It was shortly before six o'clock in the evening when James rapped on the window of the top floor bedroom in Cokeworth. It was a cold and snowy night, but the warming charm he had cast on himself before leaving the house kept him comfortable even while flying on his broomstick in the icy wind. James could see Lily looking up from her book in confusion. She was sitting on her bed looking rather put out. James wondered what had gotten her in such a bad mood the day before Christmas. He knocked again when she still had not spotted him a moment later. This time, she got up from her bed and moved towards the window. Her mouth dropped when she saw him through the frosty glass. She hurried over and wrenched it open immediately.

'All right, Evans?' he asked cockily.

'James what on earth are you doing here?' she asked. 'Oh dear Merlin you are FLYING! This is a Muggle neighbourhood! What if someone sees?'

'You should let me come in then before someone notices I'm here,' said James. 'You know because of the statute of secrecy.'

She rolled her eyes.

'Fine, get in,' she said. 'And you better have a good explanation for your behaviour.'

She moved away from the window, so that James had enough space to squeeze himself through it. His broom hovered motionless in the air while James got inside the house. After he was safely inside, he grabbed the broom and pulled it through the window as well. Lily quickly closed the window behind him and closed the curtains.

'James, why are you here?' she asked. 'And why didn't you just ring the doorbell?'

'Because I want to have you by myself,' said James huskily. He had not seen her for ten days and he had missed her terribly. Furthermore, since his little adventure at the beginning of the holidays, things had been rather dull at home. The Death Eaters had not reacted to his rather botched delivery so far and James doubted that they would at all. So, he had decided to pay Lily a little visit today. He stepped closer to her so that their faces were only a few inches apart. She gazed up at him with surprise shining in her green eyes. 'It has been too long since I have been able to do that.'

He cupped her face in his hands and brought his lips down on hers. Lily gave a short squeak of surprise but quickly settled into the kiss. James groaned when her tongue slipped into his mouth and he pulled her flush into his body. One his hands travelled down her back and grabbed her ass roughly through her skirt. She made a small keening noise in her throat in response. James wasn't sure whether it was protest or encouragement. James was barely able to enjoy the feeling, before she broke the kiss and gently pushed him away.

'You are wearing too many clothes,' she said, motioning at his travelling cloak. 'And we really shouldn't do that here: My parents could walk in on us.'

'Well, both of these problems are easily fixed,' said James. He removed the cloak and hung it over a chair. Underneath he was wearing a white shirt and a dark pair of jeans.

'Muggle clothing?' asked Lily with a raised eyebrow.

'As you have just pointed out to me, this is a Muggle neighbourhood,' said James with a smirk. 'I thought it wise to come prepared.'

'Which is why you flew her on a broom,' said Lily dryly. 'You should probably have picked Muggle Studies at Hogwarts. Then you might have figured out why that is not such a great idea.'

'I have a wonderful secret girlfriend, who can teach me about these things,' said James. 'And I only took the broom because I did not think that I would be able to climb to your window.'

'You could have just rang the doorbell.'

'I could have, but then I would have to explain to your parents that I was here to snog you and I doubt that they would have been overly eager to welcome me after that explanation. And you wanted to keep our relationship a secret and I think that includes your parents.'

'It actually sounds plausible if you tell it like this,' said Lily. 'But I don't think you would have to worry about my parents overly much. My mother would be thrilled if she knew that we were dating.'

'Seems like she has passed her great taste in men to her daughter,' said James. 'Now, where were we? I think I was just in the process of getting reacquainted with your marvellous bum.'

'James, I am serious,' said Lily. 'We must not do that here! And I don't even think about doing a pun!'

'It will be fine,' said James and whipped out his wand. 'I will just do a locking and a silencing charm on the door and no one will be the wiser. Come on, Lily, you know you want to.'

'No!' said Lily, her eyes going wide. 'Don't use magic inside the house!'

'Why not? You are off-age by now, so the Ministry is not going to care.'

'I have promised not to use magic in the house,' she explained. 'You know because of Petunia.'

