A/N::: Hey guys! SO SORRY for the long wait! Thanks for sticking with it! You guys are AH-MAZING! :-)

"Evans, don't force me to embarrass you in front of the school…Eat," Brii urged her the next morning.

"Why should I?" Lily said, staring at her blank plate.

Brii glared at her, reaching across the table and hitting her hard across the back of her head. "Wake the fuck up, would you? It's not the end of the world," she told her.

Lily rubbed her head, "That hurt, whore," she said hoarsely.

"Oh please…don't give me that. You thrive on pain. Perhaps that's why you're sitting here sulking instead of screaming at Potter." Brii concluded.

"I don't thrive on this kind of pain…" Lily whispered.

Brii stared at her, her arms folded across her chest. She sighed heavily. "Have you asked him why he isn't speaking to you?" she asked her.

"No…" Lily said quietly, avoiding her eyes.

"Then how the hell do you expect the two of you to ever start talking again? You think he's just going to up and decide to talk to you at the Ball? Or be forced to talk to you while you're decorating Saturday? Which, by the way, I refuse to help with," Brii told her.

"I don't know! I guess…I guess I'm hoping this whole week was nothing but a dream and I'll wake up any time now and discover that it's last Saturday, not Thursday…" Lily said, frustrated with herself.

"Did I not hit you hard enough a minute ago? This ISN'T a dream, Evans! Get a hold of yourself! Grow some balls and go ask him what the fuck his problem is!" Brii yelled at her, pointing towards the entrance.

Lily glanced up at her angered face. "You're right," she said.

"Damn right I am. One day you'll realize I'm always right," Brii said smugly.

Lily snorted, shaking her head. "You'd kill just to prove that you're right," she said.

Brii thought about it a moment, "Probably, yeah, but right now isn't about me. It's about you. And you need to march your petty ass up to your dorm or where ever the fuck he is, and demand to know what his problem is," she told her.

"For once you sound like a nagging girlfriend, Riddle," Lily said, raising an eyebrow at her.

"Yeah, well, the situation calls for it. Besides, you can't seriously be thinking about throwing away what the two of you have…can you?" Brii said.

"What do we have? From what I can tell, I'm nothing to him. He keeps telling me he's fucking terrified of me! Terrified, Riddle! What am I supposed to do with that? Tell him I'm not going to hurt him and treat him like a baby? I can't do that…he's a grown ass man! I'm not going to treat him otherwise…" Lily told her.

"Good," Brii said, crossing her arms over her chest again. "So go do that," she said.

"Do what?" Lily asked tiredly.

"Treat him like a grown man," Brii said.

"I am," Lily said, taking a deep breath.

"I don't see you doing what I suggested…" Brii said slowly.

"That's because I'm not going to. I'm not going to go up to him and fight with him about who he's taking to the Ball. That's what SHE wants. I'm not going to ask him why he's avoiding me because, honestly, I'm too afraid of what the answer might be. I won't give him the satisfaction of knowing that the fact that he won't look at me is bothering me to the point that I can't eat, sleep, or even concentrate on anything. I've been through this one time already, and even though I don't know if I can handle it again…I will NOT let him take away how he's made me feel in the past few weeks…I won't let him take that away from me…" Lily explained, her eyes watering as her voice started to shake.

Brii stared at her. Lily blinked back the tears forming in her eyes, taking in a deep breath and looking around. She started to gather her books and stand from the table.

"Evans…sit your whining ass back down on that bench and eat a fucking piece of toast before I slap the red out of your hair…" Brii warned her as Lily started to stand.

Lily rolled her eyes, sitting back down miserably on the bench. "Stupid cunt," she mumbled, reaching for a piece of toast.

"Love-sick bitch," Brii mumbled back to her as she watched Lily make herself eat the toast. After Lily finished, she immediately went to stand.

"Sit back down. You're not leaving for at least 20 minutes," Brii said firmly.

"What? Why?" Lily asked.

