I'm glad so many of you are enjoying my story!

Now…on it goes…

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Chapter 25: The Date

The next day Lily met Wes in the Entrance Hall after breakfast. That is, after she took forever in deciding what she was wearing and after getting approval from Addison and Jo. She finally decided on a dark purple sweater, which she wore beneath the emerald cloak Addison gave her for Christmas two years ago.

"You look pretty." Wes said casually with a grin when she met up with him.

Lily blushed and smiled. "Thanks. You look pretty charming yourself."

He wore a button-up collared shirt with white and light blue stripes on it and blue jeans underneath his black cloak. The blue in his shirt matched his eyes and the front of his dark brown hair stood up in the front as it usually did from his cowlick.

Wes smiled. "Thanks. Ready to go?"

"Yep." Lily said, and they walked out of the school into a heavy snowfall.

"Merlin! It's freezing!" Wes exclaimed.

Lily nodded, wrapping her scarlet and yellow striped scarf around her neck and placing the matching hat on her head.

She and Wes hooked arms, huddling together against the cold as they walked down to Hogsmeade.

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"Aww. Don't they look so cute, Adds?" Jo stated, indicating Lily and Wes as they stood on the balcony above the Entrance Hall, waiting for the Marauders.

"Yeah…but I don't think James would agree." Addison said quietly as she leaned against the wall, watching the couple down below.

Jo turned towards Addison, a sad expression on her face.

"I thought he was getting over her," Addison said, "but I was with him when we eavesdropped on the conversation when Wes asked her out. He looked heartbroken, the poor bloke."

"Yeah, he really likes her." Jo said, turning back to watch Lily and Wes leave the Hall.

"But he knows Lily doesn't like him in that way." Addison said. "Just because he likes her doesn't mean she can't date anybody."

"Remus said that Lily kissed James on the train." Jo said quietly, leaning against the railing.

Addison's eyes widened.

"Not on the lips," Jo said quickly, "on the cheek, because he gave her that pretty necklace."

Addison raised her eyebrows. "Do you think Lily likes him then?"

"She's going to Hogsmeade with Wes, Addi. I think she likes him right now." Jo said.

"But she kissed James!" Addison exclaimed.

"On the cheek!" Jo retorted. "If she kissed him on the lips I'd say she does, but she didn't."

"But a kiss is a kiss Jo. Would you give Sirius, Peter, or James a kiss if they gave you a gift?"

Jo thought about it for a moment. "Probably not…" she said slowly.

Addison crossed her arms, raising one eyebrow as if to say, case in point.

Jo sighed. "Fine. Whatever."

"I bet you a million galleons that if James asked her out, she'd go with him." Addison stated.

Jo looked out into the Hall again, rolling her eyes so that Addison wouldn't see.

"Hello ladies!" Sirius greeted them as he and his fellow Marauders walked up.

"Hey," the girls replied.

"Where are we going today?" Remus asked, putting on his scarlet hat.

"Hogsmeade." Sirius said, passing him to go down the stairs.

"No," Remus said sarcastically, rolling his eyes. Jo and Addison smiled.

"I heard Zonko's is having a sale," James stated, clasping his cloak. "Wanna go there first before it gets picked over?"

Everyone shrugged.

"Are you guys waiting for the snow to melt?" Sirius yelled from below. "Let's go!"

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Lily had a nice time with Wes. She was relieved when he didn't take her to Madam Puddifoot's for lunch. Instead they went to the Three Broomsticks. After that, they went to Honeydukes for dessert and Wes refused to let Lily pay for anything, so in Zonko's she bought him Self-Shuffling Playing Cards.

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James and Sirius on the other hand, did not have a good day at all. In Zonko's they met up with Ciceron Harkiss and Anthony McKinnon who ended up spending the rest of the day with them.

They had lunch at the Three Broomsticks, where they saw Lily and Wes leaving just as they were entering. James offered to pay for lunch and Sirius followed him up to the bar to pay while the rest of the group stood by the door to talk.

