A/N- All characters and locations belong to JK

James Potter often thought back to that first day he met Lily Evans. A few years after that incident, James had asked Lily to Hogsmeade right before Christmas holiday. He'd realized that year that his longing had not simply been for her friendship, but something more that young boys didn't understand.

Lily, on the other hand, had believed James' offer to be merely a prank.

"That's right Potter. Lead me up to the Shrieking Shack in the middle of winter, and have your stupid friends jump out and do something horrid to me! Sorry, Remus, no offense meant." Remus had been sitting with Lily at the point, helping her with their Divination homework, a class which they both very much despised. He raised his hands as if to say, I'm not getting involved with this.

James looked at Lily. "That's hardly fair Evans! Are you seriously still mad at me? Is this about what I said on the train that first day?"

Lily's face reddened she stood up, slamming her hand down on the Common Room table. "No! This isn't about the train ride. This is about you being a git ever since then. You haven't' said a single nice word about Sev, and you're constantly making fun of me, and my other friends. You've played pranks on me, ridiculed me, and I have no clue why you'd think I'd ever go out with you!" Lily looked around the Common Room, noticing that everyone in the room had been staring. Sirius and Peter chose that moment to come down from the room. Sirius was holding a large piece of parchment.

"PRONGS! MOONY!" He roared, as he ran down the staircase, then stopped once he'd hit the bottom step, causing Peter to bump into him, knocking the both of them to the floor. Peter was the first one up, turning red.

"Er, if this is a bad time James, we can come back later, or wait for you to come up on your own…" Peter trailed off as James glared at him. Everyone in the room was now intently staring at either one of the Marauders or Lily.

James sighed. "No, Peter. I'll be right up with you." James didn't look at Lily. He couldn't. Not being used to rejection, her words stung like a slap. He walked off, following Peter and Sirius.

Remus looked at his watch. "Lily. I'm sorry, but I have plans I need to attend to. Do you mind if we put foreseeing our deaths off for a few nights?"

Lily glared at him. "Fine Remus, go off and console Potter. I'm sure he'll be traumatised that I didn't go along with his stupid little prank."

Remus looked at Lily with his sad eyes. "Sorry again for having to leave so suddenly. Just know- you'd be surprised about James."

With that, Remus left and Lily sat there for a few minutes, pondering what he'd said.

James had tried many times after, attempting to win Lily's heart.

He'd never been this close before.

So as James Potter laid on his bed, Christmas of his seventh year at Hogwarts, he thought of all the times he'd struck out. All the times he'd messed up, said the wrong words, done the wrong thing.

And it all led up to tonight. Was it fate? That it all happened on the same night he'd asked her out for the first time years ago?

Sirius came out of the bathroom wearing only a towel.

"So Prongs, tell me all about it." He plopped down on Lupin's bed.

"Oi! Padfoot! Get off my bed while you've got no clothes on!" Remus protested.

"Oh, don't deny it Remus, you've been in love with me since fifth year. I can tell you know, you generally go for me when you've turned." Remus looked around, then at the door, wide eyes.

"Shut up about that Black, or I'll hit you." Remus snapped at his friend. Sirius mocked horror.

"Frank is downstairs with his girlfriend Moony, you're fine. I won't spill about your secret Moony. A girl would have to get me pretty drunk to coerce that secret out of me." Sirius ruffled Remus' hair a bit and then walked over to his trunk to pull out a pair of sweatpants. "But anyways, Prongs, darling. Please, tell us what happened. Remember- you owe me."

James sighed, falling back onto his bed. "Well, I'm not sure what exactly happened." Sirius interrupted.

"You two finally kissed! Didn't you. Evans was as red as her hair, and you had this dreamy look in your eyes. You finally manned up. Why aren't you dead right now? Evans promised you that if you ever tried anything funny on her, she'd murder you." Sirius, who'd finished getting dressed, walked over to James and poked him really hard in the forehead.

"Ow! I'm not dead you git. Yeah, we kissed. Then you came in, and she went upstairs."

"After I went upstairs, of course. You can't blame it on me Prongs."

"Never said I did, did I Padfoot?"

"Will you two stop it?" Remus had joined in. The two other Marauders looked at him, and sat down. "The important thing here, is that we won't have to listen to Prongs whine about how he messed up with Lily anymore. And I won't have to listen to Lily complaining about Potter." James looked up at Remus again with a confused look on his face.

