A/N: you reviewers are lovely! And here is the second chapter I promised BEFORE Christmas! Ha! And you didn't think I could do it! Bwahahaha!

Not as much mystery in this chapter, sadly, but we'll get to that soon enough. We need some character development. LoL. For those wondering, LJ-ness is coming soon! (in conservative doses, sadly).

Recap of last time: James helps Lily pull a prank to cause a diversion while the two search Praedam and Silth's respective offices. Lily is almost caught, James lies on her behalf to Praedam, and the final evidence is inconclusive about Silth, but makes Praedam seem pretty damned innocent. Aw shucks. The two proceed to drive each other and their friends crazy with incessant bickering. New Characters from ch. 11: Delilah (mentioned in a letter to Praedam), Elliot (wrote said letter to Praedam), and "Dee" (signed a picture of herself and Silth: "love, Dee").

Jeez, I almost forgot! Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday, Dear TASZ! HAPPY (belated) BIRTHDAY TO YOU! (and many more….) And here is...

Chapter 12- "November"

"Let's have some new clichés..." –Samuel Goldwyn (The Great!)

Twelve-year-old second year, Lily Evans held in a blush. She hated blushing, because it made her look rather like a tomato, what with her violently red bob of hair. She was not particularly fond of tomatoes anyway (except for, on occasion, the little ones in her salad).

"What did he say?" pleaded Alice Prewett and Eden Dearborn- fellow Gryffindor second years- in unison. The three girls sat at breakfast one Monday morning in late November.

"Nothing," said Lily in reply; "never mind it. Okay?"

"No! Not okay!" insisted Eden adamantly; "tell us, Leeeely!" She stretched the name unnaturally long.

Lily rolled her startlingly green eyes as she served herself potatoes and a biscuit. "No," she said simply.

"Oh I know it," teased Eden, tearing a bit of her blueberry muffin and consuming it playfully; "he fancies you, doesn't he?"

"You're sounding like one of those first year gossips, Eden," Lily pointed out coolly.

"Johnny Sharp fancies Lily Evans," murmured Eden in a singsong voice. Lily rolled her eyes again, but said nothing.

"C'mon, Lily," Alice begged adorably, trying a different- probably less annoying- tactic. "What did he say?"

Lily sighed, giving in, and the other two knew it. "It was... something about... flying?" she said uncertainly.

"Flying," repeated the other two.

"Mhm," said Lily, with a little more confidence.

"Well what about flying?" Eden persisted.

"Nope."

"Leeeely!"

"Nuh-uh."

"Well it doesn't matter if you tell us," Eden said; "we know he fancies you."

"Him and every other boy, first through third year," Alice added. "Except for the ones who like Eden."

"Ya right," chorused blonde and redhead. "Shut up, Eden, or I'll sock you one," the latter added.

"She will, too," Alice warned; "she knocked Eddie Bones down last week."

"Yeah, well... he made fun of my hair," Lily said, attacking her potatoes savagely; "my head doesn't look like it's on fire, does it?"

"No," said the other two, without hesitation; "of course not!" added Alice.

"And anyway," Eden continued. "It's only because he fancies you too."

"Oh he does not!"

"Does too!" said Eden merrily. "And so does Remus, and that third year bloke... Elijah What's-It..."

"And Leander Vireo- the chap from Ravenclaw who tried to duel Sirius last Tuesday," Alice agreed. "I don't fancy him much," she added; "he called Rachel Brossle a... well... never mind, but he called her one!"

At that moment, a clumsy student nearby accidentally knocked over the pumpkin juice, and Alice busied herself with helping him clean it up. Eden took the opportunity to lean over and whisper in Lily's ear.

"But you and I know none of them mean anything to you, Lily," she said slyly; "You only have eyes for James Potter!"

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Head Girl duties were taking a toll on Lily. If they were merely taken by themselves, Lily did not suppose that they would be so bad, but as it was, she was beginning to consider them a bloody waste of time. All the teachers had conveniently decided that this was the time to load on all the homework for the unfortunate N.E.W.T. students, which didn't really help her schedule either.

Neither did the fact that Alice and Lexi seemed to be caught in "relationship issues" (as Eden- somewhat scathingly, somewhat pityingly- put it) with their respective boyfriends, and needed at least one of their best friends present a good deal of the time. Since Alice would get no pity from Lexi, and Lexi very little from Alice, it meant that the two required Lily's and Eden's ears to rant to every so often.