'Ah,' said James. He had gotten to know Petunia last year and given her aversion to everything magical, he could vividly picture her reaction to magic done in her own house. 'Fine, do you have a lock on your door?'

'As a matter of fact I haven't,' said Lily. 'It has been broken for ages and as I am almost never around, my father keeps putting off getting it replaced.'

'Then I suppose we just have to take the risk,' said James loftily. 'It is more fun that way anyway.'

'James,' protested Lily weakly, but James cut her off with a kiss. She sighed into his mouth and gave in, kissing him back hungrily. James hands skimmed down to her waist and with a sudden lurch, he picked her up. Lily giggled in surprise and gave a little squeal when James dumped her on her bed.

'There,' said James, as he slipped out of his shoes. 'Much more comfortable on the bed than standing.

'You are a terrible influence,' said Lily, watching him crawl towards her with dark eyes. 'Just snogging me in my room is not enough for you, you have to do it on my bed as well.'

'What can I say?' said James. 'I have never believed in moderation.'

He captured her lips again with his body on top of hers. She mewled in response and James wasted no time in slipping on his hands into her hair. God, he had missed her so much! Next time he was going to invite her to stay with him for the holidays. That way, he would have all the time in the world and his house had a least a hundred places where he could snog her in secret.

'Have I ever told you, how much I love it when you wear skirts?' he rumbled into her ear when he kissed her neck. His right hand was skimming up her leg slowly, coming closer and closer to the edge of her rather short skirt.

'I don't think so,' said Lily in a rather strangled voice.

'Skirts are wonderful because of the easy access,' said James huskily. 'All I have to do is push your knickers aside and I can shove my fingers inside of you. Just imagine it: Good girl Lily Evans getting fingered by her devilish good-looking boyfriend in her bedroom with the parents in the house and the door unlocked. Nasty, nasty.'

Lily shivered.

'You forgot about my tights,' she said weakly.

'I suppose I did,' said James, brushing over the material covering her legs. 'Hm... I think it would be easy to get them off if you raise your bum a little. As an alternative, I could always try ripping them off. You would like that, wouldn't you?'

He never found out whether Lily would have enjoyed him destroying her tights. There was loud knock on the door which made both of them flinch. Before Lily had the chance to answer, the door handle sunk down and the door started to open. James reacted with lightning speed. He lifted himself up to a sitting position and put some distance between Lily and him. Lily barely managed to do the same before her mother entered the room.

'Lily, dinner is about to be ready. Are you com...? Oh dear.'

'Hello Mrs. Evans,' said James with a rather forced smile. Thanks to all of his pranking experience, he was reasonably good and not blushing when under pressure, but the same could not be said for Lily. James knew that they both were looking rather suspicious. Lily's hair was mussed and her lips were swollen. He was very glad that neither of them was missing any clothing. If they had only been a bit quicker in their process things would be much, much worse.

'James,' said Mrs. Evans, obviously quite puzzled at his presence. She took a long look at him and another one at her daughter and her eyes narrowed suspiciously. 'I didn't know that you were visiting Lily over the holidays. In fact, I have a feeling that I am interrupting something. Is there anything you two want to tell me?'

James opened his mouth, trying to find the right words to explain. It all seemed horribly complicated. After all, they were not officially dating and he doubted that Lily wanted her parents of all people to know about them. On the other hand, saying that he had been here to snog their daughter, but that he was not dating her was not a good idea. He doubt that Lily's mother would appreciate that revelation. However, before he had the chance to come up with an excuse, Lily beat him to it.

'Yes, actually,' she said, looking much more composed than she had a few minutes ago. 'James and I have been dating for about two months. I invited him over for dinner, but it must have slipped my mind to tell you. I'm so sorry.'

James only barely managed to keep his jaw from dropping. Lily had refused to make their relationship public for ages and now she was telling her mother of all people like it was no big deal? And why on earth did she just invite him to dinner? There must be something else going on here.

'Oh, Lily that's wonderful!' said Mrs. Evans. 'It is great to see you again, James! I knew that there was something between the two of you and it seems like I was right! And don't worry about dinner, I have probably cooked too much as it is.'

