Chapter 16: Happy Christmas Ball and Merry New Year (Part 2)

A/N Here is part two of the last chapter, and possibly the last chapter I post for a while, so I hope you all enjoy it. Also, Happy New Year all of my lovely readers. I thought this chapter would be a wonderful way to bring in the new year. Let's hope 2021 is better than 2020 was. (Fingers crossed)

Disclaimer: I don't own the Harry Potter characters or anything Harry Potter related. I do own the OC Jasmine and the plot of this story.

An hour before the ball:

It was an hour before the ball was set to begin. The girls were getting ready, but Jasmine really wanted to talk with Sirius. She wanted to go over the plan one more time before the ball. It had to be foolproof or as foolproof as they could make it. Luckily, Jaz was able to sneak away from Lily when her cousin went to get the dresses out of the closet. They had already done their hair and makeup, so Jaz knew this was probably the only time she would get to sneak off and find Sirius.

Thankfully, it wasn't very hard to find the boy. He was in his room also getting ready for the ball, but he wasn't taking nearly as much time as the girls were.

Sirius heard Jasmine enter the room. He figured she would be stopping by to go over the plan again. What he didn't expect when he finally turned around was to see that his girlfriend had been transformed. So, when Sirius saw Jasmine, he was staring. He couldn't believe the transformation that had been made to her in such a short time, but in reality, it actually wasn't that short of a time. It was actually done in about 4-5 hours Jasmine wasn't actually sure.

Sirius didn't stare at Jaz for much longer though, as she hit him upside the head. "Hey, Pads. Stop staring. I don't have much time before she finds me again."

Sirius stared at her confused. "Before who finds …" Trailing off, Sirius realized Jaz was talking about Lily. "Oh. Um, well, what is it you wanted to talk about Mare?" He asked trying to come off as coy.

"I just wanted to go over the plan one more time."

"I figured that was why you were here but are you sure that is the only reason you came to find me." Sirius gave her a suggestive wink.

She responded by smacking him upside the head again. "Yes, that is the only reason. I'll have you know that if we start snogging, Lily is bound to find out that I snuck off to see you, and we don't need her being suspicious about our plan."

"Okay, fine Mare. Have it your way, but I'll get you later." Sirius gave his girlfriend another wink before getting back to the real reason Jasmine was in his room. "So, what do you want to go over for the plan?"

"I just want to make sure that we are sure about what our jobs are."

"Jobs?" Sirius raised an eyebrow. "Wow, Mare, I didn't realize I was your job now."

Jasmine whacked him again, but this time she went for his arm. "You know what I meant. I just wanted to make sure that we are both on track for getting James and Lily together tonight. Or at the very least getting Lily to realize her feelings for James. I would like to see that they are at least friends by the end of the night at the very least."

"Of course. But if I know James, and I do, he is going to make that very hard."

Jasmine nodded her head in agreement. "So, let's go over the plan once more."

"Fine." Sirius sighed. "But the plan is basically just me and you trying to get James and Lily alone the entire night. Although, I'm still not sure how we are going to get Lily to accept a dance from James. That part is going to be tricky."

"No, it won't. Remember, I know my cousin very well. And as much as she hates to admit it, she will not want to be stuck doing nothing all night at a table alone with one James Potter. She will dance with him if we get up and don't come back."

"Okay. Fine, but what about…" Sirius never got to finish because at that very moment Jasmine covered his mouth with her hand. It was just in time too because Lily walked in only moments afterward.

"There you are. I should have known you were with Black. I can't believe I didn't check here first," Lily commented more to herself than anything else. Then Lily grabbed her cousin's arm and dragged her back off of finish getting ready. As Jasmine was getting dragged away, she blew a kiss to Sirius.


Present time:

James had just watched the love of his life leave him standing in the middle of the dance floor at the Annual Potter Christmas ball. He just couldn't believe what had just happened. How on Earth did he get to this point? It just didn't make sense to him. Sure, he had been teasing Lily a little bit, but his question was a sincere one. He really wanted to know why Lily refused to call him by his first name. It really infuriated him that she called him Potter still while she was starting to call the rest of the Marauders by their first names.

