Where Life Leads

The next few weeks were so hectic that Lily was amazed she even had the time to breathe, let alone have any time to herself. Homework had gotten increasingly more involved and Lily was beginning to think there was never going to be an end to it. Just today she had had exams in three of her classes, tomorrow there was a D.A.D.A. essay due, and on Monday she had a Potions essay to turn in. Potions still came very easily for her but the research was so tedious that it was taking Lily twice as long to finish.

It was now late Thursday night, two days before the first Hogsmeade visit and she and James were, once again, patrolling. As a Prefect, Lily had thought patrols to be tedious but now they were a welcome relief from endless class work. James always had a funny story to tell about the Marauders and didn't complain when she wanted to discuss something school related instead, as he once might have done. She was actually beginning to look forward to going to Hogsmeade with him that weekend and, since the teachers were in charge of keeping the students in line, they would both be able to relax.

Lily paused in the corridor to stretch; her back ached from bending over Potions texts for so long earlier that evening. She looked over at James, furrowing her eyebrows as he hastily tapped his wand to a piece of parchment and shoved it back in the pocket of his robes. It was the same piece of parchment she had seen him with over the past several weeks.

"What is that?" she asked him.

"Hmm?" He feigned nonchalance. "Oh, nothing."

"It's not nothing if you're carrying it around all the time. Let me see it."

"It's just a piece of parchment."

"Potter, come on!"

He glanced over at her before reluctantly pulling the parchment back out of his pocket and handing it to her. She took it from him and unfolded it. The parchment was a bit worn, as though it had been handled frequently, but also curiously blank.

Frustrated, Lily looked up at James. "What does it do?"

James worried his lip for a moment before saying, "If I tell you, you have to swear on your life not to tell anyone."

"It's that important?" Lily's eyes were widened with curiosity and when James nodded she said, "Alright then, I swear on my life not to tell anyone about what this piece of parchment does."

James grinned at her and after glancing around the corridor to make sure no one was nearby, he grabbed her hand to pull her behind a tapestry and into a hidden alcove. Lily sat down on the floor across from James, and then spread the parchment out on the floor between them.

James pulled out his wand and touched the tip to the parchment, his hazel eyes glowing with excitement. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

Lily's laughter at his words turned into a gasp of shock as spidery ink tendrils began to spurt from the point where James' wand touched the parchment. They fanned to every corner of the parchment, crisscrossing and joining up with each other. Then words began to form at the top of the parchment in great, bright green, curling script.

Lily gazed at James in amazement as she read the words aloud, "'Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs; Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Makers are proud to present; The Marauder's Map.'"

Lily stared at the map in wonder. It was incredibly detailed, showing everything from the dungeons to the Astronomy Tower and out to the very edges of the Forbidden Forest- she even saw several passages leading into Hogsmeade. But the most astonishing thing was the minuscule dots wandering every which way over the parchment. Each dot was labeled with a name. Lily could make out Professor Dumbledore in his office talking with Professor McGonagall. Filch was currently in the North Tower and the Prefects on patrolling duty were wandering the dungeons. It was the most glorious thing she had ever had to fortune to see.

"Where did you get this?" Lily asked him, awed.

"We made it."

"Wh- how, when?" Lily spluttered at him.

James laced his fingers together on the back of his head and leaned against the wall as he explained, "The four of us were always wandering the halls at night and we had discovered so many hidden passages and doorways and everything that we thought it would be a shame if no one ever found them again. It got a bit tricky to keep track of where they all were, especially for Peter, so we decided to create a map.

"But-" he leaned forward and Lily couldn't help but notice that his eyes were sparkling with delight at being able to tell her. Lily felt a burst of joy that he trusted her enough to do so. "-it couldn't be just any map. We didn't want just anyone to be able to read it. Sirius and I drew it out while Remus and Peter searched for a way to keep it hidden. Then Peter, in a rare burst of genius, asked why we couldn't just tweak a vanishing spell to make only part of the object disappear and have it reappear when a certain phrase was spoken. Remus worked out the technical bits; he's always been a dab hand at Charms. We finished it last year and now we're just making sure that we've gotten everything on it and that the spells work properly. That's why-"

"You've been carrying it along with you on patrols," Lily finished for him. "You've been adding the things you forgot to include."

