Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, I do not own the places. I don't own anything related to Harry Potter, all I own is the plot. Any resemblance to any other piece of fiction or something is purely coincidental.

- Chapter 5

The peaceful silence of the common room was disturbed by a loud shriek from the girls' dormitory.

"He did what? Oh my god! I knew it!"

Emma was almost jumping up and down with excitement. Cathy grinned.

"Calm down. I asked him at the same time, you know."

"But the fact that he asked you of his own accord is a big achievement on its own." Lily said with a smile

Cathy blushed. Hermione sat a little bit away from them. This was not meant for her. This was a moment between friends. And thought they were very nice and friendly towards her, they weren't really friends with her yet.

Emma saw her sitting alone and joined her when she had calmed down a bit herself. "Are you okay?"

Hermione nodded. "Yes. I just don't know all the stories behind everything. I have no idea what the history between Sirius and Cathy is."

"Oh, that's easy. They've been flirting with each other for ages. They just never made a move on each other. But it's just a matter of time before they start dating. And that's just one of the stories. Look at Lily and James for instance. He's been chasing after her for what seems like forever. And then there's Susan and Jolyon Rivers, our Quidditch captain. They've been dating since third year."

Hermione looked at Lily while listening to the history of all the Gryffindors' love lives. Lily's red hair rippled gently as she shook her head in response to something Cathy said.

She turned around and gave Hermione and Emma a smile, her eyes sparkling like two emeralds. Those eyes made Hermione think about Harry again. But, she decided, it was not the time to think about Harry. He was more than twenty years ahead in time and she was here.

'Might as well focus on the here and now.' She thought.

She turned back to Emma.

"Em, could you tell me what everyone is so excited about? I heard some talk and all, what's this ball coming up?"

"It's a spring ball for seventh years. It's a small tradition every year and it's only a week away."

Hermione looked at Lily again. She figured that it was an important ball for couples yet to be. Well, every ball can be important for couples to be, but seeing as how James and Lily weren't going out yet, she figured that the spring ball was where their relationship had started...or where it was supposed to get started.

"So…does everybody have a date?" she asked.

Emma shook her head. "No…You don't…and Lily doesn't either. She's waiting for…well, you know what I mean. She's willing to accept his invitation, if he would just ask her nicely and not halfway through one of his acts…And I don't have a date yet. Hmm…perhaps Remus is still free."

At that moment Remus entered the common room and Emma excused herself quickly to run up to him.

Hermione got up and walked out the common room. She headed to the library. Maybe that would give her a bit more peace.

She walked through the corridors slowly when she heard a loud crash. She ran towards to origin of the sound to find the marauders, all looking rather surprised, soot all over their faces.

She looked at them, trying to suppress a giggle. They heard her and turned around.

"Oh, hey there Hermione. We were just trying out this little…project of our." Sirius said with a sly grin.

Peter nodded vigorously. "Yeah, we wanted to see if we could-"

"Wormtail! Don't go blowing the surprise!" James said quickly.

"Well," Hermoine said. "Whatever the surprise might be, you lot don't seem to be quite good at it yet. My advice is to keep practicing."

She turned away with a big smile on her face and waved at them over her shoulder.

"Bye guys!"

James followed her closely with his eyes until she had disappeared around the corner. Remus noticed it and bit his lip thoughtfully.

"Oi, Prongs! We're asking you something!" Sirius said with a bit of a laughing tone in his voice.

"…Oh…sorry. Lost my concentration for a moment there." James said apologetically.

Sirius laughed and smacked him in the back of the head.

"Never had you down for the 'at-first-sight' thing."

James shrugged. "Why not? Anyway, let's get back to our project again. Like she said 'let's keep practicing'."

Sirius and Peter quickly gathered their things and ran ahead. Remus waited until they were a bit away before talking to James.

"James…are you okay? Ever since she came along you've been a bit confused."

"Moony old friend, I don't know if I'm alright. I am confused, like you said. I think I like her."

"And Lily?"

"…I just don't know anymore, Moony. But can we please stop talking about it?"

Remus smiled a soft smile. "Sure Prongs. Let's catch up with Sirius and Peter before they blow up the great hall in all their enthusiasm."

When peace finally returned to the corridor, the little broom closet opened and Susan stepped out, looking a bit confused. She waited, looking about, not knowing what to do.

