I know it's a bit crap, but I had a sudden urge to write a James/Lily one shot... It kind of evolved from a one-shot I read a while ago where J&L where trapped in a cupboard but I can't remember what it's called and I 4got to favourite it - You know who you are!x

Enjoy...

Lily tore down the halls, oblivious to the calls behind her; Alice trying to make her calm down; Roger trying to tell her 'his side' of the story and Lucy trying to explain why her and Roger where eating each other's faces off. Tears were streaming down her face before she could stop them and when she was finally satisfied with the fact that they weren't chasing her any more, she stopped. No-one was around. What was the time? Dinnertime of course.

She looked at her surroundings she was somewhere on the fourth floor. She almost grinned with her luck, but then she remembered what had just happened. Turning and walking about 15 yards, she held in her tears for a few more seconds whilst she yanked open her favourite broom cupboard. This dark cupboard had been her hide-a-way for 6 years.

She sobbed and sobbed. Eventually, the frustration finally got to her and she slammed her fist against the wall, not even feeling the pain however she did feel a bit better than before - the satisfication of the crack that was now in the wall made her feel a little more in control, even though she knew she had totally lost it.

Urgh. Her hand tingled - she thought it must be the bruising starting.

Suddenly, someone stopped outside. Infact, two people stopped outside. There was a sniggering then a muttering of a spell that Lily regognised to be an unbreakable locking spell even 'Alohamora' couldn't unlock - it could only be opened by the person who cast it. She sniffed and tried to sound less pathetic,

"Who's there?" Her voice cracked.

There was shocked silence for a moment then hearty laughing, quietly, as the voices travelled down the corridor, Lily regognised the muffled voice of Sirius Black saying,

"Result, Moony two of our targets in one!" There was a slap of a high five and then more chortling.

Lily thought out loud,

"Two targets in one?"

There was a sigh behind her that made her jump to attention and whip out her wand,

"Who's there?" She demanded.

"It's only me, Evans..."

"Oh. Potter?"

He moved closer to the light so she could see his face, which was dappled with the slithers of light that were coming through the cracks in the door.

"Yeah." He sounded exhausted.

"What did they mean, two targets in one?"

"They meant to lock me in here, but they got you in here too."

"Oh, Fuck." Lily inwardly groaned at the thought of spending so much time in here with Potter.

"No need to swear, Evans." He looked genuinally shocked at her bad language. "They'll have let us out by morning."

Lily wanted to screech 'By MORNING? I AM NOT SPENDING THE NEXT 12 HOURS IN HERE, WITH YOU!' but she didn't. She regognised how exhausted James was, and knew he needed a break.

"Are you okay, Potter?" Lily eyed him suspiciously as if he was going to pull a prank on her any minute.

"Woah there Evans!" James looked faintly surprised, "That sounded like you just asked a question about my well-being that wasn't an insult."

Lily half-smiled and then went straight back to being miserable,

"Sorry if I scared you with that comment I've had a bad day, but don't worry, I'll be back to sarcastic bitch tomorrow."

James's eyebrows creased as he thought about this comment. His hazel eyes were speckled with gold and they seemed to be filled with something Lily couldn't place. His head was tilted to one side with concern; he didn't seem to be in the fun, energetic mood he normally was.

"Your not a sarcastic bitch, Lily."

Lily smiled at him, sadly.

"Thanks... I guess."

The light started to fade outside and the outline of James's face got a little more hazy. Lily sighed.

"How'd you get yourself in here then?"

James closed his eyes and murmered something.

"Sorry..." Lily said, apologetically, "I didn't get that."

"Don't laugh, okay?"

Lily smiled.

"Of course."

He took a deep breath.

"I was thinking."

Lily frowned.

"You thought I was going to laugh at the fact you were sat in here, thinking? This is the cupboard where I think about all the things that are bugging me why would I laugh?"

He bit his lip.

"No, it was more what I was thinking about."

"Err..." Lily looked uncertain, "I promise I won't laugh if you want to tell me y'know..."