James nodded.

"This is amazing! And you know, now that you've showed me, you're going to have to let me use it." Lily grinned at him and stood up, map in hand. James followed her back out into the corridor. They walked along slowly as Lily searched over the map, looking at every little detail.

She paused in front of a portrait featuring two witches shopping for dress robes, and grinned up a James, green eyes sparkling. "There's a passage you missed," she teased in a sing-song voice.

James looked at her in shock. "We can't have. We know the school better than anyone."

Lily shot him a haughty look. "That may be true, but you're missing this one. In fact, I'd have been shocked if you had this room on here. Maybe even a bit disturbed by it."

"Why? Is it in one of the girl's bathrooms?" James waved a hand at her. "Sirius found all of those."

Lily snorted. "He would. And no, this one isn't in a bathroom."

"Where is it then?"

Lily shrugged, enjoying baiting him.

"Come on, Evans. You have to tell me. You can't say you know a passage we forgot and not say where it's at."

"Why not?"

James sputtered. "Because it's not fair."

Lily rolled her eyes at him. "Life isn't fair, Potter. Get used to it." She handed the map back to James and continued down the corridor, leaving him behind.

James stood staring after her for a moment, before jogging to catch her up. "Give me a clue at least."

Lily glanced over at him. "It's on the fourth floor."

James muttered to himself for a second before stating, "The Library."

Lily shrugged nonchalantly and James nodded convinced. "It has to be. You spend a lot of your time there and I can see you pulling a book or something off the shelves and discovering a hidden room or passage. That's how Remus found the passage that leads from the Library to the Charms corridor." James looked a Lily thoughtfully. "How about we make a deal. If we can't find it by... let's say my birthday, you'll tell me where it is."

"When's your birthday?"

"In February," James said quickly.

Lily smirked. "You're lying."

"How'd you kn-" James broke off and heaved a sigh. "Oh, right. My left eyebrow.

Lily laughed. "You thought you could trick me into saying 'your birthday' thinking I would believe you when you said that your birthday wasn't until February when really it's next week. Well, it's not going to work, Potter."

James just stared at her. "You know when my birthday is?"

"Sirius sprays the entire Great Hall with confetti. Remus charms the armor to yell 'Happy Birthday, James Potter' every time someone walks past. And Peter always asks the Professors if you can all skiv off doing your homework because you have to celebrate. The whole school knows when your birthday is, it's impossible not to."

James put up his hands defensively. "Alright, alright. I get it. Don't try to trick Lily Evans, it won't work. So how about the deal?"

"If you still want to know where it is by March first, ask me."

James sighed dramatically. "I suppose. But why March first?"

Lily grinned at him. "It's after February twenty-fourth."

James laughed and agreed to her terms. Lily knew there wasn't a chance he would find the passage and she was looking forward to torturing him about it. They patrolled the corridors of Hogwarts in companionable silence. James kept the map out, every so often making slight adjustments to it. Lily watched him intrigued. It really was a fine bit of magic and she wasn't at all surprised that he and he friends had managed to create it.

They turned a corner and came across Ruby, Callum and Jade, three of the Prefects scheduled to patrol that night.

Lily shook her head in confusion and held up a hand to stop them before they could pass by. "Where's Elliot?" she asked.

Ruby bit her lip and glanced nervously at Callum while Jade sneered down her nose at Lily. "What's it to you?" Jade said condescendingly.

Lily's green eyes flashed and she opened her mouth to respond but James broke in first. "She is Head Girl," he said to Jade coldly. "It's her right to know where a Prefect is at any given time. Especially when they are supposed to be patrolling."

Jade sniffed, crossing her arms, and turned away from James and Lily. Ruby shot a defiant look Callum, who stood stiffly next to her, before saying, "Elliot is in the Hospital Wing."

