OH MY GOD OH MY GOD I AM SO SORRY, SO SORRY READERS. THAT THIS IS LATE. ALL THE APOLOGIES (hands box of dried tears) take it, just take the box! School made me do it, I swear, please don't hurt me! Okay apologies aside, heres the chapter, voila its finally finished. It's not everything I wished it was, but let's say I hit writer's block right about smack dab in the middle of this monster of high expectations because planning for writing before writing doesn't happen for me yippeekayay. Now, thank you letters: Lotsa references from the movie The Princess Diaries in the dinner scene if you know what I mean! So thank you Emilia Thermopolis for screwing up. The dinner party menu was taken from Martha's Stewart's website, thank you Martha Stewart for your help. This chapter was hella difficult but thanks to Prongs we have finished it. So thank you Prongs Dx. Finally, thank you readers for reading, keep doing that I guess. Although sometimes I wonder why you guys bother. Ohh and also, theres some Remus. Yay, please enjoy~

Mooneh

Goodbye

Should be sayin' that to you by now, shouldn't I?

Layin' down the law that I live by,

Though maybe next time

I've got a thick tongue,

Brimming with the words that go unsung

Simmer then the burn for a someone,

A wrong one

And I tell myself to let the story end,

My heart will rest in someone else's hand

My 'why not me?' philosophy began,

And I say

Ooh, how'm I gonna get over you?

I'll be alright, just not tonight

Someday, oh I wish you'd want me to stay

I'll be alright, just not tonight,

Someday

~ "Gonna Get Over You" by Sara Bareilles

Alice's POV

Blasted barnacles, where in Merlin's beard was that mascara? She had it in her hand literally 5 seconds ago.

"Damn it." She yanked out the fifth hair pin that was hanging crooked in her long brown hair and ran a comb through it one more time with one hand, the other fumbling with another hairpin she violently stabbed a stray lock into place. Perfect.

Smiling and turning her head this way and that, she blinked rapidly at her reflection and added a quick flash of red over her top eyelids, leaving the mascara off in favor of a bold black eyeliner, adding a little wing to the end of each eye. She took a light blush and added it on to tone down the rest of her face. It was a small party after all, not some kind of film premiere.

Well...it didn't hurt to look red-carpet ready every once in a while. She felt like a cooped up bird in a cage, ready to spread her wings and FLY.

She took one last look in the mirror, admiring the wraparound scarlet red dress she wore, the sleeves made of soft silky taffeta. The top was emblazoned with small diamonds that glistened in the light, bright little stars on a backdrop of rich red. Below the mirror, the dress continued down into small train behind her, long and languorous like her hair. A long, thin gold necklace hung around her neck and she fiddled with it, flicking one half of her hair behind her head.

Now, shoes.

She got up and grabbed the stilettos near her bedside. Sitting down, she tucked her foot into the shoe, fit like it was made for a Cinderella movie, the pointy heel part jet black and the rest of it a nude color, a shiny leather black bow at the toe. She repeated the same movement on the other foot, and clicked to her full-length mirror without a single wobbling step. It felt like she was born in heels.

"LILY!"

The redhead zoomed by in a bathrobe, face covered in a lime green gunk and wet hair in a towel. She raised an eyebrow.

"Are you serious? Alice, what on EARTH are you wearing?!"

"Did you take my mascara?"

"Wha-what, no Alice, you can't possibly be-"

Lily faltered and sighed dramatically.

"-going to Slughorn's party."

Oh, the poor girl. It took her so long to realize. Even when Alice was a practical mess grooming herself before getting into her dress, Lily was busy nose-deep in some school text like it could possibly be more important than looking spectacular.

"I was sort of going to tell you, but I thought I'd leave it a surprise. You don't look surprised. I'm disappointed."

"Bloody purebloods, bloody RICH purebloods…" Lily mumbled under her breath, "what did you do, talk yourself into an invitation because Slughorn likes mingling with the well-known? You sneaky fox."

Smirking dangerously, she pressed her crimson lips together and placed her hands onto her hips.

"What do you THINK I did?"

Lily scowled like a drowned cat.

"I'm done. Absolutely done. Go, for all I care. Lord knows you are just aching to show off your inner diva." Alice stuck her tongue out as she brushed past Lily, whose tongue was already pointed out, to see how Jane was doing.

"And don't forget Frank, Lily. He's always the best person to show off."

