Disclaimer: I do not have the pleasure of owning James, Lily, Alice, and a great many other wonderful characters.

Chapter 21

The Dance

Lily was having a lovely day. It was Friday and all of her classes were over. She had just returned from lunch, and tomorrow she left on the train to go to Chloe's for Christmas. There was the dance later tonight, no homework to worry about, and the common room was empty, leaving it quite calm and quiet. Lily was sitting on the red sofa before the fire, snuggled comfortably in the corner, watching the flames in the fireplace crackle and curl. She couldn't remember a time she had been quite so peaceful.

And then Shelby came in.

"LILY!" she shrieked, dashing down the corridor and into the common room from the portrait hole entrance. "It's almost one o'clock!"

"What?" Lily said, looking up. "Oh. Well, that's nice. One o'clock is a good time of the day."

"Lily!" Shelby said urgently. "We have to go start getting ready!"

Lily gave Shelby a reproachful look. "Get ready? As in, get ready for the dance?"

"Yes!" Shelby said.

"It's one o'clock," Lily said.

"Exactly!" Shelby said exasperatedly. "Come on!"

"We have hours," Lily said. "Wait until like, four or something."

"Lily! We have to get ready NOW!" Shelby sounded angry at this point. Lily sighed and stood up.

"Fine. But after I'm ready, since it'll only take me like, maybe an hour tops, you have to let me sit alone in peace, 'kay?" Lily said irritably.

Shelby bobbed her head before grabbing Lily's arm and dragging her upstairs to the dorm.

"Shelby, seriously, calm down. I'm fine. My nails are done, I'm in my dress, I have so much make-up on that I think it might suffocate me, my hair is been put up and down, combed and pulled, styled and restyled so much that I have a killer headache, and my feet hurt from wearing these accursed heels!" Lily exploded after several (hundred it seemed) hours. It was now about ten minutes until eight and all five girls were just about ready for the dance.

"Lily, you have practically no make-up on!" Shelby whined. "You only have eyeliner, mascara, eye shadow, blush, lipstick, lip-shine, base –"

"That's way too much," Lily interrupted.

"But-"

"Seriously, I'm fine without any more stupid make-up," Lily said, scowling and pushing away Shelby's hand.

"Fine. Well, why don't you go do your hair?" Shelby said, putting more make-up on her own face.

"Well, I hope you're thoroughly satisfied," Lily said. "You used up half my day to get me looking exactly like I normally do and now I don't have any time to just sit and relax!"

"That's the point," Shelby said, pursing her lips in slight irritation. "If you sit and relax, you'll mess up your dress, make-up, or hair! It's inevitilible!"

Lily looked at Shelby in amusement. "Inevitilible?"

"Yeah," Shelby said. "It's inevitilible that you'll mess something up."

"You mean inevitable, don't you?" Lily said, stifling a giggle.

"Whatever the word is!" Shelby said exasperatedly. "It doesn't matter. You know what I'm trying to say."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Lily said rolling her eyes.

"Guys! We like, have got to go!" Addy said loudly. "We have like, 5 minutes until the dance starts!" Shelby screamed and dropping her bag of make-up. Alice giggled.

"They look so freaked out," she said to Lily as the two of them watched Chloe, Shelby, and Addy run about the room, adding on last minute touches to their look.

"Let's just go downstairs," Lily suggested. Alice nodded in agreement and the two walked stealthily to the door and down the spiral steps. The common room was jam-packed with people – couples who seemed to be getting ready to leave, singles looking for their date, singles looking for anyone to be their date, and the younger students watching those going to the dance with jealousy.

"Just keep going," Alice said as she pushed through the crowd. "I'm meeting Frank downstairs. Where are you meeting Robert?"

"Downstairs," Lily said. "I didn't really want to meet up in the common room. I had a feeling it'd look like this." She motioned to the noisy throng behind them. They made their way quickly downstairs, arriving in the main hall at about one minute 'til eight.

"I'll see you later," Alice said, spotting Frank and skipping off. Lily sighed and searched the slightly less crazy pack of students for Robert. She found him near the doors, looking off into the crowd with a serious look on his face as his eyes scanned the group. When he saw Lily, he smiled happily and walked over.

"Hello," he said, grinning cheerfully.

"Hi," Lily said, smiling back.

The doors leading into the great hall (which had been converted into a ballroom). The decorations, mostly designed by Shelby, Addy, and Chloe, had turned the room from a dining hall into the most elegant room Lily had ever seen.

"Wow," Lily breathed.

"This must've taken forever to design," Robert said, looking around at the room.

"It only took a very short time," Lily said. "Chloe, Addy, and Shelby did it."

"Really?" Robert asked. "They're good." Lily let out a quiet laugh and began to make her way towards the far end of the room where a few round tables were set up for students not dancing to sit and converse stood unoccupied. At about 8:05, the music started up. "Do you want to dance?" he asked her.

"Sure," Lily said, following him to the floor. She remained silent for the song and by the end, Robert looked a bit bored. They sat back down at the table for the next few songs. After a while, Lily stood up and went over to the refreshment table, getting a cup of water.

"Hey!" someone said from behind her. She turned and saw Chloe and her date.

"Hi," Lily said, smiling. "How's it going?"

"Most excellently," Chloe said, looking at Mark happily. "And yours?"

