The night of the dance had finally arrived, and the school buzzed with unadulterated joy. Laughter and shouting permeated the girls' dormitory. Inside, things were more boisterous than anyone could have guessed. Girls moved quickly in and out of chambers, giving twirls, and running to the next room just as fast as they entered.

Lily stared somberly at her reflection as Angela entered the room. The serious look on her face was replaced quickly with a smirk that Angela knew well. Both of them looked ravishing in their floor length gowns dripped head to toe in fine looking jewels.

"We look like a couple of old biddies, don't we?" Angela said.

"I do feel quite old in this gown, a bit like my mother actually…" Lily looked somber again, "Angie?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you realize this is going to be our last dance at Hogwarts?" The girls shared a wistful look, grasping the words that hung in the air. Nostalgia clung to them as tightly as their new ball gowns.

"Well then, we better go out in style, Lils. Let's make this a night to remember."

"Let's."

"Are you ready to go?"

"Yeah, just a second, let me put my other earring in," Lily said giving herself another once over, "Okay, I'm ready." She walked towards her best friend and grabbed her hand as they descended the stairs. There were a few boys here and there in the common room, but for the most part, more girls stood around anxiously wringing their hands. As far as Lily could tell, the boys had all migrated to the Great Hall where the dance would be held.

Lily felt eager to see the transformation of the Great Hall into something a little more magical. As they left the common room, the change in atmosphere permeated the castle. The usually well-lit walls and staircases were replaced with dimness and a pale blue light originating from an unknown source.

As they entered the great hall, Lily felt moved by the renovation. A light fog kissed the ground with a mirth-like effervescence. The hall looked almost barren with the removal of the tables. Although sturdy wooden chairs were strewn about the room, most of the students appeared to be awkwardly standing. A soft and calming melody drifted to Lily's adorned ears. Stiffness pervaded the hall as nervous eyes frantically perused the threshold for their dates. As Lily spotted Severus she beckoned him towards her with a slender hand and he sauntered over. He was dressed handsomely, Lily thought. His hair was slicked back out of his face and a lively red flower adorned the pocket of his black dress robes, the perfect complement to her crimson dress, she thought.

Something about Snape appeared altered. Had he trimmed his hair? Maybe it was the dapper dress robes? Surely it was just the attire making him appear differently. She felt bothered that she could not immediately figure it out, and then she realized what was so different about him. He was actually happy. Her heart warmed as she recognized Severus' jovial appearance, something she hadn't seen in years. He offered his elbow to her and she placed hers through it, then steered her further into the room.

Angela had been enveloped into a group of dateless girls, awaiting the arrival of Sirius. This alleviated Lily from the worry of James Potter, at least momentarily.

"Hello," Severus said, kissing her hand lightly, "You look wonderful."

"Me? How about you? Your robe looks impeccable!" It wasn't just the robe, but she didn't want to come off too strong. She wasn't quite sure where this newfound friendship was going yet with Severus and she didn't want to regret anything.

Just then, James entered the hall, looking more devastating than ever before. Whether or not he meant too, he was silently commanding the attention of the room. Jealousy and desire permeated the hall at different levels.

Severus let a sharp hiss escape his lips. He seemed to deflate the instant Lily's gaze was diverted to James' dashing figure. It was just like Potter to ruin a perfectly good night for him. James could have any girl in this entire school, and yet he couldn't release Lily Evans. Severus had had more than he could tolerate of his gallivanting around school with his precious marauders, philandering here and there. He was finally getting his friend back with the potential for something greater, and he'd do anything to hold onto that.

Lily quickly turned back to Severus with her full attention, ready to ignore Potter and his flamboyant entrance.

James felt nervous as he scanned the crowd for Lily. His date didn't hesitate to run up to him, to his dismay. Amelia looked great which he supposed might still work to his benefit. One thing he had learned early on about women is that they nearly always became jealous of one another, especially when it came to dating. Even though she hadn't bitten yet, he suspected that Lily might be on the verge of breaking down, if only because of her icy demeanor. If she truly didn't care, she wouldn't go through such lengths to ignore him, at least that's what he told himself, more and more frequently these days. Finally, he spotted her near the refreshment table. He inhaled sharply.

"My God, that dress," he whispered to himself.

Her gorgeous pale skin was burned into his memory now. Something about the red made her look bone crushingly lovely. It was rare for him to see her out of her bulky black robes and in something so feminine. Her hair cascaded down her neck, back and shoulders in fiery tendrils. That smile…it had been far too long since he'd witnessed her beautiful smile or heard her laugh fill a room.

James abruptly felt his throat close as he realized Severus towed her. He wanted so desperately to write them off as just friends, but something about their body language made him skeptical and uneasy. James never thought in a million years that he would feel threatened by Severus Snape. Snape! The greasy haired punk who spent all day buried in his potion books. He had seen him upside down in his underwear for god's sake. Could it be that she had finally given him a chance? James' plan wasn't quite going the way he'd hoped and his frazzled nerves began showing through immediately. He was loosing his collected façade faster than he could get away from Amelia.

"James!" an annoying voice said breaking his thoughts. He wasn't sure at this point if he was more irked by the sound of her voice or the way she thrust her breasts at him constantly.

"What, Amelia?"

"I said I want to dance!"

"The music is too slow and no one else is dancing yet," he said, dismissing her quickly.

Amelia crossed her arms haughtily in what was sure to be the onset of a full-scale temper tantrum. Being unprepared to deal with such a childish reaction, he quickly took her hand and led her out on the dance floor. Seeing an opportunity to start, the band began playing a sweet little waltz. They had the attention of most of the students who still stood around the hall shyly with their arms crossed.

Eventually another couple joined the dance floor, to James' relief. The area reluctantly filled out more and more until nearly everyone was moving. Just when things were getting comfortable, Amelia decided to take a brake and asked James to retrieve a beverage for her. He had the distinct feeling that she was trying to lead him away from something. He wondered how much she knew about his history with Lily Evans. She wasn't a bright girl, but maybe one of her slightly smarter friends finally spelled it out for her. This thought was equally irksome and appealing. It would save a lot of time with the inevitable public breakup, but it wouldn't work very well with his plans of making Lily jealous tonight.

As he went to retrieve a drink, he searched once more for Lily. Her red dress wasn't hard to spot pressed so close to Snape's dull black dress robes. Her hand rested on his forearm and they enjoyed a few drinks and chuckles with one another. It appeared worse than he expected. He wanted to run right over there and sweep Lily off her feet in some grand gesture, but he was sure any attempt at such would be ill received and would more than likely end with him covered in whatever delicate beverage she happened to be consuming. Running through the options in his head fervently, he wondered if he could send Snape on a wild goose chase or maybe wait until Lily went to the toilettes to try and make a move.

What would Amelia think about all of this? Surely she'd cause some sort of fiascotic scene that he wasn't prepared to deal with tonight, or in the mood for, for that matter. It didn't take long for him to tire of her, and tonight was no exception. He had come to find out that Amelia liked to have things her way, all the time. She was selfish, unintelligent, and rude to boot. When he first met her he had noticed her large bosom and hoped to make Lily jealous with her voluptuous figure. The longer he knew her, the more ugly the girl appeared. No amount of physical beauty could salvage a personality as shallow and short tempered as hers. Nonetheless, something had to be done. He was tired of acting patient, patient for Lily to come around and patient with Amelia's disgusting life attitude. Yes, something had to be done alright and tonight was the night.