A/N: So here it is: The next chapter. I can't believe that this is already chapter 10 but then on the other hand writing this story is becoming easier with time. I really hope that all of you are going to enjoy reading this chappy as much as I enjoyed writing it, Please do leave a review because they are really helping me improve my writing style. I have to apologize in advance in case the next chapter might take a while. I have my big final maths exam coming up. (I don't need to say any more or do I?)

Concerning book seven I can only say that I was really really disappointed when it came to Sirius because I had honestly hoped for him to return. Well instead of ranting about it (which I have already done for several hours) I will continue writing. So enjoy and PLEASE REVIEW!

Chapter 10

Life had gotten much easier since this night at the Room of Requirement. Annie had finally lost much of her shyness when talking to James Potter, even though she still didn't feel comfortable enough around him to act completely herself. This didn't bother her much though. She was quite thankful that she didn't swallow her own tongue every time she saw the infamous marauder. And this happened much more often than before. The atmosphere at tutoring sessions was more relaxed than ever and even during the day James finally acknowledged her existence and she found herself pretty often in the company of the four boys. She noticed however that every time James approached her it seemed to be because of some advice he wanted to get concerning Lily Evans. Annie did her best to ignore this though, she was just glad that she finally was being noticed – no matter the reason.

James was slowly but surely making progress with Lily, because of Annie's constant advice. The fact that Annie was sitting in the Common Room with the marauders more often nowadays seemed to be as much for her sake as for James' since she had adverted at least a dozen disasters, when James seemed to be on the verge to retreat to his old ways. With the help of Sirius and Remus however, who seemed to have quickly caught onto what she was doing, they had always managed to get through James' thick head and bring him back down to earth. The new arrangement of the girl joining the four lads every so often also seemed to have a positive affect on the rest of the group. Remus, being the quiet one could much more easily relate to Annie when she seemed to draw back into herself, whereas Sirius seemed to have taken up the job to try to get her to open up as often as possible. It was just two days until the Halloween feast and every fifth year and above seemed to have either sorted out who they were going with or was in a hurry to do so.

The feast was also the main topic among Sirius, Remus and James who were sitting around the fireplace. Annie was in the library trying to find a book for her History of Magic Essay, whereas Wormtail had simply disappeared a while ago more or less unnoticed by the rest of the group.

"So who do you reckon I should take?" James asked for the umpteenth time, merely gaining a groan from his two friends sitting opposite him. Remus who had been trying to read until then, carefully closed his book and focused on him.

"Prongs we've been through this." he explained and even though his voice was calm and collected Sirius could detect a hint of annoyance. He bit back a smirk, he knew the full moon was coming up in a week, which left Remus much more short tempered than usually.

James merely snorted and threw Remus an annoyed look. Admittedly they had talked about this before but this didn't mean he had to like the answer he was receiving.

"What's wrong with asking Lily to accompany me to the feast?" He asked with a dreamy look on his face, clearly imagining what a wonderful couple the two of them would make. Sirius' voice shook him from his thoughts.

"Because" Sirius slowly explained, as if talking to a toddler, "You wouldn't want to destroy all the progress you just made." Remus threw Sirius an impressed glance.

"I couldn't have said it better myself. What's up with you Padfoot?"

"Yeah", James said, but he didn't sound at all impressed. "Who are you and what have you done to Sirius?"

Sirius just shook his head. "It's nothing. I just don't see the point for you James trying to impress Evans for ages and then when it is finally working, destroying all of that in one night."

James looked downright affronted now. "Why should I mess this up so badly?"

"Because you just can't help yourself when you're around Evans. Remember we've watched you mess up for years." Remus said bluntly and Sirius couldn't help but wonder how much of this was Remus and how much of this was Moony talking. He quickly decided to interfere though before this developed into a real fight.

"Isn't there anyone else you could consider going with? Someone, you know, you feel comfortable with?"

James let out another snort of amusement. "Padfoot you know I've just broken up with this stupid Ravenclaw girl, seriously I think she was just dating me for my looks."

Remus and Sirius looked at each other and started to laugh, Remus was the first to regain the ability to speak. Even though he still sounded somewhat amused, the sharp undertone in his voice had not yet completely disappeared.

"You do realize James how conceited you just sounded?" James leaned back in his armchair and shrugged somewhat apologetically.

"I know, it's just nerves I guess. I really don't want to go alone to this thing."

Suddenly a thought entered his mind. "Do you two already have dates?"

Remus grinned somewhat smugly. "As a matter of fact I do." James stared at him dumfoundedly, Sirius too looked surprise but was a little better at hiding it.