"She complained about me?"

"Almost every day during the Prefects meetings mate."

Sirius tackled James. "She talked about you every day Prongsy. Did you hear?" James hit Sirius in the head.

"Yeah, complaining about me. That's not a good thing, idiot. Although, I'm sure it's better than you get Padfoot." James stuck his tongue out at his friend.

"Prongs. I get all the ladies mate. You just never see them… I sneak them in with your invisibility cloak, and I'm so ninja you don't hear anything." Sirius began to dance in a seductive manner. The two other Marauders covered their eyes. "The only one of us that doesn't do all that well with the ladies is you Moony. Even Peter's had a few girlfriends over the years."

Remus rolled his eyes. "We all know I'm far too busy with other things to be able to date."

"Oh, I'm sorry, you're right… your textbook would miss you too much if you went on anything other than a study date with it. I'm surprised it hasn't complained about you studying with Evans all the time." James teased.

"Although," Sirius added, "I'm not sure how much time you two will be studying together now that Prongsy is in the picture." Sirius put his arm around his best friend, who pushed it away.

"I may not be in the picture yet Padfoot." James looked at the door. ``I haven't talked to her, really." He pulled out the Marauder's map. A creation made on the first night they'd struck out.

A magical map that the Marauders had designed; it showed every known inch of the school. Many little black dots with names written under them spread all over the map.

"Hey look! Snivellus is on patrol tonight… want to go mess with him?" Sirius had apparently been looking over James' shoulder.

"Padfoot…" Remus warned. Regardless of the fact that Snape had a blatant dislike of all four Marauders, even more so ever since a prank of theirs had lost him Lily's friendship at the ending of the previous year, Remus scolded his friends for pranks on the Slytherin Prefect.

"Sorry Sirius, I'm going to have to agree with Remus on that one." James added. His attention had been caught by someone else. Someone sitting in the Gyffindor Common Room.

James signed off the map, leaving Moony and Sirius debating the good and bad points on bewitching vehicles. (Who knows how they got onto that subject.)

He just barely heard Sirius exclaim, "But how can you say a flying motorcycle wouldn't be cool!" Before he closed the door behind him.

James Potter often thought back to that first day he met Lily Evans. A few years after that incident, James had asked Lily to Hogsmeade right before Christmas holiday. He'd realized that year that his longing had not simply been for her friendship, but something more that young boys didn't understand.

Lily, on the other hand, had believed James' offer to be merely a prank.

"That's right Potter. Lead me up to the Shrieking Shack in the middle of winter, and have your stupid friends jump out and do something horrid to me! Sorry, Remus, no offense meant." Remus had been sitting with Lily at the point, helping her with their Divination homework, a class which they both very much despised. He raised his hands as if to say, I'm not getting involved with this.

James looked at Lily. "That's hardly fair Evans! Are you seriously still mad at me? Is this about what I said on the train that first day?"

Lily's face reddened she stood up, slamming her hand down on the Common Room table. "No! This isn't about the train ride. This is about you being a git ever since then. You haven't' said a single nice word about Sev, and you're constantly making fun of me, and my other friends. You've played pranks on me, ridiculed me, and I have no clue why you'd think I'd ever go out with you!" Lily looked around the Common Room, noticing that everyone in the room had been staring. Sirius and Peter chose that moment to come down from the room. Sirius was holding a large piece of parchment.

"PRONGS! MOONY!" He roared, as he ran down the staircase, then stopped once he'd hit the bottom step, causing Peter to bump into him, knocking the both of them to the floor. Peter was the first one up, turning red.

"Er, if this is a bad time James, we can come back later, or wait for you to come up on your own…" Peter trailed off as James glared at him. Everyone in the room was now intently staring at either one of the Marauders or Lily.

James sighed. "No, Peter. I'll be right up with you." James didn't look at Lily. He couldn't. Not being used to rejection, her words stung like a slap. He walked off, following Peter and Sirius.

Remus looked at his watch. "Lily. I'm sorry, but I have plans I need to attend to. Do you mind if we put foreseeing our deaths off for a few nights?"

Lily glared at him. "Fine Remus, go off and console Potter. I'm sure he'll be traumatised that I didn't go along with his stupid little prank."

Remus looked at Lily with his sad eyes. "Sorry again for having to leave so suddenly. Just know- you'd be surprised about James."

