Chapter 10

Teaming With Black

The next morning, Lily came down the stairs and heard loud shouts. She couldn't quite hear what was going on, so she walked faster. When she entered the common room, she saw James and Sirius standing about 10 feet apart, yelling at each other.

"You're always telling us what to do!" Sirius shouted. "You're like… our little ringleader or something!"

"Padfoot, don't be thick! You just insulted yourself, as well as me." James tried to reason. "Besides, if you would step up to the plate, I wouldn't have to be the 'ringleader'!"

"Oh, shut up! You're always the one to plan the pranks and jokes! Common Prongs! How much attention do you have to grab for yourself?!" Sirius shouted. Lily couldn't help but wonder who Prongs and Padfoot were, and what they had to do with anything.

"Well, then." James said angrily. "I guess this' it."

"What's it?" Sirius spat.

"This is the end, I suppose." James said. He almost seemed sad. "To be honest, I don't know what's gotten into you." But then his attitude changed entirely. "But you've always been such a God-damned, predictable, fool, I'm not surprised!"

"Well fine." Sirius said. "If that's how you want it, you got it! Think of it as a final favor."

"I'll be shocked if you can survive without me!" James scoffed. "Well, hang on now… you'll probably find a replacement. You're always so good at that- at least when it comes to girls."

Sirius almost broke into a smile. "Are you calling yourself a girl?"

"How immature!" James shouted, as his face reddened as he noticed his mistake. "I don't need you! I've got Moony and Wormtail! You've just got your lousy Hufflepuff girlfriend- if she'll forgive you for our team beating her's." Moony and Wormtail? What the heck?

"Hey! Don't call Lisa lousy!"

"Lousy Lisa! It almost rhymes!" James cheered.

"You'd better shut up." Sirius growled.

"Lousy Lisa and Stupid Sirius. A match made in heaven, isn't it?" James sneered. Lily wasn't fooled by the look of frustration on James' face like Sirius was. She knew he was upset.

"FINE!" Sirius screamed.

"Yeah. Fine!" James yelled, pushing past Sirius and out the portrait hole. A ringing silence fell over the empty common room. Sirius collapsed onto the floor, his face in his hands.

"Sirius?" Lily said softly. His head shot up, and stared at Lily.

"What did you hear?" He said sharply.

"Nothing!" Lily said quickly. "Well, a lot…" She sighed.

"He's such a jerk." Sirius said hatefully. "You were right."

"What? Me?" Lily said. "I caused this fight?"

"Well, not directly." Sirius said, staring at the ground. Lily moved cautiously toward him, and put her hand awkwardly on his shoulder.

"You didn't mean any of that, did you?" She said softly. "All that about not wanting to be friends anymore, I mean."

"Who says I didn't?" He shouted defensively.

"Okay, whatever you say." Lily sighed. "Are you all right, though?"

"Yeah!" Sirius said sarcastically, smiling falsely. "Never better! I feel renewed and independent."

"I'm sure." Lily said in disbelieving undertone. But then Lily thought of her prank for James. "Hey, do you want to get back at him?"

"Why?"

"Let's just say I've had a brilliant idea, but I need help executing it." Lily grinned. "Up for the challenge?"

"Why don't you get Madison or Belle to assist you?"

"Well," Lily began. Why didn't she? "Because you look pretty pathetic right now, and I'm feeling generous." She said- and he did look pretty pathetic, so she wasn't really lying.

"I appreciate it." Sirius groaned, smiling. "So, what's the brilliant plan, then?"

Later that evening, Lily and Sirius were ready to perform their ultimate prank. Sirius had helped with the most important part, and now all that was left now was the laughter.

The two of them waited in the busy common room, sitting side by side on the couch facing the portrait hole. James should be back from the Prefect washroom at any moment. Lily grinned as she fingered James' Hogwarts uniform Sirius stole from the washroom.

"You'll never guess what I just saw!" A second year boy said, bursting into the common room. "It's James Potter!"

"We've seen James hundreds of times!" Another second year shouted.

"Not like this, you haven't!" The boy said, bursting into laughter. "Here he comes!"

