**Disclaimer: This chapter is quite a bit longer than the others- sorry! I got a bit carried away. I personally think it's a really fun chapter, but I don't really count.

I also want to apologize for my atrocious writing.

CH. 14 The Ball

James' stay at the Evans' felt much too short. Still, Christmas came; and the next day Lily apparated to the Potters. He and Sirius greeted her in front of the gate that required a password to get in. James gave her a kiss.

"We are never separating again. That was an eternity." He said as they walked briskly down the long driveway toward the warm house. Sirius rolled his eyes.

"James, it's been like three days." She laughed, but couldn't help admitting to herself that she had missed him.

"Lily!" Euphemia Potter rushed toward her as they entered the manor. "It is so wonderful to officially meet you."

"Nice to meet you Mrs. Potter. You have a beautiful home."

"Oh, you are lovely. Please call me Mia." She waved her wand and Lily's bag flew up the stairs. "Would you like some tea?"

"Tea sounds great, thank you." She let James' mum lead her into an old Victorian looking sitting room that already had tea set out for them.

"I would love to redecorate, but some of the furniture has been in this family for hundreds of years."

"So what does she do? Throw all the old stuff in one room." James chuckled. Lily marveled at the antiques surrounding her.

"Yes, well. It was about time the place looked more like a home and less like a museum. Lily, you are muggle-born, correct?"

"That's right." Lily sipped her tea.

"I just love working with muggles. Such brilliant things they come up with. I swear, sometimes I think we'd be better off without magic. Then I remember I can charm wrinkles off my face." Lily laughed.

"James told me you work for the Prime Minister."

"Yes, Callaghan is quite a man. What do your parents do?"

"My dad passed away when I was fourteen, but he worked for a bank. My mum is a teacher." Lily had been prepared for this question.

"Oh I'm so sorry, dear."

"Don't worry about it." Lily gave a half smile and took a big gulp of tea. James cleared his throat.

"Lily's the best in our year at charms, mum." Sirius said quickly after an awkward silence.

"Are you, now? Charms was my specialty at my old job. Do you know what you want to do after school?"

"Not, really. I've been thinking about a few things, but," Lily blushed, "It's going to be difficult for me to get a job with all that is going on. I was considering getting my Potion's Master's License a while back, but when the war picked up I decided I wanted to do something more involved."

"I see."

"Lily could do anything if people weren't such assholes."

"Language, James!"

"It's true! She's the best in our year at everything. Not just charms. People should be begging her to come work for them."

"James, we've talked about this. People are scared." Lily took his hand, calming him down.

"Actually James, I think you have Lilikins beat in Transfiguration and DADA." Sirius winked. Lily smiled as this lightened the tension a bit.

"Well, whatever. You get the point." Mia rolled her eyes at the boys and smiled at Lily.

"On another note, are you excited for the ball, Lily?"

"Oh yes, I can't wait. Marlene is taking me to look at gowns tomorrow. I don't think I can…"

"Nonsense! As my Christmas gift to you, I have already scheduled an appointment with my tailor. He should be here later today." Lily was dumbfounded.

"Mia I can't let you do that. Thank you so much but…"

"Lily, please. I really want to." She genuinely looked like she wanted to do this for Lily. "I always wanted a daughter to do these things with. Anyway Carim gives me huge discounts so I'll be paying next to nothing." Lily knew that 'next to nothing' was a lot different for the Potters than it was for her, but she decided to agree.

"If you insist, Mia."

"Oh, wonderful!"

James had a glass of red wine in his hand, standing next to Sirius who was smoothing back his hair.

"How do I look?"

"Dashing." Sirius responded as he straightened his tie.

Not many guests had arrived yet, and nor had the muggle band, so they stood at one of the cocktail tables, waiting for their dates. James felt butterflies in his stomach when he thought about seeing Lily in a gown. Then again, she would look beautiful in sweatpants.

"Who's your date?"

"Hailey Bryce."

"Ahh. So that's what you were doing when you went to talk to her in the Three Broomsticks."

"Nah. That time we just talked. I asked her last week after we snogged in a broom cupboard."

"Classy."

"You really wanna talk about classy?"

"Touché." James smirked and took a sip of wine. He turned to Sirius when a flash of red caught his eye and he looked up, and almost choked.

