The next morning, when James and Lily were both awake, they
headed back towards the Hogwarts grounds via the underground
tunnel that leads from the Shrieking Shack.

"Why didn't we simply use an unlocking charm?" Lily asked,
slapping her hand against her head.

"Oh yeah, like that would work. If thats all it took, then ANYONE
could break in an steal stuff. They have regular muggle locks and
a bunch of hard spells keeping it closed to stuff like that."
James said wisely.

"Oh shut up. I didn't think of that." Lily shot back.

"Thats obvious. But, you act like a blonde...what can we expect?" James
asked, returning to his evil, sarcastic self.

"Argh you're impossible!" Lily exclaimed, wacking him in the arm.

"Ow. What was that for?" James asked, rubbing his arm.

"For being you!" Lily exclaimed, stomping off ahead of him and reaching
the Castle first.

She hurried down the familiar hallways and rushed into the Gryffindor
Common Room where Kathryn, Sirius, Remus, Ella, and Peter were all
seated.

"Where have you been?!" Kathryn exclaimed, rushing over to Lily.

"Got stuck in Hogsmeade." Lily said simply.

"You don't look to happy." Kathryn commented, seeing the disgruntled
look on her best friend's face.

"Yeah, well, I was with Potter...what can you expect?" Lily asked
darkly, glaring as James approached.

"Aren't you just a bright little ray of sunshine." James said,
laughing.

"Shut up Potter." Lily muttered.

"Shut up? Is that all you could come up with? I think Evans is losing
her touch." James said mockingly.

"JAMES JUST DROP IT!!!" Lily shrieked.

"Why should I? You started it by being stupid outside." James retorted.

"Thats real mature. YOU ARE SUCH A STUPID GIT! Can't you just leave me
alone? I was with you for almost 24 hours and now I am SICK OF YOU."
Lily shot back, eyes shining brightly.

"Ah yes, but I recall talking to you civilly for about 3 hours last
night...weren't you sick of me then?" he asked, eyes twinkling with
amusement.

"There was no one else to talk to. Besides, you were being NORMAL
then." Lily said impatiently.

"Oh yes. Normal. And what, pray tell us, is YOUR definition of normal?"
James asked, amusement clear on his face.

"Argh. Someone that is kind, thoughtful, funny, serious when they need
to be, caring. THATS what normal is. And right now, you are NOT being
normal." she said exasperatedly.

"Are you saying I was normal last night?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes. I mean no. I mean I DON'T KNOW. Stop asking me questions! You're
making my head hurt." She complained.

"Does thinking really hurt your head that much Evans?" James asked,
bursting into laughter.

"You're IMPOSSIBLE James Potter!" Lily shouted, before rushing up the
stairs to her dormitory with Kathryn at her heels.

"Thanks!" He shouted at her retreating back.

Lily slammed her door.

"Urgh. He was really nice last night. I almost could have been his
friend. But then he blows it by being a complete and total jerk...as
usual." Lily said angrily.

"Really? He was nice to you?" Kathryn asked, amazed at the thought.

"Yeah! He was being funny and we talked about the Yule Ball..." Lily
trailed off, thinking about their promise to go with each other if they
didn't have dates in two weeks.

She groaned and put her head in her pillow.

"Whats wrong?" Kathryn asked.

"Nothing. I'll tell you later k kath? I just need to sleep right now."
Lily said sleepily.

"Ok. I'll be in the Common Room if you need me." Kathryn said kindly,
before walking out into the Common Room.

"Thanks." Lily mumbled as she fell into a peaceful sleep.

She woke with a start 3 hours later, when the distinct sound of a
Filibuster Wet Start No Heat fire cracker went off in the Common Room.

She muttered a swear word under her breath, got up and brushed her
hair, and hurried down into the common room to see what all the fuss
was about.

"HAHAHA OH WOW I got him good!" Sirius howled.

"Whats going on?" Lily whispered to Kathryn.

"Sirius just flicked a filibuster firework at James...flung it right at
him with a spoon." Kathryn whispered back.

"SIRIUS!!! GEEEZE! You're gonna pay for that one!" James exclaimed,
laughing and running after Sirius, chasing him out of the room.