Sure enough, James came into the common room wearing footie pajamas covered in little bunnies. The whole common room burst into laughter and James' face turned as scarlet as Lily's hair.

"Do these look familiar?" Sirius shouted, whipping James' robes out of Lily's hands and waving them in front of the Gryffindors.

"Sirius…" James muttered angrily. "How could you?!"

"You're such a loser, James! I think this look suits you!" Sirius shouted. The common room laughed again.

James pulled out his wand and shouted, "Rissumpen Libertia!"

Suddenly, large donkey ears sprouted on Sirius' head and a long tail popped out his lower back.

"You can't even turn me into a proper donkey, James!" Sirius said, faking a laugh.

"Hey! I guess you're just too much of a jackass already! It's not my fault!" James shouted. He turned harshly revealing a bunny tail on his bottom and he sprinted up the boys' steps.

"Here Sirius…" Lily said, muttering the counter curse.

"Thanks." He murmured. "I just can't stand this."

"Stand what? Having a donkey tail?"

"No!" Sirius said. "Losing James."

"So go apologize." Lily suggested. "It wouldn't kill you, you know."

"He'd think I was going soft or something. I couldn't…" Sirius said softly.

"What is it with guys? Why are you always worried about going soft?" Lily scolded. "Just go talk to him!"

"Okay… but if I come out with an elephant trunk, it's your fault." Sirius joked.

"I think I'll survive with the guilt." Lily laughed.

"And Lily…"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks." Sirius said, smiling. Lily watched him disappear up the dormitory steps.

Sirius came back down the stairs with a spring in his step and a grin on his face. He approached Lily and sat down next to her.

"Well, he forgave me." He sighed happily.

"That's good. And no elephant trunk in sight, I see." Lily replied. "And did he apologize for what he said to you?"

"Yeah, he did." Sirius said. "See? James isn't that bad, is he?"

"Er… I guess not." Lily lied.

"But, um…" Sirius hesitated. "He didn't forgive you."

"What are you talking about? I didn't apologize for anything!" Lily exclaimed. "I don't regret anything I said or did this year."

"Well, he's pretty pissed off about that PJ prank." Sirius said uncomfortably. "And I mean really pissed."

"So?"

"Well, I just thought I'd warn you. I mean, you don't want James as your enemy… or any of the muraders, come to think of it." Sirius shrugged. "And he's plotting revenge."

"Of course he is!" Lily laughed. "Why wouldn't he?"

"I don't know!" Sirius grinned. "You know, James was actually wrong about you. You're not too shabby, Lil."

"Er, you're not too shabby yourself." Lily said, giggling. "So I guess you'll be in on his prank?"

"Nope. Not this time, at least." Sirius said. "I owe you one." He shrugged.

"Why? I'm the one who caused your argument in the first place…"

"Not really." Sirius said. "I mean, sure you brought his faults to my attention- but you've just proved to us that we have a stronger friendship than we thought."

"I guess that's a good thing then…"

"Yeah. I'd say so." He shrugged.

Lily was shocked she was actually having a decent conversation with Sirius Black. She always thought he was just some goof ball who didn't care about anything but laughter, but she was wrong. He actually cared about friendship and trust. He wasn't some troublemaker waiting for his next detention… okay, so maybe he was- but there was more to him than that.

"Well, thanks for the warning!" Lily chuckled. "And I really am sorry about those things I said to you the other night. It was none of my business, and I'll try to butt out- it won't be easy, but I'll try!" She joked.

"God! If you acted like this around James you two would get along great!" Sirius laughed. "Although, I guess you think he's the one who has to shape up or ship out, right?"

"Well…" She paused as Sirius laughed. "Yes, I do."

"That's what I thought." He said. "I'm off to bed. And Lily?"

"Uh huh?"

"Thanks again. You really are cooler than some people think." Sirius hesitated, but then gave her a quick hug. "I appreciate what you did."

"I still don't know how I helped… but you're welcome." Lily said, caught off guard by his hug. He pulled away, winked, and headed up to his dormitory again.

