A/N: Well, at present, my life sucks. I'm not doing so hot in my classes grade-wise, and I've got too much work to do, and I am exhausted/stressed out of my mind. I can't even bring myself to talk to the people I care about. So it's kind of nice to escape into this world, where at the very least, I can control what's going on and things can still turn out all right. As for myself, I don't really know. We'll see.

But enough of my teenage-girl-angsting. This chapter is as fun as I am not and damn it, I dare you to smile at least once as you read through. People need to smile more. Who says ignorance can't be bliss?

Cheers, you lot.

--

January 30

Morning Check:

Today, I didn't actually need the alarm clock – because today, I woke up with a jolt at five o'clock in the morning, springing up like a jack in the box, realizing what day it was.

Today is my eighteenth birthday, finally here.

Fuck.

9:00 AM
Status: Suspicious

Right now, I am sitting in Charms first period. The bell has just rung. Flitwick is collecting our homework. Alice is sitting next to me on one side, Livvy on the other. They are quiet. Abnormally quiet.

This morning at breakfast, they smiled at me and wished me a happy birthday; but otherwise, that was it. We sat down together at the table and ate. As it's Friday, Livvy prattled on about how she wanted to spend the weekend with Russell, since she hasn't had the opportunity to be with him "properly" for a while. Alice tuned her out in favor of eggs and I kept nudging her.

It was a typical morning.

Too typical.

Almost every year on my birthday, as I've already said, things happen to me. There's some kind of fiasco because I've been blessed with friends who care too much. I was on my guard at breakfast to catch the first whiff of trouble, but so far there has been none.

I still don't trust them though, sitting so quietly beside me. Something is going to go down today. Will be on my guard for that.

Possible Ideas for Later Humiliation

1. Fireworks going off in the Great Hall. Easily supplied by Sirius Black.

2. The classic "ask-everyone-in-class-to-sing-happy-birthday-and-embarrass-the-hell-out-of-the-poor-girl" routine. James has used this before in the past and it's overt/hilarious enough for him to consider again.

3. A spontaneous game of Seven Minutes in Heaven after classes. Alice is a particularly enthusiastic supporter of this one – and, knowing her, everyone else would back out at the last minute in order to let me, the birthday girl, snog James Potter. This is – unfortunately – a distinct possibility.

4. Spin the Bottle. Livvy would love this one. Not only would she get an opportunity to watch me snog James by some "coincidence" or another, she would also get an easy shot at snogging Russell in public. She always complains about how she hates having to kiss him in private all the time.

But, then again, my brain doesn't really work well with the whole "evil plots to make other people miserable" train of thought. That's just not me. Still, though, these are plausible theories that I am going to keep in mind the rest of today, because the people I associate with are mad enough to try them out. And I'm sorry to say I'm not exaggerating.

I am so scared.

11:30 AM
Status: Slightly more suspicious

I am now in Transfiguration. Thus far, my day has been…normal. I walked with Alice and Livvy to and from class; I feverishly took notes on the day's lectures; I yawned a lot. All very ordinary. I am starting to freak out a little bit.

People have wished me, of course. All of my teachers have given me smiles and said happy birthday. James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter have all wished me happy returns of the day, along with accompanying hugs. Adrianna, Sean, and Robert all found me this morning and wished me, as did most of the prefects – Mavis, Jonathon, Kate, Trey, Annie, and Will.

Jonathon actually tried to hold my hand and walk down the remainder of the corridor towards this class with me, but I shook him off by muttering something about needing to ask McGonagall about the homework and fleeing. And I have yet to tell Alice and Livvy why I looked like I could fry an egg on my face when I walked into the room.

But this is all extremely normal. I'm not sure why nothing else is, though. It's not like I want all this fanfare, but at the same time…I kind of expect it.

Knowing them as I do, I somehow don't believe that this will finally be the year that my friends respect my wishes and leave me alone. Will keep an eye out for shady behavior throughout the remainder of the afternoon.

3:45 PM
Status: In disbelief

Classes are over now. The significant part of the day is over. And the only vaguely embarrassing thing that happened was Slughorn jovially wishing me in the middle of the Potions while we were in the middle of brewing something – which, I mean, he does every year, so I didn't particularly care.

