Chapter 5 : Masking the Truth

September was flying by fast, even with the incredible amount of homework that they were receiving because of their NEWTs. Lily, being head girl, was helping plan the events for the fall term. The Head Boy, Kevin Jenkins, was helping her arrange the Hogsmade weekends and they were currently planning a Halloween Masquerade Ball.

"So, what is this exactly?" asked Ava as Lily went on to explain the ball.

"You dress up and you wear a mask and you don't know who you were with until the end of the night." she explained.

"Sounds like fun. I just hope that I don't wind up with someone like Snape!" said Delia. There was a long "Eww…" from the three other girls.

"You got that right." said Lana.

"Sounds like fun." said Ava.

The Halloween Ball was, naturally, on Halloween. The morning of the ball, all the girls in Gryffindor tower were running up and down stairs, through dorms carrying things like dresses and shoes and accessories. James, Sirius, Remus and two of the other seventh year Gryffindor's, Jared Leto and Carmine Hobbs were having so much fun watching girls run up and down the stairs and in and out the portrait hole.

"So, what are you wearing tonight?" Sirius asked the guys.

"Dumbledore told us to wear these Muggle things called tuxedos. He got a whole bunch for us to use. They look pretty fancy." said James.

"Tuxedos are a pain in the bum, mate." said Carmine. "My dad's a Muggle. When him and my mum go out to their dinner parties in London, Dad always wears a tuxedo. Takes him half the day just to put everything together."

"So, should we be worried?" asked Sirius.

"Nah. You should be fine. You can use magic." said Carmine.

"I knew magic was good for something." said Jared.

"Definitely." said James. Just then, Ava came running down the stairs talking to herself.

"Got to find, Millie. I need her to use that spell to iron my dress. I can never remember it. Got to find Hannah. She's got my mask. Got to…"

They weren't sure what else she had to do because she walked out of the common room. Then Lily came running down.

"Did Ava just walk by?" she asked.

"Just walked out." said Jared.

"Thanks." She hurried out of the common room, apparently looking for Ava.

"Thank God I'm not a girl." said Carmine.

"Cheers to that, mate." said Sirius, holding up an invisible wine glass.

"After all this, they better look good." joked Remus.

"They better." said Sirius. "And I hope I don't wind up dancing with someone disgusting, like Fala Turbain or someone like that." Fala was a particularly ugly girl from Hufflepuff.

"Definitely." said the four in unison.

Later that night, everyone was walking to the Great Hall with their masks on. The girls looked marvelous. Some girls had their hair in elegant up-dos' with lots of curls and others let their hair down. Some girls looked stunning, in Sirius' opinion. They were wearing long gowns, some had sparkles and accents and other were plain. They were all different colors and patterns. The boys looked equally handsome with tuxedos and their black masks on. Some spiked their hair up with gel and others sleeked it back and looked quite handsome, like Sirius, Remus and surprisingly James had managed to do.

Lily, Delia, Lana and Ava all walked up the steps towards the Great Hall. They all looked stunning. Lily was wearing a stunning pale gold dress that had a halter with a plunging neck and back. She was fairly thin so she was able to pull the dress off well. She had a nice little clutch that matched the material of her dress. Her hair was up in a fancy bun with little curls hanging out here and there. Delia was also wearing a halter with a plunging neck and back dress, except hers was a beautiful ice blue that went magnificently with her eyes. Her long black hair was half-up-half-down with the up part in a little braid and the ends flipped up. Lana's lavender dress was gorgeous also. It was a strapless dress with little dark purple flowers on it. The back had little strings that criss-crossed across a low back. Her honey brown hair was pulled back into an elegant bun at the nape of her neck and her bangs were straightened and fell down across her eyes. Ava was also very stunning. She had on a white strapless dress with a pale green sheer layer over it. Her long blonde hair was up in an elegant ponytail, similar to Lily's, but with lots and lots of banana curls coming out. All together, the girls looked like a vision.

They walked into the Great Hall and looked around. "It's gorgeous!" said Ava. "You and Kevin must have been decorating this place all day!"

"The house-elves helped. He said that I could go get ready and that he would find some of his friends to help." said Lily, looking around. Everyone looked stunning and everyone had remembered to wear their masks. "Let's go dance."

"Alright." said Lana. They walked out to the dance floor and started to dance. They danced and danced. It appeared the boys didn't want to dance because most of them were sitting at tables looking at the girls. Then she noticed him. It was a boy that looked around her age. He was tall with jet black hair and hazel brown eyes. She didn't recognize him, his hair slick back and his tuxedo on.

"Alright people! This one is a lady's choice. So ladies, go get your partner." said the singer and the band started playing a slow romantic song. Lily decided that it was worth a shot with the boy.

"Excuse me." she said tapping him on the shoulder. "Do you wanna dance?"

James was so shocked to see those emerald green eyes looking into his. Lily Evans had asked him to dance. But, it appeared she didn't recognize him. At least she's asking me to dance. he thought. "Sure." he said a smile creeping across his face.

"Ok." said Lily. She thought he looked familiar. Could it be? No, definitely not. she thought. They walked out to the dance floor and started to dance. "Do I know you from somewhere?" she asked, looking into his eyes.

"Yea. I think you do." said James.

She looked over and saw Ava dancing with what looked like an extremely sophisticated Sirius Black. She mouthed the words "Is that Sirius?" to her and she mouthed "I think so." back at Lily, a smile spreading across her face. Lily was so happy for her friend. She knew that Ava was really keen about Sirius. The song ended and she and James broke apart.

