Thereafter, Ariadne spent all of the time she could with the Marauders, which was mostly just in their free periods and the classes they skipped. She spent evenings and weekends with Lily and her friends, mostly. She wished that her two groups of friends would just like each other so that she didn't have to split up her time like that, it was quite tiresome. She got on very well with all of the Marauders, helping Moony with his homework, being an open ear for Wormtail to vent his emotions, causing breezes to lift girls' skirts for Padfoot, and spending time with Prongs thinking of new ways for him to convince Lily to go out with him. The latter proved harder and harder for Ariadne to do, seeing as she had, over the weeks, developed a fairly substantial crush on James. One night, after Lily, her friends, and the rest of the Marauders had gone to bed, Ariadne and James were still up, sitting by the fire.

"You know what I think?" James said suddenly. "I think this dance is the perfect way to get Lily to like me. I'll get her to go with me and she'll see how great I am."

"I think she doesn't like you partly because of your ego," Ariadne said absent-mindedly. "Maybe you should spend less time trying to tell her how great you are."

The dance James was speaking of was one that had been announced that night at dinner. It would occur on Halloween night and be open to all students fifth year and above. All the senior students were very excited about this. They had never heard of a Hogwarts dance before and were positive this was something they would only get to do once. Ariadne longed to ask James to the dance, but knew he would only want to go with Lily.

"I need a way to make sure she goes to the dance with me," he said.

"Easy," Ariadne said. "Kill all the other boys in the school. Kidding," she said quickly, seeing the look on James' face. "But I think that she would only go with you if there were no other choice. Not to say you aren't really lovely, and everything… Lily just loathes you."

"Yes!" James said, sitting up straight, "And you can't go to the dance unless you have a date! So I just need a way to… I've got it!"

"What? You've got what?" Ariadne said, fearful of what James was planning.

"You, my dear, are not just a pretty face," James said, kissing her on the forehead. "I have the perfect idea."

"What is it?" Ariadne asked.

"You'll find out tomorrow, at breakfast," James said, patting her on the cheek swiftly before running up to his dormitory. The place where he had kissed her tingled with what felt like electricity. She touched the place and smiled briefly, before going up to bed, to dream of that moment.

-----

The next morning at breakfast, she had all but forgotten James' unspoken plans until he tapped a piece of parchment he was holding and a copy appeared on the lap of every male in the room, and one copy went to Ariadne.

"I thought you might like to see the idea that came from our incredible genius," he said, smiling. Ariadne looked at the parchment and groaned.

Dear Hogwartsian Male,

This is a letter only to you. Let no female see it. Let no teacher see it. Most of all, do not let Lily Evans see it. Do you see that girl at the Gryffindor table? The stunningly beautiful one, with the red hair and green eyes. Sitting next to the little pixie-like girl with the blonde hair. See her? Good. Now don't even glance at her again. If any of you boys ask her to the Halloween dance, I will personally kill you.

Sincerely,

James Potter

Ariadne crumpled up the letter and shoved it in James' bag before Lily could see it. "You're an idiot," she said with a smile. "This is never going to work."

-----

The night before the Halloween dance, James approached Lily in the Gryffindor common room. Nobody had asked her to the dance. Her friends were all at a loss as to why, and Ariadne did a very good impression of one who doesn't know the truth.

"Hey, Lily," he said. "Halloween dance is tomorrow."

"Yes," she said coldly, "It is."

"Go with me? You know you need a date."

"Never," she said. "I'd rather not go at all."

James had not counted on this. Fortunately, he had a quick mind. "What are you going to do, rattle around Gryffindor Tower all night, until your friends come back and tell you about the fantastic time they had?"

"Fine!" Lily shouted. "I'll go to the stupid dance with you. But it doesn't mean I like you and it doesn't mean I want anything to do with you after that night. Clear?"

"As crystal, my beautiful ice queen," James said silkily, bowing away. He gave Ariadne a look and she excused herself and followed him to the other side of the common room. "Did you see that? She said yes!"

"I'm very happy for you," Ariadne said in a carefully controlled voice. She wanted to rage at James, but knew it would be for nothing. "Excuse me."

She had secretly hoped that Lily would decline, leaving James to ask her. She was sure this was what would occur. Now that she saw this was not the case, she was stuck. She wanted to go to the dance. She had to, to keep an eye on James. She didn't want to go with anyone else. Besides, all the attractive boys were taken. She needed someone who didn't want to go to the dance, but would be too polite to decline. Then, it struck her. She went up the stairs to the boys' dormitories and entered the seventh-year dormitory. It was nearly empty, except for one boy, reclining on his bed and reading a book about werewolves.

"Strange topic to read about," Ariadne said, pointing to his book, which he swiftly closed and shoved into a drawer.

"Did you want something?" He asked politely with a smile. "Or did you just want to sit on my bed and make small talk."

"Er, no…" she said, feeling awkward. "You see, I left this a bit late, but if you weren't going with anyone else, do you want to go to the Halloween dance with me?"

"Did Lily say yes to James, then?" Remus wanted to say, but didn't dare. He knew that Ariadne was into James. He didn't want to go to the dance, but knew Ariadne would go crazy if she had to stay in Gryffindor Tower while James and Lily were off doing god knows what at the dance. And Ariadne was a very attractive girl; he would have loved to go out with her anytime. Maybe she will see me in a different light, and forget about James, he thought to himself. "Sure," he said, trying to appear nonchalant. Ariadne squealed in delight and hugged him briefly before going to her dormitory to sleep.