Anyway, I hope this format works... Sometimes it just randomly... doesn't... It didn't before, and so I attempted to fix it, and hopefully it makes more sense now. It was really confusing before-- I'm sorry about that! I hope that it's better now. Please review and all that... I hope that you enjoy...Sorry that's it's been forever since I updated.

Disclaimer: Nothing is mine, blah blah blah

Changes

Lily was torn in half at the moment. Part of her was incredibly happy to be going to the dance with James. She couldn't help but smile all through lunch, glancing over quite often to where James was eating with Sirius, Peter, and Remus.

But the other half of her was dreading the next day, or whenever Amos would come to her and remind her of his invitation. She didn't want to go with him; she never ha, but she was still stuck in a position where she had to decline. Lily hated disappointing people. She just hoped Amos had someone else to ask.

Her friends noticed her absent-mindedness as well. Cassidy leaned across the table and waved her hand in front of the red-heads face.

'Hello?'

Lily jumped. 'Hi,' she said.

'What's up?'

'What do you mean?'

Miranda rolled her eyes. 'What do we mean? Lily, Amos pulled you aside after last period, and you were ten minutes late to lunch and you've been spacey ever since,'

Lily glanced down at her thus-far abandoned plate of food which was growing increasing cold. She hastily took a few bites.

'I don't know what you're talking about,' she said defiantly, through a mouthful of food. Her three friends exchanged glances.

'Oh, stop it,' Cassidy said in mock-disgust.

'Have a date for the dance yet?' Lily asked, trying to change the subject.

'No,' Cassidy said casually.

'Yes,' Bella and Miranda said together. Lily looked up, interested.

'Oh, really? Who?'

'Remus,' Miranda said, taking a big bite of food so as to avoid deeper questioning.

Lily smiled. 'Nice. And you, Bella?'

'Oh, some random Ravenclaw. Kent? He's cute, plays Quidditch... Should be a fun night, I suppose,'

'Do you have a date?' Cassidy asked.

Lily attempted to hold back her grin but to no avail, and then wondered why she even wanted to smile.

'Yes,'

Her three friends leaned forward. 'Who?' Miranda came close to squealing.

'Amos?' Bella frowned.

'No,'

'Who?'

'JammesPotter.......' Lily muttered, trying to slur her words together...

It was no use, and indeed, Lily wasn't trying overly hard, to her own surprise.

'WHAT?'

'James?'

'Potter?'

'The one you have claimed to have hated?'

'You said yes?'

'Better than Amos, of course,'

'I told you that you were destined to be,'

Lily held up her hands to stop the cascade of voices. 'Enough! We're just going to the dance together. End of story,'

'End of story?' Bella repeated slyly. Lily smirked.
'We shall see, my friends, we shall see,'

Her friends merely exchanged glances, then squealed excitedly. 'I knew it!' Bella said again.

'So, anyone have dates yet?' James asked casually.

'Yep,' Sirius and Remus said together.

'Who?'

'Girl from Ravenclaw. Her name's Rebekah. She's a seventh year,'

'Miranda? Lily's friend,'

'Oh,' James said, in the best mood in the world. 'She's nice,'

'Do you?'

'Of course,' James said mockingly. 'I'm James Potter,'

'So you gave up on Lily?' Peter asked in surprise.

'I never give up,'

'Merely put things off?' Remus grinned good-naturedly.

'Not that either,'

Sirius frowned at him. 'Then whose your date?'

'She's beautiful. Nice. Sweet. Funny. Redhead. In our year. Name's... Lily Evans. Know her?'

Three mouths gaped open.

James laughed in delight.

'No way,'

'No freaking way,'

'You're drunk,'

'Insane,'

'James, that's not funny,'

'I'm serious,'

'No, I am,' Sirius said on instinct. Three pairs of eyes glared at him. 'Right. Kidding,' he said quickly.

'You can ask her, if you don't believe me,' James said.