Lily held back a groan and closed her eyes, praying for patience. She had told James not to have the Slytherin and Hufflepuff seventh years patrol together. "Should I even bother asking why?"

"I took offense to something he said," Callum told her calmly.

"It wasn't anything serious," Ruby hurriedly added, while Callum glared at her. "And Elliot only has a few minor, er, abnormalities from the hexes Callum hit him with. Madam Pomfrey said she could patch him up in half an hour and that we're to go back to collect him then."

Lily sighed. "You realize this has to be reported?" she asked the three Prefects. They all nodded and Lily continued, "Callum, I know you know better than to hex someone because of something they say, no matter how much it offends you."

"And you two," James cut in addressing Jade and Ruby, "should have known better than to let the conversation lead to something either of them could have taken offense to."

Lily looked at her watch. "You can probably head to the Hospital Wing now," she told them. "You're Prefects; it's your job to set an example for the other students. Please try to keep the arguments to a minimum next time you patrol."

Jade, Callum and Ruby stalked off towards the Hospital Wing and Lily and James resumed patrolling. Once they were out of hearing distance Lily turned to James, but he cut her off before she could say anything.

"I know, I know. You told me so." He gave her a disgruntled look. "Next time I'll listen to you about who should and shouldn't be patrolling together, alright?"

-()-

Lily rolled over in her four poster bed, hugged her pillow to her chest and groaned quietly. She had been trying to fall back asleep for the past forty minutes and she still had two hours before breakfast started.

Lily flopped onto her back, threw the blankets off. If all she was going to do was lay in her bed staring at the ceiling she might as well get up. She hadn't had a chance to try out the bathtub in the Head's Bathroom and a long, leisurely bath sounded wonderful to her sleep-deprived brain. She climbed out of bed quietly so as not to wake her roommates and pulled her robe on over her pyjamas. She crept down the stairs and through the empty Common Room. The Fat Lady raised her eyebrows at her when she pushed the portrait open but Lily ignored her.

Apparently, Lily wasn't the only one who couldn't sleep, for when she opened the door to the Head's Room, James was already there, sprawled on the sofa and like Lily, was wearing his robe and pyjamas. He sat up when he saw Lily and set the book he had been reading aside, and rumpled his hair, making it messier than it had been before.

"Hi."

Lily fidgeted with the sleeve of her robe, thoroughly aware of her mussed hair and bare feet as she responded awkwardly, "Hi." She sat in an armchair near the fireplace, glancing at James from beneath her eyelashes. "You couldn't sleep either?"

James shook his head ruefully. "It's ridiculous. We should both be sleeping but instead we're here." He grinned at Lily, inviting her to smile back and the tension she hadn't realized was in the room faded away.

"It is pretty pathetic. I was trying to fall back asleep for at least forty minutes before I gave up and came down here. I figured I'd take a long bath to pass the time."

James laughed and stood up to stretch. "Have at it." Then he added thoughtfully, "Maybe I'll work on that Potions essay I've been putting off."

"You do realize it's due Monday?" Lily asked him sleepily.

James shrugged. "I can always copy yours."

Lily stifled a yawn and nodded as she walked to the bathroom. "It's on my desk if you want to have a look at it."

James, who had been about to sit down at his desk, stopped midway. "Do you realize what you just said?"

"I'm too tired to care," Lily responded and shut the bathroom door leaving James to stare after her in disbelief.

Lily turned on the bathtub taps, frowning faintly. James had seemed... off somehow, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. She puzzled over their conversation this morning trying to figure out what had been missing. It took several moments for her to realize what it was. He hadn't made any mention of their date to Hogsmeade. Of course, neither had she, but that was to be expected. If she had had it her way, they wouldn't be going together at all. Or... at least that's what she kept telling herself.

As soon as the tub was filled to the brim with bright purple, blue and green bubbles, Lily turned off the taps, undressed and climbed in. The water was the perfect temperature and Lily let out a contented sigh. She closed her eyes, letting the soothing vanilla and cinnamon smell of the bath soap waft around her and tried to figure out the mystery that were her feelings about James Potter.