Jane's POV

Jane was putting on the diamond studs Alice had gotten her from Wicked Witch's and she already had her iridescent blue-purple dress on, looking as natural in it as the moon in the night sky. She brushed her hair out of her eyes and gave herself a once-over, the clean application of pale blue eyeshadow and lip gloss satisfying her. She didn't want to look she was trying too hard, after all. Thomas was going to be there...after all.

Jane was suddenly sucked into a small panic attack. Thomas was going to be there, oh god, Thomas Brown in the flesh was going to be THERE, oh mother of pearl what had she gotten into?!

"JANE!"

Jane yelped and almost died from the shriek of her name from Alice, startling her into a mess and making her heart skip three beats. Jane gasped when she saw Alice, looking like a person who had stepped out of a fashion show, with how beautiful she looked. The dress she was wearing must have cost shiploads of galleons.

"Bloody hell, sorry 'bout that Mackenzie. You look hideously fab though. If I was Mr. Brown, I'd 'slyther' 'in' right into your bed." She ended her compliment with a cheesy wink.

"Uhh...thanks Alice." Jane sighed and looked horrified at the mirror. Her eyes reflected the nervous fear lurking in it's violet depths, the fear of something, anything going wrong. Her entire body was suddenly chilled to the bone. She was never this nervous for Quidditch, even her first game, but this, this was totally unexplored territory. The delicate friendship between her and Thomas could all but fall apart if she made one false move, one move that would give her away and reveal the girl who tried so hard to move on from her past. The broken girl.

"Oi, wakey wakey. Don't get focused on your face, you'll get hypnotized. Trust me, it's happened." Alice was checking her nails again, painted a devilishly dark wine red. Jane gulped and turned to get her velvet magenta pumps, slipping them on quietly and turning to Alice.

"Could I ask you something Alice? How do you act so...good at everything?"

"Who said I act? I'll pound their face into oblivion. Names, now."

"No, no like, when you're uncomfortable or nervous or sad or whatever, how do you…"

"Easy. I just think about how lucky I am to have two blessedly insane and useless friends such as you and Lily who need help with love so that I may guide you like a horse to water, and I think of Frank, because he always manages to make me smile, even when he's not next to me."

Jane laughed, and felt her heart squeeze at Alice's words. Sure, sometimes Alice was such a brash person once you got to know her, but she was kind, sweet and lovable to everyone around her, even strangers. It made her grateful to have her as a friend, how devoted and true she was even through their darkest day, not budging a single inch in favor of joining a more popular clique or even the blasted Marauders. Somehow, she had maintained her true self throughout all that and Jane had to respect how honest and brave Alice was, a through and through Gryffindor. The same went with Lily. Jane didn't know what she had done to possibly deserve two such brilliant people.

"Look at it this way Jane. You're brilliant, positively BRILLIANT, at school, and you're beautiful, and wonderful, and most especially YOU. I may have my pros, but you, you make me look like a parrot next to a peacock. Even though its only the male peacocks that look good. You see, everyone has their pros and cons. Everyone. Even you, and second-guessing yourself is just part of learning about who you are, and who you want to be."

Alice adjusted Jane's gradually slouching posture and tapped under her chin to keep her head up.

"Your choice begins tonight. Make it count, Mackenzie."

Lily's POV

2 more minutes.

Lily sighed and tugged on the lowcut V-neck of the black dress for the trillionth time like she had a mental disease. It wasn't ILLEGAL to show a little skin in Hogwarts, but in Lily's book, you might as well have been walking around butt-naked. The way the dress stopped half-thigh to slant towards her other leg, the cut making her feel even more exposed, even the back plunged half back, covered by her wavy red hair. She may have been a little more open to the idea of the dress back at Wicked Witch's but since she was nervous as all hell that Declan Parish was coming that she was tugging and pulling and yanking. The skinny green belt she wore was a nice contrast to the black and made her eyes pop, like the hazelnut eyeshadow she had picked out for herself. She even made time to paint her nails the same hue of red as Alice, though she hadn't known the purpose of Alice's playing dress-up until earlier, and now that she did she felt annoyance bubbling up inside her. Alice was going to RUIN her tonight, "slipping" lewd jokes anywhere she wanted to, until Lily was going to-

No, bad thoughts. It was all going to be FINE. If she just avoided Sirius and James like the plague and stayed close to Declan. Mingling.

