Authors Note – Yep, part of this is right out of the Order of the Phoenix, but we all know that particular part is our very favorite. Thanks to J K Rowling, and of course the only character I own is Sarah. Enjoy.

'Leave him ALONE!'

James and Sirius looked round. James's free hand immediately jumped to his hair.

It was one of the girls from the lake edge. She had thick, dark red hair that fell to her shoulders, and startlingly green almond shaped eyes – Harry's eyes.

Harry's mother.

'All right, Evans?' said James, and the tone of his voice was suddenly pleasant, deeper, more mature.

'Leave him alone,' Lily repeated. She was looking at James with every sign of great dislike. 'What's he done to you?'

'Well,' said James, appearing to deliberate the point, 'it's more the fact that he exists, if you know what I mean...'

Many of the surrounding students laughed, Sirius and Wormtail included, but Lupin, still apparently intent on his book, didn't and nor did Lily.

'You think you're funny,' she said coldly, 'But you're just an arrogant bullying toerag, Potter. Leave him alone.'

'I will if you go out with me, Evans,' said James quickly. 'Go on ... go out with me and I'll never lay a wand on old Snivelly again.'

Behind him, the Impediment Jinx was wearing off. Snape was beginning to inch towards his fallen wand, spitting out soapsuds as he crawled.

'I wouldn't go out with you if it was the choice between you and the giant squid,' said Lily.

'Bad luck, Prongs,' said Sirius briskly, and turned back to Snape. 'OI!'

But too late; Snape had directed his wand straight at James; there was a flash of light and a gash appeared on the side of James's face, spattering his robes with blood. James whirled about: a second flash of light later, Snape was hanging upside-down in the air, his robes falling over his head to reveal skinny, pallid legs and a pair of greying underpants.

Many people in the small crowd cheered; Sirius, James and Wormtail roared with laughter.

Lily, whose furious expression had twitched for an instant as though she was going to smile, said, 'Let him down!'

'Certainly,' said James and he jerked his wand upwards; Snape fell into a crumpled heap on the ground. Disentangling himself from his robes he got quickly to his feet, wand up, but Sirius said, 'Petrificus Totalus!' and Snape kneeled over again, rigid as a board.

'LEAVE HIM ALONE!' Lily shouted. She had her own wand out now. James and Sirius eyed it warily.

'Ah, Evans, don't make me hex you,' said James earnestly.

'Take the curse off him, then!'

James sighed deeply, then turned to Snape and muttered the counter-curse.

'There you go,' he said, as Snape struggled to his feet. 'You're lucky Evans was here, Snivellus –'

'I don't need help from filthy little Mudbloods like her!'

Lily blinked.

'Fine,' she said coolly. 'I won't bother in future. And I'd wash your pants if I were you, Snivellus.'

'Apologize to Evans!' James roared at Snape, his wand pointed threateningly at him.

'I don't want you to make him apologize,' Lily shouted, rounding on James. 'You're just as bad as he is.'

'What?' yelped James. 'I'd NEVER call you a – you-know-what!'

'Messing up your hair because you think it looks cool to look like you've just got off your broomstick, showing off with that stupid Snitch, walking down corridors and hexing anyone who annoys you just because you can – I'm surprised your broomstick can get off the ground with that fat head on it. You make me SICK.'

She turned on her heel and hurried away.

'Evans!' James shouted after her. 'Hey, EVANS!'

But she didn't look back.

'What is it with her?' said James, trying and failing to look as though this was a throwaway question of no real importance.

Lily wasn't sure why all the totally stupid things he did bothered her so much. Sirius Black she couldn't give a jumping frog about and there was no shortage of arrogant berk's strutting around Hogwarts, it seemed. But for some reason he got her. Maybe it was because of his talent. He was the only person who beat her in Transfiguration, though she cleaned the table in Charms, History of Magic and Defence Against the Dark Arts. She strode up to the Gryffindor tower, flopped into a seat and slammed a Transfiguration textbook open in front of her. That would be it. He was such a waste of brains. His head was so big she was surprised it didn't explode. She snorted in laughter at the thought.

'OK, there Lily?'

Taking a seat next to her, her best friend Sarah smiled sympathetically.

'Let me guess, another run in with Potter?'

'How'd you know?' Lily asked grudgingly.

'He always gets a rise out of you,' Sarah said with a knowing smile.

Lily looked at her friend with narrowed eyes.

'Because he's such an idiot, yes, he gets a rise out of me. I don't see how that's so special.'

'You never get so annoyed at Snape, and he's mean.'

Lily rolled her eyes. 'Snape doesn't matter.'

