September 2nd, 1997, 12:01 a.m.:

Still lying in bed... I think too much, I really do.

I didn't hear any more noise so I decided to go downstairs and sit in front of the fire that was going on my favorite armchair.

I settled in, and brought a blanket actually, I was actually comfortable.

It's just been a weird couple of days. Last year, actually last week I hated James. Now I find myself oddly attracted to him. Now I don't know what to do. I've never been in a position where I couldn't find a solution or something that'll make it better, but now I'm confused about what I'm feeling. If it's not hate... what is it? It seems like an obvious answer... but the truth is... I'm afraid of the truth right now... For years, I've thought that he was in it for the game or the challenge of getting me, not legitimately like me. But now... I'm not so sure. I that, right there, is why I'm scared...

All of a sudden I heard footsteps coming down James' staircase; I turned around quickly and saw that Sirius Black was the source of the footsteps.

He too, looked up and seemed to flinch slightly

"What are you doing up?" He asked

"What are you doing up?" I asked back

He seemed a little lost in thought for a second before answering

"Just going back to my dorm" He said simply

"At this hour?" I asked skeptically

Sirius nodded... walking over to where I was on my armchair

"Yes" He said

"After curfew?" I asked again

"Hey I was with Head Boy, there allowed to be out that late" Sirius said

I narrowed my eyes at Sirius playfully

"What?" He asked

"What were you doing?" I asked simply

"Why do you want to know?" Sirius asked in the same tone

"Curiosity!" I said honestly

"Eh, just talking" Sirius said... definitely hiding something

"About what?" I asked trying to make Sirius get to the point

"About stuff" Sirius said eyeing me

I looked at him skeptically

"Okay, well why are you just going back to your dorm?" I asked

"You ask a lot of questions Evans, what are you doing up at this hour?" Sirius asked

"I couldn't sleep" I said simply

"Why not?" Sirius asked

"I woke up and I don't know, just a lot on my mind I guess" I said clearly honest

"Like what" Sirius said smirking because it's basically the same questions I was asking

"About the upcoming week" I said obviously referring to James meeting my family, why I was showing someone I'm so confused about and so unsure of to my family, well that's how far I'd go to prove and point.

"Are you nervous?" Sirius asked

"About what?" I asked back

"Well you know about the dinner next weekend?" Sirius asked getting nervous himself

I took a deep breath

"Honestly? Petrified" I said without thinking, I wasn't really expecting to open up to Sirius Black.

Sirius looked a little taken aback by my answer

"What?" I asked just as nervous now

"Just wasn't expecting that answer from Lily Evans! That's all. But you know it's just a dinner, to prove a point... right?" Sirius said

I hesitated but nodded

"It is just to prove a point... right?" Sirius asked again wanting a reassuring answer instead of a "head nod".

"Well I guess I'm really nervous because I always talked about how much I hated James to my parents and such, I just don't want them to get the wrong idea." I said which isn't entirely true

"Are you sure that's the only reason your nervous?" Sirius asked

...

...

"Yes I'm... sure" I whispered the end

"You know, you could change your mind?" Sirius said quietly

"About what?" I asked completely aware of what he was going to say next...

"James" He whispered that I barely heard him

"Who says I haven't?" I said just as quietly

Sirius' eyebrows rose quickly

I wasn't supposed to say that... I got caught in the moment... THE MOMENT OF WHAT LILY?

I groaned...

"You...you...you...have?" Sirius asked quietly once again

"I don't know. I'm just confused okay?" I said with a little edge because I didn't think I was going to say anything to Sirius, yet there was this feeling of comfort I had around him... and I went with it... kind of

Sirius just stood there... shocked and I giggled... I couldn't help it! Then he started to laugh, sending us both into fits of laughter.

"I understand! But I just can't believe you... and James?" Sirius said

"Hey! I don't like him! I just don't hate him..." I said somewhat awkwardly

Sirius took this into consideration

"And you don't think he's unpleasant looking..." Sirius said smirking

"SHUT IT BLACK!" I shouted, laughing

Sirius laughed

"You Marauder's..." I said under my breath

"Yes we're all just dashing aren't we?" Sirius said

Well they are all attractive... not admitting that one to Black though...

"Yeah... right" I said somewhat sarcastically

We laughed a little bit before Sirius said:

"You're not so bad, Evans!" Sirius said gladly

"You're not so bad yourself, Black" I said playfully

And we smiled with a lingering laughter still on our faces

"What time is it?" I asked and Sirius turned around...

"1:39 a.m." Sirius said nonchalantly

I groaned... so early

We continued to talk and I suppose at one point we both fell asleep because in the morning...

"Uh Padfoot?" I head James' voice through my closed eyelids.

Then I heard a scattered moan, and Sirius fall off the couch

"What are you still doing here?" James asked a little nervous

I heard Sirius get back up and sit on the couch once again

"Uh I walked downstairs...spotted Evans... I mean Lily... on the chair and then we just talked a little and I guess we fell asleep... don't worry about it mate!" Sirius said happily

"Haha fine no I'm fine, I was just wondering!" James said in a happy tone after figuring out what happened.

I opened my eyes and... Sat up slowly and sat there looking at the two guys laughing, they heard me and immediately turned around.