Lily hurried slipped on the green flats, grabbing the emerald necklace on her bed and clasping it hurriedly as she hopped on one foot to put the other green flat on.

"HURRY UP EVANS OR ELSE I'LL CHOKE YOU!"

"Coming Ice Queen."

Alice rolled her eyes and pulled Lily out of the girl's dormitories, Lily spared one last look behind her before closing her eyes and praying beyond hope that tonight was not going to be THAT night.

Slughorn's party

When the girls arrived at Slughorn's nondescript location of secrecy there were a small huddle of people waiting outside a lavish party area, deep purple silk curtains hanging from the ceilings and floating green lanterns around the area, illuminating the people in a natural light. Servers were carrying around silver platters of snacks and everyone was chatting amongst themselves while soft music echoed around the space. Everyone was mostly dressed to impress, and of course waiting for them was the girl's dates for the night: Thomas Brown, Declan Parish, and Frank Longbottom. They all smiled happily at their partner when they arrived together.

Frank blushed when he saw Alice in her sweeping red dress and grinned jovially as she slipped an arm to his waist and leaned up to kiss his cheek.

"Impeccably dressed, as always." Frank murmured into her ear.

"I could say the same for you." Alice looked up into Frank's eyes and booped him on the nose.

Alice turned back and hummed in agreement, watching like a mother hen over her baby chicks as Jane nervously greeted Thomas, who laughed and patted her on the back, and Lily who was eying the crowd warily and clasped her hand in Parish's.

"Mother of pearl, Jane Mackenzie, you look lovely." Jane's violet eyes shimmered as she laughed and awkwardly thanked Thomas, tucking a blonde hair behind her ear and grinning despite herself. Alice felt like the cruel mother bird pushing her babies out of the nest forcefully, only to find them flying all by themselves without help.

Jane looked shocked when Thomas bent down and chastely pressed a kiss to her hand. But probably not as shocked as Alice.

"Chaarrrminnnggg…" Alice drawled out, and Thomas cocked a half-amused smile. Jane only gulped and turned away, willing the burning red blush on her cheeks to just go the hell away, god damn it!

Declan tapped Lily on the shoulder and murmured something into her ear, making her double over laughing and smacking him across the arm. Alice and Frank watched the scene unfold, and she sighed nostalgically.

"Reminds me of when you and me were that young and naive. Oh, how the woes of love transform us." Frank fought back a barking laugh at Alice's sudden change into romantic prose.

"Oi, lovebirds, over here I have something to tell you."

Lily and Jane separated from Thomas and Declan with a roll of their eyes and went over to see Alice. Alice waved them in closer, and she whispered something into their ears:

"Okay, so I know you two have been on diets lately. For tonight only, you two can gorge yourselves all you want. But that doesn't mean throwing everything I taught you out the window, it just means enjoy yourselves. Tonight is the ONLY exception. Now go on and have fun you two lousy lovebirds." Lily and Jane looked ecstatic and both simply opted for a simple "thank you ever so kind ice queen" in favor of squeezing the life out of Alice.

Around them were the rest of the people invited: Severus Snape and Pooja Patil, Sirius and Regulus Black, Charlotte, Darcy, James and Remus, Sybil Trelawney, Gilderoy Lockhart, Bellatrix Lestrange, Lucius Malfoy and two other Ravenclaw girls: Diana Ross and Hailey Darwin.

Snape had a scowl etched into the lines of his face and Pooja Patil wasn't looking much better, arms crossed like she wished she could be anywhere else but there at Slughorn's demented dinner party. She had on an olive green sundress, a long gold chain necklace, and her usually waist-length hair done up in a bun. Sirius had just arrived in a dress suit, with Charlotte by his side in a strapless pale pink dress with a sequined cardigan. Darcy and James were next to arrive, her hand clutched possessively in James Potter's, also in a dress suit, her dress was a deep, royal blue, the material velvet and the sleeves hanging off her shoulders to contrast the pale length of her neck. Her wavy raven-black hair was pulled back in a jade barrette, away from her face. She wore a circular sapphire necklace right above her clavicle.

