Author's Note: Thank you to everyone who took the time to review; it means a lot to me! Also, thank you to those who pointed out my mistake with posting the last chapter on my other story. I so enjoyed getting to see the Wizarding World of Harry Potter last week, it was amazing! I lied in my last author note. I said the trip to Hogsmeade wouldn't be in this chapter, but the next one. But in order to progress the story to where I need it to be, the trip will be in this chapter. I hope you all like this one.

JAMES' POV

I dashed through a door pretending to be a wall and up the staircase concealed behind it, dragging Lily by the hand. Peter had never been the brightest wizard, and I knew that he against four Slytherins would not end well. I was determined to come to his rescue before the scumbags could hurt my friend.

We burst through the door to the classroom they were in, wands out. Peter, looking battered and exhausted, had his wand trained on Regulus, who was on the floor. Avery, Mulciber, and Snape watched with cold, appraising eyes, their wands focused lazily on Peter.

"Se- Snape!" Lily shrieked, her green eyes flashing dangerously. "What the devil is going on here?"

"As you can see, Li- Evans," Snape retorted contemptuously, "Pettigrew is cursing Regulus."

I rolled my eyes and stepped further into the room. Peter looked at me, terror in his water eyes. I pointed my wand at Regulus, while Lily pointed hers at Snape, who was in the middle of Mulciber and Avery.

"Come on, Pete," Lily said kindly, her eyes still narrowed at Snape. He scampered towards us, his eyes flickering back towards the group of Slytherins. Mulciber nodded slightly, and I frowned.

"Wha-" I aimed my wand at him, and a cruel smile lit his face.

"NO!" Peter cried, grabbing my arm and forcing it down. Lily and I whipped our heads around to look at him, surprised. "I mean, it's not worth it, Prongs."

"Come on, James, Pete." Lily tossed her hair over her shoulder and began backing out of the room, careful not to turn her back to the Slytherins.

"Lily…" Snape took a step forward, his expression changing from malice to pleading. "Please, can't we just…"

"No." The finality in her tone shocked me as she forced Peter and me out the door. "Get down to the Great Hall, Snape, or I'll report you to Dumbledore."

As we hurried back down to our duties, I turned to Peter.

"Wormtail, what happened back there? Why were you in an unused classroom in the first place?"

"I- erm…" Peter blushed and his eyes darted around as though looking for an escape. "Er…"

Lily arched one eyebrow delicately. "What's up, Pete?"

Taking in his embarrassed expression, a smirk came over my face. "Wormtail, were you meeting a girl?"

"Yes! Yes!" Peter cried. "I was meeting a girl. Then Regulus came in and said some nasty things about Sirius so I cursed him, but Snape and Mulciber and Avery came in, and then you guys showed up."

Lily sighed and shook her head, her curls bouncing from the movement. "They're always up to no good. I can't believe I used to be friends with that arse."

Slightly frightened by her tone, neither Peter nor I said anything. Watching him from the corner of my eye, I couldn't help but feel that my friend was hiding something…

LILY'S POV

"Lily."

I groaned and burrowed deeper under my blankets.

"Lily."

I swatted at the hand that was gently shaking me.

"Lily!"

"Goway," I muttered. "This is Lily's sleepy time."

"Lily! Wake up!"

"No."

"Ugh," the voice said. "I can't get her up."

"Let me try," another voice said. I whimpered and put my pillow over my head. "Lils, James and Sirius are about to burst in here with water balloons, and you're wearing a white shirt."

"MERLIN'S PANTS!" I shrieked, sitting bolt upright and clutching my comforter to my chest. "THEY HAD BETTER NOT OR I WILL KILL THEM!"

Selena, Mary, and Alice burst out laughing. I rubbed my eyes blearily as I looked at them; they already had their winter gear on.

"Come on, love," Alice said, throwing a pair of my jeans, a sweater, my coat, gloves and a hat at me. "It's time to go dress shopping!"

"Eurg."

"Aww, come on, sweetie," Selena grinned, patting my knee. "We're meeting the guys for a Butterbeer in the Three Broomsticks in half an hour, so you'd better hurry up.

"I hate you all," I informed them as I rolled out of bed, grateful I took my showers at night rather than in the morning.

I quickly changed and brushed my teeth in the massive bathroom, half listening to my friends' lighthearted chatter as I applied mascara and a little bit of lip balm. After taming my curls and pulling my hat over them, I trudged out of the bathroom to meet my friends.

The walk down to the Three Broomsticks was, as is to be expected, freezing; at least there was no wind. We were desperately looking forward to a nice warm Butterbeer. I led the way inside the crowded establishment (yes, I did just say establishment) and searched for the boys. They were sitting in corner booth near the very back of the room, and as we made our way over to them, I noticed it had been magically expanded. There was no way it had been able to fit eight people the last time I sat there. Wait, not eight- nine?

"FRANK!" Alice squealed, throwing her arms around him enthusiastically. "Ohmigosh, what are you doing here?"

Frank Longbottom beamed at his girlfriend, as he returned her embrace. "I had the day off, so I thought I'd surprise you." He winked at James, who grinned back.

Did James have something to do with this? I wondered.

Auror training suited Frank. His dark brown hair was cropped short, and although there was already a scar on his cheek, it made him more handsome, in a way. It showed that he would do anything to protect the ones he loved- namely, his mother and Alice. His formally lanky body had filled out some, and he had even gotten an Auror trainee jacket that made look very, well, official.

I smiled at my old friend as I took my seat. "Hey, Frank."

"Hey, Lils, Lena, Mary," he smiled back. Sirius brought back a tray of nine Butterbeers and set them on the table in front of us.

