The cold air nipped at Lily's face as she strode angrily across the Hogwarts grounds. Dear god, she hated that Potter. And this stupid winter. The wet snow was already seeping into her boots. That stupid boy had once again tried to impress her by turning the frozen lake into a Christmas card. She'd gone to see what it was all about, and had slipped on an icy patch and fell through. Actually, only her leg had fallen through before Potter had wiped out his wand and levitated her to safety. She'd stormed away before he could say anything, using a quick drying spell to make her sopping robes a little less uncomfortable.
"Lily, wait!" Potter called, hurrying after her. "I didn't mean –"
She turned around to shoot a hex at him, but he dodged. "Leave me alone!" Everything he did always turned into some kind of nightmare. Tonight was the Christmas ball and now that her day was ruined, she didn't even feel like going. Her beautiful blue dress, her perfect date –how did that insolent Potter always ruin everything?
"Come on, Lil. I'll give you a ride back." He pleaded, sitting on a broomstick that was lazily drifting mid air.
"No. Go away."
"Look, I'm sorry! I'm trying to make it up to you."
She growled and stomped closer to him. "Here's an idea: MAYBE DON'T DO THINGS YOU HAVE TO APOLOGIZE FOR!"
"Lil, admit it. You love me, everything I do, and you're scared of broomsticks."
She really wanted to break his little neck. "I hate you, I think you're an arrogant toerag, and I'm not scared of broomsticks, but you go so fast on them, anyone would die." She stomped off and when she arrived in her dorm, she was mad, cold, and wet from all the snow.
"Oh no, Lily has her James face on." One of her roommates and best friends, Audrina, winced from her perch in front of the mirror. "What did he do this time?"
She threw herself on her bed. "I don't want to talk about." She replied, her voice muffled in her pillow.
Behind her, Helena held up her hand and mouthed "Five, four, three, two, one..."
And right on cue, "He made a postcard on the stupid lake, and then ran up to the common room to tell me some kid had fallen on the lake. So I go down there, and I get really mad – I mean, the card was all sparkly with a flashing Merry Christmas in huge, neon green letters – so I go out onto the lake to try to charm it off and then I fell in!" Lily angrily punched her pillow.
"Ouch. That sounds worse then usual." Helena winced. "Come on, you better start getting ready for the ball! Don't let him get to you." She twirled a piece of her curly black hair around a slender finger. "Does my hair look good?"
"It looks great. Ugh, I just hate him so much." She crossed her arms angrily, looking at her two best friends. "Oh, you guys look really good. That's not fair." But she smiled. Helena looked amazing, in a Greek goddess kind of dress and gladiator sandals. Her hair was cured down her back and her brown eyes sparkled with glitter. Audrina was the complete opposite, still gorgeous with golden brown hair and pale blue eyes, in a floor length silver gown. "Where's our fourth?" she asked, referring to their fourth best friend and roommate, Faith.
"We kicked her out. We couldn't get ready around all her unmade gorgeousness." Audrina laughed. Faith was probably the most gorgeous girl in the school – no, definitely the most gorgeous girl in the school, with long, white blonde hair and celery green eyes. She was one of those girls that never did anything but always looked good.
"So she's with Sirius?" Helena asked. Faith was also the unofficial girlfriend of Hogwarts' biggest sex god. How she controlled him, no one knew. But she did.
"No, no, I'm here, I couldn't not be around my girls." Faith replied, entering the room. "And I wasn't with Sirius. I found this." She held up a picture album.
"Oh my god!" Lily exclaimed. "I thought we lost that at the end of last year at that insane party?"
"Well, turns out it was stuck under a chair! Come on, lets look." Everyone gathered around her on the floor as she opened the old book.
The album was dedicated to their friendship. Ever since they met on the train ride to Hogwarts first year, they had been inseparable. Each of them had their separate qualities; Helena was the funniest girl in Hogwarts; Faith was the most beautiful; Audrina was the sluttiest (and all the guys loved her); and Lily was the smartest. They complemented each other beautifully.
"Oh look, there we are the first time we got drunk!" Helena exclaimed, pointing to a picture of the four of them at the beginning of fourth year, at a party in the Gryffindor common room. "That was a fun night."
"Yeah, speaking of parties, Sirius told me the after party tonight is gonna be crazy. You know how he loves to get everyone hung-over for the train ride home."
Lily groaned. "Oh boy, don't remind me." She got up. "But I really have to start getting ready. The ball's in an hour."
"Oh shit." Faith exclaimed. "I was going to make myself all pretty for tonight!"
"We'll help you." Helena and Audrina chorused. "Both of you." Audrina added. Although all four of them were so close, Audrina and Helena were always best friends, and Faith and Lily were the same.
An hour later, the four best friends posed together while their dates snapped a picture of them.
"You look great tonight." Greg smiled at Lily, "Even better then usual, and that's saying something." Greg wasn't exactly Lily's boyfriend, but they were pretty close to that.
"Thanks. You look dashing in those dress robes." She grinned at him, hoping he'd find her choice of words funny. From the look in his eyes, he really didn't understand. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Potter with some stupid fifth-year. Seeing him made her mad all over again. Right, if he was so in love with her, there was no way that he would have a date to the ball. Especially not a date with that blonde bimbo with tits ten times bigger then her brain.
