Even from afar James could tell Lily was happy about something. He and the other Marauders sat in the corner of the library as Remus and Peter did homework and Sirius and he played a rather aggressive game of Exploding Snap.

"Your move," Sirius said, but James was too busy focusing on the group of girls in the other corner of the library. They were all excited and chattering among each other; Lily Evans sitting right in the middle, the most excited of all of them. "Prongs, are you planning on making a move anytime soon?" Sirius asked impatiently.

"What do you suppose they're so excited about," James asked Sirius, still fixated on Lily.

"Who cares? They're girls; no one can understand how their complicated brains work!" Sirius grumbled. James rolled his eyes and rose from the table. "Hey where are you going? We're in the middle of a game!" Sirius protested.

"I'll be back in a second," James said making his way over to the group of girls.

"Okay, try not to make an arse of yourself in front of your precious Evans!" Sirius called after him.

As James approached the group of girls, they all ceased their chatter and looked at him, some of them slightly amused; Lily, the most amused of them all.

"What do you want, Potter?" She asked as he came to a stop in front of the girls.

"Well Evans, this is a library, and since you ladies are making so much noise as to disturb the rest of us hardworking students, I thought I might as well come over to see what you all are fussing about," James said innocently. Lily rolled her eyes.

"Since when have you ever cared about the peacefulness of the library, Potter? I heard that Madame Pince gave you a week's detention for setting off a dungbomb in here yesterday."

"As much as I do appreciate your admiration of my work, Evans, that's not why I came over here," James responded. Lily glanced at her friends surrounding her as if she was wondering if they should tell the boy. Finally, Alice spoke up.

"Lily's got a date with Tag Edwards!" she said excitedly. All the girls started squealing again at the name.

"Tag Edwards? The Ravenclaw Quidditch Team Captain?" James asked, appalled.

"The very gorgeous Ravenclaw Quidditch Team Captain!" Marlene said dreamily.

"He asked her to Hogsmeade!" another girl piped in.

"Evans! I thought you had better taste than Edwards," James remarked. "He's not even that good at Quidditch. Sirius put him in the hospital for three days last year during the Gryffindor- Ravenclaw Quidditch match." Lily glared at him.

"Not that it's any of your business, Potter, but Tag Edwards is ten times the man you are. He's nice and smart and he doesn't waste his time on silly pranks like you and your Marauders do." She said Marauders like it was an insult. Lily rose from her chair and got right in James' face. "And if you or Sirius does anything to mess up my date with him in Hogsmeade on Saturday, I will hex both of your toes off. Understand me, Potter?" James gulped at Lily's murderous expression.

"Okay princess, I won't mess up your date with Prince Edwards," James assured her. Lily backed up and sat back down with her friends. They resumed their chatter and James took this as his cue to leave.

"I see things got a little heated with you and Evans back there," Sirius remarked wiggling his eyebrows. "Anything I ought to know about?"

"She's got a date to Hogsmeade with Tag Edwards. Can you believe that? I asked her twice to Hogsmeade and she turned me down flat. I mean what does this Edwards guy have that I don't?" James ranted.

"Well for starters, he's got Lily," Remus said without even looking up from his book. Sirius and Peter cracked up, but James just sat down angrily.

"Ugh stupid Captain of the Quidditch team, I'm captain of the Quidditch team! 'Tag Edwards is ten times the man you are. He's nice and smart and he doesn't waste his time on silly pranks like you'" James imitated Lily in a high falsetto voice. Sirius guffawed.

"You have to admit, Evans does have sass," he said. James glared at him. "Hey don't get too down, mate," Sirius consoled. "Maybe their date will go horrible!"

"Or maybe their date will go amazing, and Evans will fall in love with that prick instead of me and they'll get married and have five kids, all named 'fuck you Potter'" James grumbled. Sirius, Remus, and Peter all chortled.

"Aww Edwards and Evans, how cute," Peter teased.

"Oh can it Peter," James shot back. The other Marauders just laughed harder.

Hogsmeade weekend arrived quickly. Everyone was excited for the day out of the castle, everyone except James Potter, who had been in a bad mood ever since he found out about Tag Edwards taking Lily on a date.

"Cheer up mate!" Sirius coaxed. "We can go to Zonkos and replenish our dungbomb supply and get Edwards good after his date with Evans today!" The prospect of pranking Edwards (Lily never said anything about pranking him after the date right?) put James in a little better spirits. Besides, he had a lot to get done today. His broomstick was in need of repairs before the final Quidditch match of the season, and he was in need of new quills because he kept losing his and needing to borrow one of Remus'. There was no time to worry about Evans and her stupid date with Edwards.

