It was the night of the ball. James was anxiously waiting for Lily in the Head Common Room. She had said she would be ready at seven o'clock. It was now seven thirty. I wonder if she is STILL getting ready, he thought. That's the difference between men and women. We don't particularly care about our appearance, as long as girls are swooning at the sight of us. But women…they're different. Everything about them has to be PERFECT…it makes you wonder what they really look like, under all that gunk they put on their face…God, I don't want to think about it. He shook his head to wipe away the thought.

"Potter?"

James quickly turned around, his mouth open to blame Lily for being late. At the sight of her, he quickly closed his mouth, but it opened again in shock. Her hair was down in loose curls and she had a form-fitting, strapless green dress on, that sparkled a bit when she walked. Her makeup was done perfectly (not that James knew this, he didn't know a thing about makeup), and her green eyes seemed even more vivid. James stared at her, speechless (for one of the first times in his life). Lily smiled.

"Wow, Evans. You look…you look…bloody hot! You always look hot, but…but tonight…wow." His mouth dropped a bit more. He gave her the "sweep look," the one all girls acknowledge with anxiousness. The look men give women when they're analyzing their appearance, to see if they pass their "test." James' eyes moved from Lily's feet all the way up to her head, taking in her whole appearance. His eyes then widened, and he gave her the "nod of approval." Lily rolled her eyes, but blushed.

"Thanks, Potter. You look…okay. Shall we go now? The ball starts in fifteen minutes."

James opened his mouth to say that she was the reason they were short on time, but quickly closed it again, not wanting to anger her. They made their way out of the common room and down to the Entrance Hall. All the other students had already been admitted into the Great Hall, taking their seats at the tables, waiting for James and Lily's dramatic entrance. McGonagall was waiting for them in the Entrance Hall.

"There you two are! You're late! Come on now, can't keep them waiting any longer," she pushed them near the Great Hall doors. James gulped, ruffling his hair nervously. Lily sighed, closing her eyes for a moment. Then she grabbed James' hand (who stared at her in surprise), and magically opened the doors. Together they strode across the Great Hall to the middle of the dance floor, Lily holding her head up high, and James staring at everyone sheepishly. The music started up, and James placed his hands on Lily's waist. Lily took a deep breath and wrapped her arms around James' neck, praying she wouldn't fall over in front of the entire school. They gracefully waltzed around the dance floor, keeping eye contact with each other, forgetting completely that they were not the only people in the room. Lily blushed, and grinned at James, who winked at her, smiling charmingly. They continued to spin around the dance floor, and soon all the prefects were joining them. Lily was getting extremely dizzy, what with all the spinning and twirling. She started to stumble, but James held her steady, a firm grip on her waist.

"I'm not about to let you be the one to stumble across the dance floor. That's my job! I've got a reputation to protect," he grinned. Lily laughed, to her dismay. She looked over to where Paige and Whitney were sitting. To her surprise, they were sitting with the other three marauders. Paige and Whitney were giving her the thumbs-up signal, smirking. Sirius was grinning, happy for his friend. Remus smiled at Lily warmly and encouragingly, giving her a nod. Peter just stared at her and James, his mouth open, quite confused (as usual). Now the faculty members were getting up to dance. Dumbledore danced with McGonagall, Slughorn with Sprout, and Filch with an enlarged Mrs. Norris (James and Lily laughed uncontrollably at this, causing them to bump into a prefect couple). James gazed into Lily's stunningly green eyes.

"You really are the most beautiful girl I know," he whispered to her. "I'm not lying when I tell you I love you. I really care about you."

Lily blushed and looked down at the floor, not knowing what to say. James smiled at her and pushed her chin up with his hand, then quickly moved his hand back to her waist again. "Hey, Evans! Don't go all self-conscious thirteen year old girl on me! I wouldn't know what to do," he grinned, causing her to giggle. The music had ended, causing James and Lily to stop in their place, not knowing what to do next. The room erupted in applause, with many shouts of, "GO LILY! GREAT JOB, JAMES!" James began a long, complicated, dramatic bow, causing Lily to laugh. He then grabbed her hand, and pulled her into a bow as well. Still clasping her hand gently, James pulled Lily over to the table where their friends were seated.

"Good job, mate," grinned Sirius, gesturing towards James. "It looks like she's warming up to you somewhat," he whispered. James smiled in response, and quickly made his way back towards Lily, occupying the seat next to her. Paige and Whitney giggled, causing Lily to glare at them.

"Good job, Evans. You know, you're the prettiest girl here," James stared into her eyes, searching for any signs of emotion.

Lily rolled her eyes. "Nice line, Potter." However, she couldn't help but smile.

James continued to gaze into her eyes. "No, I mean it! Genuinely! If you want I'll go grab some veritaserum from the potions storage cupboard…" he got up, grinning, knowing Lily wouldn't allow him to steal something.

Lily sighed. "No, Potter, sit down. I believe you. And…erm…thanks," she added, upon seeing the look she got from both Paige and Whitney, who were pretending not to be listening. James winked in return, taking a sip of water.

Lily sighed again. Her two best friends were talking with the marauders (purposely, she suspected), so she had no one to talk to but James. She decided to start up a conversation. "So, James. How's Gryffindor's quidditch team going this year?" she asked. James was captain of the team.

James choked on his water in surprise of her saying something. "Erm…alright, I suppose. The beaters are really horrid, but they'll get there." Lily nodded her head in response, pretending to be interested in their conversation. James laughed at her expression.