And then there were the little tasks that the McGonagall and the likes expected of Potter and her. Even when the Head Boy and Girl weren't required to work together, Lily was sure James was trying to get the better of her in any way he could. And McGonagall was clearly on his side.

How was it fair that she had had to work with Filch on his "necessary supply 'wish list'" and Potter had gotten to work with Hagrid?

To speak nothing of the meetings, which had become a sort of torture process. McGonagall did not supervise the whole thing, which left many an opportunity for the two to yell at each other in every way possible. They'd actually drawn their wands during the mid-November meeting, but had fortunately remembered that McGonagall would be coming to dismiss them any second before they had actually started hexing each other.

But one afternoon in late November, Lily found herself shockingly unengaged. She sat by the lake with Eden, shivering, but enjoying the chilly weather nevertheless. It was nice to be worrying about things of no consequence, like Professor Slughorn's Christmas Party, rather than who was a death eater and who was not.

"Are you going by yourself?" Eden wanted to know, in reference to aforementioned Christmas Party. She twirled a lock of her shoulder-length hair idly, staring out at the glassy lake.

"I guess," said Lily, shrugging; "I don't imagine Elijah fancying the idea of me dating someone else as well."

"I do," Eden replied; "but it's awful selfish for him to make you go alone just because he's... well... your boyfriend."

"Mmm... terribly selfish," Lily returned sarcastically.

"Well who would you go with, if you were going with someone?"

"Elijah."

"Besides him."

"I dunno... whoever... it depends on who would ask... if anyone would."

"Stop being humble, Red. It's annoying. You're only problem would be picking from the massive selection."

"Oh yes. All of them lined up to ask me to put in a good word for them to you."

"What would you do if Remus asked you?"

"Ask him why he's asked me and Dora Leadwood."

"You're too practical for your own good, you know."

"Yes, I would say so. What would you do if Remus asked you?"

"Die of shock."

Lily laughed appreciatively. "What if Sirius asked you?"

Eden rolled her eyes. "He's going with..." she put on a face of utmost disgust... "Rachel Brossle..."

"I thought Rachel was with Paul Montreal..."

"They broke up," Eden explained dispassionately.

"But I thought Rach hated Sirius after their break-up last year."

"She did," Eden said coldly. "But they're back together... the most sickening couple on the planet. He could at least have the dignity to pick Redival Shelley... or that odd Ravenclaw girl... but Rachel Brossle..." she made a face. Eden was not particularly fond of Rachel.

"You're just jealous."

"Oh, yeah. Right," she said dismissively. "But I get to play mean too. What would you do if... James asked you?"

Lily laughed again. "Where have you been for the last three weeks? Potter hates me, remember? He'd sooner ask Snape out!"

"He asked you out before," Eden reminded her unhelpfully.

"Two years ago, yeah... and maybe you've forgotten the 'me pouring pumpkin juice on him' and 'comparing him to the giant squid' episodes..."

"Nothing says 'I love you' like an icy cold drink to wash out of your hair.'

"Oh, certainly."

"But why do you hate him so much, Red?"

"'Cos he's arrogant and insensitive."

"Well yeah, but besides that..."

"That's like asking why you and Sirius flirt, E. We just do."

"I know why," said Eden slyly; "'Cos you used to like him!"

"For about two weeks."

"Yeah, and then he asked you out!"

"About three years later, E! And you might notice," Lily added, rolling her eyes; "that I don't hate every guy who has asked me out!"

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

"So Johnny Sharp offered to teach you to play Quidditch," Eden murmured uncertainly as Lily and she made their way to their second year Potions class.

"Mhm," replied Lily, nodding. "Should I say 'yes?'"

"More importantly," said Eden, "should you tell him you already know all about Quidditch?"

"No, definitely not. I'd be way too embarrassed."

"Well then say 'yes!' shrugged Eden. "Worst case scenario: you fall off the broom and die."

"What would I do without you, Eden Dearborn?" Lily said sarcastically.

"Fall of a broom and die, most likely. Hello, Professor."

The two girls came to the Potions Classroom, where several other students in the class had gathered and Professor Slughorn was just about to open the door to the classroom.

"Hello," replied Slughorn cheerily, as he let the students in. "How are Madams Evans and Dearborn today?"

"Good enough," was the simultaneous reply.