And that confusion and anger led them into an argument that James really didn't want to have. He just wanted to have a great time with Lily for just once. That was all ruined by him and his stupidness. When James realized that it was his fault, he knew he had to find Lily and apologize. So, only minutes after Lily stormed out of the ballroom, James made his way out of the ballroom the same way that Lily did.

Meanwhile, Jasmine and Sirius had been sitting at the table the four had been seated at together. They had taken a break from dancing to check on the progress of their plan. When they saw James and Lily dancing awfully close on the dancefloor, they smirked at each other.

Jasmine, taking her seat at the table, said to Sirius, "Looks like our plan is working. They look awfully close."

Sirius responded with a smirk. "I wouldn't be surprised if they end up kissing by the end of the night."

Moments after uttering those words, the couple heard arguments coming from the dance floor. They turned and looked to see James and Lily arguing with each other. "Looks like we spoke too soon, Mare."

Jasmine's only response was to smack her forehead. That was until she saw Lily storm out of the ballroom. She made eye contact with Lily, who gestured that Jasmine should follow her out. So, Jasmine proceeded to get up and follow her cousin out of the ball. But Sirius grabbed her arm before she could. Jasmine turned toward him for an explanation.

"Mare, don't. This could still work. Let James fix his own mistake. They probably won't end up as a couple tonight, but at the very least they could still end up as friends."

"No, Sirius. You don't understand. Lily needs me." Jasmine tried to escape Sirius's grip, but before she could, both she and Sirius watched as James exited the ballroom the same way that Lily had. Jasmine's eyes went wide. She couldn't believe the bravery and stupidity that James just showed. Lily was not someone that you wanted to mess with when she was angry. Therefore, Jasmine knew she had to stop him. "Sirius come on. We have to go. I would really hate it if Lily killed James."

"Jaz calm down. We need to let them sort out their own problems. I know you don't think they can work it out, but I believe they can."

"No, Pads, you don't understand." Jasmine threw her hands up in exasperation.

"Then explain it to me."

"I know Lily better than you. Just trust me, Lily definitely doesn't want to talk with James right now, especially since he is the one that she is angry with." The sincerity in Jasmine's eyes convinced Sirius that Jasmine knew what she was talking about. So, the couple left to follow James out of the ballroom.

What Jasmine wasn't telling Sirius was that she would let James resolve this himself in the end. She knew Sirius was right that they would have to work this out themselves. But Jaz also knew Lily, and when Lily is mad at you, the solution is not to talk to her. Lily would usually calm down fairly soon after, but she still wouldn't want to talk with you. Lily comes to you when she is ready to talk not any soon. She wants it to be on her own terms, not someone else's terms. And Jasmine had learned that the hard way several times when they were younger.

Though, as Jasmine and Sirius made their way out of the ballroom, Jasmine thought better of it. What good would having her step into their argument do for their future relationship? If James and Lily were to have any kind of future relationship, Jasmine knew that James would just have to learn the hard way about not messing with Lily when she was angry. So, just as she and Sirius were about to exit the ballroom, Jasmine grabbed her boyfriend's arm to stop him. Sirius looked back at her with a questioning look. She answered, "We can't." And with those simple words, the couple headed back into the ballroom and back to their table.

On the way back to their table, Sirius tried to lighten the mood. "Well, it looks like our plan went off smashingly." His voice dripped with sarcasm.

"Oh, definitely. This is exactly how the night was meant to turn out," Jasmine replied with about as much sarcasm as Sirius had. "Guess our plan wasn't as well thought out as we thought it was. It went off the rails a bit."

Sirius chuckled and nodded. "More than a bit, I would say. I think we might have actually made it worse."