'I can leave if it is too much trouble,' said James quickly.

'Oh, don't be silly, dear,' said Mrs. Evans. 'Well, I will expect the two of you downstairs in a few minutes then. I guess you need some time to prepare yourselves.'

Her eyes lingered on their dishevelled appearances for a moment, before she swept from the room, with a huge smile still on her face.

'I guess we should get ready then,' said Lily casually. 'Come on, the bathroom is down the hall.'

'Not so fast,' said James, rounding on her. 'Why on earth did you tell her that we were dating and that you had invited me to dinner? You didn't think she would believe that, did you?'

'Was I supposed to tell her the truth then?' snapped Lily. 'I suppose she would be awfully happy to hear that you snuck in here to get into my knickers. And the fact that we were not officially dating would have been the cherry on the pie. Yes, I am sure that would have went splendidly.'

'Alright, alright,' said James. 'Still, I probably should go. I am quite sure that she did not believe you. Having dinner with your family is bound to make things even more awkward, isn't it?'

'You stay were you are,' hissed Lily. 'It would be a tad suspicious if you just happen to disappear without a trace after we have been caught in the act, wouldn't it? You will come down to dinner with me and you will be the prefect boyfriend for the remainder of the evening. Turn on your charm and wrap my parents around your fingers. I know you can do it. You have done it before after all.'

'You are so fierce today, Lily,' said James. 'It makes me want to push you back on the bed again.'

'Be serious here,' said Lily, but James could see her blushing slightly.

'I have the feeling that there is something here you are not telling me. You could have told your mother that I was just leaving rather than inviting me to dinner. Why didn't you?'

'Have you always been that nosy?' she asked. 'Am I not allowed to invite my boyfriend to have dinner with my family?'

'Not if you have spent the last few weeks making sure that no one knows about said boyfriend. So, spill the beans. I am not going down there until you give me a proper explanation.'

'Fine,' said Lily, exasperated. 'It was about Petunia. She is getting married to her git of a boyfriend. And she has been insufferable because of it. If she is not bossing everyone around or obsessing about ridiculous things like which napkins to use, she likes to make mean comments towards me, because I am not getting married anytime soon. As if I wanted to get married straight out of school in the first place. But as Petunia likes to point out, I don't even have someone who would be willing to marry me in the first place.'

James briefly considered telling her that he could vividly picture marrying her, but he swallowed the words before they could spill out of his mouth. It was too much and too soon for this kind of commitment.

'So, I figured that if you are here, you could take her down a peg or two,' continued Lily. 'You are my boyfriend after all and you are everything Petunia hates. You are handsome, smart, a trouble-maker and worst of all: A wizard. She is going to hate you for showing up here.'

'You forgot extraordinarily good at Quidditch and humble in your list,' said James. 'So you want me to get back at your sister. I feel like I should be upset about this fact, but I am not sure I am.'

'You wanted to be a proper couple. Having dinner with your girlfriend's parents is part of the job description. Just think of annoying Petunia as a bonus.'

'Alright then, this should be fun,' said James. 'I will charm the socks of your parents, just give me an hour.'

'Wonderful,' said Lily. 'Come on, let's hurry and freshen up. You are not going to charm my father with hair like that.'

'Yes, mum,' said James and rolled his eyes, but his followed her into the bathroom nevertheless.

Having dinner with the Evans family was different than what James had expected. Mrs. Evans had glossed over the fact that James had been in the process of snogging their daughter senseless, so Mr. Evans was rather pleased to see him again, even though he had not been overly warm the last time they had met. Distinctly less pleased was Petunia. Her face had gone white when she first spotted him before darkening in anger. James had given her a winning smile, but she had only glowered at him in response. Her fiancé Vernon Dursley, a plump man with a no neck and a rather ridiculous moustache had seemed thrown by his sudden appearance. James himself had been unsure whether he was supposed to pretend to be a Muggle. However, Lily had quickly informed Vernon that James was a wizard as well. Vernon had gotten quite withdrawn after that announcement. Apparently, he shared his future bride's view on magic. James had also been surprised at how affectionate Lily acted in front of her family. She was almost constantly touching him in one way or another and her glowing tales of their relationship made James slightly uncomfortable. Mrs. Evans was utterly delighted at the news, gushing about young love and fairytales, while Mr. Evans was rather quiet and Petunia was openly hostile about it. James took it in stride, keeping himself in the background and focused on remaining polite and keeping his temper in check.