Lily was an absolute vision. She wore a midnight blue sequin dress that looked like a starry night sky. The top was a halter with a plunging neckline so it showed quite a bit of skin. The dress hugged her curves and fell delicately to the floor. There was a short slit going up the left side that he found very sexy as well.

Her hair was teased on the top then went into an elaborate updo in back, finally falling to her right shoulder in thick, shiny curl. James wasn't sure he wanted to know how long that took. Her makeup was simple but beautiful. She had dark red lips and glitter on her eyelids. She smiled at James when he approached her.

"Hey handsome." He was still speechless for a moment.

"Lily you look…well," he cleared his throat, glancing at her chest. "You look fucking gorgeous." Lily giggled and blushed.

"Thanks, James. Carim got a little carried away I think. Especially with this neckline." She tried pulling her dress up a bit. "I feel like my boobs are popping out. You're mum is going to think I'm a slag."

"I'd be okay with that." Sirius said, handing Lily a glass of wine. "Stop fidgeting, Evans. You look hot. And Mia will not think that at all. She knows how Carim makes his dresses, and she likes to show a bit of skin herself."

"Thanks, Sirius." Lily took the glass and relaxed a bit. "Is Hailey here?"

"Not yet."

"Oh Lily, you're gorgeous!" Mia came up to them. "I just love this color on you. Carim did a wonderful job. Anyway, I've got to go greet some more guests. Have fun!"

"Thanks Mia!"

"See? Nothing to worry about." James said as his mother walked away.

"You're right. So the dress is okay?"

"It's perfect. Your perfect."

"Yuck. Oh, Perfect timing. Hailey!" Sirius called out to a girl wearing a silver gown, her dirty blond hair half up.

"Hey Sirius," She gave him a bashful smile. "Hey guys." She nodded to James and Lily.

"Hey Hailey, I love your dress." Lily pointed politely.

"Thanks. It's not as pretty as your gown, though. You look stunning. Like a movie star."

"Ahh stop it you're too kind. And this is all the work of a man named Carim and his team. They can really transform anyone." The two girls laughed.

"What would you like to drink? It's all muggle drinks here, so you'll know better than I do."

"Wonderful! I'll have a gin and tonic."

"Well alright then." They walked toward the bar to order and James turned to Lily.

"What do you think?" He gestured to the room.

"It's really something, James."

"Just you wait." He winked.

When all the guests had arrived, Euphemia directed people into the dining room. It looked to be about the size of the great hall, with about fifty round tables that were lavishly set. Hailey, Sirius, James, and Lily sat at a table with six other kids around their age, including Therese, Sirius' summer fling from Beauxbatons.

"Lily, 'ow long 'ave you and James been dating?" Therese asked in her French accent. Lily was quite intimidated by the tall, raven-haired beauty. She looked like a supermodel in a skin-tight red dress.

"Er- about five months?" She smiled at James.

"Good for you. I know Sirius does not exactly like commitment, so it's a good thing you didn't go after him." She said with a small laugh. There was a few seconds of awkward silence, and Lily felt bad for Hailey.

"Maybe I just didn't want commitment with you, Therese." Sirius said coolly, putting his arm on the back of Hailey's chair.

"So are you saying you and zis girl are together?" The discussion was getting a little heated and Therese's date looked extremely uncomfortable.

"She has a name. It's Hailey. And maybe we are." Hailey blushed, looking at her lap. Therese glared at the two, then smiled.

"Well I'm glad for you then." Sirius snorted and rolled his eyes. For a full thirty seconds, no one said anything.

"So, Samuel, Joseph; you two go to Durmstrang?" Lily couldn't come up with anything more exciting and the tension was overwhelming.

"Yes." The older one, Samuel responded. "I am graduating this year and my brother is in his fifth year." To Lily's surprise, he sounded Irish.

"Cool. Where are you guys from?" James asked; he must have recognized Samuel's accent too.

"We grew up in Dublin, actually." Joseph responded. "We would have gone to Hogwarts if my father's job hadn't taken us to Norway a few years ago."

"I think Durmstrang is a much better school than Hogwarts. They…"

"Therese," Lily wanted to punch this girl in the face. "Please, would you mind keeping those types of comments to yourself?"