It's Jasmine's turn to laugh now. "No, I'm pretty sure we just that Lily is just being her usual stubborn self. But let's not focus on that now. If I continue to talk about Lily, I'm going to continue to feel even more guilty about not being the one to follow after her."

"No need to worry, my love. Padfoot is here to distract you." That is how the rest of the night went for the couple. Sirius distracted Jasmine from what could be happening between their respective best friends by dancing and joking with her the entire rest of the night.


Meanwhile, James was searching for Lily. He assumed that after she fled from the ballroom, she would have gone to her room, but she wasn't there. All James found in the room was a mess of makeup and hair stuff that he assumed was from when the girls were getting ready.

After finding her room empty, James realizes that if he wants to apologize, he is going to have to search the rest of the Manor trying to find Lily. He looks for her in the kitchen first because he thinks that maybe she wanted to get some comfort food or something. But Lily isn't in the kitchen. Then James looks in the main sitting/living room where they all opened up their Christmas presents a few days ago. Sadly, Lily isn't there either. James continues to check the rest of the Manor, even the room where Sirius motorcycle is, but he can't find her anywhere.

James is about to give up and just go to his room to wallow when he hears crying. He was right outside of his bedroom door when he hears the crying, but it isn't coming from Lily's room. In fact, James is pretty sure that it is coming from Jasmine's room instead. So, instead of giving up as he had planned, James heads to where Jasmine's room is. He isn't sure if it is really Jasmine in their crying, but he isn't about to let the girl who is like a sister to him be alone when she is crying.

James reaches Jasmine's door, only to find it locked from the inside. Not giving up, James calls out, "Jazzy? Is that you in there? Is everything okay?"

James finds out fast that it is not Jasmine but rather Lily when the crying stops and is replaced by an angry voice. "What do you want, Potter?"

Hearing Lily's voice, James is filled with hope that he could still fix this. "Lily! I'm so glad I found you. I've been looking all over the place for you."

Lily just repeats her question in the same angry tone. "What do you want, Potter?"

James is hurt a little by her harsh tone, but he doesn't let that keep his spirits down. "I just want to apologize Lily, but I'd rather do it face to face so will you please open the door?"

"No!" Lily yelled. "Now go away, Potter."

James continued to try and persuade Lily to open the door or at least crack open the door so that he could see her face, but his efforts were fruitless. No matter how hard James pleaded with Lily, she refused to come out of the room. And soon James realized he was going about this the wrong way and he had to change tactics. So, James tried to get her so riled up that she would open the door just to tell him off. That, sadly, did not work either. James tried several other tactics, but it seemed nothing would get Lily to open the door, so James gave up trying to get her out. Instead, he planted himself in front of the door to wait. He knew she would have to come out eventually, after all, it wasn't her room. And when Jasmine came back, he would enlist her help to open the door so that he could apologize to Lily. Although James was still a little confused about why Lily was so angry with him. It wasn't as if he had pranked her or anything. But he knew it was probably his fault, and if he really wanted to be friends with Lily, he would have to be the one to apologize.

While James was trying to get Lily out of the room, Lily wasn't even listening to his attempts. After his first attempt, Lily had stopped listening. She couldn't bear to listen to him any longer, lest she let her emotions get the better of her.

In reality, Lily wasn't all that angry at James anymore. At first, she had been angry at James, but now she had had time to cool off and realize she wasn't really angry at him but rather herself. It was just that his stupid questions had her questioning herself and she couldn't understand it. If he had asked her last year why she was still calling him Potter instead of James, she would have told him it was because he was an arrogant toerag that didn't deserve her calling him by his first name. But now she wasn't so sure. Now Lily didn't exactly know why she was still calling him Potter when she started referring to the rest of the Marauders by their first names.

Although Lily had noticed that James wasn't bullying as much anymore, that didn't mean that she suddenly had a change of heart about him. Just because Lily happened to notice that he was actually starting to grow up was not a significant reason for her to start calling him by his first name. Then there was that Hogsmeade trip where she had spent time with him. It was then that she started to see this whole other side to him that she didn't even think existed. It was also on that trip that Lily realized that James wasn't that bad, but until he stopped his bullying completely, she wasn't about to be his friend.

