"You've what?" I stared at my mother.

"Invited the Potters to dinner, dear," she said casually, as if it was no big deal to invite James Potter and his family to dine with us.

"But—!"

"I know you rather despise James, Lily, but he's a very nice boy. Give him a chance, will you?"

"Mum, James Potter is an arrogant little berk who hangs people upside down for fun! He is not a 'very nice boy'and I've been giving him chances for seven years!"

"Trust me," my mum said firmly and I knew that was the end of that. I tried another tactic.

"But you barely know them!"

"Now, now, dear, you know Mrs. Potter and I have been out for tea twice now. I'd say we're pretty good friends."

"What about Mr. Potter, then?"

"I'm sure your father and he could strike up an interesting conversation. You know your dad can find anything to talk about," she reminded me.

I groaned. I could see there was no way of changing my mother's mind now. I checked that off mentally and moved onto the next checkbox: Desperately Get Help From Friends.

"So, when is it?" I asked, counting the days I had left on this earth.

"Tomorrow."

I jumped a foot in the air. "Tomorrow? Merlin's pants, Mum! Cutting it pretty fine, aren't you?"

"Yes, what's wrong with tomorrow? And who's this Merlin bloke?" Mum asked interestedly.

"Never mind, Mum. I'll be going now."

Taking the stairs three at a time, I sprinted up to my cozy attic bedroom. There, my owl, Tunia awaited me, her large amber eyes gazing at my quill. For some reason, she'd always been able to tell whenever I needed her to carry a letter. Quickly, I ripped off some parchment and scribbled a short note to my best friend, Marlene:

Come to my house this afternoon. Emergency. Bring the others.

"You know Marlene, don't you?" I told Tunia. "Off you go, now."

I watched her hop off the attic window and swoop into the clear summer air, soaring joyfully, the sun shining off of her gleaming feathers. I heaved a sigh. If only I could be that carefree.

"So what's at stake here?" Mary asked, sprawled out on the lawn. She, Marlene, Alice, Dorcas, and Emmeline had come flying to my rescue, literally. From the corner of my eye, I could see Dorcas jealously eyeing Emmeline's boyfriend, Benjy's brand-new Nimbus 101, while her broom, a notch down from his—a Cleansweep Three—sat with the other girls' brooms on the grass.

"My mother is inviting the Potters over for dinner." My best friends' eyes widened at that. "Tomorrow," I finished and watched their eyelids stretch to impossible widths.

"Why would she do that?" Dorcas was appalled; she hated Potter nearly as much as I did, though it's probably for all the exhausting drills that he puts her and the rest of the team through during Quidditch practice. I shrugged.

"Dunno. Something about him being a very nice boy and giving him a chance and all that bull."

"Wow, your mum is really out of it," Alice said. Normally I would've defended my mum (what? I do love her, you know) but today I was feeling far from that.

"So now the dilemma is, what are you going to wear?"

Incredulous, I turned toward the speaker. Marlene. I should've known. Only she would worry about what I was going to wear!

"I don't know, Marlene. It's a dinner, not a party or anything."

"Still," she insisted, "you can't just wear your everyday clothing."

"And why not?"

'"Yes, it's a dinner, but James Potter will be present!"

"And that thought alone makes me want to hurl myself over the edge of a cliff. Go on?"

"My point is that—"

"Marlene," Emmeline interrupted. "We all know that you're just doing this to torture Lily." Note to self: grovel at Emmy's feet later and thank her for her timing. Marlene tried to look hurt, but when we all stared at her, she dropped her act and let her gleefulness shine through.

"Please, Lils," she begged. "It'll be so fun seeing you playing dress-up!"

"Dress-up?" Mary scoffed. "We're not some pathetic wannabe first years, Mar. I say, let Lily wear her favorite pair of jeans and T-shirts and flip-flops and leave it like that."

Huh. Suddenly everyone's being supportive. Did they know how I'd react if they interrupted Marlene? Well, I sure as hell am not going to grovel at the feet of all of them.

"Seconded," Dorcas, my fellow tomboy, chimed in.

"You know Lily looks beautiful in anything she wears," Emmy added. Then she realize how…strange that sounded. "Oh, you lot know what I mean!"

"Do we?" Alice wagged her eyebrows. "Or do we have to prepare Benjy for heartbreak now?"

"You are impossible," Emmy shook her head.

"Cheating on your boyfriend with your best friend!" Mary's hand fluttered to her heart. "Oh, the drama!"

