Disclaimer: All the characters that you recognize belong to J. K. Rowling.
Author's Note: Thanks to cilverblood, J.E.A.R.K.Potter, xxxMs.Mexxx, MissMrprk, gatoriris, siriuszsecretlover, Boy-Crazy Bookworm, Jessie xxx, marauderyears, Pranks Are So Siriusly Padfoot, ilovecaptainjacks, little-angel123452000, RawBean, KC's-Diamond, Prongsie-Jamesie, and Denise for reviewing! I love you guys more than words can describe!
Note: This takes place about a week after the last chapter.
"Why the long face?" Gracie asked.
Lily had just slumped into one of the comfy, red chairs in the common room, and she didn't look pleased at all. She had a sour look upon her normally pleasant face, and her arms were crossed tightly across her chest.
"Boys are so annoying," Lily bitterly answered.
"What happened?" Zoë asked.
"None of them will go out with me," Lily complained loudly.
"Oh, poor you," Gracie mocked.
"I'm serious, and how am I supposed to make James jealous if I can't even get a stupid boyfriend?"
"Why do you even want to make him jealous? I mean, just tell him that you're still madly in love with him, and he'll come running back," Zoë logically said.
"I'm not in love with him…I don't even like him. I just want to make him jealous, and prove that I've moved on," Lily answered.
They sat there in silence for some time, none of the girls knowing what to say next. Of course, both Zoë and Gracie wanted to tell Lily that she was being a fool. They wanted to scream at her for breaking both James' and her own heart. And, they wanted to shove her and James together until they worked out their problems. In fact, all they wanted was for Lily to be happy again. And that wouldn't happen until she and James were back together. Both girls could sense it.
"I know it!" Lily shrieked. "I just have to dress more provocative, and then all the guys will be after me." With that said, Lily hoped off of the chair and ran up to her dormitory.
"My God, she's off her rocker," Gracie miserably said while placing her hands on her cheeks.
"Tell me about it," Zoë answered sarcastically.
…
"Look at her," James complained to his friends. The Marauders, minus Sirius, were seated in the Great Hall, still polishing off their apple pie.
"Don't pay any attention to her, mate," Remus said without even looking up. He knew that just about every word that came out of James' mouth was about Lily.
"How can I not pay any attention? She's off gallivanting around all those guys from Hufflepuff."
"Just don't look at her, its making you more upset," Peter told his friend.
"But look at her smile…It's so perfect. And she's smiling at them! And she's flirting with them! And would you look at that shirt? She shouldn't be able to wear that shirt, no one but me should be able to see what's being seen," James exclaimed.
"You're not dating anymore, she can do whatever the bloody hell she wants," Remus said while looking up at the red head across the room.
"If you're trying to help, you're failing miserably," James told his friend.
"I know, sorry," he responded.
Just then Sirius Black came running into the Great Hall. He had a gigantic smile on his face; as if he had just won a billion galleons.
"What's up with you, mate?" Sirius asked once he saw James' facial expression.
"Lily," Peter answered for James.
"Oh, well, cheer up, I've got exciting news," Sirius told the group. His eyes were wide with enthusiasm, and his gigantic smile told the group that either a prank or an adventure was what Sirius had been so happy about.
"Well, are you going to tell us or not?" Remus asked after a moment of silence went by.
"Oh, right. I just heard that Dumbledore will be out of town this weekend."
"Your point?" James asked.
"It'll be the perfect time to sneak into his office!"
"Why would we do that?" Remus asked with a look of confusion on his face. Identical looks were on the faces of Peter and James as well.
Sirius's eyes went wide when he realized what was happening. "Have you lot lost your mind? Don't you remember what Prongs found out while finding out the Slytherin password?"
"Um, what?" Peter asked.
"The meeting that Dumbledore and McGonagall were talking about! You know, the one to fight against you-know-who! Remember, we were going to sneak into the office to find out what was happening," Sirius told the group.
"Oh, right, forgot about that one," Peter said with a smile.
