AN: Here it is – my early birthday present to myself Let me know what y'all think!

Lily stared at the couple in front of her in shock. What was Emmeline doing with Sirius Black? Not that she disapproved – she'd long ago realized her prejudice against Black hadn't been very fair.. and Black was James' best friend. But Black? Who would want to be with Black when they had James bloody Potter?

Sirius narrowed his eyes at Lily's outburst. He hadn't quite forgotten what had caused Emmeline to change her mind about him all those months ago. Even though Prongs had told him it was a misunderstanding. Plus, she had some bloody cheek trying to talk to any Marauder after the way she'd led Prongs by the nose all year. Sirius Black could forgive a lot of things, but he could not forgive anyone hurting James. Lily was, however, his girlfriend's best mate, so he twisted his lips into what he supposed was a civil smile.

"Can we help you, Evans?"

'E-em… aren't you? J-james?'

"What do you want with Prongs?' Sirius' tone was sneering. She had some nerve, mentioning Prongs in his presence. The sod had disappeared with his invisibility cloak hours ago, looking more depressed than he had when Gryffindor lost the quidditch cup to Slytherin.

'I.. I thought you were dating James?' Lily's voice was quiet. Her head was reeling, and she didn't want Black, who was glaring at her rather menacingly to know it.

"N-no… I told you Sirius told me he loved me" Emmeline blushed. She wasn't sure how Sirius would react to her momentary crush on James, but it wasn't as if anyone was immune to the Potter charm. Besides, deep down, she had always been in love with Sirius. When she received his letter, she'd known that it wasn't possible for her to feel that way about anyone else.

"Now why would Prongs go straight to you when we got back if he was already dating Emmeline?" Sirius was incredulous. Honestly, Evans was supposed to be smart.

'He- he he was going to tell me something that was going to ruin our friendship' Lily's heart stood still as she replayed her conversation with James in her head. 'He.. was going to tell me something…'

"Was, mate" Sirius didn't look too sympathetic as Emmeline moved towards her friend to hug her. She finally realized why Lily had reacted so badly to her crush on James. It was because Lily was in love with the bloke herself.

'W-was..?' Lily was dazed.

"I'm afraid so" Remus and Dorcas, who had joined the little group were looking at Lily with pity.

"He was headed towards the Forest when I last saw him.."

'The FOREST… but-but there are spiders and werewolves" Lily glanced at Remus, her cheeks burning slightly as she spoke.

"Trust me… he'll be fine" Remus smiled weakly. He knew he was dangerous during his "time of the month" as James and Sirius often put it. It wasn't the full moon yet, though, and almost all the creatures in the forest wouldn't harm a stag.

'W-what do you mean he was going to tell me something? I'll find him and tell him it was all a misunderstanding!' Lily was aware of the note of panic seeping into her voice. If James was going to finally ask her out again – surely all he would need would be some reassurance and encouragement, right? Right?

"Lily.. once a Marauder gives up… they don't turn back" Sirius was starting to feel sorry for the miserable redhead in front of him. Yes she was hotheaded and prissy, but he had never seen a girl look quite so… crushed.

'You gave Em another chance…'

"I never quite gave up…" Sirius smirked, kissing his girlfriend's hand lightly.

'Lily.. where are you going?' Dorcas' mother hen instincts were awakened as Lily stumbled blindly towards the door.

'F-for a walk… I need to clear my head'

"Outside?" Emmeline was worried. Lily herself had mentioned the dangers in the Forbidden Forest.. and Lily wasn't quite as good at getting out of trouble as James seemed to be.

'I'll be fine.. I'll stay on the grounds' Lily's voice was small. She needed to be alone. She needed to think about this.

Lily Evans broke into a run as she reached the Quidditch pitch. She could almost see James soaring through the air, his crimson robes flying in the wind as he swooped down after the Snitch. It wasn't fair. She wanted to clear her mind, and she went straight to the place which was almost always associated with him.