"Its your birthday tomorrow! I can't believe you're already gonna be
15!" Kathryn exclaimed.

"I know! I am so excited. My mom said that she would get me something
good...what time is it? I'm starving." Lily commented.

"Um...6:30." Kathryn said, glancing at her watch.

"Oh wow. No wonder. Lets head down and eat." Lily said, hurrying out.

After a quick supper and a long pillow fight with the boys in the common
room, Lily and Kathryn headed up to bed.

The next morning, Lily woke up with 4 tightly wrapped parcels at her
feet.

She grinned, grabbed them all, then hurried down to the Common Room so
that she could open them with her friends.

They were all sitting, talking quietly, and they grinned when she walked
in.

"Open mine first!" Kathryn said excitedly.

Lily obliged, finding a silver wrapped parcel from Kathryn.

She took off the card and read it. It said:

Lily- I cannot believe you are already 15! The present took me FOREVER
to find, but I found it! I hope you like it. Happy Birthday!
Kathryn
P.S Who are you going with to the Yule Ball?

Lily grinned and tore off the wrapping paper, revealing an ornate silver
box (obviously very expensive) and a key tumbled out of the wrapping.
Lily picked up the key and slowly unlocked the box.

Inside, was a small card, telling her that she could keep her most
special things in this box, and that it magically expanded if you needed
more room...but still looked the same size on the outside. (A/N Much
like the Weasley's car in book 3)

"Thank you so much Kathryn! This is soooo cool! You're the best!" Lily
squealed, throwing her arms around her friend.

"Well hurry up and open the rest of them!" Sirius complained.

Lily smiled and reached for the brown parcel on the bottom of the pile.

Lily opened the card and read.

Lily- You probably weren't expecting anything from me, but I saw this in
the window of a shop and I figured you could wear it at Yule Ball. Sorry
for being a jerk.
J
P.S That promise we made in Hogsmeade still goes. 2 weeks...

Lily smiled and opened the parcel.

She gasped.

Inside a small jewelry box, was the most magnificent thing she had ever
seen.

It was a necklace with a fine silver chain...and the center piece was a
lily. A white diamond Lily with a yellow diamond center. It was
beautiful.

"Oh my gosh!" Lily breathed.

"Who's it from? I bet that cost BIG bucks Lily." Kathryn said, in awe
over her shoulder.

"Oh. Um...I dunno." Lily lied, quickly shoving the card in the pocket of
her robes.

Mentally she reminded herself that she had to thank James later for the
gift...he was at Quidditch Practice.

Next, Lily opened the box that she knew was from Sirius and
Remus...because it had FROM SIRIUS AND REMUS written all over it in lime
green ink.

Lily grinned and ripped it open.

Inside was a broom servicing kit for her Nimbus 901...the best broom
available.

"Thank you so much you guys! This is the best!" Lily exclaimed, rushing
over to hug both of them.

"Yeah Well." they both mumbled, embarassed.

She lifted the last package, from her mother, and opened it quickly.

Inside was a birthday cake, a set of emerald green silk robes (for the
yule ball dear, her mother had said in the card) and a hair
kit...complete with extensions, all sorts of dyes, a highlighting kit,
scrunchies, pony tail holders, butterfly clips, and Lily's
favorite...small glittery silver clips.

Lily grinned at the jealous look on Kathryn's face.

"we'll go upstairs and use it later. You too." she said kindly.

Kathryn smiled.

"You're the best."

"I know." she said, thanking everyone one more time, and thanking God
that it was Thanksgiving break so there were no classes.

"Come on Kat." she called, hurrying up the stairs and blowing kisses to
Sirius and Remus, who were off to find James.

Kathryn joined her and they went through the kit, carefully picking
colors that they would like to use.

Lily chose a Honey Blonde color (she was SICK of being called flame head
and carrot head!), and some bleach blonde highlights.

Kathryn, not wanting to completely change her hair color, chose some
auburn highlights for her chocolate brown hair.

The two girls giggled and headed for the bathroom, where they spent the
rest of the morning dying their hair.