"Oh Emmy!" Alice gushed in a high-pitched squeaky voice that is so not Benjy's. "How could you, my dearest, fairest, loveliest emerald?"

"How did you know he called me that?" Emmy demanded, cheeks coloring. Alice stopped in mid-gush, jaw hanging open.

"Lucky guess," I said, nodding at Alice and everyone else's confounded expression. "But Emmy—'dearest, fairest, loveliest emerald'? You two can give Marlene and Sirius a run for their money in being the most disgusting, lovesick, sappy—"

"We get it, Lils." Mary held up a hand, looking green in the face. "Don't mention that, it brings back unnecessary memories."

"It's that time in the Room of Requirement, isn't it?" I asked sympathetically.

"It was," Mary nodded. "That time, y'know?"

"I know," Alice agreed. "We found his trousers and belt and her shirt—"

"OI!" Marlene yelled, her ears bright red. "Let's get back to the topic of Lily's clothes, shall we?"

"Never!" Alice cackled. "Let's continue with the disgusting memories instead!

"Sweet mum of Merlin," Marlene muttered.

"Don't worry, Mar, you won't be alone! Let's drag Emmy and Benjy into this train wreck as well!" Dorcas wagged her fingers.

"Why do I call you my best friends again?" Emmy shook her head and sighed.

"Because you love us!" I grinned. "Mind, let's never progress to the level of fondness that Benjy's got for you."

"Yeah, we love you with our hearts, Em," Alice added. "But not that much."

"Is this ever going to end?"

"Is that a rhetorical question?"

"Yes."

"Oh well. We'll answer it anyway."

Emmy dunked her head on the lawn. "Damn you all."

"Lily!" My mum called. "The Potters are arriving in twenty minutes!"

"Thanks for warning me," I muttered. Dashing upstairs, almost trampling the cat, I grabbed my towel and clean underwear, then dashed into the shower, pushing a complaining Petunia out of the way.

"Sorry, sis!" I yelled. "Emergency!" I heard her mumble something like, "Emergency my arse, you just want to look good for that Potter freak." I sighed and made a mental note to sneak something from Zonko's into her food tomorrow. Wasting no time at all, I jumped into the bathtub and promptly proceeded to break the record of fastest shower possible. Then, even faster, I threw on some clothes and pushed a stunned Tuney back into the bathroom.

"LILY!" she shrieked. "You left your dirty underwear in the sink!"

I swore and grabbed my wand. "Accio underwear!" My things zoomed toward me and Tuney slammed the door shut.

Standing in front of my mirror, I studied myself. My dark red hair was straight, albeit a little wet-looking, and I planned to leave it straight, and down. My green eyes were makeup-free and I pondered idly if I should put on some mascara. Hesitantly, I took out my small makeup kit, a birthday present from Marlene, then shoved it away again. It was just a dinner, and dinners do not require makeup. I was wearing exactly what Mary had suggested: a dark gray tank top, a pair of jean shorts, and black flip-flops. I sighed contentedly to myself. Marlene's going to flip when she hears about this, I thought, satisfied.

Marlene and I had engaged in a furious battle over what I was going to wear. Mary, Dorcas, and Emmeline stood on my side. Alice, ever the evil one, supported Marlene's decision in order to watch me being forced into various fancy, nauseating clothing. The casualties were high, and the war was long and bitter—it took all of the afternoon and much of today. I swear Tunia is going to quit on me because of all the death threats I wrote to Alice and Marlene. In the end though, I won, and the rival quite literally flew back to their homelands with a not-so-literal tail tucked between their legs. I looked up again, then nodded to myself. I looked every bit the image that Marlene did not want me to look. And if that's settled, then I look pretty damn good.

"Lily!" Dad called. He had come home from work early today, just to be able to be present when the Potters arrive. "They're here!"

"Well, Lily," I said to myself. "It's time for Checkbox Number Three: Prepare For All Hell to Break Loose."

AN: So, what d'you think? This was originally a dare from MarisaCan'tRememberHerPassword, for my Lily and James drabbles fic. Since you dared me, Marisa, then I suppose this is dedicated to you. This chapter has nothing to do with the plotline, really, but it 's sort of an introduction; James will go through the torture that Muggles call 'school' later. Suggestions on various subjects are welcome; I think Lily is going to go relatively easy on James, so maybe middle (or secondary school, for any Brits out there) school-leveled.

~Gella