"Fine, I guess," Lily said with a shrug. "I'm going to go sit down – see you later." She walked back to the table and found it empty. She spotted Robert dancing with Olivia Mallard, the two of them talking animatedly. The song ended and Robert noticed Lily back at the table. He walked quickly over, apologizing as he came.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I shouldn't have gone and danced with other people –"

"It's fine," Lily said. "Go ahead! You two looked like you were having a lot of fun."

"Are you sure?" Robert stammered, slightly taken back. "Because if you want-"

"It's fine, go have fun," Lily said.

Robert smiled. "Thanks," he said, going back to Olivia. Lily sat down with a sigh, watching the dancers sway back and forth, some talking with each other, some just happily swaying, and girls with their heads against their partner's chest, looking completely at ease. She caught sight of Alice and Frank, both talking quietly to each other. Alice looked completely happy, her eyes shining. Her eyes traveled a bit, but then she saw James and Katelyn dancing nearby and she felt her hands clench. Katelyn was wearing a rather revealing dress that went a bit low, had nearly see through fabric, fit her figure far too tightly, and had a slit that went a bit too high up for Lily's taste. She felt her stomach clench when she saw James looking at her happily. She looked away for a moment and when she looked back up, Katelyn was wrapping her arms around James's neck before going up on tiptoes and pressing her lips to his. Lily felt the air rush out of her lungs. She felt like someone had just thrust a dagger through her heart. She leapt to her feet, feeling her eyes welling up with tears. She ran out of the great hall, covering her face with her hands to hide the tears that were streaming down her cheeks.

Now, if Lily had just waited for a minute longer, she might not have been in such a state.

James pushed Katelyn away from him and took a step back, looking at her in horror and wiping off his lips with his hand. "What are you doing?" he asked her. He looked over and saw Lily running out of the ball room. He looked back at Katelyn. "What are you thinking?" he asked her angrily.

"What?" Katelyn asked, looking at him innocently.

James scowled at her and stormed off the floor, looking around anxiously for Lily. He walked around the room, trying to find her rather unsuccessfully, but managing to run headlong into Sirius, knocking him several feet backwards.

"Oi! Watch where you're going, mate!" Sirius yelped. He noticed the distressed look on James's face and asked, "What's up with you, Prongs?"

"D' you know where Lily went?" James asked him distractedly.

"And why on Earth would I know that?" Sirius asked James, who sighed anxiously and bolted off again. He saw Chloe and Shelby standing nearby, chatting excitedly.

"Do either of you know where Lily is?" James asked them.

"No, I haven't seen her for a while," Chloe answered.

"Last I saw her was before she deserted us in the dormitory," Shelby replied tartly. James jogged off to Alice, who was standing near the door.

"Have you seen Lily?" he asked her, now breathless.

"Uh, yeah," Alice said, looking at James curiously. "I was about to go after her. She ran out and upstairs."

James ran out and up the stairs, peering into classrooms and listening for any signs of where she might be. He reached the top floor, panting with exhaustion, his face red with exertion. He listened intently and heard a muffled sound coming from somewhere down the hall. He walked as quietly as he could towards it, stopping outside a classroom door from which the sounds emanated from. James took a deep breath and pushed the door open. Lily was huddled in the corner, her knees up against her chest, her arms wrapped around them. She looked over at the door when it opened, and upon seeing James, hid her face and said, "Go away."

James walked over and crouched down beside her. "Lily…"

"Just go away," Lily's muffled voice said, cracking as she spoke. "Go back to Katelyn."

"It wasn't what you think –" started James.

Lily looked up, her bright green eyes red-rimmed and puffy, and filled with anger. "It wasn't what I thought? You took her to the dance, you were staring at her like… like… well you know what I mean. And then you…you… you kissed her!"

"I didn't kiss her," James said. "We were just dancing and then… then…" He trailed off, unsure of what to say. "She got up and kissed me."

"You are not completely blameless," Lily said in a harsh tone, looking away.

James didn't say anything for a moment. Then, "I'm really, really sorry, Lily," in barely a whisper.

Lily looked up at him again, this time her eyes less angry. "Wha…what?"

"I'm really, truly sorry," James repeated. "I've been such an idiot. I don't know what else I can say. I… I…" He trailed off, a pained expression on his face.

Lily looked at him for a moment before and saying, "I guess I should be sorry as well."

James looked up. "Why are you sorry? You have every right to hate me forever," he replied miserably.

"I'd say that if either of us have a right to hate the other, you should hate me. You were always trying to be nice and everything, but I was so rude and I always just… I just… I'm sorry," Lily said, her eyes (which had just stopped tearing up) began to well with tears again.

"Don't cry, "James said, putting an arm around her. "It's not your fault. All that stuff you used to say to me was completely true. I was self-centered and arrogant and –" Lily cut him off by sitting up a little higher and pressing her lips gently to his. James, more than a little surprised by this but not at all displeased, put his arms around her back. Lily pulled herself closer, her arms wrapped around his neck. In this moment, all cares seemed to fly from Lily's mind. They pulled apart, both a little shocked at what had just happened. Then reality came rushing back to Lily and she looked at James with wide eyes.

"I… I… I…" she stuttered, getting clumsily to her feet. "I have to go," she said, running out of the room.

A/N: I hope you guys like it! Here's my big tada moment – the dance. I hope it doesn't disappoint anyone's expectations.

Writergal24 – take as long as you need ;) and thank you very much. Here's the dance! ^.^ hope you like it

Possibly get 50 reviews by next chapter? I know that's high hopes, especially since I only got 1 for chapter 20… but I can hope! If I can just get 47 or 48 I'll be pretty happy.

-Naomi