'I will,' Sirius said, standing up. 'Oi! Lily! Lillian Something Evans!'

'I don't have a middle name, Black,' Lily called from down the table.

'Fine then. Lily Evans! Is it true that you are going to this upcoming Halloween dance with none other than a Mister James Harold Potter, who is sitting next to me?'

The Great Hall was absolutely silent.

'I am indeed. What of it?' Lily asked.
Sirius fell back in his chair, looking stunned.

'She's... she's cracked under the pressure of N.E.W.T's, that's all,' he informed them shakily.

'Or she just realizes that she loves me,'

'You don't understand, Prongs. Ever since third year, you've been asking Evans out. And ever since third year, she's been turning you down. The sun rises in the morning, and set's at night, and I'd tell you where, but I honestly have no idea. These are facts of life. And now you and Evans are not only friends, but she has accepted your offer on a date. My world is crashing down. I think I need a minute alone,'

James patted him absently on the back. 'Take all the time you need, mate. She's still going out with me,'

'Lily,'

She looked up absently. 'What... Oh, hi, Amos,'

'Can I speak with you for a moment?'

Lily felt her stomach drop. 'Sure,'

She followed him out of the Great Hall. After the doors closed behind them, he turned to her. 'So- so you're going to the dance with Potter?'

His blue eyes actually looked hurt. Dang him. Lily despised disappointing him. But if she had accepted Amos, she would have been forced to turn down James. And imagine the look in his hazel eyes if he had been turned down after, after they had been acting friendly. Besides, even if she wasn't in love with James, he would make the night fun. Something she wasn't sure Amos was possible of doing.

Wait- in love with James? No way. That was insane. She wasn't even sure that she liked him, yet.

Maybe she had been drinking too much butterbeer.

She realized Amos was still waiting for her answer. 'Er. Yes.' She tried to think of a way to soften it, but nothing came to mind. She thought of what James had told her to say and had to stifle a giggle. It wouldn't do to have Amos think that she was laughing at him. 'I'm really sorry, Amos. I like you, a lot. Just in a friendly way,'

He eyed her. 'And you like Potter in a more than friendly way?'

She blushed. 'I'm-- I'm not sure,'

And that was the truth. Did she? She honestly wasn't sure. She didn't think so. But then- why did she feel so lightheaded around him? Why did she love touching him, in charms? And love watching him laugh? Love making him laugh? Why did she so readily accept his invitation, when she had turned down Amos? She liked Amos, all right. He was a sweet person.

Her confusion must have shown in her eyes, because Amos smiled. 'It's all right, Lily. Honestly, I knew that you and Potter would get together before the end of the year,'
'What?'

He smiled again. 'You guys are just too perfect for each other,' he said, then kissed her softly on the cheek, and went back to the Great Hall.

That night, it took Lily a long time to fall asleep. She continually replied the day's events over in her mind, trying to figure out why she was so excited. She tried to tell herself that she wasn't, but she knew that was a lie. For whatever reason, the idea of accompanying James Potter to the Halloween Dance as not nearly as repulsive as it should have been. Far from it...

It was thoughts like these that kept Lily tossing and turning for what seemed like hours. Slowly, however, she felt herself fall back into sleep... Her dreams, however, were far from comfortting.

It was dark. That was all she could register for a moment. Cold. The floor was icy metal. She was stepping gingerly across it. Why was she in bare feet? Lily couldn't remember.

'Lily,'

She couldn't see anyone.

'It's okay. I'm here for you. Just take my hand--'

She held out her hand, but when a hand touched hers, it wasn't the warm one that she had been subconsciously expecting. It was cold and hard. There was a muffled scream, but it wasn't hers.

'Who is it?' she said. Silence.

Suddenly she felt herself vomiting. She wasn't cold anymore. Now she was hot, too hot... Too hot...

...

