Disclaimer: I own nothing that appears in this chapter, or previous chapters, that in any way relates to the Harry Potter series or franchise. All of that comes from the genius mind of JK Rowling. Keep it up JK. Anyway, here is the next installement of 'Disastrous Mayhem' that all you readers have WhiteCamellia to thank for as she reviewed my fic, which in turn reminded me to get my ass into gear and post chapter 6. So thank you WhiteCamellia for reviewing and i'm glad that you like what you've read so far. This chapter is dedicated to you and i hope you keep reading. Ifanyone can think of any improvements to my fic please let me know. This chapter was particularly difficult for me to write and i found it very challenging. I hope i've done two of my favourite HP characters justice. It was meant to include the Ball (which you'll read about in something like 10 seconds) but i couldn't muster the energy to do it right now so its going to get it's very own chapter a.s.a.p. Please review and now, all that's left to say is 'Enjoy'!

Heartbreak in Hogwarts

"As you know, the Hogwarts Annual Ball for upper school students is taking place in two weeks," McGonagall informed James and Lily, "As Head boy and Head girl it comes down to you to organise any them, or style of the evening, planning everything, from the decorations and food to the music and entertainment."

"Ok. I've already got lots of ideas," Lily confirmed her understanding enthusiastically.

"Mr too," James said, a little less enthusiastically. 'Balls clearly weren't his thing,' Lily thought, but she'd soon put a stop to that when she'd persuaded him to go with her.

Ever since Lily had realised her true feelings for James and admitted them to Jess and Rachel, the three of them had been trying to come up with ways for Lily to show James how she'd changed. So far winning back James Potter's heart was hard and Lily had been trying to show him how she felt for a week. But she couldn't give up, she just couldn't! After all, hadn't James pursued her for six whole years? She could at least return the favour for six weeks.

"Well, I guess that's all I need to let you know," McGonagall concluded, "you may go."

Lily and James had been in McGonagall's office for just under half an hour, discussing their current responsibilities and any new ones that they'd see added onto the usual.

"Yes Professor," the two replied in unison as they got up and left the room.

In the corridor, James spoke up for the first time in about forty minutes. He'd been unusually quiet during the meeting and Lily was beginning to worry that something was bothering him.

"So," he began, "do you want to get together tonight to start planning?"

Lily didn't need much time to answer. They really needed to get started on this event as soon as possible as the fact that it meant spending more time with James was just an added bonus. "Yes. That would be good," she replied.

"I'll meet you at 7:30 then, after dinner," James informed her. "I'm practicing Quidditch with the team after classes so it'll have to wait until then."

"That's fine. Don't worry James I can wait a few hours to get started. For once in my life I can stop and relax a little. Or at least go and get one of my many essays done in the library," she added. Then she remembered something that Jess and Rachel had encouraged her to try, in order to subtly let James know how she now felt about him. Just as he was about to say goodbye she grabbed his arm and stepped a little closer to him until she had to look up into his face. "Don't tire yourself out James," she stated in a flirtatious manner, "I want your full attention tonight."

James didn't look shocked by her flirtatious behaviour at all. On the contrary, he appeared to be quite comfortable with the situation as though he'd missed the whole thing.

"I won't Lils," he answered.

What more could she do to make it obvious other than flat out kiss him on the lips. Lily was becoming frustrated by her failing methods, but clearly James believed that the way Lily and he interacted now was just what it were like to be friends with Lily Evans. How wrong he was.

Lily decided to give up for the time being and work on expressing herself again when she was alone with James later.

"I'll see you then, then," Lily said smiling.

"Yeah see you…then," James grinned.

And then they both walked off in opposite directions.

Lily had been waiting anxiously in the Head's dorm for James to arrive from Quidditch practice. He'd already missed dinner. It was 7:45 and there was still no sign of him.

7:46, 7:47, 7:48. 'Oh,' this was ridiculous. One month ago Lily would have been annoyed at James' terrible punctuality but right now she was nothing but worried.

7:49 and James finally entered. He had clearly not had a shower yet, smelling strongly of dry mud and perspiration.

"Oh James! Are you ok?" Lily cried running towards and searching him for any wounds.

