James and Sirius crept down the stairs to the Slytherin dungeons, moving skillfully together beneath James' invisibility cloak. Every now and then, a flash of tennis shoe would appear along the floor, but no one but the keenest of observers would have caught it.

James, having watched Lily and Severus disappear together after breakfast, was certain they were in the dungeons. Sirius had tried to tell him that following them was a waste of time, but James was determined to know what they did when they were alone. The thought of them together scalded him, made him clench up with jealousy. Sirius pulled out their working version of the Marauders Map (it wasn't finished yet) and whispered "I solemnly swear I am up to no good."

He unfolded the large parchment as best he could beneath the cloak and began searching the mapped parts of the Slytherin dungeons. He found Lily and Snape easily and quickly, either standing or sitting together in the third potion lab to the left, just up ahead of where they were currently.

"James, look," Sirius said quietly, pointing to their names on the map. The dots of Severus Snape and Lily Evans were sitting (standing?) next to one another in the lab. The innocuousness of those dots, however small, tortured James. What could they be doing? "Mischief managed," Sirius whispered, folding the map back up and stuffing it beneath his robes in to the back pocket of his jeans. James pointed towards the door of the lab and put a finger to his mouth, encouraging silence.

To their delight, the door to the potions lab wasn't even closed, but open just wide enough for James and Sirius to see a steaming cauldron sitting on a worktable. They were brewing a potion?

"I guess I am," they heard Severus say. He sounded happy.

They waited quietly outside the door, ears trained for any sound of movement, but Lily and Severus were quiet, too quiet, James thought. His mind subjected him to horrible visions of Lily, lovely Lily, kissing disgusting Snivellus Snape. He felt he might not be able to stand the silence one more minute, when he heard Lily's voice.

"For the will of love is stronger than the will of man, and we are subject to its whims as leaves blown about in the gust, swept away in the torrent, and eventually decayed by winter's hand. We have no more control over whom we may come to love than we have over the rising of the moon, the pulling of the tides, or the influence of the planets in their orbit on our humble and fractious lives. "

James listened, his face growing paler by the second. Hearing Lily's even, well-read voice reciting poetry to Severus about having no control over who you loved was making him feel sick.

"Rather poetic, isn't it?" James heard Lily ask Severus.

James could stand it no longer, he had to see what they were doing! Boldly, he pushed the door open just a bit and peered in. Lily was sitting bolt upright on her stool, looking towards the door. James drew back as Severus crossed the potion lab.

Severus opened the door and peered both ways out into the hallway. James and Sirius stood directly in front of him, shielded from view by the cloak of invisibility. James looked at Severus with new hatred, studying his long thin face, framed by black unwashed shoulder-length hair, his severe cheekbones looking all the uglier when James thought of this skinny, sallow, weedy boy as the person who had won Lily's affections.

"It was a draft," they heard Severus say as he closed the door.

When the door to the potions lab was closed, James pulled the invisibility cloak off of them angrily and stuffed it in his bag.

"Sorry, mate," Sirius said, in a way that indicated that he wasn't really sorry at all. "I told you this was a waste of time."

"What's she doing, reading poetry to Snape?" James fumed as they made their way back to Gryffindor Tower. "And what were they brewing? I'm pretty sure it wasn't just any old Essence of Euphoria!"

They were steadily climbing the stairs towards the portrait of the fat lady. "I can't believe they're brewing a love potion together," James said disgustedly. Sirius looked at him. "You don't know for sure that's what they were doing," He told James.

"What else could they be doing? What about all that 'will of love' stuff?" James asked miserably. "She was talking about not being able to control who you love."

Sirius shrugged.

"Ugh, this is the worst. And you heard what Lily said last night! She said that he wasn't that bad looking! She basically called him talented and smart. I'm talented and smart, Snape's just a greasy git!"

They had reached the portrait of the fat lady. She narrowed her eyes at Sirius- she had never taken a liking to him.

"Polaris," Sirius said, and the portrait swung forward, revealing the rounded hole that led to the Gryffindor common room. James crawled through first, grumbling as he went.

"I've got to break them up, somehow." James was saying, as the portrait of the fat lady swung closed behind them.