Lily laid a set of midnight blue robes on her bed on Saturday morning, her favorite for dancing as they glittered on the hem and twirled as she moved.

She and all her fellow sixth year Gryffindor girls spent no less than an hour getting ready, and not one of them managed to get down to the Entrance Hall by five o'clock. None of the boys ambling around the Hall seemed surprised or bothered by this. Most of them were chatting or otherwise mucking around, waiting for their dates to join them so they could ride off to Hogsmead.

Lily was the first in her dorm to make it downstairs, and as she descended the marble staircase, Sirius wolf-whistled. "Oi, don't let Prongsie see you looking like that, his head'll explode," but before Lily could sputter, "What? Why? He doesn't still—er, does he?" Sirius had gone off laughing with Emily.

But James, it seemed, was very busy. He had his Quidditch Keeper, Marc Hughes, in a headlock, and the boys were laughing in between having the wind knocked out of them. Lily rolled her eyes and watched them grapple, wrinkling their robes and sending cufflinks rolling across the floor.

The scuffle ended when Cordelia Prewett ascended the staircase to the right of the Great Hall and said, "Watch it you two, Head Girl coming through!" James surfaced from the fight breathless and grinning, looking all-too-pleased when he laid eyes on Cordelia.

She looked obnoxiously beautiful in delicate black robes with gold trimming and accents. She strode over to James and kissed him on his cheek. He mumbled something in her ear that made her smile widely. Just before they exited the Great Hall together, she called, "Oh drat, I've forgotten my badge!" and ran off to get it. James looked at his ease as he waited for her, before Lily's date bumped into him as he passed—whether accidentally or not, it was not clear. James followed Kurt with his eyes, and when they landed on Lily, his eyebrows shot up.

Lily looked at him across the hall, smiled and gave him a tiny wave. He looked stunned for a moment, then smiled faintly and gave her a dazed wave back. Before she turned to give Kurt a proper greeting, James mouthed something to her.

Lily furrowed her brow. "What?" she mouthed.

He mouthed something again, but Lily still could not make it out.

As Cordelia rejoined James, he said something to her, looking distracted. When she moved away to check her reflection in a glass case, James looked at Lily again and mouthed, "I SAID..." but again, she did not catch what he was trying to mouth. She shrugged, smiling confusedly. James threw his hands up in agitation, pointed his wand at Cordelia's back, and the gold accents on her robes quickly rearranged themselves to spell, "I SAID YOU LOOK BLOODY GORGEOUS," and with another wave of his wand, he added, "DITHER BRAIN."

Had the room suddenly become a furnace? Lily turned away to hide her smile and shook out her robes, feeling desperate for air.

"What's up, love?" Kurt asked.

"Oh, no, nothing," she said, and when she looked back at James, he shot her a fleeting smirk, then swung his arm around Cordelia and made his way out, his date's robes back to normal.

When everyone arrived at Hogsmead, there was some time to look in shops and walk around a bit before gathering in the square to see the Sickle Sell-Outs. Lily and Kurt had been getting on well enough despite their extremely limited contact with one another in the past. To Lily's profound aggravation, however, Kurt was another of her companions who seemed obsessed with besting James Potter.

"I mean, yeah, he's done well for himself on the pitch, but he's a bit of a show-off isn't he? I dunno why people make such a big deal, and honestly I dunno why all these birds fancy him so much. They've got odd taste, don't you think?"

"Mm-hm," Lily agreed absently.

"I remember fourth year—you know, that's the year we won the Cup, had Blake Fletcher as captain before he left Hogwarts—beat Gryffindor in the last match 320 to 310 and the Gryffindor Seeker caught the Snitch. Still beat 'em, and Potter was huffing and puffing all day at the Seeker for going for the Snitch. Still, was rubbish Chasing on his part, wasn't it?"

Lily was only half listening until he made that last remark. "Er, sorry—didn't Potter play with one hand in a splint from that curse Mulciber put on him the previous day?"

"Yeah," he said defensively, "So?"

"So he was playing one-handed and still scored about ten goals," she said.

"Still, though…" and he went ranting on, while Lily wondered when he would be sending out The Many Flaws of James Potter, Volume One for publication. She supposed she shouldn't be surprised; both Quidditch captains were extremely competitive, and though they were both talented, anyone would agree that James Potter was a far more skilled Chaser than Myers was a Keeper, and he was clearly bitter about the number of Quaffles James had gotten past him.

The rest of the evening went a lot like this, Kurt going on about Quidditch and the Ravenclaw team's chance at the Cup this year. A few times he asked Lily about herself and her family—he seemed very interested in her Muggle parentage and was extremely ignorant about the Muggle world. But at least he's interested, she thought.