After catching up with Frank and giving him the details about Hogwarts' latest gossip (honestly, I don't think that interests him that much, but Alice does), talk turned to the upcoming Potter Christmas Ball.

"-and we just have to match, Frankie, because it would look great in pictures!" Alice cooed, looking up at him adoringly. I love her, but she is so peppy sometimes!

"So, James, are dates required?" Selena asked, her tone slightly mischievous. I frowned at her. What was she up to?

"Um…" James scratched his neck awkwardly. "Well, not required, but my parents' guests and my family would give you funny looks if you didn't have one. It's kind of tradition."

"Great!" Selena said happily. "So, Sirius, will you go with me?"

"Why of course, Len," he said, smirking.

"And Mar, will you go with me?" Remus asked his girlfriend, a slight wolfish grin on his face.

Mary nodded, kissing his cheek. I nearly barfed from all of the cuteness sitting around the table.

"Who are you gonna go with, Pete?" Mary asked, turning to the mousy boy sitting across from her.

"Oh, um. I'm not sure- I mean," he corrected himself at a look from Remus, "I'm going to go with Dorcas Meadows. You know, from Ravenclaw."

"Oh, ugh!" I cried, hitting myself in the forehead. "Now I'm the only one without a date." I folded my arms and slouched against the bench, pouting. I was being immature, but at that moment I didn't really care. James probably had some gorgeous, tall, blonde haired date with long legs, and I'd be all alone. Awesome.

"No you're not, Lils," Sirius said, slinging an arm around me. "James doesn't have a date either! You should go together."

"Oh, that's perfect!" Selena said happily. "Then we'd all have dates."

I glanced at James against my will, who was staring at me with wide eyes.

"Well, erm." He cleared his throat. "I guess, er, since neither of us have dates, we could go together. If you want to, that is."

"Well, I guess that would be okay. So we're not alone, you know." My face was turning scarlet, I could feel it.

"Yeah," James said, his hazel eyes still locked on mine. "Cool."

"Well now that that's settled, let's go SHOPPING!" Alice bounced up and down on her seat. I groaned. "Oh come on, Lily! You've got to look gorgeous now that the hosts' son is your date!"

I groaned again and sank further down in my seat. She was right, but that didn't mean I had to like it.

After we said our goodbyes to the boys, I was dragged against my will to Gladrags Wizard Wear, which had a special Muggle dress section in the back. Because the Potter Christmas Ball was an exclusive, invitation-only event, few Hogwarts students were in the need of attire; we were the only ones in the dress section. Alice flew from rack to rack, pulling off dresses and holding them up to me. She clucked and shook her head and muttered to herself until she had found five that were to her satisfaction. Shoving me towards a dressing room, she waltzed around to look for herself. Mary and Selena followed me with their arms full of their own choices, shaking their heads at our friend's folly.

"She's in her element," Mary commented as she shut herself in one of the tiny rooms.

Wearily, I picked up the first dress Alice had chosen for me. It was a bright blue with a layer of black lace and a low plunging V-neck. I took it off right away. It was entirely too revealing for me. The second was a black strapless dress that was much too form-fitting; I could barely move in it. The third dress was a floor length, silk dress with a halter strap. It was emerald green and had silver beading in the center of the empire waist.

After using magic to do the zipper and the clasp, I turned to the mirror and gasped. It looked as if it had been made for me. It hugged my body in all the right places, and the neckline wasn't so low that it looked trashy. The green made my eyes pop against my freckled skin and didn't clash with my red hair.

I think this is the first time I'm actually excited about a dress, I thought to myself, as Alice called, "Pick your favorite dress and then come out to show everyone!"

Giggling to myself, I stepped out of the dressing room, where Alice, Mary and Selena were waiting. Alice had picked an ice-blue dress that was accented with a gold empire waist and golden embroidered flowers. It fell to her knees, and she had already picked out a pair of golden, strappy heels to match. Mary also had a floor length dress with an empire waist, though hers was dark red and made of satin. The top was detailed with small roses that continued to the top of strap that went over one shoulder. Selena had picked the most modern dress out of all of us. It was strapless and electric blue, the fitted bodice opening up to a multi-layered tutu skirt. Each layer was lined with black sparkles, and the last layer was made of black tulle. She had also picked out shoes, but hers were black pumps.

"Guys, you look amazing!" I told them fervently, and they turned to look at me.

Mary's eyes widened. "Lils, you look stunning! That's the perfect dress for you."

I spun around, smiling as the skirt billowed out around me. "You really think so?"

"Yes!" Selena and Mary cried in unison. Alice laughed at them.

"You look great. We're gonna be heartbreakers!" She sang as she bounded back into her dressing room.

I went back into my own to change, smiling goofily at my luck. It was going to be the best ball ever! (Not that I've ever been to a ball… but you know what I mean.) The only thing that could make it better would be if James still had feelings for me….

Stop it, Lily! I chastised myself. That's over and you know it. Forget it already. You lost your chance.

But a ball is the perfect place to change that! Another part of me argued. Wearing that magical dress, dancing to a slow song, your head against his chest, and his arms around your waist- it's so romantic!

You're off your rocker.

My inner battle continued as I exited the dressing room, but as I walked towards the clerk to pay for my dress, I couldn't help feeling a little bubble of hope growing inside my chest.

Author's Note: And there it is! They've got their dresses, and the plan to get James and Lily together unfolds! I'm not terribly great at describing dresses, so if you want a better idea of what they look like, tell me in a review and I'll PM you the links of the dresses that were my inspiration. The ball will be a perfect night of romance… right? You'll have to wait to find out! Please, please review! Please? :)