'You know Lily,' said Petunia when the meal was over and coffee was served. 'You could have told me that you were dating someone a bit earlier. I was already in the processing of arranging a date for you.'

'Indeed?' said Lily. Her grip on James's hand tightened slightly. Apparently, she was not overly pleased about that information. 'And with whom?'

'Vernon's friend Malcom of course,' said Petunia. 'He has a very promising career at a bank, as you probably know, and he has been asking about you since he first met you during the summer. It is too bad that you already are in a relationship: I might do you some good to spend more time with someone normal.'

James ignored the barb, but Lily's temper flared instantly.

'And what's that supposed to mean?' she demanded hotly. 'What exactly is not normal about me dating James?'

'Girls, be nice,' said Mrs. Evans, but both Lily and Petunia ignored her.

'Oh, I don't know,' said Petunia sarcastically. 'Maybe the fact that both of you are bloody freaks, who spent their days at a crazy school leaning how to turn teacups into rats! You should know better than to dabble in this nonsense Lily! You should have stayed in the normal world!'

'Neither James nor I are freaks!' shouted Lily. 'And if you don't shut your mouth, I will...'

'What? Put a spell on me?' said Petunia nastily. 'Go one then! Proof me right that you are only a freak who abuses her powers. You are going to get into trouble with your government if you do anything! Yes, I know about that! I have been listening to a lot over the years. That disgusting Snape boy used to tell you all kind of stuff about their world after all.'

'Petunia, that's enough,' said Mr. Evans sharply. 'You are going to apologize to Lily right now. And Lily, you are going to sit down and put that away.'

Lily blinked and looked down at the wand in her hand. She had risen from her seat and drawn it right after the beginning of Petunia's last comment, but judging from the surprised look on her face, she hadn't even noticed it. James's right hand rested on his own wand, even though he was not sure what he was supposed to do with it. He felt sick in his stomach at the way Petunia treated her sister. He had always wanted a sibling, but seeing how cruel Petunia was to Lily, he was rather glad that he was an only child. At least he could choose who to spend time with. He was not even angry at Petunia, just stunned and strangely detached from the argument. The only thing he knew for certain was that Lily must not curse her sister. While she was off-age and therefore allowed to use magic during the holidays, the Ministry for Magic did not tolerate hexing Muggles, especially not in the current political climate. Granted, they probably had bigger things to worry about at the moment, but James was not in the mood to find out how lenient the Ministry was feeling today. He was going to have to stop her if she truly lost her temper.

Fortunately, it did not come to that. Lily let out a long breath and lowered her wand again. She slowly sat down in her seat again, still looking furious.

'Thank you,' said Mr. Evans, giving his younger daughter a pointed look. 'Petunia...'

'I am sorry,' said Petunia through clenched teeth. 'I shouldn't have said that.'

'Fantastic,' said Mr. Evans. 'It is rather normal to get carried away without words sometimes, but that does not mean that you should hurt someone on purpose. Especially not that close to Christmas.'

'Do you have any big plans for Christmas, James?' asked Mrs. Evans, in an obvious attempt to steer the conversation into safe waters again.

'Nothing in particular,' said James. 'My mother has always been rather fond of Christmas, so she wants everything to be perfect. So, I have spent most the last week helping her decorate the house. Sirius is coming home tomorrow, so she is going to have three teenagers in the house again.'

'I have heard that name before,' said Mr. Evans. 'Didn't you use to rant about this Sirius boy, Lily?'

'I might have,' said Lily with a slight blush on her cheeks. 'He is James's best mate and a bit of a prat.'

