January 14th, 1977
James, Sirius, Remus, Lily, Marlene, Alice and Dorcas were in the three Broomsticks. They were waiting for Peter to come. He wanted to introduce someone to them. Peter had been weirdly secretive about it. The girls however had a slight suspicion that perhaps that someone was a girl. If that was the case, it was no wonder Peter hadn't introduced her to them, knowing how the boys were. They could easily imagine the reactions of the boys.
The girl's suspicion was correct. Peter had planned to introduce Martha to his friends. He hadn't done this earlier because this was both his and Martha's first relationship and they had been taking things slow. The only reason he had introduced her to his parents was because they had told him to invite her for Christmas. So, this was a big moment for them. Peter wanted his friends to like Martha.
They both reached the Three Broomsticks and after greeting Madam Rosmerta, who told them where his friends were sitting, he and Martha made their way to where his friends were. They had been sitting at a comparatively secluded part of the inn. When they reached there, Peter said to his friends, "I told you all I wanted to introduce you all to someone. Here she is. This is my girlfriend, Martha Abbott."
The boys were shocked at this news while the girls shared a smile among themselves. They made Martha sit between and asked her a lot of questions. How did they meet? When did they begin dating? And stuff like that. The boys meanwhile were still in shock that Peter had a girlfriend. Not that they thought Peter didn't deserve one or anything like that. But in all the years they had known him, Peter had never shown much interest in any girl. Heck, they thought he was gay at one point, but Peter laughed at that idea and said it was the farthest thing from the truth.
But they soon joined the conversation. After the girls had asked all questions they wanted to ask her, the boys began telling her few embarrassing tales about Peter. They even teased Peter and her for a bit. Martha laughed at the stories and even teased the boys in return, giving as good as she got. It was clear to Peter that all his friends liked Martha and that she was now a part of their group.
After having lunch at the inn, they all went out and split into groups. Remus and Dorcas went back to Hogwarts. Remus was still tired from the full moon, which was two days back. The only reason he had come was to meet Martha. Dorcas meanwhile had some work with McGonagall. Sirius and Marlene were going to Marlene's home, o meet her parents. Peter and Martha were going to meet her friends. Alice was waiting for Frank to come. This left James and Lily together once again, just like the last time, when Dementors had attacked the village.
James asked Lily, "Is there anything you need to do?" Lily said, "Nothing much. Need to buy some chocolates from Honeydukes and some supplies from Scrivenshaft. What about you?" James said, "I needed to go to Gladrags and buy new robes. After that, I was thinking of using the coupons we got to buy few simple joke items from Zonko's and get something at Honeydukes." Lily nodded and said, "Let's go to Gladrags then. After that we can go other places." So, they went to Gladrags and then to Scrivenshaft and after buying what they needed, they roamed the village.
After roaming the village, they at last went to Honeydukes. They took a basket and filled it with the good stuff. They bought truffles, bars, cakes and chocolate frogs. They even jokingly dared the other about eating the weirder options. When they were done and had paid for it, they left the shop and were walking behind the shop when they heard someone say, "Looks as if the two heads have become a couple? But hadn't our head girl said she hated our head boy here. Though they don't deserve to be the head boy and girl, do they?" They turned back and saw Nott Sr. and his Slytherin gang, though Severus was absent.
He then said, "Less said about the head girl the better. And the head boy. How did this arrogant, cocky, immature idiot become our head boy? How did he defeat Severus Snape, the best in DADA? Merlin only knows why headmaster choose him?" James said, "Whatever be the reason, I am the head boy and whether you believe it or not, I defeated Snape fair and square. And if you don't shut your mouth now, you will find yourself losing points and facing detentions." Nott said, "And there he goes abusing his power. Maybe that's why Lily here is with him instead of someone else."
Lily had enough at that point and said, "You are delusional Nott. Clearly you didn't see the changes in James this year. How would you, with you being so immersed in your so-called dark lord's cause? That's why you didn't see the change in James. How he become grounded, how he lost his arrogance and cockiness and proved himself worthy of being head boy. I will happily be in a relationship in him. Now go bother someone else and leave us alone." Nott grew angry and said, "You will regret talking to a pureblood like me like that mudblood." He then pulled his wand and casted a cutting curse at her. Lily dodged it and casted a stinging hex near his groin. The pain made Nott fall down. But before his other friends could do anything, Lily, James pointed their wand at them. Lily said, "Take Nott and leave us alone. Or I won't be as kind this time." The boys grabbed Nott and left. After they had left, Lily kept her wand inside and was about to say something to James before he said, "Did you really mean what you said to Nott right now? About being my girlfriend?"
Shock filled Lily as she realised what she had said. She hadn't thought when she was saying it but thinking about it now, it was true that she would happily be James Potter girlfriend. She said "I meant every word of it. You have grown this year. You are no longer the arrogant, cocky, immature boy of the past." And to prove it, she slowly leaned towards him and softly kissed him.
The kiss was brief and short, but to James, it was heaven. It was everything he had imagined kissing Lily would feel like. When Lily pulled back, he leaned forward and kissed her. This time, the kiss was longer, more passionate and intense. When they pulled back, both were breathing heavily. James asked her, "Are we a couple now?" Lily said, "Was the kiss not an answer enough?" James said, "I want you to say it." Lily smiled and said, "We are a couple, James. You are my boyfriend and I am your girlfriend." A huge smile came on his face. Lily was finally his girlfriend and it felt wonderful to say that.
Later that night, the entire castle of Hogwarts was in for a huge surprise. Because that night, when the dinner was just about to begin, through the gate came James and Lily, smile on their faces and holding hands. The entire hall went quiet as James and Lily made their way to their friends and sat at their place. Their own friends were surprised. Seeing the shocked faces on everyone's faces, Lily looked at James mischievously. Then she did something that surprised everyone else, including James. She kissed him, in front of everyone, in the great hall. Loud cheers and shout erupted in the great hall. Lily Evans, the girl who had said several times that she would never date James Potter, had kissed him. Lily had kissed James. Few groans followed the cheers, as many realized that they had lost the bet. A bet was going between the 6th and 7th years on when James and Lily would get together. And that bet was won by Gryffindors, who had bet after Christmas but before the end of the year.