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The time between receiving the letter from Anna, Kate, and Angela and the dance went by very quickly. I had sent them another letter informing them that I would pick out their dresses and have them here for the dance. They were very excited.

Before I knew it, it was the day before the dance. Dumbledore had said that the students could come the night before if they wanted and my friends very much wanted to. Anna, Kate, and Angela were apparating into Hogsmeade then walking up to the castle after class.

All day I was bouncing in my seat, not paying attention, and basically being a distraction. McGonagall took twenty points then sent me to get a calming solution from Madam Pomfrey. When the day was finally over I was bouncing around the dorm room. The calming solution did not work, if anything it made things worse.

All of us were just sitting on our beds when the door opened. We glanced at each other, we were all here who else could it be? I heard a squeal and my head flipped around. It was the girls! They came running at me and tackled me into a hug. I was laughing so hard.

Once the guys realized who was here they got up and hugged the girls as well, just a little bit calmer.

"Where's Lily?" James asked.

"She said that she had to finish a couple of things back in America, but she'll be here tomorrow in time for the dance." Kate answered with a wink at me. I smirked; my friends definitely had my back.

"Come on, I'll show you your dresses." I pulled Kate's hand and the others followed us out of the room giggling the whole way.

Down in the common room, I twirled Kate around the room and hugged the others again. It took us a while, but we finally made it out of the portrait hole and to the Room of Requirement.

"All right, I might've lied to you." I started.

"What do you mean?" Angela and Anna asked. Anna still had a flush from being around Remus.

"I don't actually have your dresses." They all started to protest until I paced back and forth in front of the wall. Then they had concerned looks on their face as their complaints faded off. I smirked again at their faces when the door appeared. Anna's mouth dropped open and Angela just stared. Kate walked forward and pushed the door open hesitantly then flung it open when she saw what looked like the interior of a dress shop.

They all ran forward and started going through the racks. Squeals and giggles could be heard as I just leaned on the doorframe. Anna gabbed my arm and pulled me into the room, when I heard the door slam I turned around. I felt a wand on the tip of my head and knew that Anna was taking all the charms off. I shrank, and my hair grew longer.

Finally being myself I giggled and dove into the racks with the same amount of enthusiasm as the rest of the girls.

The table of masks popped up in front of us, and we went to it. There were only four masks, but there was a perfect one for each of us.

In front of Kate was an elaborate blue mask with a black and blue feather attached by a gold pin to the side. For Angela, there was a simple black mask. There were sparkles all throughout the mask though; making it look like it was shimmering. Anna had a gold and red mask with a poinsettia-like flower on the side. In front of me was a black lace mask with white lace bordering it. White ribbon would tie around my head when it was on.

We just stared at our masks and picked them up all at once. With one long drawn-out squeal-scream we went running through the racks with even more energy than before.

Anna found her dress first. A red lace corset and a long gold skirt that fell to the floor, it was perfect, sweet and a little sexy. I knew that Remus would love it on her. Next was Angela, the dress seemed to be made of the same fabric as the mask. She had puffy short sleeves and a plunging v-neckline. It was also floor-length. Kate's dress was a dark blue that complemented the mask perfectly. It had spaghetti straps and a black lace strip under the bust. It was ankle length.

My dress was different, and I knew it would make me stand out among the long dresses. It was a white-cream color and had long sleeves with a loop that would go around my middle fingers. The sweet heart neckline was perfect and the skirt only went to my knees. The skirt was full and had a few layers of tulle.

After getting heels to match our dresses, we left the room with our finds. The charms were reapplied to me and I carried 'Lily's' dress back to the dorms. The guys were gone. After arranging our dresses to hang around the room in their garment bags, we sat on the beds. Anna had chosen Remus' and Kate was making Sirius' bed for him. Angela sat on the floor in the middle of us, as I had chosen to sit on my own bed.

"So how is everything? How was Michael's transformation? I feel so bad for not being there! And Anna I think it's adorable how you like Remus!" I said all of this very quickly and as I took a breath to ask more questions Kate jumped in.

"Everything is fine, Michael's transformation was fine and he doesn't blame you at all for not being there, and I'll let Anna answer the last thing." She smiled evilly at Anna.

"Yeah, Anna we're dying to hear the answer to that last thing." Angela said somehow sarcastically and genuinely at the same time.

Anna blushed. "I… I… he's… he's…." She stuttered.

