Lily

September 27th

Dear Diary,

I went to Hogsmeade today with Leila, like I mentioned before, but I was unprepared for what lay in store for me once I got there. It was really out-of-the-ordinary, and I'm still reeling from it. I'm still not sure if I was hallucinating or not - I think I was though, because of what happened when I got to The Three Broomsticks.

So we entered the pub, The Three Broomsticks, and Chris is waiting for Kyleigh by the bar. He's classically handsome - tall, wiry, blonde, brown-eyed - and was sipping some butterbeer when we crossed the threshold into the place. He waved to Kyleigh and she took us over to him, grinning widely.

"Chris, you know Leila and Lily don't you?" she asked, gesturing to us.

"Leila, yes, I do know her," Chris replied. "I don't know Lily."

"Her full name is Lily Evans," Kyleigh informed him, dragging me forward by my wrist. "Get acquainted - she's a fantastic person."

"Hi," I said shyly, preferring to look at the floor rather than at his face.

"It's very nice to meet you, Lily," he said graciously, shaking my limp wrist jovially. "Would you like a drink?"

"Um, not at the moment, thanks," I blustered, feeling like a complete moron. "I…I need to go," I finished lamely.

"That's fine," Chris allowed, looking thoughtfully at me. I was disconcerted by his interested gaze; since when had I been an object of much significance?

"Thanks for remembering my existence," Leila cut in all of a sudden. "I would like to leave you three lovebirds alone now, and if you care to join me later, I will be at Gladrag's Wizard Wears looking for some new socks."

"I'm coming with you Leila," I said quickly. "Bye Kyleigh, bye Chris; I-I hope you two have fun."

"Are you sure you don't want to join us, Lily?" Chris asked, seeming to be genuinely sorry that I didn't want to stay. "I can pull you up a stool."

"No, no, I want to go with Leila to buy socks," I said, positive I sounded like the world's biggest loser. "You…you have a date, and I wouldn't want to intrude. Please enjoy it and…Kyles, I'll see you later." Without saying anything else that could possibly embarrass me, I grabbed Leila's arm and glided out of the pub, trying to leave as soon as I possibly could.

"Why'd you decide to stay with me?" Leila inquired curiously as we walked in synch in the summery air. "Chris is really cute, and he pretty much forgot all about Kyleigh when he saw you."

"Well, it's Kyleigh who likes him, and I don't like being alone with guys when they're trying to flirt," I clarified. "I felt bad that he mistook me for the likable type, so I thought I'd spare him the trouble of wasting his time; eventually, he'll discover that I'm about as fascinating as the stool he wanted to pull up for me, and I just wanted to save him the time and the trouble."

Leila laughed and smacked my arm playfully. "You put yourself down too much, Lils. He really likes you already, and you didn't even do anything - that's pretty impressive."

"He doesn't," I said shortly. "He was trying to be nice because he felt sorry for me - I've been through this before in the Muggle world. Now can we please not talk about it? Chris is pleasant enough, but he's not my type."

"Why, do you prefer people more like James Potter?" she teased.

This was quite a cruel joke to make; everyone - James included - knew that I can't stand him, and suggesting differently was pretty much like telling a cat that it really does like water deep down. It just doesn't work, and therefore, it's Kyleigh and Leila's favorite thing to tell me. Thankfully, we had just gotten down to Gladrag's, and I escaped inside while Leila laughed and made her way in leisurely.

She dove right into the sock section of Gladrag's once she got inside; Leila has this weird attachment to socks, and she had announced this morning that she needed more. God knows why - I didn't even bother to ask. But as she was showing me this absolutely repulsive pair of magenta and neon orange socks, I noticed my least favorite few people walking into the shop.

Sirius Black, James Potter, Peter Pettigrew, and Remus Lupin walked through the door, laughing as usual, and Sirius went for the same socks Leila was showing me.

"What gross socks!" he said, guffawing for all he was worth. "Who would ever honestly wear these?"

Looking really pissed off, Leila hung up the socks and went to the other side of the store without saying anything else. I tried to follow her, but I knew James had seen me, and it was only a matter of time before he came over to talk to me.

