Author's Note: Wow! I think that's the most reviews I've gotten after posting a chapter. Thank you! I'm so grateful to all of you who to the time to review, or added me or my story to your favorite author/ story or author/story alert lists. I really hope you like this chapter. I'm not exactly thrilled with it, but whatever. I know most of the last chapter was told from Lily's point of view, but I think balls are always more fun told from a girl's point of view (especially the getting ready part!) so there you go. P.S. This is gonna be a rather long chapter. A lot needs to happen in this one to set up the next chapter, which I'll be writing straight after this one. That means they'll be up pretty much one after the other.

LILY'S POV

I was fit to burst from a combination of nerves and excitement the night of the Potter Christmas Ball. We had arrived at James' house an hour ago from Hogwarts, but Alice insisted that it would take from three in the afternoon until seven (when the ball started) to get all four of us girls ready, so there you are. Give her a room with plenty of mirrors, a wireless, and plenty of beauty products, and Alice was in business.

We started with nail polish first. Alice, typically, had picked colors for all of us from her vast collection. Mary had dark red polish for both her toes and fingers- Alice insisted that the red would look lovely with her black stilettos. (Why anyone would wear stilettos is beyond me. Maybe Alice is rubbing off on her.) Alice had found a pale gold for herself, though where she would get that I have no idea. She insisted I use silver polish despite my protests of Slytherin colors. She claimed I should have thought of that when I bought the dress, given that it had silver beading right on the front. Selena ignored Alice's choice of a plain, shimmery color and chose a blue that exactly matched her dress. Alice was rather huffy after that.

Next was hair and makeup. One of us would sit in a chair while our hair and makeup was being done by the other three. For Mary, Selena chose brown eye shadow and shear pink lip gloss. Alice and I curled her hair and pinned the curls against the back of her head. Selena wanted very drastic make up, so Alice lined her eyes in black with a deep blue shadow, and colored her lips with a bright red. I think she wanted to move as far away from Wizarding tradition as she could. Mary and I used magic to arrange Lena's long hair into beachy waves. I used pale gold shadow on Alice and she used her favorite peach pink lipstick. Selena and Mary used magic to make her layers extra straight and pinned her bangs back with a blue clip. Finally, as much as I had tried to avoid it, it was my turn.

"Ow! Ouch!" I cried, squirming in my chair as Alice and Selena attacked my head.

"Sit still, Lily!" Mary cried, a mascara brush in her hand.

"I'm almost done," Alice snapped through a mouthful of hairpins.

I clenched my teeth and waited for my torture to end.

When they were finally finished, Lena forced me away from the mirror. "Put on your dress first!"

I eased myself into the green silk, fastening the clasp with magic and smoothing away the creases. I slipped on the silver peep-toe heels Mary had help me pick out, tottering around a little bit to get used to walking in them.

"Lils, hurry up!"

"We want to see!"

Huffing, I stepped out of the huge walk-in closet and into the room.

Alice squealed. "Oooooh, you look so pretty! Come and look!"

I stepped in front of the full-sized mirror, my heart pounding in my chest.

I was stunned. Who knew I could look this good? My hair was pulled up into an elegant knot, a few loose curls framing my face. My make-up was less drastic than Selena's, but not exactly simple, either. Silver lined my eyes, drawing attention to the vivid green eyes I hated. My lips were painted red and a hint of blush was swept across my pale, freckled cheeks. A small smile parted my lips. Maybe the optimistic voice inside my head was right. Tonight was the perfect time for romance.

Giggling giddily, my friends and I departed from the room arm and arm, heading for the small library where we would be meeting the boys. When we had first arrived, I had been too nervous and distracted to pay attention the James' house, but house did not adequately describe it. It was huge. I've never seen a place of residence so big, except for maybe when I passed the Royal Palace in London when I was five. The size of the place hit me like a speeding Comet 190, reminding me just how big this ball was.

The boys were waiting for us already, and my heartbeat quickened as I spotted James across the room. While Sirius, Remus, Frank, and Peter each looked handsome in their dress robes, it was James who took my breath away. He was wearing ink green robes nearly the same shade as my dress and a Muggle dress shirt and pants underneath. His jet black hair was as messy as ever, but somehow it didn't make him look any less well put-together. I smiled nervously as he approached.