"Just say it!" The rest of us yelled.

"He's cute, okay! But once he finds out about Michael, I don't think that he'll want to talk to me!" The other two looked sympathetic at this, but I busted out laughing. I got strange looks. "It's not funny! Seriously!"

"Someone say my name?" Sirius said as he walked in with the other guys. James, Remus, Peter, and myself groaned. That joke was very old. I'd been hearing it since I was a kid and they since they got to Hogwarts and met Sirius.

"N-no." Anna stuttered again, nervous that they might've head our conversations. Remus joined her on his bed, sitting neatly beside her. Sirius practically pushed Kate off playfully. It set off a war between the two. James and Peter sat on their respective beds chuckling at the sight.

Sirius surprised us all by turning into a dog and pouncing on Kate. She looked surprised for just a moment until she turned into a panther and pushed him off of her. They battled back and forth for a while until Sirius became a human again and called "Truce, truce. I CALLED A TRUCE, WOMEN!" Kate morphed back and had a huge grin on her face.

"All right, now that we settled that," Remus started with a glance to Kate and Sirius, "what is with the garment bags everywhere? We, and you, were not gone that long."

"Oh, we took advantage of something." I said with a cryptic smile.

"And also, you're an animagus?" Remus directed the question to Kate.

"Yeah…" She said, her grin fading now that she realized what she had done. I caught a glance between Anna and Angela.

"Actually, we all are." They said, referring to just the three of them. They stood and changed, Kate for the second time.

And there they were, the owl, the wolf, and the panther. I felt a twinge of sadness that I hadn't changed with them, but I knew I couldn't, although, the looks on Remus, James, and Peter's faces helped a little bit. I burst out laughing and fell off my bed with a thump.

"You knew?" They rounded on Sirius and me.

"Um… yes?" Sirius sounded unsure of what he should say. I kept my mouth shut and focused on trying to become invisible.

"Laurence?"

"Yes, fine, I knew! All right! I knew! They're my sister's best friends, of course I knew. I'm sorry for not telling you." I started out very loud, but towards the end my voice almost faded out entirely.

"It's all right. It was just a bit of a… a shock." James said reassuringly. "One more question, though."

"Yes?"

"Is Lily an animagus?" He asked very quietly, as if he was afraid to.

"That's her decision. I'm sorry, but we can't tell you that." Anna said. She was fiddling with her wolf charm. I couldn't help but notice that Remus looked at her curiously when he noticed what the charm was. I could almost see the little gears turning in his head, putting it all together. I hoped he caught on soon, he really seemed to like Anna and I could tell she liked him as well.

It was quiet for a minute. "Why don't we go down to the common room and play exploding snap or chess?" Remus suggested.

We all nodded our assent, and that was how we spent the rest of the night. When I finally managed to fall asleep my head was still filled with thoughts of the dance.

The next morning I was shaken awake at the ungodly hour of six a.m. Pretending to be a guy involved waking up late, throwing on the first clean uniform I found, and going to breakfast. I had forgotten how much work it took to be a girl.

I groaned when I felt a pair of hands on me and I rolled over trying to go back to sleep. Next thing I knew I was soaking wet, with long red hair sticking to my face and neck. There was a cold breeze by my ankles and I realized that someone, probably Angela, had spelled away my clothes. I sat up wide-eyed. And I shrieked, loudly.

I covered my mouth quickly. Three different sets of curtains opened. Peter was still snoring peacefully behind his unaware of anything that was happening. Sirius was the first to speak, as usual.

"Shut the bloody hell up its…Oh my god, Lily what are you wearing?" He said with his trademark smirk. I pulled the covers further up my chin. I blushed very, very deeply. I think that a lobster would be jealous of how red I went.

"Umm, why don't you ask Angela?" I said glaring at her.

"Believe it or not, and I don't think that you will. I didn't do it. Though, now I'm kind of wishing that I had." She said with a Cheshire cat grin.

"If you didn't do it…then who did?" I asked suddenly suspicious.

Everyone looked innocent enough. I knew it couldn't be Sirius, as he wouldn't wake up this early, even for a prank. Suddenly, Anna burst out laughing. It was always the quiet ones.

"Anna! I'm going to kill you! Someone hand me my wand!" I screeched at her. I looked around wildly, while Anna fell to the floor with tears in her eyes. I spotted it on the bedside table and I grabbed it. First, I transfigured some tissues into clothes and yanked them on under the covers. I also dried my hair quickly.

