Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. If I did, I would eat the finest truffles every day.

One Month Later

"Not again!" moaned James as he read the announcement board in the common room.

"What?" Nigel asked from his seat by the fire, grimacing since Theodore had just defeated him at Wizard's Chess for the third time in a row. That's what usually happened when you played against Ron Weasley's son.

"We're having another bloody Halloween Ball!" James complained, throwing himself into a chair.

"What's so bad about that?" Devin asked, looking up from WWW, a monthly magazine by none other than Fred and George Weasley.

"Of course it's not so bad for guys who have girlfriends," James said, throwing a contemptuous glance at his friends.

"Well, it's nobody's fault but your own that you don't have a girlfriend. Remember Amy from Hufflepuff?" Corin asked.

"Amy Hammond? I thought she was going to drown herself in tears after I turned her down last year," James said, groaning at the memory.

"Well, what is wrong with her?" Lily asked, coming over from talking to Charlie.

James just starred at his sister for a moment and then said, "Well, um…she cannot transfigure a toad into a stool!"

Lily made an exasperated sound while Nigel said, "Is that the best you can do?"

At that moment, Jada and Bridget joined the group, sitting beside their respective boyfriends. "What are we talking about?" Jada asked.

"The fact that my brother could have just about any girl in this school, and yet he is in distress over a date for the Halloween Ball," Lily said.

"What was wrong with Amy Hammond? She's a nice girl," Bridget asked.

"Her transfiguration skills are not up to par," Corin answered sarcastically.

"Jocelyn Andrews?" questioned Jada.

"Too tall," answered James.

"Melanie Arte?" suggested Theodore.

"That know-it-all?"

"Adriana Chang?"

"She thinks she is Venus herself."

"Samantha Rubenstein?"

"She's a Ravenclaw beater!"

"Silvia Liszt?"

"Her eyes scare me."

"So basically what we're looking for is a transfiguration goddess, medium height, smart and pretty but modest, not too aggressive, with non-scary eyes," Lily summed up.

"This should be an easy task," Devin said mockingly.

A Few Days and Many Refused Invitations Later

James walked quickly down the hall to Transfiguration, looking down at his feet and trying to block out the sound of the giggles that seemed to follow him. He agreed with his father: Giggling should be banned. He had been invited by no less than fourteen girls, ranging from third to seventh year, all houses, and all types. Many more just seemed to hover around him between classes, hoping that he would notice them.

When he heard the giggles get louder, he slipped down a couple of side corridors until he could no longer hear them. McGonagall would just frown at him if he was late, and then she would wink when she thought no one was looking. Still looking at his feet, he turned a corner to head to the classroom when he ran headlong into…