"Good Morning" I said somewhat in a warning tone, rubbing the crook of my neck... sleeping sideways on an armchair... not a good idea.

"Good Morning!" Sirius said enthusiastically

I rubbed my eyes and stretched

"What time is it?" I asked

"Seven" James said looking at the clock

I got up quickly and ran upstairs to my room, got my under garments and my uniform and ran back downstairs, knocked on the bathroom door, went into the bathroom, stripped, and jumped into the shower, quickly showering, then dressing and walking back out of the bathroom casually.

7:20 a.m.:

"Breakfast?" I asked

They nodded and got up, both in their uniforms

"Lily?" James asked as we were walking down to the Entrance Hall

"Yes?" I asked back

"What should I wear on Saturday?" He asked

"I don't know! Something formal though, knowing my sister..." I said trailing off, not giving it much thought

"Oh Brother!" Sirius said

"What?" I asked

"Nothing at all" Sirius said turning around and trying to walk the other way

"What's with him?" I asked simply"

James smirked, yet tried to hide it as Katie Thaster came running out of the Great Hall, looking frantically. Frankly, she scared me... a lot and not because she's an extraordinary witch or really much of a threat, but because she was OBSESSED with The Marauder's, Sirius in particular. She was this black haired, string bean that had these grayish colored eyes that she would never take off of you. She could win at any stare down. She spotted James immediately, but after seeing me, quickly scuttled away in hopes of finding another Marauder... wow.

"Now I understand" I said

And we both had a good laugh, even James knew Katie's crazy obsession, before walking into the Great Hall and taking a seat next to each other, across from Remus and Peter.

The rest of the week went pretty quickly, school just starting up again, not really getting into it yet except for those special classes that never wait to dig into the new material and curriculum. And soon it was:

September 12th, 1997

I stood there looking into my closet... I still didn't have something picked out for tomorrow. I had something... but then I just got a letter from Petunia...

Dear Lily,

Sorry for the late notice, but I wanted to warn you that we would be going out to dinner, so tell James to wear a Tuxedo, and for you wear a fancy dress. I hope it's not an inconvenience! See you tomorrow!

Sincerely,

Petunia

So I looked into my closet and found this one dress. It was a plain, simple, black dress, I went with it.

It was ten o'clock and I wanted to get a good night sleep so I just lay in bed and started thinking once again.

Slowly, I started to fall asleep.

September 13th, 1997: Noon

I had just had lunch and I was in my room, sitting on my bed, staring at the dress. I groaned... unflattering... but fine

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.

I went to answer it, but not before Alice burst through the door and before I could process her presence, she gave me a GIANT hug!

"ALICE!" I called out

"LILY!" She called back

"HOW'D? WHY ARE YOU HERE?" I asked obviously extremely excited

"Haha! I thought you may need some glamour guidance and some best friend advice for well this night, which by the way is going to be crazy... Haha, so anyways, I asked Dumbledore if I could visit and he said yes! SO now I'm here, in your room, my old room!" Alice concluded and I smiled and hugged her once again, glad to have my best friend back

"So what are you wearing?" Alice asked in suspicion due to my lack of clothing experiences especially with formal attire.

I showed her my dress.

"No, no, no... Unflattering, no structure, plain, boring, and too simple" Alice said, "Luckily, I brought some of my own!" She said

"Fine" I said faux bitterly yet excited that my best friend was still here!

I tried on three dresses before finding the right one

She pulled this peacock designed dress that layered down to about an inch above my knee, with a simple black halter aligning my back, it was gorgeous, I had to admit.

"Perfect" Alice said simply, before throwing me into a pair of four inch black stiletto heels, I charmed them to make sure I didn't trip...

"Hey! James is what? 6 foot? You need something to carry the difference from your 5 foot 5 status!" she squealed

"Fine" I said once again... I really hated stiletto heels!

She then started my hair... yes my long curly red hair. She managed to put it in an up-do, leaving once strange of curly hair on my right side down, and made some type of poof with my side bangs! I had to admit, it was quite flattering. She also put a charm so my hair wouldn't get messed up or moved.

Onto the make-up, she started out with my shade of foundation, then she put a light black shade and started blending into a darker black and even darker black on my eye for the eye-shadow. Next, she put a nice black eye-liner on my bottom eye lid, and top eye lid, and then she put black mascara on my eyelashes. Then Alice put some blush on me cheeks and forehead, and finally she then put some lip-stick, and then a glossy lip gloss on my lips. And in conclusion, Alice put an anti-smudge and anti-mess up charm on the make-up so I didn't mess any of it up nor did it come off of my face.

And then the jewelry, Alice lent me her diamond straight lined earrings, which were gorgeous and her diamond bracelet, which was just as beautiful.

"Alice! Thank you so much! I don't know what I would have done without you!" I shouted

"Yeah I would be afraid to find out!" She said

And we both laughed

"Well good luck on your uh "escorted company" and dinner! I'll be waiting here when you get back!" Alice shouted

I hugged her again before walking down the stairs to sit lightly on the coach...checking inside my black clutch to see all the necessities... oh Alice... What would I do without her?

By this time it was about Five-Forty-Five and I was sitting on the armchair, reading a book, when I heard James' door open.