When James woke up on the next morning, his kiss with Lily seemed like the fleeting remains of a very pleasant dream. For a moment, the routine of a Sunday morning in the dormitory pushed away the thoughts of his favourite redhead. James had slept in and the sounds of his other mates had raised him from this slumber. Rushing to get into the bathroom, he had no thought to spare for Lily. Only when he was groomed and ready to face the day, did the feeling of her lips beneath his return to the front of his mind. He felt a huge grin take over his face. He had only just left the bathroom, when his unusually chipper mood was noticed by Remus.

'You seem very happy this morning,' he said. James noticed that Remus looked already much better than he had before the full moon. He looked less tired and his eyes were no longer feverish. Also, he no longer moved gingerly as the pangs of pain which heralded the dreaded transformation were gone. 'Seems like a good night's sleep was exactly what you needed.'

'And thank god for that,' said Sirius, who was lounging on his bed, skimming through a Muggle motorbike magazine. 'You were such a wet blanket yesterday! I am glad you got over all the mess yesterday.'

'What mess?' asked James, who was still thinking about Lily.

'Hogsmeade of course,' cried Sirius. 'You know, the small Death Eater attack? The one you were frustrated about because you were not as helpful to the aurors as you thought you were going to be? The one where we saw dead bodies? Does that ring any bells?'

'Oh, yeah of course,' said James. Of course he had not forgotten about it and he doubted that he ever would. However, he now had something better to think about rather than beating himself up over things which he could not change. The whole world seemed a bit brighter and pleasant today. As if just kissing Lily Evans had somehow made it alright that Death Eaters were loose in the country. James knew that he was being ridiculous, but he still enjoyed the feeling. Uplifting news were so rare these days that he would be foolish not to enjoy it. 'Well, I have decided to move on and to try not to trouble myself with it anymore. Besides, there are other things going on now. Much better things.'

'Like what?' asked Sirius.

'Like me finally kissing Lily bloody Evans,' said James with a radiant grin on his face. He could not hold off spilling the beans any longer. He wanted to get out there and shout it from the rooftops.

There was an explosion of noise following his explanation and James found himself surrounded by his fellow Marauders who all fired rapid questions at him. When James finally had the chance to get a word in, he briefly told them about his late night visit to the Hospital Wing yesterday.

'I told you,' cried Sirius, when James was done. 'I bloody told you that Evans wanted you! Didn't I, Moony? Didn't I?'

'You sure did,' said Remus bemused. 'To be honest I was rather sceptical about it, but it seems that you do in fact know something about witches, Padfoot. Congratulations, James, I am very happy for you!'

'Congratulations, Prongs,' squeaked Peter. 'I suppose you are going to hang some banners in the castle to spread the word?'

'Sadly not, Wormtail,' said James. 'As much as I want to let everyone know that I finally snagged Evans, I don't think she would appreciate me making a big deal about it. She does not like standing in the spotlight after all. I think I am going to wait and talk things over with her, before doing any announcing. I think she will want to keep things quiet. So, I will have to ask the three of you to keep your mouth shut. No grand gestures, no offhanded comments, alright?'

His friends agreed, even though Sirius bemoaned the loss of a chance to wind Lily up.

'You have to promise me, Prongs, that you will still have time for us,' he said. 'Don't forget your friends, just because you finally got access to the inside of Evan's knickers! I swear to Merlin if you become one of those lovesick sods who spent their days attached to the hips of their woman, I am going to prank Evans and you so hard, you will regret ever setting foot in this school!'

'Relax, Padfoot,' said James, rolling his eyes. 'There is no need to show your abandonment issues. Everything is going to be fine. I had girlfriends before. Remember Amber? You were perfectly fine with me spending time with her.'

'Yes, but she was not such a stick in the mud as Evans is,' said Sirius. 'If you are not careful, she is going to make you even more respectable than you already are! And how can the leader of the Marauders be respectable?'

'You are being overly dramatic, Sirius,' said James, rolling his eyes. 'I am not going to change, I promise. Now, come on, we have to get to breakfast.'

