Lily Evans had been lying in bed for over two hours and she still could not sleep. Her mind was racing. The next day she would be going back to Hogwarts. Was it weird that she was nervous? It had been her home for 6 years. After this she would be saying goodbye to her friends, her teachers, her classes… She’d be getting out in the real world. She finally sighed and sat up, reaching for the light switch. She knew she wouldn’t be able to sleep for a while.

Lily pulled a photo album out from under her bed. She started looking through it with a smile on her face. She missed Hogwarts so much it ached. People in the pictured waved at her. She laughed at one of Sirius and James throwing snowballs at each other. It was surprising that a picture of James could make her smile. He was cute, in an accidental sort of way. He had a charm to him with his messy hair and bright eyes. Of course, Lily didn’t actually like him. Too many girls liked him, and she wouldn’t be adding her name to that list. He was going out with one of her best friends anyway. Besides, she didn’t really know him all that well. Even so, she had been in more fights with him then she could count. They were just too different.

But she resolved that this year that was going to change. He was Head Boy after all. They would have to get along. She rolled her eyes as his picture blew a kiss at her.
**************************

“Look at Lily,” James said with a smile.

He and his friends were flipping through their own photo album.

“How sweet,” Sirius said sarcastically. “She’s yelling at you.”

Sirius was the handsome one in their little group. He had a knight in shining armor sort of look. But sadly, his constant sarcasm and occasional silliness spoiled that image of perfection.

“She’s cute when she yells,” James said defensively.

Remus raised his eyebrows. “Do I detect a soft spot?”

Remus was attractive too, but in a different way. His hair was a lighter color than James’ and Sirius’ and his eyes were grey, unlike their bright ones. He was the sweetheart that all the girls liked to joke around with. He didn’t see it as flirting though. He was bad with that kind of stuff. The fact that he was a werewolf didn’t help his self-confidence much either.

James rolled his eyes. “No! She’s just… cute.”

James was constantly denying that he liked Lily, but since the first time she slapped him, he had a weakness for her. Who could resist Lily? She was probably the prettiest girl at Hogwarts. She was also the most REAL. She didn’t die her hair or curse pimples off her face or waste time putting on tons of make up. Besides, she didn’t need to do any of that anyway. James assumed that the only reason she didn’t have a boyfriend was because there was no one in Hogwarts who deserved her. He couldn’t see Lily with anyone unless it was him. But he wasn’t completely confident that he could even measure up to her standards. She was too good for him.

When he was younger he could tease her all the time. Lily was just a freckle faced red head. Back then he wasn’t scared to ask her out or pick on her. But now he could hardly talk to her without something stupid coming out of his mouth. She was the prettiest girl in school! That’s why he was going out with Lily’s friend, Allie. Allie was pretty, but not scary beautiful, the way Lily was. It was easier with Allie.

“James? You want to quit drooling over Lily and flip the page?” Sirius said.

James flushed a little. Lily had slapped Sirius on more than one occasion, but unlike James, Sirius didn’t find it so cute. Lily and Sirius had never really gotten along. Sirius didn’t understand how James and Remus could stand her.

James was startled when he noticed Remus glaring at him.

“I’m going to bed,” he snapped.

He left the room in a huff.

“What’s wrong with him?” James asked.

Sirius shrugged. “He’s been grouchy all month. I don’t know what’s going on.”

James yawned. “Maybe we need to get to bed. Tomorrow’s the big day.”

“Yeah, but we’re Apparating right? We won’t have to get up early or anything,” Sirius said.

7th year students could Apparate to Hogsmeade and ride the carriages from there, rather than go on the train.

“Yeah, but you know how Mom is,” James said.

His mother was a bit of a worrywart.

“Alright then,” Sirius said. “Good Night.”

James fell asleep thinking about Lily.

***************************
“5 more minutes,” Lily mumbled.

The annoying tapping continued.

“I’ll be up in a minute,” she groaned, flipping over.

Something was determined to wake her up.

“Knock it off!” she yelled. “Ow!”

Now it was pecking at her head.

She finally opened her eyes and screamed. A feathery grey thing was an inch from her face.

She jumped and the feathery thing jumped too.

“Oh, hey little guy,” she said, petting the owl. “Thanks.”

She opened the letter.

Lils,
Where are you? Everybody’s here but you. Are you still asleep? WAKE UP AND APPARATE! Me, Allie, Nicki, James, Sirius, and Remus are all waiting at the Three Broomsticks. Get a move on, Witchy Chick!
Love,
The Wonderful, Lovely, Amazing- okay I’ll stop- Jazz

Lily laughed, and quickly sent a note back.

Jazz,
Conceited Much? Thanks for the wake up call. Be there in a few.
Love,
The much more Lovely Lily

The owl flew off and Lily threw on a cute outfit. She was really excited that she would be seeing her friends first thing. Quickly she hugged her mom and dad goodbye, and grabbed her trunk. Then she was off!

The pressure didn’t stop for a few minutes because as soon as she appeared at the Three Broomsticks, she was pulled into a bone crushing hug by Allie, Jazz, and Nicki.

“Nice to see you too,” she gasped.

“You take forever and a day!” a girl with long dark hair and bright blue eyes snapped.

She was beaming though. Jazz always had tons of energy and was constantly laughing, dancing, and talking. Surprisingly, she was more patient than Lily ever would be. Jazz was the bubble bath after a stressful day.

Nicki was smiling brightly too, though not at Lily. She was looking at James of course. Nicki had a fling with him once a long time ago. Now that Allie was with him, Nicki was rediscovering her crush. Typical.

Allie looked distracted too. James was looking happy to see Lily, too happy. Lily and Allie had always had a competition going when it came to guys. Allie dated more than Lily did, but she often fell hard. She was always scared that Lily liked her guys, because it was easier to see them with Lily than with her. Allie knew this was irrational, but she couldn’t help it. She had never really trusted Lily. The last guy Allie had gone out with ended up falling for Lily. There was no way she was going to let that happen with James.

“So, what do you want to do?” Lily asked. “We’re not staying here the whole day.”

“We’re going to get some lunch,” Allie said quickly, tugging on James’ shirt.

Jazz shot a look at her. She had noticed the coolness. Lily didn’t though.

“I need to get some dress robes. I really didn’t want to bug my mom about it.” Lily noticed everyone looking at her strangely. “Petunia was there.”

“Right,” everyone said. Most of them had met her, and the ones who hadn’t had heard enough about her.

“Well I’ll go with you,” Nicki said. “I need some shoes.”

“I don’t have anything I really need,” Jazz said. “I guess I’ll just follow you two around,” she said, grinning at Remus and Sirius.

Lily and Nicki started to walk away, but James caught Lily’s arm.

“Hey, congratulations on making Head Girl,” James said.

Lily smiled. “Thanks, Head Boy. No tricks this year?”

James had a mock serious expression on his face. “I can’t promise that.”

Lily laughed. “Fine, then don’t let me see it.”

James raised his eyebrows. “Miss Evans is becoming a rule breaker? I think Jazz has been a bad influence.”

Lily rolled her eyes. “I’m not so innocent. Besides it’s our last year. Let’s make it one we’ll never forget.”

“James, let’s GO!” Allie said irritably.

“Bye then,” Lily said, smiling understandingly.

“See you later,” James said.

"Prongs! Wait up!"



James turned around, relieved that it wasn't Allie or Nicki. The two girls were driving him mad!



Sirius caught up easily. "Where have you been? You're like a ghost."



Nearly Headless Nick shot a glare at him.



"No offense!" Sirius added hastily.



James rolled his eyes. "I've been with Allie mostly but when I haven't been with her I've been avoiding Nicki. I think she fancies me again!"



Sirius chuckled. "You were the one who went out with her."



James cringed. "Don't remind me." He noticed that Sirius was almost skipping. "What have you been up to?"



"Planning pranks, avoiding doing homework, talking to Jazz and Lily."



James raised his eyebrows. "She's Lily now? Not Evans? Are you two buddies or something?"



Sirius shrugged. "I misjudged her. She's great. Actually she helped me with the Slytherin problem."



James stopped. "How?"



Sirius grinned. "A couple nights ago she caught me planting Dungbombs around the Slytherin entrance. I thought she was going to give me detention but she just thought it was a cool prank and helped me out. Then we went to the kitchens and ate breakfast.”