So, what made him think that they were friends? And why would she call him James if she wasn't his friend in the first place? But deep down Lily knew the answers to these questions, she just didn't want to admit it to herself. She knew that they had been getting closer to each other since the beginning of the school year, especially after the Hogsmeade trip. Then there was the gift that they had gotten each other, which Lily reflexively touched as the necklace was still around her neck. They had gotten closer, much closer than Lily ever expected to be with James Potter, closer than Lily wanted to admit to herself.

Lily wasn't going to suddenly be like some of the other girls around Hogwarts that were always falling all over James. There was no way in hell she was ever going to be one of those girls. If James wanted to date her, he would have to earn it just like anyone else. And at these thoughts, Lily came to a startling conclusion that completely horrified her. "Do I actually want to date James Potter?" Lily internally asked herself. But she had already known the answer because it was the answer to this question that had gotten Lily so upset at James in the first place.

Lily knew deep-down that she had started to fancy James after the Hogsmeade trip, but this was the first time that she actually admitted it to herself. For so long, Lily refused to think of James as anything more than a bully because he was. Though, after seeing the real him and how much he had changed this school year, Lily realized he was much more than the egotistical bully he presented himself to be. James was also sweet, loyal, kind, and brave. He cared deeply for his friends and would protect them with his life. He was thoughtful enough to get her the necklace that was currently around her own neck. A necklace that Lily was sure was not cheap like her present had been. And yet, Lily was still mad at him, or more accurately her feelings for him.

By the time Lily had finally sorted out all of her feelings, she realized that James was no longer trying to get her to come out or open the door. Lily was relieved that he had given up because now she could make her way to her own room. She knew that she couldn't stay and wait in Jasmine's room all night, so this would be the best time to head over to her room. Lily would just have to talk with her cousin about the realizations that she had come to in the morning.

So, Lily goes to leave her cousin's room and head back to her own, but when she opens the door and steps out of the room, she finds James sitting down next to the door. He is leaning up against the wall with his eyes closed. Lily really didn't want to talk to him right now, so she goes to close the door before James notices but is too late. He had heard the door creak and had sprung up just in time to catch the door with his hand before Lily shut it close. Thankfully, Lily is kind enough not to crush it with the door and instead reopens the door. Lily realizes it is useless to try and avoid this conversation now, so she might as well get it out of the way now. Though, they can't have it in Jasmine's room. "James," Lily accidentally slips out for the first time. "Let's talk in my room. I wouldn't want Mina interrupting."

James is too stunned to answer, so Lily just grabs him by the sleeve of his dress robes and pulls him toward her room. By the time they enter the room, the shock has worn off, but James still doesn't say anything. He just walks over and sits on Lily's bed. Then he motions for Lily to join him, but she doesn't she isn't about to let him tell her what to do, especially since she is supposed to still be mad at him. So, she just stands there in the middle of the room with her arms folded across her chest glaring at him.

It is several minutes later before anyone says anything, but finally, James couldn't take it anymore and he breaks. "Look, Lily, I'm sorry."

"What are you sorry about Potter?" The edge in Lily's voice is evident. It warns James that if he says the wrong thing, he will just make it even worse.

Thinking carefully, James says, "I'm sorry about the questions. I didn't mean anything by them. I just wanted to know why."

Lily's gaze softened. "I know, Potter, I mean James." James's face lit up when he heard his name come off of Lily's lip for the second time that day. But Lily wasn't ready to forgive him just yet. "Well, why did you want to know why? What is your reasoning for bringing up the subject in the first place?"

