Disclaimer: First of all, I'm not British...Second of all, I'm not famous or more wealthy than the Queen of England...Third of all, well, I guess you pretty much assumed I'm not J.K. Rowling.

A/N: First, I would like to thank the following reviewers: ChocolateIsMyDrug, luvlylittlelady, Lils, E Patronum, warm summer days, Totally Raven, Ilana Potter, and Sam's Firefly. You guys are amazing!

Hey everybody! I'm back and ready to post the next, and last, chapter of this story! It's so sad, yet I'm sort of proud because it's the first story I've written that I've finished! I'm going to miss writing this though...it amused me greatly when it gave me an excuse to ditch my homework...lol!

So, now that I'm at the end of this, I really want to thank all of you who reviewed! You guys are the greatest! Thank you so much! I hope you find the ending good. For a while I was debating on whether or not to end it here, or carry it on and just have it go until the end of James' and Lily's seventh year, but I decided to end it, simply because the plot of this story was only based around the diary idea and the fact that I'm starting a Lily and James seventh year story (however, I don't think I will be posting it for a while as I only have the first chapter written).

Thanks again for reviewing and I hope you've all enjoyed this story! Without further ado, here's chapter 7.

OOO

Chapter 7: The Trouble with a Diary

"I'm sorry," James said, catching her eyes with his. "I just…I liked it when we were friends and all…"

She began to blush slightly. Get a hold of yourself, Evans. It's only James Potter. But Lily couldn't help herself. No longer was this boy only some annoying thorn in her side who constantly pricked her. "No, don't be sorry. It wasn't arrogant, pig-headed, or anything. The letter was…nice."

OOO

James' mind went blank momentarily as he simply sat still, staring at Lily and making sure what she had just said wasn't a joke. When the silence enveloped them for a few more minutes, a feeling of elation shot through him; thank you, Felix! "I meant what I said," James said, feeling like he had to say something to clarify how true those words in the letter had been.

A small smile spread across her face as she nodded. "I know." She sighed deeply and stared out the window, the sky painted various shades of pink and purple as the sun disappeared behind the horizon. "I'm sorry for losing your map," she finally said, turning her head to observe him.

The map. James shrugged nonchalantly, apparently pretending that the loss of their map didn't have an impact on him. "How'd you figure out what it was?"

"Sirius isn't the best secret keeper," Lily responded innocently. "He sort of let it slip last night while I was looking for you." James laughed. "What was it a map of exactly?"

Shaking his head back and forth, a mischievous smile plastered itself across his features. "That, my dear, I can't tell you. You know too much already."

"Another Marauder secret?" she said, rolling her eyes.

"Naturally."

He leaned back into the couch, realizing how much he had actually missed interacting with Lily when they weren't fighting or screaming at each other. Even though it had only been a couple of days, it had felt like a lifetime. He snorted quietly, thinking how sappy Sirius would have found this. Why did he like Lily so much? Of course she was beautiful, any guy could figure that much out, but there was something else that attracted James to her. She was…different.

Glancing up to look at her, James was surprised to see her deep emerald eyes staring at him. "You know I didn't intentionally give that map to Filch, right?"

"You didn't?" James asked, taken aback. He and the rest of the Marauders had just assumed…

A short laugh escaped from her mouth. "James, I may have been mad at you, but I would never have stooped that low," she said. "Filch found me looking at it in between classes and confiscated it from me after it insulted him. That Padfoot is one entertaining character." She winked at James, a contented smile illuminating her eyes.

"Maybe so, but not as good as that Prongs," James objected quickly.

A small smile flickered across her lips; this could be entertaining. "But Padfoot just has that irresistible charm," Lily continued, keeping a straight face. From the reaction on James' face, Lily instantly knew that she was right in suspecting who the mysterious Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs truly were.

A silence followed this statement.

Could Lily really be falling for Padfoot? For Sirius? James shuddered, cursing the map and the fact that they had charmed that map to speak to anybody who tried to read it. He tried to make his expression appear passive, but the sudden arouse of jealousy was building behind his eyes. A small laugh broke through the incredibly stony—or so it had seemed to James—silence. Confused, James looked up only to find Lily smirking at him; his eyes widened.

"How long have you known?" He mentally sighed in relief, incredibly elated to find out Lily wasn't going to marry Sirius anytime soon.

"Honestly, you guys could have made those comments a little more subtle. Only you would have said something as corny 'most beautiful witch he has ever seen and hopes to have her for his own.'" James was surprised, however, to find that her tone wasn't annoyed or disgusted, but rather amused. Maybe they did have a chance to rebuild their friendship after all.

"Hey, that was not corny! That's sheer poetry," James objected heartily.

A disbelieving gleam covered Lily's features, but she was grinning nonetheless. "Oh yes, such poetry," she said sarcastically, pushing him in the shoulder.

James smiled. Was she actually flirting with him? His mind soared, and his strong male ego wanted to do nothing more than to grab Lily and snog her senseless. Yet, a voice, a voice that sounded oddly like Remus', warned him not to do anything incredibly stupid…like stealing a diary.

As another awkward silence threatened to settle down amongst the two of them, Lily spoke up. "So, how much did you actually read?"

Paling slightly, James shifted uncomfortably. Should he bring up her father again? He wasn't even sure bringing up the first time in the letter had been such a great idea. "You know, I never knew you hated me so much. Really, more than three quarters of the book must be filled with rantings about how annoying you find me. Way to deflate a man's ego."

