A/N: You guys scared me so much! I thought that my story had gone to pots so badly that nobody wanted to review no more! WHOO HOO!!! Thank you MissMrprk for giving my hundredth review!

TO: Rieux, thank you for your lovely reviews. I know it will be a while before you catch up on the reading and read this message, but all the same, I just wanted to thank you for your encouraging words because they do wonders!

TO: Taiyourshoes, Brent did escape in the Calling. The Hand ran out after he did.

- - -

"He's been grinning like a fool for days!" Sirius complained as he shoveled some food into his mouth.

"That's because he got close Lily." Remus said with a surprisingly wolfish grin.

James' head snapped up and he almost choked on his coffee. "How did you know about that?!" he demanded.

"Easy, you were bragging in your sleep."

"How close?" Sirius interrupted, keen on the subject. "And how come I haven't heard him bragging?"

"You snore too loud to hear anything." Remus answered seriously.

"I do not snore!" Sirius protested indignantly. "And don't change the subject, how close?" Peter also leaned in eager to listen.

"You are such a bunch of nosy old women!" James turned his back to them and bit off a large chunk of his toast but became quickly disturbed upon hearing exaggerated kissing noises that Sirius was making at his fork.

"You've got no standards. Go find yourself a room!" James said, inwardly resigned to the fact that he would be teased mercilessly until the novelty wore off.

"Whaaat?" Sirius replied lazily. "It's got legs- OW!" Lily had just walked past and had given James a small smile, and in his panic for not wanting her to overhear the crude joke he had whacked Sirius sharply around the head with his rolled up newspaper. "OW! She wasn't even within hearing distance Prongs!" Remus and Peter began to laugh uncontrollably as Sirius rubbed his head pretending to be hurt. "Besides, I was talking about the fork!" He brandished it about in the air before forking a bit of bacon. "So how far did you go?"

"There was no 'how far' at all. I just got caught up in a moment and I was happy." James sighed but managed to turn the action into clearing his throat without the others noticing. "It just seemed right and I hugged her."

Sirius raised his eyebrows. "Is that all? With the way you've been acting I would have thought you guys-"

"I know what you've been thinking." James said pointedly and Sirius shrugged. "But it was nothing, she was just happy for me that's all."

"I don't know mate, I think if you had done that last year or even at the start of this year Lily would have picked the closest thing up and battered your skull in with it." Remus said offering insightful comments as usual.

"That would have been...ouch." Now that James came to think of it he had probably been very close to an early death when he had done that. He reached up and rubbed the side of his head, thankful that he still had it.

"I'm not trying to be overly optimistic but I think you might be getting somewhere. Maybe not wedding bells and choir yet but-" Remus continued.

"I don't think so somehow." James started.

"Are you kidding me? I should go out and buy myself a new set of robes for the wedding right now. I am going to be Best Man right? And I want to be Godfather to you first kid! Remus and Peter can wait for your second and third kid!" Sirius rubbed his hands together relishing the idea. "Oh the stuff I can teach that kid..." he mused.

"No! NO! Getting way ahead of yourself there! She's still barely tolerating me yet! And marriage? I'm eighteen! I can't even look after myself yet, let alone another person!"

"She'll look after you mate." Remus turned to Sirius and Peter and smirked. "I bet they'll be married soon after we graduate." He said getting a good feel of winding his friend up.

"Maybe even on the day!" Peter piped.

"My God Prongs!" Sirius exclaimed while James continued to shake his head. "Do you really want the obvious to poke you in the eye before you see it?" He jabbed his fork at him.

"The only thing that seems remotely close to poking my eye is your fork Padfoot."

However, Sirius seemed not to be listening. Instead his eyes followed Rosie who had just stood up and was leaving the hall.

"She still refuses to tell you any more?" James queried.

"Not even a squeak." Sirius muttered. He had made a point of questioning her at least once every day, sometimes trying to catch her off guard so that she may drop a hint or two but she never did. Her lips were truly sealed. Sirius was preparing to up their attention to her to a pestering level. She had to crack somewhere along the line.

"Forget it mate. Today's our last day, we leave in a few hours and we won't see her till January. By that time Yoanna will be back and we'll know the truth then." Remus reminded.

"And won't it be an ugly truth." Sirius said almost moodily. However the dark expression passed and a smile lit up his face instantly. "Lily dear!" He called, his eyes looking past James' shoulder. Confused James swiveled in his seat to greet her but found nobody standing there.