She lay there relaxing for a good twenty minutes before she shampooed and conditioned her hair. Ten minutes later Lily finished her bath and climbed out of the tub, wrapping a robe around her.

She glanced at the clock hanging above the bathroom door and saw that there was about a half hour before breakfast would start. She combed out her hair and wrapped it in a towel before rummaging around in the wardrobe for a pair of jeans and the pale yellow jumper all of her friends had agreed she should wear. She dried her hair with a quick charm and considered pulling it back in a hair clip, but decided not to. Instead she put a hair band around her wrist in case she wanted to pull it back later on in the day.

"I'm finished if you want to shower now," Lily said, walking over to James where he was sitting at his desk.

James nodded and wrote another sentence before putting his quill back in the inkwell and standing up. "Thanks."

Lily settled onto the sofa with a book to wait for him, easily continuing the routine they had settled into over the past several weeks of going down to breakfast together. Once James had showered and dressed, he and Lily grabbed their money bags and cloaks before making their way down to the Great Hall.

Aside from two Ravenclaws, a Hufflepuff, and a handful of teachers, they were the only ones downstairs when breakfast began to appear at the tables. The hall began to fill up as they ate, but even though it was a Hogsmeade weekend, it seemed as though many of the students decided to sleep in.

Lily dawdled over her breakfast for as long as she could, but even with a date with James Potter hanging over her head, she could only make three helpings last so long. She had hoped Marlene, Janice, Linda or someone would have come down by now and that she could have tried talking them into keeping her company. And James, curse him, knew it and just sat across the table from her failing miserably to hide his smile.

Lily sighed heavily and looked down the table to where Gloria Archer, a sixth year Prefect, was sitting. "Gloria, are you going to be here for a bit?"

Gloria nodded through a bite of toast.

"Will you do a favor for me and tell Marlene to meet up with us at Three Broomsticks around twelve?"

"Sure, no problem." Gloria smiled and waved goodbye as Lily tossed her serviette on her plate and she and James left for Hogsmeade.

It was a surprisingly nice autumn day- bright, sunny and, even though it was windy, it wasn't too cold. The leaves had turned red, gold and orange and loads had already fallen off the trees to crunch under their feet as they walked. A slight breeze rustled Lily's hair and she brushed away strands when they blew in her face.

James paused just outside of Hogwarts' gates and pulled a small, square mirror out of his cloak pocket. "Hold up a second, would you?"

Lily quizzed her eyebrows at him, but stopped just the same.

James turned his attention to the mirror. "What do you want, Padfoot?"

"Have you and Lily left for Hogsmeade yet?" Sirius' voice came from the mirror James held.

"Yeah, we left just now."

Lily heard Sirius sigh with relief. "It's about time. I couldn't have kept everyone from going down much longer."

James grinned. "Thanks for that."

"Yeah, well, you owe me."

"I know. We'll settle it later. Oh, and tell everyone to meet up at Three Broomsticks around twelve, would you?"

"Alright, bye."

"You bribed Sirius to keep all our friends away from the Great Hall until we left, didn't you?" Lily accused him.

James grinned at her sheepishly. "Do you blame me?"

Lily frowned at him and opted not to answer his question. "So what is that thing?" she asked, as James returned the mirror to his pocket.

"A two-way mirror. By the end of first year McGonagall must have caught on that Sirius and I had been using our detentions to plan our next prank, because in second year she started putting us in separate ones. But over the summer before third year Sirius found these two mirrors stashed away in his attic collecting dust and decided we could make use of them."

"McGonagall must have been furious when separate detentions didn't work any longer."

"Yeah, Sirius and I can't believe that she hadn't cottoned on, but Remus figured that she had but just didn't feel like doing anything about it. None of our pranks were serious." James waved a hand at her. "But enough about that- I have an idea to share with you."

"An idea?"

"A good idea. And one that will be very beneficial for you."

"I'm listening..."