“At night?”



“That’s what she wanted. We stayed up and talked and I used your invisibility cloak to get us back to the tower.”



“Was she mad?” James asked.



“Nope. She was actually impressed,” Sirius said, looking proud.



“Did you tell her it was my cloak?”



Sirius looked at James, the grin melting off his face. “Hey, what's wrong? You don’t still like her, do you?”



James lied quickly. “No! I just didn’t know that you did.”



When Sirius didn’t say anything, James got worried. “Do you?”



Sirius just shrugged. “Let’s get to Quidditch practice.”



********************************************************************



How could it be that after only two weeks, Lily was ready for the holidays? It wasn't like anything bad had happed. In fact, all of her friends were rather happy. Lily was itching to curse the lot of them.



Maybe it was the massive amounts of homework that was making her crabby. Or maybe it was Filch telling her off for kicking his stupid cat. Or maybe it was that blasted James Potter. She wanted to punch him in the face! How dare he not bug her at meal times as she pretended to ignore him! How dare he be in class and not pass her notes to distract her! How dare he not ask her out, not even once!



Wait.... what was she annoyed about? Lily frowned as she tried to figure it out. Was she actually upset that James hadn't bothered her once since they'd been back at school?



"Anything wrong, Lils?" Jazz asked. She was getting annoyed with her best friend. They were supposed to be working on their homework and Lily hadn't corrected anything Jazz said, not even that one of Jupiter's moons was covered in mice.



Lily shook her head. "No. Sorry I spaced again."



Jazz rolled her eyes. "Just let me see your paper," she said snatching it out of Lily's hands.



"No! Wait!" Lily cried, but it was too late.



Jazz looked at Lily with a shocked expression. "I've been slaving over this for two hours and all you've done is write about James?"



Lily was red. "It's not like that Jazz! I swear! I don't like him. I just really-"



"Miss him?" Jazz said softly.



"Yeah," Lily said.



"I get it," Jazz said. "Allie's kept him pretty tied up lately."



Lily shrugged. "I never thought about what it would be like if he got a girlfriend. It's silly but I always thought-"



"He'd be around?"



"Yeah," Lily said. "It's like I lost my left arm. Like I just take it for granted and then suddenly realize-"



"You need it."



"Would you quit that!" Lily snapped. "You know me too well."



Jazz laughed. "Lily, if you miss him so much, why don't you go talk to him?"



"He's with Allie," Lily said.



"Speak of the witch," Jazz said as Allie and Nicki came in. "Where's Jamesie poo?"



"Outside patrolling I think," Allie said.



Lily jumped up. "Well I better help him. I am Head Girl," she said superiorly.



********************************************************************

“James?” she called, hugging her cloak tighter around her.



It was gorgeous outside, but it was COLD.



“James!” she called, louder.



She noticed a tall boy with messy black hair standing by the lake. She smiled and hurried to him.







James gazed at the scene. Hogwarts was indeed lovely at night. Too bad they weren’t allowed out. He heard a girl’s voice yelling his name, and rolled his eyes, expecting Allie.



“Look, I told you- Oh," He stopped.



“Hey stranger,” she said, smiling. “What are you doing?”



James smiled too. “Looking at the stars.”



“Make a wish,” she said, sitting down.



He checked his watch and saw that it was a little after 11. He had time.



“What are you doing out here?” he said sitting beside her.



“Looking for you."



James looked at her quizzically. "Here I am."



“So where have you been? I’ve actually missed you lately. So have Remus and Sirius,” Lily said.



“Oh here and there, busy, you know, it’s N.E.W.T year.”



Lily nodded. “Right.”



James didn’t know why she was talking to him. It was weird. “So, um, is anything wrong?”



Lily looked surprised. “No. Why?”



James skipped a stone out on the lake to avoid looking at her. “Well you’ve never tried to talk to me before.”



Lily blushed. “Well we said we were going to be friends this year. Plus you’ve been skipping patrolling with me.”



James frowned, tossing another stone. She was right. “Yeah, I’m really sorry about that.”



Lily shook her head. “It’s no big deal.”



James looked at her, knowing she was lying. “Can I make it up to you?”



Lily stood up. “No, just don’t forget about me, Potter.”



She was starting to walk away, but then she turned. “Actually, there is something.”



James looked at her, feeling a million times happier. “Yeah?”



Lily looked embarrassed. “Could you teach me how to skip stones like you do?”



James laughed. “Sure.”



********************************************************************

Lily wished she hadn’t asked. James had talked her into standing in the middle of the lake with the stones they were throwing at their feet. Even after all the years at Hogwarts, being able to stand on a lake amazed her.



“Okay, now it’s like throwing a Frisbee,” he said holding her hand, standing behind her.



“Alright,” Lily said, still scared of falling through the water.



“Now!” James said.



Lily threw the stone and wasn’t surprised when it didn’t skip. “This is hopeless.”



James smirked. “You’re talking to the guy who taught Peter how to swim. Trust me that was an exhausting month.”



Lily laughed. “Okay, here goes!”



Another stone splashed under the black surface.



“Look, be gentle,” James said. He held her hand again and this time, much to her amazement, the stone skipped 6 times.



Lily laughed. “I did it!”



She turned around and hugged James quickly.



James felt his heart go nuts. This was the same girl who told him off 5 times a day.



Lily let go. “Um, James? What’s that?”



She pointed to a dark shape in the water.



Before James could figure it out, the giant squid had jumped in the air, drenching both of them as it splashed back down.



“Well,” Lily said giggling.



James was laughing too, but stopped as soon as he saw his watch.



“What’s wrong?” Lily asked.



James didn’t answer. It was an hour after midnight.

James closed his eyes. How could he have forgotten? Maybe this wasn't happening. Maybe it was a horrible nightmare. But when he opened his eyes, Lily was still standing there, looking all innocent. If anything happened to her because of his mistake..... He shuddered.





"We've got to go. NOW!"





"Why?" Lily asked, startled.





James searched wildly for an excuse. "I er- forgot my homework."





Lily stared at him. "You'd rather do homework... than talk to me?"





James felt like an idiot. He felt even worse when she gave him that weird x-ray look. It was like she could read minds.





"James Potter, I'm not an idiot. You're meeting Allie, aren't you?"





Scratch that reading minds theory.





"WHAT?" James said, shocked. "No! Lily, it's not like that."





"Right," Lily said angrily.





James didn't know what to say to her. "We should just go to the castle."





"I'll go, Potter," Lily snapped. "Go find Allie."





She stomped off, leaving James totally confused behind her.





x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x





"The nerve," Lily said angrily. "He shoos me away so he can be with darling Allie." She snorted.





Suddenly she heard something rustling the bushes behind her. In a second she had spun around, wand out and ready for anything. "WHO'S THERE!?"





Then she laughed. It was only a rat. It looked almost scared though. "It's okay," Lily said. "The only thing I want to curse is Potter."





The rat didn't seem to believe her. Actually it seemed like the rat was going to have a severe heart attack. Lily was a little concerned. "It's okay."





2 seconds later, Lily was on her back being held down by a great beast of a dog. "GET OFF YOU BRUTE!" Lily yelled, reaching for her wand.





Lils, look at me!





Lily stopped struggling. "You talk?"





The dog seemed to shrug. It's not easy but we manage it.





"Oh," Lily said, feeling faintly ridiculous.. "Sorry for the um, brute comment."





The dog rolled his eyes. I would have yelled worse things.





He looked at the psychotic rat. Moony is gone you idiot. Stop freaking out. Go to the castle.





"Who's Moony?" Lily asked as the dog let her sit up.





A friend. the dog said shortly.





Lily wasn't satisfied. "Then why did you sit on me?"





What can I say? I like pretty girls.





Lily laughed. "You do realize you're a dog."





The dog smiled a little. For now.





Lily looked at him questioningly. "I should get back to the castle."





I'll walk you.





"Thanks," Lily said.





Even though it was a beautiful moonlit night, Lily didn't enjoy the scenery, scared she would see James and Allie.





So, Lils, why are you outside past curfew? Head Girls aren't supposed to break the rules.





Lily was offended. "I wasn't breaking the rules. I was simply testing their limits."