Is it for real? Is it true? I'm being left alone, for once in my life?

It's too good to be true. I took a visit to the common room and it was bustling with normal afternoon activity, students running around and attempting to make headway in their homework. There was no party to be had there.

So…I was safe. For real.

And all I can say is hallelujah!

Honestly, I was so worried for so long that something weird would happen, just because I turned eighteen today. But nothing has and I'm so glad that my friends have pulled this miracle and kept themselves under control. It means more to me than anything they could've done.

Now that the danger is all over, I'm going to go chill for the rest of the evening, doing some work before dinner and patrol. Just another day in my glamorous life – which is how I like it.

Until later, then!

-

January 31

3:30 AM
Status: Exhausted and exhilarated

Okay, okay. Looking back on my previous entries from what is officially yesterday, my birthday, I can see that I really was an ignorant, naïve, idealistic fool.

How could I honestly think that James, Sirius, Remus, Peter, Alice, and Livvy could resist an opportunity in the middle of a beastly year to make noise and celebrate a particular milestone in my life?

How could I base my assumptions off of the mere afternoon hours? All the big stuff always happens at night, particularly when we're not supposed to be out of bed.

I am so incredibly stupid. Allow me to explain how this whole misery came to pass.

So, after classes, I went up to my dormitory to do homework with Alice and Livvy – Livvy wasn't in the mood to endure the ruckus of the common room. It was nice and quiet in my room, with plenty of space for us to spread out and talk and snuggle pillows and complain about all we had to do. We did that all the time and tonight was no exception to the rule; and at seven, we had a quick dinner and came back upstairs to finish off the last of our work. Since it's Friday, Livvy has trained me and Alice to finish everything so that we can slack off in peace for the rest of the weekend.

Everything was going just fine until nine o'clock, when we heard the knock on the portrait.

"Who is that?" asked Livvy, looking up from her Potions book.

"James," I said. "He's the only one who visits me in here besides you two."

Sighing, I got up and checked my watch. It was indeed time to go to patrol – I'd lost track of the time. I cleared my throat and opened the portrait to reveal James, smiling in that amusingly mischievous way he has.

"Hey," he said. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah," I said. Then I called to my friends, "You lot can stay as long as you want – I'll be back in about an hour and a half."

"Right, Lils."

"See you later, Lily!"

Alice and Livvy merrily waved good-bye to me and remained on my floor with their books, as I departed down the corridor with James. The two of us were alone.

"So," said James after a minute or two of this. "Had a good birthday today?"

"Yes, in fact I did," I said, beaming. "It's been lovely, and quiet, and absolutely wonderful. Thanks for asking."

"I did keep my promise," he reminded me. "You know, the one where I said I wouldn't do anything embarrassing for your birthday."

"Yes, you did keep it," I said approvingly, "and I'm so pleased that you did."

"Hey, so long as it makes you happy." He gave me a dazzlingly bright smile, and I returned it, until all of a sudden, he cursed under his breath.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"It's nothing, I just forgot my sweater in the common room," he said. "D'you mind coming and getting it with me? I swear, it'll only be a minute."

I considered the offer, but it didn't take long to make a decision, with those enormous hazel eyes of his staring beseechingly at me all the while. I sighed and said, "All right."

"Thanks." James's dazzling smile returned to his face and he led me back in the direction of the Gryffindor common room.

Now let the records show – after yesterday afternoon, I didn't think anything was going to happen in the evening. I really didn't. I believed that James had to go get his sweater and I was completely unaware as he said the password, the portrait swinging open.

So I got the biggest shock of my life when we got inside and the whole common room was decorated, with pretty much every Gryffindor in the school crammed in there chorusing, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LILY!" upon our entrance.

My jaw dropped. I was literally in shock.

"How…w-wha…?" I stared at them, trying to make this click in my thoroughly confused brain. "A…a party? Seriously?"

"Yes," said James, beaming even brighter. "Happy birthday, Lils!"

And he gave me a hug.

This obviously started the queue to come and give me hugs, wish me a happy birthday, freak out a little bit. I was still dazed with astonishment, drifting from person to person, unsure of how to receive this.