"Listen," he said, amused. "We can talk about something else. I know you're not too interested in quidditch. So…erm…" he said, trying to think of a new topic of discussion. "How's your felix felicis going in potions?" he asked her, as it was all he could think of.

Lily laughed. "Oh, it's doing alright…the tinge of it is a bit off so far, though. How is yours?"

"Alright, I suppose…"

They sat in silence for a bit, not knowing what to talk about. Paige, Whitney, and the three other marauders had gone off to another table together (with their immense giggling), to give James and Lily what Paige called "privacy." Lily glanced over at them now. All five quickly looked away guiltily, as they were staring at James and Lily.

James suddenly cleared his throat. "So, Lily…rounds start tomorrow night, then?" he asked her.

"Erm, yes," said Lily, surprised James had used her first name. Suddenly she laughed. "James, you've got glitter all over your hands! It must be from my dress, you know, when you were holding my waist."

James stared at her in awe. "Did you just call me by my first name?"

"No! 'Course not, you prat!" Lily scoffed.

"AHA! You did call me by my first name!" James exclaimed loudly, pointing at her.

"Shut up."

"OOOH! DENIAL!" James smirked.

"I only called you James because you called me Lily!"

James gasped. "I did nothing of the sort!"

"You so did."

"I so didn't!"

"Come off it, James-"

"AHA! THERE! YOU DID IT AGAIN!"

"I'll admit I called you James if you admit you called me Lily!"

James sighed. "Fine. I called you Lily. But it just slipped out…I dunno why. You'll always be Evans to me."

"Good. Because you will always be Potter to me."

James smiled at her expression of determinedness. He then looked over at his friends, who were staring at him and Lily anxiously. "Look at that. They're all staring at us! And they said they were leaving us for privacy!" he chuckled.

They continued to talk animatedly, laughing and smiling at each other often. After about two hours of talking with James, someone suddenly tapped Lily on the shoulder. She turned around to see who it was, and gasped. There before her was the charming Hufflepuff, Andrew Gates, smiling down at her.

"Hey, Lily," he said, winking at her charmingly. "Want to dance?" he asked, full of confidence.

Lily giggled. "Alright, Andrew." She took the hand he had offered her, and walked with him to the dance floor. James scowled and crossed his arms over his chest, slumping into his chair. Stupid Gates, he thought. What does he have that I don't? Everything was going well until HE came and ruined everything. Sirius came over and sat next to him, looking at him anxiously.

"Erm…Prongs?" he asked cautiously. James was known to lose his temper after something horrible had happened between him and Lily (which happened pretty much everyday). James gave a sound of acknowledgement.

"Listen, mate," Sirius started. "Really sorry about that. It seemed like you two were actually getting along for a while. She'll come round eventually," he said comfortingly. He hated to see his best friend so miserable. Suddenly, Sirius' eyes lit up. "HEY PRONGS! What are you doing over here? This is not the James Potter I know! Get your ass over there and ask Evans to dance!"

James looked at him questioningly, then nodded his head in agreement. "Yeah. YEAH! I'm going to go over there! Thanks, Padfoot!" Sirius nodded wryly.

James made his way over to Lily and Andrew. "Er…Lil-Evans? May I have this dance?" Lily stared at him for a moment, then blushed and nodded.

"You don't mind, do you, Andrew?" she asked him. Andrew scowled, but shrugged, and stomped away, glaring at James. James smirked, cockily messing up his hair. He grabbed Lily's waist, and Lily wrapped her arms around his neck, blushing. They looked into each others eyes, acknowledging no one else. The song soon ended, but James kept his hands on Lily's waist.

"Another dance, Evans?" he asked her anxiously.

She giggled. "Um…sure, Potter...only because I have to, though," she blushed, pointing over at McGonagall.

James smirked. "Is it really because you have to? I think you're starting to enjoy my company, Miss Evans!"

Lily rolled her eyes. "I wouldn't go that far, Potter. I am now quite tempted to just leave you all alone on this dance floor!" But she didn't. In fact, James and Lily danced together for the rest of the night, not taking even one break. Sirius smiled to himself. I am SUCH a genius, he thought.

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Dear Journal,

Tonight was the Commencement Ball…the dancing went alright, I suppose. James – I mean Potter, and I even got applause. Then we sat at our table and just…talked. It was awkward talking to Potter. I'd never really gotten to know him before. I suppose it was a good opportunity to see that real him…strange thing is, he's actually not that bad! I don't know…maybe I'm just imagining things, but he seemed a bit polite tonight. Don't get me wrong, I mean, he's still as arrogant as ever. But now he's…a bit more mature.

Andrew, that cute Hufflepuff, asked me to dance tonight! I'm really happy he likes me back. I'm a little disappointed, though. All he talks about is himself. But maybe he was just nervous around me, which is sweet. Anyway, Potter cut in and we danced the rest of the night. I don't know why I kept dancing with him – perhaps I felt bad for him? Afterwards, Paige and Whitney kept smirking and gloating. Sirius was giving me looks of glee. I think he was mentally thanking me for not hurting his friend. I really hope Andrew isn't mad at me now! He looked kind of irritated when Potter cut in…I suppose I'll just have to see tomorrow. Andrew and I are getting closer, now. I hope he asks me out soon! I can't bear anymore waiting!

Lily Evans