Then she ran up towards the Gryffindor tower to tell the others what she had just heard.

"Miss Granger? Do you have a moment?"

The voice of Dumbledore surprised her. She nodded and followed the Headmaster out the library.

"You see." He said. "I've assigned some of my best staff to solve the matter. I know that our Potions Master will succeed eventually, but even with his help there has been slow progress so far. This magic is very powerful, much stronger than I anticipated. So it would be wise to pretend you're here to stay for a little while longer."

She nodded, saddened by this news. She had been looking forward so much to returning back home.

"So I hope you will participate in our spring ball. It would certainly create the impression you've been an accepted transfer student."

She nodded again. "Yes professor. I will."

Susan reached the common room. She had walked over there quickly, but not fast enough to beat the boys in reaching it.

She motioned Lily and Cathy to go up to their dormitory and then turned around to find Emma.

Emma was sitting on the couch, listening to Remus. Both had a very happy smile on their face so Susan assumed they had decided to go to the ball together, both happy they didn't need to go alone.

"Emma, sorry to disturb this lovely get-together with Remus, but we've got an emergency discussion upstairs." She whispered in her ear.

Then she turned towards Remus.

"Sorry to take this lovely girl away from you for a moment, but I need her and you'll survive a few moments without her, won't you. You're a big boy now." She added teasingly.

Then she took Emma's hand and dragged her up the stairs. Lily and Cathy were already waiting for them.

"What's the emergency?" Cathy asked curiously.

"I was walking through the charms corridor, when I heard James and the guys behind me. I quickly hid in one of the broomcubboards so theywouldn't involve me in what ever prank they were pulling...and then..."

"Susan, hurry up. We've got Potions in a few minutes and you know how Sloghorn hates it of we're late." Emma said impatiently.

Lily…James isn't thinking about asking you to the ball anymore." Susan said directly, facing Lily. "I heard him talking to Remus…she had walked by and after that he wasn't concentrated on the prank they were pulling and then Sirius said 'Never had you down for the 'at-the-first-sight' thing' and James didn't deny it."

Lily didn't answer. She already knew who Susan had meant by 'she'. It had been a bit obvious to her too how James had been interested in Hermione straight from the start. She just hadn't thought it would actually come this far.

"And then he talked to Remus and he was suddenly very serious. He said he was really confused and that he didn't know what to do anymore. Then he didn't want to talk about it anymore." Susan finished.

Lily stared at her hands. Why had James chased after her for so long, trying to persuade her into dating him, if he would let himself be confused by the next girl that passed by.

Did she really mean that little to him? She thought there had been a certain understanding between them, but perhaps she had read too much into his behaviour to her. She suddenly felt really small. She had been so convinced that James actually liked her.

'I guess I was wrong…' she thought sadly. 'I guess he's not the person I thought he was…I suppose I'm better off then anyway, if he let's himself get confused that easily.'

"Well, that's it then." Cathy said bluntly. "That just proves that James Potter is simply an indecent guy who'll go out with every bit of skirt that passes by. "You're better off without him if he's that kind of jerk."

"No!" Lily shouted suddenly. "No, James isn't like that…we've known him for so long and he's never been that kind of guy. Cocky, yes, but not someone who acts like this. Not when it comes to emotions, right?"

"I don't know Lily…I don't know…"

"Maybe he got tired of you blowing him off all the time." Emma said. "You said no to him every single time he asked you. You never said 'maybe' or even considered going out with him."

"I did! I did think about going out with him!" she stuttered.

"Yes, sweetie. We know that. But he doesn't because you never let him know you were considering it. Perhaps he just wanted someone who'd say 'yes'."

Lily looked at her, a slight look of panic in her eyes.

"You think? But…but…I know I always blow him off. It's because of the way he always asks me. And he knows I like him, doesn't he? And he also knows that I'd go out with him if he'd just ask me normally without making a spectacle of the whole thing." She said desperately.

But Cathy wasn't about to give up. "You're not letting James get away! Not after all those years. There's only one option left. Make him jealous."

"Yeah!" Susan said enthusiastically. "Take someone else to the ball."

"How about that Harry Stafford guy?" Emma opted.

But Cathy and Susan shook their heads.

"No…Harry's a nice guy if you like that type of guy. But if you want to make James Potter jealous then you need to choose someone with a little more presence…someone a tad bit more popular and handsome…" Susan said slowly.