When they were done, they both exclaimed over how good the other looked.

"Lily you look awesome as a blonde! And those highlights kick butt!"
kathryn exclaimed for the thousandth time.

"Thanks. The red highlights are AWESOME." Lily said, charming her
eyebrows so that they were honey blonde, like her hair.

Lily quickly brushed her layered hair (now that its blonde, I imagine it
looking exactly like Tara Reid's...) that was down to the middle of her
back, (Yeah. Imagine Tara Reid's hair when you think of Lily's) and
hurried out of the dorm, Kathryn at her heels, ready to go eat lunch
with their new do's.

Lily and Kathryn entered to many wolf whistles and cat calls from the
whole male population, and they hurried to their seats with the guys.

"Hiya Flame Hea--whoa." James said, cutting off his name calling when he
saw her.

"Hello Potter, Remus, Sirius." Lily said happily, plopping down in her
seat.

"Hey Lil. Nice do. You look good as a blonde." Sirius commented, looking
up from his food.

Remus nodded his head in agreement, giving her a thumbs up through a
mouthful of food.

Ella plopped down next to Lily.

"Look Lily. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be so rude. Its just, ya know, I
get soooo carried away." she said.

"Its ok." she said. I guess....she added to her self.

"Oh my gosh, all of the girls at ravenclaw were JUST talking about you.
They all were talking about how great you look with blonde hair and how
cool it was that I was friends with you." Ella said, in gossip mode.
(A/N imagine Ella having a valley girl voice...)

So THATS why she wanted to make up with me. Lily thought amusedly.

"Jessica was like "oh my gosh look!" and I was like "what?" and she was
like "look at Lily's awesome hair. I wish I had highlights like that."
and I was like "yeah I know, she looks way cool" and she was like "no
kidding" Lily isn't that just the coolest? Jessica is sooo popular and
she called you awesome! Don't you feel awesome?" Ella asked, talking
fast, as always.

Lily and Kathryn grinned at each other when they saw the boys baffled
expressions...they hadn't understood a WORD Ella had just said. She was
talking to fast for their guy minds to comprehend what she was saying.

"Yeah. Thats cool Ella." Lily said absently.

"Ella, know what day it is?" Kathryn asked her cousin, brown eyes
sparkling.

"Oh. Um. Monday? Or is it Tuesday?" Ella asked stupidly, then
comprehension dawned in her shallow eyes. "Oh. Oh my gosh. Its Lily's
b-day! That is totally awesome. Go Lily. Its Your Birthday. Its Your
Birthday."

Lily giggled, so did Kathryn.

This was Ella for you.

"So, Lily, I heard you got like, a fab hair kit from your ma, do you
think I could use some highlights or something?" Ella asked, batting her
fake eyelashes.

"Sure why not." Lily said dryly, knowing that Ella was attached to
ANYONE with something new.

Ella was fun none the less...listening to her talk was always a laugh.
Lily would rather be friends with her then fight, so Ella was allowed
back into the circle of friends.

The next few weeks passed by in a blur of dance invitations and pranks
and fights for Lily...all too soon came the Yule Ball...with James.

Kathryn was going with Sirius and Ella was going with Lucius Malfoy.
Remus was going with Maria Costello...a pretty spanish girl with black
hair, brown eyes, and tan looking skin.

The three girls hurried up to their dorm to get ready.

Lily pulled her emerald green silk robes out of the box her mother had
sent them in, and she slipped them on carefully.

She examined herself in the mirror.

She looked gorgeous.

Lily was contemplating what to do with her hair when Kathryn rushed in,
scurrying around trying to find her dress robes.

As quickly as she had come, she ran out, cursing under her breath.

Lily grinned.

Back to her hair...she decided just to put it into spiral curls...it
always looked really good on her, and she wanted to leave it down to show
off the new color.

After that was taken care of, she applied a light touch of silvery
eyeshadow and some mascara to bring out her eyes. She put on some lip
gloss and slid the gloss into her pocket just in case.

She slipped into her shoes...chunky platform sandals with criss crossing
straps...they too were emerald green.

