"James, where are we going? You know we aren't supposed to be out of bed this late!"

It wasn't new for James Potter to knick into the girls dormitory uninvited. Before he and Lily started dating – the 'Dark Times', he'd become prone to calling them – he had gone up on innumerable occasions to visit his best friend and next door neighbor of 17 years Marlene McKinnon. Without the word impossible in his dictionary, James was capable of making just about anything happen. How? He was careful not to reveal his secrets. All he would give was wave of his wand and a whispered, "Magic!" and that was that.

While this had become a more frequent occurrence for James, especially since he gained a legitimate reason to make his way up there, it was new for him to pop in at two-forty in the morning.

He'd been quick and quiet about it, conscious to avoid disturbing her bunkmates; he certainly didn't want to feel Marlene's wrath or have Alice launch a pillow at him. So he tiptoed over to Lily's bed, covered her mouth to staunch the inevitable scream as he shook her awake, and ushered her out of her warm comforter. Then he'd needed to slip her into her shoes, hand her her coat, (which she took without a thought) and pull her down the stairs. The stairs which, of course, became a slide as soon as James' foot touched the top step. Lily couldn't help the yelp of surprise that escaped as the ground slid from under her and her butt bounced off of slick stone. James chuckled as he led the way down the short drop and landed safely on carpet. Lily followed a second later, tumbling sloppily into his lap.

"Good morning sleepy head." James sang, a broad grin tugging at the corners of his lips. Seeing her like this was always his favorite; her hair was a messy halo around her freckled face, her eyes sagged with sleepiness, and her nightgown was pulled every which way around her body. Lily Evans was disheveled and unorganized, and he couldn't get enough. Without warning he took her face in his hands and kissed her, running his thumbs softly over her eyes. As he pulled away he gauged her reaction with a wary eye. She blinked hard first, as if she wasn't quite sure if what was happening was real or a dream, and then pulled her hands up to her eyes and rubbed them with the heels of her palms.

"James," She said. He was pleased to note that at first there was no anger, although he didn't dare test the water.

"Yes, love?"

"What could you have possibly needed to pull me out of bed for at this hour?"

She pushed herself off of James' lap and straightened her nightgown. No one could say that dating James Potter was easy, but it most certainly wasn't dull. James followed suit, simultaneously pulling a piece of parchment from his back pocket and grinning mischievously. Lily's eyes narrowed, and she opened her mouth immediately to protest whatever absurd plan he had concocted in that frustratingly genius little brain of his. But before she could get out a word he had snatched up her hand again and pulled her along, down through the common room and out the portrait hole. They raced down the seventh floor corridor, their trainers the only sound echoing down the hall.

"James, where are we going? You know we aren't supposed to be out of bed this late!"

Lily followed awkwardly behind him, attempting to relinquish his grip on her and failing miserably. When they stopped at the top of the first stairwell Lily finally pulled herself free, although it was only because James himself had loosened his grip.

"James Potter," She snapped, sending a look that could kill his way. "You had best tell me what you're up to."

He didn't answer. He merely grinned and opened up the parchment he still held, and pulled his wand from out of his jacket. Lily was rightfully perplexed; what he could possibly want with some blank parchment was beyond her. Rather than question him and continue to waste her own breath she stayed nervously by his side and slipped into her coat, occasionally glancing over her shoulders for anyone coming. She heard him muttering something behind her, and when she turned back to interrogate him again he was lighting the tip of his wand and staring at the parchment intently.

James was flipping through the pages of the Marauders map like it was old news, checking each floor thoroughly. He was completely unaware of Lily coming up behind him, her jaw practically grazing the floor in awe. She was looking at the seventh floor. Their floor. And there - there they were. Lily and James, their little names floating at the top of the stairwell. He unfurled bits and pieces of the map expertly, and smirked in triumph as he pointed his wand at the closet sized room on the ground floor where he found Filch, unmoving. Mrs. Norris was also inside, pacing back and forth very near to her master. Lily gasped; there was really no other reaction to have.

James glanced down and, pleased by her amazement, closed the map up right. A little more muttering, (which she could make out this time; she was practically resting her head on his shoulder) and it was gone. It was all gone. Without bothering to check her reaction he slipped the once-again parchment into her hands, smiling devilishly all the while, and started down the stairs.

He couldn't help but call out behind him, his ego still not completely suppressed from their childhood, "Impressed yet?"