Was it her imagination or was that stupid dog smirking at her? Right, well that doesn't answer my question.





Lily sighed. "I was with James Potter."





James? the dog said, stopping.





"Yes? Do you know him?" Lily asked, uncomfortably aware that she might be insane.





Not very well. Lucky fellow though. Is he your boyfriend?





"No!" Lily said quickly. "We're barely even friends."





Too bad. The dog said, although it was smiling again. Here we are, home sweet home.





Lily crouched down to scratch the dogs ears.





That feels good.





Lily pulled her hand back. "That's a little weird."





The dog smiled at her. I'll see you around, Lily.





"What's your name?" Lily asked.





You know it already.





Lily kissed the dog quickly on the nose. "Fine then, Mr. Secretive."





The dog seemed slightly dazed. Wow. He gave her puppy eyes.





Lily laughed. "Nice try."





x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x





Sirius was still smiling when he transformed back to human. He had really misjudged her. She really was something.





"SIRIUS!"





James looked scared out of his mind. "Have you seen Lily? We had a fight and she-"





"It's a little too late to play the hero, mate," Sirius said.





"She's safe then?" James said.





"Yeah. I saw her wandering around and ran Remus to the shack. How could you even bring her out here? You knew it was the full moon!"





"I didn't bring her out here," James snapped. "I forgot it was the full moon."





"Perfect excuse," Sirius said sarcastically. "Next time you forget something, make sure some one's life isn't at risk."





"Look, I messed up," James said angrily.





"You've been doing that a lot more lately," Sirius said sharply. He started to walk away but he turned to James again. "By the way, quit wasting your time. Lily doesn't go for guys that try to get her killed. She seems to like guys that walk her to the castle doors. I found that out when she kissed me good night."





He did walk away this time, leaving James speechless behind him.





x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x





Lily smiled. "Jazz it was magical. He was wonderful. He was the nicest guy I've ever met."





Jazz looked at her friend. "Honey, he's a dog."





James Potter spit out he's pumpkin juice.





Lily glared at him for a minute before turning back to Jazz. "He seemed really familiar though. I sort of think he was an animagus."





This time it was Sirius who spit out his juice but Lily just laughed at him.





Jazz looked at her friend suspiciously. "You like Sirius Black?" she whispered.





Lily blushed. "A little."





Jazz didn't speak to her for the rest of breakfast.

"Common Welsh Green!' James shouted.

"Hungarian Horntail!" Lily yelled.

"Er- Swedish Short-Snout?" James guessed.

"No you idiot, it's a Peruvian Vipertooth," Lily snapped.

The Care of Magical Creatures class was very entertained, watching James and Lily have one of their bizarre competetions. Professor Kettleburn was showing pictures of different dragons and the class was supposed to figure out what kind of dragons they were. So far James and Lily had answered every question. Now they were laughing at eachother.

Allie rolled her eyes. "Okay this is getting ridiculous."

"Tell me about it," Remus said.

She tossed her long blonde hair over her shoulder, hitting Peter Pettigrew in he face. "Lily needs to quit messing around. I know she likes him."

"Jealous much? He's going out with you, isn't he?" Remus said, emotionless.

"Yeah right," Allie said. "I wish he'd just stop talking to her."

"They're fighting," Peter said, surprising both of them. "Aren't they?"

Allie glared at Lily, who was whispering something to James.

"I'm not dealing with this anymore."

The bell rang. Allie quickly caught James by the arm and dragged him away from Lily.

x*X*x*X*x*X*xx*X*x*X*x*X*xx*X*x*X*x*X*xx*X*x*X*x*X*xx*X*x*X*x*X*xx*X*x*X*x*X*xx*X*x*X*x*X*x

Jazz rolled over on her back and stared at the clouds. Why was she doing homework when everything in her wanted to go flying? It was such a perfect day. Her books were all spread out on the grass. She was lying on a blanket near the Forbidden Forest.

Now would you look at that.

Jazz jumped. "What the-"

She stared at a huge black dog that was slowly making its way towards her. She looked for a weapon but the dog raised a paw.

I come in peace.

Jazz relaxed slightly. "You must be Lily's mysterious friend."

So she's talked about me, huh?

Jazz rolled her eyes and reached for her books. "Look, I'm not in the mood to talk about Lily Evans. I'm out of here."

Wait!

Jazz paused.

I thought you two were friends.

Jazz sighed. "We are. She's just getting on my nerves a bit."

The dog nodded. My friend is annoyed with me too.

"And who is that? The rat?"

The dog gave a bark of laughter. No. He's human.

Jazz stared at him. "Seriously? Why?"

The dog looked away from her. I was kind of being a jerk to him. I deserved it.

Jazz almost laughed when she saw the sad look on the dogs face. It was too adorable. "Lily said you could be an animagus."

Maybe.

"Do I know you?"

Maybe.

"Say something besides maybe."

Peut-Etre.

"Ah tres drole."

The dog looked surprised. You speak french?

Jazz nodded. "Oui."

The dog made a bow. Very good.

"So what's your name?"

Make one up.

Jazz looked at him. "Hmm. Snuffles will do."

He looked offended. What is a Snuffles?

"Hey, it's that or Fluffy."

Snuffles will do.

x*X*x*X*x*X*xx*X*x*X*x*X*xx*X*x*X*x*X*xx*X*x*X*x*X*xx*X*x*X*x*X*xx*X*x*X*x*X*xx*X*x*X*x*X*x
James stared at Nicki with an incredulous look on his face.

"What do you mean I can't talk to Lily?" he demanded.

Nicki shrugged. "Allie is freaking out. If you want to keep going out with her I suggest you stop talking to Lily."

James ran a hand through his hopeless hair. Lily was his friend... wasn't she? Granted, they'd fought on the lake, and apparently she had kissed his best friend. But was he imagining the smiles she sent his way, or the twinkle in her eyes when she tried not to laugh at his antics?

"I don't like Lily," he snapped. "Tell Allie to get a handle on her jealousy or we'll have to break up."

She rolled her eyes and walked away. He turned the opposite way, walking right into Lily Evans. His mouth went absolutely dry as he prayed she hadn't heard him.

She smiled, and he felt a little relieved. "Potter."

He nodded, "Evans."

Something in his expression must have alerted her, because she frowned a little. "Hey, is anything wrong?"

James wondered how she could figure him out so well. "No, I'm just distracted."

Lily smiled again. "I know what you mean. Allie and me aren't on the best of terms. She decided I liked you."

James smirked. "Really?"

Lily nodded. "Yeah. It's absolutely ridiculous though."

James laughed. "Right. Even if we did like eachother, we'd be too busy fighting to do anything about it."

Lily bit her lip. "You're probably right. There's no way we'd ever like eachother."

"Exactly," James said.

"Besides," Lily said as she walked into a classroom. "I'm going out with Sirius Black."

James froze.

She reappeared and laughed at his shocked expression. "Gotcha."

Lily could hardly believe that 3 months had passed at Hogwarts. Not much had really changed. James and Allie were still going out, which irritated Lily to no end. Lily and Sirius talked all the time and it was kind of like having a brother. Allie was avoiding Lily like the plague. Nicki had set her sights on Remus, which did not amuse him.





Right then James, Lily, Sirius, and Jazz were enjoying time without their other friends before they went home for the holidays.





"JAMES!" Lily screamed as she wiped snow out of her eyes. "I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"





They had been battling for a while: Lily and Jazz against Sirius and James. Right then Jazz couldn't help much because she was being tickled by Sirius. James and Lily stopped to watch their crazy friends.





"You know, that looks kind of fun," James said, eyeing Lily.





She backed away. "James don't you dare!"





He grinned and caught her easily, bringing her to the ground.





"STOP!"





James laughed as she tried to get away. "Say James wins!"





"James wins!" Lily gasped.





"You mean it?" James said, skeptically.





"NO!" Lily giggled shoving snow in his mouth.





"UGH!"





She pinned him this time, and laughed while he spit snow. Their eyes met, and Lily sighed contently. It was hard to believe that once, she couldn't stand the sight of him. He smiled at her and she felt her heart pump a little faster. She laughed when she realized James was humming one of her favorite songs.





"You're crazy, you know?" Lily said affectionately.





Another 2 inches and she could kiss him.





"Yeah, just like you," James said staring at her lips.