Through the veil of tears in her eyes, Lily could make out a slight movement from the changing room area. She breathed in sharply as a tall, majestic figure came into view. A beautiful black stag, with beautiful antlers stood before her. In the moonlight, she could see that his coat was shiny, and there was a messy tuft of black hair between his ears. His large, hazel eyes shone with a human like expression of compassion. The way he cocked his head and stared at her was so…

The stag reminded her of James. There was no more denying it – she had it bad. She was even seeing him in animals. Something about the stag's quizzical expression reminded her of him again, and she flung her arms around the animal's neck, sobbing into his mane. The stag stood still and let her hold him until she stopped crying. When she stopped crying, he bowed his head with an almost courtly expression before scampering off into the night. Lily was still upset about James, but somehow the stag's presence had calmed her. It had also given her an epiphany. She was not going to give up on James Potter. He had chased her for years, tirelessly, relentlessly and even mercilessly. She knew she could remind him of how he used to feel about her. All she needed was to get his attention. And to do that, she needed some help from three marauders, in particular, one Sirius Black.

James rubbed his eyes tiredly as he made his way to the Great Hall. The previous night had been emotionally draining, to say the least. First, Lily had all but told him she only wanted to be his friend, that there was really no point in him telling her how he felt. Even if this time he had been planning on doing it in private, not on one knee in front of the entire great hall. Then she had clung on to him, sobbing her eyes out on the quidditch pitch. James wondered if she would have held him for so long if she had known he was the stag on the grounds. Probably – she was pretty touchy feely with him most of the time. Even though he was just a mate. James scowled at the thought. Later that night, when he went to camp out in Sirius, Remus and Peters' room, the other marauders had unceremoniously kicked him out. Honestly, what kind of mates did he have, anyway? Eventually, he had snuck back into his room and attempted to sleep, tossing fitfully for most of the night. He knew it wasn't the first time he had been rejected by Lily, but somehow this felt more… real. He cared too much about her to upset her further by bothering her with his feelings. She had made it clear what she wanted. Now if only it didn't hurt so bloody much.

James pushed open the door to the hall, half wondering where his friends were. Sirius Black never missed breakfast. Or any meal really. And Merlin knew Wormtail considered himself to be starving if he was five minutes late for a snack. His eyes grew wide as he caught sight of a spectacle in the middle of the hall.

Severus Snape was being levitated near the ceiling. By the Head Girl herself. James took off his glasses and wiped them on the sleeve of his robe, certain that he was seeing things.

"Don't you EVER say that about him again" Lily's eyes had flashed with venom as she stared at her former friend. How dare he come up to her and make those threats about James? It had taken Emmeline AND Peter to hold Sirius down, while Remus had been glaring pretty hard himself. And he had interrupted their planning session, too.

James was torn between amusement and concern. On one hand, the sight of old Snivelly on the ceiling of the Great Hall was hilarious, and the fact that it was Lily who was doing it was classic. He briefly wondered what Snivellus had done to incur the wrath of Lily Evans. Even when he had called her a mudblood in their fifth year, she hadn't been angry enough to retaliate, she had just stopped talking to him.

On the other hand, Lily could get into real trouble if any of the teachers were to show up. And he knew how much the Head Girl badge meant to her. Sighing, James bit his lip to keep the smirk off his face and marched up to Lily, trying his best to maintain a stern expression.

"Evans… put him down!"

Lily turned towards James, a slow smirk spreading across her face. The plan had been fireworks across the Great Hall, like James had done in their third year, but she figured this would do too.

'Only if you'll go out with me, Potter'

James' expression froze. Was she making fun of him? But.. there was something in her green eyes.. a spark of… hope? Nervousness? He swallowed slightly, aware of the sudden silence in the hall. The entire student body was staring at the two Head students, wide eyed and open mouthed.

'G-g-g-go on then, say you'll go out with me and I won't harm a hair on his head again' Lily gulped, losing some of her bravado. Why had she listened to Black when he said public displays and pranks would be the best way to get his attention? This was the most embarrassing moment of her life. Was this how he'd felt every time she turned him down in front of everyone?

James stared, taking in her nervous lip biting and the emotion in her eyes. Unable to speak, he pulled her into his arms and pressed his lips against hers, undeterred by the loud thump as a certain greasy haired Slytherin fell to the ground. He was even able to down out the sound of Sirius' loud whoops as he leaned down and kissed the girl of his dreams.

AN: Hot? Not? I don't have anything against Snape, but Lily and James belong together! Plus the latest movie got me kind of riled up – they completely ignored the fact that Snape did, in fact, antagonize James and even hurt him. He hexed James when his back was turned! And he called Lily a mudblood! He wasn't a bad person and he did love Lily, but there was a reason Lily didn't end up with him, and I don't think the movie showed that at all. :P I do think Lily is a little OOC here, but I wanted it to go full circle. Besides I'm allowed a little creative license ;)