Lily opened the parchment tentatively, as though expecting something to jump out of it, but there was nothing. Nothing. On every page there was nothing. She stared down at it and then looked up, her eyes following James down the stairs, before quickly jogging after him

"Now wait just a minute." Lily was used to magic. She had seen some wonderful things in her time at Hogwarts, for sure. But that map was potentially the most incredible by far; and it was in the hands of her boyfriend, James Potter. She wasn't particularly versed in Hogwarts artifacts, but knew that if such a thing were 'on the books', she would have heard of it. Naturally she wanted to know how he got his hands on it.

When she caught up with him it was clear he was proud. He had that stupid grin on his face he only wore when he knew he was good. His hazel eyes gleamed with excitement in the light of the torches they passed, and his hand twitched with the desire to go through his already messy black hair. But why?

"James, where did you get this map?" Lily asked, lifting the map up. He barely glanced over at it, as if trying to appear nonchalant. Lily was the first person outside of the Marauders to lay eyes on the map, and so far she was proving exactly why they had to keep it between them.

So rather than explaining the entire insanely difficult process behind the map's creation he just shrugged his shoulders, continuing down the staircase. "Why do you ask?"

Lily followed only a stair behind, her exasperation palpable. "Because, James. In the wrong hands, this map could be used for any number of horrible things!"

He heard her stop but didn't look, and only halted when he felt her light tug on the sleeve of his jacket. He sighed and turned on the spot, crossing his arms and waiting for the lecture. The concern on her face melted him almost immediately, and he dropped his eyes with a little bit of shame.

"James, you know there's a war going on out there. I'm not your mum, and I'm certainly not going to tell you that the map isn't wonderful. I'm just saying you need to be careful, okay?" She turned her lips up in a slight smile of reassurance.

He nodded and dropped his arms, leaning up to kiss her softly. "I know. We keep it under lock and key; no one touches it without us knowing. Promise. It's perfectly safe."

Mollified, Lily smiled and joined him at his side. Once James pocketed the map they looped their arms together and walked undeterred down the rest of the stairs to the first floor, and out onto the grounds. It was a cold, moist fall night; dew clung to the grass and fog hung in the air, giving the grounds an eerie glow that made Lily nudge closer to a perfectly contented James.

"Now may I ask where we're going?" Lily asked, her eyes filled with desperation as she looked up at him. For his part James grinned and unhooked their arms so he could throw his around her shoulder. He pulled her close and pecked the top of her head affectionately, although the edge of mischief was back in his voice when he said, "Nope! Sorry. But don't worry; you'll see soon enough."

It wasn't the answer Lily wanted, but was clearly the only answer she was going to get. It was with a sigh that she rested her head on his shoulder, and stayed like that for the rest of the of the way – until he moved without warning, causing her to nearly lose her balance, and clamped his hands over her eyes. His tone was far too cheery as he said, "No peeking, now!"

Lily scowled. "James, don't. You know I don't like surprises. Besides, I want to be able to see where I'm going, at the very least."

He didn't respond, and barely concerned himself with her protests and thrashing arms. It was a longer process than he would have liked, admittedly, with every step slow and deliberate. Lily was strong for her size and she put up a good fight, but there was almost nothing she could do other than struggle. They took sporadic turns every few minutes, and before long Lily had lost all sense of direction she had been holding on to. Just when she was getting fed up and ready to start screaming, James stopped and whispered in her ear, "You can look now."

He let go of her, and she heard his steps in the grass as he backed away before she even opened her eyes. When she did she could feel them unconsciously widen as she took her own step back. There was a brief moment where she simply stared, fear and anger swirling in the pit of her stomach, before she spun around to glare at James with as much venom as she could muster. They were standing in front of the Forbidden Forest.

"Absolutely not." He raised an eyebrow and her frown grew deeper. "No! James Charlus Potter, we are not going in there under any circumstances. Merlin knows what kind of creatures are lurking around in the dark! I won't put one foot in that god awful place. And if you think I will, you are seriously mistaken."

James took both of her hands in his and rubbed them reassuringly with his thumbs. "There aren't that many creatures crawling around in there, Lil. I mean, spiders, sure. Centaurs. Giants, deeper in, I suppose...Unicorns! Those aren't so bad, are they?" His tone was meant to be gentle and convincing, but all he managed to do was agitate her. Rather than follow him willingly into the trees that seemed to bear down on them, even from a distance, Lily narrowed her eyes and slapped him hard on the cheek.