I mean, it was very sweet to do this for me, but at the same time, they all knew how much I didn't want it.

Finally, somewhere in the crowd, I located Alice and Livvy, who were grinning away at me, looking very cheeky. I automatically went to them and rolled my eyes.

"You dolts," I accused somewhat-playfully. "How could you do this to me? This is so humiliating!"

"We wanted it to be a surprise," explained Alice, glee in her tone.

"I made James promise he wouldn't humiliate me," I groaned.

"Yes, you did – so he wasn't involved," said Livvy. "I mean, we came to him initially, before you made him promise, and he agreed he wanted to do something for you this year. But afterwards, he told me he didn't want to break his word to you and he didn't have anything else to do with it. We just needed him to lure you back to the common room tonight."

"Hey, birthday girl!" This was Sirius, walking over with Peter and Remus, all three of them grinning away at me like my friends were. "How goes it? Pleased with our ickle surprise?"

"Sirius did most of it," said Alice. "He's a good party planner. He smuggled all the necessary items from the kitchens, Hogsmeade, everywhere."

"I know people," said Sirius, his handsome face lighting up with mischief.

"I was in charge of decorating," said Remus, "and making everyone swear not to let anything on to you."

"I helped Sirius nick things," added Peter proudly. "And I came up with the idea of doing it at this time, when James could bring you back to the common room instead of going to patrol."

"Very creative, guys," I said, unable to keep from smiling. "Thanks."

I hugged the whole group in turn, feeling too affectionate for their eager effort to hex them on the spot for disobeying my wishes, until I heard a voice behind me while hugging Livvy.

"Hey, where's my proper hug? I gave you a good one and all I got was a limp little pat on the shoulder, for Merlin's sake!"

I whirled around and there was James again, his lazy grin too adorable to take in without laughing.

"Hi, I'm sorry," I said. "Livvy told me how good you were about not taking part in this madness and I thank you for it."

This pleased him, but he didn't need words to tell me so – I could see it in his face. He couldn't stop smiling and his cheer was intoxicating. A grin on my own face, I leapt forward and gave him an extra-tight hug, which he gratefully returned, squeezing me sweetly.

Livvy and Alice embarrassed me by starting a chorus of, "Awww" among the people around me, but I ignored them and held him even tighter, the smell of him sweet, like laundry soap. We hugged for several more seconds before he gently shook me off.

"Okay, I gotta go," said James apologetically. "I have to get the cake out and get Sirius to start up the music. See you later."

I opened my mouth to say something, protest at this, but Livvy was expecting it. Quick as a flash, she covered my mouth with her hand and told me to shut up and let him do his thing. Alice then held her wand to my temple and listed a whole bunch of things I wasn't allowed to do tonight, among them things like avoiding attention, getting embarrassed, not eating as much cake as I wanted. This successfully filled up the five minutes necessary for James and Sirius to recapture the party-goers' attentions and get the real party started.

With a wolf-whistle that had to be magically-enhanced, Sirius shouted, "Okay, Gryffindors. Before we let you go off and have the time of your lives tonight, please embarrass the hell out of our birthday girl, currently standing right there, with one big rendition of happy birthday! Ready?"

Yes, they were ready; and yes, they did sing to me at the top of their lungs, everyone's eyes on me as I blushed deeply and wished I could sink through the floor or something. Too bad Apparition isn't allowed within school walls…

However, the trauma wasn't over yet. Once the crowd was done singing, Peter dragged me up to the table Sirius was standing on and Remus pulled out the cake, an enormous mountain sopping with chocolate and sporting eighteen candles. Of course, with Alice and Livvy in their arsenal, the boys had quickly learned that I have a chocolate addiction that borders on clinical, so they got me something I absolutely wouldn't be able to resist, no matter what I did.

The candles were lit and with everyone cheering and whooping, I blew them out (which took a while, because Sirius and James had gotten the trick ones that keep coming back, probably as a joke) and the cake was cut. Once the Gryffindors were supplied with cake and butterbeer, and Sirius got the music going, the party quickly went into full swing, people swaying and laughing and throwing food in each other's faces. Cake was very easy finger food to do that with.

