Written for Ilvermorny, Marauding Menace challenge.

Main Prompt: Lily Evans

Secondary Prompts: common room party with a series of unfortunate events occurring (scenario), peacock green (color), "tongue in cheek" (phrase), Marauders' Map (object), "I fell in love the way you fall asleep — slowly, then all at once" (quote).

As soon as I walked into the common room after the Gryffindor/Slytherin Quidditch game, I could tell that this night wouldn't pass fast enough.

First, Potter and his friends were standing on the tables and holding bottles of — I peered closer. Was that...firewhiskey? Dear Merlin, Potter was the Head Boy! He wasn't supposed to get sloshed in front of younger students!

Second, they were singing drunkenly and leading the others in a rousing rendition of "For He's A Jolly Good Fellow".

And third, every single one of the so called "Marauders" was a vibrant peacock green, with accompanying blue and green feathers. They looked like they would start preening and cawing at any minute.

I marched forward. "Potter! Just what do you think you're doing?" I waved the younger students toward the dorms, and they left, casting amused glances back at James and me. One boy even mouthed 'good luck!' to him.

Am I really that bad?

"Worse," James said solemnly. Well, as solemnly as he could, given that he was currently swaying and giggling madly...

And that's when I realized that I'd just asked my question out loud. I groaned inwardly. Although I didn't like to admit it, even to myself, I found James quite handsome. As I had told him in fifth year when Seve — Snape, I mentally corrected — called me that horrible, degrading name, I thought that he had a big head and an even bigger ego. But he had calmed down considerably. He no longer assumed that girls wanted to go out with him, even if most still did.

Even me.

My eyes widened at that thought. Did I seriously want to date him and get thrown aside after? Did I want to just be another notch on his bedpost?

He wouldn't do that, a voice said in my head. He's been asking you out almost ever since you met, Evans. Do you really think he'd throw you away after getting what he's wanted for years?

Yes, said another voice. It was my biggest fear — to date him, fall for him, and be cast aside for some other girl when he got tired of me.

I put my hands on my hips and frowned, ignoring the voices bickering in the back of my mind. "James Potter, you get down from there!"

He pouted — actually pouted! He must be even more drunk than I thought...

"Lily flower..." he whined, "We're just having a bit of fun, yeah?"

I shook my head and gestured around the common room. "This? This is not a 'bit of fun'." I made bunny ears with my fingers sarcastically. I knew that James thought I was going to ruin the night for them, but instead, a slow grin spread across my face.

"Uh oh," said James nervously. "I know that look. Run!" He waved his arms dramatically and turned the opposite direction, only to run smack dab into Remus, who blinked in surprise as James bounced off his chest and landed on his arse. I doubled over, clutching my stomach, and howled with laughter at the sight of James shaking his head and trying to stand up. Remus, apparently the least drunk of the four, finally took pity on his friend and hauled James to his feet.

"Fanks," slurred James. He still had a stupid grin on his face. I rolled my eyes and muttered under my breath.

"Idiots." I raised my voice. "The lot of you!"

Remus shook his head. "Tongue in cheek, Lils. You love it." I huffed, but couldn't disagree. Hogwarts wouldn't be the same without the moronic four.

"So," Sirius said slyly, "What is the perfect Princess of Gryffindor going to do?"

I smirked. "Let's play truth or dare, shall we?" I gestured toward the fireplace, around which a bunch of chairs and a few sofas were placed haphazardly.

The seventh years — my roommates Alice, Marlene, and Dorcas, and a few others — had stayed. They didn't appear quite as drunk as the Marauders, but they were definitely getting there.

"You all know how to play, right?" I asked. They nodded. "Good! Now, you begin, and Potter and I will sneak out to the kitchens to get some food. Any requests?"

Remus's hand shot up. "Chocolate!" Everyone laughed at his predictable response.

"Marshmallows!" Dorcas squealed. Marlene grinned and nodded her head violently, making her blonde bun wobble on top of her head. I giggled at their naïveté. My roommates were kind, funny, and sweet, but they acted younger than their physical age. Alice and I often acted as the adults, herding the other two around.

"Okay," I agreed. "Marshmallows and chocolate, it is!" I turned to James. "Come on, Potter. Bring your stupid magical map, too." I spun on my heel and started heading away from the group, who had already begun the game. I overheard Sirius bugging Frank Longbottom about his crush, and glanced back. Poor Frank was the shade of an overlooked lobster, and doing his best to not look at Alice. I shook my head. As if a single person in the school didn't know that he fancied Alice — excluding the girl herself.

How can she be so... I shook my head. I couldn't come up with an adjective to describe Alice.

I pushed the portrait open and stepped out, not bothering to wait for James. The Fat Lady didn't even budge. She and her friend — of whom I couldn't remember the name for the life of me — were snoring softly, heads on their arms, with several bottles of butter beer and one elven wine on the table next to them.