"Because I know you're just going to go throw it up, now sit," Brii told her, glaring.

"I'm not bulimic, you know," Lily retorted, sitting back down.

"No, you're nauseous, you don't have an appetite, your chest hurts, and right now you feel like you're going to puke right on this table…am I wrong?" Brii asked.

"I hate you," Lily said, placing her head on the table.

"And I, you," Brii told her.

James watched the two of them fight from his seat down the table. He heard what she'd said, in fact the words were repeating in his head over and over. He watched her play in the food on her plate as Brii sat with her arms crossed over her chest, glaring at her.

He ran a hand through his hair, sitting his head in his hand. What was he doing? He was going to the ball with Carrie, someone he really didn't want to have to put up with all night, and he was inadvertently hurting Lily…something he hadn't realized he was doing. He groaned loudly into his hand. This was a disaster.

Lily stared at her parchment during Charms, not paying attention to anything Professor Flitwick was saying. She dipped her quill in her ink over and over, pretending to be copying down the notes, but really she was doodling on her page, drawing in the terrible way she did.

You know your drawings are terrible - J

Lily sat up a little as she read the note that had appeared on her desk. How the hell had that gotten there? And why could he write her notes but not speak to her? She didn't want to glance at his figure sitting behind her, so she attempted to brush it off, writing back.

Yes, so you've told me -L

Then why do you continue to draw? -J

…Maybe I'm bored… -L

Right… -J

Did you have any other reason to send me a note other than insulting my drawing capabilities? -L

Have you had a chance to give the house elves the menu for the Ball yet? -J

'Oh shit…' Lily thought to herself. She'd been so distracted by his abrupt behavior that she'd barely been able to do her homework, much less think about the stupid Ball.

No. I'll have it to them by tonight. -L

Ok. Have you thought about lighting? Or are you working on that Saturday? -J

Saturday… Stop worrying… Your precious Ball will be perfect -L

I'm not worried. Just trying to finalize details -J

You worry about your part, I'll worry about mine. Besides, I think you have more to worry about than me with your date -L

What do you mean -J

You'll find out soon enough -L

Before James could respond, he heard Flitwick dismiss the class. He gathered his books quickly, looking up at the back of Lily's figure as she threw her bag over her shoulder and started to walk out of the class.

"Evans!" he yelled after her. She continued walking out of the classroom, pushing the other students out of the way. He stared after her helplessly. Running a hand through his hair, he cursed himself. Why was he so afraid?

Lily made her way back to the dorm later that night after a long visit to the kitchens. She felt like a weight had been lifted off of her shoulders. She felt high from all the sugar she'd just eaten. She reached the portrait of Sir Codogan, but instead of telling him the password, she kept walking to Gryffindor Tower to find Brii.

As soon as she entered the Tower, it seemed everyone became quiet, all eyes turning to her. She ignored them, looking around the room to find Brii. Brii found her first.

"What are you lot staring at? She's your Head Girl, not a fucking two-headed alien," Brii said, getting up from her seat and walking towards where Lily was. "What are you doing in here?" Brii whispered to her.

"Came to find you, didn't realize I'd be causing hell to freeze over," Lily said through her gritted teeth. "Come on, let's go," Lily told her. They left, the rest of the dorm watching them leave. When they got into the hall, Brii hit Lily over the head.

"Ow! Fuck! What was that for?" Lily asked her.

"What are you doing? You know better than to go in there with all of them practically out to make your life miserable!" Brii said.

"Fine, next time I have a bag full of every food the house elves know how to make into bite size finger-foods, I won't come get you!" Lily said, holding up the bag of food in her hand.

Brii raised her brow, "Food?"

"Not just any food," Lily said, now smiling. "Specially made food for the Ball. AND…over half of it is chocolate," she told her. Brii snatched the bag from Lily's hands, carrying it the rest of the way to the Heads' Dorm.

"Try the treacle tart. It's literally to die for," Lily said as she threw her body onto the couch in the common room.