"Who are you going with then?" James asked, sounding earnestly interested. If someone deserved a date for the feast it was Remus.

"Oh you know, Stefanie." Remus answered, trying not to sound too happy about it.

While James asked Remus how he had managed to ask this particular girl out, nonetheless a close friend of Lily's, Sirius was trying to figure out what to do about his date dilemma. He knew whom he wanted to take, he just didn't know if he would have enough courage to actually follow through with his plan. He knew she'd never be interested in him in this way, not since it was this obvious that she had her eyes on his best mate. Nonetheless, Sirius couldn't help but feel a little bit hopeful that if no one else asked her, maybe she would consider going with him as friends. This thought brought a smile to his face, which grew even bigger when he saw the portrait hole open and Annie Jordan enter. Now was his time! He slowly rose in order to ask if he could have a private word with her but James bet him to it.

He could only watch while the two left the Common Room through the Portrait hole again and Sirius turned to Remus for an explanation.

"What on earth has just happened?"

Remus threw him a pitiful look and had just opened in his mouth in order to explain when they heard a small shriek from outside and the portrait hole burst open again. Annie stormed in and if it hadn't been for the brilliant smile on her face Sirius would have been worried. She didn't join the two boys at the fireplace though, instead ran upstairs to the girls' dormitories and a few seconds later came back with a warm cloak and a small object in her hand, which Sirius couldn't quite make out. He watched helplessly as she ran back out of the room. A few seconds later James entered with a smug smile on his face and flung himself lazily into the armchair he had occupied before.

Sirius took a deep calming breath, he knew that the look on James' face didn't mean something good and the fact that it was coinciding with Annie's brilliant mood didn't bode well either.

"Care to explain what just happened?" Sirius asked in a would-be calm voice.

"Oh I found the perfect solution to my problem. You guys said that asking Lily to accompany me would be wrong and believe it or not, I do agree with you."

Sirius felt Remus shuffling around in the chair beside him, but didn't take his eyes off his best mate. James had never agreed so readily to a plan if it was going against his own wishes and Sirius knew that the Gryffindor Quidditch Captain had had his pants in a twist for weeks because he had been advised not to ask the girl of his dreams to be his date.

"I agree because I think I've figured out a much more effective method in order to get closer to Lily." James said smugly.

Sirius couldn't shake the feeling of foreboding when Remus spoke up, he too sounded somewhat suspiciously.

"What do you mean James?"

"I will make her jealous." James explained with the air of someone who had just found the perfect solution to all the problems in the world.

Sirius' stomach dropped, he knew what was coming.

"I just asked Jordan if she would care to accompany me on Friday and she wholeheartedly agreed. Seemed a little overexcited coming to think of it, seeing we're merely going as friends." He added as afterthought.

"You told her this right?" Sirius growled and earned himself a thoroughly confused look.

"Told her what?" James asked oblivious and without a care in the world.

"Told her that you were just going as friends. Told her that you were only using her in order to make another girl jealous."

James seemed to have finally picked up on Sirius' tone of voice and the big smile on his face vanished in an instant.

"If you put it like this – well no but…" He didn't get the chance to continue, since Sirius had jumped up and ran into the boys' dormitory slamming the door shut behind him. James looked at Remus waiting for an explanation but all the young werewolf could do was bury his head in his hands.

Annie felt like she was floating not walking. She couldn't believe it. James Potter had finally asked her out. Well not exactly, but he had asked her to be his date for the Halloween feast, a position most females at Hogwarts would kill for. She had thought, no she had been sure that he was going to ask Lily but it turned out that he hadn't. That he preferred her, Annie Jordan over Lily Evans. It really felt like a dream come true.

Everything had started innocently enough. She had just returned to the Common Room from the library, when James asked her to have a private word. Thinking it had to be something concerning either their tutoring sessions or Lily Evans she had followed him out the portrait hole and into an empty classroom understanding his need not to be overheard. When he had asked her if she would like to accompany him to the Halloween celebrations she had been overjoyed. At once she had agreed to go with him and trying not to let on how much it meant to her she had excused herself with some feeble apology. She ran back to the portrait hole and couldn't help but let out a squeal of excitement – her biggest dream had come true. She sprinted up to her dormitory grabbing her cloak and the two-way mirror and ran back downstairs and out of the Common Room again. All she wanted to do right now was to tell Michael about the happy news.

She sat down under her favorite tree at the edge of the lake.

With a huge smile on her face, she looked into the mirror and called for her brother, who appeared at once. When he saw her smiling so radiantly he couldn't help but smile as well.