James sighed. The answer was obvious he wouldn't tell her.

"James?"

"Sorry... but I don't think I can face telling you yet."

"Oh..." Lily's face fell, but she quickly replaced the strong mask she had grown to wear constantly (outside of the cupboard, that is...).

"Lily...did you just call me James?"

Lily pondered for a moment.

"I think so..." She smiled.

He smiled back.

"Are you sure it was Sirius and Remus that locked us in here?"

He sighed.

"Yep. Most definitley."

She eyed him with a new expression on her face confusion. Which quickly turned to fiery hatred.

"You." She spat. "You planned this didn't you?" James looked startled the accusation was rather sudden, "You planned every second. You were the one that made this plan fall into place. God, Potter, you've sunk to a new low I never thought you would sink so low that one day you would kidnap me in a broom cup-"

She was cut off from her ramblings by James, who had gathered his thoughts and was now equally prepared for a fight back he stood up as if to look more menacing.

"Hold it there, Evans. I never planned any of this. Sirius and Remus do this to me all the time when I come in here, I get used to it. I didn't think YOU were going to come in here."

"WHAT'S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?"

"Lily, You think I would actually do this? I have never sunk that low, Lily, and I never plan to I do not 'kidnap' girls and lock them in cupboards do you think I planned that you would run in and catch me cryi-" He stopped. He closed his eyes and suddenly, what he said, sunk in. Lily spoke in a low voice.

"You were crying?"

James sat down slowly, and curled in a ball like a hedgehog, trying to block out the outside world, his head on his knees so Lily couldn't see his face. The only sound that could be heard was a muffled,

"No. Just piss off, okay?"

Lily immeadiatley softened to the new, evidently crushed, James. Sh shuffled over to him, on her knees and put her arm around him. At her touch, his head shot up and stared up at her quizically. He was utterly confused. Was Lily Evans putting her arm around him? Since when did Lily care about how James felt? There were pale lines down his barely visible face from tears that had rolled down so many times they had made tracks. He wiped his face with his sleeve.

"I can't 'piss off', James. We're locked in here together...remember?" She smiled kindly.

"Sowrry." He sniffed, "Sirius put something in my drink at Lunch I saw it. I think it was an extreme-emotion-potion. You know how he loves that one."

Lily rolled her eyes.

"I sure do..."

She shuffled so she was sat down properly, and then turned to James - who had zoned out a little.

"Are you sure you're okay? Do you wanna hit a wall or something? I hit one, it helped. I can heal it for you afterwards. Hang on a second... I-...I did...did I?"

James looked confused.

"What?"

"I didn't heal my hand, yet it's fine." She frowned and inspected it closer.

"Oh - I did that, Lily. It looked like it was going to be painful. It was just before they locked us in here." Lily remembered that. She sighed.

"Thanks James... Look, do you want to play a game or something? We could be here all night."

James smiled.

"Yeah, okay what do you suggest?"

"Well..." James could see the mischievous glint in Lily's eye, even in the darkness,

"I happen to have something here that might make it a bit more fun..."

She got up onto her knees, and shuffled to her left. She grabbed her wand, Lumos... then started to pick at a floorboard with her wand. James was watching curiously now there was something about Lily now that he hadn't seen before the kind/fun part of Lily.. He had never got that side of her. Only the 'I-am-going-to-kick-your-SORRY-ASS-JAMES-POTTER!' side. He liked this Lily. She seemed to have taken pity on him. Then, after a few more moments of picking at the floorboard, it came up. She grinned.

She showed him a bottle of firewhiskey.

Several happy drunk hours later, they had moved on to a game of Lily's choice. Normally, Lily liked to avoid this game at all costs, but tonight she felt a bit rebellious; being with James made her feel comfortable. Not like all the other times when he was a big-headed prat, no. He was being kind, and genourous. He also didn't like talking about himself much. Then, it came.

"So, what next?" James asked, grinning.