With that, Remus left and Lily sat there for a few minutes, pondering what he'd said.

James had tried many times after, attempting to win Lily's heart.

He'd never been this close before.

So as James Potter laid on his bed, Christmas of his seventh year at Hogwarts, he thought of all the times he'd struck out. All the times he'd messed up, said the wrong words, done the wrong thing.

And it all led up to tonight. Was it fate? That it all happened on the same night he'd asked her out for the first time years ago?

Sirius came out of the bathroom wearing only a towel.

"So Prongs, tell me all about it." He plopped down on Lupin's bed.

"Oi! Padfoot! Get off my bed while you've got no clothes on!" Remus protested.

"Oh, don't deny it Remus, you've been in love with me since fifth year. I can tell you know, you generally go for me when you've turned." Remus looked around, then at the door, wide eyes.

"Shut up about that Black, or I'll hit you." Remus snapped at his friend. Sirius mocked horror.

"Frank is downstairs with his girlfriend Moony, you're fine. I won't spill about your secret Moony. A girl would have to get me pretty drunk to coerce that secret out of me." Sirius ruffled Remus' hair a bit and then walked over to his trunk to pull out a pair of sweatpants. "But anyways, Prongs, darling. Please, tell us what happened. Remember- you owe me."

James sighed, falling back onto his bed. "Well, I'm not sure what exactly happened." Sirius interrupted.

"You two finally kissed! Didn't you. Evans was as red as her hair, and you had this dreamy look in your eyes. You finally manned up. Why aren't you dead right now? Evans promised you that if you ever tried anything funny on her, she'd murder you." Sirius, who'd finished getting dressed, walked over to James and poked him really hard in the forehead.

"Ow! I'm not dead you git. Yeah, we kissed. Then you came in, and she went upstairs."

"After I went upstairs, of course. You can't blame it on me Prongs."

"Never said I did, did I Padfoot?"

"Will you two stop it?" Remus had joined in. The two other Marauders looked at him, and sat down. "The important thing here, is that we won't have to listen to Prongs whine about how he messed up with Lily anymore. And I won't have to listen to Lily complaining about Potter." James looked up at Remus again with a confused look on his face.

"She complained about me?"

"Almost every day during the Prefects meetings mate."

Sirius tackled James. "She talked about you every day Prongsy. Did you hear?" James hit Sirius in the head.

"Yeah, complaining about me. That's not a good thing, idiot. Although, I'm sure it's better than you get Padfoot." James stuck his tongue out at his friend.

"Prongs. I get all the ladies mate. You just never see them… I sneak them in with your invisibility cloak, and I'm so ninja you don't hear anything." Sirius began to dance in a seductive manner. The two other Marauders covered their eyes. "The only one of us that doesn't do all that well with the ladies is you Moony. Even Peter's had a few girlfriends over the years."

Remus rolled his eyes. "We all know I'm far too busy with other things to be able to date."

"Oh, I'm sorry, you're right… your textbook would miss you too much if you went on anything other than a study date with it. I'm surprised it hasn't complained about you studying with Evans all the time." James teased.

"Although," Sirius added, "I'm not sure how much time you two will be studying together now that Prongsy is in the picture." Sirius put his arm around his best friend, who pushed it away.

"I may not be in the picture yet Padfoot." James looked at the door. ``I haven't talked to her, really." He pulled out the Marauder's map. A creation made on the first night they'd struck out.

A magical map that the Marauders had designed; it showed every known inch of the school. Many little black dots with names written under them spread all over the map.

"Hey look! Snivellus is on patrol tonight… want to go mess with him?" Sirius had apparently been looking over James' shoulder.

"Padfoot…" Remus warned. Regardless of the fact that Snape had a blatant dislike of all four Marauders, even more so ever since a prank of theirs had lost him Lily's friendship at the ending of the previous year, Remus scolded his friends for pranks on the Slytherin Prefect.

"Sorry Sirius, I'm going to have to agree with Remus on that one." James added. His attention had been caught by someone else. Someone sitting in the Gyffindor Common Room.

James signed off the map, leaving Moony and Sirius debating the good and bad points on bewitching vehicles. (Who knows how they got onto that subject.)

He just barely heard Sirius exclaim, "But how can you say a flying motorcycle wouldn't be cool!" Before he closed the door behind him.