"And you'll both be coming to the Christmas party, I'm sure," Slughorn continued, smiling. "Neither of you signed on to return to your homes for the holidays."

"Nope," said Lily. "I'm going to a party in the village."

Slughorn looked as if he almost believed her for half a moment, but was over it quickly. "You're not even allowed in the village yet."

"Yeah, well..."

"But if you were a Slytherin, I could have given you permission to..."

"Dream on, Professor," interrupted Lily, smirking. She was about to enter the classroom with Eden, when she heard a voice calling her name down the corridor.

"Lily! Hey Lily!"

The redhead turned to see a tallish boy with curly brown hair hurrying towards her. "Oh... um... Professor, can I...?"

"Two minutes," said Slughorn nodding.

"Thanks a lot. I'll be right there, Eden." Eden entered the potions classroom and Slughorn followed, leaving Lily and the curly haired boy, one Johnny Sharp, alone in the corridor. Once the door had closed to the classroom, Lily said: "Hi, Johnny."

"Hi, Lily," said Johnny Sharp, as Lily blushed slightly and he turned into a radish. "Er... I was wondering if... if you'd thought about what I'd asked earlier and if you wanted to... you know- the Quidditch thing..."

Lily's eyes fell on the messy black hair of James Potter- another second year- as he, and his best friend, Sirius Black, hurried down the Potions department, late as usual. She had a moment's indecision, then said- just as James and Sirius entered the Potions classroom- "Sure, Johnny."

"Well... um... I'll see you later, then, Lily," said Johnny, looking as if Christmas had come early.

"Yeah. See you, Johnny!" she responded brightly.

Lily entered the classroom as Johnny went the other direction, and took a seat next to Eden and Alice (the latter had entered separately.)

"Well?" demanded Eden in a whisper, as Slughorn began to teach the class.

"I said 'yes,'" Lily whispered in reply.

"To what?" asked Alice, excited anyway. "What did you say to what?"

Eden filled Alice in on all the details in a quiet voice, with occasional help from Lily in adding details of Johnny's romantics. None of the three girls noticed James Potter adding ingredients into his cauldron just next to them.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

"'Morning, Professor," said Lily brightly to Slughorn, as she and her friends entered the Advanced Potions classroom.

"Good morning, Red," said Slughorn. Apparently he- like the majority of those on speaking terms with Lily- had picked up on Potter's nickname. "And how goes it with the would-be Slytherin?"

"I don't know. How are you, Professor?" replied Lily audaciously.

Slughorn shook his balding head at the Head Girl, as he closed the door behind the last of the seventh year students. "Always ready for me, aren't you?"

"Mhm."

"Well, class," said Slughorn, in a different tone, as he walked to the front of the classroom. "Today, we will be working on a very difficult Potion, but one I'm sure you are familiar with." He pulled out his wand from his pocket and tapped the blank blackboard once. It spun around a few times, and, when it resumed its original position, it was covered in writing.

At the top of the board was the word: "Veritaserum."

"Yes, class," said Slughorn; "Veritaserum. One of the most complex Potions you will encounter in this class, or in the rest of your careers as Potions-brewers." He smirked slightly. "I hope to reach a much more complex and potent version of the Truth Potion by the end of January, but as of now, we will be working on a much simpler, less powerful one. Please take out your books..."

The classroom was filled with the familiar sound of everyone scrambling about to get his or her copies of Advanced Potions-Making.

"Now," continued Slughorn; "who here does not know what Veritaserum is?"

No ne raised their hand.

"Good," said Slughorn; "I would be very worried if it was otherwise." He chuckled. "Now, if everyone would open to the section on Truth Potions... what page does that begin on?"

"Two twenty-nine," said Lexi in a bored voice. There were only three to each table, and while Lily, Eden, and Alice had one, she sat between her boyfriend, Frank, and Paul Montreal at the one just next to it.

"Yes. Alright then, turn to two twenty-nine... I believe there is a list of ingredients there. Line up as usual to take what you need from the cupboard..."

Those seated in the front were the first to line up, as was the official procedure of Slughorn's class. Lily, Eden, Alice, and Lexi- at her table next to them- were closer to the back, and it was a good ten minutes before they had all of their ingredients.

It was another five minutes before they had sorted it out and were able to begin brewing their potions, but Lily didn't mind. Snape was in the very back of the classroom and had not gotten his ingredients yet, and he was the only one who could beat her in the potion-making department.