She stepped out of the bathroom and prepared herself for Kathryn and
Ella's scrutiny on how she looked.

"Lily you look so awesome! How'd you do your hair like that?" Kathryn
asked, looking her friend up and down with envy.

"Um Curlers." Lily replied, laughing.

"Lily you look fab. Love the hair. Those robes are awesome...where'd you
get the shoes?" Ella asked jealously.

Kathryn herself had changed into some deep peach robes...a slippery
fabric, but not quite silk. Since she had the dark hair and eyes, the
peach made her skin take on a certain glow....she had never looked
better. Her hair was piled elegantly on top of her head with one tendril
on each side left out to frame her face.

Ella, feeling that she had to out do the others, had bought a 3 piece
robe set. The bottom layer was gauzy, then you put the next layer (silk)
on top of the first, and then you put the last gauzy/glittery part on top
of the rest, so it poofed out around her legs. She had on way too much
eye make-up (as usual) and a mocha colored lipstick on. Her hair fell
down her back in smooth inky black waves that ended in ringlets. She
looked pretty, but not for a school dance. She had gone overboard, making
her look like a little girl dressing up in her mothers old clothes.

"Kath you look awesome! That color is so pretty on you!" Lily and Ella
exclaimed to Kathryn.

"Ella you look...*cough* grown up." Kathryn said, not unkindly, to her
cousin.

"I know I do." Ella said snootily.

"Yeah, you look...different when you dress up like that." Lily said,
trying not to be mean.

Ella nodded haughtily and flounced out of the room in search of her date.

Kathryn and Lily burst into giggles once she was out of earshot.

"She looked like..like a really dressed up prostitute." Kathryn said,
still giggling.

Lily shrieked with laughter at this, and had to grab onto Kathryn to keep
from falling over.

There was a knock on the door, and both girls quickly composed
themselves...or they tried to anyway.

Kathryn answered the door, because Lily had run back to the bathroom to
put on her necklace from James. It twinkled merrily in the light.

Lily hurried over to the door, where Sirius and James were waiting.

James' eyes widened when he saw her, but he didn't say anything until she
had her hand on his arm.

"You look fabulous. I'm glad I didn't get a chance to ask anyone else
cause I think I'll have the prettiest girl there tonight." he whispered
in her ear.

Lily looked up at him in surprise and kissed him quickly on the cheek.

"Thats the sweetest thing anyone's ever said to me."

James blushed and they hurried over to where their friends were staring
at them, having seen Lily kiss him on the cheek.

"Is there something you two aren't telling us?" Sirius asked, raising an
eyebrow.

"Oh yeah Sirius. We've been dating." James said, rolling his eyes
sarcastically.

Kathryn giggled and gave Lily a look that said "you better tell me
later."

Lily rolled her eyes and turned back to her "date", determined to be nice
at least for the evening.

James himself was wearing scarlet robes...Gryffindor colors. All of the
Quidditch team was.

James led her into the Great Hall that had been brightly lit and covered in
tinsle, with vanishing mistletoe popping up all over the place.

Kathryn tapped Lily on the arm, smirking.

"Better start praying that the mistletoe doesn't land over you two. It
screams that you have to kiss when it lands over you. It follows you around
until you do." she said, laughing.

"Oh crap." Lily said softly.

Kathryn was about to say something, but Sirius pulled her on to the Dance
Floor.

"Wanna dance?" James asked, suddenly feeling awkward.

"Yeah. Sure." Lily replied, allowing him to take her hand and lead her out
onto the dance floor, where a slow song was starting off the dance.

James placed his hands lightly on her hips, and she put her hands on his
shoulders and they started to sway with the music.

"Look at Sirius and Kathryn." Lily said quietly, looking over at her
friend.

They were dancing so close that it was hard to distinguish who was who.

James laughed.

"He's liked her for forever you know."

"Really? He never acted like it." Lily replied, smiling still.

"KISS!!! KISS EACH OTHER!!!" The mistletoe screamed to Kathryn and Sirius,
about 20 feet away from James and Lily.

Lily burst out laughing, and Kathryn blushed crimson, but obliged, lightly
kissing Sirius.

They all clapped and went back to dancing.