"Why don't you and I get a bunch of sweets to keep in our Common Room? It'll be just for us and we won't share it with anyone. It'll be a - what's the word? - communal sweets stash."

Lily grinned at him. Her roommates were always eating the sweets Lily bought if she didn't eat them quickly enough. Even keeping them locked in her trunk didn't help. And with Peter and Sirius as friends, she imagined James had the same problem.

"One thing though," Lily said to James as they neared the village. "You go through sweets at the same rate I do. We're sure to run out before the next Hogsmeade trip."

"We'll make do. Honeydukes first then?"

"Of course," Lily agreed, waving to Madam Rosmerta, who was sweeping the path in front of Three Broomsticks.

"Let's make sure to get a load of their raspberry cream filled truffles."

"I love those things," Lily sighed.

"Yeah. My mum bought a box of them for me for making Head Boy."

"And do you have any left?"

James shook his head ruefully. "Remus found them."

"Potter," Lily said exasperated. "You should have known better than to leave the chocolates somewhere he could find them.

"I do know better, but Remus has an uncanny ability to ferret out anything chocolate. And I even hexed the box so that if anyone other than me tries to get into it their nose and ear hair will grow to the floor, but Remus must have found a way to counter it."

Lily laughed. "Well obviously you need some practice. If I had been to one to hex the box even Dumbledore would have trouble breaking it."

James snorted. "Well aren't we modest," he teased her.

"You know very well I'm the best in the school at Charms," Lily replied, her nose in the air with mock haughtiness.

They reached Honeydukes and the door burst open before James even had the chance to open it. A small group of Gryffindor third years ran out, their hands overflowing with sweets.

The shortest one with bright red hair, whom Lily recognized as Mason Bentley, paused when he saw James. "You were right about getting here early," he told him. "We all skipped breakfast and came right at eight. They were just putting out the Fizzing Wizbees and I got a ton of them in the best flavors." He opened the box he was carrying and Lily saw what must have been thirty Fizzing Wizbees.

James laughed at him and ruffled his hair. "Don't eat them before Quidditch practice," he warned. "You have enough trouble staying on your broom as it is."

"If he has trouble staying on his broom, why is he on the team?" Lily broke in.

Mason grinned up at her. "He's just jealous because I can fly faster than him."

Lily raised her eyebrows skeptically and James grinned at her. "Just wait until the Quidditch match next weekend."

"Hurry up, Mason!" one of the boy's friends called from down the street.

"Gotta go," Mason said excitedly. "We're heading to Zonko's!"

Lily and James waved after him as he darted down the street, and then entered Honeydukes. The sweet shop wasn't too crowded as it was still early, but Lily knew it would be jam packed within the hour. James grabbed one of the small baskets that was by the door and began filling it with sweets from the overflowing shelves.

Lily walked around the store with James, each of them adding sugar quills, chocolate frogs, ice mice, licorice wands and a multitude of other sweets to the basket he was carrying. Lily also made sure to pick up a couple of boxes of pepper imps to send to her parents.

A witch, one of the owners of the shop, was walking around giving out samples of pumpkin fudge. Lily made a face when she tried it and then burst out laughing when she saw James was doing the same thing.

"I like pumpkin pasties and pumpkin juice," James told the witch, "but pumpkin fudge just doesn't do it for me."

"Same here," Lily agreed.

James hefted the basket up on the counter. "Do you think we have enough to last us until the next Hogsmeade trip?"

Lily glanced into the basket - it was nearly overflowing. "I hope so," she told him seriously.

"Well, if we don't we can always come back and get more," he said mischievously, waggling his eyebrows at her while the witch rang them up.

"You mean sneak in through one of the passageways?" Lily asked him innocently. "That would work as long as we don't use the one that comes out near Three Broomsticks. Janice told me that Filch found that one."

James stared at her, impressed, and Lily said, "You and your friends aren't the only ones who wander the castle, Potter."

"Apparently not." James grinned at her. "Who'd have guessed that Rule-Loving Lily sneaks out after curfew."