Brii reached into the bag as she sat down on the floor beside the fireplace. "How am I supposed to tell what's what? House elves don't know how to label shit?" she said.

"Fuck if I know," Lily told her. "So why do you say everyone is out to get me in the common room?" she asked.

Brii glanced at her. "Apparently someone started a rumor that you were trying to keep Potter from going to the Ball with the new Gryffindor Princess…" she told her slowly.

"What? That's ridiculous. He wants to go with her, why should I stop him?" Lily said.

"Dunno. You asked," Brii said, looking towards the portrait hole as it opened.

James strode in, looking between the two girls sitting in front of the fireplace. Lily looked down at her lap, avoiding his eyes.

"Riddle…Evans…" he said, walking closer to them.

"Think fast, Potter," Brii said, throwing a melted piece of chocolate towards him. He caught it, the chocolate instantly oozing in his fingers.

"Very nice, Riddle," he said, shaking his head. He turned to Lily. "Evans, did you get the menu to the house elves?" he asked her.

"Did I or did I not tell you not to worry about what I have to do? I've got it handled," she told him firmly, still avoiding looking at him.

"Fine. Dumbledore wants us to start decorating Saturday after lunch. Think you can handle that?" he said coldly.

She took a deep breath, hurt by his cold tone. "Of course," she said quietly.

He turned, heading upstairs and to his room. Lily grabbed the nearest pillow, burying her face in it and screaming as loudly as she could.

"You're pathetic," Brii said, snacking on a pumpkin tart.

"I know…I can't help it!" Lily told her weakly.

"You'd better not be this way Saturday, otherwise I'm going to be spending half the night slapping the piss out of you," Brii said.

"I'm not going to be in this mood Saturday. Mindless Over Matter is going to be here and there's no way James Potter is going to ruin that for me," Lily told her firmly.

"Good," Brii told her.

Lily stared into the fire, completely oblivious to the hazel-eyed, raven-haired man crouched on the loft between their bedroom doors, staring down at her figure.

Lily stayed in her room all day on Friday, finishing up all of her homework and any last minute things she had left to write down for the ball. On Saturday, when she woke, she almost immediately wished she hadn't. The realization that the day of the Ball was upon her made her sick again.

She ran to the bathroom, opening the lid of the toilet and puking. Every time she thought about putting on the dress later that day or having to face James while he was in Carrie's arms made her sick again.

Maybe should could make up an excuse, tell them she was sick, she couldn't go. And then miss Mindless Over Matter? No. She'd bought the dress, she'd made up her mind two weeks ago. She was a grown woman. She could handle this.

She walked back in her room, looking at the clock beside her bed. 11:32. Groaning, she walked to her closet, slipping on her most comfortable dark blue skinny jeans and a black hoodie. Her hair was a mess, but right now she didn't care. She was going to fix it later. She slipped on a grey beanie and her red canvas shoes before walking down the stairs and heading towards the Great Hall.

She didn't look up at the faces staring at her (as usual) in the hall. Taking her usual seat at the end of the table, she stared at her plate for a few minutes before making herself reach for the blueberry muffins.

"Good morning, Evans," someone said from behind her.

Lily didn't even turn around. "What the hell do you want, Judy?" she asked groggily.

"Carrie and I wanted to thank you for letting us share your dorm tonight to get ready in," Judy said smugly.

Lily stood, facing them immediately. "Like hell, you are," she told them, glaring.

"Oh but James already said we could. He didn't seem to think you'd mind. I mean, after all, his friends are getting ready there, its only fitting that their dates get ready there also," Carrie said, her arms crossed over her chest.

"Actually, that makes no sense at all, Carrie…" Lily told her, sneering. "And it's my dorm also, so he has to discuss things like that with me. And I say hell no," she said, raising an eyebrow at them.

"I think you're overruled in this case, Lily," Judy said.

Lily took a deep breath, shaking her head as she sat her hands on her hips. "Don't make me hit you again, bitch," she warned her lazily, turning to head towards the other end of the table.