Probably the most uncomfortable thing about her evening had, unfortunately, begun from the get-go. Anytime there was a lag in conversation, Myers seemed to be contemplating whether it was a good time to try and kiss her, and Lily found herself hoping that he wouldn't. There were no comfortable silences between them, and Lily tried to put as much distance between them every time she caught him staring at her lips.

When the Sickle Sell-Outs had finished a very good set and everyone in the square was energized and talking excitedly about what to do next, a good portion of the Hogwarts population had decided to go for drinks and snacks at the Three Broomsticks.

It seemed like everyone was in there, drinking Butterbeer, laughing, talking, getting to know their dates, and some had even found corners for a bit of snogging.

For a while, Lily joined Kurt with some of his Ravenclaw friends, and then he consented to join her with Libby, Alice, Maggie, and some of the boys. Eventually, however, they found themselves sitting in a corner of the very crowded tavern, and Kurt was talking about Quidditch.

Again.

When Kurt asked Lily if she was having a nice time, she said, "yeah, why?" and she knew she sounded defensive. He didn't seem to notice, however, and to Lily's horror, finally, he did it.

The kiss was quick, and Kurt seemed to have intended it as a test for Lily's reaction, and whether it was alright to proceed.

"Er," said Lily, and this seemed to satisfy Kurt. He smiled in a self-satisfied way, leaned back in toward Lily, and pressed his lips against hers.

It wasn't bad, really. Not at first anyway. He was a nice enough person, Lily thought, and for a few seconds she allowed the kiss to continue.

Kurt was nearly heaving with excitement, and Lily wondered if their lips were even touching as he shoved his tongue into her mouth. She attempted to make the kiss a bit more PG—she was very aware of their surroundings—but every time she tried to give him a gentler kiss, he shoved his tongue at her, even if he had to wriggle it between her teeth to get it into her mouth.

"Okay," said Lily, standing up, "I think we'd better slow down a little." More like a lot, thought Lily.

"Come on, Lily. Don't fight this," said Kurt, standing up too. He made to put his arm around her, but Lily ducked under it.

"Listen, I'm not fighting anything. I would just rather slow this down a bit. We're in the Three Broomsticks, Kurt."

"Yeah, but it's sort of…fun, isn't it?" And he went to kiss her again.

Lily turned her head away. "Kurt, you're a nice bloke and everything but I'd rather go back and join our friends. What it must look like, us holed up in a corner like this…"

"Forget what everybody else thinks. Just…" and he tried to kiss her again.

"Cut it out."

This time he didn't even say anything before going to kiss her again.

Lily ducked again, annoyed. "Look, mate, I'm not going to have a snogfest with you in a crowded tavern. Not to mention, I'm a Prefect," she said proudly.

"What, a Prefect can't have a bit of fun?" said Kurt playfully, putting his arms around her.

Lily attempted to pull his arms off of her, getting angry now, "Yes, but I have to set a good example and this is not setting a good example, now will you please—"

Kurt stumbled back, but it was not Lily's strength that did it. James Potter had marched across the Three Broomsticks, planted his hand firmly against Kurt's chest and continued forward, Kurt stumbling backwards against the force of James's stride, until he had backed him against the wall. James stood there, stone-faced and silent, his hand still on Kurt's chest. He gave him an additional, more subtle shove, then turned on his heel and strode wordlessly out of the bar.

Kurt straightened his robes and began muttering angrily, but Lily was only half listening. "Well that was…how rude…quite unnecessary if you ask me…going around putting his nose…made a fool of himself if you ask me…"

Lily was, in all honesty, pleased that no one in the Three Broomsticks had noticed anything apart from the rest of the Marauders, Emily, Maggie, Libby and her date, and a sulky looking Cordelia.

"Right," Lily mumbled. "Listen, I'm going to ...erm...go."

She went outside to look for James. She found him slouching on a bench with his legs crossed and extended, his head leaned back so that snow was falling directly onto his face.

Lily cleared her throat and James bolted upright, throwing his hands up. "I know! I know! It wasn't my place and you're probably really angry at me and I'm sure you've come out here to give me a good talking-to but let me just say something, Evans." He was waving a finger at her now. "I like a bit of fun as much as the next bloke but if I ever got pushy like that—physically pushy," he clarified in agitation when Lily raised a hand to make a point, "I would hope someone in the room would put me in my place too. I couldn't help it and I would have done it for anyone—you, Libby, Maggie, Alice, my sister if I had one, I dunno, I just, I got angry and please try to understand."

Lily made to speak, but James was apparently not finished.

"And it wasn't like I was staring at the pair of you or anything, I mean, it was pretty obvious to everyone he was shoving his tongue down your throat"—he looked really angry now—"and actually Maggie pointed it out at first and I wasn't going to just stand there…and by the way, even though I am sorry for butting in where it probably wasn't my place, I will have a lot more to say if you're going to keep going out with him." James finished, breathing fast.