"Very funny." He said to the guffawing Marauders. He should have known better; Sirius would rather be caught dead than to call Lily dear to her face.

Remus stopped laughing for a moment enough to smile and nod politely to the space behind James. "Hello."

James snorted. "I am not stupid despite what you may think Moony." He continued to eat and stubbornly refused to look behind and fall for the same trick again until someone gently cleared her throat from behind. James winced and silently vowed to get them back for it.

"HI EVANS!" he greeted before turning, deliberately enthusiastic to show the others that they hadn't fazed him one bit. He winced for a second time when he saw that the girl behind him was not Lily at all but a pretty Hufflepuff 6th year. "I'm sorry. Let me start that again. Hi Joey!" he corrected, ignoring the others whom was now quietly sniggering.

Joey tucked some of her strawberry blonde hair behind her ear nervously. She blushed under the hot stares of her Hufflepuff friends and the curious glances from the Gryffindor table, but mostly she blushed under James' questioning eyes.

"Hi."

"Hi." He said again.

"Today's our last day. Uh, I meant I just wanted...to wish you a Happy Christmas. Here." She withdrew a pink colored package that she had been holding behind her back and handed it to James. "I know it's early, but urm...I hope you like it."

"For me? Wow, thanks!" he turned the package around in his hands discerning that it was some sort of book.

Joey went a deeper shade of red. "It's actually from quite a few of us." She looked over to her table where her friends were suddenly looking not so interested and seem absorbed with looking not fussed and cool. James gave them a casual wave.

"Can I open it early?"

"Sure you can, but just not here."

"Okay, I'll open it on the train then." He said tucking it into his bag.

"I hope you'll like it." She repeated.

"I'm sure I will." He reassured.

Joey began to back off. "I guess I'll see you after the holidays then."

"Definitely." James returned his attention back to the others. Remus seemed amused and Sirius was positively smirking.

"How do you do that?" Peter said with a grown. "How come I don't get presents from hot girls?"

"Don't worry about it." Sirius replied.

"That's easy for you to say! You've got a mountain of presents from girls." Peter had not. and could not miss the growing pile that Sirius always seemed to get.

"What can I say? I'm a ladies' man. Open it Prongs."

James shook his head firmly. "I said I wouldn't yet." Before Sirius could pester him more he stood up and quickly left the table. There was only a few hours left and he still need to pack his stuff back in the trunk.

He made his way back to the tower whistling to a tune he couldn't name and was interrupted by Brent pushing past him at such a speed that it had thrown him aside. Brent didn't even acknowledge that he had bumped into someone and continued to rush ahead. Where was the fire? James wondered. Brent had indeed made himself scarce since the Hand incident; in fact, many had thought he had left because he made such little appearances. He didn't even come down to the hall for meals anymore. The Hand must have traumatized him more than they had thought.

James shrugged and took a sharp left into an offshoot and took the stairs up two at a time. It was a route that not many people knew about and it cut the journey to the Gryffindor tower by minutes. He turned the last corner when he spotted someone crouched down on a worn down rug. Deep red hair fell about her shoulders and down her back.

"Hey Evans."

The real Lily looked up startled because she hadn't heard anyone approach. "Hey."

"What are you up to?" James took a few steps nearer to get a closer look. She was arranging a small little box wrapped in a brightly colored bow.

"Leaving Mr. Cronks a little something for Christmas." She replied almost guiltily.

"Whatever for?" he asked recalling the appearance of the stringy ugly cat.

"I don't think Filch will be giving him anything special for Christmas. I actually love cats, just not when they are trying to get me into trouble. Cronks will probably be as close as I get to owning one myself."

James didn't say anything. He thought Filch treated the cat very well actually. Once or twice he had seen Filch eat his dinner with Mr. Cronks eating off the same plate. It could not have been hygienic or very nice but it did show how fond the man was of his pet.

Lily stood up. "Anyways, what are you doing here."

"On my way to pack up." She scrunched her nose up suspiciously and James had to resist the urge to pinch it. He knew that if he had he would have paid dearly for it. "No, I really am going to pack. Not up to anything." He said solemnly. She studied him a second longer but lowered her accusing stare apparently satisfied that he wasn't lying. They started for the tower. "You have a lot of faith in me don't you?"

Lily shrugged. "You haven't given me a reason to have faith in you."

"You make me sound so undependable."

"No I think you are dependable." It was not hard to think of all the times that he had been there for her to depend on. It was not this that she doubted at all but a little part of her wondered how long it would last. Lily wasn't a fool and she definitely wasn't one of the other girls that would willingly fall on his lap. He'd dated other girls throughout the years but none of them had lasted and as far as she could see as a distant observer, he did not seem particularly in love with any of them.