Finally emerging from my bed, I stood over Anna. She stopped laughing and looked up at me. We stared for a while when she got a mischievous spark in her eye. Abruptly, I wasn't glaring into her human brown eyes, but the slightly more animalistic eyes. The wolf that was Anna bolted off and disappeared behind Remus' curtains, her head reappearing curled up on his lap. I couldn't help but smile. They were just so cute together. I about squealed with happiness when Remus scratched behind her ears, jokingly.

I had to get her back though. I shot a hex at her and I knew that I wouldn't miss. Suddenly, instead of her blonde fur, it was now bright red. I smirked evilly. With a slight pop, Anna was the one sitting on Remus' lap, string at me.

"What did you do?" She asked, her eyes wide in horror.

"You'll just have to find out." I cackled. And yes, I know that it's a terrible cliché. She dashed to Sirius bedside table and yanked open the top drawer.

Remus, James, Sirius, and me all started to warn her against her action. "I wouldn't do that if I were you!" Came the shouts from all sides of the room. She suddenly shrieked and ended up on the other side of the room. And the rest of us laughed at her. We did try to warn her.

"What did you do, Lily!" I took one look at her face, flushed with anger, paired with her hair and I fell out of my bed laughing. I conjured a mirror for her and handed it over. "LILY MARIE EVANS! WHAT THE BLOODY HELL DID YOU DO? FIX IT! NOW!" I started to roll on the floor, I was laughing far to hard to utter the reverse incantation.

About ten minutes later I finally calmed down, and returned her hair to normal. The boys had went back to sleep and Peter had never woken up in the first place. I was amazed at that boy's sleeping habits.

"Okay, so why did you wake me this early?" I asked, rubbing my eyes. Even after the excitement of the morning I was tired.

"Silly Lily. It's the day of the dance that's why." Kate teased.

"So? Can't I sleep in? It's not like it'll take that long to get ready." I said. Evidently, this was the wrong thing to say. I got three appalled looks.

"Not that long to get ready?" Angela choked out.

"Who are you and what have you done with Lily Evans?" Anna asked.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"You've been with, not to mention been, a guy for far too long. Come on, you're taking us to that room where we got the dresses. Let's go." I stood and dusted my butt off. I wasn't sure what they had in store for the rest of the day, but I was vaguely scared. With my friends, you never know what you could get.

On the way to the Room of Requirement, I yawned at least three million times. I let my friends drag me into the room. It was mostly empty space, with four yoga mats in the center, and a door labeled 'kitchen'. I immediately went to that door and entered the hustle and bustle of the morning preparations and ordered a large, large cup of coffee from the first house elf I saw.

It didn't take long for the coffee to appear in my hand and the house elves yelling after me to come back soon. The others were already stretching. Kate looked up in one of her stretches and gasped when she saw the coffee in my hand.

"No, no, no, no, no! No coffee for you! The caffeine will make you puffy! We have the dance to think about. Plus, you'll never impress James if you look like someone who is recovering from a broken nose! C'mon lets stretch." After her rather long speech she set my drink down on a table that had just appeared then disappeared again.

For about two hours all we did was stretch our muscle's in silence. It felt good to do something other than the strenuous Quidditch that James had us do occasionally. By the time it was eight thirty I felt calm and refreshed. Anna returned from the kitchens with a big bowl of fruit.

I should've known that they would insist on being extra healthy right before the dance. After I had eaten at least half the fruit myself, the room transformed itself. Now, it looked like one of the high-end spa's you saw in New York or London. It was perfect.

By the time it was actually time to get ready for the actual dance, we were glowing. Having been treated to all the services that the room could offer, our skin was smooth, our hair brushed and polished, and our nails glossy. All that was left was to actually do our hair, makeup, and get dressed. It was simple enough with wands and magic.

And fifteen minutes before the dance started we were all ready. After the flurry of activity it took to get ready, it felt nice to relax for a while. The second I thought about sitting down, the room supplied a few chairs and couches.

I fell into the nearest chair, and then got reprimanded for almost messing up my hair. I sat a little more carefully and turned to Anna.

"You going to ask Remus to dance?" I asked nonchalantly. She blushed deep red and mumbled something that I didn't hear. "What was that?" I said a smile forming on my face.

"I said, maybe." She repeated quietly.