Black, Pettigrew, and Potter; they are most irritating ignoramuses the world has ever seen. I hate them all passionately, and they love to infuriate me in return. Remus, mercifully, has a good head on his shoulders, and I will admit to liking him a little. It's nothing big, really - I just think he's kind of cute, not to mention the sweetest and most trustworthy boy I know. Still, I was not happy to see him because of the company he had brought.

"I swear he's stalking me, Leila," I moaned as we escaped to the other side of the shop. "James is always on my case and it's really freaking me out now!"

Before she could console me, James came jogging over, beaming as he began to plot out how best irritate me in front of my friend. "Lily!" he exclaimed. "I'm rather surprised to see you in here; how are you?"

"I was actually content, up until thirty seconds ago," I retorted. "Then you came in."

He smiled at me and said, "Ah, Lily. You and your sense of humor…you have no idea how appealing you make everything sound."

I rolled my eyes. "Please, spare me. Either tell me what you came to bug me about or just leave; I'm personally inclined towards your picking the second choice, though."

His grin became rather mischievous as he told me, "Alright then; I wanted to know if you wanted to go to The Three Broomsticks for a butterbeer or something right now, seeing as I have some time."

The coincidence - or perhaps the better word is déjà vu - of this statement left me baffled, and I simply stuttered, "Hell no."

Sirius, at this point, decided to bounce up next to us. "Hey Lils," he greeted me cheerfully.

"Only my friends call me Lils, Black," I said pointedly. "Now good-bye; I am not going anywhere with you halfwits."

"You'd only be going with me," James pointed out.

"Whatever, same thing," I snapped. "Just go away."

James deliberately hung back, watching me with his deeply hazel eyes, but said quite calmly, "Alright; another time then. We'll see you around, Evans."

"Only if I'm really unlucky," I answered back angrily. James just smirked at me before leading his friends out of the shop, and I stomped over to Leila, seething.

"Why are you always so mean to him?" she asked, looking both highly amused and annoyed. "He really likes you."

"I have hated him since we were in first year, and I don't plan on stopping until he decides to actually be mature," I responded shortly. "Besides, you just said Chris Daniels really liked me. Chris is one of the most popular guys in our year, and he would have no reason to fancy someone like me. Let's see…how can I explain all of this with the fewest words possible? Here; James likes to torture me. That's different from liking the real person he's driving insane, so it's completely irrelevant. Chris is just really nice - he doesn't necessarily ask you out because he really likes you - he just does it because he feels sorry for you."

Leila giggled. "Fine, fine; now help me find a nice pair of pink socks."

Appreciative that she decided to drop the subject (I was almost positive that Kyleigh wouldn't have been this generous if she had been here), I rooted through the racks of socks to look for a nice pair. It was great fun, holding up the weirdest ones I could find, and suggesting buying them for Leila. She would snicker and tell me that she would only use them to stuff into my mouth when I was being aggravating, and I pretended to look extremely resentful. Then we'd start the whole thing over again, and we did that drill at least ten times before Leila found some socks that she liked.

Once we were back in the common room, Chris was escorting Kyleigh through the portrait hole, laughing at something she had said. When they came in, Chris all but disregarded Kyleigh and winked at me before scooting off to talk to his friends. My distressed bewilderment must have shown on my face, because Kyleigh laughed.

"It's okay Lily; I know he's got this massive crush on you, but when he flirts, you can definitely ignore it," she said merrily.

"Thanks Kyles," I said gratefully. "But don't worry - he is all yours; I don't like him that much."

Kyleigh beamed. "Thank you so much; I'm glad, because I really like him."

As she skipped off to laugh at James's jokes with Leila though, I went back up to my dormitory and lay on my bed, contemplating the chaotic events of the afternoon. They had been really weird, in the way of boys. Apparently, two boys had crushes on me, and both had asked me out within five minutes of each other. I guess this year will be a little different than previous ones; Chris Daniels would never have given me the time of day a few months ago. I guess miracles really can happen - even to people like me.

James

September 27th

Dear Diary,

I can't believe I'm writing in this thing again.

