"A friend is someone with whom you dare to be yourself."
-Frank Crane

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Friday finally came, and brought with it the cheerful atmosphere of Halloween. The students happily had the day off, and were permitted to go to Hogsmead for the wonderful occasion. The weather, however, was quite the opposite of how everyone was feeling. As everyone crammed into the carriages that would lead them over to the town, the rain was pouring, and random flickers of thunder and lightning could be seen and heard streak across the sky.

"I certainly hope the weather's not like this tonight at the ball!" Lily squeaked, as she was smashed between James and Peter in their carriage.

"Oh, stop worrying, Lily!" James said with a cheerful holiday smile. "We'll be inside!"

"Yes, but I was kind of hoping for a lovely, starry atmosphere on the enchanted ceiling of the dining hall . . . not some cloudy, rainy mess!" James laughed, causing his messy black hair to brush against Lily's forehead.

"Oh, that reminds me . . ." Lily began looking up at James' tangled disarray of hair. "You are planning to comb your hair before the ball, aren't you?"

James looked down at her, eyebrows raised. "What's it to you, my dear?"

"Oh, I don't know . . ." Lily smiled nervously as she looked down at the carriage floor. "Just thought that if I was the girl who was forced into dancing with you . . . not implying that I would want to be the girl who would dance with you . . . although I might if I was forced to. . . well maybe not even forced . . . more like strongly advised to do so . . . I think that I might want to have some one who had properly combed hair, you know?. . . that's all . . . no big deal!"

Lily looked up from the tunnel-vision stare she had had on the floor, and glanced wildly around at all the people sitting across from her in the carriage. She was almost daring one of them to laugh. James, on the other hand, was desperately trying to make eye contact with her. When he finally managed to do so, his eyebrows were still practically touching his hair-line, and he was giving her a very serious 'are you for real?' look.

Remus, Sirius, and Joey exchanged glances. This was more then they could handle. It was definitely a priority for them to get the two love birds together. And that night would be the perfect opportunity to make sure Lily and James ended up as dance partners.

The time in Hogsmead went by pretty relaxingly. Despite the torrential rain that was pounding on all of the stores' roofs, everyone felt very comfortable in the warm, toasty air of the different shops and stores. Joey had arranged to meet Amos when they got there, and the two of them had spent the afternoon wandering in and out of Honeydukes, Zonko's Joke shop, and many other little stores. Of course, by the end of the after noon, they had found themselves in the three broomsticks, enjoying a nice hot cup of butterbeer.

They had just sat down at table, when Sirius and Remus came sauntering into the store. Seeing them, Joey happily waved them over. The boys casually ordered their drinks at the bar, and came over to join Joey and Amos. They pulled up some chairs, and just before sitting down, Sirius held out his hand for Amos to shake. To everyone else at the table, it looked like a peace offering, but when Amos simply looked at Sirius' hand that was held out in front of him, he looked more like he wanted to spit in it than shake it.

Noticing his reaction, Sirius glanced over at Joey. He really, really, really still hated Amos . . . but for Joey's sake, he was doing his best to at least get along with the guy! If he was going to act like that, however, then screw him. Sirius made to pull his hand away, when Amos suddenly grabbed it and shook it, seeming to have realized that it would be best to put on a good show in front of Joey. Amos forced a smile at Sirius, making sure Joey observed the effort.

"So . . . Joey!" Sirius began, trying to keep himself distracted from Amos' calculating stare.

He continued uncomfortably, "We really need to plan out some course of action for 'Operation Lily and James!'"

"Oh yes, of course! For the ball tonight, right?" Remus and Sirius nodded. "So are you sure we are going to be able to get them together? I mean . . . I don't know what Dumbledore has planned. However, I know you guys do, and that can be a big help!"

"You know, I don't think we really have that much to worry about," said Remus calmly. "Judging by Lily's little stammer in the carriage this morning, I'd have to say we have the couple in the bag . . . we just have to be sure that-" Remus stopped before he finished his sentence. He had a look on his face like he almost gave away classified information. Nervously, he took a huge gulp of his butterbeer, tried to casually scratch the back of his head, and didn't say another word.

"What is it Remus?" Joey asked excitedly. "What do we have to be sure of?" Remus glanced over at Sirius, who gave him a look that seemed to be telling him to shut up. Sirius looked at Joey as if he knew what to say without giving away too much.

"We just have to be careful that," Sirius almost paused, but then continued, "somebody else doesn't get to James before Lily does." Joey looked at him a little confused for a moment, but then decided to try and ask another question.

"What makes you think someone will get to James before Lily does? What if it's the other way around and someone get to Lily before James?"

All three boys at the table exchanged glances. They looked back at her and shook their heads, obviously saying that they couldn't give away any more information. Joey was now feeling very out-of-the-loop. After all, she was the only person at that table who had no idea what the hell was going on!

"Oh, whatever!" she practically growled. "Well, I certainly hope that James and Lily don't end up getting stuck with complete strangers just because I wasn't informed enough to know how to avoid it!"

The table sat in silence for a moment. Trying to get their minds off the dispute, Amos looked over at Joey and changed the subject a bit.

"That reminds me, Joanne," he began. "Judging by how Dumbledore has us being matched up with people, I might not end up as your date. You'll be okay with me dancing with another girl, won't you?"

Joey looked over at him with quite a forced smile. "Of course I'd be okay with it! I-" she seemed to pause as she swallowed the saliva in her mouth, "trust. . . you."

