Later that week, things were going just as horribly. It was Christmas Eve, and James hadn't talked to Lily since he had tried to 'confront' her. She had stayed as far away from him as physically possible; walking on the other side of the hallway and staying in her dorm all day. She hadn't really talked to Alicia, either. She was just too mad at her. Lily didn't think she would ever trust her again.

"Hey, Lily, what's the matter?" Alicia came into the dorm really quick, to get something; and she apparently realized that Lily wasn't in the best mood ever.

"Nothing," Lily managed to mumble back to Alicia.

"Seriously, Lils. What's bugging you?" She asked, now sitting next to Lily, at the end of her bed.

"I said nothing," Lily said a little louder, now getting annoyed that Alicia 'cared' so much. She was way too much of a busy body; getting into everyone else's business.

"Well, it's a lot of nothing," Alicia said, getting more annoying by the second and not moving off of Lily's bed.

"Well, maybe I don't feel like telling you," Lily said, hoping that that would get her off of her case.

"Why not; I've done everything possible to gain your trust! I thought we were friends?" Alicia reached Lily's boiling point. She went way too far, and pushed way too many buttons. Lily blew up in her face.

"Well, you know what! Maybe if you hadn't told James, then I would have been a little more trusting, and you're wrong- it's your entire fault that I don't trust you! Yea, you DID do something to take all the trust worthiness I had from you away! You told James! And now he thinks that I told the whole school before I told him! And I'm back to square one; because he thinks I'm a looser now. A complete and total looser!" Wow. Red-heads did have short tempers. And Lily was ticked. She burst out of her dorm, feeling tears start to run down her face. She stopped at the bottom of the stairs, to realize that the entire common room was staring at her. Apparently they had heard the entire shouting match between her and Alicia. Lily was even more upset than before now, and sprinted out of the common room. With dread, she realized that Remus, Sirius, and James had been the closest to her dorm; they probably heard the whole conversation.

She only realized where her feet carried her when she felt the snow whipping against her face. She quickly found shelter in a tree right next to the nearly frozen lake. She didn't know how long she had been out there when she heard someone calling her name.

"Lily! Where are you? Please, Alicia is a witch! It's a known fact!" Her breath caught in her throat. It was James. He had come looking for her. As Lily jumped out of the tree, her knees gave way beneath her, and her bottom hit the ground; hard. James came rushing towards her.

"Are you all right?" He asked in concern.

"No," Lily answered honestly; new tears streaming down her face. Her bottom was all right, yes. But her friendship wasn't. She had done a terrible thing. She had tried to become popular just so she could say she was popular; not to make friends or be nice to anyone, but for her own good. She was a selfish prat.

"What hurts?" He asked, sitting down next to her.

"My heart," Lily replied. James, understanding now, put his arm around her.

"Yeah, I know. Alicia isn't the nicest person in the world. I can't believe she would do a thing like that to you."

"No, well, that's part of it. But James, I did a horrible thing. I'm so selfish," Lily said, hearing her voice catch in her throat from crying so hard. "I forgot totally about the friends I really needed, and only thought of getting popular. I lost Liz, Beth and Theresa, and gained nothing except for a broken heart."

"I'm so sorry Lily," James said.

"Why would you say that? You didn't do anything."

"I left you heartbroken. I was mean. I should've realized that it was all Alicia."

"No no no! That's not it; I mean; I lost all of my friends, the fake and the real ones. I'm completely alone now." James looked hurt at what she said. Reading into his facial expressions; she quickly realized her mistake. "Oh no, James; the part about you liking me is true; but I don't know; somehow I figured you would never like me back, so I just totally didn't think about that. Actually, I tried not to; I didn't want to be heartbroken. But I still am; and it sucks." Lily felt the warm, salty tears now dripping off her face. She realized that she was shivering now, because she was outside while it was snowing, in a long-sleeve T-shirt and jeans; which were soaked from sitting in the snow.

"Let's get you up to the castle," James said, standing up with her, and putting his sweatshirt on her. She loved the way it smelled just like him. And she realized that she did have a friend; James forgave her about her selfishness because she realized what she had done, and she was sorry for it. She realized that was what trued friends did; forgave each other.