Still, though, I ended up having a blast. For a while, I didn't see the Marauders, but I saw plenty of other people I knew, and I danced along with them, enjoying myself as I had not at the Halloween party, back in October.

Of course, Livvy located Russell partway through the first song and gave him a massive snog, since no one was watching, and proceeded to dancing with him. And, of course, Alice located Frank, gave him a massive snog for no good reason at all, and danced a couple of songs with him. But tonight, I didn't care, because they were near me, and still talking to me, and being with me in the important senses of the word.

Everything was going absolutely wonderfully. It really was. But I did run into a spot of trouble a bit later on, when we'd broken into the party a bit more and I was feeling pleasantly fuzzy and warm with all the butterbeer.

Sirius had decided to slow it down a bit, because people were starting to get a little drunk and could use a slight break; so he (a little drunk himself) announced at the mike that we were going to have a slow couples dance, just once before we sped things back up again. Most of the audience was very responsive to this – they were always happy for a chance to snuggle.

Livvy, obviously, paired off with Russell and Alice with Frank, which left me without a partner. I wasn't fussed or anything – I could easily sit this one down, let my aching feet rest and appease my throat with some pumpkin juice – but I was surprised when Jonathon Sanders turned up beside me, grinning.

"Hey, Lily," he said easily. He smelled sticky, like spilled champagne a few hours later. "How are you?"

"Fine," I said, narrowing my eyes at him. "But how did you get in? I thought this was a Gryffindor's party only."

"I know," said Jonathon carelessly. "But I got Annie Potent to sneak me in. She snuck in a whole bunch of people."

"I see." I wasn't convinced – I mean, pretty much all of us at the prefect meetings know that Annie Potent has a small crush on Jonathon – but I wasn't in the mood to discuss prefect love. I took a pointed sip of my drink, burying my face into my cup and hoping this would convey my meaning, but either it was a bad hint or Jonathon just didn't care. Either way, he spoke again.

"So…I was trying to catch hold of you all evening," he said. "It's been hard. You're always surrounded by people."

"It does tend to happen," I admitted after resurfacing. "Sorry."

"Anyway, I have your birthday present," he said, producing two impressively-sized boxes from inside his robes. "Happy eighteenth."

Despite how sleazy he could be sometimes, I was honestly touched when I accepted the gift.

Blushing, I said, "Wow, Jonathon. That's so sweet of you. I don't even know what to say."

"You can say…sure, Jonathon," he suggested.

"And why would I say that?" I asked.

"Because I'm about to ask you to dance with me to that slow song," he informed me. "Want to?"

"Erm…"

Damn. I was thoroughly embarrassed by the way he looked at me then – a little expectant, a little hopeful, a little eager. The familiar feeling of guilt that I always felt when he spoke to me came back as pungently as ever, and my sympathy won over my good sense.

"Okay," I gave in. "Hang on…"

I put a Banishing Charm on the presents, sending them back to my dormitory where they wouldn't get lost. They whizzed away, through the portrait, and I was left with only Jonathon, gazing at me as he did. I tried my best to smile.

"Right…so…"

Jonathon merely nodded and began leading me away – when, all of a sudden, James becomes visible, parting through the throng of people with a radiant smile on his face.

"There you are, Lils!" he called out cheerfully. "I was wondering, d'you mind if I take this dance with…"

I opened my mouth to say something – anything – a greeting, or an apology, or some form of acknowledgement that I was happy to see him – but Jonathon beat me to the punch.

"Sorry, James," he said rather coolly, "but Lily's dancing with me this time."

James looked rather thunderstruck, as if Jonathon had slapped him or something. I felt bad (and thoroughly embarrassed – again) and I wanted to say something, but Jonathon's smile was steel.

"Again, sorry," he said in a tone that wasn't very sorry.

James looked at him oddly for a second, but otherwise got his stride back, and cleared his throat.

"Right," he said, very dignified. "Right, of course. Sorry about that. Go ahead. Have a good one."

This was all Jonathon needed to make his quick escape, my wrist enclosed in his grip. I turned around, attempting to say something to James, apologize for Jonathon's silly (and probably drink-fueled behavior) but I didn't get a chance. Jonathon pulled me away into the abyss of the dance floor and I had to leave James behind, watching me curiously.

