It was the night of the Head Girl and Head Boy’s first patrol together, but Lily Evans was somewhat distracted from her duties. Why had Dumbledore chosen James Potter, of all people? Maybe he hadn’t messed up yet, but there was still plenty of time. A whole year in fact. Anyway, Remus would have been the obvious choice; responsible, intelligent, hard working, and possibly most important of all, he was the only one with any sort of restraining influence over his friends. James was almost as bad as Sirius. Remus’ positive influence could, after all, only go so far.

Admittedly, James did seem to have grown up somewhat over the summer. His mother’s illness must have had something to do with it. Lily just wished that it hadn’t taken that to sober him up a bit. Still, she couldn’t help but wonder what Dumbledore had been thinking! Regardless, there was no point in getting distracted. They were going to have to work together, and they were going to do their duty well if Lily had any say in the matter.

Lily let her gaze wonder over the third floor corridor they were patrolling. The ugly statue of the humpbacked witch was the only place someone out after curfew could hide, but even that was a fairly pathetic hiding place. It was looking like it would be a quiet night. She sighed quietly to herself. This was her third year doing these patrols now. At least for James, there was some novelty value, not that it would last long.

She was doing it again, letting her mind wander. She would have to focus, or she might miss something. James would never let her forget it if she screwed up their first patrol together. She wasn’t sure that she would ever forget it anyway, come to think of it. It was at that point, as they rounded a corner, that he tugged her sleeve. Without speaking a word, he gestured to a broom cupboard a little way ahead of them, a puzzled look on his face.

Lily sighed once more. She had a fair idea of what was going on. The door of the broom cupboard was slightly ajar, a faint noise leaking from the gap. Then someone let out a faint moan, and Lily was certain. She saw James reaching for his wand, but she smirked slightly and shook her head at him. This was nothing sinister. He’d soon see.

She yanked the door firmly open and opened her mouth to speak, but James got there first.

“Sirius! What the hell, mate? You knew I was patrolling here tonight.�

Sirius broke away from the sixth-year he’d been wrapped around. “Sorry James, but it had to be done,� he replied, smirking alarmingly at the blonde next to him.

Before Lily could even form another coherent thought, Black was dragging her past him and into the cupboard, hastily pulling his random girl out with him. Next to her, James was being pushed in too. In unison, they spun around. The door slammed in their faces. The lock clicked instantly.

The darkness was absolute. Lily could feel James breathing on her face, slightly quicker than usual. Uncomfortable and rapidly becoming claustrophobic, she tried to step backwards and yelped as she tripped over a bucket. As she tumbled, James’ arm shot out of nowhere, grabbing her by the waist. Before she knew it, she was upright again, and pressed into his chest. There was really nowhere else to go in a space this small. He brought his other arm around her. She froze completely, arms pinned against him, feeling trapped. She wondered how a cupboard could possibly be so small.

“James?� she said, her voice cracking slightly.

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James was surprised. Why hadn’t she pulled away? She just stood and let him hold her. Surely she wasn’t scared of the dark or something. Not Lily. Never Lily. Still, she had been unusually pensive so far on their patrol. It had taken quite a turn for the worse now. Sirius could never resist making jokes about his feelings for Lily. James had to admit it though; it had been quite a masterstroke to have Peter follow him in rat form, for that was what James assumed he had done. Sirius would never have got both of them in here without some help.

Then Lily spoke at last.

“James?� she said, a faint quiver in her voice.

She called him James. Not Potter. James. It had been Potter since… Well, since forever. Before he quite knew what he was doing, he had leant forwards and kissed her softly, slowly on the lips. As he pulled away, he made to speak, or to apologise, or ask if she minded, or goodness knows what. Anything to limit the coming explosion that he knew to expect. Bollocks. This was going to set him back, screw everything up.

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Why had he stopped? Actually, better question; why did she care that he had stopped? Her eyes had adjusted somewhat to the dark now, so she could see him begin to open his mouth, worry in his eyes. She untangled her arm from his, and gently placed a finger over his mouth. Before she knew quite what she was doing, she kissed him again. Her heart was pounding as he responded eagerly.

Her back was pushed against the door, the handle digging uncomfortably into her spine. She barely noticed, could barely think coherently at all. James’ hands began wandering down her back, and she wriggled with pleasure. At that precise moment, the door flew open behind her. She stumbled backwards for the second time that night, this time dragging James with her.

They landed in an awkward heap on the floor. Lily whipped her head round, just in time to see Black sprinting away from them, laughing his head off. She instinctively tried to stand and follow, but James was still on top of her. All of a sudden, it dawned on her that the situation was completely ridiculous. James Potter, the most irritating, arrogant fool in her year, had just kissed her in a broom cupboard in the middle of their first patrol together, and she had kissed him back. Lily giggled.

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Her laughter was infectious. James could feel her shaking as she lay below him. Rolling off her, he grinned broadly. This was the most ridiculous situation Sirius had ever put him in, and that was really saying something. By now, Sirius could have got halfway to Hogsmeade; they would never catch him now. Actually, James reckoned he could forgive Sirius for this prank pretty easily.

Lily seemed to be regaining a little self control, so he stood up, and offered her his hand. As he pulled her to her feet, he appraised her flushed cheeks, her rumpled white shirt, and her now messy coppery hair. All of this disorder was his doing. She had let him do it. She had actually kissed him, and by the smile on her face, enjoyed it. What was happening to the world?

“I must apologise on Sirius’ behalf. I was stupid enough to warn him not to try anything tonight. Evidently, that provided enough motivation for him to try this,� James grinned. He couldn’t seem to stop doing that right now.

“Apology accepted, for once. I suppose you can’t help having had poor taste in friends in your first year. You’re stuck with him now,� Lily smirked. He noted that there were no traces of doubt or regret visible on her face.

James surveyed the corridor, and came to a quick decision. “You know, after that, I think a date might be in order. How do you fancy making a trip to Hogsmeade Lily?�

Lily blushed, something he would never expect her to do after all this time, and said, “Yes, I… Yeah, that does sound nice. We’re going to have to wait quite a while though. They haven’t given us the date of the next visit yet.�

“Who needs to wait for the next trip? I can do far better than that. Come on!�

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Before she could get another word out, James strode down the corridor to the awful statue they had passed earlier. He pulled out his wand and tapped the witch’s hump. It opened instantly. He turned, beaming at her, so she hurriedly closed her gaping mouth.

“You haven’t seen where this comes out yet!� he laughed. Then he reached into his pocket and pulled out a quick-silver soft cloak. “Seeing as I’ve already revealed one Marauder trade secret tonight, you might as well see the rest,� he said.

Lily couldn’t contain a gasp. “May I?� she asked, holding her hand out to take it. He nodded. She gingerly took a corner of the fabric, then grasping it with more confidence, threw it over her shoulders. She was right. James Potter had an invisibility cloak, a true invisibility cloak. This explained an awful lot.

“See now how I evaded your patrols for the past two years?� he asked. Then, he pulled the cloak over his shoulders too, their sudden proximity doing strange things to Lily’s heart rate. He pulled the cloak over both of their heads, and gently pushed her in the direction of the secret passage.

Lily forgot everything. She forgot that she was supposed to be Head Girl, that she had a patrol to finish, that Black needed to be caught, that James Potter was an immature idiot. How on earth was she supposed to remember little details like that when James was taking her to Hogsmeade? Such sudden, delirious happiness could override anything.