~When the Tables Have Turned~

A/N: Sooo . . . I'm back! Anyone happy? Anyone? . . . *cricket, cricket*. Unfortunately, that's what I thought *cue sigh*. I've been gone too long. And I'm sincerely sorry! Life gets in the way, ya know? I know I've got a backlog of writing to do, but I have to get this out of my head before I can accomplish that. I've been stuck on the JamesLily pairing for a while now. Here 'tis the final product! R&R please~

They were walking around, patrolling the corridors as part of their Head duties. It was after curfew, of course, so they were on the lookout for any students out of bed. Although it was proving to be a quiet night in Hogwarts. Lily was trying to be diligent and find everyone lurking in the shadows, but James was oddly distant. Lily found this completely out of character.

Usually he's trying to talk to me in some way, or asking me out. I wonder what's wrong with him. I don't think I've ever seen him this quiet. Ever. Lily thought, her eyebrows furrowing together. She tried to pinpoint something that might have happened, but the only thing she could think of was James had snapped at Sirius earlier for something. I don't think that's it, though. She added in her head, risking a sideways glance at her co-Head.

"Potter. Is there something wrong?" Lily dared to ask, once they were done with patrols and were heading back to the Head dorms. It wasn't like she liked him – okay, maybe she was starting to, but only a little – but she knew something was up. He was never this quiet.

"No, I'm fine. Why do you ask?" James replied, being very formal with Lily. Something he never was. He just couldn't help but act differently now that he knew there was another guy.

"Because you're never this quiet. Never. Are you sure? This has nothing to do with me and Dole, does it?" Lily asked, referring to her new significant other. She wouldn't say there were dating, per se, but they definitely had gotten closer.

"No, it has nothing to do with you and whatever Ravenclaw you wish to covert with. Now, if you'll excuse me, I would like to get some sleep. I have stuff to do in the morning." James said curtly, sliding through the portrait hole that masked the Head Dorms, and then proceeded to his own room.

"Something's up with you, Potter! And I'm determined to find out what it is!" Lily called from the entrance to her own room. She was getting really annoyed with this; it had been going on for more than just tonight.

With my luck, it does have something to do with Dole. I mean, Potter's – James' – been acting strange since I started talking to Dole. Lily ranted in her head. It was true, too, once she thought on it. The whole Dole thing seemed to really get on Potter's – James's – nerves. He's probably not as over me as he says he is. She thought reasonably. This year, since they became heads together, James had been saying that he's over Lily, and that he's even got his sights set on a different girl, this time a brunette. Lily would shrug these comments off, not taking much notice to them, even though they mildly stung.

She had been able to tell that James had changed sometime last year. She didn't necessarily know what caused it, but she had her suspicions. Whatever it really was, Lily was somewhat grateful towards it. James had been acting more mature than ever, and actually grew up some. Instead of having a big head and over-inflated ego, he was humbling and started to think before he spoke or acted.

Oh well, Lily thought, there's no point in worrying about this now. Better get to bed. I've got stuff to do tomorrow as well. Lily thought, before climbing the stair case and getting ready for bed. Soon she was in her pajamas, and she was getting in her nice, warm bed, ready for sleep.

Meanwhile, across the Head Tower, lay a certain James Potter, not quite as sleepy as his co-head.

Why can't I get over her? He thought, Lily filling his thoughts as usual. Even though he said it didn't bother him that Lily was going out with that Ravenclaw – Dole – it did. Immensely. But of course it does! He continued to rant internally, I've been in love with the girl since I was 11. I'm not going to get over her. Ugh. James tried rolling over on his stomach, the way he usually slept. He buried his face in his pillow, trying to let sleep crash over him.

"What's with the dark eyes there, Prongs?" Sirius asked James as they met up before going to breakfast.

"Didn't sleep much." James got out right as he started to yawn.

"Why not? It's not like you had anything to do. Your patrols don't last that long, do they?" Remus always felt weird when one of his friends wasn't acting like they should. James was usually a morning person, so this was very out of the ordinary.

"Just didn't." James didn't feel like explaining what he had been thinking about when they were in the Great Hall.

"Are you too tired to form a complete sentence?" Remus pressed. He was contemplating sending James to the infirmary, just to make sure there wasn't anything wrong with him.

"I can. I was doing-ing" – James yawned here – "that on purpose." He finished. Prongs shook his head, then began to make his breakfast plate.

"Alright, if you say so. Sirius, pass the eggs." Remus still wasn't satisfied, but he decided to just let it be. James got into these moods sometimes. It was just worse than normal lately.

"Lily! It's time for breakfast! You don't want to go to first class hungry again, do you?" Lily's friend Alice called through the Head Dorm portrait. She only knew where it was from the few sleepovers she had in there with Lily while James was with his lot, the Marauders.