"Who said it was after curfew?" Lily smirked. "You would be amazed at what you can get away with when everyone else is outside enjoying the sun."

"I knew there was a devious streak in you," James told her as he paid for their sweets.

The door hadn't even shut properly before James was digging in the bag for a chocolate frog. He handed one to Lily and she ripped the package open eagerly. She bit off the legs first, not taking any chances on the frog hopping away, and looked at the famous wizard card while she chewed.

"Who'd you get?" James asked as they settled down on a nearby bench.

"Merlin. I must have ten of him by now. What about you?"

"Good old Gryffindor. It's the one where he's holding the sorting hat, too."

Lily leaned over to look. "That version on him is pretty rare. I've only ever seen it once. Most of his cards are him with his sword."

"It's not as rare as the one of Hufflepuff with that cup of hers, though. I've never seen one of those and lots of people doubt they exist."

"I've seen it." Lily grinned mischievously.

"Yeah?"

Lily nodded. "I have three."

"Three? No way!"

"Way. I'll give you one if you'd like."

James' eyes lit up and he gave a gleeful laugh. "Sirius will be so mad when he finds out. We had a bet on who would get one first. Whoever loses has to buy the other a month's supply of chocolate frogs."

Lily laughed and stood up, pulling James with her. "Well, seeing as how I'm the one giving you the card, you had better be sharing. Now, come on. I need some new quills."

James shoved the last bit of chocolate in him mouth and Lily glanced at him out of the corner of her eye as they walked down the street towards Scrivenshaft's. It was impossible not to notice how good he looked. His hair was as messy as always and there was a carefree glint in his eye. And when he smiled at her like he had just now... Well, Lily was forced to admit that her heart skipped a beat or two.

They were passing by Gladrags when a voice called out behind them. "Lily! Hey, Lily, wait up!"

Lily and James turned and saw Tilden Toots, a sixth year Ravenclaw Prefect hurrying towards them. He was carrying a piece of parchment tied with a green ribbon in one hand.

Tilden was pudgy with curly brown hair and brown eyes. He was almost always smiling, and had no temper to speak of. He handed Lily the parchment he was carrying when he reached them.

"Professor Slughorn asked me to give this to you," he told her. "It's an invitation to the party he's giving on Halloween. He said he had told you about it, but he wanted to get you an official invitation anyways. Not that you need one, of course," Tilden added good naturedly. "Everyone knows you're his favorite."

"Thanks," Lily said. James took the invitation from her and put it in the bag with their sweets. "Are you going to be there as well?" Lily asked the Ravenclaw.

Tilden nodded happily. "Yeah, Daisy and I are going together." He motioned to Daisy Hookum, another Slug Club member and also a Prefect for Ravenclaw only in fifth year, who was waiting for him in front of the shop next to Honeydukes.

"When did that happen?"

"Two weeks ago." Tilden grinned. "See you later."

"Bye," Lily and James chorused.

They continued on their way to the quill shop and came out twenty minutes later with two more bags in hand. Lily's bag contained three new quills and James had bought a jar of color-change ink. They still had an hour before they had planned to meet up with their friends, so James took the opportunity to drag Lily to Zonko's Joke Shop.

A loud bang and shouts of laughter greeted them as they entered. There was a small group of students bending over an object that Lily couldn't see in one corner of the shop. It was from there that the laughter stemmed.

"What was it you wanted to get?" Lily asked James over the noise.

"Dungbombs."

"Eurgh. Whatever for?"

James shot a grin at her. "If I told you you'd only yell at me."

Lily rolled her eyes. "Potter, you're Head Boy. You're supposed to be setting an example for the other students. Which means that you-"

"Can't be getting detention every week," James cut in. "I know. You've only told me a million times."

Lily huffed.

"But," James continued, grabbing a package of dungbombs and tossing them in the air only to catch them again, "as you're well aware, I have yet to get a detention this year. And I plan to keep it that way. The use I have for the dungbombs will in no way earn me a detention."

