"First official Marauder meeting of the 1978-1979 school year," announced Remus as he scrawled these words across a piece of parchment. "Wednesday, October 27, 7 o'clock P.M."

"Oh, shove off," said Sirius impatiently. "Notes are so last year. The point is, we are here to discuss a few key things: namely, James and Lily, James and Lily, James and Lily, and not least of all, James and Lily."

"Don't forget we haven't done a good prank in a while," added Peter.

The other three stared at him.

"All right, so what do you care about me and Lily?" asked James after quite the awkward silence.

"You two are being so ridiculously difficult," whined Sirius.

"I am no expert on these sorts of things," analyzed Remus, "but it seems to me that you two are going to dire extremes to avoid being together."

"What?" exclaimed James incredulously. "I'm not doing the avoiding. She obviously is."

"Right, and now we've decided to intervene," stated Sirius. "We feel that things aren't moving quickly enough for such destined lovers."

"What would give you the notion that we are 'destined lovers,' as you say, and that if we indeed are, that I do not have this all under control?"

"Modesty never got you anywhere, Padfoot," scoffed Sirius. "I think we can all acknowledge that you are destined lovers."

"Now all we have to do is get her to acknowledge it," decided Remus. "The plan begins."

"I'd rather not push it," protested James. "Really, I am handling this."

"Handling it so well, in fact, that you still haven't asked her to the Halloween Ball that is this Saturday?"

"I…well, I…" stammered James. "I sort of assumed she was going to go with me, being Head Girl and all…"

"Your assumptions guarantee you nothing!" shouted Sirius while pounding on the table to emphasize each of his words. "You know how you've gotten this far?"

James shook his head, eyes as wide as Galleons.

"Persistence!" barked Sirius. "But for some reason you've chickened out recently."

"I told you, I'm giving her some room, and she's going to let me know when she makes up her mind," explained James.

"Exactly, but you haven't given her a reason to make up her mind yet."

"You guys, I really appreciate your concern, but I'd rather not have your help."

"Fine," Remus gave in.

"But," interjected Sirius, "take our advice to heart, and for the love of God, just go ask her already."

"I'm going, I'm going," mumbled James.

And going he went, down from his room where they had congregated for the meeting to the Common Room where Lily sat comfortably with a book practically larger than her torso on her lap.

"Hey," she said as she glanced up at James. Thinking about it, he realized it might have been the first time that she acknowledged his presence without him saying hello first.

"Do you think we've planned this ball well enough?" he asked, trying to make small talk.

"Well there's no use wondering anymore; it's nearly here, and we can't really change anything now."

"You're right," agreed James. "I haven't made plans for one thing, though."

"What did you forget now?"

"A date."

"Oh," frowned Lily.

"Don't look so sad," quipped James. "I'm not that terrible."

"No, no…" she corrected him. "I just feel bad because I can't think of someone to set you up with, seeing as how I'm going with Severus and all…"

"You're what?" bellowed James, attracting a few stares and whispers.

"Lighten up, Potter," laughed Lily. "Yes, I'll go with you."

"Oh…well, that was easy," smiled James, able to breathe again. "We're set then."

"I'm really excited, James," Lily grinned. "It should be fun."

"Yeah, really fun…" James echoed, unable to believe his ears. "Awesome! I'll talk to you later."

He turned to go relate the news to his friends when Lily spoke again. "You up for some hot cocoa or anything? I'm beginning to fall asleep but I've got a hundred pages to read yet so I need to walk around and wake up."

"Yeah, definitely. To the kitchens!"

And so the extremely lucky Head Boy accompanied the particularly flirtatious Head Girl for a nighttime drink, and he swore that in that half-hour only, any feelings he had for her multiplied themselves by four and swelled to fill every tiny bit of his mind, body, and soul. Every time she laughed and her hair flew into his face, James was more than sure that his heart had skipped a beat, and when Lily's hand accidentally brushed against his, James held it for a brief moment and quickly let it go when she gave him a surprised look.

If nothing else, it was going to be a ridiculously frustrating Saturday night.

-----

Thursday and Friday came to pass, and in the evening hours of the day of the ball, every soul at Hogwarts was situated in front of a mirror, making sure that they could impress someone they fancied or look especially attractive for someone who fancied them.

Quite funnily enough, Lily and James were doing both simultaneously. While she battled a particularly stubborn lock of hair which refused to curl, James attacked the hair at the back of his head which stood up on end with a comb. As she gave up, threw her curlers down, and went to wait for Audrey, James shrugged, decided his hair would never stay flat, and descended to the Common Room to anticipate Lily's arrival.

