—For The Holidays Challenge; Harry Potter Chapter Competition (Percy and Padfoot); As Much As You Can Competition; The Year Long Story-Count Competition; Pick a Card, Any Card Challenge (Jack of Clubs); The Lolita Challenge (Juliette et Justine); The Competitions Competition; The Challenge Ticketing Challenge; Competitions Competition Expanded; All Those Characters Challenge—

A/N: Late night updates do not agree with me. Still, here's chapter 2/3.

"May I have this dance?"

In that instance, the room sounded overwhelmingly quiet despite the number of people who were twirling around the dancefloor. Punch glass suddenly cold to the touch, Lily gazed in disbelief at the teenage boy who shuffled infront of her in a gaudy orange suit.

"Severus?"

A shift. "Yes?"

"Who did you lose a bet to?"

Head dunked in shame, the fifteen-year-old scuffed his shoe along the spotless lino floor. "Potter," he muttered in humiliation, a pink tint flaring over his ears as he focussed on the ground. The chiffon fabric of Lily's prom skirts swirled around her knees when she reached over to place a comforting hand on his shoulder in understanding.

"I'll be sure to beat him up for you."

Having been smiling softly, Lily grew concerned when her best friend cringed, especially when she heard James hoot in the background. "That would be unnecessary," he whispered "Lily, I am so sorry."

xXx

"Sirius, I could kiss you right now!"

"Please don't," the Black deadpanned "You should probably save that for Lily. Imagine the scandals – they'd start calling us Jamius."

That was the delightful conversation that Lily managed to overhear. With Severus stationed behind her to hide his mortification, he remained silent as she continued forward in a storm; arms folded tightly around her stomach, she audibly hissed at the pranksters: "A certain someone has some explaining to do."

Looking up in surprise, James flashed the ginger-haired girl a bright grin and waved. "Lily," he greeted cheerfully "Might I say that you're looking lovel-"

"You can take your compliments and shove them where the sun doesn't shine," she snapped with an expectant glare at the source of her distress. "For reference, I'm here to talk to Sirius."

The named student glanced over. "Me?" he asked with a pointed finger which was quickly captured by the nimble Evans fingers.

Scowling sourly, Lily nodded. "Yes, you. Mind explaining why you roped Severus into betting his prom outfit and my first date?"

Sirius showed his palms in the national sign of peace as he lazily picked up the mobile phone that was ever-so conveniently stored in his pocket. "Chill," he drawled "I didn't make specifics, and besides, it's Snivellus' fault for answering the text. 'If Severus Snape loses the bet, then Lily Evans is begin dating a person of the Marauder's choice.'. To be fair, our terms could have been worse."

Quietly rising up, Severus began to take Lily's elbow. "Come on, Lily," he said in a hushed voice "I'll take you back to your dorm."

Steam was practically billowing out of the girl's ears when his palm was placed on the jut. Breath rattling out, Lily reluctantly took a step back and glowered at the dynamic duo, her mind racing to find a way to come out on top of the situation. Peering at the smugly triumphant look on James' face and then back at the embarrassed expression on Severus', she sighed heavily.

"I just have to go out with one of you Marauders, right? You win," she admitted, looping her pinky around Sirius' in agreement of the condition. James perked up.

"In which case,-"

"Black, I expect to see you five-sharp on Saturday. You're paying."

As the wary fifth year left, neither of the Marauders saw the dark smirk on her face. Severus did, however, and he didn't like how things were turning out. Once he was sure that they were out of hearing range, he fell into light hysterics.

"What are you doing?"

Lily shot him a look. "Twisting their words, what else? Better Black than Potter. Besides, it's not as though anything will happen." Feeling spirited, the young scholar tossed a look over her shoulder at the stunned stances of James and Sirius alike:

"I expect a Christmas wedding!"

(Word count: 660)

*Chosen prompts: Alternatively, write about Sirius; write about a jokester; write about not getting along with someone; James Potter*

UPDATED A/N: Edits done, but it's still iffy. Still, only one more chapter to go!