That night's dinner was a tense affair. Elena, as she wished that everyone call her, was very cold and distant with Lily. James and his mother were eyeing each other hatefully and Lily was seriously stuck between Scylla and Charybdis.

When dinner was over, James pointedly dragged Lily off, making it a point to wake really close to her. Lily could almost feel Mrs. Potter's handsome eyes on her, boring into her skeptically.

James had argued with his mother to let Lily come as an escort for the Formal Parties that were being hosted on his birthday. It was to no avail, and his mother had chosen one for him. She was a beautiful brunette with the exotic name of "Ashley."  She arrived that evening, not long after James told her about his birthday and "Ashley." Lily was more than happy to blend into the background as Mrs. Potter wished, because as much as she enjoyed James's company, she detested the awkwardness that was in her mind every time she was with him.

Lily was not used to attention of any sort. Being the youngest child, and being that her sister shunned her company more than anything else, she was left to the extent of her own imagination. No one ever bothered with her, taking her for granted, at home, in the orphanage, and even at Hogwarts, and she had come to prefer it that way. When James Potter put her in the limelight, she was even wishing that his mother had argued against Lily's dating her son.

Not to say that she wasn't jealous.

Ashley really liked James, and from far away, James seemed to fancy her also. It was the little things, the "signs" as Sirius would call them, that indicated to Lily the great couple they made. The slight touch of the arm, the brush of the shoulders, the cheek-to-cheeks they exchanged when they left each other's company. Was this all purely rehearsed?

She realized that it was inescapable, no matter how deep their love was, or could be, she would always doubt if James Potter was too good for her. A part of her wished that he would fall in love with Ashley, so that that doubt was finally resolved. Was she ready to bear the burden of robbing James of his potential just to be selfish?

No, she decided, love was not really so important. She'd lived so many years without it, and there were always other guys?

Lily concluded, James was a part of her life to teach her something, that she should move on. She should find someone that suited her, maybe something, a profession.

"Jim, darling," Ashley said, "where is this girl you speak so much about?"

Elena was giving the young couple a warning glare from the head of the table. James carefully chewed his dinner before replying. "Lily? Well, she doesn't really like to be in the swim of things," he smiled apologetically, "but if you want, we'll go see her after dinner."

He particularly oversaw the custom of asking his mother for permission, knowing already that she would refuse. After dinner, he and Ashley made off to Lily's quarters, making polite conversation in the process.

"What do your parents do, Ashley?" James asked.

"Well, they're politicians. My dad's the English ambassador to Peru and my mum's his assistant. They fell in love on the job, funny isn't it?" she chuckled rhetorically. "Why do you ask?"

He shrugged in response, recalling that his mum and dad fallen in love "on the job" as well. Ashley knocked on the door. A house elf came to open it, and right behind her stood Lily in a silk night robe that the elf had brought for her.

"Evie?!" Ashley shrieked as soon as she saw them. James looked around dumbly, wondering who that was, but Lily soon spoke.

"Toni??" she yelled as they both engaged in a long embrace. "Where have you been, you are so beautiful! How did you end up here?" Ashley rattled off a long jumble of questions as Lily pulled her friend inside, and James closed the door behind them, feeling utterly lost.

Ashley seemed to remember him, though. "Oh James! This is wonderful, you can't imagine!" Lily smiled wide and finished for Ashley.

"Ashley and I lived in the same orphanage. She was there longer than I was, but she was adopted first…" she trailed off thoughtfully, but James seemed to understand.

"Ah," he said, "I'll leave you two to get reacquainted. Got to have my beauty sleep for the Ball tomorrow, don't I?"

Lily and Ashley nodded to him, and he left, wondering if his mother would finally accept Lily.

Indeed, her opinion of Lily was greatly improved when the news reached Elena from her own son, that Ashley and Lily were previously known to each other. As Ashley practically had Mrs. Potter wrapped around her finger from the start, getting her to like Lily was not a difficult task. Atleast it seemed that way to the common eye. Before they were to attend James's birthday party, Lily was dragged off by Mrs. Potter to prepare for the occasion.

"I want you to give a modest impression if you are coming with us this evening, instead of looking like a common Muggle," she said imperiously. Lily smiled inwardly, knowing full well that Mrs. Potter was struggling with coming to terms on this preconceived opinion she had of her as a girl feeding off of her generosity. "Yes ma'am," she agreed meekly.