"What is it?" James asked quietly as Rosmerta fetched him his change. "You've been in a bad mood all day."

"It's McKinnon. I want to hex that bugger into oblivion!" Sirius whispered harshly. "Ever since we met up with 'em it's been 'Addison this and Addison that.' Why doesn't he just ask her out already?" Sirius spat, glaring at the group by the door.

"Thanks," James said with a smile to Rosmerta when she handed him his change. He turned back to Sirius, his smile gone. "Sirius…you still like Addison, don't you?" It was more of a statement than an actual question.

Sirius was silent for a minute. He looked at his feet and looked around the pub. "Yeah," he said sighing.

James looked at his best friend empathetically. "This just isn't our day, is it mate?" he said quietly with a small smile.

Sirius looked at James. "Oh, I completely forgot about Evans and Byron…I'm sorry, mate."

James nodded, looking at his feet. "Let's just go and try to have a good time."

"I'm up for that," Sirius said, following James out of the restaurant before muttering, "If it involves hexing a certain Hufflepuff…"

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That evening after dinner when the Gryffindors and the Hufflepuffs went their separate ways to their common rooms, James took his fellow Marauders and Addison and Jo into the Head's common room. (After they had been taken in there for the first time, they didn't want to hang out in the Gryffindor common room anymore.)

Lily was already there, reading on the couch.

"Hey Lils," said Addison tiredly as she plopped down on the opposite end.

"Hey," Lily said happily, closing her book. "How was your day?" she asked everybody.

Sirius rested his legs on the coffee table and crossed his arms. James propped his elbow up on the arm of the chair and rested his head in his hand.

"Great!" Addison said. "We mostly hung out with Anthony and Ciceron."

Lily nodded.

"Do you want to go the kitchens for some treacle tart?" Sirius asked James, Remus, and Peter.

Remus and Peter shrugged.

"Sure," James said, standing up. He and Sirius were out the door first.

"Goodnight." Remus and Peter told the girls before leaving.

"Goodnight." The three girls replied. The door snapped shut.

"What's up with them?" Lily asked, confused.

"Don't know," said Addison. "They've been like that all day."

"So…how was it?" Jo asked Lily excitedly, moving to a chair closer to her.

"What?" Lily asked smiling, even though she knew perfectly well what Jo meant.

"Your date with Wes!" Jo said.

Lily blushed. "It was fine."

"What'd you do?" Addison asked, propping her elbow up on the back of the couch.

"We had lunch at the Three Broomsticks, Wes bought me a bag of fudge at Honeydukes, we strolled around the shops, he kissed me, and we went as close as we dared to the Shrieking Shack." Lily said quickly.

Jo blinked.

"Wes kissed you?" Addison exclaimed.

"Shh!" Lily said, laughing.

"Lily!" Jo stated with a giggle. "When did he kiss you?"

"We were in Gladrag's and we were just joking around, trying on clothes and such, and we were in the back looking at some hats and scarves and I put this huge, ridiculous hat on that covered my eyes and he lifted it up and…" Lily trailed off, staring off into space.

"He kissed you." Addison said softly.

Lily nodded. "It was as if the whole world paused. He was looking at me, I was looking at him. We were both smiling and then he gently grabbed either side of my head and pulled me into a kiss."

Lily could tell Addison was having a hard time trying not to roll her eyes. She wasn't into all that "romantic crap" as she called it.

"Was it good?" Jo asked.

Lily was silent for a minute, the vague expression still on her face. "Yeah. It was the best kiss of my life so far…" Lily blinked and then looked in her lap. "but then I realized it didn't seem right. You know in books and movies—well, Jo, you know about movies—but anyways, you know that when there's a kiss, there's sparks and fireworks and everything? Figuratively? It just seems right? Well…I thought I really liked Wes…he's cute, charming, nice…and a good kisser, but…there were absolutely no fireworks. I didn't feel anything." Lily said desolately.

Jo looked at Lily worriedly. "So you don't like him?" she asked softly.