Once everyone had begun, Slughorn walked about, inspecting them. He nodded or gave the occasional critique, stopped to chat with a few of them, but did not come to Lily's table till last.

"Nicely done, Alexandria, as usual... careful there, Alice... good, good, E... and excellent as always, Lily."

"Don't make me blush," Lily said sardonically, as she concentrated on stirring her cauldron anti-clockwise the exact amount of times.

"So," continued Slughorn casually, for he was fully aware that Lily could brew and converse at the same time. "Are you staying at Hogwarts for Christmas?"

"Mhm. Mum wanted me to come home since Petunia- she's my sister- has an engagement party on Christmas Eve, but when she figured out Petunia wouldn't allow me to come, she gracefully hinted that I could stay here if I wanted to."

"Watch your fingers, E," advised Slughorn, as Eden chopped something rather up to add to her cauldron. "So- you'll be coming to the Christmas party here, then?" he added, smiling to Lily.

"I dunno," the Head Girl joked; "I hear McGonagall's throwing a wild one too..."

"Oh, yes, I'm sure," agreed Slughorn dryly. "But I think you'll rather enjoy the party this year, Red. I have a few surprised for you... though one of them is for E as well..."

"Do tell," said Eden distractedly, as she began to stir her own cauldron anti-clockwise.

"That would ruin the surprise," remarked Slughorn. "But I'm sure they'll be enjoyed by all. And..." he hesitated... "Are you bringing anyone, Lily?"

"Nah- I'm still with Elijah, and he's not exactly coming, is he?"

"Ah, Elijah Trent... he was a clever student, though only average in Potions... he scraped an "E" on his O.W.L.s though... was never anything to you or Snape, of course, but Flitwick tells me he was magnificent in Charms."

"And he wasn't in Slytherin," Lily reminded him, smirking.

"Nobody's perfect," shrugged Slughorn; "how many of those have you added, Lily?"

"Only two, don't worry."

"Good, good. But I had a rather clever idea for the Christmas Eve party, you know."

"What's that?" humored Lily.

"I thought it would be interesting if everyone who comes, brings a ghost."

"What?"

"A ghost. You know... the dead things..."

"I know what a ghost is. I just can't imagine everyone being thrilled at having to bring a dead date..."

"No, no," said Slughorn dismissively; "you could bring a live guest as well... but you have to bring a ghost along too... there are plenty in the castle for the students that I invite, I should think- and it would be a challenge for outsiders to have to dig one up."

"No pun intended," through in Eden, not looking up from the directions she was reading.

"What would the theme be?" asked Lily, as she tapped her cauldron twice, and lowered the heat of the fire under it. "'Oh Come All Ye Dead' perhaps?"

"You might have something there," Slughorn said; "Oh my! Watch out there, Mr. Pettigrew!" the potions master hurried across the classroom to where Peter's cauldron was emitting flames and magnificent columns of black smoke.

"Surprises, eh?" murmured Eden; "maybe he's inviting your idol, Lilith... Who is your idol, anyway?"

"You are, E. Now shut up or you'll mess up you're veritaserum, and I'll have to sock you one!"

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

"I dunno, Eden," sighed the twelve-year-old redhead sadly; "I mean, I've always thought it's sort of pathetic to date when you're twelve. It's not like I'm going to marry Johnny or anything. What's the point, anyway?"

"It's not a date," said Rachel Brossle, who was also gathered in the second year girls' dormitory, along with Lily and Eden. "It's a 'Johnny-teaches-you-how-to-play-Quidditch'... thing."

"Even though you already know how," Eden pointed out.

"Well... yeah..."

"Sounds lovely," said Lily sarcastically; "why did I have to go and say 'yes' anyway?"

"Oh it'll be fine," said Eden definitively; "I mean, what's the worst that could happen?"

"He could not show up and I would be utterly humiliated?"

"True."

"I could be seriously scarred, because I dated when I was bloody twelve and be a drama queen for the rest of my life!"

"Become?"

"Shut up, Eden."

"It'll be alright," said Rachel Brossle confidently, as she sat at the vanity, testing make-up. "I mean, he's just teaching you how to play Quidditch!"

"Even though you already know."

"Eden!"

"Shutting up, now."

Lily and Eden walked to dinner that evening thinking of anything other than her date with Johnny Sharp the following evening. When their conversation did wander to Quidditch, Eden was skillful enough to keep it to the fact that Gryffindor was the front-runner for the Cup at the moment, despite its unusual players: there hadn't been two second years on the starting line-up in years.