"Hi pup!" he greeted her cheerfully. "What's the matter? Don't you have homework to do or something?" Annie knew he was merely kidding and had a hard time not to interrupt him while he was still speaking. Once he stopped though she blurted out:

"I've got a date!"

Michael merely blinked.

"You have a what?"

"I, oh dear brother of mine, have a date. I've been asked to go to the Halloween feast by none other than James Potter." Annie couldn't help but giggle. She had never felt so happy in her entire life.

"That's great!" Michael exclaimed but then a thoughtful expression appeared on his face. "Hang on you didn't tell me you two were seeing each other."

Annie's expression fell a little bit.

"We're not – yet. But he did ask me to be his date on Friday."

Michael frowned and Annie had a feeling that she wouldn't like what came out of his mouth next. She was right.

" But didn't you tell me just a few days ago that you were helping him to get together with Lily Evans, that you were making great progress?" Annie shook her head disbelievingly. Why couldn't he just be happy for her?

"I did" she agreed half-heartedly. "But everything is different now. He asked me not Lily-" She said stubbornly, trying to ignore the first doubts that were rising in her.

Michaels voice had lost all cheerfulness when he spoke next. "Has it ever occurred to you that maybe James Potter wants to achieve something entirely different by taking you to the feast? That he maybe just wants to…"

"Stop right there." Annie's voice was harsh now, all happiness gone from her face. "James has just asked me out. Me – off all people he asked me. He picked me over anyone else, picked me even over Lily Evans. I will not let you spoil my happiness. I thought that you'd be excited for me, Mike."

Michael sounded desperate when he spoke next.

"Annie – pup- I didn't mean it like this. Just slow down for one second and think about it. James Potter chose you over the girl he had apparently been in love with since first year. Don't you think there's something fishy about it?"

Annie was really angry now and tried to ignore the urge to throw the mirror into the lake, only so that she wouldn't have to see her brother's face, not hear his words, listen to his reasoning.

"I hate you for ruining this for me" she cried out and broke the connection. She remained sitting, only looking out onto the lake but not really seeing it. This was the worst row she had ever had with Michael and it pushed the happiness she had felt only moments before to the back of her mind. She watched a few first years throwing some food into the water for the giant squid. Her brother was wrong and she would prove it. James Potter had asked her out for the sake of her alone, she just knew it.

Annie didn't know how she had gotten through the next day, the day before Halloween. All she knew was that she was incredible happy. True, the fight with Michael had put a damper on her feelings the night before but right now she couldn't care less about what her overprotective brother might be saying. Luckily her mother had insisted on sending Annie her dress robes a few weeks ago even though a few days before she hadn't even been sure if she would be attending the celebrations at all. She stood in front of the mirror right now, tuning out all the other girls in the room who were getting ready for the fest as well. She swirled around once in her navy blue dress robes admiring herself. Even though she usually never paid much attention to her attire she had to admit that dressing up once in a while wasn't too bad. She knew she would never develop the same obsession with clothes that other witches her age shared, but for tonight she didn't mind at all acting a little bit girly for a change.

The other girls must have noticed the mood she was in because suddenly she found Lily standing next to her, looking at her with a smile.

"Hey Annie!" she greeted. "You look really nice." Annie thankfully smiled at Lily. The girl was wearing a green dress robe and looked as excited as Annie.
"Can you believe that they hold two different Halloween feasts this year? A senior and a junior one? I am so happy that we're in sixth year!" Lily exclaimed which caused everyone in the room to giggle and Annie couldn't help but join in.

"I know it's wonderful" she said earnestly. "Even though this required getting dates."

"But that's half the fun of it." Stefanie chimed in and everybody nodded. Annie had to agree, at least this time getting a date hadn't been a problem at all.

Sarah, another one of her roommates, came to stand beside Lily and turned to Annie.

"So who is taking you to the ball Annie?"

Annie wasn't sure if she should tell or not. But then everyone was going to see her date later that night anyhow.

"How do you know someone asked me? I could be going on my own."

"Oh please", Sarah snorted disbelievingly. "With this silly smile you had on your face all day?"

"Oh fine." Annie conceded, though finding it not really hard to admit. "If you must know. James is taking me."

The whole room quieted at once.

"James?" Lily asked quietly. "You mean as in James Potter?"

Annie blushed self-consciously, not knowing how to interpret the now somewhat depressing silence.