A few minutes before eight, James temporarily ceased all breathing. Lily had walked down the stairs with Audrey, swinging her brilliant, scarlet hair behind her as she laughed, and looking, by far, the most gorgeous she ever had, in a simple black halter dress which fell a few inches above her knees.

Walking over to him so casually, as if she had absolutely no idea what effect she had on him, Lily linked arms with James and smiled, "Shall we?"

For a moment, James had no response. All he could see were her dizzying, emerald eyes. The Common Room shrank into the shadows cast by her shining beauty, and he gripped more tightly onto her arm for fear of losing his balance.

"You look positively beautiful," he whispered.

She blushed uncomfortably and promptly looked away. "We're going to be late."

"Yes, yes, the ball." James cleared his throat and turned towards the portrait hole. "Right, we can't be late."

Either they had done a nasty job of decorating or James was rather distracted by the stunning young woman to pay any attention to the Great Hall, for all the money in the world would not have helped him to remember a single detail about the decorations which he had planned if you had asked him about them the next day.

Throughout dinner, James could hardly concentrate on eating because he was too busy trying to think of things to say that Lily would find fascinating.

"Oi, Prongs!" called Sirius. "You might want to close your mouth; if I wanted to know what chewed-up chicken looked like, I would have spit out my own."

With this comment, James was brought to reality for the first time that night. Becoming conscious of where he was, he began to fear the moment that would come all too soon, the moment that would test all his determination.

"You ready to dance?" inquired Lily, resting her hand on his forearm.

How could she be so calm in such a difficult situation as this? Did she know how hard he was fighting the urge to take her into his arms and find a place far away from any people?

James slowly gained composure, closed his eyes, opened them, took her hand in his, and replied, "But of course."

For the first song, James was taking his time getting acquainted with the fact that Lily was a mere six inches away from him.

The next song brought Lily another two inches closer, and James adjusted his hand on her waist, making a conscious effort to make sure it didn't go too high or too low.

By the third song, a strand of Lily's hair was tickling his chin as she rested her head on his chest.

Was this it? Had she thought about it? Was she trying to tell him that she was going to give in to the image she saw in the Mirror of Erised?

James' heart pounded faster and faster until he was sure it was hurting Lily's head, and he caught his breath just in time to sigh, "Lily?"

She slowly brought her head up until her face was directed towards his, so close that James could feel her hot breath upon his nose and cheeks, close enough that if he had wanted to kiss her it would have been so easy, so why not try it and see what-

"James, don't." She pressed her fingertips to his lips in an attempt to stop him. "Please don't rush this…just wait."

And though it was the most difficult feat in the world for him, he would have waited for twenty years if Lily had told him to.

Taking a deep breath, she returned to rest on his chest, interlocking her fingers with his.

After just a few seconds, she lifted her head again and laughed. "You were right; you're not that terrible after all. In fact, I feel like I ought to kick myself for fighting you for so many years."

"Don't do that," said James shakily. "All that matters is that we're here now, right?"

Lily cracked a small smile, nodded in absolute agreement, and returned to her prior position.

James lowered his head to kiss her forehead, completely satisfied with whatever he could get. "Don't you worry, my Lils," he assured her. "I won't let you down."

"I'm not worried," she beamed. "I think I've had enough time to think about whether or not I trust you by now."

"I assume you decided you do?"

"Wholeheartedly."

James spun Lily out, twirled her around his finger twice, and pulled her in again as she nestled herself into his arms once again.

Finally, everything was perfect.

------

Just as the two "destined lovers" (as Sirius would have it) started something which would keep them unexplainably attached for month upon month after that day, Peter Pettigrew began a task that would be the sole reason that they would finally be separated.

Voldemort's newest follower lurked in the shadows of the dance floor, sipping from his goblet of pumpkin juice and observing all the couples spending the night in each other's arms.

All at once, his eyes skimmed past nearly everyone in the Great Hall and came to land on an object of his interest. What was this? Finally, Lily and James together? They seemed a bit more friendly than they had just a few days ago.

Smirking to himself, Peter began to wonder how his Lord would treat this information. He was not sure if it mattered, but it was rather suspicious. Why would a Pureblood have so much interest in a mere Mudblood like Lily? It was worth investigating.

Giving Remus the excuse that he did not feel so well, Peter retired to his room to compose a letter to the man who would soon turn all their lives upside down.

-----

Yayyy, I liked that chapter! It was super gooey lovey dovey because I know some of you like that stuff…Well, no use wasting time rambling here; I better be off planning what to write next…So, you know the drill. Let me know what you think, and another update will be available soon!

-Marina