Lily gave in. "Just make sure you use them well away from me. I can't abide the smell."

"I'll remember that."

A small explosion came from the group in the corner as James was paying for his dungbombs and the students glanced over at the owner of the shop with nervous looks on their faces. The owner just sighed and hurried over to see what they had managed to set off. Lily supposed he was used to students blowing things up by now.

Hogsmeade was now packed with students as Lily and James ambled down the street to Three Broomsticks. They waved to Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick when they passed them, please that a few of the teachers were around in case anything happened. In times such as these, no one could be too careful. There had been rumors of other occurrences similar to what had happen in Diagon Alley, but no one knew anything for certain. The Ministry seemed set on keeping everything under wraps.

None of their friends had arrived yet when they entered the pub, so Lily and James grabbed the largest empty table in the room. Three Broomsticks was always crowded on Hogsmeade weekends since every students stopped there at least once during the day. Madame Rosmerta came over to their table, an empty tray balance on one hip.

"Do my eyes deceive me, or are the two of you actually sitting together without ripping each others heads off?" she teased them.

Lily gave her a rueful smile. "Not by choice."

"Don't lie, Evans. You know you wanted to come." James turned to Madame Rosmerta. "She finally agreed to go on a date with me," he told her grinning.

Madame Rosmerta ruffled his hair. "I'm glad to see you listened to my advice. I told you it would work." Lily raised her eyebrows at James and he shrugged. "Now, can I get you something to drink?" Madame Rosmerta asked them.

"Butterbeer?" James inquired. Lily nodded in agreement. "Two butterbeers for now, then."

Madame Rosmerta gave Lily a wink and then went off to get their drinks. The door to Three Broomsticks opened and Lily saw Ruby walk in with Olivia Bradshaw and Ellen Bethan. Marlene, Janice and Linda were right behind them. The girls rushed over to Lily and James when they spotted them.

"Oh my goodness, Lily," Olivia gushed sitting on the edge of the chair next to Lily. "You have got to go to Gladrags. Some of the dress robes from last year are on sale and there's one that would look so perfect on you!"

"She's right," Ellen put in, leaning on Lily's shoulder. "They're the most gorgeous thing I've seen in a while. They're marked down to half price because some of the stitching is coming out along the hem and neckline, but one of us could fix it real quick."

Ruby spoke up, "They're this beautiful- oh! There's my brother and the others. Sorry Lily, but you know our tradition of sitting together on the first Hogsmeade trip. Come on," she said to Ellen and Olivia, already walking over to where her brother and the other seventh year Hufflepuffs sat.

"Talk to you later, Lily!" Ellen and Olivia said, hurrying after Ruby.

James stared after them with a look of fascination on his face. "Are they always like that?"

Marlene, who had taken a seat at their table with Janice and Linda, said, "All the time. Especially after a trip to Gladrags. I saw them there-" she help up her Galdrags bag. "-and they showed me the dress robes they were telling you about."

"Yeah," Linda chipped in, "they really are perfect for you, Lily. I had them hold them for you so someone else wouldn't take them before you had a chance to see them."

"But what do they look like?" Lily finally got the chance to ask.

"You'll just have to go see for yourself," Marlene answered her.

Madame Rosmerta came over with five mugs of warm butterbeers on her tray. "I assumed you'd want butterbeer as well," she told Lily's friends.

"You assumed right," Janice said with a smile.

Madam Rosmerta had just finished doling out the butterbeers when Sirius came up behind her and slung an arm around her shoulders. "How about three more of those?" He dug in his pocket and pulled out a galleon to set on her tray with a wink.

"Sirius, you charmer." Madame Rosmerta shoved him into a chair and leaned down to whisper in his ear loud enough that the rest of them could hear, "You have lipstick on your mouth." She lightly smacked the back of his head and went back up to the bar calling over her shoulder, "I'll bring back your change!"

Sirius grinned after her and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

"So who'd you coerce into going with you this time?" Janice teased him.

"That, my fellow Beater, is none of your business. And," he added as an afterthought, "I never have to 'coerce' anyone into going to Madame Puddifoot's with me."