Hmm.. They had already played Twenty Questions(which had resulted in some rather juicy secrets being spilled...), Poker, some other card games(with cards Lily transfigured from a floorboard) and several other pointless activities. Lily didn't have to think long before she knew what she wanted to do, "Truth or Dare."

James paled slightly in the little wand light that came from Lily's wand(His had been taken off him when he started duelling with Snape earlier that day it had been given to Remus to 'take care of' so that he didn't get into anymore fights. Damn Professor Mcgonagall.)

"Are you sure Lily? I mean, when your sober you never want to play that game..." They had finished almost a whole bottle of Firewhiskey between them, and now they were both suffering the consiquences James was feeling a very dizzy whereas Lily had a bit of a headache,

"Cause, the thing is, there's only two of uss so is there much point? The bottle would only end up on one of us..."

Lily grinned.

"Thats the fun of it. We don't need the bottle, and you can ask anything, cos whatever is said is magically altered so you can only say it with my consent so...my go... Truth."

James swayed for a moment. Then, his face lit up like a lightbulb.

"Why do you hate the marauders so much?"

Lily considered for a while.

"I don't hate all of the marauders. I just dislike you and Sirius when you're being big-headed prats. But to be honest, you don't seem to be that person anymore. And...this evening, you have been a perfect gentlemen that, I never expected and you haven't been wittering on about yourself so much." Lily looked at him sternly, despite her headache, "Never repeat that. And don't get big-headed about it."

James nodded, "But y'know who I do hate?"

James shook his head, but he was still beaming from Lily's comment,

"Roger Castwill. He was cheating on me with Lucy Start today. He was the only one...I actually trusted. I think he just wanted good marks in the potions test," She smiled, sadly, "I saw them come out of the room of requirement earlier before I ran in here and I gave them a good ol' Lily yelling."

James smirked.

"So the light's off me then? I am no longer no.1 hate?"

Lily cringed.

"You were never no.1 hate James, I guess. You were probably the most annoying person I knew, but not no.1 most hated."

Suddenly looking thoughtful, James opened his mouth,

"'were'? So...as in past tense?"

A small laugh escaped Lily's lips.

"Yeah, past tense."

"Ok. My go." James declared. "Hmmm...Normally, in front of the other marauders, I would say dare, as they think it's chicken to say truth, but today I feel particularly 'chicken', so Truth, please."

Lily and James were doing this the muggle way. No truth serum to make sure they were telling each other the absolute truth, and no binding contract for dares, as it was only them the results weren't particularly important, it was just something to do.

"Okay..." Lily considered, "Why have you suddenly stopped chasing after me? Y'know during these past few weeks..."

James stiffened. Even drunk, this was a question that was to be avoided. But this was Lily he couldn't lie to Lily. James muttered to himself for a moment, then took in a deep breath.

"Because... I thought it would make you like me more. If I stopped being so-" Lily opened her mouth to say something but he shut her up with a quick "You asked the question, you're getting the anwser." Her mouth shut quickly. It was true.

"Anyway...yea...so I thought: if I stopped being so needy and hanging on to your every word, you might stop thinking of me as a big-headed idiot, and start thinking of me more as a person. Because Lily, please don't make me repeat this, I thought that if I was such a big-head, maybe I should deflate a little to make you realise that I'm not just a dickhead on a broom I am a real person, with..." He paused, looked upwards and blinked for a few seconds, then continued, "...real feelings. And the only reason... the...reason..."