She turned and took off towards the castle, desperate to escape whatever James' nasty plan entailed. Of course, she didn't get very far. She screamed when he wrapped one arm securely around her waist and pulled her back towards the forest, and nearly punched his glasses off of the bridge of his nose as he wrapped his other arm around her flailing arms. He pulled her tightly against him, whispering into her ear for her to stop screaming.

"Hey, Lil. Lily! Calm down! Please, just...ow!...hear me out." She stopped writhing, but once he carefully let her go and turned her around to face him, her look shot daggers. "We aren't going in far, so you have nothing to worry about. Besides, what we're here for isn't dangerous in the slightest. I would never have brought you if it was."

Her look softened a hair, but she was no less skeptical.

"You're just going to have to trust me on this, okay? And if anything happens," She started again, forcing him to add quickly, "which it won't, I'll be here. We'll be in no danger whatsoever."

Despite the fact that her better judgement was screaming at her to get some sense, Lily didn't have the heart to say no. They were standing across from one another in the dewy grass, his normally tanned face glowing in the moonlight and his glasses crooked on the bridge of his nose. He looked sweet, and disheveled, and Lily's heart all but melted at the sight. She could never let him know it was so easy; she would never hear the end of it. With a terse but determined nod she took the few steps between them and took his hand - and then didn't let go.

They both took out their wands and kept their hands clasped as they entered the forest, traveling for a short while before James made any indication that he knew where they were. They came through the trees to a clearing, where branches and roots were scattered about a nearly perfectly triangular clearing. James let go of her hand and sat down on the spot, and then patted the ground next to him expectantly.

Lily gave him a look but sat down anyway, pulling her nightgown over her knees and hugging them tightly. "Now what?" She asked, squinting through the darkness for anything other than the trees that surrounded them.

Sitting with his legs crossed James merely rocked to knock his shoulder against hers and said, "We wait."

They didn't wait particularly long; ten minutes, tops, which they spent casting about their eyes in relative silence. When the first light appeared in the clearing, Lily thought it had been her imagination. And then another light sparked nearby. And another. Soon the entire clearing was filled with little orange lights. She gaped at the sight and turned to James, who was completely ignoring the display ahead of them to eagerly watch her reaction.

"Are they fireflies?" She asked, fascinated. James shook his head. "Fairies. They don't actually glow, like fireflies do. They light fires in their palms to keep warm on cold nights."Lily was floored by the beauty of the clearing. They watched for a while, content, until a fairy flew over in front of James. It smiled, revealing a mouth full of almost completely normal teeth, save for two tiny fangs. James put out a finger for it to rest on, hoping to impress with the extra Care of Magical Creatures homework he had done. Instead, to his utter disappointment, the fairy devilishly scalded the tip of his finger with the small flame perched in its right palm, started into a bout of tinkling laughter, and floated away. James rolled his eyes and shook the pain from his finger with only a little irritation.

"Not very fond of me..." He said, sticking his finger into his mouth broodingly.

Lily snorted and patted his shoulder, and then used it to help get herself up. She yawned and stretched, sleepy and pleasantly surprised by the turn of events, but more than ready for the warmth of the castle. "We should get to bed, James. I'm beat."

James nodded and got to his feet, thinking that the night couldn't have gone much better than it had. He stepped towards her and wrapped his arms around her waist with a smirk, which widened into a smile as she wrapped her arms around the back of his neck and stretched out more.

"Now, was all of that fuss necessary?" He asked, raising his eyebrows quickly and chuckling as she gave him a little tap on the shin with her foot. "I think it was." She said with an air of mock seriousness, her lips pursed and her eyebrows furrowed. "I never know what kind of shenanigans you're going to get me into; one of these days i'm going to end up at the bottom of the lake, I swear."

"Only if you decide to go for a swim." He grinned and gave her a warm kiss, which she returned wholeheartedly. They stayed there for what seemed like hours, until the twinkling lights behind them died out, and were gone.

Author's Note: Hello there! I hope you enjoyed this little piece of L/J fluff! I've edited this a bit to fit my current writing flavor, so if you enjoyed it please leave me a review to let me know! I like to know if what i'm doing at the moment works (or doesn't). Thanks, and much love!