"You wouldn't do it today," Judy said, almost laughing.

Lily turned back to her, "You want to make a bet on that?" she said walking back towards her.

"That's right, you love bets, don't you?" Carrie said, smiling smugly.

Lily pulled her fist back, ready to punch when she felt someone holding it back. A jolt was sent through her entire body, her wrist burning from his grasp. Turning to her right, she found James's hand wrapped tightly on her wrist. She glared at him, pushing him backwards as she wrenched her hand free of his burning grasp.

"Not today, Evans," he told her, staring deeply in her dark green eyes.

"Why the fuck not? Scared I might break Miss Perfect's nose? It's a good assumption, I probably would," she told him, returning the intense glare.

"Not…today…" he told her slowly.

She shook her head at him, a disgusted look on her face. "You're such a fucking coward, Potter," she told him, pushing past him and towards the double-doors of the Great Hall. She walked outside by the lake, taking in warmth of the bright sun on her face. She looked back at the castle, seeing some of the students now leaving the Great Hall and heading out toward the grounds to enjoy the sun until the Ball. She noticed someone running out from the Hall…running towards her…it was Remus.

"Lupin? Everything ok?" she asked him as approached her.

He stopped in front of her, doubling over to catch his breath. "Yeah, fine. We need you in the Hall to help with the décor. McGonagall's asking for you," he told her breathlessly.

"Did you really have to run to tell me this?" she asked him slowly.

He thought for a moment. "Well…I guess not…they told me to hurry," he explained.

"Right. Ok. I'll be there in a moment, you go on," she urged him. He nodded, running back up to the castle. She stared after him, taking in a deep breath before following him back up to the Great Hall.

Almost immediately, she was bombarded with questions about the décor from the prefects. She didn't know what to tell them. Honestly, James was in charge of most of the décor, especially that pertaining to the switchover from winter to spring. She couldn't even think for the people talking all at once around her.

"STOP!" she yelled at them, removing her hands from her ears. They all froze, staring at her. "Just shut up, ok?" she said, looking around at their faces. "I don't know anything about the décor. If you want to know about that, find Potter. All I'm in charge of is lighting, food, and security…got it?" she said loudly.

"Potter isn't here," someone said.

Lily clenched her fists tightly, swallowing hard. "Great…would someone like to tell me where the FUCK he is?" she said angrily.

"I'm right here," he said from behind her. She turned, rounding on him.

"And yet you have the nerve to tell me to be on time when you're not even here to give direction on YOUR FUCKING BALL!" she told him loudly.

He swallowed hard, staring at her blaring green eyes. He hadn't seen her this upset in a while. "Evans, I had to-" he started to say.

"If I may, James," a guy said, stepping out from behind him. Lily froze, awestruck at the person now standing in front of her. Her angry face faltered. Jared reached out to her, taking her hand in his. "Our apologies for making him late. They wouldn't let us through the entrance on our own, you see," he explained, kissing the top of her hand.

Lily blinked a few times, her breath coming back to her. "Right. Of…of…of course…Um…" she couldn't think straight. Mindless Over Matter was standing in front of her!

Jared smiled slightly. "I'm Jared," he said.

"Li…Lily," she managed to get out.

"Pleasure to meet you, Lily," he said, letting go of her hand and producing a lily-flower from his other hand. She smiled as he tucked it into her knit beanie.

James clenched his fists tightly, watching Jared swoon Lily. His entire body tensed as he watched her awestruck face. Swallowing hard, he tried to pretend like they needed to get to work.

"Alright, alright, Mr. Swag…" James said, pushing Jared's shoulder back slightly. "I'm sure Evans has work she needs to be doing, don't you, Lily?" he asked her.

"Hm, what?" Lily said breaking free of Jared's deep blue eyes and meeting James's intense hazel ones. For the first time in a week, a smile was brought to her face as she saw the jealousy reflecting back at her in his eyes.