"Hmmphf. I'm up!" Lily called, coming to let Alice in. The ginger was still wearing her night clothes, her hair an utter mess. She wasn't as together in the mornings as she was for the rest of the day.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Did I wake you?" Alice asked sarcastically, looking Lily up and down. Alice was a very kind person, but she joked around more with her friends.

"Yes, you did."

"Good. We need to get to breakfast. I'm not going to class and have my stomach make odd noises the whole hour just because you aren't a morning person. C'mon. Besides, Marlene is waiting on us." Alice said, making her self comfortable on the couch, knowing she'd be waiting for at least another 10 minutes while Lily got ready.

"Fine, fine," Lily grumbled, "I'm working on it." With that, she returned to her room to change, do her hair, brush her teeth, and gather her school things.

11 minutes later, they were entering the Great Hall, with a good half hour they could spend eating before they had to do to class.

"Hey, Lily, Alice!" Marlene called, directing her friends' attention to where she had seats saved.

"What took you so long?" Marlene asked as Lily and Alice sat down.

"Oh, you know how Lily is in the morning. She takes absolutely forever!" Alice smirked as she spoke, knowing it would drive Lily up the wall.

Lily sneered and said, "Humpf. Funny. You're a downright stand up comic."

"I try my hardest."

"Okay, okay, enough of that! Have either of you two noticed how strange James Potter's been acting lately?" Marlene abruptly stopped the usual morning bickering, pointing this out after she looked over to where the Marauders sat a few seats down.

"Well, he wasn't himself much last night during patrols." Lily said, but now that she was watching (which sort of made her feel like she was being an eavesdropper, or stalker, neither of which she enjoyed.) him, she realized what Marlene was talking about. He was barely eating, an immediate tip off, and he wasn't talking that much to his best friends, Sirius Black and Remus Lupin.

"Something's wrong with him." Alice decided. She was about to get up and go ask, being the nice person she was, she figured she'd try to help somehow. But just then her boyfriend of forever, Frank Longbottom, had just came over, so she got distracted.

"Aww, aren't Alice and Frank just so cute together? I'm sure they're going to get married one day." Marlene stopped caring about James and focused more on talking to Alice and Frank about their future plans. Lily wasn't paying much attention, but she could tell that both Frank and Alice were red in the face because Marlene had just announced that she was planning their wedding. That girl goes over the top sometimes! Lily thought, smiling. Marlene always got ahead of herself, but she always meant well.

"Oh! There's the bell!" Alice called, bringing Lily back into the present. She had been focusing on last night, trying to decide if James had mentioned anything that would indicate what he was so down about.

"Hey, Lillian." A male voice came up behind Lily. She knew by how she had been addressed that it was Dole.

"Hullo." She greeted, turning around to pick up her bag.

"Shall I walk you to your class?" He asked, picking up her bag from her shoulder.

"Uhh, you can, I suppose. But I have Potions first today, and wouldn't you be going out of your way to walk me to the dungeons when you have to go to what, Charms?" Lily wasn't in the mood to be around people at all right now, much less Dole. He was sweet and funny, she supposed, but he was over bearing and treated her like she was a weakling most of the time. Lily usually didn't pay that any mind, but it got on her nerves every now and then.

"I don't mind." He said, smiling.

"Okay." Lily said, heading out of the Great Hall, with Dole at her side. She saw James and the Marauders getting ready to leave as she walked out, and James was in bad shape. His eyes had shadows around them as if he hadn't slept at all last night, and when he saw who she was with, the hazel shade of his irises seemed to darken.

The walk from the Great Hall down to the dungeons was silent, and for Lily, awkward. Dole looked like he didn't mind, but Lily's mind was going a hundred miles an hour, thinking about James, mainly. Why does he look like that? But now I know he was lying last night; it does bother him that I'm friends with Dole! She thought, making her aware of her surroundings – especially of Dole. She had originally thought she liked him, but now she wasn't so sure. He was nice, sweet, and funny, but not her type. More like a very close friend.

She was sure that she was starting to like James Potter. There was a time that she absolutely loathed the bloke, but he grew on her. She figured it was through all those patrols they spent together. He was different when he wasn't around his friends or a large group of people. A good different. At first, he had been the same as always – arrogant, loud, and constantly asking her out. As time wore on, though, he changed. He became quieter, less big-headed, and he actually talked about things that meant something. Most importantly, he stopped asking her out all the time. This impressed her greatly, and left it's mark.

"Uhm. Lily? We've reached the dungeons." Dole broke through her thoughts, and successfully reminded her where they were.

"Oh, right! Thanks, Dole. See you!" She called, grabbing her bag and whisking off to join the queue that was waiting outside for Professor Slughorn. Lily found Alice and Marlene and stood next to them.

"So, is there anything we should know?" Marlene asked, eyeing Dole's retreating back.

"No. Why would you think that?"

"Oh, come on, Lily! It's obvious he likes you." Alice cut in, her grin wide and her eyes playful.