James stared at Lily like she was crazy. He couldn't believe she had just asked him that. He was sure that his intentions for asking that question had been clear. "Seriously? You don't know?" Lily gave him a look that clearly said that she was being very serious. "Well because I want to be your friend Lily and friends don't call each other by their last names. I thought after the Hogsmeade…"

James didn't get a chance to finish as Lily interrupted him. "Well, you were wrong." The hostility in Lily's voice increased, again. But she took a deep breath before continuing. "But, if you still want to be my friend, James, I'm willing to start now."

"Really?" James was not expecting this to be the way that this conversation would go.

"Sure. I'm willing to start being your friend James but nothing more. You are still a bully even if you aren't as much of one anymore." James's only response was a big grin that he aimed at Lily. "Now get out. I'm tired, so I'm going to bed."

Lily pulled the boy off of her bed and started to push him out the door. "Fine, fine. I'm going." They reached the doorway, but before James left the room he teased, "Goodnight, Evans."

"Goodnight, Potter," Lily said back, but this time there was a teasing and annoyed tone to her voice.


Lily didn't get the chance to speak with Jasmine for several days. Jaz was too caught up with Sirius, or so Lily thought. The actuality of it was that they were actually "avoiding" James and Lily for the moment. They wanted them to get closer and the only way that could happen is if their own best friends were too wrapped up in each other for them to hang out with them. And their "plan" actually worked. While they busied themselves with each other, Lily and James got closer.

Lily still refused to go any further than friends, especially not until she had the chance to speak with Jasmine about her recently admitted feelings for one James Potter. Plus, Lily still wasn't going to go further until James proved himself. She wasn't about to date some egotistical toerag just because he didn't seem so bad. Lily was going to make James earn his way for a date with her.

Little did Lily know, James wasn't exactly planning on asking her out any time soon. Don't get him wrong or anything, he still loved Lily, but he was okay just being her friend right now. He didn't want to do anything to jeopardize the friendship they were cultivating. James knew that if he wanted to have any chance at ever being anything more than with Lily, being friends was a great place to start. Also, this way, they were able to better get to know each other. And despite the fact that James was in love with Lily, he didn't actually know as much about her as he thought he did. So, on the days leading up to New Year's, James learned a lot about the girl who had taken his heart, and in turn, Lily learned a lot about James.

This all led up to what happened on New Year's Eve. The day started out like any other day, except instead of Sirius and Jaz hanging out together, they decided they needed a break from each other. They couldn't be together all the time or else they would drive each other crazy. Plus, this way they were able to find out what has been going on with their best friends the last several days. The couple knew that the two others had gotten closer, but they weren't exactly sure what had happened after the ball. Jasmine had wanted to find out the very next day, but Sirius had distracted her that morning as well as the entire rest of the day. Jasmine would have gone to Lily the next day, but she and Sirius came up with a "plan" to make sure that Lily and James would continue to get closer.

Anyway, after breakfast on New Year's Eve, Jasmine went to hang out with Lily and Sirius spent the day with James.

Lily and Jaz spent most of the day in Lily's room, where Lily filled Jasmine in on what happened after the ball. "After I stormed out of the ball, I went to your room because you were supposed to follow me not James." Lily glared at her cousin. "So, why didn't you follow me, Mina? We made eye contact, so I know you knew that I wanted to talk with you."

"Oh, gosh, Lils. I'm so sorry about that. I was about to follow you, but Sirius stopped me. Then I got distracted and kind of forgot you wanted to vent to me about…" Jasmine trailed off. Before she could get too guilty about not telling Lily the whole truth, she realized something. "Wait, did you just call him James?"

"Um, yes. That is his name after all. Why wouldn't I call him James? He is my friend after all."

Jasmine stared at her cousin. Sure, she had been hoping that James and Lily had actually become a couple or even friends, but she wasn't as sure after she saw Lily storm out of the ballroom she wasn't as hopeful about the outcome. "Wait a minute. Since when are the two of you friends? If I remember correctly, you told me that you could never be friends with him nor did you ever want to be. So, what changed Lils? What happened after the ball?"