"I'm fine," James laughed a little, "I'm sorry I'm late for our meeting. Quidditch over ran a little. The team really need to get back into shape. As you can probably see, things got a little mucky. I didn't have time for a shower."

"Urgh!" Lily began as she started to slap James' arm. "I thought you'd got beaten up or something. Don't ever scare me like that again," she concluded with another slap at his arm.

James grabbed her wrists and held them tightly in his hands. "I'm sorry ok, I really am, but I'm alright. Don't worry about me."

Lily looked into his eyes for what seemed like forever. She contemplated just telling him that she loved him but thought better of it almost immediately.

"Ok," she agreed.

James looked down at her sincerely and said, "Good." He brought his hand up and nudged the base of her chin gently upwards. "Don't look so serious," he commanded.

Lily gave him a small smile before continuing. "Let's get started then."

"What? Like this?" he asked. "I better have a shower first."

"Nuh huh James, I've waited long enough so let's get started," Lily said.

"You don't mind that I'm dirty and smelly?" James asked with a grin.

Lily paused and inspected him. In all honesty, the smell of him at that moment was oddly attractive, but she didn't want to tell him that. "Ok, just go and wash your hands."

"Alright then," James continued. "As long you don't mind."

Whilst he was washing his hands, Lily filled a small bowl with warm water and found a spare rag. She took it to a small table in front of the living room's couch and sat down. James returned soon afterwards and sat next to her.

James noticed the water and said, "What's that for?"

"Your face," Lily stated simply.

"You never told me to wash my face," James said.

"That's because I'm going to do it whilst we plan the ball," Lily explained.

This time James did look a bit shocked by her behaviour and said, "What?"

"I figured that this way, we can plan and get you clean at the same time," Lily reasoned. 'Plus this may help me to show you how I feel,' she silently added.

"Erm…ok," he replied, uncertainly.

She carefully soaked the rag as he removed his mud-splattered glasses. He turned to make his face more accessible for her and she reached up her left arm to brush back his fringe, whilst she wiped his brow with the cloth in her right.

"So I was thinking," she began, "that we should have some sort of 'ice' theme. We can get ice sculptures and things like that. There could be a dress code of black and white."

"That sounds good," James added, tilting his head back so that she could wipe the mud away from his neck. "Maybe we could have snowflake decorations too," James added.

"Yes. That would be nice. I like snow flakes," Lily agreed. "What food can we have?"

The two continued planning until all the arrangements for the ball were agreed upon.

Lily had finished cleaning James' face and turned to thank him for his input and effort tonight. "Thanks James. You've contributed a lot tonight." As she said this she gently placed her hands on his knee and gave it a small squeeze. What she was expecting him to do she didn't know. He looked a little startled and then gently lifted he hands in his own.

"Thanks for being my friend Lils. I couldn't imagine us as anything else now."

He gently squeezed her hands and set them in her own lap.

'Oh wow. How embarrassing,' Lily thought as she inwardly cringed. 'It's so obvious he doesn't love me anymore'. "Me too," she agreed verbally, trying to hide her disappointment.

"You better get a proper shower now," Lily suggested.

James looked at her strangely and then rose. Obviously he'd missed something. He gently laid a hand on her shoulder before softly saying, "Goodnight."

"It didn't work," Lily told Jess and Rachel at breakfast the next morning.

"Are you sure you made it obvious?" Jess asked.

"Jess, the only way I could have been more obvious is if I'd pounced on him and kissed him to within an inch of his life."

"Maybe you should try that one," Rachel teased, with a smirk on her face.

Lily rolled her eyes and responded, "You are so not funny."

The dance was coming up in only a few weeks and the girls knew that to get dates that they actually wanted they'd have to ask a boy to take them soon.

"I don't know what to do now. I mean, James made it pretty obvious that he doesn't love me anymore," Lily complained.

"And how exactly did he do that?" Rachel inquired.

Lily sighed before answering. "He told me that he couldn't imagine us as anything more than friends."

"Well maybe he just meant that he couldn't imagine you as you were. Remember, sworn enemies?" Jess suggested.

"I don't think so. What he said sounded pretty literal," Lily mumbled, leaning her chin on her fist.

"You've got to ask him," Rachel said.