"I'll keep my comments to myself if you keep your breasts to yourself, Lily." She gave her a disdainful look. "Honestly, I'm surprised James is not angry with you. Half of 'ze men in this room have gawked at you."

"One, don't presume to know anything about James. And two," Lily put on a smile just to annoy her. "Only half? I thought I would attract more attention than that. Dang. Maybe I should flash the crowd." She looked at James as if to get his approval and he nodded. The whole table was watching the duel, and Lily was fuming. Sirius had a huge grin on his face and James was holding Lily's hand under the table.

"Yes, maybe that would be a good way to win over the purebloods in the crowd. After all, some might be very judgmental of you're relationship. Do they know you're in love with a mudblood James?" Sirius and James stood up from their chairs about to yell, but Lily responded first.

"Classy, Therese. It's a real mystery why Sirius didn't want to commit. Tell me, are all Beauxbatons girls completely nuts, or is it just you?" At this, Therese stood up, picking up her wine and threw it at Lily, spilling all over her dress. Lily gasped, but held back a scream. She wanted to cry, but she wouldn't let Therese win. She looked her directly in the eye before the French girl walked away.

"Goodbye Lily." Then she turned to look at the rest of the table. "It 'as been a pleasure, but I 'ave much better things to do." She turned to leave but Lily grabbed her arm.

"If you ever," She whispered in her ear, "Call me a mudblood or threaten my relationship or any of my friends' relationships again, or step foot in this house again, and I will permanently hex those beautiful locks of hair off your head and you'll be bald for life." Therese pulled away, looking horrified, and Lily winked at her as she scurried away.

"You gonna follow her?" Joseph, the Durmstrang boy asked Therese's date.

"You kidding? I think Sirius here had the right idea." The boy said. "And to answer your question, Lily, yes. All girls at Beauxbatons are crazy. Some more so than others." They all laughed.

"I should actually clean my dress off. I'll be back in a minute." Lily excused herself to go upstairs and get her wand.

She knew he would follow her. Sure enough, just as she found her wand and cleaned the wine off her dress, she heard the door to her room open.

"Hey." He came in, locking the door.

"Hey." Lily pretended to act nonchalant and looked in the mirror, straightening her dress.

"You okay? That got pretty heated down there."

"Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry, I didn't mean to cause a scene. She was just being so awful."

"You didn't cause a scene, don't worry about it." He came up behind her and looked at her in the mirror.

"I think we have something else to worry about." She giggled. She could feel the bulge in his trousers pressing into her from behind. He kissed her neck and put his hands on her hips.

"She was wrong. I think all the men have been gawking at you tonight." He ran his hands up and down her body, then moved his hands to play with the straps of her dress as he continued kissing her shoulder. Suddenly, Lily pulled away.

"Close your eyes."

"What?"

"Just do it, James." He gave her a questioning look, but did as he was told. Lily slipped her dress off and hung it over the chair. She was wearing a dark blue lingerie set that she ordered to match her dress. It was a corset that, because of her plunging neckline, did not cover her breasts, but simply pushed them up. The underwear was lace and her pussy could be seen through the fabric. Finally, she wore sheer stockings that attached to the underwear. "Okay. Open them."

James' jaw dropped. Lily was standing by the bed in an outfit that was beyond anything he'd seen in his dreams. He nearly came in his pants.

"Well?" She spun around.

"I think you're going to kill me." He charged toward her and pushed her back on the bed.

They both knew they were in a hurry, but when James unzipped his pants and pushed her panties aside so he could thrust into her, she gasped. His ferocity was incredible and he started pounding into her immediately.

She ran her fingers through his hair as he sucked on her neck. "Yes, James don't stop!"

"Fuckkkk Lils." He grabbed one of her legs and brought it from his waist to his shoulder so he could gain even deeper access. Lily looked like she had lost her voice for a minute when he did this. She threw her head back as he continued to thrust and she rolled her hips up to meet his.

"YES YES YES FUCK ME JAMES!"

James was watching her scream and he couldn't hold it much longer. Beads of sweat were dripping down his forehead and he was grunting; making incoherent sounds.

Lily grabbed James' face so she could kiss him and she moaned into his mouth.

"James! I'm, I'm cumming!" She said, pulling away.

"Yes, me too. Cum for me Lils." James brought a couple fingers between them her clit.

"Oh my god! Yes! Oh god!"