Sirius grumbled a bit at the dismissal of his concerns but the prospect of food was too tempting for him to remain in the dorm or protest more. James was not overly worried about his best mate's lack of approval of his new girlfriend. Sirius was going to get used to Lily after a while. Granted, the two of them had never gotten along, but they also hardly knew each other. If they only made an effort, James was sure that they could get along. After all, Remus and Lily were friends already and Peter's heart was not going to be difficult to win. James doubted that his chubby friend had the courage to be mean to Lily. James was determined to balance both his fresh relationship with Lily as well as his friendship with the Marauders. He was confident that he would manage it. After all, he had become an animagus at age fifteen and having a relationship with Lily was bound to be easier than that.

When they entered the great hall, the girls were already eating breakfast. James was pleased that Lily was located at the edge of their little group and had an empty seat beside her. He slid into it and greeted the girls. He resisted the temptation of kissing Lily. After all, he did not know whether she had already told Marlene, Mary and Alice about last night's developments.

'Well, you look much better, than you did last night,' said Marlene as she reached for some scrambled eggs. 'Did you sleep well?'

'Very well, thank you,' said James. 'I think it was the best sleep I had in a while.'

'Is that so?' asked Lily, looking up from the Daily Prophet she was reading and looking at him. 'Why do you think that is?'

'Why, because of my pleasant visit to the hospital wing, of course,' said James with a big grin. He could not resist the chance of flirting with her and he did not care if he gave anything away by doing it. However, he doubted that anyone would take notice. After all, it hardly was uncommon for him to flirt with Lily.

'So you did manage to get to the hospital wing without getting caught then,' said Marlene. 'That's good, I think Pomfrey would have skinned you alive if she had caught you. She was a little on edge yesterday.'

'You sneaked into the hospital wing last night to bugger Lily?' asked Alice, frowning slightly. 'She needed rest, James! You really should not have disturbed her.'

'It was fine, Alice,' said Lily. 'James only wanted to see if I was alright. I told you that he helped get me out of the rubble in Hogsmeade.'

'I am still not seeing the reason for his happiness,' said Mary, looking rather confused. 'What did the two of you do in the Hospital Wing that James had such pleasant dreams tonight?'

'We just enjoyed each other's company that is all,' said Lily loftily. For a moment, James a bit hurt about the blatant dismissal of the kiss they had shared yesterday, but he was mollified a moment later, when Lily grasped his left hand under the table. Apparently, she was only uncomfortable with telling her friends just yet. Maybe he should have spoken to her first, before telling the Marauders, but he doubted that he would have been able to contain his happiness. Well, what's done is done. There was no point in agonizing about it.

'Of that I have no doubt,' said Sirius, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. 'Never would have pictured you as such a kinky bird, Evans. Did the possibility of Pomfrey walking in on the two of you excite you? As far as I know, James does not particularly care for it.'

James kicked him under the table. That hardly was what he had in mind when he told Sirius to behave himself. Still, it was not uncommon for his best made to made lewd comments, especially when talking to Lily. Their little secret was still save.

'Get your mind out of the gutter, Black,' said Lily. 'I don't want to know how you gained such insight into James's preferences in bed, but I can tell you that I value my privacy. And I have never shagged James, as you should know.'

'That's disappointing,' said Sirius. 'I was so sure that something must have happened, because James's mood was way too good this morning. Well, I suppose that boring head-students like the two of you probably did some homework together and then called it a day. Fortunately, some students know how to have a good time.'

'You were not particularly interested in having fun last night,' pointed Marlene out. 'In fact, you were downright cranky, moaning about what lack of sleep would do to your beauty. Rather than spending a free evening with my boyfriend, all I could do was smoke a quick cigarette with James, before he buggered off as well.'

'Nice to know that I am only second-best,' grumbled James. 'I was your friend way before that tosser got into your knickers.'

'Yes, and you will always have a special place in my heart,' said Marlene, blowing him a kiss. 'Still, sometimes a girl wants to spend time with her boyfriend rather than with her best friend. And sadly, said boyfriend was more worried about his beauty sleep than about my loneliness.'

'Don't worry, Marlene, I will make it up to you,' said Sirius. 'It is Sunday after all, so we have all the time in the world. How about we make a quick detour into a nice broom cupboard after breakfast? That is bound to make you feel better.'

'What a charming offer,' said Marlene. 'But I promised Mary that we will do the Charms essay together after breakfast. I will catch up with you later.'