Maybe it was this lack of attachment that worried her. As long as she could remember James had always been more of a prankster than anything else. The fact that he seemed so...agreeable lately was disconcerting. Deep down she knew she was scared. What if he did manage to get through her walls and under her skin completely? He might suddenly turned around and announce that he had only done it to see if he could. It would have been the ultimate prank; one that she was not sure she could recover from.

"Now I'm confused." James stopped and Lily followed suit.

"Aww don't give me that look." She said. James wondered what look it was because he certainly didn't know. She raised her eyebrows. To him it was evident that she was either not seeing what there is to explain or not wanting to explain. He was guessing that it was the latter.

"So you don't have faith in me, but I'm dependable."

Lily nodded and they started walking again.

"I might understand that one day..." he said wistfully.

- - -

The train left promptly and it carried its loud and chattering cargo across lush scenery back into the heart of London. James had opened the present and found it not to be a book but a photo album compiled of photos of himself playing Quidditch.

"It must have taken a lot of effort." He noted. There were pictures of him playing the sport from as early as his second year. They spent a good half an hour poring over the pictures filled with him and the others. It was almost like a catalogue of numerous training sessions and particularly fantastic games Gryffindor had ever played with James on its team.

"Man, I looked like a geek." James said at a picture of him in his Quidditch robes with his glasses askew. It was a Muggle photo therefore he was still.

"You still do." Sirius laughed and then went on to exclaim, "I don't like the Muggle photos. Just look at that! That's favoritism! In most of these photos I've barely got a foot in!" Sirius pointed to an example of an offending photo.

"Quit complaining Padfoot. In the normal photo's your big self is fighting his way in anyway." Remus pointed to one of the magical photos where Sirius' photographic self had planted himself in the shot with a wide grin. "It is a present to James." He added mildly.

"A bloody tribute. I bet they have a shrine and everything."

"Jealous?" James reached over and grabbed a few chocolate frogs.

"No, why would I want people to worship me like I'm dead?" Sirius flicked an empty wrapper at him.

"At least they'd worship you." Peter said quietly. The others looked at Peter and he gave a small laugh. "I was just kidding." A violent round of Exploding Snap followed that drew the attention of quite a few people and before they knew it the long train was pulling into platform 9 ¾.

James was one of the first to get off and he spotted Lily struggling with her trunk. She had the door to her compartment and she was pushing in vain. Now that they had left the school they were no longer allowed to use magic hence the feather light spell could not be put to use.

"Here, let me help." James carried Lily's trunk off the train with a grunt of effort. What ever she had packed in it, it was very heavy and he hoped he hadn't ripped all his muscles moving it. He gratefully deposited it on a nearby trolley and turned to wait for her to catch up. However he could see that she was busy saying goodbye to her roommates and exchanging early Christmas presents. All the students were now crammed on the narrow platform and James decided it was best to meet her on the other side where there was much more room albeit it being packed with Muggles.

As inconspicuously as possible James casually wheeled the trolley towards the wide wall and went straight through. He stopped on the other side pretending to be inspecting a poster on the wall before moving away completely. Standing a little off he spotted a couple acting rather suspiciously around the wall. Curious he moved closer until he could overhear them.

"Try tapping it Dear." A middle-aged woman suggested to a man dressed in a crisp suit standing next to her. The man reached out and gave the wall that led to platform 9 ¾ an experimental tap but it felt solid as a rock.

"I know it would be nice to finally be able to meet her on the other side Dear, but I simply think that these type of walls just aren't made for us non magic folk to pass." The woman looked rather distressed and unhappy to James and he pushed the trolley closer.

"Excuse me, can I help you?" he offered politely.

They looked taken aback by his offer but the woman quickly shook her head. "That's very sweet of you dear, but no thank you." She said mistaking him for a Muggle.

Their surprise was nothing compared to the surprise that James felt however. The woman bore a striking resemblance to Lily and they shared the same shade of vibrant red hair and he could clearly pick out familiar features. She could not be mistaken for anyone else but Lily's mother and the man beside her with deep green eyes could be no other than her father.

James leaned in so passerby people wouldn't overhear. "If you would like to pass through the wall it's best to take it at brisk pace or lean into the wall. The key thing is that you have to expect to pass through it to get to the other side." He whispered. Surprised again, they thanked him and gently slid through the wall while James kept a look out for them.