"Well, let me finish my story and I will tell you." Jasmine gave Lily a sheepish smile and motioned for her to tell her story. "So, after I locked myself in your room I fumed for a bit. Then at one point, I started crying because my night was ruined because I couldn't handle James. Anyway, I think James heard me crying because he kind of 'found' me in your room. He only knew it was me because he heard my voice. I obviously didn't want to talk to him, but he insisted on talking to me. He kept on begging me to come out so that he could apologize, or at least I think that is what he was doing. I'm not sure because after the first time I tuned him out.

"Instead of listening, I was busy figuring out my feelings. Mina, I got so upset just because he wanted to know why I wasn't calling him James, and I didn't even know why I was so upset. Then I realized something." Lily didn't continue right away.

"What is it Lils? What did you realize?" Jasmine asked trying to coax the information out of Lily.

"I realized that… that I, um, fancy him," Lily said quietly, almost mumbling the last part.

"What was that? I didn't hear that last part, Lils," Jasmine teased.

"I know you heard that last part Mina, so don't you dare make me say it again," Lily threatened.

"Fine, fine," Jasmine agreed. "But really, you fancy James Potter? No way!"

Lily narrowed her eyes. "You already knew. How could you possibly already know? I didn't even admit it to myself until that night."

"Because I know you Lils. It was obvious that you had noticed that he had changed over the summer. There is also the fact that you got him a pretty thoughtful gift for Christmas. It was clear that you were starting to feel something toward James that was not hatred."

"Ugh," Lily groaned. "I can't believe you knew already. Although there is one thing that you don't know that really contributed toward my newfound feelings for James." Jaz cocked her head to the side as if questioning what she could have possibly missed. "That Hogsmeade weekend that you went on with just Sirius, remember?"

"Oh, you mean the Hogsmeade weekend where you all worked together to try and set me and Sirius up. Yeah, I remember. What about it?" There was some resentment in Jasmine's tone, but Lily chose to ignore it.

"Yeah, that weekend. Well, I spent a good part of it with just James reluctantly, but I realized then that he wasn't as he presents himself to be. He's not exactly the egotistical toerag that he was last year. From that trip onward, I started looking at James differently. I still thought he was an arse, but he wasn't as bad as I thought he was."

"Oh, wow. Lils, I'm glad you don't think James is as bad as you thought he was. He is one of my best friends after all. Now, let's talk about you fancying him because he obviously fancies you too."

"Don't you even go there, Mina! I am not going to ask him on a date just because I fancy him. He has to earn a date if he wants one. I am not just going to fall all over him. So, until he stops his bullying ways and matures enough, there will be no date for him. For now, I am content with just being his friend."

Jasmine gaped at her cousin. "Woah, Lils. Don't you think that is a bit harsh?! I mean I get the whole him being a bully thing and all, but he knows that you aren't like that. I know you aren't like that either, so why the wait?"

"Because Mina. How can I know this won't end terribly if I don't make him earn it? You saw what happened with Severus, albeit I didn't fancy him, but I ignored what he was doing. I don't want that happening again. I will not go out with anyone who thinks they are above the rules."

"Oh, Lils, I'm sorry. I didn't even think about that. Okay, I respect your decision. That doesn't mean I like it, but I will respect it."

"I know you won't tell him either Mina, but if you do, I will end you. I don't care that you are my cousin and best friend. I will end you."

Jaz held her hands up defensively. "Woah, geez, Mina. You know I won't tell him even if I think you would be perfect together."

The rest of the day the girls talked about everything and nothing. Jaz told Mina about her time with Sirius over the past several days. Lily told Jaz about what she and James had done while the other two were preoccupied. Before either of them knew it, they were having a sleepover in Lily's room and doing each other's makeup. Overall, it had been a great day for the girls.

A/N I really enjoyed writing the Jily in this chapter and I hope you all enjoyed reading it. Again, I appreciate all of my readers so very much, but I won't know whether you enjoyed the chapter if you don't say anything.

Happy New Year,

😊 Knk6700