"Oh, but I think not. Besides, even if he was foolish enough to do something like that, it'd end in disappointment. I don't like Dole that way. He's just a really good friend." Lily said, alternating between looking down the hall for Professor Slughorn and digging around in her bag for her quill.

"Why wouldn't you though? He's rather handsome." Marlene said, her face dreamy and her eyes drifting off into a distance.

"Then I say go for it, for you. But for me, there's someone . . . else." Lily said, hoping it wouldn't be suspicious that she said that just as James was passing. She could've sworn she saw his eyes light up as she said that, though. She didn't really fathom why, but she didn't have much time to dwell on it. Professor Slughorn had just come down the stairs from his office, and the class was about to begin.

Someone else? Someone else?! Ahhhh! At least she doesn't like that Dole. But who?! James was fighting with his inner self as he walked to the back of the room where he sat with Remus and Sirius. He forgot why he was so tired or why he was in such a bad mood. Now he was just determined to find out who this "someone else" was.

"James, don't do that! Do you want to blow up the dungeon, again?" Remus caught James's hand before it tipped the small glass vial he was hold over.

"What, what's wrong?" James snapped out of his thoughts. He didn't know what Moony was going on about; he was just following the ingredient list.

"If you put in the burdock extract right this instant, you'll cause an explosion. You have to wait until the potion simmers down and stops boiling. Start reading the instructions more carefully." Remus explained, keeping an eye on his own potion as well as James's. Sirius had been doing fine on his own . . .

BOOM!!

"Mr. Black! What have you done?!" Slughorn came rushing over as fast as he could with all that excess weight he carried around. He maneuvered around the room quite well, and soon was standing over Sirius and his smoking cauldron.

"Uhm, well Professor, it seems as if I have done something wrong to make the potion, ah, explode, if you will." Sirius was always the smooth talker, even with one of his least favorite professors. He disliked Slughorn because he was always ranting on about how he wished Sirius had ended up in his house – the blasted Slytherin – just like his brother and the rest of his family had been. Sirius wasn't one to get mad, but that made him mad faster than anything else. Even his mum.

"I can very well see that! What did you do?" The rotund teacher was peering into the smoldering cauldron, and he pulled out a stirring vial, to prod the remnants of the potion with.

"Professor, I think I know what happened. The same thing almost happened to James here. They didn't let their potions simmer down and stop boiling before adding the burdock extract." Remus said, always the one with the answers.

"Ah, a common mistake. Well, Black, I think you'll need a replacement cauldron. You can go to the back and dispose of this one. As for the rest of you, you have 15 more minutes to complete the assignment. The student with the closest and or best concoction will win a special prize." Slughorn announced, again, his usual teaching methods. Remus repressed the urge to roll his eyes.

"I better go take care of this . . . Uh . . . what do I do with it, exactly?" Sirius asked, looking between James and Remus.

"How am I to know? Ask Prongs; he's the one who's blown things up before." Moony said when Padfoot settled his gaze on him. James seemed not to be paying any attention anymore.

"Prongs. Prongs. Prroonnggsss." Sirius said, sing song at last and waving a hand in front of James's face.

"Ah! What?" James jumped, something spilling out of the sample vial and landing on his hand.

"What do I do with this? Moony told me to ask you since you've blown things up before."

"Uhh, you just put it back there. That's what I do. Ehhh, Moony? What'd I spill? It kind of burns." James said, looking at his hand. It was already turning red.

"I don't know, but that's not a good thing. You might need to go to the infirmary and have Madam Pomfrey take care of that." Remus said, putting down his supplies to examine Prongs's hand.

"Do you want me to go with you?" Sirius offered, his smoking cauldron forgotten in the light of an injured friend.

"No, I think I'll be fine. I'll just go tell Profess – Ah!" James had tried to get up and go get the teacher, but he found his legs to be jelly-like.

"Mr. Potter? Is there a problem?" Slughorn asked from his desk at the front of the room.

"Uhm, just a small one, yes." James sat up, but didn't attempt to stand up, which was probably wise.

"Oh gosh, what'd you three do now?" Slughorn soon appeared next to the table, looking down. "I swear, you three get into the craziest antics!"

"In my defense, Professor, it's just those two that are troublesome. I'm merely forced to covert with them." Remus said, the last part under his breath.

"Well, be that as it may, they've still caused a ruckus. Come on, Potter, you need to get to the Infirmary. You'll be a bit shaky, but the more you walk the faster that will go away. You still need to get your system flushed out. If you leave extracts on your skin for too long, they become poisonous." Slughorn helped James up, then had him stand. "And I thought I told you to take care of that cauldron!" He turned to address Sirius with that statement

"You did. I'm sorry." Sirius jumped up with his cauldron and walked to the far back of the dungeon. If it weren't for the dragon hide gloves he got from Moony's bag, his hands would've been burnt to a crisp.