"Go on baby, come for me." And she did. She squeezed her eyes shut and grabbed his back to bring him close, screaming in delight. She clenched around him and was momentarily lost of all words.

James felt her tighten around him and couldn't help himself. He groaned and exploded into her. For a minute they simply lay there, still connected as one,

"Babe? My leg is kind of cramping up and I can't really move it without your help." Lily laughed a little, but shifted uncomfortably beneath him.

"Oops. Sorry, love." He kissed her forehead and pulled out of her. She lowered her leg and bent it a couple times back and forth to stretch it out.

They got dressed, cleaning themselves off and Lily fixed her makeup and hair.

"At least your hair is always messy anyway." She said to him as they walked down the stairs.

"Lily! There you are. Where have you two been?"

"Oh. Therese poured wine on Lily's gown so we had to go clean her up. I just wanted to make sure she was okay." Mia nodded, but she was looking away so it was obvious she was distracted.

"Yes well I've been wanting to introduce you to Fleamont but everyone has been stealing him away."

"I'm sure we'll find him sometime tonight, mum."

"Okay. Well you better get to the ballroom. I am requiring you join us for a few formal dances before you join the other kids."

"Fine."

"Don't worry James. That muggle band hasn't arrived yet." Lily looked at James questioningly and he winked at her.

Sirius and Hailey were hanging out with Samuel and Joseph in the guesthouse where the kids' party was taking place. It was completely cleared out and there was a stage set up.

"Sorry about earlier." Sirius said when they had a minute alone. "Therese is kind of a bitch."

"No worries, Sirius. I think she just missed you or something." She took a sip of her drink and looked at the crowd.

"Well I don't miss her. And I hope I didn't make you uncomfortable by saying we're together."

"Oh don't worry, I know you were just saying that."

"Maybe I wasn't." Sirius said, tilting her chin up so he could look her in the eye.

"What?"

"Would you want to give it a try? Maybe come with me on the next Hogsmeade weekend?"

"Why?" Hailey looked very confused.

"Why? Because I fancy you. You're not like the other girls."

"You do?" He chuckled. She was so cute. He really did like her. In fact, he hadn't told James this, but they had been hanging out quite a bit since he sat with her that day in the Three Broomsticks. He sat with her while she studied in the library and they snogged in the broom closets between classes. The best part of it was, he wasn't even thinking about Marlene.

"Yes, silly. Now do you wanna date me or not?" Hailey giggled.

"Yes, Sirius. I'd be delighted to date you." She grabbed his collar to pull his face to hers and kissed him. He was a whole head taller than her so he usually had to bend down, but he grabbed her waist and picked her up off the ground so they were level.

"This'll be fun." He said, putting her back on the ground. He handed her a gin and tonic.

"Oh Sirius Black, you are trouble."

"You got that right." Lily said, walking up to them with James.

"How's it going?" James asked, pouring wine for Lily and himself.

"Good. Hailey and I are dating now. When's…"

"Wait, what?"

"Yep. Sirius Black is off the market."

"Wow. Congrats, mate. And to you Hailey." They laughed.

Just as they found Joseph and Samuel, Mia entered the guesthouse and stepped up on stage and spoke into the microphone. "Ladies and gentlemen, The Police!"

Sirius jumped as he heard both Lily and Hailey scream. All the kids were crowding around the stage as the band set up.

"James! How could you not tell me you guys got The Police?"

"It was a surprise!" He yelled as they started playing. Hailey was also grinning from ear to ear.

He took her by the waist and they danced for two hours while the band played. Finally, at 11, they gave their encore performance and left.

Everyone was several drinks in by now, and things were getting pretty rowdy in the guesthouse. One of the muggles had taken over the music when they left. James and Lily were making out in a corner. Sirius and Hailey joined in a drinking game called flip cup that the muggles were playing. Hailey, being muggleborn, explained it to Sirius before they joined in.

At 11:55, James stood up on stage with Lily holding his hand. "Okay everyone," His speech was surprisingly clear. "Get your bottles of champagne and your dates ready. The countdown to 1978 is beginning in just a few minutes."

Sirius grabbed a bottle of champagne for both him and Hailey.

