Hey everyone- I am so, so, so, so sorry for the late update! I have been sooo busy for the past few months, since I am both in my last year of school and working as a professional dancer and actor (Any Aussie's see legally blonde?).

ANyway, hope you like the update!

After a further forty eight hours of muted silence from my best friend, I had made up my mind: I was going to apologize. During our lunch hour, instead of rushing straight to library, I was instead swept up with my peers, moving towards the dining hall. Scor sat in a far corner, caught up in a book, golden hair mussed, absently-mindedly stirring a glass of juice with his pinkie finger. My friends sat around in him in a neat little circle, picking at plates of hot food and hastily scribbling down homework. I felt a small pang in my chest as I realised how much I had missed this, touch of regret that I didn't even have time to eat lunch with friends anymore. Nervously, I walked up to the table in the corner, picking at my cuticles (a nervous habit). Finally noticing my presence, seven of the eight members sitting at the table looked up me in surprise, greeting me as though I was an old friend they hadn't seen in quite some time. I cleared my throat.

"Hey, um, Scor?" he looked up at me, and I saw sadness flash through his eyes before he twisted his face into a scowl.

"Yes, Lily?"

"Could I talk to you?" He shrugged.

"Sure."

"In… private, please?" I really didn't want to pour out my heart in front of the entire school (or most of it, anyway).

"I guess," he replied, with raised eyebrows, standing quickly and moving easily from the hall. Moments later we stood alone in an empty classroom, and without thought I sucked in a heavy breath.

"I'm sorry Scor! I was stupid… You're my best friend, of course I need you. I was just stressed from school, you know, and I just snapped. This new glowing thing- it's too much. I don't know if I can handle it…" I paused. Scor was still standing five feet before me, but his expression hadn't changed. It hadn't softened, it hadn't melted into that handsome smile.

"Okay." His reply was simple- reserved. Not an acceptance- just a statement. Not sure If I had heard right, I stuttered;

"Sorry?"

"Okay." He repeated, looking at me as though I was stupid. "Okay," he repeated again, when I continued to stare.

"Right… well..." I wondered if I should go through with the next part of my plan. The blank look on his face told me NO, but before I could help myself the words were pushed from my mouth.

"Do you want to go to the Christmas ball… with me?" He stared at me again.

"Look- its great you apologized and everything, but that doesn't mean everything goes back to normal. You hurt me Lily, a lot. Saying sorry doesn't just make it better. And for your information, I already have a date." I took a step back, tears threatening to spill.

"Right well… Good for you." I managed to push out a string of words, before sprinting from the classroom. As usual I made for the library, taking solace in an isolated corner, unforgiving tears smudging my astronomy charts, my limbs burning a shameless red.

The day of the Christmas ball was the same whirl it usually was, filled with dresses and giggles, and clouds of perfume that made me sneeze. As was our apparent routine, the girls and I got ready in my room, plucking, lacing and dusting our way to absolute perfection. My dress this year was something else, floor length, creamy ecru with a pale chiffon overlay embroidered with navy blue snowflakes. While the other girls "ooh and ahhed" at each other's dresses, I perched myself on my bed, twisting Scor's ring around my finger. Closing my eyes, I sighed, wishing that this evening was going to be like any other ball, that I would have my best friend at my side, and that I didn't have to fret about transforming into a Chinese lantern if my emotions ran too high.

Fingering the fabric of my dress, I took a deep breath before rejoining my friends, who knew that something was wrong, but either didn't care to know or didn't want to know. Or maybe they were just saving me the pain of talking about it.

By the time we were all dolled up, had tied any loose threads, and plucked any sneaky eyebrow hairs, the four of us had kept the boys waiting for nearly twenty minutes. Laughing loudly, and smiley broadly at one another, we descended the stairs to our common room, spotting the boys looking miserable in the corner.

The scene seemed to be playing on repeat, as we went through the very same motions we had done last year. Greet your date with a kiss on the cheek, take his arm, smile and nod to the other boys, before filing from the room in a perfect line. Different dresses, different common room, but still the same. Still routine.

Except for one, tiny detail.

"Hey Sam," I said with a smile, looking up at him from beneath my eyelashes, blushing slightly as I kissed him on the cheek.