Lily looked puzzled. "Ask him what?" she questioned.

"To the dance of course; as your date. There is no way he'll misunderstand your feelings then," Rachel elaborated.

"Of course," Jess added. "It's the perfect plan."

"Erm. I don't know," Lily said looking dubious.

"Oh please," Rach said getting impatient with her, "just ask him!"

"Ok, ok, I will. Tonight. After rounds." 'Please don't break my heart James,' she silently thought.

That had got to be one of the dullest Potion lessons of the year. Lily had just cleared up her things and left the dungeon when she heard someone call her name down the corridor. She turned to see who it was.

"Oh hi Roger," she responded.

Roger McAbrams was a Ravenclaw prefect in his final year at Hogwarts too. He was a very attractive boy of a similar height to James, but unlike James Potter he had fair hair and dazzling pale blue eyes.

"Did you want something?" she asked.

"Oh, yes." Roger seemed to have forgotten himself for a moment but quickly recovered himself, "I heard about some of your plans for the ball and they sound really great. Everyone's really excited about it. Even the first, second and third years and they're not even invited. I think some of them may even try to sneak in."

Lily giggled a little. Not because she found him particularly funny but because she was flattered by his interest in her input into the planning of the biggest (well second biggest) ball of the year. "Thank you," she replied, "but it wasn't all down to me. James was a big help."

"I can't really believe that of Potter but if you say so then I'll believe you." Roger continued, "Anyway, I was wondering if you had a date for the ball yet, and if not, whether you would like to go with me."

Lily was a bit shocked by his request. She did her best to handle the situation. "Oh I would have loved to but I'm probably, well hopefully…er…I already have a date," she stumbled. 'Or at least I soon will have'. "I'm really sorry. Things aren't definite though and if, for some reason, they don't work out I'd love to go with you."

"That's ok. Don't worry about it." He looked devastated. Lily never knew he liked her so much. "I know how it is. A pretty girl always gets asked to a dance almost immediately. That's why I thought I'd ask so soon, but obviously it wasn't soon enough," he concluded. "If, for some reason, your current plans fall through, let me now," he added.

"Will do," Lily answered. "Bye Roger. And once again, I'm sorry."

"And once again," Roger replied, "don't worry about it. I'll see you around." And with that he smiled, turned and walked away.

Currently doing their rounds, Lily felt that James was unusually quiet. She'd had the perfect opportunity, several times, to ask him to be her date and could put it off no longer.

"James," she began, which seemed to startle him out of whatever thoughts absorbed him.

"Huh?" he asked.

Lily laughed a little. "Don't look so worried. I won't bite you." She paused. "I just wanted to ask you something." 'Ok,' she took another, deeper breath. And then a couple more. "We've been getting on really well recently and I love spending time with you, so I was wondering whether you'd be my date to the ball. I mean, we have to open it together with the first dance, so why not spend the rest of the evening together?" she concluded and then added, "So will you be? My date, I mean?" Gosh she was nervous.

"Oh crap!" James answered.

"Oh c-r-a-p what?" Lily pushed.

James looked worried and regretful at the same time. "I'm sorry Lils," he explained, "I'm already going with someone else."

'Was that a kick in the stomach?' Lily thought. 'It sure felt like one.'

Noticing her silence James continued, "I presumed you'd want to go with a guy you really liked and not just a good friend. So I decided to ask Laura Craven. She's a Gryffindor and loves Quidditch so we'll have plenty to talk about whilst we prank the Slytherins." James laughed at his attempt to lighten the mood. "She's nice don't you think," he asked her, "I mean she'd talented at sports and smart but she'd really nice as well. Right?"

"She's great James. I'm sure you'll have fun together."

"If you're worried about finding a date," he stated sincerely, "don't be. You could get any guy you wanted to go with you."

'Obviously not,' she thought. She realised she'd been thinking too much lately. Nodding, she attempted to display some sort of smile to prevent revealing her true feelings of sickening butterflies in the stomach area and a heart that was close to ceasing to beat.

"But you like her?" James inquired further.

Lily rolled her eyes, more teasingly than angrily, and said, "Yes James, she's lovely. And very lucky. Now let's finish up and then we can get to bed."