'Speaking of things to do,' said Lily. 'James, we have to talk about some head-business. Let's take a walk after we are done and talk it trough.'

'Alright,' said James, his heart beating a little faster. He was not aware of any head-business they currently had to take care off. Unless he was very much mistaken, Lily was making up an excuse to talk to him on his own. Well, he was more than looking forward to that! Maybe they could even pick up where they had stopped yesterday. Kissing her had only increased his appetite for her rather than stating the hunger which had lingered in him for years. 'Let me just finish my eggs first.'

He could see Sirius smiling widely at him. Apparently, he had understood Lily's true intention as well. Fortunately, his best friend refrained from making any more lewd comment.

'Is there anything in there about the attack yesterday?' asked Remus, pointing at the newspaper Lily was still skimming.

'It's front page news,' said Lily, holding up the paper so that they could see it properly. 'Mayhem in Hogsmeade' read the headline in huge, bold letters. A picture of the Dark Mark floating in the sky over the village was placed beneath the head-line. James felt his stomach sink at the sight. 'I have read the coverage so far. They only caught one Death Eater, the others got away. One auror and a villager are dead. Twenty people were injured and four are still in St. Mungos. The Ministry has announced that they were going to station aurors in Hogsmeade and Hogwarts to increase the security of the Hogwarts students.'

'That is probably for the best,' said Remus. 'Parents will be worried sick about their children. The Ministry has to do something to make people feel safe again.'

'Exactly,' said Marlene. 'Hogwarts is regarded as one of the safest places in the Wizarding World after all. If the Death Eaters are able to get near it or even into it, everybody will be able to see how powerful they have become. Naturally, the Ministry wants to prevent this at all costs as it would show how little success they had had fighting the Death Eaters. Then they are done, we will probably have a whole crowd of aurors protecting the school.'

'They should station the aurors somewhere where they actually can do something meaningful,' said James, between bites of his scrambled eggs. 'Hogwarts does not need any more protection. We have got Dumbledore to protect us after all and he is the only one Voldemort has ever feared. They should use the manpower to hunt the Death Eaters or to protect the ordinary people. If that means that we can longer go to Hogsmeade, I am fine with it. It is a very small price to pay after all.'

'I am still hopeful that they will get something useful out of the captured Death Eater,' said Sirius. 'If they question him thoroughly enough, he might be able to tell us where his bloody master is. The Death Eaters are so dependent on their Dark Lord that they will scatter as soon as he is out of the picture. I bet you anything that if he ever gets caught, even the most devoted Death Eaters will pretend that they were forced into his service. I only hope that the Ministry will not be dumb enough to believe them when that happens.'

'Yes, that could be the lucky punch we are waiting for,' said Lily. 'But do you really think that it will be that easy? I mean, all this hatred for Muggleborns did not just appear out of nowhere just because Voldemort showed up. And it will not disappear when he is out of the picture. Look at Grindelwald for example. Voldemort and he had similar ideas and it took only a few decades for one Dark Lord to follow the next one. So, why should not one of the Death Eaters become the next Dark Lord if the Ministry ever catches Voldemort?'

'I agree,' said Remus. 'If we look at wizarding history, we learn that for centuries wizards have argued about how to deal with Muggles and Muggleborns. When the Statute of Secrecy was passed, some wizards argued for declaring war on the Muggles. They were overruled, of course, but the idea of a world ruled by wizards did not die with the establishment of the statute. Voldemort is just rehashing an old idea and it is quite possible that after he is defeated, a new Dark Lord will pick up the pieces.'

'I don't think that a successor for Voldemort will appear that quickly,' said James after swallowing a mouthful of eggs. 'I think that most Death Eaters just lack the necessary skill. Look at idiots like Avery and Mucliber. Granted, they are cruel and violent, but they lack the brains to lead anyone yet alone evade the Ministry for any longer period of time. Voldemort is only that dangerous, because he is a powerful and intelligent wizard who decided one day that he really hated Muggleborns and Muggles. He is sort of like a dark Dumbledore. There are not that many wizards who reach that level of power. In fact, they are only a few in each generation. So, if the Ministry ever manages to neutralize Voldemort, we probably will have some time to breathe, before the next grand wizard gets corrupted by the Dark Arts.'