"Hey Lily, you look gorgeous! I love your dress!" Taking his arm, we walked leisurely behind the others, laughing and chatting as we ogled the crowd of couples that flowed freely, some beautiful and some hideous. The ballroom looked much the same as it had done every year, decorated with icy statues of opaque blue, glowing candles of red gold, and huge wreaths of leafy mistletoe.

Hundreds of students occupied the room, laughing, dancing and feasting on the beautiful food that had been prepared by the hospitality and etiquette classes.

Clutching at Sam's arm, I led him to the dance floor, weaving through students until he finally took my waist, and together me moved effortlessly across the floor. For several moments we were silent before Sam's alluring voice tickled my ear.

"I'm glad I came with you tonight, Lily. Really glad." Looking up at him, I forced a smile, and tried not to think about Scorpius, who I had seen earlier with potions partner, Anastasia.

"Me too, Sam," I replied, without looking him in the eye. He frowned.

"Is something wrong, Lily? Have I said something to offend you?" I shook my head.

"Of course not Sam, this whole evening has been perfect. You've been perfect." Taking his hand I squeezed it, looking him square in the eye. Because it was the truth, if I had been any other girl I would be swooning by now, feeling faint from Sam's charming charisma. It wasn't his fault that my best friend probably hated me.

It was mine.

The thought caught me by surprise, and I was thrown slightly off rhythm and into Sam's arms. Of course it was my fault, I had always known that. But those words, putting into such simple terms had shocked me, because up until now I had been winding and interweaving, turning my friendship into a complicated equation.

It was Sam's gentle voice that tore me from the void of my own consciousness, sweet and coaxing, like honey.

"Lily… Lily! Are you alright?" I blinked up at him, trying to refocus my thoughts to the situation at hand.

"Oh, yes. Of course. I just have a… head ache." I gave him a tight smile, and rubbed at my left temple with my free hand. Ever the gentlemen, he let me lean upon his arm as he guided me to a nearby table, and I made a show of massaging my forehead, and gulping the glass of water he handed me.

"Since you are currently an invalid, would you like to eat now?" Snorting at his 'invalid' statement, I nodded my head, and sighed when he left in search of the feast.

The table Sam had chosen was on a slightly elevated platform, which meant I could see the entire hall in all its glory. I could see every beautiful couple, and some not so beautiful couples, every conversation and every dance partner. Over in a far corner I could see Bella and Robert, who were enjoying a form of entertainment that wasn't strictly G-rated. Gross.

Nat and William waltzed around the floor, a perfect couple, and I beamed when I saw him whisper in her ear, something that was quite clearly meant for her, and her only, judging by the red that flushed her cheeks.

Dmitri and Elise were nowhere to be seen, which wasn't surprising. Neither of the pair were exceedingly social, and usually left the ball early to enjoy the quiet of the common rooms in each other's company. On several occasions I had walked in on the two of them, legs criss crossed, and intertwined, both with a book in hand. They made the perfect couple, and if we had been any older, I would be expecting a happy announcement any day now.

Before my thoughts could turn to Scor, Sam return with two heaped plates in hand.

"I wasn't sure what you wanted, so I brought you a bit of everything." Thanking him, I took one of the two plates, and greedily began to eat. The food was delicious, as it always was, but I couldn't enjoy it. We ate in silence for fifteen minutes or so, before Sam finally commented on my discomfort, although he probably assumed it was because of my "headache" and not the fact that I had destroyed the first real friendship I had ever had.

"You're not having fun." It wasn't a question. Biting my lip, I wondered what to tell him. I didn't like to lie, but I wasn't really in the mood to explain my life story to Samuel Gliori, of all people. Fortunately, I didn't have to say anything. "It's okay, though. I never really got the appeal of the Christmas ball. Everyone always seems so stiff, all dressed up. Plus, its always really cold. Do you want to go back to the commons?" I smiled.

I didn't deserve Sam, not really. He was so genuinely nice, and I couldn't even be decent enough to give him my full attention for a few hours.

"Sure, a seat by the fire and a mug of hot chocolate sounds pretty good right now."

Together we made our way back to the commons, avoiding the fourth level where I was sure Dmitri and Elise would be. We sat by the fire, where huge mugs of hot chocolate and platter of chocolate chip cookies.

Reaching for a cookie, it was Sam who spoke first.

"Did you ever play trois mentir?" I shook my head.

"Three lies? No." He sighed.