"Is any one here done yet? Ah, Miss Evans! Would you please escort Mr. Potter to the Infirmary? You just need to watch him as he walks, and I don't trust him not to get intro trouble on the way without someone to watch after him." Slughorn loved to pick on Lily; she was one of his favorite students. This time, however, she brought it upon herself. She was the only one in the class completed with the assignment, so of course she'd be the one to take him down the Infirmary.

"Yes, Professor." Lily sighed. She wasn't too thrilled about this, but at least she'd be able to talk to him (hopefully) about last night, and she'd be able to make sure he was okay. She knew that burdock extract could be dangerous in this situation.

Lily got up and walked over to James. "Come on." She said, grabbing his wrist. She all but dragged him to the door, and soon they were on their way to the Infirmary.

The walk was silent for a little ways. James was still shaky, so he was staggering as he walked. Lily, even though worried for his health and wanting to find out what was wrong with him, was having a hard time hiding her laughter from the sight. She knew it wasn't good, but it was funny. A giggle escaped her lips.

"Something funny?" James asked, using the wall for support as he walked so he wouldn't be all over the corridor.

"Yes, as a matter of fact. You are." Lily said, looking him dead in the eye. His eyes are mesmerizing. She thought before she could help herself. Luckily for her, he looked away first.

"Is that so?" He said, under his breath. His walk became slower. He wanted to interrogate Lily on this "someone else" he had heard of, but he didn't want to look like a total prat in front of her. That most certainly would cast him in a bad light.

"What's been wrong with you, James?" Lily asked. She wasn't planning on asking, but apparently her mouth had other ideas.

"Er, well I have burdock extract on my hand and I need to get that taken care of, if that's what you're referring too." He said, his eyebrows knitting together in confusion.

"No, that's not what I meant! I mean, I know that's not a good thing, but you've been off all day. I've noticed. At breakfast, I was watc–" Lily stopped there, her face as red as her hair. She didn't want to appear as the stalker she felt like.

"Did you just say you were watching me at breakfast?" James was smiling, liking the thought more than he probably should have. He couldn't help it, though. The girl he'd been in love with forever just admitted to watching him at breakfast, which meant she cared, even if marginally.

". . . Yes." Lily gave in, all the sudden very interested in the floor, her face still flushed.

"Huh. It would seem the tables have turned, haven't they?" James was greatly amused by this, and he almost fell over from the shakiness and laughter. Slughorn was mistaken – the more he walked, the dizzier he got.

"Ah, here's the Infirmary! Let's go; you shouldn't leave that extract on your hand much longer, or things are going to get messy." Lily was just trying to distract James for now. If they were to converse about that, it would be a conversation for the privacy of the Head's Dorms, not the open corridor. Even if virtually the whole school was in class at the time.

"Yeah, it's starting to sting worse than before, if that means anything." James pushed the Infirmary door ajar with his good hand.

"What are you students doing out of class?" Madam Pomfrey, the school nurse, came out of her office, stuffing her wand in the front pocket of her robe.

"I have a slight problem I need you to fix." James said, holding up his hand. It was starting to turn an odd mixture of green and orange around where the extract had set into his skin.

"Ah, burdock extract, I see? Yes. Come along, then. This shan't take a second." The nurse directed James to a bed, and told him to sit down. Then she went around the corner to fetch a purple antidote bottle.

"This will reverse the affects of the extract," she explained as she rubbed the purple paste on James's hand. "While burdock root has healing properties, if you let it sit on your skin for long periods of time, it becomes poisonous. It over-rules your natural immune system, messing up your body systems. I don't think you'll need to be flushed out, though. I didn't seep too far into your hand. You're Head Boy, correct?"

"Yes ma'am."

"And this young lady is Head Girl, I'm presuming?" Madam Pomfrey shifted her gaze to Lily, specifically eyeing the badge the declared her Head Girl status.

"Yes ma'am, I am." Lily said.

"Then I shall entrust this to you. His injury isn't severe enough for me to hold him here, but he will still need treatment." Madam Pomfrey started to hand the bottle to Lily, then got some white gauze and wrapped James's hand up so the paste stayed where it should.

"Why are you giving it to me?" Lily asked, utterly confused. She took the bottle out of the nurse's hand.

"Because Potter's been in here before. He's very forgetful, not to mention all the head injuries he's had. So, since you two live in the same dorm, I'm leaving you in charge of making sure he treats his hand." Madam Pomfrey didn't like explaining, but she had too.

"Hey, I haven't had that many head injuries! And they've all been from Quidditch." James started to protest.

"Shush, James. Okay, Madam Pomfrey. Do I just make sure he rubs it on his hand?"

"Yes, every night before bed. He needs to keep it wrapped up, too, so it doesn't get infected."

"Okay."

"Now, I don't think you'll have time to go back to class. I'm assuming you two came from . . . Potions?"

"Yes ma'am," both James and Lily said as Madam Pomfrey got up and started writing something on a spare bit of parchment.

"I'll have Horace get another student, preferably a prefect, send your things up to the Head Dorm."