Lily brushed the snow out of his hair as she leaned in.





Suddenly a snowball hit her in the back of the head.





"Ow! What the-?"





Then she realized who had thrown it.





"Having fun?" Allie said icily.


_________________________________________________________________________





"Well that could have gone better," Jazz said, laughing at Lily.





"Shut up," Lily said, throwing her pillow at her.





They were back in their room. Nicki was downstairs trying to calm down Allie. James had dumped her. Lily wasn't sure where he was right now, although she had noticed that during the full moon, he liked to walk by the lake. She would have checked but Sirius was probably out there and Lily only wanted to talk to James.





She was confused beyond all reason. What was that out there? Was it the scenery? Winter always had been romantic to Lily. But the truth was that if Allie hadn't interrupted, Lily would have kissed James.What in the world was wrong with her? He had a girlfriend! She couldn't believe she had been so stupid as to forget. She was the reason they broke up.





"Lily?"





She looked up and saw Jazz looking concerned. "Sweetie, are you okay?"





Lily shook her head.





"You know I was kidding right? Allie won't stay mad forever. But you and James did look awfully cozy."





"Jazz, don't joke, okay?" Lily said seriously. She couldn't stand how she was feeling. Since when did James have control over all her emotions? Then she felt stupid. Who else had ever been able to make her the happiest, the angriest, or the saddest? No wonder she had missed him so much before. He was the only person who could affect her like that. Without him she was empty.





Jazz looked at her friend. "Oh my God."





Lily looked up. "What?"





Jazz looked as excited as a kid on Christmas morning. "You were going to kiss him!"





Lily's face went beet red. "No!"





Jazz was grinning. "Oh Lily! I didn't understand what was going on! You've been walking around this school with your head in the clouds and a smile a mile wide. No wonder Allie was so paranoid! You love him, Lily!"


_________________________________________________________________________





"You love her, James!" Sirius said.





"What are you talking about? I'm over her, remember?" James said, refusing to acknowledge what had happened that afternoon.





They were walking out to the Whomping Willow. James and Sirius had been steadily arguing about Lily the whole time.





"Why did you break up with Allie then?" Peter asked.





James sighed. "Because Allie is a controlling freak. She doesn't get to decide who my friends are."





"Oh yes," Sirius said sarcastically. "Friends. Because friends always sit on eachother."





"You would know, Sirius," Peter said.





Sirius grinned. "That's true."





"Look," James said. "Lily doesn't like me. I mean she would have said something, right?"





"James, she's shy. She's probably confused too. Allie is her friend. So are you," Sirius explained.





James rolled his eyes. "Don't you like her?"





Sirius laughed. "Of course! She's got the finest-"





James shot him a sharp look.





"-mind. I was going to say mind."





James laughed. "Right. Look, Lily and me are friends. Besides-" he said, changing into his animagus form. She told me she liked you.





Sirius grinned. "She said that?"





Hell no.


_________________________________________________________________________





"Lily, wait!"





She stopped and turned around. She had been looking for James all over the place, but it felt like he was avoiding her. She didn't want to go home without seeing him. They still hadn't talked out what had happened the day before.





Remus smiled. "I'll see you Christmas day, yeah?"





"Of course! Mom and Dad will probably be mad but I'll miss you guys too much otherwise."





"Great," he said, pulling her into a hug.





"Hey, have you seen James?" Lily said looking around for him. "I wanted to talk to him before I left."





Remus suddenly looked uncomfortable. "Um, no."





Lily was confused. Since when did Remus keep secrets from her?





"We've got to go anyway," Remus said. "Your parents are waiting. I think James already left."





Lily felt a little hurt. He hadn't even told her goodbye. It felt like too many things were being left unsaid. She still didn't understand why he told her to leave that night on the lake or why he had really broken up with Allie. And what was that expression he had the other day? Was that love in his eyes? Did she really love him? She felt like she would burst if they didn't talk soon.





"Are you sure?" she asked.





"Let's just go," Remus said irritably.





He took her hand and they apparated from Hogsmeade. Lily never saw a dark haired boy fighting through the crowd, trying to get to her.

"So who's the boy?"



Lily looked up. "Huh?"



They were decorating the tree together like they always did. It was a little different this year because Lily could use magic. The cookies for Santa (that Lily and Petunia would steal) were baking in the oven. Petunia and her dad were out finding the cider that they toasted with every year. Of course Lily was only thinking about these things to avoid looking at her mind reading mother.



Her mom smiled. "You've been smiling since you got back home. Who is he?"



Lily rolled her eyes. "Mom! He's nobody."



"But there is a he?"



Lily blushed as her mom laughed. "Busted."



Lily waved her wand and more lights twinkled on the tree.



Her mom sighed. "I see why you love magic." She narrowed her eyes. "No changing the subject though. Who is this he?"



Lily laughed. "Here's a picture."



It was a recent one of her and James dancing in the snow. Sirius had taken it after one of their long snowball fights.



Her mom's face lit up. "Lily he's a doll! When can I meet him?"



"Tomorrow," Lily said. "He's coming to get me around 6 so that we can see eachother."



Her mom stopped smiling. "Lily, tomorrow is Christmas."



"Yeah, I know," Lily said, shrugging.



"Didn't you think about what we would be doing?" Her mom said, looking upset.



"Mom, it's no big deal," Lily said, confused.



"Lily, your family misses you when you're gone! Can't you live without your friends for one day?"



Lily stared at her. What was going on? "Mom...."



"Forget it!" she snapped.

________________________________________________________________________________



Now there was nothing Lily regretted more than the argument with her mom. Now she would never be able to take it back. Now her parents were gone forever.



"No! I don't want your wand!" Petunia said, looking scared of the thing.



"Oh come on. It doesn't bite," Lily said, giggling. She and her sister hadn't fought the whole day, and Lily had almost talked her into liking magic.



Petunia finally took the wand and jumped when sparks flew out.



Lily beamed. "You do have some magic in you."



"Not me," Petunia said scornfully, but she smiled as if she liked the idea.



"Put the angel on the tree now," their mother said. "You forgot to do it last night."



"Watch this," Lily said, a gleam in her eye. "Wingardium Leviosa!"



Petunia screamed as she and the angel flew up to the top of the tree. "LILY!"



Lily and her mom and dad were were laughing. "Put it on the tree!"



Petunia calmed down long enough to put it on top, but that was when bedlam broke loose. The doors opened violently, and Death Eaters burst in. Lily's parents never had a chance.



All Lily could do was sit there. She was too shocked to move. Petunia was crying, begging Lily to undo her magic. Lily didn't know what to think. It was too fast, too brutal to be real. Why had the Death Eaters let the girls live? What was the point? Lily didn't understand, but she didn't think she was supposed to. Strange things were going through her mind. Their argument the other night... James throwing snowballs... Dancing in the snow.... "I see why you love magic..."



"Lily?" A boys voice echoed through the house.



She suddenly wished to disappear.



"Are you here?"



They should have finished her off.



"The door was open."



Anything would be better than this.

________________________________________________________________________________



James didn't know what to think when he'd apparated to Lily's place and saw the door that had been torn off it's hinges. Her house was in total disarray, but the surroundings didn't get to him until he saw the bodies.



"Oh my god."



He dropped to his knees beside the older woman and felt for her pulse.



"No, no, no. Ennervate! Come on!"



He let her go. "LILY!" he bellowed.



He looked around the room wildly. "LILY! Please!"



He heard a small sniffle behind a couch and blasted the thing out of the way. There sat Lily Evans and a girl that was crying on her shoulder.



"Lily."



She looked frozen and didn't respond when he said her name again. The other girl looked up though. "Are we dead yet?" she whispered.

______________________________________________________________________________



Lily woke up a few hours later to hear an argument between James and Sirius



"Look we all care about Lily," Sirius said. "What's wrong?"



"I'll tell you later," James said, shortly.



"What happened?" Remus asked.



"Get out!" James insisted.



"James, you better get out of the- ahh!" Jazz said. James had actually picked her up and put her in the hall.



"She's fine," he said, looking at Jazz intensely. "But she needs to rest. I'll stay, you tell my mom and dad to send dinner up."



Jazz was going to argue but she saw the care in James' eyes and knew he'd take care of her. "Alright," she said softly.



