The Dance

By the next day everyone knew about the break-up. About half the population was paying up because they lost the bet on when they would break up. They had bet that they would make it a month at least. Even some of the teachers were seen paying up on the bets. As for Lily she refused to be in the same room as James, if it wasn't necessary. Every time he would walk in, she walked out. Aimee and Sarah were constantly trying to repair the damage but Lily just walked out on them too. They found themselves wishing for sixth year back. At least then Lily would talk, or yell, at James. The silence was killing. Everyone could see it. Every day for a week Lily woke up with a bouquet of lilies on her bed stand. Everyday she would make them disappear. James would try to talk to her and she would just walk away. No one thought it would end.

The plans for the ball went on. Ravenclaw booked the Magick Muggles. The newest popular group. Gryffindor and Hufflepuff spent hours decorating the Main Hall. The colors were orange and black, Lily won, and Hagrid brought in jack-o-laterns. They were almost six feet tall and it took several charms to get them to move. Tiny lights were strung up everywhere so they illuminated the entire room. The day of the ball the floor changed to a mosaic portrait of black cats, witches on broomsticks, and full moons. The tables were moved to a side of the room where finger food was set up. A stage appeared in the north end of the room. It was almost a magical place to be in.

Finally the day of the ball arrived. Lily returned her costume to Hogsmede. At Aimee's she was going as Pitys. Her costume was stunning to look at. She wore a long green dressed that was the same shade as her eyes. Her green heels were hidden by her dress. In her hair she wore a crown of lilies. Her bracelet matched. The other two followed the Greek myth theme. Aimee decided to go as Artemis, the Goddess of the Hunt. Sarah choose Aphrodite goddess of love. It took them over two hours to get ready for the ball. Finally at 9:00 they were ready to go.

The minute that they were down there Sirius came up to them. He bowed and held out his hand, "May I have this dance?" He asked Sarah.

"If you tell me who you're supposed to be." Sarah said laughing.

"Anchises." Sirius answered promptly. "The mortal who Aphrodite fell in love with."

"I didn't know that you knew Greek myths." Sarah told him.

"I didn't." He answered. "James did. How much did you know?"

"Nothing. Aimee helped me."

"So shall we." Sirius asked, offering Sarah his hand.

Sarah looked at Aimee and Lily questionably. Lily nodded and Sarah smiled. She took Sirius's hand and they walked off to the center of the dance field. Remus was the next one to appear.

"Care to dance Aimee?" Remus asked, blushing.

"And you are supposed to be Orion?" Aimee guessed.

"You really are into Greek mythology." Remus said amazed. "Do you want to dance?" He offered again.

"Sure." Aimee accepted. Lily sighed and walked over to sit down by her friends.

All of a sudden James appeared in front of her. "One dance." He pleaded. Lily took a second to look at his costume. He now had a long, curly, brown hair with a beard to match. His pants looked like the hindquarters of a goat and there were horns in his hair. He wasn't wearing a shirt, and pipes were slung over his back. Around his neck was a wreath of pine.

"Who are you supposed to be?" Lily sneered.

"Dance with me and I'll tell you." James retorted. "One dance. That's all I want. Then I'll leave you alone. No more lilies. No more stalking. If you want I'll never talk to you again except when necessary. Please."

"Promise to leave me alone." Lily asked.

"I promise." James said. He held out his hand. The song stopped and a new one started. It was a slow melody and all the girls were leaning on their boyfriends. Lily took his hand.

"One song." She walked out on to the dance floor. James put his hand around her waist. They started moving slowly. "I thought you weren't going to wear a costume." Lily murmured.

"Well this one seemed appropriate." James answered.

"How so?" Lily asked.

"Don't you even know you are?" James asked, amazed.

"No." Lily answered honestly. "Aimee suggested it." Suddenly it dawned on her. "You planned this. You told Aimee what to tell me to wear. And then you had Sirius and Remus take away my friends." She accused.

"You are giving me way to much credit." James said. "But do you want to know the story of Pan" He motioned to his costume, "And Pitys or not."

"Fine." Lily conceded. "Tell me."

"Pan was desperately in love with Pitys." James began. "But Pitys swore that she would never be married. She ran from the maraudering Pan. From that day on Pan wore a wreath of pine around his neck. Someone was once a poem about it. 'Sing also of Pitys who hated marriage, who fled fast as the wind over the mountains to escape the unlawful wooing of Pan, and her fate - how she disappeared into the soil herself; put the blame of Ge (Earth)! Then she may perhaps lament the sorrows and the fate of the wailing Nymphe.' Since then the pine tree has represented love"

"Wow." Lily whispered. "How did you know all that"

James shrugged. "I like Muggle stories as well as their games. So do you like the story? I was hoping that you wouldn't turn yourself into a pine tree at the end of the night."

