Summary: James Potter had always secretly loved Lily Evans, from the very first day he met her. But she has shown him nothing on her part but contempt. She calls him arrogant, cruel... Then one night everything changes. James asks Lily to go with him to the Yule Ball at Hogwarts, and to the surprise of both — she accepts, telling him, "Not that this is anything permanent." But the magic of Christmas Eve brings with it a few surprises of its own...

This fic shows what brought these two very different people together, who built a life with each other and who, in the end, unknowingly helped determine the fate of the entire Wizarding world.