"Lily?" another voice said.



Her head hurt something awful but she sat up anyway. "Petunia!"



"Hey now," James said turning back to them. "Lay back."



Lily ignored him. "Are you okay?"



For some reason, Petunia was avoiding her eyes. "No."



Lily's eyes widened. "You weren't hurt, were you?"



Petunia closed her eyes. "Lils, I watched our parents get killed because of your precious magic. I can't deal with it anymore."



James made a sharp movement, but Lily ignored him still. "What are you trying to say?"



Petunia finally met Lily's gaze with a glare. "I don't ever want to talk to you again."



A dead silence followed this statement. James was staring at Petunia as though he'd like to rip out her eyes. Lily felt sick.



"How can you- How could you- I don't understand," Lily said weakly.



"You don't?" Petunia said sarcastically, but with some pain. "Let me explain then. I always wanted to be like you. Beautiful, smart, even bloody magical. You had it all. But our parents are dead because of you. I'm not jealous anymore. I want nothing to do with a filthy-"



"GET OUT!" James yelled, not allowing another strike to Lily's pain. "GET THE HELL OUT!"

An hour later, Lily was no where to be found.



Sirius grabbed hold of Jazz's waist as she lunged for James. "I TOLD YOU TO WATCH HER!"



James wasn't in the mood to deal with her. "Right, like you could have done so much better."



"Is this really helping?" Sirius snapped. "All that really matters right now is finding her. Remember, the Death Eaters attacked under Voldemort's orders. She's in danger."



James, Remus, and Jazz nodded in agreement.



Sirius let go of Jazz carefully. She looked calmer. Before Sirius could get out of the way though, she had slapped the hell out of him.



"What was that for?!" Sirius yelled.



Jazz glared at him. "Well you wouldn't let me hit James..."



Remus didn't smile. "Jazz, you know her the best. Where would she go on Christmas?"



Jazz bit her lip. "To be honest I'm not sure. She's always with her family on Christmas."



Remus closed his eyes. "You're her best friend."



Sirius shook his head. "Her best girl friend maybe. But you're forgetting one person."



They all looked at James.



He nodded. "I think I know where she is."

________________________________________________________________________________



Lily walked in the Great Hall. Was it strange that she didn't feel different? It was like nothing had ever happened. She even smiled when she saw Nicki.



"Hey Lily!" Nicki said, surprised. "I thought you went home for the holidays."



Lily smiled. "No. Change of plans."



"Come sit!"



Lily slid into the seat beside her. "So what have you been up to?"



Nicki shrugged. "Nothing really. I've just been talking to James and Allie."



Lily felt a surge of regret hearing James' name. "Oh. Letters?"



"Yeah," Nicki said. "It looks like James found some other girl."



Lily felt her stomach clench. "Really."



Nicki laughed. "Yeah. Allie told me. He had to, right? He didn't just dump her for no reason."



Lily closed her eyes. I should have never trusted him.



Nicki stared at her. "Lily? Is everything okay?"



No, no, no.



"Hey, look! James is here!"



She watched him search the Great Hall with his eyes and finally stop to rest on her. "Lily!" he called, jogging over to her.



She stood up quickly and walked away.

________________________________________________________________________________



Lils. The dog had found her out by the iced over lake.



Lily rolled her eyes. "You people really don't get the concept of wanting to be alone, do you?"



Snuffles shrugged. I'm a dog, remember?



Lily sniffed a little. "Yeah, I remember."



James is waiting on you back at the castle.



"He'll be waiting for a long time then," Lily said harshly.



So what does he know?



Lily jumped in surprise. "What?"



The dog looked at her patiently. He must have found out something. That's why you left his house. That's why you're so scared.



To her horror, her eyes with welling up with tears. "If you don't mind, I'd rather only James know what happened."



Snuffles smiled. You really do love him, huh?



Lily smiled through her tears. "I'm crazy about him. But he doesn't feel the same way."



The dog nudged her. Why would you say that?



Lily snorted. "Because it's true."



No it's not. But you need to talk to him. You'll feel better.



Lily stood up. "Yeah, maybe."



She scratched the dogs ears. "Thanks for the talk... Sirius."

________________________________________________________________________________



It was close to midnight, but James was still awake, still waiting. Lily and Sirius were still out and James was becoming freakishly paranoid. What if she ran off again?



He heard the portrait open and jumped up. "Lily!"



She and Sirius were together. Lily was actually smiling. Suddenly James felt his heart wrench in two. How could Lily be able to talk to Sirius and not him? James cared about her more than anything in the whole world. He'd give up magic if she could be okay again. He had been worried out of his mind and there she was strolling through the door with his best friend.



"James," Lily said, looking surprised. "You waited up?"



"Yeah," James said, through his clenched teeth. "I was worried."



"No need to be, mate," Sirius said cheerfully. "She's fine."



"I see that," James said.



Sirius frowned. "Is everything okay?"



James couldn't even look at Lily. "I guess it is thanks to you."



Lily couldn't figure out what was wrong with James. She had been dying to come back and talk to him about what happened. With Sirius' encouragement she had decided to talk to him. But he was looking at her with a very odd expression.



"I guess you two had a good time," James said, an edge of anger in his voice.



"James," Lily said cautiously. "Can we talk?"



"Why?" James snapped. "You have Sirius here."



"Oh man," Sirius laughed. "It's not like that! See what happened was-"



"Save it!" James growled. He reached in his pocket and pulled out a small box. "Merry Christmas," he said, slamming the gift down on the table.

________________________________________________________________________________



Jazz stood shivering outside a door in the middle of a quiet neighborhood. Soon she would be going back to take care of Lily but she wanted to deal with this little problem first.



"I know you're in there," she said, ringing the doorbell 6 times.



Finally she heard the door being unlocked and the person opened it very slowly.



Jazz smiled. "Remember me, Petunia?"



"Yes," Petunia said, like she'd rather not. "Come in, I guess."



Jazz did and Petunia shut the door behind her. She looked around the small house. It was nice in an affordable kind of way.



"So you keep a picture of the girl you never want to talk to again in your living room?" Jazz asked, gesturing to the one on the wall.



Petunia kept her eyes down. "She's still my sister."



Jazz nodded. "Okay."



Petunia looked very nervous and Jazz couldn't blame her. "Did Lily tell you what happened? Is that why you're here?"



Jazz shook her head. "Only James really knows what you said, but when you stormed out you were wearing your emotions a little too loudly for me to ignore."



"Great so you can read minds then," Petunia said, annoyed.



"No, but I'm good at figuring out how people are feeling. Especially if they look me in the eye which is something you're avoiding," Jazz said calmly.



Petunia rolled her eyes. "I can't deal with Lily. Magic kills, I mean those people didn't have guns, they had wands!"



"There's good and bad in everyone," Jazz said. "Magic doesn't make you evil."



Petunia finally met her eyes and Jazz understood. "You think magic is going to kill your sister."



"Wow, you weren't lying," Petunia said, nervous again.



Jazz reached out for Petunia's hand. "Nothing is going to happen to Lily. She's got a whole castle of people ready to protect her, and a guy that would do anything to save her. Lily has friends who care. I'm more worried about you though. This house is left open for attacks. Lily is great at Charms. She could protect it."



"No magic," Petunia said quietly.



"I'm not talking about just magic," Jazz said. "You need Lily right now. She's all you have."



The door opened behind them and Jazz jumped up, pointing her wand towards the door.



"Stop!" Petunia hissed.



"What's that?" the rather ugly man said, ignoring the fact that Jazz could speak, addressing himself only to Petunia.



"A wand," Jazz snapped. "Who are you?"



"Vernon Dursley. I actually live here," he said rudely. "Now who the bloody hell are you?"



"Jasmine Noelle Taylors," she said lowering her wand.



Petunia took a deep breath. "You're right. Lily has protection. I wanted something too. Vernon is going to be my husband. I don't need her help."



Jazz felt sudden rage take over her body. "YOU'RE HER SISTER! YOU CAN'T ABANDON HER!"



"SHE NEVER NEEDED ME!" Petunia screamed. "SHE'S GOT THE WHOLE BLOODY CASTLE, RIGHT?! GET OUT!"



Jazz wanted to jinx Petunia into a slug, but she didn't. "There will come a day that you regret doing this," she said dangerously. "You will regret it."

