Who can kiss Lily Evans First?

The next day was spent lazily, as they were in the middle of their Christmas break. Many students had left Hogwarts, leaving Sirius, Peter, Remus, and James the only boys in their dormitories. Lily remained the only girl in the common room. A few sixth and seventh years had stayed behind, but they were usually out and about.

"Remus?" James asked. The boy looked up, blinking against the light.

"Oh hey James. Haven't seen you in awhile." He closed the book and turned to face him.

"Yeah, I've been busy. Hey, whatcha reading?"

"Oh, Numerology and Gramatica." He pushed the book a bit further away.

"Oh, that's cool...I guess," James said.

"James!" Remus scolded. Sirius appeared out of nowhere bounded down the steps and landed in front of James.

"Jamie-boy!!!!" he shouted happily. He put an arm around his neck and ruffled his hair.

"I hate it when you do that," James said, looking relieved when Sirius let go of him.

"Then why do you put up with me?" he asked.

"You know...I've never been able to figure that out! Why be friends with an annoying, obnoxious, extremely exuberant person who's obsessed with leather jackets and chicken?" James said, rubbing his chin. "Ooh! There's some now!"

"Chicken? WHERE?" he exclaimed.

"Sirius...I was just kidding." Sirius looked slightly put out.

"Oh."

"Anyway, James, you remember it's a full moon tonight?" Remus asked.

"Oh yeah!" James said, trying to look like he hadn't forgot.

"Are we going to go to the Whomping Willow?" Sirius asked.

"Yeah! Sure!" James stood up. "Hey...why don't we meet there tonight, in our animagi forms? That way, no one will be suspicious!"

"Sounds good to me! Except...I'll have to escort our little werewolf there, in case he decides to attack anyone." James ruffled Remus' hair. Remus glared.

"Sounds cool to me!" James said. "So, tonight. Whomping Willow." Lily had just entered the room when James had said that.

"Oh...Lily!" James said nervously.

"I was just coming in really," she said, shifting her books to her other arm.

"Need help?" Sirius asked. "Jamie-boy would volunteer!" He shoved James to Lily, and he awkwardly took her books.

"Just set them over there," she said, scratching her head. He tipped the books onto a table beside the window.

"Sooo..." he started.

"Umm, what were you saying? About the Whomping Willow? I heard it was forbidden to be near that tree," she said, assuming a know-it-all air.

"We...we were just..." Remus started. Lily titled her head to one side, one eyebrow raised.

"We aren't going to the Whomping Willow," Sirius said.

"Sirius. Either you're going daft, or you just can't lie very well!" she said, a smirk on her face. Sirius' mouth opened in surprise. It was obvious no girl had ever called him daft.

"Lily, please," Remus started.

"It's ok Remus. I won't tell anyone. But on one condition," she said, holding a finger up.

"What?"

"Take me with you."

"WHAT?" James shrieked. Lily backed out of his way in case he started throwing a fit.

"Remus, you KNOW we can't take her, it's just not safe!" James said. Remus bit his lip nervously. He was torn between a decision. If Lily came, her life would be put in danger, unless she too was miraculously an animagi, and James would throw a fit. If she didn't come, however, Lily would throw a fit and she certainly wouldn't speak to him for a while.

"Lily...you can't..." Remus said, choosing that the most important part was her safety. "But James will stay here with you while we go down to the Whomping Willow to take care of some business." Lily started to open her mouth in protest when Remus put up his hand to silence her. "There isn't enough time to tell you now, but if you can keep the ultimate secret from the whole school, I will tell you." Lily kept looking from Remus to James, a confused expression on her face, but she nodded silently.

"But Remus," James started.

"James, please. Do this for me?" he said, his dark brown eyes pleading.

"Alright," he mumbled.

"Good. Now, when the time comes, I promise James will stay with you until we come back." Remus folded his arms and stared at the two.

"But Remus...that's the whole night," James whispered.

"I know that, but I have complete faith in you." James scowled and turned to look at Lily.

"What do you say?" he asked. She considered her answer before nodding.

"Awww," Sirius cooed from the corner. "James and Lily, sittin' in a tree..." but Sirius was soon tackled to the ground by a furious James.

"Stop it!" Remus said, trying to pry the two apart. It was tough work, but he finally managed to separate James and Sirius.

"Sorry James, you know I was just kidding." Sirius gave him his lopsided grin. James exhaled quickly.

"It's just another normal day in the life of a marauder," Remus sighed.

Late that night, Sirius, Peter, and Remus gave James a thumbs-up sign, meaning they were heading out now. James sighed and waved goodbye to his friends. Boy was it going to be a long night. Lily sat in a corner reading a book, snuggled up in her blanket.

"Err...Lily!" he said. She turned around.