But just as Eden was about to tell Lily the day of the next match, laughter echoed down the hall, and the girls exchanged curious looks. They sped up slightly, and as they rounded the corner, saw a group of first, second, and third years gathered, most of them roaring in laughter.

As they approached the group, however, someone behind them called Eden's name. She turned to see Alex Shaw, an Asian girl also in Lily's house and year, though Lily did not know her very well, looking relieved at the sight of Eden.

"Eden, McGonagall wants to see you- I've been around the castle three times over trying to find you..."

Eden turned back and began to follow Alex, and then stopped and turned to Lily, saying: "tell me what this is all about when I get back." She didn't like to be one to miss out on any excitement.

Lily nodded and went further into the crowd of underclassman. With great difficulty, she got to a point where she could see what the source of the commotion was. A few feet away, was a first year Ravenclaw girl that Lily vaguely knew as Molly Clay.

However, Molly Clay was not the only one who seemed to be causing the excitement. James Potter was standing there as well; however, while Molly- who would be called "plain" by Alice Prewett and "ugly" by Rachel Brossle- looked sincerely distraught, James- who would be called "cute" by a seventeen-year-old girl, and "cute" (in a completely different sense) by an eleven-year-old girl- was smirking uncontrollably.

Lily raised her eyebrows.

"No, I'm serious, Clay," James was saying gleefully; "how many fly wings are in a boil cure? You know everything, don't you?"

Molly glared, tears streaming down her face.

"Awww... what's the matter? Snape got your tongue? I bet darling Severus knows how many there are... should I go ask him?"

"Leave me alone!" sobbed Molly, though it came closer to: "lemmeuhloon!"

"What was that? I didn't here quite hear you... speak up!" he raised his wand and pronounced proudly: "Sonorous!"

Molly glared again, but said nothing.

"Speak up, Clay! Declimita!"

"I don't want to say anything!" came Molly's voice- booming through the corridor. She clasped a hand over her mouth, as if she had not been able to avoid the exclamation.

"Poor little Clay doesn't want to say anything... she didn't mind talking to darling Severus, but..."

Molly let out another sob that echoed. James laughed, and most of the others did too.

"How many, Clay? How many fly wings go in a boil cure? You'll need to know this later..." James raised his wand, once more. "Ver..."

"NONE!"

It was not Molly speaking, however; it was Lily. She stepped up, right in front of James's wand and repeated herself in a more normal tone, hands on her hips and green eyes blazing. "None, James. You put porcupine quills in a boil cure, not fly wings. Now leave her alone."

Everyone stared in absolute shock.

"F-Friend of yours, Lily?" he asked, trying to sound indifferent, though it sounded as if he was having difficulty articulating anything. His arm fell back to his side.

"Stop picking on her!"

"She's friends with Snape," James said angrily; "I heard her saying all sorts of awful stuff about Alex Shaw to him- just because Alex is a muggleborn!"

"That's a lie!" cried Molly- though her voice was much louder than she intended it to be, due to the "sonorous" charm.

"Is not!"

"Is too!"

James raised his wand again, a little to the left- around Lily. She stepped in front of it again.

"Stop it, James!" snapped Lily again. "You have no right to... just because... just because you're on the damned Quidditch team doesn't mean you can do whatever the hell you want! You have no right to curse her like that!"

"And you have no right to tell me what I have the right and what I don't have the right to do!"

The other students were watching in rapt interest. No one had ever yelled at James Potter before- except for McGonagall or Flitwick or someone like that. He was well liked by everyone. He was probably the only second year that could get away with chatting with fifth and sixth years.

Lily did not care one bit at the moment.

"Go away, Potter..." she said. "Leave her alone, alright? It's none of your business who she talks with anyway! You don't own the school!"

"You should be thanking me, Lily! You're a muggleborn!"

"I didn't say anything about..." no one was really paying attention to Molly Clay anymore, so anyone that did hear much of what she said up to "about", did not hear after it.

"Liar!" exclaimed James.

He sidestepped Lily so quickly that, before she had time to react, he had already raised his wand once more, aimed at Molly, and shouted: "Verruca!" Boils burst out over the first year's arms and face immediately.

Lily did not have time to draw her wand, and- having spent more of her life as a muggle than as a witch- did the thing that came most naturally to her. Before she knew exactly what she was doing, Lily had punched James Potter square in the jaw...

