I loved Hogsmeade almost as much as I loved Hogwarts. The whole atmosphere of it was amazing. It was a place I could completely relax in, even during exams I would still always find time to go even if it was just sitting in the Three Broomsticks with a book.

I usually just went with the girls. Not even Frank was allowed much to Alice's annoyance.

"Marlene, are you almost ready? We said we'd meet Dorcas outside at 11 and it's 11.05!" I yelled up to the common room.

"Yeah I'm coming, I just need to finish my lipstick" I heard her yell down.

"Since when do you wear lipstick to Hogsmeade? You said it gets on everything." Mary yelled up.

"Since now." Marlene said, coming down the stairs. She looked absolutely amazing, the bright red lipstick suited her so well. It was a little odd though she usually

"Damn, Marlene it looks amazing, very Bianca Jagger."

"Thanks." She said, a slight blush coming to her cheeks that I'd never seen before.

"Hurry up, we're going to be late." Mary said, ushering us out the door. Mary really was the mum of our group.

As I walked out, Marlene gave me a strange smile as if she was planning something. She did look especially nice today but Marlene was an odd one, maybe she just felt like it. I didn't think much of it though, I was looking forward for a nice, chill day at Hogsmead to take my mind off James.

It had been almost a week since I'd spoken to Remus and judging from James's behaviour, he hadn't told. He was the only one I'd told so far although I was planning on telling the others today. I'd been with them almost this entire week which had led to me avoiding James a bit too so that I wouldn't blush around them.

He had tried to talk to me in potions but I had seen Mary watching us and had shut it down quickly. She hadn't said anything but I had seen her smirking for the rest of the lesson.

"I've been looking forward to this for weeks. I've had so much on my mind." I said, putting my arm around Marlene's shoulders.

"What have you had on your mind, Lily?" She said and I instantly regretted saying it.

"She probably just meant potions," Alice said, quickly coming to my rescue, "Mary said that they were making a Hair-Raising Potion and it's meant to be really hard. Professor Binns gave us loads of homework too."

I silently thanked her for getting me out of Marlene's interrogation. Alice knew when to push somebody and when to just let it go, a trait which Marlene often lacked. I loved her, but I wished she'd just leave some things unsaid.

"Shall we start off Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop as usual?" Dorcas suggested.

"I was thinking we could go the Three Broomsticks, if that's okay." Marlene said. Dorcas looked at her bemused. Marlene blushed slightly, "I just want a change for once, don't look at me like that, Dorcas."

"Change sounds nice, I'm up for it if you guys are." Alice said, tactfully. The others seemed happy enough but I couldn't help glancing at her uneasily. Something about her eyeshadow and her smile made me uneasy.

The five of us piled into the Three Broomsticks. I was happy to get out of the heat, my red hair and pale skin made me a prime target for burning.

"Shall I grab us a table?" Dorcas asked.

"Nah, lets order first." Marlene said distantly, scanning the room for something. My instincts were telling me to leave for some reason but I ignored them. Marlene's eyes rested on something and she gave a slight wave.

Suddenly it all made sense, the eye shadow, the random change. I saw Sirius stand up and walk towards us. I looked away, pretending that maybe if I ignored James, he would just disappear.

"Marlene, why are they coming towards us? This was meant to be girls only." I hissed at her, keeping my back turned from the four Marauders who were walking towards us.

"Someone had to get you to talk to James, I thought this was the perfect opportunity. I said we'd meet them in Muggle Studies, I have it with Sirius." She said back still smiling. Her tone changed slightly as she addressed Sirius, "Alright there, Sirius?"

"Not bad, yourself?" Sirius tossed his long hair out of his face and objectively speaking, it was attractive yet Marlene managed to keep her cool. She reached up and hugged him.

I looked back at the other girls who all seemed remarkably calm about the sudden appearance of the boys.

"Did you know about this?" I whispered to Alice. She shook her head.