"You don't have to tell me, Jame-"

"I want to." James's glassy eyes were almost reflective. He started again. "The only reason I was up here, crying, was because my Mum is dying Lily. She has a cancer that no-one knows how to treat, not even the best wizards - I just don't think I can cope with that knowing that she's dying and no-body can do anything about it. Absolutely nothing." Tears started to slide down James's cheeks. "I was... so close to her in every way. She was my comforter: when I was scared of the dark, she was my patronus: when I first saw a dementor, she was my hero: whenever I was in danger, but really, she was my home to come back to. After Hogwarts and the stupid, stupid, war going on now when I come home and see her..." His voice cracked. He took a moment before carrying on, "When I...see her..." The tears were coming now, slowly sliding and gliding there way down, "When I see her... Everything is okay. I mean...I still knew the war was going on but... she makes it seem like we're safe. I can't stand that someone so selfless gets such a horrible way to die. She knows she's dying Lily. She knows. And she's being so calm about it. She wrote to everyone, letting them know, being so...upbeat about it all. I just can't believe it. And y'know what Lily? You know what?" Lily, welling up herself, shook her head, "She's planned everything. Not so she knows what's happening to her and whether it's elegant and posh enough for her. No. It's so my Dad won't have bother with all the organising when she's..." He couldn't bring himself to say it... "...go-" He sniffed, "...gone."

James wasn't just in a state. He was completely broken. He had shattered into pieces and was now curled up in a ball in the corner of the small broom cupboard. Lily aproached him cautiously.

"Do...do the other marauders know about this?"

James shrugged.

"I think Pete has guessed something's up, but Remus is studying so much he doesn't notice if I'm there or not and Sirius... Is just Sirius. He'll know when I want him to."

Lily nodded sympathetically as James wiped his face with a tissue he transfigured.

"Lily..."

"Yes, James?"

"Er..." He looked a little awkward about this. "Well...I don't know if now's the right time but...could we possible try to get along a bit better? Y'know...Friends? Because...to be honest with you..." He grinned at her through his tear-stained face, "if I get into another fight with you, this could be over the whole school." Lily smiled. Trust James.

"James..."

"Yea?"

Lily took a deep breath.

"I would love to be friends James. It would be better than anything."

James grinned at her. Suddenly, Lily groaned. James panicked then saw her face turned upwards into a smile.

"We just entered a totally cheesy film. A girly one at that."

James grinned widely, his muggle studies had payed off well he knew exactly what she was talking about.

"Yea. I didn't mind the cheesiness actually Lily... I could get used to it."

Lily laughed so loudly, James hurriedly cast a muffliato charm on the door with Lily's wand, in case they woke Filch and Mrs Norris up. Lily's face had tinged pink.

"James Potter...what that a pathetic attempt at flirting?"

He grinned, sheepishly.

"Maybe..."

She grinned, widely.

"See...you can go down pretty quick, but you come back even faster."

James hugged Lily. In her shock, Lily hugged him back. Then, a few seconds later James pulled away.

"I don't know what made me do that, but you just looked like you needed a hug or maybe I needed one? Whatever. How about we go back to Truth or Dare?" James rushed. He wanted to move on from that awkward moment. Strangely, Lily hadn't seemed to move on, and she didn't find it that awkward. It was incredibly cute when James started rushing he was obviously nervous. She smiled. She was gazing at James, trying to figure out if he had intended for that moment to have that electric feel or not. When she decided, a few moments later, that she wasn't sure if he really had meant it, and it was probably best to leave it, she sat herself crosslegged opposite James, ready to begin again.

After a few more truths, Lily chose a dare. James seemed quite surprised at this. Her headache had seemed to have worn off, she probably had nothing to lose. It was only 2:15, they had many more hours to go before the sun would rise and they could get Sirius up, and to open the door and let them out. James considered the many opportunities. Then he got down to the simple fact there weren't many opportunities in a broom cupboard when they couldn't get out. He sighed.