"Okay, that works. I've got homework to get started on, and I usually use my free period before dinner to do it in." Lily said, glad for the way things worked out.

"Goody-goody." James said under his breath, but with a smile.

"Didn't I tell you to shush?" Lily glared at him, but not for long.

Madam Pomfrey smiled at their banter. She loved seeing two young souls so in love, yet so stubbornly denying it. She finished writing her note to the Potions master, then sent the two students on their way. "I'll send this to Horace, and I want you two to go back to your dorms. If anyone asks why you're out of class, just show them you hand, James, and tell them they can come see me for confirmation. Now scat!"

With that, James and Lily walked out of the Infirmary.

"Are you okay? You're not still shaky or dizzy, are you?" Lily asked as soon as they were out of ear shot of the Infirmary. She hadn't wanted to appear like a worry wart in front of the nurse, but now she expressed her concerns.

"Yes, I'm fine. That purple stuff really helped. Does the bottle say what it is?"

Lily looked at the bottle's label. "Hmmm, no. It doesn't. How strange."

"Oh. Oh well, it's not that important anyways."

"Yeah." Lily said.

They walked on through the corridors. The walk was just as awkward and silent as before. Lily was just about to use some excuse just to be by herself when James decided to speak up.

"So, you're not with that Dole, are you?"

"No, James, I'm not. I'm not with anybody, but I don't quite see how that's any of your concern." Lily said. She hid how much it pleased her to know he cared about that stuff still.

"Well, I wouldn't want you going out with the jealous type, which Dole is. As Head Boy and Girl, we spend quite a bit of time together working, and I wouldn't want him to get the wrong idea." James looked everywhere but at Lily as he walked: the doors lining the corridor, his bandaged hand, the drapery. . .

Lily immediately noticed how he emphasized the word working. Almost as if he wished they spent their time together doing something of another sort.

"True, I could see how that would cause problems. But what are you implying?"

"Nothing. I was just saying." James started to mess with the corner of his bandage, just to have something to do with his hands.

"Stop that. And I have a question I would like you to answer."

James dropped his hand. "What would that be?"

"Do you still like me?" Lily was barely brave enough to ask. She was a Gryffindor, however. She had to be brave. But since they were now outside the Head Dorms, she planned to run in her room and stay there for the rest of the night if he didn't answer the way she wanted him too.

James finally looked at Lily. His hazel eyes weren't betraying anything for once, yet her emerald ones were shining with anticipation. This was one of the very few times that James was ever serious on his own free will.

"Yes." He said. "But I don't see how that pertains to you. You don't like me, remember? Or do I have to remind you of how much you hate me?" Now, he was letting all the anger and hurt he suffered from Lily's rejects through the years seep out. He always shrugged it off and thought, "I'll get her next time!" at the time, but he wasn't emotionless.

"I don't hate you." Lily said, her voice small and frightened. She didn't like the tone James was using. "As a matter of fact, my feelings are quite the opposite." She added.

"Opposite?" That threw James.

"Mhmm." Lily just nodded. For some reason unfathomable even to her, she was starting to cry. She didn't want James to know, so she put her head down and hoped he'd say the password so they could go in soon.

"When did that happen?" He pressed.

Lily shrugged, still not trusting herself to talk.

"Hey, are you okay? Aw, bloody hell. Are you crying? Why are you crying?" James jumped from being serious to being his usual self. He could be a bit cold to people he didn't like, but he always hovered over his friends (or romantic interests) when they got upset/hurt/etc.

Lily didn't want to answer, so she just stood there.

When it was apparent she wasn't going to answer, James grabbed Lily's hand and let her through to the Head Dorms after saying the password.

"There, now we're in private. What's wrong?" James tried to lift Lily's chin, but she was being stubborn and pushed him away. She tried to escape to her room.

"Hey, hey, hey, hey, no, no, wait!" James rushed ahead of her and blocked her entrance to her room. Since the doors were touch activated (a magical feature to make sure they didn't get into each other's rooms), Lily was trapped. She couldn't get into her room with James in the way.

"Potter. Move." Lily sniffled once and then looked up into his eyes. She was starting to get mad, which made it easier for her to be defiant.

"No. Not until you tell me what's wrong." He didn't move. "Lily, I'm just worried about you." His tone got softer, and he was the one who looked away.

"Fine, I'll talk. Just so you'll let me into my room. Under some conditions." Lily crossed her arms.

"Okay. What might those be?"

Lily moved to the couch in front of the fire, and settled herself down. "One: This information never leaves this room."

"Deal."

"Two: You can't use this for blackmail, for revenge, or any thing else of the sort."

"Done."

"And three: This won't affect our Head Duties."

"Okay. I don't see why it would, but okay." James had come over and sat on the opposite end of the couch from Lily. He wanted to sit next to her, of course, but in her current mood he deemed it safer to stay a little bit away.