Chapter 11

The Masquerade

Before Lily and all the other Prefects were really ready, November 15 arrived. They were all pulled out of classes early that afternoon so they could prepare.

"Right." McGonagall said. "There's a lot to be done, and only a few hours to do it. Hufflepuff Prefects: you're in charge of diner… go down the kitchen and oversee the House Elves. Make sure they understand the menu." Jonathan and Cindy nodded in understanding and hurried out of the hall.

"Okay, Ravenclaw: I want you to go decorate the grounds. You'll find decorations in Filch's broom closet in the hall just outside…" McGonagall said. With that, Brad and Stephanie left the Grand Hall.

"And that leaves Slytherin and Gryffindor: decorate the Grand Hall and the Entrance Hall. Slytherin, I also want you to pass out the masks when the time comes. Everyone understand? Excellent!" McGonagall said and she left the hall to assist Brad and Stephanie outside.

"Well, I guess I'll go get the decorations?" James suggested.

"Er, I'll help, if you want…" Lily said. He just shrugged, so she followed him out of the Hall and over by the broom closet.

"Here they are!" Lily said as cheerfully as possible. She struggled to pull down a large, heavy box of fabrics and streamers.

"I'll take it…" James said, trying to pull the box out of her hands.

"No, I've got it…" Lily persisted. But with their efforts to pull the box out of the other's hands, it fell to the closet floor, spilling the contents everywhere.

"Great…" Lily murmured.

"Well if you'd just accept help sometimes-" James began.

"What's taking you so long?!" Lucius asked, shoving his way into the closet.

"The box broke." James said shortly. He piled the things back into the box and Lucius and Lily grabbed two more.

They reentered the Hall to see Haley primping herself looking in a pocket sized mirror.

"Geeze. We have to get started! Stop fooling around in closets." She commanded. "Now, I'm thinking we should hang this emerald one over the staff table…"

"They're all emerald." James said hotly.

"This long one, then." Haley said. "Chop chop! Hang it up!" She said. James, Lily, and Lucius pulled out their wands and levitated the banner over to the Head Table where they then magicked it to the wall.

"Aren't you going to help? Or just tell us what to do?" Lily asked Haley.

"Um, tell you what to do." Haley said harshly, pulling out a nail file.

"Okay." Lily rolled her eyes. "Where to with this one, then?"

"Over the fireplace." Haley said. James shook his head, but pulled off his robe and rolled up his gray sleeves.

When all the fabrics were hung, the Hall looked a lot softer, in Lily's opinion. But Haley wasn't finished.

"Okay, now you need to clear away those tables. Quickly!" She instructed. With Lily, James, and Lucius together, they could rise the table and move them into another chamber just off the Hall. "Then the little ones need to be moved."

Each person- with the exception of Haley- moved the little 4-person tables exactly where Haley told them.

"Whew!" Lucius exclaimed, mopping his brow. "I'm exhausted!"

"So sit down, Lucius!" Haley squealed, and she pulled out a chair for him right next to her. "Well,Gryffindors? What are you waiting for? Put on the table cloths!"

"Whatever you say, highness!" James muttered, as he magically pulled the cloths out of the box and spread them delicately on the table.

Soon, the Hall was decorated- thanks to Lily and James. Malfoy and Haley did nothing but flirt at the tables.

"Can you believe them?" James muttered as he and Lily lit the floating candles. "We did everything! You'd think they could at least help with setting up the stage for Gina Pentium! But no! They can't even levitate a candle for us, let alone lift a finger."

"Really!" Lily agreed. "And the way she says Gryffindor… like we're scum or something."

"To her we are. 'Gryffindors!' Please!" He sorted.

"Well, Haley," Lily said loudly over her shoulder. "We finished with the candles! Anything else?"

"No… I think we're done! I must admit, I did a fantastic job!" Haley said, beaming and looking around the unrecognizable Hall. "Worthy of House Points, I'd say!"

"You can't assign yourself points… and you didn't even help!" James shouted. He was gripping his wand tightly, itching to cast a hex. Lily put her hand on his wand arm.

"Don't…" She said so only he could hear. "It's what she wants…"

"Whatever. See you all at the Ball." James said hotly, snatching his arm out of her grasp and storming out of the room.