Lily laughed softly. "I love it. It's sad though. But it does suit us." She said sadly. She put her head on James's shoulder as they danced in silence.

A few moments later James broke the silence. He whispered into Lily's ear. "So is there any chance of us getting together?"

"I'm sorry James." Lily said. "But I don't think there is. We're just to different."

"I'll always love you." James told her.

"I think I'll always love you to." Lily answered truthfully. "But we just weren't meant to be." The song ended. Lily drew back.

"One more dance." James pleaded. Lily was about to answer when she heard someone screaming. She turned her head.

Standing there were two third years. There were leaves in their hair. "Death eaters." The girl screamed. She fainted.

The boy caught her then slowly put her on the floor. He ran up to Dumbledore. "There here. All of them. I didn't see You-Know-Who. They just came from Hogsmede. I could see the Death Mark. They're attacking." He said that in one long breath. His face was white. Everyone started to scream. Dumbledore had to put a spell on himself to be heard.

"Everyone to their dormitory. Professors, Potter, and Evans. Follow me." With that Dumbledore started to stride as fast as possible towards the door. Lily and James took a second to transfigure their costumes into Muggle pants and shirts. They started to run after him and the professors. Sirius and Remus followed close behind. From the corner of their eyes they could see the prefects ushering everyone towards the dormitories. Finally they ran out of the doors and were on the grounds.

Lily gaped at the people who were standing there. Dumbledore, McGonagall, Slughorn, Flitwick, Remus, Sirius, Lily, and James verse thirteen Death Eaters.

Dumbledore stepped forward and one of the Death Eaters copied the movements. "So where is Voldermort." Dumbledore asked.

"He couldn't be bothered to come here." The Death Eater sneered. "So I offered to kill you in his place."

"Tridain." Dumbledore named the man in front of him. "It's not to late to come back my old friend. I would welcome you here."

"You always thought that." The man named Tridain scoffed. "That you could save anyone. That you were always better. Well, 'old friend' I am here to kill you." Tridain motioned with his hand. Three of the Death Eaters stepped forward to help him. Dumbledore calmly took out his wand. In spite of themselves, the Death Eaters looked scared. That left one each for the rest of them.

Sirius and Remus moved so they were back-to-back. Lily and James copied the movement. James turned to Lily. "I love you." He turned back to face the Death Eater in front of him. Lily turned to deal with her own.

James stepped forward and started to walk in a circle. The Death Eater mimicked the pattern. "James Potter." James introduced himself. "Where you there the night that my parents were murdered?" He spat.

"The Potters." The Death Eater said. "I think I had that pleasure. I was the one who shot the Mark up that evening. Tonight I shall do it again over your dead body." He raised his right hand lazily and shot a curse at James. He jumped out of the way and sent one back. The Death Eater conjured a shield that sent it back. "I don't believe I introduced myself yet. I'm Regent." He shot another curse at James. James deflected and returned it. "Is that the best that you can do boy? I expected better. Your parents certainly put up a better fight. Well your mom did anyway."

James sent a curse that was yet again turned aside. "Don't talk about my parents."

"Then should I talk about your aunt and uncle. I killed them myself." He shot another curse at James. James shot one back. Regent deflected it but wasn't prepared for the one that followed. He was in a full body bind.

"I said don't talk about my family." James shouted. He cast another hex and the Death Eater started screaming. James bent down. "Don't worry. It'll wear off eventually." The Death Eater just kept screaming. Then James heard Lily shriek. He ran over to her. He paused as he saw that she had already taken care of the situation.

"Stufey." She yelled. James ran over to her.

"Why did you scream." he asked. She held out her arm. There was a huge burn that was obviously hurting her. James tapped it with his wand. He then turned to find Remus and Sirius. They had already dispatched with their Death Eaters and were coming over to them. Lily looked around at the rest of the people. McGonagall was still dueling with one of the Death Eaters, but she was obviously winning. The other professors had dealt with their Death Eaters even though Slughorn had needed help. Lily turned back to James. He was staring at something on the horizon. Lily turned to look. Her mouth dropped then her expression changed to one of fierce determination and resolve. James's expression mirrored hers. Walking up to meet them was Lord Voldermort.

A/N

Sorry for the cliffy. I'll try and update sometime this week. Thanks to GiddyGirlie, anon, Heartsdesire456, and Cassie93 for reviewing.