'That's one way to put it,' said Sirius. 'And I agree about the average skills of the Death Eaters. My cousin Bellatrix has gone at joined the Death Eaters after all.'

'She has?' said Lily, surprised. 'I knew that she is a nasty person, but I did not think that she would go that far. Hang on, how do you even know that? I doubt that she would write you a letter containing that information.'

'My dear brother mentioned it,' said Sirius. 'He likes to point out how much of a failure of a son I am. He thinks Bella has the right idea in how to behave. Bloody fool. If he does not wake up soon, he is going to join up as well. But, I am getting side-tracked here. My point is that while Bella is a good dueller, she is also completely insane and hardly able to control herself. If the other Death Eaters are like her, they will be hard pressed to organize anything at all without their master shepherding them around. We just have to cut off the head of the snake and we are going to be fine. Sadly, said head is nowhere to be found and is going to put up quite a fight if anyone stumbles over him.'

'Sirius that is horrible,' said Marlene. 'I am sure Regulus will come to his senses at one point or the other.'

'We will see,' said Sirius, trying to sound casual about this, but James could see the tension in his best mate's shoulders. Regulus was a sore topic for Sirius. James knew that Sirius blamed himself for his brother's fascination with blood purity. James was sure that Sirius was blameless, there was nothing he could have done to counter their parent's destructive influence over his younger brother. If Regulus had been sorted into a different house than Slytherin, he might have had a chance, but in his current circle of friends he would only get encouraged on following the path laid out by the Dark Lord.

'Let's talk about something else,' said Mary. 'Alice, there have been rumours floating around that you and Frank have been spending a lot of time alone together. Do you have anything to share with us on the subject?'

'What?' said Alice, looking rather startled. 'No, there is nothing going on between us. We are just friends.'

'Friends who spend a lot of time locked in broom cupboards then?' asked Mary innocently, causing Alice to blush scarlet.

James tuned out Alice's protests and Mary's continuous interrogation attempts. He was not overly interested in Frank's and Alice's dancing around each other. However, her insistence that nothing was going on reminded him of himself and Lily. They had been just friends for quite a while as well, what in retrospective seemed like fooling each other. He just hoped that things would be alright between them now. He focused on clearing his plate, so he could have that overdue talk with Lily. The moment he was done, Lily took his hand and dragged him up from his seat. She made a few vague comments about their necessary head-duties, before leading James out of the great hall.

'We need somewhere to talk privately,' she muttered under her breath.

'How about a nice broom cupboard?' suggest James, innocently. Lily glared at him and then spotted a nearby empty class room. She ushered him in and locked the door behind them. Then, she cast a silencing charm as well.

'Good thinking, Lily,' said James. 'This has much more room than a broom cupboard. We are going to be much more comfortable here.'

'I have not dragged you here to snog you,' said Lily heatedly. 'You have told Black, haven't you? About our kiss?'

'Of course, I did,' said James. 'All the other Marauders know about it. I had to tell someone or I think I might have exploded.'

'Brilliant,' said Lily in an exasperated tone. 'Just brilliant. Why don't you tell the whole castle while you are at it?'

'I haven't told anyone except Peter, Remus and Sirius,' said James. 'And I have asked them not to tell anyone else. That's hardly the whole castle.'

'And you expect them to keep their mouths shut?' asked Lily. 'After Black's needling at breakfast, I am convinced that he is going to blab to someone.'

'We are very good at keeping each other's secrets,' said James firmly. 'And Sirius is the last one I would ever suspect of betraying a secret.'

James remembered the promise Sirius has given him in the Hogwarts kitchen all these months ago. His best friend had learned his lesson. He was never going to betray James again.

'Then why did he try to wheedle the truth out of me at breakfast?' asked Lily. 'All those witty allusions were done on purpose. He wanted someone to find out that we had kissed.'

'He was trying to wind you up,' said James. 'I gave him a few kicks under the table, but he can be very stubborn. And he likes to annoy you for some reason.'

'Something the two of you have in common then,' snapped Lily, but James could see that her anger was slowly ebbing away. 'I bet half of the pranks you were involved in, had the sole purpose to drive me up the wall.'

'Not only,' said James. 'That just was a pleasant side effect. And believe me our reasons for annoying you are complete different.'

Lily looked at him quizzically, but before she could say anything, James pressed on.