Lily rolled her eyes. She was trying to work on her potions homework in the common room but James was alternating between sighing, making impatient noises, and occasionally making a face at her.


"What's wrong?" Jazz asked, sitting next to her.


"James," Lily sighed. "I apologized half a million times for what happened but he still hasn't let it go. It was over a MONTH ago. Jeez, I'm the one who lost my parents and he's-" She stopped suddenly. She had been trying not to think about it but it still hurt all the time. Life couldn't stop though, and Lily knew that.


Jazz gave her a understanding smile. "Sorry."


Lily shook her head. "I'm fine. I just wish he'd talk to me. It'd be a lot easier if I knew he was there, you know?"


Jazz looked sympathetic. "James just got his feelings hurt. He'll come around."


Lily bit her lip. "Yeah right. I'm going to go to the library. He's driving me crazy."


She gathered up her books and walked past him, not seeing the regret in his eyes.


__________________________________________________________


Remus saw all this but didn't feel too bad. He had problems of his own at the moment. He had essays due in all of his classes, his friends were all going crazy, the full moon was tomorrow, and- He sighed. Allie. There was always Allie.


He had never really gotten over her. He distracted himself by talking to Lily, Jazz, and Nicki but she was always in the back of his head like a buzz that wouldn't go away. He felt kind of stupid for caring so much when she obviously didn't but.... he couldn't help it. He couldn't even talk to James like he used to, because he was still mad about him going out with her when he still liked Lily. It was wrong but did James feel bad? No. He NEVER did.


Remus felt bad for thinking this but he couldn't help that either. Everyone had changed this year. James was all about himself these days and Remus was getting sick of it. Sirius was always talking to Lily and Jazz so he couldn't talk to him about it. Peter was clueless. He didn't trust Nicki very much so that was also out of the question.


Remus didn't know what to do.


__________________________________________________________


"You can do it!" Jazz said, encouragingly.


"No, I can't!" James said, trying to get away from her.


"She wants you to talk to her! She likes you!" Jazz said, exasperated.


James stopped fighting. “Does she?”


Jazz stopped too. “Of course. Why else would she talk about you all the time? She misses you! And you know you miss her.”


James nodded. “True.”


Jazz smiled at him. “So go talk to her.”


James grinned. “Alright. I’ll do it.”


He started to walk towards the library, but he stopped dead when he looked in the window. Lily was laughing at something Sirius had said. James hadn’t seen her so happy in a while. Sirius leaned in towards her and Lily kissed him sweetly on the cheek.


“Yeah, she’s really lost without me,” James snapped, getting away as fast as he could.


Jazz didn’t hear him. If he had actually looked at her he would have seen his own expression staring back.


__________________________________________________________


“You’re such an idiot,” Lily said, shoving Sirius.


He grinned. “You love it.”


Lily rolled her eyes. “Whatever.”


Sirius looked at her. Despite her teasing tone he knew she was thinking about something else.


“Is everything okay?”


Lily looked surprised. “Of course. I’m great, actually.”


Sirius raised his eyebrows. “So you still haven’t talked to James, huh?”


Lily hit him. “No! It’s driving me nuts! Why’d you bring it up?”


Sirius laughed. “To drive you crazy. What else?”


Lily gave him the look. “What about you, slick? Have you told Jazz about your, um, fuzzy alter ego?”


Sirius cleared his throat. “So… anyways let’s get to lunch. I’m starved.”


Lily giggled. "You're such a hypocrite."


Sirius gave a sheepish smile. "Yeah, well...."


She slung her bookbag over her shoulder. "Let's go, Romeo. Jazz is waiting."


Sirius put his arm around her. "Today I'm going to tell her. Really."


Lily smiled. "And I'm going to tell James I miss him."


__________________________________________________________


"WHAT?" Sirius stared at Nicki in total shock. "What do you mean Lily likes me? Are you crazy?"


Nicki looked just as shocked. "Well Jazz told me you two were getting good and cozy in the library. She was kind of upset."


Sirius looked confused beyond all reason. "We were kidding around! I don't like Lily."








"Oh gross! I don't like Sirius!" Lily said, staring at Remus liked he had two heads.


Remus laughed at the look on her face. "Well James seems to think otherwise."


Lily threw up her hands. "Why should he care?"


Remus looked surprised. "Because he likes you."


Lily rolled her eyes. "Yeah right. He's never even seriously asked me out."


Remus shrugged. "I don't know what to tell you."


Lily took a deep breath. "Oh but I know. He gets to go out with any girl he wants but I hang out with my guy friend and he's allowed to throw a fit? He's not even my boyfriend! Why should I care what he thinks?"


Remus looked at her patiently. "Because you like him too."


Lily glared at him for a minute, then sighed. "Don't remind me."

"Valentine's Dance," Sirius said, motioning to a bulletin board that a large group of girls were shrieking over.

"Congratulations, Black," James said irritably. "You've learned to read."

The sign had gone up the night before but somehow everyone in the castle had already known. James knew Lily was behind it but what could he say to stop it? If he hadn't been skipping Prefect meetings and patrolling with Lily so much, he probably would have known sooner.

Sirius laughed at his friend’s disgruntled expression. “What’s eating you?”

James sighed. “Nothing.”

“In other words…. Oh! Hey Lily!” Sirius said waving.

James spun around to look while Sirius laughed. “I thought so.”

James rolled his eyes, annoyed that he cared so much when she obviously didn’t. “Very funny.”

They continued to walk to breakfast. “So who are you going to ask?” Sirius asked, refusing to drop the subject.

James shrugged. “Allie?”

“Ex girlfriend equals trouble.”

“Sarah?”

“She’s going with Peter.”

“Mandy?”

“James, maybe you haven’t noticed, but Mandy is a Beater on the Quidditch team.”

James briefly imagined her showing up with that club…. Ouch. “Never mind. What about Jazz?”

Sirius scowled. “She’s got a date.”

James shrugged again. “I’ll figure something out.”

Sirius thought about it. “I’ve got a crazy idea on who you could go with.”

James raised his eyebrows. “Oh yea? Who?”

Sirius rolled his eyes. “The girl you actually like.”

James looked clueless.

“Lily you idiot!”

James’ eyes widened. “Aren’t you going to ask her?”

Sirius threw up his hands. “NO! Why does everyone think we’re together?”

James flushed guiltily. “No idea.”

They walked into the Great Hall, Sirius still bugging James about the dance, but he wasn’t listening. He was too busy trying not to do cartwheels. Sirius wasn’t with Lily! He could sing! He was about to answer Sirius when he saw the red haired girl hugging Remus Lupin.

“Of course I’ll go with you!” she said, kissing him sweetly on the lips.

James could have screamed. “Ask her! She likes you! THAT DOES IT!” He stomped out of the Great Hall.

Sirius stared at Remus and Lily, not believing his eyes. When had the Apocalypse occurred? Obviously he had missed it.

“What’s wrong with you?” a dark haired girl asked, looking at him strangely.

“Who are- Lily!”

She grinned. “Like it? Jazz and me were trying out new colors. She’ll be blonde for about another hour. It’s really temporary.”

Sirius was starting to think fate was conspiring against his friends. “But who’s that?” he said, pointing to Remus and the fake Lily.

“It’s Allie. Oh, did he really ask her? That’s so sweet! We talked it over last night and she’s not mad at me anymore. I dyed her hair to celebrate.”

Sirius was staring at her like she had two heads but she’s wasn’t paying attention. “So is James going to show up tonight or do I need to find a replacement?”

“Um, I’m sure he’ll be there,” he said in a slightly squeaky voice.

She walked away and he finally laughed. It should be an interesting night.

x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x

“So the Head Boy actually does some work,” Lily said, sarcastically. “Amazing.”

“Very funny,” James grumbled. “Why didn’t you tell me about the dance?”

She looked surprised. “You haven’t come to Prefects meetings, you barely ever patrol, excuse me for thinking you wouldn’t be interested.”

He started to argue but stopped himself. She was right. “Sorry,” he said quietly.

“It’s fine,” Lily said airily. “I got to know the Prefects pretty well. Did you know Lucius Malfoy is a romantic? It’s kind of hot.”

James looked at her in horror until she laughed. “Just kidding.”