Resuming his initial position James folded his arms and whistled a few nervous notes. He shook his head. Since when did he become nervous? He wished Sirius would hurry up and then they could make a move on back to his house. His mother would have a nice hot meal prepared for their return and he always looked forward to those. His eyes fell down to the trunk on the trolley in front of him. Damn. Even if Sirius did hurry up he would still have to wait until Lily came out so he could return her trunk. Even as he thought this Lily and her parents emerged and they approached him.

James unconsciously straightened his back and smiled. "Here you go Lily Goodbye!" He said without pausing and was ready to run away.

"Just a sec, young man, we haven't thanked you properly yet." James froze.

"Thanks for helping my Mum and Dad." Lily smiled and hooked her arm around her Mother's arm. "Mum, Dad, this is James Potter. We do Head duties together."

"Nice to meet you James." Her Father extended his hand which James took firmly.

"You too, Mr. Evans." He also nodded at her Mother. "Mrs. Evans."

"Please, call me Harry. And this is my wife Diane." Harry Evans said. James smiled politely but knew he would never feel right calling Lily's or anyone else's parents by their first names.

"Do you and Lily share many lessons together, James?" Diane asked.

"Most lessons." Lily answered, sensing her parents were going to do that embarrass-daughter thing.

"Do you like cheese cake?" Diane asked, seemingly out of the blue.

James almost said what? But decided it sounded rude. "Urm, sure."

"That's good. I've just learnt how to make them in my cooking class. Care to come around one evening for a meal? You could try some after and give me some feedback."

"What?" James did say it then but quickly recovered. "That sounds lovely but-"

"We would love to have you visiting." Diane said. That was it. James could not see how he could get out of it.

"I uh...would love to."

"Lovely!" Lily's parents exclaimed together. "We'll get Lily to send you our address and date later."

"Mum!" Lily was mortified at her parents.

"Good meeting you James. We hope to see you soon! We won't keep you now. See you soon!" her parents waved and wheeled away the trolley dragging Lily along.

"I can't believe you guys just did that! Dad! Say something!" Lily pleaded.

Harry laughed. "Of course I'm not going to say something. It'd be rather nice to have someone else being the lab rat for once. He seems like a nice enough lad. I don't see anything wrong with having him around for tea."

Diane clicked her tongue at the lab rat comment but agreed with the latter. "It would be nice to have a wizard visiting. I don't think we get to involved enough when it comes to your talents and your life away at school."

Lily shook her head. "Petunia isn't going to like this." She warned although secretly she was a little pleased and touched by the effort that her parents were making.

"She's just having a little trouble getting used to the idea that you're a witch."

"Shh! Mum, keep your voice down!" Lily looked around to see if anyone had overhead but nobody seemed to care even if they had. "She's had seven years to get used to it.

"She'll understand one day, dear."

- - -

Meanwhile James was suffering from another kind of shock. In his eyes stuff always went wrong when parents meddled with their children's lives whether they intended it or not. He still recalled the incident between his mother and his first girlfriend; even now it made him shudder to think about it. Now of all times he did not want parents to ruin the friendship that he and Lily shared because it might be all that would ever happen between them.

Sirius strode out from the wall carting both his and James' trunk. "What up mate? You look like you are going to hyperventilate." James quickly updated him.

"Damage is done." Sirius said gravely. James gave him a hard push that meant that that kind of attitude was not what he needed at that moment. "On the other hand. If they like you, it could work I guess." A wicked grin spread on his face. "You never know, that poke in the eye might come in the form of her parents." James returned his humor with a withering look.

- - -

A/N: A new character! I haven't quite decided what to do with her yet but I felt that she needed to be in there.

Lily has revealed a fear or two here. It was just something I imagined might cross a girl in her shoes' mind. Can you imagine how bad it would be if you'd fallen for a guy and he turns around and tells you that he was just messing about? Fortunately, we know James isn't like that. But the silly girl has just misread the fact that he's never been serious with a girl because she doesn't realize he really loves her. And YES, james must have dated before Lily because as much as you might like someone there are points when you think that it isn't going to happen and you move on...and then of course come back to it when you realize you haven't! Plus, James is a teenage boy, dating is a must.

I don't think Lily's parents had ever been named so I took the liberty of naming them and I've decided that in this story Harry Potter is named after Harry Evans. It's probably not true but what the heck? I make a lot of things up in this story so one more thing can't hurt.

Hehe, stay tuned for when James spends dinner at the Evans household.