Near the fireplace there was Bellatrix Lestrange and Lucius Malfoy, standing around in stony silence judging everyone. Regulus Black was there too, which was a pleasant surprise to Sirius who hadn't seen his brother in ages, and prompted a tight hug from the two who looked very much alike. Remus Lupin had arrived later, looking absolutely dashing with a shy looking girl. In another area of the room was Sybil Trelawney, an eccentric girl with large spectacles and a look of wonder in her eyes, known throughout the castle as an absolute loon. She was in a heated argument over some matter of magical spells with Gilderoy Lockhart, an airhead git who claimed to know everything there was to know. They made quite a pair. Finally, there was the man of the evening: Slughorn, dressed in a three-piece suit and a companionable smile plastered on his face, shaking hands with everyone and laughing, a glass of wine in hand.

"Hmm...20 people! Merlin, well dinner won't be ready until a few more minutes: enjoy yourselves for a little more, mingle about, get to know each other. I'll be around." Slughorn ended his short little introduction to the 20 people who knew each other well enough, and disappeared.

There was a silence afterwards, everyone looking at the other, heated tension flowing through the air. Then just as suddenly, it was gone, and everyone was left dancing and talking to each other.

James and Sirius had lumps in their throat, watching Lily and Jane dancing with someone else, someone that wasn't them, making them laugh and smile and something viciously angry flowed through their veins at the thought. It was unfair.

On the other hand, Lily and Jane had zoned everyone out except for their partner. It didn't feel wrong to call them that, because they had spent quite a while in their company. Jane was slowly getting more used to Thomas's easy-going camaraderie, and Lily shared the same sarcastic and witty banter that Declan seemed to balance out easily with his blunt honesty and acute observations. They talked, laughed, tripped over each other, held hands, and made fun of each other as if they were all best friends.

Darcy had separated from James to observe Lily Evans with Charlotte, who was already crying without any sort of trigger. Being away from Sirius surely did a number on her, transforming her from the happy, bubbly girl to a fragile soul who pointed jabs like a butcher wielded a knife. But it was to defend herself from further heartbreak.

"Oh my, I'll be happy to get away from this disgusting place as fast as possible. The aiiiirrr...its just filled with meretricious hope. James can't even come clean with me and he couldn't be more obvious." Darcy tilted her head up, closing her eyes and relishing the feeling of control she had over him. "I'm waiting for the blade to drop, him to drop the silly act, and then I'll be a little more satisfied with things. At least he won't be looking like he's constipated all the time when he looks at her when around me."

"Is she...Jane?" Charlotte tearfully pointed to Jane, who was looking focused at something Thomas was telling her. Sad was the fact Charlotte had known the girl for 5 years, going on 6, and she still not being able to recognize her.

"Mm. It's a surprise isn't it? She dropped those ugly sweaters for something mildly attractive and I have to say, she deserves a round of applause. Too bad she's just fooling herself if she thinks she can just slip into a wolf's skin when she's still as innocent as a lamb." Darcy responded dryly, and Charlotte whimpered and sniffed loudly, wiping delicately at the side of her tearing eyes, puffy and red but mascara thankfully not running. Waterproof.

James was carefully distracting himself by talking to Remus, who was amicably talking to a Ravenclaw girl who was laughing loudly and was the only person dressed pretty casually, dressed in a black skirt, tights, combat boots and a Manchester United T-shirt, Diana Ross. Diana's short hair was dark brown with bright pink dye in some strands, and she wore a checkered headband and grey scarf. She had green-framed glasses that made her hazel eyes glow, and the girl was nothing short of hilarious and she was contrasted by another sharp-eyed Ravenclaw Hailey, who was quiet but seemed just as genuinely nice as Diana…

"James Potter, Hailey. Hailey, James Potter." Diana gestured from one person to another, before slipping straight into where she left off on werewolf lore. James stiffened, but Remus didn't seem to budge throughout the entirety of Diana's rambling, which was pretty long.

From across the room, Severus Snape was livid from the moment James arrived, barely concealing his boiling hate to the man from Pooja, who had simply sighed and slipped away to find someone else to talk with.

Finally, a small bell rang and one of the servants announced that dinner was served. They were led into a large dining area, a large brightly lit place with a giant chandelier and a long mahogany dining table with 15 chairs on each side and 2 at the ends, where candles and name placards were set at each cushy seat, each couple taking their respective places next to their card name. Declan pulled Lily's seat out for her and James clenched Darcy's so hard she flinched. Sirius felt a horrifying urge to strangle Thomas when he took his seat next to Jane, the unknown factor of what could be happening under that side of the table making him want to laugh tears of pain. Remus sat between Hailey and Diana, and the rest grimaced as they sat down. How Slughorn knew who was going with who was surprisingly not surprising in the least.