Lily was standing on stage with James as they began the countdown. "5, 4, 3, 2, 1! HAPPY NEW YEAR!" James leaned down, wrapping his arms around her waist and gave her a very aggressive, dramatic kiss. Lily was too lost in the moment to care that they were on stage, and wrapped her arms around his neck, returning the kiss.

She heard bottles popping and pulled away from the kiss. James saw what she was looking at and picked up his own bottle, popping it and pouring it into the two glasses he had prepared. They clinked glasses and drank, listening to the crowd sing a sloppy version of "Aud Lang Syne."

"Ahem," James spoke into the microphone as he clinked a spoon to his champagne glass. Everyone followed his lead until it was quiet. "Well, the night is far from over but I'd like to take a minute to wish everyone a happy New Year and thank you all for coming. I don't usually make resolutions, or look into the future. But this year, a few things have changed and I hope from now on to appreciate each and every day I have with the people I love." He looked at Lily, then back at the crowd. "And I hope you all can do the same. So cheers to a great 1979!" He held up his glass, and the crowd drank. "And now, I will hand the mic over to my friend Sirius." Sirius jumped up on stage.

"Hello ladies and gents, now its time to really get the party going. It's karaoke time!" The crowd cheered and began talking. "Now, we don't want to make it a contest. Just have fun with it. And, as is tradition, I will kick us off." Joseph, who had been setting up the Karaoke gave Sirius the thumbs up. Sirius nodded at him and loosened his tie.

Lily heard the music start and laughed. Of course Sirius would pick this. It was Immigrant Song by Led Zeppelin and he was doing a marvelous job on the opening. He didn't need to look at the screen with the lyrics, which was impressive considering how fast the song was.

We come from the land of the ice and snow,
From the midnight sun where the hot springs flow.

Hammer of the gods will drive our ships to new land.
To fight the hordes and sing, and cry.
Valhalla, I am coming.

Always sweep with, with threshing oar.
Our only goal will be the western shore.

She saw James was singing along and she did the same. Everyone was dancing again, and Lily made a mental note to never let this night end.

Sirius gave a dramatic bow when he was finished and stepped off the stage.

"Alright girls, let's see what you got." Sirius said.

"Just you wait, Black. We'll be right back." Hailey took Lily's hand and led her through the crowd to the loo.

To Lily's surprise, in just a few minutes they had come up gathered two other girls to sing with them. Also, she was impressed that Hailey was able to coordinate some dancing to go with their song. Ten minutes later, the girls wrote their names down to get in line.

After a few more songs, it was their turn. Lily was drunk enough not to be nervous but she still had excited jitters. It was a big crowd after all.

"This one is for all you singles in the crowd that are on the prowl tonight." Hailey said. The music started and the four girls started swaying their hips. Everyone hooted and cheered.

Hailey had the first solo and she was amazing. She had a wonderful voice and she sang the Donna Summers song dramatically and very sexily.

Sittin' here eatin' my heart out waitin'
Waitin' for some lover to call
Dialed about a thousand numbers lately
Almost rang the phone off the wall

The other girls joined in and sang:

Lookin' for some hot stuff baby this evenin'
I need some hot stuff baby tonight
I want some hot stuff baby this evenin'
Gotta have some hot stuff
Gotta have some love tonight
I need hot stuff

I want some hot stuff
I need some hot stuff

Lily was singing her solo to Donna Summers' "Hot Stuff" and she wasn't half bad. Sure, Hailey had a really good voice, but Lily was doing fine, and she was doing a very sexy dance. James hooted and clapped along with the crowd. He couldn't help noticing how sexy she looked up on that stage.

The crowd was going crazy for Hailey, Lily and the two other girls he didn't recognize. When the song was over, people screamed and Hailey jumped into the mosh pit to crowd surf.

"You guys were amazing!" He gave Hailey a high-five when she was let down.

"Not bad Bryce. I didn't know you could sing." Sirius kissed her on the cheek. "Lily, on the other hand…" He smirked as she joined them.

"Has the voice of an angel?" Lily said. "I know, right?"

"Something like that."

"Hey you guys this is Michelle and Anna. We met in the bathroom a few minutes ago." Lily said as the two girls that sang with them came up, giggling.

"Hey. I'm James, this is Sirius."

"Nice to meet you. I think my dad works with your mum, James." Michelle, the younger girl said. She was American.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. My dad is in the president's cabinet, so he told me he coordinates with your mom a lot."