"AWWWW!" Was the cry that went up from all of the rest of us.

"Shut up."

The Great Hall was amazing. Jack O Lanterns floated around and graced the tables that were along the side. We looked around for the boys and found them sitting at one of the tables, bottles of butterbeer already sitting in front of them. I had almost made it all the way to their table when I tripped in my six-inch heels. I thought for sure that I was going all the way down when James caught me.

"Hey there, Clumsy." He joked. I felt my face flame.

"Thanks…" I mumbled.

"Your welcome," he whispered to me then gave me a hug.

"Well, you all look very nice." Sirius said nicely, that is until I saw his lewd expression. I automatically smoothed down the bottom of my dress and pulled up the top.

"Our eyes are up here, Black," Angela said sarcastically.

"Are you sure? Something lower is beckoning for my attention." He smirked. Angela smacked him lightly across the face.

"Well, come on then, let's dance." The latest song from a new popular band was playing. It had an upbeat catchy tune. I shrugged.

"Let's go then." The girls and I went out onto the floor where the majority of the crowd was dancing. I knew that the guys stayed back at the table. Sirius could dance, but wouldn't until one of his followers practically begged him to, Peter was to nervous to actually ask a girl to dance, not that he could anyway, and James and Remus would only dance if we asked them too. I knew that they wouldn't have any fun unless we dragged them into it. "Hey Anna, you should go get Remus and make him dance with us."

"Oh, I don't know. What if he says no?" She chewed her lip nervously.

"Then we'll have to make him say yes!" Kate said.

Kate ran back over to the boys with the rest of us trailing along behind her. She stopped a few feet from them and told us her plan. "Alright, Anna asks Remus, I'll ask Sirius, Angela asks Peter, and Lily will, of course, ask James."

"Why of course?" I asked indignantly.

"Because, we all know you're in love with him." Kate answered easily.

"In love? With James bloody Potter? You have got to be kidding me!" I sputtered out the reply.

"Honey, we all see it. The only one that doesn't is James. Ask the other boys if you don't believe me." Anna said gently.

"Maybe I will!" I said crossly.

"You do that." Angela said under her breath.

"Oh, bite me!"

"Okay!" Angela reached over to bite me, but I moved out of her way.

"No no no! I was being sarcastic!"

"Too late!" She said smirking. I started to walk backwards trying to keep an eye on her. It was hard enough to walk forwards in these heels, let alone backwards, so after a few steps I stumbled again. Right into the lap of James Potter. Merlin hated me.

"Oomph!"

"Oh shit! Sorry James! It was these stupid heels again!" I glared at said heels. "Are you okay? Did I hurt you? I am so sorry!" I rambled on until he put his hand over my mouth.

"I'm not quite that delicate, Lily. I'm fine, promise, you just surprised me is all."

"I am so sorry!" I finally got the courage to look at him. I noticed that his glasses weren't there. I picked them up from my lap. "Here's your glasses." I said quietly.

"Thank you." I heard the smirk in his voice and I figured that he really was fine. "Why don't you leave your shoes here, instead of stumbling around every where?"

"That's a good idea." I told him and promptly kicked off the dreaded heels. I almost sighed in relief. "That is so much better!"

"I told you so," James was smug. I stuck my tongue out at him.

"Anyway, there was a reason we came over here." I started.

"We? You're the only one here." James told me.

"Wait, what?" I looked around only to find that he was right. "Where did they all go?"

"Well, while you were being clumsy," I blushed at his words. "The other girls grabbed the guys' hands and pulled them out onto the dance floor." He pointed and I saw the group of my friends. Peter and Remus were awkwardly dancing while Sirius and the girls were grinding and looked like they were having the time of their lives. "Would you like to join them?" He asked holding his hand out to me.

"Sure." I let him lead me to the dance floor. We were greeted with smirks and knowing smiles from more than a few of my friends.

We all danced and grinded into each other for a few more songs until a slow one came on. Deciding against dancing with the others I went back to the table and watched as the others slow-danced in one big circle. I giggled to myself. I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around and I saw Snape standing there.

"Hello, Serverus." I greeted diplomatically. I knew that I had to be nice, or he could spread my secret throughout the entire school.

"Hello, Lily. Would you like to dance?" He asked with a greasy smile.

"No thank you. I came over here to sit for a bit, I'm sorry."