"Yeah, it's going to be great," Sirius told the group with a smirk.
…
Lily sat on top of her bed that night, depressed at the results from her search. Not a single guy was attracted to her in a more than friendly way, well, at least not any guy worth dating. There were a few guys that were so revolting Lily could imagine herself throwing up if they tried to kiss her.
"I am a failure at life," she complained to her dorm mates.
"No you're not, Lils," Marissa said.
"Don't call me that," Lily snapped.
"What? Lils?"
"James was the only one who ever called me that," Lily told the group.
"Sorry," Marissa said. "But you're still not a failure at life."
"Yes I am, I can't even get a boyfriend."
"You're trying way too hard…Besides, you had James for a while, and that definitely doesn't say 'failure' to me," Marissa told her with a smile.
"Well, it's over now, and that says, 'failure' to me," answered Lily.
Marissa only rolled her eyes at that comment, not knowing anything smart and witty to say to that.
After a few moments, Scarlett looked up from her magazine and asked, "Know what?"
"What" came the chorus of girls.
"We haven't had a good 'girl's night' in a real long time. So how about tonight we have one?"
"I like the way you think," Gracie answered with a huge grin on her face.
"Why thank you, so do I," Scarlett answered sweetly.
In no time at all, the five friends were ready for their night. Zoë had snuck down into the kitchens for some tasty snacks, everyone changed into pajamas, and the fun was about to begin.
"Okay, how about we play a game," Gracie suggested.
"Like what?"
"How about 'Never have I ever'" she asked.
"No," cried out Marissa. She simply hated playing that game, because each time she lost miserably. For it was a game of innocence, and she was nothing of that sort. The game went like this: everyone started out with ten fingers in the air, and the first person would say 'Never have I ever…cheated on anyone,' and everyone who had cheated on someone would put down a finger. The person with the fingers up the longest would win the game.
"Oh, come on, Marissa," Zoë whined.
"Fine, but I start first," she answered. "Okay, never have I ever dated anyone younger than me."
Blushing furiously, Gracie put down one finger. The others laughed as they recalled fourth year when Gracie started to like a third year Ravenclaw. The two of them had dated for two weeks before she realized how pathetic he was and dumped him.
"Okay, my turn," Scarlett told the group. "Never have I ever gotten drunk."
"Not fair," Lily whined as she, Marissa, Zoë, and Gracie each put their fingers down. The one time Lily had had gotten terribly drunk, was the one time that Scarlett had not come with the girls to a club. When there, each of the girls had a few too many drinks. None of them could see straight, and heading back to Gracie's house had been a nightmare. They ended up having a complete stranger write an owl to Scarlett to come help them.
"Okay, never have I ever had sex," Lily said while glaring at Scarlett.
And to Lily's surprise, not only Marissa and Scarlett put a finger down, but one of Zoë's went down as well.
"Zoë, care to explain?" Lily asked.
"Not really," she replied sweetly before saying, "Never have I ever made out with a Marauder."
This time Lily's face went sour, but she obediently put a finger down. She was regretting playing this game now, figuring that her friends would say everything related to the Marauders.
As the game progressed, Marissa, as she predicted, was the first to lose the game. But quickly following her was Scarlett, and the Lily, and then Zoë, leaving Gracie as the winner of the game.
"Man, I just love playing that game," Gracie said with a smile.
"Only because you never lose," Marissa retorted.
"Not true, Lily used to beat me. Until James came into her life, that is," she answered with a smirk in Lily's direction.
"Shut up," Lily snapped.
"Okay, new game!" Zoë said excitedly. She had just finished her fourth can of soda and was now on a fairly large sugar high.
"Like what?"
"How about truth or dare?" Scarlett suggested.
"No, last time we played, the results weren't too pretty," Lily said while thinking back to the incident on the train. Learning that Marissa and James had 'hooked up' once didn't make her very pleased at all. But then again, she wasn't dating James at the moment, so there was nothing to worry about, right?
"Actually, we can play," Lily said.
