Lily was scribbling notes about Acromantula Venom and its value in the wizarding world as fast as she could that afternoon in her Potions class when a folded up piece of parchment landed on her desk. She looked around to see who had sent it to her, and she saw Alice a few seats away, watching her impatiently. Lily unfolded the note quietly, so as not to draw the attention of Professor Slughorn.

Vivaldi (that's your codename now),

Assistance requested. Official Hogsmeade business. Must decide on my date. Oh outfit too. Plus we need to figure out who you're going with. I may have a suggestion. And you may get frustrated when I tell you but I'm going to tell you anyway and you'll learn to appreciate it. Ooh! And also we need to decide what YOU'RE gonna wear. A follow up conversation at dinner is a must. Conversation may possibly carry over into the dorm, depending on how much you resist my ideas.

So dinner. No excuses.

Also I'm gonna need to borrow your notes and you're gonna have to help me because I haven't been paying attention at all. I hate potions and I know you're really good at it.

That's all.

Tchaikovsky (and that's my codename, FYI)

While the note was amusing - and very Alice - the prospect of being told she needed to go on a Hogsmeade date with James Potter was a little daunting. And that was inevitably what Alice was going to suggest, being the amateur matchmaker that she was.

Even though she wasn't necessarily looking forward to being pushed into a date, she was looking forward to eating with Alice. There was something so nice about eating with someone every day, talking about things like Hogsmeade, and clothes, and homework, and drama. It felt so… normal, which was not at all what she was used to.

It wasn't that Lily didn't have friends, that wasn't the case at all. She had enough "friends" to be satisfied. But they were all either muggles from her hometown and childhood, or they were more like acquaintances - prefects she had frequently gone on rounds with, housemates, roommates, students in other houses she had paired with for group projects. She was well known throughout the school, but was by no means "popular."

Then again, the Hogwarts popularity system wasn't set up the way it was in the teen romance movies she watched as a kid. Obviously the Quidditch teams were more like the 'jocks', who often disregarded their academic welfare in order to have fun and win tournaments. Then there were the 'nerds' - people who buckled down and focused on school, neglecting their social lives. Lily supposed Hogwarts was sort of a spectrum, with every person falling somewhere between two muggle stereotypes. She classified herself as being somewhere definitely closer to the 'nerd' end. She liked rules, she liked school, and she liked being the best, which required focus.

Alice, on the other hand, was the opposite. She loved to party and date, sometimes skipped classes because she was hungover or just didn't feel like it, broke a lot of school rules, yet somehow managed to do well in all of her classes.

It was strange that she and Lily got along so well, but it was like they balanced each other out. Alice brought out Lily's adventurous side, pushing her to be more sociable and let loose at meal times, encouraging silly jokes and meeting new members of their house, whereas Lily reined Alice in, and was a great study partner and enforcer of rules and safety regulations. They were quickly becoming close friends, and Lily was grateful for someone to give her advice about the whole Potter thing.

She scribbled a quick reply to Alice's note, whispered "Wingardium Leviosa," and sent the note back over to her friend's desk while Professor Slughorn's back was turned so he could write some other interesting tidbit about Acromantula Venom on the chalkboard. Alice's words stuck with her, though, and she didn't go back to writing notes. Was going with James to Hogsmeade an option? She let her eyes go out of focus and the quill in her hand wander as her thoughts about the Head Boy took the forefront.

"Alright, that's all I have for class today. Thanks very much for listening so aptly. And remember, I want a foot and a half on the venom of the widely feared Acromantula by next class!" Professor Slughorn announced. "Tell me about its value, its usage, its history, the extraction process, and any other fascinating Acromantula anecdotes you can think of. Ha! Acroman-ecdotes!"

Fuck, thought Lily. I was daydreaming and missed the last 15 minutes of information. That's 15 minutes of notes that could help me with this paper. Stupid James Potter.

Professor Slughorn continued, "Alright, alright, I've held you long enough. Have a lovely evening, you may all leave."

Lily was the first to stand of her classmates, but took her time packing up her belongings, and ended up being alone in a dark room, as her professor had extinguished the lights upon his exit. As she turned towards the door to leave for her nightly library study time before dinner, a lone figure stood silhouetted in the light from the hallway.

She'd recognize that shaggy hair anywhere, especially after thinking about it all day. "Hi James."

He began to walk towards her slowly, coming into the pale light streaking through the high windows of the classroom. "Uh, hey Lily." He had planned something more eloquent to say to her, but nerves got the best of him, so he settled on a cheesy joke. "So, fancy seeing you he-OH!"

And with that, James Potter slipped on spilled honeywater leftover from the 5th years venture into brewing Volubilis Potion, and hit the ground, hard, slamming the back of his head right into the concrete.

"James oh my god! Are you okay?" Lily rushed over to him and saw a trickle of blood coming from the back of his head. "James?"

He didn't respond, and he wasn't waking up.

A/N: ooh, a lil saucy drama in there for you! I also really like Alice and Lily's friendship so that's why i went into such detail about them this chapter. Really hope ya liked it! SORRY NOT SORRY FOR THE CLIFFHANGER mwahaha

-Chloe