It had always been a problem. Sirius roughly yanked down the comb through his tangled locks and proceeded to repeat, as it had really made no difference. All he could see in his reflection was his long, knotted hair and a cramped hand, holding a comb that looked ready to snap. Once he had tried using magic to seperate the knots but had resulted in shaving half his head off. Professor Dumbledore had laughed good-heartedly but banned the use of his wand for hair puporses all the same.

"Why do you even bother, Sirius?" James laughed as he entered the room, running his hands through his own messy hair.

"Some of us just can't pull off the bedhead look as well as you can, James." Remus retorted, reading a book on the other side of the room.

James grinned and walked over to the mirror which Sirius had stood aside, messing up his hair carefully, just the way we liked it.

"Every year we have this bloody Christmas Ball, every year we're bored as hell, every year we have to wear these stupid suits!' Sirius groaned, glancing down at his cyan suit with frills at the cuffs.

Potter and Remus sniggered, retrieving their own suits from the cupboard, inoffensive in comparison to Black's.

The boys chatted as they changed out of their robes, laughing at the features of each other's suits, especially Sirius's.

Suddenly the door to the Griffyndor Boys Dorm burst open, revealing a sweaty and breathless Peter Pettigrew.

"Pete, how'd you get in? You're from Slytherin."

Peter furrowed his brown, gasping for air, unable to talk.

"Johnny Mackenzie... He.... Let me in...."

James was concerned. "Pete, why'd you run here? It's not far."

Peter shook his head and clutched his chest.

"Didn't.... Walked.... Helluva distance!"

Walking accross the room, he collapsed in a plush red armchair.

The othe three exchanged looks.

"Shoot!" There was the sound of a plastic snap and Sirius now had two halves of a comb in his hand. The rest of the boys sniggered.

Sirius threw the plastic remains in the bin and shook his head.

"If I repaired it with my wand it'd just break again."

James slapped his back,

"If we're ready, Padfoot, Moony, Wormtail?"

Peter grinned smugly. He loved it when James called him that. From the others it seemed almost mocking, but when James said it, it sounded with the utmost respect.

The boys paced the halls of Hogwarts, their destination the Great Hall. No doubt the Hall would be decorated beautifully, bewitched to look as if it were snowing but filled with the hearty warmth of the castle.

Peter cleared his throat. "So guys, any lovely ladies you'll go for tonight?" He waggled his eyebrows and waited for the rest of them to join in his laughter. Sirius gave him a distasteful look.

James had raised his eyebrows and looked at Peter with indifference. "Well actually," he started, "I'm hoping that Lily Evans will dance with me when I ask her. I know she's been giving me the cold should almost all year and thinks I'm stuck-up and arrogant," a small smile crept to his lips as he used the exact words she had described him, to his face, "but maybe that can change tonight. You know, show her that I genuinely really like her."

"Just hope she's not with that weird kid, Snape." Sirius snorted.

James clapped Sirius on the back and laughed. "If that Snape's got it for Lily, he has got some competition, because I'm not going down without a fight."

Lupin frowned. "Maybe we should give Severus a break. He's already got it bad from everyone else. Everyone likes you James, they're just following your example."

James's lips tightened. "Lily likes Snape. Snape's got her sympathy, her kindness. They're best friends.' He folded his arms.

Black rested his hand on Potter's shoulder.

"Now you've got it bad, James." Grinning at him, he spun around and ran off into the Great Hall. Peter's eyes followed him as he ran off, glaring with envy. Everyone knew Potter and Black were best friends. Lupin was best friends with them too, but they would trust each other with their lives. With Sirius around, James would never appreciate Pettigrew like he could.

As they reached the Great Hall, snowflakes flew into their hair and the loud sound of festive music drowned out their casual conversing. Sirius was clearly seen with a bunch of other guys, seeing how many cups of eggnog he could down.

James and Remus laughed as the sweet, yellow liquid poured down his cyan suit.

But Potter's gaze was soon averted, she only just making her way in the Great Hall along with dozens of others, but he saw her clearly, his gaze on her only.

When she saw him staring at her, she blushed furiously, a beautiful shade of peachy pink

that glowed on her cheeks, which made James want to smile. She turned around and tried to pretend to chat animatedly with her friends, but she kept glancing back to see if he was still looking, so he knew that her attention was still on him. Leaving Lupin to join Sirius with the eggnog and Peter standing alone, James made his way accross the dancefloor to where she was standing. Her friends giggled as he approached the group, but she stayed silent, her green eyes focused on his. He noticed that her dress wasn't as elaborate as the other girls, but it looked beautiful on her and suited her impeccably, a simple design on a flattering wearer.

She coughed and he now realised he had just been looking at her for probably minutes now, with no explanation whatsoever.

He took a step forward and smiled at her, his confidence wavering as the smile he waited for was not returned, but oh, she was so beautiful, even when she looked angry.

"Lily, would you like to dance?"