He had to laugh at himself. It was hard to be mad at her. “So are we going outside too?”

“I usually don’t,” Lily said smiling. “But with the right company….”

He swallowed hard. Was she flirting?

Lily walked ahead a little once they were outside. James had to smile at her childlike wonder. “Oh don’t laugh at me,” she said, misreading his expression. “I’d never even seen snow before I got here. At night with the snow and stars…. it’s so beautiful. I just wish it was the full moon.”

“I don’t,” James muttered.

Lily didn’t seem to have heard him. “I wish the lake would freeze once in a while. It’s too big though, I suppose. I’ve never been ice skating.”

James smiled. She really was beautiful. “I guess we need to go back in.”

“Oh,” Lily said, frowning slightly. “Alright.”

They walked along and suddenly James understood what she’d been hinting. “I know a pond that freezes over. I could teach you there.”

Lily beamed. “Really? That’d be great! How about next Friday?”

James raised his eyebrows. “That’s Friday the 13th.”

Lily shrugged. “It’s always been my lucky day.”

They walked to the castle chatting easily about school, friends, and the dance.

“Everyone’s really looking forward to it,” James said, opening the door for her.

She smirked. “Maybe the girls are. The guys? Not so much.”

James felt a little jealousy come back. “Well Remus definitely is. It’s really nice that you two are going together. I didn’t even know you liked him.”

Lily stopped. “Excuse me?”

“You’re going to the dance with Remus, right?” James said, wondering why she looked so upset.

“NO!” Lily said firmly. “Allie is going with Remus. God, why is it that I have to be going out with every guy I talk to?”

James stared at her. “I saw you kiss him.”

“WHAT?” Lily shrieked. “Allie kissed him! Didn’t you see my hair was different this morning?”

“So you’re not going with Remus?”

“NO!” She turned away from him and walked a little faster.

He felt his mood lighten but after a few minutes he realized she hadn’t said anything at all. “What's wrong?”

"Nothing," she said coldly. "It's just great that you thought it was so nice that I might have been going with another guy."

James felt like he was missing something. "Um, Lily?"

“Don’t talk to me, okay? We’re supposed to be patrolling,” she snapped.

James wondered what in the world he had said.

x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x

"Can you believe that?" Lily said, throwing a teddy bear into the air. "REDUCTO!"

Jazz covered her head. "Why bears, Lily? They've never done anything to you!"

"I told you. I'm practicing for when I aim at Potter's head. REDUCTO!"

She grabbed the bear that Jazz was trying to hide. "I mean, I practically threw myself at him! What's his problem? Why is he acting like he likes me one minute, and then acting like and idiot the next? REDUCTO!"

Jazz winced. "When did he say he didn't like you?"

Lily whirled around. "When he said it was NICE that I was going with Remus! REDUCTO!"

"Hey!" Jazz yelled. "That one almost hit me! Look, James was probably really mad but was trying to be mature about it. Clearly his plan backfired."

Lily stopped destroying bears. "You think so?"

"Sure," Jazz said, grabbing what remained of the bears and running away with them.

"Wait!" Lily laughed, chasing her. "I need those."

James rested his head on the table. He had gotten to class earlier than usual just so he would have time to do this. The last week had been driving him crazy. He had to balance Quidditch practice, homework, getting ready for the Valentine's Dance, and patrolling with Lily. He had been trying to be more responsible about his Head duties but try as he might he couldn't get her to pay him the slightest compliment.

Put up posters for the dance? "James, you misspelled Valentine's." Dock points for out-of-bed Gryffindors? "I think you were a bit hard on them." Skip Quidditch to patroll? "You do have a responsibility to your team, James." All she could do was criticize! He couldn't understand it.

He had asked Sirius about it but all he could come up with was, "Maybe it's that time of the month." James had walked away with his fingers in his ears, singing the alphabet. As luck would have it, Lily had walked by and told him off for scaring the first years. James groaned as he heard a bookbag slam down on the table. Great. Now Sirius would want to know why he'd ditched them.

"Have I mentioned I hate Herbology?" a very unexpected voice complained. "It's pointless."

James didn't look up. She must have made a mistake. Maybe she forgot that he couldn't do anything right.

"James? You alive?" she said, ruffling his hair.

He smiled. "Hey, Evans."

Lily grinned. "Oh, that's good. It'd be a shame if I killed my partner before the class even started."

Partner? James looked up. "What-"

"Potter, do you wish to share something with the class?" Professor Sprout snapped. "If not I suggest you stop flirting with Ms. Evans."

Lily laughed, much to James' suprise. He glanced back at Sirius who looked as shocked as James.

"Now then," Professor Sprout said, now looking at Lily disapprovingly. "We will be planting Igrecies."

Lily looked at the little brain-like plant with interest.

"What you have to do," the professor continued, "is find the mouth of the little buggers. They're quite sneaky and- STOP THAT AT ONCE, BLACK!"

Sirius dropped the plant he had been poking. Lily giggled. Professor Sprout glared at the class.

"Fine. If you're all so smart you can read your textbooks to find out what to do with these little monsters."

Lily picked her plant up. "Aw, you're not a little monster. He's kind of cute."

"I should warn you," Professor Sprout added as Lily looked for the mouth. "It does spray a nasty juice if it feels threatened."

"Thanks," Lily growled. The warning had come a little too late. She was drenched in blue juice.

"It's fine," Professor Sprout said as James tried to mop up Lily's face. "As long as you're not allergic."

"Professor?" James said, pointing to Lily's skin which was bubbling uncontrollably.

"Oh dear."

____________________________________________________________

"Shut it, James," Lily snapped.

He was shaking with silent laughter.

"I mean it!"

"Out of my way," Madame Pomfrey said, shooing James, Sirius, and Jazz into a corner. "How are you feeling?"

"Say it, Lily," Sirius said with a grin. "He won't stop laughing till you say it."

Lily blew the hair out of her face exasperately. "A little blue."

James positively howled with laughter and even Jazz giggled. Lily was not just feeling blue. Lily was blue. All over in fact. Apparently allergies were a bigger pain in the wizarding world. Little bumps were all over her face and hands. Even her hair hadn't excaped the horrid color. The only thing that had escaped it was her eyes, but they weren't even green. They were a dark purple.

James finally stopped laughing. "So when will she be free to go?"

"Next week," Madame Pomfrey said matter-of-factly.

"No!" James and Lily shouted at the same time.

"The dance is Saturday-"

"She'll miss her dance-"

"I have to plan-"

"I don't know anything about dances-"

"James is an IDIOT!"

"Hey!" he said, looking at her.

She shrugged. "The sooner you admit it, the better you'll be."

Madame Pomfrey watched this exchange with an amused expression. "Well do you want to go to the dance with purple eyes?"

James and Lily looked at eachother. "YES!"

She smiled. "Then I'll let you go Saturday morning."

Lily looked heartbroken. "But.... the dance. Who's going to plan the dance?"

"I will!" Jazz volunteered quickly. "James and Sirius will help."

"Will you?" Lily asked hopefully. "I'm sorry to be such an awful inconvenience. Really!"

James shook his head. "It's no problem."

Jazz rolled her eyes. "I guess you missed the part where I volunteered."

Lily was paying the slightest attention to her. She was staring at James.

"Oh for heaven's sake," Jazz snapped, grabbing James' arm. "We'll see you later Lily!"

___________________________________________________________

"What'd you do that for?" James said as he walked with her and Sirius.

"Because Lily is absolutely right," Jazz said. "You're an idiot."

"Why is James an idiot?" Remus asked. He had snuck up on them and made Sirius jump.

"James isn't an idiot!" James said defensively.

"Then why is Jamesy talking in third person?" Sirius asked.

Jazz stared at him. "Wow, Sirius. I didn't think you knew what third person was."

Remus and James laughed. "Seriously though," Jazz said. "Couldn't you tell? Lily is trying to give you a second-"

"Third."

"Fourth by my count."

"-chance," Jazz finished, glaring at Remus and Sirius. "She's done being mad about what happened last week."

"What happened last week?" Remus asked.

James told the story and when he was done, Sirius and Remus were staring at him in horror.

"If you had told me that I would've known it didn't have anything to do with PMS," Sirius said as James started humming loudly.