"Odd boyfriend you've got there, Lily. Seriously mental." Lucius muttered.

"He's not my boyfriend." Lily snapped. And she too stormed out of the Hall. She could hear the Slytherin's laughter all the way up to her common room.

"Well?!" Madison asked excitedly when Lily arrived. "What's it going to be like? James wouldn't say."

"Well, then I won't either." Lily said. "We're not supposed to tell you. But you'll like it, I swear."

"Let's go get ready… we've only got an hour!" Belle said anxiously, pulling the girls up the steps.

The three of them emerged at 5:00 at the top of the Entrance Hall steps dressed beautifully. Lily wore her best dress- long, black and deep red that sparkled when she moved that ended in a large bell skirt. Belle was very pleased with how Lily's hair had turned out: she had curled it so it tumbled down her back in ringlets. Lily felt different- she felt gorgeous.

When they reached the doors, Lucius handed her a black mask made of velvet and encrusted with black jewels. Lily wasn't sure if they were real or not, but they were pretty all the same.

She fastened it around her head, and smiled. No one would know who she was until midnight. It gave her a shocking sense of freedom. Lily could talk to whomever she wanted, and they wouldn't know it was she. She could say anything, and no one could care.

Lily strolled daintily into the perfectly lit Hall. She noticed a few heads turned as she, Belle and Madison walked into the room. Madison adjusted her purple dress and fixed her glittering crown nervously, as she seated herself next to Belle.

"Calm down, Madison!" Belle whispered. But she didn't look too calm herself. She twirled her black curls tightly around her finger, and smoothed her lacy, light pink dress.

"Calm down, yourself." Madison snapped. Lily chuckled.

"No one's going to know who you are… why are you all so uptight?" Lily said, straightening her mask as a group of boys in brightly colored robes past by. "No one will know who you are until midnight."

"Yeah, but I feel like they can all see right through my mask…" Belle said. "Not that I have anything to hide… it's just, well, you know."

"Whatever." Lily sighed. "Diner will be starting any moment." And as soon as she said this, their small table was filled with every sort of food. The selection of foods was so much more than their usual choices.

When the food had been licked off their plates, they vanished, and music began. People clapped appreciatively as Gina Pentium took the stage.

"Why didn't you tell us she was coming?!" Madison squeaked, as she too clapped loudly. "She's SO fantastic."

"We weren't allowed to say…" Lily muttered. But her eyes slowly ventured towards the table of boys that had past by earlier. They were all whispering excitedly and pointing towards their table. Suddenly, one of the boys dressed in dark blue robes stood up. He fidgeted with his black mask for a second, then turned back to his table, talking rapidly.

One of the boys dressed in green shoved the blue robed boy and he stumbled to the three girls' table.

"Hi." Belle said, smoothing her dress again. "How are you?"

"I'm okay…" The boy said. Lily could detect a slight tone of nerves in his voice. "Er, do you wanna dance?" He asked Lily. So he had been talking about her.

"Yeah! Sure." Lily said. She stood up as gracefully as humanly possible, and placed her hand on his arm. "Let's go."

The song Gina was playing faded into a waltz, and Lily and the boy began to dance.

"Nice event, huh?" The boy said. "I wish we could have something like this every year."

"Yeah." Lily said, glad the boy had started conversation. "I'm glad the Prefects are good at this kind of thing." She replied, thinking of her and James setting up the candles, tables, and everything else in the Hall.

"Very lucky." The boy said. "So, what house are you in?"

"I'm not supposed to tell you, now am I?" Lily grinned. "But, I'll break the rule this once: Gryffindor." And the moment she said it, she regretted telling him. What if he turned out to be some freak who followed her around constantly? Or what if he was in her house, and there was no way to avoid him?

"How do I know you're not lying?"

"Me? Lie?" Lily said, relieved. At least it was a possibility that he wouldn't believe a word she said. "Why don't you guess what house I'm in then?"

"All right…" He said, pulling her a little closer. "You could be in Hufflepuff, because you seem honest and true… and beautiful…"

"I don't remember beautiful being in the Hufflepuff description, but thank you." Lily muttered, blushing to match her dress. "And what about you? What house are you in?"