Lily took a big breath. She pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. She looked into the fire, and took another few minutes to think about what she was going to say. Apprehension clenched in her stomach. This was a big thing she was about to get off her chest, not to mention who she was saying it too. Never in her life would she have thought that she would be confessing to James of all people. She imagined that she'd be telling this first to Alice or Marlene before him.

"Lily? Are you okay?" James asked after sitting and watching her stare into the fire for about 5 minutes. He knew she needed time to gather her thoughts, but he was getting worried about her.

"Yes. I'm fine." Lily said automatically. She looked up at the ceiling and then began.

"James, do you remember when we first met? It was on the train. I was upset about Petunia, my sister, and I was crying in the corner of your compartment. I just needed a place to sit, and I couldn't find anywhere else. You and the others that are now the Marauders went on as if I wasn't there. When you started making fun of Severus I decided I would have to hate you on principle. Later on, I discovered that you were nothing more than a big headed prat, and that feeling of hate just increased. Even when me and Severus stopped being friends." Here Lily had to stop and recollect herself.

"It's okay, Lily." James felt the need to reassure her. He wanted to just reach out and take her in a big hug and never let her go, but he figured he'd get slapped for that or something of that kind.

Lily just set her chin down on her arm. She continued on in her story. "So we kind of "duked" it out for a couple of years, as you very well should know. But last year, near the end, you started to change. I don't know what caused it, but I'm glad it happened."

Here, James interrupted. "So you did notice!"

"Of course I did! What do you think I am, a dunce?" Lily snapped, returning to more like herself.

"No. You're much to smart to ever be compared to a dunce."

"Thanks, but I don't think so. But that's beside the point. Anyway. . ." Lily had to stop again.

"Yes . . . ? You know you can tell me. You can trust me." James's Gryffindor spirit came out and he was brave enough to scoot closer to her and put his arm around her.

Lily was silent for a moment longer. Then she came out with the news. "I like you, James. I like like you." She then looked down and buried her face in her arms.

The words took a second to sink in for James. A lot of things ran through his mind, the majority of them along the lines of "She likes me! She really likes me!"

He wasn't, however, as eloquent in speech. "Y-y-you . . . like . . . m-m-me?" He felt his ears get hot from embarrassment; he usually never stammered.

"Yes. Quite." Lily's voice was muffled, but James was still able to make out perfectly what she said. He was hyper aware of everything around him.

Instead of saying something else, James let his actions speak for him. He wrapped his other arm around his favorite red-head and pulled her against his chest. She was frozen for a moment, but then she responded and wrapped both of her arms around his waist. They stayed like that for a while.

James lifted his head off of Lily's and noticed that she was asleep. "Lily? Hey Lily?" James nudged her side, trying to get her awake. He knew it wasn't wise to wake someone up, but they should go to their own beds and sleep there. Besides, he needed to use the facilities and they way they were sitting did not help things.

Lily, on the other hand, was much less enthusiastic about waking. She just swatted at him when he nudged her, and mumbled something about lessons and purple paste.

"C'mon, Lily! You're not going to make me carry you, are you?" James tried to nudge her again, with similar results.

"And now it's apparent that you are." He said, not being able to help himself when he thought that was something he would enjoy. He liked the thought of having to take care of her.

"Now how is this going to work?" He asked himself aloud, knowing she wouldn't wake up from that. He shifted her legs over his lap, and ended up carrying her bridal style. That put more thoughts and fantasies in his head than should have.

He carefully carried her to her door. He struggled for a bit, but finally got her hand pressed against the wood so he could open the door. He walked inside, and gently set her down on her bed. He kissed her forehead and walked out.

Wow. Did that just happen? James thought, still almost in shock. He wasn't very aware of what he was doing as he walked back to his room and changed into his pajamas. Soon he was crawling into bed, his lips still tingling from where he kissed Lily on the forehead and for the first time in a while he fell asleep soundly and quickly.

Lily yawned and stretched, then scowled as her hand hit something behind her.

"Hmmpf!" She looked around at the offending object, only to find her bed frame. What? I don't remember falling asleep in here. I was with. . . Oh dear god, that actually happened! Lily thought, then started to panic. She didn't quite regret what had occurred, she was actually ecstatic that she confessed to him, but she was nervous about where that put them. She didn't want something to go sour and then things get awkward between them.

"Lily! Get up!" Alice's voice floated through the door as she banged on it, thinking Lily was still asleep.

"I am up! How'd you get in?" Lily called back.

"James let me in when he left. He said to make sure I told you that he went on down to breakfast and that he'd need to talk to you after first period. Isn't that when you two do Head duties?" Alice was still unaware of what happened, as she should be. Lily wasn't planning on telling her. At least not yet.

"Uhm, yeah, that is. We both have a free period then, so we use it to our advantage so planning for Head duties doesn't interfere with our meetings with the prefects or our patrols." Lily let Alice in, then she started to gather her uniform to take to the bathroom so she could change.