'Language dear,' said Mrs. Evans, frowning.

'Well, she is not wrong, so don't worry about it,' said James. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a package of wizarding cigarettes. 'Do you mind if I smoke in the house?'

'It's fine, I smoke in here all the time,' said Mr Evans. 'What kind of cigarettes are these?'

'Merlin's finest, a wizarding brand,' said James. 'Would you like to try some?'

Mr. Evans hesitated for a moment, but then his curiosity took over.

'Sure,' he said.

James passed him a cigarette a placed on in his mouth as well.

'You just have to suck on them to ignite them,' said James. 'These are relatively similar to Muggle ones. There are others with more fancy magic. You know, silly stuff like super voluminous smoke or a special taste. I like to keep it simple though.'

James sucked on his cigarette which promptly burst into flame. Mr. Evans mirrored his actions and seemed surprised that it worked for him as well.

'Very handy,' he said. 'Is it normal for these things to work if you don't have any magic?'

'Well, most magical things will also work for Muggles, as long as they don't require any additional magic from their user,' explained Lily. 'You won't be able to use a wand, but something like this cigarette or even a magic potion should work properly.'

While Mr. and Mrs. Evans seemed interested in that piece of information, Petunia was not too happy about it. Her scowl deepened even more and she gave her sister a withering look. Vernon seemed to grow more and more uncomfortable as well, James guess that he was still getting used to the finer points of having a witch in the family.

'We have got to go, don't we Vernon?' said Petunia suddenly. 'Marge will be waiting for us already.'

'What?' said Vernon, glancing at the time. 'Yes... I think you are right, Petunia. The movie will start in an hour but it is best to be early. I am going to get my coat then. Thanks for the wonderful dinner.'

'Are you sure you can't stay any longer?' asked Mrs. Evans. 'I don't think that you will need quite that much time to get to the cinema.'

'Unfortunately not,' said Petunia firmly. 'I guess you will be well entertained by Lily and her boyfriend in the meantime. I will be back late, don't wait up for me.'

She and Vernon swept out of the room, looking very glad to be leaving.

'Well, that was strange,' said James, shaking his head in bemusement. 'Was it something I said?'

'No,' said Lily gloomily. 'I think it was just too much magic for Petunia to handle. Don't worry about it. It happens all the time.'

'Maybe we should have avoided the topic in the first place,' said Mrs. Evans.

'Petunia should have gotten used to it by now,' grumbled Mr. Evans. 'It has been more than six years since Lily got her letter. Should we just ignore this huge part of her life and never talk about it? And what about James? He does not know anything about our world, so he wouldn't have anything to say at all.'

'I know some things,' protested James weakly, but Lily just snorted.

'And where did you pick up that knowledge? You don't even take Muggle Studies at school,' she said. 'Face it, James, you are completely clueless about the Muggle world.'

'Sirius takes Muggle studies though,' said James. 'He sometimes shares the more interesting things with us. And I live close to a Muggle village, so I run into them all the time. Sirius also likes to flirt with pretty Muggles girls whenever he gets the chance.'

'I thought wizards did not mingle with ordinary people?' said Mrs. Evans. 'Your world is kept a secret after all. If wasn't for Lily, we never would have guess that Magic exists at all.'

'Normally they don't, but they are exceptions to every rule,' said James. 'Some wizards are Muggle-born or half-bloods, so they will have some contact with Muggles over their life. Some even get married to a Muggle partner. I don't know about any pure-blood wizard who fell in love with a Muggle though. Their worlds are so different that they rarely encounter each other after all. However, I still think that it could happen.'

'I think that is pushing it,' said Lily. 'Pure-bloods are at the top of wizarding society and they tend to keep to themselves after all. Not many pure-bloods would ever consider dating a Muggle-born after all. Sirius my flirt with these poor girls, but he flirts with every girl, so it doesn't count.'

'Isn't James a pure-blood?' asked Mr. Evans.

'I am,' said James. 'One of the friendly ones to be precise. I don't care about blood-status.'