She went back to her obligatory smile and then stripped her gaze from Amos' in order to keep him from reading her thoughts. She looked across the table at Remus and gave him a smile that she hoped appeared casual (never once looking over at Sirius), before looking down at her mug. The butterbeer was still frothy and golden, swishing around peacefully in the big ceramic mug. She took a huge swig and paused for a moment before deciding to chug the rest of it.

Sirius, Remus, and Amos just sat there, staring at her with their mouths hanging open slightly. Joey finished chugging, and, after slamming the glass down on the table (probably a little harder than she should have), she shot up out of her chair.

"I gotta go to the bathroom," she announced, turning around, slamming back her own chair, and stumbling off towards the toilet room, trying to avoid knocking into any chairs and tables that were in the way.

Remus just watched after her, shaking his head slowly and almost laughing to himself. Poor Joey. When he looked back at the other boys at the table, however, he was almost shot out of his chair by the looks Sirius and Amos were giving each other. Damn! If looks could kill . . .

An evil looking smile crept over Amos' face. When he opened his mouth to speak, a smug, egotistical tone was emitted. "So, Black. . ." he began.

"Diggory . . ." Sirius responded with an even harsher scowl. Only, when he said it, his voice kind of had a light choppiness to it, causing the word 'Diggory' to sound more like 'Dickory.'

"With this little Lily and James shenanigan that you and Joey are trying to pull off," he said with a mocking tone, "I really hope it's not some desperate attempt to keep her in your pathetic little life. . ."

Sirius growled deeply, but then put a very complacent smile across his face. Still smiling, he said in a very calm and steady voice, "You know, Amos; before you and Joey got together, I never really believed the saying that 'opposites attract.'" He gave a nice fake little smile to go along with the fake little laugh that was now emitting from inside him. He continued in a perky little tone. "But now that you are together, it's perfectly easy for me to understand . . . that is, considering the fact the Joey is an attractive, honest, intelligent person, who is in no way a complete fuckwit like yourself!"

The very self-approved tone that was previously on Amos' face, had changed into a look of fury. Remus had a sudden urge to let out a loud, nervous laugh. He chomped down on his bottom lip from doing so, though.

"But I suppose the point is I am with her, now aren't I?" he asked, still sounding pompous, but having quite and angry hint to his voice.

Sirius glared. "For now. . ."

Amos opened his mouth to speak again, but before he could, everyone could hear the door at the back of the pub open. They all turned to see Joey walk out of the toilet room. She looked a lot more refreshed than she had earlier, and the light spring in her step, which showed off her perky attitude, greatly contrasted with the heavy tension that had been building up in the room between Sirius and Amos, mere seconds before.

Ignoring the half surprised, half baffled looks that were across the three boys' faces, she leaned down, kissed Amos lightly on the lips and said, "Thanks for a lovely day."

Looking up, she continued while everyone just watched in silence, "Remus, Sirius; you boys ready to go catch our carriage?" Remus and Sirius obediently stood up and followed her towards the exit of the pub. Before leaving, Sirius turned around and gave Amos one quick, pointed glare and nod.

They stumbled out into the rain, and stopped under an overhang where they had arranged to meet the carriage and the rest of their gang. It was cold out having to wait in the terrible weather. Joey found herself tucking her arm into Sirius,' just to stay warm. He clearly didn't mind this, judging by the warm smile that swept across his face.

"It was hard for you to say it to him, wasn't it?" Sirius asked her seriously.

"Huh?" Joey asked a little bewildered. "Say what to whom?"

"Tell Amos that you trusted him," he tried to say casually. Although, it did come out sounding a little forced. After all, it wasn't easy for him to say the name 'Amos' without becoming extremely angry.

"Oh . . ." Joey said, sounding a little uncomfortable. "Well, I think I'm allowed to, aren't I?"

"Well, yes, of course you are allowed to . . . I was simply enquiring the difficulty in doing so." Sirius was desperately trying to make the conversation seem casual.

"Oh, Sirius . . . you know it'd be so much easier for me to trust him if I knew you had a little faith in him."

"Well, then I guess you are always going to have some trouble with that," he said bitterly. She hugged his arm and kissed the shoulder of his rain-soaked coat. He had no idea how much it tore her apart inside to have her best friend absolutely loathe her boyfriend.

"But I'll always have you to protect me if I get hurt again, right?" she said, making an effort to comfort him.

"That's the point, Joey," Sirius sighed, "I'm trying to keep you from getting hurt."

Joey let out a slow sigh. "I know," she mumbled.

Sirius looked down at her, completely somber, "Joey, you know you can always, always trust me."

She nodded and gave him an appreciative smile as he wrapped her in a tight hug. Remus, who had been standing on the other side of Joey the entire time, was now chuckling to himself and feeling very much like a third wheel.

Sirius heard him and looked up. "Aw, do you want a hug too, Remy?"

Remus looked over at him and rolled his eyes. "No," he said with exaggerated seriousness.

Sirius let out a hearty laugh as he wrapped his arms around Remus as well as Joey. He now had his arms wrapped around both his friends, Joey uncomfortably smashed in the middle. Everyone was laughing so hard, they hardly remembered how cold it was. Remus finally started struggling to get free and Joey began complaining that she couldn't breathe, so Sirius had to finally let them both go.

James, Lily, and Peter soon arrived to the group, closely followed by the carriage. They all squeezed back into the small buggy, and it sped off towards Hogwarts. The anticipation for what awaited them all that night was almost too painful to bear. The boys were nervous because of what they knew awaited them, and the girls were equally nervous because they didn't know what awaited them. It was just a sour mix of apprehension, agitation, and anxiety all blended into one as the silent bunch of teenagers headed home.

Thanks for reviewing! Love, SJ