She hastily instructed the house elves to bathe her, and to Lily's astonishment, they began stripping off her clothes and pushed her into a large bathroom. It was not anything like the Prefect's bathroom back in Hogwarts.

The tub was of genuine white marble, and there were shimmering golden taps in one end. There were no bubbles nor perfume nor anything of the sort, but the House Elves turned a few taps in a specific combination. Lily assumed that they knew what they were doing until extremely hot water hit her back, almost scalding her. She jumped and let out a small yell in protest, but with amazing strength, a house elf pushed her back down. Soon, the little creature began scrubbing every inch of her body and she winced in pain. When she finally emerged from the bath, pink all over, Elena bustled in, dismissing the house elves.

"Well, Lily, I daresay you show quit some potential." Lily was indignant, but could not reply as she was again yanked off into a bigger room. A closet of some sort with beautiful robes of all textures of all different colors. Elena disappeared in the rows and rows of hangers, as Lily looked around in awe. She had never known such luxury. She imagined herself in Mrs. Potter's position, wondering if her treatment toward herself was justified after all. To have grown up in such opulence!

Elena brought out her clothing and instructed her to come out in no more than two minutes time. With a flick of her wand, she'd closed the doors, and managed to exit in the process.

The robes were of silk, but Lily thought they were obviously magically altered, because even in that stuffy closet, she felt as cool as if she had been wearing one of James's cotton tees. She later realized that a simple watered down freezing charm would've done the trick, and cursed herself for not thinking of it sooner.

When Lily came out of the closet, in even lesser time that Mrs. Potter expected, she was pushed into a large cushiony chair in front of a dresser. The house elves flurried around her once more as Elena instructed them, brushing her hair, and putting strange smelling concoctions on it. Lily was about to protest when they started doing the same to her face, but she soon forgot it, thinking Elena would obviously have none of it. How bad could it be?

James's reaction to Lily was indescribable. As soon as Elena let her loose, she found James, eager to convey her experience. In midsentence however, Lily paused, realizing that her boyfriend was no more listening to her than he was jumping up and down with a foot on his head.

"What's the matter, Prongs?" she asked, vaguely concerned.

"Hmm?"

"I don't look…bad, do I? I knew I shouldn't've let them put that make-up on me…"

"No! no, Lily," said James finally. He paused in indecision. "You look so…"

"Beautiful?" Lily and James turned toward the voice to see Ashley, a knowing smirk on her face.

Lily suddenly felt small and stupid. Ashley looked extraordinarily attractive in velvet brown dress robes. They were short sleeved, and had a sheer strip at the top with some sort of embroidery that shimmered in the light. She wondered what became of that mischievous Toni, her childhood friend. A deep melancholy enveloped her as her heart sunk. How could she compare to all the Ashley's of the world?

"You look wonderful too Ashley, let's be off, shall we? Mother'll be upset," James said. Lily let go of his hand as Ashley's armed looped through his, and she walked behind them into the chamber where the party was being held.

People soon came to greet James and Ashley, and some even Lily, though somewhat contemptuously. Some just praised Elena Potter for her benevolence and Lily agreed to everything they said, too wrapped up in the luxury of the event to notice what they were saying.

James was in a similar situation. Many important court officials, Ministry wizards, and such people were constantly wishing him a Happy Birthday or some such nonsense, but his thoughts were constantly on Lily. How beautiful she was in those blue robes! Her iridescent eyes and her smooth and supple hair kept flitting through as broken images in his head, and everywhere he looked, he saw them.

When had this come about? Lily was simultaneously thinking to herself. Between pretending to be involved in the trivial conversations and absorbing her lavish surroundings, she could not help but sneak a jealous glance at James and Toni. He was so handsome. She could get lost in his eyes, even though they did not look at her…

She jumped as yet another young man greeted her.

"Hullo, Lily Evans, did I scare you?" She took in the young boy's face; it seemed oddly familiar.

"Do I know you?" she asked. He smiled and said, "No, you may not remember, but I went to Hogwarts last year. Remember me, I'm Jacob Duncan's little brother, Greg?"

"Oh! I'm so sorry! I completely forgot!" Lily replied, though she had not an inkling of who he was.

"Yeah, after what Jake did to you, I don't blame you," he smiled apologetically. Lily sighed softly.

"Do you want to dance?" she asked, wondering if the words were really coming from her mouth.

"Sure," he agreed, and they soon joined the other couples on the dance floor. Lily was not aware of a pair of blue eyes following her precariously.