"Whatever you say, Potter," she told him, smiling at Jared before walking away from them towards the Professors. James gave the prefects their instructions before turning his attention to the band.

He hit Jared on the back of the head, "What the hell mate?" he asked him.

Jared grabbed his head, "What? I was simply talking to a beautiful woman!" he told James. Jared watched James's frustrated expression as he figured out what he was so upset about. "So that's the Lily Evans, then?" Jared asked him as they walked towards where they were going to be setting up the stage.

James ran a hand through his hair, glancing towards Lily and sighing loudly. "Yeah. Yeah that's Lily," he told him.

"Oh, the girl that you were telling me about in the letters? That's her?" Edward, the drummer, asked.

James nodded. "Yeah," he said.

"And what…are you two not…" Jared started asking.

"No, we're not together," James said quickly.

"So what does it matter if I'm talking to her?" Jared asked him.

James pressed his lips together, glaring at him slightly. "Just because we're not together doesn't mean you can do what you do and get her into bed later," he explained.

Jared shook his head. "Mate, I wouldn't do that to you, you know that," he told James.

James sighed, running a hand through his hair again. "Right. I know. Sorry. I just…she just…she drives me insane," he said.

Jared crossed his arms over his chest. "Sounds like you don't know what you want, mate," he said, raising a brow at him. "Why the fuck aren't you two together?" he asked.

James pressed his lips together. "It's complicated," he told him, glancing over to where Lily was helping the Professors move the tables.

Lily worked with the Professors the afternoon on setting up the tables around the perimeter of the Great Hall while James worked on the stage and other décor with the rest of the prefects. When the band finally got onstage to do a sound check, Lily made her way to the stage to work on her lighting.

"Hello, Lily," Edward said from behind his drums as she walked on the stage.

She smiled, "Hello, Edward. It's great to meet you," she said, now over the fear of talking she'd had earlier.

"And you as well. I've heard some thing about you," he said.

"Things? Like what?" she asked, confused.

"Don't listen to my brother, sometimes he doesn't think before he speaks," Jared said, shooting Edward a warning glance.

Edward shrugged, shaking his head and then turning back to his drums. Jared sighed.

"I'm very excited that you all were free to do this. Otherwise there's no way I would be attending this thing tonight," Lily explained.

Jared strummed a few notes on his guitar. "Really? Why not?" he asked her.

"Dances aren't really my thing," she told him simply.

"Fair enough. If it makes you feel any better, none of us can dance for shit." he told her, smiling.

She snorted. "Thanks," she said, taking out her wand and pointing it to the candles. Almost immediately, she turned them into icicles, the ones above the stage turning into stage lights.

Jared looked up at the lights. "Icicles?" he asked.

"Yeah. With the stage lights moving, they'll bounce off of the icicles and create a pretty cool visual effect," she explained.

Jared nodded, "Very nice," he said, turning back to his guitar. "So, you and James?" he said casually.

"What about us?" she asked.

"Are you two…" he said slowly.

"It's complicated." she told him quickly. He chuckled. She scrunched up her face in confusion. "What?" she asked him.

"He said the same thing," he told her.

Lily sighed, "That sounds right," she told him. She glanced over at his confused face. "It's nothing. He just…I don't think he understands what he's doing to me," she tried explaining.

"What is he doing to you?" Jared asked.

"He's killing me," she said softly. Jared stared at her hurt expression for a moment.

"Oi, mate, you ready to go?" Daniel, the bassist, said from his right.

"Yeah, right. I'll see you tonight then, Lily?" Jared asked her.

She smiled. "Yeah, of course. I can't wait to hear you guys play," she told him.

He smiled at her, "Thanks. And, Lily?" he said as she turned to walk down the stairs of the stage.

"What?" she asked him.

"Don't give up on him," he told her.

She sighed. "I can't wait forever, Jared," she told him sadly.

A/N::: ok so maybe not the EXACT chapter you've been waiting so long for... but, next chapter is the drama, excitement, and suspense of the Ball!

Please review! :-)