"Cabinet?" Sirius looked very confused. James nudged him in the side and Lily giggled.

"I see."

"That was wonderful, ladies!" Samuel said as he joined to the group. Alongside him was Joseph, and the Beauxbatons boy.

"Au chante madamoiselles." Joseph said in a very poor French accent, then kissed Michelle and Anna's hands. They giggled.

"Well done Joseph." The tall Beauxbatons boy (who's name James had yet to find out) said, clapping him on the back. "I'm Gus." Well that's unexpected. Anna, the older one, swooned at him. "And you are?"

"I'm Anna and this is Michelle."

"You are Americans."

"You are French."

"And we are Irish, but live in Norway. I'm Samuel, and this charmer is Joseph as you heard." James chuckled as the sloppy boys tried to impress the girls.

The group made their way toward the drinks table so they could talk without the crowd surrounding them. Joseph asked Michelle to dance with him since they were around the same age, and James laughed at how goofy he looked. The karaoke continued, which was sometimes funny, sometimes impressive, and sometimes downright horrible. But people still cheered for the bad singers anyway.

Sirius did an encore performance, serenading Hailey by singing "You Sexy Thing." Then the Samuel and Joseph dedicated a Bruce Springsteen song to the American girls.

"When are you going up?" Lily asked James.

"Oh, I leave the karaoke to Padfoot." Lily smirked at him.

"Come on. I know how good you are."

"Lils, I don't know."

"You want me to do one with you?" She wiggled her eyebrows.

"Hmm, Nah, I think got this." What she didn't know was that he was totally pretending. James was just letting everyone have a turn before he pulled out his performance. He was much to drunk to be shy about his singing voice right now, and he knew exactly what he would sing, because he sang it every year.

Finally, when everyone on the list had gone up, James stood on stage and cleared his throat. "If there's no one else, I think I'll take the stage now. Anyone? Last chance." No one responded. "Okay then. Sirius?" Sirius handed him his electric guitar.

The song started and he started playing and before he started singing he said, "For you, Lils." And he sang "Honkey Tonk Woman," while the crowd clapped and sang along. For the chorus, Sirius jumped up on stage and did backup. He saw Lily grinning from ear to ear and he smiled back, keeping his eyes on her the entire song.

By the time it was over, the crowd had pushed Lily to the front so he could sing to her. He jumped off the stage, dropping his guitar without a care in the world, and grabbed her by the waist, kissing her fiercely. The crowd gave hoots and catcalls, and he was loving every bit of it.

The party went on for another hour until finally winding down at around 3:00 am. James was exhausted and he could tell Lily was too.

"Can we go to bed or do we have to wait for everyone to leave?" Lily leaned her head on his chest and James looked around. There were several couples making out, some people still playing drinking games, and some still looked engrossed in conversation. Even though at least half of the crowd had left and another third was on their way out, it would be hours before they got all the guests out.

"I don't think so. I'm knackered, you wanna turn in?"

"Yes. Let's go." They went to say goodbye but their new friends' mouths were occupied. They laughed and walked into the house and up the stairs.

"Thank you James. This has been the best, most funnest," James laughed at her drunken grammer, "most magical night of my life." Lily hugged him when they reached the room she was staying in. Still in her gown, she fell onto the bed and put her head on a pillow.

"Lils, you'll be mad if you sleep in that dress. Come here." He unzipped her dress and let it fall to the floor, then found a t-shirt for her to wear. He was having a lot of difficulty with the lingerie, but he knew it would be very uncomfortable to sleep in, so he persisted.

"Here." Her eyes were half open but she helped undo the corset and the clips to her stockings, allowing James to do the rest.

"Thanks." He pulled the stockings and the corset off, putting them away. He hung up her dress. Finally, he put the t-shirt on her and gave her a kiss on the forehead.

"You won't stay?"

"Sorry. Afraid you still look too sexy right now and I don't know if I'll be able to control myself. Plus my parents may be a bit suspicious."

"Okay. Well I'll miss you. I love you." She turned over and he was pretty sure she was out.

"Love you, Lily. Get some sleep. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Mmm."

**There's chapter 14! Can't believe I've done this many chapters already. I'd love some reviews and suggestions! And I wanna thank my followers!