Soon, Elena's amplified voice silenced all the talking and dancing guests.

"If you would please follow my elves into the dining room, dinner will be served in ten minutes exactly," she said. The chatter resumed and people soon began to exit the Ballroom into the Dining room.

Lily took a seat next to Ashley, as the two boys sat directly opposite them.

"James," Lily said cheerfully, "where is Sirius? I thought you said he would be here?"

"He had to cancel," James replied through gritted teeth and Lily glanced at Toni inquiringly. She winked, a sign that she would explain later. The rest of the party went smoothly until Sirius arrived.

"Hullo all!" he said good-naturedly. Lily looked at James, but he refused to meet her eyes.

"Hullo Padfoot," Ashley raised her eyebrow, and Greg explained, "Nickname," and she nodded, understanding.

"So how's the party? Boring, as every year, I imagine," Sirius said and James nodded in response.

"What say we go outside to the Quidditch pitch and ruin it for your mum, Jamesie?" The teens all agreed but Ashley and Greg, who preferred to stay inside as they were having an enjoyable time.

As soon as they got outside to the warm summer air, the mood lightened. All that was out here was Quidditch, no worries, Just Quidditch.

Lily was a horrible chaser, because James and Sirius were fighting for the Quaffle always, and she hardly had it. Sometimes she would get it away from James or Sirius and keep it away from either of them so long and never make a goal. James made her a keeper, while he and Sirius played, and surprisingly enough, there wasn't a goal made at all.

"Why didn't you tell us you were such a good Keeper?" Sirius whined.

"I didn't know, Padfoot, honestly, I'm telling you I've never played Quidditch before!"

"Did you hear that Prongs? I reckon she'd even be better than you if she practiced!" James scowled and Lily took the opportunity eagerly and poked fun at him. Sirius put his arm around his best friend comfortingly, and they walked back to the mansion, brooms in hand, laughing and joking.

They were sooned joined by Ashley and Greg, who both seemed to be hiding something. It was obvious what it was, and Lily didn't hesitate to drag her friend off to cough up the details. Greg shrugged and Sirius rolled his eyes. James simply glared after Lily.

"So, you and that Gregory Duncan are an item?" Lily questioned tauntingly.

"Ssh! Be quiet Lily, how did you know anyway?"

"Well you were only sooo obvious," she replied.

"Don't get on my bad side now, Evie, I see you have quite a thing with that James Potter!"

"I do not!" Lily said indignantly.

"I don't know, Ev, all he did was stare at you, every wakin' second of the night. And he also seems to talk about you a whole lot."

"Really?" Lily asked, not being able to help herself.

"Yea! I mean it made me look like blithering idiot!"

"No it didn't, Toni, you looked cute together!" she told Ashley. She gave her an unreadable look.

"Maybe so, but he has eyes only for you, Evie. Greg on the other hand, is really handsome. Not to mention a good kisser!" Lily's eyes widened.

"He's already kissed you?" she questioned happily and the conversation took on a mind of its own, much to Lily's relief.

*

"So did you have a good time last night, Evie."

Lily turned around making her hair whip in her face. "Ouch," she said and smiled at James.

"Yea, did you?" James glared at her. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"If you wanted to break up you could have just said it, instead of leading me on for so long!"

"What are you talking about, James?" said Lily intently watching James's face.

"It hurts Lily. You go off and prance about with that Greg fellow and pretend nothing happened!" Lily felt her anger rising and she retorted.

"Well if I recall you had no complaints with Ashley! I said nothing about that did I?"

"I HAD to be with her! Are you asking me to pretend to have a bad time just for you?"

"Oh! So it's okay for YOU to have fun, not me! Because I'm obviously the muggle-born leech that's come to suck your attention all to myself, is it?"

"I never said that! Stop putting words in my mouth, Evans!"

"Fine, POTTER!" When Ashley hurried in with a scared look on her face, Lily and James realized that they had been yelling.

"What's wrong," said Ashley.

"Oh nothing, James and I just broke up," said Lily, looking at him.

"I never agreed to that! You can't just do that!" he protested. Lily smirked.

"You're the one who said that I could've just let you know if I wanted to break-up? Well then, I want to break up." Ashley was watching the scene amusedly as James protested and their voices rose higher and higher.

"Fine then!!" James screamed.

"Fine," retorted Lily calmly.

"Fine," James said, slamming the door and dragging Ashley off to only God-knew-where.