She was in a room. A tall man stood, back facing her. Before him writhed a small figure, his pale face sweating, his eyes filled with fright.

'No, Master, no!'

The man merely laughed, a cruel sound that grated on her ears. 'Am I truly your master?'

Sobbing was his only answer.

'Speak, you fool boy!'

'Yes, yes, my master, my master- I'd do anything- anything- ' The figure crept forward pathetically, kissing the hem of the man's robes. The man laughed again, mirthlessly.
'Then why do you have no information for me?'

'I will do better, master, I will do better! You don't know- you cannot know- how hard is it. I cannot make them suspicious. They musn't suspect me!'

'You poor fool,' the man said, with no pity. 'I know, more than anyone, how hard it is. Now tell me- what has happened since you last paid me a visit? Tell me all. It's worth more than your life if you leave anything out,'

In a shivering voice, the young man began to speak. 'Master... I fear they have a future--'

'And why do you think that?'

'She has finally turned to him, Master. They are finally becoming friends. I will, I will tell you more of that when it happens, master. Last night-'

The tall man kicked the writhing figure at his feet. 'Hold your tongue. Let me think. Do everything you can, my servant, to prove yourself,'

'Yes, master, yes! Anything! What do you wish me to do?'

There was a rather ugly pause. Lily felt herself moved almost with pity for the pathetic creature, but found herself full of contempt instead. And yet, she hoped, for his sake, that Voldemort did not ask anything too hard. And with a jolt of surprise she realized that she knew. Without seeing his face, she knew that in front of her stood Lord Voldemort.

'I do not want them to be together. I do not want them to ever have a child. That would be disastrous. You shall be sorely punished if things proceed. Remember that. But for now- break them up.'

'Yes, master, anything! Anything.....'
'Now get out!'

The man disappeared suddenly. Lily looked around, but could not see him, and then she too, was whirling away, away...

It was still dark.

'You ARE a freak! It's your fault they died! Get out! Stay out! Go away you FREAK!'

Someone was sobbing into the night, sounding so painful, Lily longed to comfort them, and yet--- she couldn't--

She heard one last scream.

There was a bright light ahead of her, and she was in a dim corridor. Someone had their arm around her shoulders. 'Lily, darling- they're going to let us have a break.' Someone laced their fingers through hers, and this time, the hand was warm as she expected. She felt herself giggle as the person kissed her cheek.

And then someone screamed again, and this time she knew it was herself.

'James, James, oh, God, no- Don't!'

This time there were bright lights. She could feel her eyes so heavy from crying that she could barely see. 'He'll be okay,' someone whispered. 'He's fine.'

And then: 'He's coming for you. Both of you.'

Lily was facing Dumbledore. And beside her was James. She felt herself lean against him. 'What do we do?'

As Dumbledore opened his mouth, Lily stared into the blackness inside, and seemed to be falling inside of it. There was a sudden, sharp flash of green light, she was staring into a pair of green eyes, and she slipped her arms around a small, frail, body, a little boy whispering 'mother' and then the voice screamed and Lily felt her heart break, because somehow she loved that little boy more than life, and then she was screaming too, grabbing hold, not letting him go, trying to save him and then---

'---LILY! My gosh. What's wrong?'

Lily opened her eyes. Her cheeks were wet with tears, and her arms were bleeding. Had she scratched herself? She realized faintly that she was still sobbing. That dream had been so real. So real. She took a deep breath to steady herself and to calm the sobbing. It worked.

'Did I- did I scream?' she asked, softly.

Bella nodded. Looking past her, Lily could see the faces of the rest of the occupants in the girl's dormitory, staring at her.

Suddenly Lily, still near to tears, had a jolt of realization.

'That boy--' she whispered. And then she fainted.

Hahahah... Well, I updated-- finally. And it was difficult, because my computer was being wicked slow. But I'm sorry about the huge break. I promise I'll work on that.... And hopefully the format is better this time. I'll see. Cheers! Arod