"You look…. Beautiful, Lils," he said softly, his eyes wide.

I blushed and looked at my feet. "You don't look too bad yourself."

"MY LADY!" Sirius said loudly, grabbing Lena's hand and kneeling with a flourish. He made a big show of kissing her hand and giving her a black rose that he conjured. "At long last I see thy pretty face and dost think that thou lookest magnificent in thy ball gown. It is my dearest hope that-"

"Be serious, please," Selena said, swatting him playfully, though she looked pleased at his compliments.

He feigned a confused and hurt expression. "But I am Sirius! Siriusly!"

Remus smacked him on the back of the head. "Shut up, mate. You're being ridiculous."

"And I'm pretty sure Shakespeare is turning in his grave right now after you butchered Elizabethan English," James pointed out.

I stared at him. Pureblood Potter knew Shakespeare?

"Who's Shakepire?" Peter asked, bemused.

"Don't worry about it," Frank told him from where he was sitting with Alice on his lap.

"We should get going," Mary piped up, holding tightly to Remus' hand. "It's almost seven now."

James offered his arm to me with a sweeping bow. "Shall we?" he asked, grinning. I nodded and took his arm, following our friends out of the room and down the hall.

Sirius led us to a huge set of oak double doors where a man and a woman were waiting for us. They appeared to be in their mid-sixties and were very well-dressed, but they looked sickly.

"James, darling, there you are!" the woman said, beaming at him. She was extremely beautiful. Her blue eyes were bright and lively in a face that had just started to age, though her skin seemed to be waxy and had a slight sunken appearance. I frowned. What was wrong with her?

James returned her smile and turned to the rest of us. "For those of you who don't know, this is my mum, Jennifer, and my dad, Alexander."

Mr. Potter smiled at us. "Hello. It's so good to meet you all." He was also extremely good looking, and looked very like James. His untidy hair was graying and thinning slightly, and he also had the same waxy, sunken appearance as his wife.

"Master Potter, Master Potter, sir!" a small voice squeaked. A house elf was tugging on the edge of his robes. "The guests needs to go into the ballroom, sir. 'Tis almost time for Master James and his date's entrance."

"We have an entrance?" I hissed to James, alarmed.

"Unfortunately," he whispered back. "Tradition, you know."

I scowled. I was not a fan of all this tradition nonsense.

"Thank you, Tilly." Mr. Potter turned to my friends. "If you could all go into the ballroom, we'll see you in a few minutes."

Soon, I was alone with James and his parents. His mother beamed at me. "You must be Lily!"

I nodded. "Yes, Mrs. Potter. It's nice to meet you."

"Oh, please call me Jen, dear. It's lovely to finally to meet the girl James has been talking about for seven years. Especially now that you've finally agreed to be his girlfriend!"

I gaped at her. Girlfriend? "Er, we're not-"

James grabbed my arm and pulled me towards the oak doors. "It's our turn, Lils."

I let him tug me through the doors, my head reeling. Girlfriend? What was going on?

"Smile," he hissed in my ear as he placed my hand on his arm.

I plastered a smile on my face as we stepped onto the huge staircase. Hundreds of eyes were upon us as another squeaky voice announced, "Master James Potter and his date, Miss Lily Evans."

I concentrated on not tripping over my own feet as I looked straight ahead, over the heads of the gawking masses. After what seemed like an eternity, we made it to the floor and everyone turned their gazes to "Mister Alexander Potter and his wife, Jennifer." The attention off of us, I grabbed James' hand and pulled him out of earshot of everyone else.

"Girlfriend?" I asked quietly, trying to keep my voice even.

He blushed. "Just let me explain, please, Lily?" I nodded once. "My parents had me late in life, so they're not exactly young. My mum been desperate to hear that I'm dating you since the first time I ever spoke your name. My dad, well, he just wants me to be happy, and he knows how much I care about you." My breath caught in my throat. What did that mean? Care how? "The thing is, Lily, that they're sick. Really sick. They have the Wizarding equivalent to- cankerous, I think it is-"

"Cancer," I corrected him, my voice trembling slightly from my nerves.

