She couldn't believe she was late. Stupid Marauders and their stupid bloody made up excuses to party. She knew she shouldn't have drank so much but everyone had been having such a good time. As had become their routine, Lily had fallen asleep with James. They'd been Head Students for less than a month, and she couldn't keep her damn hands to herself. She was so screwed.

They'd have to talk about it of course, but right now she was having fun without putting a label on it. Last year the two of them had become friends, really close friends who might have snogged a few times. This year had evolved into shagging each other and then eventually falling asleep together. Their friends had caught on quickly, but as far as the rest of the school was concerned nothing had changed between the two of them.

She ran her fingers through her hair once again and entered the office with a sigh. She hated these stupid meetings. Every second Sunday, the two head students were forced to hold a drop-in hour for the prefects to see them with any issues. The first one had been dead, not a single prefect had bothered to show up so Lily didn't expect anyone to be in the office let alone James.

"Nice of you to finally join me, I was worried you'd be late," he said, smirking as he leaned back in his chair.

Lily looked him up and down as she walked towards her desk. He'd drank way more than her last night. How was he so awake and put together? Lily was a mess, she hadn't even bothered to go to her dorm to change since nobody came to these sessions. She was wearing her jeans from last night and one of his jumpers she'd thrown on.

"How are you so awake? You drank way more than me. Also, where were you this morning? Sirius woke me up and-"

"Evans," James interrupted, wearing a shit-eating grin on his face, "we have company." He nodded towards the sofa as he threaded his hands behind his head.
Lily's stomach dropped. Sat on the sofa was William Clarke. He was one of the Hufflepuff seventh year prefects and Lily's ex-boyfriend from early last year.

Shit. Shit. Shit. The reason they'd broken up was sitting at the desk beside her, still wearing his shit-eating grin, twirling a quill between his fingers. Lily knew that in his brilliant mind James would think he'd won. To be fair, he kinda had.

Will hadn't liked that Lily and James had become friends and many of their fights were because of James. At the end of one brutal fight, Will had told her "get lost and go snog Potter." They'd broken up the next day.

"I didn't know you were a Puddlemere fan," Will's voice broke Lily from her thoughts. She looked down at the oversized jumper she was wearing. Bloody hell why did she grab James's favourite quidditch jumper. Everyone knew he was a loyal Puddlemere fan and wore the jumper every time there was a match.
Her face went hot, "Oh erm-" she stuttered. James looked like a cat who'd caught the canary.

"She lost a bet, the Harpies lost to United so she has to wear it for a full day," he said smirking, still leaned back in his chair. "Guess today's the day."

"Right, Will, what can we do for you?" Lily said sitting in her chair pushing the too big jumper sleeves up to her elbows. She figured it was best to take the direct approach. It would save any small talk and help her get out of this awkward encounter as fast as possible.

"I have a problem with the schedule, I'm part of Astronomy Club and our meetings are at midnight every new moon," he looked at Lily when he spoke. She nodded, she knew he loved astronomy and it was one of the things that he'd used to charm her in the first place. He loved to talk about how the positions of the stars could change the course of time.
He'd take Lily out on nighttime strolls and point out how Perseus was as bright as Mars and that meant that danger was drawing near.
Lily enjoyed the walks, but she didn't like looking to the stars for predictions. Of course, danger loomed, they were in the middle of a war.

Will continued, "This month that falls on my patrol night, I was just wondering if in the future that could be taken into account. I've already switched with Lottie Davies for this Thursday."

Lily noticed that James was writing the request down which meant it was up to her to answer him.

"Sure, we can do that. James found a charm that helps us figure out everyone's schedule so we don't have to keep checking our notes."

Truth be told, James and the boys had stumbled upon the Persequor Charm while creating the Marauders Map. They'd modified it and combined it with the Homoculus Charm in order to show everyone's name on the map. They'd also modified it where they can ask the map to track a certain person.

"So, Lily, how are you doing," Will said, giving her a pointed look. Did he know? Could he tell?

"I'm fine, just busy with head stuff and classes, you know...the usual," she said anxiously twisting the hem of the jumper in her fingers.

James finished writing and smirked at her. He knew the truth. Her spare time was spent with him. They both had a lot on their plates and being around the other, no matter how confusing, resulted in relaxation. It didn't always get physical either. They'd stay up late for hours just talking in front of the fire or cuddled together in his bed. James had told her things he'd never told anyone, not even Sirius.

Lily was still frantically twirling the hem of his jumper so he decided to rescue her.
"So is that it Clarke? He said, cocking his eyebrow at the other boy, "I've changed your availability in the schedule, do you need anything else from us?"

"No, that's it, thanks," William replied, getting up realising that he wasn't going to get any more from the two head students. He gave Lily a once over and walked out the door.

"Oh god," Lily sighed, running her hand through her hair. "He totally knew."

James' heartbeat picked up as he looked at her, "Would that be such a bad thing?"

Lily looked over to him, her eyes wide with shock. He looked at her flushed cheeks, she was so goddamn beautiful. He knew where this was headed, ever since last year when they'd first kissed. This was it. He was all in, and he knew that she was too.

Lily looked at the boy next to her and flushed. He was right, she knew it, and she knew he did too. The ball was in her court, and though it had happened faster than she wanted, she was sick of being cautious. James made her feel alive, he reminded her that there was still good in the world.
His hazel eyes were bright behind his glasses and she knew he was nervous by the way he kept chewing on his lips.

"Maybe that's not such a bad thing," she said, getting up and closing the gap between them.