"Yes" she admitted quietly "as in James Potter."
The excited and friendly atmosphere from before was gone instantly. Lily walked over to her bed and sat down heavily, the other girls stood around her, whispering. When Annie tried to approach Lily she had the impression that the other girls were only letting her pass with reluctance, a notion Annie just couldn't understand. What were they all so worked up about?
When she stood right in front of Lily she tried to meet the other girl's eyes but failed to do so. Lily's face was hidden by her red hair while she was fiddling with the hem of her robe, clearly trying to get a grip on herself.

"Did I say something wrong, Lily?" she asked thoroughly confused.

She saw how the other girl straightened up and then looked at her. It was impossible for Annie to interpret the look on the girl's face. It seemed somewhat guarded, the happy and carefree expression from before had vanished.

"No, Annie." Lily said forcefully. "You didn't say anything wrong at all."

And with this she walked out of the Common Room followed by the rest of girls, leaving a thoroughly confused Annie behind.

Annie walked back to her own bed, slowly sitting down on it. The way Lily acted didn't make any sense at all. Why did she care if James Potter was taking her, Annie, to the ball? Lily couldn't stand the Gryffindor Seeker. She shouldn't have minded even if he was taking Moaning Myrtle. But then a thought suddenly appeared to her, a most unwelcome thought. Could it be that Lily Evans was jealous? No, that couldn't be it, or could it? James and the fiery redhead started to get along with each other only a couple of weeks ago. Most of the time had involved her or one of the other lads stomping on James foot (rather hard in Sirius' case) in order to keep him from saying anything stupid. Annie had been aware that things were indeed looking up she just hadn't thought that Lily's interest would be so easily captured.
She knew that she should be feeling happy about it. This was exactly what Dumbledore had wanted her to do. But this had been before James had asked her out. James

She checked her watch and quickly walked over to the door, whatever Lily had to be thinking right out, there was nothing Annie could do about it. James had asked her out after all and she couldn't help but smile at the thought that it seemed as if he had indeed chosen her over one of the most popular girls at Hogwarts.

Sirius was pacing at the bottom of the staircase; James was standing beside him with a dreamy look on his face. Lily had just passed him with most of the other girls' in tow and even though she had done nothing else but scowl at James it seemed as if it was impossible for the lad with the unruly black hair to stop drooling over how the girl of his dreams had looked tonight. Even Sirius' had to admit that Evans wasn't bad looking, especially not tonight but right now he couldn't care less. Since Remus had already walked off with his giggling date, it was Sirius' task to keep James in check. He still couldn't believe the reason for James to take Annie Jordan to the feast but no matter how much Remus and Sirius had tried to make James realize what was going to happen if his date for the evening found out, James refused to see reason. Sirius' didn't dare to think what would happen if Annie discovered what James was planning and it had taken him a lot of self-restraint not to knock some sense into the thick head of his best mate. So in the end he had decided (well Remus and him had decided) that Sirius was going to monitor James' behavior closely. Sirius knew from watching the girl that she seemed smitten by James' and by the way James had talked about her, he seemed to have caught on as well.

"… seemed little overexcited" - The arrogance that had been displayed by James' at this occasion still caused Sirius to scowl. Who was James to judge someone he didn't know at all?

Sirius would have gotten even more lost on his thoughts when he hadn't picked up on the light sound of someone descending the staircase from the girls dormitory.

Annie was carefully walking down the stairs, her eyes fixed on her feet as if trying to keep herself from tripping. The blue dress robes she wore seemed to be changing from a dark blue into a light blue while she walked and Sirius couldn't help but wonder if this was an actual charm or merely a trick of the light. He cleared his throat when Annie finally came to a halt in front of the two boys.

"Hi Annie" he said nervously, trying to remind himself that he wasn't taking her to the feast tonight, so technically there was no need whatsoever for him to be nervous. Technically my ass…

"Hi Sirius" he gave him a happy smile but Sirius could tell that by the way she was holding herself she still seemed quite nervous. She heard her taking a calming breath when her eyes moved towards his best mate on his right.

"Hi James" Sirius didn't miss the uncertainty in her voice and a look at James' face told him the reason for it. James was still staring unblinkingly at the portrait hole where Lily Evans had disappeared a while ago, apparently still lost in his thoughts.

"You look really nice tonight." Sirius said quietly and took the opportunity when Annie adverted her glace and blushed to elbow James in the side….hard.

It took James a moment to regain his bearings and he looked somewhat surprised when his eyes fell on the girl standing right in front of him.

"Oh hi Annie" he gave her a friendly smile. "Shall we go then?"

Annie nodded and Sirius could do nothing but suppress a growl and follow them when James led her out of the Gryffindor common room towards the Great Hall, where the senior feast was taking place.