"Ah. Well, in your world that makes sense. You would think that a normal person would want that time to do something more productive like sleep, but I guess that's not you." Alice plopped down on Lily's bed, jealous of the softer comforters and the privacy of her own room. Alice still had to sleep in Gryffindor Tower with the other 7th year girls.

"Nope. I'll be right out if you want to go back to the common area. Then we'll go down to breakfast." Lily said, trooping off to the bathroom.

"Okay." Alice said, a bit late. She had been reveling in the warmth and softness of Lily's bed.

Soon the two girls had met up with Marlene and set off towards the Great Hall for breakfast. "What, no late breakfast today girls?" Marlene had asked as they met up.

The first person Lily's eyes trained on when she entered the Great Hall was of course James. He was sitting with the Marauders, as always, and was looking in a much better mood than he was yesterday morning. Not only was he stuffing his face, but his eyes were bright as he recounted a story to his friends, his arms and hands waving about. The white bandage stood out on his left hand.

"James seems to be more like himself this morning." Alice remarked as they made their way to their seats. Frank always saved Alice a seat, and of course Lily and Marlene followed.

"Yes he does. I wonder what was wrong with him yesterday." Marlene said, her voice far away. She didn't really care enough to be that interested, she was just saying things to fill the silent void. They both were like that. She was more trained on her recent crush, none other than Dole.

"Maybe he just didn't get enough sleep or something." Lily said, hoping they wouldn't linger on the subject much longer. She'd need to talk to James before anything else happened just because she didn't want people to get the wrong idea.

"Yes, that must have been it." Alice decided as she sat down next to Frank and got a biscuit on which she immediately started putting a heavy amount of jam.

"Could be." Marlene was still focused on Dole.

"I could set you up with him, if you like." Lily offered, getting her a bowl of cereal.

"Oh, really? Lily, that would be wonderful!"

Lily laughed. "I'll see what I can arrange."

"Thank you times a thousand in advance!" Marlene practically tackled Lily in a hug right then, as she always did when she was happy with a person or got too excited.

"No problem." Lily laughed again. She had to awkwardly hug Marlene back to avoid not knocking over her breakfast.

RING! RING!

"Oh! There's the bell! We have to get to Charms!" Alice cried as she chugged the rest of her orange juice (Frank laughed and said, "Very lady-like, Alice."). Then the three girls rushed off to the Charms classroom, while Frank tarried about, not having the same class as them.

Little did Lily realize, but James had been astutely aware of her all through breakfast, what with what had happened the previous night. He was planning on confronting her about it during their "Head Meeting."

But for now, he had to get to Charms class too.

"Lily! Don't forget: James wanted to talk to you after first period! Isn't that when you two have your Head meetings?" Alice called from her seat near the middle of the class room.

"Yes, we both have a free hour then." Lily replied, packing up her stuff in preparation to leave. The bell should sound soon.

"Yep, that we do!" James felt the urge to interrupt in their conversation from his seat in between them. Honestly, do they think I'm blind or something? Deaf, maybe? James mentally rolled his eyes. He was sitting right between them.

"Potter, you don't have to interrupt." Alice snapped. While she was civil when speaking of him, she didn't like talking to him. He irked her, for the most part.

"Raaaawrn! Someone's in a bad mood." James said, but he turned around and started chatting with Sirius all the same.

"Alice. You don't have to be so cross with him. And I won't forget." Lily said, looking up as the bell rang. She stood up and followed Alice and Marlene out the door. She was deliberating on asking one of them to hang around so she could ask James where they were going to meet or if she was just going to ask him herself. She wasn't afraid of him or his lot, but she didn't feel like having them take the mickey out of her just because she consulted him while she was alone. Luckily, she didn't have to choose.

"Lily! Hey, you want to walk to the Head Dorms together?" James came up and asked. He was alone for once, and Lily assumed he sent his friends along to their respective classes without him.

"Sure." Lily said. She waved goodbye to Alice and Marlene and hurried off to where James was already walking off. He was a good foot taller than her, so his legs had more length on hers. She was almost trotting to keep up with him as they walked on. She couldn't recall doing that last night, or when she accompanied him to the Infirmary.

"Why are you walking so fast?" She complained.

"What? I'm not. Oh, sorry. I'm used to people who are my height. I forgot that you have shorter legs." James laughed. He couldn't help it. She was cute. But he slowed down at any rate. He didn't want her tired when they got back – that was a sure fire way to get her in a bad mood.

"Well aren't you special, what with how tall you are." Lily said, sarcasm dripping from every word. She was smiling though; she liked this playful banter. It was much better than their usual bickering.

"Ah. Yep, just as I thought it'd be." James said with a delightful look on his face.

"What is?" Lily was compelled to ask.

"Not yet. We're almost to the dorms; I'll tell you there." James knew he was being vague, but that was his intentions.

"Okay. . ." Lily didn't really like it when people didn't give her a straight answer.