"I didn't think so. It's a French game that I used to play as a child." Watching the fire flicker and burn, I decided that I owed him before saying, "How do you play?"

Brightening a little, he took a cookie from the platter, "Everytime you take a cookie, you break it into four parts," carefully, he broke the cookie in half, and then again. "For each part you make four statements, three are false, and one is a secret. The players take turns at guessing which statement is true, and for every incorrect guess the owner of the cookie may eat one quarter. If a player guesses the correct answer, they may take all remaining cookie pieces." I smiled.

"Let's play."

Since I had never played before, Sam agreed to go first, setting the four cookie quarters on the platter.

"I hate broccoli.

I can't ride a bike.

I love the colour green.

I want to kiss you."

Breathing heavy, and not really caring how many cookie pieces I won, my first guess was.

"You can't ride a bike." He laughed, placing the quarter whole in his mouth.

"Of course I can ride a bike, Lily," he waggled his eyebrows, and gestured to the remaining pieces, suggesting that I take my next guess.

"Uh… You love the colour green?" I wavered, moving closer to the fire, and to Sam.

"I hate green." This time, he broke the quarter in half, and passed a piece to me, which I chewed thoughtfully before guessing,
"You hate broccoli." His face was inches away from mine when he said,

"Good guess, Lily pad." I sucked in a breath.

"I thought that…" I trailed off, embarrassed by my own stupid assumptions.

"I don't want to kiss you Lily, I need to. It isn't any secret." Gently, he cradled his face in my hands, and slowly my lips met his.

As first kisses go, it wasn't bad. The heat of the fire was intense; a contrast to the easy going way in which our lips moved against each other, no clashing teeth and no bumping noses, nothing like the way Bella had described her first kiss.

In fact, Scor was a fantastic kisser, running his hands along my back through my hair, pressing his lips ever so gently against my own.

Wait a minute.

Scor?

Gasping, I pulled back from Sam, and scrambled to my feet. Appalled by my own imaginings.

"I am so sorry Sam, I just… I just can't. It's complicated, I am so, so sorry." Trying not to cry, I hurried from the room, trying not to trip over my heels. And although I didn't turn back, I could see his hurt look, and haunted eyes, and I could hear the words he murmured under his breath.

"Your thirteen, Lily. It shouldn't be complicated."

I woke up the next morning with puffy red eyes and tracks of mascara black on my cheeks. It was stupid, really. Scor was my best friend, he had been for two and a half years. There had never been anything romantic between us, had there?

For hours I lay in my bed, recounting every embrace, reliving every memory, scouring every conversation for a hint of romance, a sense of affection that was perhaps more than what was shared between two friends.

As I thought back, I supposed that it was possible for some words, some actions, to be taken as romantic, or fervent, but I knew, that on my part at least, they had not been. Sure, we had gone to the cinema, and sure, we had attended nearly every ball since first year together, but that didn't mean anything.

Suddenly our whole friendship didn't seem so simple, so innocent and so clean cut. I had leant on Scor for so long, both emotionally and physically, he had become my security and my confidant. I hated to think what life might be like without out him, dreaded to imagine it.

A moment later I had made up my mind. It wasn't good enough to apologize, and it wasn't good enough to make excuses. I had to tell Scor exactly how I felt, I had to tell him I loved him. I knew that it was a ridiculous notion, love. I was only thirteen, after all.

But with Scor, it was different. He was just so perfect, a flawed beauty. Hastening to dress, brush my hair, and wash my face, I hurried from the room without a second thought, moving quietly through the corridor, trying not to wake the sleeping people that filled the rooms.

I knew where Scor would be, he was my best friend after all, so I made for the lake. I didn't make it halfway there.

I saw him, before he saw me. Tucked away in a corner, hidden by a ring of dark grey fabric. But I still saw him, I could always find him.

I saw her too.

Limbs entangled, I watched as she ran her hands along his spine, her long nails leaving a slight mark on his uniform. I watched as he cupped her face, crushing his lips against hers. And I watched as her hair fell away, as he caught my eye.

I heard his shout of "Lily!" but I didn't stop. I just ran. I didn't want to hear it.

Please review! I would probably cry if you guys could get me to seventy reviews! Pretty please?!

~theworldabove

ps. I will be posting another mini-chapter straight after this... your welcome!