"Oh, are you sure? I invited someone that would very much like to see you, again. I do believe that you know him. A friend from an old school." His smile got even larger until he looked like a Cheshire cat.

"Really? Who would that be?" I asked my curiosity piqued. Although that smile was beginning to scare me

"Alan." He said simply and I felt the calm smile slide right off my face. All of a sudden I felt flashes of emotion. Anger. Rage. Fear. Depression. Terrified. An intense need to slap the smile right off of Snape's face. For a while, I had this crazy notion that I could trust this greasy haired boy. Now, I knew better. He had brought to the surface the one thing that I had wanted to bury from my old life. I did the best thing I knew to do in this situation. I stomped as hard as possible on his foot and left to find the girls or Sirius.

I looked to the dance floor. The song was over and they were gone. I spun around looking towards the refreshments. They weren't there. I searched the entire room. No where. I caught a brief glimpse of Alan and I quickly moved away. There was no way I was letting him anywhere near me. I kept looking. James. I almost sighed in relief. Even if he didn't know why I was scared, I knew that he would protect me.

"James!" I yelled once I was close enough for him to hear me.

"Hey, Lils! Where were you? I thought you said that you were going back to the table." He asked.

"I, ugh, met someone. Look, I'm kind of afraid right now. Please, help me?" I asked letting the terror shine onto my face,

His face instantly darkened. "Of course. What's wrong?" He asked.

"Just a ghost from my past. I just need you to stay near me and don't let anyone besides the rest of our group drag me off. Whatever it takes, okay?" I knew I sounded desperate I just had to make him agree.

"Of course." I gave him a grateful hug. And it was in that moment when I heard his voice.

"Why hello there, Lily. It's been so long hasn't it?" The awful voice washed over me.

"Hi, Alan." I said stiffly.

"Why don't we go dance and catch up on old times?" He asked with an evil smile. I felt fear wash over me again. Then James' hand was around my waist and I felt safe again.

"I'm sorry, but it's my turn to dance with her. Goodbye now." James told Alan coldly and led me out to the dance floor.
"Thank you so much for this, James." I told him sincerely. He didn't have any idea how much it meant to me.

"Anything for you. Even though I haven't known you that long, it feels like I have," He told me.

"It does doesn't it?" I mused. He spun me out, and then back in as we danced. "You're a good dancer, surprisingly."

"Surprisingly? I'll have you know that my parents made me take ballroom dance lessons for over 8 years. I know how to dance very well." I giggled at the thought of a little James lacing up his dancing shoes instead of chasing a Quaffle on his broom.

"What?" He asked.

"Oh, nothing. Just thinking of a little 5 year old James waltzing." I smirked. "I bet Sirius might have some pictures even!" I giggled, again, at that. James blushed beat red.

"Don't you even dare!" He said teasingly.

"Oh, don't you worry, I will." I laughed and he laughed along with me. It was a pleasant sound that was broken by an ugly voice.

"The song is over. It is now my turn with our dear Lily." The horrid man was suddenly standing behind James again.

"I don't think so." He said turning to face Alan.

"You have no claim on her. Therefore it is my turn to dance with her." Alan said his voice that deathly calm that was scary.

"She is my girlfriend," James stressed the lie. "Therefore it is not your turn to dance with her." He said, mocking Alan. I felt a little shocked. Why would James lie like that? What bothered me the most was the fact that James saying that didn't actually bother me. I got through my initial reaction and smirked a little. Apparently this was the wrong thing to do because Alan's clenched fist suddenly snapped forward and hit James directly in the face. I heard a crunch that could have come from his face or his glasses breaking, I wasn't entirely sure. I bent down over James.

"James! James! Are you okay?" He didn't respond. Alan's foot struck out and kicked him in the stomach a few times before I threw myself in front of him. I got kicked in the chest before Alan realized it was me.

"Lily, love, you know that you're not supposed to interfere. Remember what happened last time?" He asked in a sickeningly sweet voice. He yanked me up by my arm and dragged me off. The last thing I remember seeing before the tears clouded my eyes was James' motionless body lying on the ground. My vision then became obscured and everything went black as I fainted.

Before you all kill me for being M.I.A. for so long (and for the cliffie) I just want to let you know that this chapter is almost 5,000 words! It's the longest one yet! Please review and tell me what you think! It really inspires me to write. This chapter was hard to write and I'm not sure if I completely like it. Let me know if you like it!