This elected a grin from Sarah. 'And James does?'

Lily glared at her friend. 'Are you insane? He's the most arrogant, pig-headed fool of a boy I've ever –'

Sarah held up her hands in mock protest. 'OK, OK, I give up.'

Lily gave her friend one last loaded pointed look, then turned to her textbook.

And that was Hogwarts up to fifth year and for a good part of sixth year. The fact that she didn't hate him surprised her when she finally worked it out, in the summer before her seventh year. She had just received her letter of congratulations from the Head Boy upon her appointment to Head Girl and upon reflection, she realized she wasn't as annoyed that he was Head Boy as she would have been a year ago.

Somewhere along the line, they had grown up.

'There's no way.'

Strange, James thought, how she could mimic Professor McGonagall without even trying.

'You have to admit, Lily, a good bit of laughter is just what everyone needs.'

'Pulling a prank in the middle of the Holloween feast is not acceptable. There are other ways of finding laughter.'

'With all that's going on in the outside world –'

'The less we let him effect Hogwarts the better. That's what we agreed at the start of the year, remember?'

'But everybody's been so sad lately. Walking around with depressing frowns and hunched shoulders.'

Lily's lips twitched at the image of the parallel Hogwarts James had conjured up in his imagination.

'They seemed to find your last prank on Snape pretty funny –'

He grinned, fighting the urge to run a hand through his hair. 'I have to admit, we really hit the spot with that one –'

'-which was totally unacceptable, by the way, considering the fact you are Head Boy.'

He threw his eyes to the ceiling, which was hard; he hated taking them off her.

'If I had known what being Head Boy would entail...'

Lily let out a peal of laughter. 'You haven't change one bit!'

Suddenly he moved closer and looked carefully at her. 'You don't mean that.'

Her smile faded and she raised her eyebrows, trying to hide her discomfort at his sudden nearness. 'OK, maybe I don't, but there's still no way you're getting official permission, or unofficial for that matter, to pull a prank on anyone at the Holloween feast.'

And with that she dumped her parchment, quills and textbooks into her bag and left the common room with a small smile and a pointed look.

He sat back against the comfortable chair, trying to pull the stupid smile from his face. Anyone else and he would have done it behind their back. Grr – it was so hard being in love.

'Do you think she'd say no if I asked her out?' He said aloud one day, to no one in particular.

Remus and Sirius looked up from what they had been studying – a Charms textbook for Remus and a Quidditch magazine for Sirius.

'Haven't you managed to make a move yet?' Sirius said, almost incredulously.

James just looked at him.

'Hmm, probably a good thing, considering how much she hates you.' Sirius continued with a shrug.

Remus rolled his eyes. 'She doesn't hate you, James, at least not as much as she used to. She hasn't called you a bulling git for ages.'

'You're right, that used to be a weekly affair. Anyway, Sarah said she always thought you and Lily were meant to be together.' Sirius said, flipping a page in his magazine.

Remus and James stared at him. 'When did you talk to Sarah?' James asked.

'Didn't I tell you? I'm going out with her.'

James and Remus looked dumbstruck at the thought of the willowy mature Sarah and the somewhat maturity deficient, though admittedly handsome, Sirius being a couple.

'Right.' Remus said slowly. 'Anyway, I think you might not get completely rejected if you asked her nicely, and not in front of everyone, like you used to.'

'But it's OK if I get partly rejected?' James said sarcastically.

Remus just threw a pillow at him.

'Lily?' - why didn't he always call her Lily? It was such a pretty name – 'Are you busy next Hogsmeade weekend?'

She was hunched over a pile of scrolls, with a tower of textbooks on her left and a quill sticking out of her mouth, which she moved temporarily to speak.

'Hmm, good idea.' She said, somewhat absentmindedly.

He stared at her quizzically, but she didn't look up.

'If we're going to do a Secret Santa 'thing' we are going to need to meet and get organized. How does eleven o'clock in Hogshead sound to you?'

He kept staring, then collected himself. 'Uh, sure.'

'Good.' She went back to her work and thought nothing more of it.

He left her to her work.

He was early, which he found marginally embarrassing. He was never early when meeting girls, though he suspected she didn't think this was a date. He sat in a marginally private corner in Hogshead, staring into his Butterbeer. He didn't mind sitting alone, he was a big boy, he just couldn't imagine how he would feel if she didn't turn up.

'James!'

His head snapped up. She appeared across the crowded room and began threading her way towards him, stopping to chat with numerous people along the way.