'So, I assume you want to keep it a secret that we are dating?' asked James.

'Are we dating now?'

'Do you have the habit of kissing people you don't date?' asked James, raising an eyebrow. She flushed slightly.

'You know what I mean,' she said. 'You have not even asked me out.'

James close the distance between them and put his arms around her waist. She looked up at him with her beautiful green eyes and James felt his heart flutter in his chest. 'That is easily rectified. I have more than enough practice after all. Lily, do you want to go out with me?'

'Yes,' she whispered after a short pause, which seemed like an eternity for James.

He smiled broadly and bent down to capture her lips in a searing kiss. She kissed him back with equal hunger. Just as he had gotten used to the thought of a nice, drawn-out snogging session, she pushed him away.

'We still have some things to discuss,' she said breathlessly. 'And I am still slightly mad at you because you told your good-for-nothing friends.'

'I thought you liked Remus,' said James, grinning slightly.

'You know what I am saying,' she said, rolling her eyes. 'And put Black on the leash. I don't want to deal with his antics every time I eat something in the great hall.'

'I will speak with him,' said James, though he was quite sure that Sirius was not going to listen to him. True to his animagus form, Sirius could be like a dog with a bone as soon as he made up his mind. When he was set on annoying Lily, there was little James could do short of hexing his friend. Still, it was worth a shot. 'So, what do you want to talk about?'

'I don't want people to know about us,' she rushed out.

'Why not?' asked James. 'I don't mind everybody knowing.'

In fact, the thought of telling the whole school that he had finally gotten the girl he had been pining about for so long was almost overwhelming. Fortunately, James was smart enough not to tell her that particular desire. He doubted that she would appreciate the possessive behaviour.

'I am not surprise,' said Lily, smiling slightly. 'It is just... I don't want everybody to gossip about us. Can you imagine what an uproar the news that we are dating will create in the castle? Not only are we head-girl and head-boy, but we have this history of being at each other's throat for years! It is going to be nightmare!'

'Let them gossip,' said James dismissively. 'Who cares what rumours some bored girls are telling each other? We know that it is all rubbish anyway.'

'Easy for you to say,' said Lily. 'I have a feeling that there will be a lot of unhappy witches when the news spreads that you are no longer a bachelor. And I doubt that they will be overly impressed with me. And there is the face that you are pure-blood and I am a Muggleborn.'

'You know that I don't care about this,' said James.

'I know you don't, but other people do,' she pointed out. 'And we are both going to face retribution if words get out that we are dating. People will call you a blood traitor and accuse me of corrupting you!'

'That's probably true,' said James grudgingly. He could vividly picture the reaction of blood purists like Mulciber or Rosier. To them, a blood traitor was worse than a Muggleborn by far. They certainly would not approve of him dating Lily. James did not care about their opinion of him, especially now his father's plan at appearing neutral was in his death throes. He could deal with some nasty words and a few glares. But if it bothered Lily that much, he assumed that it was fine to keep things to themselves at first.

'So, let's just avoid all the nasty side-effect and keep it a secret,' pleaded Lily. 'It will not be for long, I promise. I just need some time to get used to it. It is a big step after all.'

'Fine,' said James. 'I guess sneaking around makes it more fun anyway. It adds a certain thrill, don't you think?'

'No, I don't,' said Lily, rolling her eyes. 'I thought Black said that you don't get off at the possibility of getting caught? Was he wrong or are you expanding your tastes?'

James laughed.

'You will know about my tastes soon enough, Lily,' he said, capturing her lips again. He could see her shivering slightly at his touch and pulled her even closer. That was far more enjoyable than talking after all. She only allowed him a few kisses before pushing him away.

'James, we can't,' said Lily. 'People think that we are only doing some head-business. If we are gone for an hour and show up all dishevelled, people will know.'

'I am not worried about that,' said James. 'My hair is naturally dishevelled.'

'Well, mine isn't,' she said and extracted herself out of his arms. 'Come on, we probably should get back.'

'Alright, but I am going to drag you into an empty classroom when we are patrolling tonight,' grumbled James.

'I will be looking forward to it then,' said Lily with a huge grin on her face. 'Come on.'

James followed her back to the Gryffindor common room with a huge smile etched on his face. Live was wonderful after all.