January 30, 1978

Lily awoke to the sound of a beak pecking at her window. She groaned and slowly made her way to the window to let in the insistent owl.

A rush of cold air greeted her when she opened the window and she shivered. Lily shut the window quickly when the owl hopped in. She noticed the fine layer of snow that covered the grounds, which hadn't been there yesterday. Lily smiled, she liked snow it was pretty and peaceful.

The owl hooted softly beside her, pulling Lily out of her morning daze. Lily took the letter from the owl and opened it.

My dearest Lily,

I would like to wish you a very happy birthday, one which I hope you will enjoy because I have planned a wondrous day for you. It starts right after lessons, since I know you like to actually be a good student.

With tremendous amounts of love,

James.

Lily lowered the letter. Was it really her birthday? She hadn't even realized it when she'd woken up. But it was, she was 18 today. Too bad it was Monday and she had to go to lessons.

Lily got dressed quickly and went down to the common room.

It was entirely empty and completely silent. Lily found this rather odd, but decided that even if someone or many people were hiding behind couches or chairs, she should walk to the portrait hole. She got to the middle of the room before her four dorm mates and best friends jumped out yelling "Surprise!" and throwing confetti.

"Holy Merlin!" Lily burst out in surprise. She had been half-expecting this to happen, but it was still a shock.

"How does it feel to be eighteen, Lils?" Mary asked.

"Umm, so far pretty much the same as being seventeen."

"Let's go get birthday breakfast, I'm starving!" Dorcas said.

"Excellent idea!" Marlene said, taking Dorcas' hand and leading the group to the portrait hole.

o0o

Lily chose a variety of foods for breakfast. It wasn't very different from what she usually had, since Hogwarts seemed to be constantly in banquet mode, but it was still extremely tasty. Lily was puzzled that James wasn't at breakfast, since he never missed a meal and also never missed an opportunity to be with Lily.

However, ten minutes before their first class was supposed to start, Lily and her friends made their way back to Gryffindor tower to grab their class materials. Lily kept looking around for James, but he wasn't there.

The first lesson of the day was Arithmancy. Lily had it with all her dorm mates, but not James. It was a little strange that the only time she'd heard from him had been in a short letter this morning.

Lily put those thoughts aside and focused on Arithmancy. It was a decent lesson and Lily was grateful that at least she didn't have to sit through a dull lesson on her birthday, especially since it was already on a Monday.

After Arithmancy Lily went with Marlene and Alice to Ancient Runes while Dorcas and Mary went to Care of Magical Creatures.

Ancient Runes was a little dull, since they were just practicing translating, however it gave Lily a chance to talk to Marlene and Alice.

"You know Lils, you can legally drink in the muggle world now." Marlene said.

"Yeah I know, but I don't really need to."

"Still kind of fun that you have the option." Alice shrugged.

"Any idea what you want to do after classes today?" Marlene asked.

"I don't know, James said he had something planned in a letter, but I haven't actually seen him."

"Oh right. James. I still can't believe you're dating him." Marlene frowned.

"Geez Marls, it's not totally unbelievable. Apparently to everyone other than me it was totally obvious I was in love with him."

"Well yeah, but I couldn't believe it!"

"I can! So you have no idea what he's planning though?" Alice asked.

"Not a clue."

"Bizarre."

o0o

Even more peculiar than James not being at breakfast, was James not being at lunch. He was strangely absent. However, Lily saw Remus, Sirius and Peter.

"Hey."

"Happy birthday Lily-flower!" Sirius said loudly.

"Oh be quiet." Lily snapped.

"Rather rude to someone just trying to wish you a happy birthday, Lily-flower." Sirius shrugged.

"I want to know where James is." Lily asked Remus ignoring Sirius.

The boys exchanged nervous glances.

"He's gone to use the loo." Peter pipped up.

Lily turned to face him.

"Oh Peter, innocent Peter. You think I believe that?" She said.

"Okay I'm afraid."

"Good. Where's James?"

Peter looked at Remus and Sirius, who were frantically trying to signal him to stop.

"He's in the loo." Peter said not looking at Lily.

"Still lying I see." Lily turned to Remus. "How 'bout you? Where's James?"

"The loo." Remus deadpanned.

"Oh right so he'll be out in a minute, with clean hands?"

"Well, he might be going number two, if you know what I mean." Sirius said wriggling his eyebrows and smiling.

"Grow up, Black. Where is he?"

"Loo." Sirius smiled.

"You are all useless." Lily threw up her hands in frustration. Then she remembered something. "Where's the map?"

"What map?" Peter was starting to sweat.

"The map. I know about the map. Where is it?"

Sirius involuntarily patted his robe pocket protectively. Lily smiled. She grabbed at the map and wrenched it out from Sirius' pocket before he even knew what was happening.

"Right." Lily opened it, but it was blank. Lily furrowed her brows in confusion. Then the map shimmered and words began to appear.

Mr. Padfoot would like to note that Ms. Evans has been stealing and that is a felony in the Queen's land that could land the lady in prison. The thief.

Mr. Moony agrees and would like to add that Ms. Evans is smart enough to keep her nose out of belongings that aren't hers.

Mr. Wormtail believes that Ms. Evans should return this stolen property and carry on her day.

Mr. Prongs thinks that Ms. Evans is entitled to anything that is his and would like to note to his associates that it is Ms. Evans birthday and that they need to respect that.

Lily folded the map up quietly. Sirius, Remus, and Peter waited silently for her to finish.

"May I have that back?" Sirius ventured.

"You know, Black, I think I'll keep this. Take my chances in 'the Queen's land'."

Lily returned to her friends and ate lunch with them trying to ignore the butterflies in her stomach as she wondered where James was and what he was planning.

o0o

James was in charms, but Professor Flitwick assigned partners and Lily was with Mary across the room from where James and Peter were.

After charms Lily milled outside the charms classroom waiting for James to exit.

When he finally did Lily grabbed his sleeve and dragged him away from the marauders.

"Hey Lily. Happy birthday, my love." He smiled.

"Fuck you, James. Where have you been all day?"

James looked slightly taken aback but he put his hand in his pocket and lifted the invisibility cloak slightly so Lily could see.

"I have been planning, I didn't want to accidentally reveal something in my excitement. We need to change then we can go."

"Go where?" Lily asked.

"It's a surprise, Evans."

"It's not a surprise where my foot is going to end up if you don't tell me." Lily said, crossing her arms over chest.

"Oh." James swallowed. "Well how about a hint?"

"Talk."

"It's in London."

"London?" Lily raised her eyebrows in surprise.

"Yes, London. Meet me back here in 10 minutes. That enough time?"

"Yeah, okay."

"Happy birthday, Evans."

A/N: Part 2 coming soon.