I don't have a chance, he thought miserably, she's so popular and pretty, and nice and intelligent –

He had a feeling the list could go on in his head.

She flopped down into the seat across from him, clutching a Butterbeer with a grin.

'Whew, isn't it packed?'

He nodded, for a moment unable to speak, then shook himself out of his reverie. Where had his mind gone? Where was the confident, arrogant, outspoken James Potter?

'But then, it always is on Hogsmeade weekends.'

Lily nodded. 'And Madame Rosemerta is so popular.' She said with a teasing grin, nodding her head to a group of fifth year boys whose eyes followed the Rosemerta's every move.

She expected something. A caustic, typically male remark, even something of the most crude form, but James didn't even look at Rosemerta. Lily hid a frustrated sigh, what was wrong with Potter? Early to a meeting to do work, alone and totally ignoring the gaggle of girls giggling at him two tables along. She slowly took out a sheet of parchment and a quill, trying to ignore the fact he wouldn't stop looking at her, causing a dull flush to creep up her neck.

'Well, we might as well get started.'

He silently took the parchment and the quill from her hands and sat him on a chair next to him.

'Can we take a break from that, please Lily?' His voice was very serious.

She nodded slowly, swallowing at the way he said her name. So different, so very different from 'Evans'.

'If you want. I spent so much of last night finishing that Potions essay I'm quite sick of homework.'

He nodded and a glint of a smile finally touched his lips. 'You always seem to be doing work.'

'You never seem to be doing work!' She retorted, though with a smile.

They stared at each other, small happy smiles on their faces.

This is sick! Lily thought suddenly. What is going on? Am I flirting with James Potter?

'Anyway, whatever works for me, I always say.' She said with a shrug, averting her eyes and taking a swig of Butterbeer, missing the disappointed look that washed over his face.

'James! OI! Potter, over here!'

James and Lily were distracted by the yells of Sirius who sat over in a more crowded corner with Remus and Peter. He appeared to be waving a Zonko's bag at them. She looked quizzically at him and he shrugged apologetically.

'Sorry, I asked them to pick up a couple of things for me, I didn't think I'd have time...'

She nodded. 'That's OK. Go over and get it if you want.'

He smiled his thanks and slipped away from the table and Lily was relieved at having a moment to consider what exactly seemed to running through her mind.

Through narrowed eyes she watched him slip through the room, waving here and there to friends and acquaintances. She had to admit that despite his being an arrogant prat much of the time, he had a lot of friends. He stopped at Sirius' table, taking a moment to chat. When he turned back her way their eyes met across the crowded room and he smiled warmly as he headed her way, electing a smile in return, though hers ended with a start of surprise as she realized something. Turning back to her Butterbeer a cold shiver spread down her spine, contrasting sharply with the warm fuzzy feeling she felt every time she was around him. She had just pictured them like this – together – smiling and happy. She pictured them like this in the future, in a dream of foggy like fantasies of comfort and happiness in which her and James Potter were together.

Whenever did she have time to fall in love?

Remus had asked quietly how it was going. What else could James answer but – terrible. All the advice he managed to get from Remus was a hurried 'take her somewhere nice, later on'. And as James headed back to her, basking in her seemingly short smile, he knew exactly where he wanted to take her.

The kitchens, of course.

She laughed, thank Merlin, even if it was merely in shock.

He had led her back without saying a word, despite her protests. He was just glad she was willing to be led. She was just glad to be with him.

'James, what are we doing here?' She said, surveying the kitchens in surprise after having tickled a pear in a portrait.

He shrugged. What else was he supposed to say. 'Oh, well, you see I wanted to get you somewhere quiet so I could tell you that this is supposed to be a date.' Of course, he didn't say it. He just led her to the couch and they sat down and both of them suddenly conceived something identical at exactly the same time. They wanted to be sitting down together for the rest of their lives.

She could feel his eyes on her and she finally gathered the nerve to meet his gaze. To James' everlasting gratefulness, the elves seemed to have disappeared.

'How long has this been going on?' She said softly, the words tumbling out of her mouth before she could take a moment to think about what she was saying.

Somehow he knew exactly what she was talking about.

'Remember right before fourth year exams, when I'd sent Snape flying into the lake and you were so angry you didn't even bother with your wand.'

She grinned and nodded. 'I just pushed you right in myself. I was so angry!'

He just looked at her.

It took a moment and a deep breath on her part.

'Exactly what has been going on since then?' She said very quietly, her voice barely perceptible, her eyes larger than ever.

He slowly brought a hand up to her cheek, slowly leaned towards her and softly kissed her frozen lips.

The rest, as they say, was history.