"Oh hey James. I see you didn't try and sneak off to weasel your way out of staying with me," she said. "You know, I don't need a babysitter, and this book is quite good, if you still wanna try sneaking off." She turned back around and turned the page of her book. She had firmly made up her mind earlier to play hard to get.

"Lily, I didn't mean...actually, I was hoping," he said, struggling to find the right words. "Well, what do YOU want to do?"

"I already told you, this book if quite interesting, and anyway..." But he had grabbed her hand and pulled her out of her chair. For a minute, neither of them spoke, and Lily held her breath. He was alarmingly close.

"Do you have to be so stubborn all the time?" he said, breathing faster than usual, and then he did something totally unexpected and kissed her.

Now James Potter was very popular, meaning he had had lots of girlfriends. Sure, he had kissed every one of them, but this was different, and he couldn't exactly figure what. Finally, after what seemed like ages, they broke off. Lily suddenly looked furious. With a swift movement, she snatched up her book and blanket and bounded up the stairs for the dormitories. Then, he heard the door slam.

Sirius and Peter returned supporting an exhausted Remus early in the morning. They looked around hopefully for a sign that something good had happened to Lily and James last night, but they were discouraged when they found the common room empty. They decided James had gone to breakfast early.

"Wonder what happened!" Sirius commented to Remus and Peter.

"I bet James kissed Lily!" Peter said happily.

"Shut up Peter, you don't know anything." They approached the Gryffindor table cautiously, because James was liable to explode when he was angry. They found him swirling his spoon around in his porridge, his head resting on his hand, a tired expression on his face. Sirius plopped down next to James.

"Hey James! How'd it go last..." But Sirius was cut off in mid-sentence by a hard poke in his ribs. Remus gave him a stern look. James sighed.

"What's wrong James? You look depressed," Remus said in a friendly voice. James sighed again.

"Hey James!" Peter called out, but he accidentally tripped over the leg of the table and fell on his face. Sirius burst out laughing while Remus tried to help Peter stand. James didn't even look up.

"Oh come on Jamie-boy, what's wrong?" Sirius pleaded. We're your best friends and you can tell us anything...but I wouldn't be too sure about Peter, remember the time..."

"Why did I do it?" he said in a toneless voice. "What on Earth made me do that?"

"Do what?" Remus asked, catching Sirius' eye and raising his eyebrows.

"I just...did it...she got upset...slammed door..." He let his spoon fall into his porridge.

"Lily? Does this have to do with Lily?" Sirius said, trying not to grin. But James stood up so abruptly he knocked Sirius off of the chair.

"That's it..." he said distractedly, running his fingers through his hair. "That's it...that's what I've gotta do." And with that, he bolted through the Great Hall. Peter helped Sirius up.

"Must be very important," he said with a grin.

James burst into the common room, looking around for a sign of Lily. He didn't see her there, but he got a few curious looks from people in the common room. He raced up the stairs and slammed into the door leading to the girl's dormitories. He banged on the sixth year's dormitory door. No answer. He quickly opened the door. Lily was standing in the corner, brushing her hair. She gave a startled cry and dropped the brush. James strode over and grabbed her by the arm, almost knocking her off balance.

"Lily, just let me tell you one thing, and if you say what I think you're going to say then I promise I'll never bother you again. Please just let me tell you," he said. Her expression was between a mix of fear and hope, although he couldn't tell which. She slowly nodded.

"Lily, I've loved you since the first time I ever saw you, and although I've been a jerk and acted all...stupid, that doesn't mean anything. I was just trying to sort everything out. But please, I'm not clammed up any more, and I promise to change and stop acting so dumb." He looked at her hopefully and was surprised when a sob escaped her.

"Oh great, see, now I've made you cry. I'm such an idiot!"

"James!" she cried out, just as he made to leave. There was a smile on her face, and tears were silently streaming sown her face. "I love you too," she said with a small smile. "I really do!" James stood there, his mouth hanging open, until he regained his senses.

"You...you do?" he asked uncertainly.

"Yes, I do...I always have..." She stepped closer to him. "And I always will."

FOUR YEARS LATER

Lily and James stepped down from the altar, both of them grinning. Sirius whistled as they walked back down the aisle. They stepped out into the light, Lily shielding her eyes from the light. James turned to face her.

"I love you," he said, stroking her hair.

"Oh James!" she said, throwing her arms around his neck.

"Come on, time for a nice picture to put in your wedding album!" Peter said, holding up his camera. James seized Sirius around the neck and pulled him next to them. Lily asked Remus to stand next to her. Peter pushed a button on the camera and quickly tried to run over and get into the picture, but he tripped on the carpeting and landed flat on his face, making all of them laugh.

"Some things will never change," James said, shaking his head.

"And some things will," Lily said, smiling at him.

END