"How did you know?" James asked, hurrying to catch up with me. He had his left arm crooked, like he would if he had a cloak over it, but there was nothing there. I wasn't fooled. He held a piece of blank parchment in the other hand. "About the map, I mean?"

I scoffed quietly. "You really aren't that good at keeping secrets, Potter. I learned about it in fifth year from an inebriated Black. Word of advice: stop giving him alcohol."

James snickered. "You're right. It was his birthday, wasn't it? We took him to a Muggle pub and got sloshed. If I remember correctly, he came home with a hickey on his neck the size of a tennis ball." I nodded, but realized that he couldn't see me in the dark.

"Yup," I said, popping the 'p". I suddenly stopped and held an arm out in front of James, stopping him.

"What?" He whispered, but thankfully kept stopped moving.

"Filch," I whispered back. "Listen." He kept silent and perfectly motionless — not for long — but it was enough to hear the faint footsteps.

"Who's there?" A voice rasped. "Students out of bed? Who's out after curfew, my precious?" I was about to gag before I realized that he was talking to his cat.

"Quickly!" James hissed. He drew something from off his left arm and flung it around us. I felt something land over me, light as a feather. He pushed me gently against the wall and pressed close to me to maximize the distance between us and Filch. Or at least that's what I kept telling myself.

Filch trudged past, his horrid cat sniffing around, nose in the air. "Come out, come out, wherever you are!" He crooned softly. We kept still and I'm pretty sure we stopped breathing, too. "No one here, my sweet," he said disappointedly. "Come along, pet." They shuffled down the corridor, and it wasn't until a full minute after they turned the corner that James stepped away from me. I felt surprisingly lonely and cold, and found myself missing his warm body pressed against me.

"Hurry," he said in a low, quiet voice. "Before he comes back."

We scurried along underneath the corridor to the kitchens, making sure to check around each corner before turning them. When we arrived, I made James find the marshmallows while I snitched the chocolate — without help from the house elves. They already worked so hard, the poor things...

After we loaded up our arms with snacks — I took some graham crackers...just in case — we snuck back out, still under the cover of the Invisibility Cloak (which James was also surprised that I knew about) and began the trek back to Gryffindor Tower.

"Evans — Lily," James said softly, "Will you go out with me?"

My eyebrows shot up. Was he really asking me out normally, with no giant bouquets of lilies or going down on his knees? And did he really just call me by my first name? What was the world coming to? I opened my mouth to say 'no', as I usually did, but instead what came out was, "Alright."

He whooped with joy. I'm sure he would have thrown his arms up if not for the precious marshmallows. "You idiot!" I hissed, slapping my hand over his mouth. "Do you have a death wish or something? McGonagall will have a fit if she catches us!" We stayed still for a moment, but nothing made any noise. Everything was still, everyone asleep. "Quickly," I whispered, tugging on his arm.

We stumbled into the common room a few minutes later, where we found our Housemates passed out around the fire. I smiled wryly. "Looks like we were too late."

James grinned broadly. "But now we get to eat all this stuff by ourselves!" I shook my head in amusement. He tilted his head away from our snoring friends, towards the corner. We sat down in the plush armchairs and James immediately tore into the marshmallows. "Chubby bunny!" He said around a mouthful. I made a face and turned my head away.

"Ew, James! That is so disgusting!" His eyes bugged out, and he nearly choked. After he had swallowed, he looked at me with an amazed expression. "What?" I asked, shrugging. I crossed my arms over my chest defiantly and jutted out my chin.

"You called me James," he said softly. My gaze softened at his adorable innocence. It was as if he had never heard his name before.

"I did," I replied, just as softly. He leaned forward but hesitated.

"May I?" He asked. I wasn't sure what he wanted permission for, but I nodded my head anyway. He leaned toward me, tilted his head to accommodate our noses, and brushed his lips across mine in a sweet, chaste kiss. He pulled away, and I touched my lips with my fingers in awe. Was this what I had missed when I kept turning him down? "I've wanted to do that for ages," he admitted.

I smiled. I hadn't wanted to do it for that long, but I sure as hell wanted to do it more now. I fell in love with him the way you fall asleep — slowly, than all at once.

And it was amazing.

"What in Merlin's name is going on here?!" Our Head of House's voice woke me up, and I lifted my pounding head from my pillow. What the hell happened last night?

"What the hell happened last night?" James asked from beneath me. I jerked up. Apparently it was not a pillow that I went to sleep on...it was James. Oh, well. He didn't seem to mind.

Professor McGonagall stared down her nose at us. "Would one of you care to explain why all the seventh years are currently waking up with a god-awful hangover? And why," she closed her eyes briefly and tilted her head back, opening them again to stare at the ceiling for a few seconds, "are there melted marshmallows on the floor?"