The rest of the weekend had gone rather quickly, she had been avoiding Jeremy since he had confessed that he loved her on Saturday morning. She kept to the library mostly on Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning, only because she knew that if Jeremy followed her in there then they couldn't have a serious conversation about it due to Madam Pince's watchful eye.

It was on Sunday afternoon when she was strolling around the grounds trying to gather her thoughts, she knew that she needed to make her choice soon as they would be taking their NEWT examinations after the Easter holidays and although it was a long way away, the one thing she had come to learn during her time at Hogwarts was that time flew by in the blink of an eye.

She stopped when she saw James heading towards her, broomstick over his shoulder and still dressed in his Quidditch uniform; clearly he had just finished a team practice.

"Hey Evans, how was your weekend?" asked James.

"Could've been better, yours?"

"Just finished practice, we had to share the pitch with the Slytherins and Sirius decided to hit a bludger at the Slytherin keeper and now he has detention." James replied.

Lily rolled her eyes, looking up at the sky as she watched some birds fly across it. James watched her in amazement at how she could find little things so fascinating.

"Have you ever seen the bird's eye view of the castle?"

Lily shook her head, "I'm not a keen flyer and I'm scared of heights." she replied.

James grinned and mounted his broom, levitating a few inches off the ground and gesturing for her to climb on behind him. Lily's eyes widened in shock as she realised what James was going to do.

"Are you crazy? What if I fall off?" Lily shrieked.

"Live a little Evans." said James, taking her hand.

She rolled her eyes and climbed on, deciding that it was time to overcome her fears. She wrapped her arms around James's stomach and gripped tightly onto his shirt as James flew fast in the air and they went higher and higher; the wind hitting her harshly in the face the faster they flew. They eventually slowed down so that they could both see the castle from a bird's eye view. It took her breath away, seeing the castle in the middle of the day as the sun shone brightly in between the clouds.

After a few minutes, James headed towards the top of the Astronomy tower for them to land. She felt a bit safer now that she was back on her feet but she had to admit to herself that going flying with James had been quite a thrill.

"Thank you for that." Lily breathed.

"Looks likes you needed it."

"Rough weekend." Lily replied quietly.

"What happened?" asked James as he settled his broom against the wall.

Lily went to the stone wall banister and looked out over the grounds, tensing slightly as she felt James wrap his arms around her and rest his head on her shoulder.

"Jeremy told me he loved me yesterday." Lily sighed.

She felt James nod against her shoulder and his breath on her neck made her feel tingly, wishing that she could make time stop and just stay there with James; not worrying about Jeremy.

"That was the last thing you needed, he certainly knows what he's doing." James whispered.

"What do you mean?"

"He told you he loved you because he's trying to sway you to him. He wants you to forget about me."

"It doesn't sound like him."

"When it comes to you Lily, boys can act out of character."

She turned in his arms, breathing fast when she realised how close his lips were.

"I can't forget about you." she whispered, tears welling up in her eyes.

She had tried over the summer to forget both the boys but had failed, now she couldn't be without James in her life. She knew that it had only been a few days but the feelings she felt for James were slowly getting stronger. The way that he had shown her the bird's eye view of Hogwarts had been enough to momentarily forget her troubles.

James brushed a strand of hair away from her face and tucked it behind her left ear, gazing deeply into her eyes. She stared back into the warmth of his hazel eyes, forgetting what she had told him during the week. She wanted so desperately to kiss him, to feel his lips enthusiatically move against hers with his hands gripping her to him tightly. The feeling of his tongue battling her own which made her forget where they were or what the sensible thing to do was.

Lily closed her eyes for a second and felt her nose bump against James's, she could feel his breath hot against her mouth as his hands went to her waist. She should run. She should shove him away and tell him that this was wrong, that this wasn't what friendship was supposed to be about. But before she could decide to act on whether she should listen to her mind and run away or listen to her heart and kiss him, James had pulled away from her.

Her eyes opened fast and flashed him the questioning look as to why he had to be the one to pull away. He merely smiled and kissed her cheek to assure her that everything was fine.

"You said it wouldn't help you so I'm going to respect your wishes." said James.

"That has to be a first."

"If you decide to be with me then I want it to be because I didn't mess your mind up. I want it to be because you decide it's right for you, I'll wait for you Lily. I've waited for years so I can wait a little longer, I'm quite patient."

He moved away from her and held out his hand, she smiled and instantly took it. They walked over to the door that led down into the castle and James picked up his broom before leading them back into the castle. They walked in silence, letting go of the other when they reached the bottom of the Astronomy tower and in the direction of the common room.

James gave the fat lady the password and the two of them climbed through the portrait hole but before Lily could head up for her room, James grasped her wrist gently.

"Lily, would you ever sneak out after curfew?"

She shook her head, "You should know be by now."

"What if I could guarantee that you couldn't get caught?" asked James.

She raised an eyebrow, "I might consider it if there was a one hundred percent guarantee that I wouldn't." Lily replied.

James grinned at her, "So if I were to ask you in a few days to come with me somewhere, would you?"

Lily hesistated momentarily and considered her options, he had promised her that they wouldn't get caught but if they did she would lose everything that she had worked her backside off for for the last six years of her education.

"Are you asking me out?"

He put on an innocent smile.

"I'm just asking you to come somewhere with me, we are friends right?"

Lily rolled her eyes but returned his smile.

"Alright Potter, if you can guarantee that I won't lose everything then yes I will."

James kissed her cheek and headed off up the staircase to the boy's dormitory leaving Lily feeling excited as to what he had planned for the two of them.