Obviously, this made me uncomfortable, but I was unable to do anything about it. I was already in the middle of the sweaty, slowly rotating group of couples dancing to the appropriately cheesy song Sirius had playing. Jonathon's posture was suddenly impeccable and he got into waltzing position, holding my hand and my waist with a pleased sort of excitement.

Sighing, I accepted the weight of his hands. He was taller than me by a couple of inches, despite being two years younger than me, and I had to admit he was kind of good-looking in the ambiguous lighting, his cheeky smile still on me. But only kind of.

"This is nice," he remarked a couple of minutes later.

"What is?" I asked.

"Dancing to this lame song here with you," he said without missing a beat.

I blushed. "Well…I'm glad you're happy."

"It feels like it's been a long time since I've been alone with you," said Jonathon.

"Well, we're not exactly alone," I pointed out.

"Yeah, yeah, if you want to be technical," he said impatiently. "But I mean, in general, you're always talking to other people and I can't get in a one-on-one conversation with you. And I don't like that. Every time I catch you in the corridors, or try to pull you aside after a prefect meeting, you seem to be otherwise engaged."

"I can't help that," I said, the tiniest bit miffed.

"No, you can't, and that's fine," said Jonathon. "But I'm just acknowledging the fact that I don't spend much time with you. That's why I got Annie Potent to smuggle into this party. I wanted to talk to you on your birthday, at the very least, and give you my present in person."

In spite of myself, I smiled. I'm a huge sucker for flattery. "That was nice of you," I said.

I was distinctly aware of the hand on my waist pulling me in just a little bit closer, the smell of him becoming a little bit more concentrated in my nose, the music building just a little bit more, as though playing along with this bizarre conversation.

"You know, I've always really liked you, Lily," breathed Jonathon, his voice so soft and husky that I could barely hear it over the rest of the noise in the common room.

"I…like you too, Jonathon," I said, unnerved.

"I mean, I really like you," he said, pulling me even closer. "And…I dunno…we've already been on a date and we seemed to have fun…and I think we're good together…so maybe we should take this a step farther…"

And then he started to lean into me, coming so close that his heat practically spilled into me. I was utterly disconcerted, the whole scene too vividly unreal to qualify as reality, but Jonathon was coming and coming and coming and he was so brash, he was going in for the kiss…

I didn't want to kiss him. I really didn't want to. He was too young, he was not my type, he was just a boy with a puppy-crush on an authority figure, he was not going to factor into the rest of my future; but somehow, with the music and the lights and the people and the sweat and the anticipation blooming in my stomach, I didn't move away as I should have.

As a result, Jonathon came forward and closed the last gap of distance between us, finally arriving, his lips connected with mine.

Being a guy, Jonathon was utterly delighted with his victory and deepened the kiss from its initial lightness very quickly. The hand that had been on my waist moved to the small of my back as he pulled me in against his chest, clumsily attempting to explore me with his teenage mouth. It wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been, but the moment he tried to use his tongue, I was ready to stop.

I tried to pull away, but he somehow mistook this for a sign of passion, and fought to kiss me even harder. His hand was practically shoving my torso into his with his might, but I was done. I wasn't going to be part of this kiss anymore. Again, I tried to pull away, and this time I succeeded, managing to break the connection and get myself back.

I looked at Jonathon and I could practically see the ecstasy in his eyes. To him, that was ideal, the biggest victory he could've hoped for tonight.

To him, my kissing him was confirmation that I was his and he could be mine.

But this wasn't so and I couldn't let him think so. The time to be patient with him had ended. We were going down dangerous roads and it was up to me to set him straight before I broke his heart for real later on.

"Look, Jonathon," I began.

"No, Lily, you don't have to say anything," he said. "Really. I get it."

And he started to do that leaning thing again.

However, this time, he didn't get what he wanted – I raised my index finger and placed it on his lips before he could come any closer.

"No," I said in a surprisingly commanding voice. "Listen to me."

"Okay…" He was disconcerted, I knew, but this had to be done. This had to be said. I couldn't keep letting this go on as it was – it was too wrong, for me as well as him.