Horace Slughorn took his seat at the front, everyone standing up hesitantly, the backs of the chairs scraping against the floor making the god of "let's not make it awkward" wince and roll over in his early grave. Slughorn waved his hand good-naturedly, everyone once again taking their seats and the servants moving as one to set a bowl of light green soup in front of everyone, the initials SC for Slug Club written in white creme. Everyone was silent, hands poised over spoons.

"Uhh...well, go on and eat then."

Lights were dimmed as the clatter of silverware against porcelain signalled conversation, the soup was creamy and smooth, slightly spicy, sweet and flavorful as it bursted across everyone's tongues and was quite filling for a first appetizer. The Slughorn steadily making his way down the table for introductions and questioning and all was well. Until Jane tried to lift the name placard from the table and it caught fire from the candle, a split second of horror mixed with panic was all it took for the flame of the name card to spread to Thomas's sleeve, and Jane, in her panic, upended her icy glass of water onto his sleeve which elicited a sharp cry from Thomas and 19 pairs of eyes onto her. Including Slughorn.

"Goodness gracious, be careful there Jane." The servants went to retrieve a napkin from the kitchen and Jane furiously fought the urge to bury her head into a hole and never return to the world again. Thomas must've been more embarrassed by her, marvelous, just marvelous.

Sirius chuckled quietly at Jane and now that all attention was redirected to her (the prior interrogation was aimed at him and his "family" which he was not keen on spelling out to the rest of the people at the table) Slughorn focused his new strings of questions on Jane.

"Jane, is it true you've joined the Quidditch team? How has that been going for you?"

"How was your summer? Did you do any sports? Quidditch perhaps?

"How is your family? What have they been doing?"

"If you happen to know anyone of interest to me, don't be shy!"

"I see you've taken a dramatic change since last I saw of you."

"Is Thomas a new acquaintance?"

"Sirius here informs me that your Quidditch skills have much improved since you first started. But for a novice, that is quite impressive, is that not so?"

And so on so forth until the pressure was eased onto Thomas's shoulders, who was still blushing, not as much as Jane however, from the flaming sleeve.

After Thomas's turn, in which Slughorn practically grilled him on his life story and everything under the moon, they moved to Lily. Lily, who was always seemingly prepared to be grilled on any subject fired off answer after answer as if she was born to answer questions correctly, which she might've had. She informed, or rather re-informed, Slughorn on her status of Prefect, the status of her classes, the status of her home life and Petunia and her parent's change in jobs, and on the far side of the table sneers were felt, not seen, with looks of disgust.

Darcy at least covered up her lack of interest with a false look of caring on her face, the servants returning to clear away the soup bowls for the main course, braised chicken tarragon with sides of mashed potatoes and celeriac. Pooja opted for the butternut squash risotto, since she was vegetarian, but that was everyone else's meal.

The food was absolutely delicious. Everyone could barely hide their moans of satisfaction from each other, and Lily was so busy inhaling the food, after days of nothing but watching her diet, Lily choked, coughing furiously and her face turning red, Declan so horrified he choked too, and soon everyone was either paused in terror or amazement or confusion as Lily hacked and finally took a mighty breath of much-needed air. Slughorn saw this and laughed, "Aaaaaaaah Lily deary, you enjoying my food? You know, the caterer for this party is 'It's Magic' the owner of the restaurant was my student a couple years ago and he agrees to supply food for my parties every year." Lily mumbled a "very nice" to try to desperately escape the spotlight.

James couldn't decide what he felt most: overwhelming affection for the fact Lily Evans looked maybe a little cute coughing like her life depended on it or overwhelming hate that Declan Parish was now patting her gently on the back, that two-faced, worthless little dic-

James didn't know he had been clenching the glass cup of water in his hand until it shattered from the force, and he coughed awkwardly, blood running down his hand and he got up and left to clean it off. Darcy looked uncomfortable, but stayed where she was. Severus had a shit-eating grin plastered on his face.

"Ehhem, I have some business to attend to, excuse me for a moment." Slughorn left the group of diners at the table, a silence so thick not even a knife could cut through the tension that settled throughout the table when he left.

Sirius's POV

"Jane."

Jane looked up at Sirius, caught off guard so her eyes were bright and curious, and Sirius was struck dumb. He momentarily forgot what words were, and once he remembered he blurted out the first thing that was on his mind.

"You look lovely tonight."