Lily shook her head. "I don't know anymore. I thought I did because you know, every time I was around him I felt all nervous and I had butterflies in my stomach—sorry, Muggle expression Adds—so it must have just been a small crush, that's all. As I hung around him more today I got more comfortable around him, so maybe we just developed into friends."

Addison pulled a piece of yellow string off the sleeve of Lily's sweater. "Aren't you upset though?"

"A little. I really don't know what to think." Lily said.

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"So what do you think of Ciceron and Anthony?" Remus asked, eating a custard tart.

The Marauders were sitting in a circle in the kitchen eating from the mountainous plates full of desserts in front of them.

"I don't like them." Sirius said darkly, biting into his chocolate éclair.

"Why not? They're nice!" Peter said.

Sirius glowered at the plate in front of them. "I especially don't like that McKinnon." He said, ignoring Peter's comment.

"Oh, I see." Remus said. "Because Anthony likes Addison, right?"

Sirius's head snapped up. "No," he said, his ears turning red. "That's not it at all. I just think he's a jerk."

Remus looked at him cynically. "Stop lying Sirius. It's perfectly obvious you still like her. I heard you at the Quidditch match a couple weeks ago when Anthony was talking to Addison, you started bragging to those two Ravenclaw girls about getting a new broom."

"Did not!" Sirius said indignantly.

James turned to look at him scornfully now.

"Fine." Sirius snapped. "I still like her. There. You happy?"

"Not if you aren't." Remus replied. "Does Addison know you still like her?"

Sirius shrugged. "I doubt it, otherwise she wouldn't have been flirting with McCabal in front of me."

Peter snorted into his mint humbug at the nickname Sirius bestowed on Anthony.

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The rest of November passed by, full of heavy snowfalls and of course, snowball fights. After Lily's date with Wes, there was only one more Hogsmeade weekend before Christmas break and it was the first weekend of December.

Lily's friends could see she was beginning to dread seeing Wes even more now.

"Lily! Hurry up! You're going to be late!" Addison yelled through Lily's door on that Saturday morning.

"But I don't want to go!" Lily yelled back.

Addison turned to Jo, raising her eyebrows and nodding her head towards Lily's door before going to sit down in the common area with the Marauders. Jo groaned.

"Lily, please just come out!" Jo pleaded, knocking on the door.

"What's up with Lily?" Sirius asked Addison quietly.

Addison sighed. "She doesn't want to go on her date with Wesley today." She said as though she were talking to a child.

"What's going on?" asked James who had just come out of his room.

"Lily doesn't want to go to Hogsmeade today Prongs." Sirius said.

"Why not?" he asked, putting on his cloak.

Sirius turned to Addison.

"Just come out!" Jo snapped behind them, pounding on the door.

"Well, she's going to break up with Wes." Addison explained.

"Does she not like him anymore?" Remus asked from his seat in one of the chairs.

Addison nodded.

"LILY!" Jo yelled from behind them. Addison covered her eyes with her hand, shaking her head.

"Let's get going, I heard Honeydukes has a special on Chocoballs today," James said, trying to hide a grin.

"I'm up for that!" Peter said excitedly, following James to the door.

"Goodbye ladies, we'll be seeing you later I hope," Sirius said mischievously, bowing mockingly. Addison gave him a rude gesture and he winked at her.

"Good luck," Remus said.

"See ya," Jo said flatly as Remus closed the door. She turned back around to knock once again on Lily's door, but Lily stood in the doorway, crossing her arms.

"Ah, ready to go?" Addison asked happily, jumping off the couch.

"I don't know," Lily whined. "What should I say? I mean, I still want to be his friend and all, but I don't want to hurt his feelings."

"Lily, no matter what you say you're probably going to hurt his feelings—I mean, you are dumping him." Jo said.

"True," Lily said.

"How about this? 'I'd much rather be your friend right now Wes.'" Addison offered.

"I guess. I'll use something along those lines. It'll probably come to me in the moment." Lily said.