"I could be in Gryffindor as well, or maybe Slytherin, because I think of myself as being sneaky…" The boy replied.

"Oh, do you?" Lily laughed. "I guess I'll have some thinking to do as the night goes on, but I'll guess your house in time."

With that, the song ended with a dramatic thunder of drums. Lily made to curtsy and walk back to her table, but the boy stopped her.

"One more?" He pleaded. "Please?"

"Okay…" She said, smiling to herself. Now if only more boys could be like this. "So, what did you think of that Quidditch game a few days ago? Pretty great huh?"

Then the boy smiled. "I never met a girl who was interested in Quidditch before."

"Well, I'm one of a kind." She said, grinning. "Did you get a chance to see the World Cup?" The boy smiled again and launched into a full-scale story about the Quidditch World Final. Most people would find this boring, but not Lily; she hung on the boy's every word of how the players dove, hit and scored.

"That sounds amazing!" Lily said, thinking back on how Iceland scored the winning goal.

"It really was." The boy smiled. "Let's go for a walk." He suggested as the song came to an end.

"Sure." Lily said, and she took his arm and he led her outside. She was instantly impressed with the Ravenclaw Prefects' work. There were rose bushes everywhere, glittering with lights, and the sound of trickling water from a fountain could be heard somewhere in the distance.

"Someday, I'm gonna see the world, just like the Quidditch players. Watch the birds, and travel wherever they go." The boy said suddenly. "I'll go everywhere! See it all."

"I want to travel too!" Lily exclaimed. "I'll go to Tahiti, Tibet, and San Diego…"

"Brazil, Italy, Rome, Spain, France…"

"The Wild West, Australia, Japan, China…"

"India, America- everywhere!" The boy said. "That's pretty weird."

"What's weird?" Lily asked. "That we both want to travel?"

"Yeah." He shrugged. "My friends don't really care much about that stuff. But as soon as I graduate, I'm outta here… off to all those great places. My life will be battered old trunks and suitcases… utterly fantastic!"

"Sounds great." Lily said. "My parents would never pay for me to see the world. I wish they would."

"My parents will. As long as I get through Hogwarts with good grades, they promised they'd let me." The boy said, sitting down on a bench and staring off into space. "I can't wait."

"Wow. You sure are lucky." Lily sighed. If only she could travel like this boy could. In another year, he would be living her dream.

"I bet you could do whatever you set your mind to. You could probably convince your parents to let you go. You have to stretch your wings sometime." The boy said. "You seem like the kind of person who doesn't let people like that stand in your way."

The boy was still clutching her hand, and their conversation faded into silence. Lily looked out across the grounds to a few people who were laughing and heading over to the lake.

"Who are you? Please tell me." The boy asked out of nowhere.

"Let's just take off the masks. It's starting to bother me anyway." Lily suggested. She reached behind her head to untie the mask, but was unable to. "The knot's stuck… can you…?"

"Sure." The boy said, and he gently tried to untie the ribbon, but couldn't. "I'll try mine." He said. But again, he couldn't.

"I guess the Prefects bewitched them." Lily shrugged. Suddenly she wondered if she wanted this boy to know her identity. But when he touched her arm softly, and moved in to kiss her, Lily knew she did.

Their mouths were inches from each other when someone came streaking across the grounds towards them.

"Hey!" Lily recognized it to be Madison. "I need you!"

"What is it?" Lily asked, pulling away from the boy quickly. "What's wrong? Is everything okay?"

"NO!" Madison shrieked. "Here's what happened: I danced with this fat kid just to be nice, right? Well, now he thinks I like him… and he won't leave me alone! He's following me everywhere! Midnight is 15 minutes away, and I'm not letting him find out who I am."

"Okay… but why do you need me?"

"Just come on! If I have you with me, it doesn't look like I'm avoiding him- even though I am. Please?!" Madison begged. "Come back to the dormitory with me?! Quickly!"

Lily turned to the boy. "I'm so sorry… I have to go…"

"Wait, don't go…" He said.