Jane's mouth fell open, and then closed. All eyes turned toward him, and he felt himself, yes Sirius Black, getting embarrassed from the attention. Charlotte beside him started clenching the fork she had her hand around so hard her knuckles went white with the force.

"So…Thomas is a new acquaintance?"

Crap, shit, Sirius couldn't help himself, he knew he was digging himself a whole 6 feet deep and straight to hell with that question and sure enough, Jane whipped a glare so deadly, Sirius wished there was a rewind and edit function to his life.

"What does that matter to you?" Jane was suddenly ice cold, and Thomas was frozen in place, utterly lost. Alice was looking between the three, shaking her head minutely because Merlin's beard only knew that this stuff just didn't happen in real life, it happened in badly performed soap dramas.

"Since when did you hang out with...with…" Sirius didn't have a single bad thing about Thomas, he just barely knew him, but he managed, "THOSE types of people?" Jane narrowed her eyes in disbelief and Thomas too was glaring at him and shit shit shit so was Charlotte and maybe like 20 other people.

"What the HELL are you implying I am?" Thomas had stood up now, fuck, fuck he was so done for, so Sirius stood up too.

"You're...you don't deserve someone like her." Collective gasps. Charlotte threw her napkin down, catching fire (stupid goddamn candles) and without a single misstep left the room. Darcy, always a face of calm, looked unnerved, and dumped her water on the flaming napkin without taking her eyes off the mini war-zone.

"Sirius." Remus was looking warily between them, and his voice was all authority. "Stop."

He knew that, he knew exactly the mistake he was making because Jane looked hurt and angry and he didn't mean that, he meant HE deserved her but who was he kidding, he couldn't ever deserve her.

"We're not...we're...even if we were." Jane looked up, shock painted across her face, as Thomas stood up more furiously than before.

"Even if we were, you have NO RIGHT to talk to her...to me, about her, like that. If anyone doesn't deserve Jane, it'll be you."

Sirius slammed his fist down on the table, and then Lily went up like a bullet.

"Black. Sit the fuck down before I slice your throat into sushi."

"What the hell is going on here?" Gilderoy Lockhart cried out, and Sybil Trelawney looked enraptured by the action, her eyes glued to the tension ensuing at the other end of the table.

"My Inner Eye tells me there is some unrequited love to be reconciled. The night will not end well." Pooja ohh'ed and sat back, nodding her head in quiet comprehension. Severus, who was sitting beside her, scoffed, and stayed silent.

Jane was looking at the table, caught between hurt and happiness, Thomas having pretty much admitted to dating her now, but the fact Sirius had also pretty much admitted he fancied her made for some serious (the pun, the PUN) turmoil, and suddenly eating didn't seem like a great idea after all.

"I-I um...excuse me."

Jane made her quick escape, NOT setting anything on fire this time, and Thomas gave one glare made of hate directed toward Sirius before following Jane suit, and the food on the table lay forgotten in exchange for heated debate.

Lily went first.

"Sirius, you bloody fool. You great big BLOODY bag of shit. You couldn't at least leave it at 'I think you look lovely tonight?' No, you had to go on and ruin it. One step forward, three hundred thousand steps back. Bloody IDIOT."

"That would equal two hundred ninety nine hundred, nine hundred ninety nine steps back so…" Diana picked at the remaining pieces of chicken on her plate, Remus practically choking at her quiet comment, and Diana smiled mischieviously.

"Thank you Lily, thank you for helping me so much for stating the obvious, it's been loads of help. It's no use now, is it? I fucked up, and now all I got was them finally dating."

"Whoa hold up...HOLD THE FUCK UP." Lockhart looked like he was coming upon a revelation, but he wasn't the only one surprised to the point of silence. Lucius and Bellatrix, hell, even Regulus, had been quiet until then, but they knew by tomorrow the small fact Sirius Black fancied Jane Mackenzie would be blasting across school grounds in minutes. A Black, betraying his blood lineage in favor of a mudblood.

"You?! And...and Jane Mackenzie?! But...but you loathe her!" Pooja sighed and explained. "If you haven't noticed, Gilderoy, Jane Mackenzie practically isn't Jane Mackenzie anymore. She went from ghoul to goddess over the course of one summer. That's why Black is so enamored. It's no surprise anyways. I bet all you want is to get into her pants, right?"

"I wonder why you think so LOWLY of me, Miss Patil."