"Nah, but maybe it will be nice. I think Frank's around today, I'll see if he wants to stop by too." She said smiling slightly, "Anyway, look who's hear."

I looked over to see James coming over to me.

"I don't like..." I began to whisper but Alice darted away to talk to Dorcas.

"Fancy seeing you here, Evans" Potter said leaning on the wall above me. I'd never noticed how nice his arms were. They were sort of muscular but not too much.

Objectively speaking, Sirius was better looking than James. Sirius had a sort of casual elegance and aloofness that girls seemed to like yet I'd never really got it. He always seemed too... self aware and perfect.

James had his flaws. His teeth were slightly crooked, not badly but just a little. He had several cuts on his chin from shaving or something. His hair was always sticking up at weird angles. James Potter was not perfect yet in a way, that made me like him even more.

"Well, this is a place that I would... be." I silently cursed myself for being such an incoherent idiot. It didn't even make sense, my sassy comebacks were slipping.

"Well, this is  place that I would be too." He said laughing. I awkwardly laughed too to try and pretend that I hadn't lost the ability to speak.

Come on, Lily, snap out of it, I told myself. You've liked guys before and you've been... better than this at least.

"Have you ordered yet?" He asked.

"No, I was...um... going to get a butterbeer though. I should probably do that..." I began to walk towards the bar but James swooped in front of me.

"One butterbeer for Evans please." He said to Rosmerta. He looked back at me and grinned, daring me to say something.

"I was just about to order!" I said, my ability to speak swiftly coming back to me.

"You sure about that? A few moments ago you told me that is a place you would be." Damn, that was a good point.

"You caught me by surprise, that's all." I said, acting slightly aloof, "I was expecting it to be just the girls."

I glared over at Marlene as I said this but she and Mary were engrossed in a conversation with Sirius.

"I thought I'd grace you with my presence. Besides, you're fun to be around, you know, when you can string a sentence together." I sensed that he would never let this go.

I desperately looked around at my friends for help but they were all engrossed in conversations with the charming Marauders. Remus smiled over at me but him and Dorcas were too busy talking to save me. I wondered if he liked Dorcas, he definitely seemed to be enjoying his conversation.

"Hey, what do you say, that we ditch the others for a bit and go to Honeydukes?" James had leant down so he was right by my head. It was very hard for me to concentrate and I could tell by his grin that he knew that.

"I'd feel bad leaving the others..." I trailed off.

"Bet you I can eat more exploding bon bons than you." Damn him, I had to go now. I couldn't back down from a challenge, especially one that I could so easily win.

"Oh, you are on." I said turning my head to face him. Our faces were inches apart but he wasn't moving so I followed his lead, "Keep in mind, I'm the girl who once ate 27 Ice Mice in a five minutes."

We lingered for a second before I heard Sirius cough behind us.

"You'll hurt your neck if you stay bending over Evans like that." Sirius called after. James straightened up, smiling and shaking his head at Sirius. Marlene looked over at me, half smiling and half sympathetic.

"Worth it, Padfoot." He said. I smiled to myself, not even hiding it from Marlene anymore, "Me and Evans were actually going to head to Honeydukes for a bit. She's apparently going to eat more exploding bonbons than me."

"This I have to see..." Sirius began but then stopped suddenly and smiled, "But I haven't had my butterbeer yet so I guess you'll have to tell me about it after..."

He eyes darted from me and James, for a second. He was smiling arrogantly but there seemed to be some genuine happiness behind it. Maybe Sirius wasn't as bad as I thought.

"Cancel the butterbeer, Rosmerta!" James yelled as we walked out, his hand gently resting on my back as he guided me back.

Now that I'd recovered my ability to speak, maybe this would actually be fun for the Bonbons contest, if nothing else, on what was maybe my first date with James. Maybe...

Hello lovely people! I just wanted to say thank you all for reading my story, 130 reads in a few days has made me over the moon and I just wanted to say a big thankyou! Anyway I hope you're still enjoying it and have as much fun reading as I did writing it! - E