Jazz rolled her eyes. "Not every problem comes back to PMS," she said irritably. "Most problems go back to idiotic guys!"

"That's funny," Sirius said. "Because as I recall, you're going to the dance with the King of Idiots."

Jazz smiled patiently. "No I'm not, Sirius. You never asked me."

Remus and James laughed but Sirius didn't. "Who said I ever wanted to ask you?"

"Then why do you keep making a big deal out of my going with David?!" Jazz snapped.

"I never made a big deal of it!"

"Fine," Jazz said. "Then quit obsessing over it."

Sirius quieted down for a moment. Before Jazz could finish explaining what he'd done to offend Lily Sirius had to say something else. "I don't like him."

Jazz threw up her hands. "I can't work like this. James, come talk to me when you don't have this moron around."

She walked away. Sirius stared after her. "I've got class," he said, walking in the other direction.

James looked at Remus. "Isn't it lunch-"

"Shut up, James."

"What's wrong?" Lily asked in alarm.

James had just ran into her room, a look of terror in his eyes. Lily had come to find out that when it came to making dramatic entrances, James Potter was the best.

"Trying-to-get-away-from-them!" James said breathlessly.

"From who?" Lily asked, slightly worried.

James shuddered. "The girls with mistletoe!"

Lily got out of bed and peeked out the door. Not a soul was in sight. "Right..."

James shrugged. "I had to find some way to make you jealous, right?"

Lily laughed. He was so cute. "How are the dance preparations coming?"

James rolled his eyes. "All you want to talk about is the dance! I think you may be using me."

Lily smirked. "I think you may be right."

Everything had gone back to it's natural color except, as Madame Pompfrey had promised, her eyes.

"I'm so ready to get out of here," Lily said. "Maybe I can help you with the dance."

"Sorry," James said, grinning. "It's all taken care of."

Lily frowned. "It's so irritating. I came up with the idea and I don't even get to be part of making it happen. I don't even know why I should go. I've been in the hospital wing all this time so no one's asked me."

James wondered why. He wondered how it was possibly possible that the most beautiful girl at Hogwarts didn't have a date. He wondered-

"So," Lily said, a little annoyed. "Who are you going with?"

Oh. Duh.

"Actually I'm not going with anyone," James said, wondering how to work into the question.

Lily smiled. "That's sad. I've been in here. What's your excuse?"

James looked offended. "I've been visiting you."

Lily nodded. "Well maybe we should go together."

"We should?"

Lily tucked her hair back. "Well, yeah. Why not?"

"I guess," James said, looked slightly disgruntled.

Lily raised her eyebrows. "Well if you don't want to go with me just say so."

"It's not that," James sighed.

"What is it then?"

James looked at the ground. "If I knew it would be that easy to get you to go with me, I would have asked you sooner."

"I think I asked you," Lily said, amused.

James threw up his hands. "Exactly! You take the fun out of everything!"

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jazz giggled. "So you beat him to the punch, huh?"

Lily nodded. "Yep."

Jazz and Lily were walking through Hogsmeade hunting down the perfect dresses. Jazz had invited the boys to help them but for some reason they weren't so crazy about the idea.

"Why aren't you talking to Sirius?" LIly asked.

Jazz made a face. "He asked that complete cow, Alexa to the dance."

Lily smirked. "Correct me if I'm wrong but aren't you going with that complete dunce, David?"

Jazz rolled her eyes. "That's completely different."

"How so?" Lily asked innocently.

"Because I said yes when David asked me. That's only polite. Sirius didn't have to ask a cow."

Lily laughed at the hypocrisy. "Alright."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hours after their hunt Lily truely felt that she had struck gold. The dress she was wearing looked like nothing else she had ever tried. She had become bolder, less shy. All thanks to James. He was waiting on her at the dance. There was some last minute stuff he had to deal with. But he said that no one as lovely as she was was going to show up alone. Sirius had offered to be her escort.

"Wow," Sirius said, staring at her.

She grinned and spun around so that he could get the full view. "You like?"

Sirius raised his eyebrows. "I was expecting green but let me tell you, this works."

Lily smiled happily and linked her arm in his. He was right to think she looked different. Her hair was half up, half down, softly curled around her face. Lily had chosen a beautiful violet dress. She only had a little make up on but it brought out her eyes to match her dress in the most dramatic way. She was only a little shorter than Sirius in her high heels.

"Are you ready?" Sirius said, noticing her unworried expression.

Lily nodded. "Of course. James has been so great lately. He'll be just as great tonight."

"Uh, oh," Sirius teased. "Is some one excited about her date?"

"It's not a date," Lily said, rolling her eyes. "It's friends hanging out."

"Dancing to slow songs...."

"Talking!"

"On Valentine's Day..."

Lily brought her hand to her necklace. It had always given her luck and she hoped it would work it's magic tonight.

"Don't worry," Sirius said, realizing he was making her nervous. He opened the door. "It's going to be great."

Lily's jaw dropped. It wasn't anything like she had been imagining. It was so unexpected, so crazy, so James. She grinned. It was perfect.

Instead of a huge dance floor there was snow. Instead of traditional decorations there were ice sculptures of couples and cupids. There was one Lily laughed aloud at. A girl and a boy were wrestling in the snow. She smiled. He had remember that moment as well as she did.

"You like?" a boys voice said behind her.

Lily turned around to see a very smug James. She shrugged. "I suppose it'll work."

He laughed. "Very nice. I guess it isn't exactly what you wanted."

"It's not too bad," Lily teased.

"Well I can see I'm not wanted anymore," Sirius said good naturedly. "Au revoir madamoiselle," he added kissing her gloved hand good bye.

Lily had forgotten about him. "Bye then," she said absently.

Sirius chuckled and left them to meet up with his date. What was her name again?

James grinned. "I have to show you something."

He took her hand confidently and they walked to across James' masterpiece. Lily couldn't help but stare in awe. This was surely magic at its best.

"I know you were disappointed about not learning to ice skate," James said. "So I added this."

Lily couldn't believe it. In the middle of the Great Hall was a gigantic frozen pond. She hadn't noticed because of all the trees and rose bushes. She had never seen anything so beautiful.

James loved the expression of wonder

"Oh no!" she said when she realized where they were going. "James, I can't. I'm wearing heels!."

"Just trust me," he said as he stepped on the ice.

Lily was nervous but she followed him. The ice was pink. It had to have been the only tradition he had followed. Other couples skated by her and she realized James had taken care of her fears. She felt perfectly at home. "I'm guessing it's not as easy as it is right now," she said as he took her hand.

"It is if you're a natural like me."

"Oh shut up," she said good naturedly. She glanced up to see the Hogwarts ceiling and gasped. "You really went all out for this."

The stars were aligned in hearts.

"Of course," James said, spinning her around. "I told you I would."

Slow music came on and James slowed down. The glided across the ice. He looked at her and noticed something he had long forgotten. "That's not what I think it is."

"What?" Lily asked, looking down.

He touched the necklace she was wearing. "You kept that?"

It was in the shape of a lily with colorful glitter on the points of the petals. Tonight she had changed the color of the ribbon to violet.

She looked at him. "How do you know about it?"

James smiled. "I got it for you first year. I saw it in Diagon Alley and thought I couldn't just leave it. I knew your name was Lily so I figured you'd like it."

She couldn't believe it. She had been so touched when she'd found it with all her other gifts. "Why? We didn't even talk then."

James shrugged. "I noticed you before you knew I was alive, Lily."

Her heart was beating faster than normal. It was so strange. How had she not seen this side of him before? He was so wonderful, so comfortable, so perfect. She suddenly realized she was scared.

"Thank you," she said as the song stopped.

"Thank you," James said slowly stopping.

She stared at him as he closed his eyes and started to lean towards her.

"Oops!" some one said as they crashed into James and Lily. "Sorry!"

James looked dazed as he quickly got up, helping Lily to her feet. "Are you okay?"

Lily wasn't okay. What in the world was going on? Her head was spinning as she tried to figure it out. What was this new feeling? What was that pounding in her chest for? What was going on with her stomach? All this beating heart, fluttering stomach, messed up mind nonsense couldn't be good for her.

"Lily?" James said, looking concerned.

"Um, I need to go... somewhere," Lily said, avoiding his eyes, leaving him standing on the ice alone.