"Perhaps the fact you actually do want to get into a lot of girl's pants, and probably have, shouldn't count right? Ohhh my badddd…"

"Back!"

Everyone settled back down almost immediately once Slughorn returned, thankfully Charlotte not in tow, and plates were removed for the final course, dessert: chocolate coconut paddies, cookies covered with a sweet crust of chocolate and a flaky and crunchy inside of delicious coconut.

"Uhm mah gaw thes esh sho goo!" Alice commented, and everyone nodded back in agreement. Slughorn was elated at the fact that everyone enjoyed the food, but the fun wasn't over yet. As everyone finished devouring the warm cookies, Lily had clumsily dropped a fork onto the floor, and bent down to retrieve it.

Disastrous decision.

Declan stood up and went to excuse himself for the restroom, and without looking bumped right into Lily's back. Declan fell forward, face caught in surprise, and pushed a startled server flying forward past two empty seats with glasses of water toppling and dowsing Alice, Alice gasping in horror as her dress was drenched, and Frank hurriedly stood up to help her when his sleeve caught on fire and yelping, turned around with arm raised and Slughorn lifted his wand, the only one in the room with one, pointed and said: aguamenti, and immediately the flame went out, but Frank's sleeve was soaked. This all occurred within the span of five seconds.

James had returned, Charlotte by his side, and so was Jane and Thomas. They paused, confused, as Lily got up from under the table with fork in hand and face blazing red. Slughorn looked relatively unaffected, and apologized heartily for them missing dessert when James returned with his hand bandaged, Charlotte looking clearly like she had been crying, and Jane and Thomas still glaring daggers at Sirius.

Trelawney shook her head, mumbling "bad omens, bad omens" over and over again, and suddenly out of nowhere, Hailey Darwin burst out laughing. Not simply laughing, but doubled over, cracking up laughing, and soon followed was Gilderoy Lockhart, Regulus Black, Pooja, Remus, Diana, Sirius, Lily, Alice, Declan, and Frank.

The only ones not laughing, Severus, James, Charlotte, Darcy, Jane, Thomas, Lucius, Bellatrix and Trelawney simply watched blankly, and Slughorn laughed along heartily before patting his suit down, clearing his throat and checking his watch.

"Why, it is horribly late! I do believe it is time to go...It has been lovely to see and catch up with all of you today." The servants cleared out the tables and the students were ushered out of the room, "a great pleasure to see you all come, and I look forward to seeing you next time in Potions. Good night all! Be safe. I hope you enjoyed the meal."

A few stranglers stayed back to thank Slughorn for the meal, but most were eager to get the hell out of there as fast as possible. The first to disappear was probably the Slytherins, then Lockhart and Trelawney and Pooja, and then James and Darcy, Sirius and Charlotte, Remus and Diana. They all looked at each other with miserable acceptance at each other and weary surrender. Except for Remus.

"Aye, g'night mates." James whispered to Sirius and Remus, who nodded back and waved, and they parted ways. The last of the remaining happened to be the girls, the stranglers, and were praising Slughorn left and right until he was forcefully throwing them out.

"I'd love to talk more girls, but I think your men are waiting outside." Surely enough, they all blushed, and left with an enthusiastic good night to Slughorn.

Lily's POV

Declan had pulled Lily aside once they left the room, and pressing a finger to his lips, led her away from the rest of the girls. Into the main corridors, which was quiet.

Giggling, Lily looked at Declan with a smirk on her lips, "So, what's up?"

There was two, three beats of nothing, and Declan's smile wavered and he ran a hand through that perfectly tousled hair in frustration and impatience before beginning in a very quiet voice,

"Lily. I've been wanting to ask you something for a long time, and I think now's that time. Now or never, right?"

Oh.

Oh, my god.

"Lily Evans...will you go out with me?"

Bam what?! CLIFFHANGER. I switched to Lily's POV at the last minute. I am feeling the need for some more James and Lily for next chapter, am I right? Well, now after this little bomb dropped yeah I think so. Anywho. Didja enjoy it? Didja hate it? Didja not care? Tell us what you think, or wait for next week to find out more.

This story is still a work in progress, and we literally appreciate any type of response we get (suggestions?). Thank you to those who have spent the time to do that, and to our readers, if only for a little while, thank you for reading. I enjoy writing it as much. Send us some messages, they're great, and we'll respond if we can. Because you know. School :(.

Thank you. From JV ft Marauders.