"Look, Jonathon," I restarted, a little more kindly, "I…we aren't…I'm not about to be your girlfriend and you might as well give up the fantasy, because we aren't going anywhere. Never. Not at all. And you have to understand that."

"But…you went on that date with me," said Jonathon, befuddled and upset as I knew he would be. "You just kissed me."

"I know," I said. "I went on the date because you wanted to and I figured I'd be nice. And kissing you…was a mistake. I'm sorry I did it. I shouldn't have led you on like that."

Jonathon abruptly let go of me, running his hand through his hair, darkness flashing in his blue eyes.

"But…you…I could've sworn you liked me back," he said, almost pleadingly.

"I like you, Jonathon, but not in that way," I said as gently as I could. "You're a good guy, just not the right one for me. Do you get that?"

"Yeah…I guess." Now he was starting to get quite disgruntled. "I can't believe it. I really thought…I dunno, that you were into it too."

"I wasn't, and it wasn't fair of me not to tell you earlier, and I hope you can forgive me for that," I said honestly. "You're a nice guy, Jonathon. I like spending time with you and I want to be friends. But if your aims are romantic, then we can't do that."

"Fine," he said, a definite edge to his voice now. "We can be friends."

"I'm glad," I said as sincerely as I could be without sounding contrived. "Really. I want to be your friend."

"You could be more than that," he reminded me bitterly.

"I'm sure there's some other girl out there that will," I said. "But I'm not her."

"You can be," he said. "If you want. Just say the word, Lily, and we can be whatever you want."

"Then we stay friends," I said firmly. "All right?"

"All right."

As we shook on this new resolution, the song around us ended, the couples disentangling and getting ready for the next fast song. Relieved that I had not gotten myself into anything worse, I prepared myself to go get myself some pumpkin juice, when Jonathon called me back on a whim.

"Hey, Lily," he shouted.

"Yeah?" I shouted back.

"This doesn't have anything to do with James Potter, does it?" he asked.

Bewildered, I said, "No! Of course not!"

This seemed to pacify him, and he walked away happy, but I was even more freaked out than I had been earlier. I went to get myself that drink and attempted to forget his last remark, as outlandish as it was.

Of course my lack of attraction to him had nothing to do with anyone but him. Why did he ask such silly questions?

Anyway, I quickly returned to the dance floor, where Alice, Livvy, Russell, and Frank were all four dancing in a circle with a couple of other people. I slipped in and danced with them, almost colliding into and knocking over Russell, who sweetly saved me by turning it into a twirl. We had a good load of fun, messing around and laughing at each other and dancing.

We were all being idiots and that was the way we wanted it, the only way we've ever wanted it. The scene funneled in on only us and therefore, my whole world became only us, our smiling faces and the warmth that came from having the time of our lives with people we loved. It felt so good to be there, so rich and full and wonderful, being there with my friends and the people that meant so much to them.

If I could pick any moment to be my forever, it would be that – us five, our happiness so purely and wholly complete.

For the remainder of the night, I really didn't see James or any of the other Marauders. They were all busy with friends and lives of their own. I was on the look-out for James, of course, hoping to make sure he knew I didn't mean anything by the Jonathon encounter earlier, but he was nowhere to be found.

I thought I caught a glimpse of him, just once, dancing with Jane Carlton, but it could've been some other tall guy with messy black hair and glasses. I mean, realistically, there have to be other people that look something like that.

Anyway, the party ended round about two in the morning, when people were too tired from dancing to do anything more. Slowly, groups of three and four began to haul themselves upstairs to the dormitories, done with partying and ready for bed, and my group was among the last to go. Livvy and Alice kissed Russell and Frank good night, sending them off to the boys' dormitory, while joining me in mine, because Alice said she had a surprise for me. We stumbled down the corridors, praying we wouldn't get caught by anyone, and collapsed on my floor the moment we got in, thoroughly exhausted.

It turned out that Alice's surprise for me was a heap of presents that had come for me throughout the day. She had made sure they were hidden safely throughout the day and brought here just before the party so I could have them and open them. I thought it was absolutely lovely of her and decided I would open them all at once.