"I know! Why not try Steven Moore! He's one of our beaters, that's bound to make James furious with jealousy." Cathy shouted triumphantly.

"It would sure make James' eyes pop out of their sockets." Susan agreed.

"I still can't believe is that James would give up so easily…" Emma muttered. "I can't believe he wants to take Hermione even though he doesn't really know her at all."

"You can't blame her, though.' Lily said quickly. "She doesn't really know what kind of…understanding James and I had. She doesn't know how we-"

She interrupted herself and stood up.

"You girls are right. I'm not going to let him do this and not get back at him. I'll go and ask Steven right now. James will have to realise what an idiot he has been when he sees me and Steven."

She ran down the stairs and went to find Steven Moore.

"You know…" Cathy said. "I feel sorry for Steven. Lily is just going to use him."

"You know what I think?" Emma said lazily. "I think James is a fool, but not the way you two are thinking right now. He might think he likes Hermione, but really…he's in love with Lily, you can tell. He has been for years, but he's too scared to admit it."

"So what you're saying…" Susan said slowly, putting the pieces together, "is that James is using Hermione as a way of not having to admit he loves Lily? So both Hermione and Steven are going to be used just because Lily and James can't face up to their feelings?"

Emma nodded and fell back on her bed.

Cathy laughed out loud. "You two should become therapists or something! How on earth did you get the brains to figure that one out?"

"No…it has nothing to do with us being ever so clever, though that is also a lovely bit of purest truth." Emma said with a big smile. "It has more to do with how obvious James and Lily are. They're just both too blind to see it. But if you ask me, Lily and James…they're destined to be together."

Well, tomorrow I'll have my first real day as a student. I'm rather curious to see what this university has in store for me :P So I'm not sure if the next update will be quite as quick as this one, but it will be there, don't you worry about that.

Gwynn-Potter: I'm sorry Gwynn, but Remus is going with Emma. I like him too much to let him go to a dance without a date. Wouldn't you hate to go alone while everyone around you has a date? Kind of like sitting at the side of the dancefloor, waiting for someone to ask you to dance but it never happens. Ugh, that really sucks. So no, Remus will have a date. But only because you can't be there to be his date, how about that?

Mercutio: I know you left a review, because you told me so yesterday. But I think something must've gone wrong, because i still haven't received it. Oh well, never mind. I know what you think of the last chapter and yes, it was more a chapter to show james' insecurity and to build up to the more important bits in the story. Anyway, I'm sure the next review will come through fine. (Now you have to leave one, because I'm counting on one :P) See you tonight, probably!

Emma Barrows: Glad you like it nn See you at the next chapter!

Lucerito-del-alba: Yeah, poor Lily! I agree. I'm not sure about the 'making james jealous' bit, but it's one way for her to show she's not a helpless girl who has succumbed to the potter charm. Because the whole thing about lily is that she is a strong person and if I let her do nothing and cry a bit, I'd underestimate her and then her whole character would change. Anyway, I'll certainly be checking your update.
By the way, your story concerns Gandalf stepping into the HP world, does it not? Well, who nplays Gandalf in the movies? Sir Ian McKellan. And gues swho's going to play Barty Crouch in the fourth HP movie? YES! So I now suspect you have some sort of hidden power, some sort of sixth sense, only without the dead people bit. See you soon!

Dead Red Head: You really hate Lily and Ginny that much? Hmm, I think Ginny is my favourite character in the whole series. Because we got to witness her evolution from a shy and silent girl, to a girl who kows how to pack a punch, a girl who is rather attractive and who has inherited her sense of jokes and advernture from her twin brothers. I think she is one of the most complex characters Rowling wrote. But then again, to each his own. I'm not trying to persuade you into liking her. I'm just happy you love the story so much! (And yes, James and Hermione are cute)

XXRoseDawsonXX: Hmm, I wonder how you liked this reaction from Lily to James. I myself think it's a bit clichée, but that's always up to the one reading it, not to the writer. Everyone interprets something a different way. Anyway, glad you like the story and I hope to see you at the enxt chapter as well.

Thanks for the reviews everyone! That's 37 (or 38 if you count an unreceived review) for just four chapters! I can be more than happy with that. See you all at the next chapter!

Love, Raven55