'But others do?' asked Mr. Evans, looking rather concerned. 'They don't bother you, do they Lily?'

'It is fine dad,' said Lily. 'It is nothing that I can't handle. I am a big girl, I can take care of myself.'

'We know dear,' said Mrs. Evans. 'Still, I think it is a good thing that you have James to look out for you now. He probably knows more about all of these magic things than you do.'

James felt rather smug at this kind of praise. Lily noticed the expression on his face and elbowed him in the ribs. He just poked out her tongue at her in response.

'That's not very lady-like behaviour,' he whispered in her ear. 'I am your noble protector after all.'

'Shut up or you will be the one who needs protecting,' she whispered back, but there was no bite in her voice. James was rather sure that she did not mind too much about his protection after all.

'Don't worry Mrs. Evans,' said James. 'I am keeping an eye on her. While I don't think she needs my protection, it does not hurt to be careful.'

Lily grimaced, but refrained from commenting any further.

'Well James, when do you have to be back at your house?' asked Mr. Evans, when both James and he had finished their cigarettes. 'Are your parents already waiting for you?'

'Er…' said James not sure what to answer to that question. He had told his parents that he was off visiting a friend and that they don't have to wait for him before starting dinner. His mother had needled him with questions, but James had evaded them skilfully and had disappeared into the night. Therefore, he didn't have any concrete deadline to be back, but he also had never expected to get roped into dinner with Lily's parents either. He had want to snog Lily senseless and then maybe go out with her for a walk, but he couldn't say that to her parents, obviously. Should he excuse himself and get back to the manor then? He doubted that he was going to get to spend more time with Lily alone today, so maybe he should just go now. On the other hand, he didn't want to be rude.

'You told me that you should be home by half-past eight,' said Lily suddenly, even though James had said no such thing at all. 'So you probably should get a move on as you are late already.'

James looked at her in confusion, but the intense look in her eyes caused him not to contradict her.

'Yes, you are right,' he said instead. 'I guess, I should get going then. Thank you so much for your hospitality, Mr. and Mrs. Evans.'

'It was our pleasure, James,' said Mrs. Evans. 'Feel free to stop by whenever you feel like it.'

'Come one,' said Lily. 'I will show you out.'

She stood up from her chair and James obediently followed. He was rather confused by her sudden hurry to get rid of him. Had he done something wrong? Lily briefly dashed upstairs to her room to get his broomstick before meeting him again on the front porch. Snow was falling thickly around them and a frosty wind blew. Lily closed the door behind her, so that they could talk without being overheard from inside the house.

'I am sorry about today,' she said quietly. 'Petunia was out of line. You never should have seen that.'

'Its alright, Lily,' said James. 'You must not listen to what she says. What does she know about our world in the first place? If you ask me, she is just jealous because of all the attention you get.'

'Maybe,' said Lily. 'I am also sorry for making your leave so abruptly: I just feel a bit overwhelmed with everything and need some time to think. I guess I am not used to being a proper couple yet, especially not in front of my parents.'

'Well, that is not surprising given that you try to keep the fact hidden in the first place. But you have to admit that it was rather enjoyable, wasn't it?'

'Yeah, I guess it was,' said Lily with a small smile. 'I never would have imagined that I get caught by my mother while making out with a ruffian like you in my childhood bedroom. I was mortified at the time, but now I just think it's funny.'

'We make a good couple, Lily.'

'I guess we do.'

James smiled brightly at her words. Maybe she was finally seeing that going public about their relationship was not that bad after all.

'Come to my house for New Year's eve,' he said. 'I have invited to boys and Marlene. We are going to get smashed and make a hell of a firework.'

'Sounds like fun,' said Lily, with a smile on her face. 'Alright, I will be there. I will ask my parents and owl you about the details.'

'Brilliant!' said James. 'I suppose, I will get going then.'

'Aren't you going to kiss me good-night?' asked Lily.

'Good night, Lily,' said James, reaching down and kissing her deeply.

'Good night, James,' she said breathlessly after they had broken apart. James smiled, tightened the grip on his broomstick and disapparated.