Remus noticed that I had tried throwing this book into the bin after Transfiguration yesterday, and got really irritated for some reason. Apparently, I'm supposed to "respect the diary because it will soon become like a dear old friend." Yeah, like I'm desperate to make friends with a diary; I have plenty of real friends I'd much rather be around. But the consequence of this action is that I'm supposed to write in this every day, or every other day if I forget to do it the next day. Remus has the sharpest eyes I have ever seen, and he has been hounding me all morning and afternoon to write something in it; I told him to shut up and leave me alone, but he wouldn't do that.

Still, since I'm writing in here, I might as well write about what's going right now in general. The homework situation kind of stinks at the moment, since its O.W.L. year and all that; we have a pile of essays to write and questions to answer, and I know that I'm glad for any excuse not to do any of it yet. O.W.L.'s are the Ordinary Wizarding Level exams that we have to take in fifth year-this year-because they will determine what advanced classes we will take in sixth and seventh years. The advanced classes are vital to getting a job later on, making the teachers throw truckloads of homework at us everyday.

I went to Hogsmeade village with Remus, Sirius, and Peter today as well, after Sirius, Peter, and I avoided Remus's homework lecture. Remus does that all the time, and we pretend to listen just to be kind to him; we honestly don't give a damn about any of the stuff he tells us we should do. Sirius yawned halfway through, and cut his monologue off by saying that he was getting low on Zonko's products. Peter and I hastily agreed, and an extremely pissed Remus joined us as we sprinted to Zonko's.

Their selection was particularly fabulous today; they had spent the summer and the entire month we've been in school coming up with great new pranks, and Sirius and I picked up generous amounts of anything we could get our hands on. There were powders that were guaranteed to keep you sneezing for at least an hour, potions that gave you complete control over any given person for three hours, and pills that made you act like a chimp for a day. We also stocked up on Dungbombs, Stink Pellets, and Dr. Filibuster Firecrackers; Sirius and I were poorer by twenty eight Galleons and twelve Sickles when our binge was over.

"Are you two really going to use all of that?" Remus asked us skeptically as Sirius and I carried out several bulging bags from the store.

"Of course," I said. "How else are we supposed to torture Snivelly?"

Remus rolled his eyes. "Please James; can't you be a little bit more mature this year?"

"Nope," I said brightly. "Try again next year."

Sirius snorted and nodded in agreement. "It's too much fun being immature, Moony mate. If we weren't, you see, then life would be mundane, tiresome, and predictable."

"In short, we'd live a life something like yours," I added. "No girls or anything. We don't want that."

With a smirk, Remus said, "Thanks very much, Prongs."

"Well, you are rather boring," Peter pointed out. "You haven't ever had a good prank or a girlfriend."

"While I may not have had a 'good prank,' I do recall that you didn't have a girlfriend either," Remus contradicted, his expression dark.

"Maybe, but I have one of the two, which you don't," Peter said dismissively.

"He got you there," Sirius said, laughing, as he high-fived Peter. "That was funny."

"What do you lot say for a drink at the Three Broomsticks then?" I suggested suddenly, the idea randomly striking me at that moment.

"I'd say that you're paying, because I'm broke," Sirius said, grinning.

"I'd say we should go to Honeydukes first," Peter said. "I'm a little hungry."

"All right then; to the Three Broomsticks," I decided, leading all three of us in the direction of the store. As we walked, we passed Gladrag's Wizard Wears, and Peter stopped us.

"I want to look at some robes in there," he said, gesturing to a rack of vividly colored robes. "Can we go in for a few minutes?"

"Fine," I said with a sigh, following him inside the shop. We entered the place, and the first thing that caught my eye was the sight of Lily talking to her friend Leila by the racks of socks. Leila Patterson has had this humungous crush on me since we were in first year, and though the attention is quite gratifying, she is the most irritating leech I've ever seen. She was looking at a pair of socks, and when Sirius caught sight of them, he ran over, laughing hysterically.

"These are absolutely repulsive; who would actually voluntarily buy these?" he asked, giggling.

Somehow, this offended Leila, and she flounced off to the other side of the store without saying another word. Lily had given me this look of purest disgust, and tried to run away from me, but I caught up to her before she could go very far.

"Lily! I'm rather surprised to see you here; how are you doing?" I asked politely, smiling expectantly at her.

"I was fine up until thirty seconds ago, when you came in," she said, making a face at me.