"Do you want a drink?" asked James.

"Yea that would be nice." replied Lily.

"Ok. I'll be back." he said. James walked over to the table with the drinks on it and got two glasses of punch. He looked over at Lily. She looked gorgeous. Her gold dress brought out her skin tone and didn't clash horribly with her red hair. He though she looked perfect. He looked over by the opposite wall and he saw someone who looked a lot like Jared snogging someone who looked a lot like Delia. James shook his head with a little smile. Jared will be Jared and Delia will be Delia. he thought. "Here you go." he said handing her a glass.

"Thanks." she replied, taking a sip, looking over at the wall. She almost inhaled her drink and started to cough.

"Are you alright Li-" he started. but then he realized that he wasn't supposed to know who he was with.

Lily didn't catch his slip and replied, "Yea. I'm fine. Went down the wrong pipe." she said with a weak smile. The band started to play a fast song I love this song! Let's dance!" Lily placed her glass on the table and grabbed James' hand and brought him out to the dance floor. They danced to the first song and then they danced and danced. Finally another slow song came on. James pulled Lily close to him and put his hands around her waist. She draped her arms around her neck. "I know I know you. But, I just can't figure out who you are." she said looking into James' eyes.

"You'll find out eventually. But for now, you can call me JT." he said with a slight smile. He wasn't sure how Lily would react if she found out that it was him. He decided that she would never have to know. The last song was playing as the singer announced it.

"After this song is over, take your masks off!" A low murmur could be heard all through out the Great Hall. James was starting to get nervous again. He didn't want to tell Lily who he was.

"I'll be right back." he said. She nodded and went to sit at the table. James ran into the bathroom. She cant see me looking like this when the song is over. he thought. He ran his hand through his gelled hair and mussed it up. He changed the blue of his cufflinks and the blue of his buttons and turned them to a maroonish red. He took off his mask and wondered if he looked any different. He could hear the song ending and the singer telling everyone to take their masks off. He decided just to walk out of the bathroom without his mask. He walked around casually trying to find his friends and noticed Lily looking very sad and lonely. He couldn't leave her like this. He walked over to her and sat down in the chair across from her. "Is this seat taken?" he asked with a weak smile.

"Not anymore." she said on the brink of tears.

"What's the matter, Evans?" James asked.

"Nothing you would understand, Potter." she said as she wiped a tear from under her eye. She walked out of the Great Hall. He couldn't let her do this to herself.

"Evan's wait!" he called after her. She stopped but didn't turn around.

"What do you want now?" she asked. James could clearly see that she was now crying.

"I… well… I wanted to tell you that I am… well… I'm JT." he said, staring at the floor.

"Ha ha, very funny Potter." she said.

"No, Evans! I'm serious!" James replied, now looking her in the eyes.

"You expect me to believe you?" she asked.

"Yea. I do." he said.

"You disgust me, Potter." Lily said, tears more steadily flowing from her eyes. James went to follow her. "Stay the hell away from me! I'm warning you!" she said, now pulling her wand from inside her dress. "I'll hex you! I swear!" she said as she backed up the stairs. James didn't try to follow. She reached the top of the stairs and ran as fast as she could towards the Gryffindor common room. "Gil… Gil… Gil…" she tried to manage between gasps of air from being out of breath and in between hiccups from crying. The Fat Lady could see that she was near hysterics.

"Just go in, dear." she said as she swung open. She ran up into her room and collapsed onto her bed crying. She had been crying for about ten minutes before the other girls came up.

"Oh my God, Lily! What's the matter?" asked Delia running over to put an arm around her friend.

"I was d-dancing with this great guy, JT and then he went to the
b-bathroom during the last song and he n-never came back. Then P-Potter said that he was JT and then I just… I…" she said as she started crying again.

"Lil… I'm so sorry." said Ava as she came over and put her hand on Lily's shoulder and kissed the top of her head. "It'll be alright."

Delia lowered herself so that she was kneeling on the ground. She took Lily's chin in her hand. "Look at me, Lil." she said as Lily continued to avoid her gaze. "Lily Adele Evans, look at me." At the mention of her middle name, Lily looked at Delia. "Don't let Potter get you down. He's an arrogant toerag and naturally he'd tell you that to make you think that you were having a great time with him. He's a Potter and his ass is mine tomorrow morning." Delia said with a smile.

"Thank you." Lily said as she hugged Delia. Ava and Lana joined in and soon all four were in a giant group hug.

"Now. Let's get you out of that gorgeous gown so that you can wear it again." said Lana. They all changed into their pajamas and sat up on their beds and talked while Lily and Lana were reading too.

Meanwhile, down in the boy's dorm, James was sitting on the edge of his bed with his head in his hands. "I knew I shouldn't have told her." he said looking up, his eyes clearly red from crying.

"You couldn't see her like that, mate. You did the right thing." said Sirius, who was lying down on his bed, his hands under his head.

"Are you sure?" James asked. "Well besides the fact that she definitely won't talk to me for the next month -"

"Or two." Sirius added.

"Not helping." James said, glaring at him.

"Sorry." Sirius said, looking back up at the ceiling.

"Look, we're really sorry, mate." said Remus who was sitting upright in his bed. "Truly, we are. We can only imagine how much pain you are in now."

"Yea, well, it's over now." said James. He quickly changed into his pajamas, which consisted of an extra-large tee-shirt that said "Liverpool Quidditch Camp" on it in orange and yellow letters and black flannel pants. "I'm going to sleep."

"Night." Remus and Sirius said as they changed into their pajamas and also went to bad.