Lily considered him for a moment—his fogged-up glasses, the snow clinging to his wet, extra-messy black hair, his rosy nose and cheeks standing out against his pale skin, his expression, which was a mixture of anger and apprehension—and sighed.

Bursting with a very familiar gratitude for James Potter, Lily wrapped her arms around his waist, stood on tiptoe to kiss his cheek, and scurried back inside.

As it turned out, Kurt was so embarrassed by his exchange with Lily and James that, after Lily returned inside, he did not make an attempt to approach her. He kept to his friends the rest of the evening. Though Lily was sure the opportunity to join him still remained, she considered it a blessing and spent the rest of the night with her friends as well. With the mead and Butterbeer flowing, James and Sirius began flirting shamelessly with Madam Rosmerta, and she seemed to be enjoying it immensely.

This was a source of amusement for everyone but Emily, who Sirius had begun to neglect quite a bit. The pair were, frankly, quite drunk, and at one point Sirius hugged James so tightly James was gasping for air, listening to Sirius say, "D'ya know you're like a brother to me, mate? 'Cept way more annoying. You dunno how bad I felt for Evans here when you wouldn't lay off." And he grabbed Lily roughly by the shoulders and dragged her near them. One arm each around a chuckling James and a rather tipsy Lily, Sirius said, "But honestly, I'm sorry—hic—sorry you two never, you know," and be made a rather obscene gesture with his hands. Lily nearly gagged, trying to shove Sirius off.

"Talking of," she said through laughter, as Sirius moved away to order another mead, "where is your lovely date? Haven't seen her for ages."

"Oh, she's got her knickers in a twist because I rescued you from your date-rapist. Apparently that means I'm in love with you." They both laughed again.

"Well, I am very sorry I've cost you your date."

"Yeah? How sorry?" James said, winking, and Lily punched his arm.

Sirius returned, leaned over and whispered into Lily's ear, "Go on, kiss the poor boy on his lips." Lily shoved him, making sure that James did not notice the exchange, and nearly fell over a stool in the process. James caught her and they both fell to pieces laughing.

"Christ alive," Sirius barked, "Someone make up a bed for the Potters."

"D'you need protection? I'm sure Sirius carries The Potion in his robes 24/7," Maggie said, to Emily's irritation.

"It's only about a Galleon for accommodations here, you know," said Remus. When everyone laughed, he added, "I reckon you can get an hourly rate though."

"Yeah," laughed Sirius, "What a waste of a Galleon for a minute's worth of use."

Mid-laugh, Lily caught an evil look from Libby. Libby had clearly been watching the exchange the entire time, and her dirty look at Lily was clearly unintentional, as she looked away very quickly.

Lily had been having so much fun up to this point that she'd forgotten…

"Er, I'll be right back," Lily blurted, and she hurried outside for air.

She paced back and forth for a moment, kicking at the snow. "Stupid Libby," she muttered. She had never had so much fun with James, had never gotten on so well with him, and there Libby was making her conscience act up. Perhaps they were getting on so well because of the mead, though. Lily was feeling a bit woozy…

Lily heard the door open, heard the snow squelching beneath footsteps.

She did not need to turn to know that James had joined her outside. "Alright, Trouble?" he said.

"Fine, fine," she said. "Just needed a bit of fresh air."

"Not bothering you, am I?" James said with a crooked smile.

Lily gave a short, tinkling giggle. "Since when do you care if you're bothering anyone? Least of all me?"

"Good point! But since when do you spend more than eleven seconds with me without telling me how much I'm bothering you? I have to make sure you're feeling alright. Haven't been Imperiused or something…"

"Oh, shut it Potter," she said, and shoved him harder than she meant to. He slipped on some ice and fell.

"Oh, sod," said Lily sloppily, "I didn't mean to actually—oh blimey, are you alright?" and she knelt down beside him.

"Fine," he chuckled, "I dunno about my arse though."

"And look, your glasses are crooked now." She repositioned them, eye-level with James, and found herself staring at his lips. James swallowed audibly, cleared his throat and said, "Cheers, Evans."

It was quiet for a second before Lily withdrew her hands from his glasses. "No problem," she said quietly, and James was gazing hard into her eyes. She felt her stomach turn.

At that moment, kneeling in the snow together, Lily wanted to kiss James so badly she was a moment away from abandoning all of her reserve.

Then, horribly, her stomach turned again. Was this nervousness or—

"Oh blimey," she spluttered. "James, I think I might be sick."

"Ah. Make haste, Evans!" he said, springing to action by dragging her to the back of the Three Broomsticks where she was, in fact, sick.

Holding her hair back, James chuckled, "I think I hear Gryffindor Tower calling…"

"Ditto," Lily moaned.