"I have to… I'm sorry the night ended this way… thank you…" Lily moaned. Madison grabbed her hand and began to yank her away from the boy. Just as they were about to run through the door, Lily heard the boy shouting after her.

"I don't even know your name!" He yelled.

"I'm so sorry!" She shouted as Madison slammed the heavy double doors closed.

"Oh shit! Here he comes!" Madison muttered. "Walk faster…" And sure enough, a pudgy boy dressed in blood red robes came dashing after Madison calling for her.

"Hey! Wait up!" The boy in red yelled.

"Oh!" Madison said, turning to face the boy. "I'm sorry, I didn't hear you calling me." Instantly, Lily realized who this chubby boy was. It was Peter Petigrew.

"Oh, well, do you care to dance again? It's almost midnight, then I can find out who you are…" Peter said. "And you can find out who I am, of course."

"That sounds so nice." Madison said sweetly. "But, my friend here has a big emotional problem." She nodded to Lily. "She needs to be brought back up to our dormitory as soon as possible. I'm sorry."

"Oh." Peter said, sounding disappointed. "All right. Well, I hope your friend feels better. Maybe we'll see each other again another time… if we can find each other again…"

"I'm sorry." Madison said, faking a sob. "Come along, dear." She said, pulling Lily up the marble steps. "Hurry…" She added in an undertone so Peter wouldn't hear.

When they got back up to the dormitory, Lily was very upset. Now she would never be able to find that boy again. She didn't know his name, his house… anything. All she knew was that he liked Quidditch and wanted to travel. Not much use for trying to track someone down. She felt like Cinderella.

"Sorry I took you away from that guy." Madison said as Lily dressed into her nightclothes. "I just don't think I could stand to have that guy hanging all over me all the time."

"It's okay I guess…" Lily sighed. "But why couldn't you have asked Belle?"

"Well, she was… busy with some boy dressed in purple." Madison giggled. "They were having a 'moment'."

"She didn't kiss him, did she?"

"Not in so many words…"

"What happened?" Lily begged. "Tell me!"

"They were just dancing, and holding hands, and looking at each other all lovey-dovey. It kinda made me sick." Madison chuckled.

"Oh." Lily said. "Did she find out who he was?"

"I don't know." Madison said, placing her dress in the closet. "Why?"

"Well, the boy I was with was talking to a guy in purple… I thought he might know who he was…" Lily confessed.

"You really liked him, didn't you?"

"He seemed really nice." Lily said. "We shared a lot of the same interests. He wants to travel too, you know."

"Is that all?" Madison said. "Just traveling?"

"He was very passionate about his plans and where he wanted to go in life." Lily said. "He seemed to believe in me, and he hardly even knew me. And he was so easy to talk to."

"That's a good quality…" Madison said.

"Yeah."

"I'm going to bed. G'night."

"Yeah… sleep well." Lily said, and she pulled her covers up to her chin, and drifted into slumber. 

Chapter 12

Lily's Big Shock

The next morning, everyone was buzzing with information about his or her evening with tall, dark, strangers or beautiful girls that they didn't catch the names of. Belle was very pleased with herself and her evening, but sadly didn't discover whom she had spent the whole evening with. Lily was still angry that she had let Madison pull her away, just when it was so close to midnight.

Some girls went around school bragging about what they had worn to the ball, hoping boys would remember them. Sirius Black pretended he knew exactly who all these girls were, and played them all like chess pawns. But, when he didn't know what the girl was talking about, it gave him away. He would be slapped, and sent off to try to find another girl.

Remus also seemed to have had a good time. He was one of the few who found the girl he had spent time with. So now, he had a girlfriend by the name of Penelope Frebush.

Peter was totally devastated at the loss of the gorgeous girl dressed in the purple. Lily didn't tell him that his long lost love was actually Madison.

Surprisingly, James wasn't up to his usual speed. But the answer for this came at dinner.

"I met this fantastic girl…" James replied to Remus. "She was perfect, I swear." He stared absentmindedly at his goblet of pumpkin juice.

"What did she wear?" Remus asked.