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

"What do you think they would do to me if I killed those two?" Eden groaned to Lexi as the two girls sat, rubbing their foreheads, by the Common Room fire one evening.

"Give you an Order of Merlin, first class," replied Lexi, rolling her eyes. "And make you Minister of Magic."

"Well then there's nothing stopping me," Eden said, drawing her wand and pointing it at the arguing figures of the Head Boy and Girl.

"She's your best friend," Lexi pointed out sadly. "And he's one of your best guy-friends."

Eden glared at Lexi. "You ruin everything, Girl."

"Let's go upstairs."

"Good idea."

The two retreated to the seventh year girls' dormitory, speculating on whether Madame Pomfrey had run out of headache tonics yet. Lily joined them shortly, looking frazzled an annoyed.

"Why Lily," said Eden in mock surprise; "when did you get back from dinner? We haven't seen or heard from you in ages."

She was met by a glare as Lily picked up a book and lay down on Alice's unoccupied bed to read it: or rather, to glare at it. Presently, her eyes began to hurt, and she sat up, hoping to talk about anything other than James Potter.

"How's Frank, Lex?"

Lexi raised her thin, dark eyebrows skeptically; "Since when do you volunteer to hear us rant?"

"I'm your friend, Lexi. It's my responsibility to listen to your rants!"

"She's just sucking up. Don't trust her, Lex" advised Eden, who was flipping through a Quidditch magazine idly.

"Frank's fine," Lexi replied, ignoring Eden. A faint, completely uncharacteristic blush came to her cheeks.

"Oh my gosh! Eden, Eden- look! She blushed!"

Eden tossed aside her magazine and rushed to Lexi's side. "She blushed?" Eden cried dramatically; "blushed? I may die of shock. Merlin! She blushed! Are you sure it isn't a fever?"

Lily, who had also rushed to Lexi's side, felt her cheeks as if checking for a temperature. "She feels normal, E," Lily said seriously. "Which only means..."

They paused, looking amazedly at Lexi, who rolled her eyes.

"You like Frank?" blonde and redhead chorused in surprise.

"We are going out with Frank," Lexi pointed out.

"That doesn't mean anything,' said Lily dismissively; "just look at E!"

"Hey!"

"You know it's true."

"Is not. And shut up."

There was a pause, as Lily retreated to Alice's bed again, and Eden to the desk. "So..." said the former, presently; "do you?"

"Do we what?" exhaled Lexi.

"Do you like Frank?" demanded Lily.

The unfortunate girl sighed reluctantly. "We don't know."

"You do, don't you?" Eden asked keenly. "I mean, non-platonically. You actually like likehim. Romantically. Like you're supposed to. That's it, isn't it?"

Lexi rolled her eyes again. "We don't know," she repeated.

The other two gave her skeptical looks. "Okay, maybe. We think so, but... maybe."

"She does," said Eden with certainty.

"We're so proud of you!" said Lily sincerely.

Lexi nodded, shrugging. "If you say so."

"Well don't sound so ecstatic, Lex," Eden accused sarcastically. "You'll frighten us."

"Well, we've been going out with him since..." she broke off... "well... for a while... and it's only now that we've actually started to fancy him... it's odd, isn't it?"

"Maybe he just grew on you," shrugged Eden.

Lexi nodded. "Took us long enough, didn't it?"

"Mhm. And now you can have the satisfaction of knowing you're not being a complete and utter bitch by leading him on."

"Thank you for that insightful and heartening perspective, E."

"You're welcome."

Lily was at least as satisfied as Lexi was. Now, at the very least, she would know that her friend would have a date to Slughorn's party (Lexi's unquestionable genius- even if she was undeniably lazy- had always gained her an invitation to Slughorn's Christmas party; that had been how Lily had first become friends with her), even if she, Lily, would not have one herself.

Merlin, that sounded self-centered even in her head!

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

"You punched James Potter?"

"I'd rather not talk about it actually," the second year replied irately.

"Alright, alright. But... you seriously did?"

"Eden!"

"Okay, shutting up, now."

On Friday evening, the two twelve-year-old girls walked down to the Entrance Hall together. Lily insisted that she would wait outside to meet Johnny by herself, but she didn't mind Eden escorting her halfway.

"So tonight you get taught 'Quidditch,'" Eden said, pronouncing the last word especially.