"There aren't many Lil. Some, I don't want to say as they're a bit extreme, but here's some of the options you have:

"Er...Lick the floor..."(Lily quickly added a What kind of dare is THAT? )
"Well I'm sorr-ey dares are kind of limited in here. Er... Draw the dark mark on your arm, then try and convince Lucius Malfoy it's real. That one's that you will have to do tomorrow."( er...that is one is kind of life-threatening! )

"Hmm...Magic up a new bottle of firewhiskey and down it all in one go..."( That one would have me miss classes all of tomorrow...no way... )

"PHAH- NERD! Okay okay, sorry...erm...how abou-wt..." He grinned, "Okay now I'm going to recite some of the ones the Maurauders used on Lucy Start when she was drunk..." James didn't notice Lily grimace at her name, "...err... take your knickers off and put them on a pole, turn your top inside out and wear it like that for the rest of the night, kiss the first guy that you see in the morning, at the next chance you get, skinny dip in the lake, drink one of Sirius's potions, have a bath in sludge(I don't think many of these you could do now, but there will be a mental contract in my head for you,) and the last one was... Oh what was it? Aha! Eat 3 spoons of Sirius's hair gel." James smirked.

"Make your choice Miss Evans!"

Lily sat there in silence for almost a minute. Then,

"I've chosen, but I won't tell you before i do I'll just do it, then tell you when I've done it, okay?"

James nodded.

"Okay my turn...Dare."

Lily grinned.

"Don't ask me out for a week."

James grimaced.

"Fine. Your go."

The game went on for a couple more hours. A house elf was summoned around 4:30 so they could eat, as staying up all night had led to extreme hunger. When the elf finally left, Lily and James noticed the light starting to come in through the cracks in the door. They smiled, glad that they wouldn't have to wait much longer, but, deep down, they both really wanted to stay. Lily cleared her throat.

"Urm...James. This past night has been great. I had loads of fun, and we got on really well. The friends thing will almost definitley go okay... if you don't get really big-headed about it. It could have been...really awkward but...it wasn't. It was perfect. Thank you."

James grinned,

"I couldn't help it - it should be Remus and Sirius you're thanking."

Lily laughed.

"It also kinda helped that you weren't asking me out every second, it's about quality, James not quantity." Lily smiled. James blushed and started rushing again. Inside her head, Lily was thinking about all the times she had heard James rush his words when he wasn't excited. 4 times? Once, in 2nd year when he knocked her over in the corridor, Second, when he spilt a potion on his crotch and Lily had to take him to Madam Pomfrey, Third, at the beginning of this year when Sirius made a rude joke about Lily and James tried to stand up for her, and Now, in this cupboard. It was really sweet. It made him seem much younger. The thing where he ran his hand through his hair was annoying though. It made her want to get a brush and brush it back down for him. But now she thought about it, he only did that when he was nervous too. Suddenly, she tuned in and caught the end of the of what he was saying.

"...end at Hogsmeade? Y'know as friends?"

Lily frowned,

"Sorry?"

James was pink,

"Erm, I said do you want to go into Hogsmeade with me this weekend? As Friends?"

Lily smiled at him.

"That would be lovely James."

James, shocked, blinked a few times before smiling back. He almost punched the air when he realised what he had just done. He had just(sort of) asked out Lily Evans! That meant breaking his dare though...he decided not to mention it.

"Well... I'll talk to you about the times later."

"Okay." Lily suddenly came over all shy, "Erm...James?"

James looked up from his lap.

"Yep?"

"It's...well..." She looked through the cracks in the door, "It's... light... so in my book... morning."

"Yea?" James looked confused...He looked at the ground for a moment while he tried to work out what Lily just said. Then, a lightbulb moment. He looked up. Lily was centimeters away. She had shuffled around whilst he was thinking and now her face was close to his.

"Figured out which dare I chose, yet?"

Then, she closed the space between them.

Inside James's head, fireworks where going off. This is what he had wanted for years. He had it. It was better than anything. She tasted like strawberries and vanilla, melting her lips into his. They were warm, but not wet. Full, but not too big. He kissed her back, loving every second of it.

Lily's head was about to explode: there were explosions and bombs, crashes and bangs, as all her common sense loosened and flew around her head. She deepened the kiss, and James willingly accepted. They both lost all sense of time, both loving it, both wanting more, craving it.

After a few minutes, they broke apart for breath. Lily was holding her hands around James's face, with James's hands around her waist. Their foreheads were touching. They were both breathless.

"James?"

"Yeah?"

