuffled them around a bit, but Lily didn't appear to notice that as she sat down on the couch across from him. Nor did James seem to notice that he was staring at her. She stared right back until she couldn't bite back a comment any longer.

"So I take it this is what they mean by 'awkward silence'?"

James averted his gaze quickly, and mimicked her smile. Easy for her to say. But Lily was hardly dressed in the Hogwarts uniform; instead, she wore a pair of red plaid pajama bottoms that sat right under her hips, and a white camisole. Shuffling his papers around a bit more, he looked back up.

"Yeah, well... when was the last time I walked around here in nothing but my boxers?" It was his turn to smirk.

Lilynearly replied, "End of November," but she figured that she probably shouldn't disclose that gem. Instead, she changed the subject. "What are you reading?" she asked, motioning to his papers.

"Prophet," he replied, picking up the topmost one. "Did you hear what happened at that Muggle school?" He handed the paper over to her. In the process, a sheet of paper that was most definitely not theDaily Prophetslipped out. Thankfully, Lily's widened eyes were on the parchment.

"God, that's horrible," she breathed, her eyes scanning the front page. "Three children..." She couldn't suppress a shiver, but she tried to play it up as being cold. She tugged an afghan off the back of the couch.

James looked up from the piece of paper in his hands, looking distracted. "Yeah, it is..."

"What's that?"

"Nothing." James pulled his bag over, opening the flap.

"Right."

James sighed. "It's just a letter from the Ministry." At Lily's raised eyebrow, he continued. "I... I applied earlier this summer to be considered for Auror training..."

"Did they accept you?" Lily asked, her voice void of emotion.

"Well... yeah." He hardly looked happy, though. "But training alone, that takes two years... it's too long, especially with these circumstances." He gave a nod to the Prophet that Lily was still holding. "There's other things I can do, things that will make a difference."

Lily sighed, and James could have sworn he saw a hint of sadness in her smile. "Order of the Phoenix?"

He nodded. "But nothing's for certain." He took the Prophet back, shoving the papers unceremoniously into his bag.

Lily played with the frayed ends of the afghan. She was freezing now, though she wasn't so sure it had everything to do with the cold castle walls. "Well, I t-think I'll go b-back to bed..." she said lamely, not able to stifle a yawn.

James looked up from his bag, heaving a sigh. "Me too... long day..." He stood up and fixed her with a warm smile, watching as she folded the blanket back up and crossed her arms across her chest, rubbing her upper arms for warmth. "Want an extra blanket?"

"I'll be fine," she said, glancing up to see his smile and feeling her cheeks redden.

James shrugged a bit, an impertinent grin preceding him. "I assume you know the best way to stay warm?"

Lily shook her head and steeled herself, especially as he took a step closer. Even as she waited for him to enlighten her, she found her mind wandering...

"Share body heat, of course," he continued with a wink.

Lily's slight blush did not fade as she closed the distance between them, smiling coyly. And then, just as James was realizing what she was doing, she said quite frankly, "I hope that's not the best line you've got." She then pushed gently passed, heading for her room.

"We're not going to live forever, you know."

A/N: Ah, I've been waiting forever to do this chapter. Not one-hundred percent excited with it, but am I ever? Please leave a review, let me know what you think! You all are great.