"Lets start going." Greg took her hand in his. "We don't want to miss the food."
"Of course you'd be thinking about food." She teased. "Between food and sex, I think you'd pick food."
"Oh wow, that's a hard choice. I don't know."
"The answer is sex, always sex!" Audrina winked, catching up to them, arm in arm with her date. "What do you think, Lil?"
"Food makes you fat, sex makes you thin… I'll go with sex." She admitted. Greg squeezed her hand and kissed her cheek.
"I'd give up food tonight just to be with you." He whispered in her ear.
A tingle ran down her spine and she shivered, but continued smiling. "You can eat, Greg. I want tonight to be a real, proper ball."
"With the after-party the marauders are planning it most certainly will not be old fashioned." Sirius joined in the conversation. "That beautiful dress of yours will be covered in vomit." He nodded towards Lily's pale blue strapless dress with the heart-shaped neckline and the long skirt.
"I'm not drinking tonight." She said in what she hoped was a dignified voice. "I learned the hard way that hangovers and train rides don't mix."
"I'll make sure you drink." Sirius replied. "There's lots of champagne… and I know how much you love champagne."
They had arrived in the Entrance Hall and Lily didn't have time to reply. People from all different houses met up with their dates, hugging each other and laughing. It seemed like there were more people then ever at Hogwarts, with all the different colored dresses and dress robes. At last, the bell tolled eight times, and the great doors opened. Arm in arm, kids streamed into the hall. Lily gasped when she saw it – snow fell softly from the ceiling. Ice sculptures stood perfectly along the walls. The four tables were gone, and in their places were many round tables with starched white tablecloths, fancy dishes, and surrounded by fragile gold chairs. Soft music tinkled in the elegant hall - Dumbledore had promised the most elegant event ever held at Hogwarts, and he had fully come through.
"Come on, we're sitting here!" Sirius motioned to a massive table. Somehow they managed to fit the four of them, all their dates, the marauders, and their dates at one table. The only bad thing about it was that Lily inevitable found herself sitting across from Potter and his giggly date.
"What's wrong?" Greg asked, seeing Lily's angry expression.
"Nothing – just that Potter again."
Greg sighed loudly. "Oh, please. Don't ruin our evening by being mad at him."
Wrong thing to say. "Listen, it's not my fault that all he does is bother me, and chase me, and do things to ruin my day. You can blame him for that."
Another loud sigh. "Yeah, I know. But don't let him ruin our night. This is our night, okay? A perfect, old-fashioned, elegant evening."
Lily rolled her eyes but didn't reply. In her mind she was saying a thousand cruel and biting things, but those could be reserved for after.
After the food came, after the dessert came, after the tables were magically cleared, it was time for the dancing. The tables were magicked off to the sides of the great hall, leaving a vast area for dancing. The first song was a slow song.
"Will you do me the honor of dancing with me?" Greg stood up, taking her gloved hand in his.
"Why yes, of course." She let out a tiny giggle and linked her arm with his. Out on the dance floor, he put his hands on her waist.
"You look perfect." He told her, as they started swaying to the music. "Completely perfect, babe."
The night went downhill from there. Potter danced by them several times, but he was obviously concentrated with his date.
"Do they have to do that?" Lily said, disgusted, as they danced by a third time, full on making-out in the middle of all the bodies on the floor. "It's completely disgusting. They're making this elegant ball into nothing more then a thrust fest for their adolescent hormones, and -"
Greg let go of Lily. "Ok, seriously, shut up, I can't listen to you go on and on about Potter, if you like him, then just accept his invitation for a date next time he asks."
"What the bloody hell? You think I like that? You don't know me at all, Greg, not at all. Leave me alone, alright? Don't bloody talk to me again." She stormed off the floor angrily.
In the entrance hall, a small indoor garden had been arranged. Lily picked a secluded bench and leaned back against the wall, cursing whatever god had decided she was going to be extremely unlucky in love. It was sixth year, and so far her longest relationship was a few months. Something always messed it up.
There were footsteps, coming closer, and Lily hoped they wouldn't find her.
"Sorry, I didn't know you were here." Potter mumbled, stopping when he saw her. He looked depressed and hunched over. "Why aren't you out there with your boyfriend?"
"He's not my boyfriend and we got into a fight." She said, all in one breath, trying not to cry. She didn't want to be weak in front of him. "Why aren't you with the bimbo?"
"The bimbo got boring." Tentatively, he sat down next to her and sighed. "Actually, she slapped me when I asked where you went." He handed her a glass of champagne.
They talked for a while – it was so weird to have a normal conversation with potter, considering that they were usually fighting or Lily was cursing at him. He actually wasn't that bad. Once his cocky I'm-the-best act was dropped, he was like any normal 16-year-old; except actually interesting, with something to say. Oh, and cute?
It was probably the champagne, or the romantic setting – the following day Lily would blame it all on her surroundings and name a thousand things that influenced her to commit such a horrific act.
She leant over and kissed him, full on the lips. He responded immediately, not phased in the slightest, and kissed her back. It took a few minutes before Lily realized what was going on. She thought about pulling back, but it seemed that her body did not want to move. Finally, breathless, she pulled back, her face flaming red and angry, and slapped otter across the face.
She ran away, leaving a dazed but happy boy behind.