She took a deep breath, "...Will you go out with me?"

James was rigid in shock. He hadn't asked she had. He hadn't kissed her, she kissed him. He hadn't been the one to tell her he had had the time of his life she had. He was overwhelmed with so many emotions. It may have been the potion Sirius slipped into his drink though.

"Y-Yes."

His lips came up to greet hers as they smiled simutaniously. It had happened. James Potter and Lily Evans were together. Finally.

They sat and talked, giving each other facts and figures about their friends & families, sometimes just their thoughts. In the end, they got onto the topic of what would happen when they got out.

"I'll punch Sirius until his face is blue."

"I'll give Remus a kick in the balls."

"Then I'll...what could I do to Remus? I'll... Bat Bogey Hex him?"

"Na you're rubbish at that I'll do that to Sirius and you can... give them a erigere mentula? The one that doesn't go away for a whole day..."

"Sounds good to me" James sniggered, "...then..." he considered, "We could... knock their heads together?"

"And then I'll give 'em a good ol' Lily yelling." Lily grinned. "Well, now I just can't wait for them to open the door. D'ya think they'll have the guts to do it themselves or d'ya think they'll send someone else to do it?"

"I dunno. I'm feeling pretty pissed off though. Meh... It must be the potion."

Lily stiffened. Then turned to James, awkwardly.

"Erm...James, about the potion..." James frowned, she seemed tense, "The...urm...the potion only lasts for 4 hours. So, if Sirius put it in your drink at lunch, then it would have worn off by the time I got in here. All the feelings you felt were real, James. The thing you felt about your mother, that was honest feelings. That was partly why I tried to get to know you more. You thought it was just the potion, but I knew it was raw feelings. Pure emotions. Honest and true."

James was surprised. Then he realised he did love his mother enough to cry like that for her. She was the moon in his sky. But now, he had Lily as his North Star. He thought about it for a while, then understood something. He was going to be alright. Lily made nearly everything better. However, right now, Lily looked very nervous, as if she was scared of James's reaction. James smiled at her. She sighed with relief and gave James a hug. James hugged her back before breaking apart and saying,

"What's the time?"

Lily checked her watch.

"Erm...6:45."

"Ah. Moony and Padfo- I mean, Remus and Sirius should be here soon."

Lily frowned.

"Why do you call each other those weird names?"

James took hold of her hand and sighed.

"Lily, I don't think they would want me to tell you yet."

Lily smiled, sadly.

"Promise me James, that one day I'll find out why you all look shattered once a month, and why Remus always has to 'visit his mum' all the time, and why after he's been he ends up in the hospital wing? I'm scared for him James, he's always been a good friend. Not ol' big-heads like the rest of you. Please, promise me, James."

James sighed.

"Unfortunately, all those questions are linked, and it's really up to Remus whether he tells you or not, but one day, yes. I promise you will know."

Lily grinned.

"And the code names?"

"Yep that's sort of up to Remus too, but you'll definitley know that sooner or later... when we're ready to get our asses kicked that is..."

Lily laughed softly.

"It's all linked up isn't it? Everything you do, you do together. I underestimated you, James. You are really loyal, aren't you?"

James grinned and leaned in,

"I try..." He whispered against her lips. They connected, just as the door swung open. They sprang apart.

"RIGHT, SIRIUS REMUS, YOU'RE FOR IT!"

But Sirius and Remus had thrown open the door and ran for it, obviously realising an angry James as well as an angry Lily was a mixture to be avoided. James grabbed Lily's hand, and they ran down the corridor, hand in hand, heart in heart, soul in soul.

Fin.

Heehee :) Please may I have ur honest comments...(: And I'm sorry if any of the information was incorrect as I do not have the effort to look up facts xXx

Thank yuh xx

Update on 20th July! I've put in all the speech marks for yuh! Now my fingers hurt...badly... :*( Ah well, I'll blame it on yuh lot when I can't write tomorrow! Thanks for the reviews! 3 Review vibes! x