"Your sense of humor is so refreshing, Lil," I said appreciatively. "You have no idea how appealing you make everything sound."

She rolled her eyes, ignorant to the real meaning behind my words. I really did love her, but she either purposely refused to believe it or she was really unaware of my real feelings for her. "Please; spare me. Either tell me why you're here, or just leave; and do feel free to do that second option, by the way."

"Fine," I agreed. "I just wanted to ask you if you wanted to get a butterbeer with me in the Three Broomsticks, seeing as I have a bit of time." I jumped on any chance to ask Lily out, and I was going to the Three Broomsticks afterwards anyway; all I had to do was kick my friends over to a separate table, and take another one for me and Evans.

"Hell no," she snapped, looking repulsed.

I was about to try convincing her to come with me, but Sirius chose this moment to bound up next to us and say, "Hi Lils."

"Only my friends call me Lils, Black," she said. "And please; just leave now, because there is no way on Earth I am going anywhere with you half-wits."

"You wouldn't be going with Sirius," I tried to tell her. "You'd only be going with me."

"It's pretty much the same thing," she said dismissively. "Just go away now."

I didn't want to go-it was the very last thing I wanted to do-but I sighed and said, "All right then. Another time."

"Only if I'm unlucky," she retorted. I smirked back at her as I left the shop, but when I got outside to start walking back to the castle, I gave a howl of frustration.

"Why can't she ever be nice to me?" I moaned.

"Um, maybe it's because you can't keep your flirtatious mouth shut when you're around her," Sirius suggested. "Come on; 'you have no idea how appealing you make everything sound?' That's the worst thing you've ever said! And you've said some pretty horrible things before."

"Gee, thanks," I said sarcastically.

"It wasn't that bad," Peter tried to defend me. "It was actually rather sweet. She's just too stupid to realize that."

"Now this is why you don't have a girlfriend, Peter," Sirius said. "If you think that saying things like that will win a girl's heart, then you're going to be alone for the rest of your life."

"Shut it," Peter said, blushing. "I can get a girlfriend."

"Please," Sirius scoffed. "The closest thing you'd ever get to a girlfriend would be Snivelly. And even that would be if you're very lucky."

I roared with laughter and high-fived each other. "That was great," I complimented him. "But be gentle; that much truth in one sentence might kill him."

"Stop it," Remus intervened fairly. "Sirius, don't be rude. James…"

"See!" I interrupted. "I never did anything this time!"

"No, I was just going to explain why Lily doesn't like you," Remus said. "Girls like sensitivity, James; you were being rather irritating back there."

"I was too being sensitive," I argued. "I told her she makes everything sound appealing, and I offered to buy her a butterbeer! How much more sensitive can you get?"

"James, I know you're much deeper than that," Remus said disapprovingly. "You're starting to sound like Sirius, and you're better than that."

"Excuse me? What's wrong with being like Sirius?" Sirius asked, looking like he'd happily kick Remus's ass if he said the wrong answer.

"Nothing," Remus amended hastily. "James, just please be the person you are with us around her. She'll come around if you do; I promise."

"What if she doesn't?" I fretted. "It's been five years, Remus."

"Be patient," he advised me. "Women are very insecure creatures."

"Oh, I figured that one out a long time ago," I muttered. "That Evans…she changes moods faster than anyone I've ever seen."

"She does," Peter chimed in. "Last year, she would laugh like a maniac at lunch, but then the next class period, she would be quiet and serious again. It was insane."

"I love her though," I said. "I love everything about her, her mood swings included."

"Thanks for stating the obvious, mate," Sirius said, thumping me on the back.

"No, seriously," I said. "I love her. Much more than I love anyone else, anyway."

"I'm quite offended," Sirius said, laughing, but pretending to look hurt. "You don't love me?"

I snorted. "No, not at all."

"I love you, Sirius," Peter offered.

"God help me," Sirius replied.

Peter made a face, but thankfully, we had reached the castle at this point. Remus opened the door, and we walked in. Now Peter and Sirius were squabbling about how Peter had been trying to help and how Sirius was being too unfeeling or something like that. Honestly, I lost interest after a while and played with a little Snitch I had nicked a few days ago.

I wonder though; how much will it take for Lily Evans to fall in love with me? How far will I actually go?