"So are you still going with him to Hogsmeade, or are you telling him before you go?" Jo asked.

"I'll tell him at lunch," Lily said.

"Sounds good to me," Addison said quickly. "Now let's go."

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Jo hung out with Addison for the day since the Marauders were together getting, as Addison called it, their 'Marauding supplies.'

"Do you suppose we should follow them?" Addison asked Jo, her eyes on the backs of Lily and Wes's heads as they walked down the street.

"No! You're so nosy Addison! Just leave them alone!" Jo said.

"How much do you want to bet the Marauders'll be following them?" Addison asked, defending herself.

Jo just gave her a look.

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As a matter of fact, Addison was right. When James heard that Lily was going to break up with Wes, he wasn't just happy to know it was going to happen, he wanted to watch it. Of course, Sirius agreed that it would be good entertainment, but Remus said that it was nosy and rude and that they'd probably get caught.

"That's why we brought this along, Moony!" Sirius said, waving the Invisibility Cloak in Remus's face.

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"Where do you want to go first?" Wes asked Lily, as they entered Hogsmeade.

"I don't care, you decide," Lily said.

"Alright…how about Scrivenshaft's?" Wes asked.

"Sure," Lily said.

Lily spent the whole morning dreading lunch, so she didn't have a very good time.

After they had ordered their lunch at the Three Broomsticks Wes asked, "Lily, what's wrong?"

Lily, who was quite interested in her glass of water at the moment, wasn't paying attention. "What?"

"What's wrong? You haven't been acting yourself lately, and it's not just today. Is something bothering you?" he asked quietly.

Lily took a deep breath and started drawing squiggly lines with her finger over the condensation on her glass of water.

"Listen Wes…I'm sorry…I…I don't really know how to say this, but…I don't think we should date anymore." Lily said quietly. "I really like you, so I still want to be friends but…I just don't feel anything anymore."

To Lily's amazement, Wes started laughing.

"What?" Lily asked confused.

"You know…I was actually planning to break up with you today." Wes said.

Lily looked taken aback. "Are you serious?"

Wes laughed again. "Yeah. I just don't feel anything either."

Lily laughed now. "Well that's great!"

Just then their food came.

"So are we still friends then?" Lily asked Wes after Madam Rosmerta walked away.

"Certainly—I mean, if you still want to be that is," Wes said quickly.

Lily smiled. "Certainly."

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"How'd it go?" Jo asked timidly, as Lily walked up to her and Addison in Honeydukes after lunch.

"Great!" Lily said with a smile. "He was actually going to break up with me! Isn't that ironic?" she asked, taking a sample of fudge.

Addison and Jo raised their eyebrows.

"I thought something was up," Addison said. "Anthony and Ciceron were leaving here just as we were coming in, so we talked for a few minutes and I sort of got the impression something was going on since they asked if we'd seen you yet."

Lily chuckled and licked the melted fudge off of her fingers. "Yep…I feel great now that that's over with! I was so worried it was going to go badly."

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"He wasn't even upset!" James said angrily to his fellow Marauders in Zonko's as he stuffed his Invisibility Clock into his bag.

"Well of course not! He was going to break up with her!" Sirius retorted.

"I know, but he could've gotten just a little mad, then our exploit wouldn't have been such a waste of time." James said.

"Honestly Prongs, you need to grow up." Remus said, turning around and picking up a Screaming Yo-yo. "Oh, this is neat!"

James just rolled his eyes.

"Hey, it's Anthony and Ciceron!" Peter said, pointing towards the door.

"Oh, great." Sirius darkly. "If there's anything we need to worry about right now, it's McKnucklehead over there," he said, indicating Anthony with his thumb.

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A few things to mention:

-Now this chapter may seem completely worthless to you, but I must tell you that it is very important! I cannot say anything else!

-For those of you who don't know, a cabal is a secret plot or conspiracy.

-Lastly, Please Review! Or tell me your theory as to why this chapter may be important. Wink, wink.

Thanks bunches,

~AlannaDragon~