A low, quiet laugh issued from her mouth as she tucked a strand piece of vibrant red hair behind her ear. "Yeah, well you were quite obnoxious, but…you've changed. I don't know how to explain it but…" she trailed off, shrugging. She hated how he could do this to her. One minute she could be ready to hex his face off, but the next…the next minute she found herself completely taken by him. There was no denying the fact she liked him, but it really was much simpler when the mere sight of him used to repulse her. But now…

"Keep yourself this way, James," she said, staring at him. "No more stealing people's stuff, otherwise, as Head Girl, I might just have to report you to Dumbledore."

James snorted, unable to keep his happiness undetected. "Well, I can't promise anything. You know what they always say, once a Marauder, always a Marauder."

"No one says that, James," Lily argued.

James frowned mockingly. "Well they should," he fought back determinedly. He watched as Lily shook her head humorously and then she stood up, stretching.

"On that note," she said, "I'll just be off to bed." James instantly stood up as well and followed Lily as she made her way to the bottom of the girls' staircase. He didn't want their conversation to end; he was afraid that if they didn't keep going then her forgiveness would cease.

She turned towards him at the base of the staircase, her voice pulling him out of his thoughts. "Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow then," she said, watching him.

"Definitely, and I promise I'll be there for Head patrols too," he assured. They simply stood there, observing one another, and before James really knew what was happening, Lily had leaned up and kissed him softly on the cheek.

Completely dazed, James watched as Lily mumbled an embarrassed 'Goodnight' and sped-walked up the staircases. He shook his head, trying to clear his mind, desperately wanting to say something, anything, before Lily disappeared from his sight for the night.

"Wait," he finally called out, right before Lily opened the door to her dormitory. "Does that mean you'll go out with me now?" The question had escaped him before he really knew what he was saying. He mentally slapped himself; that kiss on the cheek had completely thrown him off…

Lily turned back to face him. "Perhaps," she said evasively, but she was unable to keep the grin from spreading across her face.

With a snap, the girls' dorm door closed, leaving a gob-smacked James Potter feeling as if he were on top of the world. This feeling was better than winning the Quidditch Cup, better than winning the Inter-House Points Competition. This was a bloody miracle.

OOO

"You don't think she's killing him, do you?" Sirius asked forty-five minutes later after they had left Lily and James down in the common room unsupervised.

Peter and Remus glanced at each other, but before they could respond, their dormitory door swung open and their glowing friend stepped in. James smiled broadly upon seeing his shocked friends' expressions before doing some sort of pirouetting leap across the floor and landing in a jumble on top of his bed sheets.

"What in the name of Merlin has she done to you," Sirius asked aghast, eyeing his best friend worriedly. "Moony, Peter, quick. Go get Madame Pomfrey and McGonagall. Evans put some sort of spell on Prongs!" Sirius rushed over to James' side as Remus and Peter scrambled to get a good look at their friend as well. James simply lay still, his eyes closed and a smile plastered across his lips.

"Prongs, mate, speak to us!" Sirius said, shaking his friend by the shoulder. He turned towards Remus and Peter. "I thought I told you to go get the bloody nurse!" he barked. Peter jumped and made to run out of the room, but Remus grabbed his shoulder holding him back.

Remus leaned over James. "Prongs, what happened?" he asked, clearly wanting evidence before running off and waking up Pomfrey or McGonagall; seeing their Headmistress in her nightdress was a pretty scarring scene.

There was silence, and then…

"She…kissed me," James exclaimed, his eyes snapping open. He seemed to brighten at the memory, his hazel eyes luminous.

"Excuse me?" Peter said, all four boys convinced they had heard wrong.

James sat up. "Lily Evans kissed me!"

In one swift motion, Sirius had reached out and slugged his friend in the shoulder. "Is that all? You bloody well scared the daylights out of me! We thought she had done something unheard of to you," Sirius said loudly.

Rubbing his sore shoulder, James continued to grin unnaturally looking around at his group of friends. "This is unheard of!" James cried happily. "Did you not hear me? She actually kissed me!"

"True, very true," Sirius said thoughtfully as Remus and Peter nodded.

James sighed contentedly, still reliving that un-forgetful moment. Granted, it had only been on the cheek, but the fact that she had even done that was extraordinary. Never in his wildest dreams would he have thought this was how this whole fiasco would have turned out.

"So let me get this straight," began Remus. "You stole her diary, kept it, read it, lost our map with no hope of retrieving it now, and you still got the girl?" he finished in utter disbelief.

"That's amazing," Peter said in awe, clear admiration shining on his face as he looked at James.

It really was unbelievable, James thought. How had this all happened? In a time span of a couple of days Lily had gone from tolerating him, to completely despising him, to kissing him? It took all of his self-restraint not to stand up on his bed and begin jumping up and down on it out of veritable bliss.

"No, Wormtail. Lily is amazing," James said, knowing fully well how corny that statement sounded but not the least bit caring.

Sirius chuckled, clapping his friend on the back in a 'good for you' sort of gesture. "See mates? That's the trouble with a diary. It turns your best mate into some sort of love-sick loser."

But James didn't think the diary had been trouble at all. From now on, that diary was going to be his new best friend, and maybe for Christmas he'd buy Lily a new one…

OOO

The End!

Tear Tear... My baby story is all grown up and finished! Thank you all for reading!

Until next time...

--HeyLookTheSnitch