Halloween was only around the corner and once more at Hogwarts and there was a buzz of excitement in the air as everyone from the third year upwards began to talk about the trip to Hogsmeade. The trips to Hogsmeade tended to be a traditional way of asking someone out on a date and Sirius was determined to get himself his first date with Marlene McKinnon.

He strode into the Great hall the Thursday before Halloween weekend and smiled in satisfaction when he saw that Marlene was sat alone, eating breakfast at the Gryffindor table. He walked over to where she was sitting and sat opposite her, staring at her intently. Marlene looked up from her newspaper and dropped her spoon back into her porridge as she met Sirius's gaze.

"Sirius, what can I do for you?" asked Marlene brightly.

Sirius smiled as he helped himself to some toast and pumpkin juice, leaving Marlene sitting on the edge before he answered her question. He took several big bites of his toast and large gulps to finish his pumpkin juice before he met her gaze once more.

"Come to Hogsmeade with me Marley?" he asked.

Marlene smiled, "You leave it two days before the trip happens?" she questioned.

Sirius grinned.

"You know me baby, I'm not one who is organised. I leave everything to the last minute." Sirius chuckled.

Marlene rolled her eyes as she picked up her spoon and took another spoonful of her porridge. Sirius watched her closely with a small smile on his face, wanting her to say yes to a date with him. Marlene McKinnon had captured his interest when they were in their fifth year, around the same time that James started noticing Lily a little bit more than he usually did. It wasn't just her long blonde hair, warm chocolate brown eyes and slim figure that attracted Sirius. Sure Marlene was quite the gorgeous girl and Sirius could understand why Slytherin scum like Mulciber and Avery would be interested in her, but Sirius liked her for more than her looks. Sirius liked the witty banter that went on between them, he loved to watch her laugh with Lily, Alice and Mary and how just the sound of it made him feel better on a crappy day. He liked that she was intelligent and one of the top students in Defence Against the Dark Arts. The scum that were Mulciber and Avery only ever wanted one thing, and although Sirius couldn't deny that he'd love to have his fantasies about Marlene come true, he wasn't going to use her just for that. He liked her more than he had ever like any other girl he had ever been with.

"You know Black, I think I will. I did agree when we were at The Leaky Cauldron a few months ago." Marlene smiled.

Sirius grinned from ear to ear as he helped himself to the paper that Marlene hadn't yet finished reading, earning himself a dirty look from the blonde haired girl.

"Sweet, I'll meet you in the entrance hall at eleven on Saturday." replied Sirius, flicking over the pages of Marlene's newspaper.

Marlene nodded and rose from the table, deciding to head back to the tower to grab her schoolbag before lessons started.

Lily was already dressed for lessons and had her schoolbag flung over one shoulder when she left Gryffindor tower that morning. Since the night that she had nearly kissed James, she was trying to avoid him, she suddenly felt confused about her feelings. James Potter was a boy she had thought she had disliked since she had first met him on the Hogwarts Express all those years ago. She had grown to think of him as a friend since their detention together at the end of sixth year and he had certainly changed, she couldn't deny that. He had become a little bit more mature and she hadn't realised it until recently.

It was harder to avoid James than she had originally thought. They had the majority of their classes together so she always made sure that she took the best seats in the classroom before the class piled in, this was an attempt to be sitting as far away from him as possible. She dodged him in the halls, always made sure she was with Marlene, Alice or Mary so that she wouldn't be alone with him during mealtimes or when they were sat in the common room.

Luckily for Lily, James was mostly at Quidditch practice most evenings preparing for the first match of the season. When she knew that practice was most likely going to finish, she made the habit of going for a shower or heading to bed a bit earlier than usual. What she hadn't counted on was that her friends were beginning to notice her strange behaviour when it came to James but none of them felt the timing was right to question her over it.

Unluckily for her, James was the Head Boy. So far she had managed to pretend to be ill with a headache or a bad cold when it came to them doing their nightly patrols. She went to McGonagall when she had said she was feeling ill and although the Transfiguration professor was starting to get annoyed that Lily was backing out of her duties as Head Girl, McGonagall had told James that he was doing the nightly patrols alone. But Lily knew that she couldn't avoid doing her Head Girl duties forever.

As she walked down the stairs that led to the entrance hall, she gasped in surprise when she felt a light grip on her upper arm, marching her to the nearest broom cupboard and locking the two of them in the cupboard. She turned around to see it was James who had dragged her into the cupboard, wondering why he had done such a thing. She glared as he cast a silencing charm around them, so that their conversation couldn't be heard.

"James, I would like to eat before classes start!" Lily complained.

James moved towards her, his hazel eyes sparkling. God he's gorgeous Lily thought silently to herself. He was only inches away from her, she could feel his breath on her face.

"You've been avoiding me." stated James.

Lily took a deep breath, just his closeness was enough to stop her thinking straight.

"I've been busy." she lied.

James chuckled quietly as he continued to stare into her eyes.

"More like you've been feeling awkward since the night we nearly kissed." replied James.

"I-

Before she could answer, she felt James's soft lips covering her own, gently moving with hers as she found herself wrapping her arms around his neck. She felt a fluttering in her stomach as she felt his strong arms snake around her waist, holding her close to him. She ran one her hands through his messy black hair and smiled against his lips as she felt one of his hands travel up her back to stroke the tips of her hair that settled just above her bra clasp.

After a few minutes, Lily pulled away to gasp for air; deciding that she had dreamed that she had just had her first kiss with James Potter. She steadied her breathing and managed to look James in the eye once more. As her eyes met his, she couldn't help but return the smile that James was giving her.

"Feel less awkward for you now?" asked James.

"A little." Lily mumbled.

James chuckled as he uncast the silencing charm and unlocked the door, gesturing for the two of them to go and get some breakfast. Lily exited the cupboard with James and the two of them crossed the entrance hall.

"Lily?" asked James.

Lily turned to him once more.

"Yes James?" she questioned.

"Will you come to Hogsmeade with me?" he asked.

Lily sighed happily and nodded her head.

As they entered the Great Hall, both of them felt that today was going to be a better day than they had anticipated.

A/N: Next chapter coming soon, as always please review :)