"Great, I go first!" Zoë told the group. "Scarlett, truth or dare?"
"Dare."
"Okay, go up to the boy's dorm, and sing and dance for them."
"That's so retarded," Scarlett told her, but got up off of her bed and headed up the door.
"There's no way she'll actually do it," Lily commented.
"Yes she will," Gracie answered.
"How do you know?"
"Because, if not she'll have a bad case of acne until she actually does it." Gracie responded. She saw a look of confusion on Lily's face, and added, "Its witch's truth or dare. That's what happens if you don't do a dare or tell the truth; you get a bad case of acne until you do it, or tell the truth."
Just then Scarlett came back in the room laughing. "That was awful Sutton, you'll pay for that."
"Fine, show me what you got then," Zoë challenged.
"I will," Scarlett remarked, "truth or dare."
"Dare," Zoë automatically responded.
"Okay, go down to the common room and ask Eddy Madison for a massage."
Zoë shot her a death glare, but went out the door anyways. Of course, just hearing the dare doesn't sound too awful at all, unless you know Eddy Madison. Eddy is fifth year in Gryffindor, and absolutely repulsive. For one, he thinks he is such a cool guy, but in reality no one likes him. He's one of the school's biggest perverts, even resorting to hiding under the benches to look up girl's skirts. And thirdly, he's not even remotely attractive. His hair is blonde and greasy, looking like he never showers. He has a face full of zits, big black glasses, and a mouth full of braces. Basically, the ideal geek.
Once Zoë returned, she had a look of disgust on her face. "Scarlett, you are awful. He wouldn't stop, I had to physically get his hands off of me."
"Physically?" Gracie asked with a grin.
"Shut up, you are so gross," Zoë whined while holding back a laugh.
After that dare, Zoë dared Scarlett again, who in turn dared Zoë again. In fact, it was like the two of them were the only ones playing the game at all. No one else was getting the chance to play, because Zoë and Scarlett always wanted to get each other back for the dares they had just had to do.
"Okay, enough, there are others in the room," Gracie finally said after thirty minutes of sitting there.
"Oh, right," Scarlett said once she realized what had been occurring. "Zoë, this isn't over, I'll get you next time…Lily, truth or dare?"
"Um, truth," she answered weakly.
"Do you still love James?" Scarlett asked. Her eyes were focused on Lily's green orbs, and her voice was calm.
The room went silent while they waited for Lily's answer.
"N-no," she stammered.
Suddenly, as if right on cue, a big, red pimple appeared on her nose. And rapidly more started to break out onto her pale skin.
"You do! I knew it," Gracie said as she tossed a mirror in Lily's direction.
Lily instantly caught the mirror and held up to her face. She almost screamed at what she saw. "But, but I don't love him," she said while her eyes began to tear up.
"Then why is that happening?" Gracie asked as she pointed to Lily's face, which had broken out even more after the lie was said once more.
"I can't love him though," Lily told the group while placing her hands over her face.
"Lily Marie Evans, you love James Potter," Scarlett said with a grin as she got up to walk over to Lily's seat.
She didn't respond to that, only sat where she was.
"Lily, you're allowed to love him, you know. And if you just go out with him you'll be happy again," Scarlett told her.
"You're wrong," Lily said while looking up at her friends.
"If we're wrong, than how come your face looks like this?" Marissa asked.
"Fine, fine, you're all right. I love James Potter. I love him!"
Once the words left her lips, Lily's face returned to its usual complexion. The faces of her friends were those of smiles and expressions that said, "I knew it!" Most of all, Lily felt her heart become free. She had finally admitted it to herself that she still loved James, and that she would always be in love with James.
"I knew it, I knew you still cared about him," Scarlett said as she wrapped her arms around her friend.
Lily laughed as she was surrounded by the hugs of her friends, all of them joyful for the realization.
Author's Note 2: Hope you all liked chapter 34! Sorry I haven't been able to update in forever, school's a bitch sometimes! Anyways, I hope you guys all liked that chapter, and please review.