The lapsed into quietness as they walked the short length they had left until they reached their destination. Soon Lily was murmuring the password to the portrait, and they were climbing in.

James dumped his school bag on the floor as soon as he walked in, not bothering to take it to his room like he should have. He turned around, expecting to see Lily behind him, but instead was met with the back of the portrait's canvas.

"Lily?"

"Yes?" She asked, coming out of her room with her normal plait undone and her shoes off. "I was just putting my school things up. I won't need them again until after lunch. Today's my easy day of the week."

"Oh. I have another class before lunch." James walked over to the couch and sprawled himself across it.

"I know. That's why we have our Head Meetings now." Lily said.

"Are we going to have one today? Or are we going to talk about what happened last night?" James looked over at Lily, who presently appeared upside down from his position.

Lily flushed, her face bright red. "Uhh. . . How about you tell me what you meant by "It's just what you thought it'd be like"?" Lily asked, wanting to avoid that subject matter for a little bit longer. She needed to compose herself a bit more.

"Well, for me to properly explain that, we need to discuss last night."

"Do we really?" Lily took a deep breath. "Alright. What about last night?"

"Did you mean what you said?" James sat up. He of course remembered everything that had occurred, and he remembered the look in Lily's eyes as she spoke . . . he just needed confirmation that he hadn't just dreamed it all up. It was something his mind would do to him just to torture him.

"Of course!" Lily almost screamed, indignation clear on her face. "I would never just make something like that up! And if I had, just to annoy you or something, I would've never told you! I'm not that cruel, James."

"Okay, okay, I believe you! I was just making sure it wasn't my imagination gone wild or something." James smiled, trying to show her that he wasn't mad or anything.

"You never did tell me last night if you liked me or not." Lily said, her voice quiet and small again.

"Well, I thought that'd be obvious. I've been chasing after you since we were eleven, haven't I?" James leaned over to her, trying to catch her gaze.

"Well, yes. But you've also stopped asking me out at every chance you get, and you've been quieter in patrols than I had ever seen you since I met you." Lily explained the reasons she had doubted that his feelings.

"Oh, that. Well, ya see, I stopped asking you out because it finally clicked in my mind that you didn't like that. And I figured if I ever wanted you to start liking me back, I'd have to . . . change somewhat. So I did. I stopped asking you out, I was quieter and less of a big shot, and I started to try to be the James that my close friends know. The one who is the silent troublemaker, the one who doesn't have to be so . . . mean or cruel to everyone he doesn't like."

"Wow. I didn't know. . ." Lily was in awe.

"I reckoned you wouldn't have. But seriously Lily. The things I did in my first year and up till about my fifth were stupid things. I was nothing more than a cruel kid who wanted more attention than I deserved. Please don't remember that James. Let me make a new first impression on you." He had to plead for that. If he didn't, if he couldn't, then he didn't know what he would do.

"Well, I can't very well let you make a new first impression, but I can let you change the one you made." Lily said with a sly smile.

"I'll settle for that. I mean – I'll be happy with that." James said, sitting back and grinning.

"Good. Now for introductions! Hullo, I'm Lily Evans. Pleased to make your acquaintance."

"Hiya. I'm James Potter, resident troublemaker and very happy to have met you." James laughed.

"Well, now that we've established that, I think there's something more you need to ask me." Lily said, hoping James wasn't as thick as he could be sometimes.

"What's that?" James asked. Lily just gave him a meaningful look. "Oh! Of course; how could I be so stupid? Would you, Lily Evans, like to go out with me?"

"Yes, I do believe I would. There's a Hogsmeade trip this weekend you know." Lily said, hoping she'd get something special out of this trip.

"There is?" James asked dropping the act. He got up and went over to the bulletin that had all the announcements listed on it. "So there is. Huh." He said to himself.

"Well!" He came back over by Lily. "Shall our first date as boyfriend and girlfriend be a delightful day out in Hogsmeade?" James was internally wishing she wouldn't want to go to Madam Puddifoot's. He had been in there plenty with past "flings," and it was never a joyous experience.

"That would be lovely, as long as we avoid Madam Puddifoot's like the plague." Lily said, moving to sit on James's lap.

"Fine by me."

"Sounds like a plan." Lily gave James a full on kiss, then got up and left. "I've some homework to attend to, and I believe you have a class to get too." She said before retreating to her room.

James was still in shock from the kiss, but part of his brain was functioning enough to ponder her last statement. Just then the bell rang.

RING! RING!

"That's what she was talking about!" He exclaimed. James laughed, then ran out of the Head Dorms, not being able to wait to tell the rest of the Marauders. This was one of the best days of his life.

A/N: So! I didn't mean to make it that long. I would break it up into chapters, but I think that would ruin the flow of it. Therefore, I shall leave it as is and if you read it, congrats. Perhaps if I get enough reviews, I'll write where Lily sets Marlene up with Dole. Regardless, reviews make me happy :]

-Zenelia*Sky