"Eden- have you ever met Johnny Sharp? He's not at all like that."

"I know, Lilith. I was just kidding."

"'Lilith?'" repeated Lily. "What's that about?"

"I dunno. Sounded right though. 'Lily' to 'Lilith' and all that."

"Riiight."

"Just go with it."

They came to the Entrance Hall, and Eden, wishing Lily sincere 'good luck' departed into the Great Hall, where some early-comers were beginning dinner. Lily, meanwhile, headed out of doors. It was not yet dark, but would be soon, but Lily did not mind bending curfew. The Ravenclaw Quidditch team would be holding practice on the pitch, so it was not as if they would be completely by themselves.

She sat and waited by the appointed tree for a few minutes, wondering how she would react if Johnny told her anything incorrect about the game, and twirling a blade of grass thoughtfully. Five o'clock came and went; at a quarter after, Lily was beginning to get worried.

Actually, she was beginning to get infuriated.

He had stood her up! What kind of Entrance Into the World of a Teenager was this? She was stood up on her first date! And it wasn't even really a date! It was a pseudo-date! Damn it all.

Lily stood up, about to return to the castle, when she saw a figure approaching. Between the darkening sky and the distance of said approaching figure, Lily could not tell who it was.

As the person came closer, she could see it was a thin boy- probably a second or third year. Her heart leapt. She hadn't been stood up!

Actually, she had. For as he came closer, Lily saw that it was not, in fact, Johnny Sharp. It was...

"James?" she said uncertainly.

"Oh, hello there, Evans," came James Potter's cold voice, as he walked up to Lily.

"Um... hi... I was just..."

"Waiting for someone?" suggested James, far too pleasant to be legitimate.

"How did you...?"

"I know everything."

"Obviously."

He ruffled his black hair with his hand- something Lily had never seen him do before, and for some inexplicable reason, it annoyed her greatly.

"So, where is the mystery boy?"

"Coming," said Lily with more certainty than she felt. She could not very well leave now, could she?

"Where?"

"Well, not yet. But soon."

"I see. And you don't think that he might not come?"

"Who said it was a bloke?"

"You fancy girls, then, do you?"

"NO!"

"Didn't think so."

"Listen... James... I'm sorry about the... punching you... thing."

"Oh that? Don't apologize," said James, a bite in his voice that Lily slightly feared. "I get socked in the jaw every day, you know."

"Well you were taunting a first year!"

"A rotten first year!"

Lily rolled her eyes, seriously doubting this, but said nothing.

"So where is this date of yours?"

"It's not a date. And he'll be here."

"Are you sure? Are you sure he didn't want to be caught consorting with the type of bird who goes about socking blokes far above her social status?"

Comprehension dawned on the redhead. She turned to James, eyes wide, and a look of utter disgust on her face. "What did you say to him?" she demanded angrily.

"I didn't say anything to Johnny. I did, though, say something to Sirius, which he may or may not have overheard..." he broke off, and Lily could feel his grin, if she could not see it.

And before she knew what had happened, he was staggering backward, hand clamped over his jaw, and eyes shut. He groaned in pain.

Oh, Merlin.

She'd just punched him again.

Suddenly uncaring, Lily turned and stormed back up to the castle, red hair flying, and green eyes sparkling with tears of anger.

And from that moment on, Lily Evans hated James Potter.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

A/N: voi la! It was shorter than usual, I know, and not particularly mystery-oriented, but it gave you history, explained some things, and hinted at the future... like, the next chapter. Just go with it. Merry Christmas (so sue me) and a happy new year! Maybe, possibly, hopefully chapter 13 will be up by the end of the month. Maybe. If I end up writing it the way I envision it, it may be one of my favorites. At the moment, it is to be called "Red."

Anyway- I know you're all too busy to spend two minutes leaving me a review, so I wont even ask.

Ya right.

Be a love and review me! cookies all around!

And special love to GaryLovesPickles (thanks, and merry Xmas as well!), Tasz (again, happy birthday! Hope you enjoyed, and thank-you!), and Kay (!is flattered! Thank you so much! Merry Christmas too you too, and I hope you continue to R&R!)- who reviewed anonymously. The rest of your lovely people have your responses already.

Merry Christmas! See you on the other side-

Cheers,

-Jewels-

(and no one ask if "Molly Clay" is "Molly Weasley" or I'll shoot you. No. She is not.)