The rain came down in heavy drops throughout the day. James was disgusted to see that Lily hadn't even bothered to bring her own umbrella, as she was sharing one with Tag. James got on his broom and rode it down to Hogsmeade, telling his friends he would meet up with them at The Three Broomsticks later. After going to buy a fresh set of quills, James went to the Quidditch shop so that his broomstick could get the tweaking it needed to be the best it could be for the next game. This took a good two hours and by the time the broomstick was ready, it was already lunch time.

As James made his way to the three broomsticks, he saw someone burst out the door and into the pouring rain without an umbrella. As the person turned to walk down the street in the direction of Hogwarts castle, he saw the unmistakable glint of red from under her cloak. James didn't know what he planned to do, but he immediately got on his broomstick and followed Lily Evans down the street.

Lily was shivering as she walked down the street in the pouring rain. She was soaked from head to toe without an umbrella, without a heavy cloak, and without a date. She was glad the rain was there though because it could hide the tears that were streaming down her cheeks. Suddenly, she felt the rain cease from the steady patter onto her head. Lily looked up and was surprised to find James Potter riding next to her on his broomstick, holding his umbrella over her head.

"Go away Potter, I'm not in the mood," Lily said, trying very hard to maintain a neutral disposition, but by the way James was looking at her, she knew he could tell that she was upset.

"But Evans, if I move then you'll get wet from the rain," James said softly.

"You're getting yourself wet by covering me," she protested.

"It's the gentlemen thing to do," James said.

"Oh shut up, Potter. You don't owe me anything. It's not like you're my date." Her voice broke as she furiously wiped tears from her cheeks. "I don't need you. I don't need anyone," she said bitterly.

"Come on Lily you know I care about you. Just let someone do something for you for a change instead of you being the independent stubborn Lily Evans I know you to be," James said roughly. Lily pouted indignantly, and stopped.

"What gives you the right to boss me around?" She snapped.

"I'm just saying if someone is trying to do something nice for you, you could just thank them instead of being so damn stubborn all the time," James countered. Lily didn't respond, and they resumed walking in silence. At the entrance to Hogsmeade, James stopped Lily again to break the silence.

"Evans, you can't just go back to Hogwarts and wallow in your own misery all day," James protested.

"Maybe I want to wallow in my own misery all day, Potter," she said. James hopped off his broomstick, making sure to keep the umbrella over Lily's head.

"The Marauders and I were meeting up for lunch at The Three Broomsticks. Come with us," James offered. Lily was about to decline and say that she would rather go back to Hogwarts alone, but she remembered what James had said about her not being stubborn when someone was trying to do something nice for her.

"Don't worry Evans, it's not a date. God knows you would never go on one of those with me," James grumbled. Lily managed a smile.

Everyone in The Three Broomsticks was shocked to see James Potter escorting Lily Evans inside the front door. The entire school knew how the popular Quidditch star James Potter had a crush on the equally as popular Lily Evans, but no matter how many times he asked her out she always declined with some creative insult. So the sight that James was leading her over to a table in the back that Sirius, Remus, and Peter were occupying (all with their mouths wide open) was something everyone was surprised to see.

Turns out, James saved Lily from a day sulking around the Gryffindor common room by treating her to an enjoyable meal with the Marauders in The Three Broomsticks. After that, he willingly accompanied her back to Hogwarts tower where she found Mary, Alice, and Marlene waiting for her after finding out what happened with Tag from Dorcus. He left her in the good company of her friends and went to his dorm room to devise the most horrible prank on Tag Edwards he could think of.

James found out what happened with Lily and Tag from Sirius, Remus, and Peter who were in the Three Broomsticks at the time of the incident. Lily and Tag had stopped in to share a butterbeer. Lily had gotten up to use the bathroom, and she returned to see Tag in lip lock with none other than Bellatrix Black, Sirius' "evil cousin" as he puts it.

The next day, every article of clothing in Tag Edwards' dorm was mysteriously hanging in the entry hall. He arrived downstairs in his pajamas with all of his hair gone, and the word "cheater" tattooed across his bald head. On the other hand, Bellatrix awoke to find herself completely pink; clothes, skin, hair and all. They were both in the hospital wing for a total of eight hours as Madame Pomfry tried to get them back to normal. Everyone knew the Marauders were behind it, but since no one could prove it, they didn't get in trouble. The heinous prank did bring a smile to Lily Evans, who couldn't help but secretly thank James Potter for Tag and Bellatrix's misfortune. All of this proved one thing. James Potter truly did care about her, whether she liked it or not, and she was starting to think that she did.