"Ok," he agreed. "I'll race you back…"

And what could she do but chase him…again!

She couldn't tell her friends how she'd failed again. It was better to just move on. Just move on and see if Roger was still available to take her. It was obvious that he liked her a lot and although he was no James Potter, he was very handsome, intelligent and caring. James had moved on with his life and it was time for her to do the same. He has chased her for six years and she couldn't do it for nine days, never mine six weeks as planned. She was such a coward.

Lily couldn't repay him those six years. It was too hard; to be in love and receive nothing in return. How could James have not hated her for breaking his heart so frequently? What she currently felt was unbearable and what James had suffered was undoubtedly worse. She couldn't begin to imagine how he'd survived.

Lily had to admit to herself- she'd fallen. And she'd fallen hard. It was time to find Roger.

It didn't take her long. He was catching up on a Defence Against the Dark Arts essay in the library.

"Hi," she said coyly.

"Oh hi," Roger replied enthusiastically.

"So it fell through," Lily explained her presence. "Are you still available to be my date? I know I must seem awful for putting you through this. And although it may seem like you're my second choice I don't think of you that way. I really do want to go with you and I'm glad things worked out this way because I think we could have a great time."

"Yes…yes and me too," Roger replied.

"Excellent," she stated. Well at least it sounded like she meant it.

The ball came around more quickly then anyone expected. The teachers were struggling to teach anyone from the upper years on the afternoon on the day of the ball. Lily and James had worked all through the previous two nights to get everything just right and happy with how everything looked then left the great hall to go and get ready for their dates. Lily was still attending with Roger, and James with Laura. It was nice to spend a good few hours sorting the great hall out. Ever since he'd confessed to be taking Laura to the ball she'd seen less of him and he'd seen more of Laura. The fact that she'd been avoiding him when possible had nothing to do with it, of course. They'd be getting the next terms assignment to look over once the ball was over and Lily couldn't wait to get involved in something else that would partially take her mind off James. Now all she had to do was get through the evening that she'd been most looking forward to and most dreading for the past three weeks.

She headed up to her room to get dressed having just finished up her last lesson for the day, and doing the last venue check with James, therefore being quite eager to do so. She started with a nice, relaxing, warm shower and then did her hair. She decided to pull it up onto the top of her head, revealing her slender neck, piece by piece. To hold everything up there she cast a small spell which pinned each hair in place by use of six black and white butterflies, which clung in place as commanded. Her make-up was next and, fitting in with the colour scheme, Lily decided to powder her face with a little white powder which she enhanced by the use of a pale grey eye shadow (to contrast with her emerald eyes), deep black eyeliner and black mascara. Her nails she painted white with tiny black butterfly images imprinted and her toe nails she lightly glazed in a shimmering, silver polish.

All that remained was her dress. She'd designed it herself and made it out of a plain white one that was hanging in her cupboard at home, not having been used for years. She'd got her mother to post it to her the week before so that she could make a start on it. It was beautiful and Lily couldn't wait to see what it looked like when she put it on. It was long and puffed out ever so slightly. A black sash encircled the waist of the perfect, white silk of the gown and broke off in places to hang down in thin, slender strips. The neck line was curved to reveal a little cleavage and the straps were thin to show off her shoulders. Once on the dress seemed even more perfect than she'd imagined it would. After all, it was made for her.

The look was finalised by two-inch, black, strapped heels that added the much needed height she'd require, not only dancing with Roger, but opening the whole ball with a dance with James. 'Oh I have to dance with James. Ok…just relax Lily. You'll get through this. Just think of Roger. Roger, Roger, Roger, Roger, there you go, Roger, Roger, I wonder what James is wearing. I bet he'll look gorgeous. Oh, shoot!'

Looking in the mirror it dawned on her just how pretty she looked, which both pleased and terrified her. She desperately wanted James to fall in love with her again but she didn't want Roger to get too attached. It wasn't like she could be his girlfriend the way she felt at the moment. Lily's anxieties about the evening began to kick in again. How she'd manage to hide her pain when James was with Laura she didn't know. She could barely do it when she was alone with him.

'Time to face the music and dance,' she thought and then headed down to the entrance hall to meet Roger.