"A long black and red dress." James sighed. "And a black mask."

From a few seats away, Lily started. Black and red? She wore black and red… but of course, other girls could have worn those colors, right?

"What house was she in?" Sirius asked.

"I don't know, she wouldn't tell me." James said. "She said Gryffindor… but she might have been joking."

Lily gulped. Could James be the boy? The idea seemed impossible…

"What were you wearing again?" Remus asked. "I didn't see you much."

"Blue, remember?" James said impatiently. "But that's besides the point…"

"What hair color did she have?" Peter wondered.

"Red… like Lily's…" James said drifting off and turning to stare at Lily who was now staring at him. "No way… it couldn't have been you…"

"I don't believe it… you… we… ugh!" They both said, making a face and turning away from each other.

"Disgusting…" Lily murmured under her breath. "Totally disgusting…" Belle chuckled.

"Found your Prince Charming, have you?" She teased.

"Hardly." Lily frowned, looking after James. "There's no way it was him. The boy I met was so much… better than that."

"How many red-heads are there at Hogwarts?" Belle reasoned. "Just face the music… you were dancing with James."

"There could be more girls with red hair… you never know. But it's impossible for James to be that civilized boy I met…" Lily shook her head.

"Maybe there's more to James Potter than you give him credit for." Belle suggested.

"More than I give him credit for? Oh please! I'm not the one who only looks out for their best interest. It's not my fault that girls are just a game piece in his master plan." Lily snapped.

"But you let him play you, Lily." Madison said. "You walk into his traps every time."

"What are you talking about?"

"He plays a prank… you play one back. It's his freakish cycle." Madison shrugged.

"A cycle? You think defending myself is a part of his cycle?" Lily said angrily. "And I do not let him play me."

"Whatever. Forget I said anything." Madison sighed. "Sorry your sweet prince wasn't who you hoped he'd be, but wasn't that the point of it being a Masquerade Ball? So you could see sides to people you didn't see before?"

"No!" Lily moaned. "The point of it was-"

"To learn to like people for their personality, not looks or who's popular and who's not." Belle interrupted. "Although, I'd say Madison forgot about that little aspect, and let looks get in the way…"

"Shut up." Madison snapped. "It's not my fault I'm such a great person. He was freaky: following me everywhere, asking to dance with me every time a song played, and getting me punch when I wasn't even thirsty… and he was fat."

"The only downside to that description was that he was fat." Belle sighed. "I however, had a great time. But I still have to find that guy…"

"What did he wear?" Lily asked politely.

"Purple." Belle said. "and he was really funny."

"Purple?" Sirius said, leaning around James and Remus. "I wore purple!"

"Sure, Si." Belle said. "I hear you also wore red, green, orange, and yellow. And one girl told me you even wore hot pink…"

"Cotton candy pink, actually…" Sirius grinned. "But seriously, I wore purple. What did you wear?"

"Lingerie." Belle snapped. "Bright red. Couldn't miss me!"

"No, really…"

"Light pink dress." Belle sighed. "What's it to you?"

"I danced with a girl in pink almost all night…" Sirius said. "We talked about roast beef and house elves…"

"Roast beef and house elves?" Lily repeated in disbelief. "Where did you come up with that?"

"Oh my God!" Belle shrieked. "It was you!"

"Roast beef and house elves?" Madison asked. "What the heck? Who talks about roast beef and house elves?" But Belle was too excited to listen.

"There's no way you could have known that, unless you were him… or he was you, or whatever… I wasn't sure if I'd find you again!" She said happily. But suddenly she slapped him across the face- hard.

"What was that for?!" He shouted. "I thought you were happy to find me!"

"That's for what you said to me last night… I didn't want to slap you until I knew who you were… but since it's you… I have no regrets." Belle said angrily, as she stood up and pulled Lily away from the table.

"What did he say to you?" She asked.

"Something totally rude and disrespectful. I refuse to repeat it." Belle said hotly.

"Well, that's just Sirius. He wouldn't be, well, Sirius if he wasn't rude and disrespectful." Lily shrugged.

"I guess not." Belle smiled. "Come on, let's play Exploding Snap or something."