"Yes, cancerous. Anyway, it's called Dementor's Disease, because it literally sucks the life out of you. I don't know how much longer they're going to be alive, and when I told Mum that you were my date, she asked if you were my girlfriend. She had this hopeful look on her face and I- I couldn't say no, Lily!" He looked tortured, his eyes filling with tears. "You can hate me if you want to, but I just… I had to say yes. I'm sorry… I'm so sorry, I-"

"James." I put my hand on his cheek, smiling up at him. "It's alright. I understand, and I'm perfectly happy to play the role of girlfriend while I'm staying here if you like."

His mouth widened into a relieved smile. "Really? Wow, Lily, that would mean so much to me."

I took his hand and entwined my fingers with his. "Let's make this convincing, shall we?"

His smile widened. "Thank you, Lils."

I led him to the center of the room, where Selena, Sirius, Remus, Frank, and Alice were dancing. We joined them, laughing and bouncing to the beat of the band as I ignored their pointed looks at our clasped hands.

"Where's Wormtail?" James asked after a while, when the other boy had not shown up with his date to join our circle.

Sirius shrugged. "Probably off in some closet snogging Dorcas."

I tried to suppress my excitement when the beginning chords of the first slow song of the night were played. James enfolded me in his arms, resting his chin on the top of my head. I leaned my cheek against his chest, trying to resist the urge to look up into his beautiful hazel eyes and confess my feelings for him. It would ruin everything. I just needed to be happy pretending to be his girlfriend for the next week and half. Sighing to myself, I tightened my arms around his neck and reveled in his warm body against mine.

SIRIUS' POV

I gazed into Selena's bright blue eyes, returning her smile as we swayed gently on the spot. She was so beautiful. It was strange for me, feeling this strongly for a girl. Normally all I wanted was a quick snog session and I was done with them. Lena, though, was different. My heart was fit to burst with my feelings for her, and it scared me. Not that I would ever admit that. Sirius Black isn't afraid of anything.

I pressed a gentle kiss to the tip of her nose, and she giggled. Merlin, I love it when she does that. Well really, I just love being around her. Or maybe…

"I love you," I whispered in her ear.

Her eyes widened. "Really?"

I nodded, nervous. What if she didn't feel the same way…?

"I love you too!" She kissed me with so much force I was nearly knocked over.

Yes, I mused as I returned her kiss, I am completely and unequivocally in love with Selena Marie Hathaway.

LILY'S POV

I couldn't stand it any longer. I had to peek; see if James was looking at me. Oh Merlin, what if he was looking at me? Would it be because he liked me, or because he wished I wasn't the one dancing with him? What if…

Stop it, Lily! The little voice inside me said. You're being ridiculous. Again. Just look already!

Okay, here goes nothing.

I raised my head and found myself looking into those hazel eyes, which were gazing at me intensely.

I'm not exactly sure what made me do it. Maybe it was the fact that I was supposed to be pretending to be his girlfriend. Maybe it was the look on his face as he told me his parents were dying. Maybe it was just that I couldn't resist James Potter any longer.

I kissed him.

I was kissing James Potter. His lips were soft and warm, and as I moved my mouth against his I felt I could die right now and be perfectly happy. I had dreamed about this moment for so long, and I couldn't believe that everything that had happened, it would happen now…

Oh, Merlin.

What the hell had I just done?

I yanked my mouth of his and covered it with my hands, horrified. "I'm so sorry!" I gasped, taking a step away from him.

He looked as shocked as I felt. Damn, I had messed everything up. I couldn't think, I couldn't breathe. I did the only thing I could remember how to do.

I ran.

I ignored James calling me as I hurried away. I ran through the guests and out the door onto the huge, sprawling lawn covered in snow. I hiked up my dress and kept going, tears falling freely and blurring my vision. I had no idea where I was going, my only thought to get away, get away from the most unintelligent thing I had ever done. I just ran and ran until I ran into something solid.

Wait, something solid?

I instinctively backed up a few paces and peered into the darkness, trying to see what had been in my path.

A cold, cruel voice rang through the eerie silence of the lawn. "Running from someone, Mudblood?"

Author's Note: *insert dramatic music here, or a commercial break if this was a television show*