Here is a list of this year's haul:

Mum and Dad: Fifty pounds (must get that changed), chocolates
Petunia: Another box of chocolates
Jonathon: Charms for the charm bracelet he gave me for Christmas, chocolates
Livvy: A screaming planner, chocolates
Alice: Hair clips, a decorative quill, pretty stationary paper, chocolates
(Clearly, I have a year's supply of comfort chocolate, should I ever have a bad day and need it)

I was particularly astonished to find a box from James, addressed to me in his obnoxiously sloppy handwriting, but Livvy dismissively said he'd had it ready for me ages ago. It turned out to be a huge box of chocolates…and a little stuffed lizard.

Recalling the hilarious scene in the corridor, when we encountered that damn lizard and freaked, I burst out laughing and cuddled it to my chest, delighted that he had remembered.

Alice and Livvy were particularly enthralled by the gift given to me by Jonathon, since they had known already about James's. I then told them about the situation that happened at the dance, to which they both reacted quite strongly.

"Oh, Lily, you foolish prat!" shouted Alice, whacking me with the chocolate Petunia had given me. "You were supposed to kiss James, not fucking Jonathon!"

"Lils, you broke his heart, that's not right!" wailed Livvy, whacking me with James's lizard. "Why did you let him kiss you if you weren't interested? He clearly thought he had a chance – one you mercilessly crushed with the 'I don't like you but let's be friends' idea. Don't you know that means you've given him hope for another chance?"

"You two are delirious with drinking and dancing!" I hollered at them. "Stop hitting me with that corner, Alice – Livvy, put that lizard down – I don't know why I kissed him, but all I know is, we're through and he knows it. He's going to leave me alone now, which is the point of the story. And it's already done, what's lecturing me going to do?"

"Apparently nothing," said Livvy. "What did you go and do that for? You're so thoughtless, Lily!"

"What, and you're the queen of logic, I presume?" I inquired, stung.

"No, but at the very least, I don't kiss guys that I'm not about to pursue," retorted Livvy.

"You guys, it was one kiss!" I insisted.

"One kiss that meant the world to a fifteen-year-old prefect," Alice pointed out.

"You're mental! Both of you!" I proclaimed.

The argument continued on for several minutes, Alice and Livvy utterly distressed by the choices I made, but I was adamant and so were they and eventually, we were so tired that we lost interest. I packed my presents away nicely, thanked the girls for a great night and sent them off to their dormitories, ready for some alone time, after the madness I'd endured. Jonathon and James and cakes and presents and parties all loomed on my thoughts and I was happy in a way I wasn't sure I'd be, once the whole ordeal was through.

I know I've always hated celebrating my birthday; but even I have to admit, there is a certain joy in it, knowing that you're another year older, another year wiser, another year with people who love you and don't mind shattering your wishes to show you how much. Even though my friends are idiots sometimes, there was a lot of love put into that party and I appreciated it, despite how much I blushed and smiled throughout the course of the night.

I'm exhausted, and I didn't get exactly what I wanted for my birthday, but I think I got something better and that made it all worthwhile. I am going to sleep warm and fuzzy in these early hours of Saturday, January thirty-first, and thank Merlin that I don't have to deal with school tomorrow. I'm just going to sleep.

So…there's that. My eyes are too tired to look down anymore, my hands too cramped and my brain about ready to hold a coup. I've written down everything I needed to write and I feel good. Plus, it's getting near six in the morning – which is actually pretty frightening.

Good night/morning, then. I shall write again soon. I hope.

--

A/N: And there you have it. I had such a bad week, I ditched everything and wrote my heart out for about three hours, effectively finishing this in a burst of happy inspiration. Much more fun that doing the rest of what I have to do this evening. Plus, you get an update earlier than you thought you would.

Please forgive any stray typos that may catch your eye. I'm the world's laziest editor - sometimes, I don't even edit - and well, I just trust that you understand what I mean and that the content as a whole makes up for my mistakes.

So I hope this was fun for you guys, lived up to your expectations, and I pray you'll review and make my crappy day a little less crappy. I could use less crap in my life. I'm a junior, remember?

Cheers!