It was half past ten at night and Lily Evans was making her way through the corridors of Hogwarts. She was, of course, patrolling as per the requirements of being Head Girl. However, for the first time, her mind wasn't completely focused on her duties.

It was focused on (and Lily still couldn't quite believe this) her date for the next Hogsmeade weekend.

James Potter.

How the hell had that happened?

James had changed over the past couple of years. He still loved laughing and joking and causing mischief. But he no longer hexed first years just because he could. He had stopped cursing Slytherins because he felt like it. He had even stopped hassling Severus Snape unless he was provoked.

The result of all of this was a young man who was bright and funny and good looking and cheerful and actually a decent person.

And now, somehow, Lily had found herself agreeing to a date with him.

Due to her somewhat distracted mind, Lily failed to notice the three pairs of footsteps following her around the school and the three pairs of eyes boring into her back.

She failed to notice right until the moment they disarmed her and dragged her into an empty classroom.

Bugger.

"Lily Evans." said one of her kidnappers. "We have you at our mercy at last."

Lily's mouth dropped open. She had recognised the voice instantly.

"Black? What the hell do you think you're playing at?"

Sirius Black appeared in front of her, seemingly out of nowhere, and grinned.

"We want to know your intentions towards our Jamiekins, of course."

"We?"

Behind Sirius, two more figures appeared. Those of Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew, smiling sheepishly.

Lily gaped. "You have got to be kidding me."

Sirius stared at her. "Of course not. We have to make sure you're not going to break James' heart."

"Me break his heart? What about him breaking mine? Shouldn't somebody be checking his intentions towards me?"

Remus stepped forward, smiling gently. "Come on, Lily. You know James would never do anything to hurt you. He adores you, he's been waiting for this moment for years."

Lily sighed. It was true. James had been asking her out since fourth year. She had never even considered giving him a chance before but his recent personality improvement (and the persistent urging of her friends) had convinced her to give it a go. It was also true that he wouldn't intentionally hurt her. At least now that he'd got past the stage where he showed his affection by regularly using her as the main target for a large number of pranks. She knew that the Marauders were as close as brothers and that they were genuinely concerned that she would hurt James. Lily couldn't help but admire their strong friendship, so she sighed and nodded.

"OK. What do you want to know?"

Lily Evans did actually like James Potter. As much as she denied it, she was looking forward to going on a date with him. They had been getting along brilliantly for the past few months and she was finally ready to seriously consider a relationship with him.

Lily knew that a relationship with James Potter also meant a great deal of time spent with the Marauders.

That night, in a deserted classroom, surrounded by his best friends, she realised that she wasn't just gaining a boyfriend.

She was gaining a family.