It would be an understatement to say that the rest of the day had been a horrible one for Lily. The events of the night before and the morning in the Entry Hall had spread around the school like wildfire. Everywhere Lily went she was met with whispers and stares. And it didn't help that Dumbledore made an announcement at breakfast telling the school about Lily and James' battle with the dementors. At least he awarded them 15 points each for their actions. Lily could hear the gossip around the school. She even picked up conversations in the girls lavatory.

"Did you hear what happened between James Potter and Lily Evans this morning?"

"He kissed her and she right up smacked him across the face!"

"They're saying that her patronus is the female counterpart of James' patronus."

"I swear, how long is Potter going to keep chasing her? I mean clearly after this morning it proves she doesn't like him."

"What were they even doing out on the grounds after curfew anyway?"

"James kissed her and she definitely kissed him back. Their kiss was like ten seconds long. Lily would never have let it go on so long if she didn't like him."

The attention eventually became too much for Lily. Dorcus, Mary, Marlene, and Alice found her under the covers of her bed at four in the afternoon.

"You can't hide out here in shame, Lily!" Mary coaxed as Marlene and Dorcus tried to forcefully remove Lily from her bed.

"I'm not ashamed!" Lily protested. "I just can't stand to see Potter."

"Yeah sure you can't," Marlene said sarcastically. "Not like you two were getting cozy around the grounds after curfew last night."

"We were at Hagrid's!" Lily wailed.

"Lily dear you can't stay cooped up here all night. Like my Frank always says-" Alice began. All the girls groaned.

"Fear is only temporary, regret lasts forever," she finished proudly.

Marlene yanked on Lily's covers. "Yeah and you're going to regret not getting out of bed unless you want my foot up your-"

"Thank you Marlene," Dorcus interrupted quickly.

"Look guys, thanks for your help, but I'm really not hungry and I'm tired," Lily said to the other 7th year girls. One by one, each gave up on Lily and went to dinner. Lily lay in bed for hours and tried to think.

She had already forced herself to admit that her patronus was not merely a coincidence to James' patronus. Was the fact that her patronus was a doe and his was a stag a sign from the universe telling Lily that she and James were destined to be with each other? It seemed too much to believe. Sure James had been becoming increasingly more mature since 5th year; she had unexpectedly seen a better, kinder, more mature side of James this year, a side that she had rather liked. Could she deny that she hadn't thought about them being together as the year went on? Suddenly the quote Alice had said came drifting back to her.

Fear is only temporary, regret lasts forever.

Was that it? Was Lily afraid of her feelings for James?

"Sure, handling an army of dementors is nothing but admitting feelings for James Potter is terrifying",Lily grumbled to herself. If she never acted on these feelings for James, she would spend the rest of her life regretting it, Lily was sure. She had to face her feelings. I like James Potter, she thought. There, that was it. Lily had admitted to herself that she had feelings for James. Now the question remained, would she act upon it?

As 11:00 closed in that night, Lily was forced to face the fact that she had been completely stupid to skip dinner. Her stomach was cramping as she tried to do charms to conjure food, but sadly, nothing would work. She officially decided that she had no choice but to sneak to the kitchens. If a professor caught her she could just say she had forgotten that she didn't have to do patrol since the professors had taken over patrol for the next few nights as a safety precaution. Her plans were halted as she reached the bottom of the stairs to the common room and saw someone sitting on the couch by the firelight. James Potter was sitting calmly playing with an old snitch. Lily could not help but flashback to the end of 5th year when she and James had decided to become friends after the events of Severus ending him and Lily's friendship and breaking James' nose along the way. Maybe, if Lily was careful, James wouldn't spot her and she could creep back to her dormitory unnoticed.

"Lily?" Too late.

"Hey," she said, surprised when her voice sounded so small.

"Come to slap me again?" Lily thought he was trying to joke with her, but his face stayed as emotionless as ever. Lily approached the couch and stood in front of James so that he looked up at her.

"I'm sorry about today, James. I acted stupid and I panicked," Lily began.

"No Evans, what happened today was my fault. I thought that if I confronted you out in the open in front of a bunch of people, you couldn't refuse, but naturally that didn't work because you're so damn stubborn," James said glumly. Lily was affronted at first but she detected no malice in his voice.

"Can I ask you something?" James asked after a moment. Lily didn't answer, but James went on anyway. "Today, when I kissed you, before you pulled away and slapped me, there was a moment when you were kissing me back, I could feel it," James said. It wasn't really a question. Lily wanted to deny James' accusations, tell him that he was delusional, but she knew what he said was true. She had kissed him back, and dare she say it, she had enjoyed the kiss for a second too. "And I mean Evans, if you don't like me, can you just say it right here and now so I know that whatever I thought was growing between us this year was all in my head?" James asked, staring up at her, his face completely lacking any emotion. There was silence for a moment before Lily spoke up.

"It wasn't in your head," she said softly.

"What?" James had missed what she had spoken she had said it so quietly.

"It wasn't in your head, James," Lily said, louder and with more confidence this time. "I was just afraid, this whole year. I was afraid that I was falling for you, I was afraid of my feelings. I was just being a coward," Lily admitted. James' face was still strangely stricken with emotion, but he raised one eyebrow, imploring her to go on. "But I'm not afraid anymore," she went on in a very sure tone. Without even contemplating her next move, Lily pushed herself onto the couch so that she was straddling James as she bent over him. For the first time that evening, James' smiled a bit. Their eyes met as Lily let her hand caress his cheek and he shuddered at the intimate touch. Not letting their eye contact break, she leaned her head down slowly, letting herself get lost in the moment before Lily would let her and James' lips touch. He gazed up at her, a mixture between amazement and another emotion Lily couldn't identify. For a second they just looked at each other, trying to read the other's expression. Then suddenly, Lily let her lips crush against his. For a moment, the world stopped and the only ones in it were Lily Evans and James Potter as they let everything that had built up from the last seven years at Hogwarts go in one moment. James' arms were wrapped around Lily's torso letting their bodies connect. Lily's hands were cupped around James' face as she pulled him up to her in one electrifying, tantalizing, magical, wonderful kiss.

Who knew this moment could be so perfect, James thought as he tried to process the goddess that was straddling him as she snogged him passionately. After all the years of being rejected by her, hated by her, annoyed by her, drawn to her, Lily Evans had fallen for him, maybe even as hard as he'd fallen for her. And then suddenly... it broke. Lily pulled away. James tried none too successfully to hide his disappointment.

"What'd you do that for?" James complained.

"James," Lily said breathlessly. "I'm really, really hungry. I skipped dinner to avoid all the gossip regarding us," James rolled his eyes as he reluctantly let Lily climb off his lap.

"Alright princess, let's go find you some food," He sighed as he led Lily out of the portrait hole, but neither of the two could stop smiling.