"How humiliating." Lily said, half sympathetic, and half amused.

"Erm. Lets move." James said quickly.

"What? Why?" Lily asked, moving as she talked.

"Mistletoe. Thats all I have to say." he replied.

They both burst out laughing, running all the way across the gym with the
mistletoe chasing them.

Finally the Mistletoe lost them in the crowd.

They danced a bit more (bickering the whole time), and finally things got
interesting.

"Mind if I go dance with Miranda?" James asked.

"Whatever. Don't care." Lily mumbled.

"You sure."

"I said I didn't care didn't I?" she snapped.

"Jeeze. Can't you be like other girls and be polite?" James asked, brow
furrowed.

"No. Sorry I can't. I'm me and if you have a problem with that, GO." she
shot back.

"Lily don't make a scene." James hissed as people started to look over at
them.

"Why not? You basically asked me if you could ditch me. You just don't get
it do you Potter?" Lily said softly, turning on her heel and running back up
to the Gryffindor Common Room.

James brushed past the curious onlookers and followed her up to the tower.

"Hi." he said softly, seating himself next to her.

She quickly wiped her eyes, not knowing why she was crying.

"Why'd you follow me?" she asked, voice trembling a bit.

"Because I don't understand whats going on with you." he replied logically.

"And I was worried." he added.

She raised an eyebrow.

"Worried?" she repeated.

"Yeah."

"Look, James. Go back down there and hang out with Miranda. Its not gonna
work. And I really don't feel like dancing anyway." she said softly,
standing up to leave.

"I'm sorry I--"

"Its ok. Its not your fault. Sorry I blew up at you. I had fun until I lost
it." she said with a feeble grin, pushing a strand of her blonde hair out of
her eyes.

"I wanted to try to be friends." he said quickly, his face serious.

"It doesn't really work with us. I tried. I really did. Lets just go back to
the way things were." Lily said, running upstairs into her dorm, slamming
the door before he could say anything else.

James wearily climbed the stairs to his dorm, he didn't feel like going back
to the dance.

He changed into his regular robes and walked over to the girls dorms, not
knowing why.

He knocked quietly, and hearing no answer, he poked his head in.

She was fast asleep in her pajamas on top of her covers, her face streaked
with tears.

James, not knowing why, walked over to her bed, lifted her up, and put her
underneath her covers. He watched her sleep for a moment and then he walked
out, his hands in his pockets.

Little did he know, Kathryn had seen this whole exchange.

The next morning, Lily was just as ornery as ever.

"Morning Kath, Morning El, morning Re, morning Siri, morning Potter." Lily
said, glowering as she said the last name.

"You are my sunshine my only sunshine, you make me happy when skies are
gray. You'll never know dear how much I love you. Please don't take my
sunshine away." James sung sarcastically.

"Quit lying James." Sirius said, laughing.

Lily shot a rubber band at James, hitting him right between the eyes.

"HOLY SHIT THAT HURT!" James said, clutching his forehead.

When he took his hands away, there was a bright red mark in the shape ofan s
on it.

He picked up the rubber band flung it back at her. She ducked and it missed
her and hit Sirius.

Sirius howled and jumped at James, knocking him over.

Soon a full fledged wrestling match was going on between James and
Sirius...Remus was the referee.

When Sirius had officially won the match, James stood up, brushed himself
off, and walked over to Lily and Kathryn.

"Thanks for waking me up then ya dumb blonde." James said angrily.

"WHAT!!! You...you...POOPHEAD." Lily said, searching for a comeback.

James burst out laughing.

"Ooo that hurt. That stung. My feelings are officially injured." he said
when he had recovered.

"Go to HELL-o Professor McGonagall." Lily said, making her hell a hello as
the professor walked in.

"Good morning Lily." the Professor said, eyeing Lily and James suspiciously
before disappearing into her office.

james was gasping for air he was laughing so hard.

Lily, furious, walked over and kicked him directly in the gut, causing him
to double over in pain.

Lily flipped her hair casually and walked out.

A/N Like it? Love, hate, like, hate, despise. thats my storyline. lol ok
please r/r!