Linda snorted. "One of these days someone is going to turn you down."

"You didn't," Sirius retorted.

"I didn't know any better," Linda answered him sweetly and the others all laughed.

By that time Madame Rosmerta had returned with three more butterbeers for Sirius, Peter and Remus, who was munching on a bar of Honeydukes best chocolate, had joined them as well.

Lily caught James' eye and nodded towards Remus' chocolate and they shared a smile. Marlene, who had caught them at it giggled until Lily kicked her under the table to shut her up.

They flagged down Madame Rosmerta again to order sandwiches, crisps and chips and then spent the next hour talking, drinking butterbeer and eating. At one point a food fight nearly broke out between Janice and Sirius- who, for all they were beaters, had terrible aim. The chip Janice had thrown hit Marlene instead. But it took more than a miss-thrown chip to irate Marlene and she just rolled her eyes at their antics and began telling them about something comical Linda had done the other day.

Remus commented to her about their Arithmancy homework and they stuck up a friendly debate. James, meanwhile, had taken hold of her hand under the table and was playing idly with her fingers. She was surprised to find her mind wandering to him over and over again and she caught herself glancing over at him constantly. From the amused smile on Remus' face she could tell he noticed her distraction as well.

The other all broke into noisy laughter and Lily looked over at them, wishing they would just disappear so that she and James could be alone again.

Peter, tiring of his conversation with Linda began building some sort of tower with the leftover chips and sandwich crusts from his and Sirius' meal. When he reached a hand over to steal the crisps Lily was still munching on, she smacked his hand away.

Peter pouted at her and James threw a crisp at him. "Shall we go?" he asked Lily.

Lily smiled at him and stood. "Sure." She turned to the others. "We're going to head out," she told them as James gathered up their bags.

James took her hand again as they said their goodbyes. Lily saw Marlene observing her with hawk eyes and Lily knew she would be questioned ruthlessly that evening.

"You didn't try to talk any of your friends into coming along," James remarked as they ambled slowly down the street to Gladrags, swinging their linked hands.

"Yes, well... they were still talking and we were ready to leave. Besides," Lily trailed off, lost in thought.

"Besides...?"

Lily smiled and shook her head ruefully. "It's like patrolling. I've gotten used to talking to you. I mean, I love hanging out with my friends and all but its, well, nice when it's just, you know-" she waved her hand searchingly "-us."

James watched her thoughtfully for a moment. "Why did you agree?"

"Hm?"

"Why did you say 'yes' when I asked you here over the summer? You know you could have told me no like you've done every other year."

"It was your plan, Potter," Lily joked. "It worked just how you wanted- you annoyed me until I gave in."

James grinned at her. "We both know that's not true." When Lily didn't answer James let go of her hand and poked her in the side. "Come on; admit it- I've changed."

Lily glared at him, "Not when you annoy me like this."

James poked her again. "Admit it," he teased. Lily sniffed, trying to ignore him but he continued poking her.

Lily batted his hand away. "Yes, alright, fine, you've changed! Now stop poking me!"

"That wasn't so hard, was it?" He grinned charmingly and wrapped his arms around her waist from behind, resting his chin on her shoulder.

Lily's breath caught. "Yes," she replied, amazed that it sounded as steady as it did.

"Ah, Evans, you're one of a kind."

Lily gave an unladylike snort and James spun her out of his arms so they could resume walking.

"Do not mock me so, fair maiden," James said in an accent so horrible Lily couldn't even tell what it was supposed to be.

"Potter?" Lily fought to hold back a smile.

"Yes, flower of my heart?"

"Shut up."

"Yes, dear," James nonchalantly replied, reaching across the space between them to take her hand again. He tugged her down the street more quickly. "Come on," he told her, rolling his eyes. "Let's check out these dress robes your friends are going so bonkers over. I'll never understand their obsession with clothes."

Lily let him pull her along, laughing. Half the time she didn't understand her friends' obsession with clothing either.